bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Architecture Via Aceh
Authors:   , Hubbard Jared
Published: November 2021

There are many swaths of land that are deemed unsuitable to build on and occupy. These places, however, are rarely within an established city. The Canterbury earthquakes of 2010 and 2011 left areas in central Christchurch with such significant land damage that it is unlikely to be re-inhabited for a considerable period of time. These areas are commonly known as the ‘Red Zone’.This thesis explores redevelop in on volatile land through innovative solutions found and adapted from the traditional Indonesian construction techniques. Currently, Indonesia’s vernacular architecture sits on the verge of extinction after a cultural shift towards the masonry bungalow forced a rapid decline in their occupation and construction. The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami illustrated the bungalows’ poor performance in the face of catastrophic seismic activity, being outperformed by the traditional structures. This has been particularly evident in the Rumah Aceh construction of the Aceh province in Northern Sumatra. Within a New Zealand context an adaptation and modernisation of the Rumah Aceh construction will generate an architectural response not currently accepted under the scope of NZS 3604:2011; the standards most recent revision following the Canterbury earthquake of 2010 concerning timber-based seismic performance. This architectural exploration will further address light timber structures, their components, sustainability and seismic resilience. Improving new builds’ durability as New Zealand moves away from the previously promoted bungalow model that extends beyond residential and into all aspects of New Zealand built environment.
Active Coastlines: Implementing a sustainable transport scheme for Evans Bay, Wellington
Authors:   , Richmond Elliot
Published: November 2021

With the rise of popularity in cars and the decrease of public open space in our urban centres, there is an increasing pressure to find alternative modes of transportation. Human powered transport in New Zealand is becoming more popular over the last decade, however it is often let down by the isolation and functionality of the existing infrastructure. Active transport can be understood as an alternative mode that is strictly human powered - whether it be cycling, walking, jogging, scootering or other modes allowing for a more sustainable network. The current infrastructure development is evolved around vehicular transport and other modes are considered secondary, further highlighting our cultural reliance on the motor vehicle.  This research aims to reconfigure how sustainable transport is considered, in order to promote and implement active transport into our cities. Creating a sustainable link with the exclusion of cars, offers the opportunity to establish a unique sequence of spaces that is responsive to the human scale and environment. Landscape Architecture has the ability to adapt and restore natural systems in conjunction with public spaces to build healthier and environmentally conscious communities.  The proposed site for this research is Evans Bay, located in the centre of the harbour in Wellington, New Zealand. The public spaces following the bay suffer intense degradation to the natural ecologies, due to urban development and weather conditions. The current cycleway is a disconnected and unsafe path for local commuters to travel through. The research aims to re-develop the Evans Bay esplanade into a diverse active highway, offering all active modes a safer path. The design will be responsive and inclusive to ecological and communal factors producing a multitude of spaces for Wellington’s sustainable network.
A Chemistry-Oriented Cost-Effective Expert Team Formation in Social Networks
Authors:   , Najaflou Yashar
Published: November 2021

The growth of social networks in modern information systems has enabled the collaboration of experts at an unprecedented scale. Given a social network and a task consisting of a set of required skills, Team Formation (TF) aims at finding a team of experts who can cover the required skills and can communicate in an effective manner. However, this definition has been interpreted as the problem of finding teams with minimum communication cost which neglects two aspect of team formation in real life. The first is that in reality experts are multi-skilled, hence communication cost cannot be a fixed value and should vary according to the channels employed. The second ignored aspect is disregarding teams with high expertise level who can still satisfy the required communication level.  To tackle above mentioned issues, I introduce a dynamic formof communication for multi-facet relationships and use it to devise a novel approach called Chemistry Oriented Team Formation (ChemoTF) based on two new metrics; Chemistry Level and Expertise Level. Chemistry Level measures scale of communication required by the task andExpertise Level measures the overall expertise among potential teams filtered by Chemistry Level. Moreover, I adopt a personnel cost metric to filter costly teams. The experimental results on the corpus compiled for this purpose suggests that ChemoTF returns communicative and cost-effective teams with the highest expertise level compared to state-of-the-art algorithms. The corpus itself is a valuable output which contains comprehensive scholarly information in the field of computer science.
Toward an Electronic Ephemera: Exploring Architectural Atmosphere in Real-time Virtual Engines
Authors:   , Blenkarne Eliot
Published: November 2021

Architectural visualisation is often viewed with a degree of hesitancy by the architectural profession, for a perceived lack of criticality in the methods and outputs – particularly with the rise of hyper-real still imagery production. However, photography too suffers from a certain disconnect from an authentic experience of space, which we experience through our moving within it, our sensory gamut stimulated by the atmosphere memorable architecture possesses. This atmosphere is a holistic assemblage of design decisions made by the building designer, connected to mass, light, materiality, sound, among others. The field of gaming has been able to deploy many of these characteristics in virtual space for decades in some manner, and the tools used have been refined to the point where they are technically, and fiscally accessible to architecture.  This thesis proposes that real-time virtual engines, as used by game designers, can extend the field of architectural representation and design, by better conveying a sense of architectural atmosphere and providing increased immersion in virtual space compared to traditional techniques. It first seeks to define what architectural atmosphere may be recognised as, and how it may be caused to manifest, and then applies these findings to virtual space as a means to test the relationship between the real and unreal. Further to this, it applies this methodology to an iterative design process of both an architectural and virtual nature, with a final output that demonstrates the result of both concurrently.
A city is not a tree
Authors:   , Richards Michael
Published: November 2021

This research investigates the generation of urban environments through the use of visual programming tools. These tools enable the procedural creation of architectural geometries for installation in design environments, with a focus on producing outputs for virtual implementation, including small scale built environments, individual buildings, city blocks, and neighbourhoods.  The creation of large-scale urban environments is a complex and time-consuming task. Subsequently, this field of research has a high level of relevance in the areas of architecture, design, urban planning, film, entertainment, and so forth. In most situations, the groups responsible for the creation of these environments do not contain members with architectural backgrounds. Instead, they consist of designers, computer scientists, technicians, and other specialists. These groups are reliant on their collective experience, skill, and reference materials to create their works.  This thesis proposes that architects possess knowledge, skills, and training suitable for utilisation by this industry. As such, this research explores applying an architectural education with a greater multidisciplinary focus.  This investigation concludes that while visual programming tools are incredibly powerful, they have their limitations. This research further concludes that because there are so many facets to the creation of these environments this area of investigation is best suited to a team of researchers. While individuals can achieve a significant amount, the contribution of outside parties would have had benefits at every stage of the work. The sharing of knowledge, skills, and understandings would allow for the creation of systems that function to generate the best outcomes possible.
The Stranger
Authors:   , Young Christopher
Published: November 2021

How can humanity possibly become sustainable in the future if we cannot think or plan sustainably in the present? This project aims to challenge people’s current thinking, raising awareness that the issue of sustainability will not be resolved without a significant cultural shift in our relationship with our world’s environmental systems.  The thesis addresses this through an architectural narrative conceived to enhance the viewer’s awareness of how our interdependent relationship with machines and industry has led to this dire situation. Prior to the Industrial Revolution the environment could regenerate and recover faster than humanity could destroy it. With the advent of the Industrial Revolution this changed and environmental degradation has rapidly increased out of control. The result is that today we need to evolve and change our thinking rather than be limited by our tools if we are to be sustainable. It is this at present unsustainable relationship between mechanical industry and human behaviour that this thesis exposes through speculative architecture. The investigation explores how architectural allegory can be an effective way of conveying a message with multiple layers of interpretation and meaning - a message capable of addressing important environmental, political, economic and social issues.  The title of the thesis is taken from Albert Camus’s novel l’Étranger (The Stranger) as well as Georg Simmel’s essay “The Stranger”, which was written as an excursus to a chapter dealing with sociology of space in his book Soziologie. In this thesis, as an architectural allegory, the Stranger’s architectural habitat is composed of a myriad of integrated machines that symbolise our time and place identity: a Theodolite that surveys the land; a Clock that keeps the time; a Loom that reflects the folklore of fate; a Compass that represents direction, and a Camera Obscura through which the Stranger views his/her surroundings. The Stranger lives in the Camera Obscura, a compartment with a periscopic lens focused across the Cook Strait to South Island. When (s)he activates the Loom, it pulls the living compartment along tracks toward the core, where (s)he descends into the central volume of the Theodolite. A Compass on the top of the structure points towards landmarks across the Cook Strait while the mechanical workings are inspired by the internals of a mechanical Clock.  The overall programme for the thesis investigation is an Aquaponics Lab, a self-contained environment that grows marine life in an aquaculture system, using their waste to fertilise plant life in a hydroponic system, and using their nutrients in turn to feed the marine life. The flora and fauna continually sustain one another in an eternal cycle - the machines replicating a perfect natural system. The thesis takes the form of a day in the life of the Stranger. The reader witnesses the sequential daily rituals of the Stranger as (s)he moves through the machines from sunrise to sunset.
Density and Desire: Toward's New Zealand's peculiar urban dream
Authors:   , Coxhead Vanessa
Published: November 2021

Density and Desire explores changes in the social organisation of New Zealand, the notion and use of the home, the contribution of dwellings in our cities and an alternative vision for the future dwelling.  New Zealand is experiencing a period of rapid transformation that is changing the way we live, work and socialise, as well as our sense of cultural identity. Our population is becoming dramatically more diverse, more urban, and of very different age and family profiles, creating demand for a wider range of housing options that can adapt to changing social patterns. For these reasons and more, we face new questions about living in a community, of dwelling diversity, of promoting sociability, and of creating conditions for neighbourliness.  The move towards higher density living in New Zealand’s major cities provides an exciting opportunity for architecture. There is an urgent need to build dwellings and this thesis argues that apartments are a necessary part of our future. However, there is a certain stigma attached to apartment dwelling as ‘second best’ — if you can’t afford a house, you’ll settle for an apartment. The romance of the ‘Quarter-Acre Pavlova Paradise’ (Mitchell) is traded in for a plot peppered with horror stories: paper-thin walls, shoebox-sized ‘chicken coop’ confinement, lack of flexibility, onerous body corporate rules… the list could go on, and it does. The research benchmarks itself against the quantity and the quality of the single detached dwelling on a quarter-acre block both as a spatial measure and the representation of home. By asking ‘how many more dwellings can we get on that space’ and ‘what is the notion of home in the future’, it seeks to resolve some of the problems associated with our initial round of higher density.  Domestic architecture can be defined as a system of relationships between oppositions — this thesis explores these relationships through three strategies: Hybrid, Separations & Connections, and Looseness. Each of these deals with the spatial and social characteristics of the city and the home and are used as a technique for controlling relationships at a range of scales and intimacies — from urban to interior — and as a tool for connecting or interrupting the public and private, inside and outside, and building and landscape.  Density and Desire offers a conceptual framework with a series of strategies that demonstrate the potential of the apartment building to re-define urban living and the peculiar New Zealand urban dream.
Uncertainty and Investment Choice in a Real-Options Model of the Firm
Authors:   , Hobbs Cameron
Published: November 2021

A firm must consider many factors when adopting an investment policy including, but not limited to the size, scope, and cost of each investment, as well as the firm's financial condition. The multitude of considerations makes optimal decision-making much more complex than is indicated by standard real-option models of investment. This thesis investigates the behaviour of a cash-constrained firm that has access to two distinct investment opportunities. Such a firm must not only choose the timing of each investment, but often it must also choose between investments.  When compared with similar one-project models of the past, the introduction of an additional investment opportunity alters the general results in a variety of ways. If one of the projects has a high yield, and therefore a quick payback period, this project can provide benefits over and above its NPV as the cash it generates relaxes future capital constraints for follow-up investment. When the firm is sufficiently constrained, this can lead to an investment policy where high-yield low-NPV projects are implemented instead of lower-yield higher-NPV projects, a direct deviation from the NPV rule. If one of the projects can raise a relatively large proportion of its value as collateral for investment, then the constrained firm will at times accelerate investment in this project in order to free up cash reserves for the other opportunity.  In single-project models, when the firm is able to invest in a low NPV project, the value of additional cash is low. This is because the project will be delayed regardless of the level of cash. However, when the firm has a second investment opportunity, if one project has a low NPV and the other a high NPV then additional cash is beneficial to the firm. The two-project model also provides insights into how resources should be allocated if the constrained firm decides to split and operate the projects as separate firms. When cash is low, more resources should go to the spin-off with the high NPV project in order to give it the best chance of being initiated. However, when cash is high, disproportionately more resources should go to the spin-off with the lower NPV project as investment in the higher NPV project is likely to occur without the help of additional resources.
Exploratory Three Dimensional Cartographic Visualisation of Geolocated Datasets
Authors:   , Bannwarth Alexandre
Published: November 2021

While digital technologies have vastly facilitated the generation and consumption of cartographic visualisations, the majority still conform to traditional two-dimensional map making guidelines. Consequently, design principles for three-dimensional cartographic models are still in their infancy and require further exploratory research to establish a comprehensive design framework. The free availability of high resolution global digital elevation models (GDEM), such as the ASTER GDEM (NASA LP DAAC, METI, 2011), makes it possible to develop accurate three-dimensional landscape visualisations and offer more intuitive and immersive representation of spatial information. Combined with the prevalence of geolocated content in both online data-repository and social-media platforms, there exists a wealth of material to be mined, interpreted and juxtaposed in exploratory cartographic visualisations.  This thesis aims to establish a flexible and iterative procedural workflow to acquire, interpret and visualise 3D geolocated datasets, without compromising aesthetic control. Synergic with the procedural approach required for data collection and analysis, a procedural approach is used in the design of the visual output. This workflow aims to maximise automation and allow for the interpretation of a range of different data sources. The creative output of this process explores emergent cartographic principles for optimal three-dimensional spatial visualisation and investigate data presentation techniques beyond traditional two-dimensional geo-visualisation guidelines.    Informed by exploratory literature review and research through design theories, this practice-led thesis documents the iterative prototyping leading to the creation of a set of map-based infographics showcasing effective application of cartographic and data visualisation principles in a 3D geospatial context. These design prototypes and critical report of workflow refinement hope to contribute to the development of three-dimensional geographic modelling conventions.
Sedimentology and depositional environments of Murihiku Supergroup sediments exposed in the Southland Syncline, New Zealand: Implications for reservoir potential in the Great South Basin
Authors:   , Howden Angus David
Published: November 2021

A considerable amount is known about the biostratigraphy and organic geochemistry of the Murihiku Supergroup sediments exposed in coastal outcrops of the Southland Syncline, New Zealand. Much less work has been undertaken on the sedimentology of these strata, or understanding their depositional environments and depositional trends through time. What these implications are for reservoir prospectivity in the adjacent Great South Basin, has also had little study focused on it.  This thesis addresses these issues by undertaking outcrop-based sedimentological and facies interpretations of these rocks, thin-section based petrographic composition and provenance analysis, augmented by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), as well as porosity and permeability measurements from outcrop core plugs. Petroleum industry seismic data has additionally enabled seismic facies mapping of Murihiku rocks in the offshore Great South Basin.  Outcrop observations point to a progressive change in depositional setting, from shelf / upper slope settings during the Late Triassic, to base of slope turbidite deposition in the Early Jurassic. This transgression is followed by regression into fluvial settings in the youngest outcropping Murihiku rocks in the study of Middle Jurassic age. Petrographically the sandstones are feldspathic and lithic arenites and feldspathic and lithic wackes. Provenance suggests derivation from an evolving, intermediate arc that was becoming more siliceous through Late Triassic and Middle Jurassic time. Diagenesis is characterised by early calcite and chlorite precipitation which have almost completely destroyed any primary porosity. Any secondary micro porosity has subsequently been infilled through dissolution of framework grains and zeolitization. SEM and core plug porosity and permeability measurements corroborate the diagenetic changes observed petrographically, with only fluvial facies of Middle Jurassic (Upper Temaikan) age showing any measureable porosity or permeability.  As a result, reservoir potential for the Late Triassic to Middle Jurassic, Murihiku Supergroup rocks analysed in this study is low. Younger Murihiku sandstones which are postulated to occur offshore in the Great South Basin are likely to be less influenced by burial diagenesis. As shown from North Island occurrences, these younger successions hold some potential.The reservoir potential for these youngest portions of the Murihiku succession therefore remains positive, both in the Great South Basin, as well as other frontier areas of Zealandia, and continue to provide an exploration target for the petroleum industry.
Assessing the ecological impact of urban greening: A case study of roadside planting in Wellington, New Zealand
Authors:   , Tessler Jacob
Published: November 2021

Roadside reserves in Wellington, New Zealand have been the target of a government-led, community-implemented urban greening initiative for the past 25 years. Prior studies of urban greening have shown numerous benefits to neighbourhoods and communities through increased engagement and stewardship, yet there remains a need for research into the ecological effects these programmes have on individual urban landscapes. This research conducted site surveys to determine the variation in ecological functioning and biodiversity within 36 reserves involved in the Wellington Free Plants Programme (FPP). These measures were compared to historical planting data for each site retrieved from council records. Candidate models were constructed based on novel and classical ecological theory, which sought to explain observed variation between physical and ecological measures across study sites and the relationship between these variables and biodiversity. Sites were small with an area ranging from 5.9m² to 246.5m² (mean = 37.8 ±49.5m²), and biodiversity levels (assessed using a Shannon-Weiner Index) ranged from 0.1 to 2.9 (mean = 2.1 ±0.7). The top performing candidate models to predict biodiversity included area, shape, and seedbank density. An examination of the effect of varying urban greening efforts across these sites utilised a multivariate analysis which included measures of ecological functioning, biodiversity, the number of years a site had been planted, and the number of individual plants provided over those years. A significant negative relationship was found between site disturbance and the number of planting years (F33.1 = 4.092, p = .051) while a somewhat significant positive relationship was found between biodiversity and the number of individual plants provided (F33,1 =3.536 , p = .069). These results indicate that current urban greening efforts contribute to the ecological health of roadside reserves and that the patterns and processes governing the biological composition of these reserves may be partially explained with traditional ecological theory.
Characterisation of the immune cells and cytokines involved in a model of atopic dermatitis
Authors:   , Naidoo Karmella
Published: November 2021

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a highly debilitating disease with significant health impacts worldwide. It is a chronic and relapsing inflammatory skin disease which often poses a life-long burden for the affected individuals. AD has been a difficult disease to treat as it manifests with a wide spectrum of clinical phenotypes and the current clinical management strategies are non-specific. Therefore, it is imperative to identify specific immunological pathways that could be targeted to treat this disease. Previous studies have documented that AD disease progression is precipitated by a combination of skin barrier dysfunction, itch and immune dysregulation that are responsible for AD progression. However, the precise role of effector cells and cytokines have not been fully elucidated. To address this, I established a clinically relevant model of AD, using the vitamin D analogue, MC903. This MC903 model closely resembles the AD phenotype in patients, including inflammatory parameters, barrier dysfunction, itch, and histopathological characteristics, providing a novel platform to evaluate targets for the treatment and prevention of AD. Furthermore, this model exposed the cells and cytokines that are critically associated with disease severity, including eosinophils, mast cells, TSLP, IL-4 and IL-9, but not CD4+ T cells. The instrumental role of these effector cells and cytokines was established by their stepwise depletion or blockade. Indeed, functional eosinophil depletion via the use of inducible eosinophil (iPHIL) mice significantly ameliorated AD pathology, most notably itch. Similar results were obtained after blockade of the IL-4/IL-13 axis by genetic deletion of STAT6. The clinically more relevant use of soluble inhibitors targeting IL-9 and CRTh2 (in a prophylactic and therapeutic setting, respectively), both resulted in a substantial reduction in AD phenotype. In summary, this body of work led to the identification of key disease-initiating and effector cells and molecules that represent attractive targets for the treatment of AD.
The Role of the Dopamine D₁ Receptor in the Negative Symptoms of Schizophrenia
Authors:   , Vanden Broeke Marie
Published: November 2021

Diminished motivation is a core feature of schizophrenia that has been linked to impaired functional outcomes. A mechanism thought to contribute to diminished motivation is impaired anticipatory pleasure. Impaired anticipatory pleasure is associated with disrupted reward prediction and reduced engagement in reward-seeking behaviours. To investigate the role of the dopamine D₁ receptor in anticipatory pleasure, D₁ mutant rats and WT rats performed five experiments. Reward prediction was examined using the anticipatory locomotion experiment and successive negative contrast experiment. It was found that D₁ mutant rats have impaired anticipatory responses to expected reward. However, as the WT rats did not show the expected response to an alteration in reward expectation, it was impossible to assess the role of the D₁ receptor. Together, these findings suggest that the D₁ receptor may be involved in aspects of reward prediction. Reward-seeking behaviour was examined using the social approach experiment, scent marking experiment, and the separation induced vocalization experiment. It was found that the D₁ mutant rats have an impaired ability to engage in social and sexual reward-seeking behaviours, but have relatively normal ability to engage in maternal reward-seeking behaviours. Together, these findings indicate that the D₁ receptor is involved in certain aspects of reward-seeking behaviours. In conclusion, there is compelling evidence that a D₁ receptor dysfunction is a likely contributor to diminished motivation in schizophrenia.
Learning to Disentangle the Complex Causes of Data
Authors:   , Butler-Yeoman Tony
Published: November 2021

The ability to extract and model the meaning in data has been key to the success of modern machine learning. Typically, data reflects a combination of multiple sources that are mixed together. For example, photographs of people’s faces reflect the subject of the photograph, lighting conditions, angle, and background scene. It is therefore natural to wish to extract these multiple, largely independent, sources, which is known as disentangling in the literature. Additional benefits of disentangling arise from the fact that the data is then simpler, meaning that there are fewer free parameters, which reduces the curse of dimensionality and aids learning.  While there has been a lot of research into finding disentangled representations, it remains an open problem. This thesis considers a number of approaches to a particularly difficult version of this task: we wish to disentangle the complex causes of data in an entirely unsupervised setting. That is, given access only to unlabeled, entangled data, we search for algorithms that can identify the generative factors of that data, which we call causes. Further, we assume that causes can themselves be complex and require a high-dimensional representation.  We consider three approaches to this challenge: as an inference problem, as an extension of independent components analysis, and as a learning problem. Each method is motivated, described, and tested on a set of datasets build from entangled combinations of images, most commonly MNIST digits. Where the results fall short of disentangling, the reasons for this are dissected and analysed. The last method that we describe, which is based on combinations of autoencoders that learn to predict each other’s output, shows some promise on this extremely challenging problem.
University Students’ Experience of Homophobia and Heterosexism in Tertiary Accommodation in New Zealand
Authors:   , Fraser Sara
Published: November 2021

This research looks at the way LGBT people live in university Halls of Residence at Victoria University of Wellington. I research homophobia, heteronormativity, bullying and its effects, including suicidality and how this can be overcome. Using an online questionnaire aimed at first year halls residents (128) I was able to collect information on how they viewed homophobia, whether they thought it happened in their hall and reporting of homophobic incidents. I also briefly look at university administration in regard to these matters.
The social effects of anger in international negotiations: The role of self-regulation and bargaining power
Authors:   , Bertram Steffen
Published: November 2021

This thesis addresses recent calls to investigate the influence of individual differences in a negotiation context. Specifically, I investigate the impact of the personality difference, action orientation versus state orientation, on concessionary behaviour in international negotiations.  This personality difference was chosen because it measures a negotiator’s capacity to self-regulate (control their behaviour) in a cognitively demanding situation like an international negotiation. I propose that action oriented negotiators will display superior self-regulation ability, compared to state oriented negotiators. Specifically, action oriented negotiators will be able to adapt their response and concede less than state oriented negotiators, when a foreign counterpart displays anger.  In two online studies, I measure how action oriented and state oriented negotiators respond to a display of anger from a foreign counterpart in an international negotiation. The first study of 159 negotiators showed that action oriented individuals conceded fewer points than state oriented individuals, regardless of whether the counterpart displayed anger. The second study of 260 negotiators showed that action oriented individuals can adapt their behaviour according to their level of power in an international negotiation when facing an angry counterpart.  As far as I am aware, this research is one of the first to propose and test the salience of action orientation versus state orientation on displays of anger in international negotiations. My findings highlight the value of incorporating individual differences in negotiation studies and I propose their inclusion into the dominant theoretical framework of how negotiators respond to anger. In addition to extending the model, I discuss how understanding these personality differences can be useful for multinational companies and their international negotiators.
Simulating Psychedelic Therapy Through Mediated Reality
Authors:   , Hillstead Andrew
Published: November 2021

Due to the illegality of psychedelic substances, and despite proven efficiency, people suffering from various psychiatric illnesses and disorders are unable to receive potentially life-changing psychedelic therapy. With the recent technological development of computer-mediated realities, designers and developers now have the opportunity to digitally recreate such treatments. Through practical application along with the review of literature and conferences, this study aims to analyse the potential of mediated realities to convincingly simulate psychedelic therapy.   Augmented reality (AR) and modulated realities (ModR) such as modified and diminished reality show insufficient evidence for practical use in simulated psychedelic therapy. Augmented virtuality (AV), mixed reality (MR), virtual reality (VR) and modulated virtuality (ModV) contain a range of characteristics fundamental to potentially simulating mind manifesting psychedelic therapy. However, mediated reality in general appears to be extraneous for practical use in mind loosening psychedelic therapy. Currently, virtual reality (VR) shows the greatest potential for healing, trauma release, personal growth and exploration of the psyche by simulating closed-eye psychedelic experiences through adding virtual information via an HMD.   Accordingly, the author of this study has proposed a proof of concept (POF) for a neurofeedback driven VR experience which simulates aspects of both mind loosening and mind manifesting psychotherapy. This POF is intended to simulate the transformation of phosphenes into complex geometric pattern based hallucinations. With further development in this field, one day people suffering from various mental conditions might be able to receive safe, accessible and legal forms of simulated psychedelic therapy.
Enactive Emotion In Forensic Practice: The Application of Embodied Cognitive and Affective Science to Offender Rehabilitation Programs
Authors:   , Davis Max
Published: November 2021

In recent years, affective science has seen a shift in the understanding of emotion and its relationship to cognition. No longer is cognition viewed as the only significant factor in determining emotional experience, and as fundamentally distinct from bodily feeling. Rather than a linear causal relationship between one and the other, the philosophy and cognitive science of Enactivism suggests that the cognitive and emotional elements of experience, along with the body and surrounding environment, are constitutive of each other, and continuously influence each other in a dynamic, multidirectional manner to produce the experience of emotional patterns (Colombetti & Thompson, 2008). However, despite these advances in emotion theory, current rehabilitation programs such as the Reasoning and Rehabilitation (R&R, Ross et al., 2016) program continue to understand cognition and emotion as functionally distinct components of experience, with deficits conceptualised in mainly cognitive terms, and targeted through Cognitive Skills, which largely neglect the emotional elements of experience. This thesis explores how an enactivist understanding of emotion can be applied to offender rehabilitation programs, with specific reference to the R&R program. It is concluded that R&R and similar programs would benefit significantly from revisions to conceptualisations of cognitive deficits, and in treatment components, which should integrate emotional and cognitive techniques.
Localised Waves: Tightest Focus, Lorentz Transformation, and Polarization Singularities of Non-Paraxial Beams
Authors:   , Andrejić Petar
Published: November 2021

I explore the limits of how tightly a beam can be focused, and derive a focal parameter for scalar beams that can be symbolically evaluated for most beams, and is guaranteed to be convergent for physical beams, that compares peak in- tensity to the total intensity in the beam profile. I argue that this parameter is superior to spot size, and use this to derive a rigorous limit of focusing for scalar beams. A particular beam known as the proto-beam achieves this tight- est focus possible. I show the generalisation of this measure to electromagnetic beams, and place a lower bound on the focal extent of electromagnetic beams. I also propose the use of exponential regulators as alternatives to moment based measures, as a solution to the convergence issues created by the power law decay of exact solutions.  I explore the Doppler shift for finite beams, and how monochromatic beams become polychromatic under a Lorentz boost. The local frequency is also explored, and I show that a deviation of the local frequency from the Doppler frequency will occur due to wavelength broadening near the focus.  Lekner and I examine a beam that closely approximates a paraxial Gaussian beam radially, and examine the phase singularities for optical beams that occur near the zeros of the beams wavefunction. We also investigate attempts to find exact solutions with Gaussian profiles, and show that this is impossible; any such beam will be evanescent and exponentially grow. Finally, I investigate the property of finite classical electromagnetic pulses having a zero momentum frame, and show that for quantum single photon pulses this property holds for the expectation value. I show that any individual measurement however, still measures a light-like four-momentum for the photon.
Explaining the moderate platform of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood: Against the inclusion-moderation hypothesis
Authors:   , Booysen Hanlie
Published: November 2021

Throughout its existence, the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood (SMB) has consistently maintained a moderate policy on governance. The main aim of this study is to explain this moderation. Previous literature has usually explained moderation in similar movements by an “inclusion-moderation hypothesis”, which holds that moderation results when movements have the opportunity to participate in pluralist political processes. However, the SMB has been progressively excluded from the Syrian political arena since 1963. The inclusion-moderation hypothesis implies, as its converse, that exclusion leads to radicalisation. This study shows that contrary to this expectation, the SMB’s ultimate exclusion from the Syrian political arena in 1982 was in fact the primary driver of its moderate policy. The SMB also participated in parliamentary politics in its early history, and therefore has not moderated over time, as the inclusion-moderation hypothesis would require. Thus, the inclusion-moderation hypothesis does not work for this case, and this dissertation advances an alternate explanation for the SMB’s continued commitment to a moderate policy on governance.  This study’s central thesis is that the SMB’s moderate policy on governance can be explained by the Brotherhood’s primary target audience, that is to say, the political force which, in the SMB’s view, can deliver its political objective. As this definition implies, the target audience shifts over time, in accordance with changing circumstances. In 1980, the primary target audience comprised diverse actors in opposition to the al-Asad government: the Fighting Vanguard, the Syrian ulama, and the secularist opposition. In 2001, the audience was the Bashar al-Asad government. In 2004, it was the secularist opposition; and in 2012, it was the foreign sponsors of the secularist opposition.
Revitalization and gentrification in Newtown: Can urban regeneration strengthen an existing community?
Authors:   , Wilson Jennifer Bernice
Published: November 2021

This thesis examines gentrification and the process of urban regeneration through proposing an adaption of a modernist heritage building in Newtown, Wellington, New Zealand to prevent the displacement of an existing community. Council policies for urban regeneration support future residential development in Newtown (eg. Adelaide Road – Planning for the Future, Wellington Urban Growth Plan 2014-2043, NZ Transport Agency (Let’s Get Wellington Moving Project)) and, as funding is geared towards upgrading the city to become more liveable, private investment will potentially occur. These initiatives may attract affluent user groups, increasing the likelihood of lower income residents becoming displaced. Newtown therefore is a suburb where existing residents may be displaced as gentrification occurs. Although there have been studies on urban regeneration and the effects of gentrification in Wellington, none have attempted to offer a built environment design solution to mitigate the adverse effects of gentrification on an existing community in Wellington.  The Riddiford Building, which is part of an Institutional Precinct - a hospital site, and may be demolished. This thesis argues that building adaption to accommodate a new user group for this building is feasible and could save a building with cultural significance from demolition. Further, the building could accommodate students and lower socio-economic occupants in order to prevent the displacement of existing Newtown residents.
The Height of Reality: Using Virtual Reality Technology to Desensitize Acrophobia
Authors:   , Lindsay Mark
Published: November 2021

Virtual reality (VR) is a new up-and-coming technology on which to watch three dimensional films or play video games. However, the practical uses of virtual reality can spread much further than just media outputs. This research aims to explore one of the practical uses for virtual reality technology. VR has the potential to help patients living with psychological disorders, by reducing the anxiety that they experience to a more manageable level within a safe environment. This dissertation addresses the use of a virtual reality simulation to reduce the anxiety experienced by patients effected by acrophobia, known as the fear of heights. The preliminary research includes several in-depth interviews with psychologists and clinicians, as well as phobic patients to better understand the processes of gradual exposure rehabilitation. This method also determines how a virtual reality simulation may be effectively designed. The primary aim of this research is to build a VR simulation which will produce a conducive result in the anxiety levels of the participants’ mental health, within a familiar and comfortable environment. User-testing the simulation will further refine the program’s effectiveness. The outcome will be a program supported by existing virtual reality treatments for psychological disorders that ultimately reduces the anxiety experienced by participants.
Understanding the Relevance of Triarchic Psychopathy for the Reintegration of New Zealand High-Risk Violent Offenders
Authors:   , Nafatali Rochelle
Published: November 2021

A significant number of male New Zealand high-risk violent offenders are released from prison onto parole each year. Many of these will also present with elevated psychopathic traits which have been hypothesised to cause significant difficulty in desisting from offending, often leading parolees to quickly recidivate or breach parole, and return to prison. Despite personality disorders having pervasive effects on functioning, other reintegration outcomes such as parolee experiences and reconviction risk on parole have previously been unlinked with personality disorders and even less so the specific components of psychopathy. Using an exploratory design, this study firstly investigated the relationships between the triarchic conceptualisation of psychopathy constructs of Disinhibition, Boldness, and Meanness individually with pre-release (Violence Risk Scale, Release Plan Quality, and RoC*RoI), and post-release (Dynamic Risk Assessment for Offender Re-entry, Probation Relationship Quality, Parole Experiences Measure, and recidivism) measures of reintegration outcomes. These measures were completed by a sample of high-risk violent offenders imminently before their release onto parole after serving custodial sentences of two years or more for a violent offence (pre-release), and at two months in the community (post-release). Secondly, the controversial question of whether boldness exacerbates or attenuates negative outcomes on parole over and above disinhibition or meanness was tested. Thirdly, relationships between psychopathy and recidivism mediated by reintegration outcome measures were examined. The triarchic scales were hypothesised to be relevant for reintegration outcomes, with poorer outcomes expected for disinhibition and meanness, and better outcomes expected for boldness. Further, boldness was expected to ameliorate negative outcomes when strongly present. Results indicated that the triarchic scales evinced differential relationships with reintegration outcomes, although boldness revealed non-significant outcomes in opposing directions from those hypothesised. Disinhibition and meanness evinced expected outcomes with reintegration outcome measures. An interaction effect was found between meanness and reconviction risk on parole at moderate and high levels of boldness; boldness potentiated the effect of meanness on reconviction risk on parole when meanness was already present. Finally, a significant partial mediation was revealed, where disinhibition and recidivism were mediated by parole experiences in three out of four recidivism outcomes. Implications for the theoretical and practical relevance of triarchic psychopathy for the reintegration of high-risk violent offenders, are discussed.