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Political influences on Indigenous People’s representation in the formal and enacted history curriculum in the United States and Aotearoa New Zealand
No full textHistory curricula for intermediate and secondary schools in both Aotearoa New Zealand and the state of Florida, United States are frequently scrutinised regarding the inclusivity of marginalised histories. The primary aim of this thesis was to determine how political factors influence teacher’s abilities to incorporate the Indigenous histories into their classrooms. This research adopts a decolonial approach while also integrating insights from critical race theories and culturally sustaining pedagogy. Through semi-structured interviews with four teachers from both Florida and Aotearoa New Zealand, alongside an analyses of teacher resources for the inclusion of Indigenous histories and perspectives, this study reveals noteworthy similarities in teachers' experiences despite the differing educational contexts. While teachers in Florida reported feeling more constrained in their classroom discourse due to fears of violating state laws relating to the teaching of race, gender, and sexuality, teachers in both regions emphasised the critical role of supportive school leadership in integrating Indigenous histories. Furthermore, access to quality resources emerged as being a significant factor that enhances teacher’s ability to incorporate Indigenous history into their curricula. Quality resources provide teachers with accurate, well-researched information about Indigenous histories and include pedagogical guidance that helps prevent the perpetuation of stereotypes and inaccuracies from outdated or biased materials, while also alleviating concerns about how to approach sensitive topics in their curricula. The analysis of educational resources indicates a stark contrast: resources from Aotearoa New Zealand are generally more inclusive of Māori history than those from the United States are of Native American histories. Based on these findings, the recommendations for each nation differ but include initiatives such as training programs created by tribal or iwi organizations, allowing students to demonstrate their knowledge through alternative assessments rather than traditional standardized testing, and developing curricula that promote teacher autonomy
BACH2 Expression Changes Under Conditions of Oxidative Stress in Rodent Primary Glial Cells
No full textSpinal cord injury is a devastating traumatic event that causes loss of function below the point of impact and occurs in 45 people per million New Zealanders per year. The initial insult progresses into a secondary injury where lasting damage occurs from oxidative stress, neuroinflammation and glial scar formation. Due to injury progression, glial cell activation is also present. The three glial cells involved are microglia (surveillant resident immune cells), oligodendrocytes (produce myelin that aids and shields neurons) and astrocytes (homeostatic cells that provide nutrients, communication and support). These cells adjust their function, becoming reactive during injury, and have many genes and mechanisms that cause the change. A potential gene is the transcription factor Bach2, initially studied in lymphocytes, usually regulating the differentiation and function of B and T cells by activating and repressing genes. There are limited studies done on Bach2 and none in glial cells.
This thesis examines the individual isolation of glial cell types from cortices of Sprague Dawley rat pups via mechanical isolation for use in oxidative stress experiments. Isolated cells were treated with diethylmaleate, iodoacetate, or a combination of both, targeting the antioxidant enzyme glutathione and raising the reactive oxygen species level, causing oxidative stress. Alamar blue assays of treated cultures found that cells tested for 24 hours significantly decreased metabolic activity. Cultures underwent cell-specific oxidative stress experiments to extract RNA. The RNA was purified, and cDNA was formed for the digital droplet polymerase chain reaction. Assessment of gene expression from polymerised droplets showed that Bach2 is present in all three glial cell types. After gene normalisation, increased Bach2 expression in astrocytes was reported from the oxidative stress conditions.
Overall, the experiments led to the successful development of a sequential isolation of glial cells that allowed the generation of an oxidative stress model. The results also highlight that Bach2 plays a role within astrocyte cells during oxidative stress conditions and that the transcription factor may also be relevant in cellular activity. Thus, further research is required into the function of Bach2 within glial cells and the central nervous system as a potential regulator of neuroinflammation
Longevity and Service Life Considerations for Vehicle Timber Bridges in New Zealand
No full textTimber is a sustainable material, being a renewable resource with a low carbon footprint. From a civil and transportation engineering perspective, vehicle timber bridges represent a unique intersection of sustainability and engineering, offering an eco-friendly alternative to conventional materials like concrete and steel. However, the adoption of such infrastructure in New Zealand has been hindered by concerns over durability, service life, and maintenance requirements. This research seeks to address these challenges by developing a framework for the inspection, and maintenance of timber bridges, tailored to the environmental and operational conditions specific to New Zealand. The study identifies key deterioration mechanisms specific to New Zealand, including mechanical wear, biological decay, and environmental weathering, and proposes innovative inspection techniques, including nondestructive, semi-destructive methods, and advanced remote monitoring systems. A structured inspection schedule is outlined to enhance the performance of timber bridges. By combining international practices and adapting them to the local context, this research aims to establish a foundational document that supports the wider adoption of timber as a sustainable and durable material for vehicle bridges in New Zealand. The findings are expected to contribute to the development of more resilient infrastructure while aligning with global sustainability goals
The Ideological Compass: How Political Conservatism and Responsibility attributions may help shape Compassion in Healthcare settings
No full textCompassion is a cornerstone of effective healthcare, yet it is inconsistently present. Although research is still evolving, studies are increasingly showing how a range of physician, patient, clinical, and environmental factors influence compassionate care. Missing from this developing picture, however, is empirical consideration of the potential role of broad ideological beliefs, such as political conservatism, which remains under-investigated. In this light, the current thesis was designed to test the possibility that political conservatism predicts lower compassion among healthcare professionals and trainees, as well as testing whether any such relationship is mediated by the tendency to see patients as more responsible for their health condition and suffering.
An anonymous online survey was completed by 214 New Zealand healthcare professionals and trainees. Participants provided demographic information and completed self-report scales indexing political conservatism, trait compassion, and the dispositional tendency to attribute responsibility to individuals before completing two counterbalanced clinical vignettes designed to represent low- (Type 1 diabetes) or high- (Type 2 diabetes) responsibility for their illness and making ratings of patient care and their desire to help.
In contrast to expectations, pre-registered (AsPredicted Ref #: 222883) trait-level testing showed no links between political conservatism, responsibility attributions, and trait compassion. The picture was, however, somewhat different in analyses of the clinical scenarios. While there were no effects in the low-responsibility scenario (Type 1 diabetes), conservatism predicted reports of both lower patient care and/or desire to help as well as greater patient responsibility perceptions in the high-responsibility (Type 2 diabetes) condition. Mediational analysis confirmed that the negative relationship between conservatism and lower ratings of care for this patient was fully mediated by greater attribution of patient responsibility; there was no mediation of the effect of conservatism on the desire to help.
Overall, these early findings suggest that while political conservatism may predict lower compassion in healthcare settings, its effect appears somewhat context- and measurement- dependent, emerging when situational cues make it possible to attribute blame to a patient. Although further work with improved measurement is clearly needed, it seems likely that conservative values can act as an ideological filter in healthcare settings, reducing compassion by increasing the tendency to hold patients accountable for their condition and suffering. This research thus contributes to evidence suggesting a need for training in healthcare settings to continue to address how personal biases and political ideologies can impact compassion and the equitable delivery of care, particularly for patients with conditions that may be perceived as self-inflicted
Harmful sexual behaviours against siblings in New Zealand: could assessment of the family environment guide therapeutic intervention?
No full text'Adrift From the World': Exploring the Lived Experiences of Individuals Affected by an Inherited Optic Neuropathy in the United Kingdom - A Qualitative Study
No full textObjectivesLittle is understood about the lived experiences of individuals affected by inherited optic neuropathies (IONs) in the United Kingdom. The aim of this study was to understand how autosomal dominant optic atrophy (DOA) and Leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON), the two more commonly encountered IONs, impact affected individuals and the factors contributing to their vision-related quality of life (VRQoL).MethodsSemi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with 20 individuals with a genetic diagnosis of DOA (10 participants) or LHON (10 participants) and affected by vision loss. Eligible participants were purposively sampled to achieve variation in participant age, sex, duration of visual impairment, and location in the UK. Using inductive thematic analysis, a range of themes and sub-themes were developed.ResultsParticipants' experiences could be broadly summarised across four overarching themes: [1] IONs impacted all aspects of life, most notably psychosocial and emotional wellbeing; [2] participants learned to cope by adapting and adjusting to visual impairment, often on their own, with little external support or resources; [3] participants' identities as visually-impaired people were determined by how they viewed themselves and others' reactions to their disability; and [4] good VRQoL was defined as having independence with the support of others.ConclusionsVisual impairment due to an ION threatens the independence of affected individuals, leading to psychosocial losses and reduced emotional wellbeing. Despite the challenges they face, people living with an ION describe a "relatively" good VRQoL, often due to the positive impact of social support, enabling them to lead fulfilling lives
Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics in the pediatric population
No full textAn increase in the number of well-conducted pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic (PKPD) pharmacology studies in children has replaced older methodologies such as extrapolation from adult or nonhuman data. While neonates, infants, and children have different psychology, social structure, behavior, and disease spectrum from adults, they also share many similarities. Growth and developmental aspects account for major differences between neonates and infants and adults. Once out of infancy, body size alone can account for many of the pharmacokinetic differences between children and adults. Pharmacodynamic factors that may influence response in early life remain poorly defined. Most PK and PD differences occur in the first few years of postnatal life with major changes occurring during the neonatal period that are mature by the end of infancy (i.e., 2 years of age). Knowledge of pediatric PKPD, changes seen during growth and maturation, and drug adverse effect spectrum are essential for dosing sedatives in children
Perception of Long and Short Vowel Contrast in Te Reo Māori in Clean and Everyday Listening Environments
No full textTe reo Maori (the M ¯ aori language) is the language of the ¯
indigenous people in New Zealand and has a long-short vowel
contrast. This study first investigates the cues used to perceive vowel length for Maori fluent users and learners. Sec- ¯
ondly, it explores the effect of an everyday listening environment in the form of a traditional meeting house (wharenui)
on cue-weighting between duration and stress for identifying
long and short vowels when the stimuli are rendered with the
wharenui room acoustics. An identification test was carried out
with three pairs of words that differed in stress location and
were manipulated in vowel duration. We found both groups to
mainly use duration as a cue, even though the advanced listeners commented that they were listening for ‘intonation’. For
the wharenui acoustics, there were no differences observed between the groups and only a small categorical shift for the /a:/
vowel for the learner
Fluvial-aeolian interactions in a partly confined reach of the Yarlung Tsangpo River, Tibet
No full textFluvial-aeolian interactions (FAI) exert a primary influence on landscape morphodynamics in arid regions. Such processes are well studied for large-scale open systems such as dryland deserts and plains, but little is known about FAI in partly confined valley settings. Here we show how aeolian sand availability and transport pathways and connectivity relationships influence morphodynamic interactions with fluvial processes in a braided reach of the Yarlung Tsangpo River in Southern Tibet, China. Analyses of remote sensing imagery, field data, and the hydrology record show how dune fields and wind systems influence the magnitude and frequency of channel change. While the dunes along the trunk stream have limited impact on river morphodynamics, mid-channel dune fields significantly decrease the frequency of channel adjustments. Combined impacts of valley winds and mountain-valley winds create aeolian sand ramps that stimulate sediment recirculation within this landscape setting
Thermal remanence of the ∼0.6 kya Rangitoto volcano eruption, Auckland volcanic field (New Zealand) inferred from self-potential and CO₂ flux measurements
No full textRangitoto volcano is the most recent (⁓0.6 ka) and voluminous volcano in New Zealand's Auckland Volcanic Field (AVF). In this study, we investigate the status of its hydrothermal system using a combination of self-potential (SP) and CO2 gas flux measurements along the west-east Rangitoto–Motutapu main road. SP data revealed a "W"-shaped signal near the main crater, indicating an active hydrothermal system. In contrast, the CO2 flux data showed diffuse emissions peaking ⁓620 m east of the SP anomaly peak, suggesting they originated from different sources. The SP anomaly is likely due to a hydrothermal system heated by a shallow, cooling basalt body, and CO2 emission is from deeper crustal or mantle sources. An SP electric potential offset was also detected at the Islington Bay Fault under the Rangitoto–Motutapu bridge without a corresponding CO2 flux anomaly.
Résumé
Le volcan Rangitoto est le plus récent (⁓0,6 ka) et le plus volumineux du AVF en Nouvelle-Zélande. Nous examinons l'état de son système hydrothermal en utilisant une combinaison de mesures de SP et de flux de CO2 le long de la route principale ouest-est Rangitoto–Motutapu. Les données SP a révélé un signal en forme de « W » près du cratère principal, indiquant un système hydrothermal actif. Par rapport à, les données de flux de CO2 ont montré des émissions diffuses culminant à ⁓620 m à l'est du pic de l'anomalie SP, suggérant des sources différentes. L'anomalie SP est probablement due à un système hydrothermal chauffé par les matériaux basaltiques peu profond en refroidissement, tandis que l'émission de CO2 provient de sources plus profondes de la croûte ou du manteau. Un décalage de potentiel électrique SP a également été détecté à la faille d'Islington Bay sous le pont Rangitoto–Motutapu sans anomalie correspondante de flux de CO2.</jats:p