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Eudaimonia to flourish
No full textRESEARCH QUESTION:
How can architecture enhance the overall experience of oncology patients and their support persons?
ABSTRACT:
“The purpose of Architecture is to improve human life. Create timeless, free, joyous spaces for all activities in life.” John Lautner
Architecture is the arrangement and configuration of spaces and structures articulated thoughtfully to produce within them life that meets the needs of its users and improves the way man lives. Good architecture, therefore, produces environments that serve their purpose and are practical to use. In a healthcare setting, this entails that a space or structure function to holistically nurture, treat and heal its patients; both medically and psychologically. However, in the modern world of health and medicine, architecture appears to have very rarely succeeded in executing its role and realising its potential in this sector. Hospitals and rehabilitation centres alike are required to function well and efficiently. Therefore, the design of these buildings plays a major part in delivering good services and outcomes.
Cancer is a leading chronic and fatal disease worldwide. The World Cancer Research Fund identifies the highest cancer rates internationally to be from Oceania, Europe, and North America. Australia ranks highest in cancer rates and New Zealand second. Treatment plans for cancer patients are harsh and long in duration at the hospital. With such a disease, a poor environment only further deteriorates one’s ailment and recovery period. Therefore, the question that should arise is how can architecture best serve and enhance the overall experience for these patients? Substantial quantity of researches indicate that healing environments and empathetic design can greatly aid the body’s ability to self-heal and ensure psychological stability. This is established through a positive and uplifting environment whereby de-stressing the patient increases one’s rate of recovery and or receptivity to treatments.
This research project explores the issue and importance of wellbeing in a medical environment and the effect of healing spaces through the patient/visitor journey, to ensure a positive and holistic patient focused model of care. The research project examines theories and studies on the psychological effects and influence of nature and design on the human, as a method of exploring and integrating findings to aid the healing process from an architectural position. The intent is to produce an architectural solution or methodology that best serves patients in New Zealand, leading to the design of a new facility at Auckland Hospital. The objective of this facility is to provide sensitive healing and support spaces that are culturally inclusive, and patient focuse
“Choreo-tecture”: Architectural choreography
No full textRESEARCH QUESTION:
How can choreographed movement inform architecture and urban revitalization?
ABSTRACT:
The project explores the role of choreographed body movement in architecture. The relationships between body, space, and movement are key to experimental artistic movement. The city offers experiences and should be a place of free expression, by incorporating the potentials of artistic movement into its design.
The project also explores the body movement of athletes and theories of how it can be used to influence architecture. It explores how circulation systems can encourage movement to draw the public into the building and allow them to engage with the performing movement that is fundamental for human physical development. It also discusses how architecture has the potential to function as a stimulus for movement and the relationship established between the user and space.
Choreographed body movement is more than to simply move; it is an expressive process of transformation and resignification of body movement as an artistic phenomenon. Choreography designs a series of movements for the human body using order, rhythm, and discipline. The application of these qualities in architectural space allows the architecture to be produced and determined meticulously by creating controlled navigation of spatial sequences. However, contemporary spaces often neglect the body. By not demanding much from it and not offering a variety of experiences; the result is an absence of action.
"Choreo-tecture” - Architectural Choreography intends to establish a creative and dynamic framework influenced and interpreted by a choreographed movement to be applied at two different scales; first to the proposed building, then progressing to an urban scale.
Urban regeneration of the place and is realised through the proposition of an Artistic sports Centre, promoting the wellbeing of the population and the artistic development through the body movement. Located strategically in the Brazilian city of Florianopolis, it emphasises the importance of public and democratic use of the space through activities that can add experience and leisure for the population, as well as enhance and preserve activities that already occur in the environment.
The field of this research project has been driven by two catalysts. The first catalyst is the personal experience with artistic sports and the willingness to use the choreographed body movement analysis as a driver for the design of an Artistic Sports Centre. A critical investigation of the selected movement sequence determines what values, qualities and themes influence the building form, circulation, and space distribution. The second catalyst is the re-adaptation of an abandoned public structure located in the heart of the city of Florianopolis. The chosen site carries its history and is seen as an opportunity to apply the theoretical research to a larger scale, enriching the urban fabric by reconnecting the forgotten space with the surrounding context
郝路义在华事功纂要 - 圣乐本土化、汉诗之英译 Hao Luyi zai Hua shigong zuanyao (In the Shadow of Yang Yinliu: Louise Strong Hammond, translation of Classical Chinese poetry, and the indigenisation of Christian liturgical music)
No full text以往有关杨荫浏先生的“干妈”路易斯·斯特朗·哈门德（Louise Strong Hammond，中 文名郝路义）的研究大都依据杨荫浏先生晚年的回忆，但对郝氏本人在海内外发表的英文著述却 鲜有所用。因而对郝氏本人在华事迹缺乏整体的了解。本文以郝路义所存文稿、西文报刊文献 及档案资料为主要资料来源，以郝路义本人为焦点，考证其在圣乐本土化及汉诗英译上的事功
Social change in Ho Chi Minh City : Vietnam through the eyes of its young citizens. A participatory visual ethnography methodology approach to photography, youth and social change in urban space
No full textRESEARCH QUESTIONS:
1. How participatory photography can be used as a critical tool to acknowledge development issues in HCMC?
2. How participatory photography can be deployed as a tool to empower young residents in HCMC to communicate social change?
ABTRACT:
Known as the centre of the Vietnamese economic restructuring, land speculation and education, Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) has been experiencing enormous developmental issues such as urban planning, housing and homelessness, waste water treatment, widening gap between the rich and the poor, and air pollution. The future of the city’s very young population (6 million out of an estimated 10 million) will be directly affected by these changes. In light of this, it is important to engage and provide them with the means to not only express their views on these changes but to critically engage with them through tools that are relevant to their daily life.
This Master of International Communication research aims at exploring how participatory visual methods, within a communication for development and social change framework, can be used by the city’s young inhabitants to document change in their natural habitat. For a period of over five months, the research engaged with a small group of young people in HCMC, through a number of photography workshops, group and individual shootings that resulted in a series of photos hosted in a website along with the participants accompanying narratives. Participatory visual methods have been used extensively in social research to generate new forms of knowledge which cannot be developed any other way. In this project, the researcher and the participants collectively explored some of the emerging urban development themes identified in the photographs taken; how participatory photography is used as a critical tool to acknowledge development issues in the city; how participatory photography is deployed as a tool to empower young residents in HCMC to communicate social change and what some of the opportunities and challenges in working with young people to produce participatory visual outputs within a conceptual social change framework are.
This research is presented in two parts. One part is a website where the participants and the researcher share some of the emerging themes of social change in the city through a series of photographs taken by the participants, their profiles and lessons learnt for similar projects to refer to. The other part is the exegesis that presents the research methods, findings, reflections of the researcher as well as recommendations for future research
Developments in surgical fluid therapy rates in veterinary medicine
No full textPICO QUESTION:
Is there sufficient evidence to show surgical fluid therapy delivered at the recommended 3 mL/kg/hour for cats and 5 mL/kg/hour for dogs leads to a better outcome compared with widely accepted rates of 10 mL/kg/hour for both cats and dogs?
`CATEGORY OF RESEARCH QUESTION - Treatment
THE NUMBER AND TYPE OF STUDY DESIGNS REVIEWED
Five studies were appraised. Two of these were opinion pieces, with one non-comparative prospective study, one randomised controlled trial, and one case control study
STRENGTH OF EVIDENCE
Weak
OUTCOMES REPORTED
Currently there is limited evidence to show that the surgical fluid therapy recommendations made by the 2013 Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association guidelines (Davis et al., 2013) for cats and dogs lead to a better outcome than accepted fluid therapy rates used. Fluid overload in humans can cause long-term adverse effects, however the same effects have yet to be shown specifically in veterinary patients.
CONCLUSION
No evidence was found that provides strong, conclusive evidence that the 2013 recommendations by the American Animal Hospital Association and American Association of Feline Practitioners leads to a better outcome for both cats and dogs. The resulting research outlined below identifies a need to conduct clinical studies on the effects of fluid therapy on cats and dogs, and identify clear monitoring protocols to minimise and ideally avoid, fluid overload. When adequate, valid clinical studies have been carried out, this will provide sufficient information for the development of evidence-based recommended rates of fluid therapy for veterinary medicine, in a range of context
Intelligent beehive status monitoring in noisy environment
No full textArtificial neural network (ANN) based bee-hive monitoring algorithm does not perform very efficiently in noisy environments. Although an ANN based bee-hive monitoring algorithm using audio signals of a beehive could perform with very high accuracy in a noise-free environment. Such a beehive monitoring algorithm faces gap in classification accuracy when noise is mixed to the sound of the beehive. There are evidences of many research on building beehive monitoring algorithms but none of them investigated the noise tolerance capacity of the system. This study aims to demonstrate the effect of environmental noise on beehive monitoring algorithm’s performance and establish a solution for overcoming this problem. Building on existing work on beehive monitoring algorithms one could ask:
Could the enhancement of beehive audio feature extraction method effectively increases the noise handling capability of a beehive monitoring algorithm?
Based on the literature review included in this thesis, a beehive monitoring algorithm with an enhanced feature extraction method is proposed. In this context, Multilayer perceptron (MLP) artificial neural network is used for classifying the states of the beehive. New feature extraction method extracts the audio feature from the targeted frequency range with 3 overlapping sub-bands. These 3 feature sets from 3 overlapping sub-bands are later combined to form the final and enhanced feature sets. Performance of the proposed system is tested in a computer-simulated environment with 4 different noise levels. The system is designed to detect the queenless and queenright states. Analysis of the simulation data shows that the new feature extraction method is highly efficient and performs better in a noisy environment compared to the conventional feature extraction method
Sculpting a township’s identity: Enhancing the identity of Helensville through integration of sculpture
No full textRESEARCH QUESTION:
How can architecture enhance identity within a satellite township of Auckland, fostering an arts-based industry related to that town's identity?
ABSTRACT:
Identity is essential to a sense of belonging. For a community, a strong sense of identity can bring people together and foster pride. A community's architecture becomes an integral part of developing identity; either as artefacts of a place's history or drivers for the future to come. Looking for context in the wider surroundings of a community provides further drivers for developing identity.
Some townships surrounding Auckland have begun to stagnate in their efforts to preserve their identity and strengthen it for the future. This stagnation is a result of a hesitancy to explore different financial avenues within towns and the underutilisation of existing identity.
The approach first identifies the appropriate township to research, then locates suitable sites for new and restorative architecture within the chosen town. The research next investigates the history of the town to provide a context for the development of its future identity. A hypothetical model is then developed as a vision of a potential future. The objective is to create a masterplan that can be used to progress art-based industry and identity of the township.
Through architecture, artists can exhibit their work and engage with the public at various stages throughout their creative process. Individual artists will be able to immerse themselves in their art and the identity of the place they inhabit. This can be achieved through meaningful design and strong connection to place identity
Baseline assessment of the MacKenzie Peat Wetland using drone surveying and pest monitoring tools
No full textAIM
The aim was to measure and provide baseline data of mammalian pest abundance across different vegetation zones and land uses within the Makenzie Wetland. Different monitoring methods were used and compared to evaluate the accuracy of the techniques. The results will be used to guide further research and fieldwork within the MacKenzie Wetland.
ABSTRACT
Wetlands provide many important ecosystem services such as, maintaining water quality, flood protection, and habitats for both flora and fauna. It is estimated that less than 10% of NZ’s wetlands remain in a natural state with Southland holding nearly 20% of this. Despite the threatened status more than 176 hectares are lost in the region every year. The MacKenzie Wetland is a 54-hectare, raised dome mire wetland located near Limehills, just out of Winton. The area was historically farmed but is now a protected QEII Covenant restoration project and is one of the last remaining wetlands in the area. The aim of the project was to create an updated aerial image of the area using a drone and to measure and provide baseline data of mammalian pest abundance within the MacKenzie wetland.
Monitoring pest populations helps show pest abundance and potential effects on the restoration of native vegetation and on the fauna that inhabit the area. Drones are slowly becoming more accessible and can produce high-resolution imaging that is valuable for monitoring and decision making. Two tracking tunnel surveys and a 7 night chewcard survey were carried out to compare their capabilities as survey tools and to provide Relative Abundance Indices for each identified species. Drone survey images were uploaded into software which produced a high-resolution orthophoto map of the wetlands in which native and pest plants were able to be identified.
Results from all monitoring events were uploaded to the MacKenzie Wetlands project on the Trap.nz website which is an information management system that converted results into heat maps showing areas where pest species are present. Mice were the main species detected with all methods, while cats were only detected using tunnels with fresh rabbit meat over 3 nights. Delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown meant that monitoring took place over winter with fewer tunnels than recommended which could have influenced the results but overall, the aims of the project were met and provide a base for future monitoring projects on the wetlan
Pūtahi a whenua : voices flowing as one
No full textRESEARCH QUESTION:
How can an enhanced tangata – whenua relationship strengthen hapū connection and identity?
ABSTRACT:
The connection of whānau to whenua is made through interactions of memory, story, affection and learnings crafted by generational experience. Successes are not only demonstrated in the waiata we sing, the pūrākau we recount, or the kōrero we share, but in the care we exhibit toward whakapapa. Connections can become strained when whanaunga are elsewhere, reconnection can produce anxiety and reduced confidence when leaving the familiar. We recount our pepeha with pride and revel in the embrace of an Aunty, but it can still seem that we are only visiting our marae or wāhi tapu. This research aims to strengthen connection to our rohe through whenua based mātauranga so that these links to our identity can be taken up by our whanaunga, regaining that confidence to come home and engage.
A mapping platform is the strategy to act as an initial orientation and engagement guide while also being a self generated repository resource. Publicly accessable datasets have been utilised, providing a base for select narratives to demonstrate the potential of this platform, encouraging further development in the future. The rohe of Ngāti Korokoro, Ngāti Whārara and Te Poukā in south Hokianga provides location and scale, centering around whenua connecting our four marae (Waimamaku, Waiwhatawhata, Kokohuia and Maraeroa). This platform provides a beginning to be built upon into the future.
Key findings of this research include the importance of following a research methodology that is in step with the world view of community involved, Kaupapa Māori Rangahau. An example is being greeted by our own names when first opening ‘Kākano Tupu o te Hononga’, English may follow, but Te Reo greets. We are talking about our mātauranga flourishing while connected to the whenua where it was enacted. Understanding that it is our connection to all things through whakapapa that makes this whenua tūrangawaewae. Harnessing new technologies to work for our outcomes, our world view: to reach our people and encourage them home. This resource is created to be an evolving one. The future will bring a richness that avoids stagnation and allows our flourishing and growth together
Balancing the seesaw : the ups and downs of delivering vocational training programmes
No full textDeveloping training programmes in partnership with industry is a rich and rewarding endeavour
Context - partnership between Unitec and Hawkins
Programme framework
Challenge: Learner diversity - cadets
Challenge: Learner diversity - managers
Balance: Peer learning
Challenge: Organisational commitment
Balance: Maintaining relationships
Challenge: Academic vs industry expectations
Balance: Openness and responsiveness
Challenge: Administrative requirements
Balance: Frameworks and flexibility
Good news stories and anecdotes
Conclusion