bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Ladies of Empire: Governors' Wives in New Zealand, 1887-1926
Authors:   , Burgess Sarah
Published: November 2021

Across the years 1887 to 1926, at a time when the British Empire was at its height, nine governors and their wives took up vice-regal office in New Zealand. This study is concerned with the public enactment of the position of vice-regal wives’ in New Zealand in these years. It explores what it meant for a woman to be a public figure with a prominent profile and at the same time a wife within a marriage during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In doing so, the thesis looks at three distinct aspects of vice-regal life, as played out in public: official vice-regal ceremony and social life; involvement in voluntary welfare and women’s imperialist organisations; and the display of vice-regal life through governors’ wives’ appearance and the furnishing of Government House. Of key concern is the way in which these aspects of vice-regal life are conveyed to the public through newspapers, and so Judith Butler’s theory of gender performativity is considered as a way to think about the position occupied by governors’ wives.  As women married to men in public office, governors’ wives occupied a particular position and space within the British Empire in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The position was defined and created through marriage and through the enactment of the duties of vice-regal office. Governors' wives were present at vice-regal ceremonies and social events as both witnesses and wives; they involved themselves with voluntary welfare and imperialist organisations with a particular focus on women as mothers and contributors to Empire; and through their dress and the decoration of Government House governors’ wives presented a display of their suitability for holding vice-regal office. The enactment of these duties over the period from 1887 to 1926 was remarkably consistent. Alongside this a degree of change occurred in the recognition afforded to governors’ wives in the fulfilment of vice-regal office.
Embodied Visions in William Blake's Visions of the Daughters of Albion
Authors:   , Atkinson Rosalind
Published: November 2021

William Blake characterised an abstract as “A murderer of its own Body,” an attempt to impose stable mastery on an unstable reality (E153). This thesis reads Blake’s illuminated poem, Visions of the Daughters of Albion, from the ‘unstable’ perspective of ‘Embodied Visions,’ based on the hypothesis that readings of the poem have often been distorted by the imposition of binary divisions: divisions that are undermined within the work itself. This approach to Visions of the Daughters of Albion is in three chapters: firstly aligning Blake’s work with Japanese manga artist Tezuka Osamu (1928-1989), tracing the construction of Blake in Japan, and how this can occasion new perspectives; secondly I read Visions with Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, placing both texts in response to oppressive sexual prescriptions of the 1790s, in order to chart where they concur and diverge; and finally I examine the effect of dualistic critical frames on readings of Visions, arguing that we must read the sections exploring perception as continuous with the rest of the poem in order to appreciate Blake’s engagement with an embodied reality.
Investigating the Potential Role of SIRT1 in Glioblastoma Multiforme: A Comparison Between Glioma and Normal Astrocyte Cells in Culture
Authors:   , Brow Susanna
Published: November 2021

Objective Glioblastomas (GBMs) are the most prevalent primary brain tumours in adults and the outcome for this disease remains very poor. With treatment options limited, there is growing interest to find potential differences between normal and malignant molecular signaling pathways for this disease. SIRT1 is a histone deacetylase enzyme with key functions in cellular signaling responses including protecting DNA from damage and changing transcriptional events. SIRT1 can act as a switch to affect cellular senescence or anti-apoptotic responses, or alternatively affect autophagic and pro-apoptotic responses. The role of SIRT1 in GBM is unclear. This study aimed to investigate differences between glioma and normal astrocytes with respect to SIRT1.  Research design and methods SIRT1 was analysed in murine normal and glioma astrocyte cell lines, and results compared to a normal human astrocyte cell line and a panel of human primary glioma cells taken from patients with GBM. Analysis of SIRT1 was assessed using Western blots and flow cytometry. Sub-cellular localisation was examined using Western blots and immunofluorescent microscopy. Activity for SIRT1 was assessed using acetylation of a key histone SIRT1 substrate, histone 4 lysine 16, and cell proliferation was measured using the MTT assay. Oxidative stress was induced using H₂O₂ and viability measured using propidium iodide exclusion and flow cytometry. To ascertain that activity was SIRT1 related, inhibition and activation of SIRT1 was done using nicotinamide and resveratrol, respectively.  Results SIRT1 was mainly localised in the nucleus and to mitochondria of normal cells but was aberrantly distributed in the cytoplasm of glioma cells, which has not been reported before. This was consistent in both murine and human glioma models. Nicotinamide significantly inhibited cell proliferation more for glioma cells compared to normal, and resveratrol had the opposing effect. Nicotinamide rescued normal but not glioma cells from H₂0₂-induced oxidative stress, and resveratrol had the opposing effect. Western blots revealed secondary protein bands for SIRT1 indicating possible smaller species of SIRT1, and results for nuclear/cytoplasmic extractions suggested FL-SIRT1 and the smaller species of SIRT1 have a dynamic pattern of localisation under oxidative stress, nicotinamide and resveratrol treatments.  Conclusions These results indicated SIRT1 is involved in both cell proliferation and oxidative stress responses, with a differential activity between glioma and normal astrocyte cells. Aberrant localisation of SIRT1 to the cytoplasm in glioma cells is a significant finding that needs further exploration. The need for further studies to elucidate changes in localisation for SIRT1 under different conditions is highlighted, as is the possible role of truncated variants of SIRT1. This study suggests there may be some potential for SIRT1 inhibition in patients suffering from glioblastoma.
I Kahiki ke Ola: In Kahiki there is Life, Ancestral Memories and Migrations in the New Pacific
Authors:   , Case Emalani
Published: November 2021

While exploring different topics and issues—examining everything from the importance of our Pacific genealogies, to the analysis of Hawaiian language literature, to the power of prophecies and predictions for the future, to the need to be reflexive in the creation of culture, and finally to the act of building a nation—each chapter of this thesis is connected by one shifting concept: Kahiki. Furthermore, they are joined by the idea that there is life to be found there. As an ʻōlelo noʻeau, or a Hawaiian proverb, states, “Aia ke ola i Kahiki,” “Life is in Kahiki”. This adage has served as the foundation of this research and each chapter has been written with the belief that there is life—in the form of reconstructed knowledge, new interpretations, and growing understandings—to be found in Kahiki.  Encapsulated in this one term are our ancestral memories of migration. When islanders traveled to different parts of the Pacific region, they maintained knowledge of their homelands. Although the names of these homelands differ throughout the Pacific, the concept is the same: islanders knew that their life in a particular place, a particular group of islands, was dependent on other places and peoples that although out of sight were never completely out of memory. After generations, however, the specificity of these “homelands” was blurred, and one name came to represent the genealogical connection that people shared with other places in the Pacific. What was Pulotu for some, therefore, became Hawaiki for others, and eventually became Kahiki for my ancestors in Hawaiʻi. Thus, Kahiki became a general term for all lands in the region outside of Hawaiʻi, and more importantly, became a way for Hawaiians to explain their existence to themselves. In later generations, however, particularly when people from other parts of the world came to Hawaiʻi, Kahiki became a term used to refer to all lands beyond Hawaiʻi’s shores.  This thesis, therefore, studies the life of this one concept through time: looking at it as part of our Pacific genealogies, as presented in oral traditions; examining it as a means of making nationalistic statements, and sometimes, even as a means of justifying colonialism in the nineteenth century; and then exploring contemporary articulations and engagements with Kahiki, particularly in the era following the Hawaiian renaissance, when a group of men on the Big Island of Hawaiʻi built a single-hulled canoe, brining tools, teachers, and knowledge from Kahiki to give new “life” to their people. Studying the way this one concept has shifted through time provides a means of understanding how people in each generation used one term to make sense of their experiences. Furthermore, it gives us the chance to examine our contemporary movements and to reengage with Kahiki in a way that will empower us to do and be more for our people, our region, and the world.
Early childhood practitioners’ insights on professionalism: Views from Indonesia
Authors:   , Hakim Lukmanul
Published: November 2021

Understanding early childhood teachers’ perspectives on professionalism is important because the notion of professionalism in early childhood is contextual and varies according to location and cultural backgrounds. Despite numerous studies on early childhood teachers’ insights on professionalism, no investigation has yet existed regarding unique environments of Indonesia. Thus this study examines Indonesian early childhood practitioners’ insights about the notion of professionalism and what constitutes the characteristics of a professional early childhood teacher. This study adopted a phenomenological method to be able to conduct an in-depth exploration of teachers’ experience and their insights about professionalism. The participants for this study were 21 kindergarten and playgroup teachers who had experienced intermediate level training in the national programme for up-skilling in South Sulawesi, Indonesia.  Teachers in this study considered professionalism as a journey toward an improved state at both the pedagogical level at their actual early childhood centre and the personal level of self-improvement as a role model. The study argues that these two outputs of the journey were like parallel tracks; that lead towards improvement in both teaching performance and personal qualities. The outcome of the first track is tangible in each day of teaching performance, while the outcomes of the second track are experienced one’s entire career, or even an entire life. This echoes Urban and Dalli (2012) conclusion that being professional cannot separate the “nature of practice, thinking about practice, and thinking about oneself in this practice – making the boundaries between doing, knowing and being blurred or non-existent” (p.161). This sense of understanding professionalism as collections of interrelated actions towards an overall goal underpinned the attitudes of the teachers in South Sulawesi, Indonesia.
Parking Policy Acceptability in Wellington CBD
Authors:   , Coles Kate
Published: November 2021

The car has become the dominant mode of transportation in many cities, giving drivers the sense of freedom and convenience to travel at any time between specific locations. However, this increase in car use has created numerous negative outcomes for society including pollution and congestion. Changing individual travel behaviour away from car use is a challenge that many cities now face in an effort to combat car induced issues. Transport pricing policies are often viewed as an effective method in decreasing levels of car use. However, these policies are often not implemented due to a lack of public support. This research uses a quantitative approach to explore potential factors that may be influencing parking policy acceptability among levels of residents in the Greater Wellington Region. Using an online survey, findings indicate that parking policy acceptability levels to the public are influenced by policy differences in fee level and revenue allocation, as well as individuals' level of personal environmental understanding and concern. The Greed-Efficiency-Fairness (GEF) hypothesis is presented as a theory to explain the changes seen in acceptability levels between different policies and personal characteristics of individuals. It is concluded that, for the study sample, parking policy acceptability levels would most increase when revenue was allocated to improving the quality of active transportation and public transportation. Acceptability levels would further be enhanced by highlighting the beneficial outcomes that the policy would have at both an individual and societal level.
The co-management of the Te Arawa Lakes
Authors:   , Harper-Hinton Julia Kahu
Published: November 2021

The restoration of indigenous rights to and interests in their traditional natural resources needs to be accompanied by practical ways in which indigenous values in relation to a resource can be met. Co-management or co-governance has emerged as an option for indigenous people in settling historical land and resource claims. Co-management offers a way in which governments and non-government entities such as and community or indigenous peoples can share decision-making over natural resources. However there are many different types and levels of co-management with, varying levels of participation and decision-making authority. Some are more effective than others at recognising indigenous values, authority and relationships. This dissertation discusses the New Zealand example of the co-management of the Te Arawa Lakes and provides an initial assessment of its cultural and environmental goals.
The development of an intellectual property strategy for a biotechnology company
Authors:   , Houlihan Christina
Published: November 2021

The 2014 Masters of Advanced Technology Enterprise (MATE) programme is a multi-disciplinary course with the goal of creating teams that explore the challenges of creating successful technology enterprises. NacreTech is the result of one of the enterprises which has been developed within this course. It has found a market application for a nacre-like material as a biodegradable osteoconductive load bearing materials for orthopaedic implants and developed a target product profile to help guide further material development to out-compete existing materials on the market. In addition a proof of concept testing plan, intellectual property strategy and regulatory analysis has been conducted.  This thesis is based on the author’s experience working within NacreTech while applying current knowledge and thinking surrounding protecting intellectual property for biotechnology. In particular, the author has investigated the intellectual property aspects, such as the requirements of the complete specification, filing dates and locations, and existing strategy models, required for commercialisation of the NacreTech biomaterial and examines the factors which influenced the development of the intellectual strategy.
Living on the edge: Occupying the facade to enrich urban density
Authors:   , Alcorn Keziah
Published: November 2021

Living on the edge critiques oppressive aspects of urban living. It advocates façade occupation to enhance the experience of density and enrich the street edge to achieve a vibrant and metropolitan New Zealand.   Sited in Te Aro, Wellington Central, the project proposes a citywide inversion of the typical high-rise building layout, relocating primary circulation to the street edge to dramatically reform the spatial relationships between dwelling, building and street.   The project is an inhabitable facade system comprised of various combinations of the colannade, the gallery and the annexe. This can be applied to existing or integrated with new buildings and varied in response to specific street conditions.   By creating multifunctional outdoor living integrated with circulation spaces, the design offers a vision for vertical communities with enhanced dwelling amenity to encourage more New Zealanders to embrace high density living.
Demographics of Etmopterus lucifer (Lucifer dogfish)
Authors:   , Galland Annie Rose
Published: November 2021

This study provides the first comprehensive description of the demographics of lucifer dogfish (Etmopterus lucifer) from the Chatham Rise, New Zealand during January 2012. Lucifer dogfish is a non-QMS species commonly taken as bycatch in New Zealand deepwater trawl fisheries, where it has low commercial value and is usually discarded. Sexual maturity of females was determined by assessing the condition of the ovary and uterus, and the width of the uterus and oviducal gland. Male maturity was assessed by determining clasper and testes condition, inner clasper length, testes length, and testes weight. A sample of lucifer dogfish was aged by counting growth bands on the internal section of the dorsal fin spine (n = 97), assuming annual deposition of bands. Intra- and inter-reader bias in age estimates was estimated, but count precision was high within (CV = 12.71 %) and between reader age estimates (11.98 %). A number of growth models were fitted to the length-at-age data, including the traditional and modified Von Bertalanffy growth formula (VBGF) and four cases of the Schnute growth model. Selection of the best growth model was based on the Akaike Information Criterion (AIC). The fourth case of the Schnute growth model best represented growth. Lucifer dogfish had an estimated age and length at maturity of 10.4 years and 34.0 cm respectively for males, and 13.0 years and 41.0 cm for females. The oldest observed fish were 17 and 14 years for males and females respectively. The total mortality estimates were in the range of 0.14 to 0.35 yr ⁻¹. Lucifer dogfish fed primarily upon mesopelagic fishes, with Hector’s lanternfish (Lampanyctodes hectoris) identified as being the most common prey. Lucifer dogfish had late maturity relative to its longevity. Although sampling of the population was likely to be incomplete, and biases in age estimates may have occurred, these observed life history characteristics indicate that productivity will be low, and as a consequence, the precautionary approach should be applied, as the potential impact of commercial fishing on this species is high.
User-guided Image Editing using Radial Basis Functions
Authors:   , Patrikeev Evgeny
Published: November 2021

Good image editing tools that modify colors of specified image regions or deform the depicted objects have always been an important part of graphics editors. Manual approaches to this task are too time-consuming, while fully automatic methods are not robust enough. Thus, the ideal editing method should include a combination of manual and automated components. This thesis shows that radial basis functions provide a suitable “engine” for two common image editing problems, where interactivity requires both reasonable performance and fast training.  There are many freeform image deformation methods to be used, each having advantages and disadvantages. This thesis explores the use of radial basis functions for freeform image deformation and compares it to a standard approach that uses B-spline warping.  Edit propagation is a promising user-guided color editing technique, which, instead of requiring precise selection of the region being edited, accepts color edits as a few brush strokes over an image region and then propagates these edits to the regions with similar appearance. This thesis focuses on an approach to edit propagation, which considers user input as an incomplete set of values of an intended edit function. The approach interpolates between the user input values using radial basis functions to find the edit function for the whole image.  While the existing approach applies the user-specified edits to all the regions with similar colors, this thesis presents an extension that propagates the edits more selectively. In addition to color information of each image point, it also takes the surrounding texture into account and better distinguishes different objects, giving the algorithm more information about the user-specified region and making the edit propagation more precise.
The Wairarapa Wealthy in Public and Private, 1876–1913
Authors:   , Cruden Joseph
Published: November 2021

Social histories of New Zealand’s colonial wealthy usually focus on those who left personal papers, ignoring those who left no major records. What is more, histories of the wealthy have tended to focus on the South Island—there is no reason to assume that the North Island rich were the same. This thesis attempts to address both these imbalances by approaching wealthy individuals in colonial Wairarapa systematically—locating all testators who died between 1876 and 1913, leaving estates worth £10,000 or more. This process produces a cohort of sixty-five, mainly farmers and mostly of middle-class origins. Testamentary records demonstrate that in private, the rich stayed true to their origins by splitting their wealth evenly. Other forms of biographical information, most notably newspaper obituaries and Cyclopedia entries, show that public life was different. Here, the rich departed from their origins; whereas community involvement and charitable works had been an important aspect of middle-class identity in Britain, the colonial experience forced wealthy capitalists to redefine public status. Throughout, this thesis demonstrates the importance of regional social histories in New Zealand by thinking ‘under as well as across the nation’—extending South Island scholarship of the wealthy into the North Island and examining the manifestation of large historical forces close-up in communities of individuals.
Gold and silver nanoparticles as high-value colourants and multi-functional entities for natural fibres and minerals
Authors:   , Burridge Kerstin Ann
Published: November 2021

Significant opportunities exist in both the scientific and industrial sectors for the development of novel multi-functional materials that combine the inherent properties of all precursor components in a synergistic manner, thereby providing new products and opportunities. Processes that add value to natural materials in a facile and refined manner are particularly sought after. Thus this research combines useable substrates, notably natural protein fibres and minerals with gold or silver nanoparticles, producing high value, multi-functional materials that display the strength, softness and shine (of the protein fibres), or high surface area and dispersibility (of the minerals) with the high value and wealth associated with the noble metal nanoparticles, their broad spectrum of intense colours, anti-microbial, insecticide and anti-static properties. This adds significant worth to the substrates, transforming them from commodities to valuable materials.  Silk, merino wool and crossbred wool were the natural fibres employed kaolinite and halloysite clays the minerals. They were combined with gold and silver nanoparticles of various sizes and shapes (and hence colours) producing the following composite materials:  • Gold nanoparticle-merino wool composites  • Gold nanoparticle-crossbred wool composites  • Gold nanoparticle-silk composites  • Silver nanoparticle-kaolinite composites  • Silver nanoparticle-halloysite composites  The most successful method for producing silver nanoparticle-clay composites involved the external preparation of silver nanoparticles and their subsequent attachment to the clay substrates by means of a layer-by-layer deposition approach, which capitalised on electrostatic interactions between oppositely charged polyelectrolytes capping the nanoparticles and bound to the clay surfaces.  Three general approaches were employed in the production of the gold nanoparticle-natural fibre composite materials. The nanoparticles were either synthesised ex-situ and subsequently attached to the fibres, or the natural fibres were utilised as redox active biotemplates in which the wool or silk absorbed and subsequently reduced Au³⁺ to nanoparticulate Au⁰ on and within the fibres. Thirdly, a seed mediated growth approach was employed in which additional Au³⁺ was reduced to nanoparticulate Au⁰ on the surface of gold nanoparticles already bound to the fibres. This was facilitated by an external reductant.
Complex Spacetimes and the Newman-Janis Trick
Authors:   , Rajan Del
Published: November 2021

In this thesis, we explore the subject of complex spacetimes, in which the mathematical theory of complex manifolds gets modified for application to General Relativity. We will also explore the mysterious Newman-Janis trick, which is an elementary and quite short method to obtain the Kerr black hole from the Schwarzschild black hole through the use of complex variables. This exposition will cover variations of the Newman-Janis trick, partial explanations, as well as original contributions.
Fetishism and the Moral Marketplace: How Abolitionist Sugar Boycotts in the 1790s Defined British Consumers and the West Indian "Other"
Authors:   , Carmichael Laurel
Published: November 2021

In the early 1790s more than 300,000 Britons boycotted West Indian sugar in one of the most impressive displays of public mobilisation against the slave trade. Many of those who abstained were inspired by William Fox’s 1791 pamphlet An Address to the People of Great Britain on the Utility of Refraining from the Use of West India Sugar and Rum. The abstention movement gained momentum amidst the failures of the petition campaign to achieve a legislative end to the slave-trade, and placed the responsibility of ending slavery with all British consumers. This thesis draws from cross-disciplinary scholarship to argue that the campaign against slave sugar appealed to an idealised image of the humanitarian consumer and maligned slave. Writers such as Fox based their appeal on a sense of religious duty, class-consciousness and gendered values. Both the domestic sphere and the consumer body were transformed into sites of political activism, as abolitionists attempted to establish a direct link between the ingestion of sugar and the violence of colonial slavery. Attempts to encourage consumers’ sympathetic identification with the plight of distant slaves occurred alongside attempts to invoke horror and repulsion at slave suffering. The image of the West Indian slave presented to consumers was one shaped by fetishized European imaginings. The decision to abstain from slave sugar, therefore, was not only motivated by genuine philanthropic concerns, but the desire to protect the civilised and refined modern consumer, from the contaminating products of colonial barbarity.
Epistemic Circularity
Authors:   , Macdonald Matthew
Published: November 2021

An instance of epistemically circular justification is one in which a justification source successfully justifies the claim that it is a justification source. It is generally thought that this is impossible. However, there is also reason to think that our fundamental evidential sources and theories of justification cannot be justified without circularity. In this thesis I investigate the problem of epistemic circularity in detail. First, I’ll examine a prominent argument for thinking that the justification of our fundamental evidential sources must be circular, and show that it is not decisive. My response employs a pragmatic account of justification, whereby your goals and preferences can make you justified in believing something even when you lack evidence for it. Second, I’ll offer a different argument for thinking that epistemically circular justification is possible.
Natural, Wearable Game Controllers
Authors:   , Steel Emily
Published: November 2021

Natural, wearable game controllers explores how people interact with games and their potential uses. Since the early days of personal computing video games have been used for more than just fun. Such uses include exploration education, simulation of real world environments and the study of human thought processes (Wolf, 2008). As well as video games being used in a wide variety of settings, there has also been considerable variation in the way we interact with them - from basic mouse and keyboard interaction to the introduction of non-traditional gaming systems such the Nintendo Wii and Microsoft Kinect. These different inputs can be fall within a spectrum of abstract and natural game controllers. This thesis looks at the difference between the two and applies this to the creation of a natural wearable game controller.   The aim of this thesis was to create a customised human-computer interface (HCI) input device, using a reliable piece of hardware with accompanying software a user could interact with. Through design experiments a wearable game controller was created in the form of a wrap band. Once the wrap band was developed the next step was to see how it could be used as a game controller. Design experiments were conducted, focusing on integration with a pre-existing game, using it as an exercise assessment tool and developing a specific game which could be used for rehabilitation.The area of rehabilitation gaming is broad so this thesis focuses on Weight Bearing Asymmetry (WBA). This is a condition where a person does not evenly distribute their weight between their feet.   This thesis explores a range of hardware and software design experiments to see how wearable technology can be used to create a new way of interacting with video games. It looks at the benefits of using wearable technology and gaming for rehabilitation, it’s limitations and future applications of this technology. The thesis concludes that natural wearable game controllers do have potential real world application in both gaming and rehabilitation.
The Political Influence of the Military Before and After Democratic Transition: Experiences from Indonesia - An Assessment on Myanmar
Authors:   , Beets Benjamin H.
Published: November 2021

Historically, the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) and Myanmar’s Armed Forces (Tatmadaw) held tremendous levels of domestic political influence. Following independence in the 1940s, both countries experienced a short and unstable democratic period. Largely due to the weakness of civilian institutions, and the special place of the TNI and the Tatmadaw in society, both militaries became the most dominant political actors in their respective countries. In 1998, President Suharto’s government fell, which instigated a period of political reform whereby the TNI removed itself from the political realm. It would seem as if democratisation has seen the TNI lose significant political clout. However, is it this simple? Does democratisation mean a total loss of political influence for the military?  This paper seeks to understand to what extent the TNI lost political influence in the democratic era and whether similar developments are likely for Myanmar’s Tatmadaw. To answer this question, this paper will review literature on influence, democracy and civilmilitary relations in order to produce a thematic framework of indicators that can be used for further analysis on the TNI and the Tatmadaw. Once a framework has been laid, this paper will investigate the Indonesian experience, focusing on pre-democracy (1945-1998), before shifting to see how influential the TNI is in the democratic era (1998-2015). The Tatmadaw’s political influence will then be examined in the junta period (1948-2015). Once the Tatmadaw current state is understood, this paper will provide informed judgements on the likely influence of the Tatmadaw in a future democratic Myanmar.  This paper found that in the post-Suharto era, the TNI still retains political influence as a result of its strong standing in Indonesian society, involvement in off-budget income generation, and a strong internal security role, as well as weak civilian institutions. Although the TNI no longer have a dominant role in Indonesia politics, they certain hold a level of political influence in Jakarta. With Myanmar heading toward democratisation, after fifty years of junta rule, will the Tatmadaw follow a similar trajectory? This paper is timely. November 8, 2015 will see democratic elections take place in Myanmar. The most popular political party, the National League for Democracy, led by democratic icon Aung San Suu Kyi, is likely to do very well in the election. At the same time, Myanmar’s 2008 Constitution indirectly bans her from becoming president, provides the Tatmadaw with 25 percent of the seats in parliament and gives the military a veto option, even in the supposedly democratic era.
Parent experiences and coping processes when raising children with Asperger syndrome: Challenges, turning points and building resilience
Authors:   , Gold Jo-Lynne
Published: November 2021

This study explored parent experiences and their coping responses raising a child or children with Asperger syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder. A family resilience framework was used to interpret the process of positive adaptations that led to resilience. A disability studies perspective considered how parents reconceptualised what was ‘normal’ as they managed the friction between societal views of difference and their child’s strengths. The chosen methodology was narrative inquiry with a thematic approach to the narrative analysis. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 25 parents and 1 grandparent of children with Asperger syndrome in New Zealand. This study found families experienced significant stress when raising a child or children with Asperger syndrome and considerable adaptations over the course of their child’s growing up years were made.  Four key themes around challenges were identified: the challenges associated with Asperger syndrome, such as their child’s difficult behaviour, social skill difficulties and high sensory sensitivities; challenges arising from a lack of understanding and acceptance in the community that led to stigma and social withdrawal; challenges interacting with health and education services, such as a long medical diagnostic process and inadequate support at school; and challenges to family dynamics that resulted in increased tension between family members. Turning points were identified as part of the process of building resilience as parents successfully managed difficult circumstances at critical junctures in their lives. Positive coping strategies included meaning making, developing resources, planning ahead and solving problems; and strengthening intrapersonal assets.  The findings from this study contribute to the theoretical construct of resilience and to the emerging literature on positive adaptations. Implications for practice include encouraging respectful parent and professional relationships; strengthening social support, especially through parent groups; raising parents’ self-efficacy through tailored behavioural strategies for their child; early intervention and targeted school resources; and support at critical times.
Predicting outdoor thermal comfort in urban areas
Authors:   , Toner Victoria Jo Louise
Published: November 2021

Outdoor thermal comfort is key to creating vibrant outdoor urban spaces. The built form is able to modify solar radiation and wind. However, there is currently no way of considering the effect of the built form on thermal comfort when designing a new development based on the environmental factors – wind, solar radiation, and ambient temperature. Current practice for designing outdoor thermal comfort is based on simple design guidelines, and knowledge of local wind and sun patterns.  A Process for Predicting Outdoor Thermal Comfort has been developed. This predicts thermal comfort based on solar radiation, wind, and ambient temperature using The Wellington Comfort Index. The process is able to predict comfort at a single point within a proposed urban development using specialised computer programs. Through predicting how the combination of solar radiation, wind, and ambient temperature will affect comfort, improvements can be made to comfort during the design phase.  The aim of this thesis project is to develop the Process for Predicting Outdoor Thermal Comfort into a Comfort Tool for use at the preliminary design stage of a development. The intended users of the tool are professionals working in urban planning and architecture, such as designers and consultants who have experience with three-dimensional modelling and simulation programs.  A case study research approach was used to test The Comfort Tool’s ability to inform design changes through communicating thermal comfort across a proposed development. A range of case studies were selected with different built forms. This was to test if The Comfort Tool can predict comfort in case studies with different levels of solar radiation and wind at pedestrian level due to the variations in the built forms.  This research confirmed that a tool can be developed for predicting comfort across a proposed development, which can also test proposed design changes for their success during the design phase. However, further investigation is needed to determine whether The Wellington Comfort Index can be used in other cities.
Adapting to Constraints - A Study of Green Star New Zealand's Effects on Decision Making using Classic Grounded Theory
Authors:   , Prins Hendrik
Published: November 2021

Over the last 25 years building rating systems have been developed to quantify and promote sustainable development in the construction industry. Many countries have now developed their own rating system and some systems have been adapted for international use. The different outcomes and results from their use have been under much scrutiny from developers, clients, industry, and academics. Concerns such as increased cost, points buying, and discrepancies between the rated design and completed projects have been identified.   In order to better understand why these concerns occur, the Green Star New Zealand rating system – adapted from Green Star Australia – was studied to quantify its effects on rated projects. The overall aim of this thesis was to investigate the effects of Green Star New Zealand on the decision making process. Specifically, the way in which this system affects the decision making processes during the design of a rated building was investigated to provide insight into reasons why these different outcomes may occur.   This was undertaken through a classic grounded theory study during which professionals experienced in the use of Green Star were interviewed, and the data collected from the interviews was inductively analysed to generate conceptual theory and concepts. The interview data and discussion with the participants identified that decision making is affected largely through the different constraints and conditions encountered when using Green Star and how they are adapted to. These are applied to decision making through a number of different ways, being directly or indirectly related to Green Star, something decided on with or without prior experience, or internal or external to the design team.  The analysis identified several categories which explained processes and behaviours resulting from the use of Green Star. These are ‘managing Green Star requirements’, ‘credit targeting’, ‘working with unknowns’, ‘disconnection of knowledge’, and ‘balancing project requirements’. It is these categories that caused adaptation to emerge as the primary process of resolving constraints, with ‘adapting to constraints’ emerging as the core variable.
Ideas, Institutions and Interests: The Politics of China’s Energy Policy Change 1996-2015
Authors:   , Gao Yang
Published: November 2021

This study investigates and explains the shift of the relative priority in China’s energy policy in the 1990s and 2000s. Between 1996 and 2015, the priority of China’s national energy policy had shifted from an emphasis on energy supply security to energy demand efficiency. A central question this study seeks to answer is: what forces led to this shift of policy priority?  To answer the question, this study proposes a multi-layered and cross-sectoral analytical framework based on Historical Institutionalism theory. It focuses on the complex interaction between ideas, institutions and interests to understand the politics of China’s energy policy change. This study establishes a model of policy change as a means of institutional adaptation to manage an emerging mismatch between evolving ideational patterns at the national level, and the persistence of certain interest-seeking behaviour shaped by historically-formulated institutions at the subnational level.  With the introduction of the “Socialist Market Economy” idea in the early 1990s, China began to deepen its reform on two sets of fundamental institution that define China’s state-industry relations and central-local intergovernmental relations. Over time, the reforms profoundly impacted the development of China’s two major energy-based industrial value chains, namely the Coal-Metallurgical Value Chain (CMVC) and the Oil-Petrochemical Value Chain (OPVC), by shaping their asymmetrical institutional connections with Chinese government at central and local levels. At the national level, the 1990s reforms helped to build strong institutional connections between the central government and the OPVC, which greatly contributed to China’s energy security in the 2000s. However, decentralising and marketising most heavy industries allowed interest-seeking local governments to build strong institutional connections with the CMVC, causing the 1990s reforms to produce an unintended consequence of heavy industrialisation that has significantly changed China’s economic structure. Such uncontrolled heavy industrialisation, revealed by the country’s declining energy efficiency in the early 2000s, had increasingly went against a new generation of Chinese top leadership’s “Scientific Development” idea. A major energy policy shift was therefore initiated and utilised by the central government to curb the heavy industrialisation. The central government’s institutional connections with the coal-based heavy industries, especially those in the CMVC, were rebuilt and strengthened.  Overall, this study provides a more sophisticated understanding of how ideas, institutions and interests dynamically interact to produce major policy change in the context of a transitional state.
The implementation of Papua New Guinea's national goals and directive principles and basic social obligations
Authors:   , Narokobi Vergil
Published: November 2021

The thesis identifies an issue in Papua New Guinea’s Constitution with regard to the non-implementation of its National Goals and Directive Principles (NGDP) and Basic Social Obligations (BSO). Situated in the Preamble to the Constitution, the NGDP and BSO provide a guide for the future development of Papua New Guinea.  Upon a careful study of ss 25 and 63 of the Constitution, which enjoins governmental bodies in Papua New Guinea to implement the NGDP and BSO, the thesis argues they are indirectly justiciable.  Characterising the NGDP and BSO as indirectly justiciable would facilitate their implementation within the present constitutional framework by considering the functions of each of the limbs of government and the Ombudsman Commission as interconnected. Using indirect justiciability and the interconnectedness approach, the thesis outlines several proposals for the legislature, the executive, the judiciary and the Ombudsman Commission.  The thesis contends these proposals can facilitate the effective and efficient implementation of the NGDP and BSO.
Outside In: Wellington jazz among the discourses
Authors:   , Tipping Nicholas
Published: November 2021

The jazz community in Wellington, New Zealand, is vibrant and energetic: this small, geographically isolated city hosts between 90 and 100 jazz performances each month. Yet in terms of both New Zealand music and the international profile of jazz, Wellington (and New Zealand) jazz occupies a curious blind spot, absent from the scholarly and mainstream discourses of both. This absence is reflected in Wellingtonians’ own practice, in which perspectives from overseas (usually the U.S.) are privileged. Combining ethnography, practice-led research, and a variety of theoretical lenses, I examine the Wellington scene and its dynamics.  Initially describing the local scene in geographical, economic, and social terms, I examine notions of “scene” and “community”, illustrating the ways in which they privilege dominant perspectives at the expense of a broader, collective identity. Through detailed case studies of central government music funding and the New Zealand School of Music jazz programme, I illustrate the dual hegemonies with which Wellington jazz musicians must contend: underlying discursive assumptions about the nature of both New Zealand music and the jazz tradition combine to leave local jazz in a liminal space, in which it arguably fits both categories, but is present within the discourse of neither.  In the second part of the thesis, engaging with the discourses on authenticity in jazz, the tradition, and identity, I consider the nature of jazz expression. On one hand, ‘true’ jazz expression requires the performer to perform their identity; on the other, it is bound by a set of practices and/or aesthetics, deriving from a Black (or Blues) aesthetic. The combination of imperatives is problematic for musicians of other cultures, as E. Taylor Atkins (2001) has pointed out, and it is for this reason that jazz discourse remains largely rooted in the U.S. By turning the concept of authenticity in jazz back on itself, I propose that the creativity mandated by jazz aesthetics allows for new, culturally specific forms of jazz that draw on the individual identity of the performer, and which therefore sit firmly within the jazz tradition, at least in relation to particular definitions.  Presenting a number of case studies, I illustrate the concepts of authenticity and identity in relation to performance in the Wellington scene: local musicians imbue the jazz they perform with new, locally specific meanings that derive from their own identity and context, despite overtly drawing on overseas influences. As a result, the jazz performed in local scenes like Wellington may fruitfully add to the discourses of both New Zealand music and jazz, by presenting additional perspectives that challenge preconceptions of both.