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What are individual perceptions of the role that physical activity plays during treatment of severe mental illness (SMI)?
No full textThere have been many studies published on treatments for severe mental illness (SMI) and the use of physical activity programs during treatment of SMI. However, many of the problems faced by community living individuals recovering from SMI are overlooked or not accounted for. Discrimination, side effects from antipsychotic medications, gaps in treatment referral systems, stigma and misdiagnosis continue to be issues that impede independent treatment of SMI in the community. Relatively little research has examined the reality of recovery and the role of physical activity during treatment of SMI. Through the lens of semi structured interviews with six individuals suffering from SMI, this research explores the part physical activity (PA) can play during treatment of SMI through the use of grounded theory. Findings from this study indicated that participants gained social relevance by performing PA in communal settings and that inspired them to discover their solo forms of physical activity during individual journeys through recovery. For the study participants, structured physical activity interventions were not the one and only solution for a successful treatment of SMI, quite the opposite. This study provides some insight into recovery experiences which participants experienced as a process rather than an outcome. Issues such as, generalised prescription of medications on the basis of assumptions from case histories; lack of support from psychiatrists during changing the dosage of medications; long waiting times and limited number of sessions to attend counselling, highlight the need for mental health professionals to ‘just listen’ to people with SMI for a person-oriented recovery. This study will help other researchers understand how solo forms of PA works during treatment of SMI and help them to carry out more research to establish different forms of solo exercises for a more person-centered recovery through social connection and independence
The feasibility of recreational runners tracking heart rate variability, sleep quality and rate of perceived exertion: An observational feasibility study
No full textBACKGROUND
Activity trackers offer athletes an array of information, which may help optimise performance. To date, research on Heart Rate Variability (HRV), sleep quality and Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE), data that may be gathered by commonplace activity trackers, has largely ignored recreational athletes.
METHODS
A feasibility study utilising an observational design was conducted with 15 recreational runners who used their wrist-based device to track sleep quality and HRV, and recorded RPE (via OMNI-RPE) for each session. Simple descriptive statistics were collated. Pearson’s linear correlations and multiple liner regression models were used to assess the variables relationships. Qualitative feedback on participants’ experiences were gathered.
RESULTS
Method adaptations were made to maximise participant recruitment retention, and data analysis efficiency. It was not feasible to calculate HRV using participants’ devices; therefore, mean heart rate (HR) was used instead. However, RPE was significantly predicted by mean HR and sleep quality. Participants reported difficulty with the OMNI-RPE scale and suggested more feedback opportunities and confirmation after submitting RPE ratings was required.
DISCUSSION
Tracking HR, sleep quality and RPE using recreational runners’ personal wearable activity trackers over eight weeks was feasible. Relationships between these measures were consistent with current literature. Future studies may opt to use chest straps to measure HRV. More research examining participant experiences with, and interpretation of, the OMNI-RPE scale is required
Promoting a culture change in junior and youth sport in New Zealand
Get PDFThis paper provides insight into the evolution of a project designed to address longstanding adult attitudes and behavioural issues in junior and youth sport in New Zealand. The project was funded by Sport New Zealand (Sport NZ) and implemented by Aktive, a charitable trust that works with national and regional partners to fund and deliver community sport in Auckland. Aktive collaborated with a team of junior and youth sport researchers, adopting a pragmatic, mixed methods design-based research (DBR) approach to co-design an educational delivery framework aimed at influencing attitudes and assumptions underpinning coaches, parents, and community sport leaders’ behaviours. Transformative learning principles informed the delivery framework with the project reaching 4,222 participants. Research evaluations included multiple case studies, surveys, semi-structured interviews, and focus groups, which confirmed awareness of problematic beliefs. The programme expanded to Regional Sport Organisations (RSOs) and National Sport Organisations (NSOs) culminating in a nationwide rollout. The study highlights the eectiveness of theoretically informed adult behaviour change programmes in junior and youth sport, the benefits of programmes being underpinned by a rigorous pedagogical approach, and the benefits of sport organisations and researchers collaborating to design and deliver sustainable change initiatives that address belief systems underpinning current issues
Otolith mass asymmetry in the Australian anchovy Engraulis australis (White, 1790) predated by Australasian gannets Morus serrator (Gray, 1843), Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand
No full textWater disturbance can be developed to a certain degree from nature, but human activities increase the level of disturbance through pollution of aquatic habitats. Fish species are directly and indirectly harmfully disturbed by water pollution. Like other living species in the aquatic system, fish are confronted with various sources of different pollutants such as pesticides, insecticides, herbicides, and heavy metals in their habitats. Otolith mass asymmetry may reflect some growth disarrays of fish caused by environmental pressure. Especially high-level otolith mass asymmetry can adversely affect fish life, so the determination of the asymmetry is very vital for species management. The aim of the present study is to calculate the otolith mass asymmetry of Engraulis australis recovered from the food of a piscivorous bird Gannet inhabiting islands in the Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand. The mean asymmetry value computed was found to be 0.0107 (within -0.25483 and + 0.41220) in the samples of E. australis (n = 55, 19.5-23.0 cm TL). The otolith mass asymmetry and absolute otolith mass asymmetry of this species is not related to the total length
Re:Re:Re: Supermodern Fashion and Fashion Design in the 21st century
No full textThis work aims to investigate how the condition of supermodernity affects the design, consumption, and conceptualising of fashion. Particularly this research investigates the design practice that makes fashion unsustainable. The work concludes that the issue in fashion is not that it is unsustainable but rather that it is supermodern. Tracing the ideas of supermodernity in its origins in modernity shows how particular defaults of dress and beliefs have developed over time. Supermodernity is the over-arching idea inside which consumerism, junkspace, and hyperreality interact to create the design landscape we see today. Supermodernity demands particular design methods that value the new and the spectacle. In fashion, this design method looks like universal dress, a default style of dressing that represents a kind of supermodern uniform. It consists of jeans, t-shirts, hoodies, and backpacks. It is the uniform most prevalent in non-places, transient spaces like malls and airports that are the ultimate manifestation of supermodernity. This default style of dress is repeated, over and over again to the point of banality. No brand is more supermodern than SHEIN, a fast fashion retailer based in China; analysing their business model and design practice gives great insight into how the theory of supermodernity gets applied in real-world scenarios. Ultimately this work concluded that supermodern fashion is making simply for the sake of newness which is inherently unsustainable. This work used Damien Newman’s scribble method in combination with sketching and critical making, using artifacts and research to analyse various interpretations of supermodernity
Aspiring higher: Connecting the experience of churches and mountains
No full textRESEARCH QUESTION
How can we connect the human experience of the alpine environment to the experience of church architecture?
ABSTRACT
This project works in two parts, seeking to understand the human experience of both the alpine environment and the church building. In the past, the mountains were foreboding places that were to be avoided whenever possible or traversed with great caution and respect. Today people travel into the mountains with modern equipment to escape ordinary life, prepared to face anything in search of many different kinds of sensory, emotional, spiritual, physical, or psychological experiences. Human experience of the mountains can enhance the quality of life, as a place for restorative recreation and connection with nature. Robert Macfarlane, in Mountains of the Mind, writes that we instinctively associate goodness with height, and that the mountains provide a place where we can refocus our minds.
Architecture often seeks to enhance or evoke experiential qualities and perhaps the oldest form of this lies in spiritual architecture. This project looks at churches as experiential places. They signify an idea or concept beyond the physical and attempt to represent this in their architecture. They are a significant part of New Zealand’s architectural history and played a unique role within communities of the past as Bill McKay notes in Worship: A History of New Zealand Church Design. He criticises modern church architecture for its lack of architectural contemplative spaces, and its reliance on technology for engaging its audience.
This project proposes church architecture in the design of contemplative spiritual space, draws inspiration from the heightened experience of mountains, and continues a tradition of providing a place for Christian communities to meet and practice their faith.
Site: Te Tapanui, Queenstown Hill, New Zealan
The impact of COVID-19 on the lifestyle of tertiary students in an NZ polytechnic
No full textThe COVID-19 pandemic altered people’s life dramatically worldwide, with major concerns in different economic, political, scientific, and public health aspects. The impact on the lifestyle behaviour of the young generation was larger than anticipated. To better understand the influential factors on the lifestyle of tertiary students in an NZ polytechnic due to the COVID-19 pandemic and their correlations, a questionnaire was administrated online by SurveyMonkey to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on life overall, study time and reasons for changing, stress level, living conditions, eating patterns, choice of food, physical activity level, social activities, and sleep time. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, frequency, and correlations to explore the patterns of the influences and the impact of COVID-19 on the proposed questions. The results showed that the extent of the impact of COVID-19 on students’ life, in general, was 3.8 (from 0: not at all to 5: considerably). The main reasons for students who either needed an extension or time-off or changed to part-time study were increased stress level (63%), financial reasons (16%), and family responsibilities (14%). For the comparison aspects (prior vs. post-COVID-19 lockdown), meaningful differences were observed in physical activity level (3.26 vs. 2.50) (from 1: very light to 5: very active); and the importance of factors that influenced the choice of food was convenience (3.62 vs. 3.41) and nutrition value (3.65 vs. 3.50) (from 1: very less important to 5: very important). Students were anxious because of fear of infection, lacked physical exercise due to lockdown, and had trouble sleeping. The results of the study provide useful information on the impact on daily life for tertiary students in pandemic times. The research findings can inform health professionals of these influences for appropriate policy decisions and public health practices to promote a healthy lifestyle during a pandemic
Innovative modern teaching tool adapted by Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Unitec
No full textOutline of this presentation
• Introduction
• The importance of innovative modern tool
• Choice of system -UniTrain
• The applications or learning program of UniTrain
• Future trends in Engineering Education
• Conclusio
Green infrastructural urbanism and climate change
No full text[Article has Chinese language version first followed by English translation]
气候变化产生的环境影响：雨水污染加剧、城市洪水、海平面上升和城市热岛效应，已成为全球性问题。绿色基础设施（GI）越来越多地被推广为解决气候变化导致的环境恶化的“灵丹妙药”，尤其是在城市地区。 城市本质上为高密度且不透水的空间，仅有少量的绿地来吸收预计增加的降雨量。位于沿海地区的城市容易受 到海平面上升的影响，同时，大量的硬质表面会使空气温度的上升加剧。研究认为：可以利用绿色基础设施来 改变当前的城市形态以构建应对环境影响的生态韧性。为了实现这一概念，必须将城市视为区域景观的一部分。 采用一种基于流域的方法来探索如何用绿色基础设施改善气候变化对环境的影响，并使用推测性案例研究来证 明这种方法，表明重新设计的城市形态可以优先安排绿色基础设施，而不会影响建筑项目和房地产投资回报。虽然该研究位于新西兰，但基于流域的方法也适用于中国的城市
The environmental impact of climate change (CC), an increase in stormwater contamination, urban flooding, sea level rise and the urban heat island effect, have become a global issue. Green infrastructure (GI) is increasingly being promoted as a panacea to the environmental deprecation of climate change especially in the urban realm. Cities by their very nature, are very dense and impermeable places with little green space to absorb the expected increase in rainfall, are often located on the littoral and are therefore vulnerable to sea level rise, and the many hard surfaces will acerbate an increase in air temperature. We argue that green infrastructure can be used as a way to build resilience to these effects by changing the current urban form. To achieve this conceptual shift, the city must be seen as being part of a larger landscape. This paper presents a catchment based methodology to explore how a GI can help ameliorate the environmental effects of climate change. The authors use a speculative case study to demonstrate this method, and show that a reconfigured urban form can prioritise climate change mitigation strategies, without compromising the building programme and real estate return. While the study is located in New Zealand, we believe that the catchment-based approach is applicable to cities in China
The next great escape: An investigation into architectural methods to improve fire egress in mid-rise sleeping occupancy buildings. An explanatory document
No full textRESEARCH QUESTION
How can architectural design interventions centered around circulation reduce egress time during the fire evacuation of a mid-rise residential sleeping occupancy structure?
ABSTRACT
Each year too many lives are lost in mid- and high-rise sleeping occupancy building fires due to poorly designed egress circulation. This is caused by factors that lead to poor decision-making by the occupants, resulting in bottlenecks, counterflow, and getting disorientated or trapped. This research proposes that architects can play a larger part in reducing the loss of lives in fire events, through exploring circulation patterns modelled after human behaviour tendencies.
This project aims to explore one such approach, by designing a mid-rise hotel with egress routes integrated into daily circulation paths, as well as using ramps for main vertical and horizontal movement.
Using literature from human behaviour in architecture (wayfinding), fire engineering, hotel design, and fire event case studies, along with design precedents - criteria for site selection, building design, hotel programming, and egress circulation is stipulated and applied to a new build using an iterative process.
Site: Wynyard Point, Auckland CBD, New Zealan