Thesis (Ph. D) -- University of Western Sydney, Nepean, 1999. / A thesis presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Centre for Electrochemical Research and Analytical Technology, University of Western Sydney, Nepean. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Sc (Hons)) -- University of Western Sydney, Nepean, 2000. / "Submitted for the degree of Master of Engineering (Hons), School of Mechatronic, Computer & Electrical Engineering, University of Western Sydney, Nepean" Includes bibliographical references (leaves 107-114).

Thesis (PhD) -- University of Western Sydney, 2004. / Bibliography: leaves 318-344.

Thesis (PhD) -- University of Western Sydney, Nepean, 1999. / "A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy" Bibliography : leaves 325-343. Electronic version is also available at.

This thesis examines the political economy of working class women in contemporary Campbelltown (NSW). A broad political economic approach is employed that considers relevant social structures, their effects, and working class women’s responses to them. It includes investigation of material and non-material, subjective and objective, aspects of this dialectical relationship. This study argues the political agency of Australian working class women has rarely been acknowledged, let alone understood. The thesis focuses on working class women in the suburbs and their politics of everyday life. Though these women rarely attract political investigation, they are too often assumed to be passive, apathetic, unenlightened or conservative bearers of oppression. These stereotypes persist despite the variability in historical portrayals of working class women, suggesting working class women’s politics only makes sense in the context of their conditions of existence in specific times and places. The thesis makes a contribution towards the field of applied feminist political economy research. It employs a historical materialist approach to demystify working class women’s politics. The empirical heart of the project draws on in-depth interviews with local working class women about their experiences and views of family, community, politics, work, unemployment and social institutions. This qualitative material is set against a detailed local political economic analysis of contemporary Campbelltown. The interconnections of capitalist and non-capitalist modes of production in which working class women labour, survive and resist are explored. The thesis questions what part capitalism and socialism play in their pursuit of self and social emancipation. Understanding the political economy of working class women is fundamental to social and ecological health and sustainability. Questions of class power and conflict, and gendered distributions of work and poverty locate working class women at the core of these pressing concerns. The central hypothesis of this study is that working class women are engaged in a wealth of political strategies stemming from their everyday bid for survival. Their (often contradictory) collective and self-activity coalesces around a politics antithetical to the logic of capitalism because it depends on their exploitation and immiseration for its viability. Working class women practice and reproduce a politics of survival and hope that informs their hidden worlds of resistance. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The 21st century is an age of conducting business electronically. The benefits of dealing electronically with customers, suppliers, government and others is a fact that will continue the push towards further use of digital technology. This research work aims to address the following research question. How can a small to medium size enterprise (SME)etransform to be competitive in a globalised, rapidly changing, digital world? There are two components to this question; firstly the nature of competitiveness in a globalised environment, and secondly, the issue of how an orgaisation can etransform.The background material investigated at the initiation of this work can be broadly categorised into two types (1)theoretical possibilities; proposing 'potential' uses of internet technologies and (2)case studies reporting on existing ebusinesses. A detailed literature review of eBusiness was conducted to discover what made these organisations different from a traditional business. The next phase in this research work involved development of the eTransformation Roadmap, a tool that served two purposes. Firstly, to measure the current Information Technology sophistication of a business. Secondly, to show the steps that an organisation can take to become an eBusiness. The Roadmap was also used to analyse data collected from a survey of Western Sydney businesses. Overall, this research has provided a holistic view of how an organisation can transform itself to compete in a rapidly changing, digital world. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The Problem: Novel community-acquired, non-multiresistant strains of oxacillin- (methicillin-) resistant Staphylococcus aureus (ORSA) have emerged in many parts of the globe. Little is known of the clinical features, the epidemiology, and the antibiotic treatment of these strains. Materials and Methods: A retrospective chart review was performed on patients presenting to Emergency Departments or Dermatology Clinics with staphylococcal infections. Patients were stratified into three groups, non-multiresistant ORSA (NORSA), multiresistant ORSA (MORSA) and oxacillin-susceptible S. aureus, and clinical comparisons made. Strains of NORSA and MORSA were typed using antibiograms, phage typing and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. Antimicrobial studies were performed to compare different methods of detecting resistance to oxacillin and to non-beta-lactams. Time-kill studies were performed with one drug to explore killing kinetics. The interaction between drug combinations was examined using disk approximation and time-kill methodologies. A single point pharmacodynamic analysis was performed. Results: There was an increase in infections with NORSA, MORSA and OSSA. NORSA strains appeared to be more virulent than OSSA and MORSA strains. NORSA was strongly associated with skin and soft tissue infections and with Polynesians. Most of the NORSA strains were related to New Zealand ????Western Samoan Phage Pattern???? (WSPP) isolates, and unrelated to community-acquired, non-multiresistant MRSA strains from Western Australia. Two patients were found to have British EMRSA-15 strains. NORSA strains were unrelated to MORSA strains. Resistance to rifampicin, fusidic acid, ciprofloxacin and trimethoprim emerged in the time-kill assays. Combinations of antibiotics, particularly with ciprofloxacin, often showed antagonism. Gentamicin, fusidic acid, clindamycin, teicoplanin, vancomycin, and linezolid were predicted to perform well. Ciprofloxacin, erythromycin, doxycycline, flucloxacillin and quinupristin/dalfopristin were predicted to fail. Conclusions: WSPP strains of New Zealand and EMRSA-15 strains from Britain exist in South Western Sydney. These organisms are virulent, and increasing in incidence in several areas of Australia. Antimicrobial treatment of infections with these strains is problematic and requires further study.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Western Sydney, 2008. / A thesis presented to the University of Western Sydney, College of Arts, School of Psychology, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Includes bibliographies.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--University of Western Sydney, 2009. / A thesis presented to the University of Western Sydney, College of Arts, School of Education, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education. Includes bibliographies.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Western Sydney, 2009. / A thesis presented to the University of Western Sydney, College of Health and Science, School of Engineering, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Includes bibliographies.