bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Forging an Australasian Region: Trans-Tasman Integration and Interregionalism in the Asia-Pacific
Authors:   , Castle Matthew Adrian
Published: November 2021

Most commentators view the Australia-New Zealand Closer Economic Relations (CER) agreement as a remarkable example of bilateral integration. CER is not usually regarded, however, as a platform for Australia and New Zealand to jointly engage with third parties. Yet, more than a decade of CER-ASEAN relations culminated, in 2010, in a Free Trade Agreement (the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand FTA, AANZFTA) between the two regions. This suggests that intra-regional trans-Tasman integration might “spill over” into external cooperation with third parties. Close cooperation and joint approaches have not, however, eventuated in other cases. Australia and New Zealand applied separately to join the interregional Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) forum in 2008 and 2009, indicating that their ability to act as a region is not consistent across policy or issue areas. This is an intriguing empirical puzzle, given that most observers of interregionalism elsewhere understand the ability of regions to act in international relations (‘actorness’) as a general, rather than variable, characteristic. Why, then, did Australia and New Zealand negotiate as a single entity with ASEAN on an FTA, but did not coordinate their approach in the ASEM case? This thesis argues that the process of trans-Tasman integration has produced a set of issue-specific institutions, which present Australian and New Zealand policy makers with a ready-made framework for cooperation with third parties in some, but not all, issue areas. Once these institutions were established, it proved a relatively simple step to extend the scope of their operation beyond the trans-Tasman level. This suggests that in the trans-Tasman case, ‘actorness’, understood as the basis on which regions can engage in international relations, may be issue-specific rather than generalised. This thesis makes its case by critically analysing the emergence and evolution of CER-ASEAN relations and by documenting Australia and New Zealand’s separate applications to join ASEM. It draws on extensive archival research and interviews with key actors and decision makers. The thesis adds to the nascent field of interregionalism by offering a new empirical case in which to test and develop theories. It makes a contribution to our understanding of the way institutions shape the scope for regions to “act” in international relations. More broadly, this study provides insights into the relationship between institutional design, individual actors and policy outcomes.
Understanding the Generation and Regulation of IL-4 Producing T Helper 2 Cells
Authors:   , Mearns Helen
Published: November 2021

A keenly sought therapeutic approach for the treatment of allergic disease is the identification and neutralization of the cytokine that regulates the differentiation of Th2 cells. Th2 cells are CD4 T cells differentiated to secrete IL-4. These cells are exciting new targets for asthma therapies due to the key role they play in allergic airway diseases. Recently the cytokine IL-25 has been shown to enhance Th2 cell activity and play important roles in mediating allergic inflammatory responses. To investigate this further we crossed IL-25 deficient mice with GFP-IL-4 reporter mice and developed an assay of in vitro and in vivo IL-4 independent Th2 differentiation. These assays were used to determine whether IL-25 was critical for the formation of Th2 cells. We found there was no physiological role for IL-25 in either the differentiation of Th2 cells or their development to effector or memory Th2 subsets. In the strong Th2 setting of a helminth infection the absence of IL-25 resulted in no defects in the effector type 2 responses associated with T helper type 2 immunity including, mucous hyperplasia, class switching to IgE and protection against challenge infections. Importantly this data challenges the newly found and growing status of the cytokine IL-25 and its proposed role in promoting Th2 responses. The second part of this thesis investigated whether the genomic organisation, which reflects commitment to Th2 cytokine expression, could provide a clearer definition of a functional in vivo Th2 cell. Two distinct IL-4 reporter mice were crossed and Th2 in vivo assays were developed that allowed tracking of the individual alleles of IL-4 in a variety of tissue types and Th2 subsets. Interestingly in vivo expression of IL-4 is mostly monoallelic yet there is a small highly activated population of biallelic IL-4 expressing Th2 cells. Physiologically each allele of IL-4 was required for a functional Th2 response with total serum IgE titres up to 4 fold lower in IL-4+/- heterozygous compared to the IL-4+/+ sufficient animals and a significant loss in protective immunity against challenge infections with helminths occurred in the IL-4+/- heterozygous animals. The similarity in deficiencies in Th2 immunity in the IL-4+/- heterozygous and IL-4-/- deficient compared to the IL-4+/+ sufficient animals lead to the proposal that the generation of biallelic Th2 cells may be required for specialised cell-to-cell mediated delivery of tailored activation signals and higher quantities of IL-4 required to mediate fully developed Th2 immune responses.
Systematic studies on the Holothuroidea of the New Zealand region
Authors:   , Pawson David Leo
Published: November 2021

A systematic account of the holothurians of the New Zealand region is given, together with diagnoses of orders, families, sub-families, genera and species. The report is based on a total of 970 specimens, which comprise 18 genera, including Mensamariella n.g., and 25 species, including Protankyra rigida, Chiridota alleni, Chiridota mortenseni, Neothyonidium armatum, and Trachythyone squamata, spp.nov. Genera and species known in the fauna, but not encountered during the course of the present study, are diagnosed, and their systematic positions and distribution patterns are briefly considered. The distribution of known holothurians within the New Zealand region is discussed, as also are the external relationships and ultimate derivation of the group. The taxonomic state of the Class as a whole is indicated, and comments are made on the reliability of systematic characters within each group, together with some suggestions for modification and possible improvement of the present-day situation.
How Can National Competitiveness of Less Developed Countries be Enhanced? : A Case Study of Laos
Authors:   , Inthaboualy Phoxai
Published: November 2021

The current literature focuses primarily on the national competitiveness of developed or developing economies. However, minimal research exists on understanding the national competitiveness of less developed countries (LDCs) whose strengths in factor endowments, government institutions and the extent of global integration are not the same as those of developed or developing countries. This study aims to fill this research gap by exploring factors contributing to the competitiveness of Laos. Laos is a small, poor and land-locked country in Southeast Asia with rich natural resources. To achieve the study objectives, 20 semi-structured interviews were conducted with senior government officials, industrial representatives, professors and NGOs in Laos. The findings suggest three key factors are critical for enhancing Lao competitiveness: factor endowments, the role of government, and global integration. Laos‘ factor endowments include hydropower, mining, agriculture, garment and textile industries, and services. Laos is interacting more with the global economy as it gets set to embrace membership of the World Trade Organisation after approximately 15 years of membership of ASEAN. The government is playing a critical role by developing Lao factor endowments and developing policies required for global integration. However, the country faces challenges of value addition to the existing natural resources, developing and leveraging human capital, and further improvement in rules and regulations.
Community Governance and Civil Society: An Examination of the Purpose, Intent and Structure of Residents' Groups in New Zealand
Authors:   , Coburn Jarrod
Published: November 2021

Residents’ groups have been in existence in New Zealand for almost 150 years yet very little is known about them. The collection of residents’, ratepayers’ and progressive associations, community councils, neighbourhood committees and the like make up a part of the community governance sector that numbers over a thousand-strong. These groups are featured prominently in our news media, are active in local government affairs and expend many thousands of volunteer hours every year in their work in communities… but what exactly is that work? From the literature we see these groups can be a source of local community knowledge (Kass et al., 2009), a platform for political activity (Deegan, 2002), critical of government (Fullerton, 2005) or help maintain government transparency and accountability (Mcclymont and O'Hare, 2008). They are sometimes part of the establishment too (Wai, 2008) and are often heard promoting the interests of local people (Slater, 2004). Residents’ groups can be set up to represent the interests of a specific demographic group (Seng, 2007) or focus on protecting or promoting a sense of place (Kushner and Siegel, 2003) or physical environment (Savova, 2009). Some groups undertake charitable activities (Turkstra, 2008) or even act in a negative manner that can impact on the community (Horton, 1996). This research examines 582 New Zealand organisations to derive a set of purposes that residents’ groups perform and ascertains how their purposes differ between geo-social and political locality and over three distinct eras of community development. The thesis also examines the relationship between residents’ groups and councillors, council officers, district health board members and civil defence and seeks to uncover if the level of engagement (if any) has an affect on their overall raison d’etre. The research concludes with a typology of New Zealand residents’ groups along with the key purposes of each type.
Faces and Orientational Metaphors: The Effects of Valenced Faces and Facial Manipulations on Neutral Targets
Authors:   , Moshenrose Sara C.
Published: November 2021

Previous research has shown that there may be an association between affect (negative vs. positive) and vertical position (up vs. down) of stimuli. The following research aimed to investigate whether individuals show spatial biases, either up or down, when asked to respond to neutral targets after seeing valenced faces. The research also aimed to investigate what impact manipulating automatic facial mimicry responses would have on response times. The research was conducted over three experiments. In Experiment 1, participants responded to neutral targets in either high or low vertical positions on a computer screen that were preceded by happy and sad schematic faces. There were two facial manipulation conditions. One group held a straw between their lips to inhibit smiling and another group held a straw between their teeth to facilitate smiling. A third group performed the response task without a straw (control condition). The procedure of Experiment 2 was identical to Experiment 1 except the happy and sad schematic faces had additional internal facial features (noses, eyebrows) that varied across trials. For both Experiment 1 and 2, targets preceded by a happy face were responded to significantly faster. In Experiment 3, the procedure was identical to Experiments 1 and 2, except photographic images of happy, neutral, and sad expressions were used. Participants were significantly faster to respond to targets in the high vertical position. Participants were also faster to respond to targets in the control (no straw) condition than the other two straw conditions. In the inhibition smiling condition, participants were faster to respond to targets in the high vertical position than low vertical position after seeing a happy or neutral face. These findings indicate that there may be an association between valenced faces and vertical selective attention that is consistent with orientational metaphors (positive = up), but further research is needed to clarify this.
Developing Identities: The Relational Identities of New Zealand NGOs
Authors:   , Johnston Andrew
Published: November 2021

Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) are significant institutions within development. Ideally, they represent the voice and aspirations of grassroots communities and they are born of a movement of local communities in the North and South. NGOs, however, are experiencing a crisis of identity. Changing geopolitical paradigms, increasingly critical analysis from the development academy and, in New Zealand especially, significant changes in the funding environment have caused substantial challenges to NGO identity, purpose and legitimacy. This research qualitatively assesses the identity of Northern NGOs (NNGOs) in New Zealand. It explores the elusive identity of these organisations through the focal point of their partnerships. Using narrative analysis in semi-structured interviews with development practitioners from varied organisations, this thesis elucidates the challenges and aspirations of NNGO identity. This thesis analyses these identities through three themes: in the manner in which they communicate their identity to their partners and supporters; in their understanding and enactment of the inherent power imbalances of the North-South dichotomy; and in the forming of relationships in the South that inform their primary functional identity. In response to the changing environment within which they work, NNGO identities are increasingly fragmented, their roles as fundraisers, programme workers and advocates for justice often conflict and inform an identity that is multiple, fluid and complex. Contemporary NNGOs must find legitimacy in their connection to the grassroots in the North and the South, in advocacy, in programming, in fundraising and in fulfilling their in role of translators and mediators of development. The changes to the New Zealand government‘s support of NNGOs have brought a significant challenge to these roles, and the NNGO response to these challenges will be definitive in the years to come. Most importantly, NNGOs are reclaiming their role as the representatives of a transnational movement of people working together to bring equity and justice, and to facilitate development that local communities can understand and control.
Investigating the Role of Language in Slot Machine Gambling
Authors:   , Tan Gordon
Published: November 2021

A systematic replication of Dixon, Nastally, Jackson and Habib (2009) was carried out to further examine the role of relational framing in attaching meaning to near-win stimuli in a slot machine simulation. The original study found that the verbally reported meaning of near-win stimuli could be altered through a verbal matching-to-sample training procedure. The current study confirmed this finding. Additionally this study had participants play on a simulated slot machine to assess if such relational training also resulted in changes in (non-verbal) response latencies when participants were presented with near-win outcomes during play. A study by Daly et al. (in prep.) had found that near-wins produced response latencies (in terms of initiating a new trial or 'spin') between that of wins and losses during slot machine play; a general finding replicated here also. However, in the current study it was also expected that changes to the meanings of near-wins would influence near-win response latencies. For example, response latencies following near-wins might become more like latencies following losses as a result of prior relational framing of near-win stimuli. The results of this study found a dissociation between verbal and non-verbal responses to near-win stimuli. The verbal training affected verbal responses but did not affect non-verbal responses. Some explanations are postulated for why this happened. These include the possibility that the near-win latency was merely an artefact of the experimental paradigm. Another explanation is that the dissociation between response types occurred because the contexts in the ratings and verbal training tasks were different to the context of the slot machine task.
An Examination of the Impact of a Training Programme Based on Sport Psychology for a Cohort of Contemporary Singing Students
Authors:   , Cairns-James Sandy
Published: November 2021

Sport psychology is well recognised and accepted as an important aspect of sports training, especially for elite athletes. Sport psychology focuses on teaching skills and methods such as goal setting and mental preparation for athletes so that they can develop their psychological abilities to the same high level as their physical abilities. Few researchers have linked sports and singing training, but it appears that many of the techniques used in sport psychology could be of value in developing singers’ practice and performance skills.  This study examined the overall impact of introducing sport psychology based training into the curriculum of a cohort of tertiary level contemporary singing students, using a qualitative case study approach. Five categories from sport psychology methods were identified for the purpose of this research: deliberate practice, self-efficacy, motivation, goal setting and peak performance were introduced into the teaching of the singing programme. Analysis of the impact revealed that sport psychology methods were not easily transferable into this vocal curriculum. The outcomes showed that the participants’ level of development in terms of learning skills was at a lower level than the demands of sport psychology
Feminist Critiques of the Multiculturalism and the Case of South Korea: Marriage Migrants, Patriarchy, and Nation-Building
Authors:   , Ku Sun A
Published: November 2021

Feminist critiques of multiculturalism have largely focused on group rights by looking at multicultural societies that are based on pluralism. However, in some countries of new immigration, such as South Korea, multiculturalism does not necessarily have a pluralist form, but instead pursues assimilation. Thus South Korea provides an opportunity to explore gendered aspects of multiculturalism in a different context from that upon which the existing feminist critiques are largely based.  What are the gendered aspects of South Korean multiculturalism? In this study I address this question by looking at policies designed particularly for female marriage migrants. I argue that the aim of these policies is to make such migrants contribute to South Korea’s multicultural nation-building process through their reproductive, care-giving, and symbolic functions in the idealized Korean family and that patriarchy is reinforced in the implementation of these policies. This reinforcement of patriarchy has resulted in a perpetuation of gender inequality. Looking at the ways in which the South Korean government uses female marriage migrants as instruments in its nation-building process expands the current scope of feminist critiques of multiculturalism.
Mathematical Modelling of Acute Rheumatic Fever
Authors:   , Welsh Melissa
Published: November 2021

Acute rheumatic fever is a major cause of heart disease in many parts of the world. Though it is generally considered rare in developed countries, is remains a large issue in New Zealand. Of particular concern is the prevalence of acute rheumatic fever among Maori and Pacific Island peoples. In this thesis we develop a model to simulate acute rheumatic fever in a population. We discuss the use of both deterministic methods and stochastic processes. Demographics and statistics specific to New Zealand are then used to develop the model in a way that fits specifically to the situation in New Zealand. We also consider the introduction of treatment strategies for acute rheumatic fever and discuss how risk factors can be used to focus such strategies. 
Blizzard City: Built Environment and Civilization in Antarctica, 1911-1961
Authors:   , Moffat-Wood Alex
Published: November 2021

This thesis investigates four Antarctic built environments between 1911 and 1961: Robert Falcon Scott’s 1910-1912 Terra Nova expedition base at Cape Evans, Ross Island; Sir Douglas Mawson’s 1911-1914 Australasian Antarctic Expedition base at Commonwealth Bay; Australia’s Mawson Station in MacRobertson Land, founded in 1954; and New Zealand’s Scott Base, also on Ross Island, founded in 1957. Examining unpublished and published diaries of expeditioners, government files and newspaper reports, this thesis demonstrates that, to the expeditioners who built and occupied them, these places created protective bastions of civilization in an extreme environment. It investigates what residents and architects (figurative and literal) thought and felt about these blizzard cities, their meaning and significance. In doing so, this study reinforces, extends, and at times challenges broader conceptions of built environment, nature, civilization, Antarctica, and their thicket of interrelationships. The first two chapters – one focused on the Heroic Era and the second on the post-WWII bases – argue that Antarctic built environments were embattled, modern sanctuaries. The extreme environment of Antarctica also demonstrated to expeditioners that built environment had plasticity, which challenged the expeditioners’ expectation of built environment being stable, durable, and impermeable. Chapter three argues that Antarctic built environment allowed expeditioners to create civilization in the wilderness, in a variety of ways. Through examining facets of occupation such as etiquette and international cooperation, the chapter argues that civilization took many forms, not all of them positive from the expeditioners’ point-of-view.
"Within and Without": Exploring the Mind in the Novels of George MacDonald
Authors:   , Voorendt Saskia
Published: November 2021

George MacDonald‟s first published novel, Phantastes, is the story of a young man who enters and must negotiate his way through a fantasy landscape. This landscape, it is suggested, is one of the mind, and Anodos‟ journey through it one of self-exploration and discovery. The sustained metaphor of the mind as a territory to be actively explored through the medium of the physical world, furthermore, is argued to be the basis of several of MacDonald‟s novels. While for Anodos the mind is all, forming as it does the basis of the entire fantasy world of Fairy Land, in the author‟s numerous realist texts the interest emerges in more varied ways, including for example, portrayals of depression, madness, and drug (ab)use. While this significant and unifying feature of MacDonald‟s novels has been at times observed by critics with regard to some individual texts, it has not been directly confronted in terms of an inclusive study of his oeuvre. What this thesis demonstrates is firstly the overwhelming significance of the mind as a focal point for MacDonald‟s novels, as represented by six central texts: Phantastes, Adela Cathcart, Wilfrid Cumbermede, Malcolm, Donal Grant, and The Flight of the Shadow. It is suggested that such a consistent prioritising of the mind over the physical body lies in the author‟s own experience of ongoing physical illness and resulting confrontation with mortality. The mind becomes, for MacDonald, a means of negotiating the relationship between the realms of the physical and the spiritual. In Phantastes, for example, Anodos‟ physical experience (achieved through the genre of fantasy) of his own mind in Fairy Land, concludes with reference to the afterlife. The mind in this (and MacDonald‟s other novels) provides the means by which transcendence is achieved.
"What's in a Lunchbox?": A Story About New Zealand Ideals of Health, Social Class and Ethnicity Told Through Sandwiches and the Children Who Eat Them
Authors:   , Rey Vasquez Carla
Published: November 2021

Through an ethnographic investigation of school lunchboxes, this thesis explores if and how difference and Otherness is understood by children. In three urban New Zealand primary schools I examine how children construct, affirm and/or challenge social inequalities and issues of inclusion by looking at the contents, concepts, narratives and activities related to the consumption and sharing of their lunch food. Literature dedicated to social class (Bourdieu, 1984) and identity (Rikoon, 1982; Stern, 1977) has documented the way in which food is creatively used to reaffirm unity and belonging within minority groups (Camp, 1979; Abrahams & Kalcik, 1978). In contrast to this approach, I review the role of food as a ‘safe space’ (Mercon, 2008: 5) where diversity may be allowed to symbolically exist for the purpose of affirming the unity of the nation state, while ultimately muffling deeper social differences. The thesis thus questions the assumption that food, identity and social cohesion are conceptually linked. My overall argument centres on the “humble” sandwich, which I claim is constructed as the core, dominant component of the lunchbox, mutually constituting nutritional, social class and ethnic tropes, practices and values. I assess the discourses, behaviours and symbolism that historically situates the sandwich as iconicaly or emblematically “Kiwi”, contending that via the creation of a dychotomized system (i.e. healthy, good, skinny, well-behaved, energetic, Kiwi versus junk-food, bad, fat, naughty, sick, Other) children are enculturated into the logics of work and socialized to be compliant with structures of inequality. Thus, while the sandwich appears equally accessible to all, the differences in its production can result in practices of class based distinction (Bourdieu, 1984) and ethnic exclusion (Hage, 2003). However, my analysis also reveals that children are not mere subjects of structure, but that they reproduce, challenge, mediate, and re-shape these discourses and behaviours.
End of Life Care in the Home: Supporting and Sustaining Family Carers
Authors:   , Bowden-Tucker Jacqueline Rose
Published: November 2021

Palliative care services within New Zealand aim to support care for terminally ill people and their family/ whānau, regardless of their disease or place of care. Increasingly consumers prefer that this care and support, including end of life care, is provided in their own home as opposed to hospital or care institutions and current health policies support this trend. The availability of family carers is widely acknowledged as pivotal to home palliation by ensuring physical care and emotional support for the patient is available outside that provided by formal (paid) carers and palliative care professionals entering the home. Literature searched found that family carers feel under prepared for their role and desire more support and information from health care professionals. How to achieve this is less clear. When considered against the backdrop of an ageing population and geographically dispersed families, it is forecast there will be increased incidence of dying patients with complex palliative care needs and a reduced carer population that may make the preference for home death increasingly problematic. Using purposive sampling techniques, six bereaved family carers, who were enrolled with a hospice palliative care service (HPCS) and had supported end of life care of a relative at home, were recruited. Utilising qualitative descriptive methodology this study sought to identify the key conditions under which their caring contribution was sustained. Data collection was by way of semi-structured interviews that were audiotaped and transcribed. Following coding, transcripts underwent qualitative content analysis and revealed three key themes and associated subthemes relating to: perception and acquisition of caring role; sustaining the role; now and looking back. Conclusions drawn from this research offer increased understanding of the enabling factors family carers experienced as supporting them in their role and achieving a home death for their relative.
Exploring the Role of the Rock and Water Programme in the Improvement of Māori and Pacifika Boys' Engagement with School
Authors:   , McMillan Andrew
Published: November 2021

The aim of this study is to explore boys’ achievement within a New Zealand secondary school. More specifically the focus of this research has been to look at the impact that an intervention programme – Rock and Water, has in improving boys’ engagement within a school. This study has explored how school engagement is defined and how it has an effect on boys. This research looked at how the school experience differs for Māori and Pasifika boys. Using secondary sources of data, this study examined how education fits within society as a form of social control and has attempted to position the school experience within containment theory. Factors considered were the dynamics within these programmes and the role teachers’ play in improving engagement. This research has specifically identified how intervention programmes might be used as a tool with schools pedagogy to raise Māori and Pasifika boys’ participation and engagement with school. A qualitative methodology was employed for this research, focusing on one New Zealand College. Primary sources of data were student questionnaires and individual student interviews. Questionnaires and interviews were also carried out with two of the teachers/facilitators delivering the programme. This study found that student engagement was improved as a consequence of their participation in the Rock and Water programme. For Māori boys, the opportunity to have fun and to connect with their peers was significant and identified by the participants in this study. For Pasifika boys, the results were mixed, those participating enjoyed it and said that it improved their engagement with school, the reasons behind why were not revealed in significant detail for this group. The pedagogies incorporated in the intervention programme (Rock and Water) had similarity with those advocated as part of Te Kōtahitanga. The weaving of Maori tikanga such as Ako, Manaakitanga and cultural performance helped in creating an environment whereby the boys participating were valued as being culturally located. For the teacher/facilitators, the initial aim of participating in the Rock and Water programme was to introduce an intervention that addressed issues of behaviour management. However as the programme grew in popularity and a space was created within the curriculum, the teacher/facilitators commented on the changing dynamic within the group. An identity based around shared values and experiences in the group was evolving. Over time this was utilised to promote participants into tuākana roles. Similarly, the embedding of the Rock and Water into the school curriculum led to it becoming part of the schools kaupapa or vision. Future challenges based on this study are to examine in greater detail the impact that the programme has in improving academic outcomes for Māori and Pasifika boys. The link between improved engagement and achievement is implied in participant responses, but quantitative data was not produced or explored due to the methodology chosen.
Air Particulate Matter in Pollluted New Zealand Urban Environments: Sources, Patterns and Transport
Authors:   , Ancelet Travis
Published: November 2021

During the winters of 2010 and 2011, three intensive particulate matter (PM) monitoring campaigns were undertaken in Masterton, Alexandra and Nelson, New Zealand. The goal of these campaigns was, for the first time, to identify the sources and factors contributing to elevated PM concentrations on an hourly time-scale. In each location, hourly coarse (PM₁₀-₂.₅; particles with aerodynamic diameters 2.5 μm < d < 10 μm) and fine (PM₂.₅; particles with aerodynamic diameters < 2.5 μm) samples, PM₁₀ (particles with aerodynamic diameters < 10 μm, incorporating the coarse and fine fractions) concentrations and meteorological variables were collected from a number of sites. Using elemental concentrations determined from ion beam analysis and black carbon concentrations determined from light reflection for each hourly sample, PM sources and their contributions on an hourly time-scale were identified using positive matrix factorization (PMF). In Masterton, where two sampling sites were employed, PM₁₀ concentrations displayed distinct diurnal cycles, with peak concentrations occurring in the evening (7 pm–midnight) and in the morning (7–9 am). Four PM sources were identified (biomass burning, marine aerosol, crustal matter and vehicles) at each of the sites and biomass burning was identified as the most dominant source of PM₁₀ during both the evening and morning. One of the sites experienced consistently higher PM₁₀ concentrations and katabatic flows across Masterton were identified to be the main contributor to this phenomenon. In Alexandra and Nelson, three sampling sites on a horizontal transect (upwind, central and downwind of the general katabatic flow pathway) and a fourth site located centrally, but at a height of 26 m, were incorporated in a novel study design. Each of the sites in Alexandra and Nelson also showed diurnal patterns in PM₁₀ concentrations. The central site in Alexandra experienced consistently higher PM₁₀ concentrations and four PM₁₀ sources were identified at each of the sites (biomass burning, marine aerosol, vehicles and crustal matter). Biomass burning was identified as the main source of PM₁₀ throughout the day at each of the sites. The convergence of numerous katabatic flows was identified as the contributing factor to the elevated PM₁₀ concentrations measured at the central site. In Nelson, five PM sources were identified at each of the sites (biomass burning, vehicles, marine aerosol, shipping sulfate and crustal matter) and biomass burning was identified as the dominant source of PM₁₀ throughout the day. Katabatic flows were also identified to play an important role in PM₁₀ transport. Analyses of source-specific (wood combustion and vehicles) PM samples was also undertaken, and the results of these analyses are included in this thesis.
A Three-Way Drug Discrimination Study: A Role for DA-Mediated Effects in MDMA's Discriminative Cue Properties
Authors:   , Langen Anna-Lena
Published: November 2021

While 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) shares many similarities with amphetamine, previous two choice drug discrimination procedures have shown that substitution between the two substances is inconsistent. Three choice drug discrimination procedures have revealed that MDMA can be discriminated from amphetamine, due to MDMA’s primary influence in releasing 5-HT. Neurochemical evidence had previously suggested that at doses >3.0mg/kg MDMA-induced dopamine (DA) release will increase significantly. In the current study rats were trained to discriminate MDMA from amphetamine and saline. As the dose of MDMA increased beyond the training dose (>1.5mg/kg) MDMA-appropriate responding decreased, while the proportion of amphetamine lever responding increased and eventually surpassed MDMA-appropriate responding at the highest dose (4.5mg/kg). This would indicate an important role for DA mediated influences in MDMA’s discriminative cue properties. Further evidence for this conclusion comes from tests with the D1 antagonist SCH23390 and the D2 antagonist eticlopride which attenuated this effect and also led to a nonsignificant increase in the proportion of saline lever responding. Subsequent tests with the 5-HT2c antagonist RS102221resulted in no significant dose dependent changes, but appeared to reduce MDMA-appropriate responding especially at the training dose. The current findings would suggest that low doses of MDMA are discriminable from amphetamine, however with increasing doses MDMA will be perceived as more “amphetamine-like”. These findings could suggest that at relatively high doses MDMA produces effects that are typically associated with dopamine-releasing drugs, such as high abuse potential.
Understanding the Effectiveness of Cross-Cultural Video-Mediated Communication
Authors:   , Nergui Selenge
Published: November 2021

People are increasingly using advanced communication technologies such as videoconferencing to collaborate across geographical boundaries and time zones. This presents problems because cultural values, attitudes, and behaviours influence how a given group of people perceives, understands, communicates and interprets information and knowledge. This study explores how various factors including technology and cultural differences of participants affect their perceptions of the effectiveness of cross-cultural communication in videoconferences. The study identifies factors that most influence the effectiveness of cross-cultural video-mediated communication. It will help practitioners to: 1) make efficient use of resources while designing and facilitating videoconferences; and 2) incorporate cultural factors in assessing the effectiveness of cross-cultural distance learning events. The study is situated in the Global Development Learning Network (GDLN) which spans the world with more than 120 distance learning centres and facilitates communication for development through videoconferencing technology. A multiple-case cross-cultural study has been carried out in GDLN affiliates located in four countries: Australia, Mongolia, New Zealand and Russia. Evidence for this case study comes from observations during videoconferences, semi-structured interviews with participants, documents and video recordings. This exploratory study contributes to the body of knowledge in three research domains: development communication through the videoconferencing channel; cross-cultural factors in video-mediated communication; and perceived effectiveness of videoconferencing.
A Consumer Approach towards Assessing the Value of Co-Creation
Authors:   , Sutjijoso Ananda Lailana Qadrina
Published: November 2021

The classic view of marketing has always regarded the customer as external to the firm and a passive recipient of the firm’s value creation effort. However, there is an increasing conception that in order to succeed in today’s challenging market environment, value needs to be co-created by companies and consumers, and co-creation is seen as an innovative method to facilitate these value creation activities. One of the primary limiting factors of greater consumer engagement has historically been the poor connectivity between customers and producers. The Internet is regarded as a new form of technology that significantly facilitates and enhances the connectivity between customers and producers, and through this, the phenomenon of virtual co-creation emerged. Virtual co-creation is a considerably new and growing phenomenon that offers a new opportunity for marketers to better satisfy customer requirements by involving them more fully in the creation of a new product. While the concept of virtual co-creation has been thoroughly examined at a conceptual level, empirical research in this concept is limited and has primarily focused on co-creation in a firm setting. Thus, minimum attention has been paid to the phenomenon of co-creation from a consumer perspective. Specifically focusing on co-creation in the New Product Development context, this study examines consumer value perceptions of the virtual co-creation method, and its subsequent impact on consumer future intention to use the co-creation method. A Value-based Technological Acceptance Model was adopted to measure consumers’ value perception of the co-creation method. Using My Starbucks Idea and Dell’s Design Studio as the examples, this model was empirically tested in two instances: 1) the ‘contribution’ & non-technological product category, and 2) the ‘selection’ & technological product category. The study found that consumers, in general, had a positive value perception of co-creation methods, which, in turn, positively influence their future intention to use the co-creation method. This confirmed that virtual co-creation, as a new method for firms and consumers to collaborate in creating a new product, was well received by consumers. With the existence of this opportunity for collaboration, virtual co-creation is deemed to be a trend that is hard to ignore as it offers a promising and a more holistic approach to a New Product Development strategy.
The Synthesis of Azasugars Using an I2-mediated Carbamate Annulation
Authors:   , Win-Mason Anna Louise
Published: November 2021

The biological activity of azasugars has largely been attributed to their ability to mimic the oxocarbenium ion-like transition state formed during reactions with carbohydrate-processing enzymes and, for this reason, functional and stereochemical modifications of the azasugar scaffold have led to the development of specific and potent glycosidase inhibitors. Given the potential of azasugars as glycosidase inhibitors, we were interested in developing efficient methodology for their synthesis. This thesis highlights synthetic methodology developed to produce amino-imino-hexitols as azasugar scaffolds. Key in the synthesis of the amino-imino-hexitols was the application of a stereoselective Strecker reaction, without the need for chiral Lewis acids or catalysts, and an extension of an I2-mediated carbamate annulation to cyclise functionalised and protected alkenylamines. Sixteen amino-imino-hexitols were synthesized, including ten previously undisclosed substrates with the D-galacto, D-talo, and L-altro configurations. The novel amino-imino-hexitols were then tested for their ability to act as glycosidase inhibitors and substrates of the D-talo configuration showed promising inhibitory effects. Mechanistic considerations of the I2-mediated carbamate annulation are discussed and although the exact annulation mechanism has yet to be determined, experimental studies have revealed that an aziridine is not an intermediate in the reaction. Factors influencing the diastereoselectivity of the carbamate annulation are also explored. Furthermore, an in depth analysis of the high cis-selectivity of the carbamate annulation is investigated using density functional theory to calculate the transition states of iodocyclisations en route to the formation of carbamates. Taken as a whole, the applicability of the carbamate annulation to a variety of alkenylamines and an understanding of the factors controlling the diastereoselectivity of the reaction should make this methodology a valuable addition to the synthetic chemist’s toolbox.
Joint Modeling of Longitudinal Ordinal Data on Quality of Life and Survival
Authors:   , Preedalikit Kemmawadee
Published: November 2021

Joint models for longitudinal and survival data have been widely discussed in the literature. This thesis proposes a joint model using a stereotype model for the longitudinal ordinal responses and a Cox proportional hazards model for survival time. Our current joint model has a new feature since no literature has examined the joint model under the stereotype model. The stereotype model can improve the fit by adding extra score parameters, but it still has the advantage of requiring only a single parameter to describe the effect of a predictor on the item response levels. We give an example to model longitudinal ordinal data and survival data for patients being followed up after treatments. The main focus is on modeling both the quality of life data and the survival data simultaneously with a goal of understanding the association between the two processes over time. These two models are linked through a latent variable that characterizes the quality of life of an individual and is assumed to underlie the hazard rate. In other words, the latent variable serves as a shared variable in the joint model. We present the joint model in two different aspects: one based on a Bayesian approach and the other one a semiparametric approach using the EM algorithm. For the Bayesian approach, the latent variable is treated as a continuous variable and is assumed to have a multivariate normal distribution. The partial survival likelihood function is used in the survival component of the Bayesian joint model, while the full likelihood function is considered in the semiparametric joint model. In the latter approach the baseline hazard is assumed to be a step function and has no parametric form. The latent variable in the semiparametric joint model is then treated as a discrete variable. We illustrate our methodologies by analyzing data from the Staccato study, a randomized trial to compare two treatment methods, for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection of Thai patients on Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART), in which the quality of life was assessed with a HIV Medical Outcome Study (MOS-HIV) questionnaire. Furthermore, we extend the study further to the case of multiple failure types in the survival component. Thus, the extension of the joint model consists of the stereotype model and the competing risks model. The Bayesian method is employed to estimate all unknown parameters in this extended joint model. The results we obtained are consistent for both the Bayesian joint model and the semiparametric joint model. Both models show that patients who had a better quality of life were associated with a lower hazard of HIV progression. Patients on continuous treatment also had a lower hazard of HIV progression compared with patients on CD4-guided interruption treatment.
The Ecological Touchstones of Our Identity : Confronting Native Landscapes with the Cultural and Ecological Identity of New Zealand's Society
Authors:   , Macfarlane Jaime
Published: November 2021

‘Ecological Touchstones of Our Identity’ explores the ways in which the language of New Zealand’s landscapes have been transformed by colonisation as New Zealand undergoes transition into a post-colonial era. This thesis identifies how three uniquely native New Zealand landscapes, the Beach, the Swamp and the Bush, have become lost to New Zealanders, both physically and conceptually, through the gradual transitions of time and contested histories. Although these landscapes are perceived within New Zealand’s culture as uniquely native to New Zealand, their true nature is somehow lost on many. Such unique landscapes coalesce into one very important landscape - the transect of the lowland forest - which has been all but lost from the fabric of our landscapes. This thesis uses a methodological approach wherein a range of dualities are explored in opposition to each other. The concept of biculturalism between Māori and Pākehā; the orientation between the vertical and horizontal, the gaze versus the object; wetland and bushland versus pastureland; and, most importantly, the perceived duality of nature versus culture. This latter point will be challenged through the theory and design concepts presented in this thesis. The final design outcome deals with the practicalities of generating a strong knowledge base of eco-sourcing and regeneration of national importance by creating a functioning seedbank between the two sites selected: the Museum of New Zealand -Te Papa Tongarewa and Lake Waiwiri (Lake Papaitonga). The vision is to regenerate the lowland forest transect between Lake Waiwiri and the coastal edge back into the functioning ecosystem once present, while structuring this regeneration to act as a cultural tool for strengthening New Zealand's sense of ecological cultural awareness, and thereby, identity. The role that landscape architecture and architecture play within this system of regeneration is critically explored through form and conceptual process, cumulating to a scheme which presents the educational opportunity of integrating these two different sites into one functioning ecosystem of regeneration.