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BEYOND WALLS: Enabling Semi-Independent Living for Individuals on the Spectrum
No full textMoving out of home is a significant milestone in one’s life. However, this milestone can cause immense anxiety for those living with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The unemployment rate for people with ASD is disproportionally high. Coupled with difficulties meeting funding requirements and an inaccessible housing market, this rate can make it extremely difficult for adults with ASD to find suitable housing options. Whilst people with ASD may be eligible to use public and community housing services, the sector currently lacks accessible housing, leaving families wondering what is going to happen when they can no longer care for their child or sibling on the spectrum.As part of the MBIE-funded Public Housing and Urban Regeneration: Maximising Wellbeing research programme (PHUR) and in partnership with Te Toi Mahana (TTM), this thesis explores how the design of future public and community housing can help enable semi-independent living for people with ASD. Beyond Walls seeks to provide potential pathways forward for those on the spectrum, their families, and housing providers by exploring architectural interventions such as apartment planning, materiality, colour, lighting design, acoustic performance, and external environment design in relation to the lived experiences and needs of those with ASD. By extension, this project may help inform the design of private housing.This thesis aims to help facilitate semi-independent living for individuals with ASD who may be deemed ‘mid-high’ functioning, or whose needs are often overlooked, by developing a speculative design and related framework for public or community housing design. The speculative design and related framework are informed by literature reviews, case studies, and data collected through a photo elicitation study and follow-up interviews with people diagnosed with ASD. These guidelines are then tested and refined through the speculative redesign of an existing TTM public housing site awaiting upgrades on Daniell Street in Newtown, Wellington. This speculative redevelopment explores new design approaches to the provision of public housing, including shared and community spaces.</p
What lessons can be learnt from a group of kaiako engaged in a community of practice designed to support the development of an asset-based, culturally responsive pedagogy with a focus on ākonga Māori enjoying success as Māori?
No full text“He māramatanga tō tēnei whetū, he māramatanga anō tō tērā whetū. Each star has its own brilliance, its presence in the sky.” (Riley, 2020, p. 123) Much has been written about the power kaiako (teachers) hold in the akomanga (classroom) and the impact of their pedagogy on the educational success of ākonga Māori (Māori students). Like the whakatauākī (proverb) above, each ākonga Māori is precious and comes to the akomanga with rich cultural assets that can either be celebrated and valued or ignored and forgotten. This is evident in the disparity that exists between the narratives of success for ākonga Māori and their non Māori counterparts in English-medium school settings. This research project brings together a group of non-Māori kaiako who held a shared vision and commitment for the success of their ākonga Māori.Comprising primary and secondary kaiako from across seven schools in Aotearoa, participants came together in a series of workshops sharing their stories, challenges and experiences as they sought to answer the following question: What lessons can be learned from a group of kaiako engaged in a community of practice designed to support the development of an asset-based culturally responsive pedagogy with a focus on ākonga Māori enjoying success as Māori?Four main themes emerged from the narratives of the participants: the power of shared values, the centrality of relationships, embracing te reo Māori (the Māori language), and power and privilege. Power dynamics in akomanga and schools were examined in detail and participants spent time exposing inequities that they could see in their own practice. Participants found that being accountable to one another, making their personal journeys visible, taking intentional actions and being clear about their WHY were all important facets of their collaboration. Having safe spaces to share, the right questions to take you deeper, robust conversations and a journey of conscientisation set the conditions for a successful inquiry, of conscientisation, and finally to take up the challenge to learn te reo Māori.It is in the real-life, day to day stories of non-Māori kaiako striving to do better for their ākonga Māori where the true power of this research journey lies. Taking time to examine their own cultural bias, participants were willing to sit in discomfort as they sought to decolonise their practice. Their narratives act as a mirror, where other kaiako may be able to see themselves in the stories, and so be encouraged or inspired to go on this journey for themselves. Lessons learned from their shared narratives provide a challenge to expect and embrace discomfort, to make relationships central, to be intentional about engaging in a personal conscientisation journey and to learn te reo Māori. Amidst a changing educational landscape in Aotearoa, with curriculum being challenged, and a stronger emphasis and accountability for enacting the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, it is an important time to be exploring teacher pedagogy.</p
What do clients presume about women in intellectual property? Voices from Australia and New Zealand
No full textThis article examines the negative presumptions that women who practise in intellectual property (IP) face vis-à-vis their clients. Analysing interviews with 107 practitioners, the research shows that it is particularly women who work at the interface between law and science and engineering who appear to face the most bias. Women working in patents spoke about negative presumptions more than women in trade marks or copyright. We attribute this to a convergence of biases against women in law and women in science/engineering in patent practice. Moreover, within patent practice, women in engineering and physics spoke about negative presumptions from clients more than women in chemistry, or women in biotechnology and biochemistry. This positively correlates to the degree to which those areas of science/engineering are dominated by men. The article concludes with arguments that it is important to address biases against women in IP, as these biases can affect whether they remain in IP practice, and ultimately what gains IP protection and what is innovated
The Identification and Characterisation of Protein-Protein Interactions with the Yeast Orthologue of Niemann-Pick Type C Disease Protein-1
No full textNiemann-Pick type C (NPC) disease is a rare lysosomal-storage disease caused by mutations in NPC1 (95% cases) or NPC2 (5% cases). It is widely accepted that NPC1 and NPC2 function together in cholesterol egress from the lysosome, whereby upon mutation, cholesterol and other lipids accumulate and cause major pathologies. Interestingly, it is not fully understood (even in healthy individuals) how cholesterol is transported from NPC1 residing at the lysosomal membrane to the endoplasmic reticulum and plasma membrane. Niemann-Pick type C related protein-1 (Ncr1), the yeast orthologue of NPC1, functions similarly to NPC1; when transfected into a mammalian cell lacking NPC1, Ncr1 rescues cholesterol and sphingolipid accumulation typically seen in diseased cells. My thesis aims to identify and characterise protein-protein interactions (PPIs) with the yeast Ncr1 protein.In Chapter 2, I present results from a split-ubiquitin membrane yeast two-hybrid (MYTH) screen that identified six proteins interacting with Ncr1 (Cyb5, Lip1, Pga3, Phs1, Sss1 and Ysy6).Interestingly, several proteins that function in protein complexes also interact with Ncr1; Lip1 and Lag1 (components of the ceramide synthase complex) and Sss1, Sec61, Sbh1, Ssh1 and Sbh2 (components of the Sec61/Ssh1 protein translocation complex). Protein interactions with Cyb5, Lip1 and Sss1 were confirmed using co-immunoprecipitation (Co-IP) analysis, while in silico analyses supported interactions with Cyb5 and Pga3. Lastly, network analysis was conducted to highlight biological processes (protein translocation, folding/maturation of membrane proteins, and lipid metabolism) enriched in the network and thus important to the PPIs with Ncr1.In Chapter 3, I aimed to characterise the PPIs occurring with Ncr1. To map the site of interaction on the Ncr1 protein, fragments of Ncr1 were tagged with a yellow-fluorescent protein and protein localisation assessed. Unfortunately, no fragment localised to the vacuolar membrane and subsequent MYTH analysis was not conducted on the mislocalised constructs. To map the site of interaction on the prey proteins, two complementary experiments were conducted. MYTH analyses on prey protein fragments with full-length Ncr1 identified possible regions required for the PPI (Cyb5, 68-120 aa; Lip1, 11-20 aa; Pga3, 1-175 aa; and Ysy6, 15-29 aa). Alanine mutagenesis of cytosolic protruding sequences identified regions required for the PPIs (Cyb5, 2-78 aa; Pga3, 105-215 aa; Phs1, 119-142 aa; and Sss1, 30-44 aa). To further characterise the PPIs, drugs/conditions involved in different aspects of lipid metabolism were incorporated into the MYTH analysis; Ncr1-Cyb5, Ncr1-Lip1 and Ncr1-Pga3 were observed to be important in ergosterol, fatty acid and sphingolipid metabolism.In Chapter 4, I investigated the biological significance of the PPIs with Ncr1 via functional analyses on single and double mutant strains so to support the proposed physical interactions identified in Chapter 2 and 3. Cells lacking NCR1 and CYB5 (ncr1Δcyb5Δ) displayed stunted growth; sensitivity to the sphingolipid biosynthesis inhibitor (myriocin) and fatty acid biosynthesis inhibitor (cerulenin); increased number of lipid droplets; and dysregulated ergosterol intermediates. In addition to lipid analysis, intracellular transport via GFP-Atg8 (autophagy marker) and Mup1-GFP (endocytosis marker) analysis was investigated. Cells lacking NCR1 displayed reduced fluorophore expression in the vacuole, therefore suggesting a component of uptake at the vacuolar membrane is dysregulated. Together, this chapter highlighted several intriguing lipid metabolism phenotypes for the NCR1-CYB5 interaction.To conclude, in this thesis I set out to identify proteins that physically interact with Ncr1. I identified 11 proteins physically interacting with Ncr1, some of which may provide further molecular insight into previously described functions of Ncr1 in ergosterol metabolism. Additionally, I predict new functions of Ncr1 (and possibly NPC1) in their function in the Cyb5/Cbr1 electron transfer system (via the Cyb5 and Pga3 interactions), the ceramide synthase complex (via the Lip1 and Lag1 interactions); fatty acid elongation (via the Phs1 interaction), and their interaction with the Sec61/Sbh1 protein translocation complex (via the Sss1, Sec61, Sbh1, Ssh1 and Sbh2 interactions). Further work is necessary to gain a more complete understanding of these proposed interactions.</p
Combat Safetyism
No full textIn a context of rising global fascism, Aotearoa/New Zealand has seen an emboldened farright, led by the anti-queer Destiny Church. Writing as a collective of queer and trans scholars and activists, this article explores two case studies of anti-fascist organising, in response to Destiny Church’s attacks on queer communities and symbols in 2024 and 2025. It proposes a theory of anti-fascism based on mass politics. It analyses a barrier to this mass politics: safetyism. Safetyism refers to a politics that prioritises the immediate safety of protesters over the struggle for liberation and against fascism. The first case study, an attempted National Day of Action in 2024, was ultimately undone by safetyist logics. The article draws the key lessons from these experiences, including how time, structure and attempts at consensus can facilitate safetyist arguments. In the second case study, the article analyses how a different approach was taken to organise ‘Defying Destiny’. This approach attempted to pre-empt safetyism by relying on strong pre-existing relationships and organisational forms. Ultimately, the article contends that we need to combat safetyism, to build the anti-fascist movement to meet our current moment
Artistic Activism!
No full textArt, architecture and activism have historically intersected through their use of mediums, agendas, creativity and dialogues. However, the roles of the activist, artist and architect have traditionally been considered three distinct things. In a time of political uncertainty, economic recession, and the ever-decreasing accessibility of the arts, this project blurs the boundaries of art, architecture and activism to advocate for Aotearoa’s arts. Today, Aotearoa’s arts are being perceived as either ‘nice to have’ or ‘need to have’. Artistic Activism considers Aotearoa’s arts as a need to have for their ability to define who we are, share our stories, and create community. This project establishes itself through a non-linear, iterative, design-led method and is developed through three speculative design responses: an installation, a pop-up intervention, and an arts centre. Each project increases in scale and acts as an activist for the arts. Artistic Activism begins with an installation that reimagines the traditional gallery space, challenging accessibility to artist spaces through a documentation of two Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington) creative communities. Next, Pop-up Arts! —A temporary performance and gallery space designed to ‘pop-up’ and inhabit a vacant space near you, an architecture that transports the arts from Te Papa-i-Oea (Palmerston North) to Māruawai (Gore), and the rest of Aotearoa as a direct response to the issues of distance to accessing the arts. Lastly, an Arts Corridor is imagined inhabiting the now-abandoned Reading Cinema, imagining an alternative to likely commercial development. Concluding, this project is loud, exuberant and unapologetic through a blurred design approach of art, architecture and activism. In doing so, the resultant conceptual design process advocates for the accessibility of Aotearoa’s arts as essential, politically important and joyful.</p
Serving the Greater Good With Less: Survey Experiment on How Public Service Motivation Shapes Perception of Staff Shortages
No full textPersonnel shortages are presenting significant challenges for many municipalities, as well-qualified civil servants in smaller cities and non-urban areas leave their positions. Given this dynamic, understanding how local government employees perceive staff shortages is key to designing effective strategies for promoting staff well-being and productivity. This article analyzes the influence of public service motivation (PSM) on shaping the perceptions of job demand and resources in local governments, through an experimental design (n = 120) and a survey of local government employees (n = 414), and further interprets the findings through semi-structured interviews. The experiment results show evidence of bi-directional effects—activating PSM heightened the perceived severity of staff burnout, while simultaneously lowering the perceived need for increased manpower. These findings suggest that PSM may raise an individual’s expectations of their job, which is possibly associated with feelings of frustration with current demands in local government. Conversely, the reduced perception of the need for additional manpower may show an increased sense of responsibility toward the job and willingness to overstretch for the local communities they serve. The employee survey results show that perceptions of the causes and solutions of staff shortages vary depending on their managerial rank, years of experience, and marital status
Black holes, Horizons, Cosmology, and the Memory Effect
No full textThe future of theoretical physics is unclear. Two large areas that fall under the umbrella of theoretical physics are cosmology and quantum gravity. Modern cosmology is relatively a much younger field than quantum gravity, and both of these fields require further developments of general relativity. In this thesis we do not hope to resolve the problems facing modern cosmology or theories of quantum gravity. Rather, we will conduct original research into aspects of general relativity that may be used in the future to aid the development and testing of theories of cosmology and quantum gravity.It is our view that the largest problem facing astrophysics and cosmology stem from the existence of the dark sector of the Universe. The implication here being that more than ninety percent of the energy density of the Universe is “missing in action” and seemingly consists of dark energy and dark matter. Furthermore, it is apparent that there exist conceptual flaws in our understanding of observational concepts such as expansion versus motion and observer biases. To this end, we investigate the standard spacetime metric used in cosmology, the Friedmann–Lemaˆıtre-Roberston–Walker (FLRW) metric in a peculiar coordinate system — the Painlev´e–Gullstrand coordinates. In this coordinate system (slicing), space is no longer expanding, rather, the galaxies are receding from each other. We hope this will aid in the understanding of expansion, motion, curvature, and observer bias with future work. We further investigate the possibility of black holes in cosmology being directly coupled to the accelerated expansion of the Universe — in other words, black holes as a source for dark energy. However, we show that this is highly implausible.Relatively recently it has been postulated that the near black hole horizon limit may be a regime where quantum gravity effects become relevant i.e., quantum gravity may not be restricted to near the Planck scale. We investigate a curious model of black and white holes that shows how one may transition into the other over a finite period of time. This is research conducted in the near horizon limit of the Schwarzschild black hole. We introduce a time dependent function into the usual Schwarzschild black hole spacetime (leaving this new spacetime not a simple coordinate transformed version of the original). This function allows the black hole to transition into a white hole. Importantly, the action for this transition can be shown to be zero, meaning it can be added to the Feynman path integral at no cost.Finally, we move to investigating the black hole memory effect. During the last decade, there has been an interesting connection made between the Bondi– Metzner–Sachs (BMS) group — an infinite dimensional group of symmetries found at null infinity — and the gravitational memory effect. In particular, it was shown that the passage of a gravitational wave that alters a Schwarzschild black hole is seen as a supertranslation of the spacetime at null infinity. We extend these calculations to the Kerr and Kerr–Newman black holes. Hence, showing that there may be a way to verify the abstract mathematical ideas predicated on the BMS group by detection of the memory effect in future observations.It is our hope that when future gravitational wave detectors such as the laser-interferometer-space-antenna (LISA) are launched, research conducted in this thesis may shed light on how the memory may relate to black holes in their asymptotic & near horizon limits to aid our understanding of the nature of quantum gravity.</p
Discovery And Evolution of Metagenomic Antibiotic Resistance Genes
No full textThe observed overlap between antibiotic resistance genes found in soil microbes and those emerging in clinical settings has spurred researchers to functionally screen the metagenomes of soil bacteria to: (1) gain insight into the prevalence of resistance genes in our environment, and (2) identify potential new antibiotic resistance mechanisms. The information obtained from these studies is useful for identifying resistance mechanisms likely to arise in the clinic and informing stewardship measures to counter them. However, traditional methods for functionally screening metagenomic DNA have two main limitations. Firstly, any model bacterial host can only effectively transcribe and translate a minority of environmental genes. In nature, potential resistance genes may be transferred by mobile elements that enable high-level expression, but replicating this in laboratory settings is challenging. Our lab team has addressed this issue by developing a cloning method that promotes high-level expression of captured genes in E. coli, allowing for increased detection of metagenome-acquired phenotypes compared to standard metagenomic libraries. The second notable limitation of traditional functional screening is that it only detects mature resistance genes, leaving “primordial” resistance genes undetected. When exposed to antibiotics, these weaker resistance genes may require only a few mutations to confer high-level resistance, and thereby still pose a substantial clinical threat. The research in this thesis describes the development of a functional screening pipeline using a metagenomic library created with the aforementioned cloning strategy to uncover primordial resistance elements, and resistance elements not previously observed in clinical pathogens. I showed that this pipeline could incorporate a mass double-plating step that provides an efficient way to eliminate resistance due to spontaneous mutation rather than metagenome-acquired genes. This led to the recovery of 15 chloramphenicol resistance elements, 11 tigecycline resistance elements, and 11 meropenem resistance elements. Additionally, directed evolution was employed to assess the evolvability and potential threat of two metagenomic resistance elements: a phosphotransferase that confers chloramphenicol resistance and a vicinal oxygen chelate protein that confers tigecycline resistance. Importantly, the phosphotransferase didn’t reach the level of resistance of current clinically relevant resistance proteins, suggesting it is not an immediate clinical threat. In contrast, the vicinal oxygen chelate protein was able to confer tigecycline resistance beyond the FDA breakpoint upon on one substitution. Lastly, collateral resistance testing revealed that the phosphotransferase also confers resistance to thiamphenicol, but not florfenicol, meaning that if the phosphotransferase were to become a clinical threat, florfenicol would likely be a suitable alternative to chloramphenicol. Collateral resistance testing also revealed that if the vicinal oxygen chelate protein were to become a clinical tigecycline threat, eravacycline or omadacycline would be suitable alternatives.</p
Sustainable Approaches to Reusing Earthquake Prone Buildings
No full textSituated in the context of reusing Wellington’s earthquake-prone buildings, this research focuses on balancing historic values and environmental impacts. The city’s location on a major fault-line means urgently addressing issues in these earthquake-prone buildings is crucial. The problem is that the perceived easiest approach is often demolition and building anew but there are reasons to explore alternatives. To encourage alternatives to demolition, providing sustainable approaches to reusing these buildings is needed.This research explores the complex intersection of historic values and environmental impacts relevant to Aotearoa’s earthquake-prone buildings. This complexity required a mixed-method research approach used to understand the context of Wellington’s earthquake-prone buildings, reuse approaches, historic values and environmental impacts. Design explorations employed life cycle assessments, energy simulations and digital modelling to balance environmental, historic and regenerative values in the reuse of an existing building.This thesis reveals opportunities for celebrating historic values in undervalued buildings alongside software limitations which create barriers for understanding environmental impacts. The main findings of this research are sustainable strategies for reusing earthquake-prone buildings at their perceived end of life.</p
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