16168 research outputs found
Sort by
He whiringa aroha: A mokopuna and a pare in the peabody essex museum
No full textTaonga, Māori ancestral treasures, embody the mana and knowledge of Māori ancestors. He
Whiringa Aroha is one such treasure: a carved pare that affirms the mana of wāhine in the
colonial archives, but whose whakapapa has been obscured. This thesis uses the name ‘He
Whiringa Aroha’ and the te reo Māori pronoun ‘ia’ to refer to ‘E5501’, which is located in
the 1806 Richardson collection in the Peabody Essex Museum. As He Whiringa Aroha
travelled from Aotearoa New Zealand to Massachusetts, United States, ia became entangled
in historical narratives that disembodied the taonga from hapū and iwi Māori. Taonga were
not only physically removed from Aotearoa, but taonga and Māori creative practices were
named, gendered, and displayed by colonisers. American sailors collected and displayed He
Whiringa Aroha as an exotic ‘curiosity’ to showcase their triumph over Pacific waters. Yet,
He Whiringa Aroha is a power portal—a potent braid to the past, the future, and to those
Māori ways of being that defy the limiting archival language of colonialism. How do we
relate to taonga Māori that have been fragmented by the colonial archive? What are
alternatives to restory and reclaim taonga that remain in overseas museums?
Using a creative methodology grounded in Mana Wahine and pūrākau, this thesis weaves a
whiri (braid) of aroha (reverence) that attempts to restore he hononga mokopuna–the
connection between taonga and their descendants. Through poetry, a decolonial map,
interviews with ringatoi (Māori creatives), and archival research, I explore how the histories
of taonga can be reclaimed in Māori worldviews. Interviews with pūkenga and tohunga toi
reveal Māori understandings of taonga as expressions of toi, defying western taxonomies of
‘art’ and ‘curio’. Furthermore, archival research into the East India Marine Society and
Peabody Essex Museum unmasks the American sailors and their provenance practices that
have marginalised Māori, and in particular, wāhine Māori. Finally, I use pūrākau of atua
wāhine, Mana Wahine and takatāpui scholarship to restory and rename He Whiringa Aroha.
This archival storytelling raises new ethical questions about ownership and kaitiakitanga
(guardianship), which pose interventions for existing conversations about the place of taonga
Māori in overseas museum collections. Reclaiming the histories of ancestors in museums is
more than decolonizing colonial archives; on the contrary, restorying taonga is an act of
Indigenous resurgence. This Masters research opens new possibilities to reclaiming takatāpui
narratives and the mana of wahine in museum archives
Enhancing strategies to optimise body composition and nutrition in professional rugby union players
No full textBody composition and nutrition play a vital role in both health and sporting performance. Optimising energy and macronutrient requirements for a team, position, and/or individual, can enhance an athlete’s preparation, performance, and recovery from training and competition. The requirements of professional Rugby Union (RU) are unique given players can be very large, strong, and powerful, or much smaller, faster, and elusive. Regardless of their size or respective playing position, players must be able to withstand numerous high-impact collisions, yet, be fit enough to play 40-80 minutes at high-intensity week after week. Therefore, positional and/or individualised body composition and fuelling requirements are required. Through a series of seven studies, this PhD thesis aimed to enhance the understanding of body composition and nutritional requirements for professional RU players.
Study One assessed the physical and fitness characteristics of elite male professional RU players from New Zealand (NZ) by primary playing position. Study Two examined the physical characteristics of elite female RU union players from NZ between and within different playing positions. Study Three assessed the body composition and anthropometrics by specific playing position and playing level among professional male and female RU players from NZ. A newly developed skinfold-based prediction equation was created to estimate body fat percentage (BF%) among male and female forwards and backs. Study Four explored the competition nutrition practices of elite male professional RU players from NZ over seven-days which included game-day (GD). Study Five examined the dietary intakes of elite male professional RU players from NZ in catered and non-catered environments, both during competition weeks which included GD. Study Six measured the resting metabolic rate (RMR) of professional male RU players from NZ and developed new RU-specific prediction equations. Finally, Study Seven evaluated the in-season energy demands of elite male professional RU players from NZ, providing specific training session and game-play energy demands by position.
In Study One, at the end of pre-season, body composition was assessed among elite male professional RU players (n = 39) using sum of eight-site skinfolds (Sum8SF) and Dual-energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA), alongside fitness (strength, power, speed, and aerobic fitness) measures. Forwards possessed significantly greater body composition measures compared to backs. Both forwards and backs within this study were taller, heavier, and leaner than players from previous studies in the northern hemisphere. Among forwards, Sum8SF demonstrated very large correlations with relative power and speed measures, while backs demonstrated large correlations between Sum8SF and aerobic fitness. Fat mass and BF% demonstrated very large correlations with speed and aerobic fitness measures among forwards. Skinfolds, fat mass, and BF% relate strongly with key fitness characteristics required for elite male professional RU performance.
In Study Two, the body composition of elite female RU players (n = 30) was assessed using Sum8SF and DXA during the in-season period. Forwards were significantly taller, heavier, and possessed greater Sum8SF than backs. Forwards also possessed significantly greater total and regional body composition measures compared to backs. Healthy bone mineral density measures were observed among both forwards and backs. Significant differences were also present among forward positional groups.
Study Three extended on from Studies One and Two by examining the body composition (using DXA) and anthropometric (using Sum8SF) differences between specific playing positions and playing levels among professional male (n = 104) and female (n = 75) RU players. Elite players demonstrated significantly higher levels of lean mass than sub-elite players. Relationships between BF% and Sum8SF were large among female backs, and very large among male and female forwards and male backs. A new BF% prediction equation was developed using Sum8SF among male forward and back positions, and female forward and back positions.
In Study Four, elite male professional RU players (n = 34) from NZ completed dietary intakes in-season using the Snap-N-Send method during a seven-day competition week which included GD. Forwards reported significantly higher absolute energy intakes, but no significant differences were observed for mean seven-day relative carbohydrate, protein, and fat intakes. Both forwards and backs reported their highest energy and carbohydrate intakes for the week on GD, with ~62% of total kcal being consumed prior to the start of the game. Players fell short of daily sports nutrition guidelines for carbohydrate and appeared to “eat to intensity” by increasing or decreasing energy and carbohydrate intake based on the training load.
Study Five, extended on from Study Four by examining the dietary intakes of elite male professional RU players (n = 12) in catered and non-catered environments during two seven-day competition weeks which both included GD. No significant differences were observed for relative carbohydrate intake between catered and non-catered environments among forwards and backs. Whereas, mean seven-day absolute energy, relative protein, and relative fat intakes were significantly higher in the catered compared to non-catered environment among forwards. Meanwhile, backs presented non-significantly higher energy and macronutrient intakes within a catered compared to a non-catered environment.
In Study Six, the RMR of male professional RU players (n = 108) were examined using indirect calorimetry, which were then compared to nine commonly used prediction equations. Compared to measured RMR for the group, seven of the nine commonly used prediction equations significantly under-estimated RMR, meanwhile one equation significantly over-estimated RMR. This led to the development and validation of two new RU-specific prediction equations which determined that the strongest predictors for this group were fat-free mass (FFM) alone, followed by body mass (BM) alone.
Lastly, Study Seven examined the game-play, daily, and session specific exercise energy expenditure alongside energy intake during a competition week among elite male professional RU players (n = 24). Each player’s FFM was measured using DXA, which then allowed energy availability to be calculated. Changes in body mass and Sum8SF were then measured four-weeks apart to determine changes based on energy availability. This study also examined RMR on a rest day (three-days prior to GD [GD-3]) during the competition week and the morning after the game (GD+1). Significant differences between days, training sessions, game-play, and RMR between days were observed. Significant differences between energy availability groups and changes in body mass and Sum8SF were also present.
In summary, the series of studies in this thesis provide valuable insight into the body composition and nutrition requirements of professional RU players. Practical strategies are provided to help practitioners estimate BF% if laboratory-based methods are not attainable, which can then inform FFM to be used in the newly developed FFM-based RMR prediction equation. However, a BM-based RMR prediction equation was also developed in case Sum8SF and FFM measures are not attainable. Finally, when the kcal·kg·min-1 factors are used to determine game-play and/or specific training session exercise energy expenditure, energy requirements can be determined specifically for professional RU players to optimise fuelling and/or body composition change strategies
A relational approach to youth healthcare: Examining young people's, parents' and clinicians' experiences in the context of variations in sex characteristics
No full textAccording to popular understandings, children grow from a state of dependence to eventually become independent adults. Interdependence helps to disrupt the in/dependence binary and is a useful concept for making sense of the experiences young people with variations in sex characteristics in relation to healthcare. This study used semi-structured interviews with 32 health professionals, 33 caregivers and 12 young people recruited in the UK and Sweden. The analysis is guided by the questions: (1) how do young people, carers and health professionals position themselves in the adult/young person relationship in the context of healthcare? (2) how is the (in/ter)dependence of young people imagined when young people, carers and health professionals talk about healthcare? Our analysis shows how carers and health professionals might support dominant understandings about young people growing towards independence while providing little opportunity for young people's agency and voice. Interviews with young people gave clear examples of their negotiating relational ways of being, seeking agency in the context of healthcare and not simply becoming independent of adults. This analysis also draws attention to the ways young people might be silenced within healthcare contexts. The present paper is based on secondary analysis of data from the SENS. It works with concepts of relationality and interdependence to draw out the possibilities of voice and agency for young people with variations in sex characteristics in healthcare contexts
Fathers' Help Seeking and Support: The Importance of Relationships for Mental Wellbeing
Get PDFBecoming a father is a major transition for men, and may be a source of happiness and fulfilment, as well as distress. Perinatal mental health research has traditionally focused on mothers, with paternal mental health receiving limited attention. Men are adopting more caregiving roles and increasing their parental involvement, while maintaining their traditional role as a key provider for the family. Balancing these roles may lead to experiences of psychological distress, and help-seeking can be important in alleviating the impacts of paternal distress. However, research on fathers’ help-seeking and mental health needs remains scarce. Therefore, this thesis sought to better understand fathers’ experiences of help-seeking, and facilitators and challenges of paternal help-seeking to support mental health.
Study 1 involved in-depth semi-structured interviews with 11 fathers about their experiences regarding transition to fatherhood and seeking support and advice in early years of parenthood. Fathers reported experiencing distress and uncertainty during the transition to parenthood; however, most did not believe their distress required seeking professional help. Fathers also used a variety of individual and interpersonal coping strategies. Partners were the most important source of emotional support for fathers, but some fathers felt it was inappropriate to seek their partner’s support while she was coping with the stress of pregnancy and new parenting. This study revealed that fathers viewed themselves in a rather traditional role of provider and as a source of emotional and financial stability for their family. This led to work-life balance stress and, for some, created a dilemma where they felt unable to seek emotional support from their most trusted person—their partner.
In study 2 the role of social support, particularly partner support, was explored in relation to paternal mental health and parenting. Data from fathers participating in Growing Up in New Zealand (N = 2601) were used, focusing on data waves during pregnancy and at child ages 9 months and 2 years. Concurrent partner support, and to a lesser degree, other informal support (friends and family) was related to lower paternal distress during pregnancy and at child age 9 months. Although significant, the magnitude of the association was small. There was no evidence of social support in infancy buffering a negative association between distress and parenting outcomes at child age 2 years.
Study 1 found that most fathers did not feel that their distress warranted a professional intervention. Following from this, study 3 investigated the relationships among mental health literacy (MHL), emotional distress, and fathers’ perceptions of barriers and modes of mental health help-seeking. Data were collected from a community sample of New Zealand and Australian fathers (N = 129). The study involved completing an online vignette survey, the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale 21 Items (DASS-21), and two open ended questions. Those with a high DASS-21 stress score were more likely to report the individual in the vignette as needing help or having a mental health problem. regardless of the accuracy of this choice. Additionally, more fathers were able to correctly recognise clear symptoms of depression (typical depression) compared to masked depression. Fathers described several informal and formal sources for support and internal and external barriers (e.g., stigma and time/cost) to help-seeking.
This thesis adds to the growing knowledge on fathers’ mental wellbeing by examining paternal help-seeking and distress as well the role of social support. Overall, the findings of this research are consistent with the limited amount of existing research suggesting that partner support has a unique role in paternal mental health. The findings also suggest greater emphasis on the role of relationships and social support in fathers’ mental health and help-seeking. The main implications of this thesis for health professionals who interact with young families are that paternal mental health requires greater clinical and social attention, and fathers with low levels of social support, poor work-life balance and mental health literacy, and traditional masculine beliefs on help-seeking may be at high risk of experiencing mental health difficulties
The effects of terrestrial sediment inputs on ecosystem functions in seagrass meadows and unvegetated sediments
Get PDFEcological functions in estuarine seagrass and unvegetated soft sediment habitats underpin many valuable ecosystem services. However, changing land-use and climate are accelerating inputs of fine terrestrial sediments, threatening these habitats. The prolonged suspension of fine sediments can reduce seafloor light availability and long-term accumulations increase sediment mud content (particles < 63 µm), both of which could have significant consequences on ecosystem functioning. Understanding how ecosystem functioning may respond to environmental change is vital to estuary management. In this thesis, I investigated the short- and long-term effects of elevated terrestrial sediment inputs on benthic primary production and nutrient cycling in intertidal seagrass meadows (Zostera muelleri) and microphytobenthos-dominated unvegetated habitats.
To investigate the effects of reduced seafloor light availability and prolonged submergence periods resulting from global heating induced sea-level rise, I conducted a two-year seasonal in situ assessment of photosynthesis-irradiance relationships during submerged and emerged conditions in an adjacent seagrass meadow and unvegetated sandflat. Submerged gross primary production (GPP) in both habitats and emerged GPP in the seagrass habitat were strongly controlled by light availability. Higher rates of light-saturated GPP were found during submerged periods compared to emerged periods in both habitats, but this difference was most pronounced in the unvegetated habitat. If the water-column remains clear, sea-level rise could therefore increase daily GPP in soft sediment habitats. However, declines in submerged GPP with increased water-column turbidity will be exacerbated with sea-level rise.
Across a natural mud content gradient, I measured primary production in seagrass and unvegetated habitats to address the long-term implications of elevated sediment inputs. In sediments with ≤ 35 % mud content, net primary production (NPP) and GPP was independent of mud content in both habitats. However, extending the mud gradient in unvegetated habitats to 49 % (seagrass habitats restricted to ≤ 35 % mud content) resulted in NPP and GPP declining with increasing mud content. These results highlight that loss of seagrass meadows resulting in expansion of unvegetated habitats could lead to reductions in intertidal production; seen most acutely in areas with high mud content (≥ 39 %).
I also investigated the spatial and temporal variability in nutrient cycling in seagrass and unvegetated habitats to examine how environmental gradients affected sediment nutrient fluxes and denitrification rates. Ammonium effluxes were lower in the seagrass compared to the unvegetated habitats and were lower in both habitats during light compared to dark conditions. Denitrification rates were similar in both habitats but were found to decrease with increasing mud content. Overall, denitrification efficiency was highest in the seagrass habitat. These results indicate that future seagrass decline and/or increased mud content in soft sediment habitats will reduce resilience to eutrophication.
This thesis demonstrates that future seagrass decline and elevated terrestrial sediment inputs are likely to have serious implications on the high rates of primary production and nutrient cycling of intertidal seagrass meadows and unvegetated habitats. Furthermore, it highlights the value of measuring ecosystem functions in different soft sediment habitat types across multiple spatial and temporal scales to inform future management against anthropogenic stressors
Feature extractor stacking for cross-domain few-shot learning
Get PDFCross-domain few-shot learning (CDFSL) addresses learning problems where knowledge needs to be transferred from one or more source domains into an instance-scarce target domain with an explicitly different distribution. Recently published CDFSL methods generally construct a universal model that combines knowledge of multiple source domains into one feature extractor. This enables efficient inference but necessitates re-computation of the extractor whenever a new source domain is added. Some of these methods are also incompatible with heterogeneous source domain extractor architectures.
The first part of this thesis proposes feature extractor stacking (FES), a new CDFSL method for combining information from a collection of extractors, that can utilise heterogeneous pretrained extractors out of the box and does not maintain a universal model that needs to be re-computed when its extractor collection is updated. We present the basic FES algorithm, which is inspired by the classic stacked generalisation approach, and also introduce two variants: convolutional FES (ConFES) and regularised FES (ReFES). Given a target-domain task, these algorithms fine-tune each extractor independently, use cross-validation to extract training data for stacked generalisation from the support set, and learn a simple linear stacking classifier from this data. We evaluate our FES methods on the well-known Meta-Dataset benchmark, targeting image classification with convolutional neural networks, and show that they can achieve state-of-the-art performance.
The second part of this thesis proposes an efficient semi-supervised learning method that applies self-training to the classification head only and show that it can yield very consistent improvements in average performance in the Meta-Dataset benchmark for cross-domain few-shot learning when applied with FES and other contemporary methods utilising centroid-based classification.
The third part of this thesis proposes a bidirectional snapshot selection strategy for FES, leveraging its cross-validation process and the ordered nature of its snapshots, and demonstrates that a 95% snapshot reduction can be achieved while retaining the same level of accuracy
Application of small and large-sided games to youth rugby union: A match demands approach
Get PDFRugby union (RU) is a highly demanding and a global contact sport that combines physical, technical, and tactical characteristics. This team sport is practiced by players of all ages and backgrounds on various levels of play. To meet the demands of rugby competition, a multifactorial approach to training has been applied in practice. One training method that has risen to prominence for its reported benefits of contextualising and concurrently training all aspects of high-intensity intermittent field-based sports such as RU, is small-sided games (SSG). Most research on these training forms has been conducted on soccer players and tends to confirm its benefits. Emerging evidence in the rugby codes is heavily focussed on rugby league senior players, often on the elite level. Rugby union has shown scarce evidence for SSG training in senior players, but the knowledge regarding youth players is lagging. The aim of this thesis was therefore to investigate the application of SSG to RU, clarify their characteristics in youth players, and evaluate their suitability in function of developing and preparing players for competition.
The initial literature review in Chapter 2 outlines that the physical, physiological, and kinematic demands of rugby competition are high, and vary according to the cohorts investigated, such as for playing level and position. In addition, emerging evidence showed that the match demands of youth differ between age groups, and from those in senior players. This preliminary investigation showed scant evidence of SSG efficacy and utility for improving physical performance but the research regarding the effects of SSG design was scarce and demonstrated incoherent methodology. The systematic review of the body of literature in Chapter 4 used PRISMA methodology to establish that five out of seven initial studies examining the effects of SSG were at critical risk of bias, and a further two were at moderate risk. Despite moderate to good methodological quality (52-98%), these findings imply two studies provide sound evidence for a non-randomized study but cannot be considered comparable to a well-performed randomized trial, and five studies are objectively too problematic to provide any useful evidence and should not be included in any future synthesis of the literature. Within these studies, the lack of a focussed line of investigation was identified as a key weakness. Initial results of the review indicated that various SSG designs influence the outcomes differently for different cohorts, and that fewer players and larger pitches could increase demands. However, no evidence was available for the design of SSG in youth RU players. Recent evolutions in the relevant literature revealed that seven additional studies have expanded the knowledge but show a similar disparity in methods, hampering the ability to extrapolate clear and applicable conclusions for SSG design, especially in youth players.
In Chapter 5 and Chapter 6, a worldwide e-survey study (n=115) discussed the application of SSG in RU practice. These results confirmed the notion that SSG are widely used in practice, with 85% of practitioners, applying SSG regularly across all levels of play and in all age categories. Technical skill (26%), fun (25%), physical conditioning (18%), and tactical training (17%) were established as the main targeted objectives. The specific design of SSG was related to practitioners’ characteristics such as playing level, coaching experience, practitioner role, target age group, player sex, and geographical location. Most practitioners used two or three bouts of three to seven-a-side SSG, with a 1:1 to 5:1 work-rest ratio, for short durations (2-10 minutes). Tackle (37%), touch (36%), and wrapping (28%) were commonly implemented rules. However, school and lower-level coaches used longer bouts and tackle rules on less variable pitch sizes, for fun and technical skill, more often than higher-level coaches, who preferred shorter-duration bouts with touch rules and more extreme pitch sizes, primarily for physical conditioning. Overall, 3v3, 5v5, and 7v7 were determined to be the most popular top-three SSG formats. We established that SSG design should be evidence-based and reflect the needs and challenges of the specific performance context.
In Chapter 7, a cross-sectional experimental study was conducted on NZ secondary school-age RU players (n= 158; age 14.8 ± 1.4; height 174.5 ± 7.5 cm; mass 77.2 ± 17.1 kg). Four age groups (U14, U15, U16, U18) randomly played 3v3, 5v5, or 7v7 on a small (S= 25x35 m), medium (M= 35x50 m), or large (L=50x70 m) pitch, for three bouts of four minutes with three minutes of active recovery. Kinematic, physiological, and physical data were captured using microsensor devices, alongside ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) and injury incidence. Multiple multivariate and univariate analyses found that player number and pitch size are the main elemental SSG design factors driving performance outcomes, followed by player age category and bout sequencing. The results showed that the isolated effect of increasing player numbers decreased kinematic and physiological demands, while an increase in pitch size mainly increased kinematic but not physiological demands. However, design factors mutually affected each other’s influence and select performance measures, such as sprint frequency, showed greater resistance to changes in format.
Moreover, the innovative approach of the study in Chapter 7 integrated the SSG design constraints and demonstrated that maximising relative playing area (i.e., 3v3-L) maximises most kinematic, physiological, and physical performance measures. These findings further suggested that various SSG formats between ~350 and 583 m2·player-1, and for some measures as little as 175 m2·player-1, can produce running demands of approximately 94 m∙min-1 of relative distance (RD) and 145 m of high-intensity running distance (HIRD).
Intensity measures across all youth showed an RPE of 15 and an average heart rate (HRAVG) of ~83% HRMAX for the highest-reaching full SSG format (3v3-L). Nevertheless, only 1.1 ± 1.2 minutes per bout and 4.3 ± 3.8 minutes per SSG (~24%) were spent above 90% HRMAX, an intensity often deemed necessary for promoting cardiovascular adaptation. Bout 1 was shown to yield greater performance than subsequent bouts, mainly in formats with the most extreme relative pitch sizes. However, RPE increased with every bout in all SSG formats. Differences between age groups were identified that were performance measure-specific, non-linear in evolution, and non-uniform. A conservative injury incidence of 59.8 per 1000 player-hours was found.
The match demands of rugby sevens (7s) were investigated in Chapter 8, showing a continuous high-intensity profile. Youth players demonstrated high kinematic demands with RD of 111 m·min-1, 3 sprints·min-1, and 252 m HIRD. Match intensity resulted in an HRAVG of 90% HRMAX, with up to 58% of game time above 90% HRMAX. These youth match demands were established to be greater than their international peers, senior 7s games, and elite-level cohorts. Of note, U15 demonstrated greater kinematic and physiological demands than their U19 counterparts. In Chapter 9, the demands of fifteen-a-side matches were investigated, showing a more intermittent high-intensity profile. Approximately 87% of match distance was covered at low speeds (<50% VTOP) with an HRAVG of 87% HRMAX, and up to 88% of game time was performed above 80% HRMAX. Kinematic demands showed 73 m·min-1 of RD, 1.4 sprints·min-1, and 410 m HIRD. Performance was largely maintained between playing halves and differences between forwards and backs mainly related to relative performance. These demands converged towards and even surpassed those of the senior game and some elite-level cohorts.
In conclusion, this doctoral thesis contributes novel evidence to the body of knowledge that deepens the understanding of the application of SSG to youth RU players, relative to match demands in 7s and fifteen-a-side matches. This knowledge is important as it provides a standardised benchmark to apply concrete SSG guidelines for targeting general and specific outcomes in RU practice. This benchmark can be used to contrast with higher-level competition demands and thereby forming the foundation of a developmental pathway by progressively targeting these performance standards. Based on our research, standardised SSG with greater relative pitch area generally increase acute kinematic, physiological, and physical demands in U14 to U18 RU players. However, important nuances exist between individual performance measures on the one hand, and between age categories on the other. These nuances require further research and SSG prescription necessitates an age group and outcome measure-specific approach (i.e., exact physical, physiological, kinematic, technical and/or tactical variables), which can be optimised by practitioners implementing constraint manipulation within their specific context.
The kinematic, physiological, and physical match demands of NZ secondary school-level competition are very high and may adequately prepare players for senior and higher-level rugby. Small-sided game training as delivered in this investigation can be used as a safe and solid basis for general conditioning of youth players and to prepare them for most movement demands of RU competition. To obtain optimal match preparation, SSG design should be modulated using the prescriptions presented in this thesis and expanded on by experimenting with additional design elements taken from best-practice, cross-code, and cross-sport SSG research. To meet full competition demands, SSG training should furthermore be complemented by other training modalities to attain the requisite and complete high-intensity cardiovascular and movement performance outputs of fifteen and seven-a-side youth rugby competition
Our journey to school: A collaboratively constructed, digitally facilitated transition to school
Get PDFA parent’s role in supporting their child’s transition to school has been well researched and the importance of educational settings developing a partnership with parents has been identified as a key factor in a child’s effective transition to school. However, this idea is based on the belief that it is the child who is experiencing the transition, while the parents have only a supporting role to play. A smaller body of research and literature focuses on a family’s transition to school and acknowledges that the parents as well as the child are undergoing their own processes of change, and may need support in this process.
Taking a new approach to the transition to school process, this thesis explores the use of Facebook by a New Entrant teacher to develop a Community of Practice (CoP) to collaborate with families in making decisions about their own transition to school process. Applying a qualitative, case study approach involving 20 families who had children transitioning from three early childhood centres to the same primary school, online questionnaires were used to generate data from families and teachers at the start of the process to support the purpose and design and of each of the two separate Facebook group (families and teachers) sites. van Gennep’s three phases of transition provided a framework to perceive transition as a process where families’ needs changed over the period of their transition. Reflecting the onging process of transition, the two groups’ online data generated through the Facebook page over the period of seven months were used formatively to provide for the families’ immediate needs, and summatively to view activity and the evolving CoP.
The research found that Facebook was an accessible and flexible tool, and allowed families to participate and collaborate as much as they wanted or needed. This study shows that the functions available through Facebook provided opportunities to share children’s learning with all stakeholders, and so develop transition practices in both ECE and NE environments through sharing and discussing examples of practices. The CoP framework provided a network that enabled those families who needed advice or support about their child’s transition to seek this from experienced members of the group. Facebook facilitated the development of a range of resources for families and teachers to return to at their leisure. It also provided a space to ask questions, have anxieties alleviated and success celebrated. Using the digital space in Facebook, traditionally not the place for more formal orientation meetings, allowed the subsequent face-to-face meetings to become social events. These face-to-face opportunities to meet supported the connections that the families and teachers had initially made online. This thesis advocates for the use of social media platforms, such as Facebook, to enhance a blended approach of both digital and face-to-face opportunities to give families greater agency during their child’s transition to school
Organic complexation in karst cave systems: implications for transition metal incorporation into speleothems
No full textThe accurate prediction of future climate scenarios heavily relies on the robust understanding of the magnitude and drivers of past climate variability. Amongst the various materials used to study historic climate beyond the instrumental record, secondary cave carbonate deposits, or speleothems, have proven to present particularly valuable archives of numerous environmental processes over a range of temporal and spatial scales. In this context, trace elements included in speleothems are increasingly used to bolster speleothem-based records of past climates and environments (often primarily based on stable isotope proxies), with Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca ratios presenting the most widely interpreted elemental signatures indicative of hydrological processes in the karst. More recently, however, a novel proxy system based on the concentrations of first-row transition metals in stalagmites has been proposed to potentially offer a first means to quantitatively reconstruct past cave drip rates, and hydroclimate by extension. The transport from the surface to the site of speleothem formation of transition metals, such as Co, Ni, or Cu, is understood to be largely governed by the formation of organic metal complexes (OMCs) with ligands present in natural organic matter (NOM). This organic association can evidently facilitate the deposition of organically-complexed metals in response to strong infiltration events, however, has also been suggested to enable a mechanistically distinct and largely undefined inclusion pathway for metals into calcite. Specifically, the availability of transition metals at speleothem surfaces for partitioning into the crystal phase may arguably be driven by the rate-dependant dissociation (or ‘decay’) of OMCs, which is in turn predicted to depend on their residence time at speleothem surfaces. OMC decay kinetics may thus present a potentially viable link between metal concentrations in stalagmites, and the residence time of OMCs at their surfaces. This thesis further investigates these interactions between selected first-row transition metals (Co, Ni, Cu) with NOM, aiming to advance the applicability of respective metal signatures in speleothems to palaeoclimatic reconstructions. In the first research chapter, the decay of OMCs is characterised in a first comparative study of in-cave OMC dissociation kinetic signatures by means of competitive ligand exchange experiments. Performed on water samples and soil extracts from eight Aotearoa New Zealand caves, the findings demonstrated that natural organic ligands decisively limit transition metal availability (by example of Co, Ni, Cu) at the dripwater-speleothem interface, whereas alkaline earth metals (here: Mg, Sr) are essentially unaffected by organic interactions in solution. OMC stability was found to occur in the hierarchy of Cu ≈ Co > Ni, with a variable fraction of all three metals bound very strongly to effectively inert complexes. OMC stability was overall enhanced in soil extracts, presumably due to higher organic content and aromaticity. The study further uses empirical estimates of OMC decay rate constants to assess the time-dependent release of metals at stalagmite surfaces in a simple forward model. This exercise predicted that the decay of transition metal complexes was most sensitive on time-scales relevant to typical cave drip points (up to ca. 40 drips min-1), and increasingly so towards lower flow rates. The second research chapter comprises experimental and field-based measurements of the inclusion rates of Co, Ni, Cu, as well as Mg, Sr. Firstly, a set of ten cave-analogue experiments were aimed to test for kinetic signatures in transition metal concentrations linked to the decay of OMCs during calcite precipitation. Performed at a range of drip rates and with variable concentrations of organic ligands in solution (Suwannee River Fulvic Acid (SRFA) and nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA)), however, the experimental calcite precipitates primarily depicted a direct inclusion of OMCs without prior dissociation. This was particularly pronounced for metal-SRFA complexes due to a considerable degree of co-precipitation of SRFA. Signatures attributable to OMC decay were in turn not discernible, presumably due to experimental conditions preventing their resolution. The study further yielded new estimates of inorganic partition coefficients for Co (≈1.8), Ni (≈0.4), Mg (≈0.04), Sr (≈0.09), and Cu (≈13 on average, but up to ca. 57), with the latter showing a pronounced positive dependency on drip rate. In the second part of this study, a wide range of new and previously published datasets on experimental and in-cave metal partitioning were compiled, which collectively allowed for the establishment of a conceptual framework around hypothesised system-specific conditions determining the dominant drivers of transition metal concentrations in dripwater and stalagmites. The final research chapter explores elemental systematics in two caves on the South Pacific island of Niue, aiming to utilise modern field observations to corroborate stalagmite-based palaeoclimate reconstructions of Holocene climate variability. Intermittent cave monitoring between September 2019 and November 2022 in principle supported the assumption that stalagmites from these caves record environmental conditions in their chemistry and binary lamination. Although reliable chronologies could not be established for the two stalagmite samples analyses in this study, their trace elemental and reconnaissance stable isotope measurements suggested that the most pronounced elemental signal of Mg/Ca ratios reflected a combined control of water-rock interactions, prior calcite precipitation (both indicative of rainfall amount), and marine aerosol inputs. The analysis further implied that Ni/Ca (and Cu, Co, and Zn to a lesser extent) also primarily reflected local hydrology, predominantly exhibiting behaviour consistent with that expected for a pervasive kinetic drip rate control. Based on preliminary interpretations, OMC decay presented the primary driver of transition metal concentrations in the deposits from Anapala Cave, while short-lived ‘soil-flushing’ peaks in various elemental concentrations in response to heavy rainfall events only sporadically defined the record. Collectively, albeit warranting further investigation, the results of this thesis provide new systematic insights into the role of organic complexation for transition metal incorporation into calcite speleothems, thereby presenting important precedent for the further development of a novel (semi-)quantitative class of hydrological proxies
Location-independence? Exploring the digital geographies of work, mobilities and place
No full textThis thesis focuses on the phenomenon of location-independence and its implications for place, work and mobilities in the digital age. The dynamic mechanisms of location-independence are examined in connection with two interrelated-yet-distinct vantage points: digital nomads (a group of location-independent workers from predominantly affluent countries working in locations with lower living costs), and coworking spaces in Aotearoa New Zealand (shared workspaces that provide socio-material and technological infrastructure for mobile workers to work from).
Critical social theories – feminist, postcolonial, new mobilities, and embodied geography perspectives – provide a framework for analysing the concept of location-independence and uneven relations of power and subjectivities such as gender, ethnicity, class, and age. These perspectives not only emphasise Indigenous geographies that give voice to non-dominant epistemologies of knowledge but also bring attention to the body and highlight how work, place, and mobility are experienced differently.
The research employs feminist methodologies for conducting qualitative research, including 12 online interviews with digital nomads globally, and 11 in-person semi-structured interviews with managers of coworking spaces or of the coworking community within these spaces in Aotearoa New Zealand. Reflexive thematic analysis is applied to interview transcripts, texts and images from websites promoting digital nomad visa schemes that surround the concept of location-independence.
This thesis demonstrates that location-independence is constituted through relational geographies of subjectivities, mobilities, materials, and organisations. The findings are organised around three themes: digital nomads; coworking spaces; and, COVID-19. Focusing on the first theme – digital nomads – provides an opportunity for foregrounding how location-independence can be partly understood as an imagined and desired geography. Digital nomads experience both flexibility and freedom afforded by location-independence, but also challenges related to social isolation, precarious work conditions, and balancing work and personal life. Focusing on the second theme – coworking spaces – allows for an understanding of how these places are curated to be inclusive yet are also subject to gendered, raced, and classed power relations. The third theme – COVID-19 – is used to examine the ways in which location-independence was disrupted and repaired. The disruption of many infrastructures that facilitate location-independence has not only accelerated the shift towards the normalisation of remote work, but also highlights the need for emergent infrastructures of repair, shedding light on the importance of place, mobilities, materiality, and embodiment in the constitution of location-independence digital geographies