Vehicular Ad hoc Networks (VANET) exhibit highly dynamic behavior with high mobility and random network topologies. The performance of Transmission Control Protocols in such wireless ad hoc networks is plagued by a number of problems: frequent link failures, scalability, multi-hop data transmission and data loss. To address these VANET routing issues, I have used the ideas from swarm intelligence. The Ant Colony Optimization (ACO), which is a branch of swarm intelligence, is the main source of my inspiration. I have designed an ant-based routing algorithm which addresses routing issues prevalent in VANETs: adaptivity, robustness and scalability. One attractive feature of ACO is that they provide multiple routes from source to destination, resulting in more robust network. In this work, together with ACO, I have used the ideas from zone routing protocols to develop my algorithm: Mobility Aware Zone based Ant Colony Optimization Routing for VANET that exhibits locality and scalability.

Darbo pavadinimas: Mikrobiologinių rodiklių kitimas smulkintoje mėsoje laikymo metu. Magistro baigiamojo darbo autorė Živilė Jagminaitė. Darbo vadovė dr. Aistė Kabašinskienė. Magistro darbas buvo atliktas Lietuvos sveikatos mokslų universitete, maisto saugos ir kokybės katedroje, per 2012-2014 laikotarpį. Darbas susideda iš: 51 puslapio, 2 lentelių, 29 paveikslų, 1 priedo. Atitinkamas mėsos laikymas bei apdorojimas, šviežumo užtikrinimas, higieninis – sanitarinis rėžimas yra svarbūs veiksniai užtikrinant mėsos mikrobinę kokybę. Žmonės dažnai nežino kaip laikyti pusgaminius, teisingai gaminti maistą, dėl ko atsiranda pavojus susirgti infekcinėmis ligomis. Darbo tikslas: įvertinti mikroorganizmų skaičiaus kitimą smulkintoje mėsoje, jos laikymo metu. Rezultatai: Aerobinių kolonijų skaičius smulkintos mėsos mėginiuose neviršijo Lietuvos Higienos normos HN 26:2006 nustatytų didžiausių leistinų ribų. Į smulkintą vištieną pridėjus prieskonių, aerobinių kolonijų sk. padidėjo 36,6 ksv/g, į smulkintą kiaulieną 1,82 ksv/g, o pridėjus kiaušinio ir džiūvėsėlių į vištieną padidėjo 8,5 ksv/g, į kiaulieną 19,09 ksv/g (p>0,05). Smulkintoje mėsoje su prieskoniais aerobinių kolonijų sk. po 3-6 val. padidėjo: vištienoje 7,4 ksv/g (p<0,05), kiaulienoje 205,32 ksv/g (p>0,05), o po 24 val.: vištienoje 169,1 ksv/g (p<0,05), kiaulienoje 466,22 ksv/g (p<0,05), o su kiaušiniu ir džiūvėsėliais aerobinių kolonijų sk. po 3-6 val. padidėjo: vištienoje 9,6 ksv/g (p>0,05), kiaulienoje 0,45 ksv/g (p<0,05)... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Title of the thesis: Changes of microbiological parameters of minced meat during storage. The author of this Master work is Živilė Jagminaitė. Work advisor: dr. Aistė Kabašinskienė. The Master work was completed in Lithuanian university of health sciences, Department of food safety and quality, during 2011-2012 period. Work consists of: 51 pages, 2 tables, 29 illustrations, 1 supplement. Appropriate storage and meat processing, freshness assurance and hygienic-sanitary regimes are important factors when ensuring meat microbial quality. In often cases people don‘t know how to hold semi-cooked food properly, how to correctly prepare food, resulting in the risk of developing infectious diseases. Thesis aim: to evaluate the change in population of microbes in minced meat during the period of its storage. Results: Aerobic colony count in samples of minced meat did not exceed those of Lithuanian Hygiene Standards HN 26:2006 maximum allowed limits. When added spices to minced chicken, aerobic colony count has increased by 36,6 CFU/g, to pork by 8,49 CFU/g, and once added egg and bread crumbs to minced chicken increased by 8,5 CFU/g, to pork by 12,1 CFU/g (p>0,05). In the holding period of 3 to 6 hours, the count of aerobic colony in minced chicken with spices has increased by 7,4 CFU/g, in pork by 205,32CFU/g (p>0,05) and after 24 hours in chicken reached by 169,1 CFU/g (p<0,05), in pork by 396,06 CFU/g (p>0,05). For egg and bread crumbs 3 to 6 hours has increased by 9,6 CFU/g... [to full text]

Technology does not stand alone in any society. Each society negotiates its own relationship with technology and places its own value on it. Each chooses its own path. This thesis considers the path taken towards technology in the 21st Century by Old Colony Mennonites in Southwestern Ontario. Drawing on Coleman, relationships created by digital technologies are difficult to study as they extend or embed themselves into everyday life. While research into traditional Mennonite usage of static technologies exists, new forms of digital technologies – Smartphones, Texting, and Web 2.0 in particular – have not received the same attention. Initially, I asked whether a divide based on a volitional rejection of digital technology exists within the Old Colony. Ancillary questions surround issues of separation from mainstream society and economic disadvantages due to limited technology usage. Research consisted of interviews and observation. Four themes were identified that underpin this thesis; migration, economic, education and technology. Challenging stereotypes surrounding technology usage, evidence suggests it is not a digital divide Old Colony Mennonites negotiate but a continuum. Digital technology usage expands and contracts the walls surrounding isolation and separation from mainstream society. It allows ideas to flow between groups and for the shrinking of space locally and globally. It may lead some to move away from the church but it also may strengthen their ties. Increased literacy skills are identified as a stepping-stone, not towards the mainstream world but toward the desired better life, they left Mexico to pursue.

Technology does not stand alone in any society. Each society negotiates its own relationship with technology and places its own value on it. Each chooses its own path. This thesis considers the path taken towards technology in the 21st Century by Old Colony Mennonites in Southwestern Ontario. Drawing on Coleman, relationships created by digital technologies are difficult to study as they extend or embed themselves into everyday life. While research into traditional Mennonite usage of static technologies exists, new forms of digital technologies – Smartphones, Texting, and Web 2.0 in particular – have not received the same attention. Initially, I asked whether a divide based on a volitional rejection of digital technology exists within the Old Colony. Ancillary questions surround issues of separation from mainstream society and economic disadvantages due to limited technology usage. Research consisted of interviews and observation. Four themes were identified that underpin this thesis; migration, economic, education and technology. Challenging stereotypes surrounding technology usage, evidence suggests it is not a digital divide Old Colony Mennonites negotiate but a continuum. Digital technology usage expands and contracts the walls surrounding isolation and separation from mainstream society. It allows ideas to flow between groups and for the shrinking of space locally and globally. It may lead some to move away from the church but it also may strengthen their ties. Increased literacy skills are identified as a stepping-stone, not towards the mainstream world but toward the desired better life, they left Mexico to pursue.

Addendum pasted on front end papers. / Includes bibliographies. / 109, [99] leaves, [5] leaves of plates : ill. ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Describes the investigation as to whether the mouse granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor and interleukin-3 genes are regulated in a similar manner as those of the human, focussing on regulation through an enhancer. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Microbiology and Immunology, 1996

Copies of author's previous publications inserted. / Bibliography: leaves 153-182. / xv, 183, [10] leaves, [27] leaves of plates : ill. ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / From experimental data presented, combined with molecular modelling, proposes a hexameric model of active IL-3, IL-5 and GM-CSF receptor complexes. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Microbiology and Immunology, 1998?

Combinatorial optimisation problems (COPs) pervade human society: scheduling, design, layout, distribution, timetabling, resource allocation and project management all feature problems where the solution is some combination of elements, the overall value of which needs to be either maximised or minimised (i.e., optimised), typically subject to a number of constraints. Thus, techniques to efficiently solve such problems are an important area of research. A popular group of optimisation algorithms are the metaheuristics, approaches that specify how to search the space of solutions in a problem independent way so that high quality solutions are likely to result in a reasonable amount of computational time. Although metaheuristic algorithms are specified in a problem independent manner, they must be tailored to suit each particular problem to which they are applied. This thesis investigates a number of aspects of the application of the relatively new Ant Colony Optimisation (ACO) metaheuristic to different COPs.The standard ACO metaheuristic is a constructive algorithm loosely based on the foraging behaviour of ant colonies, which are able to find the shortest path to a food source by indirect communication through pheromones. ACO’s artificial pheromone represents a model of the solution components that its artificial ants use to construct solutions. Developing an appropriate pheromone representation is a key aspect of the application of ACO to a problem. An examination of existing ACO applications and the constructive approach more generally reveals how the metaheuristic can be applied more systematically across a range of COPs. The two main issues addressed in this thesis are biases inherent in the constructive process and the systematic selection of pheromone representations.The systematisation of ACO should lead to more consistently high performance of the algorithm across different problems. Additionally, it supports the creation of a generalised ACO system, capable of adapting itself to suit many different combinatorial problems without the need for manual intervention.

Colony dynamics, maternal investment, and indicators of health were investigated for the New Zealand fur seal (Arctocephalus forsteri) over four austral summers, 2001- 2005. Effort was focused at the Ohau Point seal colony, north of Kaikoura. Two colonies at Banks Peninsula were included for comparisons of colony growth and pup condition. A range of other colonies were also included for making comparisons about colony dynamics and health indices. Colony dynamics were investigated through mark-recapture estimates of pup production and daily census of all individuals at the Ohau Point colony. Maternal attendance patterns were observed through behavioural observations of known females (n = 120), the use of VHF radio transmitters (n = 33), and female mass and body condition estimates (n = 51). Maternal investment was also investigated through longitudinal sampling of pup mass and growth rates. Parameters used to indicate colony health were: body condition, growth, presence of parasites, and the levels and common causes of mortality. The influence of parasites on pup growth was tested using treatment of selected pups with Ivermectin anti-helmentic medication, and mortality in the region was investigated through reports of dead individuals, and post mortems of those found fresh. The Ohau Point colony is in an exponential state of growth, and pup mass and condition was higher and responded to changes in environmental variables differently than at the Banks Peninsula colonies. Lactation lengths were consistently longer at Ohau Point than is typically reported for the species (323-355 days vs. 285 days). Maternal investment strategies were indicative of a close, reliable food source, and showed flexibility between years through extension of foraging trip durations and the increased use of overnight foraging trips. Individual strategies did not significantly influence pup growth. However, increased maternal condition and the ability to respond to inter-annual changes in resource availability resulted in accelerated pup growth even during an El Niño event. The incidence of pups with intestinal parasites was low at Ohau Point, and the average mass of treated and non-treated pups did not differ. Pup mortality in the region was low (3% to 50 days old), however, mortality of older pups was greatly influenced by the proximity of humans, with 2/3 of pup mortality observed between the age of 50 days and weaning being caused by car collisions. The results suggest that population dynamics and maternal investment in the region are greatly influenced by local variables, notably the presence of an accessible food source within close proximity to the colony. Various indicators of health reflect a growing colony in good condition, and the presence of a reliable food source may influence the maximum density and carrying capacity the colony is able to sustain. However, some concerns are raised about the influence of human interactions in the region, and how this may affect mortality and colony dynamics in the future. Extra fencing along the Ohau Point colony is recommended to provide added protection from the road. Continued monitoring of mortality and health indices in the region is also recommended for comparison with other colonies as Ohau Point reaches carrying capacity and density-dependent pressures increase.

This thesis seeks to examine the nineteenth-century art collections and architectural style of the original buildings at the University of Sydney in order to demonstrate ways in which visual material may be employed to shape public perception of an institution. I shall argue that the architectural style of the original university buildings was specifically chosen with particular aims which extended beyond the mere establishment of a tertiary institution for the colony. I will also argue that the style shaped the character of the institution, contributed to the maintenance of law and order in the colony, linked the colony more firmly than hitherto to the mother country and provided social benefits for the founders of the institution. The instant history and character thus imposed upon the institution was reinforced by the assembly of a portrait collection in emulation of other collections of portraits at leading institutions of the colony and the mother country, including the Oxbridge universities. Once the building proclaimed that the institution was comparable with the great universities of the world, the subjects of the portraits at the university could be placed in the class of founders of a great historical institution, thus at the same time enhancing the reputation of the institution and the individuals. The construction of an indentity through visual images was extended by the benefactions of Sir Charles Nicholson, the principal donor of works of art to the university in the nineteenth century. I argue that his intentions in relation to his collections were didactic but were also concerned with the entrenchment of the imperial hegemony over the colony, and again with the enhancement of his personal repuatation. This analysis shows how, by a complex of personal ambition and aspiration for the colony, the style of the buildings and the art collections formed were used to establish the colony as civilized and the new university as a bastion of English tradition.

This study explores the early history of Sydney's Rocks area at two levels. First, it provides a much-needed history of the city's earliest, oldest-surviving and best-known precinct, one which allows an investigation of popular beliefs about the Rocks' convict origins, and which challenges and qualifies its reputation for lowlife, vice and squalor. Second, by examining fundamental aspects of everyday life - townscape, community and commonality, family life and work, human interaction and rites of passage - this study throws new light on the origins of Sydney from the perspective of the convict and ex-convict majority. Despite longstanding historical interest in Sydney's beginnings, the cultural identity, values, habits, beliefs of the convicts and ex-convicts remained largely hidden. The examination of such aspects reveals another Sydney altogether from that presented by governors, artists and mapmakers. Instead of an orderly oupost of empire, a gaol-town, or a 'gulag', the Sydney the Rocks represents was built and occupied largely according to the tastes, priorities and inclination of the people, with relatively little official regulation or interference. While the Rocks appeared 'disorderly' in the eyes of the elite, it nevertheless functioned according to cultural rules, those of the lower orders - the artisans, shopkeepers, publicans, labouring people, the majority of whom were convicts and ex-convicts.