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Evaluating depression, anxiety, and stress assessment before and during the COVID-19 pandemic using Generalisability Theory
Get PDFThe evaluation of depression, anxiety, and stress requires distinguishing between state and trait changes. Otherwise, the accuracy of evaluating the effectiveness of interventions and the reliability and validity of research can be compromised. The COVID-19 pandemic has introduced extraneous variables that have the potential to significantly impact the measurement of affective conditions and the distinction between state or trait symptoms. The Depression Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS-21) is the only psychometric scale that measures depression, anxiety, and stress, and the overall psychological distress simultaneously. It is widely used and applicable to both clinical and non-clinical populations. However, no study has assessed its ability to distinguish state from trait changes or investigated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on its temporal reliability. In this study, Generalisability Theory (G-Theory) was applied to evaluate the DASS-21 under normal and COVID-19 pandemic conditions. Data was collected from two independent samples. The first sample was collected in the United States (n = 115) before the pandemic and the second sample was collected in New Zealand (n = 114) during the pandemic. In both samples the data were collected on three occasions with 2 to 4-week intervals. The total DASS-21 scale showed excellent reliability in measuring enduring symptoms of psychological distress (G = 0.94 to 0.96), and while all DASS-21 subscales demonstrated good reliability in the pre-pandemic US sample, they showed lower temporal reliability in the NZ sample during the pandemic. These findings suggest that the overall DASS-21 reliably measures psychological distress as a trait and its scores can be generalised across different populations and occasions. However, the DASS-21 subscales are not as reliable during emergencies and uncertainty as seen in the COVID-19 pandemic. The overall psychological distress remains stable across individuals and can be reliably measured by the DASS-21, but shifts in depression, anxiety, and stress levels are likely during emergencies and uncertainty
He moana pukepuke e ekengia e te waka: Navigating a changing climate: A waka voyaging perspective
Get PDFHuman-induced climate change is threatening the ocean, natural ecosystems, and the global human population. Some groups, including Māori in Aotearoa, and Indigenous communities globally, will be disproportionately affected by the negative consequences of climate change. The current national and international governmental climate change responses underrepresent Indigenous peoples, issues, and knowledge. This thesis aims to contribute to the body of literature that documents Māori understandings, perspectives, and worldviews in relation to climate change. This work was guided by two inter-related questions. Firstly, what are the impacts of climate change on waka voyaging? Secondly, how can we draw on mātauranga (Māori knowledge) to respond to human-induced climate change?
Specifically, the research addresses gaps in the scholarly literature that has yet to consider the unique contributions of waka voyaging practitioners to the climate change conversation. This work seeks to better understand the wide-ranging effects of human-induced climate change on Māori communities, knowledge, and culture, through an investigation of the impacts on waka voyaging. Furthermore, it considers how mātauranga whakatere waka (Māori understandings of Pacific voyaging knowledge) can contribute to climate change responses today and into the future.
Guided by a Pūrākau and Kaupapa Māori research approach, I undertook a large-scale literature review and conducted seven in-depth semi-structured one-to-one interviews with Māori voyagers trained in traditional Pacific non-instrument ocean navigation. I analysed the data using a theoretical thematic analysis.
Key findings suggest that waka voyaging is highly sensitive to changes in weather and climate. Historical climatic and environmental change, as well as human-induced ecological change, have both promoted and discouraged Pacific voyaging in the past. In Aotearoa, the decline of voyaging after Polynesian settlement led to the dormancy of a significant body of ancestral knowledge, which Māori are continuing to recover. Key impacts of human-induced climate change include the exacerbation of adverse weather for voyaging, limiting the annual window of opportunity to voyage and spatial ranges of voyages. Another key impact is the decline of marine species used in non-instrument navigation due to a range of human activities, including human-induced climate change.
Ultimately, this research finds that human-induced climate change was caused by a widespread human disconnection and subsequent domination of the environment. Research participants, Indigenous peoples, scholars, and civil society, advocate for a reconnection and global paradigm shift. Findings of this study indicate that mātauranga Māori provides a valuable framework for such a paradigm shift guided by the principles of whanaungatanga (connectedness, relationship, kinship) and kaitiakitanga (reciprocal acts of guardianship).
Amidst rapid human-induced climate change, waka voyaging communities in Aotearoa and the Pacific are among the many Indigenous peoples globally, taking climate action, educating youth, raising awareness, advocating for ocean health, protecting natural environments, and maintaining traditional knowledge and practices on waka hourua (double-hulled voyaging canoes) which are themselves sustainable methods of ocean transportation.
This thesis highlights the need for more research centring mātauranga Māori, recommends genuine partnerships between the government and Māori, and the resourcing of Māori communities themselves to be self-determining around climate change
Deictic Framing Performance Fails to Generalize to Other Perspective-Taking Tasks
Get PDFThe behavioral processes underlying perspective taking have not been studied extensively. One approach to understanding and enhancing perspective taking, deictic framing, has been proposed. Proponents of this approach have suggested that deictic framing is a core property of perspective taking. A training protocol based on deictic framing has been developed and tested, but researchers generally evaluate the effectiveness of the protocol using tasks that have a similar format to the training protocol. Little research has examined the protocol’s effectiveness for improving performance in different perspective-taking tasks. We investigated generalization of the performance of three groups of university students trained with a deictic-framing protocol (or not) and tested with two other perspective-taking tasks: a visuospatial perspective taking using a cupboard containing a range of objects and a version of the implicit relational assessment procedure specifically designed to measure perspective taking. The first group was trained with the original verbal protocol with deictic expressions; the second group with the same protocol involving nondeictic words; and the third group was merely exposed to deictic expressions as a control condition. The results suggested that deictic framing is not fundamental to perspective taking, as the performance of the two experimental groups was not significantly different from the control group’s performance. Identification of specific stimulus functions involved in successful perspective taking and how those functions can be established should be addressed in future research
Construction and demolition waste repurposed for heavy metal ion removal from wastewater: a review of current approaches
Get PDFOver the past few decades, the world is facing critical water supply problems caused by the relentless increase of global human populations and the associated rise of anthropogenic activities. Heavy metals are among the main water pollutants which pose a great threat to human health. Hence, globally there has been a large amount of research devoted to investigating cost-effective and sustainable methods for removal of heavy metals from polluted water. One such area of interest is the utilization of construction and demolition waste (CDW) materials for the adsorptive removal of heavy metal ions (As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, Sr, and Zn). This review focuses on the most current research for the use of CDW as an adsorbent. The different heavy metal ion removal mechanisms involved are also discussed. Further, this article documents the regeneration and reuse strategies for heavy metal treated adsorbents and the efforts to apply these materials in large-scale applications. Finally, the main research gaps are identified and future research directions suggested
Tracking the origins of the introduced terrestrial amphipod, Puhuruhuru patersoni, on sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island
Get PDFThe terrestrial amphipod Puhuruhuru patersoni (Amphipoda: Talitridae) was discovered on sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island in 1992. The species is only known to naturally occur on New Zealand’s South Island and some associated offshore islands. The possible routes by which the species was introduced to Macquarie Island have previously been considered based on morphology and historic activities between New Zealand and Macquarie Island. Here, we sampled across the known range for P. patersoni and generated mtDNA COI data for these specimens to investigate the likely origin of the Macquarie Island incursion. Our results showed high genetic diversity across the native range and substantially lower genetic diversity on Macquarie Island. Additionally, our phylogenetic reconstructions suggested that the source of the introduction to Macquarie Island is likely to have been from the southern region of New Zealand’s South Island
A theory of change driven approach to evaluating a multi-agency stalking intervention programme
Get PDFMulti agency initiatives as a response to complex crimes and social problems pose several challenges for practitioners and evaluators, in conceptual and operational terms. Challenges for practitioners include working out input requirements to achieve specified interim and final outcomes, and for evaluators it implies measuring not only if interventions work, but how they work, for whom, and under what circumstances. In an attempt to address these challenges, here we present findings from our unique attempt to combine a theory of change driven approach with the realist-inspired EMMIE evaluation framework, of a pilot multi agency stalking intervention partnership in one police force area in England and Wales. The paper makes a significant methodological and empirical contribution to evaluation literatur
Underlying and state-level contextual determinants of early childhood mortality in Nigeria
Get PDFEarly childhood mortality has remained stubbornly high in Nigeria, even compared with other sub-Saharan African countries. Tragically, one in every eight children in Nigeria die before their fifth birthday and more than half of those deaths are from preventable causes. Nigeria’s high under-five mortality is indicative of the poor quality of health for the average Nigerian. Sub-national under-five mortality is even more worrisome given the vast differences in survivorship, ranging from a high of 252 deaths per 1,000 live births in Kebbi state (North West) to a low of 30 deaths per 1,000 live births in Ogun state (South West). These sub-national disparities highlight the importance of accounting for the hitherto unexplored impacts of community level background characteristics.
This study conducted an in-depth analysis of the determinants of under-five mortality in Nigeria from 2008 to 2018, focusing on the direct and indirect impacts of community context and socio-economic change. This approach is novel as most studies of under-five mortality in Africa have focused on individual and household factors. Using data from the Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS), I examined persistent inequalities in under five-mortality between states and within socio-economic groups. Analyses were carried out in three stages. Trends and patterns of under-five deaths in Nigeria, alongside individual/household level factors associated with it was done using 2008, 2013, and 2018 NDHS. Then data from 2018 NDHS was used to explore child survival function, incidence rates of death, and determinants of under-five mortality using Cox proportional hazards regression. While still focusing on the 2018 NDHS, the study was further extended to a multilevel analysis to investigate the community-level contextual factors associated with under-five mortality in Nigeria using mixed-effects logistics regression and Cox proportional hazards regression with random effects.
The results showed that under-five mortality in Nigeria was persistently high over the focal period. Generally, the hazard rate of death was highest at birth and in the first month of life. The study found that the composition of the community at the individual/household level, together with community level contextual factors were predisposing factors to under-five mortality. Hence, residence in different community context in Nigeria appear to significantly influence variations in under-five mortality between and across communities, geo-political zones, and states. More specifically, the proportion of hospital deliveries and proportion of children fully immunized in the community influenced early childhood survival. Child survival estimates and incidence of death also confirmed that under-five children in the North East and North West had lower survival probabilities than their counterparts in other geo-political zones. The findings suggest that effective measures to improve early childhood survival should look further than individual and household-level interventions to also address pertinent community contextual factors
Draft Genome Sequence of Venenivibrio stagnispumantis CP.B2T, Isolated from Champagne Pool, Waiotapu, Aotearoa-New Zealand
Get PDFVenenivibrio stagnispumantis strain CP.B2T is a thermophilic, chemolithoautotrophic bacterium from the family Hydrogenothermaceae (phylum Aquificota), isolated from Champagne Pool in the Waiotapu geothermal field, Aotearoa-New Zealand. The genome consists of 1.73 Mbp in 451 contigs with a 30.8 mol% G+C content
Contextual complexities shaping primary teachers' pedagogical practices with digital technologies: An interpretive phenomenological study in the Maldivian ESL context
Get PDFLiterature on digital technology (DT) integration has revealed a range of complexities around DT use for teaching and learning. Previous research suggests that frequent DT use does not necessarily lead to the pedagogically purposeful use of DTs for student learning. However, the literature overlooks the impact the various contextual and subject content factors may have when exploring teachers’ technological pedagogical practices. This thesis examines teachers’ practices with DTs in relation to the subject content and multilevel context within which teachers’ practices are situated. My study’s context is that of primary education in Maldivian urban and rural schools, with a specific focus on how teachers use DTs in teaching English as a second language (ESL). I also examine the influence of national, school, classroom, and teacher-level factors at play on the participant primary teacher group. The research questions guiding my study are:
1. What impacts do DT use have on ESL pedagogical practices of primary teachers in two Maldivian schools?
2. What contextual factors affect teaching and learning English with and through DTs in two Maldivian schools, and do they differ across schools?
3. What interplay of factors influence Maldivian primary teachers’ DT use in their English lessons?
Adopting an interpretive phenomenological research design meant I could capture the lived experience of nine (four urban and five rural) primary teachers in two Maldivian schools over 8 months. Data collected through lesson observations, postobservation conversations, lesson plans, semistructured interviews, mini surveys and field notes helped in understanding their practices, beliefs, and attitudes about using DTs in ESL lessons. Additionally, other data collected from mini surveys and postobservation conversations with students of the participant teachers, plus interview data and school documents that principals and IT staff provided, helped my understanding of the multilevel contextual factors that influenced teachers’ DT use for teaching and learning.
The findings indicate that an important reason for using DTs was as an attention grabber, perhaps as a set induction, video explanations, form-focused instruction (FFI), and exam-format listening. These findings were examined in relation to the SAMR model to ascertain the pedagogical level of DT use teachers usually applied. The findings also point to the national, school, and classroom factors affecting primary teachers’ practices with DTs in ESL lessons, and these are addressed fully in the Discussion and Conclusion chapters. At the national level, the two factors that have a potential influence on teachers’ DTs use include the development and promulgation of a national educational ICT policy and teacher education, the focus of which needs to move from developing teachers’ technological knowledge to pedagogical applications of tools. While technology leadership and DT-based professional learning and development were factors at the school level, access to DTs and technical support were classroom-level factors that significantly influenced participant teachers’ decisions around DT use. Apart from these external factors, internal or teacher-level factors such as teachers’ knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, and existing pedagogical practices shaped their practices with DTs when teaching English.
This study has contributed to the literature by identifying primary teachers’ ESL pedagogical practices with DTs. For one thing, it fills a significant gap in TPACK research which often considers TPACK to be subject-independent. My research, therefore, contributes by showing the connection between technology, pedagogy, and subject-specific content (English language). Another contribution is the use of classroom observation data to capture teachers’ DT use, as DT integration literature predominantly uses self-reported data. My research also contributes to a TPACK-in-Context framework (Figure 2.4) adapted from the TPACK framework (Mishra & Koehler, 2006) to provide a contextually situated understanding of primary teachers’ DT use in ESL lessons. Additionally, the NVivo-enhanced Spiral QDA process (Figure 3.7) I adapted from Seidel’s (1998) qualitative data analysis (QDA) model contributes to understanding the nonlinear, recursive, and iterative nature of the qualitative data analysis process. Finally, my illustration of the complex interplay of factors affecting the pedagogical use of DTs (Figure 5.2) contributes to the understanding of the relationships between TPACK (Mishra & Koehler, 2006), TAM (Davis, 1989), and SAMR (Puentedura, 2012), three dominant models/frameworks in DT literature
Provable Non-Frameability for 5G Lawful Interception
Get PDFMobile networks have grown in size and relevance, with novel applications in areas including transportation, finance, and health. The wide use of mobile networks generates rich data about users, raising interest in using such data for law enforcement and antiterrorism through Lawful Interception (LI). Countries worldwide have established legal frameworks to conduct LI, and technical standards have been created for its implementation and deployment, but without sufficient (and rigorous) security controls. While LI originated for benign purposes, we show in this paper that malicious entities could exploit it to frame users into suspicion of criminal activity. Further, we propose a solution for non-frameability, which we formally prove uphold desired properties even in scenarios where attackers completely infiltrate the operator networks. To perform the formal verification, we extend prior work with a more complete model of the fifth generation (5G) of mobile networks in the Tamarin prover