Settling in the land of wine and honey: cultural tourism, local history and some Australian legends

This essay looks at tensions between metropolitan and local versions of history in imagining national and regional identities for tourists and locals. It pursues the theme through a case study of the uses of the reputation of Australian writer Henry Lawson (1867-1922) by regional communities in New South Wales, Australia. Lawson grew up in the Mudgee/Gulgong region and many of his stories and poems relate to the area. This body of work and his substantial national reputation provide the local population with a potent resource for local memory and cultural tourism

The country of unspoken feeling: an interview with Jean Kent

This interview with the Australian poet Jean Kent explores the ways in which the writing process is bound up with her education at the University of Queensland, her work as a psychologist and in particular her memories of growing up on the Darling Downs. It is particularly interested in connections between memories and the creative process

Translation in distraction : on Eileen Chang’s “Chinese translation: a vehicle of cultural influence”

This essay focuses on a previously obscure and only recently republished English text held at USC that offers an unparalleled window into Chang’s engagement with translation. The untitled manuscript, typed with handwritten additions and corrections, is contained in a folder marked “Untitled article or speech” and appears to be the script of an oral presentation in which Chang surveys the development of translation in China from the late-Qing period, through the 1911 revolution, the May Fourth period, the war with Japan, the 1949 revolution and the Cultural Revolution. Her speech emphasizes how translation functioned as an index to China’s fraught relationship with the outside world, particularly the West (including Japan and Russia); to that end, the text engages with historical movements such as imperialism, modernization, and the ideological polarization of the Cold War, resulting in an account that belies her reputation as an apolitical figure. While the rediscovery of a text by Eileen Chang is certainly a matter of anecdotal interest, the purpose of this essay is not only to reconstruct its history but also to consider how it illuminates her lifelong relationship to translation through which, I will argue, she tried to unsettle the geopolitical categories that Chih-ming Wang 王智明 (2012) has identified as foundational to modern Chinese literary culture. In what follows, I start by providing an overview of the text based on archival and other sources and provide a summary of its contents. Turning to Shuang Shen’s 沈雙 (2012) discussion of translation as impersonation, I consider how the oral address, a rare textual form in the oeuvre of a notoriously reclusive writer, involves navigating the roles of reader, author, and translator. Through this genre, Chang hints at the possibility of distancing herself from the geopolitics of translation even as the ultimate failure to do so reveals the constraints of her diasporic condition

The design and construction of an electronically beam steered phased array antenna : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Physics at Massey University

The design and construction of a simple beam steered phased array antenna was undertaken to demonstrate the operational principles behind such devices. The antenna can be used as a receiver or transmitter, however power requirements dictated that the antenna be tested as a receiver. The design is modular to allow for redevelopment without complete reconstruction. The array is made up of the control module, voltage controlled attenuators and a phase shifting unit. The antenna consists of 16 quarter wave monopoles arranged in a 4X4 square array on an aluminium ground plane. Practical considerations lead to a carrier frequency of 200 MHz. The heart of a phased array antenna is the phase shifting device. This device controls the direction in which the main radiation lobe propagates. Several phase shifting principles were investigated but time did not allow for an exhaustive investigation of every kind of phase shifter. Initially, a relatively new and novel approach was attempted. When this proved to be unachievable a more traditional (but far less elegant) method was used. During the phase shifting process, the signal necessarily suffers attenuation as well as the designed phase shift, consequently it is necessary to tailor the signal amplitudes of each array element. The required amplitude control is achieved through the use of 16 voltage controlled attenuators. A computer package is used to control the phase shifter and attenuators. The design of this package depends on only three factors. The first is the interface between the hardware and the computer (via a serial port in this case). The second factor is the type of control signal the phase shifter and attenuators respond to (in this case a dc voltage). The third factor is the range of voltage required for the phase shifter and attenuators so that their full range can be utilised. This is realised through the use of a microprocessor, a "sample and hold" circuit and several D/A converters. The antenna and computer control package are essentially independent of each other. If an 8 bit digital phase shifter were to be employed later, the hardware could be used to control this with minimal alteration. In this case the advantage of a modular design is apparent. Various parts of the device can be incrementally improved without alteration to the remaining system. Radical change can be accommodated with minimal adjustments

Forward-Thinking: HR\u27s Path To Improving Its Worth

[Excerpt] Human Resources has only just begun to move past its transactional roots into a truly strategic and value-adding role. Popular television characters like Toby from NBC’s The Office have all but glamorized HR, leaving individuals with a somewhat negative perception of the Human Resources function. When you add to this the personal interactions that individuals have had in the past with small and strictly transactional HR departments, it is understandable that these negative perceptions exist. For critics and skeptics of HR, these observations constitute reality. However, this doesn’t have to be the case. This essay will explore how focusing on a more results-driven analytical approach, adapting to an evolving workforce, and increasing visibility within the organization will help HR better convey its value and continue to evolve at all levels of the company

Does IT Spending Matter on Hospital Financial Performance and Quality?

This research explored impacts of IT spending on hospital financial performance and hospital quality. We developed two research hypotheses accordingly. The first hypothesis was that IT spending would be positively related to the hospital financial performance, and the second hypothesis was that hospitals with higher IT spending would have better quality metrics. We used the 2017 American Hospital Association Survey data and the HCAHPS dataset from Medicare website. We tested three hospital financials and three quality measures. We employed T-Tests and ANOVA models to test the hypotheses. Results were inconclusive for both hypotheses. Evidence showed statistical significance on two out of seven tests

Effect of Vertical Microphone Layer Spacing for a 3D Microphone Array

Subjective listening tests were conducted to investigate how the spacing between main (lower) and height (upper) microphone layers in a 3D main microphone array affects perceived spatial impression and overall preference. Four different layer spacings of 0m, 0.5m, 1m, and 1.5m were compared for the sound sources of trumpet, acoustic guitar, percussion quartet, and string quartet using a nine-channel loudspeaker setup. It was generally found that there was no significant difference between any of the spaced layer configurations, whereas the 0m layer had slightly higher ratings than the more spaced layers in both spatial impression and preference. Acoustical properties of the original microphone channel signals as well as those of the reproduced signals, which were binaurally recorded, were analyzed in order to find possible physical causes for the perceived results. It is suggested that the perceived results were mainly associated with vertical interchannel crosstalk in the signals of each height layer and the magnitude and pattern of spectral change at the listener’s ear caused by each layer