Female engagement in domains of social power in Ancient Egypt's Dynasties 1-6: an interdisciplinary approach to women's titles

Theoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 182-214.Chapter 1. Introduction -- Chapter 2. Approach and methodology -- Chapter 3. Review of the literature and the development of the sub-discipline -- Chapter 4. The economic domain -- Chapter 5. Ideological domain -- Chapter 6. The political domain -- Chapter 7. Referent social power relationships -- Chapter 8. Conclusions -- Bibliography -- Volume Two: Appendices.Despite an exponential increase in women and gender studies in Egyptology over the last three decades, women's engagement in the socio-political-economic structure of the early Egyptian state remains underrepresented in modern scholarship. Historically, the State has often been investigated via hierarchical models of the male elite's autobiographical material, with prominence given to the study of official titles that act as barometers for the status and rank of the personnel. The dominant focus on male-centric state administration service has ignored women's participation in the State. This bias has resulted in an inadequate representation of women in both research and academic literature. The present research aims to address this imbalance by investigating records of female engagement in the early Egyptian state. This analysis was conducted on biographical details obtained primarily from women's titles from a cross-section of the society, from Dynasty 1 to 6 (c. 3000-2181 BCE). Using an interdisciplinary research methodology that combines textual evaluation and statistical analyses of 777 women's inscriptions, this dissertation engages with sociological theory to provide new interpretative models. The textual evaluation involved here deviates from a traditional title study in that female serekhs, cartouche and 129 titles are utilised to gauge the extent of women's engagement and social power in the State. Underpinning this theoretical approach is a refashioning of Michael Mann's theory of social power that defines resources as the medium through which power is exercised. In this research, social power is considered as the varying degrees of influence, prestige, rights and authority that is obtained through individual action and access to or control over symbolic, economic or productive resources of the State. Thus, by examining and classifying the women's titles based on the action and central area of responsibility, this study evaluates the different ways in which women had access to social power in the political, economic and ideological domains in early Egypt. The dissertation offers new perspectives and models validated by quantifiable data that demonstrates to want extent women had varying degrees of social power in the ancient Egyptian state. The current research also contributes an unparalleled database of 1400 women's details from the first six dynasties that can be utilised in future historiographic, comparative and gender studies to augment our knowledge about the early Egyptian state -- abstract.Mode of access: Internet.1 online resource (xii, 713 pages) illustration

Survival analysis: applications to credit risk default modelling

Thesis by publication.Includes bibliographic references1 Introduction -- 2 Literature Review -- 3 PAPER 1: On Maximum Likelihood Estimation of the Semi-Parametric Cox Model with Time-Varying Covariates -- 4 PAPER 2: On Maximum Likelihood Estimation of Competing Risks using the Cause-Specific Semi-Parametric Cox Model with Time-Varying Covariates - an Application to Credit Risk -- 5 PAPER 3: Maximum Likelihood Estimation of the Mixture Cure Semi-Parametric Cox Model -an Application to Credit Risk -- 6 Conclusion and Discussion.Credit-granting institutions lend money to customers, some of which may fail to make contractual repayments (namely principal, interest and fees) thereby defaulting on their obligation. Firms employ quantitative credit risk management techniques to estimate and appropriately control their credit risk, ensuring the firm's risk profile remains within its risk appetite, thus contributing to a safely run firm and stability of the wider economy. Quantitative credit risk management techniques are used to estimate: Probability of Default (PD); Exposure at Default (EAD); and Loss Given Default (LGD). These are inputs to calculate expected loss (EL) (for loan-loss provisions required under international accounting standards (IASB (2014), FASB (2016)), aswell unexpected loss (UL) (required by institutions granted regulatory approval under the BaselAccords (BIS, 2006) to use theAdvanced Internal Ratings Based (A-IRB) Approach for minimum credit capital). This thesis focuses on applying survival analysis to quantifying the risk of credit default used for PD. Institutions already use their own internal data and leverage analytical techniques to quantify the risk of credit default, so the refinements in this thesis could further assist firms control their credit risk profile. To be granted regulatory and audit approval, quantitative credit risk models need to have intuitive drivers and functional form. Therefore regression approaches are regularly adopted, and while logistic regression is common (Baesens et al. (2003), Lessmann et al. (2015)), survival models achieve comparable accuracy to logistic regression but provide additional benefits, such as including censored data and estimations over multiple time horizons (Bellotti and Crook (2009), Stepanova and Thomas (2002) and Tong et al. (2012)). Survival analysis describes studies where subjects are followed in anticipation they encounter an event of interest. Originating with Edmund Halley's life table of human mortality (1693) and its extension by Daniel Bernoulli (1760) demonstrating the increase in human survival if the competing risk of small pox were eliminated as a cause of death, survival analysis spans applications across multiple disciplines, such as biomedical science, industrial life testing (Kalbfleisch and Prentice, 2002) and finance (Lessmann et al., 2015). Regression techniques and method of partial likelihood were introduced by David Cox (1972, 1975), and remain prominent (Hosmer et al., 2008). This model has since been extended, particularly by Crowley and Hu (1977) to cater for time-varying covariates, and by (for example) Sy and Taylor (2000) to cater for mixture-cure models. This thesis explores over three chapters, via two published papers and one manuscript prepared for publication, computational enhancements to the application of survival analysis, competing risk analysis, and mixture-cure analysis, to estimating the risk of credit default. These enhancements are: (1) joint estimation of regression coefficients and baseline hazard using constrained maximum likelihood, where the constraint ensures the latter's nonnegativity; (2) calculation of an asymptotic variance-covariance matrix that allows inferences to be drawn for regression estimates; (3) improved accuracy of parameters in certain settings as demonstrated via simulation. Applied to credit risk modelling, the methods in this thesis provide comparably accurate regression parameters to those obtained using partial likelihood but with the added benefit of also returning an estimate of a baseline hazard estimate with relatively low variability along with asymptotic variance estimates for the baseline hazard and all regression parameters. This further information allows clearer resolution of the shape and statistical significance of the underlying baseline hazard for the risk of credit default. For survival analysis and competing risk analysis approaches in this thesis, time-varying covariates are included providing additional flexibility of including into the models covariates whose values change over time.Mode of access: Internet.1 online resource (xiv, 190 pages) : illustration

A new model of interpreter-mediated aphasia assessment for people from diverse language backgrounds

Mode of access: InternetTheoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 72-83Chapter One: Introduction and Literature Review -- Chapter Two: Methodology -- Chapter Three: Findings and Discussion -- Chapter Four: Discussion and ConclusionAphasia is a non-degenerative acquired communication disorder that commonly occurs following a stroke. Patients who develop aphasia require comprehensive and structured language assessments by a speech pathologist in order to plan appropriate therapy. For patients from diverse language backgrounds, an interpreter generally assists with this language assessment. However, previous research has identified shortcomings of the current model of interpreter-mediated aphasia assessment. This research investigates the efficacy of a new model of interpreter-mediated assessment that has been described in the research literature. In brief, this entails splitting the assessment into two separate sessions: the first is a video-recorded language assessment, while the second involves the speech pathologist and interpreter in a collaborative analysis of the recording. The study recruited a Mandarin-speaking patient, an English-speaking speech pathologist and a Mandarin interpreter. Through framing analysis of the clinical sessions, and post-session interviews with the interpreter and the speech pathologist, the findings demonstrated that there was useful information exchanged by the speech pathologist and the interpreter during the debriefing session, which might not have happened in the current practice where there is no formal debriefing session. It is important to note that due to COVID-19, the patient and the speech pathologist participants were in the same room, but the interpreter mediation was through telephone contact. The useful information included discussion of syllable and phoneme structures in English and Mandarin, the role of Mandarin dialect variation in aphasia assessment, the role boundaries for interpreters, and the feasibility of the new model. The study indicated that follow-up research targeting a range of languages may be useful to achieve a more comprehensive picture of the new model. Specific training for interpreters and speech pathologists on issues highlighted by the findings of this study may also improve the assessment process and outcomes.Mode of access: Internet.1 online resource (91 pages

Communication that counts: A sociolinguistic ethnography of globalized accounting work

Theoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 202-218Chapter 1 : Introduction -- Chapter 2 : Literature review -- Chapter 3 Methodology -- Chapter 4: The discursive construction of 'effective communication' in accounting education -- Chapter 5: Communicating in the accounting classroom -- Chapter 6: Communication as an employability attribute of globalized accountants -- Chapter 7: Communicating in the accounting workplace -- Chapter 8: ConclusionThis research explores the idea of 'good communication' in globalized accounting work. Accountants are widely stereotyped as poor communicators and significant training efforts are invested in improving accounting communication. Taking the occupational stereotype of shy quants who are good with numbers but bad with words as its starting point, this thesis examines language and communication practices and ideologies in accounting education and work in the Philippines. As an emerging global leader in offshore accounting, the Philippines provides an ideal context for this study as it allows for an exploration of multilingual, multimodal, and transnational workplace communication. Conceptually, the study draws on the literature related to language for specific purposes, commodification of communication, and the performativity of language in the workplace. Methodologically, the study takes a sociolinguistic ethnographic approach. In addition to participant observation in top-performing accounting schools and workplaces in Metro Manila, the study also uses corpus analytic methods to analyze how communication skills are constructed in curricular documents and employment ads. With regard to accounting education, the study finds that communication skills constitute an expected graduate attribute and are taught across the accounting curriculum. However, what is considered to constitute 'effective' communication varies considerably. The notion of 'accounting communication' includes the achievement of interpersonal goals, specific forms of spoken and written expression, the ability to communicate digitally, and proficiency in English and Filipino. The relationship of the latter is embedded in tensions between students' academic and professional aspirations, between conveying knowledge and building rapport, and between practitioner teachers and academic teachers. With regard to accounting workplaces, findings show that 'excellent communication' is considered a key criterion for employability. 'Excellent communication' is mobilized as a key criterion in recruitment rituals, often at the expense of technical skills. At work, 'effective communication' plays out on a digital global stage. In this context, 'effectiveness' of communication becomes embedded in yet another set of tensions: between accountants' linguistic performance of global competence and of local identity, between their compliance with workplace language policies and their individual agency, and between participation in and resistance to digital surveillance. Overall, the thesis argues that 'effective communication' ultimately proves an elusive target that is constantly shifting relative to factors such as the organization's desired corporate image, the power and rapport status between interactants, the mode of interaction, and the linguistic and cultural capital of clients, bosses, and co-workers onshore and offshore. The thesis closes with implications for complementing the competence view of communication in accounting education with the performance lens and for expanding sociolinguistic epistemology with perspectives from the Global South on what counts in global, professional communication.Mode of access: Internet.1 online resource (229 pages) illustrations, ma

'Sadness' in the Ancient Egyptian lexicon: a lexical-semantic analysis of the Lexeme ind

Mode of access: World Wide WebTheoretical thesis.Includes bibliographic references.1 Introduction -- 2 The research content -- 3 Research methods and approaches 4 Lexical-semantic analysis of ind -- 5 Analysis of the ind emotion concept -- Conclusions.The social constructionist position on emotions argues that emotions are, to an extent, constructed by the cultural and temporal contexts in which they are evoked. In the context of the ancient past, this insight is perhaps even more crucial: as the world of the ancient Egyptians is culturally and temporally removed from the 21st Century context, it cannot be presumed that ancient Egyptian emotions mirrored modern understandings. A method that takes this new insight into perspective is thus needed. The History of Emotions approach aims to examine how emotions (particularly, though not exclusively, via emotion words in textual sources) were conceptualised, triggered and expressed in the past. Considering that the understanding of much of the Egyptian emotional lexicon is imprecise, this Master of Research (MRes) thesis explores the usage of emotion vocabularies in the ancient Egyptian textual record by employing the rigorous analytical apparatus of lexical semantics. Through a case study approach, this research examines a single lexeme belonging to the SADNESS semantic field, namely ind (Wb 1, 102.16-18), and in doing so, directly responds to the limitations in the understanding of the Egyptian emotional lexicon by sharpening its definition. This thesis first elucidates the precise meaning of the lexeme, before examining the usage of ind in the textual record. Such close contextual analysis illuminates how the emotion concept(s) denoted by ind could have been linguistically conceptualised, such as the contextual situations that motivated its usage, the potential experiencers of ind, as well as how ind was expressed and described to be alleviated. Key theoretical concepts from the History of Emotions approach then frame the insights of the lexical-semantic analysis by highlighting the limitations and biases of the Egyptian documentary record. In sum, this research contributes to the growing field of emotion research in Egyptology by shedding light on emotion concepts that are expressed in the Egyptian textual record.Mode of access: Internet.1 online resource (ix, 139 pages) illustration

The making and unmaking of a doctor: negotiating identity throughout medical training in Australia

Theoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 266-282.Introduction -- Chapter 1: "It feels like you're being churned through a machine..." -- Chapter 2: "I'm just struggling to find my balance..." -- Chapter 3: "I am not really an adult. Like, I'm just pretending" -- Chapter 4: "I have to become comfortable with uncertainty" -- Chapter 5: "I didn't go to medical school to be a secretary!" -- Chapter 6: "I just became cynical and burnt out" -- Conclusion: "I'm a doctor" -- Appendices -- References.A recent string of suicides amongst junior doctors in Australia has once again brought both public and government attention to their mental health and wellbeing. Current research suggests that training doctors have 'significantly higher levels of distress' than doctors at later stages of their careers due in part to bullying, harassment in the workplace, and an ever-increasing workload. Yet, these young doctors are also individuals with a life outside of work and face external pressures associated with the life stage of 'emerging adulthood' (ages 18-30). Doctoring is more than a job; it is a way of life. Being a doctor becomes an individual's primary identity, and often, their only identity, which influences their ability to cope in circumstances such as negative interactions with colleagues. The one identity they have developed for themselves during their emerging adult life is targeted, and they have no alternative identities to fall back on. A significant part of the problem not yet addressed organisationally is that we have framed these issues in individual terms, such as through the promotion of self-directed learning, how individuals can prevent bullying and harassment, or even how they might develop alternate identities to build resilience to protect themselves against difficult scenarios they may face throughout their careers. This thesis outlines the trajectory of training doctors in the Australian medical education context through the exploration of the lived experiences of fifty informants. These experiences demonstrate the complexity of becoming a doctor within the Australian health care system. They highlight that a combination of educational and work-related issues as well as challenges faced in life outside of work make it difficult for junior doctors to navigate this period of their lives.Mode of access: Internet.1 online resource (282 pages

Structure of resistive magnetohydrodynamic shocks

Theoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 165-1671 Introduction -- 2 The Equations of Resistive MHD -- 3 Shock Classification -- 4 The By - Bz Phase Plane -- 5 Fast Shocks -- 6 Slow Shocks -- 7 Intermediate Shock Families -- 8 Switch-On Shocks -- 9 Summary and DiscussionThis thesis presents results of a study of the steady state structure of slow, intermediate and fast magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) shocks in the case where energy dissipation is due to resistive heating of the fluid and the upstream Alfven speed is greater than the sound speed. A new parametric solution of the jump conditions is given and the various shock families are shown to be determined by the presence and number of stationary points in the magnetic field phase plane and the speed of sound. It is shown that there are 14 types of MHD shock structure contained in 12 families with the "switch-on" shock being the limiting case of a fast and intermediate shock combination. The thesis proceeds as follows. First, the background to the MHD shock structure problem is given. The equations for resistive MHD are then presented in the normal incidence frame for the steady state and the jump conditions relating the upstream and downstream states are then given in conventional and parametric form. The classification of shocks in terms of the MHD signal speeds is then described. The MHD equations yield a pair of ODEs in the transverse components of B, allowing the shock transition to be represented as a trajectory in the By-Bz plane. The magnetic field phase plane is then used to show the emergence of families of shocks, with different families of intermediate shocks found to have 0, 1 or 2 degrees of freedom in their internal structure. The multiplicity arises due to the possibility of an entropy increasing gas dynamic jump inside them from a supersonic to subsonic state across which the magnetic field components do not change. An original analysis is presented of the smooth passage of an intermediate shock from a supersonic to a subsonic state at a special point known as the transonic transition point. The final chapter gives a table of the shocks possible in resistive MHD, presents a calculation of the effect of fluid viscosity on the structure of a shock and gives details of a preliminary study of shock stability using an eigenvalue analysis. The calculations in this thesis confirm that intermediate shocks have the requisite number of degrees of freedom in their structure to be stable according to the hypothesis of Wu (J. Geophys. Res., 95: 8149, 1990) which had cast doubt on the original view that intermediate shocks are structurally unstable.Mode of access: Internet.1 online resource (175 pages) illustration

Innovations in machine learning: a case study of the Fabricius Workbench

Mode of access: World Wide WebTheoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 85-95.1. Introduction -- 2. Literature review -- 3. Methodology -- 4. Case study outcomes -- 5. Discussion -- 6. Conclusion -- Appendices -- References.This thesis investigates how the open-source computer program called the Fabricius Workbench complements the process of translating Hieroglyphic Egyptian texts. The Workbench, developed by Google, Ubisoft, and Psycle Interactive, employs machine learning in an attempt to speed up translation, as has been successfully carried out for other - even ancient - languages. The Workbench utilises machine learning to identify images of Egyptian hieroglyphs. Users can edit a facsimile layer and reconstruct damaged sections of text. The program also suggests words to assist the user in formulating their translation. Workbench project files are stored in a format that is easily shared and edited. By employing eight volunteer Egyptologists of varying skill levels to produce a translation using the Workbench, this thesis evaluated whether there are elements of the program that demonstrate how digital tools might improve the translation process. After analysing the outcomes of the case study by considering the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) of the program, focusing on user experience, initial expectations of the Workbench had to be reconsidered. The program as it stands would require significant improvements to become a viable tool for Egyptologists. As such, focusing on the individual components of the Workbench would offer earlier rewards and develop a community of users who could demonstrate academic outcomes, thus encouraging further development. Therefore, the program either needs to split into its smaller components or pivot to a tool within a pedagogical program that would sustain the established userbase. Since the Workbench demonstrates that digital technology can be used to capture, manipulate, and analyse hieroglyphic information, it is suggested that students of Hieroglyphic Egyptian could be presented with activities and exercises that show them how to encode and mark up hieroglyphs in order to contribute to the amount of digital textual material of the Ancient Egyptian language available worldwide -- abstract.Mode of access: Internet.1 online resource (xv, 95 pages) illustration

The volatility spillovers of U.S. quantitative easing: evidence from Australia

Theoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 81-88.1. Introduction -- 2. Review of literature -- 3. Data and methodology -- 4. Empirical results -- 5. Discussion and policy implications -- 6. Concluding remarks -- References -- Appendices.This dissertation investigates the cross-market volatility spillovers induced by U.S. Quantitative Easing (QE) programs. Specifically, this study examines the volatility that commences in U.S. financial markets and spreads to Australian equity and government bond markets. The study features the creation of animplied volatility index for the Australian government bond market that is considered alongside other implied volatility indices to create dynamic measures of cross-market spillovers. Data-driven Structural Vector Autoregressive (SVAR) models are then estimated to assess the impact of an unexpected QE shock on volatility transmission. The study finds evidence of an intensification of volatility spillovers that is explained by QE, primarily during the period of policy normalisation. The QE-induced volatility transmission between the U.S. and Australian equity markets is found to be especially pronounced. Furthermore, the results show that contractionary QE shocks promote an increase in volatility spillovers, while expansionary shocks suppress them. This study is among the first to provide a comprehensive analysis of the cross-border effects of U.S. QE programs on Australian financial markets, contributing to a growing set of literature that examines the implications of unconventional monetary policies -- abstract.Mode of access: Internet.1 online resource (129 pages

Christians in Athens in the first two centuries: from Paul to Bishop Quadratus

Theoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 297 - 331.Chapter 1 - Introductory matter -- Chapter 2 - Athens in the first century of CE -- Chapter 3 - Athens in Acts 17 and the Pauline Epistles -- Chapter 4 - Athens from Nero to Hadrian -- Chapter 5 - The Athenian apologists under Hadrian -- Chapter 6 - Athenian apologetics under Marcus Aurelius and Commodus -- Chapter 7 - Dionysius of Corinth and the church of Athens after 180CE -- Chapter 8 Conclusion.In the growing field of New Testament studies that could be termed "Polis and Ekklesia", much investigation has been done on the early Church in the larger urban centres such as Rome, Corinth and Ephesus. Peter Lampe commented, at the end of his study on Rome in the first two centuries (Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 2003), that it would be necessary to explore smaller urban centres in order to ascertain whether or not the larger ones were representative of the Christian movement more broadly. This thesis seeks to address a small part of the gap identified by Lampe by offering a historical investigation into the Christian church in Athens in the first two centuries CE. It grounds the relevant Christian texts-Acts 17; Paul's letters: 1 Thessalonians and 1 Corinthians; The Apology of Quadratus; The Apology of Aristides; Athenagoras' Legatio Pro Christianis; and Dionysius of Corinth's Letter to the Athenians-in the social, political and religious context of the city in this period, engaging with literary and material sources, in order to analyse how the early Christian movement interacted with its Athenian setting. The church in Athens began through the ministry of the Apostle Paul in the synagogue, the agora, and before the Areopagus council. He proclaimed "Jesus and the resurrection" as the way of salvation for a city embroiled in the tension of courting Roman power and fortifying its traditional legacy. In the second century, as Athens rose once more to prominence under Hadrian and the Antonine emperors, the Athenian church capitalised on the city's status and made its mark through a line of apologists. The early apologists, Quadratus and Aristides, responded to the challenges of the Jewish revolts under Trajan and Hadrian, and engaged the ethno-religious conversations that came about from Hadrian's Panhellenic program. Later in the century, Athenagoras wrote his Legatio in a time of significant persecution which seems to have arisen in part in response to the social turmoil of the 170s CE. After Athenagoras' flight from Athens to Alexandria, external support for the Athenian church came from Dionysius, the bishop of Corinth. Dionysius supported the appointment of a new bishop, Quadratus, and encouraged the Athenian Christians to rekindle their faith, a faith that was shared with their founder, that Apostle Paul, and the "first Athenian bishop", Dionysius the Areopagite -- abstract.Mode of access: Internet.1 online resource (331 pages