title: Survival of the species vs survival of the individual

authors: Barbour, Robert H.

subjects: survival

abstract: This paper examines the relationships between human and computing entities. It develops the biological ethical imperative towards survival into a study of the forms inherent in human beings and implied in computer systems. The theory of paradoxes is used to show that a computer system cannot in general make a self-referential decision. Based upon this philosophical analysis it is argued that human and machine forms of survival are fundamentally different. Further research into the consequences of this fundamental difference is needed to ensure the diversity necessary for human survival.

text: Survival of the species vs survival of the individual This paper examines the relationships between human and computing entities. It develops the biological ethical imperative towards survival into a study of the forms inherent in human beings and implied in computer systems. The theory of paradoxes is used to show that a computer system cannot in general make a self-referential decision. Based upon this philosophical analysis it is argued that human and machine forms of survival are fundamentally different. Further research into the consequences of this fundamental difference is needed to ensure the diversity necessary for human survival.

year: 1994-08

title: Erased: Representations of women's bodies in chronic invisible pain

authors: May, Melody Julianne

subjects: Chronic pain

abstract: Stories of pain stretch metaphors and similes. They infuse verbs into the narrative—it stabs, it burns, it aches—in a desperate attempt to describe what the pain is doing in the body. There is a critical need for accurate communication, either to family and friends, or more importantly, to healthcare professionals. Yet often this crucial connection fails. Honesty about chronic illness and related invisible disability is repeatedly met with confusion, dismissal, or even disdain. So where is the problem? Where is the disconnection occurring? Elaine Scarry argues that pain’s personal and life-destroying nature is nearly impossible to communicate, because its very existence within the body destroys the language needed to express it. This is true. Often pain dismantles our whole world.  We are left only with a guttural scream or the expletive. However, Joanna Bourke argues, ‘people in pain are often highly creative in expressing their suffering’.  We use all the words we need to clearly communicate. This word communicate is important. It has three elements: a sufferer, a witness, and a gap between them. A strange distortion often occurs within this gap; it is polluted with static. While I will be considering the difficulty sometimes experienced in expressing the reality of pain in our bodies, much of this thesis interrogates the gap. 
My research focuses on women in chronic pain because women are four times more likely to have a chronic illness and seven times more likely to have their symptoms misdiagnosed or dismissed as emotional and therefore unreal. This bias is pervasive and needs interrogation. Storytellers are uniquely positioned to provide a voice for the voiceless while simultaneously challenging what is considered normal or ideal. I am concerned with the ideals that create expectations about what “healthy” and “ill” mean and even what it means to be a “normal” woman. These expectations all converge on the body and the lived experience of the chronically ill woman, labelling her at best a failure and at worst a liar. 
The questions I am asking, then, are: How can we communicate chronic pain? How can we help others to listen to what we are communicating? What needs to change within our cultural belief systems in order to understand women with chronic pain? What within our social structures is excluding these women? How is this isolation compounding the suffering of women in chronic pain? And, finally, how can storytelling help address these issues?
My research is specifically focused on contemporary narratives of chronic pain. This is because I am interested in representations that reflect current attitudes and social structures. I examine these texts not only for evidence of authentic representation of the lived experience of pain but also for ways in which the suffering of these women can be alleviated. While I cannot cure chronic illness, I can offer insight into the constructed cultural beliefs that can be dismantled to make a more inclusive world. I believe art has the power to do this, and I believe we need more authentic stories to represent women suffering from chronic illness. 
However, stories of chronic pain and disability are often chaotic. Unlike the familiar cure-or-death endings of traditional disease narratives, these stories have no resolution, and audiences often reject them. When research participants are told a chaotic story of pain and disability, they rewrite it, so desperate is their need to erase the suffering. They long for a hero who overcomes all adversity. This means that illness stories often set impossible standards, isolating women in pain even further.
Therefore, my research includes a creative component. I have written a novel that embeds the chaos of chronic pain within a quest narrative, to anchor readers to familiar structure, and yet offers an authentic voice for those who need representation. There are two separate narratives. The first belongs to Amanda, who has been summoned by the universe (or her cell-phone, she isn’t sure) to find Kelly Wisely and wish her a happy birthday. The second belongs to Kelly Wisely herself, whose pain has thrown her narrative and her life into chaos—her narrative no longer obeys time, nor can it hold any real structure. Her life is in fragments.

text: Erased: Representations of women's bodies in chronic invisible pain Stories of pain stretch metaphors and similes. They infuse verbs into the narrative—it stabs, it burns, it aches—in a desperate attempt to describe what the pain is doing in the body. There is a critical need for accurate communication, either to family and friends, or more importantly, to healthcare professionals. Yet often this crucial connection fails. Honesty about chronic illness and related invisible disability is repeatedly met with confusion, dismissal, or even disdain. So where is the problem? Where is the disconnection occurring? Elaine Scarry argues that pain’s personal and life-destroying nature is nearly impossible to communicate, because its very existence within the body destroys the language needed to express it. This is true. Often pain dismantles our whole world.  We are left only with a guttural scream or the expletive. However, Joanna Bourke argues, ‘people in pain are often highly creative in expressing their suffering’.  We use all the words we need to clearly communicate. This word communicate is important. It has three elements: a sufferer, a witness, and a gap between them. A strange distortion often occurs within this gap; it is polluted with static. While I will be considering the difficulty sometimes experienced in expressing the reality of pain in our bodies, much of this thesis interrogates the gap. 
My research focuses on women in chronic pain because women are four times more likely to have a chronic illness and seven times more likely to have their symptoms misdiagnosed or dismissed as emotional and therefore unreal. This bias is pervasive and needs interrogation. Storytellers are uniquely positioned to provide a voice for the voiceless while simultaneously challenging what is considered normal or ideal. I am concerned with the ideals that create expectations about what “healthy” and “ill” mean and even what it means to be a “normal” woman. These expectations all converge on the body and the lived experience of the chronically ill woman, labelling her at best a failure and at worst a liar. 
The questions I am asking, then, are: How can we communicate chronic pain? How can we help others to listen to what we are communicating? What needs to change within our cultural belief systems in order to understand women with chronic pain? What within our social structures is excluding these women? How is this isolation compounding the suffering of women in chronic pain? And, finally, how can storytelling help address these issues?
My research is specifically focused on contemporary narratives of chronic pain. This is because I am interested in representations that reflect current attitudes and social structures. I examine these texts not only for evidence of authentic representation of the lived experience of pain but also for ways in which the suffering of these women can be alleviated. While I cannot cure chronic illness, I can offer insight into the constructed cultural beliefs that can be dismantled to make a more inclusive world. I believe art has the power to do this, and I believe we need more authentic stories to represent women suffering from chronic illness. 
However, stories of chronic pain and disability are often chaotic. Unlike the familiar cure-or-death endings of traditional disease narratives, these stories have no resolution, and audiences often reject them. When research participants are told a chaotic story of pain and disability, they rewrite it, so desperate is their need to erase the suffering. They long for a hero who overcomes all adversity. This means that illness stories often set impossible standards, isolating women in pain even further.
Therefore, my research includes a creative component. I have written a novel that embeds the chaos of chronic pain within a quest narrative, to anchor readers to familiar structure, and yet offers an authentic voice for those who need representation. There are two separate narratives. The first belongs to Amanda, who has been summoned by the universe (or her cell-phone, she isn’t sure) to find Kelly Wisely and wish her a happy birthday. The second belongs to Kelly Wisely herself, whose pain has thrown her narrative and her life into chaos—her narrative no longer obeys time, nor can it hold any real structure. Her life is in fragments.

year: 2022

title: Boat electrofishing survey of fish abundance in the Ohau Channel, Rotorua, in 2013

authors: Hicks, Brendan J.

abstract: The aim of this survey was to provide on-going monitoring of the fish communities and abundance in the Ohau Channel, especially fish species that are taonga to Maori (eels, goldfish, and koura). In the current study we present the findings from the seventh year of sampling (2013) in view of previous surveys using boat electrofishing in the Ohau Channel. 
We used the University of Waikato's 4.5 m-long, aluminium-hulled electrofishing boat to catch a total of 1,025 fish (20.3 kg) from 11 sites comprising 2,817 lineal m and 11,484 m² in area on 27 November 2013. Common bully were the most abundant fish species (57% of the catch) followed by common smelt (36% of the catch).
Goldfish had their highest biomasses in the lower channel, especially at site 10 near Lake Rotoiti (up to 7.25 g m⁻²). Catch per unit effort (CPUE) for common bullies exceeded smelt CPUE at all sites except site 1, reflecting their greater densities. CPUE for rainbow trout was variable between the sites, and greatest at site 3. 
The abundance of common bullies in 2013 reversed the apparent trend of reducing abundance since these surveys started in 2007. The cause of fluctuating bully abundance is not known, and was not accounted for by water clarity expressed as black disc distance (BDD) or water conductivity. Poor water clarity can reduce the efficiency of electrofishing, but BDD was greater in 2012 than in 2011 when common bully densities were lower. In 2013, the apparent decline in smelt abundance was also reversed, but the relatively inefficient sampling resulting from boat electrofishing for these two species should be considered. 
The increased goldfish biomass in 2011-2013 arose because of targeted fishing in the excavated side branch, which clearly offers good habitat for goldfish. Removal of goldfish in the previous years may have reduced the density in the excavated side channel (site 11) compared to previous years. In 2013, a shortfin eel was caught, following the first shortfin eel encountered in the Ohau Channel in 2012.

text: Boat electrofishing survey of fish abundance in the Ohau Channel, Rotorua, in 2013 The aim of this survey was to provide on-going monitoring of the fish communities and abundance in the Ohau Channel, especially fish species that are taonga to Maori (eels, goldfish, and koura). In the current study we present the findings from the seventh year of sampling (2013) in view of previous surveys using boat electrofishing in the Ohau Channel. 
We used the University of Waikato's 4.5 m-long, aluminium-hulled electrofishing boat to catch a total of 1,025 fish (20.3 kg) from 11 sites comprising 2,817 lineal m and 11,484 m² in area on 27 November 2013. Common bully were the most abundant fish species (57% of the catch) followed by common smelt (36% of the catch).
Goldfish had their highest biomasses in the lower channel, especially at site 10 near Lake Rotoiti (up to 7.25 g m⁻²). Catch per unit effort (CPUE) for common bullies exceeded smelt CPUE at all sites except site 1, reflecting their greater densities. CPUE for rainbow trout was variable between the sites, and greatest at site 3. 
The abundance of common bullies in 2013 reversed the apparent trend of reducing abundance since these surveys started in 2007. The cause of fluctuating bully abundance is not known, and was not accounted for by water clarity expressed as black disc distance (BDD) or water conductivity. Poor water clarity can reduce the efficiency of electrofishing, but BDD was greater in 2012 than in 2011 when common bully densities were lower. In 2013, the apparent decline in smelt abundance was also reversed, but the relatively inefficient sampling resulting from boat electrofishing for these two species should be considered. 
The increased goldfish biomass in 2011-2013 arose because of targeted fishing in the excavated side branch, which clearly offers good habitat for goldfish. Removal of goldfish in the previous years may have reduced the density in the excavated side channel (site 11) compared to previous years. In 2013, a shortfin eel was caught, following the first shortfin eel encountered in the Ohau Channel in 2012.

year: 2014