title: He waipuna koropupū: Taranaki Māori wellbeing and suicide prevention

authors: Cameron, Ngaropi

abstract: The research project He Waipuna Koropupū aimed to explore and share a knowledge base that could inform practice in relation to Taranaki Māori suicide. The project was grounded upon the notion that through Taranaki knowledge and information we can make significant changes in our approach to life and to our whānau relationships. The project was primarily about whānau ora and the wellbeing of future generations; through the reclamation and sharing of Taranaki Māori knowledge that can support intergenerational change and transformation. Taranaki Māori whānau (extended family groupings), hapū (subtribal grouping) and iwi (tribal grouping) deserve access to Kaupapa Māori approaches in order to help reclaim and inform decision making processes.

text: He waipuna koropupū: Taranaki Māori wellbeing and suicide prevention The research project He Waipuna Koropupū aimed to explore and share a knowledge base that could inform practice in relation to Taranaki Māori suicide. The project was grounded upon the notion that through Taranaki knowledge and information we can make significant changes in our approach to life and to our whānau relationships. The project was primarily about whānau ora and the wellbeing of future generations; through the reclamation and sharing of Taranaki Māori knowledge that can support intergenerational change and transformation. Taranaki Māori whānau (extended family groupings), hapū (subtribal grouping) and iwi (tribal grouping) deserve access to Kaupapa Māori approaches in order to help reclaim and inform decision making processes.

year: 2017

title: Te Papa-o-Rotu Marae Management and Administration at the End of the Twentieth Century: Negotiating Bureaucratisation

authors: Collins, Adelaide

subjects: informal organising

abstract: Te Papa-o-Rotu Marae is a Māori community settlement located in the Waikato region of New Zealand. Its hapu (sub-tribe) community was one of 33 hapu that formed the Tainui confederation claiming compensation from the Crown for land confiscated in the nineteenth century.  The claim was settled in 1995 and it was within this context that research for this study was conducted at the marae from August 1997 to December 1999.  

This ethnographic study examines the way that the community at Te Papa-o-Rotu Marae managed its affairs through its two management bodies, the Marae Committee and the Trustees.  It is argued in this thesis that the marae's mode of management is in transition from an informal to formal mode, and from an inward to outward looking focus.  Bureaucratic administration, it is argued, has been the major catalyst for the transition and has been introduced into marae operations through an accumulation of state legislation affecting Māori land and communities. Furthermore, some aspects of bureaucratic administration have been legitimated and appropriated by the iwi authority, which has passed this on to the Marae Committee.  The community have been complicit in the adoption of bureaucratic administration by accommodating the requirements of both the state and the iwi authority.  However, a persistent question was whether the marae could maintain its own rangatiratanga (authority, self-determination, control) and separate identity in the face of increasing pressure to conform to a bureaucratic management style.

The community managed the marae communally by way of hui (gatherings) and meetings, which were observed using a combined methodological approach of Kaupapa Māori research and ethnography, as described in Chapter 2.  The philosophy of kotahitanga (solidarity) underpinned the social organisation of the Tainui tribal confederation, so understanding the place of the marae in its wider socio-political environment has helped in comprehending the nature of the pressure on the community to increase its scale of operations and is explained in Chapter 3. 

Chapter 4 introduces the accumulation of influences that have brought about a change of managerial style from informal to formal organising.  The practical effect of these influences are demonstrated in the management structure and administrative systems that the community used. These are described phenomenologically in Chapters 5 and 6 respectively.  The management plan, compiled since 1995, had a strong emphasis on management structural review and participation in tribal development initiatives and is discussed in Chapter 7. The implementation of a collaborative development project between the iwi authority and Marae Committee is described in Chapter 8.  The final chapter reflects on the impact of bureaucratic administration on marae management as well as the dynamism of the community and how the rangatiratanga of the marae has thus far been maintained.

text: Te Papa-o-Rotu Marae Management and Administration at the End of the Twentieth Century: Negotiating Bureaucratisation Te Papa-o-Rotu Marae is a Māori community settlement located in the Waikato region of New Zealand. Its hapu (sub-tribe) community was one of 33 hapu that formed the Tainui confederation claiming compensation from the Crown for land confiscated in the nineteenth century.  The claim was settled in 1995 and it was within this context that research for this study was conducted at the marae from August 1997 to December 1999.  

This ethnographic study examines the way that the community at Te Papa-o-Rotu Marae managed its affairs through its two management bodies, the Marae Committee and the Trustees.  It is argued in this thesis that the marae's mode of management is in transition from an informal to formal mode, and from an inward to outward looking focus.  Bureaucratic administration, it is argued, has been the major catalyst for the transition and has been introduced into marae operations through an accumulation of state legislation affecting Māori land and communities. Furthermore, some aspects of bureaucratic administration have been legitimated and appropriated by the iwi authority, which has passed this on to the Marae Committee.  The community have been complicit in the adoption of bureaucratic administration by accommodating the requirements of both the state and the iwi authority.  However, a persistent question was whether the marae could maintain its own rangatiratanga (authority, self-determination, control) and separate identity in the face of increasing pressure to conform to a bureaucratic management style.

The community managed the marae communally by way of hui (gatherings) and meetings, which were observed using a combined methodological approach of Kaupapa Māori research and ethnography, as described in Chapter 2.  The philosophy of kotahitanga (solidarity) underpinned the social organisation of the Tainui tribal confederation, so understanding the place of the marae in its wider socio-political environment has helped in comprehending the nature of the pressure on the community to increase its scale of operations and is explained in Chapter 3. 

Chapter 4 introduces the accumulation of influences that have brought about a change of managerial style from informal to formal organising.  The practical effect of these influences are demonstrated in the management structure and administrative systems that the community used. These are described phenomenologically in Chapters 5 and 6 respectively.  The management plan, compiled since 1995, had a strong emphasis on management structural review and participation in tribal development initiatives and is discussed in Chapter 7. The implementation of a collaborative development project between the iwi authority and Marae Committee is described in Chapter 8.  The final chapter reflects on the impact of bureaucratic administration on marae management as well as the dynamism of the community and how the rangatiratanga of the marae has thus far been maintained.

year: 2005

title: Properties of single fibers in global extraocular muscle of the cane toad, Bufo marinus

authors: Halsey, Elizabeth Hope

abstract: Very limited information exists on the contractile physiology of the specialized muscle fibers that make up vertebrate extraocular muscle (EOM). This study was undertaken to measure some contractile properties of fibers in the global region of EOM using the cane toad, Bufo marinus, and in particular the tonic or multiply-innervated fibers (MIFs). Fiber types were characterized using a number of methods.

Tonic and twitch fibers were identified in EOM using transmission electron microscopy. Tonic fibers lacked an M-line, had sparse sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR), few mitochondria and a thick Z-line. Some twitch fibers showed the presence of lipid stores and abundant mitochondria, whereas others were distinguished more by well developed SR. In transverse section, tonic fibers showed a felderstruktur pattern of fused myofibrils and the twitch fibers displayed a fibrillenstruktur pattern of well-delineated myofibrils.

The distribution and diameter of tonic and twitch fibers in the global region were characterized using histochemistry. Transverse sections stained for mATPase, α-GPDH and NADH-TR activity revealed the presence of at least three different fiber types in global EOM of Bufo marinus. Tonic fibers showed little or no activity for all three enzymes and were distributed randomly within the global region where they made up about 20% of the fibers. Tonic fibers always occurred at lower frequencies than twitch fibers at all diameter ranges analysed. Two further types of fiber were characterized by their histochemical appearance as twitch light and twitch dark.

Force-pCa relationships were determined for chemically skinned single fibers by recording peak isometric force at maximal and submaximal calcium activation. Fibers were found to differ in their force response to initial and maximal calcium activation. Force-pCa data were fitted to Hill plots and Hill coefficients, n₁ and n₂, obtained for responses at high and low calcium concentrations, respectively. This information together with diameter and appearance (clear versus dark) also allowed fibers to be divided into three groups. Tonic fibers developed tension slowly and had significantly lower maximum normalized tension and n₂ values than twitch light fibers. Twitch dark and twitch light fibers developed tension rapidly in response to initial and maximal calcium activation and had similar n₂ values. However, twitch dark fibers had a significantly lower maximum normalized tension than twitch light fibers. The pCa₅₀ values did not differ between the three groups of fibers. Fiber classifications were corroborated by single fiber transmission electron microscopy (TEM). SDS-PAGE followed by silver staining was used to resolve the MLC components of single fibers for which force-pCa relationships were known. Both twitch light and twitch dark fibers had three myosin light chains, each having the same electrophoretic mobility as the light chains from the fast-twitch rabbit psoas muscle. The tonic fibers were found to lack the low molecular weight light chain, myosin light chain three (MLC3), and the regulatory light chain (MLC2) of these fibers showed reduced mobility compared to that of the twitch fibers.

The finding that tonic fibers responded in a different manner to initial and maximal calcium activation from twitch fibers can be used by others to aid in their identification. The significantly different responses of twitch and tonic fibers to maximal and submaximal calcium activation highlight the extent to which these fiber types differ. Additional work using single fibers will undoubtedly reveal further differences in the composition and functioning of contractile proteins in EOM fibers.

text: Properties of single fibers in global extraocular muscle of the cane toad, Bufo marinus Very limited information exists on the contractile physiology of the specialized muscle fibers that make up vertebrate extraocular muscle (EOM). This study was undertaken to measure some contractile properties of fibers in the global region of EOM using the cane toad, Bufo marinus, and in particular the tonic or multiply-innervated fibers (MIFs). Fiber types were characterized using a number of methods.

Tonic and twitch fibers were identified in EOM using transmission electron microscopy. Tonic fibers lacked an M-line, had sparse sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR), few mitochondria and a thick Z-line. Some twitch fibers showed the presence of lipid stores and abundant mitochondria, whereas others were distinguished more by well developed SR. In transverse section, tonic fibers showed a felderstruktur pattern of fused myofibrils and the twitch fibers displayed a fibrillenstruktur pattern of well-delineated myofibrils.

The distribution and diameter of tonic and twitch fibers in the global region were characterized using histochemistry. Transverse sections stained for mATPase, α-GPDH and NADH-TR activity revealed the presence of at least three different fiber types in global EOM of Bufo marinus. Tonic fibers showed little or no activity for all three enzymes and were distributed randomly within the global region where they made up about 20% of the fibers. Tonic fibers always occurred at lower frequencies than twitch fibers at all diameter ranges analysed. Two further types of fiber were characterized by their histochemical appearance as twitch light and twitch dark.

Force-pCa relationships were determined for chemically skinned single fibers by recording peak isometric force at maximal and submaximal calcium activation. Fibers were found to differ in their force response to initial and maximal calcium activation. Force-pCa data were fitted to Hill plots and Hill coefficients, n₁ and n₂, obtained for responses at high and low calcium concentrations, respectively. This information together with diameter and appearance (clear versus dark) also allowed fibers to be divided into three groups. Tonic fibers developed tension slowly and had significantly lower maximum normalized tension and n₂ values than twitch light fibers. Twitch dark and twitch light fibers developed tension rapidly in response to initial and maximal calcium activation and had similar n₂ values. However, twitch dark fibers had a significantly lower maximum normalized tension than twitch light fibers. The pCa₅₀ values did not differ between the three groups of fibers. Fiber classifications were corroborated by single fiber transmission electron microscopy (TEM). SDS-PAGE followed by silver staining was used to resolve the MLC components of single fibers for which force-pCa relationships were known. Both twitch light and twitch dark fibers had three myosin light chains, each having the same electrophoretic mobility as the light chains from the fast-twitch rabbit psoas muscle. The tonic fibers were found to lack the low molecular weight light chain, myosin light chain three (MLC3), and the regulatory light chain (MLC2) of these fibers showed reduced mobility compared to that of the twitch fibers.

The finding that tonic fibers responded in a different manner to initial and maximal calcium activation from twitch fibers can be used by others to aid in their identification. The significantly different responses of twitch and tonic fibers to maximal and submaximal calcium activation highlight the extent to which these fiber types differ. Additional work using single fibers will undoubtedly reveal further differences in the composition and functioning of contractile proteins in EOM fibers.

year: 1999