title: Female suicidal behaviour: Initiation, cessation and prevention

authors: Curtis, Cate

abstract: This thesis explores non-fatal suicidal behaviour in young women. The approach taken is qualitative in orientation. The central form of data collection was the semi-structured interview. Interviews were conducted with key informants, including counsellors, clinicians and social workers and with women who had engaged in suicidal behaviour. The primary focus of the research was to explore the narratives of women who had engaged in suicidal behaviour, to contextualise their insights, understand their experiences and to examine the meanings of events leading to, and implicated in the recovery from, suicidal behaviour. This material demonstrates the importance of gender in suicidal behaviour and cessation as well as highlighting the limitations of many available therapeutic settings. A key finding of the research is the confirmation of sexual abuse as a common precursor to suicidal behaviour, especially when in conjunction with other, mainly familial, risk factors and an absence of protective factors. More significantly, the women noted that the effects of sexual abuse were exacerbated by problems with disclosure. Issues of control emerged as key to both suicidal behaviour and cessation, relating to family circumstance, abuse, disclosure of abuse and efficacy of forms of intervention. In contrast to the literature which suggests that any movement of self-harming behaviours is along a continuum from the less to more severe, the data gathered in this research suggests an episodic, or punctuated, pattern of behaviour, in which the protagonist moves between self-mutilation and suicidal behaviour. These findings problematise the notion of self-mutilation and suicidal behaviour as somewhat distinct behaviours. More generally, the material gathered from the women emphasizes the multi-causal and complex aspects of suicidal behaviour. The complexity of lived experience has implications for effective intervention and prevention strategies. Many of the women stressed the problematic nature of the forms of intervention they were able to access. Indeed, some regarded their experiences of intervention as reinforcing their feelings of lack of control This was largely confirmed by analysis of the interviews with key informants.

text: Female suicidal behaviour: Initiation, cessation and prevention This thesis explores non-fatal suicidal behaviour in young women. The approach taken is qualitative in orientation. The central form of data collection was the semi-structured interview. Interviews were conducted with key informants, including counsellors, clinicians and social workers and with women who had engaged in suicidal behaviour. The primary focus of the research was to explore the narratives of women who had engaged in suicidal behaviour, to contextualise their insights, understand their experiences and to examine the meanings of events leading to, and implicated in the recovery from, suicidal behaviour. This material demonstrates the importance of gender in suicidal behaviour and cessation as well as highlighting the limitations of many available therapeutic settings. A key finding of the research is the confirmation of sexual abuse as a common precursor to suicidal behaviour, especially when in conjunction with other, mainly familial, risk factors and an absence of protective factors. More significantly, the women noted that the effects of sexual abuse were exacerbated by problems with disclosure. Issues of control emerged as key to both suicidal behaviour and cessation, relating to family circumstance, abuse, disclosure of abuse and efficacy of forms of intervention. In contrast to the literature which suggests that any movement of self-harming behaviours is along a continuum from the less to more severe, the data gathered in this research suggests an episodic, or punctuated, pattern of behaviour, in which the protagonist moves between self-mutilation and suicidal behaviour. These findings problematise the notion of self-mutilation and suicidal behaviour as somewhat distinct behaviours. More generally, the material gathered from the women emphasizes the multi-causal and complex aspects of suicidal behaviour. The complexity of lived experience has implications for effective intervention and prevention strategies. Many of the women stressed the problematic nature of the forms of intervention they were able to access. Indeed, some regarded their experiences of intervention as reinforcing their feelings of lack of control This was largely confirmed by analysis of the interviews with key informants.

year: 2003

title: Honey: Antimicrobial actions and role in disease management

authors: Molan, Peter C.

subjects: honey

abstract: The ancient treatment of dressing infected wounds with honey is rapidly becoming re-established in professional medicine, especially where wounds are infected with antibiotic-resistant bacteria. This is because of the demonstrated sensitivity of such bacteria to the antibacterial activity of honey, which is not influenced by whether or not strains are resistant to antibiotics. Honey has been found to have a very broad spectrum of activity, but its potency of antibacterial activity can vary greatly. In most honeys the antibacterial activity is due to enzymatically produced hydrogen peroxide and thus the potency of its antibacterial activity can be decreased by catalase present in an open wound. Manuka honey has an antibacterial component derived from the plant source. Manuka honey with a quality-assured level of antibacterial activity is being used by companies marketing honey products for wound care that are registered with the medical regulatory authorities in various countries. Such honey can be diluted IO-fold or more and still completely inhibit the usual wound-infecting species. There is a large amount of clinical evidence for the effectiveness of honey in clearing infection in wounds, and some clinical evidence of its effectiveness in treating other infections. Although the antibacterial potency of honey is insufficient to allow its use systemically, there are various clinical applications besides wound care in which it is used topically or where it does not get excessively diluted, such as for treatment of gastritis, enteritis, gingivitis, ophthalmological infections and bronchial infections. In most of these applications the anti-inflammatory activity of honey is of additional benefit in decreasing the inflammation resulting from infection. Additional clinical research is needed to provide better evidence of the effectiveness of honey in these therapeutic applications of honey.

text: Honey: Antimicrobial actions and role in disease management The ancient treatment of dressing infected wounds with honey is rapidly becoming re-established in professional medicine, especially where wounds are infected with antibiotic-resistant bacteria. This is because of the demonstrated sensitivity of such bacteria to the antibacterial activity of honey, which is not influenced by whether or not strains are resistant to antibiotics. Honey has been found to have a very broad spectrum of activity, but its potency of antibacterial activity can vary greatly. In most honeys the antibacterial activity is due to enzymatically produced hydrogen peroxide and thus the potency of its antibacterial activity can be decreased by catalase present in an open wound. Manuka honey has an antibacterial component derived from the plant source. Manuka honey with a quality-assured level of antibacterial activity is being used by companies marketing honey products for wound care that are registered with the medical regulatory authorities in various countries. Such honey can be diluted IO-fold or more and still completely inhibit the usual wound-infecting species. There is a large amount of clinical evidence for the effectiveness of honey in clearing infection in wounds, and some clinical evidence of its effectiveness in treating other infections. Although the antibacterial potency of honey is insufficient to allow its use systemically, there are various clinical applications besides wound care in which it is used topically or where it does not get excessively diluted, such as for treatment of gastritis, enteritis, gingivitis, ophthalmological infections and bronchial infections. In most of these applications the anti-inflammatory activity of honey is of additional benefit in decreasing the inflammation resulting from infection. Additional clinical research is needed to provide better evidence of the effectiveness of honey in these therapeutic applications of honey.

year: 2009

title: Mokena Hou and his wife Rina

authors: Hart, Philip

abstract: Mokena Hou had a distinguished whakapapa, but as nephew to Hou was subordinate to the latter’s son, Karauna Hou. He was born near the Te Aroha hot pools, and his future wife, Rina, who also had illustrious ancestors, including some Ngati Haua, was born in the same area. Both were affiliated to several hapu. After the Hauraki tribes fled from Ngapuhi in 1821, he would be present at the battle of Taumatawiwi in 1830 (though he did not fight) and participated in a later siege of the Ngati Haua pa at Matamata. During the 1830s and later, he mostly cultivated land and dug gum in the lower Waihou region and as well as cultivating at Te Aroha. 
 After living at Kaitawa before the Thames goldfield opened, nearby, in 1867, he moved to Te Aroha, where he would live continuously, warding off the ambitions of Ngati Haua. When the land court investigated the ownership of blocks of land in Hauraki, he sought to obtain as many interests as possible, not always successfully, and tried to get more than his fair share of both land and revenue. 
A devoted Anglican, he assisted the early missionaries to the Waihou region. Wanting peaceful relations with Pakeha, he assisted both the surveying and the settlement of the Aroha Block. When gold was discovered at Te Aroha in 1880, he assisted the prospectors, opened his land for mining and for a township, and invested in some claims, expecting and obtaining a good financial reward. He may have assisted in making the hot pools a public reserve, and certainly gave sections of land within the settlement for public and religious purposes. When he and his wife died a month apart, they were fondly remembered.

text: Mokena Hou and his wife Rina Mokena Hou had a distinguished whakapapa, but as nephew to Hou was subordinate to the latter’s son, Karauna Hou. He was born near the Te Aroha hot pools, and his future wife, Rina, who also had illustrious ancestors, including some Ngati Haua, was born in the same area. Both were affiliated to several hapu. After the Hauraki tribes fled from Ngapuhi in 1821, he would be present at the battle of Taumatawiwi in 1830 (though he did not fight) and participated in a later siege of the Ngati Haua pa at Matamata. During the 1830s and later, he mostly cultivated land and dug gum in the lower Waihou region and as well as cultivating at Te Aroha. 
 After living at Kaitawa before the Thames goldfield opened, nearby, in 1867, he moved to Te Aroha, where he would live continuously, warding off the ambitions of Ngati Haua. When the land court investigated the ownership of blocks of land in Hauraki, he sought to obtain as many interests as possible, not always successfully, and tried to get more than his fair share of both land and revenue. 
A devoted Anglican, he assisted the early missionaries to the Waihou region. Wanting peaceful relations with Pakeha, he assisted both the surveying and the settlement of the Aroha Block. When gold was discovered at Te Aroha in 1880, he assisted the prospectors, opened his land for mining and for a township, and invested in some claims, expecting and obtaining a good financial reward. He may have assisted in making the hot pools a public reserve, and certainly gave sections of land within the settlement for public and religious purposes. When he and his wife died a month apart, they were fondly remembered.

year: 2016