title: Managing agricultural non-point source pollution in the European Union, New Zealand, and Vietnam

authors: Luong Nguyen, Sy

abstract: The world population explosion has led to the unprecedented demand for food. To ensure food security for more than seven billion people, the development of intensive agriculture appears to be inevitable. However, these days, excessive intensive farming becomes a leading threat to our environment as non-point sources of pollution. That situation poses an urgent need for a legal management mechanism for the pollution from intensive agriculture. In such developed countries as in the European Union, New Zealand, agricultural production shall comply with stringent environmental regulations. However, though one of the most productive agriculture baskets globally, Vietnam lacks a firm legal basis for agricultural management. 
The research's primary objective is to study and propose an optimal legal institution for Vietnam’s management of non-point pollution, assuring the harmonization between economic development and environmental protection. The author would respectively address key research questions, including:
1. What is agricultural non-point source pollution? How are the trends of non-point pollution in the EU, New Zealand and Vietnam?
2. What are the approaches of pollution control under international law, and the European Union, New Zealand, and Vietnam systems?
3. What is the difference between the European Union, New Zealand, and Vietnam's pollution legislation? Recommendations for Vietnam’s laws. 
The research scope would cover two primary fields, including livestock and crop farming, and other water polluters as well. It would then vary from international law to national laws on non-point pollution, with the focus on the European Union and New Zealand systems. Finally, the status of the current law on intensive farming in Vietnam will be concentrated. A comparison would obtain shortcomings of Vietnam’s laws compared to the other systems; thus, a feasible approach for Vietnam would be developed.

text: Managing agricultural non-point source pollution in the European Union, New Zealand, and Vietnam The world population explosion has led to the unprecedented demand for food. To ensure food security for more than seven billion people, the development of intensive agriculture appears to be inevitable. However, these days, excessive intensive farming becomes a leading threat to our environment as non-point sources of pollution. That situation poses an urgent need for a legal management mechanism for the pollution from intensive agriculture. In such developed countries as in the European Union, New Zealand, agricultural production shall comply with stringent environmental regulations. However, though one of the most productive agriculture baskets globally, Vietnam lacks a firm legal basis for agricultural management. 
The research's primary objective is to study and propose an optimal legal institution for Vietnam’s management of non-point pollution, assuring the harmonization between economic development and environmental protection. The author would respectively address key research questions, including:
1. What is agricultural non-point source pollution? How are the trends of non-point pollution in the EU, New Zealand and Vietnam?
2. What are the approaches of pollution control under international law, and the European Union, New Zealand, and Vietnam systems?
3. What is the difference between the European Union, New Zealand, and Vietnam's pollution legislation? Recommendations for Vietnam’s laws. 
The research scope would cover two primary fields, including livestock and crop farming, and other water polluters as well. It would then vary from international law to national laws on non-point pollution, with the focus on the European Union and New Zealand systems. Finally, the status of the current law on intensive farming in Vietnam will be concentrated. A comparison would obtain shortcomings of Vietnam’s laws compared to the other systems; thus, a feasible approach for Vietnam would be developed.

year: 2021

title: A Population Model of the Thalamus and its Wave Interactions with the Cortex

authors: Müller, Eli Justin

subjects: Thalamus

abstract: In this thesis we construct a population model of the thalamus based on the mean-field cortex developed by Steyn-Ross et al. and Liley et al. We allow interactions between the thalamus and cortex via damped wave equations and show spindle-like oscillations (10-15 Hz)  propagating from the thalamic reticular population into the cortical populations.
We first consider a mean-field model of a cortex that is isolated from time-dependent sub-cortical inputs. The model is a continuum theory based on the electrical activity of a neural mass called the macrocolumn, containing groups of excitatory and inhibitory neurons. We demonstrate induction of 'unconsciousness' in the macrocoulmn under propofol-like general anaesthetic, and show there is a hysteretic separation between points of 'loss of consciousness' and 'recovery of consciousness'.
The thalamus, a sub-cortical structure important to the relay of sensory input into the cortex, is described using a revised set of equations based on the mean-field cortical model. We define two neuron types within the thalamus: the specific group, assumed to be excitatory, and the reticular group, assumed to be inhibitory. A new bimodal mapping function is developed to relate mean membrane potentials to mean firing rates within the thalamic macrocolumn. This bimodal function is generated by combining two sigmoidal functions, and is a representation of the observed increase in the firing rates of reticular neurons at hyperpolarized membrane potentials. In contrast, the mapping function for specific population is modelled by a standard sigmoid. We investigate the isolated dynamics of the mean-field thalamus, using parameters from Robinson et al., and find spindle-like oscillations emerge following a transition from unstable equilibrium states to stable states consistent with the linear stability analysis.
A coupling of the isolated cortical and thalamic systems is accomplished using four damped wave equations. We investigate the stationary states of the thalamo-cortical model and find the spindle-like oscillations present in the thalamus propagate into the cortical populations.

text: A Population Model of the Thalamus and its Wave Interactions with the Cortex In this thesis we construct a population model of the thalamus based on the mean-field cortex developed by Steyn-Ross et al. and Liley et al. We allow interactions between the thalamus and cortex via damped wave equations and show spindle-like oscillations (10-15 Hz)  propagating from the thalamic reticular population into the cortical populations.
We first consider a mean-field model of a cortex that is isolated from time-dependent sub-cortical inputs. The model is a continuum theory based on the electrical activity of a neural mass called the macrocolumn, containing groups of excitatory and inhibitory neurons. We demonstrate induction of 'unconsciousness' in the macrocoulmn under propofol-like general anaesthetic, and show there is a hysteretic separation between points of 'loss of consciousness' and 'recovery of consciousness'.
The thalamus, a sub-cortical structure important to the relay of sensory input into the cortex, is described using a revised set of equations based on the mean-field cortical model. We define two neuron types within the thalamus: the specific group, assumed to be excitatory, and the reticular group, assumed to be inhibitory. A new bimodal mapping function is developed to relate mean membrane potentials to mean firing rates within the thalamic macrocolumn. This bimodal function is generated by combining two sigmoidal functions, and is a representation of the observed increase in the firing rates of reticular neurons at hyperpolarized membrane potentials. In contrast, the mapping function for specific population is modelled by a standard sigmoid. We investigate the isolated dynamics of the mean-field thalamus, using parameters from Robinson et al., and find spindle-like oscillations emerge following a transition from unstable equilibrium states to stable states consistent with the linear stability analysis.
A coupling of the isolated cortical and thalamic systems is accomplished using four damped wave equations. We investigate the stationary states of the thalamo-cortical model and find the spindle-like oscillations present in the thalamus propagate into the cortical populations.

year: 2014

title: Bones | Iwi

authors: Apiata, Hāwea

abstract: Poetry written at Kāwhia featured in Issue 6 of The Quick Brown Dog Journal published by Hagley Writers' Institute, Christchurch, NZ.

text: Bones | Iwi Poetry written at Kāwhia featured in Issue 6 of The Quick Brown Dog Journal published by Hagley Writers' Institute, Christchurch, NZ.

year: 2024-03-08