bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Primary Teachers' Mathematical Beliefs and Practices in the Maldives
Authors:   , Adam Mohamed Shameem
Published: November 2021

Recent reforms in mathematics education have been influenced by such theoretical perspectives as constructivism, which have reconceptualised teaching and learning. Mismatches between teachers’ beliefs about teaching and learning, and ideas underpinning reform are often viewed as major obstacles to implementing educational reforms. This study examined the mathematical beliefs and practices, and factors affecting practices, of eight primary teachers selected from four schools in two different regions of the Maldives. The research used a multiple case study approach within a qualitative methodology. A questionnaire, semi-structured interviews, and observations were used to collect data about teachers’ beliefs and practice. Teachers’ lesson notes, worksheets, samples of student work, and test papers were used to understand teachers’ practice. Data were analysed within and across cases using a thematic approach. Teachers demonstrated a range of beliefs that included both constructivist and traditional elements to different degrees. In general, teachers’ observed practice was more traditional than their beliefs about teaching and learning mathematics. The teachers’ practice showed some consistency with their beliefs about the nature of mathematics, mathematics teaching and learning; however, the degree of consistency between beliefs and practice differed from teacher to teacher. Overall, the findings indicated there are several factors affecting teachers’ practice, including methods of assessment, teacher accountability for students’ results, limited time to cover the curriculum, lack of resources, and parental pressure to use textbooks. National assessment practices, affecting many factors found to limit practice, emerged as being particularly influential on the teachers’ instructional behaviour. The study suggests the need to change the nature of national assessment, and remove other barriers if teachers are to be best placed to implement their constructivist beliefs and the Maldives mathematics curriculum. The findings also have implications for professional development and teacher education programmes.
Calling to Complain: An Ethnographic and Conversation Analytic Account of Complaints to an Industry Ombudsman
Authors:   , Dewar Joe
Published: November 2021

Although the term complaining represents an ostensibly straightforward behaviour, it has come to obtain a range of meanings within academic and commercial works which have directed research toward understanding the behaviour and attempting to improve the way that it is undertaken, particularly in commercial environments where complaint handling constitutes an important field of commercial practice for many firms. It is proposed in this thesis that such variation in the way that complaining is approached is problematic, as it is treated ways that frequently underemphasise the fundamental point that it is overwhelmingly conducted in interpersonal interactions using language as its primary vehicle (Edwards, 2005). This thesis offers an approach to complaint handling and complaining that eschews such approaches in favour of an empirically grounded account based on the principles of ethnographic analysis, conversation analysis, and discursive psychology. Through investigating the complaint handling procedures as practiced by employees in an institution expressly dedicated to the receipt of complaints and enquiries from customers by employing participant observation and interviews, an account of complaint handling is developed that identifies how a range of forces works to impact on the way that it is performed in an institutional environment, furnishing complaint handling with a level of detail not currently offered in managerial literature dedicated to developing the practice. Next, two research chapters present the investigation of two different aspects of complaint interactions themselves. The first of these focuses on call openings as customers and institutional agents work to align themselves to the project of the call, demonstrating varying orientations to institutional complaining as callers demonstrate their own procedures for complaining (and enquiring) which may not match the institutional prerogatives and procedures of the agents receiving the calls. The final research chapter offers an analysis of a recurrent practice in the complaint calls themselves: callers’ use of self-disclosure in the service of rendering matters as problematic and warranting complaint. This finding adds to existing discursive understandings of how complaining is done. Taken together the findings offer an alternative approach to investigating complaint handling by treating it as an indexical practice bound to local demands. This offers a detailed depiction of complaint handling and complaining ‘in situ’ that may offer researchers and commercial entities a new approach to investigating how it is that complaining is done and how, in commercial or institutional contexts, complaint handling may be improved through the methods employed in the thesis.
Managing Risks in Offshore Outsourcing Relationships with China: A Relational View
Authors:   , Zhang Yiying
Published: November 2021

Over the past two decades, offshore outsourcing to emerging economies, such as China, has been viewed by firms as an efficient way to gain competitive advantage. Literature indicates that offshore outsourcing can enhance firms’ competitiveness and efficiency by reducing costs, expanding relational ties, freeing up scarce resources, and leveraging capabilities. However, the research relating to risk management of offshore outsourcing relationships has not been widely reflected in extant literature. This study addresses this research gap by developing a conceptual model that examines the association between management approaches and the risks in offshore outsourcing relationships. This study applies two types of risks being relational risk and performance risk, as dependent variables. Based on social exchange theory and transaction cost theory, this study proposes two management approaches to minimise risks in offshore outsourcing relationships, which are the relational approach and the transactional approach. Empirical testing of the conceptual model employed a quantitative approach using an online survey of 41 managers from Australia and New Zealand. The survey data was analysed using a multiple regression technique, which revealed four valuable findings. Firstly, a higher level of relational risk leads to a higher level of performance risk. Secondly, the relational approach, based on interdependence of outsourcing exchange firms, can reduce performance risk. Thirdly, an increased level of relationship-specific investments contributes to the rise of performance risk. More importantly, the survey results show that relational risk plays a mediating role between relational factors and performance risk. This study recommends that offshore outsourcing firms employ the relational approach to manage performance risk. The mediating role of relational risk also indicates that firms should not just concentrate on minimising the performance risks of offshore outsourcing relationships, but should also manage relational risks due to uncooperative behaviours such as opportunism.
Promotion to Partner in Large Law Firms Operating in the United Kingdom: Tournament Theory and the Monitoring of the Implied Promise
Authors:   , Shufflebotham David Howell
Published: November 2021

This research is a study of the promotion to partner process in large law firms in the United Kingdom (UK). It is concerned with the application of tournament theory to such firms. In particular it is an examination of the ability of associate lawyers to monitor the implied promise that, in prescribed circumstances, they will have the opportunity of becoming a partner at their firms. In order to identify whether or not the rules of tournament theory on promotion to partnership hold true when set against the experiences of lawyers in large law firms operating in the UK, I established a theoretical framework based on a review of the relevant literature. I then tested that theoretical framework with data from two sources: case study interviews with partners at a large UK law firm; and a questionnaire distributed to a wider sample group of partners across a number of large UK law firms. The research found strong evidence to support the application of the core elements of tournament theory to large law firms in the UK. The research also found, however, that the implied promise envisaged by tournament theory was not the promise monitored by the individuals who took part in the research project.
"Now the War is Over, We Have Something Else to Worry Us": New Zealand Children's Responses to Crises, 1914-1918
Authors:   , Bennett Charlotte Jayne Sylvia
Published: November 2021

World War One has long been identified as a key moment in early twentieth-century history. This conflict, however, was not the only dramatic event that occurred during the mid-to-late 1910s. A deadly influenza virus swept across the world between 1918 and 1919, and this global health crisis proved particularly devastating for those countries who had already suffered through more than four years of warfare. Children were ever-present on New Zealand's home front, facing both the First World War and then the influenza pandemic in 1918. Yet, despite their significant presence within this environment, little is known about children's experiences during this tumultuous period in New Zealand's past. This thesis aims to deepen understandings of children's priorities and concerns between 1914 and 1918 through an investigation of youth reactions to World War One and the 1918 flu. A wide range of sources have been utilised in order to achieve insight into the lives of these historical figures. These include letters written by children during the mid-to-late 1910s, school magazines and religious publications directed at youth, and recollections of children's experiences from this period as captured through oral histories. Ultimately, it is asserted that New Zealand youth engaged with these events to the extent that they impacted children's worlds. Children's concerns and priorities, while often differing from those held by adults during the same period, were far from universal. Emotional and geographical proximity and age all played a significant role in mediating and varying children's exposure and responses to crises between 1914 and 1918.
The Geology of the Torlesse Supergroup, Southern Tararua Range, North Island, New Zealand
Authors:   , Orr Thomas O. H.
Published: November 2021

Basement rocks in the southern Tararua Range are part of the Torlesse Supergroup, possibly Late Triassic to Late Jurassic in age, and form two distinct associations. The sedimentarv association consists mainly of quartzo-feldspathic sandstone and argillite with minor olistostrome, calcareous siltstone and microsparite. The sandstone and argillite were deposited as turbidites in a mid- to outer- submarine fan environment. The sediment was derived from a heavily dissected active continental margin that was shedding sediment of mainly plutonic and metamorphic origin. The volcanic association consists mainly of metabasite and coloured argillite with minor chert and limestone. Geochemical data indicate that the metabasites were erupted in an oceanic intraplate environment. The nature of amygdules in amygdaloidal metabasites suggests eruption in less than 800m of water. Coloured argillites have two distinct origins, namely sediments formed by the degredation of basalt; and also pelagic material modified by metal-rich effluent either from hydrothermal systems associated with mid-ocean ridges or intraplate volcanism. The rocks of the volcanic association indicate formation in an environment similar to present day mid-ocean islands. Nowhere were rocks of the two associations observed to be conformable. Coupled with this, the nature of the two associations suggests that they were formed in separate environments. The following structural history is proposed: 1) Early veining; 2) Isoclinal folding and development of a NNE striking cleavage; 3) Faulting both at low and high angles to bedding, extreme amounts of which have resulted in mélange; 4) NE-SW trending close to open folds; 5) E-W trending open to gentle folds; 6) Recent faulting, predominantly NE trending strike-slip faults. The nature of the two associations and the deformational style and history supports an accretionary prism model for the development of the Torlesse Supergroup. Rocks of the southern Tararua Range show many similarities with, and probably represent a northward continuation of, the Esk Head Mélange of the South Island.
Organisational Identity and Alcohol Use in Knowledge-Intensive Workplaces
Authors:   , Walker Benjamin Webster
Published: November 2021

The use of alcohol is an integral social act in many cultures and societies. The reasons for its use, as well as its mental and physical effects on people, have been a topic of academic interest for decades. This thesis examines the relationship between the work lives of individuals and their use of alcohol. At a more specific level, the thesis examines the relationship between alcohol use and the concept of organisational identity. Using data collected from interviews with members of a knowledge-intensive workplace, findings are presented that illustrate how alcohol use can be understood as an important part of processes of organisational identification, and how workers' alcohol use can be affected by an organisation's identity itself. The theoretical implications of these findings are numerous. Firstly, these findings suggest that organisational concepts, such as organisational identity, can be exceptionally useful in gaining an understanding of the reasons why individuals use alcohol in the ways that they do. In addition, the findings suggest that knowledge-intensive workplaces represent a valuable site for further advancing understandings of the work-alcohol relationship. Finally, it is argued that alcohol use in many situations should be understood as a part of individuals' organisational life, and not just a product or outcome of their participation in an organisation.
The Influence of Spatial Position on Affect
Authors:   , Burrows Michael T
Published: November 2021

Conceptual metaphor theory posits that the physical domain (e.g. the vertical dimension) is used to understand abstract concepts (e.g. affect); creating expressions such as, “falling into a deep depression.” Previous research concerning vertical metaphors has found that people more rapidly process positive and negative words when the valence was metaphorically consistent with vertical position (Meier & Robinson, 2004) and that mood traits were metaphorically consistent with vertical attentional biases (Meier & Robinson, 2006). The purpose of the current study was to investigate the effects of vertical perceptual biases on mood; whether shifting perception could have an effect upon the emotional experience of an individual. In Experiment 1, vertical attention was manipulated by having university students move letters upwards or downwards on a computer screen, with measures of mood completed before and after the manipulation. In Experiment 2, participants completed the same task, but moved schematic faces that were either happy or sad. In both experiments vertical attention was biased; however a significant change in mood state was produced only when schematic faces were used as stimuli in the task. The results suggest that shifting an individual’s vertical perception can influence their mood, when the task is emotionally arousing.
The Interpretation of Cultural Heritage: Sharing Māori Cultural Tourism Experiences with International Visitors
Authors:   , Dwyer Trisha
Published: November 2021

Māori cultural tourism can be an important part of the experience for visitors to New Zealand. The purpose of this research is to gain insights into the way guides manage visitor experiences in order to enhance the understanding and appreciation of Māori culture. International visitors are culturally and linguistically diverse. Therefore, not only are there differences in perspectives and beliefs, but also in communication. Furthermore, visitors arrive with differences in knowledge, interest and expectations. This thesis considers approaches to guiding and interpretation in Māori cultural tourism experiences by examining how guides, as cross-cultural mediators, share Māori cultural heritage so that it is meaningful and relevant to visitors. The literature on Māori tourism has examined issues of ownership, participation, control over representation, and the diversification of Māori tourism products. In spite of the shift to reflect tribal diversity, stereotypes are still reinforced in marketing images and tourism products. Although acknowledged as important, there are no published studies on the role of Māori guides. Developed from a social constructivist perspective, this study compares perspectives on and approaches to guiding and interpretation by Māori and non-Māori guides. Data collection was through semi-structured interviews with tour guides and a manager from the chosen case studies, Te Puia and Te Papa, with 21 interviews conducted in June and July 2011. Using a visitor-centred approach to interpretation, guides select information and find relevant connections. Furthermore, the quantity and complexity of information, as well as the style and level of communication is considered. Guides manage the relationship so that visitors feel comfortable, which not only enables interaction and encourages questions but is also important for managing visitors' attitudes. The main challenge identified is the language barrier and working with outside language interpreters. In the comparison between Māori and non-Māori guides, the key differences are found in the guide's background and ways of learning about Māori cultural heritage. This research contributes to the literature on interpretation and indigenous tourism by identifying factors influencing the process of the interpretation of cultural heritage. Furthermore, comparing the perceptions of Māori and non-Māori guides provides a key contribution. The findings of this study have management implications for training of guides.
Behavioural and Neurochemical Consequences of MDMA Self-Administration in Rats
Authors:   , Do Jennifer
Published: November 2021

Rationale: Over the past few decades, MDMA has been shown to produce persistent detrimental effects. Animal models have been developed to investigate the effects of self-administered drugs on brain and behaviour, but only a limited number of studies have investigated effects of MDMA. Objectives: The present thesis sought to determine the effects of MDMA self-administration on working memory and tissue levels of 5HT in rats. The role of the 5HT₁ₐ autoreceptor in MDMA-produced deficits in tissue levels of 5HT was also evaluated using neurochemical and behavioural assays. Methods: Rats self-administered a total of 165mg/kg MDMA, and were then tested in the Novel Object Recognition (NOR) task 1 week or 9 weeks following the last session of MDMA self-administration. Tissue levels of 5HT were measured in separate groups of rats, following self-administration of a total dose of 165mg/kg or 315mg/kg. 8-OH-DPAT-induced lower lip retraction (LLR) was measured in rats 2 weeks following either self-administered (315mg/kg) or experimenter-administered (40mg/kg) MDMA. In subsequent studies, chronic 8-OH-DPAT (daily injections over 7 days; 1.0mg/kg/day), chronic trazodone (continuous infusion over 14 days via osmotic minipump; 10mg/kg/day) and tryptophan loading (oral administration over 7 days; 125mg/day via gavaging needle) were administered after MDMA treatment (either self-administered; 315mg/kg or experimenter-administered; 40mg/kg) and tissue levels of 5HT were measured. Results: Self-administered MDMA produced deficits in NOR that recovered 10 weeks following self-administration. There was a small decrease in tissue levels of 5HT at both 2 weeks and 10 weeks following the low dose of self-administered MDMA. Two weeks following the high dose, tissue levels of 5HT were decreased by about 30% in all brain regions examined, and there was recovery 10 weeks following exposure. 8-OH-DPAT-induced LLR was unchanged in MDMA-treated rats. Furthermore, none of the treatments restored tissue levels of 5HT following MDMA exposure, even though the treatment (chronic 8-OH-DPAT) shifted the basal 8-OH-DPAT-induced LLR curve to the right, suggesting autoreceptor desensitisation. Conclusions: Self-administered MDMA produced deficits in NOR, which may reflect impaired attention, encoding, novelty seeking or other cognitive processes. Dose- and time-dependent deficits in tissue levels of 5HT were modest compared to those produced by experimenter-administered MDMA. Therefore, MDMA self-administration may be important for pre-clinical investigation of long-term consequences of MDMA. The findings are not consistent with the idea that the 5HT₁ₐ autoreceptor became supersensitive as a result of MDMA exposure, and it is therefore not a viable pharmacological target for restoring tissue levels of 5HT.
Reputation Description and Interpretation
Authors:   , Chard Ryan
Published: November 2021

Reputation is an opinion held by others about a particular person, group, organisation, or resource. As a tool, reputation can be used to forecast the reliability of others based on their previous actions, moreover, in some domains it can even be used to estimate trustworthiness. Due to the large scale of virtual communities it is impossible to maintain a meaningful relationship with every member. Reputation systems are designed explicitly to manufacture trust within a virtual community by recording and sharing information regarding past interactions. Reputation systems are becoming increasingly popular and widespread, with the information generated varying considerably between domains. Currently, no formal method to exchange reputation information exists. However, the OpenRep framework, currently under development, is designed to federate reputation information, enabling the transparent exchange of information between reputation systems. This thesis presents a reputation description and interpretation system, designed as a foundation for the OpenRep framework. The description and interpretation system focuses on enabling the consistent and reliable expression and interpretation of reputation information across heterogeneous reputation systems. The description and interpretation system includes a strongly typed language, a verification system to validate usage of the language, and a XML based exchange protocol. In addition to these contributions, three case studies are presented as a means of generating requirements for the description and interpretation system, and evaluating the use of the proposed system in a federated reputation environment. The case studies include an electronic auction, virtual community and social network based relationship management service.
We Do Not Have an Adequate Conception of Art Until We Have One that Accommodates Gardens
Authors:   , Powell John Francis
Published: November 2021

In the first part of this thesis (chapters 1 – 4) I argue that we do not have an adequate conception of art until we have one that accommodates gardens. I argue for this by demonstrating that gardens are sufficiently like paradigmatic types of art to be included in the category of art. While doing this I show not just how gardens are similar to other types of art but also how they combine qualities shared with other types of arts in a way that is unique.  In the second part (chapters 5 and 6) I develop this claim. I consider the dynamic nature of gardens and argue that gardens are most like performance arts such as music and dance, and that their distinctiveness relies on the particular dynamic character of the living organisms that constitute their principal materials.  I concludes this thesis (chapter 7) by considering gardens in the context of the contemporary art genres of installation and environmental art.
The Organization of the Islamic Cooperation and the Conflict in Southern Thailand
Authors:   , Waesahmae Paoyee
Published: November 2021

The current wave of insurgency in the southern provinces of Thailand, where the majority of population are Muslim, sparked up in 2004 but shows no sign of ending in the near future. The insurgency caused by the conflict in the region which, along the time, has risen and fallen depending on surrounding circumstances. Given the scale and intensity of the conflict, it has increasingly attracted the attention of the outside world especially the Islamic world since the conflict is believed to be connected with religious elements. Despite of this, no specific Islamic countries have played a direct role in intervention in the conflict. The only intervention involved in the conflict was carried out by the OIC, a representative of 57 Islamic countries. This essay attempts to examine the intervention of the OIC into the conflict in the southern provinces of Thailand in the name of Islamic countries in order to protect the rights of Muslim minorities as it claims and will explore the consequences of the tension between the OIC’s mission to uphold these rights and sovereign states.
A Mechanical Verification of the Independence of Tarski's Euclidean Axiom
Authors:   , Makarios Timothy James McKenzie
Published: November 2021

This thesis describes the mechanization of Tarski's axioms of plane geometry in the proof verification program Isabelle. The real Cartesian plane is mechanically verified to be a model of Tarski's axioms, thus verifying the consistency of the axiom system. The Klein–Beltrami model of the hyperbolic plane is also defined in Isabelle; in order to achieve this, the projective plane is defined and several theorems about it are proven. The Klein–Beltrami model is then shown in Isabelle to be a model of all of Tarski's axioms except his Euclidean axiom, thus mechanically verifying the independence of the Euclidean axiom — the primary goal of this project. For some of Tarski's axioms, only an insufficient or an inconvenient published proof was found for the theorem that states that the Klein–Beltrami model satisfies the axiom; in these cases, alternative proofs were devised and mechanically verified. These proofs are described in this thesis — most notably, the proof that the model satisfies the axiom of segment construction, and the proof that it satisfies the five-segments axiom. The proof that the model satisfies the upper 2-dimensional axiom also uses some of the lemmas that were used to prove that the model satisfies the five-segments axiom.
Beyond Aid: Sustainable Community-Owned Cooperative Business
Authors:   , Scotts Margaret
Published: November 2021

This thesis seeks to answer the question as to how the Colville Cooperative Society has withstood social and economic change where many other rural businesses offering similar services, in similar rural communities have failed. Joint entrepreneurship is a demanding form of entrepreneurship. Democracy is manage and difficult to sustain. What role does the organisation's cooperative principles and community ownership play in its sustainability? The research seeks to expand the knowledge of community-owned cooperative business as a viable alternative for community economic development; expand the New Zealand research on cooperative models; provide insight for cooperative member's to reflect on past successes and challenges in order to improve practice; and share knowledge about what makes a community-owned business work. The study found that the sustainability of the Colville Cooperative was dependant on several key factors. First amongst these is that the enterprise provides what the community needs. This is the basis of support for the enterprise and can overcome structural disadvantages. Vision and leadership that cleaves to the cooperative's principles, aims and objectives was just as important. To bring to expression and sustain these there had also had to be adequate business skills, and business continuity. It is the thesis of this research that the sustainability of the cooperative rests partly in the core beliefs and organising skills of the people who started it, partly in the resilience of cooperative forms of enterprise, and partly in the willingness and capacity of the community to sustain it. It is argued this type of community owned cooperative, where assets and shares are effectively held in trust on behalf of the community, can create a common wealth which frees communities from unsustainable sources of income, and creates viable enterprises that are independent of changing government policy fashions.
Defence Reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina: A Case Study into the Role of Ethnicity within the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Authors:   , Chadwick Mark
Published: November 2021

Many of the conflicts fought in the world today are fought internally between rival ethnic groups. Although the cause of the conflict may differ, the violent and often brutal nature of these conflicts makes them a threat that the international community cannot ignore. This thesis will analyse the progress of defence reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina - with specific attention to the role of ethnicity within the armed forces. The thesis discusses the challenges and actions taken by the international community to establish a united, state level defence force under a single chain of command. The political situation in the Balkans highlights the fact that ethnic issues are crucial in the security of the region. The central argument of this thesis is that in ethnically divided countries such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, abolishing ethnically segregated defence forces in favour of one unified force is crucial to the creation of state viability. The thesis hypothesises that ethnic segregation and lack of integration within the forces today contributes to ongoing instability within Bosnia. As a serving member of the New Zealand Defence Force, the author participated in the post–conflict stabilisation process in both Bosnia and Kosovo. Having witnessed first hand the effects of ethnicity in the Bosnian defence forces and the wider community, the author now seeks to analyse the pace of defence reform within Bosnia and Herzegovina which has been challenged by ethnic phenomena since the cessation of hostilities in 1995.
Teaching the Duck, the Rabbit, the Eagle and the Squirrel: Teachers Talk Differentiated Instruction
Authors:   , Orban Michèle
Published: November 2021

Student differences become more and more acute in today’s classrooms. Our modern world is rapidly changing and the classroom societies become more and more diverse. There is an urgent need for teachers to react to these changes and particularly the classroom diversity in order to ensure learning. This thesis examines instruction methods that create a differentiated learning environment. It built on the experiences of teaching experts in the area of differentiated instruction and sought to discover effective methods to teach in a differentiated way. The methodological approach was a multiple case study lead under a constructionist approach. Four teachers who considered themselves as experts in the area of differentiated instruction volunteered to take part. They have been observed in their work environment, and their experiences and methods have been questioned in two interviews. A vivo approach has been used to transcribe the interviews and data has been analysed through analytic induction. Teachers generally agreed on differentiated instruction being a key feature of modern teaching. They admitted that they wouldn’t want to teach in any other way. All four participants organised their instruction majorly around ability group teaching and differentiated according to the students’ readiness to learn. They sometimes differentiated through interest but only rarely considered differentiation through learning styles and learning preferences when planning their activities. Nevertheless they used many methods aiming to reach every student’s preferred sensory channel or intelligence at some point rather than differentiating through it. Overall, the researcher could observe students that seemed to be at ease and to be working according to their needs. The findings from the research identified that differentiated instruction is not a myth which only exists in literature, but that it actually can be put into practice. Various teaching methods were considered and the difficulties they implicate were being discussed. Readers can learn from the participants’ teaching methods and reuse them in teaching situations. In observed classroom situations, their methods proved to be valuable and of considerable use. They can offer the readers an exciting approach to teaching and give teachers new ideas to vary their instruction. Nevertheless they cannot be generalized. There are many successful ways of teaching, in order to get to know more, further research would need to occur.
‘In Quietness and in Confidence Shall Be Your Strength’: Vicesimus Lush and His Journals, 1850-1882
Authors:   , Nelson Gillian
Published: November 2021

From his arrival in New Zealand in 1850 until his death in 1882 Reverend Vicesimus Lush kept a regular journal to send to family back “home” in England. These journals chronicle the life of an ordinary priest and settler in the Auckland region, his work, relationships and observations. This thesis examines the journals as texts: their role in correspondence and maintaining connections with family. Using Lush’s record of day-to-day experiences, the thesis deals with his emotional attachment towards various expressions of “home” (immediate and extended family, houses, relationship with English land and customs) and explores his associated sense of belonging.  Lush’s role as a priest within the New Zealand Anglican Church also informed his writing. Witnessing and participating in the “building” of the Anglican Church in New Zealand, Lush provided a record of parochial, diocesan and countrywide problems. Lush’s journals track the Anglican Church’s financial struggles, from providing stable salaries to financing church buildings. “Building” the Church required constructing churches and building congregations, adapting liturgical traditions and encouraging the development of a uniquely Māori church.  This thesis also uses the journals to explore Lush as a social commentator. As a witness to the settling and building of the colony, Lush observed the Taranaki and Waikato Wars, the Waikato Immigration Scheme and the Thames Gold Rush, and their impact on the development of settler living. In addition, the final chapter deals with Lush’s changing perceptions of Māori, particularly during the Waikato wars compared with while he lived in Thames.
Contribution of Harman and Norharman to the Reinforcing Efficacy of Aqueous Tobacco Smoke Extract Self-Administered by Rats
Authors:   , Crowther Alex John
Published: November 2021

Background: Animal models of drug abuse treat nicotine as the primary reinforcing agent that promotes tobacco addiction. However, rodents demonstrate poor self-administration of nicotine despite evidence of tobacco's high abuse potential in humans. This discrepancy has been attributed to other constituents of tobacco smoke that facilitate the development of nicotine dependence. Objectives: This study aimed to determine whether rats would self-administer intravenous an aqueous tobacco smoke extract (TPM) to find evidence if it was more reinforcing than nicotine alone. The study also evaluated the role of tobacco smoke constituent’s harman and norharman in any differences observed. Methods: Firstly, male Sprague-Dawley rats (n=29) were assigned to treatment groups: nicotine (30.0μg/kg/infusion), TPM (containing 30.0μg/kg/infusion nicotine) or saline vehicle. Ability for each treatment to support intravenous self-administration was assessed using spontaneous acquisition of responding on gradually increasing fixed ratio schedules (FR1, FR2, FR5). Subsequent progressive ratio (PR) testing was employed to determine reinforcing efficacy of each treatment. Then a second group of rats (N = 56) were assigned to treatment groups: nicotine alone (30.0 or 75.0μg/kg/infusion) or nicotine combined with norharman (0, 0.4, 2.5 or 6.25μg/kg/infusion) and harman (0.0, 1.6 or 10.0μg/kg, IP), and tested using a similar protocol. Results: Animals readily acquired self-administration responding for TPM and produced higher PR breakpoints (BP) than rats treated with nicotine alone or vehicle. Rats trained to respond for a larger dose of nicotine demonstrated significantly greater response rates than those receiving the lower dose of nicotine. Finally, the addition of harman and norharman to nicotine significantly reduced BP at the lower unit dose of nicotine tested. Conclusions: These findings support the hypothesis that TPM is more reinforcing than nicotine alone. However, the increased reinforcing efficacy of TPM cannot be attributed to the actions of harman and norharman. The potential role of serotonin inhibition in tobacco reward processes is discussed.
Industrial Revolutions Examining the Potential of Redundant Railway Land within Provincial New Zealand Cities
Authors:   , Bailey Joseph
Published: November 2021

Economic and technological shifts over the last half of the 20th century have seen widespread changes in the way the New Zealand rail network operates, and are continuing to lead to the eminent decline of sections within the network as priorities shift to ensure its long-term survival as a whole. The decline in rail operations to the present point has already seen railway stations, goods yards and associated industrial areas in many rural areas and some smaller centers falling into disuse, and it is inevitable that many more will follow. The aim of this research is to identify and analyze these rail facilities, both redundant and operational, within provincial New Zealand cities with the intention of establishing possible strategies for re-integrating these sites back within the surrounding urban fabric of their respective cities, while retaining links to the cultural and industrial heritage of the sites in terms of the role they played in the birth and development of provincial New Zealand. A review of relevant literature has been conducted in unison with a graphic analysis of both current and redundant rail sites in ten provincial New Zealand cities. The former railway goods yard in Oamaru was selected for the design case study as it encompasses the common issues identified throughout the graphic analysis, while also presenting a number of unique issues. In response to the initial aim of this research, the design case study for Oamaru concludes that, once redundant, these former rail facilities can be successfully re-integrated with their surrounding urban fabric, without comprimising the unique inherent cultural and industrial heritage of the site.
Tritium Incorporation From Tritium Water as an Index of Metabolism
Authors:   , Mann Liam Robert Butland
Published: November 2021

Part A The metabolism of mustard (Sinapis alba) seeds wet at sub-germination temperatures has been studied using tritium incorporation as an index of metabolism. The theory and scope of the method are discussed. The enzymic reactions known in 1964 are surveyed one by one, suggesting which will, or will not, incorporate tritium from THO into specified metabolites, or cannot be confidently predicted either way. Improvements have been made in the chromatography procedure. At 0°, many of the normal germination chemical reactions proceed, but about one tenth as fast as at 24°. Amino-acids are being metabolised within 2 h of wetting the seeds, and malic and citric acids within 4 h. Within 24 h lipids and fructose are undergoing reactions. An unidentified compound “M”, not reported in normal germination, is being metabolised within 48 h. Another aberration from normal is the absence of detectable succinate metabolism. Labelling of the solid residue (insoluble in ethanol and in water) always occurs, shown to be largely non-metabolic. To explain the non-germination of seeds at temperatures near 0°, it is hypothesized that the Krebs cycle is qualitatively altered, perhaps by “wasting away” of glutamate to 4-aminobutyrate instead of its routing into the Krebs cycle as alpha-oxoglutarate.  Part B A method has been developed for studying the metabolism of dry seeds, spores and pollen by exposure to THO vapour. Dry Pinus radiata pollen labels many compounds. A few have been identified and are common metabolites. It may be that the metabolism of dry pollen is not qualitatively different from its germination reactions. Dry mustard seeds and spores of the fungus Pithomyces chartarum give, in contrast to pollen, patterns of incorporation very different from those in early germination.
Protein Identification Strategies for the Greenshell Mussel Perna canaliculus
Authors:   , Moeke Cassidy
Published: November 2021

The greenshell mussel Perna canaliculus is considered to be a suitable biomonitor for heavy metal pollution. This is due to their ability to accumulate and tolerate heavy metals in their tissues. These characteristics make them useful for identifying protein biomarkers of heavy metal pollution, as well as proteins associated with heavy metal detoxification and homeostasis. However, the identification of such proteins is restricted by the greenshell mussel being poorly represented in sequence databases. Several strategies have previously been used to identify proteins in unsequenced species, but only one of these strategies has been applied to the greenshell mussel. The objective of this thesis was to examine different protein identification strategies using a combined two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and MALDI-TOF/TOF mass spectrometry approach. The protein identification strategies used include a Mascot database search, as well as de novo sequencing approaches using PEAKS DB and SPIDER homology searches. In total, 155 protein spots were excised and a total of 68 identified. Fifty-six proteins were identified using a Mascot search against the Mollusca, NCBInr and Invertebrate EST database, with seven single-peptide identifications. De novo sequencing strategies identified additional proteins, with two from a PEAKS DB search and 10 from an error-tolerant SPIDER homology search. The most noticeable protein groups identified were cytoskeletal proteins, stress response proteins and those involved in protein biosynthesis. Actin and tubulin made up the bulk of the identifications, accounting for 39% of all proteins identified. This multifaceted approach was shown to be useful for identifying proteins in the greenshell mussel Perna canaliculus. Mascot and PEAKS DB performed equally well, while the error-tolerant functionality of SPIDER was useful for identifying additional proteins. A subsequent search against the Invertebrate EST database was also found to be useful for identifying additional proteins. Despite this, more than half of all proteins remained unidentified. Most of these proteins either failed to produce good quality MS spectra or did not find a match to a sequence in the database. Future research should first focus on obtaining quality MS spectra for all proteins concerned and then examine other strategies that may be more suitable for identifying proteins for species with poor representation in sequence databases.
Autonomous Geographies in Aotearoa: Camp for Climate Action and the Politics of Climate Change
Authors:   , Willoughby-Martin Elizabeth
Published: November 2021

In the last two decades a new form of social movement has spread internationally, characterized by political autonomy, direct action, radical change, and decentralized organization. In response to academic misunderstandings of these new movements, critical geographers have coined the term 'autonomous geographies' to allow effective documentation and communication of these struggles. This research uses autonomous geographies and related discourses to explore how autonomous political collective Camp for Climate Action Aotearoa contributes to the politics of climate change in New Zealand. As an active participant in Camp for Climate Action Aotearoa I have utilized a scholar activist epistemological framework throughout the research process, allowing successful navigation of these interconnected identities. Critical discussion of qualitative data gathered in semi-structured interviews with long-term participants indicates that Camp for Climate Action Aotearoa provides significant support to activists through community and affective solidarity. Camp for Climate Action Aotearoa uses direct action and direct democracy processes which contribute to everyday activist practices and express a non-hegemonic 'logic of affinity'. Data analysis indicates Camp for Climate Action Aotearoa contributes to the creation of alternative futures in the present. These alternative futures are necessary for healthy democracies. Physical climate camps are particularly significant in providing opportunities for creating these alternative visions. Climate Camp Aotearoa is a genuinely political collective that contributes to a repoliticization of climate change in New Zealand.
Understanding Human Scale and the Importance of its Relationship with Enclosure
Authors:   , Mackesy-Buckley Austin H.
Published: November 2021

The main objective of the research is to better understand the concept of human scale and the role that it has to play in the design of our urban environments. The need for a clearer, less ambiguous understanding of human scale is identified as a result of its poor definition and numerous manifestations across a multitude of literature. Human scale is an important part of design that flourished particularly in the middle ages, but has largely been neglected in the industrial and technological ages. Its remergence comes with the return of consideration for the comfort of people. Yet we cannot successfully apply a concept we do not wholly understand. Human scale is therefore redefined as a collective concept that embodies the multitude of existing definitions and treats them as aspects of a larger theory. As a broader but more comprehensive definition it better facilitates the identification and exploration of relationships with what are currently treated as separate urban design objectives, such as enclosure, in an endeavour to better understand the influence of human scale. The design case study proposes a design that tests the relationship between enclosure and human scale. A large site is chosen to display how human scale operates at urban, as well as architectural and detailed levels. Through aspiring to achieve a thorough human scale design, without any exclusive emphasis on enclosure, the process and the outcome still reveal that the theoretical relationship identified in the research (that aspects of human scale foster the formation of enclosure) is unavoidable in design practice. Enclosure simply results as a consequence of thorough human scale design. The research suggests that many urban design objectives may fall under human scale's sphere of influence meaning it is not a singular concept, but an ethic of design that has many desireable consequences. While the idealistic nature of the design may be unrealistic to achieve at present, it highlights the incompatibilities with contemporary approaches and succeeds in generating discussion.