bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Pacific Island families’ perceptions of the parental role in the learning process – in a high school setting
Authors:   , Flavell Margaret 
Published: November 2021

<p>The New Zealand Ministry of Education has acknowledged the need for schools to work collaboratively with Pacific Island families so that parents can support their children to achieve positive academic outcomes. This study explored Pacific Island families’ perceptions of the parental role in the learning process within the context of a New Zealand high school where Pacific Island students were a minority. This study aimed to discover how Pacific Island parents and students perceived the communication process, both within the family and between home and school, so as to make informed recommendations to strengthen the role of Pacific parents in the learning of their children attending secondary school. A phenomenological qualitative design was employed, using focus groups and interviews. Participants were a group of seven Pacific Island parents and a group of 12 senior Pacific Island students. Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model was used as a framework to analyse the data. Core values and beliefs which influenced the interaction between parents and their children, and how parents interacted with teachers, were identified. The study found that the parents believed in the importance of education as a means of achieving economic security and urged their children to work hard. They valued relationships with teachers so that they could work with them to support their children. Both parents and students shared values around the collectivist nature of acting interdependently and this may have contributed to the passive approach adopted by students in class and with their parents. A number of findings were drawn. Even though Pacific Island parents demonstrated their understanding of the school system through their selection of a high decile, academic school, they did not necessarily relate to the individualised communication within the school. Furthermore, since students often separated school from home life, many tended to avoid conversations about their learning with parents. Parents, therefore, often felt disconnected from the school and frustrated that they could not be more effective at supporting their children’s academic progress, despite a desire to be more involved. Students did not always respond positively to parental encouragement to work hard. Instead, fearing that they might not meet parental expectations, some tended to adopt a low profile and passive approach to learning in class. Recommendations focus on the need for schools to develop inclusive strategies which encourage dialogue between teachers, parents, and students so that a shared understanding of the students’ learning needs and targets can be achieved.</p>
Intricate Identities: Cochlear Implant Users Negotiating Lives Between d/Deaf and Hearing Worlds
Authors:   , Bathard Hayley 
Published: November 2021

<p>The cochlear implant (CI), a device that “provides hearing sensations for severely and profoundly deaf individuals” (NZ Audiological Society), initially emerged for public use in the 1980s, but was met with strong opposition from Deaf communities in many countries (Lane et al 1996, Edwards 2005). However, since the beginning of the 21st century, hostility towards implants has lessened and they are increasingly accepted as an option in a range of possibilities for deaf children and adults. Despite increasing numbers of the Deaf community considering implants themselves, however, the continuing task of the Deaf community is to counter the conception of implants as ‘miracle cures’ for deafness (Lane et al 1996, Edwards 2005). Furthermore, the Deaf community needs to communicate to parents of deaf children that those with implants may still be perceived as d/Deaf, by both the community and themselves (Christiansen and Leigh 2002). This thesis explores the identities of a small group of cochlear implant users in New Zealand, and examines their involvement in both d/Deaf and hearing worlds. The narratives of my participants demonstrate some of the everyday difficulties that d/Deaf individuals, and their families, encounter in medical and health‐care settings, along with educational and workplace settings. I draw on participants’ narratives that explain their relationship with both medicalised and cultural models of deafness, and with Deaf culture, decisions about implants, and perceptions of the effects and limits of cochlear implants. I argue that the identities of CI users in modern New Zealand society are influenced by a multiplicity of factors, including medicalised understandings of deafness, familial pressures, the embodied experiences of CI technology, and personal identity trajectories. Given that these individuals are navigating these multiple threads in the formation of their identities, I argue that, at this stage in their lives, the CI users in this study occupy a liminal position in regards to d/Deaf and hearing worlds. Furthermore, I posit that the medical model of deafness needs to be tempered with social and cultural views of both deafness and CIs, and that the voices of CI users themselves should be prominent in such debates.</p>
Resolving photoisomerization dynamics via ultrafast UV-visible transient absorption spectroscopy
Authors:   , Prasad Shyamal 
Published: November 2021

<p>Transient absorption spectroscopy has been employed to investigate three photo–active compounds; azobenzene, foldamer controlled by azobenzene, and oxazine. These compounds all have absorption in the ultra–violet regions responsible for their photo–active behavior. Due to this, the current transient absorption setup has been modified to extend the probing wavelength range to 320–650 nm, with the possibility of exciting the photo–active molecule in the ultra–violet. Azobenzene is valuable in benchmarking and optimizing the transient absorption setup, it shows that the detection window has been extended out to 320 nm. By resolving the ground state bleach we have added support for the assignment of the final decay to thermalization in the ground state. Comparison of relaxation lifetime in acetonitrile and tetrahydrofuran shows no noticeable change in the photophysics of isomerization between the two solvents. The foldamer family excited state relaxation is similar to azobenzene. There is an extension in the S₁ branching lifetime from 1.1 ps in azobenzene to 1.7 ps for foldamer 1 and 4.2 ps for foldamer 2. The separation of branching on the S₁ surface and relaxation through the S₁ to electronic ground state intersection was possible by comparison of azobenzene and foldamer family. The solvent effects show little difference for all members of the foldamer family expect for foldamer 2, suggesting that the dynamics of the azobenzene moiety are not affected by the larger macro–structure of the foldamer. For oxazine it has been established, by varying solvent polarity, that isomerization happens through three states; bond breakage, transfer to a dark state, and the final photo–isomer. This is confirmed by further studies completed after the introduction of electron withdrawing fluorine atoms. Carbon–oxygen bond cleavage occurs on the picosecond timescale, with solvent dependent rotation occurring in hundreds of picoseconds. Fluorinated oxazine shows a strong solvent dependence with rotation suppressed for all but the most polar of solvents.</p>
Regulating lobbyists in New Zealand
Authors:   , Williams Liam Alexander 
Published: November 2021

<p>Lobbying is a vital aspect of democratic governance and is for the most part beneficial to society. However, recent high-profile instances of lobbying activity in New Zealand have damaged governmental integrity and appear to have diminished public confidence in government decision-making processes. The Lobbying Disclosure Bill was introduced to the New Zealand Parliament in 2012 in the hope that transparency mechanisms could dissuade harmful lobbying without impeding ordinary activity. The Bill was rejected at the select committee stage due to a number of drafting deficiencies. These shortcomings made the Bill difficult to implement, and imposed a disproportionate limit on a number of human rights. Despite these failings, it is both possible and desirable to regulate lobbying activity in New Zealand. Drawing from overseas experiences, this paper suggests modifications to the Lobbying Disclosure Bill which would discourage harmful lobbying while also mitigating the concerns raised by critics of the Bill.</p>
Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) as a Non-traditional Security Issue in ASEAN: Vietnam’s Interests and Policies
Authors:   , Nguyen Ha Thi Thuy 
Published: November 2021

<p>Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) has never received as much attention from the world’s leaders as it does today. This is because in addition to causing economic losses, disasters -both natural and man-made - have increasingly impacted on the quality of human life and human dignity. Disasters have become ‘securitized’ and have become increasingly understood as part of a ‘non-traditional’ security (NTS) agenda. The goal of disaster reduction and mitigation has become a greater priority for governments. In the wake of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, ASEAN countries have paid greater attention to HADR as a non-traditional security issue. HADR is one item under the ASEAN Socio Cultural Community, whose aim is to contribute to building a people-oriented and socially responsible ASEAN Community. HADR has also become the subject of various cooperation activities and mechanisms among regional and extra-regional countries, including the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) and the ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting (ADMM). As a disaster-prone country, Vietnam has an interest in cooperating with regional states in dealing with, combating, preventing and reducing disasters. Active participation in regional HADR activities provides Vietnam with the chance to deal with its own natural disasters, and creates opportunities for Vietnam to pursue its wider objective of a open, diversified and multilateralized foreign policy.</p>
Computational Methods for Light Scattering by Metallic Nanoparticles
Authors:   , Somerville Walter Ross Campbell 
Published: November 2021

<p>The unifying theme of this thesis is that of light scattering by particles, using computational approaches. This contributions here are separated into two main areas. The first consists of examining the behaviour of the extended boundary-condition method and T-matrix method, and providing a modified set of equations to use to calculate the relevant integrals. From this, some linear relations between integrals were found, which hint at the possibility of a more efficient means of performing these calculations. As well as this, the severe numerical problems associated with this method were investigated, and the primary source of these problems was identified in the case of two commonly-used shapes, spheroids and offset spheres. The cause of these numerical problems is that dominant, leading terms in the power series expansion of the integrands integrate identically to zero, but in practice, numerical calculations have insufficient precision to compute this exactly, and the overwhelming errors from this lead to drastically incorrect results. Following this identification, a new formulation of the integrals for spheroids is presented, which allows the much easier treatment of spheroids, approaching the level of ease of calculations for spheres in Mie theory. This formulation replaces some terms in the integrands with modified terms, that do not contain the parts of the power series that cause problems. As these should integrate to zero, we are able to remove them from the integrand without affecting the correct result. The second area of this thesis is concerned with calculations of the near-field for systems of interest in plasmonics, and specifically in surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy. Here, the enhancement of the electric field in the vicinity of a metallic surface has a large effect on measured signals. The contribution of this thesis is to study the geometric parameters that influence the distribution of the field enhancement at the particle's resonance, specifically focusing on different effects caused by the overall shape of the particle, as opposed to those effects due to the local shape of the particle in regions of high enhancement. It is shown that the overall shape determines the location of the resonance, while the local shape determines how strongly the enhancement is localised. Understanding the factors that influence the enhancement localisation will help in guiding the design of suitable plasmonic substrates.</p>
China’s Bilateral Aid to the South Pacific Region: A Constructivist Analysis
Authors:   , Wang Zhen 
Published: November 2021

<p>This paper examines the role of China’s national identities and the impact on its foreign aid policies and practices. The multiple identities shape China’s role as a development partner in pursuit of economic cooperation with aid recipients and that seek to engage with traditional aid donors in terms of aid delivery. To explore the influence of national identities-the victimhood identity, the developing country identity and the rising responsible power identity behind China’s foreign aid policies and behaviors, this thesis uses a solid theoretical foundation-Constructivism. It analyses two empirical cases, the Fiji and the Cook Islands from 2006 to 2013, drawing from a large chunk of literature from English and Chinese publications, government documents, and relevant websites. The thesis finds that China’s aid policies and behaviors are mainly consistent with its victimhood and developing country identities. The country regards itself as a development partner rather than an aid donor and places great emphasis on mutual benefit and non-interference principles with a large proportion of its aid focused on infrastructure, construction-based projects. However, it also uncovers that China has started to address aid recipients’ demands. The country has also learned how to handle aid programs from other donor countries, such as Australia and New Zealand, which is incorporated into China’s new rising responsible power identity. The research aims to challenge the dominated rationality-based analysis and hopes to trigger further discussion about China’s aid and development.</p>
Reconciling agility and architecture: a theory of agile architecture
Authors:   , Waterman Michael Grant 
Published: November 2021

<p>The purpose of agile software development is to enable the software development team to respond to change and learn from change so that it can better deliver value to its customer. If an agile software development team spends too much time planning and designing architecture up-front then the delivery of value to the customer is delayed or otherwise compromised, and responding to change can become extremely difficult. Not doing enough architecture design increases exposure to risk and increases the chance of failure. The balance between architecture and agility is not well understood by agile practitioners or researchers. This thesis is based on grounded theory research involving 44 participants from 36 organisations, all working in agile software development and who are either experienced in architecture design or are closely involved with architecture. The thesis presents a theory that describes how agile software teams design an agile architecture with reduced up-front design and which is able to respond to change, helping teams find a balance between architecture and agility. The theory describes six forces that affect the agility of the architecture and up-front design, and five strategies that teams use in response to those forces to determine how much effort they put into up-front design. Understanding these forces and strategies helps agile teams to determine how much up-front design is appropriate in their contexts.</p>
Voicing Rupture: Resisting docility through performances of feminine agency in Arnold Schoenberg’s Das Buch der hängenden Gärten
Authors:   , Thirlwall Imogen 
Published: November 2021

<p>My experience of learning and performing Arnold Schoenberg’s song cycle, Das Buch der hängenden Gärten, can be explored through the lens of Foucault’s ‘docile bodies’ theory – that is, bodies that are ‘subjected, used, transformed, improved’. Participating in the disciplinary practice of self-policing, my obedience to the social, cultural and musical orders shaping western art song performance is enforced through self-imposed internalisation of normative practices and values. The singer’s body – my own body – is regulated in the Foucauldian sense; ‘disciplined’ through training and conditioning to align with normative practices, and, simultaneously, I act as ‘discipliner’ through self-imposed policing and monitoring of my body. The compulsive need to engage in the acts and processes of discipline implies inherent deficiency or deviance; the body must be transformed and ‘corrected’ through the processes of discipline that reflect the internalised value systems a body is measured against. In this exegesis, I explore my processes of self-regulation as disciplined and discipliner, investigating an intersection of ideals and tensions in my pursuit of technical command of vocal technique, obedience to the score, and the expectation of emotional abandon that an expressionist song cycle demands. Framed through narratives of ‘service’ and ‘prohibition’, I position the political anatomy of an eroticised, reproductive female body, exploring resistance and ‘rupture’ through the sexual agency of a disobedient and disruptive female singer.</p>
Principles in practice? Ownership in monitoring and evaluation in Vanuatu
Authors:   , Geary Nichol Martha 
Published: November 2021

<p>Presently, monitoring and evaluation is an aid practice that does not emphasise Ni-Vanuatu ownership. Despite the current aid agenda’s advocacy for ownership, principles of measuring for results and accountability are given preference in this practice. Eighteen participants working in monitoring and evaluation in NGOs and government departments in Luganville and Port Vila were interviewed for this study in April and May, 2013. Through semi-structured interviews they shared their experiences of the practice. They highlighted issues around capacity, kastom and donors, emphasising monitoring and evaluation’s inability to account for the local context and promote ownership. It was found that the current approach to monitoring and evaluation follows a universal model, disregarding country specific features of Vanuatu such as kastom, language and land. However, these features embody the identity of Ni-Vanuatu and define Ni-Vanuatu ownership. They should therefore dictate how monitoring and evaluation is carried out. A move for stronger Ni-Vanuatu ownership of aid practices such as monitoring and evaluation will be complicated and messy. However, approaching monitoring and evaluation through a local lens while employing relationship building and flexibility can lead to increased Ni-Vanuatu ownership of the practice.</p>
Business Development and Marketing Strategy in Early‐stage Technology Start-­up Businesses: The Importance of Understanding the Customer
Authors:   , Walsh Ian 
Published: November 2021

<p>The author sets out to explore the role of a marketer and the importance of the customer in an early-stage technology start‐up business when exploring the commercial options for a new technology or product. The author sets learning objectives around the use of an academic model to explore the development of the enterprise and the role of a marketer within a start-up team. In order to reach these aims, the author compares three strategic marketing models and draws on insights from academic and practice-­based literature to justify the use of Kotler and Armstrong’s Marketing Process Model. The author then implements Kotler’s model, detailing the practical elements of his role as the marketing and business development lead across three different projects, exploring the commercial potential for three different technologies/or products. The author recommends the use of Kotler and Armstrong’s Marketing Process Model for early-­stage start-up business teams that are exploring commercial options for a new technology or a product. He recommends a customer-­led approach to marketing within a technology start-­up team. The author recognizes the importance of a marketer’s role in establishing, maintaining and nurturing relationships with potential customers in order to drive and inform product development.</p>
The diffusion of norms, rules and mechanisms for the enforcement of labor standards and the resolution of disputes in the Asia-Pacific, in particular among signatory countries of the TPP
Authors:   , Pham Lan Thi Thu 
Published: November 2021

<p>People are central to economic development. Workers are relatively vulnerable compared to the other factors of the economy, including governments and employers. Because violations of workers’ rights and poor working conditions are prevalent, especially in developing countries, the diffusion of internationally recognized labor standards is now emerging as a critical process in the world. This is a process by which internationally recognized labor rights are transferred between countries by various means with the expectation of improving labor conditions world-wide. For this process to be successful, it is important that not only labor standards but also rules and mechanisms for their enforcement be diffused. The Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement (TPP) is currently under negotiation. The TPP is expected to be the first “high-quality, twenty-first-century agreement” in the world. Norm entrepreneurs have chosen the TPP to be a channel for the diffusion of labor standards in the Asia-Pacific. How is the TPP likely to diffuse the norms, rules and mechanisms for the enforcement of labor standards and dispute resolution? Will it be by means of goodwill, cooperation and consensus or through material conditionality? Labor rights are human rights which must be upheld and promoted. The answer to the above empirical question is very important to the policy-makers of signatory countries of the TPP, given that labor standards are considered to be a sensitive issue in many Asian countries. Their concerns are grounded in history. The Government of Poland and the communist system in Eastern Europe were brought down as a result of the implementation of labor rights in the 1980s¹. How to implement these rights without causing social and political disorder is a complex question for policy-makers in the TPP countries. The thesis reviews the literature on theoretical norm diffusion and labor standards as well as provides the empirical evidence of past diffusion of labor standards in order to identify which mechanisms of diffusion are likely to prevail in the field of labor standards in the Asia-Pacific region. It answers who are the drivers of diffusion. It draws on the record of all signed FTAs in the region to provide an empirical foundation for its projection about the likely content of the TPP in terms of rules and mechanisms for the enforcement of labor standards. ¹ After the rights to organize freely and to strike was recognized by the Government of Poland, the Solidarity Unions was formed and after many ups and downs of its evolution, finally it had led successfully the overthrow of the communist Government of Poland and “played a central role in the demise of communism across the Soviet bloc, changing forever the course of history in Europe”. Read more at http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1060898.html, and http://future.state.gov/when/timeline/1969_detente/fall_of_communism.html</p>