Liberation Psychology as an Agent of Change for First Nations Peoples: An Exploration of the Decolonisation of Concepts to Minimise Miscommunications and Assumptions in an Australian Context

This thesis is about decolonisation and empowerment. It is specifically about First Nations people claiming or reclaiming their autonomy. This thesis explores concepts, in this case a focus on the term 'resilience', to address miscommunications and to perhaps minimise mistakes that can be made due to assumed knowledge; assumed congruence of terms and concepts. The history of psychology as a discipline is discussed, along with its role in the oppression of First Nations people worldwide, and in Australia. The importance of worldviews, and how miscommunications can affect healthcare, is critical for health professionals to understand. The discipline of psychology needs to ensure that it is not limiting its worldview by being too insular; it needs to be reflexive enough to both recognise its part in the history of oppression, and to become an agent of change for those who have been oppressed. Indigenous voices need to be heard as part of this reflexive psychology

Electrically Small Folded Slot Antenna Utilizing Capacitive Loaded Slot Lines

This paper presents an electrically small, coplanar waveguide fed, folded slot antenna that uses capacitive loading. Several antennas are fabricated with and without capacitive loading to demonstrate the ability of this design approach to reduce the resonant frequency of the antenna, which is analogous to reducing the antenna size. The antennas are fabricated on Cu-clad Rogers Duriod(TM) 6006 with multilayer chip capacitors to load the antennas. Simulated and measured results show close agreement, thus, validating the approach. The electrically small antennas have a measured return loss greater than 15 dB and a gain of 5.4, 5.6, and 2.7 dBi at 4.3, 3.95, and 3.65 GHz, respectively

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Observation of tW production in the single-lepton channel in pp collisions at root s=13 TeV

A measurement of the cross section of the associated production of a single top quark and a W boson in final states with a muon or electron and jets in proton-proton collisions at root s = 13 TeV is presented. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 36 fb(-1) collected with the CMS detector at the CERN LHC in 2016. A boosted decision tree is used to separate the tW signal from the dominant t (t) over bar background, whilst the subleading W+jets and multijet backgrounds are constrained using data-based estimates. This result is the first observation of the tW process in final states containing a muon or electron and jets, with a significance exceeding 5 standard deviations. The cross section is determined to be 89 +/- 4 (stat) +/- 12 (syst) pb, consistent with the standard model.Peer reviewe

Search for top squark production in fully hadronic final states in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

A search for production of the supersymmetric partners of the top quark, top squarks, is presented. The search is based on proton-proton collision events containing multiple jets, no leptons, and large transverse momentum imbalance. The data were collected with the CMS detector at the CERN LHC at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb(-1). The targeted signal production scenarios are direct and gluino-mediated top squark production, including scenarios in which the top squark and neutralino masses are nearly degenerate. The search utilizes novel algorithms based on deep neural networks that identify hadronically decaying top quarks and W bosons, which are expected in many of the targeted signal models. No statistically significant excess of events is observed relative to the expectation from the standard model, and limits on the top squark production cross section are obtained in the context of simplified supersymmetric models for various production and decay modes. Exclusion limits as high as 1310 GeVare established at the 95% confidence level on the mass of the top squark for direct top squark production models, and as high as 2260 GeV on the mass of the gluino for gluino-mediated top squark production models. These results represent a significant improvement over the results of previous searches for supersymmetry by CMS in the same final state.Peer reviewe

Seed germination and dormancy

Strategies to conserve Australia’s unique native plant heritage depend on understanding how plant species function. The collection, storage and study of plant germplasm – whether as seed, tissue samples, frozen samples, or whole plants – helps us gain this knowledge. It provides research material to unlock the secrets of seed dormancy in the lab and in the wild; it allows us to establish new wild populations of threatened species with the best chance of success; and it provides an ‘insurance policy’ of genetically representative samples, to guard against the risk of extinction and the new threat of rapid climate change. Plant Germplasm Conservation in Australia includes the latest advances in ex situ germplasm conservation. Written by many of Australia’s foremost experts, they place the conservation of this country’s unique and varied plant life in a national and international context, outline the key conservation treaties and strategies and provide a practical knowledge-kit for programs requiring germplasm collection, storage, research and utilisation. Content is relevant for both long-term conservation storage and short-term revegetation seed banking

Overcoming physical seed dormancy in priority native species for use in arid-zone restoration programs

The relative effectiveness of wet- and dry-heat treatments on alleviating physical dormancy (PY) of seeds of seven species of Fabaceae and five species of Malvaceae was determined to optimise seed handling procedures for ecological restoration. Seeds of all species were treated at different temperatures (40-100°C) for various durations (2 and 5min of wet heat, and 5, 10 and 30min of dry heat). Prior to treatment, seeds of all species exhibited low germination (0-38%). As hypothesised, there was variation among species with respect to the efficacy of the heat treatments. In general, wet-heat treatments at temperatures >70°C for 2 or 5min were effective in breaking PY for all Fabaceae species, and two Malvaceae species, with resultant germination typically >75%. For dry-heat treatments, higher temperatures and longer durations were required to achieve similar germination results. In the three Malvaceae species that were least responsive to heat (Abutilon otocarpum, Hibiscus haynaldii and Sida echinocarpa), there was a trade-off between treatment temperature and duration; lower temperatures (<70°C) failed to alleviate PY, whereas higher temperatures either rendered seeds permeable but not germinable (70-90°C), or resulted in seeds losing viability (e.g. 100°C). Therefore, combinational dormancy (PY+physiological dormancy) appears to be present in a proportion of the seeds of these Malvaceae species (i.e. those that imbibed and remained viable, but did not germinate). Scanning electron imagery established that the majority of wet-heat treatments resulted in the rupture of the water gap in the seed testa of all species. The results clearly demonstrate that optimal heat treatments for the alleviation of PY are species-specific. Restoration practitioners handling seeds of diverse species should be mindful of treating seeds at the lowest effective temperature (70-90°C) to avoid injury through inadvertent exposure to temperatures that are higher and longer than necessary to break dormancy

Seed banking

Strategies to conserve Australia’s unique native plant heritage depend on understanding how plant species function. The collection, storage and study of plant germplasm – whether as seed, tissue samples, frozen samples, or whole plants – helps us gain this knowledge. It provides research material to unlock the secrets of seed dormancy in the lab and in the wild; it allows us to establish new wild populations of threatened species with the best chance of success; and it provides an ‘insurance policy’ of genetically representative samples, to guard against the risk of extinction and the new threat of rapid climate change. Plant Germplasm Conservation in Australia includes the latest advances in ex situ germplasm conservation. Written by many of Australia’s foremost experts, they place the conservation of this country’s unique and varied plant life in a national and international context, outline the key conservation treaties and strategies and provide a practical knowledge-kit for programs requiring germplasm collection, storage, research and utilisation. Content is relevant for both long-term conservation storage and short-term revegetation seed banking

Seeds at the forefront: Synthesis of the inaugural National Seed Science Forum and future directions in Australian seed science

Seed science is fundamental to many fields of endeavour, from agricultural production, to restoration, and conservation of threatened species and communities. This is especially the case in Australia which has seen hugely increased involvement and outputs from seed scientists across many sectors over the last three decades. This escalation in research is reflected in the program and outcomes of the first National Seed Science Forum that was held in March 2016 and was attended by delegates representing many scientific institutions, industry, non-government organisations and volunteer groups. There were delegates from nine countries, and keynote presentations and workshops by global leaders in seed science. A key outcome of the Forum was the unique opportunity for discussion and collaboration across sectors. Another key outcome of the Forum, the Seed Science Special Issue of the Australian Journal of Botany, captures some of the emerging topical research and themes seed scientists are working on. Of particular note is the growth in germplasm conservation of native and agricultural floras, in line with, and at the forefront of, international collaborative efforts. The other strong theme across the Forum is the increasingly sophisticated use of seeds in restoration and the enabling technological advances. Future potential advances in Australian seed science are discussed

Enhancement of seed germination of wild plant species through priming

Desertification is a serious problem affecting the survival of many plants endemic to arid regions. Revegetation is difficult because it is widely influenced by extreme climatic factors, disturbance, limited revegetation technology and importantly a lack of understanding of the biology and ecology of native plant species. Seeds are central to the revegetation of degraded lands, but poor seedling establishment limits our capacity to restore diverse plant communities. Priming is an effective method to enhance seed germination. The purpose of this study is to enhance seed germination of species adapted to arid regions using priming technology and hence assist in arid land restoration. A seed priming experiment was conducted on native plant species (Poaceae) from the Pilbara region (northern Western Australia) in an attempt to improve germination percentage and the seeds resistance to water stress. Some combinations of priming treatments significantly increased germination percentage for two Poaceae species (Cymbopogon obtectus, Eriachne mucronata) under water stress. Priming has a positive effect on germination parameters such as germination percentage and speed for seeds under certain water stress; however, this positive effect decreases when water stress is high (-1.0 MPa). This study assists in better understanding how to improve germination of native species from the arid Pilbara which will improve the success of revegetation programs