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Public Seminar: Optimising Carbon Storage Potential through Design of Urban Freshwater Wetlands in Christchurch, Aotearoa NZ - Shachi Bahl (Ph.D.)
No full textSeminar Video Link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtV-Gx9qtBQ
Growing evidence shows that carbon sequestration in world’s natural ecosystems is necessary to absorb carbon emissions associated with global climate change. Wetlands regulate biogeochemical cycles as they are carbon sinks as well as sources of methane. Long-term carbon storage occurs in ecosystems due to specific soil-water conditions and high biomass accumulation. However, the role of wetland carbon fluxes of plant – soil communities is poorly estimated, limiting the design of wetlands for increasing carbon sequestration. This project studies urban freshwater inland wetlands and their ability to store atmospheric carbon for long durations of time. The relations between plant diversity and carbon sequestration are investigated in two wetlands in Christchurch, to provide data for the spatial design of plant communities that optimise carbon storage in these ecosystems. This research will have implications for new and restored freshwater wetlands in Christchurch that could improve carbon storage in wetland soils and in their above and below ground biomass
Associations Between Risk Avoidance in Physical Activity and Self-Efficacy in Midlife: A Survey
No full textThis is a Masters student research project.
Rationale: This study aims to explore how adults aged 40–60 think about risk avoidance and their confidence in being physically active. Most previous research has focused on adults over 65, so this study will help fill an important gap. The findings will improve understanding of psychological factors that influence physical activity in midlife.
Aim:To examine the associations between risk avoidance during physical activity and self-efficacy among midlife people.
Study Design: This study integrates both quantitative and qualitative study, allowing quantitative data to reveal the statistical association between self-efficacy and risk avoidance while qualitative insights help explain the underlying experiences.
A cross-sectional study: A cross-sectional design is appropriate as the study aims to explore relationships rather than infer causality, and collecting all data at a single time point is feasible, low-cost, and ethically low risk for midlife participants.
Setting and Participants :The study will be conducted using an online platform (MS forms), allowing participants to complete the survey on either a mobile phone or a computer. The target population consists of adults aged 40 to 60 years, who are able to read and understand English in order to complete the survey independently.
Inclusion criteria: 1.Adults 40 to 60 years old. and 2.Able to understand English and complete the survey and provide online inform consent.
Exclusion criteria: Individuals who have been advised by a healthcare professional to restrict their physical activity.
Outcomes and analysis; The primary analysis will examine the association between exercise self-efficacy (SEE) and risk-avoidance (TSK-11).Quantitative analysis will be conducted using IBM SPSS Statistics (Version 29). Prior to analysis, the dataset will be screened for missing values, outliers, and normality assumptions.The normality of continuous variables will be assessed in SPSS. If both variables meet normality assumptions, a Pearson correlation will be conducted.If normality assumptions are violated, a non-parametric Spearman’s rho correlation will be used instead. Correlation analysis is appropriate because the study aims to explore relationships between continuous psychosocial variables in a cross-sectional dataset without inferring causality. SPSS is selected for its reliability, accessibility, and suitability for psychological and health-related survey data.
Qualitative data will be collected through open-ended questions embedded within the survey to capture participants’ subjective experiences of risk avoidance and physical activity during midlife. Responses will be analyzed using thematic analysis, following an inductive approach (Braun & Clarke, 2006) to identify recurring patterns and themes. This approach will provide context to the quantitative findings and ensure a more nuanced understanding of midlife behavioral patterns.
A sample size of 34 is required for the primary analysis and allowing for 15% incomplete data, the target response is from 40 participants
Supporting Communication Difficulties in People Living with Parkinson’s: Protocol for the Co-Production of a Novel Language Intervention
No full textBackground. Recent evidence has confirmed the existence and impact of language difficulties on the daily lives of people living with Parkinson’s (PlwP). Given the scarcity of specific language intervention research in this population, collaboration with PlwP, their communication partners (CPs), and health professionals is essential to develop a relevant and acceptable treatment.
Aims. This paper outlines a protocol for the co-production of a novel language intervention for PlwP. The process aims to: (1) identify key intervention priorities, (2) determine intervention outcomes and select appropriate assessment tools, and (3) design the language activities, home practice tasks, and manuals for the intervention programme.
Methods. The study will follow the Evidence-informed, Experience-based framework. PlwP and CPs will be recruited via Parkinson’s UK to form a Co-Production Group to work with the research team through a series of online meetings and follow-up tasks over a nine-month period. Input from health professionals will also be gathered. The quality and impact of this collaborative engagement will be evaluated against the UK Standards for Public Involvement using a mixed-methods approach.
Results. Group recruitment is expected to finish by month 2 of the study. Co-production activities are anticipated to be completed by month 9, with data analysis results available by month 18.
Conclusions. The presented co-production protocol is grounded in established frameworks to ensure transparent and meaningful involvement of PlwP, CPs, and health professionals. We hope that the resulting intervention package can be a useful resource for communication management in Parkinson’s and provide an evidence base for future clinical trials
Exploring age and hemispheric differences in cortical plasticity after iTBS using fNIRS
No full textfNIRS study looking at the effects of iTBS on the left and right DLPFC on younger, middle, and older adults
Computational Fluid Dynamics analysis of the respiratory function of orthodontic patients: A scoping review
No full textThis project aims to map and characterize the use of computational fluid dynamics to assess upper airway airflow in orthodontic and orthognathic patients
Hubungan Antara Academic Self-Efficacy Dengan Sikap Terhadap Plagiarisme Pada Mahasiswa di Jabodetabek
No full textPenelitian ini berfokus untuk menguji hubungan academic self-efficacy dengan sikap mahasiswa terhadap plagiarisme. Penelitian ini didasari oleh perkembangan teknologi artificial intelligence yang memberikan dinamika baru terhadap pendidikan. Teknologi generate AI yang memudahkan mahasiswa dalam mendapatkan jawaban ataupun membuat karya ilmiah seperti hasil karya sendiri tanpa mengkutip karya orang lain ataupun hasil yang dibuat oleh AI. Hal ini didukung dengan penggunaan AI yang semakin sering diaplikasikan dalam berbagai kehidupan sehari-hari. Maka dari itu, tujuan penelitian ini memperkaya ilmu psikologi pendidikan dalam memahami korelasi faktor psikologi terhadap sikap kecurangan akademik di tengah perkembangan teknologi AI
Relational Geometry of Fions- Emergent Spacetime, Gauge Structure, and Gravity from Gauge-Invariant Transport
No full textWe present a fully relational and gauge-invariant construction in which spacetime geometry, gauge structure, matter, and gravity emerge from a minimal discrete substrate without assuming a background manifold, fundamental fields, or continuum degrees of freedom. The fundamental ontology consists of a countable relational graph endowed with non-negative edge weights and a compact U(1) connection. All physically meaningful quantities are derived from gauge-invariant observables, including holonomies, spectra of the connection Laplacian, and transport-induced relational distances.
A central role is played by fions: minimal nondegenerate five-node cycles whose connection-Laplacian spectrum exhibits a characteristic golden-ratio mode separation. Networks dominated by such cycles provide stable units of gauge-invariant transport and serve as building blocks for emergent geometry.
Using diffusion-map embeddings and controlled relational coarse-graining, we reconstruct a smooth Riemannian (or pseudo-Riemannian) geometry, including the metric tensor, Levi–Civita connection, and full Riemann curvature tensor. Curvature arises from stable holonomy defects, while effective locality and dimensionality follow from spectral properties of transport. Time is defined operationally as ordered geometric change, and energy as resistance to such change. Particle-like excitations correspond to stabilized topological defects characterized by quantized holonomy, with mass emerging as the geometric stabilization cost.
Gauge interactions arise from phase-transport curvature, with non-Abelian structure emerging generically from coupled phase channels. In the continuum limit, Yang–Mills dynamics appears as the universal leading effective fixed point under relational coarse-graining. Einstein field equations are recovered via two independent routes: directly from emergent geometric dynamics and through a Jacobson-type thermodynamic argument, with consistency fixing the effective gravitational coupling. Renormalizable interactions survive as geometric fixed points, while higher-order operators are suppressed.
The framework admits explicit failure modes and falsification criteria and is designed for numerical and experimental testing in synthetic relational systems, cold-atom platforms, and photonic networks. The results establish a unified relational origin of spacetime geometry, gauge interactions, matter, and gravity without postulating fundamental spacetime quantization or elementary fields
Why Do Donors Give to Less Effective Charities? (Study 4)
No full textThis study is a follow-up to our project “Why Do Donors Give to Less Effective Charities?” In our initial experiments with 1,320 U.S. donors recruited via Prolific, we examined how donors respond to information about charity effectiveness across four causes—education, climate, health, and clean water. We found that a substantial share of participants were splitters who divided their donations equally between two charities, even when one was demonstrably more effective. This pattern was largely driven by fairness concerns toward the charities themselves rather than toward recipients, suggesting that many donors view equal allocation as a fair and appropriate strategy, reflecting broader egalitarian and non-meritocratic fairness preferences.
In this original study, differences in cost-effectiveness were embedded within specific cause domains (e.g., health or education), and the fundraising appeal included an industry-typical mission statement describing the concrete interventions of each charity. This leaves open the possibility that the results were influenced by intervention-specific preferences or perceptions of the interventions themselves rather than by fairness concerns toward the charities as institutions.
To address this, we replicate the experimental design while presenting charities as abstract institutions that differ only in their cost-effectiveness, without specifying any details of their interventions. This design allows us to test whether donors’ tendency to split persists when the decision context is fully neutralized with respect to intervention-related preferences.
In addition, we further investigate the concept of charity fairness by including a vignette module that explores splitters’ fairness preferences in greater depth. In this module, we manipulate the perceived source of inequality in charity effectiveness—specifically, whether differences arise from effort, luck, talent, or the maturity of the organization—and measure how these attributions affect donors’ willingness to split their donations. Together, these extensions enable us to test the robustness and generality of our previous results and to better understand how donors interpret and justify inequality between charities
