bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The Politics of Fertility: The Global Emergence of 'Pro-Family' Organisations
Authors:   , Wigley Jennifer 
Published: November 2021

<p>This thesis is part of a small but growing literature on the activism of Christian Right 'pro-family' organisations from the United States (US) in international development politics. This thesis provides a detailed analysis of the texts of five globally active 'pro-family'organisations from 1997 until the end of 2008. One of the major findings is that the 'pro-family' political project, previously defined as the defence of the family against powerful global elites, is now being articulated against values associated with industrialisation and modernity. Through this change, longheld Christian Right tenets such as hostility to feminism, staunch adherence to free markets, and suspicion of the UN, are being reconsidered or redefined to suit the needs of the 'pro-family' movement. By mapping the ways that 'pro-family' discourse is changing, this thesis shows the impacts that globalization and involvement at the UN is having on this set of conservative Christians, and how their agenda is changing as a result of their political activism outside of the US. This thesis provides a current, comprehensive and reliable review of the activist publications of the US 'pro-family' movement, and as such, offers an insight into the changing agenda of a movement that is growing both in organisational aptitude and in global influence.</p>
A Place for Shadows: A Prolegomena to the Authorship Practices and Films of Joanna Margaret Paul
Authors:   , Whyte Dick 
Published: November 2021

<p>This is an "authorship" study of New Zealand artist Joanna Margaret Paul, with specific reference to her "experimental film" works. Though I will draw on a wide range of theorists, my overall approach is what Laura Marks calls "intercultural cinema." For Marks the term "intercultural cinema" refers to a specific "genre" or "movement" of experimental films created by authors caught "between two or more cultural regimes of knowledge." Intercultural film-makers include feminist, queer, indigenous and immigrant authors (any "minority" which possesses its own "regime of knowledge" and makes experimental film) living in "Western metropolitan areas," whose dominant culture is capitalist, masculine, "hegemonic, white and Euro-American" (a second regime of knowledge). What draws intercultural cinema together (and indeed, one could argue, experimental film in general) is an oppositional stance toward capitalist ideology, the commodification of the art object and the uniformity of classical narrative forms. As David Bordwell and Kristen Thompson write, experimental films are "often deliberate attempts to undercut the conventions of commercial narrative filmmaking" and, as Marks writes, intercultural cinema "flows against waves of economic neocolonialism," and is "suspicious of mass circulation... [as] making commercial cinema still involves significant compromises."</p>
Quantification of the Enhancement Factor in Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering
Authors:   , Blackie Evan 
Published: November 2021

<p>This thesis presents a rigorous stepwise methodology towards the accurate measurement and quantification of the SERS enhancement factor (EF), the key parameter in describing the SERS effect. The work represents, we believe, a successful attempt to resolve some of the inconsistencies in the literature and to refocus the field by emphasizing the importance of consistent definitions and rigorous quantification to elucidate matters of fundamental importance in SERS. The success in our approach is that it combines careful experimental measurements upon a sound theoretical framework, and utilizes a 'toolbox' of techniques developed in recent years, such as bi-analyte SERS (BiASERS) techniques for single-molecule (SM) detection, and isotopic editing. In experimental work, we measure the bare Raman cross-sections of five common probes used in SERS as a first step in measuring the analytical enhancement factor (AEF) and single-molecule enhancement factor (SMEF). The methodology in measuring these EFs involved the use of a reference standard of known cross-section along with a careful characterization of the scattering volume through beam profiling experiments. As a guide to validating the reference cross-section we make extensive use of density functional theory (DFT) calculations to obtain estimates for the intrinsic Raman cross-sections of small, non-resonant probes. The results of this work showed that previous upper limits for the EF reported in the literature of 1014 were based on a faulty normalization of the EF. In fact, EFs of 108 were sufficient to see single molecules, which is much lower than previously expected; under optimum conditions, even lower EFs, possibly down to 105 could be sufficient for the SM detection of resonant probes. As a valuable extension of BiASERS, we elaborate on the synthesis of isotopic analogues of a rhodamine dye as ideal partners for SM experiments. The synthesis and definitive characterization of these probes enable their use in an experiment to determine the SM regime in a liquid colloidal sample. Isotopically edited dyes such as these, in combination with the methodologies of EF quantification outlined herein, set the standard for those interested in accurate quantification of the SERS effect. This approach is useful in terms of both basic theoretical questions and applications such as the effective comparison of SERS substrates. Finally, we extend the techniques developed over the thesis to a long-standing and largely unresolved question in SERS: What is the minimum intrinsic Raman cross-section that can be measured as a single molecule in standard SERS conditions. In this work, we explore the SM detection non-resonant probes, which are the molecules of interest for many practical applications such as forensics and biological assays. Specifically, we demonstrate the successful SM detection of isotopically edited adenine probes.</p>
Contemporary Sediment Delivery Ratios for Small Catchments Subject to Shallow Rainfall Triggered Earthflows in the Waipaoa Catchment, North Island, New Zealand
Authors:   , Jones Katie Elizabeth 
Published: November 2021

<p>The Waipaoa catchment is generally considered to have high hill slope channel coupling due to the large volumes of sediment output at the river mouth. Yet the percentage of sediment that is transported within the fluvial system is low when considered in terms of the total volume of sediment mobilised during episodic failure events. Clearly, there is a discrepancy between generation of sediment and its delivery to the fluvial network. Previous research has suggested there is a strong decrease in catchment connectivity as catchment size increases. However, little research has been undertaken to understand the changes in hillslope-channel coupling over time. This study focuses on the connectivity of shallow rainfall triggered earthflows located in small catchments located within three different land systems in the Waipaoa Catchment. A multiple regression model was developed to predict the sediment delivery ratio for individual earthflows based on an empirical dataset of earthflows which occurred during a storm event in 2002. The results from this modelling were applied to five larger sub-catchments where sequential aerial photograph analysis (1940s to 2004) was used to determine connectivity. From this, spatial and temporal patterns in the catchment sediment delivery ratios were identified. The expected decrease in sediment delivery ratios was observed as catchment size increased. However, the temporal pattern to sediment delivery is not so clear. It appears that catchment evolution, referring specially to the Terrain Event Resistance Model developed by Crozier and Preston (1999), does not have a significant influence on sediment delivery ratios within the six decades examined in this thesis. Furthermore, while earthflows are considered the ultimate source of sediment during storm events, they are not always the mechanism by which this sediment enters the fluvial network. It is also vital to consider rates of gullying, sheet erosion and riparian erosion.</p>
The Contribution of Complexity Theory to Understanding and Explaining Policy Processes: A Study of Tertiary Education Policy Processes in New Zealand
Authors:   , Eppel Elizabeth Anne 
Published: November 2021

<p>The thesis examines how policy processes occur in practice over time, and advances a theory for understanding and explaining them using a complexity analytical lens. This lens provides a different way of 'seeing' policy processes holistically, in comparison with dominant alternative actor-focused, institutions-focused or idea-focused perspectives. The overall aims of the thesis are achieved through four phases. First, to construct the complexity lens, the thesis analyses the potential contribution of complexity theory, particularly as it relates to social systems and organisations. Second, existing theories of policy processes are scrutinised to identify areas where a complexity lens could provide new perspectives for their understanding, through a focus on: - 'wholes' of policy processes - policy problems and solutions - multiple participants - interactions within policy processes - dynamics within policy processes. Third, a study of New Zealand's tertiary education policy processes provides new empirical data. Data collected in unstructured interviews is represented in three differently-themed narratives, corresponding to three well-theorised analytical emphases: (1) participants; (2) institutions; and (3) ideas. The selection of three different perspectives takes into account the socially complex nature of policy processes. Fourth, the narrative data are examined through the complexity analytical lens and the results are compared with the views of policy processes obtained using the single lenses in the themed narratives. The four phases come together by demonstrating that viewing tertiary education policy processes through the complexity analytical lens provides a new perspective on policy processes which has implications for designing and intervening in policy processes. From this new perspective, policy processes are understood as complex social systems in interaction with other complex social systems. These systems consist of large numbers of interdependent and self-referencing participants, interacting with each other in ways that are nonlinear, influenced by prior experiences, and unpredictable in any precise sense.</p>
Shaping More Sustainable Communities: a Case Study in Urban Water Management
Authors:   , Moore Robyn 
Published: November 2021

<p>The motivation for this study was to consider how communities might take a more integrated and systematic approach to meeting the challenges of water management in New Zealand, and achieve more sustainable systems. The specific challenges facing a community pursuing sustainable urban water management objectives were examined and solutions sought and tested. Urban water systems, in particular, are under increasing pressure to meet the expectations of communities, with water managers required to articulate sensible management initiatives that secure water supplies and protect water for its intended use, now and in the future. Despite policy and regulation intended to advance outcomes and integrate efforts within the complex area of urban water management, fragmented approaches persist, while a pattern of decline in the quality of New Zealand's water resources remains a cause for concern. Nearly half of urban rates collected in New Zealand apply to water and wastewater management. Thus, this study is concerned with understanding the critical constraints to achieving healthier, more sustainable urban water systems that are affordable for New Zealand communities. The thesis demonstrates the methodology by focusing on Kapiti, a settlement north of Wellington, which has been debating and responding to water quality and security issues for more than a decade. Subsequent to a piloted investigation, a methodological framework was proposed, based on integrating three near complementary perspectives. The Theory of Constraints (TOC) was used with a Stakeholder Typology to identify system stakeholders, capturing and representing their perspectives with Intermediate Objective (IO), Current Reality Tree (CRT) and Prerequisite Trees (PRT), while Causal Loop Diagrams (CLDs) from Systems Dynamics were constructed with some participants to explore and circumvent potential negative outcomes. The combined framework provided a source of deep insights into the challenges, dilemmas, potential solutions and side effects facing resource managers and other stakeholders in an urban water system under pressure from population growth and climatic/topographical conditions. It is possible that the combined theoretical framework can be applied to other resource management cases. The use of the Stakeholder Typology to complement TOC provided a tactical element not routinely evident in systems studies, valuing the experiential and historical perspectives of those who might otherwise be treated as being outside the system, their perspectives marginalised or ignored. The TOC framework offered a logic-based means to identify and invalidate a critical assumption that peak demand would reduce to a level predicted by system managers. Further, the TOC tools were used to focus on and agree the set of conditions necessary to deal with the demand constraint and meet the system goal agreed by the stakeholder participants.</p>
Multifunctionality as a Strategy to Decrease Resource Use in Building Envelopes
Authors:   , Gerhardt Clara H. 
Published: November 2021

<p>The growing use of renewable and non-renewable resources by human society is increasingly seen as one of the root causes of the occurring imbalance in the global ecosystem. The effects are inter alia made responsible for a severe disruption in climate, loss of biodiversity, water shortage and a looming energy crisis that combined threaten human prosperity and livelihood. As a response to the occurring problems, global commitment to sustainable development is envisaged. In this context the building industry has a great responsibility as it's leverage as one of the biggest stakeholders in global material flows is significant. It will increasingly have to provide credible solutions and strategies to not only qualitatively change the composition of the triggered material flows, but to reduce the absolute consumption of raw and refined materials and generation of material flows to a sustainable level. The research presented in this thesis therefore analyses different strategies that can lead to the reduction of resource use in architecture, focussing on multifunctionality. A discussion of constructional principles of the building envelope analyses how multifunctionality can be achieved. A material intensity analysis using the material input per service unit concept (MIPS) quantifies the potential of multifunctionality to reduce resource use by comparing the material flows of a conventional and a multifunctional envelope. The case study shows that multifunctionality has the potential to reduce the resource use of building envelopes, if synergistic effects are created and if life-cycle wide resource flows are taken into account at the design stage. Both the theoretical first part and the case study in the second part of the thesis underline that the success of multifunctionality in contributing to resource flow reductions is highly dependent on the designer's awareness of the importance of material flows in the built environment and willingness to approach the topic with flexible design solutions. Furthermore it is underlined that only a combination of different strategies which address the topic at different leverage points will lead to the necessary absolute reduction in material flows.</p>
'I Thought It Was Just a Pimple': A Study Examining the Parents of Pacific Children's Understanding and Management of Skin Infections in the Home
Authors:   , Ete-Rasch Elaine 
Published: November 2021

<p>Hospital admissions of young children due to serious skin infections have increased throughout the Greater Wellington Region over the years. Pacific children make up a high proportion of these hospital admissions. While the literature suggests that these admissions are highly preventable through proper care and management of skin sores at home, little is known about parents' knowledge and practices at home when a child is known to have a skin sore. This descriptive exploratory study explored the management of skin sores and wound care in the homes of 11 Pacific children from the Greater Wellington region prior to being admitted with skin infections. Mothers of 11 children who were aged between three months and 15 years were interviewed using a semi-structure interview schedule that was designed to understand parents' knowledge, understanding and perceptions of wound care, how the early signs of infections were recognised and where and when to seek medical help. The availability of first aid kits and their utilisation by families in their homes as simple preventative measures were also explored. The interviews were transcribed and a descriptive qualitative content analysis process undertaken. Overall the study found that parents engaged in active roles in an effort to maintain and sustain the wellbeing of their children once the signs and symptoms of skin infections were identified. The key findings are categorised under four main themes, 1) Parents in action; 2) The search for healing and cure; 3) Household activities; and 4) Health information for parents. Implications and recommendations for health professionals centre on the need for improved information for parents and for a review of practice surrounding skin infections in primary health care settings. Relevant information on skin infections on children to be addressed in the Well Child Tamariki Ora booklet is also recommended.</p>
The Design and Verification of Dynamic-sized Nonblocking Data Structures
Authors:   , Doherty Simon 
Published: November 2021

<p>Modern computer systems often involve multiple processes or threads of control that communicate through shared memory. However, the implementation of correct and efficient data structures that can be shared by several processes is frequently challenging. This thesis is concerned with the design and verification of a class of shared memory algorithms known as nonblocking algorithms, which are implementations of shared data structures that provide strong progress guarantees. Nonblocking algorithms offer an appealing alternative to traditional techniques for the implementation of shared memory data structures, but they are difficult to design, and extant algorithms can often be applied in only a limited range of systems. Furthermore, because of their subtlety, it is notoriously difficult to determine whether a given nonblocking algorithm is correct. This thesis addresses these difficulties in two ways. First, we present techniques for the verification of nonblocking algorithms that dynamically allocate memory. These techniques allow the construction of formal and complete proofs of correctness, so that each proof may be checked by a mechanical proof assistant. Applying techniques first developed for the verification of distributed algorithms, we use labelled-transition systems to model algorithms and their specifications, and simulation relations to prove that an implementation meets its specification. Nonblocking algorithms often require a particular notion of simulation, called backward simulation, that is rarely necessary in other contexts. This thesis contributes to the relatively limited collective experience in the use of backward simulation. The second set of contributions addresses the limitations of many extant nonblocking algorithms. While many nonblocking algorithms allocate memory dynamically, it is difficult to determine in a nonblocking context when it is safe to free memory. We present techniques to accomplish this. Furthermore, many nonblocking algorithms depend on the availability of two powerful synchronisation primitives, known as load-linked and store-conditional, which are not normally provided by hardware. We present implementations of these primitives that work on commonly available platforms.</p>
New Zealand Building Code Clause G7 Compliance Assessment Tool: Development and Implementation
Authors:   , Stewart Krystle 
Published: November 2021

<p>The New Zealand Building Code Clause G7 (NZBC G7) minimum requirement for natural light is not being met in around half of New Zealand apartments post-construction. The main reasons for this are an acceptable solution that is not effective for apartment buildings and a lack of tools for Territorial Authorities to assess accurately whether an apartment will meet the minimum requirement. This report outlines the process involved in developing a simplified tool to assess quickly natural light compliance in apartments and preparing it for implementation. The tool was developed through simulation of factors that affect daylight performance at the point in the room specified in the Code: the back of habitable rooms. From these simulations statistical analysis was used to develop mathematical relationships between building features and light levels. These relationships were used to create a tool that specifies whether an apartment would require simulation to prove compliance with NZBC G7. Calibration measurements were performed, comparing simulated and real measurements in 97 apartments with the predictions of the tool. These demonstrated that the tool provides reliable results, hence determining the accuracy of the predictions provided by the tool. The final step in the research was for potential end-user groups to evaluate the usability and functionality of the tool. The conclusion of this process is that a tool has been developed that is simple and easy to use, is sufficiently accurate for application by Territorial Authorities as a decision tool and can be easily implemented.</p>
Irish Music in Wellington: a Study of a Local Music Community
Authors:   , Thurston Donna 
Published: November 2021

<p>The Irish session is a musical, social and cultural experience that has emerged from international popularisation and globalisation. In New Zealand today, communities of Irish music enthusiasts maintain links to an international arena, and the session is valued as a context for musical enjoyment and the affirmation of Irish identity. Throughout my research I immersed myself in Wellington's vibrant Irish music scene with fieldwork techniques that included participant observation, sound recordings, and performance. The major part of this study took place in two local Wellington pubs - Molly Malone's and Kitty O'Shea's - but I also observed sessions in other New Zealand cities and in Ireland. The similarities and differences between the two Wellington sessions were examined in detail and my research included extensive interviews with the participants. In addition to exploring Irish essions in the context of two Wellington pubs, this thesis explores session instrumentation and repertoire, and aspects of cultural identity that include the participant's experiences with Irish music. This thesis also examines how individual session members actively contribute and link their musical training and background to a transnational Irish music community. By studying the individual and musical identities of those actively involved in the community, this thesis reveals that Irish music in Wellington is an active and dynamic scene made up of enthusiasts with a variety of musical and cultural backgrounds. With music as its heart, the Wellington session community, is simultaneously localised in New Zealand but extends outward and connects with Irish communities globally.</p>