I investigated the genetic basis of the trade-off between early fecundity (measured as ovary weight) and flight capability (measured as flight muscle mass) in two different environments (ad libitum and reduced food treatments) in females of a wing dimorphic cricket, Gryllus firmus. I found that the food environment did not affect the fecundity ratio between the two wing morphs. Consequently, while long wing (LW) females partially histolyse their dorso-longitudinal wing muscles (DLM) it is not enough to compensate for the low food treatment. Genetic parameters were estimated using a half-sib analysis on the LW females. The genetic correlation between the two traits was not different from -1 in both environments. According to the mixed-model ANOVA, the genetic correlation across environments for both traits did not differ from +1. Therefore, the heritability estimates of the pooled ovary weight and the pooled DLM weight were calculated and were significant. These results indicate that fitness resulting from the trade-off between flight capability and fecundity is not affected by varying food conditions.

My thesis analyses the phenomenon of Figwit, a non-speaking elf extra who appeared for only three-seconds in the first instalment of Peter Jackson's 2001 Lord of the Rings movie trilogy. Figwit was initially generated as an online parody by female fans of the movie and as a foil to the 'swooning, drooling girly' fandom that was being directed towards the movie's star actors. However, Figwit evolved into a bona fide, albeit minor, celebrity both on and offline as he attracted attention from worldwide media, a small speaking role in the final movie and genuine adulatory fandom as manifested in the production of Figwit merchandise. In my thesis I argue that Figwit's creation and consequential community formation reflects a dynamic online-offline dialogic in which pre-existing offline and habitus-generated social practices and distinctions, ideal reflexive individuality and celebrity/fandom were dynamically reproduced within online technological frameworks. I also argue that online activity and interactivity is generated by users to strategically express and engage intensified reflexive individuality, affirming sociability and hyper-social distinctions. In this regard I have also argued that these various potentials and imaginaries were significantly enabled by digital architectures and genres of online communication and interactivity. In particular, I discuss the internet's capacity for searchability, traceability, and rhetorical framing processes that facilitate continuous re-editing authorship possibilities, which are not necessarily replicable in face-to-face interactions. Finally, I argue that reflexive online interactivity and identity expressions may transform into online and offline consequences that may be constructive, divergent or even contradictory. The arguments put forward in this thesis are based on a multi-sited ethnography, which utilises a variety of methodologies including participant-observation, subject interviews, communications and media archiving and analysis, and it draws from a variety of sources both online and offline.

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This study aims to improve flight simulation of flexible aircraft. More specifically, this thesis concentrates on comparing two flexible aircraft flight simulation models. Both modeling techniques considered use the same aircraft structural and aerodynamic data provided by the aircraft manufacturer. Simulation models were developed and tested using a number of control inputs in both longitudinal and lateral dimensions. Time history responses from the simulations were compared. The effect of increasing the flexibility of the aircraft model was also studied on both models. It was found that the two models produce very similar results for the original aircraft stiffness case. However, the lateral response of the two models diverges as the stiffness is lowered. A number of recommendations are made for further testing and research, based on the conclusions of the study.

This study aims to improve flight simulation of flexible aircraft. More specifically, this thesis concentrates on comparing two flexible aircraft flight simulation models. Both modeling techniques considered use the same aircraft structural and aerodynamic data provided by the aircraft manufacturer. Simulation models were developed and tested using a number of control inputs in both longitudinal and lateral dimensions. Time history responses from the simulations were compared. The effect of increasing the flexibility of the aircraft model was also studied on both models. It was found that the two models produce very similar results for the original aircraft stiffness case. However, the lateral response of the two models diverges as the stiffness is lowered. A number of recommendations are made for further testing and research, based on the conclusions of the study.

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Doctor of Philosophy(PhD) / This thesis maps the sixty year history of the Qantas flight attendants’ uniform. It figures the Qantas uniform as a prism through which to explore a history of modern Australian fashion and design, and the social and cultural web that gives life to the image of the Qantas flight attendant, rather than a history of the airline itself. Qantas, with its humble origins in the rural town of Longreach, Queensland, became the national carrier when it combined interests with Britain’s Imperial Airways to form Qantas Empire Airways in 1934. From the time the first female Qantas flight hostess appeared on board in 1948, the aircraft aisle became a 'catwalk for the image-makers'. It is particularly important to the role of the flight hostess, later the flight attendant, that the dress of the cabin crew, although clearly defined as uniforms, also responded to current fashion from the beginning of this history. Although the story of Qantas has been well documented, this thesis will focus on the uncharted area of the evolving design history of flight uniforms from the clinical white dress of the 1940s, through the military designs of the 1950s and the synthetics and stilettos of the 1960s, right through to the corporate designs of the present day. The analysis of such corporate design is a relatively new field. This study uses the flight attendants’ uniform to chart the links between the Australian fashion and textile industry and with militarism, versions of Australian nationalism and cosmopolitanism, the corporate world and the role of international designers in Australian design history. While the method of this thesis is largely archival, meticulously detailing the changing facets of the Qantas uniforms and unfolding those details into an engagement with these historical context, there are other theoretical influences on this study. In particular, it is underpinned by the ‘semiotics of uniformity’ drawn from fashion and design studies and by an equal focus on discourse analysis. The flight hostess’s uniform was always a complex ‘articulation of discourses’ as national image had to be played off against international trends, dominant and emerging gender norms, and the language of professional 'decorum' for people with high levels of responsibility and public exposure. Across each of these registers, the frisson of glamour was also a factor, morphing across this history from images of modernism and internationalism via the quasi-erotics of uniform fetishism into ‘postmodern’ performativity.

Doctor of Philosophy(PhD) / This thesis maps the sixty year history of the Qantas flight attendants’ uniform. It figures the Qantas uniform as a prism through which to explore a history of modern Australian fashion and design, and the social and cultural web that gives life to the image of the Qantas flight attendant, rather than a history of the airline itself. Qantas, with its humble origins in the rural town of Longreach, Queensland, became the national carrier when it combined interests with Britain’s Imperial Airways to form Qantas Empire Airways in 1934. From the time the first female Qantas flight hostess appeared on board in 1948, the aircraft aisle became a 'catwalk for the image-makers'. It is particularly important to the role of the flight hostess, later the flight attendant, that the dress of the cabin crew, although clearly defined as uniforms, also responded to current fashion from the beginning of this history. Although the story of Qantas has been well documented, this thesis will focus on the uncharted area of the evolving design history of flight uniforms from the clinical white dress of the 1940s, through the military designs of the 1950s and the synthetics and stilettos of the 1960s, right through to the corporate designs of the present day. The analysis of such corporate design is a relatively new field. This study uses the flight attendants’ uniform to chart the links between the Australian fashion and textile industry and with militarism, versions of Australian nationalism and cosmopolitanism, the corporate world and the role of international designers in Australian design history. While the method of this thesis is largely archival, meticulously detailing the changing facets of the Qantas uniforms and unfolding those details into an engagement with these historical context, there are other theoretical influences on this study. In particular, it is underpinned by the ‘semiotics of uniformity’ drawn from fashion and design studies and by an equal focus on discourse analysis. The flight hostess’s uniform was always a complex ‘articulation of discourses’ as national image had to be played off against international trends, dominant and emerging gender norms, and the language of professional 'decorum' for people with high levels of responsibility and public exposure. Across each of these registers, the frisson of glamour was also a factor, morphing across this history from images of modernism and internationalism via the quasi-erotics of uniform fetishism into ‘postmodern’ performativity.