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High gain 2D printed antenna array
No full textEmpirical thesis.Bibliography: pages 85-87.1. Introduction -- 2. Background and related work -- 3. Properties of microstrip patch antennas and definitions -- 4. Single patch antenna and feed network design -- 5. Development of patch antenna array -- 6. Beam steering -- 7. Conclusions and future work -- 8. Abbreviations -- Appendix.Microstrip patch antennas play a vital role in wireless telecommunication due to their unbeatable qualities such as thin planner profile and low cost. There are many studies being conducted to investigate whether they can be used for long distance telecommunication, such as for spacecraft and satellites. In order to communicate between long distances the antenna should have a large gain and directivity. The directivity of patch antennas can be improved by arranging them in an array. The gain of an antenna array increases with the number of antenna elements. The reflection coefficient determines how well an antenna is impedance matched. It ensures that the reflected power by patch antenna is at a low level such that it has a high efficiency. In addition, farfield patterns indicate the side lobe levels and the beam width of the antenna's radiation pattern. This project designed a 3D model of a 4 x 4 array with improved gain and directivity. The array is fed by a corporate feed network consisting of quarter wavelength transformers in order to match the impedances. CST software was used for all the designing and simulation purposes of the antenna array. It provides different optimiser tools to tune the array to achieve the desired results. The reflection coefficient, voltage standing wave ratio and farfield pattern were used to examine the performance of the array.Mode of access: World wide web.1 online resource (xv, 87 pages colour illustrations
Hand gesture controlled robotic arm
No full textEmpirical thesis.Bibliography: page 39.1. Introduction -- 2. Background and related work -- 3. Approach and methodology -- 4. Experimental procedures -- 5. Results and discussion -- 6. Conclusions and future work -- Appendix -- Bibliography.Over the years robots have been designed to perform various tasks much quicker and more effiently than humans. Though these robots may be fast and capable, controlling them can be slow and cumbersome. Hand gesture control is an emerging method of controlling robots in a simplified and more efficient manner. Using hand gesture control over other control options is beneficial as it incorporates natural human movement to achieve the same or even more control in an uncomplicated fashion. The project seeks to develop a cheap and simple method of hand gesture control for a robotic arm with five degrees of freedom (DOF). The proposed method is a glove fitted with various sensors that will interpret hand gestures, process them and control the robot. A flex sensor, two accelerometers, and a gyroscope will be attached to the glove to achieve this control. The result is a cheap and simple prototype that has full control over the 5 DOF of the robotic arm. The concepts of this project can be applied to many areas of industry, with possibilities such as military applications, medical procedures, or even handling hazardous waste such as nuclear etc.Mode of access: World wide web.1 online resource (xv, 39 pages illustrations (some colour)
Modelling and digital compensation of the satellite transponder non-linearities
No full textEmpirical thesis.Bibliography: page 27.1. Introduction -- 2. Background and related work -- 3. Simulations -- 4. Conclusions and future work -- 5. Abbreviations -- Bibliography.This thesis will seek to explore the area of linearisation of power amplifiers and how these devices' non-linearities affect the signals that are processed through their networks. Further, this thesis will aim to explore the literature that surrounds this field and discuss the implications of this research on the practical aspects of the research study in question.This field of research has many implications, and sections of this thesis will seek to explore the outcomes of the endeavour on future developments in this arena.Mode of access: World wide web.1 online resource (xi, 27 pages diagrams, graphs
Infographics in corporate sustainability reports: providing useful information or used for impression management?
No full textTheoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 103-114.1. Introduction -- 2. Literature review and hypotheses development -- 3. Research method -- 4. Results and discussion -- 5. Conclusions, limitations and future research -- 6. References.Infographics combine visual and textual information and thus may be used to attract attention, with the ultimate purpose of influencing the thoughts and feelings of readers of accounting information. However, little is known about the role of infographics in sustainability reports. This study examines the practice and features of infographics in sustainability reports, particularly focusing on whether infographics are used for impression management (IM) purposes by utilising selectivity, visual manipulation and performance comparisons. As infographics become more widely used, it is important to understand their use in corporate sustainability reporting (CSR), particularly because their use is not regulated. Additionally, the association between IM and sustainability disclosure is scrutinised. The findings reveal that infographics are becoming increasingly utilised in CSR and that they are commonly used by environmentally sensitive industries. The key social and environmental aspects depicted by infographics are air emissions, energy usage, water consumption, labour practices and decent work. We find clear evidence of infographics being harnessed for IM purposes and that there is a bias in selecting, comparing and emphasising sustainability performance trends towards favourable disclosures that enhance company reputation. Further, we find evidence of an association between IM and social disclosure in relation to selectivity and visual emphasis strategies but the association with environmental disclosure is only found for selectivity and performance comparison strategies.1 online resource (114 pages
Unhappily ever-after: How a promise of future happiness is used to regulate desire and behaviour in Protestant Evangelical Christianity
No full textTheoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 58-62Introduction -- Chapter 1. -- Chapter 2. -- Chapter 3. -- Conclusion: For Better or Worse, In Sickness and in HealthIn this thesis, I consider how Protestant Evangelical Christian teaching on sexuality and marriage interacts with the marriage narratives and happiness discourse which pervade popular culture and promote the wedding day as the happiest day of one’s life. In doing so, I follow Sara Ahmed (2010) who, through a study of film, literature and common speech acts, argues that attaching a promise of future happiness to certain objects, such as marriage and family, allows happiness to function as an “orientation device” (p54) which regulates behaviour. I argue that we must also ask how happiness, specifically an idea of happiness-via-marriage, functions in Protestant Evangelical discourse on sexuality and marriage. It is widely acknowledged that Protestant Evangelical churches teach and maintain normative views on sexuality and marriage. It is assumed this teaching is due exclusively to biblical imperative. Rarely though is it explicitly asked what role extra-biblical sources or cultural narratives play in legitimising this teaching. I argue that within Protestant Evangelical discourse, ideas and understanding of happiness, salvation, and marriage easily merge. This conceptual merging creates a dangerous dichotomy: A happy marriage becomes a sign of salvation and right expression of faith, whereas, the Christian identity and sexuality of the unmarried or unhappy believer is considered suspect.1 online resource (62 pages
Designing business models for value co-creation in emerging markets: a case study of indigenous firms in Vietnam
No full textEmpirical thesis.Bibliography: pages 74-91.Firms gain competitive advantage by engaging customers and value network partners in co-creation activities. Business models that integrate value co-creation in a network are recognized as an essential prerequisite for any firm to develop a competitive advantage. However, there has been scant attention given to business models designed for value co-creation in emerging markets.This research adopts a qualitative case study of two firms in the agricultural sector in Vietnam. The findings reveal that a firm can develop a competitive advantage in emerging markets by achieving internal and external configurational fit in the design of business models for value co-creation. The fit is addressed by the developing human relations across the dimensions of ‘employee’ and ‘partners’. Human relations, driven by the integration of a family-like culture, are fundamental for a firm to engage customers and its partners in the value co-creation process in emerging markets. Employee dimensions enable internal configurational fit between all business model elements. Partner dimension enables the external configurational fit between the firm’ and its partners’ business model. This study contributes theoretically to the literature on value co-creation and business models by providing an extension of the business model framework designed for value co-creation in a network in the context of emerging markets.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (96 pages) table
Washing lines: encounters in improvised handheld video portraiture
No full textTheoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 143-152.Chapter One. Methodology : an overview -- Chapter Two. A playful methodology -- Chapter Three. Soft vision -- Chapter 4. Working material -- Chapter Five. Sensuous recognition -- Conclusion -- References.This project consists of a creative component and exegesis that explore the capacities of improvised filmmaking and performance techniques to convey the affective potential of places, people and other subjects. The resulting creative work, Washing Lines, is a series of improvised video portraits that feature people hanging out washing to dry in locations throughout Sydney.The exegesis explores ways of sensing as a filmmaker, describing my (the candidate's) pursuit of a "haptic", non-mastering relationship to places and subjects through the development of specific parameters for camera movement : a "score". It explores the active work of improvisation, discussing agency, risk and affect in improvised practice, and elaborating an aesthetics of effort in filmmaking and performance. It also addresses the relationship between matter and meaning in the Washing Lines video series.Affect and improvisation are not only explored in relation to filmmaking, but are considered as integral aspects of creative and scholarly research. This project is committed to iterative, practice-led and interdisciplinary enquiry, and attempts to enact and describe what I identify as a "playful" research methodology. This methodology combines improvised filmmaking practices with strategies from dance, music and performance, drawing on my involvement in BodyWeather, Contact Improvisation, Taiko percussion,and local dance research residencies. Through this process, I develop an approach to handheld video portraiture that appreciates the multi-faceted nature of improvisation, as well as the multi-faceted nature of the affective encounters it facilitates.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (xiv, 152 pages) colour illustration
The land of heart’s desire: Nostalgia and the Irish fairy landscape
No full textTheoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 302-332Introduction: Out of this dull world -- Chapter One - Literature Review: Hungry thirsty roots -- Chapter Two - Theory: In a place apart -- Chapter Three - Nationalism: Green jacket, red cap -- Chapter Four - Heritage: Up the airy mountain -- Chapter Five - Sacred: Spirits of wood and water -- Conclusion: The land of heart’s desire -- Creative: Astray -- References.This thesis argues that multiple fairy sites in Ireland are constructed and produced as nostalgic places. Nostalgia is used for its affective properties in the production of Irish fairy sites in order to authenticate and perpetuate a particular effect and response. These fairy sites are aligned with powerful discourses of nationalism, heritage, and the sacred, allowing particular groups to control the narratives and space of these sites. The dominant and enforced discourses that construct and control these sites have implications in terms of the definition and use of space, and the Irish fairy landscape has become a site of political and social struggle over meaning and identity. I identify through my research an unequal distribution of power in favour of particular groups, limiting the possibility of alternative and diverse readings of and engagement with these sites, and by extension with nostalgia, folklore, and the Irish landscape. This thesis is comprised of a critical analysis and a creative work. Utilising the spatial theories of Doreen Massey (2005), the critical analysis focuses on the construction of Irish fairy sites as places, specifically how nostalgia is deployed to legitimise and control the narrative and physical space of these fairy sites. This is achieved through site-specific analysis on the three ‘new’ fairy sites of the National Leprechaun Museum in Dublin, the ‘Last Leprechauns of Ireland’ site in Carlingford, County Louth, and ‘Gillighan’s World: The Field of Dreams’ in County Sligo, and the three ‘old’ fairy sites of Lough Gur in County Limerick, and Newgrange and the Hill of Tara in County Meath. Included in these analyses is a critique of the dominant nostalgic narrative of each site. The creative work, a novella entitled Astray, operates as a further contestation of the powerful discourses and narratives controlling these sites, and also aims to expand the definitions of nostalgia, place, and fairies. Through interwoven narratives, Astray works to make these six Irish fairy sites multivocal, and connected to the broader Irish fairy landscape.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (332 pages) colour illustrations, colour photograph
Influence of environment on lateralisation
No full textEmpirical thesis.Running title: Influence of environment on lateralisation."ARC Centre for Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, Department of Cognitive Science, Faculty of Human Sciences, Macquarie University" -- title page.Bibliography: pages 67-78.Introduction --- Experiment 1 -- Experiment 2 -- General discussion -- Conclusion -- Appendices.Hemispheric lateralisation can be assessed with both functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and functional transcranial Doppler ultrasonography (fTCD). However, concordance between these techniques is imperfect. This discrepancy may be partially explained by differences in the fMRI and fTCD laboratory environments: while fMRI occurs in a noisy, confined space in which subjects lie supine, fTCD typically occurs in a quiet, unconfined space in which subjects sit upright. This study investigated the influence of the fMRI and fTCD laboratory environments on the measurement of language lateralisation. Across two experiments, fTCD was used to measure the consistency of language lateralisation while participants performed a word generation task either twice in an fTCD environment (control condition), or once in an fTCD environment and then in a simulated fMRI environment (experimental condition). Relative to the control condition, test-retest reliability of lateralisation estimates was considerably poorer in the experimental condition. Consistent with this, several participants in the experimental condition switched lateralisation categories between the two testing sessions. These findings suggest that the laboratory environment may partially account for the discordance between fMRI and fTCD lateralisation estimates. Future research should embrace protocols that aim to reduce the interference of the laboratory environment, such as noise-cancelling headphones and open, multi-postural fMRI, to further our understanding of hemispheric lateralisation.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (99 pages) graphs, table
Does physical fatigue affect performance on the King-Devick test?
No full textEmpirical thesis.Includes bibliographical references.1. Introduction --- 2. Methods -- 3. Results -- 4. Discussion -- 5. References.Objectives: Sports related concussions have gained increasing awareness over recent years. The diagnosis of sports related concussion is primarily made on the basis of clinical signs and symptoms and can be extremely challenging especially during sporting events when athletes need to be assessed quickly and effectively. There are a number of psychological tests used in the on-field diagnosis of concussion one of which is the King-Devick test. The potentially confounding effect of physical fatigue on the diagnosis of sports related concussion remains poorly understood. The aim of the present study was to assess the effects of physical fatigue on performance on the King-Devick test.Methods: This study included 140 participants equally divided into two groups: a fatigue group and a control group. The fatigue group comprised 40 males and 30 females with a mean age of 34.24 years ± 12.58 years. The control group included 46 males and 24 females with a mean age of 32.01 years ± 11.38 years. Both groups were assessed on the King-Devick test at baseline and then at a reassessment which was conducted 15 minutes later. Subjects in the fatigue group ran on a treadmill for the 15 minutes intervening the baseline and reassessment conditions. To achieve significant and uniform levels of exertion, subjects in the fatigue group were instructed to run at a rate of perceived exertion of 7/10 for the first 12 minutes and 9/10for the final 3 minutes. Subjects in the control group rested from physical activity for the 15 minutes separating the baseline and reassessment conditions.Results: Comparison of baseline and reassessment scores revealed that the control group demonstrated significantly greater improvement between baseline and reassessment than the fatigue group. A significantly greater number of subjects from the fatigue group (31.4%) scored a slower time at reassessment compared to baseline than did subjects from the control group (14.3%). Finally, five subjects in the fatigue group (7.1%) worsened their score by more than 3 seconds at reassessment relative to baseline, whereas no subject in the control group demonstrated a decrement at reassessment compared to baseline of 3 seconds or more. As ignificantly greater number of subjects from the fatigue group (n = 25) met criteria for concussion at reassessment than did the control subjects (n = 11).Conclusion: The results of the current study contrasted previous findings and indicted that physical fatigue had a significant and negative effect on performance on the King-Devick test. Indeed, a significant number of subjects in the fatigue group “failed” the test and met criteria for a diagnosis of concussion. Future studies are required to validate the effects on physical fatigue on the King-Devick test and other concussion assessment instruments.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (1 volume (unpaged) diagrams ,graphs