bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Molecular Dynamics: A Study on Slip, Drops, and Graphene
Authors:   , Mahelona Keoni Kealoha 
Published: November 2021

<p>Molecular dynamics (MD) is a computational tool used to study physical systems by modeling the atomic-scale interactions between atoms. MD can accurately predict the properties of materials where models are well developed. For new materials, models may be in their early stages and may lack the ability to produce accurate results; however, MD can still provide insight into the physical properties of these new materials. This thesis will use MD to study two different systems. First, the Lennard-Jones (L-J) liquid is used to study how the intrinsic slip lengths of atomic sized surfaces add to produce an effective slip of a larger surface made up of these atomic constituents. The results show that the effective slip of a surface is dominated by its smallest slip, and these results show good agreement with a theory that predicts effective slip given the intrinsic slip and roughness of a surface. The L-J model is also used to investigate the rolling and sliding motion of viscous drops on super-hydrophobic surfaces. The effects of drop size, slip length, and gravity on drop velocities are investigated, and a model that predicts drop speed given the characteristics of a drop and a surface is proposed. The model shows good agreement with simulation results, especially for certain regimes. Second, graphene is studied with MD using various atomistic models. The energies of layers of graphene are reproduced using an Adaptive Intermolecular Reactive Empirical Bond Order (AIREBO) potential, and the energies required to exfoliate graphene from crystal graphite and nickel nano-particles are calculated. The calculations from MD show good agreement with literature and experiment, and these results demonstrate how simple models in MD can produce useful results to aid research and experiment. Finally, the formation of nano-bubbles in graphene grown on platinum is studied using the AIREBO and L-J potentials. The basic formation of graphene nano-bubbles is demonstrated by compressing the edges of graphene flakes. The simulations highlight the importance of proper boundary conditions, such as atom pinning, in order to produce tall, smooth nano-bubbles. The results also suggest that accurate models will be required to effectively demonstrate bubble formation.</p>
Trusting Your Bank in a Digitally Connected World: An Investigation into Perceptions of Privacy by Bank Customers
Authors:   , Londt Shivonne 
Published: November 2021

<p>People are placing more of their personal information online as the use of online social networking sites (OSNs) grows. Individuals often lack an awareness around the privacy implications of placing their personal information on these sites but still have an expectation of privacy about this information that may not entirely be justified. OSN data is often used for purposes other than those for which it was provided, but customer demand for ethical and compassionate use of their data is growing. Customers expect greater corporate social responsibility from companies, and especially banks, after the recent global financial crisis. Customers may perceive the use of OSN data by New Zealand banks to influence their lending decisions as a privacy violation. This study is intended to evaluate whether this use of OSN data would be perceived by customers to be a violation of their privacy. The research was carried out through a web-based survey and follow-up interviews with selected respondents. It was found that the less aware that respondents were about OSN privacy policies, the greater their expectation of privacy. The research also highlighted that even respondents who did not expect their data to remain private still had an expectation of privacy. A lack of perceived control was found to be associated with a greater expectation of a privacy invasion. Trust in respondents' banks was associated with a negative perception of those banks' use of OSN data for lending decisions. This study has revealed a high likelihood that a perception of betrayal coupled with a perceived privacy violation would take place should New Zealand Banks use OSN data in this manner.</p>
Social Affiliation Needs as a Motivator of Risky Online Behaviour
Authors:   , Zogg Antony 
Published: November 2021

<p>In spite of the risks, people often share large quantities of personal information online. The objective of this research was to gain an understanding as to why people take such risks when engaging with others on social networking sites like Facebook. Initially the existence of online communities had to be established, and consideration given to the possibility that these online communities reflected groups found in the real world. The following hypotheses were then tested using an online survey with Likert Scale questions and freeform questions. This data was then triangulated by and supplemented with data received as a result of semi-structured interviews. Interview and survey questions were informed by a full literature review undertaken on the topic. H1: Humans mimic online behaviours including risky behaviours to gain acceptance in online communities. There was insufficient support for this hypothesis. This may be due to the fact that online and real world groups differ in terms of the way in which they communicate. The five senses are not fully engaged in online communication and there is an absence of body language and other non-verbal communication. This difference may determine that there is less need for social affiliation online than in the real world. H2: The need for personal safety online is secondary to the need for social affiliation. Again there was insufficient support for this hypothesis, and even those with online communities of trusted friends drawn from the real world were concerned for their personal safety and configured their privacy settings. However these people were comfortable sharing personal information online with trusted friends, demonstrating that they were under the illusion that their information was private. H3: Humans reflect the values of their friends on social networks to gain their approval. This hypothesis was well supported and indications were that people were more prepared to share personal information online with those who shared their values. They are also unlikely to share controversial information that violated their personal values. The results of this research were viewed through the lens of "The Online Disinhibition Effect" (Suler, 2004), and recommendations made to companies planning online business.</p>
Gothic Imaginations in Primo Ottocento Opera
Authors:   , Chesney Sarah 
Published: November 2021

<p>Connections between the Gothic and opera remain a subsidiary concern to most writers on the Gothic and on opera, if they are even addressed at all. In this study I wish to illuminate how the Gothic is presented both musically and visually on stage through the setting and thematic traits in select nineteenth-century Italian operas. A number of ideas are central to this aim. Firstly, that the ‘Gothic’ dimension of ‘Gothic opera’ is overtly represented through staging. The settings of many ‘Gothic operas’ in Scotland and England reveal the continental European fascination with northern Europe and its history. This stemmed from the influx of English and Scottish literature, most prominently the Ossian poems and the works of Walter Scott and Shakespeare. Consequently, Gothic scenes such as ruined medieval castles and rugged cliffs, masked by darkness or mist are enmeshed with a northern landscape. Tartan costuming also visually situates the Gothic scenes in Northern Europe. Furthermore, the use of musical mannerisms of Scotland and England, particularly in chorus scenes, reinforces this parallel between the Gothic and the north, linking music to the visible Gothic setting. Secondly, I will explore the way in which Gothic imaginings of both immaterial and physical incarnations of the supernatural move between the latent subconscious and conscious realisation. This is evident through the interplay between voice, orchestra and the singer’s corporeality and draws upon recent operatic studies concerning representation of ‘others’, dramatisation, and theatrical spaces. This second section positions women at the heart of the Gothic in opera, as the soprano is most often the character susceptible to other-worldly encounters and madness. The fundamental figure in this study is Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848). A number of his operas from the 1830s, especially Lucia di Lammermoor, emphasise how the Gothic may be revealed in opera. However, I conclude with a chapter on Macbeth, the ‘Gothic opera’ of Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901), for this work demonstrates how the configuration of the Gothic is developed in musical and dramatic terms and presents a case where the supernatural influence becomes all-empowered.</p>
Environmental Regulation of Firms that Experience Dynamic Inconsistency
Authors:   , Zuccollo James 
Published: November 2021

<p>The recent push for environmental regulation has invigorated the discussion of mechanism design and optimal taxation policy. Recent decades have also seen growing interest in behavioural economics and empirically based theory. In this thesis we take a step towards combining the two by asking how a regulator may correct an externality in situations where they have a time consistency problem. Time inconsistency is one of the notable developments of behavioural economics. It posits that an agent’s decisions do not remain consistent over time, which causes a utility loss if the agent cannot commit themselves to a particular course of action and stick to it. The solution to inconsistency problems is to precommit to a course of action and prevent future deviations from it. However, finding a mechanism to enable such precommitment is often problematic. A regulator who maximises welfare can have a time consistency problem because welfare will depend on the decisions of firm and households who may themselves be inconsistent. That inconsistency then propagates to the regulator’s decision and reduces the level of welfare that the regulator can reach. Alternatively, the regulator’s time consistency problem can be caused by non-stationarity in their time preferences. To reach the firstbest outcome the regulator must not only eliminate the environmental externality: they must also overcome their own time inconsistency problem. This thesis draws from the literature on strategic delegation to construct a taxation game in which the regulator can achieve the first best taxation regime without the need for external precommitment devices. We study a dynamic game where the regulator chooses a tax rate and the regulated monopolist chooses their price. We show that the Markov-perfect equilibrium price path of this game will replicate the first best plan. Our results holds for time inconsistency caused by both jump states and quasihyperbolic discounting.</p>
Situating the Situationists: The Disruption of a Domesticated Architecture
Authors:   , Keane Ross 
Published: November 2021

<p>This research seeks to place Situationist theory into a domestic context through a critical reading of Guy Debord and the Internationale Situationnistes’ writings. Challenging the notion of a domesticated architecture, Situationist techniques and strategies are used to test new ground in the interpretation of a domestic situation. Two techniques explored are the dérive and détournement. In Guy Debord’s Theory of Dérive, the dérive is described as "a technique of rapid passage through varied ambiences (Knabb 52)." This technique was used by the Situationists as a way of experiencing a city through the possibilities provided by the "terrain and the encounters they find there (52)." Adding to this definition, Jonathan Hill in Actions of Architecture describes the dérive as "confront[ing] the habitual and functional experience of the city (Hill 67). Détournement, described by the Situationists as 'the re-use of pre-existing artistic elements in a new ensemble (Knabb 67)." is a way of constructing new meanings and expressions for previously defined elements. In A User’s Guide to Détournement, Debord outlines several 'laws' defining the use of détournement as ways of creating situations, which he explains is 'the ultimate goal of all our activity (16)." To dérive in the domestic suggests possibilities of a continual exploration of the spaces within the home. Traditional notions of the home’s function and meaning are reconfigured in order to construct new situations; how do the spaces within a home contribute or hinder these explorations? What role does each room play within the domestic as a whole, and what are their relationships to each other as individual spaces? Détournement links in closely with the exploration of spaces within the domestic. Using it as a way of challenging the traditional functions of both the spaces themselves, and the artefacts contained within [the artefacts being the markers of function in most cases], what are the implications of this misappropriation of artefacts and space? Will these interpretations bring a greater understanding of the artefacts and spaces themselves, as well as create new meanings? The contextual critique of the domestic through a critical reading of the Situationists’ theories will deepen the possibilities of how the domestic is understood. This understanding is visualised through a reworking of an existing domestic framework, a New Zealand state house. Architectural interventions are used to create new modes of inhabitation that modify behaviour and habitual living within the domestic. Here, the role of the artefact and space within the domestic is challenged and altered to create new manifestations.</p>
Impact of Formal Educational Qualifications on the Assessment by IS Managers of Their Own Effectiveness
Authors:   , Tungngern Pratoomthip 
Published: November 2021

<p>This study seeks to contribute to a better understanding of what role, if any, tertiary formal education contributes to the effectiveness of IS managers. The research question guiding this study is ‘How does the possession or otherwise of formal educational qualifications impact on the assessment by IS managers of their own effectiveness?’ This is a qualitative research using an interview method that allows participants to provide contextual information to describe specific outcomes. A non-probability sampling technique is used with a quota sampling size of 12. The inclusion characteristics were to be an IS manager, employed in IS/IT/ICT department and to work in the Wellington region of New Zealand. The significant findings in this study is that all participating IS managers perceived that formal education positively contributed to their managerial effectiveness. They perceived that formal education helped them to improve or gain new skill and provided them with formal tools and frameworks that they utilised in their jobs. Sampling within other industries and larger random samples could be undertaken to see if this research has given results that are representative of the IS industry and its recognition of formal education.</p>
Account(ing)/(ability): Democratising the Environmental Impact Assessment in Mongolian Mining
Authors:   , Vandangombo Danaasuren 
Published: November 2021

<p>This study examines sustainable development in practice, particularly in the context of mining and environmental management in a less developed country (LDC). It argues for sustainable and participatory mining in LDCs, such as Mongolia, by encouraging democratisation of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) process. The EIA, a major tool of environmental management, addresses the negative environmental and social impacts of development projects, such as mining, and has the capacity to mitigate such impacts by incorporating EIA recommendations into business practice. To ensure the inclusion of affected communities in the EIA process, public participation in EIAs is legislated in many countries. This is particularly important for mineral-rich LDCs, as they have experienced growing conflict among mining companies, local communities, and government authorities, due to a lack of dialogue among mining constituents and a lack of effective public policy and public engagement in the promotion of socially and environmentally accountable mining. This study applies Brown's (2009) dialogic accounting framework in the exploration and evaluation of current EIA practices. By using Mongolian EIA practices for illustrative purposes, this study seeks to contribute to debate in EIA and SEA literature, and to support calls for more participatory EIAs that can embed sustainable development into business practice. Furthermore, the current and potential engagement of NGOs in the EIAs of Mongolia is examined in order to explore their potential to foster dialogic accounting.</p>
Marking Space and Making Place: Geographies of Graffiti in Wellington, New Zealand
Authors:   , Des Forges Michaela 
Published: November 2021

<p>Contemporary graffiti dates from the 1960s when hip-hop style graffiti grew in popularity amongst youth in Philadelphia and New York. It has since spread throughout the world and its various forms and styles are considered both art and vandalism. In Aotearoa New Zealand, graffiti is seen in most urban areas and is regarded as a major problem for local authorities. Despite this, research concerning graffiti in New Zealand is sparse. This research contributes to emerging work on graffiti in Wellington and New Zealand. It aims to provide an insight into the geographies of graffiti in Wellington by exploring the visual, spatial, and temporal aspects of graffiti, as well as the social dynamics informing its production and distribution. Using this information I investigate parallels between what is happening locally and what has been documented in international research. To carry out the research aims, I employed qualitative observations of selected sites around the city over time and used photographs to interpret and document graffiti. I also carried out semi-structured interviews with some graffitists, in addition to people involved in city safety and efforts to stop graffiti. In framing the research I specifically draw from critical geography writing on discourse, power, resistance, place, and space which are particularly salient in regards to graffiti. The research documents similarities with international research in regards to the motivations, rules, and visual, temporal, and spatial aspects. However, Wellington graffitists interact with, and utilise, the city’s space in unique and multifaceted ways which reflect and exhibit localised differences worthy of consideration internationally. For instance, graffitists use, view, and read the urban environment in ways that result in them having an intimacy with the urban environment. Additionally, graffitists think about where they place their graffiti with regards to property, location, intended audiences, and observance to subculture rules.</p>
Effect of the Nutrient Microenvironment of an Ovarian Follicle on Gap Junction Activity in Cumulus-Oocyte Complexes in Post-Partum Cows
Authors:   , Hudson Norma Lorraine 
Published: November 2021

<p>For mammalian oocyte maturation it is important for the oocyte to communicate with the surrounding somatic cells in a bidirectional manner. In part, this is achieved through gap junction connections between cumulus cells and the oocyte. These gap junctions permit the transfer of essential metabolites, nucleotides, amino acids and ions from the cumulus cells to the oocyte in order for growth and development to occur. It is hypothesized that one reason for post-partum infertility in dairy cows is poor oocyte quality due to an inappropriate nutrient microenvironment in the developing antral follicle. In turn, this might compromise the nutrient and/or energy delivery by cumulus cells to the oocyte and thus affect oocyte quality. The objectives of this study were to: (1) -develop a reliable in vitro measure of gap junction activity for bovine cumulus–oocyte-complexes (COC) using a fluorescent (calcein) dye technique, and (2)- assess the effects of different amino acid compositions, cholesterol and fatty acid concentrations on gap junction activity in COC. The development and validation of the bovine COC gap junction assay was undertaken using a standard commercial medium (M199). Thereafter, media were prepared representing the amino acid concentrations in follicular fluid of both non-lactating and lactating dairy cows as measured in a NZ pastoral situation. These media formed the basis for subsequent measures of COC gap junction activity with differing concentrations of cholesterol and the essential fatty acids- oleic acid, stearic acid and palmitic acid. The major findings from this study were that the different amino acid concentrations typical of that in the follicular fluid of the non-lactating and lactating dairy cow and M199 do not significantly affect the gap junction activity in COC. Given that the amino acid compositions in lactating and non-lactating cows were approximately 50% of those in M199; this indicates that the amino acid concentrations within the ovarian follicle are not a critical factor affecting oocyte quality. However, high concentrations of cholesterol or of the essential fatty acids significantly compromised gap junction activity in bovine COC. High concentrations of the fatty acids were identified in a number of lactating dairy cows during the post-partum interval. In times of negative energy balance, which is common in pasture fed NZ dairy cows during the early post-partum interval and lactation, a significant mobilisation of fatty acids occurs. In turn, this is known to result in an increase in lipid concentrations within the ovarian follicle. The results from this study support the hypothesis that the nutrient environment of the ovarian follicle during early lactation is detrimental to the quality and developmental competence of the oocyte and thus may account for post-partum infertility in some animals.</p>