Creative and literary responses to Australian middle-class experiences of financial upheaval

This thesis—comprising a novel, The Company He Keeps, and exegesis—explores the near absence of literary fiction written about the Australian Middle Class and their responses to financial stress (1980 – 2008), finding that the language of global economic reform has triumphed over political discourse and, in particular, silenced women

The chronostratigraphy of a Holocene Barrier Estuary: Lake Illawarra NSW

Valley-fill sequences, preserved in topographic lows associated with incised valley systems, potentially preserve a record of Holocene sea level fluctuations. A detailed litho- and biostratigraphy of the Holocene barrier estuary, Lake Illawarra, New South Wales has been constructed. Forty kilometres of seismic surveys, forty-one vibracores, supplemented by auger drill holes and trenches, and faunal analysis provides the data for this investigation. A detailed chronology of the infilling of the barrier estuary has been established using 115 aspartic acid derived ages and six radiocarbon ages. The results provide a detailed chronology for the deposition of marine transgressive deposits, barrier growth, and the subsequent development of the estuarine back-barrier environment. The results from Lake Illawarra indicate that the generalised evolution of the barrier estuary occurred in five geomorphologically distinct phases associated with rising sea levels following the last glacial maximum (LGM)

A Case of Non-Functioning Huge Adrenocortical Carcinoma Extending Into Inferior Vena Cava and Right Atrium

Primary adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare tumor and its usual sites of metastasis are the lung (71%), lymph node (68%), liver (42%), and bone (26%). However, intracaval invasion extending into the right atrium is very rare and spontaneous regression of tumor burden in adrenal carcinoma is also rare. We report a case of ACC with direct invasion of the inferior vena cava and right atrium. A 34-yr-old male patient presented with progressive dyspnea, weight loss, and poor oral intake over 3 months. Non-functioning ACC with direct invasion of the inferior vena cava and right atrium was confirmed by imaging, pathologic, and hormonal study. Chemo-radio-therapy was attempted. However, tumor burden was not changed, but rather toxic hepatitis and thrombocytopenia were developed. His subjective symptoms and general conditions were improved after 1 month of conservative management and the patient was discharged. During clinical follow-up, this tumor showed spontaneous regression

Mono- and bis-imidazolidinium ethynyl cations and the reduction of the latter to give an extended bis-1,4-([3]cumulene)-p-carbo-quinoid system

Sherpa Romeo yellow journal. This is the peer reviewed version. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived VersionsAn extended π-system containing two [3]cumulene fragments separated by a p-carbo-quinoid and stabilized by two capping N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) has been prepared. Mono- and bis-imidazolidinium ethynyl cations have also been synthesized from the reaction of an NHC with phenylethynyl bromide or 1,4bis(bromoethynyl)benzene. Cyclic voltammetry coupled with synthetic and structural studies showed that the dication is readily reduced to a neutral, singlet bis-1,4-([3]cumulene)-p-carbo-quinoid due to the πaccepting properties of the capping NHCsYe

Characterization of the DMD mouse\u27s dynamic skeletal muscle microvascular niche

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a progressive muscular and microvascular degenerative disease affecting 1 in 3,500 boys. Chronic inflammation in skeletal muscle causes the onset of fibrosis caused by impaired angiogenesis and myogenesis. Improving angiogenic outcomes is a high priority. Previous studies have shown treatment with exogenous angiopoietin-1 (ANG1), a vascular stabilizing factor, reduced inflammation, ischemia, and fibrosis in animal models of DMD. This study further characterized DMD disease progression and the effects of exogenous ANG1 treatment had on the skeletal microvascular niche in DMD mice. The inflammatory and angiogenic response in mdx/utrn+/- mouse gastrocnemius samples were evaluated with immunohistochemistry and RT-qPCR. The microvascular niche lacked key gene and protein expression at 8 and 10 weeks of age. This had a cascading effect resulting in reduced myofiber size. Two weeks after ANG1 treatment some key microvascular niche gene expression and proteins had increased which led to increased myofiber size

Crack growth and damage modeling of fibre reinforced polymer composites

Notched tensile strength and the development of damage in composite laminates are studied in this thesis through experimental, numerical and analytical methods to develop simple models for predicting notched strength using completely physical input parameters. A series of experimental tensile fracture tests using the Overheight Compact Tension (OCT) specimen geometry, established by (Kongshavn and Poursartip, 1999), were conducted to study the development of the characteristic damage zone. The material used in the tests was a quasi-isotropic carbon fibre/epoxy. The specimens were modified so that the notch root radius varied while maintaining a constant crack width to specimen section ratio. Specimens with notch root radii less than 16 mm display stable crack growth with little notch sensitivity. Specimens with larger notch root radii are unstable and display more notch sensitivity. For all specimens, the height of the damage zone converges to between 6 mm. and 7 mm. The transition from stable to unstable behaviour is explained using fracture mechanics equations and a transition radius can be determined from three material parameters; elastic modulus, specific strain energy and tensile strength. A simple bilinear cohesive zone model called the simple damage model (SDM) was developed as a material model in the ABAQUS finite element code to be used as a demonstrator for modeling techniques that can be applied to all strain-softening material models. In particular, the relationship between input parameters and the element width was studied. Using the same input parameters as the analytical model and a sufficiently refined mesh, the numerical model predicts the peak loads from the series of experimental OCT tests well. A transition from stable to unstable behaviour is predicted at the same radius as seen experimentally. A method of determining an appropriate element width to ensure an accurate prediction is presented. A modified version of the SDM called the adaptive simple damage model (ASDM) was also developed, which automatically scales the input strength to account for the effect of element width. This modification allows larger elements to be used while still obtaining an accurate solution, a useful feature if large structures are being modeled.Applied Science, Faculty ofMaterials Engineering, Department ofGraduat