This thesis examines the ways in which female bodies are central to the production and reproduction of gendered social inequality, and the formation of feminine identities in the fitness gym. Ethnographic methods were utilised to investigate the patterns and relations of power that underpinned the production and reproduction of feminine body ideals and feminine identities and habituses in a fitness gym in the South-East of England. The potential usefulness of harnessing feminist and figurational concepts for understanding gendered bodies in the context of sport and exercise is also explored. Some of the theoretical and methodological links between feminist and figurational perspectives are explored in this thesis. A feminist-figurational approach is presented as a useful way of understanding the complexities of female body image and feminine identification in the fitness gym. Central in this regard has been an examination of the unequal relationships between, and within, groups of people in exercise and fitness settings. The task of producing a relatively high degree of adequate knowledge about gendered bodies in the fitness gym has also involved consideration of several concepts related to Elias's (1978,1987) theory of involvement and detachment including: the personal pronoun model, the use of developmental thinking, the interplay between theory and evidence and the adequacy of evidence. Feminist and figurational ideas about gender, power and identities have been of use in making sense of the relationships between workingout, female bodies and femininities. Elias's conceptualisations of power, establishedoutsider relations and identification have been particularly helpful. Evidence from participant observations and interviewing revealed that several mechanisms serve to reinforce, challenge and negotiate a variety of images of the female body-beautiful in the fitness gym. These include: the insecurity and emotion that surround the acquisition and maintenance of an ideal physique, the monopolisation of corporeal power, the construction of group charisma and group disgrace, the formation of gossip networks, and the corporeal logic of the 'exercise body-beautiful complex'. The findings also reveal that female bodies are central to the formation of feminine identities and habituses. Feminine identities are founded on both different and shared characteristics of the female body-beautiful. Some female exercisers also share some characteristics with other women, specifically in the context of the fitness gym. Linked to a desire for a high status body Image, there is a tendency for white, western, middle-class, heterosexual, able-bodied women, who go to the gym, to share a preference for cosmetic fitness activities, and an emotional tie to aspirations for a slender, muscularly toned physique. The exercise histories of the women in this study indicated that the inculcation of feminine conduct and bodily preference happens over time, and in relation to a range of corporeal experiences including: physical education, sport, exercise, dance, dieting and adolescence.

This thesis presents a probability model to predict the maximum rotation of rocking bodies exposed to seismic excitations given specific earthquake intensity measures. After obtaining the nonlinear equations of motion and clarification of the boundaries applied to a rocking body to avoid sliding, a complete discussion is provided on the estimation of approximate period and equivalent damping ratio for the rocking motion. Thereafter, instead of using an iterative solution, which was previously proven defective, a new approximate technique is developed by finding the best representative ground motion intensities. Suitable transformation and normalization are applied to these intensities, and the Bayesian Updating approach is employed to construct a probability model. The proposed probability model is capable of accurately predicting the maximum rotation of a symmetric rocking block given displacement design spectra, peak ground acceleration, peak ground velocity, and arias intensity of an earthquake. This probabilistic model along with the approximate capacity of rocking blocks are used to estimate the fragility curves for rocking blocks with specific geometrical parameters. At the end, a comprehensive and practical form of fragility curves and numerical examples are provided for design purposes.

The study of infinitely long cylinders of constant cross-section floating in an infinite fluid bath in zero-gravity environments has primarily been focused on bodies whose cross-sections are strictly convex and sufficiently smooth. In this thesis, our efforts are concentrated on the consideration of bodies that are only convex and piecewise smooth. These types of bodies are seldom considered in current literature. We have worked with a series expansion of the energy function in order to determine when configurations of a given body will be in equilibrium, stable or otherwise. We have proven that any convex body with a straight side cannot float in a stable equilibrium with the fluid interface intersecting the interior of the straight side in a single point. This fact is then used to prove necessary and sufficient conditions for stable equilibrium of polygons, bodies whose cross-sections are comprised of only straight sides. We illustrate these conditions with several examples. In the latter portion of the thesis, we turn our attention to bodies in three dimensions. While past research has again been focused on strictly convex bodies, we began to consider bodies that do not meet these requirements by examining bodies of revolution. A condition for stability with respect to vertical variations of bodies of revolution is derived. We conclude with several examples of bodies of revolution, some of which interestingly relate back to an analogous two-dimensional shape.

This dissertation examines the discursive terms upon which people come to understand their experiences with a yeast-related disorder known speculatively within biomedical practice as Candida. Following the critical interrogations posed by feminist and poststructural theorizings, I aim not to prove or disprove Candidas etiological case. My aim, rather, is to question what can be learned about the social workings of undefined illness through attending to how people talk about their experiences with Candida. I am concerned both with peoples experiences of Candida, and in how these illness experiences come to be structured in and through the wider discursive framings of biomedicine, gender and dietary discipline. As Candida continues to emerge as unintelligibleand thus disorientingform of illness, the urgency lies, I argue, not only in representing these often nebulous illness experiences, but also in questioning how these illness experiences come to be shaped.

Sorghum is a valuable grain crop and a principle source of food of particular importance in human and animal nutrition in the semi-arid regions of Africa and Asia. Despite its value, sorghum grain quality is a major limitation to its productivity and profitability. Sorghum grain is usually discounted as feed grain when compared to wheat and barley, predominantly because of its poor digestibility. The sorghum endosperm is composed of a complex starch protein matrix, whereby the starch is physically bound within the storage proteins, the kafirins. The kafirins are synthesised on the membrane bound polysomes and have a signal peptide which targets them to the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum. Growth of protein bodies occur as - kafirins fill in the interior with  and γ kafirins occupy the periphery. Despite the -kafirins being more digestible and composing of 60- 80% of the kafirins, they are not easily accessible due to  and γ kafirins which have a high content of intermolecular disulphide bonds (S-S), rendering them highly resistant to proteases. Alteration of the structure of the protein bodies and change of the location of the-kafirins could result in a higher digestibility of sorghum proteins. This could be achieved by upregulating or downregulating the -kafirins. The improvement of grain quality, both in increased protein and starch digestibility would substantially enhance the digestibility of sorghum as animal feed as well as for human consumption. Various techniques have been utilised to classify the kafirins according to their mobility on SDS PAGE electrophoresis, Reverse Phase High Performance Liquid Chromatography (RP-HPLC), Free Zone Capillary Electrophoresis (FZCE) and Lab on Chip. Until recently the characterisation and classification of the kafirins generally have relied on the characterisation of zeins from maize. Zeins have about 70% homology to the kafirins both at the nucleotide and amino acid level. Based on the high similarity of the -kafirins to the -zeins, the - kafirins have been classified as 19 and 22 kDa. Despite their 70% homology the migration of the - kafirins on SDS PAGE is quite different to that of the zeins. Hence, I propose a new classification of the -kafirins as 23 kDa and 25 kDa based on their mobility on SDS PAGE Characterisation and cloning of the 23 and 25 kDa genes was performed using QL41 the Queensland inbred line of sorghum. Ten positive clones were isolated from a cDNA library for the 25 kDa and two clones for the 23 kDa -kafirins. The isolated clones of the 25 kDa -kafirins showed 98-99% homology with each other and also with the GenBank sequences. The major finding was the characterisation of the 23 kDa -kafirins. The two clones obtained showed 100% homology to each other as well as to the published sequences on the GenBank, and were full-length sequences. Also a partial sequence was obtained that lacked the signal peptide and was different to the other two clones. Whilst characterising the 23 kDa a second group of the 25 kDa -kafirins was identified from the genomic DNA, of all the three genotypes (QL41, 296B and QL12), which was unique from the previously isolated clones. This group of -kafirins was not among the cluster but was 5’ upstream of the cluster. This group had a higher content of the glutamine compared with the other 25 kDa group. The expression level was studied to show how each gene family contributed to the level of - kafirins. QL41 and 296B were used for this study. From the studies it was shown that the 23 kDa - kafirins genes were 20% more expressed than the 25 kDa. An attempt to identify suitable markers for the -kafirins was investigated using RFLP and SSR analysis. Thirty-two different genotypes were utilised for this study. The observed variation indicated by cluster analysis (4-38%) clearly showed variation of the -kafirins in genotype and within the kafirin genes as elucidated by the sequences in Chapter 4. Markers able to identify this variation could help in the selection of highly digestible mutants. Hence, there is potential for sorghum grain improvement using marker-assisted breeding. The need to identify a tissue specific promoter was essential, especially for a strong promoter that could drive expression in the endosperm of the monocots. A vector construct consisting of the - kafirin promoter driving the GUS reporter genes was used for transient expression from QL41. This was assessed in the sorghum and barley calli, sorghum endosperm and leaves and corn endosperm. Tissue specific expression as well as higher levels of transient expression were seen using the - kafirin promoter, compared with the ubiquitin promoter. Preliminary experiments have illustrated the potential use of a gene silencing mechanism that could enhance the digestibility of sorghum grain. The 25 kDa -kafirin gene was used as the target for gene silencing using the mechanism of iRNA. Transformation constructs were developed using the throughput vector pSTARGATE in an effort to silence the 25 kDa -kafirins. The characterisation of the -kafirins has provided valuable information for future sorghum improvement research.

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Bibliography : leaves 124-127 / iii, 127 leaves : ill ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Applied Mathematics, 1991

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The relationship between distinctive characteristic fluid-flow regimes and the sound radiation generated by them has been investigated, over a range of Reynolds numbers, for various single plates and two-plate arrays in nominally two-dimensional flows. In preliminary experiments, the characteristics of flow over single plates with rectangular cross-section and faired leading edges and over tandem arrays of an upstream plate with rectangular cross-section and faired leading edges and a downstream plate of rectangular cross-section were investigated, together with the sound radiation produced. However, the main investigation has been concentrated on single plates of rectangular cross-section with various chord-to-thickness ratios C and on arrays of two plates of rectangular cross-section in tandem having various chord-to-thickness ratios C₁ and C₂ and a range of gaps (with gap-to-thickness ratios G) between them. The range of Reynolds number based on plate thickness t and free-stream velocity U, Re[subscript]t = Ut/ν (where ν is the kinematic viscosity of fluid) covered in the measurements is 3.2 x 10[superscript]3 ≤ Re[subscript]t 53 x 10[superscript]3. Spectra of velocity fluctuations in the flow and radiated sound have been measured and their characteristic frequencies related. An attempt has been made to measure force fluctuations on surfaces of the plates in order to relate them to flow characteristics and radiated sound power. Mean and fluctuating pressures associated with the force fluctuations on the plates have also been obtained. The lengths of separation bubbles on long rectangular plates have also been determined. In most cases, the measurements have been complemented by flow-visualisation in a water tunnel to provide additional detailed insight into the flow patterns. Three flow regimes have been identified for single plates of rectangular cross-section. In the first regime (1 ≤ C ≤ 3.13), shear layers separated from the leading edges form a vortex street downstream of the plate without reattachment to it. Associated force fluctuations on the plate are the main source of acoustic radiation. In the second regime (3.05 ≤ C ≤ 9.65), the separated shear layers reattach intermittently to the streamwise plate surfaces. Vortex formation in the shear layer is the dominant cause of sound radiation but the effect becomes weaker as C increases. In the third regime (6.52 ≤ C ≤ 68), the separated shear layers form closed leading-edge separation bubbles. Weak vortex shedding, with only a small contribution to the sound radiation, occurs only at the trailing edges of the plate. Bistable behaviour of the flow over a plate, with random switching between the regimes, occurs for C ≈ 3 and 6.52 ≤ C ≤ 9.65. A proposed classification of possible flow regimes for the flow around two plates of rectangular cross-section in tandem has been confirmed experimentally. For small G, the flow in the gap between the plates is isolated from the external flow. When the gap G between the plates is increased to or beyond a critical value (between 2 and 3.5), the shear layers separated from the upstream plate form a von Karman vortex street in the gap before interacting with the downstream plate. Flow and acoustic measurements indicate that this transition is associated with dramatic changes in the flow character. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1320474 / Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Mechanical Engineering, 2008