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Two Problems at the Second Level of the Polynomial Hierarchy
No full textFew natural problems are found in the second level of the polynomial hierarchy. In this thesis we examine k-choosability, a graph theory problem which is known to be Π2-complete; and transversal contraction, a matroid theory problem in Σ2. We obtain a classification of the 2-connected graphs with maximal local edge-connectivity k that are not k-choosable. This classification gives rise to a polynomial-time algorithm for recognising k-choosability among such graphs. We then show that when the input graph need not be 2-connected the problem becomes Π2-complete. We also obtain a polynomial-time algorithm to determine whether a 1-element contraction from a transversal matroid remains transversal. If the contraction is transversal our algorithm provides a representation.</p
Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes: Using music therapy approaches to support and enhance the development of gross motor skills in children who are blind or have low vision.
No full textSight – of all the senses – is acknowledged to be the one we rely on the most for gaining knowledge about the world around us. Being born blind or with low vision poses challenges for a child’s development. They are able to learn basic gross movements, but their skills of balance, proprioception and body awareness can be impacted. Although it has been recognised that children with a visual impairment need extra input to strengthen these core skills there is very little research in this area. This study aimed to see how I integrated movement specific musicking and musical play in my music therapy practice, and to examine its impact on the development of gross motor skills. Case study research method was employed with two children. The music therapy sessions were play-based and client-led. This way I observed the children in their natural environments, noting their lived experiences in how they executed gross motor movements and their challenges and successes. Data were collected through observations of my normal music therapy practice and analysed through thematic, secondary analysis. Five themes were derived from my findings that were a feature of my work and were common to both children. These were 1) purposeful selecting of goal-based songs, 2) employing musical elements to heighten the auditory experience, 3) making use of musical instruments to embody the physical, 4) using props for tactile feedback in order to enhance their learning, and to stimulate the imagination in pretend play, and 5) making it real through role play. Examples of the children’s play and activities and my reflections are included to illustrate the findings. Not only did I discover strategies and approaches used in the music therapy sessions that successfully enhanced the children’s development of gross motor skills but both children also showed increased stamina and more confidence in moving. This qualitative study has raised awareness of the embodied physical properties of music therapy. However, only two cases were studied. Further research to expand on the line of enquiry would be insightful and valuable.</p
Postfeminism Outside the West: Exploring Nike's Transnational Femvertising Campaigns and Audience Response in China
No full textOver the past two decades, encoding female empowerment messages in advertising (also referred to as femvertising) has become prevalent in the West. Sportswear brand Nike has released transnational femvertising campaigns centring around women and girls engaging in sports activities, bringing Western-originated female athleticism to a non-Western context. Drawing on Gill’s theory of ‘postfeminist sensibility’ (2007a) and Dosekun’s approach of thinking postfeminism transnationally (2015), this thesis considers Nike’s femvertising campaigns as a postfeminist culture spreading across geographical borders. However, existing scholarship primarily either investigates postfeminist culture from a predominant Western context or conceptualises postfeminism as a Western-centred cultural phenomenon. There is a paucity of research looking into how postfeminism as a sensibility takes shape in a non-Western context, and how postfeminist culture is consumed, interpreted, and produced by non-Western audience. My empirical study explores the production, circulation, consumption, and reproduction of a discursive postfeminist culture surrounding female empowerment and sport through two of Nike’s transnational femvertising campaigns promoted on Chinese social media Sina Weibo: ‘Further Than Ever’ and ‘Boundless Girls’. Situating postfeminist culture in a globalised setting and a specific Chinese context, my research aims to de-centre postfeminism from the West and to expand methodological dimensions in the field of transnational postfeminism.My research consists of two parts. In the first part, I conduct textual analysis to analyse how Nike encodes female empowerment messages in ‘Further Than Ever’ and ‘Boundless Girls’. Stern’s Three-Step Textual Analysis in advertising research (1996) (Identification, Construction, Deconstruction) serves as a methodological framework for the textual analysis. In the second part, I conduct a reflexive thematic analysis of online comments responding to the two campaigns to grasp a sense of how the Chinese audience interprets female empowerment messages. My research suggests that both the two Nike campaigns and the Chinese audience have constructed a postfeminist theme embodied by the new athletic femininity which distinctly contradicts normative Chinese cultural values and alienates traditional Chinese beauty ideals. However, the Nike ethos represented by the new athletic femininity also aligns with Chinese national ideology and political economy in contemporary China, which might explain the overwhelming endorsement of the two campaigns from the snapshot of the Chinese audience represented in the online comments. Moreover, since a strong consumerist sense is recreated in the comments, I propose the term consumer-based female empowerment to conceptualise the postfeminist sensibility produced by the seemingly young middle-class urban female audience, which mirrors a consumer-driven Chinese society imposed by the Party-State. I further contend that postfeminist sensibility is not simply a Western-centred cultural phenomenon disseminating from the West to the non-West due to globalisation; rather, it can also be shaped by local non-Western political economy. This thesis therefore contributes to the research field of transnational postfeminism as I present a new approach which connects the universalised postfeminist discourses derived from the West and the local cultural politics that potentially influence the emergence of postfeminist sensibility in a non-Western context.</p
Sourcing Under Pressure: Geoeconomic Risk, Firm Dependence, and the US-China Trade Conflict
No full textIn an increasingly fractured global economy, hegemonic tensions between the United States and China have become a formidable challenge for multinational businesses, particularly those dependent on these rival superpowers. This study explores the impact of firm-level geoeconomic risk exposure on supply chain strategies. Using the ongoing US-China hegemonic conflict as a focal point, this research leverages Hegemonic Stability Theory and Resource Dependence Theory to illuminate how firms exposed to geoeconomic risk respond to an increasingly volatile environment.Through a panel analysis of 100 US manufacturing firms from 2019 to 2023, I measure geoeconomic risk exposure by combining firm shipment records and tariff policy data. The findings show strong evidence that firms respond to geoeconomic risk by decreasing their dependence on shipments from their hegemonic rival country. The findings also show compelling evidence that industrial policies from a hegemonic rival may counteract the government’s attempts to pressure its firms into reducing dependence on its rival, and that a firm’s supply chain diversification may help facilitate firms reduce sourcing dependence on China.I argue that while Hegemonic Stability Theory and Resource Dependence Theory provide valuable frameworks for understanding the dynamics of hegemonic conflict between the US and China, neither theory sufficiently explains the complexities firms face. With its focus on a lone political hegemon, Hegemonic Stability Theory falls short of addressing the nuances of a world where multiple forms of hegemony exist. On the other hand, Resource Dependence Theory does not fully capture the geoeconomic pressures that arise when a firm is caught between a political hegemon and a manufacturing hegemon. Together, these theories reveal an unprecedented situation where a country can artificially reduce the location-specific advantages of a rival nation by implementing coercive geoeconomic policies. These policies compel firms to choose between aligning their global sourcing strategies with their home nation’s geostrategic ambitions and continuing to source from a central global manufacturing location. This research makes pivotal contributions to International Business Literature. It introduces firm-level geoeconomic risk as a distinct and critical concept and empirically tests its implications on firm sourcing strategies. By utilising insight from Hegemonic Stability Theory with Resource Dependence Theory, this research addresses core criticisms of these theories by highlighting China’s role as a manufacturing hegemon. In addition, this research contributes important managerial implications, underscoring the decisions firms must make between the short-term costs of decoupling and the long-term benefits of reduced geoeconomic risk exposure. Last, it contributes to policymakers by emphasising the potential unintended consequences of its geoeconomic policies and proposing strategies for nations targeted by geoeconomic policies to counteract such measures through their industrial policies.</p
Internet of Things in construction: trends and adoption insights from a scientometric perspective
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A Construct Validation Study of Time-Sensitive Word Knowledge Measures
No full textResearchers increasingly use response-time tasks, along with untimed, accuracy-based tasks, to measure lexical knowledge. While these tasks are set up differently and are inherently time sensitive, there is no empirical evidence on whether they also tap into qualitatively different dimensions of vocabulary knowledge. In this article, we report a validation study involving five timed and untimed measures for assessing 40, 2K-5K frequency English words. One hundred and forty-five learners took (1) an untimed meaning recognition test, (2) an untimed form recall test, (3) a Yes-No response time (RT) test (affording both accuracy and RT measures), and (4) a masked repetition priming task. Confirmatory factor analysis suggests that these measures can be placed on one or two psychometric dimensions, whereby the one-factor solution (suggesting they measure one construct) is preferred for parsimony. However, the two-factor model had a marginally stronger predictive validity for explaining self-reported proficiency. Our results highlight the value of incorporating response-time measures in vocabulary research although the jury is still out on the theorization of vocabulary knowledge as a one- or two-dimensional construct
Home the Final Frontier:Why Privacy means Protecting Workers' Rights to Time and Space
No full textThis article critiques the failure of current privacy frameworks to protect workers—especially teleworkers—from the growing encroachment of employer surveillance into their homes. It argues that prevailing privacy regimes, including notice-and-choice models and the GDPR, inadequately address the systemic power asymmetries in the employment relationship, often enabling rather than restricting invasive monitoring. Drawing from labor law traditions, the authors propose a rights-centered framework that views time and space as essential for human dignity and autonomy. They call for a non-negotiable floor of protections, including surveillance-free periods, bans on data commodification, and the establishment of an enforcement inspectorate. By reframing privacy not as a transactional good but as a fundamental labor right, the article advocates for pragmatic legal reforms that counteract the exploitation of home-based workers in a data-driven economy
Optimal Valuation of Variable Annuity Guaranteed LifetimeWithdrawal Benefits with Surrender Option
No full textThis paper extends the earlier works on the valuation of variable annuity guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefits (VAGLWB) by introducing a surrender option to the contract. This new rider gives the policyholder an option to withdraw from the contract prior to his/her death subject to paying a penalty fee proportional to the current account value. The option is of American typed which can be exercised at any time during the duration of the contract. The valuation is formulated in terms of an optimal stopping problem of finding an exercise time of the option and the optimal account level at which the monetary value of the contract is maximized. The optimal solution to the stopping problem is derived under geometric Brownian motion dynamics of the equity price, the underlying investment vehicle of VAGLWB. The optimal value function is given explicitly in terms of the confluent hypergeometric function satisfying both continuous and smooth pasting conditions. Majorant and (super) harmonic properties of the value function are established to exhibit the optimality of the solution. In the absence of surrender option, the results reduce to that of Feng and Jing (2017). Since withdrawal from insurance contract is a natural feature/option in insurance, without considering the surrender option in the valuation would result in undervaluation of the insurance premium for VAGLWB.</p
“Just a Concussion?”: Barriers to Help-Seeking for Traumatic Brain Injury amongst Individuals with Substance Use Disorder
No full textTraumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is common amongst individuals with a Substance Use Disorder (SUD; Lemsky, 2021). Experiencing symptoms of TBI while in treatment for a SUD can be challenging, and may lead to poorer recovery and health outcomes (Lemsky, 2021). Therefore, responding to TBI in individuals with a SUD is crucial for ensuring their wellbeing and ability to engage with rehabilitation. However, New Zealand research suggests that many TBIs go unaddressed (Feigin et al., 2013). The current study explored help-seeking behaviour for TBI amongst individuals admitted to a residential substance use rehabilitation programme. Clients admitted to the rehabilitation programme over a 16-month period participated in interviews, where they were asked about their TBI occurrence and treatment history. Content analysis of these interviews identified barriers to seeking help, while generalised linear mixed models examined individual factors associated with these barriers. Results suggest that individuals with a SUD face many internal and external barriers to seeking help after a head injury, with lack of knowledge and internal barriers being most commonly reported. Several individual factors were found to be associated with experiencing certain barriers. The results of this study take a crucial step toward addressing the dearth of research on help-seeking following TBIs amongst people with SUD. Findings also indicate a need for more effective TBI detection practices in emergency and hospital settings and public education initiatives targeting misinformed beliefs about head injuries.</p
An investigation into the diet of Elephant fish (Callorhinchus milii) in Aotearoa/New Zealand
No full textChondrichthyans (sharks, skates, rays, and chimaeras) are increasingly understood to be an important part of ocean ecosystems, but this ecological role is still unclear. The Elephant fish (Callorhinchus milii) is a chimaera species endemic to New Zealand and southern Australia, found at depths up to 200 m. Despite being commercially and recreationally targeted across much of its New Zealand range, little is known about the Elephant fish, including its feeding ecology. This study used stomach content analysis of Elephant fish samples to generate a more comprehensive understanding of the diet of Elephant fish, and to identify biological and/or environmental predictors that may explain any variation in diet. Crustaceans, in particular pagurids and brachyurans, such as Lophopagurus spp. and Leucosiidae spp., were the most important prey type for the Elephant fish examined, with a relative importance of 56%, followed by molluscs, with a relative importance of 30%. The single most important prey item was Leucosiidae spp., which occurred in nearly half of all stomachs and had a relative importance of 26%. Depth was found to be the greatest predictor of variation in Elephant fish diet, with samples taken from greater depths containing more bivalve molluscs and polychaetes, and those from shallower depths containing more gastropod molluscs and brachyuran crabs. Location and sex were also found to influence Elephant fish diet variation. These findings were consistent with studies of other shallow-water callorhinchids and deep-sea chimaera species around the world. The implication of these findings for the management and conservation of Elephant fish are discussed. In addition, possible avenues for further research are discussed, including the use of fatty acid profiles and stable isotope analysis in future dietary analysis, and the need to expand the spatial and temporal range of this research.</p
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