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Application of peripheral quantitative computed tomography to fracture healing assessment

Bullen, Michael Edward ( 2023-09)

Background Fracture healing is a complex, well-co-ordinated physiological process that ultimately results in the replacement of fracture callus by new bone, without the formation of a fibrous scar. Current practice of assessment of fracture healing involves a combination of clinical and radiological examination, although there is a lack of a standardised, quantitative method for the assessment of fracture stiffness and strength. Aims The primary aim of this thesis was to assess the application of peripheral quantitative computed tomography to, and its clinical utility in, fracture healing assessment. Methods Four studies were undertaken. The first assessed the effect of two common cast materials on pQCT derived measurements, to validate its use in the setting of a cast. An in-vitro component utilised a hydroxyapatite phantom to evaluate increasing cast thickness, and an in-vivo component assessed the effect of synthetic and plaster of Paris cast material on adult forearm measurements. The second study assessed the application of pQCT to evaluate the moulding ability of common cast materials each applied to 25 healthy adults. The third study was a prospective clinical trial to assess the feasibility of using pQCT in paediatric patients to monitor acute distal radius fracture healing. Healing fracture callus density and strength was assessed at different stages of union to provide descriptive results. The final study utilised pQCT to investigate the effect of vitamin D deficiency on fracture healing. A randomized controlled trial of vitamin D supplementation in the setting of vitamin D deficiency was performed, with pQCT as the primary assessment tool in 28 paediatric patients. Results The first study established the accuracy of pQCT in the setting of cast material, and validated its use in the setting of a cast. The second study demonstrated that plaster of Paris casts were able to achieve a closer mould than polyester casts, and a closely moulded fit was able to be more consistently achieved when using plaster of Paris to immobilise simulated distal radius fractures. The third study demonstrated that pQCT is a feasible imaging modality for monitoring the progress of distal radius fracture healing. The final study found no effect on distal radius fracture healing with vitamin D supplementation. Conclusions pQCT is a safe, feasible and practical imaging modality in the assessment of forearm fracture healing in a paediatric population.
Manuel de Falla and The Guitar: A Discussion of Three New Transcriptions

Wei, Zixiao ( 2023-09)

Abstract This performance-based research project focuses on Spanish composer Manuel de Falla (1876-1946) and includes: a 70-minute performance recording; an 12,000-word written dissertation; and guitar transcriptions of three numbers from Falla’s orchestral ballets. The project explores how the Spanish guitar music influenced Falla’s compositions, his relationships with guitarists, and his music that has been transcribed for guitar. The performances include Falla’s compositions, works that were inspired by Falla, and two sonatas by Falla’s contemporaries – the Spanish composer Federico Moreno Torroba (1891-1982) and Mexican composer Manuel Maria Ponce (1882-1948), who were both the pioneers of guitar music in the twentieth century. Falla’s music has been very popular among guitarists, and he also worked closely with renowned guitarists such as Miguel Llobet (1878-1938) and Angel Barrios (1882-1964). Falla’s Homenaje a Debussy (1920) is regarded one of the most important guitar compositions of the twentieth century, while most of his orchestral works were strongly influenced by guitar music. Many guitarists such as Llobet, Emilio Pujol (1886-1980), Julian Bream (1933-2020), John Williams (1941- ) and Manuel Barrueco (1952- ) have arranged and performed transcriptions of Falla’s works for orchestra. An important part of this project is to create three new transcriptions selected from numbers from two of Falla’s most well-known ballets - El amor brujo (1915) and El sombrero de tres picos (1919). In the dissertation, the new transcriptions are discussed in relation to Falla’s orchestral scores, and compared to well-known published transcriptions. A performance guide for the transcriptions is also provided.
Tracing The Drop: composing with an ethics of affirmation

Franklin, Joseph Phillip ( 2023-10)

This portfolio showcases works that reflect my compositional processes, which are informed by my practice as a contrabass guitarist and improviser, my regional and working-class origins, as well as my technical, conceptual, and philosophical grounding(s).
Over balconies and electronic bridges: Intercultural music engagement during & post pandemic

Fraser, Trisnasari Cecilia ( 2023-11)

Globalisation, mass migration, and the challenges of accommodating cultural and political diversity have resulted in a renewed interest in social cohesion and community resilience. Local and global interdependencies require cooperation across different constituencies to address issues with wide reaching implications such as conflict and climate change – often leading to further mass migration of people. The research considered here was punctuated by a global concern – the COVID-19 pandemic. This event underlined these interdependencies and the importance of addressing tensions between cohesion and diversity to optimise the resilience of communities in the face of adversity. Specifically, this thesis explores the role of intercultural music engagement in fostering social cohesion and community resilience. As a social custom found across cultures, while demonstrating cultural variation, music has potential to strengthen bonds within and between groups. However, music’s capacity to strengthen bonds within groups points equally to its capacity to create division. The COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns underscored the role of digital platforms in maintaining music practice and connection across divides. Observing the unfolding event oriented the focus of the research toward the processes of digitally mediated and face-to-face music engagement in building intercultural understanding, social connection, and community resilience; the features that distinguished digitally mediated from face-to-face intercultural music engagement; and the characteristics of people and artifacts that play a bridging role in intercultural music engagement. Four studies were undertaken and are described in this thesis. Two considered intercultural music engagement during COVID-19 lockdown, including a participatory action research project exploring asynchronous multi-tracking performance among six community-based arts practitioners, and an online ethnography of eight case studies of audience engagement with YouTube music broadcasts. The third study was a social network analysis that considered cultural identity and culturally diverse music practice among 120 Australian musicians. The fourth study was an integrative literature review synthesising interdisciplinary knowledge from 31 studies of intercultural music engagement programs for adults. Also described in the thesis is a design for a brief hybrid (including both digitally mediated and face-to-face) music intervention for international university students. The approach to the intervention is informed by the four studies. The research underscores the dynamic nature of culture, community and social identity that necessitate inclusive and ecological conceptualisations of social cohesion and community resilience. Investigations reveal intercultural music engagement is highly context specific, requiring local knowledge, facilitation skills and reflective practice. As well as the role of music practice as a bridge between diverse identities and groups, the studies highlight the connective potential of digital platforms, polycultural perspectives and shared purpose.
Repetitions That Differ: A Recording Analysis of Repeated Musical Material in Schubert’s G-major Piano Sonata, D. 894 and Schumann’s Davidsbündlertänze, Op. 6

Yan, Yuhao ( 2023-12)

Many of Schubert’s and Schumann’s piano works are characterised by a profusion of repeated musical materials, which poses challenges for pianists as to how to repeat them creatively and whether or not to repeat them. While a substantial amount of literature has recognised repetition as the hallmark of Schubert’s music, there have only been scattered scholarly allusions to the repetitive attribute of Schumann’s music. Despite the relative inattention to the latter, two piano works prove to be remarkable examples of both composers’ deep engagement with repetition: Schubert’s G-major piano sonata, D. 894 and Schumann’s Davidsbündlertänze, Op. 6. This thesis presents a practice-led recording analysis that examines divergent manners in which some of the repeated musical materials in the first movement of Schubert’s G-major piano sonata and three pieces from Schumann’s Davidsbündlertänze, Op. 6, Book 1, No. 2 and No. 7 and Book 2, No. 2, are performed by a selection of pianists, including Alfred Cortot, Ernst von Dohnányi, and Mitsuko Uchida, among others. More precisely, this analysis examines, within the aforementioned scope of written music, 1) whether the written repeat sign is actualised by the pianists and 2) the sounding differences between the pianists’ performances of the same musical material. Unlike most of the existing literature which only concerns repetitions in their written form, this recording analysis takes as its analytical object the sounding repetition that the act of playing produces. The analysis entails a practice-led research process, for which my musical intuition, my haptic knowledge of this repertoire and insights formed through my extensive musical practice, serve as the precondition. It is my hope that this recording analysis will become a source of inspiration for pianists who are facing the decision-making on whether or not to repeat, and who are searching for creative ways of repeating the repeated material.
Water-Rock Interactions in Two Diagenetic Depth Zones of Offshore Bohai Bay Basin

Li, Huan ( 2023-12)

Bohai Bay Basin is located in eastern China and contains petroliferous fluvial to lacustrine sediments. Two diagenetic depth zones are characterized by elevated total dissolved solid (TDS) concentrations in formation waters in the offshore Bohai Bay Basin, China. This study utilized experimental information, including formation water compositions, petrography, X-ray diffraction clay minerals, crude oil composition, stable isotopes, fluid inclusions, quantitative fault movement analysis, and quantitative grain fluorescence, together with reactive transport simulations to discuss the water-rock interactions occurred in the two zones, the preferential formation of secondary porosity in the middle of a sandstone interval in the deep zone, and the potential connections among shallow, moderate and deep depths through fault movements. The thesis is composed of six chapters in total. The first chapter provides the background for the analysis of water-rock interactions in siliciclastic sedimentary basins. The second chapter provides the regional geological background of the offshore Bohai Bay Basin. The third chapter discusses the origins of two formation water TDS peaks. The fourth chapter discusses the formation mechanism of higher secondary porosity resulted from feldspar dissolution in the middle of a sandstone interval. The fifth chapter analyses the fault-induced water movement and exchange among different depths and the petrographic results. The shallow diagenetic zone at a depth of 1,200 – 2,000 m (45 – 70 degree) and the deep diagenetic zone at a depth of 3,000 – 4,000 m (100 – 130 degree) have TDS concentrations exceeding 70,000 mg/L, while the depth interval in between the two zones has TDS concentrations lower than 35,000 mg/L. Processes affecting the deep diagenetic zone were attributed to (1) the dissolution of halite, albite and albitization, which predominantly caused the TDS enrichment, and (2) the dilution of TDS caused by the inter-layer H2O released from the transformation of smectite to illite (salinity reversal at depths > 3,500 m). In comparison, the enrichment in TDS in the shallow diagenetic zone was attributed to hydrocarbon biodegradation, which consumed free water. A particular formation water component, dissolved organic acids, are enriched in the deep zone, which suggests that they are mainly derived from the thermal decomposition of kerogen in shales. Greater secondary porosity was observed in the central part of sandstones at a depth of 3194–3120 m. This observation differs from previous studies showing secondary porosity mainly in upper and lower parts of sandstones adjacent to shales. An advection model simulating advective transport of low molecular weight organic acids (LMWOA) parallel to the sandstone bedding successfully generated higher secondary porosity in the central part. The central part of the sandstone exhibited better grain sorting (greater depositional porosity) and significantly less early carbonate cements compared to the marginal sandstone parts. Consequently, the central part had greater porosity prior to further mineral dissolution being promoted by LMWOA. The initially higher porosity in the central part allowed for a higher advective flux of LMWOA-rich water and associated lower pH, resulting in decreased oligoclase saturation, higher oligoclase dissolution rates, and ultimately higher secondary porosity. Abundant secondary porosity was also observed in shallow to intermediate depths (1500–2500 m). However, shallow mudstones are not mature enough and have a limited capacity to generate LMWOA. This study suggests that fault movement activated fluid migration, resulting in the redistribution of organic acids possibly together with CO2 (including naphthenic acid or CO2 from hydrocarbon biodegradation), the acceleration of secondary porosity generation, and the export of by-products. Therefore, under the joint influences of thermal maturation of mudstone and fluid flow induced by fault movement, shallow, intermediate, and deep sandstones exhibit distinctive features of diagenetic fluid-rock reactions. These studies demonstrated the collective controls of geochemical, geophysical, thermal, and biogeochemical processes on the water-rock interactions in the offshore Bohai Bay Basin.
Continuous Artificial Kidney Fluid Dynamics: Impact on Circuit Life, Physiology and Outcomes

Sansom, Benjamin William ( 2023-10)

INTRODUCTION: Understanding the interaction between the continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) circuit and patients is crucial with the rising incidence of acute kidney injury requiring such therapy and the expanding role of CRRT in organ support. Continuous machine recordings offer opportunities for analysis of circuit function, circuit and patient outcomes. This research covers a detailed analysis of circuit pressures in different CRRT configurations, impacts of CRRT practices on filter life and alarm incidence, physiological impacts of CRRT and the practices of net ultrafiltration and potential impacts on mortality. OBJECTIVES: This study aims to evaluate CRRT circuit pressure characteristics, using data-driven techniques to predict circuit failure. Additionally, it evaluates the impact of blood flow and modality on circuit pressures, access issues, alarms, and filter lifespan. The research assesses circuit pressures with various anticoagulation methods, particularly regional citrate anticoagulation, and compares them to non-citrate CRRT. It describes CRRT circuit pressures during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) and identifies predictors of circuit dysfunction in ECMO-CRRT. The work also investigates early changes in patient haemodynamics and vasopressor requirements during after CRRT commencement and examines net ultrafiltration practices' association with admission diagnoses and mortality. METHODS: In patients admitted to multiple intensive care units in Australia, CRRT treatment data and patient clinical data were extracted from CRRT devices, clinical records and existing databases. Investigation of circuit pressures, filtration volumes, alarms and events during varying modes (dialysis and haemodiafiltration), blood flows, anticoagulation and access sites, including via ECMO was undertaken. Physiological parameters were analysed in patients undergoing CRRT as well as net ultrafiltration (UFNET) volumes. Circuit pressures were summarised, tabulated, plotted and analysed including exploratory analysis with classification and regression tree algorithms. Outcomes including circuit life, alarms, physiological effects, and mortality were examined using multivariate analyses. RESULTS: Minute-to-minute data were extracted from 1,342 patients undergoing 6,130 CRRT circuits, totalling 10.2 million minutes. Circuit pressures are presented in a variety of circuit configurations with analyses suggesting a deleterious impact of strongly negative access pressures on filter life. Low blood flow CVVHD was not found to benefit circuit life but demonstrated a halving of alarms. During high blood flow regional citrate anticoagulation, access dysfunction is more prevalent and has a greater impact on circuit clotting with shorter filter life. ECMO-CRRT circuit dynamics were described in detail for the first time, with ECMO-CRRT circuits demonstrating longer circuit life, more positive circuit pressures, with extremely positive pressure events detrimentally affecting filter life. Urine output dropped post CRRT initiation despite positive fluid balance, low UFNET rates and stable/reduced vasopressor requirements whilst blood pressure is maintained. Higher early UFNET was found to be associated with mortality, particularly in patients with pulmonary diagnoses. CONCLUSIONS This work contributes to a comprehensive understanding of CRRT circuit dynamics and their implications for care. The insights offer valuable guidance for clinicians, enabling refinement of CRRT protocols and improved patient monitoring. This study presents the largest work on CRRT continuous recordings, shedding light on the patient-circuit-prescription interplay in artificial kidney therapy.
The sedimentary infill of Large Structural Estuaries

Baum, Mitchell Patrick ( 2023-06)

Estuaries formed when topographic basins flooded during the Holocene Marine Transgression (HMT), and they receive sediment from both marine and terrestrial sources. The thickness of sediments found in these systems is a result of accommodation space determined by sea level and the antecedent topography. Models of estuarine sedimentation in relation to sea-level rise have been produced based on the morphodynamic response of facies to the dominant hydrodynamic regime. The sediment facies architecture present in estuaries represents the prevailing distribution of hydrodynamic energy at the time of deposition. However, many large estuaries are structurally confined by bedrock rather than depositional sedimentary features of Holocene age. These Large Structural Estuaries (LSEs) have different infill histories as their morphology is relatively resistant to morphodynamic change. A global survey of 271 large estuaries found 28% (76) were LSEs. These were predominantly associated with temperate collision coastlines. The absence of LSEs from tropical coastlines (except for the Malay Archipelago) indicate that there may be some latitudinally moderated environmental control on the infill of LSEs. Westernport Bay (WPB) is an LSE situated on the Victorian coastline in Southeast Australia. It is a tidally dominated system, residing on a wave-dominated coastline, and has infilled to intertidal elevations since transgressive flooding during the Holocene. The Holocene infill of Westernport Bay (WPB) was explored to understand the factors influencing the evolution of LSEs. 8 sediment cores were collected from the Upper North Arm of WPB. Sediment grain size, carbon content, and radiocarbon dating was conducted to explore the sediment facies architecture. The sediment in WPB was dominated by massive estuarine muds, indicating low-energy vertical accretion. The thickness of the Holocene estuarine deposit was 1-2m across the transect, and overlaying pre-HMT peat deposits and older, likely Pleistocene age estuarine muds. The peat deposits immediately underlying the peat/estuarine boundary were dated to ~7kya, providing the first dated estuarine flooding surface for Victoria, Australia. Deposition during the Holocene Marine Transgression (HMT) and Holocene Highstand (HH) was relatively low (0.05mm/yr). Increased sedimentation (rates of 0.1-0.6mm/yr) was associated with the Holocene Marine Regression (HMR) indicating that WPB developed in a sediment starved setting, and drainage of the lower catchment mobilised sediment which then deposited on the intertidal mud flats. Upward coarsening of sediment suggests that infill has reached wave base. Palynological analysis was conducted to determine the climatic setting for WPB during the late Pleistocene and through the Holocene. A transition from Poaceae dominant assemblages to an increasing Eucalyptus signal was identified in the lower peat deposit. Pollen preservation in estuarine deposits was relatively poor, however a slight decrease in the relative abundance of woody taxa indicate climatic cooling. These findings agree with other Holocene palynological and paleoenvironmental research in Victoria. The local pollen signal indicated the development of a wetland during the late Pleistocene as evidenced by the presence of Haloragaceae pollen. However, this decreased toward the top of the peat deposit suggesting a decrease in the abundance of this taxa. Near the top of the peat deposit Chenopoidaceae slightly increased in abundance, which indicated a transgressive salt marsh community. Mangrove pollen was identified in the upper estuarine deposits (2kya-present) deposits, indicating that their present extent was achieved in the last few thousand years, despite regionally suitable climatic temperatures in the mid-Holocene. Diatom stratigraphic analysis was also conducted to understand the hydrodynamic change of WPB through the HMT. Taxa consistent with wetland development were identified at the bottom of the peat deposit. However, the presence of Eunotia diodon and Epithemia zebra are indicative of low pH oligotrophic conditions suggesting the development of a peat bog. Changing abundance of diatoms associated with different flow regimes indicate that fluvial supply through the swampland was variable between 13-7kya. A spike of Epithemia zebra in estuarine deposits indicate that fluvial supply to the Upper North Arm increased during the HMR, before returning to a marine dominated environment when sea levels reached present elevation ~3-2kya. The Holocene infill of WPB occurred under low sediment and variable but low fluvial discharge. The upward coarsening of sediment is indicative of infill reaching wave base, where some degree of winnowing is occurring. The Upper North Arm of WPB is largely intertidal, and the results of the sediment and paleoenviromental analysis indicate that it has entered a sediment bypass mode, similar to other LSEs. This suggests that, without significant fluvial supply, or suitable environmental conditions for the development of extensive communities of mangroves and salt marsh, subaerial infill is very slow to non-existent in WPB, and by extension other LSEs. Therefore, it is likely that subaerial infill of marine-dominated LSEs is driven by changes in boundary conditions, which would alter the existing morphodynamic paradigm.
Gradual and transformational change in the financial mechanism of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

Self, Alister William ( 2023-03)

In 1992, international cooperation to address climate change began with the establishment of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). As part of this new treaty aimed at combatting climate change, the creation of a financial mechanism and a series of principles for transferring finance from north to south were agreed, with the intention of assisting developing countries in meeting their commitments to the treaty. 20 years after the establishment of the UNFCCC, in 2012, a new organisation -the Green Climate Fund - was established to become the central entity through which finance would flow. Reformed principles and a Standing Committee on Finance to oversee the system were further agreed as part of the new financial architecture. These elements represented a significant change within the climate regime and represent notable departures from previous institutional arrangements. This thesis seeks to understand why this occurred, and what precipitated such changes over a two-decade timeframe by asking the core questions – how and why did change occur to the financial mechanism of the UNFCCC. These questions are approached by situating the thesis in the field of institutionalist study, which is often interested in questions of institutional stability and change. Using this approach, the thesis identifies multiple causative pathways and mechanisms that led to change across different phases of the financial mechanism’s evolution. The thesis argues that in contrast to models of punctuated equilibrium, a slow build-up of causative factors was required for transformational change in the financial architecture. Furthermore, the thesis argues both exogenous and endogenous forces were required for change. In accord with a growing literature that combines varieties of institutionalism, theorising these various causes relies on loosening the boundaries of existing theoretical frameworks to allow for a synthesis of ideas. In doing so, the thesis adds to a nascent body of literature that applies theories of institutionalism to international relations and global environmental institutions. Empirically, the thesis provides a detailed account of the evolution of climate finance by use of extensive attention to official documents and secondary sources, as well as interviews with key actors within the climate regime. Underlying three decades of climate negotiations have been struggle over responsibility and equity which have found focus in issues of climate finance. This thesis aims to contribute to understanding how the form and functioning of the key institutions established to deal with climate finance have been crucial to progress towards tackling global warming.
Housing for reciprocity: Housing organisations seeking out just social relations among diverse residents

Melic, Talia ( 2023-03)

This thesis examines research on housing programs in Australia and France that provide low- income housing within central, well-resourced urban areas. It argues that these models, conceived on the premise of reciprocity, offer a more just approach to residential desegregation than mainstream “social mix” policy approaches employed within both the Australian and French contexts. It explores how framing social relations between socioeconomically diverse residents through the lens of reciprocity offers a conceptual and practical alternative to “role model” thinking that underpins social mix, which assumes that the values and behaviours modelled by middle-class residents who, through large scale demolition and reconstruction programs, move into areas that concentrate poverty, can “bring the neighbourhood up” (Bacque et al. 2014). Reciprocity alternatively frames encounters across difference as mutually enriching exchanges between interdependent equals. Relations of reciprocity thus flow across a web of interconnected individuals, and flow across time. The thesis draws on research into programs run by four non-governmental housing organisations—in Australia, mixed-tenured community housing in Ashwood, Melbourne and homestay accommodation for people seeking asylum in Brisbane; and in France, student housing provided next to social housing estates in Paris’s 18th district and a mixed-tenured co- housing residence in Montreuil. It examines how these organisations conceive of reciprocity in their missions, and how they operationalise these conceptions in their approaches to recruitment, partnerships, capacity building, accompaniment and housing design. It considers how these approaches shape social relations between residents, by exploring what and how residents are reciprocating in encounters across difference. Finally, it provides emerging examples of how these encounters contribute to reducing inequalities and prejudice, and strengthening capabilities and solidarity. In doing so, it proposes a theoretical conceptualisation of reciprocity based on a social ontology of interdependence and interconnectedness. It also argues that these cases offer insights into alternative approaches to social mix and demonstrate the value of elaborating new, more just models of residential desegregation.

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