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Purpose: Response Elaboration Training (RET) is a treatment program for increasing the amount of information contained in the speech of individuals with aphasia. This study employed a sentence production task (SPT) to examine whether RET will (1) generalize to a task not worked on in treatment and (2) affect syntactic performance. Methods and Procedures: Three adults with chronic non-fluent Broca’s aphasia received RET in this prospective, repeated case study. The dependent variable was a SPT requiring the participant to put a verb in a sentence. Changes in the syntactic performance of the participant’s sentence productions were classified across three parameters: (1) syntactic structure, (2) grammatical completeness, and (3) semantic appropriateness. Results: Findings of this study indicate that RET improves the syntactic performance of individuals with chronic Broca’s aphasia and generalizes to a task not worked on in treatment. Participant responses to the SPT showed increased complexity in syntactic structures, improved grammaticality, and improved topic relevancy. In addition, qualitative improvements were seen in 5 randomly selected verbs for each participant. These improvements included increased length of sentences and fewer false starts, interjections, and disfluencies. Finally, improvements on the Western Aphasia Battery and two picture description tasks were evinced for two participants.

The discourse of older healthy adults is commonly described as lengthy and off-topic and thought to be associated with a general cognitive decline that occurs in healthy aging. This study investigated the overall decline in attention associated with healthy aging and its relationship to instances of off-topic speech (OTS) in a constrained and unconstrained language production task. Ninety cognitively healthy adults participated and comprised three age cohorts (40 – 75+). Participants completed cognitive measures of attention and two discourse tasks that included recounting personal events and describing a procedure. Older adults exhibited poorer scores on measures of selective and shifting attention, and elderly adults produced more OTS as compared to middle-aged (40s) and older (60s) adults in the unconstrained task only. Poorer scores of shifting attention were significantly correlated with more OTS in the older adults (60s) only. Overall, a marked increase in variability of language production was observed with advancing age. Results indicated the need for further research on the relationships between age, attention, OTS, and task type in healthy aging to determine an underlying cause for increasing variability of language production with age.

Children with autism spectrum disorders typically experience language deficits in multiple areas, including form, content, and use. These children often receive speech therapy with individual sessions (one child and clinician), group sessions (several children), or a combination of both. Although research has deemed individual therapy successful, there is still debate regarding the success of group therapy, and there is virtually no literature examining a comparison between individual and group therapy. The current case-study investigated the relative effectiveness of individual versus group therapy for one six-year-old female with moderate autism spectrum disorder. The child underwent ten alternating therapy sessions of similar structure with consistent language targets during one academic semester. All sessions were transcribed using Systematic Analysis of Language Transcripts (SALT) conventions, and analyzed via the SALT program and Microsoft Excel t-tests. Results indicate that individual sessions yielded larger improvement with syntax and semantics, while group sessions produced greater progress with pragmatics and social skills, suggesting that a combination of both therapy types may be most beneficial. Social validation of group therapy also signified high parent satisfaction with overall growth during the semester. Implications of this study, as well as recommendations for future research and clinical practice are discussed.

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Mobile devices are widely used for a vast range of applications such as mobile phones,personal digital assistant, personal computers, video games console, etc. However, the performance of these devices is restricted by the support of the network and the mobile functionality and efficiency. Current applications require high data rates and global mobility which can be satisfied with the co-existence and handover between newly developed third generation (3G) or Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) standard and current second generation (2G) standards including: Global Standards for Mobile (GSM), Digital Cellular System (DCS), and Personal Communication Systems (PCS). Therefore, recent research in wireless communication has shifted towards achieving a multi-standard terminal, which can support efficiently multiple standards including GSM/DCS/PCS/3G. In this research, the aim is to design and implement a new LNA for a multi-standard mobile receiver based on reconfigurability concept. This research was carried out in two major parts. The first part is to design and implement wide band multi-standard multiband LNAs for two bands of interest (lower frequency band – 800 to 1000 MHz and upper frequency band – 1800 to 2200 MHz). These two bands should cover most of the 2G and 3G standards currently in use worldwide. In this work, the design of LNA based on IDCS topology using wide band approach has been investigated, designed, implemented and approved by means of simulations, and measurement of fabricated ICs. The second part of this research, to develop a single reconfigurable multi-standard multi-band LNA is based on the design of the multi-standard multi-band LNAs. This LNA has the capability to function in two modes of operation, either at lower band or upper band of the 2G or 3G standards.

As transnational education is becoming firmly embedded as a part of the distance education landscape, governments and universities are calling for meaningful research on transnational education. This study involved the development and validation of a model for effective transnational education programs. The study used student experience as a key indicator of program effectiveness and, following a holistic approach, took into consideration various dimensions of the transnational education context including student, instructor, curriculum and instruction design, interaction, evaluation and assessment, technology, and program management and organisational support. This selection of dimensions, together with their attributes, formed the proposed model for transnational education programs. The model was applied for validation against three transnational computing education programs currently offered by Australian universities in Hong Kong. Two methods of data collection - a survey, and group interviews with students - were used to validate the model; data was obtained from approximately three hundred subjects. The model was evaluated in terms of the perceived importance, to the students, of the various attributes of each program dimension on program effectiveness. The results of the validation indicated that the students in all the programs participating in the evaluation were in agreement as to the factors they consider most important to the effectiveness of transnational programs. The validation of the model led to its refinement; first, the least important attributes were removed from dimensions; second, a new dimension, pre-enrolment considerations, was introduced to the model; and finally, the attributes within each of the dimensions were ordered in terms of their perceived importance.

This thesis has been supported by an ARC Industry Linkage grant and sought to explain the process of adoption of information technologies by comparing two main theories that have been developed to explain adoption of innovations, that of innovation diffusion and that of actor network theory. In the process of analysis for this thesis I decided very early on that the better way of explaining the pattern of adoption was by using the framework of actor network theory supported by qualitative methodology. A major contribution of this thesis could be seen as an ANT analysis of IT/IM in general practice. It appears that the multi partner, multi discipline research approach was a success for it created the opportunity to draw on diverse backgrounds. More importantly this research indicates that the qualitative research methodology of Actor Network Analysis has delivered an insight that is richer in data than the quantitative research that is usually undertaken in this field. This process assisted with enlightening the barriers and enablers to the adoption of information technology/information management (IT/IM) in general practice in a particular study area and to explain why, in the study area the pattern is fragmented and unclear. This study found it is important to note the difference between the adoption of IT/IM by general practice and adoption and use by general practitioners. The adoption process has been complex and many stakeholders have grappled with issues such as the cost of computerization, the rapid changes in technology, the lack of agreed standards and the problems of introducing technology information solutions in to the daily work place of general practice. Through comparison via case studies, extended interviews and implementing several study phases to develop a longitudinal aspect for the research, the teasing out of such issues as decision making in general practice and general practice as small business was undertaken. Through review of models that seek to explain adoption I will finalise by formalizing which theory of adoption better suits explanation of adoption of innovation within this study area. This thesis reports that while there are generally pockets of high uptake and use of IT/IM, this is not the complete picture across the study area and this reflects the situation in Australia. There are differences in adoption from one practice to another and even within practices; there are differences in adoption in terms of acceptance of an idea versus doing; in the study area there is only one practice which can reasonably claim to be paperless. Throughout this thesis a series of vignettes will be developed which set out to provide a whole play. Each vignette presents an aspect in the total picture of computerization. This thesis does not set out to provide the whole picture as that is still a work in progress, as such this thesis has no definite border, and the vignettes will sometimes show only the head and shoulders of the story with the background fading off. Other vignettes are very clear but as with all vignettes there are questions about the shaded areas. It is in these areas that questions arise to demonstrate there is greater depth in the story of the adoption of IT/IM in general practice in the study area, and, that adoption of IT/IM in general practice is complex and a continuing developmental story.

In the wake of the rapid evolution of information technology (IT), including the internet, during the last three decades, much attention has been given to the introduction of IT to the agricultural sector, and to ensuring its adoption by farmers. Given its apparent ability to provide rich information to a large number of people, hopes have been raised about the role of IT as a tool for diffusing innovations in the agricultural sector. This thesis addresses the reality of such a role in Australia and Sri Lanka. Following the broader innovation literature, an innovations systems approach is used, and the key aspects of diffusion stressed are reach, richness and the time taken. The agricultural innovation system (AIS) is seen as a complex interactive system involving actors fulfilling eleven functions – policy, education, finance and credit, marketing, input supply, research, extension and information, logistics, processing and storage, farmers and farm organisations, and consumers. It is clear that the Australian AIS is more effective than its Sri Lankan counterpart in terms of its use of leading-edge technologies, competition in global markets with innovative products, and quick diffusion of research findings to farmers. The use of IT in agribusiness in Australia is quite advanced, although still limited in small firms. While there are many examples of the use of IT for innovation diffusion in Australian agriculture, there is little evidence that this is yet a widely used process for the spread of innovations. The situation in Sri Lanka is quite different, with low levels of computer literacy and usage in the farm sector, with technology transfer ‘across the last mile’ remaining the weakest link in the Sri Lankan AIS. But farmers often go to great efforts to obtain better information, and much attention is being given by the Government and NGOs to the development of wireless networks, telecentres and other methods for promoting IT access and knowledge diffusion in the rural sector in Sri Lanka. Given the heterogeneous nature of the actors in an AIS, together with the importance of tacit knowledge and social and peer groups factors, IT will complement existing methods of innovation diffusion for the foreseeable future, rather than substitute them. Nevertheless, IT is likely to become increasingly important in innovation diffusion in agriculture, in both developed countries and in developing economies such as Sri Lanka. In implementing policies to this end, Sri Lanka must give due attention to the complex interactions between the many players in the AIS, to the role of tacit knowledge and social actors, and to the low level of the IT literacy in the rural sector. While continuing efforts to build relevant infrastructure are essential, these must be supported by measures to strengthen communication between the actors in the AIS, by education and capability development for farmers and by the creation of suitably tailored digital information packages on key issues.

The aim of this research project was to develop an implementation framework for the prevention and management of chronic diseases in general practice. Chronic diseases - or conditions as it is also commonly known, like Diabetes, Asthma, Cardiovascular Disease, etc., are persistent or recurring illnesses or impairments lasting for years that cannot be cured, however some can be prevented from becoming a chronic disease. Unfortunately, millions of chronic diseases sufferers worldwide end up dying prematurely and in many cases unnecessarily due to lack of appropriate care.