bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Morphological Diversities revealed in Rahimi’s Novel The Patience Stone
Authors: Ariwibowo Syamsuri
Published: November 2021

This study aims to find out the diversity of morphemes  appearing in every word  in the novel. The problems being solved are  the derivational morphemes expressed in the novel and  the frequency of derivational morphemes that appear in  The Patience Stone by Atiq Rahimi. Hopefully, it could be helpful and  useful for application of derivational morpheme correctly. It can also be the reference for learning the word formation. The research method used to analyze the data  is descriptive design. Data are taken from the novel of The Patience Stone about any words containing derivational morpheme and the technique of data analysis used is classification of every word and tabels of the frequency of derivational morpheme. The finding  indicates that derivational suffix -ly is the most frequent morpheme that appears in the novel.  The derivational suffix -hood and -ship are the least frequency of derivational morpheme. Key Words : Word-formation, Morpheme, Affixes
THE ILLUSION OF WILLY LOMAN’S IN ARTHUR MILLER’S DEATH OF A SALESMAN
Authors: Sumarsono Irwan
Published: November 2021

This study discusses the illusion and explains the conditions that lead the main character, Willy Loman to be in illusion. The analysis will be focused on the characterization of Willy Loman, his marriage with Linda Loman, his relationship with his sons, Biff and Happy. The analysis also focuses on the illusion of Willy Loman by discovering why he cannot face the reality and   what the effects to his life. To analyze these problems, the writer uses the psychological approach since psychology and literary works cannot be separated.
Comparative Studies in Aesop’s The Lion and The Mouse and The Fox and The Cat
Authors: Masofa Ima
Published: November 2021

This article attempts to analyze Comparative Studies in Aesop’s The Lion and The Mouse and The Fox and The Cat that uses comparative studies to find differences and similarities of resolution in Aesop’s The Lion and The Mouse and The Fox and The Cat.This article uses resolution concepts that two stories have collective unconsciousness that little friends may prove great friends. This article uses comparative studies to find resolution in Aesop’s The Lion and The Mouse and The Fox and The Cat.The study aims at comparing two different literary works that describe how the two main characters from the two stories face complication and achieve resolution.The results of this article can be formulated as follows: 1) Resolution concepts can be seen in Aesop’s The Lion and The Mouse and The Fox and The Cat because they can solve their complications. The two main characters of two stories face complication when they meet a hunter, their friends come to solve complication.2) Aesop’s The Lion and The Mouse and The Fox and The Cat have similarities and differences. The similarities of the two stories are the two main characters faces complication because of hunter, themes of the two stories are friendship. Aesop’s The Lion and The Mouse and The Fox and The Cat achieve resolution by attendance of their friends. The differences of two stories are the way of the two main characters to meet a hunter. In Aesop’s The Lion and The Mouse, The lion can escape from hunter because of the mouse’s help as his friend.In Aesop’s The Fox and The Cat, a cat can escape from hunter because the cat does not follow  a fox’s suggestion because his the fox has a hundred safe way from hunter but he cannot save his life from huntsmen.
Menggelorakan makna energik sebagai brandscape erigo melalui iklan fireflies
Authors: Kurniawan Febryan , Isnaini Muhammad , Marta Rustono Farady
Published: November 2021

Local brands in Indonesia today are growing and competitive and in this competition, various appropriate marketing communication strategies are needed, where this is needed to build attention from potential consumers. One of the local brands from Indonesia is Erigo, a company that has recently been discussed by internet users because one of its marketing strategies is to place advertisements in Time Square, New York. Advertising is one of the digital marketing strategies that serves to attract the attention of potential consumers through information on products and services offered to stick in the minds of consumers. Through a qualitative approach with an interpretive paradigm using Laura R. Oswald's marketing semiotics method, it was found that through the short advertisement "Fireflies", Erigo wanted to show the target audience and their target market, young people or millennials, to have enthusiasm, motivation and belief. high self-esteem in exploring their curiosity, one of which can be done by real action from their energetic nature. This energetic nature becomes an ideology (cultural categories) that Erigo wants to convey to its target market, which are young people who aim to convey an invitation to dare to explore new things to find hope and identity related to exploratory (cultural tensions). Exploratory is meant here is a sense of freedom (emotional territories) where this is necessary for them to inflame the energetic they have.
FINANCIAL RATIO ANALYSIS IN PREDICTING FINANCIAL DISTRESS OF FOOD AND BEVERAGE COMPANIES WITH LOGISTIC REGRESSION
Authors: Azis Yunia Mulyani
Published: November 2021

The purpose of this study is to analyze the effect of financial ratios such as leverage, liquidity, activity, and profitability on the possibility of financial distress (financial distress). The population in this study are all food and beverage companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange in the period 2017 - 2020 totaling 30 companies. The samples taken were 6 food and beverage companies using a purposive sampling technique, namely the selection of samples based on certain criteria. The number of observations that were processed and analyzed were 18 observations. Logistics Regression is the method used in this research. The results showed that the activity ratio and leverage ratio had a significant effect on predicting financial distress, while the liquidity ratio and profitability ratio had no significant effect on predicting financial distress..
Cold Denaturation of Proteins in the Absence of Solvent
Authors: Norgate Emma , Upton Rosie , Bellina Bruno , Hansen Kjetil , Brookes Catherine , Politis Argyris , Barran Perdita
Published: November 2021

The effect of temperature on the stability of proteins is well explored for high temperatures, but harder to track below the freezing point of water. This challenge is met with the use of variable temperature ion mobility mass spectrometry (VT IM-MS), which allows the structure of isolated, solvent free molecules to be measured at sub ambient temperatures in the form of their collision cross section (CCS). Here we monitor conformational changes that occur to two isotypes of monoclonal antibodies over a temperature range from 295 to 165 K. For each we observe a large increase in the magnitude of the CCS at 250K (-20 °C) substantially above that predicted. This loss of structure in the absence of bulk solvent is attributed to a change in the strength of stabilizing intermolecular interactions, causing rearrangement. At 190 K (-80 °C) the CCS distribution narrows which we attribute to better resolution. These findings indicate that in vacuo deep-freezing minimizes denaturation and maintains the gas phase native fold supporting this practice in vitro. Comparing the data for each isotype suggests that the disulfide bridging influences thermal structural rearrangement and taken together we show that this method provides unique insights to the phenomenon of cold denaturation.
Molecular and genetic dissection of recursive splicing
Authors: Joseph Brian , Scala Chaz , Kondo Shu , Lai Eric C
Published: November 2021

Intronic ratchet points (RPs) are abundant within long introns in the Drosophila genome and consist of juxtaposed splice acceptor and splice donor (SD) sites. Although they appear to encompass zero-nucleotide exons, we recently clarified that intronic recursive splicing (RS) requires a cryptic exon at the RP (an RS-exon), which is subsequently always skipped and thus absent from mRNA. In addition, Drosophila encodes a smaller set of expressed exons bearing features of RS. Here, we investigate mechanisms that regulate the choice between RP and RS-exon SDs. First, analysis of Drosophila RP SD mutants demonstrates that SD competition suppresses inclusion of cryptic exons in endogenous contexts. Second, characterization of RS-exon reporters implicates exonic sequences as influencing choice of RS-exon usage. Using RS-exon swap and mutagenesis assays, we show exonic sequences can determine RS-exon inclusion. Finally, we provide evidence that splicing can suppress utilization of RP SDs to enable RS-exon expression. Overall, multiple factors can influence splicing of Drosophila RS-exons, which usually result in their complete suppression as zero-nucleotide RPs, but occasionally yield translated RS-exons.
ІНТЕРМЕДІАЛЬНІСТЬ ХУДОЖНІХ ФОРМ В СУЧАСНОМУ АНГЛОМОВНОМУ ПОЕТИЧНОМУ ДИСКУРСІ
Authors: Маріна О. С.
Published: November 2021

Стаття сфокусована на аналізуванні інтермедіальних художніх форм, що конструюються у сучасному англомовному поетичному дискурсі. Останній характеризується еклектичністю, жанровою гібридністю, інтерактивністю, нелінійністю, ірраціональністю, антихудожністю, антиконцептністю та мобільністю. Художня форма включає увесь спектр елементів, з яких складається поетичний текст. У контексті мультимодальності виокремлюємо вербальний семіотичний модус у конструюванні художніх форм, що включає слова, словосполучення, словесні та художні образи, композицію у цілому. Залежно від жанру поетичного дискурсу це можуть бути поетичні тексти, надруковані у збірці поезії, рухомі словесні образи у дигітальному середовищі або виконані з дерева чи іншого матеріалу і розташовані у вигляді інсталяцій у реальному просторі. Авдіальний модус охоплює звуки та звукові повтори, риму, ритм, інтонацію, мелодію, що супроводжує поетичний текст у цифровому форматі. У контексті візуального модусу йдеться про візуальну форму поетичного тексту, рухомі образи або сталі ілюстрації, що є компонентами поетичного тексту. Художні форми є мультимодальними конструктами, що творяться у сучасному англомовному трансжанровому поетичному дискурсі на межі та у взаємодії вербального, візуального та авдіального семіотичних модусів. Інтермедіальність художніх форм у сучасному англомовному поетичному дискурсі розуміється як взаємодія технік або прийомів різних видів мистецтв у їх творенні. В аналізованому дискурсі вона маніфестується у двох аспектах – музикалізації поезії, візуалізації поезії. Художні форми, що конструюються у такому дискурсі, створюють ефект театралізації. Автори проаналізованих текстів шляхом експерименту з формою і змістом поетичного тексту, жанрової гібридизації, інтеграції різних семіотичних модусів і мистецьких форм вдаються до перфомансу.
РОЗШИРЕННЯ СЛОВНИКОВОГО СКЛАДУ АНГЛІЙСЬКОЇ МОВИ У 2020 РОЦІ
Authors: Рудик І. М.
Published: November 2021

Дослідження мови як динамічної соціальної системи невідривно пов’язане з аналізом зовнішніх факторів, які стимулюють мову до змін. Особливе місце серед таких факторів посідає зв’язок мови із суспільством, зміни життя якого призводять до появи в мові неологізмів. За результатами аналізу останніх публікацій і колекцій «Слово року», англомовні неологізми, утворені протягом двох останніх десятиліть, переважно належать до таких тематичних груп, як Інтернет-технології та соціальні комунікації, технічні розробки, політично-економічні умови й реалії, а також кліматичні проблеми й засоби реагування на них. У 2020 році колектив словника Oxford English Dictionary вперше не зміг визначити слово року й натомість оприлюднив доповідь під назвою Words of an unprecedented year. Представлене дослідження має на меті аналіз семантики активно вживаних неологізмів, породжених COVID‑19, і встановлення тематичних груп, до яких вони належать. З-поміж понад 1000 нових лексичних одиниць чи словосполучень, утворених в англійській мові протягом 2020 року, значна частка припадає на одиниці, що позначають коронавірусну хворобу. Інші одиниці залежно від їх предметно-понятійних ознак можна розподілити за кількома тематичними групами. Першу групу утворюють назви нових суспільних об’єднань у тому числі за професійною належністю (наприклад, critical workers, support bubble, childcare bubble, quarantine pod, covidiots, anti-maskers тощо). До другої тематичної групи включаємо лексичні одиниці на позначення нових форм комп’ютерно-опосередкованої взаємодії (наприклад, Zoombie, Zoombombing, covideo parties, quarantini тощо). Третя тематична група містить назви нових технологічних реалій і режимів роботи (наприклад, WFH (working from home), workation, staycation, remote learning, remote working тощо). Таким чином, одну з провідних тенденцій у розширенні словникового складу англійської мови у 2020 році вбачаємо в зосередженості на соціальних зв’язках, що проявляється в активному творенні нової лексики на позначення як міжособистісної взаємодії, так і різних видів колективів. Інша тенденція, на думку автора, полягає в увазі до організації робочого процесу в нових умовах.
ТИПИ ЗНАЧЕНЬ ПОСТПОЗИТИВА «UP» В АНГЛІЙСЬКОМУ ФРАЗОВОМУ ДІЄСЛОВІ «GO UP»
Authors: Вислободська І. М.
Published: November 2021

У статті проаналізовано семантичну структуру постпозитива «up» як другого компонента англійського фразового дієслова «go up». У дослідженні фразове дієслово – це цілісний семантичний комплекс, сформований на основі різноступеневої інтеграції семантичних характеристик його складових компонентів. Ці комплекси становлять новий тип матеріалу для семантичного аналізу, оскільки в процесі їх формування відбувається зрушення в семантиці їх дериваційної основи: дієслова, прислівника чи прийменника, виникають якісно нові семантичні одиниці з розширеним семантичним обсягом. В утворенні значення фразового дієслова важлива роль належить його другому компоненту – прислівнику чи прийменнику, які є його вихідними одиницями. У контексті поєднання з дієсловом постпозитив має важливі функції: позначення напрямку дії, її підсилення, додавання нового значення до дієслова. У ході аналізу виявлено всього 12 значень постпозитива «up», із них 6 (movement and position; increasing and improving; preparing and beginning; approaching;disrupting and damaging; happening and creating) долучаються до формування загального значення фразового дієслова «go up». Постпозитив «up» використовується в просторовому/локативному значенні, має функцію позначати напрямок дії в значеннях фразових дієслів go up 1, go up 2, go up 3 , go up 4, go up 5, go up 9. У випадку метафоричного значення його використання мотивується метафорою «up is more» у фразових дієсловах up 16, go up 17, go up 13. В аспектуальному значенні постпозитив «up» позначає вид аспекту (завершеність, інхоативність) у фразових дієсловах дієслів go up 8, go up 10, go up 111 , go up 11. Фразові дієслова становлять значну частину лексикону сучасної англійської мови. Вивчення значення їх других компонентів – постпозитивів – є актуальною мовознавчою проблемою. Виявлені в дослідженні три типи значень постпозитива «up» (просторові/локативні, метафоричні, аспектуальні) слугуватимуть коректному визначенню лексико-семантичних варіантів значень фразового дієслова «go up». У перспективі вважаємо доцільним вивчення значень постпозитивів англійських фразових дієслів в аспекті антонімії та синонімії їх значень.
Inclusive Special Education in Tonga: Policy and Practice
Authors:   , Koloto Meleana
Published: November 2021

The concept of Inclusive Special Education (ISE) has emerged in recent years to inform a new approach in education which addresses the needs of all individuals with siva-tu‘amelie (special needs). This study focuses on exploring the inclusive education (IE) policy in Tonga and how the policy is implemented. This study also focuses on the experiences of post-secondary individuals with siva-tu‘amelie and their families in accessing education in Tonga. It aims to provide some insight into how Tongan families support the education and development of their post-secondary members with siva-tu‘amelie; and how that practice can inform and promote a strength, evidence-based and culturally appropriate ISE policy and practice in Tonga.

This study is situated within an appreciative, strength-based approach, using a qualitative method underpinned by Pacific methodologies such as the kakala framework and the talanoa method. The kakala framework through its process of teu, toli, tui, luva, mālie, and māfana, is used to guide this study and describe the processes of research, including the selection of participants, data collection and analysis. A triangulation of data collection was carried out: talanoa sessions (individual and focus group), observations and document analysis. The use of case study through story telling was also used in the presentation of the data from the families and the members with siva-tu‘amelie in Chapter 7.

The findings demonstrate that Tongan culture - ‘ulungaanga fakatonga, ‘ofa, and the Christian faith play a key role in how Tongan families perceive and care for their members with siva-tu‘amelie. Families perceived their member with siva-tu‘amelie as a tapuaki mei he ‘Otua – a blessing from God. The study also points to the importance of incorporating Tongan values and culture through the Fāa‘i Kavei Koula into the IE policy, and in the development of an ISE policy that is culturally appropriate for the education of individuals with siva-tu‘amelie in Tonga.

Building on existing literature, albeit small, with reference to ISE in Tonga, this study offers a significant contribution to an area that is underdeveloped. Furthermore, this study provides a framing of valuable knowledge and an in-depth understanding of the correlation and relationship between family practice and the development of an ISE in Tonga.
Popular Political Participation in the Late Roman Republic
Authors:   , Earley Claudine Lana
Published: November 2021

Roman democracy is in fashion. In particular, the publication of Fergus Millar's The Crowd in the Late Republic (1998) has stimulated debate on the democratic elements in Roman government during this period. In this thesis I examine the nature of popular participation in the late Roman Republic. I focus on the decision-making power of the populus Romanus and popular pressure to effect reform in the favour of citizens outside the senatorial and equestrian orders. My findings are based on analysis of ancient literary and epigraphic sources, along with a critique of modern research on the topic. The first chapter introduces the subject with a survey of current scholarly opinion and discussion of key concepts and terms. Chapter Two investigates how power was shared between senatus populusque Romanus and the distribution of power in the assemblies, concluding that participation was widespread as a result of the changing circumstances in the late Republic. As farmers and veterans moved to Rome, and slaves were freed and granted citizenship and the right to vote, the balance was tipped in the favour of the non-elite voter. Each class of the populus Romanus could participate in Roman politics, and certainly members of each did. Having concluded my analysis of the formal avenues of participation, I move onto the informal. Chapter Three is the first of three chapters of case studies focusing on demonstrations and collective action which form the heart of this work. The first set of studies cover secession, mutiny and refusal of the draft. Chapter Four continues with studies of popular pressure to gain reforms to improve the food supply, restore tribunician power, obtain relief from crippling debt and land shortage. The final chapter of analysis, Chapter Five, investigates collective action at contiones, legislative assemblies, trials, ludi et gladiatores, triumphs, funerals, and elections. The findings of these three chapters bring me to the conclusion that Rome was a democracy, if of a particular type. The nature of popular political participation in the late Republic resembled that of an emerging democracy with the non-elite gaining an increasing role in the decision-making process, albeit without constitutional definition. The citizens' right to participate in the formal assemblies was augmented by their ability to take part in less formal ways also. These informal methods ranged from popular involvement in contiones through to the application of pressure on senators through the threat of secession and mutiny. Only the rise of the principate, with formalised roles for the various sectors in society under one leader, brought these developments to an end.
Transition Towns: An Intervention Method for Encouraging Pro-Environmental Behaviour Change
Authors:   , Rudningen Jessica Rae
Published: November 2021

Transition initiatives offer support for responding to potential environmental inconveniences, such as peak oil and climate change. As an alternative to the dominant approach of shocking people into helplessness and denial, transition towns seek to inform people of the issues and discover appropriate responses. To verify whether transition towns as a movement encourage pro-environmental behaviour change, three case studies (Aro Valley, Lower Hutt, and Nelson) were considered to determine motivations, barriers, and actions in transition town members. Nine face-to-face informal interviews as well as two focus groups were conducted to appreciate participant experiences. A thematic analysis of these case studies was conducted to determine the extent pro-environmental behaviour and encouragement from transition towns was having an effect. The aforementioned objectives were discussed against pertinent literature to determine whether transition towns empowered participants to change to pro-environmental behaviour. Transition towns offer practical behaviour change steps and a supportive social environment which empowers pro-environmental behaviour change and increases individual and community resilience for an uncertain future.
An Investigation into Expectations of the Chief Information Officer's Role and Knowledge, Skills and Experience that Support It: a Dyadic IT-Business Perspective in NZ Local Government
Authors:   , Bunker Beverley
Published: November 2021

The CIO role is changing and becoming more strategic, in fact some CIOs even have a role in formulating their organisations strategic direction based on technology innovations. Yet the research that indicates this new role for CIOs is often reporting the experience in large private sector organisations. Is the experience similar in the public sector, especially what are the role expectations of CIOs in small local authority organisations where resources are tight and IT expenditure is subject to public scrutiny? This research explored the expectation of the CIO role in the NZ local government context through the eyes of the CIOs themselves and their business colleagues. It found that, in this context, there was both an operational and strategic expectation of the CIO. While CIOs have a strategic role it is not in formulating strategy, but rather in advising potential technology solutions once strategies are formulated. The focus of the CIO's advice is "value-for-money" as much as it is "value-add", as councils deliver as set of defined services to a "captured" customer base. Operational aspects of the CIO role can take priority over the strategic aspects especially in smaller councils with limited resource where the CIO may need to assume a "hands on" role. The study used resource based theory (RBT) to identify which knowledge, skills and attributes CIOs required for each role they performed. Technology skills, general management and IT management experience are valued for the operationally focused roles while leadership, and high-level organisational and IT industry knowledge are needed for the more strategic roles. Highly developed interpersonal skills and attributes are essential for both types of role.
Assessing the Economic Impact of North-South Free Trade Agreements -- China-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement and China-Australia Free Trade Agreement
Authors:   , Zhou Jinzhu
Published: November 2021

This research develops a model of assessing the economic impact of free trade agreements (FTAs) between developed countries and developing countries (north-south FTAs). This model goes beyond the conventional studies that use static effects in traditional gains as primary indicators of the economic impact, and incorporates dynamics effects as well as non-traditional gains for a more accurate assessment. The research uses China's north-south FTAs, namely, China's FTA with New Zealand - the first comprehensive FTA that China has signed with a developed country - and the proposed FTA between China and Australia. Both cases provide an ideal empirical basis for testing the proposed model. After introduction of the research problem, design and methodology, Part I of the study provides a general discussion of the FTAs between China and New Zealand, and China and Australia as a background to the research. Part II starts with the conventional model of traditional gains. It first demonstrates how the static effect of the north-south FTA is analyzed in Robson's three-country model. It shows that in his model, the trade creation effect is dominant in the free trade area. The study then introduces the concept of dynamic effect of traditional gains. The study first uses the Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) index to analyse the competition effect of trade in goods by industries among China, New Zealand and Australia. It then discusses the competition effect of trade in services in categories through Trade Competitive Power (TC) indexes. The study further examines the effect of investment creation after the China-New Zealand FTA and China-Australia FTA entered into force. The findings of this section on the dynamic effect are that China would have negative impact on cattle husbandry, forestry, mining and some categories of services which are also the industries that New Zealand and Australia would further develop in China's market. In Part III, the study discusses non-traditional gains as important indicators of the economic impact of FTAs. It incorporates the hub & spoke theory (H&S) with Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) strategies of China, New Zealand and Australia. The study shows that the north-south FTAs are important components for both developed countries and developing countries' RTAs strategies. The China-New Zealand FTA and the proposed China-Australia FTA are the wedges between China and the advanced economies system. Meanwhile, the China-New Zealand FTA will be a model for future north-south FTAs involving China. This thesis contributes to our understanding of the complicated and dynamic relationship between FTAs among countries of different levels of economic development and their overall economic growth and development. It also adds to our knowledge about how this relationship can be better analyzed and explained.
Electronic Structure of the Rare-Earth Nitrides
Authors:   , Preston A. R. H.
Published: November 2021

The rare-earth nitrides (ReNs) are a class of novel materials with potential for use in spintronics applications. Theoretical studies indicate that among the ReNs there could be half-metals, semimetals and semiconductors, all exhibiting strong magnetic ordering. This is because of the complex interaction between the partially filled rare-earth 4f orbital and the nitrogen 2p valence and rare-earth 5d conduction bands. This thesis uses experimental and theoretical techniques to probe the ReN electronic structure. Thin films of SmN, EuN, GdN, DyN, LuN and HfN have been produced for study. Basic characterization shows that the films are of a high quality. The result of electrical transport, magnetometry, and optical and x-ray spectroscopy are interpreted to provide information on the electronic structure. SmN, GdN, DyN are found to be semiconductors in their ferromagnetic ground state while HfN is a metal. Results are compared with density functional theory (DFT) based calculations. The free parameters resulting from use of the local spin density approximation with Hubbard-U corrections as the exchange-correlation functional are adjusted to reach good agreement with x-ray absorption and emission spectroscopy at the nitrogen K-edge. Resonant x-ray emission is used to experimentally measure valence band dispersion of GdN. No evidence of the rare-earth 4f levels is found in any of the K-edge spectroscopy, which is consistent with the result of M-edge x-ray absorption which show that the 4f wave function of the rare-earths in the ReNs are very similar to those of rare-earth metal. An auxillary resonant x-ray emission study of ZnO is used to map the dispersion of the electronic band structure across a wide range of the Brillouin zone. The data, and calculations based on GW corrections to DFT, together provide a detailed picture of the bulk electronic band structure.
Data Mining in Automotive Warranty Analysis
Authors:   , Teo Her Guan
Published: November 2021

This thesis is about data mining in automotive warranty analysis, with an emphasis on modeling the mean cumulative warranty cost or number of claims (per vehicle). In our study, we deal with a type of truncation that is typical for automotive warranty data, where the warranty coverage and the resulting warranty data are limited by age and mileage. Age, as a function of time, is known for all sold vehicles at all time. However, mileage is only observed for a vehicle with at least one claim and only at the time of the claim. To deal with this problem of incomplete mileage information, we consider a linear approach and a piece-wise linear approach within a nonparametric framework. We explore the univariate case, as well as the bivariate case. For the univariate case, we evaluate the mean cumulative warranty cost and its standard error as a function of age, a function of mileage, and a function of actual (calendar) time. For the bivariate case, we evaluate the mean cumulative warranty cost as a function of age and mileage. The effect of reporting delay of claim and several methods for making prediction are also considered. Throughout this thesis, we illustrate the ideas using examples based on real data.
Understanding Empathy in Children
Authors:   , Chan Kah Hoe
Published: November 2021

Health, particularly diet and everyday nutrition, as the ultimate causal factor in life is an important aspect of every child's education. Meanwhile, computer generated (CG) 3-dimensional (3-D) graphics is a medium often used by entertainment and advertising. Educational intervention to help children make appropriate dietary choices can be designed by employing similar methods used by entertainment and advertising, such as 3-D characters aimed at children. The question that this research asked is: can creating an empathic bond between 3-D characters and children communicate a healthy nutrition message effectively? This thesis is based on qualitative research founded on the constructionist theory that focuses on exploring the perspective of children via focus groups. Educational designs based on familiar computer-generated graphics will help equip children to deal with nutritional and dietary choices, ultimately initiating behavioural change as their relationship with food matures earlier. Empathy on the children's and adult's sides of the healthy nutrition conversation is important to establish this relationship in children's nutritional decisions. The main challenge for nutrition education is not in short-term diversions, but long-term changes in behavioural responses in media literacy. A constructionist approach of helping children work through advertising by improving their media vocabulary would be a more sustainable approach to enhancing their ability to decode advertising rhetoric and in turn forming their own informed opinion and responses. Industry referenced educational content intent on healthy lifestyles can balance the prevalent advertising messages leading to a more balanced overall media that children are exposed to.
Learner Autonomy and EFL Learning at the Tertiary Level in Vietnam
Authors:   , Nguyen Thi Cam Le
Published: November 2021

There has been a growing interest in the role of learner autonomy (LA) in language teaching and learning. Over the last twenty years, researchers have extensively explored LA in a range of settings and have developed various approaches to fostering it both as a means to language learning and as an end in itself. This study attempts to investigate LA in the Vietnamese EFL context, and to explore the relationship between LA and language learning results. In this study, LA was conceptualised and operationally defined as learner self-initiation and learner self-regulation. The research was composed of three phases. The pilot study looked at the range of activities, and the amount of time devoted to learning English by 388 Vietnamese English majors of different levels of academic achievement. It identified differences in LA among students of different year levels as well as LA at two types of tertiary institutions in Vietnam. In the first phase, an exploratory correlational study was conducted among 177 students to comprehend features of LA as demonstrated by these students, their preferred self-initiated activities both inside and outside the classroom, and the relationship between each aspect of LA and language proficiency. In the second phase, an intervention study was conducted with the participation of 37 students in an experimental group, and 54 students in two control groups. Phase two explored the efficacy of a learner-based approach to promoting LA with a focus on strategy-based instruction. The three phases revealed several important findings. The pilot study discovered that the level of autonomy was related to students' level of academic achievement but not to their year level. In addition, autonomy seemed to be affected by the social setting in which it was exercised. In Phase one, the findings revealed that Vietnamese learners' self-initiation efforts mainly concentrated on covert learning in class. Outside the classroom, these learners preferred to undertake receptive rather than productive activities, and tended to avoid social interaction. Moreover, most aspects of LA positively and significantly correlated with EFL proficiency measures. Lastly, the task-specific training of self-regulation in Phase two resulted not only in significantly improved writing scores but also in greater LA. However, these metacognitive skills in writing did not seem to transfer to other areas of language learning, although improvements in writing were maintained in a delayed test. Overall, the study suggests that LA appears to be linked positively to language proficiency. High achievers are more likely to be autonomous learners. Most importantly, training learners in metacognitive regulation improved learners' writing ability and their autonomy in learning.
The Structured Hedging of Financial Value: With Applications to Foreign Exchange Risk Management
Authors:   , Zhu Zhenghong
Published: November 2021

The objective of the thesis is to develop a structured financial hedging framework that is empirically implementable and consistent with a corporate finance perspective. Value at risk provides a suitable framework for this purpose. The aversion implied in the value at risk and its generalised theory arises from a firm's concerns about contingent financial distress costs, which can be considered as the payoff of a put option written by stockholders of firms in favour of third parties. This enables the development of a hedging framework to explore how a firm's welfare might be enhanced by replacing natural exposures with hedged outcomes. An ideal hedging decision is to maximise the financial value in good times at minimal cost in terms of the generalised value at risk penalty function. In an efficient market, a fully hedged policy using forwards is generally the optimal decision, while alternatives should be taken into account where markets are not efficient. In such cases, the underlying empirical methodology should be able to detect inefficiencies and feed into the objective functions for maximising firm value. The empirical implementation is explored with a variety of econometric methodologies. These include the development of new semi-parametric or nonparametric techniques based upon wavelet analysis, as well as an incomplete forecasting algorithm. Such methods have been preferred to classical linear and stationary models, because they have broader application in an inefficient market where information is technically fuzzy and financial data may exhibit non-linearity or non-stationarity. Further decision dimensions concern exposure duration or path risk, in which individuals' perspectives of risk is time-dependent and linked to the evolution of value at risk through time. The proposed approaches find their main application in foreign exchange risk management, a topic of considerable importance and sensitivity in New Zealand. A statistically well-adapted hedge object for an exporter such as the dairy industry is the corporate terms of trade, which balances up output and expense prices as a single index related to the net profit margin. Further applications are to strategic fund management where the objective is to derive optimal foreign exchange forwards based hedges.
Vicarious Traumatization: The Impact of Nursing upon Nurses
Authors:   , Davies Lesley
Published: November 2021

The aims of this research were to explore mental health nurses' knowledge and experience of vicarious traumatization (VT). Literature linking mental health nursing and VT is sparse. VT is an enduring trauma that affects those who engage empathically across time and with different patients. Mental health nurses form ongoing therapeutic relationships with patients to foster healing. This empathic engagement leaves nurses vulnerable to VT. This project is qualitatively designed using narrative enquiry with in-depth, semistructured interviews of mental health nurses. Data gathered was thematically analysed and four main themes identified: the impact of VT; self-knowledge/self-awareness; self-care; and burnout. Participants in this study felt unprepared for the negative impact of mental health nursing and learned of VT 'on the job'. My recommendations include education on identifying VT, and self-care, including clinical supervision, to ameliorate the effects of VT. Further research is needed to explore the links between VT and mental health nursing.
Tourism Distribution Channels in the Northern Tourist Circuit of Tanzania
Authors:   , Mkumbo Peter Judca
Published: November 2021

This study investigates the structure of tourism distribution channels in the northern tourist circuit of Tanzania. It explores factors influencing channel structures and also examines operational characteristics of the channels. It is a destination-based study that takes a supply-side approach. The study is based on in-depth interviews with different businesses across tourism sector at the destination. The northern tourist circuit is the heart of tourism industry in Tanzania; it is a core in a peripheral country. Tourists in the northern tourist circuit are primarily attracted by mountain climbing adventures, photographic and hunting safaris. Putting together different activities involved in a safari or adventure product requires the presence of ground tour operators. The former have links with all the suppliers at the destination and are the most knowledgeable about the destination among channel members in the destination. There is a complex relationship among channel members in the northern tourist circuit which partly contributes to the complexity of the distribution channels used. The majority of tourists who visit northern tourist circuit book their holidays through overseas agents; a few purchase directly from the suppliers. The majority of those who shop through overseas agents are package or customized tourists while most independent travellers buy their holidays directly, often making multiple purchases. Ground tour operators in Kenya are important channel members as well. This is because a significant number of tourists who visit the northern tourist circuit come through Kenya and ground tour operators there pass them down to their counterparts in Tanzania. Hunting tourists access the destinations through professional hunters, either directly or through overseas marketing agents. Secondary activities like cultural tourism rely more on "at destination" distribution as their drawing power is less than wildlife resources and adventure attractions. Factors which influence the structure of distribution in the northern tourist circuit include size of the business, nature of the attraction, tourists' preference, distance from market to destination, lack of capital and marketing knowledge. Channel performance is based on two main criteria: volume of clients the channel produces and the profit generated from the channel. Indirect channels produce more clients while direct channels are observed to generate more profit per client than indirect channels. Information technology is mainly used for creating awareness and communications. All the businesses interviewed have websites for those purposes.
"All We Got to See Were Factories.": Scoping Maori Transitions from Secondary School
Authors:   , Mitchell Moana Erika
Published: November 2021

The primary purpose of this research is to scope the reflexive journey of a selected group of Maori as they recall their experiences of secondary school transitions. The already complex nature of this transition from school is further exacerbated by the identification of these people as Maori. The treatment of Maori students, particularly in relation to their secondary school experiences and its impact on transition, is a major concern for this research. The research methodology privileged by my thesis is kaupapa Maori theory. Secondary school transitions for rangatahi Maori is tenuous. By framing this thesis within kaupapa Maori methodology, the intention is to recognise the impact of dominant ideology on the schooling experiences of Maori and how it ultimately determines school transitions. This scoping study is based on the interviews of research participants as they reflect on their experiences as rangatahi Maori transitioning from school. In particular, these interviews highlight how rangatahi Maori work through the complexities they are confronted with whilst in the transitory phase between completion of secondary schooling and post-school opportunities. Information gathered from the interviews constitutes the findings of this thesis. The findings reveal that schooling experiences and more specifically, treatment of Maori students by teachers, play a significant role in transitioning for young Maori. Negotiating the already complex pathway out of school is doubly problematic for rangatahi Maori who also have to come to terms with a culture of failure, perpetuated at secondary school and reinforced by out of school experiences. This research contends that marginalisation of rangatahi Maori in New Zealand secondary schools creates an alternate experience, whereby actions of resistance and agency are employed as they look to position themselves into post-school opportunities. Of significance, is the human quality of determination that allows rangatahi Maori to stand firm, despite the entrenchment of low self-confidence and motivation through indifferent school and transition systems. Such pathways create choice for rangatahi Maori due to a lack of support from these systems, not because of it.
Consumer Satisfaction with Emergency Department Nursing: a Descriptive Correlational Study
Authors:   , Buckley Clare Alison
Published: November 2021

This descriptive, correlational study was designed to describe levels of consumer satisfaction with emergency department (ED) nursing and to identify the key determinants of satisfaction with ED nursing in a regional New Zealand hospital. The relationship between satisfaction with ED nursing and with overall satisfaction with the ED visit was also explored. Satisfaction is an important indicator of the quality of healthcare and an understanding of satisfaction and its determinants has the potential to improve healthcare services and consumer health outcomes. The study employed a survey design using the Consumer Emergency Care Satisfaction Scale (CECSS) which is an internationally recognised tool that has demonstrable reliability and validity. It consists of 19 items divided between two subscales - Caring and Teaching. Respondents indicate on a five point Likert scale the extent to which they agree or disagree with each item. In addition to the 19 items in the scale, respondents were also asked to provide some consumer characteristic data and to answer two open-ended questions. The survey was posted to a convenience sample of 410 ED attendees within 24-48 hours of their visit to the emergency department. The final sample comprised 100 completed or partially completed surveys. The majority (n = 65, 88%) were either satisfied or very satisfied with ED nursing. There were no statistically significant relationships between any consumer characteristics and satisfaction; however the following visit characteristics were demonstrated to affect levels of satisfaction - triage category, self-rated acuity, the times consumers arrived at and were discharged from the ED, being able to differentiate between health professionals, being kept informed about the visit and any delays, length of stay (LOS), and number of previous visits to the emergency department. There was a strong positive correlation (r = 0.571, p = 0.000) between consumer satisfaction with ED nursing and with overall satisfaction with the visit. Thematic analysis of the data from the question about what consumers liked about ED nursing revealed four themes - personal qualities of the nurse, professional qualities of the nurse, interpersonal qualities of the nurse, and miscellaneous comments. Thematic analysis of the data from the question about what the nurse could have done to make the visit better also revealed four themes - nothing, staffing/service, information giving, and the environment. The study concludes that ED consumers want to know who their nurses are and to have nurses who communicate well with them and keep them informed about their visit. The most significant implications and challenges for researchers are in exploring the area around the consumer health journey as it is these visit characteristics that this study has demonstrated affect levels of satisfaction with ED nursing.