bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Consumer Intentions to Use Electronic Banking Channels: The Role of Task-Channel Fit
Authors:   , Hoehle Hartmut 
Published: November 2021

<p>The increase in electronically mediated self-service technologies in the banking industry is changing the way banks service consumers. Despite a large body of research on electronic banking channels, no study has been undertaken to explore the importance of the fit between electronic banking channels and banking tasks. Nor has there been research into how task-channel fit and other factors influence consumer intentions to use electronic banking channels. Integrating task-technology fit theory with acceptance and adoption research, this research develops and tests a research model that explains how the task-channel fit (TCF) and other factors impact on consumers' intentions to use electronic banking channels. An exploratory study was first conducted, investigating industry experts' perceptions towards the concept of task-channel fit of electronic banking channels. The findings demonstrate that the concept was perceived as being highly relevant by bank managers. A research model was then developed drawing on the existing literature on electronic banking channels. Following this, five exploratory focus groups were conducted in order to assess the initial conceptualization of the research model. Subsequently, a survey questionnaire instrument was developed using judgment rounds and two pretest evaluations. Central to the scale development was the measurement of the TCF construct. Drawing on IS strategy and alignment literatures, a parallel instrument was created in order to determine TCF across several unique dimensions. A pilot study assessed responses from 280 consumers using Internet banking for two different banking tasks. Overall, the scales demonstrated high reliability and showed adequate construct validity. The analysis of the pilot study suggested that the TCF construct and other antecedents of consumer intentions to use Internet banking explained a substantial amount of variance in the dependent variable. The scales were refined in light of the pilot study. In the main study, 340 responses were collected from consumers using Internet banking for account inquiries or financial loans. The results showed that the TCF construct was a strong predictor of consumers' perceptions on the usefulness of Internet banking and their attitudes towards these services for both banking tasks. Overall, the TCF construct and other identified variables accounted for at least 63% of variance in the dependent variable.</p>
(The) Margin(s) Speak! A Multifaceted Examination of Practising ‘Men who have Sex with Men’ Development in Bangkok
Authors:   , Burford James 
Published: November 2021

<p>In this study, I explore the experiences and understandings of twenty-seven participants involved with ‘men who have sex with men’ (MSM) development interventions in Bangkok, seeking to better understand the complex realities that emerge in practising MSM development. I endeavor to interrogate the development field’s limited understandings of sexuality as well as the discourses present (and absent) in existing Queering Development research. By acknowledging my personal journey in and through this re-search, I also examine authentic ways-of-being a queeresearcher, noting the challenges I faced and power I discovered in re-searching and re-presenting my own work. Ultimately, I explore the link between the paucity of local developing queer narratives in Queering Development and the limited space students have, to be visibly queer in mainstream theses – to do this I use the metaphor of ‘the margins’. In framing this re-search, I draw nourishment from queer, critical, poststructural and Participatory Action Research epistemologies. Methodologically, I carried out semi-structured interviews and focus groups, as well as using other tools such as mapping and story writing. I also spent time ‘hanging out’ at both Rainbow Sky and Bangkok Rainbow, enabling both a deeper appreciation of the work carried out by the organisations as well as providing an opportunity to gather materials. The generation of data did not cease once I left ‘the field’; I continued to produce autoethnographic texts including poetry and a re-search performance which I used both as a method of enquiry and re-presentation of this study. This multifaceted approach enabled diverse questions (emerging across disciplines) to be addressed in my work. To re-present my analyses of participants’ accounts I have celebrated different ways-of-knowing re-search. I have used poetry and consciously performative writing, visual art (including graffiti) and performance alongside traditional scholarly prose. This approach enables multiple voices to emerge all over the page, questioning the hegemony of the bound, straight-lined thesis and the ‘legitimate’ knowledges it generally contains. I argue that queer postgraduate students may be able to open spaces to produce authentic work, despite pressures to perform straight research texts. Yet, pressures to conform to traditional understandings of theses may be painful reminders of their own positions in academia and society. Overall, my study offers intimate, multifaceted perspectives on the agency of MSM development practitioners in Bangkok and my own experience of finding power through queeresearch. I hope it will contribute to more nuanced understandings of local practitioners of MSM development in Queering Development literature, and to scholarship on queer postgraduate students’ experience of re-search more generally.</p>
A Proteomic Analysis of Fibre Degradation and Assimilation by Butyrivibrio Proteoclasticus
Authors:   , Dunne Jonathan Craig 
Published: November 2021

<p>Butyrivibrio proteoclasticus B316T is a Gram-positive, lignocellulose degrading bacterium that is prevalent in the rumen of animals grazing pasture, and is one of only a few rumen microbes known to degrade and utilise xylan in vitro. Xylan is a hemicellulose that comprises up to 45% of the polysaccharide component of ruminant forages. Often as little as 30% of the total energy content of forages is utilised by the ruminant due to poor hemicellulose degradation by the fibrolytic rumen microbes. An opportunity exists to improve forage degradation in the rumen, which is predicted to improve the productivity of forage fed ruminants. A clearer understanding of the strategies employed by fibrolytic rumen microbes to degrade and utilise lignocellulose is important in realising this goal. Almost 10% of the B. proteoclasticus genome encodes proteins involved in polysaccharide metabolism and transport, which includes 134 fibrolytic enzymes that are active upon plant fibre. Many of these are clustered into one of 36 polysaccharide utilisation loci that also contain transmembrane transporters, transcriptional regulators, environmental sensors and genes involved in further polysaccharide metabolism. Gel-based and gel-free proteomic analyses of the cytosolic, cell-associated, and secreted fractions of cells grown on xylan were used to identify proteins involved in the degradation, assimilation, and metabolism of hemicellulose. A set of 416 non-redundant proteins were identified, which included 12 extracellular and 24 cytosolic polysaccharidases, and 59 proteins involved in the uptake and further metabolism of polysaccharide degradation products, many of which were substrate-binding protein components of ATP-driven transporter systems. In cells grown on xylan, several of these proteins displayed significant protein abundance changes relative to cells grown on the monomeric sugar xylose, in a pattern that reflected the growth substrates used. A model of xylan degradation by B. proteoclasticus based on these results hypothesises that B. proteoclasticus attacks the xylan backbone and main substituent groups of hemicellulose in the extracellular space, assimilates the xylooligosaccharides and performs the final stages of degradation within the cell. These results provide insight into a xylan degrading enzyme system that has evolved to efficiently degrade and utilise hemicellulose, extend our understanding of the enzymes that are likely to play important roles in hemicellulose degradation, and support the notion that Butyrivibrio species are important contributors to rumen fibre degradation.</p>
Stille: The Art of Being Silent
Authors:   , Macann Emma 
Published: November 2021

<p>This thesis discusses the importance for people within the confines of high-density, metropolitan cities to find a collective moment of retreat through an architectural landscape of silence. Silence is becoming a desired and yet difficult to obtain commodity in modern western society. Due to intensified work and home commitments combined with overwhelming sensory manipulation in the urban environment, stress and psychological overloading is common. Stress and psychological overloading is problematic with regards to a sense of connectivity to other people. With constant sensory onslaught it is becoming increasingly important to create moments of stillness, which in the course of controlling and manipulating external stimuli allows for mental and physical retreat through contemplation. Historically places of silence and contemplation in western urban settings were places of worship. These spaces are designed to encourage groups of people to congregate and experience internal reflection while establishing a sense of togetherness. As western society moves towards secularisation, finding moments of silence collectively becomes even more significant in harvesting and maintaining a sense of belonging. Through referencing Juhani Pallasmaa and philosopher Max Picard an in-depth exploration into sensory design and what silence embodies is established. This, in combination with a critique of the detrimental current situation in modern society, asserts reasons for the need to revert to simplified sensory experiences in order to increase personal awareness of self and others. Nature and its pivotal role in stimulating a sense of silence is investigated through current theory and personal design explorations. This research is reinforced by case studies into successful modern places of retreat, for example Dominique Perrault’s Bibliothéque Nationale de France. Such schemes are used to understand notions of ritual and removal within a city setting. By incorporating silence (both visually and aurally) into an everyday city park in London, opportunities are created for the wider public to encounter and benefit from Stille.(1) (1) — German: English translation is Silence</p>
Planktic Foraminifera-Based Sea Surface Temperature Estimates and Late Quaternary Oceanography off New Zealand's West Coast
Authors:   , Kolodziej Andrew Peter 
Published: November 2021

<p>Planktic foraminiferal assemblages were used to investigate the paleoceanography of the Eastern Tasman Sea over the last 480 kyrs (Marine Isotope Stages 12-1). One hundred and sixty-two faunas (96 picked and identified as part of this project (MIS 12-6) added to 66 census counts from Dr. M. Crundwell (MIS 6-1)) have been assembled from Marion Dufresne piston core MD06-2986 (~43˚ S. off New Zealand‟s west coast, 1477 m water depth). Faunal changes through the last five glacial-interglacial cycles are used to track surface water mass movement. Glacial periods are dominated by the eutrophic species Globigerina bulloides, with significant contributions from the temperate species Globoconella inflata. Temperate species Neogloboquadrina incompta and Gc. inflata dominate interglacials, with the former dominating the warmer parts and the latter dominating the cooler parts of the interglacials. Modern Analogue Technique (MAT) and an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) were used to estimate past sea surface temperatures (SST) based on the foraminiferal census counts data (23 species, ~46,000 specimens). SSTs show that MIS 12 was the longest, sustained cold period, while the coldest temperature was recorded in MIS 5d (~8º C). Interglacials MIS 11 and 5e are the two warmest stages of the record, with SSTs reaching ~18.5º C, about ~2º C warmer than present day. We find that contrary to either the western Tasman Sea or offshore eastern New Zealand, the eastern Tasman Sea has been fairly isolated from any major influx of subpolar or subtropical species carried in with surface water from either high or low latitude sources. Subtropical taxa abundance (Globigerinoides ruber, Neogloboquadrina dutertrei (D), Globigerinoides sacculifer, Globigerinella aequilateralis, Sphaeroidinellopsis dehiscens, Truncorotalia truncatulinoides (D), Beella digitata) is low (average ~0.6%) and only prominent during peak interglacials. Subantarctic taxa abundance (Neogloboquadrina pachyderma, Neogloboquadrina dutertrei (S)) is low (average ~5.1%), but significant, particularly in glacial periods. Comparison of faunal and SSTANN data along with ratios of Nq. pachyderma:Nq. incompta (previously referred to as coiling ratios of Nq. pachyderma) and absolute abundance of planktic productivity (a productivity proxy) suggest that the STF migrated northwards towards the site in all glacial periods, and may have moved over the site in MIS 12 and possibly MIS 5d. A latitudinal SSTANN 25 comparison between offshore eastern and western New Zealand reveals that MD06-2986 (~43º S) is most similar (~0.5º C) to ODP Site 1125 (~42º S). On the contrary, ODP Site 1119 (44º S) is ~5º C cooler than MD06-2986. This comparison highlights the significant changes in surface water masses off eastern New Zealand that exist in such a short span of latitude because of the influence of a complex submarine topography.</p>
Governing Sustainable Subjects: Environmentality in Polity, Economy and Civil Society
Authors:   , Hamlin Morgan J. 
Published: November 2021

<p>“Sustainability” is a broad concept that is used to guide a diverse range of government policies, corporate governance practices, and environmental movements; promote ethical and ‘green’ consumer products; and to transform existing production and consumption practices, to name but a few. While these various manifestations of sustainability differ from one another, they appear to be linked by a shared narrative. In this thesis, I utilise Norman Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis to investigate if and why sustainability discourses share a common narrative. I focus on the relationship between the management of the population and the supposed boundaries between the state, market, and civil society by exploring the emergence of the terms “environmental sustainability” and “sustainable consumption” within the practices and narratives of governance and self-regulation. By combining Slavoj Zizek’s notion of ideology with Timothy W. Luke’s concept of environmentality, and Michel Foucault’s conceptions of governmentality and power, I argue that the governmentalisation of sustainability is the common thread that runs through the three narratives that I analyse. More specifically, I argue that quotidian sustainability narratives have the effect of regulating human conduct through largely apolitical and technical understandings of environmental problems, disciplinary practices, and practices of the self that appear to remove risk from the act of consumption and everyday life.</p>
Detection of Inorganic and Metal Nanoparticles using qNano – IZON Science’s Nanoparticle Analysis System
Authors:   , Ali Nadiah 
Published: November 2021

<p>This thesis investigates the potential and capability of the qNano instrument, a nanoparticle analysis research instrument developed by IZON Science Ltd. The qNano operates on the basis of the Scanning Ion Occlusion Spectroscopy (SIOS) technology which is similar to the Coulter technique also known as resistive pulse sensing. This coupled with an adjustable nanopore and IZON’s recently developed Variable Pressure Module (VPM) makes qNano a versatile nanoparticle analysis apparatus. In this study the potential of the instrument to detect inorganic and metal nanoparticles is explored. Polystyrene, silica, gold, silver, and magnetic nanoparticles have been used in this research to better understand the system and its components and to discover the capacity of the instrument to detect these particles. Using polystyrene nanoparticles, it was found that the adjustable nanopore exhibit membrane softening and follows the Mullins effect. Each of the apertures also possesses a characteristic window of operation, which refers to a range of stretch setting for accurate particle detection. The adjustable nanopore also allows for sizing particles with different diameters. The effect of surface functionality in the signal output was also investigated. Gold nanoparticles were synthesized via the citrate reduction method and the study of gold nanoparticles suspended in IZON’s standard buffer solution was looked into in depth. It was found that the gold nanoparticles aggregate in the buffer solution due to the presence of potassium chloride (KCl) salt which screens the electrostatic stabilization provided by the citrate ions. Silver nanoparticles show similar aggregation. With the concentration of gold and KCl remaining constant, resistive pulses caused by gold aggregates were detected after a period of three hours. Varying the concentration of gold nanoparticles shows that larger aggregates are formed as opposed to small aggregates with higher population. Identification of different types of particles present in a solution is yet to be achieved at this stage. Silica and magnetic nanoparticles were studied briefly. Successful measurements of magnetic particles were achieved with the aid of the pressure module. However, aggregates of magnetic particles were also formed and can be seen with the naked eye after solution was left standing overnight. Casein stabilized silica particles shows erratic current readings as the ethanol used in fabricating the silica particles collapse the casein micelle structure thus making the stabilization by casein void. Overall, this thesis has shown the qNano instrument’s ability in detecting nanoparticles other than biological molecules. This thesis also shows the potential of qNano as a versatile research instrument. The prospect of further research using this instrument is tremendous especially in characterising in greater detail inorganic and metal nanoparticles.</p>
The Livre d'Airs et de Simphonies Meslés de Quelques Fragmens d’Opéra 1697 of Pierre Gillier: An Edition and Study
Authors:   , Gerrard Kathleen 
Published: November 2021

<p>The Livre d’Airs et de Simphonies meslés de quelques fragmens d’Opéra de la Composition de P. Gillier (Book of Airs and Instrumental Pieces mixed with some operatic fragments composed by Pierre Gillier) was published in Paris in 1697. Its contents are dedicated to the twenty-three year-old Philippe duc de Chartres (son of Philippe I duc d’Orléans, only brother of Louis XIV). Of the life of Pierre Gillier (1665- died after 1713), we know only that he possessed an haute-contre voice, and was employed as a chamber musician in the households of Philippe I duc d’Orléans and of his son, Philippe II. The Parisian courts of the Dauphin, and of Philippe I supported the secular arts that Louis XIV (self-exiled at Versailles), had rejected. There was an insatiable appetite for amateur music making in late seventeenthcentury France, notably in the broader societal context of airs: the salons. Composers generally wrote individual airs (of the serious and drinking types), complete operas, or theatre works. In such a context, Gillier’s publication is unique: his declared aim was to assemble a collection of serious songs linked together tonally in suites with instrumental pieces by means of their keys, for chamber music performance. As a precursor to the arrival in France of the multi-movement sonata and cantata, Gillier’s grouping together of instrumental and vocal movements to make larger musical entities has exceptional interest. His procedure has close links with theatrical practice. The thesis includes a critical edition of Gillier's complete collection made from the copy preserved in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France as F-Pn/ Rés. Vm7 305. The edition is prefaced by a study of performance practices in vocal and instrumental music in late seventeenth-century France.</p>
Te Papa: A Forum for the World? A Narrative Exploration of a Global Public Sphere
Authors:   , Schorch Philipp 
Published: November 2021

<p>The reinvention of the museum as "forum" within the new museology and the notion of the "public sphere" are inextricably linked. Both concepts have been theoretically scrutinised in museum studies, critical theory, cultural studies and other academic disciplines, but there is a lack of empirical insights into their actual functioning. This thesis offers an empirical interrogation of the "museum forum" idea. It sheds ethnographic light on cross-cultural encounters in a "cosmopolitanised" world illuminating what it means to experience a museological space and how a public sphere is "lived". Drawing on a long-term narrative study of global visitors to the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa (Te Papa), this thesis humanises Te Papa as a particular global public sphere, or discursive space. The critical hermeneutic analysis facilitates an understanding of "cross-cultural dialogue" and the "public sphere" as interpretive actions, movements and performances made by cultural actors. By exploring individual experiences instead of totalised abstractions, this study dissects the complexity of cultural worldmaking and politics elucidating "interpretive contests" and their "enunciation". Due to the in-depth empirical insights and their multilayered contextualisation, the "museum forum" evolves from an abstract idea into a concrete discursive world of negotiations. This thesis examines Te Papa as a particular place, space and empirical reality. It interrogates seemingly universal concepts such as "culture" and "politics" producing empirically situated, contextualised and rich theoretical propositions of significance for the human sciences in general as well as critical museum studies in particular.</p>
Relationship Property and Trusts: the "Bundle of Rights" Theory?
Authors:   , Gush Frances 
Published: November 2021

<p>This dissertation examines the “bundle of rights” theory as it meets at the intersection of trust and family property law. Drawing on conceptions of property, the principles and purposes of the Property (Relationships) Act and contrasted with trust law, a theory is adopted to explain why family property law has presumptive power over trust principles. Orthodox trust principles are discussed to explain why trust assets are protected from third party claims, the importance of the laws of powers and fiduciary obligations, the problems created by settlor or appointor control and the reason a “controller” is a beneficial owner of trust assets. The dispositions of relationship property to trusts and the limits on compensatory payments are discussed alongside the significance of the abolition of gift duty, other statutory remedies and judicial responses. Case authorities are explored, similarities with Australian alter ego trusts are drawn upon, and the application of the “bundle of rights” theory is discussed with reference to the valuation of debts and occupation orders. The dissertation concludes that the “bundle of rights” theory draws on an expansive meaning of property, it is a principled approach but confined to the Act.</p>