title: A link-based visual search engine for Wikipedia

authors: Milne, David N.

subjects: exploratory search

abstract: This paper introduces Hopara, a new search engine that aims to make Wikipedia easier to explore. It works on top of the encyclopedia's existing link structure, abstracting away from document content and allowing users to navigate the resource at a higher level. It utilizes semantic relatedness measures to emphasize articles and connections that are most likely to be of interest, visualization to expose the structure of how the available information is organized, and lightweight information extraction to explain itself.

text: A link-based visual search engine for Wikipedia This paper introduces Hopara, a new search engine that aims to make Wikipedia easier to explore. It works on top of the encyclopedia's existing link structure, abstracting away from document content and allowing users to navigate the resource at a higher level. It utilizes semantic relatedness measures to emphasize articles and connections that are most likely to be of interest, visualization to expose the structure of how the available information is organized, and lightweight information extraction to explain itself.

year: 2011

title: Identifying control points of excessive nitrate load in a pastoral catchment to support lake management

authors: Yulianti, Meti

subjects: Nitrate isotope

abstract: Excessive leaching of nitrogen (N) from pasture grazing catchments continues to challenge sustainable freshwater and lake management. However, managing contaminant export from diffuse agricultural sources is difficult due to the lack of detailed knowledge of specific sources and delivery mechanisms controlling contaminant transport over various spatial and temporal scales. This study systematically investigated nitrate dynamic flow from a small pastoral catchment into a eutrophic lake located in the central plateau of New Zealand’s North Island. This study aimed to determine where and when hot spots and hot moments can be characterised as control points for freshwater contaminant losses in the pastoral catchment. Multi-isotope analysis, high-frequency data collection, and modelling were utilised in identifying and describing potential nitrate sources and biogeochemical transformations involved that affect nitrate export from catchment to receiving waters. A distinct difference in the isotopic signature of nitrate taken during high flow compared to nitrate from low flow conditions highlights the importance of considering hydrological conditions when determining the source and dominant biogeochemical processes of N within the catchment. Nitrate in the stream was mainly derived from the mineralisation of soil organic N during low flow conditions; however, the contribution from urine and urea fertiliser sources was dominant during high flow conditions. Antecedent catchment wetness of ~95 mm was identified as a hydrological threshold influencing different sources and transport mechanisms of nutrients in the lake catchment. Above the threshold, rainfall events led to the mobilisation of nitrogen from the overland flow pathway. In contrast, events below the threshold led to pronounced organic N release from subsurface runoff. The catchment model Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was used to simulate hydrological processes, simulate nutrient load, and investigate whether incorporating insights from isotope data in parameterisation can improve the performance of the model. Findings indicated that using isotope data as soft calibration resulted in improved simulated model output and better represented nitrogen balance in the catchment. The annual average of water yield varied from 617 – 856 mm and nitrate loads varied from 0.2 to 5.9 kg ha⁻¹. A range of scenario simulations suggest that a 50% fertiliser reduction scenario effectively reduced nitrate load by 86.4% compared to the baseline scenario. These results indicate that better management of fertiliser application is essential to control the excessive nutrient load flowing from the catchment to Lake Ōkaro. The combined analysis in this study is useful for improving the understanding of complex water flow and contaminant dynamics in the pastoral catchment, and for indicating directions and challenges for future measurements and modelling of pastoral contaminants. The integrated approach presented in this study combines stable isotope hydrology and water quality monitoring programs thereby enabling consideration and management of the dominant controlling mechanisms of different contaminant losses from land to receiving water bodies, particularly for nitrate. Such an approach provides a framework that can aid in developing water quality mitigation strategies that better anticipate the impacts of significant rainfall events.

text: Identifying control points of excessive nitrate load in a pastoral catchment to support lake management Excessive leaching of nitrogen (N) from pasture grazing catchments continues to challenge sustainable freshwater and lake management. However, managing contaminant export from diffuse agricultural sources is difficult due to the lack of detailed knowledge of specific sources and delivery mechanisms controlling contaminant transport over various spatial and temporal scales. This study systematically investigated nitrate dynamic flow from a small pastoral catchment into a eutrophic lake located in the central plateau of New Zealand’s North Island. This study aimed to determine where and when hot spots and hot moments can be characterised as control points for freshwater contaminant losses in the pastoral catchment. Multi-isotope analysis, high-frequency data collection, and modelling were utilised in identifying and describing potential nitrate sources and biogeochemical transformations involved that affect nitrate export from catchment to receiving waters. A distinct difference in the isotopic signature of nitrate taken during high flow compared to nitrate from low flow conditions highlights the importance of considering hydrological conditions when determining the source and dominant biogeochemical processes of N within the catchment. Nitrate in the stream was mainly derived from the mineralisation of soil organic N during low flow conditions; however, the contribution from urine and urea fertiliser sources was dominant during high flow conditions. Antecedent catchment wetness of ~95 mm was identified as a hydrological threshold influencing different sources and transport mechanisms of nutrients in the lake catchment. Above the threshold, rainfall events led to the mobilisation of nitrogen from the overland flow pathway. In contrast, events below the threshold led to pronounced organic N release from subsurface runoff. The catchment model Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was used to simulate hydrological processes, simulate nutrient load, and investigate whether incorporating insights from isotope data in parameterisation can improve the performance of the model. Findings indicated that using isotope data as soft calibration resulted in improved simulated model output and better represented nitrogen balance in the catchment. The annual average of water yield varied from 617 – 856 mm and nitrate loads varied from 0.2 to 5.9 kg ha⁻¹. A range of scenario simulations suggest that a 50% fertiliser reduction scenario effectively reduced nitrate load by 86.4% compared to the baseline scenario. These results indicate that better management of fertiliser application is essential to control the excessive nutrient load flowing from the catchment to Lake Ōkaro. The combined analysis in this study is useful for improving the understanding of complex water flow and contaminant dynamics in the pastoral catchment, and for indicating directions and challenges for future measurements and modelling of pastoral contaminants. The integrated approach presented in this study combines stable isotope hydrology and water quality monitoring programs thereby enabling consideration and management of the dominant controlling mechanisms of different contaminant losses from land to receiving water bodies, particularly for nitrate. Such an approach provides a framework that can aid in developing water quality mitigation strategies that better anticipate the impacts of significant rainfall events.

year: 2023

title: Key concepts in Māori and iwi histories: A critique of Te Takanga o te Wā (2015)

authors: Palmer, Georgia

subjects: History

abstract: In 2019, the New Zealand government announced a “reset” of the national history curriculum, with the intention of including more Māori content and addressing ongoing petitions to make the New Zealand Wars compulsory in all schools. Two curricula - one for mainstream schools and the other for Māori immersion Kura - were developed, with each drawing on a recent Ministry of Education publication Te Takanga o te Wā (2015) to provide key insights to Māori history concepts and themes. The Māori curricula has since taken on the name of that document, and uses those themes in its new framework, while the mainstream curriculum also adopts some of these same concepts. But how relevant are these proposed themes and concepts to Māori history, and what have Māori and iwi historians and experts actually written or said about the significance of these concepts to Māori historical practice, content, and theory?
This thesis critiques the five key themes and concepts presented in Te Takanga o te Wā and evaluates their relevance as leading Māori history concepts. These are Whakapapa, Tūrangawaewae; Mana-Motuhake; Kaitiakitanga, and Whānaungatanga. This study surveys the existing work produced by Māori historians and other experts over the past century, particularly the extent to which they have used these themes or discussed their significance to Māori and iwi historical practice and thinking. This dissertation argues that aside from whakapapa, the majority of the themes presented in Te Takanga o te Wā are not reflected in the historiography of the field, and that there are in fact a range of other crucial concepts missing. These include discussions about Wā, the importance of te reo Māori, tikanga, Mātauranga-a-iwi and other important approaches like “historical trauma”, “survivance”, Kaupapa Māori and decolonisation.

text: Key concepts in Māori and iwi histories: A critique of Te Takanga o te Wā (2015) In 2019, the New Zealand government announced a “reset” of the national history curriculum, with the intention of including more Māori content and addressing ongoing petitions to make the New Zealand Wars compulsory in all schools. Two curricula - one for mainstream schools and the other for Māori immersion Kura - were developed, with each drawing on a recent Ministry of Education publication Te Takanga o te Wā (2015) to provide key insights to Māori history concepts and themes. The Māori curricula has since taken on the name of that document, and uses those themes in its new framework, while the mainstream curriculum also adopts some of these same concepts. But how relevant are these proposed themes and concepts to Māori history, and what have Māori and iwi historians and experts actually written or said about the significance of these concepts to Māori historical practice, content, and theory?
This thesis critiques the five key themes and concepts presented in Te Takanga o te Wā and evaluates their relevance as leading Māori history concepts. These are Whakapapa, Tūrangawaewae; Mana-Motuhake; Kaitiakitanga, and Whānaungatanga. This study surveys the existing work produced by Māori historians and other experts over the past century, particularly the extent to which they have used these themes or discussed their significance to Māori and iwi historical practice and thinking. This dissertation argues that aside from whakapapa, the majority of the themes presented in Te Takanga o te Wā are not reflected in the historiography of the field, and that there are in fact a range of other crucial concepts missing. These include discussions about Wā, the importance of te reo Māori, tikanga, Mātauranga-a-iwi and other important approaches like “historical trauma”, “survivance”, Kaupapa Māori and decolonisation.

year: 2022