Otago University Research Archive
Not a member yet
10699 research outputs found
Sort by
Health and wellbeing of under-25 year olds in Southern District Health Board 2019
No full textIn this report the New Zealand Child and Youth Epidemiology Service (NZCYES) presents information to assist in the planning and funding of services that can collectively improve, promote and protect the health and wellbeing of children and young people aged under-25 years. This is the final of three age-based reports: indicators presented in 2017 had a focus on the first five years of life, and the 2018 report had a focus on the health and wellbeing of under-15 year olds.
Data for the indicators presented in this report were extracted in 2019 from a range of routinely collected national datasets. The report provides an analysis of the most recent data available for each indicator at the time of writing. Unadjusted rates should be interpreted in light of the differing patterns in age structure, ethnic composition, social and material deprivation in each DHB and in Aotearoa overall. Evidence for good practice is presented for each section, compiled from published scholarly literature and from publicly available guidelines, policies, and reports. Where possible, the evidence for good practice includes discussion of equity issues relevant to each indicator, to inform service planning and delivery.
The two review topics included in this report were selected by DHB representatives: Alcohol use in young people by Lee Smith and Promoting mental wellbeing in schools by Judith Adams and Georgia Richardson. These two sections of the report can inform strategies to promote health and wellbeing for all young people. Intervention and treatment services, supportive environments, and healthy cultural norms around drinking are some key components to addressing hazardous alcohol consumption in Aotearoa’s youngest generations. Through school-based initiatives, services can support the mental wellbeing of children and adolescents and thus invest in their long-term flourishing.
Navigating sexual and reproductive health is important to the lives of many young people. Information on reproductive planning and pregnancy rates can provide an indication about the accessibility of services and provide an indication about the future social and economic participation of this generation of young people and the sustainability of the overall population and economy.1 These indicators are presented in the section on Reproductive health.
The section on Mental Health presents information on the prevalence of selected mental health diagnoses in young people, the mental health services utilised by young people and the hospitalisations of young people that are associated with mental health issues.
Selected indicators about substance use and smoking, alcohol and drug service utilisation, and alcohol and drug hospitalisations are presented in the Substance use section. These indicators are important for overall wellbeing, growth, and long-term health of children and young people and inextricably linked to other wellbeing measures presented in the 2019 report.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child establishes that every child is deserving of a state-level commitment towards the promotion of their social, spiritual and mental wellbeing, as well as towards their protection from all forms of violence and harm.2 The section on Safety and Security provides an overview of indicators relating to the protection of children and young people in Aotearoa, including information about assault and self-harm.
Supporting and adding value to the lives of children and young people with cancer is an important part of planning and funding decisions and is presented in the section on Cancer.
The report appendices describe the processes used in compiling information for these reports, including the methods used to develop evidence for good practice, and the statistical methods used in the data analyses. The appendices give further information about the data sources used for the indicators in the report, explanation about classification of ethnicity and social and material deprivation, and a list of the clinical codes relevant to each indicator.
In summary, the 2019 report on health and wellbeing of under-25 year olds presents data and interpretation on a set of relevant indicators extracted from national health datasets. The data used were the most recent available at the time of writing, and provide a snapshot of achievements and challenges in these areas. This report cannot address questions that require outpatient data, as these are not yet available at a national level. Developing systems that can provide a fuller picture of outpatient and primary health care data is important to inform child health service planning at national and DHB levels. The NZCYES is liaising with the Ministry of Health as they develop and roll out a patient flow system that will include primary care and outpatient data
Lifestyle Behaviours as Predictors of Health: Understanding the Importance of Sleep, Diet and Physical Activity on Mental Health and Well-Being
No full textThere is now considerable evidence supporting the notion that sleep, diet, and physical activity can benefit mental health and well-being individually. Previous literature suggests young adults who sleep between seven- to nine-hours-per-night have reduced depressive symptoms and anxiety, along with elevated mood, when compared to participants sleeping fewer than seven or greater than nine hours per night. Furthermore, following a healthy diet has also been associated with improvements in mood and well-being, whereby individuals who regularly adhere to a Mediterranean diet show elevated mood and a reduced risk of depression. Finally, regular physical activity has also been associated with greater mental health and well-being, whereby regular aerobic exercise at moderate intensity has been shown to reduce symptoms of major depressive disorder and anxiety. However, health behaviours do not occur in isolation, and instead tend to cluster together. Yet, research considering the way all three behaviours combine to predict mental health and well-being is still in its infancy. Therefore, the aim of the present thesis was to investigate the combined relationship between sleep, diet and physical activity in predicting mental health and well being outcomes, in two separate cross-sectional studies, both with young adults aged 17-25 years old. Study 1 was a large scale, cross-sectional survey of 1533 participants from New Zealand and the United States. Study 2 was a 13-day micro-longitudinal survey based study of 783 participants from New Zealand. Both studies measured multiple self-reported lifestyle behaviours, such as sleep quality and quantity, consumption of fruit and vegetables, and physical activity habits, along with several measures of mental health (depressive symptoms and negative mood) and well-being (life satisfaction, flourishing and positive mood). Study 1 also measured anxiety and vitality. Results of Study 1 supported past research, that when tested in isolation, each health behaviour was associated with greater mental health and well being. However, when tested against each other in regression models, sleep quality was the strongest predictor of all mental health and well-being outcomes. Diet and physical activity were weaker, relatively equal and still statistically significant predictors. Two trends were observed where raw fruit and vegetable consumption moderated the relationship between sleep quality, and both vitality and flourishing. Study 2 showed similar results, where each health behaviour was associated with greater mental health and well-being when tested in isolation. Furthermore, when tested against each other in regression models, sleep quality was again the strongest predictor of all mental health and well-being outcomes. Both diet and physical activity were relatively equal, weak predictors of mental health and well-being. No significant moderation effects were observed. These results suggest that sleep quality may be the strongest predictor of mental health and well-being, meaning intervention research should focus on sleep quality interventions among young adults
The basement geology and palaeontology of the Wairaki Hills, Southland.
No full textLithologic and biostratigraphic mapping of the Wairaki Hills was commenced to provide detailed geologic maps on which to base data subsequently derived from palaeontological study. Faunas found were collected quickly during mapping and field determinations were noted. Some rich localities were collected more thoroughly in later visits. The geologic age range of the rocks was found to be Makarewan (?Djulfian-Dorashamian} to Oretian (?late Carnian),
with a break in deposition between the latest Permian and earliest Triassic (i.e. Dorashamian-Smithian). In the laboratory, collections gathered in the field, as well as collections gathered by others previously, were prepared and all secure taxa available were described and drawn. The process resulted in identification of at least 17 new genera, perhaps as many as 22, as well as a plethora of undescribed species. Recognition of foraminiferids and ostracods
within the sediments opens new fields of study in New Zealand Triassic fossils. Other important finds include productinids and a crassatellid from the Wairaki Formation, Eophyllites from the Malakovian (Smithian) and a nautiloid, cidaroid, buchiid, beyrichitid, cirriped and trigonioid from the Etalian Stage (Anisian).
The faunas are regarded as marine, shallow shelf forms (probably mostly above wave base) and most collections are regarded as essentially in situ assemblages. After collation of data on biostratigraphy, informal stage definitions were attempted and successfully used; the base of the Makarewan Stage was drawn at the first appearance of Wairakiella rostrata at the type locality, the Malakovian Stage base at the first appearance of Owenites, and the Etalian at the first appearance of Mellarium at the type locality. Correlation with other New Zealand rocks of equivalent age is made as well as an attempt at correlation with important world faunas and sequences of equivalent age. The Makarewan Stage is correlated with the Djulfian-Dorashamian Stages of the world standard, the Malakoyian with the late Smithian Stage and the Etalian with the Varium Zone of the Anisian Stage.
The need for a more refined zonal scheme; for New Zealand Triassic rocks is acknowledged and the systematic palaeontology section of this thesis is regarded as a necessary preliminary step in establishment of such a scheme
The Possibilities of Reducing Food Choice to Improve the Performance of College Foodservices
No full textCollege administrative and management leaders, foodservice personnel, and student residents value social, nutritional, financial, and environmental sustainability in their dining expectations. Menu choice reduction looks promising as a strategy to achieve these goals. However, foodservice research about dominant attitudes across these stakeholders is limited. Objective is to identify qualitative views from all stakeholders about choice reduction to ensure that any changes to the meal service are not to the detriment of consumer satisfaction. A comprehensive list of 74 statements representing the spectrum of attitudes surrounding choice was generated by searching a variety of resources, including academic literature and Internet sites, and by conducting semistructured interviews with stakeholders. A final set of 42 statements resulted from researcher scrutiny for optimum balance, clarity, appropriateness, simplicity, and applicability. A new sample of participants was then asked to sort these 42 statements into a normal distribution grid from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree.” A purposive convenience sample of stakeholders (staff n=5 and residents n=4) was used to identify statements about choice reduction. A second sample of stakeholders (staff n=6 and residents n=29) were recruited to sort the final 42 statements. Q methodology analysis techniques were used. This involved conducting a by-person factor analysis, using the centroid factor extraction method because of the permissiveness it allows for data exploration. A varimax factor rotation to enhance interpretability of the results identified shared viewpoints. Three dominant viewpoints toward the possibility of choice reduction in the meal service were identified. Factor 1 was “health driven” (in which healthiness was paramount). Factor 2 was “variety seekers” (in which choice had instrumental value). Factor 3 was “choice lovers” (in which choice had intrinsic value). Although participants could see a number of benefits of choice reduction, strong attitudinal barriers existed toward adopting choice reduction initiatives. These barriers need to be overcome to avoid dissatisfaction with the foodservice should choice reduction measures be implemented
Memory Verification Decisions
No full textAutobiographical memories are precious, they shape our identity, guide our thinking and behaviour, and facilitate social bonds in both helpful and unhelpful ways. However, our memory does not function like a video-recorder as we might hope, rather memory is highly vulnerable to error and often goes un-questioned. The present study investigated the role of memory function and individuals’ willingness to question their memories. Adult participants (N = 329) were asked to recall either a positive or a negative memory in detail. They were then required to rate their nominated memory on a range of memory function statements, followed by answering questions related to how willing they would be to question their memory and providing strategies for verifying their nominated memory if its accuracy was called into question. Lastly, they rated their nominated strategies on both perceived reliability, cost, and how likely it would be that they would employ these strategies in the future. In line with our hypotheses, the majority of participants had not previously questioned the validity of their memory and were unwilling to question their memory in the future. When examining the influence of memory function, results indicated that memory function was associated with verification in various ways. Specifically, the more helpful the memory was perceived to be, participants provided higher perceived reliability ratings for the strategies they would use to nominate their memories, lower perceived cost ratings, and overall, reported that they were less likely to use these strategies in the future. Overall, the findings of the present study demonstrate that despite the fallibility of memory, individuals are often reluctant to question the accuracy of their memory, and it is memory function that is a potential driver of this reluctance
Genetics of Digitocutaneous Dysplasia
No full textThe development of the human skeleton is a precisely controlled process. The study of Mendelian diseases involving abnormalities in the skeleton enables the idenfication of factors critical to skeletal development.
Digitocutaneous dysplasia (DCD) is a rare genetic syndrome exhibiting abnormalities in the skeleton that are most pronounced in the hands and feet. This condition is caused by a single mis-splicing event that results in the in-frame deletion of 16 amino acids from the encoded filamin A protein (FLNA; NP_001104026.1:p.Val1724_Thr1739del). Tellingly, this region of FLNA has been shown to interact with the extracellular calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR). Activation of CaSR initiates downstream mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling that can trigger osteoblast recruitment and differentiation.
This project aimed to explore the pathomechanisms that lead to the skeletal abnormalities in DCD. This was achieved using two approaches, one examining the effects of this FLNA variant on osteoblast function, and the other investigating the possible involvement of CaSR.
Two immortalised cell lines, MC3T3-E1 and U2OS, were chosen to model osteoblasts. Given the murine origin of MC3T3-E1, the nucleotide sequence of mouse Flna was compared with that of human FLNA. It was discovered that rodents had what was equivalent to the pathogenic variant responsible for the mis-splicing of FLNA in humans. However, no mis-splicing was found in the mouse following the investigation of a publicly available mouse development RNA-seq dataset. Disrupting the splice site of interest in MC3T3-E1 using antisense oligonucleotides resulted in a mis-splicing event different to that associated with DCD. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that the regulation of splicing at this site differ between mice and humans.
Antisense oligonucleotides were also transfected into human U2OS cells but no mis-splicing was induced. Subsequently, a transient transfection approach to introduce the misspliced form of FLNA via a plasmid vector was initiated. A satisfactory transfection efficiency was unable to be achieved and consequently, no clear results were obtained.
Meanwhile, the expression of CASR was investigated using reverse transcription PCR. CASR was detected in mouse bone but not in two osteoblastic cell lines, MC3T3-E1 and U2OS. The apparent absence of CASR in these cell lines was thought to be due to this method lacking the sensitivity to detect very the low expression of this gene common in in vitro cultures.
The experiments utilising antisense oligonucleotides along with the exploration of interspecific differences in the nucleotide sequence of FLNA has led to the uncovering of putative factors that influence mis-splicing at this site. The finding of Casr expression in bone has called attention to the possible role that osteocytes may have in the pathogenesis of DCD. Overall, this project has laid a foundation for further work and opened up some new avenues that can be explored in the future to better understand the various aspects of this disease
Effect of grain particle size of wholegrain foods on the postprandial glycaemic response
No full textWholegrain foods vary in the extent of their grain processing, but most use re- constituted wholegrain flour. Grain particle size can affect starch digestibility and therefore the glycaemic response. This thesis primarily examines whether grain particle size in wholegrain foods affects the postprandial glycaemic response, using a range of wholegrain foods produced under different food processing conditions.
People with normal glucose tolerance (n=15 to 20) and type 2 diabetes (n=15 to 20) participated in a series of randomised crossover studies in which acute postprandial capillary blood glucose response was examined following ingestion of three wholegrain wheat products (wheat porridges, breads, and crackers). Each product provided 50 grams of available carbohydrate, and the products within each food category were matched for energy and macronutrient composition but differed in grain particle size. Wheat porridge products differed in both grain particle size (flour vs kibbled wheat) and starch gelatinisation (ungelatinised and gelatinised). The composition of the breads from least to most intact was: 100% roller-milled wheat flour, 100% stoneground wheat flour, 50% kibbled wheat + 50% roller-milled wheat flour, and 30% intact wheat + 30% kibbled wheat + 40% roller-milled wheat flour. The grain particle size of the crackers matched those of the least intact and most intact breads. The postprandial appetite response to each test food was assessed via a questionnaire using Visual Analogue Scales (VAS) given every fifteen minutes for the first hour and every half hour thereafter. The palatability of each food was assessed via a VAS questionnaire.
Among people with type 2 diabetes, wholegrain foods comprising larger compared with smaller grain particle size generated a significantly lower blood glucose iAUC across all product categories. The mean difference in blood glucose iAUC between wheat porridges made from kibbled grain versus fine flour was: 187 mmol/min×L (95% CI: 54, 320), p=0.006 for gelatinised porridge and 237 mmol/min×L (95% CI: 143, 331), p=<0.001 for ungelatinised porridge. The bread including 30% intact kernels and 30% kibbled wheat generated a blood glucose iAUC significantly lower than all other breads with smaller grain particle size, and the stoneground flour bread generated a blood glucose iAUC significantly lower than the roller-milled flour bread (mean difference 137 mmol/min×L (95% CI: 21, 254), p=0.020). The cracker with 30% intact kernels and 30% kibbled wheat generated a significantly lower blood glucose iAUC than the 100% flour cracker (mean difference 159 mmol/min×L (95%CI: 40, 278)), p=0.009).
Among people with normal glucose tolerance, wholegrain crackers that included intact and kibbled grains generated a blood glucose iAUC that was 36% lower than crackers made from fine flour (95% CI: 15%, 52%), p=0.002. For wheat porridges, the effect of grain particle size on blood glucose iAUC was larger for gelatinised wheat porridges (mean difference 27 mmol/min×L (95% CI: -3, 57) than for ungelatinised wheat porridges (mean difference 0 mmol/min×L (95% CI: -22, 23), p=0.981). There was no evidence of differences in blood glucose iAUC among the breads.
Grain particle size did not significantly affect postprandial sensations of appetite for any of the test foods. For most food processing conditions, the inclusion of intact or kibbled grains in wholegrain foods did not reduce palatability scores. Older participants with type 2 diabetes rated the palatability of the test meals quite differently to the younger normoglycaemic participants. Among older participants the bread including intact and kibbled grain was considered more palatable than the other breads. However, the inclusion of intact grains reduced the palatability scores for crackers among younger normoglycaemic people and for ungelatinised wheat porridge among older people with type 2 diabetes.
In a separate randomised crossover study including people with known risk factors for type 2 diabetes (age 55 – 75, BMI ≥28 kg/m2, and physically inactive), the postprandial capillary blood glucose and venous insulin responses to three wholegrain breads were tested: (1) fine roller-milled flour, (2) fine stoneground flour, and (3) coarse stoneground flour. Each bread provided 50 grams available carbohydrate and was matched for energy and macronutrients. Flour particle size did not significantly affect either blood glucose or insulin iAUC.
The findings in people with type 2 diabetes confirm and extend previous evidence demonstrating the extent to which wholegrain foods including cracked and intact grains or coarsely milled flour generate lower postprandial responses compared with extensively milled wholegrains. This applies to breads, low moisture products such as crackers, and wheat porridges. The studies involving wheat porridges demonstrate the potential importance of considering other aspects of food processing, such as gelatinisation, in addition to particle size. The extent to which the product is gelatinised also has a striking effect on glycaemic response. Amongst normoglycaemic individuals, the effect of increasing particle size on lower glycaemic response was only apparent in crackers, as well as the effect of gelatinisation on higher glycaemic response in the preparation of wheat porridge. Given the high prevalence of prediabetes and the increasing prevalence of type 2 diabetes, these findings support more nuanced nutrition recommendations relating to the consumption of wholegrain foods than currently provided. In addition to advising people to choose wholegrain carbohydrate foods, advice should also include guidance for consuming wholegrain products with more intact grain structures and less gelatinised starch content
Prioritisation of requests, bugs and enhancements pertaining to apps for remedial actions. Towards solving the problem of which app concerns to address initially for app developers
No full textUseful app reviews contain information related to the bugs reported by the app’s end-users along with the requests or enhancements (i.e., suggestions for improvement) pertaining to the app. App developers expend exhaustive manual efforts towards the identification of numerous useful reviews from a vast pool of reviews and converting such useful reviews into actionable knowledge by means of prioritisation. By doing so, app developers can resolve the critical bugs and simultaneously address the prominent requests or enhancements in short intervals of apps’ maintenance and evolution cycles. That said, the manual efforts towards the identification and prioritisation of useful reviews have limitations. The most common limitations are: high cognitive load required to perform manual analysis, lack of scalability associated with limited human resources to process voluminous reviews, extensive time requirements and error-proneness related to the manual efforts. While prior work from the app domain have proposed prioritisation approaches to convert reviews pertaining to an app into actionable knowledge, these studies have limitations and lack benchmarking of the prioritisation performance. Thus, the problem to prioritise numerous useful reviews still persists. In this study, initially, we conducted a systematic mapping study of the requirements prioritisation domain to explore the knowledge on prioritisation that exists and seek inspiration from the eminent empirical studies to solve the problem related to the prioritisation of numerous useful reviews. Findings of the systematic mapping study inspired us to develop automated approaches for filtering useful reviews, and then to facilitate their subsequent prioritisation. To filter useful reviews, this work developed six variants of the Multinomial Naïve Bayes method. Next, to prioritise the order in which useful reviews should be addressed, we proposed a group-based prioritisation method which initially classified the useful reviews into specific groups using an automatically generated taxonomy, and later prioritised these reviews using a multi-criteria heuristic function. Subsequently, we developed an individual prioritisation method that directly prioritised the useful reviews after filtering using the same multi-criteria heuristic function. Some of the findings of the conducted systematic mapping study not only provided the necessary inspiration towards the development of automated filtering and prioritisation approaches but also revealed crucial dimensions such as accuracy and time that could be utilised to benchmark the performance of a prioritisation method. With regards to the proposed automated filtering approach, we observed that the performance of the Multinomial Naïve Bayes variants varied based on their algorithmic structure and the nature of labelled reviews (i.e., balanced or imbalanced) that were made available for training purposes. The outcome related to the automated taxonomy generation approach for classifying useful review into specific groups showed a substantial match with the manual taxonomy generated from domain knowledge. Finally, we validated the performance of the group-based prioritisation and individual prioritisation methods, where we found that the performance of the individual prioritisation method was superior to that of the group-based prioritisation method when outcomes were assessed for the accuracy and time dimensions. In addition, we performed a full-scale evaluation of the individual prioritisation method which showed promising results. Given the outcomes, it is anticipated that our individual prioritisation method could assist app developers in filtering and prioritising numerous useful reviews to support app maintenance and evolution cycles. Beyond app reviews, the utility of our proposed prioritisation solution can be evaluated on software repositories tracking bugs and requests such as Jira, GitHub and so on
Characterising the subtropical front and associated water masses offshore Otago using seismic oceanography
No full textThe Subtropical Front is a global ocean boundary separating warm, salty Subtropical Water from relatively cool, fresh Subantarctic Water. Near Dunedin, on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand, the front is located in the vicinity of the continental shelf break, just 20–40 km offshore. At this boundary, mixing processes are important in the transfer of heat, salt, and nutrients between the two water masses. Seismic oceanography involves the acquisition of marine seismic reflection data normally used for subseafloor imaging, repurposed to image the water column. Seismic reflections come from temperature and salinity contrasts within the ocean.
Four different applications of the seismic oceanography method were examined in this study, including the first dedicated seismic oceanographic cruises in Australasia. First, seismic data acquired over decades of petroleum exploration were reprocessed, revealing significant seismic reflectivity associated with Subtropical, Subantarctic, and Antarctic Intermediate Waters. The reflectivity patterns were interpreted based on synthetic seismograms calculated from historical oceanographic data, and the location of the Subtropical Front was confirmed using satellite sea-surface temperatures as well as near-surface temperatures calculated from the seismic data themselves.
High-frequency electro-acoustic seismic data were acquired along with conductivity-temperature-depth profiles (CTDs) on four cruises along the historically well-studied Munida Transect. While the seismic data did not produce discernible water-column reflections above the background noise field, synthetic seismograms produced from the CTDs contributed to a better understanding of the water masses in the region, including an examination of temporal variability in reflectivity.
A larger-scale cruise was also carried out, where high-frequency generator-injector air gun seismic data were acquired, accompanied by expendable temperature-depth probes. These data produced seismic images with reflections clearly associated with the temperature gradients at the Subtropical Front. Repeat acquisition over a period of days showed the dynamic nature of the boundary.
Finally, CTD data were collected by a chase boat during the acquisition of a petroleum industry 3D seismic survey. These data definitively connect strong seismic reflections in the seismic image to offshore waters with high temperatures and salinities, and particularly allow for the interpretation of a lens-like reflective feature as an eddy. The swath seismic data also allow the three-dimensionality of reflections to be examined.
This study demonstrates the feasibility of investigating oceanographic features in this region using seismic oceanography and provides a methodological comparison to guide future projects. Legacy seismic data are a vast data source, well-suited for mapping water mass boundaries throughout the water column, helping to determine the regional distribution and variability of oceanographic features. High-resolution seismic acquisition produces cross-sectional subsurface images of the Subtropical Front at scales typically unachievable using conventional oceanographic methods. These images reveal characteristic differences in the expression of the front at the surface compared to the subsurface. Combining seismic images with in-situ oceanographic data corroborates the identification of high-temperature, high-salinity waters found well offshore of the Subtropical Front, masked by the presence of a surface mixed layer. These waters appear in features resembling meanders and eddies that could represent a significant mechanism for the mixing of water masses
A Vector Space Model for Koine Greek Lexicography: An Exploration in Linguistic Categorisation
No full textDespite its long and well documented history, Koine Greek lexicography has been slow to adopt techniques for lexical analysis that are truly grounded in modern linguistic theory and method. While the publication of Louw and Nida’s Greek-English Lexicon (1988) is often hailed as a linguistic breakthrough in this regard, promising a reassessment of Koine Greek in light of lexical field theory and componential analysis, major theoretical and methodological issues seriously undercut this lexicon’s claims to linguistic rigor. A number of recent advances in distributional semantics and Natural Language Processing (NLP) present promising new directions for lexicographical tasks. This thesis makes use of one such NLP tool, the vector space model Word2Vec (Mikolov et al., 2013). Word2Vec is an unsupervised learning algorithm that assigns vectors to word tokens based on the distributional profile of each token within a corpus. Model outputs are represented in vector space, and a cosine similarity metric can be used to compute similarity between words. This effectively operationalises Zellig Harris’ (1954) distributional hypothesis—the notion that words appearing in similar contexts will have similar meanings. I seek to demonstrate the utility of Word2Vec for Koine Greek lexicography, specifically for issues relating to linguistic categorisation. I show how categorisation based on corpus data cannot be intuited through a process of logical taxonomic delineation. Instead, vector space modelling shows how categorisation reflects prototypical encyclopaedic knowledge. Since Koine Greek is a dead language—methods of introspection and elicitation being unavailable to the lexicographer—vector space modelling offers a uniquely empirical basis for researching Koine Greek categorisation