381 research outputs found
Embodied Relational Process in P. Megan Andrews’ the disorientation project
No full textThis article offers embodied, phenomenological descriptions of the disorientation project, a solo work by dance artist P. Megan Andrews. From the position of an ongoing witness of Megan’s practice, the author reflects on how experiences of perceptual disorientation can be potent and productive, opening space for relations of care.Cet article propose des descriptions incarnées et phénoménologiques du projet de désorientation, une œuvre en solo de l'artiste de la danse P. Megan Andrews. Du point de vue d'un témoin permanent de la pratique de Megan, l'auteur réfléchit sur la manière dont les expériences de désorientation perceptuelle peuvent être puissantes et productives, ouvrant ainsi la voie à des relations de sollicitude
Raquel Cepeda's Digital and Literary Publics: Twitter and Bird of Paradise
No full textThis study charts language use in two public spheres: literary and digital. Cepeda’s 2015 memoir Bird of Paradise, much like fellow Dominican American author Junot Díaz’s works, utilizes untranslated code switching and requires both linguistic and cultural translations on the part of the reader. Cepeda’s digital public, analyzed via her active Twitter account with over 11,000 followers, employs language in different ways to reach a wider, transnational audience. This essay considers how both Cepeda’s literary and digital spheres connect her to a diverse readership and can be considered examples of (digital) activism.This article is published as Myers, Megan Jeanette. "Raquel Cepeda's Digital and Literary Publics: Twitter and Bird of Paradise." Chiricú Journal: Latina/o Literatures, Arts, and Cultures 2, no. 1 (2017): 40-57. doi: 10.2979/chiricu.2.1.05. Posted with permission.</p
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Heidi
No full textEarly edition of Heidi by Johanna Spyri. The cover of the book is bound in blue cloth with an embossed logo for the J.M. Dent & Sons Company on the front cover. On the spine of the book is the title and author of the book along with a floral design embossed in gold. There is also a black stripe painted over the spine with white writing. The cover page of the book are beautiful block prints of berries, vines, and fairies. On the left page is a quotation from Shakespeare reading, "This is fairy gold, boy; and twill prove so". On the right side is the and author of the book, a quotation from the medieval play Everyman, "everyman, I will go with thee, and be thy guide, In thy most need to go by thy side." Also included are the names for the publishers for London and New York and another wood block print of a full bodied fairy standing in a garden. Of the pages inside the book include illustrations of Heidi hugging a goat, A boy in a hat, a landscape of the countryside, and three flowers
Cycling on the Verge? Exploring the Place of Utility Cycling in Contemporary New Zealand Transport Policy
No full textEfforts to increase cycling as a mode of transport (utility cycling) occur at central, regional and local levels of government through a range of supportive strategies, research, and guidelines. Despite these efforts, utility cycling levels in New Zealand have remained persistently low. This thesis examines the apparent disparity between policy intent and policy result, using a discourse analytical approach. It examines how cycling is positioned in contemporary New Zealand transport policy documents, and explores whose priorities are shaping transport policy with what implications for utility cycling.
This study uses a critical discourse analysis (CDA) approach to analyse the land transport documents from across the institutions of government. The CDA approach, grounded in the work of van Dijk and Fairclough, draws on ideas from the interpretive tradition of discourse analysis, inspired by Foucault’s concepts of knowledge and power. This approach reveals the position of utility cycling by exposing the framing, dominant discourses, and discursive strategies that privilege certain transport objectives and activities over others.
The findings show transport is promoted almost exclusively by central government as an activity to facilitate economic growth and efficiency, despite its potential (and actual) impacts on health and well-being, social justice, and environmental sustainability. The discursive practices of the government privilege private motor vehicle use, helping to both legitimate and maintain that privilege at all levels of government, while positioning utility cycling as a marginalised mode of transport.
This thesis contributes to scholarship on utility cycling and land transport policy in New Zealand by identifying how the discursive strategies of government control the position of utility cycling in New Zealand. This study underscores the need for a central government-led, long-term strategic vision for a genuinely integrated, multi-modal transport system, in order for the benefits of utility cycling to be fully maximised
A Pathway to Developing the Simcomp Tool for Competency-Based Evaluation of Simulation
No full textElectronic Thesis or DissertationTo meet the pressing needs of the workforce and the evolving student population, institutions of higher education must be open to curriculum adaptation. With the release of the new AACN Essentials, accredited nursing institutions are now tasked with transitioning to competency-based education for entry-level nursing students. This change to nursing curricula requires nurse educators to review, and possibly revise, educational approaches and evaluation methods for the learner with one common goal of producing competent nursing graduates. The purpose of this dissertation is to generate new knowledge regarding competency-based evaluations in the simulation setting to serve as a foundation for the development of a competency-based tool for use in the simulation setting - the SimComp Tool. The first manuscript outlines the current approach to simulation evaluation. These methods are based on scaffolding theory-based models, and student perceptions rather than objective faculty outcomes, with only half of the instruments showing validity and reliability. The second manuscript presents nursing faculty perceptions of competency-based education to 1) promote standardization across nursing programs, 2) improve patient safety, and 3) require guidance and support for faculty. Manuscript three explores expert faculty panelists' agreement on the presented domains, observable behaviors, and critical behaviors that could be assessed in a simulated-learning environment and used as a foundation for achieving entry-level nursing competence. The three manuscripts included in this dissertation were guided by Kurt Lewin's Change Theory by unfreezing current societal norms within nursing curricula by identifying the restraining forces (barriers) and driving forces (benefits) of the transition to competency-based education. The integration of the results from each article provides supporting evidence for the future development of the SimComp Tool
Human,climatic and oceanographic influences on the marine environment of Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia
No full textFile PB200200 could not be included in folder EFR1. Full data available on disc with print copy held at the University of Waikato Library.Coral reefs and marine resources are culturally, as well as economically, vital to Pohnpei, situated in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). Farming and fishing are the main sources of livelihood for most Pohnpeian communities. Pohnpei has eleven Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) where nine are situated in the Pohnpei Island Lagoon and two MPAs on the outer low-lying atolls. Like many other Pacific Island countries Pohnpei is on the verge of creating more MPAs. However, the marine environment continues to be significantly threatened by human and natural influences. The recognised threats are yet to be methodically investigated.
This thesis used a combination of sediment, coral, fish, climatic, and oceanographic data, and focused on the Pohnpei Lagoon, examining a range of natural and human issues in the marine environment both at the local level (focusing on that within the Pohnpei Lagoon) and regional level (focusing on the western Pacific region).
Evidence from historical, archaeological, and modern experience has influenced various marine impacts that have altered the coastline and the marine environment of the Pohnpei Lagoon. Humans have greatly impacted on the coral diversity and fish populations in the Pohnpei Lagoon by over-fishing and contributing to accelerated sediment inputs. My study findings shows that that increased sea surface temperature (SST) caused by El Ni o events is not the only cause of coral bleaching, but also cooling of SST, and other human factors. However, when corals bleach they recover by symbiont shuffling . This is an ingenious way in which corals host one or more varieties of their zooxanthelle (Symbiodinium symbiont clades) that are more tolerant of the stress caused by increased SST and human factors.
The recognised natural climatic variability, particularly the El Ni o/Southern Oscillation (ENSO), may pose a significant threat to the Pohnpei Lagoon. El Ni o events are associated with: a change in trade winds and stronger wind gusts attributed to typhoons; lower rainfall causing drought; a decrease in SST attributed to cooling of the marine environment; increase of salinity in marine estuaries affecting development and recruitment of marine species communities; and a steep fall in sea level exposing corals to other elements. The various on-going human threats and El Ni o-like conditions have caused giant clams (Tridacna gigas) to become extinct, have endangered herbivorous fish populations, and caused coral bleaching by cooling of SST.
Although high SSTs are normally blamed for coral bleaching, the last major bleaching event in Pohnpei (2002) was likely to be due to a reduction in salinity (freshwater runoff and lower sea level), and there has been strong recovery. However, decreasing water temperatures rather than increases of SSTs may contribute to coral bleaching in the Pohnpei Lagoon and the Micronesian region. The Micronesian region appears to have suffered relatively few episodes of regional coral bleaching events. This is due to the Western Pacific Warm Pool (WPWP) where sea surface temperatures exceed 29 C but also where various feedback mechanisms limit the maximum SSTs.
The management aims of Pohnpei's MPAs are to move forward, while still respecting traditional practices. However, a lack of scientific monitoring, technical support and funding restricts our understanding of human and natural influences on the existing MPAs and the Pohnpei Lagoon. With respect to our policy makers the findings of the present research have implications on the future work in Pohnpei's marine environment and for policy makers, to make more-informed decisions before establishing new MPAs.
My key recommendations were: 1.) Integrate coral and fish monitoring during and after El Ni o events to understand El Ni o effects on the Pohnpei environment. 2.) Undertake herbivorous fish investigation into their populations inside and outside the MPAs. 3.) Do not cut down vegetation along coastline areas, as it prevents erosion 4.) Investigate Symbiodinium coral clades in Pohnpei Lagoon and the outer low-lying atolls
Review of Daring to write: Contemporary narratives by Dominican women
No full textNumerous anthologies of Caribbean writers—and, more specifically, anthologies of Caribbean women writers—have been published in the last 20 years. Border Crossings: A Trilingual Anthology of Caribbean Women Writers (2011) and Stories from Blue Latitudes: Caribbean Women Writers at Home and Abroad (2005) represent two similarly curated anthologies that complement earlier volumes compiling the works of Caribbean and women writers. With the recent publication of Daring to Write, editor Erika M. Martínez focuses readers’ attention on a specific, often neglected, subset of Caribbean women writers: Dominicans. Martínez intentionally places little-known works of newcomers alongside fiction and nonfiction written by established Dominican writers such as Nelly Rosario, author of Song of the Water Saints; renowned Dominican poet Rhina Espaillat; Ángela Hernández; and Jeanette Miller. Hernández and Miller, among others, write in Spanish, and the translations of their stories by Achy Obejas succeed in bringing their work to new audiences. The anthology unites in a single volume the voices of Dominican women writing both on and off the island and reflects the myriad diasporic communities in which Dominican women reside, whether temporarily or permanently.This is a manuscript of a book review published as Myers, Megan Jeanette. "Daring to write: Contemporary narratives by Dominican women." (2017): 381-382. Posted with permission.</p
A dynamic finite element framework built towards the inverse problem of soft tissues
No full textThis study seeks to simulate soft tissue behavior with a custom finite element analysis. It is the eventual goal of this team to explore the inverse problem of soft tissues, and this simulation study will play an integral role in that process. It is hoped that new information regarding the elastic properties of soft tissue can be used to diagnose disease processes and improve health care delivery.
In this investigation, soft tissue is modeled as a linear, isotropic, elastic, and nearly incompressible material. A dynamic finite element problem was defined consistent with the experimental protocol of harmonic motion imaging, an elasticity imaging technique that utilizes acoustic radiation force to induce localized displacements within soft tissue samples.
The finite element equations of motion in this investigation were solved using the Newmark method, an approach commonly used by engineers to determine the dynamic response of structures under the action of any general time-dependent loads. It was found that the displacement results obtained with the Newmark method made physical sense and agreed with the observations of other researchers in this field, suggesting that the current finite element analysis is a suitable simulation of soft tissue behavior.M.S.Includes bibliographical references (p. 87-88)
Behavioral correlates of a sense of religiosity and purpose within a sample of urban, fifth grade students
No full textResearch with adults has shown that religiosity and a sense of purpose are associated with positive mental health. Much less is known about whether these findings translate to children and adolescents. The current study sought to illuminate whether preadolescents' written expressions of religiosity and purpose relate to fewer classroom behavioral problems. Exploratory analyses also compared the relative predictive strength of three dimensions (content, voice and word choice) as well as two forms (peak and modal) of expression of religiosity and purpose. This study's data were collected from 151 fifth grade students and their teachers in a low income, urban school district. Results showed that, after accounting for language arts GPA and gender, stronger expressions of purpose on the content and voice dimensions were related to fewer externalizing problem behaviors. Students who expressed religiosity in their essays were more likely to fall below the median for externalizing problem behaviors than students who did not express religiosity. Suggestions for improving methods for assessing and coding essays are discussed. The relative strength in prediction of the content and voice dimensions warrants consideration for future researchers using traditional narrative content analysis procedures that rely wholly on word count procedures.M.S.Includes bibliographical references (p. 81-90)
Feeling middle class: sensory perception in Victorian literature and culture
No full textThis dissertation proposes that perception in the Victorian era was not just a source of information but a way of training the self. Representations of the senses defined bourgeois identity through a process that this project labels guided sensing: instilling particular sensations in the body that register as middle-class experience. This work extends both broad considerations of bodily class formation and specific Victorianist interest in the senses by delineating a form of self-fashioning that was considered sustainable at mid-century but receding by the fin-de-siècle. Reading major literary works alongside scientific texts, domestic manuals, and legal treatises, this dissertation argues that sensory detail established a self-consciously modern practice of the body. The second half of this project shows how later novels of the period interrogated guided sensing, questioning its efficacy in inculcating and sustaining middle-class values. The four chapters each elucidate one of four concepts fundamental to middle-class identity: taste, professionalism, fidelity, and cultivation. The first two chapters read popular journalism and sensation fiction to establish how guided sensing distinguishes middle-class women from men. The discourse of taste in the Englishwoman's Domestic Magazine encourages women to ignore sensory information to appear tasteful. At the same time, Charles Dickens' Bleak House and Wilkie Collins' The Moonstone prompt men to emphasize their sharp senses in pursuit of professionalism. Later Victorian novels, however, begin to question guided sensing. The third and fourth chapters show how Anthony Trollope's The Eustace Diamonds and Thomas Hardy's The Woodlanders diminish the narrative drive of individual mobility. No longer as desirably modern as in the 1850s, guided sensing subsided without the drive of individualism. These novels defer the narrative drive of individual mobility, reconstituting the individual within the social realm's conflicting models of sensory subjectivity. Percipient bourgeois identity, this project attests, was a social experience that felt singular.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical references (p. 176-188)
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