title: Supporting meetings in Virtual Worlds with enhanced Communication features

authors: Sathe, Saurabh G

subjects: Second Life

abstract: With the rapid growth in the use of computer for addressing our day to day needs and the increased use of technology in our daily life, we cannot imagine a day without the use of the internet for our routine needs. Today, without any doubt in our mind we can say that technology has taken over human lives completely. A new era of computing has evolved where computers and the internet have a huge impact on everyone‟s life. A lot of research has been done and is in process for generated tools and devices which will bring the world even closer. It started with telephone in the last century and since then till today there have been huge number of tools and devices that try to give the users who are geographically far away a sense of co-presence. The latest technology making rounds is the Virtual World technology. The popularity and impact of online virtual worlds is worth making a note of. It needs to be seen now, how does it really betters people lives. One such persistent virtual world is Second Life. The number of users and organizations associated with this world is impressive. It provides users with the right amount of collaborative content with a set of communication features. Second Life provides its users with unique meeting support which gives them a sense of co-presence achieved nowhere else. This thesis focuses upon the kind of meeting support, collaborative content and the communication features provided by the virtual world that will allow its users to avoid the need for travel and long distance meetings can be achieved successfully in such an environment. This will help the travel time to be converted to productive office time as well as the costs involved in such meetings can also be reduced drastically. Such kind of meetings will also prove eco-friendly as they will save on fuel consumption and benefit from reduced pollution.

text: Supporting meetings in Virtual Worlds with enhanced Communication features With the rapid growth in the use of computer for addressing our day to day needs and the increased use of technology in our daily life, we cannot imagine a day without the use of the internet for our routine needs. Today, without any doubt in our mind we can say that technology has taken over human lives completely. A new era of computing has evolved where computers and the internet have a huge impact on everyone‟s life. A lot of research has been done and is in process for generated tools and devices which will bring the world even closer. It started with telephone in the last century and since then till today there have been huge number of tools and devices that try to give the users who are geographically far away a sense of co-presence. The latest technology making rounds is the Virtual World technology. The popularity and impact of online virtual worlds is worth making a note of. It needs to be seen now, how does it really betters people lives. One such persistent virtual world is Second Life. The number of users and organizations associated with this world is impressive. It provides users with the right amount of collaborative content with a set of communication features. Second Life provides its users with unique meeting support which gives them a sense of co-presence achieved nowhere else. This thesis focuses upon the kind of meeting support, collaborative content and the communication features provided by the virtual world that will allow its users to avoid the need for travel and long distance meetings can be achieved successfully in such an environment. This will help the travel time to be converted to productive office time as well as the costs involved in such meetings can also be reduced drastically. Such kind of meetings will also prove eco-friendly as they will save on fuel consumption and benefit from reduced pollution.

year: 2010

title: Thermophilic methanotrophy in the Taupō volcanic zone

authors: Houghton, Karen M.

subjects: Microbiology

abstract: Methanotrophs are widely distributed in the environment and play an important role in the global methane cycle by oxidising the majority of methane produced each year. Geological sources of methane contribute substantial volumes of this greenhouse gas to the atmosphere, but research on methanotrophs to date has focused on low temperature environments. This study aimed to investigate thermophilic methanotrophy in geothermal environments within the Taupō Volcanic Zone.
A comprehensive survey of methane oxidation in geothermal soils and sediments was carried out, in conjunction with DNA sequencing of 16S rRNA genes from each sample. Methane oxidation is prevalent within the geothermal samples. This is the first survey of methane oxidation of multiple geothermal samples, and emphasises the importance of these ecosystems to the biogeochemical methane cycle. Geothermal samples encompassed highly diverse microbial communities with few ubiquitous genera, and communities were significantly different between methane oxidizing and non-oxidising microcosms. Some methane-oxidising communities did not include 16S rRNA gene sequences from known methanotrophs, suggesting the presence in geothermal ecosystems of taxa currently not recognised as capable of methane oxidation.
Enrichment microcosms were created using the methane-oxidising geothermal samples, and evaluated in terms of methane oxidation and transcriptional activity. Methanotrophy was observed at temperatures between 37 and 75 °C, which complemented the detection of mRNA transcripts for the complete oxidation of methane. Stress response genes were also highly expressed in the microcosms, identifying a variety of mechanisms within the communities to adapt to environmental change. This is the first example of using metatranscriptomics to investigate methanotrophs from geothermal environments and gives insight into the metabolic pathways involved in thermophilic methanotrophy.
Methane-oxidising bacteria were obtained in axenic culture from five enrichment microcosms, confirming the hypothesis that thermophilic methanotrophs could be enriched and isolated from geothermal environments. Many methanotrophs are poorly described in terms of their physiology and ecology, and to address these knowledge gaps, the strains isolated in this study were subjected to thorough phylogenetic and phenotypic characterisation. This research will also facilitate future cultivation, cryostorage and revival of methane oxidisers.
Several described methanotrophs are capable of oxidising hydrogen in addition to methane, but the association between hydrogen oxidation and cell growth is poorly understood. This research aimed to investigate if mixotrophic hydrogen oxidation was used to optimise growth, and if this could be linked to survival at elevated temperatures. [NiFe]- hydrogenases were identified in four of the methanotrophs isolated in this study but hydrogen oxidation was observed in only three of the isolates, which highlights the importance of culture-based investigations to confirm phenotypes predicted by metagenomics. One isolate showed increasing hydrogen oxidation with increasing temperature, but this did not appear to be linked to survival at elevated temperatures.
This study used a combination of culture-independent and cultivation studies to demonstrate that methanotrophs are both abundant and highly active within geothermal environments. Methanotrophs from these ecosystems have also been successfully isolated and characterised, adding to our knowledge both of their physiology and ecological role in methane cycling.

text: Thermophilic methanotrophy in the Taupō volcanic zone Methanotrophs are widely distributed in the environment and play an important role in the global methane cycle by oxidising the majority of methane produced each year. Geological sources of methane contribute substantial volumes of this greenhouse gas to the atmosphere, but research on methanotrophs to date has focused on low temperature environments. This study aimed to investigate thermophilic methanotrophy in geothermal environments within the Taupō Volcanic Zone.
A comprehensive survey of methane oxidation in geothermal soils and sediments was carried out, in conjunction with DNA sequencing of 16S rRNA genes from each sample. Methane oxidation is prevalent within the geothermal samples. This is the first survey of methane oxidation of multiple geothermal samples, and emphasises the importance of these ecosystems to the biogeochemical methane cycle. Geothermal samples encompassed highly diverse microbial communities with few ubiquitous genera, and communities were significantly different between methane oxidizing and non-oxidising microcosms. Some methane-oxidising communities did not include 16S rRNA gene sequences from known methanotrophs, suggesting the presence in geothermal ecosystems of taxa currently not recognised as capable of methane oxidation.
Enrichment microcosms were created using the methane-oxidising geothermal samples, and evaluated in terms of methane oxidation and transcriptional activity. Methanotrophy was observed at temperatures between 37 and 75 °C, which complemented the detection of mRNA transcripts for the complete oxidation of methane. Stress response genes were also highly expressed in the microcosms, identifying a variety of mechanisms within the communities to adapt to environmental change. This is the first example of using metatranscriptomics to investigate methanotrophs from geothermal environments and gives insight into the metabolic pathways involved in thermophilic methanotrophy.
Methane-oxidising bacteria were obtained in axenic culture from five enrichment microcosms, confirming the hypothesis that thermophilic methanotrophs could be enriched and isolated from geothermal environments. Many methanotrophs are poorly described in terms of their physiology and ecology, and to address these knowledge gaps, the strains isolated in this study were subjected to thorough phylogenetic and phenotypic characterisation. This research will also facilitate future cultivation, cryostorage and revival of methane oxidisers.
Several described methanotrophs are capable of oxidising hydrogen in addition to methane, but the association between hydrogen oxidation and cell growth is poorly understood. This research aimed to investigate if mixotrophic hydrogen oxidation was used to optimise growth, and if this could be linked to survival at elevated temperatures. [NiFe]- hydrogenases were identified in four of the methanotrophs isolated in this study but hydrogen oxidation was observed in only three of the isolates, which highlights the importance of culture-based investigations to confirm phenotypes predicted by metagenomics. One isolate showed increasing hydrogen oxidation with increasing temperature, but this did not appear to be linked to survival at elevated temperatures.
This study used a combination of culture-independent and cultivation studies to demonstrate that methanotrophs are both abundant and highly active within geothermal environments. Methanotrophs from these ecosystems have also been successfully isolated and characterised, adding to our knowledge both of their physiology and ecological role in methane cycling.

year: 2018

title: Te tukuihotanga o te reo Māori: He aronga motuhake – ngā mokopuna a Te Kapunga

authors: Dewes, Te Kuru o te Marama

subjects: Reo Māori

abstract: Ko te tāhū o tēnei rangahau ko te reo Māori. Ko te ariā matua ko te tukuihotanga o te reo Māori, arā, ko te tuku iho o te reo ki rō whānau mai i ngā mātua ki ngā tamariki, ā, tae rawa iho ki ngā mokopuna. Kia whakawhāiti i te kaupapa, he aronga motuhake tēnei kei te titiro hāngai atu ki ngā whānau e whā ki ngā tāone e toru o Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Tāmakimakaurau me Te Rotorua-Nui-a-Kahumatamomoe. Nā te hurahura i ngā āhuatanga reo i roto i ngā kāenga o ngā whānau e whā i kitea mehemea kei te tutuki tēnei tūāhua te tukuihotanga o te reo Māori. Tuia, he aha ngā momo āhuatanga kei te taunaki i tēnei mahi, ā, he aha hoki ngā ārai e whakahōtaetae ana i a ia.  piti atu, i noho ki te ketuketu i ngā whakaaro o ngā mātua e pā ana ki tēnei kaupapa te tuku iho i te reo ki ngā tamariki mokopuna. Kāre i aro ki te kounga o te reo, he kaute noa i ngā whakamahinga reo Māori me whakamahinga reo Pākehā. Kia whakaritea ngā āhuatanga reo o ngā whānau me ngā tamariki, i tū ngā mahi whakarongo ki ngā wāhi e toru, arā, ki rō kāenga, ki rō kura, ka mutu, i tū ki wāhi kē atu hoki. Nā runga i te whakaaro kei te mōrearea tonu te reo Māori, kua herea tēnei kaupapa ki te ahurea me te tuakiri Māori, te mana motuhake me te tino rangatiratanga.

text: Te tukuihotanga o te reo Māori: He aronga motuhake – ngā mokopuna a Te Kapunga Ko te tāhū o tēnei rangahau ko te reo Māori. Ko te ariā matua ko te tukuihotanga o te reo Māori, arā, ko te tuku iho o te reo ki rō whānau mai i ngā mātua ki ngā tamariki, ā, tae rawa iho ki ngā mokopuna. Kia whakawhāiti i te kaupapa, he aronga motuhake tēnei kei te titiro hāngai atu ki ngā whānau e whā ki ngā tāone e toru o Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Tāmakimakaurau me Te Rotorua-Nui-a-Kahumatamomoe. Nā te hurahura i ngā āhuatanga reo i roto i ngā kāenga o ngā whānau e whā i kitea mehemea kei te tutuki tēnei tūāhua te tukuihotanga o te reo Māori. Tuia, he aha ngā momo āhuatanga kei te taunaki i tēnei mahi, ā, he aha hoki ngā ārai e whakahōtaetae ana i a ia.  piti atu, i noho ki te ketuketu i ngā whakaaro o ngā mātua e pā ana ki tēnei kaupapa te tuku iho i te reo ki ngā tamariki mokopuna. Kāre i aro ki te kounga o te reo, he kaute noa i ngā whakamahinga reo Māori me whakamahinga reo Pākehā. Kia whakaritea ngā āhuatanga reo o ngā whānau me ngā tamariki, i tū ngā mahi whakarongo ki ngā wāhi e toru, arā, ki rō kāenga, ki rō kura, ka mutu, i tū ki wāhi kē atu hoki. Nā runga i te whakaaro kei te mōrearea tonu te reo Māori, kua herea tēnei kaupapa ki te ahurea me te tuakiri Māori, te mana motuhake me te tino rangatiratanga.

year: 2017