published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Real Estate and Construction / Master / Master of Science in Construction Project Management

Visual memory has been demonstrated to play a role in both visual search and attentional prioritization in natural scenes. However, it has been studied predominantly in experimental paradigms using multiple two-dimensional images. Natural experience, however, entails prolonged immersion in a limited number of three-dimensional environments. The goal of the present experiment was to recreate circumstances comparable to natural visual experience in order to evaluate the role of scene memory in guiding eye movements in a natural environment. Subjects performed a continuous visual-search task within an immersive virtual-reality environment over three days. We found that, similar to two-dimensional contexts, viewers rapidly learn the location of objects in the environment over time, and use spatial memory to guide search. Incidental fixations did not provide obvious benefit to subsequent search, suggesting that semantic contextual cues may often be just as efficient, or that many incidentally fixated items are not held in memory in the absence of a specific task. On the third day of the experience in the environment, previous search items changed in color. These items were fixated upon with increased probability relative to control objects, suggesting that memory-guided prioritization (or Surprise) may be a robust mechanisms for attracting gaze to novel features of natural environments, in addition to task factors and simple spatial saliency. / text

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Change is a common feature of nursing, influenced by prevailing governments as part of their political agendas. These changes have impacted both on the context within which nursing takes place as well as on the actual role of the nurse. For change agents who are implementing these changes, it is imperative that they are aware of how nurses respond to change in order that they can plan the most effective strategies. This thesis investigated how nurses understand their own practice changes, the process that they undergo, how resistance to change manifests and if nursing rituals have an impact on the process. Finally the thesis made recommendations based on the findings to facilitate effective practice change and development. The study was conducted in two parts. In-depth interviews with eight nurses from one acute NHS Trust made up the first part of the study. A further two interviews were conducted with eleven mental health nurses from an early intervention team in one NHS Mental Health Partnership Trust, and this constituted the second part of the study. Constructivist grounded theory was the research method employed in the design of the study. An underpinning theoretical framework of structural anthropology with specific reference to the work of Levi-Strauss was used to present the final grounded theory. The study found that nurses understood the process of practice change as a spiral with the most significant aspects of practice change at the bottom. These were the day-to-day changes that may or may not lead to permanent change. At the top of the hierarchy and of least significance were the changes imposed by their employing organisations or nationally. The overall personal process of practice change and development was identified from the study as a process that centres on the experiences that participants have in their workplace, a process of sense making, learning and intuition. A Practice Change Model in the form of a continuum was developed that described how nurses respond to practice change and development. The significance of this study is that the thesis was able to identify strategies for promoting effective practice change and development, aimed at nurses in practice, change agents at an organisational and national level, and the clinical link role within higher education.

This thesis utilises a range of methodologies to investigate the historical shoreline change and beach morphodynamics at Rapahoe Bay, West Coast, New Zealand. Rapahoe Bay is a small embayment located 15 km north of Greymouth, and contains a complex and dynamic environment under a dominant swell condition. The objectives of this thesis include the investigation the coastline history through aerial photographs and relevant literature, identify and quantify historical shoreline change and the processes that have induced change, examine the short term and seasonal changes in beach profile, identify and quantify wave and transport process and to test the applicability of the zeta shoreline curve on a composite beach. This combined approach investigates the dynamics and process drivers involved in coastline change. This thesis contributes to the research gap of understanding morphodynamic behaviour and controls of composite beach under a dominant swell. Composite beaches types are a variation from mixed sand and gravel beaches with distinct morphological differences. This thesis provides an insight in to the morphodynamic behaviour of composite beaches. The study area contains a small village based by the shoreline and the potential coastal hazard that threatens people, property and infrastructure. Therefore the results from this thesis have an important management implication towards mitigating coastal hazards. The historical coastline change was induced through a combination of wave processes and transport, composite beach morphodynamic behaviour, anthropogenic influence and planform shape. Results show that human infrastructure restricted the retreat of a small hapua landward of the gravel barrier. A combination of change in sediment supply, consistent sediment transport and a high wave energy environment resulted in rapid landward retreat through gravel rollover and coastal erosion. The gravel barrier morphodynamics include increase in crest elevation, steeper shore gradients as a response to high swells resulting in erosion or rollover. The wave environment includes a sediment transport hinge point due to a dominant wave refraction and changes in the shoreline orientation, which further induces coastal erosion. The valid applicability of the zeta planform shape concludes that the shoreline may further iii retreat due to geological controls, potential sediment transport and the transgressive nature of the composite beaches. The combination of methods and results provide both quantified historical change and also potential future scenarios of coastline reshaping. These methods and results are applicable not only to Rapahoe but along other West Coast composite beaches, and the validity of the combination of methods provides a greater understanding of the behaviour of morphodynamic composite beaches and provides quantified results of historical shoreline change and sediment transport at the field site.