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No significant links between somatognosia, stereognosia, and hypermobility: sensory processing unlikely to drive common complaints in hypermobile population
No full textBackground: Previous research has demonstrated impaired proprioception and poorer responses to tactile deep pressure, visual-tactile integration, and vestibular stimuli in individuals with generalized hypermobility, potentially leading to sensory processing issues. Therefore, we aimed to explore the influence of hypermobility on somatognosia and stereognosia. Methods: Forty-six participants were assessed using the Beighton score and categorized into three groups: non-hypermobile (n = 20), symptomatic hypermobile (n = 13), and asymptomatic hypermobile (n = 13). Somatognosia was evaluated using the shoulder width test in the vertical plane and pelvic width test in the vertical and horizontal planes. Stereognosia was assessed with Petrie’s test. Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient was examined the relationship between the Beighton score and measures of somatognosia and stereognosia. An unpaired t-test was used to compare variables between hypermobile (both symptomatic and asymptomatic) and non-hypermobile individuals, while a one-way ANOVA was used to compare data between the three groups. Results: No significant relationship was observed between Beighton scores and measures of somatognosia and stereognosia. The t-test revealed no statistically significant differences between hypermobile and non-hypermobile groups in the shoulder width, two pelvic widths, and Petrie’s tests (all p ≥ 0.105). Similarly, one-way ANOVA showed no statistically significant differences between the three groups across these tests (all p ≥ 0.177). Conclusions: The results indicate that somatognosia and stereognosia are not significantly related to the Beighton score and do not significantly differ between the groups studied. These sensory processing functions are unlikely to contribute to the common complaints reported by hypermobile individuals. Clinical trial number: Not applicable
Choose your prompt carefully!
No full textThe need for fair and non-toxic generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) models is reflected in global regulation changes, algorithmic developments, debiasing techniques and prompt engineering. This paper aims to highlight the inconsistencies in GenAI text outputs and focus on template-based prompts as an example to provide evidence that prompt design choices also influence a non-toxic output. We utilise occupation and respect-related prompt templates with past and present tenses to develop prompts for a multicultural society. We analyse the text outputs from the curated prompts of several GenAI models, averaging across all demographic groups, to show that even changes in past vs present tense can result in toxic outputs. The next stage of this research is focusing on the impact of demographic groups on harmful outputs
Three studies on life expectancy and lifespan inequality
No full textWhile life expectancy is a key indicator in public health and demography, it may obscure unequal experiences of different population groups. By contrast, lifespan inequality captures variations in age at death, offering a broader view of health disparities. Focusing on lifespan inequality enables policymakers and researchers to identify vulnerable populations, design more equitable health and social policies, and evaluate progress toward reducing inequities.
This thesis is comprised of three interrelated studies that examine life expectancy and lifespan inequality from different perspectives. The first study explores state-level variations in life expectancy and lifespan inequality in the US over a 55-year period, employing Theil’s entropy index to measure lifespan inequality and a Panel-Corrected Standard Errors (PCSE) model to assess associated socioeconomic and demographic factors. The analysis reveals a significant negative correlation between life expectancy and lifespan inequality across states. Educational attainment, health insurance coverage, and physician density show negative associations with lifespan inequality, whereas violent crime rates, smoking prevalence, and income inequality exhibit positive associations.
The second study investigates the impact of homicide on life expectancy and lifespan inequality at the state level in the US from 1968 to 2020, focusing on demographic, socioeconomic, and policy determinants. Utilizing data from the US Mortality Database and cause-eliminated life tables and Panel-Corrected Standard Errors (PCSE) models, the study reveals that Southern states experience the most substantial impacts on both life expectancy and lifespan inequality, while the Northeast exhibits comparatively lower effects. Males consistently face greater impacts than females. Key findings underscore systemic inequities: a higher percentage of Black populations and individuals aged 25–34 correlate with greater homicide-related reductions in life expectancy and increased lifespan inequality. Educational attainment, particularly the high school graduation rate, helps mitigate these effects. Corrections and judicial expenditures affect both life expectancy and lifespan inequality. In contrast, police and health spending are associated with decreases in lifespan inequality but no change in life expectancy, whereas welfare expenditures correlate with increased lifespan inequality but are correlated with life expectancy only for the total population.
The final study conducts a comparative analysis of the demographic impacts of three major pandemics: the 1918 influenza pandemic, the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and the COVID-19 pandemic on global life expectancy and lifespan inequality. The study finds that the 1918 influenza pandemic caused the most pronounced reductions in life expectancy, especially among young adults, thereby leading to substantial lifespan inequality. By contrast, HIV/AIDS had a gradual yet enduring impact, predominantly affecting young and middle-aged adults and exacerbating health disparities in regions with limited healthcare resources. The COVID-19 pandemic primarily affected older populations, producing smaller reductions in life expectancy but uniquely decreasing lifespan inequality due to the concentration of mortality among the elderly. Gender-specific effects varied: while the 1918 influenza and COVID-19 pandemics showed relatively uniform gender impacts, HIV/AIDS disproportionately affected women.
Collectively, the findings across these studies underscore the need to address the interconnected issues of life expectancy, lifespan inequality, and systemic disparities. Targeted gender-specific policies and public expenditures (e.g., increased judicial and healthcare funding) have the potential to reshape mortality patterns and mitigate disparities. Pandemic responses should be tailored to protect vulnerable age and demographic groups by ensuring equitable access to healthcare and vaccines
Assessing risky online behavior for cyberharassment and cyberstalking among university students in New Zealand
No full textThis study examines the relationship between two types of cyberabuse-cyberharassment and cyberstalking-and constructs from the lifestyle-routine activity approach relating to the visibility and accessibility of victims (targets) online. Data were collected from 185 university students in New Zealand via an online survey. Descriptive statistics shows that cyberabuse victimization experiences in the previous year were common, but respondents only reported associated feelings of fear or distress for half of these experiences. Findings indicated that using dating apps is associated with an increased risk of cyberharassment, and including details of other social network accounts in a user profile is associated with an increased risk of cyberstalking. Interestingly, demographic characteristics did not correlate with victimization. Overall, this research underscores the importance of differentiating between cyberharassment and cyberstalking to inform prevention activities
The institutional role of charity regulators in bringing charities to account: An international comparative study of charity regulators in New Zealand, Australia, Canada and England and Wales
No full textAccountability in the charity sector continues to be important, especially since charity numbers continue to grow regardless of the economic cycle. Charity regulators play a critical role in managing the charity sector as its primary task is ensuring compliance with the regulatory framework. However, it is also important to evaluate whether the practices and procedures of charity regulators are effective within the broader context of charity accountability. This paper aims to explore charity accountability from the perspective of charity regulators. In common law countries, the charity regulator has oversight over the charity sector and, therefore, has the opportunity to enhance charity accountability. Through the lens of institutional theory, this paper provides an international comparative study of New Zealand, Australia, Canada and England and Wales, all of which share a common law heritage. This study demonstrates how the state regulators in each country have applied different mechanisms of charity accountability by institutionalising the norms and standards required from charities. By identifying and comparing the countries, this paper reveals whether some institutional practices by some regulators have been more effective than others in bringing charities to account
Effects of the safe and sound protocol on wellbeing and auditory sensitivities among adults with auditory hypersensitivities.
No full textThe Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP), an auditory intervention involving specifically filtered music, based on polyvagal theory, is marketed as a listening therapy that regulates the nervous system and is therefore recommended for a range of problems including trauma, anxiety and sensory sensitivities. There is limited research on the effectiveness of this intervention so far. Most studies have been focused on children and adults with autism and therefore, the effectiveness of SSP across different populations remains unclear. Using a single-subject, within-subject multiple baseline experimental design, this study evaluated the effectiveness of the SSP on well-being and auditory sensitivities among people with self-reported auditory hypersensitivities. Eight participants were randomly assigned to filtered (SSP) or non-filtered music conditions. Participants who received unfiltered music intervention were offered the filtered music intervention later. Three out of four chose to receive filtered music intervention. Psychological distress, positive and negative affect, psychological safety, and auditory sensitivity were measured before and after the intervention and were analysed using reliable change. The daily well-being ratings were taken throughout the study and were analysed using the percentage exceeding the median method. This study did not find any consistent evidence that the SSP reduces auditory hypersensitivity or improves well-being in these participants. Further research is necessary, employing both qualitative and RCT methodologies, to clarify the effects of SSP
Experimental investigation of CFS to steel connection using self-drilling screws
No full textScrews are one of the most used methods for joining structural steel to Cold Formed Steel (CFS). An improved substitute for conventional nail and bolt connections is self-drilling screws. The wings in the screws make it easier to drive the screw into the steel without the use of a pre-drilled hole. Given that joints are the primary means of transferring energy to a structure, it is especially crucial to comprehend the seismic behaviour of their connection. New Zealand, for example, is a country that primarily experiences seismic activity and builds its buildings using a combination of structural steel and CFS. Numerous research that looks into how structural joints behave under cyclic and monotonic loading conditions are available in the literature. However, the majority of these studies did not address the use of self-drilling screws in cyclic stress to link CFS to structural steel. Thus, by experimental testing, this research examines the load deformation and failure mechanisms of CFS and steel connections utilising screws under cyclic and monotonic loads.
Tensile testing was done to evaluate the material's properties of steel. A total of 54 experimental investigations were conducted to determine the cyclic nature of the junction. The structural steel thickness (8mm, 12mm, 16mm, and 20mm), the CFS thickness (1.8mm), and the screw diameter (6.3mm hexagonal screw), and varying the number of screws (1 and 2) were considered in test program. The same samples were subjected to monotonic tests in order to determine the maximum and minimum displacement for the cyclic loading. A total of 24 tests were performed in order to acquire the values. The experiment's findings, including load deformation and the failure process, are identified. Based on the contrasting data, the cyclic nature of all the connections can be analysed to ascertain which is the most correct.
The New Zealand standard AS/NZS 4600:2018, which particularly addresses the screw spacing with each other and the distance from the screw to the edge of the specimen, will serve as the basis for both the assembly and the spacing of the structural joints. The loading procedures and the number of cycles employed for cyclic loading are detailed in the Federal Emergency Management Agency 461 (FEMA). Appropriate displacement amplitudes for cyclic tests were determined using the initial results from the monotonic tests.
During the cyclic testing it could be found that most of the specimens failed due to bearing and tear out failure. There is an average increase of 56.77 % in capacity as the number of screws were increased from single screw to double screw connection. As the steel thickness was increased as 8mm, 12mm, 16mm, and 20mm, the average capacity was reduced to 10.13%, 18.11%, 7.98% accordingly for a single screw connection. For double screw connection as the steel thickness was increased as 8mm,12mm, 16mm, and 20mm, the average capacity was increased to 0.79%, 4.91%, 2.15% accordingly
Talking technology into the future
No full textFrom its very inception in the 1980s Professor Marc de Vries has been a strong advocate for and supportive of the Technology Education in the New Zealand curriculum, its philosophical underpinning and pedagogical approaches. This support has always been very much appreciated by the technology education community in New Zealand. In addition Marc’s support has given the curriculum ‘mana’ [prestige] both within New Zealand and internationally. Like many countries around the world New Zealand has had its challenges in implementing and maintaining technology as part of the taught curriculum. There has been and is currently a reluctance to see and understand that serious and rigourous curriculum can be both academic and practical in nature. This duality is both a strength and a threat to technology. This chapter presents the authors’s SWOT [Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats] analysis of technology in New Zealand, taking into consideration the past while walking with head held high into the future drawing on her experiences as a teacher, teacher educator, researcher and curriculum developer in technology education from 1996 to the current day
How do commercial lawyers construct and negotiate their identity in the transition to retirement?
No full textRetirement, a stable concept for much of the 20th century, is becoming more fluid as governments, organisations, and individuals seek to deal with the myriad of challenges associated with an ageing population that is living longer and is more highly educated than previous cohorts. The baby boomer cohort’s belief that they still have much to offer society is challenging static and policy-driven meanings of retirement. However, the cohort’s challenge is being made against a backdrop of an ageist society, where the close connection between retirement and chronological age, sees individuals who leave full- time employment as moving away from employment related positions of status, power, and perceived productivity. By exiting formal employment arrangements, retirees move to positions stigmatised as non-productive positions on the margins of society. The stigma and marginalisation of those retired is linked to arguments that those in occupations that are of high status, such as the professions and high-performance sport, resist retiring. The purpose of this research was to investigate the experiences of retirement for men in high status occupations.
This qualitative study draws on social constructionism, identity, life course transitions, and professionalism. Focusing on depth rather than breadth, this research explores these complex concepts using insights from in-depth interviews with four men from the legal profession. The four research participants identify as New Zealand Europeans, high earning ex-commercial lawyers transitioning to retirement or retired. The research asks how have these participants constructed and negotiated their identity in the transaction to retirement.
Underpinning the discussion were the three broad topic areas that emerged from the findings: the tyranny of ageism, commercial lawyers transitioning to retirement, the importance of work-related roles and non-work-related roles in the transition to retirement. Consistent with the literature, the findings demonstrate that the healthier and increased longevity of baby boomers highlights the much wider range of opportunities available in the transition stage between work and retirement. Opportunities that these four participants are embracing to different degrees. As a result, the participants’ experiences demonstrate that traditional understandings of retirement need to change. Retirement should not be seen as a fixed and one-dimensional life course transition. However, their decision-making is as much influenced by their personal attributes or essential identity as by their high-status legal professional work identity. Therefore, when considering the implications for high status professions, it is important to consider work and non-work identities influence on transitions to retirement decision making. This study highlights the insidious nature of ageism and its negative impact on the construction of identity in the transition to retirement
Exploring the impact of rainfall intensity on the attenuation-rainfall relationship
No full textThe attenuation of electromagnetic waves due to rainfall is a critical factor in radar and telecommunication systems, particularly in frequency bands above 10 GHz, which is increasingly utilised for data transfer. This study addresses the gaps in understanding how these attenuation effects vary across different rainfall intensities and Drop Size Distributions (DSD). By analytically investigating the irregularities in the cross-sections of raindrops within the 1 to 30 GHz frequency range, the study mentions significant peaks in attenuation at frequencies below 10 GHz, which are more pronounced as DSD changes with rainfall intensity. Using the extinction and efficiency cross-sections of raindrops in 1–30 GHz microwave transmission, the coefficients of rainfall-attenuation correlation were derived for each sector of rainfall intensity of 1–300 mm/hr. Building on these findings, we propose an enhanced rainfall-attenuation relationship, incorporating dynamic coefficients, varying with both factors, DSD and rainfall intensity. Unlike previous models that only suggest calibration of the attenuation-rainfall relationship with DSD, our results indicate that the coefficients should also dynamically adjust based on rainfall intensity. We further demonstrate how these varying coefficients differ from the ITU's recommendations, providing detailed graphical comparisons. This advancement allows for more accurate calculations of rainfall intensity, improving the precision of telecommunication and radar systems in diverse weather conditions