title: Development of a map service

authors: Huang, Xiaotie (Anthony)

subjects: map

abstract: Geographic Information Systems (GIS) a computerized mapping system for capturing, storing, retrieving, analysing, and displaying spatial data (the type of data that has a geographic location). It is one of the fastest growing high tech fields and has been widely used in my areas where analysis of spatial referenced data is needed. In this paper we developed and implemented a GIS-based personalized Travel Planning application. Our goal is to provide a map based information system that gives recommendation information (e.g. closeby sights, must-see sights) to travellers according to their destinations, locations and preferences. Furthermore, the TP application was developed as a client-side service under the Tourist Information Provider System. It runs on client machines and uses the spatial referenced data stored at the TIP server-side database.

text: Development of a map service Geographic Information Systems (GIS) a computerized mapping system for capturing, storing, retrieving, analysing, and displaying spatial data (the type of data that has a geographic location). It is one of the fastest growing high tech fields and has been widely used in my areas where analysis of spatial referenced data is needed. In this paper we developed and implemented a GIS-based personalized Travel Planning application. Our goal is to provide a map based information system that gives recommendation information (e.g. closeby sights, must-see sights) to travellers according to their destinations, locations and preferences. Furthermore, the TP application was developed as a client-side service under the Tourist Information Provider System. It runs on client machines and uses the spatial referenced data stored at the TIP server-side database.

year: 2007

title: Integrated Model Development for the Assessment of Food Security in China Related to Climate Change and Adaptation

authors: Wang, Meng

subjects: Climate Change

abstract: This thesis developed a practical methodological framework, which integrated the bio-physical and socio-economic processes within the food system across different scales. The framework provides a useful tool for the assessment of food security and possible adaptation related to climate change. It was applied in China, a country with rapid economic growth and a large population, in order to evaluate multiple dimensions of food security related to climate change and socio-economic development in the future. 

In the framework, an improved bio-physical crop model was coupled with an improved food economic model by scaling up from the farm level to the national level. The bio-physical crop model was developed from the site-based Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT) model in order to investigate the impacts of climate change on physical production of a crop only related to environmental factors. The food economic model was developed from a partial equilibrium economic model, China's Agricultural Policy Simulation Model (CAPSiM). This was done in order to simulate the response of a socio-economic system to the negative consequences on a food economic system from the bio-physical change in crop production due to climate change.

Case studies of China and the Jilin province were investigated by applying the framework. The impacts of climate change on yield and phenology of maize under multiple greenhouse gas emission scenarios were studied at provincial and national levels in three time periods, 2020s, 2050s, 2070s, using the improved bio-physical crop model. In general, maize yield reduction due to climate change ranges from -3% in 2020 to -14% in 2070. The worst yield is -20.5% in 2070 produced under the A1FI scenario. Food security for China until 2050 was projected under multiple climate change and socio-economic scenarios by using the food economic model, and analyzed with respect to food availability, food price and the system resilience to sudden disasters. Modelled climate change impacts on food availability in this study are minimal, producing only a 23 Mt (~8%) gap between supply and demand for maize by 2050. The socio-economic system will compensate for the impacts of climate change on the self-sufficiency of grains by about 8% of total production for the whole country. The impacts on single grain would cause the prices of other grains to rise in future. The effectiveness of potential adaptation measures was assessed quantitatively at both farm and national levels. Uncertainties among different scenarios are discussed for China and the Jilin province.

text: Integrated Model Development for the Assessment of Food Security in China Related to Climate Change and Adaptation This thesis developed a practical methodological framework, which integrated the bio-physical and socio-economic processes within the food system across different scales. The framework provides a useful tool for the assessment of food security and possible adaptation related to climate change. It was applied in China, a country with rapid economic growth and a large population, in order to evaluate multiple dimensions of food security related to climate change and socio-economic development in the future. 

In the framework, an improved bio-physical crop model was coupled with an improved food economic model by scaling up from the farm level to the national level. The bio-physical crop model was developed from the site-based Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT) model in order to investigate the impacts of climate change on physical production of a crop only related to environmental factors. The food economic model was developed from a partial equilibrium economic model, China's Agricultural Policy Simulation Model (CAPSiM). This was done in order to simulate the response of a socio-economic system to the negative consequences on a food economic system from the bio-physical change in crop production due to climate change.

Case studies of China and the Jilin province were investigated by applying the framework. The impacts of climate change on yield and phenology of maize under multiple greenhouse gas emission scenarios were studied at provincial and national levels in three time periods, 2020s, 2050s, 2070s, using the improved bio-physical crop model. In general, maize yield reduction due to climate change ranges from -3% in 2020 to -14% in 2070. The worst yield is -20.5% in 2070 produced under the A1FI scenario. Food security for China until 2050 was projected under multiple climate change and socio-economic scenarios by using the food economic model, and analyzed with respect to food availability, food price and the system resilience to sudden disasters. Modelled climate change impacts on food availability in this study are minimal, producing only a 23 Mt (~8%) gap between supply and demand for maize by 2050. The socio-economic system will compensate for the impacts of climate change on the self-sufficiency of grains by about 8% of total production for the whole country. The impacts on single grain would cause the prices of other grains to rise in future. The effectiveness of potential adaptation measures was assessed quantitatively at both farm and national levels. Uncertainties among different scenarios are discussed for China and the Jilin province.

year: 2014

title: 'Making its own history': New Zealand historical fiction for children,1862-2008

authors: Clark, Louise Henriette

subjects: children's literature

abstract: This thesis considers historical fiction for children and young people dealing with New Zealand history from the arrival of the first Polynesian settlers to the end of the nineteenth century.  It provides both a comprehensive survey of historical novels published between 1862 and the end of 2008, and an analysis of the way the same historical events and periods have been depicted in historical novels written at different times.  Individual chapters discuss books set during specific historical periods or dealing with particular events - the pre-European period, early contact, nineteenth century immigration, the New Zealand Wars, the gold rushes, and the colonial period - in chronological order of publication.  Since children's literature is particularly adept at reflecting and promoting the dominant ideas of the society in which it is produced, the chronological consideration of these texts reveals contemporary attitudes to such issues as race relations, gender roles, class, war and conflict, and concepts of national identity, as well as the way historical fiction has responded to societal changes since the 1860s.  

The predominant themes of historical fiction set prior to 1900 are: the arrival of settlers in New Zealand; encounters with the country's indigenous inhabitants; the taming of the often hostile landscape; the assertion of the settlers' claims to 'belong' in their new land; and the establishment of New Zealand as a nation with distinctive characteristics.  There are perceptible nuances and differences in the way these themes are discussed depending on the historical moment in which individual authors are writing.  Novels of the Victorian period and early twentieth century reflect the imperialistic and evangelistic ethos of the time, and present the British settlers' right to colonize the land and the ensuing dispossession of Māori as largely unproblematic.  Subsequent historical novels, particularly those written since the 1960s, offer a more inclusive version of New Zealand history, although the lack of historical fiction for children by Māori writers means that Eurocentric views of history continue to dominate, and that all representations of Māori and their history are mediated through Pakeha writers.

Shifts in social attitudes have resulted in changes in the treatment of Māori in historical novels for children, and similar changes have occurred in the portrayal of gender, class, and ethnicity.  The passage of time has seen increased agency and a wider variety of roles allocated to Māori, female and working class characters, as well as greater ethnic diversity.  Developments in New Zealand historiography are also reflected in fiction, although at times historical fiction prefigures written histories, or provides alternative views by depicting the experience of women, children and Māori, who often did not feature in conventional histories.  While many historical novels for children, especially the earlier texts, are adventure stories set in the past and are not necessarily concerned with historical verisimilitude, an increasing number attempt to present authentic recreations of historical periods, including accounts of actual people and events, based on extensive research, and reinforced with peritextual material in the form of historical notes, bibliographies, maps and photographs.  

The role of New Zealand historical fiction for children and young people has been not only to entertain young readers and inform them about their country's past, but to create and foster a sense of national identity.

text: 'Making its own history': New Zealand historical fiction for children,1862-2008 This thesis considers historical fiction for children and young people dealing with New Zealand history from the arrival of the first Polynesian settlers to the end of the nineteenth century.  It provides both a comprehensive survey of historical novels published between 1862 and the end of 2008, and an analysis of the way the same historical events and periods have been depicted in historical novels written at different times.  Individual chapters discuss books set during specific historical periods or dealing with particular events - the pre-European period, early contact, nineteenth century immigration, the New Zealand Wars, the gold rushes, and the colonial period - in chronological order of publication.  Since children's literature is particularly adept at reflecting and promoting the dominant ideas of the society in which it is produced, the chronological consideration of these texts reveals contemporary attitudes to such issues as race relations, gender roles, class, war and conflict, and concepts of national identity, as well as the way historical fiction has responded to societal changes since the 1860s.  

The predominant themes of historical fiction set prior to 1900 are: the arrival of settlers in New Zealand; encounters with the country's indigenous inhabitants; the taming of the often hostile landscape; the assertion of the settlers' claims to 'belong' in their new land; and the establishment of New Zealand as a nation with distinctive characteristics.  There are perceptible nuances and differences in the way these themes are discussed depending on the historical moment in which individual authors are writing.  Novels of the Victorian period and early twentieth century reflect the imperialistic and evangelistic ethos of the time, and present the British settlers' right to colonize the land and the ensuing dispossession of Māori as largely unproblematic.  Subsequent historical novels, particularly those written since the 1960s, offer a more inclusive version of New Zealand history, although the lack of historical fiction for children by Māori writers means that Eurocentric views of history continue to dominate, and that all representations of Māori and their history are mediated through Pakeha writers.

Shifts in social attitudes have resulted in changes in the treatment of Māori in historical novels for children, and similar changes have occurred in the portrayal of gender, class, and ethnicity.  The passage of time has seen increased agency and a wider variety of roles allocated to Māori, female and working class characters, as well as greater ethnic diversity.  Developments in New Zealand historiography are also reflected in fiction, although at times historical fiction prefigures written histories, or provides alternative views by depicting the experience of women, children and Māori, who often did not feature in conventional histories.  While many historical novels for children, especially the earlier texts, are adventure stories set in the past and are not necessarily concerned with historical verisimilitude, an increasing number attempt to present authentic recreations of historical periods, including accounts of actual people and events, based on extensive research, and reinforced with peritextual material in the form of historical notes, bibliographies, maps and photographs.  

The role of New Zealand historical fiction for children and young people has been not only to entertain young readers and inform them about their country's past, but to create and foster a sense of national identity.

year: 2010