Open Access Theses

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Access status: Open Access ,
Framing Native Forests: A Victorian case study
Shelton, Madeline
Australia’s native forests have been a topic of contention between forestry and environmental groups for over half a century. Despite political interventions aimed at reconciling disagreement, conflict between interest groups continue. The news media is a key public forum where these forest topics are debated and characterised. Curious to better understand the nature of Australia’s ongoing forest conflicts, I have used framing analysis to explore the coverage of native forest management issues in the mainstream news media, using Victoria as a case study. I examined how events, issues, actors, and practices are framed in the news coverage, as represented by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, The Age, The Australian and The Guardian in 2019-2020. A total of 66 news articles about Victorian native forest issues were published during this period; the monthly frequency varied considerably and was related to both natural (e.g. bushfire) and political (e.g. Victorian Government decision to end native forest logging) events. I identified three frames: 1) Save nature, stop logging (SNSL), 2) Forestry, the ultimate renewable (FTUR), and 3) The political balancing act (PBA). The first of these was dominant and proactive; the second largely reactive; and the third relatively minor. I also explored below surface level disagreements to see how each frame perceives ‘nature’, ‘knowledge’, and the ‘other’ groups. The SNSL frame represents nature as ‘pristine’, and of great intrinsic value; in contrast, the FTUR frame represents nature and people in a more interdependent relationship, with both benefiting from sustainable management. The PBA frame holds both of these perspectives. In all frames, ‘science’ is represented as the basis of knowledge, but that science is contradictory, as each frame has its own preferred science. The SNSL strongly frames the ‘other’ in negative, diminishing terms; this is evident to a much lesser extent in the FTUR frame; the PBA frame represents the other in essentially political terms. The visual images used to communicate the SNSL frame, and its consistent coherent advocacy of a simple message, compared to a more reactive and more complex FTUR frame, help explain the impact of the SNSL frame in the media representation and discourse about the future management of Victoria’s native forests
Access status: Open Access ,
Molecular Engineering of Triazine-Based Cleavage Photoinitiators: Rational Design, Synthesis, and Tailored Photopolymerization Performance
(2026) Li, Liqiang
Photopolymerization has emerged as a powerful and versatile technique for light-driven material fabrication, offering rapid reaction rates, spatiotemporal precision, and energy efficiency. Cleavage-type photoinitiators (PIs), as the core of this technology, have evolved from traditional UV-responsive systems to advanced visible- and near-infrared-sensitive structures, driven by the increasing use of LED light sources and the growing demand for environmentally friendly and biocompatible materials. This thesis focuses on the rational molecular design and performance evaluation of triazine-based visible-light photoinitiators, aiming to achieve high initiation efficiency, low migration, and sustainable functionality. The work is organized into five chapters, beginning with a comprehensive literature review and followed by four research chapters focusing on the development of novel triazine derivatives and their practical applications. Chapter 1 provides an overview of recent progress in Type I photoinitiators, emphasizing molecular design strategies that extend absorption from the UV to visible and near-infrared regions. Systems based on phosphine oxide, carbon-group elements, oxime esters, and water-soluble or two-photon-compatible architectures are discussed in relation to their structural features, photophysical behavior, and radical generation mechanisms. The triazine family is introduced as a highly promising platform, with analysis of their advantages and current limitations. Chapter 2 describes the synthesis of a polymerizable triazine photoinitiator (CT) and its polymeric counterpart (pCT) designed to minimize cytotoxicity and migration. Both compounds exhibit efficient initiation under violet light (LED at 410 nm) and remarkable migration stability, up to 14-fold improvement over benchmark triazines, demonstrating potential for safe use in biomedical and food-packaging applications. Chapter 3 expands the structural diversity of triazine derivatives through an alternative synthetic route, achieving visible-light absorption up to 500 nm and improved initiation under 410-465 nm irradiation. Methacrylate-functionalized triazines show enhanced migration resistance and potential for two-photon polymerization, marking a step toward multifunctional and high-performance initiator systems. Chapter 4 integrates carbon dots with triazine frameworks to yield hybrid nanophotoinitiators that combine strong visible absorption, fast steady-state photolysis, and superior photoinitiation ability. Beyond their high 3D printing fidelity, these hybrids act as nanofillers, reinforcing mechanical properties, improving network uniformity, and introducing light-to-heat conversion for responsive material systems. Chapter 5 concludes that triazine-based photoinitiators, through rational structural design, can overcome the long-standing challenges of UV dependency, toxicity, and limited durability. The developed systems exhibit strong visible-light sensitivity, low migration, and multifunctional performance such as light-responsive behaviour, two-photon absorption, and enhanced mechanical properties, providing a foundation for next-generation photopolymerization. Future work should focus on developing water-soluble and biocompatible triazine derivatives to enable efficient curing in aqueous environments, as well as engineering high molar absorptivity and deep-curing capabilities for thicker and more complex 3D structures. Collectively, this thesis establishes triazine derivatives as a versatile and sustainable platform for visible-light photopolymerization, paving the way toward environmentally benign, high-precision, and multifunctional light-driven manufacturing technologies.
Access status: Open Access ,
Engineering Excitonic Resonances and Light-Matter Interactions in 2D Transition Metal Dichalcogenides
(2025) Klimmer, Sebastian
This thesis investigates the optical properties of transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) monolayers. These ultrathin semiconductors are highly suitable for on-chip optical devices due to their ease of integration on existing photonic platforms, broadband applicability, strong excitonic effects at room temperature, and large second-order nonlinear susceptibility. Their peculiar symmetry properties further lead to helicity-dependent selection rules in the ±K valleys of the Brillouin zone, opening the field of valleytronics. Despite the plethora of interesting characteristics, there is a lack of promising tuning knobs to modulate them on ultrafast timescales. This work advances the state of the art by investigating all-optical band gap modulations, caused by the optical Stark and Bloch-Siegert shifts, and probing their impact using nonlinear optical processes. Depending on the polarization state of the excitation laser these effects lead to different observations. Linearly polarized light causes a symmetric band gap opening in ±K, thus inducing a shift of the excitonic resonance. This is quantified by evaluating intensity-dependent second-harmonic generation measurements in combination with an analytical model and numerical simulations, which further allow to extract fundamental materials parameters. In contrast to the linear excitation, circularly polarized light introduces an asymmetric shift, causing the breaking of the underlying time-reversal symmetry, which is quantified by both polarization-resolved second-harmonic generation and by comparing the intensity ratio of circularly to linearly polarized second-harmonic emission, also in agreement with the analytical model. Furthermore, this thesis provides new insights into how light-matter interactions in TMDs can be further tailored in hybrid structures. First, the work investigates the recombination dynamics of excitons in TMD samples with different doping levels, leveraging potassium doping and charge transfer to few-layer graphene. A simple rate equation model is used to explain the influence of trions and exciton-exciton annihilation in photoluminescence measurements in different excitation intensity regimes. Second, it suggests a TMD/metasurface system to simplify the investigation of spin-forbidden dark excitons. Simulations of a metasurface with particular geometry show that such a structure can be used to excite these quasi-particles under normal incidence and further redirect their photoluminescence emission. All together, this thesis highlights the role of TMD monolayers as a promising basis for ultrafast photonic devices and also a versatile playground for fundamental light-matter interactions. Part of the results presented within this thesis have been originally published in Refs. [1–5].
Access status: Open Access ,
Democracy, participation and la transparence : freedom of information in France and Australia
(2000-09) Johnson, Anina Cybele.
Democracy works when the public has access to information about government. An informed public can participate in administrative decisions, criticise government action and truly choose their elected representatives. The High Court has recognised the importance of information in a representative democracy. The legislatures in France and Australia have acknowledged this by enacting Freedom of Information legislation providing for a right of access to documents. The exceptions to this right reflect the public interest in maintaining a certain level of secrecy about government activity. The question is whether the legislation is sufficient to meet democratic needs. Balancing the competing obligations of secrecy and openness is an ongoing exercise. Of importance is ensuring that the privatisation of the public sector and the use of outsourcing do not detract from the public’s ability to oversee the spending of public money. Effectiveness is also influenced by the review process, the attitude of the bureaucracy and government, and the extent to which the right is used by the media, lobby groups, lawyers and academics.
Access status: Open Access ,
Improving statistical and computational techniques for supernova cosmology
(2026) Armstrong, Patrick
Modern cosmological analysis is focused on investigating the mechanics of the accelerated expansion of our Universe and uncovering the nature of the mysterious dark energy which drives this acceleration. Accelerated expansion was first discovered in the late 1990s using type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) as standard candles to probe the evolution of our Universe over time. Since this discovery, significant effort has been devoted to improving the statistical and systematic uncertainties present in supernova cosmology to improve the constraining power of these analyses. Statistical uncertainties were improved by observing orders of magnitude more SNe Ia, whilst improvements in systematic uncertainty were driven by developments in every step of the analysis. These efforts have culminated in the Dark Energy Survey (DES) supernova program. With 1635 SNe Ia, this represents the largest sample of SNe Ia, and thus the greatest constraining power of any supernova sample to date. DES recently released the results of their five-year supernova cosmology program. When combining constraints on a Flat wCDM cosmology from SNe Ia with other cosmological probes, DES find \(\left(\Om{},\w{}\right)=\left(0.321\pm0.007,-0.941\pm0.026\right)\), the first possible evidence of a \(>2\sigma\) divergence from dark energy as a cosmological constant. This has been the prevailing theory of dark energy since its discovery, leading to the \(\Lambda{}\)CDM concordance model of our Universe. However, with the improved constraints provided by the DES analysis, this model is thrown into question for the first time. To achieve the constraining power required to obtain these results, improving the statistical and systematic uncertainties throughout the entire DES cosmological pipeline is required. These improvements are the result of the work of dozens of researchers around the world. In this thesis, I will focus on my contributions improving Pippin, the overarching pipeline which enables the DES analysis, and developing a new method for evaluating the consistency of the DES results. The results from the DES analysis are far from conclusive, so if we are to determine the legitimacy of the cosmological constant, further improvements to the statistical and systematic uncertainties are required. Upcoming surveys, such as the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), aim to observe orders of magnitudes more SNe Ia than DES; however, with these improvements to the sample size come a host of challenges that must be addressed. As part of this thesis, I discuss these challenges and my efforts to develop new statistical techniques to address these challenges. In particular, I investigate likelihood-free, forward-modelled techniques which provide significantly greater control over systematic uncertainties with fewer assumptions, at the cost of much greater computational complexity.
Access status: Open Access ,
From micro to macro: Using administrative and other microdata sources to answer macroeconomic questions
(2026) Hambur, Jonathan
This thesis presents four chapters using Australian microdata sources and techniques to explore important macroeconomic issues. The first two chapters focus on productivity, the key driver of living standards over the long-term. The first of these explores the extent to which monetary policy, or demand shocks more generally, can influence innovative activity and productivity over the medium-term. While this has been explored for the US, it is yet to be considered for a small open technology importer, nor using broad measures of innovation that capture technology adoption, rather than just frontier innovation. Combining macroeconomic and firm-level measures of innovation with monetary policy shocks in a local projections framework, this work finds that contractionary policy can influence innovation. However, the effects are shorter-lived than previously found in the US and more heterogenous, with demand and financial constraint channels playing an important role in this heterogeneity. These findings reinforce the importance of macro-stabilisation policies to avoid medium-term productivity scarring The second chapter examines the adoption of emerging digital technologies: Cloud Computing and AI/Machine Learning. Understanding barriers and enablers to profitable adoption of such technologies is crucial if we are to reap their benefits over coming years. Using private sector data, along with natural language processing, this Chapter builds a unique merged dataset of firm-level adoption, profits, hiring and management capabilities. Applying event study approaches, it finds that the average firm does not benefit form adoption in terms of profitability. But firms whose Board have relevant skills do. So this work highlights the important role of management skills in the profitable adoption of emerging technologies, which has implications for the focus of skills policies. The third chapter focuses on inflation, and whether changes in the frequency of firm-level price changes can account for the pick up in inflation post-COVID. Using firm-level web-scraped prices microdata linked to firm tax data, the Chapter shows that firms began resetting prices more frequently in response to the large inflationary shocks post-COVID. This is counter to standard macroeconomic models which assume constant price-setting frequencies, and suggests the possibility of nonlinearities in inflation dynamics following large shocks. Using workforce policy DSGE model the Chapter shows that failing to account for these changes in price-setting leads to a significant underprediction of recent inflation outcomes. So central banks either need to invest in new frameworks, or add judgement during such periods. The final chapter explores the labour market, and whether growing monopsony power caused slow wages growth in Australia over the 2010s. Using linked employer-employee administrative data it demonstrates that employer concentration is associated with lower wages. While labour markets did not become more concentrated, the effect of given levels of concentration appears to have increased. A key driver was the decline in firm entry, which meant there were fewer young growing firms trying to poach workers from incumbents. This work highlights the important links between firm dynamics and competition, and labour market dynamism , power and wages, and therefore between related policies.
Access status: Open Access ,
Renewable Energy in Stand-Alone Systems
(2026) Virah-Sawmy, Dan
To ensure that future generations have a clean and livable planet, we, as the current temporary custodians, have a profound responsibility: to accelerate the transition to cleaner energy systems and limit global warming. Renewable energy deployments are the cornerstone of the fight against climate change. Decarbonisation of the electricity grid is already underway in many parts of the world and should be accelerated. However, there remain applications where grid connection is not feasible. In such contexts, stand-alone systems play a crucial role in ensuring reliable energy distribution. To displace fossil-fuel generators, stand-alone applications also require a rapid transition to renewable energy. This thesis investigates how renewable energy systems can be implemented in stand-alone applications. Beginning with a global review of recent literature, it analyses points of agreement and controversy, and identifies gaps in the social, economic, and environmental impacts of renewable energy deployment. Driven by the need to decarbonise activities taking place on Australia's Great Barrier Reef, the thesis then presents an assessment of the availability and feasibility of renewable energy on the Reef. Our assessments indicate that solar photovoltaics would be the best solution for rapid, near-term implementation of marine cloud brightening. Solar photovoltaic would have minimal impact on birds, is a mature technology, is available in abundance and could easily be deployed throughout the whole Reef. The thesis then focuses on incorporating green hydrogen into stand-alone energy systems. It investigates the impact of neglecting variable efficiency of electrolysers in green hydrogen production modelling. Findings indicate that using a fixed efficiency in electrolyser modelling, as commonly done in the literature, can lead to an overestimation of green hydrogen production by up to 24% and an underestimation of the optimal size of the hydrogen plant. A similar approach was used, and the impact of neglecting variability in fuel cell was investigated in a fully renewable energy system for the Great Barrier Reef. Results from this investigation indicate that ignoring the efficiency variability of fuel cells can lead to underestimations of 1.4% to 4.7%, equivalent to 30-107 kg of green hydrogen. Together, our studies on the overlooked variability in electrolyser and fuel cell efficiency highlight the need for more accurate modelling approaches, particularly when aiming to inform stakeholders and guide evidence-based policymaking. Finally, the thesis examines the load and cost conditions under which integrating green hydrogen into battery-only systems can improve the levelised cost of energy. Our results indicate that incorporating green hydrogen can help prevent significant oversizing of the battery and become economically beneficial during prolonged, infrequent, or poorly aligned loads. Our investigation into the impact of cost uncertainties, using estimates for 2025-2050, indicates that hydrogen integration becomes economically viable only when several component costs decline simultaneously. The fuel cell-to-battery power capital cost ratio was found to be the most influential factor in driving improvements in the levelised cost of energy. Our results highlight the strong sensitivity of hydrogen system viability to both load profile characteristics and cost interdependencies. These reinforce the need for targeted cost reduction strategies, particularly for fuel cells, to justify the added complexity of hydrogen integration. Altogether, the contributions from this thesis offer meaningful insights that support the broader pursuit of decarbonisation and a more sustainable future for generations to come.
Access status: Open Access ,
Optimization and control of Distributed Energy Resources in electric power distribution grids
Salehi, Zeinab
As renewable energy integration grows, the power grid is undergoing a rapid transition from a conventional, unidirectional system to a bidirectional and distributed network. In this new paradigm, end-users are becoming prosumer, individuals who both consume and produce energy. To enable prosumer participation in the power grid, new market mechanisms must be designed to align with both participant interests and network-level requirements. We develop the concept of transactive multi-agent systems (MAS) as a tool to model transactions between prosumers in a power grid. Each prosumer is represented as an autonomous agent capable of making decisions about electricity usage and trading based on personal preferences, with pricing signals guiding their decisions. These agents have local energy generation, e.g., from rooftop solar panels, which they can either consume or trade within the network, generating income. Beyond electricity markets, carbon permit trading systems offer another real-world application of transactive MAS. In such systems, agents represent entities (e.g., nations or corporations) that hold carbon emission permits, engaging in peer-to-peer carbon trading. Transactive MAS facilitate decentralized decision-making and efficient resource allocation by dynamically pricing resources according to market mechanisms. Efficient resource allocation is particularly crucial in systems where total demand must match total supply to ensure safe operation. For example, in power grids, maintaining this balance between electricity supply and demand is vital for ensuring frequency regulation. Microeconomic theory suggests that appropriate pricing of resource flows can ensure this balance. We adopt the concept of competitive equilibrium from microeconomics as a market-clearing mechanism, defining it as a pair of resource allocation and prices that maximizes individual agent payoffs while ensuring market clearance. The social acceptance of the resource price is an important issue for the adoption of transactive MAS. For example, if the electricity price is considered to be too high for some agents in a transactive energy system, they cannot compete in the market and all resources will be allocated to those who have dominated the market. Specifically, in emergency situations, when some generators stop working or the demand is too high to be met by the available generators, the energy market fails. Acceptable resource pricing is also crucial in climate-economic systems, where international agreements like the Kyoto Protocol (1997) and the Paris Agreement (2016) have aimed to reduce emissions. Different locational prices is another social acceptance issue that arises in transactive MAS, which can cause social inequalities by restricting access to goods and services based on geographic location. For example, in electricity markets, locational price variations arise due to binding transmission and distribution constraints, placing greater limitations on users at the end of the feeder. Designing social shaping mechanisms to ensure that resource prices, such as those for electricity and carbon emissions, are socially acceptable is crucial for the implementation of transactive MAS. This thesis introduces social shaping as a method to address such social acceptance challenges. We propose social shaping methods that maintain resource prices under a competitive equilibrium below a socially accepted threshold, mitigating high price spikes. Our design includes both static and dynamic formulations, forming Research Questions 1 and 2. In the static formulation, decision variables and prices remain fixed over time, whereas in the dynamic formulation, they evolve. Additionally, to address disparities in locational pricing caused by binding network-level constraints, we develop social shaping methods that promote uniform prices across the system, enhancing the social acceptance of transactive MAS. This constitutes Research Question 3.
Access status: Open Access ,
Master of Applied Epidemiology
(2026) Sim, Sarah
This thesis examines four public health topics conducted at the Health Statistics and Informatics Branch, Department of Health in Darwin, Northern Territory (NT). The projects explored key health issues and services delivered across the Northern Territory (NT), with particular focus on primary health care (PHC) in remote Aboriginal communities. The Mothers and Babies 2021 Annual Report is a descriptive analysis using numbers and proportions to summarise key perinatal newborn outcome. Utilising cross-sectional population-based data of all births of NT resident mothers in the NT in 2021, this annual report provides a neutral display of these characteristics and aims to inform policy and program decisions for perinatal and newborn health services across the NT. The evaluation of the Traffic Light Recall Reporting (TLRR) surveillance system that is used within NT Health remote PHC services to support chronic disease prevention and management, was conducted to assess the system's overall effectiveness and identify areas for improvement. The evaluation showed the TLRR surveillance system supports data-driven chronic disease management, but its full potential is limited by poor integration into routine PHC practice with NT Health. Strengthening collaboration among governance stakeholders, and providing standardised clinician training and support, were identified as key opportunities of improvement to ensure the TLRR surveillance system is supporting sustainable and effective chronic disease care across NT Health remote communities. An outbreak response investigation was conducted in January 2025 to a single notification of measles, when a returned traveller with measles was notified to the Centre for Disease Control in Darwin, NT the first case in the NT since 2019. A total of 162 contacts were identified; 94% (n=153/162) completed follow-up: 84% (n=136/162) were considered immune, 90% (146/162) were provided advice only, 2% (n=4/162) received the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine, and one contact was given normal human immunoglobulin. No further cases were reported in the NT in the two months following the notification. The final epidemiological project, is a cross-sectional descriptive analysis of the utilisation of targeted health service programs, screening coverage and the incidence of specific health outcomes of Aboriginal children aged 5-15 years presenting to remote NT Health PHC centres in 2024.
Access status: Open Access ,
Amazonian worlds and modernity: changes in values of Amerindians as they are displaced by hydroelectric dams in the Xingu basin, Brazil
(2018) Schlegel, Alexis
Amerindians of the Xingu basin, Brazil have been situated at the intersection of counterposed forces, efforts to commodify the Xingu River for hydroelectricity generation, on the one hand, and political action for the preservation of indigenous territory and self-determination on the other. The research synthesises the ethnographic record using the ontological turn, to investigate changes in values with transitions into the market due to displacement by hydroelectric dams. This is to contribute better understanding to the problems that cause negative social, cultural, and economic effects with integration. In traditional societies bodies and personhood were manufactured with substances and objects. Beauty was a preoccupation aspiring to the ideals of primordial spirits. Through a process of industrialisation, the valuing of beauty transformed into a valuing of money. Rather than being manufactured by Amazonian substances, bodies and persons were manufactured with money and consumer goods. Modernity was understood in the framework of an Amazonian cosmos in which spirits and animals have become modern just as humans have.
Access status: Open Access ,
Regenerating law or hastening war? Evaluating the impact of police reform on the rule of law in Afghanistan during the ISAF deployment
(2026) Healey, David
Abstract This thesis develops a new framework for evaluating United Nations (UN) and international efforts to promote the rule of law through police reform in post conflict situations. The thesis examines the scholarly and policy literature on the rule of law along with deliberately focused case studies, with a view to developing a rule of law approach that is specific to the current needs of Afghanistan in a post-conflict policing context. This framework aims to be pragmatic, useable and realistic in ensuring that the rule of law can be restored through proper consultation with customary and statutory law. This thesis explores the history of policing and its associated components in the legal system in Afghanistan. It then seeks to provide a rule of law blueprint for the policing and law reform elements of a (future) UN-led intervention, noting the following five significant developments in Afghanistan: 1. The withdrawal of the majority of coalition forces in 2014 2. The signing of a peace deal between the US and the Taliban in March 2020 3. The final and total withdrawal of all coalition troops in September 2021 4. The takeover of the Afghanistan government by the Taliban; and 5. The subsequent establishment of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan by the Taliban. Afghanistan's rule of law problems have been exacerbated by its past experiences, in that international interventions to date have failed to create any lasting and meaningful effect for the rule of law, peace, security and stability in Afghanistan. This thesis argues the ISAF approach to post conflict policing served to weaken rather than strengthen the rule of law in Afghanistan and therefore advances a new theoretical model of the rule of law designed to increase the capacity of future post conflict policing interventions to promote the rule of law, both in Afghanistan and elsewhere. The policing intervention component of ISAF post-2001 was disorganised, wayward and disconnected. The thesis critically examines international efforts to promote the rule of law of Afghanistan with a view to providing suggested revisions not only to the criminal law but to the way in which it is enforced and the interim assistance that Afghanistan may require to achieve this. The thesis is set out in eight chapters. Chapter 1 examines the research question, the focus of this analysis and the literature gap that the thesis seeks to fill. Chapter 2 examines the rule of law elements as it applies to policing and conducts a literature review of the existing scholarly material on rule of law models in post conflict situations, and describes the methodology adopted. As part of establishing the methodology, Chapter 3 road tests two post-conflict situations in Timor Leste and Iraq with a view to assessing the rule of law approach proposed, and lessons that could be gained from these past occasions. Chapter 4 explores the history of policing in Afghanistan through the lens of a turbulent recent history 'The Great Game' with a view to gaining insight into the structure of policing and how police enforce the law. Chapter 5 explores the history of policing in Afghanistan in the Soviet era and the emergence of the Taliban. Chapter 6 examines the effectiveness of policing endeavours of the International Security Assistance Force and its partners in Afghanistan. Chapter 7 examines the findings distilled from Chapters 2, 3 ,4, 5 and 6 and analyses the legal architecture for a more effective policing mission. Chapter 8 provides conclusions and recommendations to resolve the criminal justice and legal issues identified in the thesis. The thesis provides an appendix of recommendations for any future international police mission deployed to Afghanistan, with a view to assisting the population in an overhaul of the criminal justice system and the application of a new rule of law mandate.
Access status: Open Access ,
The application of safeguards in connection with the Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in the non-nuclear-weapon states of the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM) : |b pursuant to the agreement among the EURATOM non-nuclear-weapon states, EURATOM and the International Atomic Energy Agency
(1983-05) Rames, John Murray
Safeguards in connection with the Treaty on the Non- Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons ("the NPT")^ are applied by the International Atomic Energy Agency ("the IAEA") in the non-nuclear-weapon States ("NNWS") of the European Atomic Energy Community ("Euratom"} pursuant to the Agreement between Belgium, Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, the European Atomic Energy Community and the International Atomic Energy Agency in Implementation of Article III, (1) and (4) of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons 1 0. ("the Euratom/IAEA Safeguards Agreement").
Access status: Open Access ,
Investigation of compounds which inhibit the sodium-dependent neutral amino acid transporter B0AT1 (SLC6A19)
Xu, Junyang
The SLC6A19 gene encodes the Broad Neutral Amino Acid Transporter 1 (B0AT1), a crucial protein for the cellular uptake of neutral amino acids in the brush-border membranes of the kidneys and small intestine. Defective B0AT1 function leads to Hartnup disorder, an autosomal recessive metabolic disease characterized by diverse clinical manifestations, including dermal, neurological, and psychiatric symptoms. Conversely, pharmacological inhibition of B0AT1 holds significant therapeutic potential for a range of other metabolic diseases. For instance, selective B0AT1 inhibition could reduce the intestinal absorption of phenylalanine in patients with phenylketonuria (PKU), thereby mitigating the accumulation of this neurotoxic amino acid. This approach also presents a novel therapeutic strategy for managing type II diabetes by delaying post-meal glucose absorption. Building upon the identification of a previously reported (by collaborators in the Broer group) cinromide-like compound as a potent B0AT1 inhibitor, this study reports the systematic synthesis and biological evaluation of a series of novel analogues to elucidate their structure-activity relationship (SAR). Through meticulous chemical modifications of the lead compound, we aimed to define the molecular features critical for B0AT1 inhibition. The SAR was established through a combination of in vitro functional assays, which quantified the inhibitory activity of each analogue, and computational docking studies performed in collaboration with a research team specializing in molecular modeling (Yan group). The insights gained from this research provide a rational basis for the design of more potent and selective B0AT1 inhibitors with enhanced pharmacological properties.
Access status: Open Access ,
Theoretical advances of spatial sound field reproduction
(2026) Wang, Jiarui
This thesis covers three theoretical advances of spatial sound field reproduction: time-domain modelling of spatial sound fields, the acoustic particle velocity vectors (AVVs) and multi-driver headphones. The spherical harmonic (SH) decomposition of a spatial sound field is usually in the frequency domain. Time-domain SH decompositions eliminate the necessity of calculating Fourier transforms and may benefit applications with real-time requirements. Existing time-domain SH decompositions of spatial sound fields are mostly limited to point sources and plane waves. Most sources have directional characteristics, which are encapsulated by the source's directional impulse response. This thesis proposes the higher-order spherical delta function, which is a spherical wave front with direction dependent amplitude. The source's directional impulse response is then modelled as a sequence of higher-order spherical delta functions emitted at successive time instances by the source. In spatial sound field reproduction, the impulse response between the source and the listening region is often measured or modelled. This thesis proposes the time-domain modelling of the source-to-surface impulse response, which is the time-domain signal observed on a spherical surface (e.g., the boundary of the listening region) when the input to the source is a Dirac delta function. The source-to-surface impulse response is modelled as the intersections between the sequence of higher-order spherical delta functions emitted by the source and the spherical surface on which the impulse response is observed. The AVVs are related to human's localisation of sound and can be used in spatial sound field reproduction. To characterise the AVVs in the listening region, this thesis proposes the SHV-indR and CHV-indR coefficients, which are the radially independent SH and cylindrical harmonic coefficients of the AVVs, respectively. The SHV-indR and CHV-indR coefficients allow the computation of the AVVs in the listening region via spherical or cylindrical microphone array pressure measurements, and eliminate the necessity of measuring the AVVs point-by-point. Moreover, while previous work has proposed the SH decomposition of the AVVs on a spherical surface, the radial independence of the SHV-indR and CHV-indR coefficients allows the characterisation of the AVVs throughout the entire listening region without decomposing it into multiple concentric spherical surfaces. This thesis also proposes velocity matching, which reproduces the SHV-indR or CHV-indR coefficients of the desired sound field. Headphone-based binaural reproduction usually requires an estimate of the listener's HRTFs, which could be challenging to obtain. The human head and body can be modelled by simple geometric models, yet the shape of the pinna is highly complicated. To deliver personalised pinna localisation cues, multi-driver headphones were proposed, which utilised additional miniature speakers in the headphone enclosure to augment the side driver. The sound waves emitted from the miniature speakers interact with the pinna, and the localisation cues due to pinna reflections and scattering are naturally introduced. Instead of using miniature speakers as an augmentation, this thesis proposes using an array of MEMS speakers inside the headphone enclosure to reproduce the AVVs on a surface that covers the ear. The target AVVs account for the reflections and scattering of the incident sound field by the human head excluding the pinna, since reflections and scattering by the pinna are naturally introduced by the MEMS speakers within the headphone enclosure. Unlike previous work, which used BEM to calculate the target AVVs, this thesis proposes a geometric model for estimating these vectors using only pressure measurements from a spherical microphone array located at the listener's head location.
Access status: Open Access ,
Feeling the Pulse of the Street: Socio-Cultural Demands and Regime Responsiveness in the Arab Monarchies of the Gulf
(2026) Allison, Tony
In August 2021, statues of Aphrodite were removed from a Burberry shop by the Kuwaiti government after it received multiple complaints from citizens about the statue offending cultural and religious sensitivities. In December 2016, the Qatari government cancelled National Day events after local developments left the national population undesirous of celebrating. And in June 2011, after residents of Al Ain, Oman complained to a newspaper that nothing was being done to stop a goat herder using a local cemetery, an act they felt violated its sanctity, the municipality forced him to relocate. These examples prompt an important question: why, in response to citizen complaints, did the Kuwaiti, Qatari and Omani governments take action? While this question may seem simple, current Gulf and Middle Eastern scholarship and, indeed, wider political science struggle to provide an adequate answer because of their inattention to the place of popular socio-cultural contestation in state-society relations. Where the literature does investigate the socio-cultural, it does so either from: A state-centric perspective, which examines how regimes undertake nation-building projects and promote local cultural heritage through, for example, new museums, national days, and cultural villages; or, A citizen-centric perspective, examining how people enact, protect and propagate identities and heritages in their own lives and through their own actions away from the state, for example, through art, literature and fashion. This thesis adopts an alternative approach, however, by examining the nexus at which state and society meet - regime responsiveness to popular socio-cultural demands. Using Kuwait, Qatar and Oman as case studies, this thesis demonstrates both that Gulf citizens frequently make socio-cultural demands on their governments with an expectation of a positive response, and that in certain circumstances the Gulf monarchies implement or change socio-cultural policies to satisfy the demands of citizens to build support or ensure acquiescence and preserve their rule. It does so by applying the concepts of, one, authoritarian responsiveness, which holds authoritarian regimes actively monitor and respond to their citizens' concerns, and two, performance legitimacy, where a state's right to rule stems from the perceived output of the political system in satisfying the needs and aspirations of citizens. In answering why Kuwait, Qatar and Oman took action as a result of citizen concerns, this thesis illuminates the dramatically understudied dynamics of socio-cultural contestation and responsiveness in the Gulf states. However, it also makes broader contributions, not only to Gulf studies but also to the study of authoritarian states generally. One, it situates responsiveness as an integral dynamic of Gulf governance, enabling a greater understanding of regional state-society relations not as a static pattern of top-down rent distribution, but as a dynamic contest between ruler and ruled. Two, it expands our understanding of authoritarian responsiveness, which has yet to be extended to socio-cultural demand and response, and performance legitimacy, which has yet to be extended to socio-cultural policies and responsiveness
Access status: Open Access ,
Essays on Informality, Markups, and Resource Misallocation in Developing Country
(2026) Oktiyanto, Fajar
This thesis encompasses three papers that examine the dynamics of earnings and the misallocation of resources in developing nations. The papers provide a more detailed analysis of the labour market in Indonesia and how the duality of the labour market, comprising both formal and informal sectors, affects earnings shocks and inequality. Additionally, we assess the aggregate implications of capital and labour misallocations resulting from the limited transition between different sectors within the labour market. Moreover, we discuss the misallocation that arises from the perspective of firms, attributed to the markup. The first paper examines earnings dynamics and inequality in developing countries characterised by fragmented labour markets and prevalent informality. Our analysis reveals an increasing disparity in earnings between the two sectors throughout the study period. Earnings growth for the informal sector has consistently lagged across all income groups. Additionally, transitions between the two sectors exhibit rigidity and asymmetry, with a negligible percentage of informal workers able to transition to the formal sector, thereby exacerbating persistent earnings inequality. Our findings also indicate that labour earnings tend to be less volatile in the formal sector; however, substantial downside risks remain. In contrast, informal workers encounter symmetric earnings risks and experience less severe shocks. The adjustments in the labour market activities of household members can partially mitigate earnings fluctuations, while private transfers within social networks can have a more pronounced effect. The second paper studies the extent to which the existence of informality affects the allocation of labour and capital in developing countries. We first document employment segregation and the degree of labour mobility in a highly persistent informal setting. We develop a dynamic general equilibrium model equipped with occupational choice features for the formal and informal sectors to assess aggregate efficiency and inequality implications. We found that the existence of informality results in stifled output and is mainly contributed to by low labour mobilisation between employment sectors. Furthermore, low labour mobilisation goes hand in hand with low capital accumulation. When labour is mobilised to the formal sector, there will be more capital accumulation in the economy, and their impact on output will be magnified. Labour mobilisation affects inequality differently, depending on sector-specific shocks. If a trade-off exists, which refers to the balance between efficiency and equality, higher labour mobility will lower this trade-off. The final paper explores the relationship between markup and misallocation and its implications for productivity, employment, and output in developing countries. Older firms, particularly foreign-owned, tend to exhibit higher markups, reflecting greater price-cost disparities. Similarly, high-productivity firms, especially foreign entities, command higher markups, often linked to reduced net employment growth. We then investigate the underlying mechanisms through a theoretical model that combines imperfectly competitive product market competition with Schumpeterian growth dynamics. Our analysis reveals that the creative destruction channel plays a crucial role in shaping markup differences between foreign and domestic firms. A significantly lower entry rate for foreign firms leads to higher and more dispersed markups, exacerbating misallocation in total factor productivity (TFP) and reducing the labour share of income. Relaxing entry barriers for foreign firms can lower both average markups and their dispersion, reducing TFP misallocation and mitigating labour share losses. These effects are particularly pronounced when foreign firms operate across multiple markets rather than being restricted to a few.
Access status: Open Access ,
Construction of Advanced Polycycles via the Diene Transmissive Diels-Alder sequence
(2026) Afshin Sander, Amir
In modern organic chemistry, greater focus it placed on the principle of green chemistry to reduce the amount of chemical waste and thereby reducing the environmental impact. One powerful approach to reach this goal is the use of highly complexity generating reactions in total synthesis, which significantly reduces the number of steps and therefore the amount of produced waste. A good example is the Diels-Alder reaction which forms two carbon-carbon and a six membered ring in a single step. The application of substituted [3]dendralens in a two-fold Diels-Alder reaction sequence (DTDA) enables the rapid formation of advanced polycycles. This strategy can be efficiently applied in total synthesis of natural compounds.
Access status: Open Access ,
Harmonic Analysis of Differential Operators in L^1
(2026) Zhang, Wenqi
This thesis studies two features of the endpoint \(L^1\) failure for Calder\'{o}n-Zygmund inequalities. Part \ref{SW_part} concerns alternative, replacement inequalities in the form of Stein-Weiss inequalities. These inequalities generalise Sobolev inequalities for elliptic differential operators, which are implied by Calder\'{o}n-Zygmund inequalities in \(L^p\), \(p>1\). Part \ref{Ornstein_part} studies a mechanism describing the \(L^1\) failure of Calder\'{o}n-Zygmund known as Ornstein's non-inequality. In Part \ref{SW_part} of this thesis, we study Stein-Weiss inequalities with \(L^1\) data. In Chapter \ref{paper} we extend the \(L^1\) Stein-Weiss inequalities studied by De N\'{a}poli and Picon \cite{NapPic} in two ways: First we address the necessity of the cocanceling condition appearing in their Stein-Weiss inequalities. We replace the cocanceling condition with a weaker vanishing moment assumption, and under this assumption extend the \(L^1\) Stein-Weiss inequalities to \(L^1\big(|x|^{a } \ dx\big)\) data for all positive, non-integer exponents \(a\). Second, in relation to integer exponents, while \cite{NapPic} showed that Stein-Weiss fails for \(L^1\big(|x| \ dx\big)\) data, we prove a weaker Korn type Hardy-Sobolev inequality. These inequalities were previously inaccessible due to the growth of \(|x|\), and we demonstrate a specific example on \(\R^2\) of where the original duality estimate by Bousquet and Van Schaftingen \cite{can} for canceling operators can be improved. In Part \ref{Ornstein_part} we study integral bounds relating to Ornstein's non-inequality, which states that an \(L^1\) inequality between constant coefficient linear differential operators holds if and only if a linear dependence relation holds between the partial derivatives. This immediately reduces the \(L^1\) inequality to a consequence of linear algebra. We first review how positive 1-homogeneity and \textit{quasiconvexity} (in the sense of Morrey) can be used to derive Ornstein's non-inequality, following the work of \cite{KK}. Then, we explore suitable generalisations of this theorem, by weakening the 1-homogeneity assumption via a recession integrand. We also extend this result to the mixed smoothness setting originally found in \cite{stoly}. This part recounts from the author's point of view their joint work (in preparation) with Bernd Kirchheim and Jan Kristensen.
Access status: Open Access ,
A continental narrative: human environment interactions across Australia using time-series analysis
(2015-08) Williams, Alan Nicholas
The relationship of prehistoric hunter-gatherers and climatic change has long been a focus of archaeologists and palaeoclimatologists alike. One of the key limitations to these studies has been the dissociation between the spatial, temporal and resolution characteristics of the indices, which makes any correlation difficult. Palaeoclimatic records are commonly continuous, high-resolution and undertaken at regional scales, while archaeological data are discontinuous, have variable resolution, and are often highly localised. This thesis applies time-series analysis to archaeological radiocarbon data as one approach to resolve this disparity. With large enough datasets, the technique can develop a regional and continuous proxy of human activity in the past, and enable direct comparison with palaeoclimatic records. The approach can also be readily applied to archaeological questions associated with demography and societal development through time. The use of radiocarbon data as a proxy is not new, being first applied in the 1980s, however it has proliferated globally in the archaeological literature in the last decade or so. In Australia, the use of radiocarbon data as a hunter-gatherer proxy was first used by Smith and Sharp (1993) and Holdaway and Porch (1995) to undertake a general review of the Sahul archaeological record and explore the nature of occupation in Pleistocene Tasmania, respectively. Since then, in contrast to global trends, the use of 'dates as data' has only been sporadically adopted by researchers to archaeological issues (e.g. Lourandos & David, 1998; Turney & Hobbs, 2006; Ulm & Hall, 1996). This thesis consists of 16 publications, which over the last seven years has systematically explored, applied and tested the technique in an Australian archaeological context. Part of this work included developing a continental dataset of 5,044 radiocarbon ages from 1,748 archaeological sites. Currently, this is the most comprehensive spatial and temporal dataset for any archaeological indices in Australia; and is publically available. Other publications include the interrogation of the dataset at a range of spatial and temporal scales, and compare past human activity with climatic change, most notably the Last Glacial Maximum and El Nino Southern Oscillation. Two key achievements include, the development of protocols and procedures for using time-series analysis (Williams, 2012) - a methods paper that remains widely cited, adopted and/or critiqued in the archaeological time-series literature; and a continental model of demography, including quantitative population estimates, for Australia over 50,000 years (Williams, 2013). Ultimately, the thesis provides a series of continental and regional models of demographic change for researchers to utilise as a framework, ground-truth, and refine into the future. It significantly progresses the use of radiocarbon dates as a mainstream and reliable proxy for exploring hunter-gatherer behaviour in Australia; and provides a number of future directions for both time-series analysis and Australian research more generally. Globally, the analyses undertaken here remain at the forefront of the technique, and are routinely used, applied and critiqued across the world.
Access status: Open Access ,
Left Bundle Branch Area Pacing: Clinical and Mechanistic Evaluation
(2026) Shroff, Jenish
Left bundle branch area pacing (LBBAP) has emerged as a promising physiological alternative for pacing, capable of restoring synchrony by engaging the native conduction system. This thesis systematically evaluates LBBAP across diverse clinical contexts through five complementary studies, providing mechanistic insights and clinical validation to support its adoption in routine practice. The first study compares LBBAP with biventricular pacing (BVP) cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) in patients with heart failure (HF) and broad QRS, demonstrating that LBBAP is at least as effective, with superior improvements in left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), reductions in left ventricular end-systolic volume (LVESV), better QRS narrowing, and enhanced quality of life (QoL). LBBAP was associated with significantly fewer HF hospitalizations and healthcare encounters, and with better long-term lead performance. The second study evaluates electrocardiographic (ECG) markers in patients with non-ischemic cardiomyopathy undergoing LBBAP. It shows that paced qR morphology and transition during threshold test predicted greater improvement in LVEF while R wave peak time (RWPT), measured from the pacing stimulus to the peak of the R wave in lead V6, lacked predictive value. Loss of terminal 'R' in lead V1 and prolongation of RWPT on follow up prognosticated non-response to LBBAP. The third study, PACE HF randomized trial, enrolled patients with preserved or mildly reduced LVEF and pacing indications requiring significant ventricular pacing. It demonstrated that LBBAP preserved or improved LVEF, significantly reduced HF hospitalizations and cardiovascular mortality, and lowered the incidence of new-onset atrial fibrillation compared to conventional right ventricular pacing (RVP). Structural reverse remodeling and improved NYHA class further reinforced its clinical superiority. The fourth study is the first randomized controlled trial comparing lumenless leads (LLL) and stylet-driven leads (SDL) for left bundle branch pacing (LBBP). Both lead systems demonstrated high success rates, comparable procedure times, and similar pacing thresholds with no significant differences in complications, suggesting that either system can be safely and effectively used for LBBAP based on operator preference and availability. Finally, the fifth study explores the mechanistic basis of response heterogeneity to LBBAP in HF population using electrocardiographic imaging (ECGi). Super-responders (20% or greater improvement in LVEF) had significantly greater reductions in left ventricular and biventricular activation times and improvement in ventricular electrical uncoupling compared to partial-responders (LVEF improvement of 10% or less). A reduction in LVtat 26.86% or greater was highly predictive of confirmed left bundle branch (LBB) capture (AUC 0.96), which in turn predicted 7.4-fold odds of super-response in Bayesian analysis. RWPT did not correlate with outcomes, emphasizing the need for physiologically grounded metrics to establish LBB capture during implantation. Together, these studies establish LBBAP as a physiologically superior pacing strategy capable of delivering meaningful clinical and electrophysiological benefits. The findings support its consideration as an alternative to BVP-CRT and a preferable option over RVP in pacing for bradyarrhythmia. This work provides robust evidence for refining implantation strategies, guiding future guideline updates, and fostering broader adoption of LBBAP in clinical practice.

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