title: Impacts of Early Childhood Education Social Obligations on Families and Whanau

authors: Randall, Judith

subjects: early childhood education

abstract: This thesis explores the impacts of ECE social obligations on affected families and whānau. In 2013 ECE social obligations were introduced through the Social Security (Benefit Categories and Work Focus) Amendment Bill. These obligations require beneficiaries to ensure their children are “enrolled in and attending an approved early childhood education programme from the age of three, until they start school” (Work and Income New Zealand, 2013c). 
A qualitative approach was utilised to hear the voices of those affected. Data was gathered through interviews with eight beneficiary families and two ECE centre managers who had knowledge of the impacts of obligations.  Perceived impacts were analysed using thematic analysis. An examination of the discourses underpinning these obligations as represented in policy documents was undertaken utilising Bacchi’s (2000; 1999) “what’s the problem?” framework.
The introduction of the ECE social obligation policy was found to have placed responsibility on beneficiaries but to have failed to adequately address barriers to ECE participation that families face. The study identified many barriers which impede a family’s ability to participate in ECE. These include transportation, cost, and provision of high quality, suitable ECE for their children available in their local community. Mandatory ECE does not provide the infrastructure needed to enable families to access ECE programmes as it does not address the accessibility, structural, and personal barriers that families face. The thesis argues that the context of incorporating ECE policy in Ministry of Social Development (MSD) legislation and the use of sanctions to ensure compliance is likely to lead to negative outcomes for children’s well-being. 
Policy-as-discourse analysis identified that social obligations were conceived in the context of reducing long-term benefit dependency. The three interrelated dominant discourses underpinning this policy, economic rationalisation, the positioning of beneficiaries as job seekers, and the positioning of children as vulnerable, has left the child as citizen invisible. I advocate that redefining the problem through a child as citizen lens could provide a framework for government to support families through barriers and address provision of high quality ECE. 
Three key suggestions are made. Firstly, utilisation of a child’s rights framework could ensure children’s rights are at the forefront of ECE policy.  This would enable the primary emphasis to be on the welfare and best interests of all children. Within this framework this study identified the need for ECE matters to be in the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education, rather than MSD, in order to ensure consistency and accessibility to quality ECE for all children. Secondly, ECE engagement needs to be promoted through a positive model rather than sanctions. Government financial investment in integrated ECE services within local communities could aid families to overcome participation barriers and provide an ideal model for enabling families to access social services.  Thirdly, government policy and funding needs to support provision of high quality ECE services that are responsive to their local communities. Such services are essential to encouraging ECE participation.

text: Impacts of Early Childhood Education Social Obligations on Families and Whanau This thesis explores the impacts of ECE social obligations on affected families and whānau. In 2013 ECE social obligations were introduced through the Social Security (Benefit Categories and Work Focus) Amendment Bill. These obligations require beneficiaries to ensure their children are “enrolled in and attending an approved early childhood education programme from the age of three, until they start school” (Work and Income New Zealand, 2013c). 
A qualitative approach was utilised to hear the voices of those affected. Data was gathered through interviews with eight beneficiary families and two ECE centre managers who had knowledge of the impacts of obligations.  Perceived impacts were analysed using thematic analysis. An examination of the discourses underpinning these obligations as represented in policy documents was undertaken utilising Bacchi’s (2000; 1999) “what’s the problem?” framework.
The introduction of the ECE social obligation policy was found to have placed responsibility on beneficiaries but to have failed to adequately address barriers to ECE participation that families face. The study identified many barriers which impede a family’s ability to participate in ECE. These include transportation, cost, and provision of high quality, suitable ECE for their children available in their local community. Mandatory ECE does not provide the infrastructure needed to enable families to access ECE programmes as it does not address the accessibility, structural, and personal barriers that families face. The thesis argues that the context of incorporating ECE policy in Ministry of Social Development (MSD) legislation and the use of sanctions to ensure compliance is likely to lead to negative outcomes for children’s well-being. 
Policy-as-discourse analysis identified that social obligations were conceived in the context of reducing long-term benefit dependency. The three interrelated dominant discourses underpinning this policy, economic rationalisation, the positioning of beneficiaries as job seekers, and the positioning of children as vulnerable, has left the child as citizen invisible. I advocate that redefining the problem through a child as citizen lens could provide a framework for government to support families through barriers and address provision of high quality ECE. 
Three key suggestions are made. Firstly, utilisation of a child’s rights framework could ensure children’s rights are at the forefront of ECE policy.  This would enable the primary emphasis to be on the welfare and best interests of all children. Within this framework this study identified the need for ECE matters to be in the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education, rather than MSD, in order to ensure consistency and accessibility to quality ECE for all children. Secondly, ECE engagement needs to be promoted through a positive model rather than sanctions. Government financial investment in integrated ECE services within local communities could aid families to overcome participation barriers and provide an ideal model for enabling families to access social services.  Thirdly, government policy and funding needs to support provision of high quality ECE services that are responsive to their local communities. Such services are essential to encouraging ECE participation.

year: 2014

title: Removal of estrone (E1) in water: A comparative study of UV, natural light, and algal treatments

authors: Chen, Yixin

subjects: estrone (E1)

abstract: Estrone (E1) is an environmental estrogen that threatens both man's health and the ecosystem due to its endocrine-disrupting action. This research compared and evaluated three treatment methods - ultraviolet (UV) irradiation, natural sunlight exposure, and algal treatment with Spirogyra, based on the removal efficiency of E1 under controlled laboratory conditions. Because LC–MS identification of the first-round samples is still pending, a second round of experiments was conducted using UV–Vis spectrophotometry to track E1 degradation at higher concentrations (0–10 mg/L). The results demonstrated that natural sunlight achieved the highest E1 removal efficiency, with the 10 mg/L samples showing an 84.86% decline in absorbance by the second day. The UV group showed consistent but less degradation in E1 removal, while the algal group showed the least removal in E1. Further analyses, including light-field mapping, short-term reproducibility tests, pH condition experiments, and concentration-time curves, also provided mechanistic explanations and reinforced the robustness of these findings. 

This study gives proof that the non-catalytic photodegradation of E1 in natural provides experimental support for the development of energy-saving and green water treatment processes.

text: Removal of estrone (E1) in water: A comparative study of UV, natural light, and algal treatments Estrone (E1) is an environmental estrogen that threatens both man's health and the ecosystem due to its endocrine-disrupting action. This research compared and evaluated three treatment methods - ultraviolet (UV) irradiation, natural sunlight exposure, and algal treatment with Spirogyra, based on the removal efficiency of E1 under controlled laboratory conditions. Because LC–MS identification of the first-round samples is still pending, a second round of experiments was conducted using UV–Vis spectrophotometry to track E1 degradation at higher concentrations (0–10 mg/L). The results demonstrated that natural sunlight achieved the highest E1 removal efficiency, with the 10 mg/L samples showing an 84.86% decline in absorbance by the second day. The UV group showed consistent but less degradation in E1 removal, while the algal group showed the least removal in E1. Further analyses, including light-field mapping, short-term reproducibility tests, pH condition experiments, and concentration-time curves, also provided mechanistic explanations and reinforced the robustness of these findings. 

This study gives proof that the non-catalytic photodegradation of E1 in natural provides experimental support for the development of energy-saving and green water treatment processes.

year: 2025

title: Quantification of Nitro-toxins in Karaka (Corynocarpus laevigatus) Drupes

authors: MacAskill, Jessica Jane

abstract: The karaka (Corynocarpus laevigatus) is a tree native to New Zealand (NZ), found throughout the North and South Islands. Traditionally, many parts of the karaka were used by Māori, however the parts of the karaka of most interest are the berry and nut as they were valuable food sources, in particular the nut. Karaka was known to be a toxin-bearing food, however implementation of a traditional baking and soaking process meant that the nuts were left in states fit for consumption, more often than not. The nuts also had the benefit of being able to be stored for future use when other food sources were short in supply. Karaka was readily consumed up until the 1950s, after this consumption rates decreased rapidly, after the toxic effects were associated with the incorrect preparation of the nuts.

Studies on karaka have revealed that the toxicity of the nuts primarily arises from various nitropropanoyl glucopyranoses (NPGs), twelve of which have been detected in karaka. The quantity of these NPGs has been infrequently studied and it is often only one of the NPGs-karakin which is quantified, although it is believed the toxicity in nuts arises collectively from all of the NPGs. As a result, there is the need to be able to quantify the NPGs in karaka and look at potential toxin removal techniques. If toxin removal can be accomplished, there is the potential for karaka to be a marketable ‘traditional’ or ‘Kiwi’ food item. Additionally, the toxins removed as a by-product may prove to have their own potential commercial applications, for example as insecticides or repellents. 

Since all the NPGs are assumed to be toxic, a method was developed to quantify the total toxicity in the nuts. The method involves the release of NPA via acid hydrolysis of the nitropropanoyl ester groups of the NPGs. The NPA is then able to be measured and subsequently quantified using HPLC. The method incorporates a correction factor (CF) that was determined to give the original NPA content at a time of zero (NPA0), accounting for the unavoidable loss of NPA that arises from the hydrolysis method.

The average quantity of NPA in karaka nuts was found to range from 50.25 to 138.62 g kg-1 (dry weight) which is equivalent to 5.0 to 13.9%. These are much higher percentages than any previously reported because the method used in this study measured total NPA. Earlier methods measured a limited range of NPGs (often a single NPG) unhydrolysed and could have missed NPA arising from other compounds that contribute to total toxicity. Additionally, the concentrations of NPA in karaka nuts were influenced by a number of factors including intra and inter tree variation, storage conditions and ripeness. Although quantification was focused on determining NPA content in nuts, a test conducted also showed NPA to be present in increasingly lower levels in the berry flesh, shell and pellicle respectively. 

Nuts were subjected to various potential industrial processing techniques, treatment times and conditions, in order to determine their efficacy for toxin removal. Treatments included boiling, microwave cooking, soxhlet extraction, oven roasting, autoclaving and cold-water treatments. The efficiency of each treatment varied considerably, with both heat and water proving to be beneficial in toxin removal. However, treatments involving water were found to be more effective than heat treatments alone. Out of all treatment types, times and conditions tested, none were found to leave nuts with a NPA concentration lower than the estimated safe level of daily consumption for a 70 kg adult (< 1.75 mg). Additionally, only some of the treatments resulted in nuts being left in visually appealing states. At present, toxin removal by a single process in order to render karaka nuts safe to consume appears to be an impractical activity. However, if treatment protocols were combined and modified, there is the potential for the development of an effective detoxification process. Furthermore, tests on the treatment solutions revealed that NPA can be obtained in solution as a by-product of nut treatment; with cold-water proving to be more effective than treatments that also used heat. Obtaining NPA as a by-product of toxin removal in nuts appears to be a feasible option for a natural source of NPA.

text: Quantification of Nitro-toxins in Karaka (Corynocarpus laevigatus) Drupes The karaka (Corynocarpus laevigatus) is a tree native to New Zealand (NZ), found throughout the North and South Islands. Traditionally, many parts of the karaka were used by Māori, however the parts of the karaka of most interest are the berry and nut as they were valuable food sources, in particular the nut. Karaka was known to be a toxin-bearing food, however implementation of a traditional baking and soaking process meant that the nuts were left in states fit for consumption, more often than not. The nuts also had the benefit of being able to be stored for future use when other food sources were short in supply. Karaka was readily consumed up until the 1950s, after this consumption rates decreased rapidly, after the toxic effects were associated with the incorrect preparation of the nuts.

Studies on karaka have revealed that the toxicity of the nuts primarily arises from various nitropropanoyl glucopyranoses (NPGs), twelve of which have been detected in karaka. The quantity of these NPGs has been infrequently studied and it is often only one of the NPGs-karakin which is quantified, although it is believed the toxicity in nuts arises collectively from all of the NPGs. As a result, there is the need to be able to quantify the NPGs in karaka and look at potential toxin removal techniques. If toxin removal can be accomplished, there is the potential for karaka to be a marketable ‘traditional’ or ‘Kiwi’ food item. Additionally, the toxins removed as a by-product may prove to have their own potential commercial applications, for example as insecticides or repellents. 

Since all the NPGs are assumed to be toxic, a method was developed to quantify the total toxicity in the nuts. The method involves the release of NPA via acid hydrolysis of the nitropropanoyl ester groups of the NPGs. The NPA is then able to be measured and subsequently quantified using HPLC. The method incorporates a correction factor (CF) that was determined to give the original NPA content at a time of zero (NPA0), accounting for the unavoidable loss of NPA that arises from the hydrolysis method.

The average quantity of NPA in karaka nuts was found to range from 50.25 to 138.62 g kg-1 (dry weight) which is equivalent to 5.0 to 13.9%. These are much higher percentages than any previously reported because the method used in this study measured total NPA. Earlier methods measured a limited range of NPGs (often a single NPG) unhydrolysed and could have missed NPA arising from other compounds that contribute to total toxicity. Additionally, the concentrations of NPA in karaka nuts were influenced by a number of factors including intra and inter tree variation, storage conditions and ripeness. Although quantification was focused on determining NPA content in nuts, a test conducted also showed NPA to be present in increasingly lower levels in the berry flesh, shell and pellicle respectively. 

Nuts were subjected to various potential industrial processing techniques, treatment times and conditions, in order to determine their efficacy for toxin removal. Treatments included boiling, microwave cooking, soxhlet extraction, oven roasting, autoclaving and cold-water treatments. The efficiency of each treatment varied considerably, with both heat and water proving to be beneficial in toxin removal. However, treatments involving water were found to be more effective than heat treatments alone. Out of all treatment types, times and conditions tested, none were found to leave nuts with a NPA concentration lower than the estimated safe level of daily consumption for a 70 kg adult (< 1.75 mg). Additionally, only some of the treatments resulted in nuts being left in visually appealing states. At present, toxin removal by a single process in order to render karaka nuts safe to consume appears to be an impractical activity. However, if treatment protocols were combined and modified, there is the potential for the development of an effective detoxification process. Furthermore, tests on the treatment solutions revealed that NPA can be obtained in solution as a by-product of nut treatment; with cold-water proving to be more effective than treatments that also used heat. Obtaining NPA as a by-product of toxin removal in nuts appears to be a feasible option for a natural source of NPA.

year: 2013