bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Carbon isotopic equilibrium of the surface waters as a proxy for climate change through the last glacial/interglacial cycle in the Southwest Pacific
Authors:   , Maxson Charles Reynolds
Published: November 2021

Carbon-13 is a relatively understudied geochemical property in the world ocean. The Southwest Pacific, in particular, is devoid of δ¹³C data. This thesis therefore has two main objectives: to create a model to describe the modern distribution of δ¹³C around New Zealand (30-70°S, 140°E-150°W), and to describe changes in δ¹³C in a latitudinal transect of cores to the east and south of New Zealand. A model using multiple linear regression was created by comparing δ¹³C with potential temperature, salinity, density, and oxygen data. This model matches well with ship board δ¹³C measurements taken throughout the region. The resulting models were then compared to core top data to determine how well modern δ¹³C values compare to the Holocene, pre-industrial values. A new model, based on previous pre-industrial models, was created at much higher resolution to recreate the pre-industrial δ¹³C distribution. Core top values were found to be intermediate between Holocene and modern values. Down core δ¹³C data was split into six regions based on oceanographic conditions to determine what caused and how δ¹³C change occurred in the past. Data was run through 1000 iterations of a Monte Carlo simulation to determine a robust δ¹³C curve back through time. The biologic pump was found to dominate the δ¹³C levels in the region through iron fertilization and increased productivity in the polar zone. The LGM and deglacial δ¹³C values reflect greater influence on δ¹³Catm, suggesting that an increase in upwelling along the Antarctic coast and a possible strengthening of the westerly wind belt caused changes in ocean circulation throughout the region. The ACR and Early Holocene periods show good correlation with atmospheric CO₂ records, suggesting increasing temperatures may have increased productivity. The remainder of the Holocene to the present is mainly influenced by δ¹³Catm, suggesting relatively stable conditions in ocean and atmosphere.
Spatial and Temporal Modelling of Hoki Distribution using Gaussian Markov Random Fields
Authors:   , Morris Lindsay
Published: November 2021

In order to carry out assessment of marine stock levels, an accurate estimate of the current year's population abundance must be formulated. Standardized catch per unit of effort (CPUE) values are, in theory, proportional to population abundance. However, this only holds if the species catchability is constant over time. In almost all cases it is not, due to the existence of spatial and temporal variation. In this thesis, we fit various models to test different combinations and structures of spatial and temporal autocorrelation within hoki (Macruronus novaezelandiae) CPUE. A Bayesian approach was taken, and the spatial and temporal components were modelled using Gaussian Markov random fields. The data was collected from summer research trawl surveys carried out by the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) and the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI). It allowed us to model spatial distribution using both areal and point reference approaches. To fit the models, we used the software Stan (Gelman et al., 2015) which implements Hamiltonian Monte Carlo. Model comparison was carried out using the Watanabe-Akaike information criterion (WAIC, (Watanabe, 2010)). We found that trawl year was the most important factor to explain variation in research survey hoki CPUE. Furthermore, the areal approach provided better indices of abundance than the point reference approach.
Toward the Synthesis of Rimarikiamide A
Authors:   , Asbury Ashton Nikylla
Published: November 2021

Rimarikiamide A is a linear diterpenoid marine natural product featuring an unusual taurine structural moiety. Rimarikiamide A was isolated from the sea sponge Latrunculia brevis found in the Rimariki Islands in northern New Zealand, and was shown to elicit low μM cytotoxicity against HL-60 cells. Unfortunately, only 400 μg of rimarikiamide A was isolated from 700 g of sea sponge, making the characterisation of the two chiral centres impossible by spectroscopic means. To explore the full potential of rimarikiamide A as a therapeutic agent, the molecule must be synthesised in a stereoselective manner or from a starting material of known stereochemistry, fully characterised, and tested for biological activity. A Barbier coupling of two terpene units is required early in the proposed synthesis of Rimarikiamide A, and previous attempts have failed to generate the desired linear product. In this work, the suitability of a titanium-mediated Barbier coupling was investigated, and proved successful for the generation of the desired linear product.
The Metaphysics of Fictional Objects
Authors:   , Logan Mathew
Published: November 2021

Realism about Fictional Objects is a view that is committed to the existence of fictional objects. In this thesis, I defend a view in the fictional realist tradition called the Artefactual Theory of Objects, and argue that this view provides the best explanation of fictional data. This is done in the following order. First, I evaluate and argue against alternative realist and anti-realist views that purport to explain fictional data better than the Artefactual Theory of Objects. Second, I show how semantic theories cannot aid in the success of alternative views or succeed by themselves. Third and last, I show how the Artefactual Theory of Objects is capable of overcoming the metaphysical problems raised against it.
Insights into Effective Interventions for the Prevention and Management of Workplace Bullying in the New Zealand Public Service
Authors:   , Crimp Hamish
Published: November 2021

Workplace bullying is widely recognised as a severe workplace health and safety issue that can have harmful consequences for both individuals and organisations. Bullying is a difficult phenomenon for organisations to deal with generally, with effective prevention and management in public sector environments considered especially challenging.  This thesis seeks to explore current workplace bullying prevention and management interventions within the New Zealand Public Service. In adopting a pragmatic exploratory mixed-model research method, research approaches aim to provide practical insights into anti-bullying interventions. Data for this research is collected from two sources; organisational anti-bullying policies, and semi-structured interviews with human resource practitioners and union representatives involved in the prevention and management of workplace bullying.  Both human resource practitioners and union representatives were found to have multiple roles in the prevention and management of workplace bullying, and generally interpreted bullying allegations as being unsubstantiated. This research suggests that greater emphasis should be placed on primary intervention, and that mediation may be useful as both a secondary and tertiary intervention. The findings of this research also indicate that stakeholder interpretations, and in turn their practical responses to workplace bullying, may be influenced by a range of factors within the public sector environment; including the sedimentation of contradictory public sector approaches, the legislative and regulatory environment, personal experience, and role expectations.
Expertise Coordination for Agile Software Development Projects
Authors:   , Md. Rejab Mawarny
Published: November 2021

Agile software development projects rely on the diversity of team members’ expertise. This expertise, however, is not adequate on its own: it is important to leverage available expertise through expertise coordination. Expertise coordination requires team members to rely on each other for recognizing who has particular expertise, when and where they are needed, and how to access the expertise effectively. Agile teams also need to rely on outside expertise such as user experience designers, architects, and database administrators. This thesis presents a theory of expertise coordination in Agile Software Development projects. We employed semi-structured interviews, observations, and document analysis in a Grounded Theory study involving 48 Agile practitioners and external specialists. This study discovered three main categories of expertise coordination: processes of expertise coordination, strategies of managing external expertise, and management roles in supporting expertise coordination. The theory provides a new insight into how Agile teams coordinate internal and external expertise, how they utilize external specialists and outsourcers’ expertise, and how management can support expertise coordination.
The Value of Technological Idealisations to Future Ethical Thinking
Authors:   , Kelly Adam
Published: November 2021

This thesis focuses on what I have called “technological idealisations”, and how they are valuable to many current and future ethical debates. Technological idealisations refer to a methodology of using technology thought experiments to contribute to ethical debates. I do not claim this to be a new idea, and in fact will go on to give many examples of technological idealisation that already exist in the philosophical literature. The term describes the purposeful effort to collate these examples into a specific methodological framework; one which gives a particular kind of evidence which can ignore concerns of practicality and critically focus on the theoretical issues in a given debate.  In order to explore this idea I will first be looking at past, better known, examples of idealisations to facilitate understanding of my own. I will look at Rawlsian ideal theory as a template for my own idealisations, as well as to explain how they can be valuable in contributing to debates (in Rawls’ case political and in my case ethical). Rawls’ split up the field of political theory into ideal and non-ideal theory. Non-ideal theory is practical and works within the constraints of current political reality. Ideal theory idealises the political conditions to allow theorising regarding perfect political theory. The same can be done for ethics and for technology as it relates to ethics, as is my goal. Following on from this, I also examine Johann Roduit’s use of ideal theory in the closely related field of human enhancement, in which he develops an interesting methodology of using ideals to guide human enhancement programmes.  However, rather than being concerned with Roduit’s practical aim, my goal is theoretical. I want to take the ethical principles and theories themselves as ideals for technological development; in doing so technologies will be created, through the use of thought experiments, which agree with the theoretical aims of the theory or principle. These technologies can then be ethically examined and the resulting evidence can contribute (and has in the past contributed) to the ethical debate of those concepts and theories. The kind of evidence I see technological idealisations as offering ignores practical concerns and in doing so is also immune to criticisms of impracticality. This allows for more closely focused scrutiny of the ethical theories and principles themselves, undistracted by appeals to practicality which either argue for accepting a theory due to its utility or argue for rejecting a theory due to its impracticality.
A Game Controller for Stroke Rehabilitation
Authors:   , Duncan William
Published: November 2021

Successful stroke rehabilitation relies on early, long-term, repetitive and intensive treatment. Repetitions conducted during clinical rehabilitation are significantly lower than that suggested by physiotherapeutic literature to relearn lost motor capabilities. This leaves patients to achieve this quantity in their home environment. Exercises can be monotonous and repetitive, making it difficult to maintain patient motivation. Exergames have been promoted for use in the home to make rehabilitation entertaining, increasing patients engagement with their therapy. Marketed exergaming systems for lower limb rehabilitation are hard to find, and none as of yet, facilitate Strength for Task Training (STT), a novel physiotherapeutic method for lower limb stroke rehabilitation. Strength for Task Training involves performing brief but intensive strength training (priming) prior to task-specic training to promote neural plasticity and maximise the gains in locomotor ability.  This research investigates how the design of a game controller for lower limb stroke rehabilitation can facilitate unsupervised STT to compliment clinical contact time.  The game controller was developed as part of a complete exergaming system designed to specifically facilitate STT. This involved working closely with co-researcher Scott Brebner who designed the exergame media. A user centered design approach was followed to include clinicians and stroke patients in the design process. This ensured the design aligned with the functional requirements of STT and the contextual needs of the patient. Workshops with stroke clinicians and neurophysiologists pointed to the specific areas of STT that a designed system could address. An iterative design process was used to develop, compare and improve concepts through testing with participants and clinicians. User testing involved participants using the game controller to interact with the digital game.  The final output was a prototype pair of smart shoes with an attachable weighted sole. The design used removable sensors to translate lower limb movement into ingame interactions. The design of the shoes and weighted sole provided a simple and safe way to engage in unsupervised STT. Research findings suggest that while not all of the STT therapy can be incorporated in an unsupervised and home-based exergame system, there are some essential elements that can. Adaptable hardware was found to be integral to facilitating intensive priming. Barriers to use can be reduced through considering the diverse physiological and cognitive abilities of stroke patients and aesthetic consideration can help create a meaningful game controller that promotes its use in the home.
From Unicorns to Mules: Phillip Pettit, Hannah Arendt, and the Liberal Human Rights Regime
Authors:   , Bierema Sebastiaan
Published: November 2021

The research presented here is an effort to interpret the discrepancy between the theoretical inalienability of human rights and the ease with which they are alienated in practice; a paradox Hannah Arendt regarded as the most conspicuous and cruel contradiction of human rights discourse. Proponents of the contemporary human rights regime have recognised that two principal characteristics of liberal human rights politics—namely, the double appellation of the Rights of Man and Citizen and an insistence on sovereignty and power-politics—directly contribute to this paradox. Nonetheless, they deem the current approach to combating rights violations to be ‘the best we can hope for’. After discussing this pragmatic liberal approach, this paper continues by analysing the alternative approaches championed by two republican traditions which criticise liberal human rights—Pettit’s neo-republicanism and Arendt’s participatory republicanism. The former of these proposes an institutional commitment to the rights of the citizen, whereas the latter deems the direct action of political subjects to be the most effective form of guaranteeing written rights in practice. Finally, in agreement with Arendt’s thought, this paper argues that while liberal power-politics and neo-republican institutionalism have their place in human rights politics, rights are at their most secure as expressions of autonomous action.
Evaluating and Enhancing Communication Skills in Four Adolescents with Profound and Multiple Disabilities
Authors:   , Roche Laura
Published: November 2021

Individuals with profound and multiple disability (PMD) experience more than one type of disability, typically severe to profound intellectual disability and significant motoric impairment. These complex impairments negatively affect many aspects of the person’s functioning, such as daily living, academic, and social skills. Persons with PMD will often experience fluctuating levels of awareness, and often have such severe communication deficits that they rely on the use prelinguistic behaviours (PLBs) to communicate. It is often difficult for those working with these individuals to identify preferences and behavioural states indicative of engagement and motivation. As a result, these individuals often experience social isolation and a lower quality of life. The purpose of this research project was to evaluate the overall level of functioning and communicative abilities of four adolescents with PMD and identify instructional procedures that might enhance their natural method of communication, such that they are more readily understood. This was achieved through assessment and intervention based methods. First, the repertoire of forms and functions of specific PLBs in four participants with PMD were identified. Then, circumstances under which behaviours indicative of alertness and engagement were assessed. Next, the author validated the function of specific PLBs used to request the continuation or access to preferred stimuli. Subsequently, three intervention case studies were implemented to strengthen and/or enhance the PLB requesting behaviours of three participants using microswitch technology and individualised instructional strategies. Results suggested that individuals with PMD can and do demonstrate consistent PLBs used to request access to preferred stimuli. Specific PLBs of three participants were strengthened and/or enhanced, with two of these participants able to use a microswitch to activate a speech generating device to produce a communicative request. Implications of these results are discussed in terms of the overall outcomes for each participant and the challenges of implementing a whole communication assessment and intervention approach for this population of learners.
Rape crisis services ‘Standing Alone’: Policy-making as problem representation: The response to sexual violence in New Zealand 1983-89
Authors:   , McDonald Heather Lee
Published: November 2021

After more than 30 years of feminist activism in New Zealand the government policy response to sexual violence continues to be highly contested. This thesis draws on archival material (both official and community records) to trace the competing discourses and agendas within the early policy development process. This process involved the pākehā and Māori women’s rights movements seeking to influence the ways in which the problem of rape was represented and responded to by government within the social policy context. Using Bacchi’s “What’s the problem represented to be?” methodology, the analysis of these discourses identifies the silences and assumptions, as well as the privileged government agenda that redefined, individualised and sought to professionalise the services for rape victims/survivors. I explore the perspectives of feminists involved in the movement and how tensions with the state may be seen to be reflected in the policy process, particularly through the emergence of neo-liberalism, the interplay between liberal and radical feminist views and in the highly contested area of rape education and prevention. Further, I consider how the problem of meeting cultural needs through social policy responses stalled, despite seeming state support for such responses through the 1980s and what it may be about the issue of rape itself and its connection to gender inequality that has contributed to a muted government response to the issue of sexual violence. In a postscript I briefly review current policy discourse and comment on how the focus on rehabilitation, the financial instability of services, lack of adequate provision of appropriate services for women and communities continue to be features of the sector today. I argue that a specific focus on rape education and prevention, critical for reducing the incidence of rape, continues to be severely under attended to, and that this in part reflects continued reluctance to address both the nature of rape and the need for wider structural change in addressing it.
Developing a psychologically informed typology of partner violent women
Authors:   , Dempsey Fiona
Published: November 2021

Little research to date has considered the aetiological risk of female perpetrators of intimate partner violence (IPV), particularly in dating samples. This is despite evidence that shows perpetration is highly prevalent in this population. This study aims to address this gap and develops a typology of partner violent female university students using the psychopathology dimension of the Holtzworth-Munroe and Stuart (1994) typology. Online survey methodology was used to collate information from 434 participants about a range of psychological characteristics and aggression toward intimate partners in the previous twelve months. Latent Profile analysis identified three reliable subgroups of participants who differ in their level of psychopathology in comparison to Non-Violent Controls and/or each other (‘Low’, ‘Moderate’ and ‘Moderate-High’ Psychopathology). Chi Square analysis investigated group differences in the use of psychological aggression, physical assault and sexual coercion towards an intimate partner, and towards other people. Results show that the Moderate-High Psychopathology group use severe psychological aggression significantly more frequently than the Low Psychopathology group. Trends for minor physical violence were also found with frequency of use increasing with increases in levels of psychopathology. The classifications proxy the Holtzworth-Munroe and Stuart (1994) findings to some extent. However, it is suggested that the profiles of female perpetrators are best described in terms of varying levels of psychopathology in general, with corresponding increases in some forms of partner aggression. The need to develop typologies of female, non-clinical samples of IPV is discussed.
Novel approaches to quantify the emergence of anthropogenic climate change
Authors:   , Harrington Luke
Published: November 2021

Understanding how the climate system will respond to ongoing human interference is a question of profound societal importance. A significant barrier to quantifying the effect of human activity on the climate system is interpreting how the signal of anthropogenic change can be isolated and distinguished from the background noise of internal variability. An emerging framework in the scientific community is now to investigate signal-to-noise ratios as a more effective measure of the impact of human influence on the climate.  As the cumulative amount of greenhouse gases emitted by the global population continues to increase, emerging (human-induced) signal-to-noise ratios in temperatures are starting to become clear for highly aggregated spatial and temporal scales. However, some other climate phenomena, such as meteorological drought, exhibit a more complex response to anthropogenic forcings. Identifying how further warming will change the characteristics of such phenomena is therefore more difficult, despite the significant policy implications for both climate adaptation and mitigation.  In this thesis, I investigate novel approaches towards separating the relative signal of anthropogenic climate warming from internal variability for these cases of low signal-to-noise ratios. By more effectively understanding the drivers of emergent changes to the climate system, these results help to quantify, and thus communicate, the increasingly damaging effects of human interference on the climate system.
It's The Same Old Story: Rape Representation in New Zealand Newspapers (1975 - 2015)
Authors:   , Barton Ange
Published: November 2021

Newspaper reporting of rape, and in particular, representations of women as rape victims, have historically been presented by the media in a misinformed manner, influenced by myths and misconceptions about the dynamics of sexual violence. Previous research has shown media depictions can promote victim-blaming attitudes which affect society’s understanding toward sexual violence, promoting false narratives and rape-supportive beliefs. Victim narratives of sexual victimisation struggle within a ‘culture of silencing’ that prevents the majority of sexual offending from coming to the attention of authorities, and identifying the silencing of women’s experiences of rape has, and continues to be, a key objective for feminist scholars. Newspapers are one medium which has been exclusionary of women's experiences, therefore it is important to look at the role of newspapers on a longitudinal level to investigate whether there have been changes in reporting practices and attitudes. To address this issue, this study draws on feminist perspectives and adopts a quantitative and qualitative methodology utilising newspaper articles as a specific source of inquiry. Articles concerning male-female rape were collected from eight prominent New Zealand newspapers across a 40 year period from 1975 – 2015 with individual years for analysis being 1975, 1985, 1995, 2005 and 2015. Results from this analysis show minimal inclusion of women’s words regarding newspaper commentary in articles concerning rape. This study also found that across the four decades of analysis, newspapers consistently reported the rape of women by strangers, and sympathetic justice system responses were achieved if the victim was ‘respectable’ and adhered to an ‘appropriate’ version of femininity. The findings from this study illustrate discourses that reflect features of a broader social discourse relating to the responsibility of women to protect themselves from rape. The implications from this research can be utilised to better inform journalists in their reporting practices on sexual violence cases in the New Zealand press, with a hope to challenge the way that newspaper reporters and consumers think about constructing rape, and women as rape victims.
The Right to Language and its Contemporary Significance for New Zealand
Authors:   , Connell Charlotte
Published: November 2021

The right of linguistic minorities to speak their own language in community with other members of their group (the right to language) is deserving of specific attention for two reasons. Firstly, language is the currency of communication and one of the key indicia of cultural identity; and secondly, ensuring minorities have a secure place within a State is pivotal to promoting peace and stability within a nation. There are three sources of the right to language in New Zealand : the International Covenant on Civil and Political rights, the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990, and the Treaty of Waitangi (for the Maori and Moriori languages). The right to language protects against both direct action by the State to limit linguistic minorities' use of their language. and State neglect of a minority language. This paper explores the right to language in the New Zealand context including the sources and elements of the right to language; the application of the right to the Maori language (and what lessons can be learned from this experience for the Moriori language); and two modes of revitalisation of minority languages: official recognition and television broadcasting. The paper observes that while the steps to improve language acquisition and use of the Maori language are admirable and need to continue to secure a meaningful place for that language in New Zealand, the Moriori language is in serious jeopardy and in need of urgent attention. Finally, the paper examines whether the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi may provide sound guidance for the consideration of the place of minority languages in policy and law making in New Zealand.
Trash or Treasure? Te Papa and the collecting on everyday material culture
Authors:   , Hackett Amy
Published: November 2021

The everyday, ordinary, and mundane are categories of material culture that challenge traditional museum collecting. Collection planning is an absolute necessity for museums if they are to avoid becoming unmanageable time capsules. With cuts to resources and space now at a premium, it is important that museums clarify their purpose and begin to collect more strategically. This dissertation asks: if collecting everyday material culture is now an accepted part of curatorial practice today, then how does Te Papa approach this fraught task? How does the museum define the everyday, how much of it already exists in the museum’s collections, and what tools and strategies does it deploy to ensure that these objects are collected and appreciated as part of the nation’s history and heritage?   Using a multi-method approach comprising document analysis, interviews and observation, this dissertation provides insight into how Te Papa collects everyday material culture. It provides an in-depth view of the national museum’s current collecting processes, all the way from how it collects on paper, to how it collects in reality. The research addresses gaps in literature on institutional collecting, particularly in a national museum setting. Building on work by James B Gardner and Simon Knell, and by observing and interviewing curators, this study is able to respond to calls for research that approaches collecting from an internal ‘on-the-ground’ viewpoint.  Trash or Treasure? reveals that at Te Papa, although everyday material culture is being collected and displayed, it exists at a crossroads of traditional and contemporary conceptions of collecting. Policy enables collecting of these everyday objects provided acquisition proposals demonstrate national significance. However, curators are less concerned with this aspect of an object. This discrepancy occurs because of the challenging nature of everyday material culture, namely its mutability; it can be all things to many people. The findings suggest that policy does not always trump practice unless strict approval processes are put in place. In order to build a strong collection, this dissertation argues that museums need to find a balance between careful planning while also allowing space for unexpected collecting opportunities.
Data deciphered: A visual migration of VFX
Authors:   , Fordyce Robert
Published: November 2021

The visual effects industry is an interconnected network of migratory professionals that is in an on-going state of dynamism. The transient nature of industry contracts and the resultant economic impact of studio ebb and flow is a largely uncharted, yet highly phenomenological subject, within design discourse. In the absence of a reliable metric to quantify employee migration, previous theories in this field have been speculative and conjectural. However, the wealth of data inherent in employment-oriented social-media profiles and online crowd-sourced databases provides a new way in which to identify and analyse collective trends in industry migration.  Data Deciphered: A Visual Migration of VFX reveals the geographical and demographic patterns in the postproduction services industry through the data visualization medium. Furthermore, it investigates the optimal way to comprehend, filter and relate the large volume of information that is the sector’s migration patterns.  This thesis first amassed a dataset of 82,711 migratory employment records specific to professionals within the visual effects industry over the previous 35 years. It drew this information from the public-facing pages of both the LinkedIn and Internet Movie Database (IMDB) online Internet platforms. This collection has been subsequently used to drive a 3D visualization tool that was constructed within the Unity5 game engine.  This study has revealed that, despite claims to the contrary, California continues to function as the central hub of the visual effects world and that the majority of industry professionals have been located there at some point throughout their employment histories. Furthermore, environment and matte-painting roles have been identified as the most migratory, while technician and code professions tend to be more static. Finally, skills analysis demonstrates that while proficiency in software packages and coding languages is prevalent within the industry, ultimately, the possession of these abilities has negligible impact upon migration frequency.
Creta Capta: Late Minoan II Knossos in Mycenaean History
Authors:   , Nash Theodore
Published: November 2021

The Late Minoan (LM) II period at Knossos, c. 1470-1420 BC, represented a pivotal point in the history of the Aegean Bronze Age, but the full extent to which it shaped the following centuries has yet to be fully appreciated or studied. During this period, Mycenaeans from the mainland gained control of the palace of Knossos, an administrative centre hitherto unparalleled in their world. From the necessity of maintaining political control over an often hostile island, these Mycenaean dynasts were thrust into new roles, rulers of a palatial administration for the first time. Thus LM II Knossos can be viewed in its neglected aspect as a period of Mycenaean history, and the foundational phenomenon of the florescent Late Helladic III period – the birth of the Mycenaean palaces – can be placed within its proper historical context. The first Mycenaean experiment in palatial administration at LM II Knossos provided the model followed shortly after by the mainland polities, who in following this path to power dominated the Aegean for the next 200 years.
Assessing the Vulnerability and Resilience of the Philippines to Disasters
Authors:   , Yonson Rio
Published: November 2021

Some of the world’s most destructive disasters occurred in the Philippines, and a number of these happened in recent years. In 2011, 2012, and 2013, tropical cyclones Washi, Bopha, and Haiyan, respectively, left a staggering trail of over 8,000 deaths, as well as huge damages to assets and livelihoods. In 2009, tropical cyclones Ketsana and Pharma brought massive riverine floods, with a total damage and loss equivalent to 2.7% of the country’s GDP. This dissertation is an endeavour to measure disaster impacts and welfare risk, and to identify factors affecting vulnerability and resilience in different spatial scales in the Philippines. The first of four chapters is an extensive literature survey on the economic vulnerability and economic resilience to disasters. This serves as a prelude to the succeeding three empirical studies contained in Chapters 3 to 5. Chapter 3 aims to measure tropical cyclone-induced fatalities in the Philippine provinces, and identifies the factors that shape people’s vulnerability. It also quantifies the relative importance of hazard, exposure, and socioeconomic vulnerability in influencing fatalities. Chapter 4 is a household level study that quantitatively establishes the linkages between floods and diseases in the floodplains of a highly-urbanized city in the Philippines (Cagayan de Oro), and provides an estimate on the public finance implications of flood-induced diseases to the Philippine urban areas, and on the additional economic burden on affected households. Chapter 5 measures socioeconomic resilience and welfare risk from riverine flood disasters, and systematically quantifies the effectiveness of a menu of region-specific disaster risk reduction and management measures.
Designing and disseminating DIY assistive technology in an online environment
Authors:   , Creagh Thomas
Published: November 2021

Stroke is a debilitating neurological condition caused by a dysfunction in the flow of blood to the brain (Stroke.org, 2016). The onset of stroke can result in complex disability that may require long term rehabilitation (Duncan, 1994). The deterioration of psychosocial well-being is one of the many issues that may result from the formation of disability in an individual (Aström, 1992). Dunn (2000) defines psychosocial as “how people think and feel about, influence, and relate to actual, imagined, or assumed others”. It is about how our concept of self in influences our relationships with others and vice versa.  The purpose of this research is to investigate what in influence digitally connected communities can have on psychosocial recovery from stroke. This will be achieved through the creation of a web application. This web application will expand on the idea of DIY and non-intentional design (Brandes, 2008) and apply it in a rehabilitative manner. Non-intentional design is defined by Brandes (2008, p) as, “the everyday, unprofessional redesign of professionally designed objects. NID results when an object is used in a manner different from the prescribed (and therefore restricted) functional intention or when the prescribed application is not honoured in the new uses”. The intention being that influencing assistive technology use in a positive way can help a person accept disability into their concept of self and help that person to regain confidence to engage with others socially.  This research initially canvasses literature reviews (Hanington et al, 2012) to analyze the psychosocial, elderly engagement with web applications, and to develop heuristics to guide the design of the web application. Subsequently, I have used precedent reviews (Hanington et al, 2012) to analyze DIY assistive technology documentation in an online environment. Finally, I utilised a Research through design (Frayling, 1993) approach to inform the creation of this DIY assistive technology and the web application. User testing of the web application was then performed. The testing took the participants through the process of using the web application via a set list of tasks and also asked them to recreate one of the three available DIY assistive technology examples.
Assessing the Accuracy of Performance Modelling in Software Defined Networks
Authors:   , Ansell Jordan
Published: November 2021

Analytical modelling and experimental measurement can are used to evaluate the performance of a network. Models provide insight and measurement provides realism.  For software defined networks (SDN) it is unknown how well the existing queueing models represent the performance of a real SDN network. This leads to uncertainty between what can be predicted and the actual behaviour of a software defined network.  This work investigates the accuracy of software defined network queueing models. This is done through comparing the performance results of analytical models to experimental performance results.  The outcome of this is an understanding of how reliable the existing queueing models are and areas where the queueing models can be improved.
Concrete Island: Lost Sites and Hidden Heritage
Authors:   , Johnson Zackary
Published: November 2021

In cities like Auckland, suburban sprawl has led to the introduction of extensive elevated motorways that create barriers and cuts across the ordering elements of the city. Urban planner Roger Trancik refers to the areas beneath and adjacent to these urban motorways as “lost sites”, considered ‘unbuildable’ even though they occur within the central business district. This research investigation looks at how architecture can help return a sense of place identity and cultural significance to otherwise placeless zones defined by elevated urban motorways.  The central Auckland site for this design-led research is the Central Motorway Junction (CMJ), commonly referred to as ‘spaghetti junction’ — a site physically and environmentally inappropriate for housing development, but large and high profile enough to contribute significantly to Auckland’s ‘cultural hub’.  The proposed programme for this investigation is a new facility to house Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa’s stored collections. Arguably New Zealand’s most valuable cultural holdings, only 3% of Te Papa Tongarewa’s collections are on display at any time. The rest of the museum’s stored collections are completely hidden from public view within its back of house facilities and warehouse structures in Wellington.  Due to Wellington’s location on major fault lines, studies are underway to permanently move the stored collections to Auckland, where they will remain removed from the public eye. This design-led research investigation proposes that once these collections are relocated to Auckland, if they are made visually accessible to the public, they could provide a vital extension of the cultural hub for the city centre.  The investigation proposes to architecturally inhabit one of Auckland’s most prominent lost sites, the Central Motorway Junction, in a way that celebrates its iconic elevated motorway as a viable urban context capable of actively contributing to urban re-vitalisation and cultural consolidation.  The thesis investigation examines the city’s motorway infrastructure as a framework for a new typology for architecture that actively uses the ‘motorway typology’ to establish architectural and place identity. Simultaneously the investigation explores how expansive elevated motorway sites can provide significant footprints for new public buildings to enhance the cultural identity of the urban centre.
Taking the high road: Retrofitting amenity onto urban arterial roads
Authors:   , Dey Paul
Published: November 2021

Amenity values on urban arterial roads are fraught. This is largely due to the traditional traffic capacity versus amenity trade-off. This trade-off implies that high-capacity roads must be inherently deficient in amenity due to issues of air quality, noise nuisance and the physical barrier of streams of traffic. However, a more nuanced position – and one adopted by this thesis - is that arterial roads can be both busy thoroughfares and active, enjoyable destinations. This design-led research explores retrofitting amenity values onto existing arterial roads, creating new spaces and improving qualities of a system not originally constructed with amenity in mind.  Cuba Street in Lower Hutt is a regionally significant connector intended for future densified development. In addition to the current link function, this road needs to become more attractive as a destination and address. Consideration at the urban scale encourages broad, strategic planning to support amenity holistically. This urban planning addresses topics like desirable densification, transit-oriented development, walkable centres and how these affect the arterial road condition. In moving from urban-scaled to architectural design, the detailed implementation of the greater policies is tested. Architecture is engaged to respond to the immediate arterial road conditions with spaces and surfaces, protective buffers and layers. In this way - with architectural refinement and a comprehensive, coherent strategy - traffic capacity and amenity can be brought into balance.
Data-Driven Facial Expression Analysis from Live Video
Authors:   , Tay Wee Kiat
Published: November 2021

Emotion analytics is the study of human behavior by analyzing the responses when humans experience different emotions. In this thesis, we research into emotion analytics solutions using computer vision to detect emotions from facial expressions automatically using live video.  Considering anxiety is an emotion that can lead to more serious conditions like anxiety disorders and depression, we propose 2 hypotheses to detect anxiety from facial expressions. One hypothesis is that the complex emotion “anxiety” is a subset of the basic emotion “fear”. The other hypothesis is that anxiety can be distinguished from fear by differences in head and eye motion.  We test the first hypothesis by implementing a basic emotions detector based on facial action coding system (FACS) to detect fear from videos of anxious faces. When we discover that this is not as accurate as we would like, an alternative solution based on Gabor filters is implemented. A comparison is done between the solutions and the Gabor-based solution is found to be inferior.  The second hypothesis is tested by using scatter graphs and statistical analysis of the head and eye motions of videos for fear and anxiety expressions. It is found that head pitch has significant differences between fear and anxiety.  As a conclusion to the thesis, we implement a systems software using the basic emotions detector based on FACS and evaluate the software by comparing commercials using emotions detected from facial expressions of viewers.
Form Follows Food: An examination of architecture's role in urban farming
Authors:   , Fong Olivia
Published: November 2021

With rising global urban populations, existing food infrastructure systems are rapidly becoming unsustainable. Increasing distances between rural food production and urban residents extends to a conceptual divide and misguided understanding of what activities ought to be classed as ‘rural’ versus ‘urban’. Some of those looking for alternative solutions note food’s potential to act as an organiser of urban systems and catalyst for sustainable living. However the concept of sustainability is often sidelined in photorealistic renders where designs are decorated with organic matter, designs that are unlikely to be viable. Tapping into food’s potential and with the readily available space of urban rooftops, the thesis explores rooftop urban farming to speculate the opportunities it presents in the city of Wellington, New Zealand. In relation to this important social, economic and ecological infrastructure, the thesis investigates how the potential for urban farming, from production to trading and consumption contributes to a sense of place through architectural interpretation. While widening the discussions of food and the city, architecture provides the built accommodation for both plants and people, so that the ‘urban future’ can be reevaluated.
Paris in Niue: An Analysis of the Aid Effectiveness Agenda in Niue
Authors:   , Talagi Felicia Pihigia
Published: November 2021

The rise of critical thinking about aid and aid effectiveness has shifted development practice towards promoting an active role for aid recipients in their development. The Paris Declaration on aid effectiveness and the five principles for effective aid sits at the core of this development agenda. The aim of this study is to investigate how the aid effectiveness agenda has influenced Niue’s development policy and practice. The Government of Niue aspires to be financially self-sufficient. It is an ambitious goal for a small nation that is heavily reliant on aid from the Government of New Zealand. Using primary and secondary sources the results suggested that the Government of Niue asserts a moderate level of effectiveness. To further improve and strengthen the delivery of services the Niue Government undertook a transformation process of the public sector. The major change resulting from this transformation was the amalgamation of over fifteen different departments into five ministries with an added layer of management. The transformation had not yielded the expected results at the time of the research but it has uncovered critical areas for the government to strengthen. These are capacity constraints within the public service, a requirement for a coordinated approach for communication internally and externally, harmonisation of development efforts, transparency and accountability, and the political backing to achieve it all. The New Zealand assistance to the Government of Niue is also analysed using the principles of the Paris Declaration. The results indicated a positive change, considerable improvements from the historical dominating tactics experienced in earlier days. The relationship between the two governments is now recognised as a partnership. The flexibility and the clear communication and dialogue has solidified the partnership which has given confidence and certainty for the Government of Niue to work towards its goal of a prosperous Niue.