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This thesis describes and analyses distinctive characteristics of the emerging variety of English, that is, Nepali English. It draws on news texts written in Nepali English and compares them with similar news texts appearing in Australian newspapers. On the basis of the analysis, a preliminary taxonomy of markers of Nepali English is established.The research draws theoretical insights from sociolinguistics, contrastive rhetoric/contrastive discourse analysis and the analysis of news as discourse. Findings and the analysis of the findings are presented by using analytical models developed and widely used in the study of non-native varieties of English. Analysis and discussion of the findings suggest that systematic and regular features of Nepali English have developed, and these formal features have specific functions in the context in which they are used.

The work in this thesis explore the DWT based video coding by the introduction of a novel DWT (Discrete Wavelet Transform) / MC (Motion Compensation) / DPCM (Differential Pulse Code Modulation) video coding framework, which adopts the EBCOT as the coding engine for both the intra- and the inter-frame coder. The adaptive switching mechanism between the frame/field coding modes is investigated for this coding framework. The Low-Band-Shift (LBS) is employed for the MC in the DWT domain. The LBS based MC is proven to provide consistent improvement on the Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio (PSNR) of the coded video over the simple Wavelet Tree (WT) based MC. The Adaptive Arithmetic Coding (AAC) is adopted to code the motion information. The context set of the Adaptive Binary Arithmetic Coding (ABAC) for the inter-frame data is redesigned based on the statistical analysis. To further improve the perceived picture quality, a Perceptual Distortion Measure (PDM) based on human vi sion model is used for the EBCOT of the intra-frame coder. A visibility assessment of the quantization error of various subbands in the DWT domain is performed through subjective tests. In summary, all these findings have solved the issues originated from the proposed perceptual video coding framework. They include: a working DWT/MC/DPCM video coding framework with superior coding efficiency on sequences with translational or head-shoulder motion; an adaptive switching mechanism between frame and field coding mode; an effective LBS based MC scheme in the DWT domain; a methodology of the context design for entropy coding of the inter-frame data; a PDM which replaces the MSE inside the EBCOT coding engine for the intra-frame coder, which provides improvement on the perceived quality of intra-frames; a visibility assessment to the quantization errors in the DWT domain.

Adaptive reuse, as an alternative approach to the treatment of existing old buildings and urban areas, is being received more concerns in contemporary China. Taking Shanghai as an example, this thesis attempts to assess the practice of reuse of historical buildings in the urban context of Shanghai from 1990 to 2008. / In this research, the practice of adaptive reuse is studied with a focus on improving dynamic urban life through giving old buildings an advisable new use. With the aim of finding out what makes a lively and dynamic city, I employ the theory of city diversity from Jane Jacobs into my research as a theoretical basis to be tested in the research. / These investigations of Shanghai were conducted during a fieldwork in Shanghai. The case includes three types, which are respectively located in different areas in contemporary Shanghai. The first one is an alteration and upgrading of old industrial buildings on the waterfront. The second is a reuse of clusters of commercial buildings built in the colonial era on the Bund, with the ‘Bund 18’ building as a critical example. The third one is an urban renewal through adaptive reuse of traditional residential buildings in an inner city area, with a focused study on the Xintiandi area. / Through empirical analysis of these three cases, I try to examine the relationship between the buildings transformed through adaptive reuse and the urban surroundings in terms of participation or use by the various urban populations, and further explore how adaptive reuse may contribute to the generation and sustaining of diverse urban life in the urban context. / We may assume that the relationship between the city and the user is linked by urban activities, and that diversity of urban life can contribute to the healthy growth of cities. Given these assumptions, the empirical studies in this thesis suggest that the principal condition in adaptive reuse of historical buildings, for generating diverse and active urban life, is a potential in the old buildings to be ‘divided’. This includes ‘divisions’ of space, function and the category of users. Consequently, the design principles, as I would propose at the end of this study, are as follows: extracting spatial potential, creating mixed and small-scale businesses, and expanding categories of users to attract participation of a broad spectrum of the population with a diverse social background. Based on this, the practice of adaptive reuse of historical buildings can help reviving a close and dynamic relationship between the user and the physical setting, people and the city, facilitating the generation and sustaining of a diverse and healthy urban life.

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Over the past two decades, health care has undergone massive change, both in scientific and technological advancements, and in the manner in which services are structured and delivered (Angus, Auer, Cloutier, & Albert, 1995). Social, political, and financial pressures have resulted in organizational restructuring, which in turn influenced the delivery of health care at all levels. The knowledge base of the occupational therapy profession has continued to expand and there is increasing evidence of the effectiveness of its services. For these many reasons professional development has become especially critical as it enhances practitioners abilities to respond appropriately to these ever-changing external forces (Nolan, Owens, & Nolan, 1995) and ensures evidence-based practice (Craik & Rappolt, 2006), thus benefitting both patients and organizations. As professionals, occupational therapists are personally accountable for the quality and outcomes of the services they provide (Friedson, 1994). This study examined the factors that induce occupational therapists - important resources for the health care system - to maintain, adapt, and enhance their competencies. I explored the potential drivers of professional development using a combination of commitment theory and organizational support theory (Eisenberger, Huntington, Hutchison, & Sowa, 1986; Meyer & Herscovitch 2001). Hierarchical regression analysis showed that, though perceived organizational support and development-oriented human resource management practices play a role in professional development, occupational therapists professional commitment is the most important influence on professional development. Moreover, in the population studied, performance appraisals did not appear to influence professional development. Participants open-ended comments suggested that occupational therapists do not perceive such appraisals as relevant to their practice or learning needs. These findings have important implications. The education of occupational therapists and the role of professional bodies become important for instilling and supporting professional commitment. For employers, the hiring process for occupational therapists and the policies and human resource management practices related to encouraging professional commitment become especially critical. / Rehabilitation Science

Six experiments were conducted to examine the factors modulating the size of age differences in recollection. The research presented in the current thesis was guided by the notions of self-initiated processing and environmental support. Older and younger adults’ performance in recollection was measured by Jacoby’s (1990) process dissociation procedure (PDP); the age differences as a function of self-initiated processing demands of the task and the amount of support provided to the participants were assessed by manipulating the encoding (Experiments 2.1, 2.2, and 2.3) and retrieval (Experiments 3.1, 3.2, and 3.3) contexts. Experiments 2.1, 2.2, and 2.3 examined interactions of aging and encoding contexts. Recollection under baseline conditions (i.e. visually presented words) was contrasted with recollection of items encoded under contexts that are assumed to enhance memory. The results showed differential age-related patterns of benefits from encoding conditions: Presenting pictures with words benefited older adults more than younger adults; word generation benefited both groups equally; and presenting sound effects with visual words benefited younger more than older adults. Experiments 3.1, 3.2, and 3.3 investigated age-related changes in retrieval processes and their interactions with retrieval contexts. In each of the three experiments, some of the test lists were constructed so that participants had to recollect specific aspects of the encoding event to differentiate between the to-be-included and to-be-excluded items, whereas other test lists were constructed so that they only had to recollect general aspects. Older adults showed reduced levels of recollection than younger adults for the high-specificity test lists only (Experiment 3.1). Encoding manipulations improved (Experiment 3.2) or reduced (Experiment 3.3) recollection performance but the effects did not interact with test, whereas DA at retrieval (Experiment 3.3) in younger adults partly mimicked aging. In summary, the six experiments showed that older adults have greater difficulties in spontaneously carrying out distinctive and integrative processes at encoding, and in accessing specific information at retrieval compared to their younger counterparts. These age-related changes further interact with the processing demanded or afforded by the encoding and retrieval conditions.

The objective of this research was to investigate the extent to which context contributes to the learning and recognition of episodic auditory-verbal memories (EAM). By combining the Hebb repetition paradigm (HRP) and continuous recognition paradigm (CRP), I capitalized on the advantages of both while manipulating the context in which EAM were retrieved. Through repetition, participants learned sequences of pseudowords in which word order and speaker were varied. A recognition test of either a pseudoword (Experiment I) or the speaker of a pseudoword (Experiment II) revealed temporal and sensory context effects. Results showed that the encoding manipulation did not impact short-term memory but did have an effect on long-term learning. This research helped to clarify the role of context in EAM in both short- and long-term memory, as well as added to the current literature of HRP and CRP. Future directions are discussed.

The objective of this research was to investigate the extent to which context contributes to the learning and recognition of episodic auditory-verbal memories (EAM). By combining the Hebb repetition paradigm (HRP) and continuous recognition paradigm (CRP), I capitalized on the advantages of both while manipulating the context in which EAM were retrieved. Through repetition, participants learned sequences of pseudowords in which word order and speaker were varied. A recognition test of either a pseudoword (Experiment I) or the speaker of a pseudoword (Experiment II) revealed temporal and sensory context effects. Results showed that the encoding manipulation did not impact short-term memory but did have an effect on long-term learning. This research helped to clarify the role of context in EAM in both short- and long-term memory, as well as added to the current literature of HRP and CRP. Future directions are discussed.

According to a 2003 Health Canada report, suicide was the leading cause of death among Aboriginal individuals under the age of 45, accounting for 23% of all deaths in this at-risk population. While previous research has explored many potential risk factors for suicide among Aboriginal populations, none have considered the Métis population independent of other Aboriginal groups. Additionally, there have been no studies explicitly examining the relationship between family context and suicidality among either of these populations; this is the primary relationship of interest in this project. Data used for this project was taken from the 2006 Aboriginal Peoples Survey (APS). The APS is a national cross-sectional survey of 61,041 First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. Within the APS, family context was constructed using several variables including parental divorce, childhood adoption, number of siblings, etc. Analyses for this project included a multi-stage process consisting of bivariate and multivariable analyses. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was separated by gender and examined those aged 25-54. Results showed that that for women, renting versus owning your home, the death of sibling under age 2, or being removed by a child welfare agency, the church, or government officials was significantly associated with suicidal ideation. For men, unemployment, living in the community of origin, death of a sibling under age 2, and participating in traditional craftwork all significantly associated with suicidal ideation. Not graduating from high school and unemployment were significantly associated with suicide attempts for men or women when controlling for all other demographic, family context, and culture variables within the final model. As has been the case in previous research surrounding culture, several of the results in the bivariate analysis of this project were counterintuitive (Wilson & Rosenberg, 2002). This shows that nuanced and contextual interpretations are critical, and a space is opened with this research to critically consider what exactly is being captured through the survey measures. I argue that the strength of the linkage between a measure and its conceptual basis becomes increasingly tenuous and problematic as the complexity of the circumstance the measure is attempting to capture increases.