Over the past thirty years, price relativities and technological development have motivated an increase in the area of land allocated to cropping, as opposed to pasture production, throughout the central wheat belt of Western Australia. Nevertheless, reducing the proportion of pasture in these rotations has challenged the future productivity of farming systems in this area. First, the frequent application of selective herbicides for weed control in extended cropping rotations has promoted the development of herbicide resistance in a number of major agricultural weeds. Second, the primary use of annual plants has promoted the development of soil salinisation by allowing a significant proportion of rainfall to recharge saline water tables. The inclusion of perennial pasture phases between extended periods of cropping may mitigate or delay these constraints to production through (a) allowing the use of costeffective forms of non-selective weed control, and (b) through creating a buffer of dry soil that absorbs leakage occurring beneath subsequent crops. This study consequently explores the value of including perennial pasture phases in dryland agricultural systems in the eastern-central wheat belt of Western Australia, accounting for benefits related to herbicide resistance and water table management. A novel computational algorithm for the solution of multiple-phase optimal control problems is developed and used to conduct a conceptual analysis of the value of lucerne (Medicago sativa L.) pasture for managing annual ryegrass (Lolium rigidum Gaudin), the primary weed in wheat belt cropping systems. The competitiveness and fecundity of annual ryegrass provide strong economic incentives to maintain a low weed population, irrespective of herbicide-resistance status. Consequently, the ineffectiveness of selective herbicides primarily reduces the profitability of cropping by motivating the adoption of more costly non-selective forms of weed control. The inclusion of lucerne in land-use rotations is only optimal in the presence of severe herbicide resistance given (a) the low efficiency of alternative weed-management practices available during the pasture phase, relative to selective-herbicide application; (b) the significant cost of establishing this perennial pasture; and (c) the high relative profitability of cereal production in the absence of resistance. The value of lucerne, relative to annual pastures, for weed management is explored in greater detail through the use of compressed annealing to optimise a sophisticated simulation model. The profitability of candidate rotations is also manipulated to account for the long-term production losses accruing to the recharge of saline groundwaters that occurs beneath them. Sequences incorporating lucerne are only more profitable than those that include annual pasture at the standard set of parameter values if (a) annual ryegrass is resistant to all selective herbicides, (b) the water table is so shallow (approximately less than 3.5 m deep) that frequent rotation with perennials is required to avert soil salinisation, or (c) sheep production is highly profitable. The value of perennial pasture is sufficient under these circumstances to overcome its high establishment cost. Consistent with intuition, these benefits are reinforced by lower discount rates and higher rates of leakage occurring beneath annual-based systems. Formulation of an effective communication strategy to report these results to producers is justified given the complexity involved in determining the true magnitude of these intertemporal benefits through alternative means, such as field trials.

The formation of alliances has become a key strategy for businesses wishing to grow. Yet the majority of these alliances fail. Most of the research into strategic alliances has focused on the benefits to the business itself, such as access to new markets, new technology or new knowledge. Surprisingly little research has examined the impact such alliances have on the customer, so we do not know if these alliances result in tangible benefits for customers that can be used to improve the outcomes of the alliance. The present study examined whether such an alliance added value to customers or improved their relationship with a service provider. The study found customers differentiated between

Four folded maps in pocket on back cover. / Copy of author's previously published work inserted. / Includes bibliographical references (9 leaves). / 1 v. : ill. (chiefly col.), maps (some fold.), (chiefly col.) ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / An integrated biostratigraphic, wireline, seismic, lithological and 3D-Chronostrat sequence stratigraphic study has been conducted to investigate the evolution of the Albian to recent section of the Dampier Sub-basin on Australia's North West Shelf,. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, National Centre for Petroleum Geology and Geophysics, 2000

Australia is transected by a network of systematic continental-scale lineaments that are considered to be zones of concentrated, aligned tectonic activity which have apparent continuity over vast distances. The influence of lineaments on the rock record can be identified in many types of data-sets, and existing data reveals previously undescribed basement influences. Several continental-scale lineaments can be traced offshore with apparent continuity for hundreds to thousands of kilometres, two of which are seen to cross the Tasman Sea in offshore eastern Australia. / Geological and chronological evidence demonstrates that many of the lineaments have been zones of reactivation since at least the Early Proterozoic (- 1880 Ma) and that they appear to cross major terrane boundaries. Alternative models for their origin are a) a pre-existing lineament network maintained in an ancient basement underlying the entire continent; b) lateral propagation of crustal-scale structures; c) alignment of genetically unrelated lineaments giving the appearance of continuity. / Australian deep-seismic profiles show that continental-scale lineaments are zones of crustal-scale structure which in some cases transect the crust-mantle boundary. Lineaments demonstrate many faulting styles, e.g. listric extensional (G3), planar moderate-angle thrusts (G2 l), and sub-vertical thrusts (G 17). In some cases the structural style varies laterally along the length of the lineament. (For complete abstract open document)

This study considered the adjustment of international students to their life in a new country and their work in the business faculty of a large Australian university. Prior research into expatriate adjustment was used as the study’s basis and a model for analysis was developed from that research literature. Although some aspects of the relationships found with expatriate employees were not demonstrated, generally the similarities were strong and the features of an expatriate employee’s experience and that of an international student were seen to be very alike. Over 500 international students completed a survey based on well-validated measures from the research literature. The results were analysed using structural equation modelling. The hypothesised model did not fit very well in its original form and alternative models were suggested and tested in order to identify a better-fitting model. Cultural novelty, personal abilities in interpersonal interactions and communication skills, self-esteem, self-efficacy and general adjustment were found to be the most significant variables in explaining the outcomes of academic achievement, workrelated and general wellbeing and work-related and general satisfaction, with selfesteem, self-efficacy and general adjustment having the greatest influence on successful outcomes. Adjustment was found not to be a mediating construct, as suggested in the expatriate literature, but an antecedent influence upon the outcomes. Relationships between the constructs were complex, as had been suggested by previous research, making generalisations about causes and consequences of adjustment very difficult. This complexity emphasised that, for international students, the experience of living and working in an international location needs to be regarded in a holistic fashion and that there are many and varied contributors to its success. Several potentially fruitful avenues for future research, concerning both international students and expatriate employees, were identified and discussed. The implications of the present study were considered, both from an academic perspective and in terms of usefulness within a university. A number of possible practical strategies were suggested, relevant to students, lecturers and university administrators that might assist in improving the experience of ‘expatriation’ for international students.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Western Australia, 2006.

Four folded maps in pocket on back cover. Copy of author's previously published work inserted. Includes bibliographical references (9 leaves). An integrated biostratigraphic, wireline, seismic, lithological and 3D-Chronostrat sequence stratigraphic study has been conducted to investigate the evolution of the Albian to recent section of the Dampier Sub-basin on Australia's North West Shelf,.

This is a thesis about time. It is sited in Perth, Western Australia. Like other Australian states, Western Australia has a modern market system economy and enjoys, comparative to other countries with a market system economy, well developed social welfare and public education systems. The thesis shows how a set of fifteen people from Perth, Western Australia, who had all experienced a change in their domestic arrangements, understood time in the domestic sphere. Drawing upon their representations and constructions of their lives, and focusing on the concept of caring, this work demonstrates how temporal concepts can be utilised to control and limit choices these people have made in their lives.The evidence, collected through a series of open-ended and on-going discussions, is synthesized with theory, particularly the work of Barbara Adam. To Adam, an understanding of time involves appreciating the complexity of time. To gain such an understanding requires a research paradigm that allows this. Such an understanding requires stepping outside Cartesian dualistic thinking, including entrenched notions such as gendered time, and, an appreciation that differing temporal concepts exist and are utilised as mechanisms of control.

Objective: To retrospectively evaluate antibiotic use in pediatric appendectomy procedures following an educational intervention in December 2001. Methodology: Demographic, clinical, and prescribing data was collected for all the patients <18 years old who have had undergone non-perforated appendectomy procedures at Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, WA. Data collection and analysis were divided into three groups. Group-I involved patients from May 2002 to April 2004 (which followed the post-intervention follow-up conducted from December 2001-April 2002 by Mallik et al.1). In May 2004, the Western Australian Therapeutic Advisory Group (WATAG) sent an advisory note which recommended a change from the use of cefotetan for surgical prophylaxis to cephazolin plus metronidazole. Group-II of the study involved patients between May 2004 (when the WATAG note was released) and June 2004; while Group-III involved patients from July 2004 to April 2005 (when the hospital issued the new guidelines and withdrawn cefotetan).Patient records were randomly selected for Group I & III and all the records were evaluated for Group III. Results: Records for 408 patients were evaluated across the three groups of the study. There no significant difference (p>0.05) between gender and age across the three groups. An appropriate prophylactic drug regimen was prescribed in 68.5%, 66.7% and 39.8% of patients in Groups I, II and III respectively, with a significant difference in appropriate drug choice between Groups I and III (p <0.05). There was no significant difference between the groups with respect to appropriate prophylactic drug dose (p>0.05). Appropriateness rates for antibiotic choices for ward treatment were high at 91.0%, 92.0% and 92.7%, with no significant differences (p>0.05). / There was a significant difference (p<0.05) between the three groups regarding the number of doses for ward treatment, with inappropriateness rates of 29.9%, 40% and 16.4%. The total appropriateness rates (drug choice plus dose in theatre and ward) across the study were 54.7%, 54.2% and 31.5%, with a significant difference (p <0.05) between Groups I and III. Conclusion: This study has identified deficiencies related to the prescribing of antibiotics for prophylaxis. There was a varied level of prescribing appropriateness in terms of antibiotic choice for prophylaxis with an increasing trend for inappropriateness towards the end of the study period. This would indicate that issuing of changed guidelines and withdrawal of the drug being replaced did not positively influence appropriate prescribing. Further interventions are required to improve compliance with hospital prescribing guidelines.

The concentration of phytoplankton in waters off the Western Australian coastline contrast with the coastal waters west of southern Africa and South America. The lack of favourable upwelling conditions results in the majority of the southeastern Indian Ocean surface waters being nutrient poor. Which is reflected in their low productivity. Several areas either on or in close proximity to the coastline are notably more productive. The associated forcing terms generating phytoplankton favourable conditions differ between areas. as do the seasons in which they occur. Measurements of chlorophyll a concentration. the major photosynthetic pigment contained in phytoplankton, may be directly related to oceanic bioproductivity. Using data collected by the Coastal Zone Color Seamier between 1979-86, this work aims to improve the understanding of the spatial and temporal changes that occurred in chlorophyll a abundance in the southeastern Indian Ocean. The highest seasonal mean concentrations occur in Summer (January-March) and Autumn (April-June); the former occurring in waters of the North West Shelf and the latter in close coastal areas of Western Australia south of North West. Cape. Concentrations observed in the offshore oceanic regions are mostly poor. Exceptions to this occur in proximity to the adjacent Indonesian islands and directly south of Albany (possibly due to northwards flow of subantarctic nutrient-rich waters). A considerable interannual variation was also noted, with the highest mean chlorophyll concentrations occurring in 1981. 1982 and 1983. / The influence of the forcing terms on chlorophyll a appears to vary significantly among the waters of North West Shelf, Western and southern Western Australian coastline. This is most notable in the interseasonal variations. The changes observed interannually and their influence on chlorophyll a are not easily discernible. but there may be some connection with the La Nina/El Nino related changes in both currents and winds.