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Performance evaluation of SCATS-controlled intersections in New Zealand with machine-learning delay prediction and signal-timing optimisation
No full textAdaptive signal systems such as the Sydney Coordinated Adaptive Traffic System (SCATS)
controls traffic signal system by adjusting phase splits and cycle length in real time. The
adjustments rely only on the last few seconds of detector data, the system lacks real-time predictive
and optimization functionalities, allowing queues and emissions to build. Fine-tuning of signal
timing by even a small increment can derive large economic and environmental benefits for the
wider network. This short-coming is becoming increasingly significant in New Zealand, where
transport already contributes 39 % of national CO₂ emissions and intersection delay costs
Auckland more than NZ $1 billion each year.
This thesis evaluates present and future performance of two representative SCATS-controlled
intersections—Albany, Auckland and Ruakura, Hamilton—and tests whether supervised machine-
learning (ML) models can predict delay and recommend cycle lengths that improvises the native
SCATS logic.
Field data was used to build, calibrate, and validate base SIDRA intersection models; saturation-
flow rates were matched within ±5 % of observations and all lane-movements satisfied degree-of-
saturation criteria. A Monte-Carlo routine expanded 14 SCATS peak-period volume logs into 98
synthetic volume scenarios, which were re-run in SIDRA to obtain delay, queue, fuel, and emission
outputs. Four machine learning models—XGBoost, Random Forest, Support Vector Regression,
and k-Nearest Neighbours—were trained on the synthetic dataset; the best two, XGBoost and
Random Forest were combined in an ensemble to give a delay-prediction model.
Furthermore, baseline analysis (2024) found both sites operating at Level-of-Service D, with
several right-turn lanes already oversaturated and 95th-percentile queues exceeding storage. Ten-
year growth projections degraded both intersections to LoS F well before the planning horizon.
The ML ensemble predicted average control delay with MAE ≈ 4 s veh⁻¹ and, under moderate
demand, shortened cycles by 15–46 s, cutting delay by 13 % and CO₂ by 5 % relative to SCATS
timings; though the benefits diminished under heavy oversaturation.
Data-driven machine learning models can provide cycle-by-cycle delay forecasts and substantial
performance gains, but require additional high-degree of saturations and longer cycle lengths
training data for robust operation and more generalization during severe congestion. Integration of
such predictors and optimizers with SCATS would provide practical step toward meeting New
Zealand’s 2035 emission-reduction targets
Children’s knowledge and experience of compost/ing
No full textThe Soilsafe Kids education and research programme conducted focus groups about compost/ing in eight primary school classes in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand in 2022 to understand what students learning at New Zealand Curriculum Level 2 (generally students aged 5-11 years old) know about compost/ing. Here, we present a qualitative content analysis of focus groups focusing on children’s knowledge about the process of composting and the resulting material. In general, children (n = 117) demonstrated a broad understanding of the typical process of composting and the materials that make up compost. Our findings contrast previous studies which have indicated children’s comprehension of composting was poor. Despite participating in composting activities in schools, respondents more commonly associated compost/ing activities with their home systems where they compost with their families. Although these results demonstrate a considerable baseline knowledge of compost/ing understood by children, they also had many questions about compost/ing, mainly focused on the timing necessary to biodegrade, the underlying processes, and why we compost. These encouraging findings mean educators have a strong base on which to build lessons, but educators should also be mindful of bridging gaps in retention for greatest pedagogical impact, given our findings suggest that students recall off-campus composting experiences more strongly than on-campus ones. This should be further explored to ensure children have equitable access to composting experiences and knowledge
Talking in circles: Examining co-rumination in parent-child reminiscing and future event conversations as an intergenerational transmission pathway for internalising symptoms
No full textMiddle childhood is a salient period of development (Mah & Ford-Jones, 2012). Internalising difficulties such as depression and anxiety often occur before the age of 15 (Lijster et al., 2017; Liu et al., 2011), and the burden of these difficulties continue into adolescence and adulthood (Caputi & Schoenborn, 2018; Garber & Horowitz, 2002). Previous research highlights the integral role that parent-child interactions play in the development of mental health concerns in children (Eisenberg et al., 1998; Goodman & Gotlib, 1999), with the discussion of emotions identified as a pathway which might support children’s capacity to cope with emotional distress and buffer against the development of mental health difficulties in children (Bray et al., under review; Russell et al., 2024b; Swetlitz et al., 2021). On the other hand, parents may pass on their own cognitive biases through conversations about emotions with their child (Bray et al., under review). This study aimed to examine co-rumination within parent-child conversations about past and future negative emotional events, and whether this might act as a potential pathway for the intergenerational transmission of internalising difficulties between parents and their children. Participants were parent-child dyads from New Zealand (n = 51) and Australia (n = 54). Children were aged between 8 and 12-years-old. Parents and children completed relevant measures for mental
health difficulties and engaged in two reminiscing conversations (one positive and one negative) and two future event conversations (one positive and one negative). Parent-child
conversations were coded for co-rumination utilising an adapted co-rumination coding scheme (Rose et al., 2014). A series of Pearson correlations and simple mediation models
were conducted to examine associations between parent and child mental health and co-rumination, and to test a potential pathway of intergenerational transmission of internalising difficulties through co-rumination. Results indicated that parent and child rumination were correlated, suggesting a dyadic style of rumination developing during middle childhood. No empirical support was identified for an indirect effect of parent to child internalising symptoms through co-rumination. Recommendations for future research are discussed
The plastic problem: Stormwater's role in polluting Lake Rotorua
No full textWith the ever-increasing rate of plastic production, pollution of the aquatic environment is worsening. While microplastics (2.5 cm). This study aims to provide a baseline quantification of large plastics entering Lake Rotorua, focusing on the Rotorua city urban stormwater streams which are a known source of plastic entering the lake. A five-month sampling campaign collected large plastics from seven 50 m stream reaches across Rotorua city, including four sites along the longitudinal gradient of the Utuhina Stream (Headwater, Devon, Blomfield, and Depot Street sites) and three stream mouth sites (Waingaehe, Owhata Point, and Waiowhiro Stream). Sampled plastics were visually classified by polymer type to determine what plastics have been entering the lake, this was done using the New Zealand recycling and polymer guidelines. Results of the field campaign and plastic polymer classification were coupled with a systematic literature review of in situ plastic capturing devices and community initiatives to inform potential plastic reduction management options for Rotorua city. Devices were assessed against tailored suitability criteria (including Rotorua stormwater stream specific variables like channel depth and narrowness). The monthly sampling captured a total of nearly 6 kg of plastic, 30.2% (51 of 169 collected samples) of which was recyclable plastics (polyethylene terephthalate (PET), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), and polypropylene (PP)). From the literature review, booms and boom-receptacles were the best suited devices for Rotorua streams; however, they are best paired with stormwater traps to increase effectiveness. Additionally, education on recycling procedures and the plastic lifecycle, increasing awareness, and implementation of community-led initiatives are management strategies that are best coupled with in-situ devices. The findings from this study provide a foundational understanding of large plastic in the Rotorua urban stormwater system
"The packaging keeps changing!” The european intercultural cities programme and the politics of policy mobility into Ansan, South Korea
No full textThis thesis examines the global circulation of the Intercultural Cities Programme (ICC) and its local adoption in Ansan City in South Korea (hereafter Korea). Since the 2000s, Korea has become a popular destination for international migration in Asia. In the pursuit of a framework to manage ethnic and cultural diversity, growing attention has been paid to European interculturalism in the academic and policy spheres in Korea. Within this context, the ICC was introduced - an urban diversity policy launched by the Council of Europe (CoE), with 164 member cities worldwide as of 2025. In 2020, Ansan became the first city in Korea and second in Asia to join the ICC. Building on the growing national interest in the ICC following Ansan’s accession, this thesis begins by asking how the European approach to diversity management gained legitimacy and credibility within the Korean context. This thesis investigates this process, with a focus on the development, promotion, and circulation of the ICC to cities, initially in Europe and eventually in Asia, including Ansan.
This thesis adopts a policy mobilities approach to explore how global and local politics have shaped the contours of the ICC’s mobility. It draws on document analysis of the CoE’s official documents on the ICC, and Ansan’s city council transcripts, as well as interviews with 23 local actors in Ansan. Through Critical Discourse Analysis, this thesis presents three key findings. First, the global circulation of the ICC is part of a wider set of geopolitical reconfigurations that connect continental aspirations for international visibility and influence across Asia and Europe. Second, the adoption of the ICC in Ansan is marked by a non-linear process, shaped more by political contingencies within the particular local context than by its ideal fit as a policy. Third, the ICC operates as an empty signifier in Ansan, with its significations imbued with the imperatives of local politicians, while remaining detached from the everyday experiences of different local actors. Despite the disconnect between the perspectives of the CoE and Ansan regarding the ICC’s vision, this thesis highlights that the ICC’s mobility created mutual benefits for both parties, with each leveraging the discourse of the intercultural city to advance their respective goals.
Critical insights developed in this thesis suggest that policy mobility studies need to expand their scope to incorporate geopolitics, in order to gain a richer understanding of how policy mobility is co-constituted by shifting global and local dynamics. This has particular implications for urban studies in Asia, demonstrating that Asia has become a key region where Europe seeks symbolic validation for its policy frameworks on a global scale, and that cities in Asia strategically modify and adapt these European, and more broadly, Western policy frameworks to better serve their own urban agendas
Should personal therapy be mandatory for psychologist trainees? Perspectives from Australian practicing psychologists
No full textThere is a growing focus on the training needs of future psychologists and exploring methods to support their professional development and ensure long-term sustainability in their careers and practice within the field. Whether or not personal therapy could be relevant for trainee psychologists has been considered in the clinical literature; however, empirical research examining this topic within psychology as a distinct professional group is limited. Drawing upon a qualitative design, the present study conducted semistructured interviews with a sample of 20 Australian practicing psychologists who had engaged in personal therapy. The aim was to explore their perspectives on personal therapy during training and, in addition, their views on mandatory personal therapy for trainees. Thematic analysis of the transcribed interviews resulted in several unique themes. First, therapy during training was perceived as an optimal and critical period for learning before entering the profession. Second, personal therapy was perceived as offering unique value to trainees in its capacity to reach beyond the scope of supervision. Psychologists also reported that personal therapy can facilitate unique learning/development opportunities in areas of self and professional development and in promoting self-care with a focus on future sustainability. Views on whether personal therapy should be mandated during training varied across psychologists; however, most supported the idea that educators and training institutions play an important role in normalizing and promoting personal therapy usage among trainee psychologists, particularly to reduce stigma around utilization. These findings are informative for future practice and training recommendations for psychologists
Light limitation and water velocity modify the impacts of simulated marine heatwaves on juvenile giant kelp.
No full textCoastal regions are complex habitats, where multiple natural and anthropogenic drivers can interact to affect the survival and growth of marine organisms. The giant kelp Macrocystis pyrifera is sensitive to increasing seawater temperatures and susceptible to marine heatwaves. Light availability and hydrodynamics can also affect the growth, morphology, and resilience of this species. In this experiment, juvenile sporophytes of M. pyrifera from Scorching Bay, Wellington, Aotearoa, New Zealand, a were exposed to a combination of simulated marine heatwaves at one of four different temperatures (20, 22, and 24°C compared to a 16°C control), one of two irradiance levels (shaded: 0.9 mol photons · m−2 · d−1 or ambient: 1.4 mol photons · m−2 · d−1), and one of two flow speeds (5.3 cm · s−1 or 6.1 cm · s−1) in a fully factorial design. Simulated heatwaves lasted for 21 days, with temperatures ramped by 2°C · d−1, followed by a 21-day recovery phase. The heatwave treatments represented severe heatwaves in present day or hypothetical future conditions, whereas the control represented historical average summer sea temperatures in Wellington, and 21 days represented a realistic duration for heatwaves in this region. Temperature was the main driver of negative physiological impacts, with 100% of sporophytes dying within 42 days of exposure to a 24°C heatwave. Sporophytes experienced 44% mortality at 20°C and 81% mortality at 22°C, and growth rates declined significantly with increasing temperature. However, survival rates were modified by light and water velocity, with 56% of sporophytes surviving under a combination of ambient light and fast water velocity, compared with less than 50% under each of the other light-velocity combinations. Light limitation also reduced sporophyte survival, growth rates, and effective quantum yield. Water velocity alone did not significantly affect sporophytes, but flow speeds had interactive effects with temperature and light. The findings of this experiment suggest that M. pyrifera at sites with optimal environmental conditions, including low sediment loads and fast tidal flows, could be more resilient to marine heatwaves, as long as temperatures do not exceed critical thresholds for survival
Ancient Borrelia genomes document the evolutionary history of louse-borne relapsing fever
No full textSeveral bacterial pathogens have transitioned from tick-borne to louse-borne transmission, which often involves genome reduction and increasing virulence. However, the timing of such transitions remains unclear. We sequenced four ancient Borrelia recurrentis genomes, the agent of louse-borne relapsing fever, dating from 2300 to 600 years ago. We estimated the divergence from its closest tick-borne relative to 6000 to 4000 years ago, which suggests an emergence coinciding with human lifestyle changes such as the advent of wool-based textiles. Pan-genome analysis indicated that much of the evolution characteristic of B. recurrentis had occurred by ~2300 years ago, though further gene turnover, particularly in plasmid partitioning, persisted until ~1000 years ago. Our findings provide a direct genomic chronology of the evolution of this specialized vector-borne pathogen
Why your battery meter tells lies and it's hard to fix: Effect of pauses in cycling on submillihertz battery impedance
No full textRechargeable lithium-ion batteries are an increasing part of our world, found in small devices such as medical implants and mobile phones, up to much larger applications in electric vehicles and the huge battery electric storage systems (BESS) that support the modern electricity grid. But despite the advances in design and manufacturing, your battery meter still does not tell you the truth: "75% charge remaining" most likely does not mean 75% charge remaining. On a trivial scale this means your phone battery goes flat unexpectedly; less trivially your car runs out of charge before you get home, and on a cold winter's morning the electricity grid might not actually be able to provide the peak power that its operators think it can. The reason that producing an accurate meter is so challenging is that battery history matters. A battery's response to an electrical stimulus doesn't just depend on its state now, but also on its state in the past. In mathematical terms, its behaviour is described by fractional differential equations, where the order of the equation is non-integer. In this presentation, we discuss an experiment where we have looked at the effect of a long (56 day) break in battery battery charge/discharge cycling on electrical properties of the battery. On recommencement of cycling, we can discern the effect of the pause on impedance for around 30 days after the break. To see the effect we have constructed the impedance spectrum at ultra-low frequencies (10 μHz - 10 mHz) by applying wavelet methods to time-series data of voltage and current. However, if uncontrolled, other factors such as the shape of stimulating waveforms will mask much of this history effect, and thus in practice history may only matter on the scale of a few days. Nonetheless, results show that answering a simple question "what is my battery charge" does not have a simple physical answer, and thus producing a battery meter that does not lie remains a real challenge for theoretical physicists and mathematicians
Potassium acetate treatment as a potential means for stabilising extra sensitive, halloysite-rich soils in the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand — A novel approach to an old issue
No full textLandslides are a rapid, destructive natural hazard that pose a significant risk to human life and infrastructure. Globally and in New Zealand, landslides are among the most significant hazards. Within New Zealand, it is estimated that the annual costs associated with landslides are between NZ$250300 million, with over 600 fatalities recorded. While the types of landslides in New Zealand vary due to changeable geology and triggering conditions, one area that is particularly heavily affected is the Western Bay of Plenty region, specifically the Ōmokoroa peninsula, where numerous landslides have occurred. A key contributor to this instability is the presence of a series of weathered primary and reworked rhyolitic tephra deposits dominated by halloysite, known as the Pahoia Tephra, that exhibit a sensitive response. Based on successful tests undertaken in the Northern Hemisphere using potassium chloride salt wells, as well as a pilot study conducted on the same halloysitic materials, the research reported here aimed to treat a halloysite-rich sensitive soil with potassium acetate to determine if the soil could be regarded as strengthened.
Atterberg limit testing of the soil showed the untreated Pahoia Tephra to have a liquid limit higher than the natural moisture content (61%), meeting the requirements for an extra-sensitive soil, as was determined by field shear vane tests. Treatment with the potassium acetate increased the liquid limit (58%65%) and reduced the liquidity index to below 1 (2.1 untreated, 0.57 treated). Treatment of the soil did produce a drastic increase in shear strength within the soil, with effective cohesion increasing from 4.2 kPa to 40.9 kPa following 12 months of treatment, while effective friction angle was slightly reduced from 29.8o to 25.3o. Stress paths of the soil show a large shift in behaviour, with samples no longer dilating during the pre-failure stage.
To explain these changes, various mineralogical and chemical analyses were undertaken. X-ray diffraction analysis showed no expansion of the clay and lack of intercalation (all halloysite showing 10.1 Å). The Fourier transform infrared testing yielded a similar result, with no notable shifts observed in the 3600 cm-1 wavenumber peaks. With this said, new peaks corresponding to an interaction between potassium acetate and the silica sheet present within halloysite were noted. Scanning electron microscope analyses showed, following 12 months of treatment of the soil, a shrinking of the clay spheroids over the duration of treatment.
From these findings, it was theorised that, while the potassium acetate did not intercalate into the halloysite spheroids themselves, the potassium acetate interacted with the external silica sheet so that it curled and rolled, resulting in a smaller spheroid, with acetate entering into the ditrigonal space within the silica sheet and displacing the H2O (‘water’) present. This resulted in a twofold action, with the second action leading to the creation of stronger short-chain van der Waals forces between clay spheroids, thereby increasing cohesion within the soil.
While the initial aim of this research was achieved, a large number of avenues have been opened that certainly warrant further investigation