title: Using palaeoenvironmental DNA to reconstruct past environments: progress and prospects

authors: Rawlence, Nicolas J.

abstract: Palaeoenvironmental DNA (PalEnDNA) is defined as ancient DNA (aDNA) originating from disseminated genetic material within palaeoenvironmental samples. Sources of PalEnDNA include marine and lake sediments, peat, loess, till, ice, permafrost, palaeosols, coprolites, preserved gut contents, dental calculus, tephras, and soils as well as deposits in caves/rockshelters and at archaeological sites. PalEnDNA analysis provides a relatively new tool for Quaternary and archaeological sciences and its applications have included palaeoenvironmental and palaeodietary reconstructions, testing hypotheses regarding megafaunal extinctions, human–environment interactions, taxonomic studies and studies of DNA damage. Because PalEnDNA samples comprise markedly different materials, and represent wide-ranging depositional and taphonomic contexts, various issues must be addressed to achieve robust, reproducible findings. Such issues include climatic and temporal limitations, the biological origin and state (free versus bound) of PalEnDNA, stratigraphic reliability, sterile sampling, ability to distinguish modern from aDNA signals, DNA damage and PCR amplification, DNA extraction methods, and taxonomic resolution. In this review, we provide a non-specialist introduction to the use of PalEnDNA for Quaternary and archaeological researchers, assess attributes and limitations of this palaeoenvironmental tool, and discuss future prospects of using PalEnDNA to reconstruct past environments.

text: Using palaeoenvironmental DNA to reconstruct past environments: progress and prospects Palaeoenvironmental DNA (PalEnDNA) is defined as ancient DNA (aDNA) originating from disseminated genetic material within palaeoenvironmental samples. Sources of PalEnDNA include marine and lake sediments, peat, loess, till, ice, permafrost, palaeosols, coprolites, preserved gut contents, dental calculus, tephras, and soils as well as deposits in caves/rockshelters and at archaeological sites. PalEnDNA analysis provides a relatively new tool for Quaternary and archaeological sciences and its applications have included palaeoenvironmental and palaeodietary reconstructions, testing hypotheses regarding megafaunal extinctions, human–environment interactions, taxonomic studies and studies of DNA damage. Because PalEnDNA samples comprise markedly different materials, and represent wide-ranging depositional and taphonomic contexts, various issues must be addressed to achieve robust, reproducible findings. Such issues include climatic and temporal limitations, the biological origin and state (free versus bound) of PalEnDNA, stratigraphic reliability, sterile sampling, ability to distinguish modern from aDNA signals, DNA damage and PCR amplification, DNA extraction methods, and taxonomic resolution. In this review, we provide a non-specialist introduction to the use of PalEnDNA for Quaternary and archaeological researchers, assess attributes and limitations of this palaeoenvironmental tool, and discuss future prospects of using PalEnDNA to reconstruct past environments.

year: 2014

title: On D-inverse constellations: An alternative view of ordered groupoids

authors: Hughes, Kaden

abstract: A groupoid is a category in which every arrow has an inverse. The ESN (Ehresmann-Schein-Nambooripad) theorem states that the category of inverse semigroups is isomorphic to the category of inductive groupoids, which are groupoids with additional order-theoretic structure. Inductive groupoids are special types of ordered groupoids; the latter shares most of the properties of inductive groupoids but do not correspond to any type of semigroup. Despite this, many of the main facts about inverse semigroups carry over to ordered groupoids, and ordered groupoids have been shown to be an important tool in the study of inverse semigroups. Since then, it has been found that a particular type of partial algebra we call D-inverse constellations are equivalent to ordered groupoids, but have an arguably simpler, purely algebraic definition. This thesis will explore and illustrate the value of working with D-inverse constellations rather than ordered groupoids, presenting an alternative formulation and proof of the ESN Theorem using D-inverse constellations.

text: On D-inverse constellations: An alternative view of ordered groupoids A groupoid is a category in which every arrow has an inverse. The ESN (Ehresmann-Schein-Nambooripad) theorem states that the category of inverse semigroups is isomorphic to the category of inductive groupoids, which are groupoids with additional order-theoretic structure. Inductive groupoids are special types of ordered groupoids; the latter shares most of the properties of inductive groupoids but do not correspond to any type of semigroup. Despite this, many of the main facts about inverse semigroups carry over to ordered groupoids, and ordered groupoids have been shown to be an important tool in the study of inverse semigroups. Since then, it has been found that a particular type of partial algebra we call D-inverse constellations are equivalent to ordered groupoids, but have an arguably simpler, purely algebraic definition. This thesis will explore and illustrate the value of working with D-inverse constellations rather than ordered groupoids, presenting an alternative formulation and proof of the ESN Theorem using D-inverse constellations.

year: 2024-04-13

title: An exploration of the ethical implications of the digitisation and dissemination of Mātauranga Māori  (with special reference to the Pei te Hurinui Jones Collection)

authors: Anderson, Michela

subjects: digitisation

abstract: At the core of this thesis is the ethical implications involved in the digitising of Mātauranga Māori. It investigated how Kaupapa Māori theory can inform this process and how issues relating to access were considered.  It is intended that this information should provide whānau, hapū, iwi and institutions with a solid foundation for the development of their own digital collections. The research reported here tracks the processes and procedures undertaken by a Research Team on a Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga research funded project that is being conducted to research and develop ethical processes for the digitisation of the manuscripts, works and collected taonga of one of Māoridom’s prominent scholars, the late Dr. Pei te Hurinui Jones. 

The thesis begins with an outline of the scope of the research and the approaches and methods used (Chapter 1).  This is followed by selected literature reviews on museums, libraries and archives and the influence of writing in the Aotearoa /New Zealand context (see Chapter 2), digitisation, digital libraries and Mātauranga Māori (see Chapter 3), and ethics, ethics in practice and Kaupapa Māori theory (see Chapter 4).  Chapter 5 describes the Pei te Hurinui Jones’ collections, the processes that were undertaken during the initial negotiation stages, the development of tikanga in the archiving, cataloguing, physical layout and conservation of the collection and the drafting and development of the Deed of Gift under the principle of takoha. Chapter 6 discusses the research ethics approval process, the methodology applied, and the development and analysis of the thematic categories that emerged from the focus group discussion. A conceptual model of the digitisation process is then presented. Chapter 7 provides an overview of the research and a summary of the findings, together with an indication of its limitations, research contribution, and suggestions for future research.

text: An exploration of the ethical implications of the digitisation and dissemination of Mātauranga Māori  (with special reference to the Pei te Hurinui Jones Collection) At the core of this thesis is the ethical implications involved in the digitising of Mātauranga Māori. It investigated how Kaupapa Māori theory can inform this process and how issues relating to access were considered.  It is intended that this information should provide whānau, hapū, iwi and institutions with a solid foundation for the development of their own digital collections. The research reported here tracks the processes and procedures undertaken by a Research Team on a Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga research funded project that is being conducted to research and develop ethical processes for the digitisation of the manuscripts, works and collected taonga of one of Māoridom’s prominent scholars, the late Dr. Pei te Hurinui Jones. 

The thesis begins with an outline of the scope of the research and the approaches and methods used (Chapter 1).  This is followed by selected literature reviews on museums, libraries and archives and the influence of writing in the Aotearoa /New Zealand context (see Chapter 2), digitisation, digital libraries and Mātauranga Māori (see Chapter 3), and ethics, ethics in practice and Kaupapa Māori theory (see Chapter 4).  Chapter 5 describes the Pei te Hurinui Jones’ collections, the processes that were undertaken during the initial negotiation stages, the development of tikanga in the archiving, cataloguing, physical layout and conservation of the collection and the drafting and development of the Deed of Gift under the principle of takoha. Chapter 6 discusses the research ethics approval process, the methodology applied, and the development and analysis of the thematic categories that emerged from the focus group discussion. A conceptual model of the digitisation process is then presented. Chapter 7 provides an overview of the research and a summary of the findings, together with an indication of its limitations, research contribution, and suggestions for future research.

year: 2012