title: CICADA

authors: Howell, Evie

subjects: Poetry

abstract: CICADA is a name for a noisy insect and an author and a collection of creative nonfiction poetry. It is the story of a trans woman rediscovering herself after attending an All-Boys High School. CICADA is a clear midnight sky in the lake’s mirror. It is six panic attacks trying to convince an examiner on why they should give a shit about CICADA. CICADA wants to be angry. At her high school, at herself, and at the dead boy in the lake. CICADA wants to show you the ugly side of transformation and transition. CICADA also wants to piss without crying, but it seems it’s easier to write a manuscript than it is to untangle one’s own backlog of trauma. 
Foregoing pride in being part of the LGBTQ+ community, CICADA opts to expose herself, all parts that are flesh and raw, all parts that are soft and ugly, all parts that are gruelling and never-ending. 
CICADA is a reoccurring theme of a boy lost at sea. The dead boy is everything that was, and everything that is now wasted thanks to the emergence of CICADA. He is a vessel to direct anger at. He is innocent yet blamed and scrutinized by CICADA for stealing her years from her. When you look for the dead boy in the waters, you may also see the stars in its reflection, and find the lost girl floating in dance with the beloved dead boy. 
The girl is dead potential, and everything that could have been, adrift in liminal outer space tied to a homemade spacesuit constructed by the dead boy. The dead boy and the lost girl are ghosts in the lived experience of the present CICADA, the transition, the artist, ‘the woman’ writing to the audience. Transition is often compared to a caterpillar’s journey of becoming the beautiful butterfly. CICADA is the opposite, enveloping the reader into the ugly reality of the never ending and every-day pains. The struggle to unlearn habits and to grow new skin as the old dead skin decays and rots away. It depicts a colossal range of everyday experiences and complications of living as a trans woman. CICADA overcomes tasks such as: getting dressed, showering, going to the bathroom, and even needing to revamp her social circle and career. CICADA also battles with herself. Her need to distance herself from the innate feeling of needing to educate, clashes with the desire of confronting the ignorant and standing with strength and visibility. 
CICADA aims to play with distance, humour and joins the new voice of poetry, harmonizing with other queer writers who are creating the new poetic mould. CICADA barely touches the iceberg of transgender issues as a whole. CICADA is able to say a lot about a global issue from one person’s experience. Through a magnified lens and focus on one individual experience, it provides a scale and context of how important empathy and support is for the transgender community. There will be moments unrelatable, confusing, and oddly specific that will disarm any reader. CICADA is to feel like an alien. CICADA is for no one and for everyone. CICADA is selfish enough to be about the author and not the reader.

text: CICADA CICADA is a name for a noisy insect and an author and a collection of creative nonfiction poetry. It is the story of a trans woman rediscovering herself after attending an All-Boys High School. CICADA is a clear midnight sky in the lake’s mirror. It is six panic attacks trying to convince an examiner on why they should give a shit about CICADA. CICADA wants to be angry. At her high school, at herself, and at the dead boy in the lake. CICADA wants to show you the ugly side of transformation and transition. CICADA also wants to piss without crying, but it seems it’s easier to write a manuscript than it is to untangle one’s own backlog of trauma. 
Foregoing pride in being part of the LGBTQ+ community, CICADA opts to expose herself, all parts that are flesh and raw, all parts that are soft and ugly, all parts that are gruelling and never-ending. 
CICADA is a reoccurring theme of a boy lost at sea. The dead boy is everything that was, and everything that is now wasted thanks to the emergence of CICADA. He is a vessel to direct anger at. He is innocent yet blamed and scrutinized by CICADA for stealing her years from her. When you look for the dead boy in the waters, you may also see the stars in its reflection, and find the lost girl floating in dance with the beloved dead boy. 
The girl is dead potential, and everything that could have been, adrift in liminal outer space tied to a homemade spacesuit constructed by the dead boy. The dead boy and the lost girl are ghosts in the lived experience of the present CICADA, the transition, the artist, ‘the woman’ writing to the audience. Transition is often compared to a caterpillar’s journey of becoming the beautiful butterfly. CICADA is the opposite, enveloping the reader into the ugly reality of the never ending and every-day pains. The struggle to unlearn habits and to grow new skin as the old dead skin decays and rots away. It depicts a colossal range of everyday experiences and complications of living as a trans woman. CICADA overcomes tasks such as: getting dressed, showering, going to the bathroom, and even needing to revamp her social circle and career. CICADA also battles with herself. Her need to distance herself from the innate feeling of needing to educate, clashes with the desire of confronting the ignorant and standing with strength and visibility. 
CICADA aims to play with distance, humour and joins the new voice of poetry, harmonizing with other queer writers who are creating the new poetic mould. CICADA barely touches the iceberg of transgender issues as a whole. CICADA is able to say a lot about a global issue from one person’s experience. Through a magnified lens and focus on one individual experience, it provides a scale and context of how important empathy and support is for the transgender community. There will be moments unrelatable, confusing, and oddly specific that will disarm any reader. CICADA is to feel like an alien. CICADA is for no one and for everyone. CICADA is selfish enough to be about the author and not the reader.

year: 2024-05-14

title: Chemical modification of Dendrocalamus asper bamboo with citric acid and boron compounds: Effects on the physical-chemical, mechanical and thermal properties

authors: Gauss, Christian

abstract: The effect of environmentally friendly treatment using citric acid and boron compounds on the physical-chemical and mechanical properties and thermal degradation of D. asper bamboo was investigated. The chemical modification using citric acid reduced the moisture uptake of bamboo by 32%, the water absorption by 26%, and thickness and width swelling by 43% and 31%, respectively, in comparison with the reference. FTIR analysis revealed the effect of the esterification process with an increase of the carbonyl/hydroxyl absorbance ratio, which explains the reductions in water absorption and swelling. No significant change was identified on the cellulose crystallinity determined by XRD, with only a small increase of the boron-treated samples. TG/DSC measurements showed that boron compounds cause a reduction of weight loss and decrease the exothermic heat flow upon heating under synthetic air flow. However, the modification with citric acid caused slightly higher thermal degradation in the same conditions of testing, which was overcome by the addition of boron compounds in the treatment solution. Enhanced mechanical performance was observed on bamboo samples treated only with boron compounds, while samples chemically modified by citric acid presented no changes or a small increase in compression and bending properties. Nevertheless, fibre detachment and structural changes on hemicellulose/cellulose caused a small decrease in shear strength and a considerable decrease, about 30%, in tensile strength. The overall results provided an insightful understanding regarding the chemical modification of bamboo, revealing new possibilities of treatment for the improvements of dimensional and thermal stability without the use of hazardous chemicals.

text: Chemical modification of Dendrocalamus asper bamboo with citric acid and boron compounds: Effects on the physical-chemical, mechanical and thermal properties The effect of environmentally friendly treatment using citric acid and boron compounds on the physical-chemical and mechanical properties and thermal degradation of D. asper bamboo was investigated. The chemical modification using citric acid reduced the moisture uptake of bamboo by 32%, the water absorption by 26%, and thickness and width swelling by 43% and 31%, respectively, in comparison with the reference. FTIR analysis revealed the effect of the esterification process with an increase of the carbonyl/hydroxyl absorbance ratio, which explains the reductions in water absorption and swelling. No significant change was identified on the cellulose crystallinity determined by XRD, with only a small increase of the boron-treated samples. TG/DSC measurements showed that boron compounds cause a reduction of weight loss and decrease the exothermic heat flow upon heating under synthetic air flow. However, the modification with citric acid caused slightly higher thermal degradation in the same conditions of testing, which was overcome by the addition of boron compounds in the treatment solution. Enhanced mechanical performance was observed on bamboo samples treated only with boron compounds, while samples chemically modified by citric acid presented no changes or a small increase in compression and bending properties. Nevertheless, fibre detachment and structural changes on hemicellulose/cellulose caused a small decrease in shear strength and a considerable decrease, about 30%, in tensile strength. The overall results provided an insightful understanding regarding the chemical modification of bamboo, revealing new possibilities of treatment for the improvements of dimensional and thermal stability without the use of hazardous chemicals.

year: 2021

title: Mā ngā huruhuru ka rere te manu: Understanding leadership for critical educational reform in Aotearoa New Zealand

authors: Anderson, Zac Kylie Elizabeth

subjects: educational leadership

abstract: The research project presented in this thesis explores the leadership journeys of four first-time principals engaging in Kia Eke Panuku, a professional development initiative in English-medium secondary schools in Aotearoa New Zealand.  It seeks to understand the role these first-time principals play in insitutionalising to depth, educational reform to enable Māori students to pursue their potential as Māori under the Ka Hikitia imperative.  This thesis investigates the type of leadership required to achieve educational reform for Māori learners in Aotearoa, embedded in the inherent promise of the Treaty of Waitangi.
  
This thesis contends these principals contribute to educational reform by bringing criticality to their leadership and embracing an ongoing and iterative process of conscientisation and resistance, leading to transformative praxis.  These principals recognised their role as educators leading pedagogical change in their schools, as well as leading others within their sphere of influence to ultimately change the fabric of society in Aotearoa.  They both learned and led alongside each other, displaying an openness to embracing multiple worldviews with a deeply held moral imperative to eradicate oppression of Māori students.  Such a stance actively creates bicultural spaces within schools, where both Treaty partners can benefit from the principles of the Treaty promises.

text: Mā ngā huruhuru ka rere te manu: Understanding leadership for critical educational reform in Aotearoa New Zealand The research project presented in this thesis explores the leadership journeys of four first-time principals engaging in Kia Eke Panuku, a professional development initiative in English-medium secondary schools in Aotearoa New Zealand.  It seeks to understand the role these first-time principals play in insitutionalising to depth, educational reform to enable Māori students to pursue their potential as Māori under the Ka Hikitia imperative.  This thesis investigates the type of leadership required to achieve educational reform for Māori learners in Aotearoa, embedded in the inherent promise of the Treaty of Waitangi.
  
This thesis contends these principals contribute to educational reform by bringing criticality to their leadership and embracing an ongoing and iterative process of conscientisation and resistance, leading to transformative praxis.  These principals recognised their role as educators leading pedagogical change in their schools, as well as leading others within their sphere of influence to ultimately change the fabric of society in Aotearoa.  They both learned and led alongside each other, displaying an openness to embracing multiple worldviews with a deeply held moral imperative to eradicate oppression of Māori students.  Such a stance actively creates bicultural spaces within schools, where both Treaty partners can benefit from the principles of the Treaty promises.

year: 2018