title: Mana Motuhake Ringa: The non-invasive neural interface based artificial hand

authors: Owen, Mahonri W.

subjects: Prosthetics

abstract: Ten million people on the earth at any given time suffer from the loss or lack of a limb. Three million of these are upper extremity amputees. No matter the cause or reason for amputation the amputees’ life is never the same again. Independence can be lost and never regained. The loss of a limb can be an overpowering event that effects the mental, social, and physical well-being of a person. Although there has been many attempts to restore hand function through neural prosthetics there is little to no credible solutions to regain it. This thesis presents methods to restore hand function based on the human grasping system and addresses key challenges in the practical application of those methods. The contribution of this work lies in improving artificial hand function by mimicking the human grasping system. The human grasping system consists of the brain, the nervous system and the hand. The methods used investigate: biomechanical design principles for artificial hands, the limitations of machine learning in non-invasive neural interfaces (NI’s) and the development of an autonomous hand control framework for artificial hand control. 

The application of the Support Vector Machine (SVM) to a non-invasive neural interface is principally limited to binary applications in the real world. In order to overcome this limitation an autonomous approach is developed to achieve better response and accuracy from NI control frameworks. In binary applications the SVM performed well with a classification accuracy of around 80% accompanied by a response time of just under 5 seconds. When applied to multiple classifications the SVM decreased in accuracy and response dramatically. The accuracy of the autonomous hand control framework had a classification accuracy of 95% with a response time comparable to that of the SVM. This outcome has the potential to move non-invasive NI research into the real world and to restore hand function in an intuitive and meaningful way. A key learning of this research is that machine learning methods for non-invasive neural interfaces are not the best way to restore hand function for amputees. Hand function is best restored through the combining of machine learning and machine vision into a single NI based control framework. Additionally, this work is based in Mātauranga Māori with a western science approach. By so doing, amputees will be empowered, have increased independence and enjoy a better quality of life.

The scope of this work is limited to the consideration of hand function restoration for upper extremity amputees. In particular trans-radial amputees. Focus is given to non-invasive methods of control, therefore, investigations are limited to the electroencephalography (EEG) signal. Mimicking the human grasping system is a complex and difficult process, therefore, the attempts in this work to restore hand function only consider mechanisms and processes related directly to the motor control of the human hand.

text: Mana Motuhake Ringa: The non-invasive neural interface based artificial hand Ten million people on the earth at any given time suffer from the loss or lack of a limb. Three million of these are upper extremity amputees. No matter the cause or reason for amputation the amputees’ life is never the same again. Independence can be lost and never regained. The loss of a limb can be an overpowering event that effects the mental, social, and physical well-being of a person. Although there has been many attempts to restore hand function through neural prosthetics there is little to no credible solutions to regain it. This thesis presents methods to restore hand function based on the human grasping system and addresses key challenges in the practical application of those methods. The contribution of this work lies in improving artificial hand function by mimicking the human grasping system. The human grasping system consists of the brain, the nervous system and the hand. The methods used investigate: biomechanical design principles for artificial hands, the limitations of machine learning in non-invasive neural interfaces (NI’s) and the development of an autonomous hand control framework for artificial hand control. 

The application of the Support Vector Machine (SVM) to a non-invasive neural interface is principally limited to binary applications in the real world. In order to overcome this limitation an autonomous approach is developed to achieve better response and accuracy from NI control frameworks. In binary applications the SVM performed well with a classification accuracy of around 80% accompanied by a response time of just under 5 seconds. When applied to multiple classifications the SVM decreased in accuracy and response dramatically. The accuracy of the autonomous hand control framework had a classification accuracy of 95% with a response time comparable to that of the SVM. This outcome has the potential to move non-invasive NI research into the real world and to restore hand function in an intuitive and meaningful way. A key learning of this research is that machine learning methods for non-invasive neural interfaces are not the best way to restore hand function for amputees. Hand function is best restored through the combining of machine learning and machine vision into a single NI based control framework. Additionally, this work is based in Mātauranga Māori with a western science approach. By so doing, amputees will be empowered, have increased independence and enjoy a better quality of life.

The scope of this work is limited to the consideration of hand function restoration for upper extremity amputees. In particular trans-radial amputees. Focus is given to non-invasive methods of control, therefore, investigations are limited to the electroencephalography (EEG) signal. Mimicking the human grasping system is a complex and difficult process, therefore, the attempts in this work to restore hand function only consider mechanisms and processes related directly to the motor control of the human hand.

year: 2019

title: Problem based learning and New Zealand legal education

authors: Mackinnon, Jacquelin

subjects: law

abstract: The literature (and e-literature) on Problem Based Learning in Law suggests that this approach has been adopted with enthusiasm by some lecturers in the United Kingdom, Europe and Hong Kong. This article will explore the adoption of PBL approaches through the literature in order to draw some conclusions about the nature of PBL approaches in law and their relationship with institutional approaches to legal education. Problem Based Learning approaches are not visible in New Zealand. The article discusses the reasons for PBL's invisibility and PBL's appropriateness in the New Zealand legal education context now and in the future of legal work. Part of the New Zealand context is the participation of the indigenous people in legal education and consideration is given to whether PBL can benefit Māori law students. 
It is suggested that PBL approaches to learning law promote: 
	Contextualisation
	Interdisciplinarity
	Integration of prior personal and/or professional knowledge
	Collaboration
	Enquiry skills
	Reflection and transition
	Self directed learning and self assessment
	Praxis.

Problem Based Learning requires and fosters reflexive participants, who are sufficiently conceptually literate to read and critique key aspects of the social order and to understand their own, and others' status and role in it. Reflexivity contributes to humanist as well as legal solutions to complex human problems. PBL approaches are consistent with legal education in an increasingly global employment market.

text: Problem based learning and New Zealand legal education The literature (and e-literature) on Problem Based Learning in Law suggests that this approach has been adopted with enthusiasm by some lecturers in the United Kingdom, Europe and Hong Kong. This article will explore the adoption of PBL approaches through the literature in order to draw some conclusions about the nature of PBL approaches in law and their relationship with institutional approaches to legal education. Problem Based Learning approaches are not visible in New Zealand. The article discusses the reasons for PBL's invisibility and PBL's appropriateness in the New Zealand legal education context now and in the future of legal work. Part of the New Zealand context is the participation of the indigenous people in legal education and consideration is given to whether PBL can benefit Māori law students. 
It is suggested that PBL approaches to learning law promote: 
	Contextualisation
	Interdisciplinarity
	Integration of prior personal and/or professional knowledge
	Collaboration
	Enquiry skills
	Reflection and transition
	Self directed learning and self assessment
	Praxis.

Problem Based Learning requires and fosters reflexive participants, who are sufficiently conceptually literate to read and critique key aspects of the social order and to understand their own, and others' status and role in it. Reflexivity contributes to humanist as well as legal solutions to complex human problems. PBL approaches are consistent with legal education in an increasingly global employment market.

year: 2006-06-01

title: Women's contemporary yoga lifestyles: An embodied ethnography of becomings

authors: Jeffrey, Allison

subjects: Yoga

abstract: Within this thesis, I offer insight into the lifestyles of contemporary women Yoga practitioners. Delving into complex and nuanced experiences of women embodying Yoga lifestyles offers multiple opportunities to extend upon current understandings. In examining the various ways that the women of this study are navigating an increasingly popular movement culture that has foundations in ancient texts from India, I illustrate how today’s Yoga lifestyles are a cumulative expression of ancient and contemporary knowledges.

Moving alongside women practitioners throughout an embodied ethnographic study, I gained deep insights into the philosophies and practices of the women. Informed by the experiences of 19 women living in the Waikato region of Aotearoa/New Zealand through in-depth and informal interviews, observations, journals and focus groups, I offer rich, embodied knowledge from the women alongside my own creative writing. Engaging in feminist methods and in dialogue with yogic principles, I build an entangled ethnographic approach inspired by both the embodied philosophies of Yoga practitioners and contemporary feminist theory. Working at this intersection, I develop a mutually enriching research experience where multiple ways of knowing and a complex engagement with both theory and method can resonate. 

Findings are presented in three empirical chapters that demonstrate nuanced and complex understandings of women’s Yoga lifestyles. The first addresses the concept of lifestyle as understood by contemporary women Yoga practitioners. Drawing upon feminist lifestyles research, this chapter follows these women’s journeys as they claim and maintain Yoga lifestyles. The second chapter moves into a dialogue with feminist new materialisms, and in particular, Karen Barad’s (2007) concept of entanglement. I conceptualise an entangled Yoga body as always intra-acting and continually becoming. Using the women’s experiences, Barad’s concept, and evocative writing, I provide three examples (breath, Yoga mats and the heart) to represent an entangled Yoga body. The third and final empirical chapter weaves together recent work from Rosi Braidotti (2019) with insights from the women to contemplate the components of Yoga lifestyles as expressed by the women’s daily choices. This chapter suggests the women find meaning for their contemporary Yoga lifestyles through everyday ethically-informed acts contributing to an affirmative becoming. 

Moving, teaching and embodying Yoga philosophy as a researcher and experienced member of the Yoga community, I consider the complexity of the women’s lived experiences and my place amongst them. Inquiring deeply into questions around embodiment, materiality, and posthumanism, I develop an ethico-onto-epistemological stance that extends upon previous Yoga lifestyle research and contributes to the growing body of literature on women’s lived experiences in moving bodies.

text: Women's contemporary yoga lifestyles: An embodied ethnography of becomings Within this thesis, I offer insight into the lifestyles of contemporary women Yoga practitioners. Delving into complex and nuanced experiences of women embodying Yoga lifestyles offers multiple opportunities to extend upon current understandings. In examining the various ways that the women of this study are navigating an increasingly popular movement culture that has foundations in ancient texts from India, I illustrate how today’s Yoga lifestyles are a cumulative expression of ancient and contemporary knowledges.

Moving alongside women practitioners throughout an embodied ethnographic study, I gained deep insights into the philosophies and practices of the women. Informed by the experiences of 19 women living in the Waikato region of Aotearoa/New Zealand through in-depth and informal interviews, observations, journals and focus groups, I offer rich, embodied knowledge from the women alongside my own creative writing. Engaging in feminist methods and in dialogue with yogic principles, I build an entangled ethnographic approach inspired by both the embodied philosophies of Yoga practitioners and contemporary feminist theory. Working at this intersection, I develop a mutually enriching research experience where multiple ways of knowing and a complex engagement with both theory and method can resonate. 

Findings are presented in three empirical chapters that demonstrate nuanced and complex understandings of women’s Yoga lifestyles. The first addresses the concept of lifestyle as understood by contemporary women Yoga practitioners. Drawing upon feminist lifestyles research, this chapter follows these women’s journeys as they claim and maintain Yoga lifestyles. The second chapter moves into a dialogue with feminist new materialisms, and in particular, Karen Barad’s (2007) concept of entanglement. I conceptualise an entangled Yoga body as always intra-acting and continually becoming. Using the women’s experiences, Barad’s concept, and evocative writing, I provide three examples (breath, Yoga mats and the heart) to represent an entangled Yoga body. The third and final empirical chapter weaves together recent work from Rosi Braidotti (2019) with insights from the women to contemplate the components of Yoga lifestyles as expressed by the women’s daily choices. This chapter suggests the women find meaning for their contemporary Yoga lifestyles through everyday ethically-informed acts contributing to an affirmative becoming. 

Moving, teaching and embodying Yoga philosophy as a researcher and experienced member of the Yoga community, I consider the complexity of the women’s lived experiences and my place amongst them. Inquiring deeply into questions around embodiment, materiality, and posthumanism, I develop an ethico-onto-epistemological stance that extends upon previous Yoga lifestyle research and contributes to the growing body of literature on women’s lived experiences in moving bodies.

year: 2020