bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Contemporary Approaches to Live Computer Music: The Evolution of the Performer Composer
Authors:   , Vallis Owen Skipper
Published: November 2021

This thesis examines contemporary approaches to live computer music, and the impact they have on the evolution of the composer performer. How do online resources and communities impact the design and creation of new musical interfaces used for live computer music? Can we use machine learning to augment and extend the expressive potential of a single live musician? How can these tools be integrated into ensembles of computer musicians? Given these tools, can we understand the computer musician within the traditional context of acoustic instrumentalists, or do we require new concepts and taxonomies? Lastly, how do audiences perceive and understand these new technologies, and what does this mean for the connection between musician and audience?  The focus of the research presented in this dissertation examines the application of current computing technology towards furthering the field of live computer music. This field is diverse and rich, with individual live computer musicians developing custom instruments and unique modes of performance. This diversity leads to the development of new models of performance, and the evolution of established approaches to live instrumental music.  This research was conducted in several parts. The first section examines how online communities are iteratively developing interfaces for computer music. Several case studies are presented as examples of how online communities are helping to drive new developments in musical interface design.  This thesis also presents research into designing real-time interactive systems capable of creating a virtual model of an existing performer, that then allows the model’s output to be contextualized by a second performer’s live input. These systems allow for a solo live musician’s single action to be multiplied into many different, but contextually dependent, actions.  Additionally, this thesis looks at contemporary approaches to local networked ensembles, the concept of shared social instruments, and the ways in which the previously described research can be used in these ensembles.  The primary contributions of these efforts include (1) the development of several new open-source interfaces for live computer music, and the examination of the effect that online communities have on the evolution of musical interfaces; (2) the development of a novel approach to search based interactive musical agents; (3) examining how networked music ensembles can provided new forms of shared social instruments.
An Analysis of the Aid Effectiveness Agenda in Tonga
Authors:   , Mountfort Helen
Published: November 2021

Over the past decade, the rhetoric of international aid has significantly changed. Increased emphasis has been placed on the full participation of aid recipient countries, which are now being urged to own and drive their development planning and policy. The 2005 Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness sits at the core of this international consensus that calls for alignment of donor policies and harmonisation of donor procedures. This study was undertaken to investigate the influence of the aid effectiveness agenda on Tongan development policy and practice. Using both primary and secondary sources, an analysis of the Paris Declaration Principles and their application in practice was explored. A case study of the Tonga Energy Road Map was carried out in order to illustrate a more detailed unfolding of the aid effectiveness agenda at a sector and project level. The key findings of this research suggest that there has been substantial improvement to development policy and practice in Tonga. It is unclear, however, if this improvement was the outcome of commitments made to the Paris Declaration or the result of strong relationships and leadership exerted by the Government of Tonga. However, in spite of the commitment to increase aid effectiveness made by some development agencies, many still operate with their own systems and procedures which Tonga is required to meet. Although Tonga has readily adopted the Paris Declaration Principles, the aid effectiveness challenge remains at the project implementation level.
Localization and Change Point Detection using GPS Data
Authors:   , Zhai Xiaoyu
Published: November 2021

The Global Positioning System (GPS) has become widely used in modern life and most people use GPS to find locations, therefore the accuracy of these locations is very important.  In this thesis, we will use Longitude and Latitude from raw GPS data to estimate the location of a GPS receiver. To improve accuracy of the estimation, we will use two methods to delete outliers in Longitude and Latitude: the Euclidean distance method and the Mahalanobis distance method. We will then use two methods to estimate the location: Maximum Likelihood and Bootstrap method.  The confidence ellipse and the simultaneous confidence intervals are used to construct confidence regions for bivariate data, and we compared the two methods. In this thesis, we also did some simulations to understand the effect of sample size and variance in the linear regression model for AIC and BIC, and use these two criteria to find a best model to fit the multivariate linear regression model with response variables Latitude and Longitude. This thesis forms part of a larger project to detect land movement, such as that seen in landslides using low cost GPS devices. We therefore consider methods for detecting changes in location over time.  In this thesis, we used converted Longitude, Latitude and Altitude (in meters) from the same GPS data set after deleting outliers as our variables and applied two methods (Hotelling’s T2 chart method and Multivariate exponentially weighted moving average method) to detect changes in location in our data.
Game Balance: Designed structure and consumer agency in an online game
Authors:   , Haynes Elizabeth
Published: November 2021

Massively multi-player online role-playing games (MMORPGs) attract millions of people every year and are now a major industry. Using the internet, these games connect players and give them goals to pursue within virtual worlds. This thesis examines the early life of one such game, the North American version of TERA, based on participant observation on a player vs. player server. TERA’s players met and interacted within a virtual game world controlled by the company which developed the game, and although players constructed their own social groups and factions within this world they were constrained by software that they could not change. Everything from the combat rules to the physics of the environment was designed, and players could only take actions that were accounted for and allowed by that design.  However, TERA launched as one of many available MMORPGs which were competing for the attention of the same audience. Its players tended to be experienced and well-informed about the genre, and used their knowledge to evaluate and critique TERA both privately and in public forums. Aware that game companies’ chief concern was for profit, players exercised agency by embracing a consumer identity and pressuring developers in their own commercial terms. To retain players’ loyalty and continue receiving their fees, companies were obliged to appease their customers. This allowed players to see the game world develop and change in accordance with their desires despite the fact that they lacked the access or the expertise to change it themselves. I link this approach to agency to the rise of consumer movements in capitalist societies, and show how the virtual world of TERA can serve as an example for other situations in the physical world where contemporary technologies are used to both enable and constrain agency.
Same sex relations, state crime and resistance
Authors:   , Gledhill Cara
Published: November 2021

This thesis explores the criminalisation of same sex relations in a global context, using a framework which centres the state as criminal. It argues that criminalising laws serve as hegemonic dictates, which condone and encourage violence perpetrated by state officials, as well as private individuals. The form of these laws, the punishments they mandate and the harms that lesbian and gay individuals suffer due to the existence of criminalisation is critically examined. The thesis shows that international legal progress in the area of 'sexual rights' has been painstakingly slow and that civil society organisations (CSOs) have been the driving force behind much of the change that has occurred. States have also been able to deny, minimise and neutralise challenges by the UN concerning criminalisation. Jamaica, a state which criminalises consensual sex between men, is provided as a case study in order to examine the ways in which criminalisation laws emerge, and the contemporary social and cultural context which supports their continued existence. Despite the climate of heterosexism in Jamaica, the continued work of CSOs means that information about human rights violations can be dispersed through a number of networks, allowing challenges to take place in the international arena. The thesis concludes by arguing that, while the work of CSOs offers great potential for change in the area, international pressure to repeal criminalising laws and address related human rights violations must continue.
Representation and Rhetoric: National Identity in the Anonymous Speeches of Thucydides
Authors:   , Diggins Daniel
Published: November 2021

This thesis is about patterns in the speeches of Thucydides' unnamed ambassadors which create a sense of the national identity of the speakers. While general scholarly opinion had tended to regard Thucydidean speakers as not able to be differentiated, some scholars have demonstrated characterising patterns in the speeches of named individuals, such as Nikias or Archidamos. I focus on three poleis, Athens, Corinth, and Sparta, and base my own investigations on those of the named speeches. I argue that patterns can be discerned in the anonymous speeches which differentiate these three poleis, and which suggest national characterisation. The first part of this thesis considers stylistic features of the anonymous speeches, in the form of a case study of the Spartan anonymous speech, as the statistical evidence highlights some unexpected features of this speech. Thus, I first consider sentence organisation, arguing that while the Spartans in their speech utilise an unusual amount of subordination, the speech retains the brevity and simplicity one would expect of Spartans, relative to speakers of the other poleis. I then consider two features of vocabulary which we would not expect to see in the Spartan speech, arguing that these features suggest an attempt by the Spartans to ingratiate their speech to the Athenians, and that the vocabulary underscores the unusualness of the speech and, due to two programmatic statements in the speech, ultimately serves to re-emphasise Spartan national character. The second part of this thesis considers broader rhetorical features. First, I consider how the speakers frame the persuasive purpose of their speeches, arguing that the Athenians frame their speeches as the giving of advice, as opposed to the Spartans' openness of purpose, while the Corinthians stand between the two. Then I consider the approaches to argumentation, arguing that the Spartans couch their arguments in a conservative, Doric framework, that the Corinthians are also conservative, and that the Athenians highlight the openness to risk-taking of the polis, and consideration of what is profitable, or advantageous. I conclude that differences in organisation of the speeches, length and relative complexity, and rhetorical posturing would suggest national character to a sensitive reader. That is, the Spartan speeches suggest a conservative, Doric polis, the Athenian speeches reflect a democratic state in which sophistic education is freely available, and open to risk-taking, and the Corinthian speeches reflect their geographical and cultural middle point between the poles of Athens and Sparta.
Tracing the Ottoman Legacy of Deficient Horizontal Relations in Turkish Civil Society
Authors:   , Tongbor Aeuy-Jai Gajaseni
Published: November 2021

This paper attempts to supplement a literature concerned with Turkey‘s Ottoman legacy, especially as it pertains to the functioning of civil society in Turkey. It does so because the efficacy of civil society in Turkey is a major topic of discussion in light of its European Union accession bid, and Turkey‘s Ottoman legacy is yet to be comprehensively teased out. While the strong state tradition which is part of the Ottoman legacy is well documented, relations within society separate from the state‘s influence are yet to be subjected to an historical analysis. While the influence of the state on Turkish society is pervasive, and must be a component of any analysis of civil society in Turkey, analysis focusing on Turkey‘s strong state legacy has obscured other interesting facets of the country‘s Ottoman legacy. This paper posits that deficiencies in Turkish civil society are not just the result of the strong state tradition, but also reflect social attitudes that can be traced to a number of policies implemented in the late-Ottoman Empire.
Mediating the Brief: Reconceptualising Typology for New Zealand's Ageing Population
Authors:   , Sawers Andrew
Published: November 2021

New Zealand, like much of the developed world, has an ageing population. This fact is accompanied by evidence which shows that people’s life spans are also increasing (WHO 6). As the population continues to age, housing facilities for older New Zealanders are going to become more visible and more important. With huge growth looming for this housing sector questions are surfacing over the capacity for existing elderly housing typologies to allow residents to age positively. Positive ageing is judged by the state of someone’s physical, social and mental well-being (WHO 12). The field of architecture has an opportunity to play an active role in transforming the typology of elderly housing facilities, to make a new living environment that feels like an enjoyable place to be housed during a person’s later years.  This thesis develops a position on the current state of living options for the elderly and the effect they have on the well-being of residents. The findings and insights drawn from literature and case study analysis help to determine a suitable direction for the future design of elderly housing typologies. This is tested through a design-based project. The outcome of this research finds that elderly housing typologies require a change in theme from segregation to integration. In response, the design project proposes a multigenerational housing environment in close proximity to a high number of leisure, health, educational, cultural and voluntary amenities to ensure elderly people can remain independent longer and continue to be active citizens within the community. The project supports strong links with the community through the use of a semi-public external courtyard space which provides significant interface between the elderly and members of the wider community, making it an effective mechanism for integration. The design of interior living environments aims to provide more flexibility to the living unit over time and enhance opportunities for casual social interaction to take place. Overall the research suggests that a living environment for elderly people which is well integrated into the community and provides opportunities for casual social interaction will help reduce problems associated with ageing and ultimately contribute to the elderly living a better quality of life.
The Hero Fallen: Zhang Yimou and the Question of Unstable Authorship
Authors:   , Ellsworth Mark
Published: November 2021

When Zhang Yimou’s film, Hero (2002), was released it was one of the most successful Chinese films ever screened in American theaters. While many critics applauded the film’s aesthetics, other reviewers condemned the film for undermining the political potency of Zhang’s early films and promoting a fascist ideology. The interpretation of Hero as fascist propaganda has incited a controversy over the reception of the film that has penetrated academic as well as journalistic circles. A close look at this controversy reveals that there has been a tendency in the West to read a film and filmmaker in a manner predetermined by where they are from and the discourse that already exists. This ‘auto-reading’ or ‘auto-positioning’ tendency is symptomatic of a reliance on discourses of authorship and national cinema. The manner in which these discourses have permeated the way that the West has responded to Zhang and his films has given rise to three ‘recurring motifs:’ aesthetic virtuosity, cultural authenticity, and national politics. These motifs are characteristics which have been repeated so often that they became defining qualities of his authorship and have often determined the interpretation of his films. This thesis involves a mapping of the critical reception of Hero and the way it relates to Zhang’s prior work, his auteur status, and his relationship to the Chinese nation-state. Specifically, this thesis examines how the discursive reception of Zhang’s career and films provided the context out of which emerged the framework that justifies reading the film as fascist. Tracing the recurring motifs throughout the Western reception of Zhang’s films reveals the problematics of the reliance on the discourses of authorship and national cinema. This thesis will also explore Hero directly to investigate how the film’s ambiguities have contributed to the reading of the film as fascist but also how ambiguity facilitates the potential to interpret other meanings in the film.
The Effects of Collective Ritual on Affect, Unity, and Pro-Sociality: A Naturalistic Study
Authors:   , Callander Rohan
Published: November 2021

Anthropologists have long speculated that collective group rituals endure due to their functional capacity to foster co-operation and cohesion within groups and thus help societies to overcome free-rider problems. Recently, experimental studies have provided empirical data to support this hypothesis and have suggested that synchronous group movement as a key element in this process. Further more, recent field studies have suggested that the sacred values surrounding rituals may mediate the synchrony/pro-sociality relationship. The current study aims to further explore the psychological affects of group ritual in terms of positive affect, perceptions of group unity, and pro-sociality in naturalistic settings. Additionally the current study extrapolates out physical arousal and religiosity as important elements of ritual as well as synchronous movement. Our results suggest that the psychological modulations of positive affect, perceived group unity, and pro-sociality in rituals are primarily due to the meaning context within which they are performed. Results have also shown that when used together in a religious context, rituals that use high levels of synchrony and physicality are associated with higher levels of positive affect and co-operation within groups. These findings may help to explain the expansion of charismatic religions in those regions of the world where there are lower levels of security. They also suggest that past laboratory studies of ritual have been limited due to their inability to assess the meaning contexts that may be driving the effects found. Further research is required to assess the rates of endurance of these psychological affects outside of ritualistic settings and also the generalisation of pro-sociality to outgroups. Also, future development of more accurate measures of variables for field use will provide additional strength and reliability within this field.
J.C.Sturm: Before the Silence: An Exploration of Her Early Writing
Authors:   , Michael Margaret
Published: November 2021

This thesis considers the early works of J. C. Sturm, her own thesis, her short stories, articles and book reviews written in the 1950s before her writing and publishing silence. It examines where this writing places her in context of the post-Second World War period and where it could have placed her in the New Zealand literary canon had it not been for her ensuing literary silence.  The first chapter briefly discusses the nature of literary silences and then introduces Sturm with some biographical information. It details the approach that I take writing the thesis using three readings of her works: as social informer; as woman writer; and as Maori writer. These readings inform my commentary on her work and attempt to place her in the literary canon of the fifties. I discuss my reservations, as a Pakeha, in approaching Sturm as a Maori writer.  I use Sturm’s own comments “that many literary works can be taken as social documents and many authors can be taken as social informers” as a licence to use Sturm herself as “social informer”. It can be demonstrated how the ideas she promulgates in her thesis, New Zealand Character as Exemplified in Three New Zealand Novelists are developed in her short stories, articles and book reviews and in how Sturm holds her mirror up to New Zealand society.  Reading Sturm as a "woman” writer demonstrates how, through her short stories, she destroyed the “idyll of suburban domesticity”. Terry Sturm wrote of women’s writing of the 1970s that “its main tendency is to challenge male accounts of New Zealand society and culture”. Twenty years before this date I show that J. C. Sturm was writing that woman’s account and challenging the male expectations of a woman’s place in the home and society.  Using Sturm’s description that being a Maori writer is “a way of feeling”, her short stories and articles published in Te Ao Hou enable a discussion of Maori writing in the fifties, exploring both the writing context and the critical environment in which this writing was received. The hindsight provided by this exploration some fifty to sixty years on demonstrates the forgetting and misremembering that can happen in a literary context and the effect that forgetting can have on a Maori literary history.  In the final section I reconstruct the somewhat artificially deconstructed strands that have made up the previous chapters, bringing Sturm’s works together as a whole to enable a discussion on Sturm’s rightful place in the New Zealand’s literary canon of the fifties, as well as exploring further the natures of Sturm’s silence in order to bring some remembering into the long forgetting of Sturm’s early work.
E Kore Te Tōtara e Tū Noa i Te Pārae, Engari Me Tū i Roto i Te Wao-Nui-a-Tāne: The Symbolism of Rākau and Ngahere in the Huia Short Story Collections
Authors:   , Jerram Kristin
Published: November 2021

This thesis is a literary critical exploration of rākau/ngahere symbolism as it appears in the biennial short story collections, published by Huia Publishers, that have resulted from the Pikihuia competition for Māori writers. These stories are examples of modern Māori language fiction written for an adult readership, a section of the Māori literary world that has had limited critical attention. The methodology of this thesis is founded on the close reading process and combines the approaches of both Māori Studies and Literary Studies, looking to provide an example of what “Māori Language Literary Studies” might look like as a discipline. The chapters of the thesis are divided into discussions of the rākau/ngahere motif as it functions with regard to three broad themes that can be identified in the Huia collections. Chapter One explores the theme: “points of origin”. This chapter includes close readings of four of the Huia short stories, especially focusing on the rākau/ngahere symbolism they employ and on how that symbolism and the general narrative content of each text relates to the “points of origin” theme. Chapter Two responds to the (post)colonial context in which these works were written and explores “Māori and Pākehā interaction” as a theme within two of the Huia texts. This chapter also raises questions about who the Huia authors are writing for and posits that a key feature of Māori language literature is that it is written for an almost exclusively Māori readership. Finally, Chapter Three discusses the theme of “different worlds” in three of the Huia texts. This critical exploration includes close readings of how different worlds are related to rākau imagery in the texts and shows how, rather than being “othered”, they are presented as layer upon layer of intersecting and interconnecting Māori worlds. This chapter also highlights the role of fiction as a conduit through which the reader can access new “worlds”. Ultimately, it is hoped that this thesis will create new space for the critical discussion of Māori language literature in a broad sense. The thesis is rooted in rākau/ngahere symbolism, but the lines of questioning that arise from his tight focus can potentially be expanded and applied to other Māori language texts, now and in the future.
'Of Red War and Little Else': European Responses to Indigenous Violence in the Tasman World, c.1769-1850s
Authors:   , Ritchie Samuel Gordon Gardiner
Published: November 2021

Europeans responded to indigenous internecine violence in a variety of ways in the Tasman world from first contact to the middle of the nineteenth century. Whereas extant historiography has previously addressed European responses to Māori and Aboriginal violence in geographic and temporal isolation, a comparison spanning time and space augments knowledge of these responses. Violence was not the only aspect of indigenous societies Europeans responded to, nor was indigenous violence the only justification for colonisation. However an investigation of the ways in which Europeans represented and responded to indigenous violence enables a better understanding of the processes of the colonisation of the Tasman world.  Indigenous internecine violence included cannibalism, infanticide, inter-gender violence, and inter-tribal warfare. Through a wide variety of European observations of this violence, this thesis identifies an initial conceptualisation of both New Zealand Māori and Aboriginal peoples of Australia as violent, cannibal ‘savages’. This conceptualisation was used to justify both colonisation and the related evangelical and colonial administrative attempts to suppress indigenous violence, as internecine violence was deemed ‘un-civilised’, unchristian, and unacceptable. Europeans attempted to suppress indigenous violence as it was seen both as an impediment to colonisation and, relatedly, as an inhibitor to the ‘redemption’ of indigenous peoples. While indigenous violence was seen as a barrier to colonisation, however, it was also simultaneously used to promote colonisation. Thus the attempted suppression of indigenous violence developed into the European mobilisation and utilisation of intra-Māori and intra-Aboriginal violence in the promotion of colonisation.  The development of European responses to indigenous internecine violence – from conceptualisations, through attempted suppression, to utilisation – is here examined in a Tasman-world context, drawing upon the interactions between these varied responses. In tracing this development within a comparative framework, both indigenous agency and a rejection of the historiographically persistent notions of a homogenous (and harmonious) Aboriginal Australia and a homogenous Māori people during this time period are key threads.
Seismic Anisotropy and Stress of the Canterbury Plains
Authors:   , Holt Rob
Published: November 2021

The Mѡ=7.1 Darfield (Canterbury) earthquake struck on 4 September 2010, approximately 45 km west of Christchurch, New Zealand. It revealed a previously unknown fault (the Greendale fault) and caused billions of dollars of damage due to high peak ground velocities and extensive liquefaction. It also triggered the Mw=6.3 Christchurch earthquake on 22 February 2011, which caused further damage and the loss of 185 lives. The objective of this research was to determine the relationship between stress and seismic properties in a seismically active region using manually-picked P and S wave arrival times from the aftershock sequence between 8 September 2010-13 January 2011 to estimate shear-wave splitting (SWS) parameters, VP =VS-ratios, anisotropy (delay-time tomography), focal mechanisms, and tectonic stress on the Canterbury plains. The maximum horizontal stress direction was highly consistent in the plains, with an average value of SHmax=116 18 . However, the estimates showed variation in SHmax near the fault, with one estimate rotating by as much as 30° counter-clockwise. This suggests heterogeneity of stress at the fault, though the cause remains unclear. Orientations of the principal stresses predominantly indicate a strike-slip regime, but there are possible thrust regimes to the west and north/east of the fault. The SWS fast directions (ø) on the plains show alignment with SHmax at the majority of stations, indicating stress controlled anisotropy. However, structural effects appear more dominant in the neighbouring regions of the Southern Alps and Banks Peninsula.
Reggaenomics: The Relationship Between Copyright Law and Development in the Jamaican Music Industry
Authors:   , Taylor Sharma Latoya
Published: November 2021

One argument posits that copyright is necessary for incentivising creative expressions. To what extent does this hold true for individual copyright-based sectors in a developing nation’s economy? Although Jamaica’s Copyright Act 1993 complies with the major copyright treaties, little is known about whether (and how) the copyright regime allows the Jamaican music industry to foster national development.  Accordingly, the focus of this thesis is to examine the developmental impact of the copyright system on the Jamaican music industry. This thesis traces the evolution of the local music industry and its complex interaction with copyright law. This research assesses the various approaches to economic development and highlights the limitations of a collective management-based approach and weaknesses in the individual rights management model. It also analyses the compatibility between a human development approach to copyright and the theoretical justifications for copyright. It points out substantive areas of the domestic copyright legislation that could be reformed in order to improve the statute’s applicability to the music industry insofar as development is concerned.  This thesis adopts a qualitative methodological approach and uses interviews from 57 music industry participants. The findings suggest that societal context is as important as the legal rights, in giving copyright owners incentives to create. Historical, political, socio-cultural, economic and institutional factors play a key role in shaping stakeholders’ treatment of copyright. Music industry players’ experiences can help inform policymaking by fostering a better understanding of the implications of copyright protection for this vital sector of the economy.
Discourses of Neo-Liberalisation in New Zealand: From the ‘Managed Economy’ to the ‘Mum and Dad Investor’, Prime Ministers’ Speeches of 1987-2011 (a Critical Discourse Analysis)
Authors:   , Hughes Owen William
Published: November 2021

In this project I aim to challenge the conception of neo-liberalism as a monolithic ideology and theory of state practice. To achieve this, I use Norman Fairclough’s ‘order of discourse’ model of critical discourse analysis to examine seven speeches delivered by New Zealand Prime Ministers of 1987 to 2011. Using these speeches I chart a number of breaks, shifts, contradictions, and instabilities between both Prime Ministers and Governments, which are often specific to New Zealand. The analyses of the seven speeches highlight the contradictions and tensions inherent in on-going processes of neo-liberalisation in New Zealand. Among other instabilities and contradictions, I examine David Lange’s conflicting articulations of economic management in market-led governing. I note the role of technocracy under Geoffrey Palmer, and the inconsistencies in his push to institutionalise the Treaty of Waitangi while decentralising the role of the state in governing. I outline the specificities of New Zealand as a colonial settler society through the signifier “battler” deployed by Mike Moore. I also sketch the functions of Jim Bolger’s communitarianism, and the way it flanks the market logics deployed by Minister of Finance Ruth Richardson, between 1990 and 1993. The effect and significance of Jenny Shipley’s ‘Code of Social and Family Responsibility’ is examined, noting the way it crystallises the role of social capital in practices of governing. The impact of Helen Clark’s Third Way and ‘inclusive’ neo-liberalism are then charted. Clark’s use of diverse ideological forms suggests a mobile and mediating moment in neo-liberalism, which attempts to overcome some of the problems generated by earlier speakers. I finally cover the way that John Key’s anti-ideological position results in what is labelled the ‘market ideology’, crystallising market logic as a rubric for governing through terms like the “mum and dad investor”, and the “kiwi”. I then offer some concluding comments and note the project’s limitations, before offering some tentative prospects of neo-liberalism’s fortune in a post-2008 crisis world.
Matroids, Complexity and Computation
Authors:   , Snook Michael
Published: November 2021

The node deletion problem on graphs is: given a graph and integer k, can we delete no more than k vertices to obtain a graph that satisfies some property π. Yannakakis showed that this problem is NP-complete for an infinite family of well- defined properties. The edge deletion problem and matroid deletion problem are similar problems where given a graph or matroid respectively, we are asked if we can delete no more than k edges/elements to obtain a graph/matroid that satisfies a property π. We show that these problems are NP-hard for similar well-defined infinite families of properties.  In 1991 Vertigan showed that it is #P-complete to count the number of bases of a representable matroid over any fixed field. However no publication has been produced. We consider this problem and show that it is #P-complete to count the number of bases of matroids representable over any infinite fixed field or finite fields of a fixed characteristic.  There are many different ways of describing a matroid. Not all of these are polynomially equivalent. That is, given one description of a matroid, we cannot create another description for the same matroid in time polynomial in the size of the first description. Due to this, the complexity of matroid problems can vary greatly depending on the method of description used. Given one description a problem might be in P while another description gives an NP-complete problem. Based on these interactions between descriptions, we create and study the hierarchy of all matroid descriptions and generalize this to all descriptions of countable objects.
The Consistency of Repeated Witness Testimony Leads Triers-of-Fact to Over-Rely on the Power of a Single Voice
Authors:   , Foster Jeffrey L.
Published: November 2021

Are claims more credible when made by multiple people, or is it the repetition of claims that matters? Some research suggests that claims have more credibility when independent sources make them. Yet, other research suggests that simply repeating information makes it more accessible and encourages reliance on automatic processes—factors known to change people’s judgments. In Experiment 1, subjects took part in a “misinformation” study: Subjects first watched a video of a crime and later read witness reports attributed to one or three different witnesses who made misleading claims in either one report or repeated the same misleading claims across all three reports. In Experiment 2, subjects who had not seen any videos read those same reports and indicated how confident they were that each claim happened in the original event. Subjects were more misled by—and more confident about—claims that were repeated, regardless of how many witnesses made them.  These findings led us to hypothesize that the repeated claims of a single witness are seen as consistent, while the claims of multiple witnesses are seen as having consensus. We tested this hypothesis in Experiments 3 and 4 by asking subjects who had not seen the video to read the reports that repeated the claims. In Experiment 3, half of the subjects read reports that contained some peripheral inconsistencies. In Experiment 4 all subjects read reports that contained inconsistencies, but half of the subjects were warned about the accuracy of the inconsistent reports. Later, everyone indicated how confident they were that each claim really happened. Warning subjects about the inconsistent reports (Experiment 4) led them to rate the repeated claims of a single witness—but not multiple witnesses—as less credible; A finding consistent with our hypothesis.  In Experiment 5, we tested an alternative explanation that a failure to attend to the source of the information may explain our findings by asking half of the subjects to complete a source monitoring component with their confidence test. We failed to find evidence for this explanation.  We conclude that subjects interpreted both the consistency of a single witness's repeated claims, and the consensus among multiple witnesses' converging claims, as markers of accuracy. Importantly, warning subjects about the accuracy of the inconsistent reports reduced subjects’ confidence in the claims made by a single witness, but not multiple witnesses. These findings fit with research showing that repeating information makes it seem more true, and highlight the power of a single repeated voice.
Genetic Management of Wild and Translocated Black Rhinoceros in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal Region
Authors:   , Anderson-Lederer Rosalynn Marie
Published: November 2021

The African black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) is critically endangered. Like other megafauna, the species is managed in parks and is often translocated to expand their range into reserves where they have been extirpated. Management of genetic variation has been identified as an important consideration in long-term management plans for many wild and captive endangered species including black rhino. In this thesis I examined the contemporary levels of genetic variation within the black rhinoceros (D. b. minor) in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), South Africa, and specifically the relict source population at Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Game Reserve (HiP), and how this information can be incorporated into management decisions to improve the long-term viability and persistence of the population. Previous studies have examined levels of genetic variation and differentiation among the three black rhino subspecies (D. b. minor, D. b. michaeli and D. b. bicornis) in an attempt to resolve their taxonomy and to establish baseline genetic assessments for managing populations. However, there has been a lack of genetic information based on the variable mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region of the KZN metapopulation and a direct comparison of microsatellite variability between the D. b. minor populations of KZN and Zimbabwe.  The specific objectives of this study were to: (1) determine the DNA sequence of the mtDNA control region of three subspecies and estimate the level of variation within the HiP source and KZN metapopulation and compare the results with D. b. minor outside KZN and the other two subspecies; (2) use ten microsatellite DNA markers to estimate the levels of heterozygosity and allelic diversity in the HiP source and KZN metapopulation and compare results to previously published microsatellite data (specifically native Zimbabwe D. b. minor; and (3) use VORTEX Population Viability Analysis (PVA) and HiP vital rates to model the effects of increasing population size and supplementation, and investigate what management scenarios would be most effective for minimizing the loss of genetic variation caused by genetic drift with HiP...
DUPLICATE DO NOT PUBLISH - Tubular Daylighting Devices and People: A comparison of the human responses to Tubular Daylighting Devices and fluorescent lighting
Authors:   , Sullivan James
Published: November 2021

Tubular Daylighting Devices are used to bring daylight into deep-plan spaces, and meet sustainability goals. However, they are expensive, and justification for their use lies in hypothesised benefits they can provide in areas such as well-being and productivity. Yet, there is very little research into the effects of Tubular Daylighting Devices. The broader daylighting literature suggests that benefits to satisfaction, mood, and performance are possible — though research into the benefits of daylight is still not conclusive.  Therefore, a before and after study was carried out in a windowless computer room in the university to compare how the students responded under TDDs versus typical electric lighting. Their cognitive performance, change in mood, average sleepiness, and perceptions of the room and lighting were measured.  TDDs significantly increased ratings of room attractiveness and brightness, and had no more perceived glare than the electric lighting. Ratings of lighting quality were on a par with both typical electric lighting and good modern lighting. They were also just as effective on overcast days as sunny. No effects were found on performance or sleepiness, and mood results were inconclusive.  Overall, it is suggested that TDDs can be considered to be on a par with good modern lighting, and superior to typical existing lighting. Note, however, that it is possible that effects in rooms with windows could differ from those found here. Further research should use longer exposures and larger sample sizes if they wish to find performance effects.
Algorithm and design improvements for indirect time of flight range imaging cameras
Authors:   , Drayton Benjamin Mark Moffat
Published: November 2021

This thesis describes the development of a compact and modularised indirect time of flight range imaging camera. These cameras commonly use the Amplitude Modulated Continuous Wave (AMCW) technique. For this technique, an entire scene is illuminated with light modulated at a high frequency. An image sensor is also modulated and the phase shift introduced between the two modulation signals, due to the transit time of the light reflecting off objects in the scene and returning to the camera, is used to measure the distance.  The system constructed for this thesis is controlled by a Cyclone III FPGA and is capable of producing full field of view range images in real time with no additional computational resources. A PMD19K-2 sensor is used as the modulatable image sensor, and is capable of modulation frequencies up to 40 MHz.  One significant issue identified with this range imaging technology is that the precision of the range measurements are often dependent on the properties of the object being measured. The dynamic range of the camera is therefore very important when imaging high contrast scenes. Variable Frame Rate Imaging is a novel technique that is developed as part of this thesis and is shown to have promise for addressing this issue. Traditional theory for indirect time of flight cameras is expanded to describe this technique and is experimentally verified. A comparison is made between this technique and traditional High Dynamic Range Imaging. Furthermore, this technique is extended to provide a constant precision measurement of a scene, regardless of the properties of the objects in the scene.  It is shown that the replacement of the standard phase detection algorithm with a different algorithm can both reduce the linearity error in the phase measurements caused by harmonics in the correlation waveform and ameliorate axial motion error caused by relative motion of the camera and the object being measured. The new algorithm requires a trivial increase in computational power over the standard algorithm and can be implemented without any significant changes to the standard hardware used in indirect time of flight cameras.  Finally, the complete system is evaluated in a number of real world scenarios. Applications in both 3D modelling and mobile robotics are demonstrated and tests are performed for a variety of scenarios including dynamic scenes using a Pioneer 2 robot.
Trust as a form of governance in public libraries in New Zealand : using Franklin District Library Trust as a case study
Authors:   , Loots Ursula Catherina
Published: November 2021

This research is an attempt to clarify the extraordinary and new concept in public libraries - trust as a form of governance. Public libraries world wide are faced with the dilemma of having to find funding to keep the services they provide for their communities as good, or preferably better, than it has been. Trust as a form of governance is just one possibility facing public libraries in New Zealand today. At the onset of this research it became clear that no literature has been produced or research undertaken on the topic of trusts in public libraries in New Zealand or on the governance of public library trusts. As trust as a form of governance could become an important issue in the restructuring and funding of public libraries in New Zealand as well as in the management changes facing public libraries in New Zealand today, it is important that research be done on the topic and made available to the public library community. As a supporting theoretical framework for planning the research, Everett Rogers' Diffusion of Innovation theory and more specifically, the theory of the innovation process in organisations has been used.
Margaret Mead and Derek Freeman : bibliography of a controversy
Authors:   , Laurie John
Published: November 2021

Derek Freeman's 1983 attack on Margaret Mead's classic Samoan ethnography, Coming of age in Samoa, aroused an unprecedented level of interest in the world of anthropology and among the educated public. That interest continues, over a decade later, with the publication of a play based on the lives of Mead and Freeman, and a major new book. The issues, of the nature of humankind and human society, are central to our understanding of humanity and the establishment of good relationships among the peoples of the world. Mead's Coming of age in Samoa is probably the best known anthropological work ever written and has had a major influence on popular perceptions of Western society and indigenous cultures. Freeman's claims, that Mead deliberately exaggerated the differences between Samoa and the West in order to advance a particular political agenda, that all human cultures are rooted in a particular biological human nature which is an inheritance from our primate ancestors, and that the study of cultures should have reference to this universal set of human proclivities and tendencies (which different cultural structures and institutions have evolved to guide and restrain) has serious implications for an anthropology which has generally abandoned attempts to explain similarities to concentrate on differences. At this theoretical level there has been much debate about Boas' commitment to physical anthropology. The critical point is surely that a commitment to cultural determinism does not preclude an interest in biological variables. It is a question of which direction of influence is studied. One of Boas' main contributions appears to have been to attempt to prove that even such apparently biological variables as head shape are determined by environmental rather than inherited factors. Unlike the early years of the 20th century, it is now the believers in cultural determinism who are insisting on dramatic differences between different societies and those proposing a greater role for biological factors who are arguing the fundamental unity of the human species.