Carbon nanotube (CNT) polymer composites have attracted much attention since the extraordinary electrical and mechanical properties of CNTs were realised. However research into biomedical applications of CNT/polymer composites has received little attention. The aim of this thesis was to fabricate an electrically conductive, biocompatible polymer based on a poly(ether)urethane (PEU) with multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) as the conductive filler. Paramount to achieving this was to obtain good dispersion and integration of MWNTs within the host polymer matrix. A number of different strategies were investigated including high energy mixing of MWNTs in PEU and covalent functionalisation of MWNTs with long chain hydrocarbons, poly(tetramethylene oxide) (PTMO) and poly(acrylic acid) (pAA) for enhanced miscibility with PEU. The impact of these strategies was assessed by testing the tensile properties, electrical conductivity as well as cytotoxicity of resulting MWNT/PEU composites. It was found that high energy mixing in the presence of MWNTs caused severe degradation of PEU, resulting in significant cytotoxicity and reductions in composite tensile strength. Covalent functionalisation of MWNTs was achieved by utilising defect group chemistry to attach a range of molecules. PTMO covalently attached to MWNTs was found to cause significant nanotube aggregation in PEU composites. Long chain hydrocarbons covalently attached to MWNTs exhibited enhanced dispersability in PEU with increasing molecular weight, attributed to disrupting intertube Van der Waals forces and providing favourable hydrophobic interactions with PEU. Additionally these composites exhibited increased conductivity and decreased cytotoxicity with increasing hydrocarbon length. However increasing long chain hydrocarbon molecular weight also caused significant reductions in MWNT conductivity. MWNTs surface modified with carboxylic acid groups exhibited favourable hydrophilic interactions with PEU but did not retain tensile properties at nanotube loadings where electrical conductivity was significant. Successful polymerisation of acrylic acid monomer initiated from MWNTs using a reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer polymerisation was demonstrated. Resulting pAA-MWNTs exhibited enhanced dispersability in water but not in PEU composites, resulting in severe degradation in composite tensile properties. PAA-MWNTs also exhibited decreased conductivity with increasing pAA molecular weight. Incorporating MWNTs in PEU composites has been demonstrated to impart multi-functionality to existing biomaterials for potential uses in a range of biomedical applications.

Touch, as it is conventionally conceived, appears to be lacking in Japanese intimate relationships. Physical or visible forms of intimate touch are generally relegated to particular body practices or contexts such as co-bathing and co-sleeping, and are usually uncharacteristic of everyday experiences of intimacy. Instead, Japanese relationships are commonly defined in terms of subtle forms of communication, such as ishin denshin (heart-to-heart communication) and ittaikan (feelings of oneness), where feelings are expected to be inferred. However, it is unclear as to how such forms manifest feelings of closeness in the first place. This study opens up these feelings of closeness through exploring the embodied experience and tangible connection in the intimate spaces of the Japanese family. It describes a relational experience of space, depth and touch that is beyond the scope of conventional theories of the body. Drawing on Japanese sociologies of the body as well as other sociological tools that are relevant to everyday Japanese experiences, this study also offers universal contributions to the understandings of how touch can exist as a manifestation of intimacy. The first part of the thesis introduces the reader to the critical concepts and theories driving the study. The key ideas and understandings of Japanese relationships are also considered, leading to the suggestion that a conceptual understanding of embodiment will add to such literature. Part One concludes with a specific investigation of my field research on intimacy in Japan. The second part of the thesis explores how skinship (intimacy through touch) exists and feels in Japanese parent-child and marital relationships. A theory of touch is developed, via Japanese relationships, which is not restricted to physical or visible forms of touch. Described as touching at depth, this theory explores alternative ways of understanding experiences of intimacy that are not necessarily linked to tactile feeling or spatial closeness. Although bodily forms of touch exist in some relationships, other relational states become significant to feelings of connectedness, particularly as the child grows older. The third part of the thesis explores this shift, along with how the Japanese child adapts to the world, when their initial ways of touching no longer exist. Emphasis here is not just on primary 'home‘ relationships, but also on teacher-child relationships, and the way familial relationships shift as the child moves back and forth between the home and world. It becomes clear in Part Three that touch becomes felt differently as the child grows older and feels their significance and connection with the world in more encompassing ways.

Using written and studio research, the above research question is interrogated through a body of practical work, that evolved into a static exhibition titled Second skin: new knitting at The Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Paddington, New South Wales, Australia, in January/February 2008. This thesis examines knitting as a form of constructed textile in an historical and contemporary context and explores the integral relationship it has with fashion and textiles, as well as questioning the significance of interplay between fashion and art. The primary aim of this research is to explore contemporary knitwear designers working in the high-fashion’ area of design and investigate how they are challenging traditionally established rules and perceptions, and potentially blur the boundaries of what is considered fashion design, into art. While conceptual fashion design has always been a debateable issue among fashion scholars as to whether it can be viewed as fashion, antifashion or possibly art, this thesis examines the influences of modernity and deconstruction in relation to knitting, to establish a conclusion regarding the contemporary position and understanding of knitting in society at present. Through gathering both primary and secondary research nationally and internationally, knitting has been examined in relation to the ways in which contemporary designers working in the realm of knitting are unravelling these traditionally based preconceptions, and analysing what they are accomplishing through the use of mixed media applications, post-knitting treatments, yarn and stitch manipulation, and challenging sculptural form to create a new visual language through artisanal production. The body of work presented explores the concepts established in the written research relative to perception and deconstruction, and provokes questions which challenge the notion of knitting as fashion, art or both. Through hand and machine knitting techniques, Second skin: new knitting examines body scarification in the form of tribal markings, which allows each pieces to transform into a second skin that convey interpretive narratives and visual messages. The predominant medium utilised is 100% Australian wool and in conjunction, incorporates mixed media materials such as silk organza and semi precious stones, and technological processes include laser cutting and etching of Tasmanian oak veneer and leather.

Human Embryonic Stem (hES) cells will potentially have important applications in regenerative medicine, drug discovery and therapeutics. However, the current methods of hES cell culture limit their use in future applications due mostly to the inability to culture undifferentiated hES cells in sufficient numbers and the concern of animal derived products used in culture methods potentially implementing an immune rejection in transplantiation recipients. This project investigated two approaches for improving the culture of undifferentiated hES cells for future application in bioreactor systems. Firstly, proteins from the conditioned medium of three hES cell supportive fibroblast lines (human fetal, human neonatal and mouse embryonic fibroblasts) were identified using two-dimensional liquid chromatography, tandem mass spectrometry. This proteomic analysis identified 175 unique proteins including those from key pathways already implicated in the maintenance of human embryonic stem cell pluripotency including the Wnt, BMP/TGF-β1, activin/inhibin and insulin like growth factor-1 pathways. Identification of proteins in fibroblast conditioned medium will aid the development of a defined medium for undifferentiated hES cell culture. The second approach examined culture of hES cells in hypoxic conditions (5% O2) compared to standard normoxic conditions in CO2 incubators (20% O2). Feeder layer and feeder free culture conditions were examined in the two O2 concentrations. hES cell colonies grown in hypoxic culture had improved percentages of pluripotent cells (judged by increases in cells expressing SSEA-4, Tra-1-60 and nanog and reduction of BMP-4), stable karyotypes and increased proliferation. The maintenance of pluripotency, apoptosis and proliferation was complicated by the detection of the cell surface marker CD30. Proteomic identification and investigation into oxidative stress indicated the presence of antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutases, catalases and peroxiredoxins in human fetal fibroblast conditioned medium and their regulation of redox homeostasis may play a significant role in the maintenance of hES cell pluripotency, apoptosis and proliferation. Together these investigations significantly contribute to the current body of knowledge for the undifferentiated culture of hES cells. Identification of conditioned medium proteins and the benefits of hypoxic culture of hES cells will aid the development of a defined, reproducible method of hES cell scale-up in bioreactor systems.

The Quaternary megafauna of Southeast Asia are among the world’s poorest known. Throughout the Pleistocene, continental collisions, active volcanic systems and fluctuations in sea level have had dramatic effects on the region's geography, from southern China to Indonesia. Many Southeast Asian megafauna experienced geographical range reduction or complete extinction during that interval. This thesis explores the relative influence of environmental change and human interaction in these extinctions. There is currently no direct evidence to suggest that humans had a negative impact on Southeast Asian megafauna until the Holocene. Rather, extinctions and geographical range reduction experienced by megafauna are likely to have resulted from of loss of suitable habitats, in particular the loss of more open habitats. Environmental change throughout the Pleistocene of Southeast Asia is reconstructed on the basis of discriminant functions analysis of megafauna from twenty-seven Southeast Asian Quaternary sites, as well as Gongwangling, an early Pleistocene hominin site previously interpreted as paleoarctic. The discriminant functions were defined on the basis of species lists drawn from modern Asian nature reserves and national parks, and were analysed using both taxonomic and phylogeny-free variables. Biases present in these species lists were mitigated against using a range of multivariate techniques. The reconstructions show that Pleistocene environments in Southeast Asia varied from open (e.g. savannah), mixed (woodland) and closed (e.g. rainforest) habitats. Changes in habitats through time are likely to have been driven, at least in part, by changes in sea-level, in turn related to oscillations between glacial and interglacial conditions. The environmental changes associated with these oscillations are likely to have adversely affected many of Southeast Asia’s megafauna. The Toba super-eruption (~74kya) is unlikely to have been responsible for any of the megafauna extinctions of the Late Pleistocene.

This thesis work has focused on the study of itaconate monomers and photo-initiation processes in acrylate, methacrylate and itaconate monomer systems. Novel information pertaining to photo-initiator derived radical species and their reactivity, as well as the behaviour of itaconate polymerization systems is presented in detail. The knowledge gained from the photo-initiation studies is utilized as a precursor to mark polymer chains using nitrones as radical spin traps and the applicability of this technique discussed. The sterically hindered monomers dimethyl itaconate (DMI), di-n-butyl itaconate (DBI) and dicyclohexyl itaconate (DCHI) were polymerized via reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) free radical polymerization. The RAFT mediated polymerization of these monomers displayed hybrid living behaviour (a mix of conventional and living free radical polymerization characteristics) of varying degrees depending on the molecular structure of the RAFT agent employed. DCHI was also polymerized using atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). The resulting molecular weight distributions are broad for the RAFT mediated systems (1.2 ≤ PDI ≤ 3.4). The molecular weight distributions generated via the ATRP of DCHI are narrower (1.2 ≤ PDI ≤ 1.5). Chain transfer to monomer constants for the itaconate monomers DMI, DBI and DCHI have been determined at 60 ??C (CDMI = 1.4⋅10-3, CDBI = 1.3⋅10-3 and CDCHI = 1.0⋅10-3) and are relatively large in comparison to similar 1,1-disubstituted systems, suggesting that the transfer to monomer reaction is significant. PREDICI?? simulations confirm that a significant chain transfer to monomer step results in broad molecular weight distributions. Viscosity of the polymerizing system has also been shown to be an important factor in the resulting width of the molecular weight distributions. Chain extension of RAFT capped pDCHI and pDBI yield molecular weight distributions that progressively shift to higher molecular weights. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) of pDCHI-block-pStyrene copolymers indicates thermal degradation in two separate steps for the pDCHI and pStyrene blocks. Conventional pulsed laser polymerization coupled with size exclusion chromatography (PLP-SEC) as well as multi-pulse pulsed laser polymerization (MP-PLP) has been employed to study the depropagation kinetics of DMI, DBI DCHI and di(4-tert butylcyclohexyl) itaconate (DBCHI). The effective rate coefficient of propagation, kp eff, was determined for DMI, DBI and DCHI in bulk and solution of cyclohexanone (DCHI), N-methylformamide (DMI and DBI) and anisole (DBCHI) for monomer concentrations between 0.7 &lt cM 0 &lt 7.1 mol L-1 in a wide temperature range (0 &lt T &lt 90 ??C). The resulting Arrhenius plots (i.e. ln kp eff vs. 1/RT) displayed a significant curvature in the higher temperature regimes and were analyzed in their respective linear and curved sections to yield the activation parameters of the forward and reverse reaction. Mark-Houwink-Kahn Sakurada parameters for pDBI and pDBCHI were determined in tetrahydrofuran at 40 ??C using triple detection gel permeatation chromatography. High resolution Electrospray Ionization - Quadrupole Ion Trap Mass Spectrometry (ESIMS) was applied to study the polymeric product spectrum generated by the pulsed laser polymerization (PLP) of methyl methacrylate (MMA), methyl acrylate (MA), butyl acrylate (BA) and DMI at temperatures ≤ 0 ??C in the presence of various photo-initiators including 2,2-dimethoxy-2-phenylacetophenone (DMPA), benzoin, benzil, benzoin ethyl ether (BEE) 2,2-azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) and bis(2,4,6-trimethyl-benzoyl)- phenylphosphinoxide (Irgacure 819) to study the reactivity of primary and potential secondary derived radical fragments from photolytically induced fragmentation. Termination products, both combination and disproportionation, were identified with high accuracy. Results have been compiled in a user friendly table presenting the reactivity of the various photolysis product fragments towards the different monomers. Energy deposition into the MA/photo-initiator systems is found to have no influence on the product distributions of the MA polymers produced via photo-initiation under the conditions examined. For various photo-initiators employed, products congruent to that of chain transfer to monomer species in the DMI photo-polymerizations are observed, conclusively illustrating that chain transfer to monomer is a significant reaction pathway in itaconate free radical polymerizations. Both the benzoyl and acetal fragments generated as a result of DMPA photo cleavage were found to initiate and highly likely terminate polymerization. Under the conditions studied, the acetal radical produced upon DMPA photolysis fragment further to yield methyl radicals which seem to act predominantly as terminating moieties. Both the benzoyl and ether fragments produced as a result of benzoin photo cleavage were found to act as initiating and probable terminating species, indicating that the ether radical fragment does not act exclusively as a terminating species. Additionally, increasing laser intensity and/or irradiation repetition rate (i.e., energy deposition into the system) results in more complex product distributions of the MMA polymers produced via photo-initiation (with the exception of AIBN). Temperature was determined to have a minor influence on the resulting product distribution under the conditions examined. Polymerization systems utilizing Irgacure 819 give complex product spectra due to the formation of second generation radical species resulting in several initiator fragments incorporated into a single polymer chain. A novel method utilizing PLP in free radical polymerization has been developed for marking of polymer chains with radical spin traps. By introducing a so-called “marker” (nitroxide derived from a nitrone), which specifically terminates propagating radicals via combination, a polymer subdistribution is generated which can be measured by ESI-MS and may potentially be utilized to determine propagation rate coefficients of ultimate accuracy. The general methodology of the technique in which such marker radicals are generated via reaction of an initiating radical with a nitrone is demonstrated on the examples of butyl acrylate (BA) and vinyl acetate (VAc).

This thesis is broadly concerned with the representation of the environment of a mobile robot and the modelling of its motion. An attempt has been made to address some issues of the laser scan matching for global self-localization and map building. Different methods for the interpretation of sensor information have been investigated. Mobile robots have many applications in transportation, surveillance, health care and mining etc. For a successful navigation, the representation of the environment is crucial. The robot environment interaction is very complex in practice. Many factors contribute to this complexity, such as the electromechanical hardware structure and complex controlling and navigational programming modules. Above all however, it is the environment itself which is usually very complex. The perception model is the most important component of the navigation system of a mobile robot, at the core of which is the representation of the environment. Environment parameters are difficult to model and simplistic models are used in various position estimation techniques. However, for true autonomous navigation, the environment should be represented in a more dense fashion and the interpretation should be straightforward. The robot interacts with its environment using sensors. The sensory information provides clues about the location of the robot but the interpretion of this information is very challenging. Some type of model or a mathematical description of the environment is required for any meaningful interpretation and for making critical navigational decisions when a new observation arrives. The second key component of a navigation system is a motion model. Due to structural and software complexity the behaviour of a robot is rarely repeatable under the same motion commands. This can be attributed to many factors such as slippage, wear and tear of wheels at different rates, floor conditions or obstacle negotiation strategies. This means that motion commands have an associated uncertainty and need statistical treatment. Similarly the processing of raw laser data, although highly desirable, is computationally very expensive and therefore we usually need to make a trade off and extract some features from this data, despite losing some of the information. In this thesis we investigated three core issues of motion modelling, perception (or observation) modelling and scan correlation. Some auxiliary issues have also been addressed, such as the extraction of features from laser data and a broader classification of the environment suitable for certain situations. In regard to environment representation, we used the geometrical form of representation and tried to extract some statistical formulation. This method suggests to capture the environment model in a statistical form before the start of navigation when the map is known. The detailed parametric representation of the environment is obtained along with a proposal for a laser scan matching method based on geometrical line and corner features. The geometrical representation is based on some features extracted from raw laser data. This is considered a compact and easily implementable form, which was one of the objectives of our research, however utilisation of all the sensory information is still desirable and we have also investigated this issue. The models have been tested thoroughly on simulations and with real data in laboratory and office-like indoor environments. Laser scan matching is a technique of position estimation based on matching two laser scans taken at the initial and final positions of the robot. We also presented a method to find out the degree of match between two laser scans. At the end of the thesis, the scan correlation has been used to find the most reliable landmarks in the environment. This approach filters out the nuisance landmarks which increase the size of matrices in Simultaneous Localization and Mapping algorithms. An improved computational efficiency was of primary concern and a main focus of this research. All the methods proposed in this thesis, such as feature extraction, broader classification, parametric formulation, line segment based scan matching and the scan matching for measurement updates address the computational issues in a fundamental way by using an appropriate formulation of the problem.

Folate is an important B vitamin in the daily diet. It is not known to what extent naturally occurring folates in the mixed diet is bioavailable. Knowledge on to what extent the natural folates are absorbed would be best studied in a population that is not exposed to any folate fortificant. The aim of the present study was to study the bioavailability of dietary 5-methyl tetrahydrofolate (5-MTHF) in a whole day??s mixed diet relative to supplemental 5-MTHF in a selected Indian population. A dietary survey (n=200) conducted in South India, revealed a mean total intake of folate of 277+ 92.3 μg/day (which is nearly 3 times higher than the current Indian Recommended Dietary Intake set to 100 μg/day) based on the actual analysis of foods collected from a typical diet using a trienzyme technique followed by the microbiological assay. Further, the individual folate forms present in the foods were also analysed using a newly developed Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry LC-MS/MS). Quantification of folates was performed using internal standards. Good linearity was observed between 2-100 ng/Injection (Injection volume-100 μL, R2: 0.98) that was suitable for analysis of foods (cereal, pulse, vegetables, milk based preparations and fruit) and blood samples (serum folate and erythrocyte folate) for use in bioavailability study. The folate intakes were reported to be higher (429+ 68.7 μg/day) when the individual foods from the diet were analysed using the LC-MS/MS technique when compared to the values generated using microbiological assay. LC-MS/MS analysis revealed that the Indian diets were predominant in 5-MTHF and the important sources being cereals, pulses and vegetables. 22 human volunteers, aged 18-25 years were recruited in India to study the bioavailability of 5-MTHF. A randomized trial (12 weeks) was designed, where the subjects consumed 400 g 5-MTHF/day in the form of as supplemental drink or an experimental diet (400 g/day) consisting predominantly 5-MTHF (90%). Relative bioavailability of 5-MTHF was calculated by comparing the responses to food folate in relation to supplemental 5-MTHF, as indicated by the biomarkers. The relative bioavailability of food folate predominant in 5-MTHF was 41% based on serum folate indicator and 47% based on erythrocyte folate status. A mean increase of 60% was observed in the erythrocyte folate levels of the subjects consuming diets predominant in 5-MTHF in 12 weeks. Diets predominant in 5-MTHF have a good potential in improving the folate status of the population.

The Transplanted Bush: Dislocation, Desire and the Domestic takes as its theme the idea of the Australian bush and seeks new ways to represent it within the traditions of Australian figurative landscape painting. The research identifies ways to disrupt the bush brand, a paradigm that has played a significant and romantic role in the construction of Australian national identity, as a rallying point for nationalist sentiment and to sell Australia to the world as a unique tourist destination. The bush, as a space that is anti-city, an idea that generally relies on a British genealogy, and one that is constructed according to hetero-normative strategies, is significant in the creation of Australian identity because it is widely regarded as the real Australia. Real in this context has somehow become distorted to mean those parts of our nation that make us distinct from the rest of the world, while continuing to reflect the values and aspirations of a dominant culture and its heroic history of colonising and domesticating a strange land. The overriding focus of this investigation has been to determine to what extent it is possible to reconceptualize the bush brand so that it can accommodate new themes of identity, particularly in relation to gender and sexuality. This research adopts the position that the bush is an idea that has relied heavily upon myths, legends and mono-cultural perspectives for its construction and, as a result, is open to negotiation. Consequently, this investigation takes place at the very heart of the bush paradigm, within its grand master narratives, by engaging with its symbols and signifiers. It reviews the ideological and representational role played by the traditional model of Australian figurative landscape painting, and considered how it can be reinvested with new signs, symbols, motifs, colours and ideas. By developing and introducing a new vocabulary of signs and symbols that erodes the distinctions between the bush, the urban and the domestic, this research disrupts the internal logic and coherence of the bush brand.

This thesis adopts post-colonial theory as a reading strategy to address both fiction and interdisciplinary critical writing on the subject of tourism. The introduction argues for the viability of this methodology, highlighting similarities between the ideological underpinnings of tourism and imperialism, especially in relation to the power of the gaze. The first chapter draws on analyses of early exploration and travel writing to advance the argument that as the ideology of empire was encoded in travel writing, so contemporary tourist culture, in so far as it has inherited this discourse, continues to operate within it. I suggest that in much the same way as the explorer???s gaze was a form of creating knowledge disseminated through writing, fiction constitutes a cultural production that contests the power of the gaze. The second chapter focuses on the ambivalent effects of the commodification of culture caused by the tourist industry. I argue that cultural tourism, centred on heritage and history, has constituted a platform from which to review conventional representations of Australian history in a way that demonstrates the relevance of heritage to contemporary national narratives. The third and final chapter examines the relationship between cultural performances in tourism and subject formation, contending that the repetitive nature of performance offers an ideal opportunity to interpolate transformative views of both locals and tourists into the conventional tourist discourse.