title: A light in the dark; an investigation of fetal visual perception

authors: Leov, Jessica Noelle

subjects: fetal vision

abstract: How does a fetus engage with their visual world? Prenatal developmental trajectories are primarily unexplored, with fetal visual perception the most poorly understood of all sensory systems. In the third trimester, fetuses not only possess the ability to process perceptual information, but recent research suggests that enough light penetrates the womb to enable a visual experience. Understanding fetal visual capabilities has the potential to reshape our knowledge of both visual and psychological developmental trajectories. This thesis sits at the intersection of developmental psychology, medical imaging, and vision science.  The overall aim of this work is to assess fetal visual function through novel experimental paradigms. We employed 2D ultrasound to visualize the fetal lens and index eye movements in response to light stimuli presented in utero. Tracking fetal eye movements in response to visual stimuli beyond light / no light has never been previously attempted. Three separate experiments explore central elements of fetal visual perception and cognition, including differential fetal responding to temporal and nasal visual fields, anticipatory gaze, and fetal sensitivity to agentive motion cues. The results of these studies demonstrate that the fetus actively engages with their visual environment exhibiting a preference for stimuli presented in their temporal visual field and the ability to perform anticipatory visual gaze, specifically that fetuses can use an auditory cue to anticipate the appearance of a light stimulus. These experiments and new methods offer new key insights into early sensory and psychological development.

text: A light in the dark; an investigation of fetal visual perception How does a fetus engage with their visual world? Prenatal developmental trajectories are primarily unexplored, with fetal visual perception the most poorly understood of all sensory systems. In the third trimester, fetuses not only possess the ability to process perceptual information, but recent research suggests that enough light penetrates the womb to enable a visual experience. Understanding fetal visual capabilities has the potential to reshape our knowledge of both visual and psychological developmental trajectories. This thesis sits at the intersection of developmental psychology, medical imaging, and vision science.  The overall aim of this work is to assess fetal visual function through novel experimental paradigms. We employed 2D ultrasound to visualize the fetal lens and index eye movements in response to light stimuli presented in utero. Tracking fetal eye movements in response to visual stimuli beyond light / no light has never been previously attempted. Three separate experiments explore central elements of fetal visual perception and cognition, including differential fetal responding to temporal and nasal visual fields, anticipatory gaze, and fetal sensitivity to agentive motion cues. The results of these studies demonstrate that the fetus actively engages with their visual environment exhibiting a preference for stimuli presented in their temporal visual field and the ability to perform anticipatory visual gaze, specifically that fetuses can use an auditory cue to anticipate the appearance of a light stimulus. These experiments and new methods offer new key insights into early sensory and psychological development.

year: 2024

title: The use of social networking technologies for home-based online businesses: The case of Saudi Arabian female entrepreneurs

authors: Alshawaf, Arafat

subjects: Social Networking Technologies

abstract: Over the years, many Saudi Arabian female entrepreneurs have adopted social networking technologies, also called social networking sites, to overcome certain cultural challenges and to manage their home-based online businesses. The effectiveness of adopting social networking technologies to produce business benefits is an area that has received significant attention. However, most of the previous studies focus on ‘what social networking technologies do’ rather than ‘what impact social networking technologies have’. The purpose of this study is to better understand how Saudi Arabian female entrepreneurs -- a group about which little is known -- use social networking technologies to derive benefits from their utilisation and to enhance their home-based online businesses. It employs a qualitative approach to explore the opportunities and challenges that they experience when they use these technologies to run their businesses. 

The research questions centre around the business benefits derived from the use of social networking technologies in a home-based context, the motivations that drove the adaptation of these platforms, and the most critical issues women face when using these platforms for business activities. Interviewees in this study describe how they negotiate between entrepreneurship and technology values, in light of their cultural roles. They discuss how the available technology enables their personal growth and allows them to create jobs for themselves and to enter the labour market without physically leaving their homes.

The study reveals that the use of social networking technologies by Saudi female entrepreneurs achieves multiple objectives, including building their business brand, organising networks, and extending their customer base beyond family circles. The motivations of these female entrepreneurs are largely driven by personal desire, a need for professional growth and personal development, and a desire to serve their communities. The use of these technologies helps to create job opportunities and to achieve financial security, but the entrepreneurs also face a range of challenges. These include determining the most appropriate social networking technology to use for their specific business objectives, an initial lack of online marketing and management skills, and the need for additional resources to help them manage their online presence. In examining how social networking technologies are employed by Saudi female entrepreneurs, this study contributes to the extant literature on home-based entrepreneurship by focusing on a group about which minimal knowledge exists.

text: The use of social networking technologies for home-based online businesses: The case of Saudi Arabian female entrepreneurs Over the years, many Saudi Arabian female entrepreneurs have adopted social networking technologies, also called social networking sites, to overcome certain cultural challenges and to manage their home-based online businesses. The effectiveness of adopting social networking technologies to produce business benefits is an area that has received significant attention. However, most of the previous studies focus on ‘what social networking technologies do’ rather than ‘what impact social networking technologies have’. The purpose of this study is to better understand how Saudi Arabian female entrepreneurs -- a group about which little is known -- use social networking technologies to derive benefits from their utilisation and to enhance their home-based online businesses. It employs a qualitative approach to explore the opportunities and challenges that they experience when they use these technologies to run their businesses. 

The research questions centre around the business benefits derived from the use of social networking technologies in a home-based context, the motivations that drove the adaptation of these platforms, and the most critical issues women face when using these platforms for business activities. Interviewees in this study describe how they negotiate between entrepreneurship and technology values, in light of their cultural roles. They discuss how the available technology enables their personal growth and allows them to create jobs for themselves and to enter the labour market without physically leaving their homes.

The study reveals that the use of social networking technologies by Saudi female entrepreneurs achieves multiple objectives, including building their business brand, organising networks, and extending their customer base beyond family circles. The motivations of these female entrepreneurs are largely driven by personal desire, a need for professional growth and personal development, and a desire to serve their communities. The use of these technologies helps to create job opportunities and to achieve financial security, but the entrepreneurs also face a range of challenges. These include determining the most appropriate social networking technology to use for their specific business objectives, an initial lack of online marketing and management skills, and the need for additional resources to help them manage their online presence. In examining how social networking technologies are employed by Saudi female entrepreneurs, this study contributes to the extant literature on home-based entrepreneurship by focusing on a group about which minimal knowledge exists.

year: 2020

title: Whaikoorero: a study of formal Maori speech

authors: Mahuta, Robert Te Kotahi

subjects: Whaikoorero

abstract: Whaikoorero is regarded as the traditionally valued mode of communication. It is the language of the marae, the language of the chiefs and elders, and the only acceptable form of public statement in the Maori world. At the same time it is an artistic form, difficult to master, and demanding long years of practice and experience.
It is true, as I have pointed out, that one can read and listen to the myths and traditions of the Maori in books, on tapes, and through radio broadcasts. Yet it is the public rendering, the synthesising of myth and tradition, the living and the dead, and the interweaving of topical matters with the beliefs and values of the society, which hold the greatest interest for the Maori. For in whaikoorero history is relived, man reaffirmed, and status gained. The dead are recalled to participate with the living in social gatherings where tradition is orally transmitted, reaffirmed and relived. These then are some of the reasons why whaikoorero persists as a literary form and as a social feature within contemporary Maori society.

text: Whaikoorero: a study of formal Maori speech Whaikoorero is regarded as the traditionally valued mode of communication. It is the language of the marae, the language of the chiefs and elders, and the only acceptable form of public statement in the Maori world. At the same time it is an artistic form, difficult to master, and demanding long years of practice and experience.
It is true, as I have pointed out, that one can read and listen to the myths and traditions of the Maori in books, on tapes, and through radio broadcasts. Yet it is the public rendering, the synthesising of myth and tradition, the living and the dead, and the interweaving of topical matters with the beliefs and values of the society, which hold the greatest interest for the Maori. For in whaikoorero history is relived, man reaffirmed, and status gained. The dead are recalled to participate with the living in social gatherings where tradition is orally transmitted, reaffirmed and relived. These then are some of the reasons why whaikoorero persists as a literary form and as a social feature within contemporary Maori society.

year: 1974