2,293 research outputs found
Institutional Racism and the Dynamics of Privilege in Public Health
No full textInstitutional racism, a pattern of differential access to material resources and power determined by race, advantages one sector of the population while disadvantaging another. Such racism is not only about conspicuous acts of violence but can be carried in the hold of mono-cultural perspectives. Overt state violation of principles contributes to the backdrop against which much less overt yet insidious violations occur. New Zealand health policy is one such mono-cultural domain. It is dominated by western bio-medical discourses that preclude and under-value Māori, the indigenous peoples of this land, in the conceptualisation, structure, content, and processes of health policies, despite Te Tiriti o Waitangi guarantees to protect Māori interests.
Since the 1980s, the Department of Health has committed to honouring the Treaty of Waitangi as the founding document of Māori-settler relationships and governance arrangements. Subsequent Waitangi Tribunal reports, produced by an independent Commission of Inquiry have documented the often-illegal actions of successive governments advancing the interests of Pākehā at the expense of Māori. Institutional controls have not prevented inequities between Māori and non-Māori across a plethora of social and economic indicators.
Activist scholars work to expose and transform perceived inequities. My research interest lies in how Crown Ministers and officials within the public health sector practice institutional racism and privilege and how it can be transformed. Through dialogue with Māori working within the health sector, fuelled by critical analysis and strategic advice from a research whānau (family) of Māori health leaders and a Pākehā Tiriti worker, and embracing the traditions of feminist and critical race theory I provide evidence of racism that can invoke strong emotional reactions. More disturbing is its normalisation to nigh imperceptibility within ones personal and professional life. The exposure of racism as a socially created phenomenon is a strength of the research presented here.
My action orientation is my ethical response. Honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi is a pathway to transforming racism. Such change is likely to be resisted by the Pākehā majority. This anticipated resistance is not a credible reason to weaken responsibility for such necessary change. Transforming institutional racism needs to be driven by senior managers, professional bodies, unions, and by communities. Policies, practices and leadership that enable institutional racism need to be systematically eliminated from the health sector. Crown officials must be supported to strengthen their professional accountabilities and to embrace ethical bicultural practice. Greater transparency could enable more effective monitoring of Crown behaviour and support transformed practice
The use of multispectral remote sensing in the management of the North York moors
No full textThis thesis examines the use of multi-spectral remotely sensed data in the management of the North York Moors, an upland area of heather moorland in northern England. A series of ground radiometer surveys and airborne simulations are analysed to determine the relative importance of spatial, spectral and temporal resolution as characteristics of earth resources satellites in this environment. Particular reference is made to the potential for selecting and combining data from the Landsat MSS, TM and the SPOT HRV sensors. The results show that spectral resolution can be critical in isolating and recognising elements of the moorland community by their spectral response, especially at the most detailed levels of vegetational description. Temporal resolution has little effect on the discrimination of targets within the heather dominated areas but affects the separability of the major communities of heather, bracken and sedges. Change in spatial resolution has no clear effect on the spectral uniformity and spectral separation of the elements of the heather dominated areas. The interaction between spectral and spatial resolution is more important in isolating the major communities, where the requirement for spatial precision is balanced against the need to suppress spectral variation within the moorland. The hypothesis that multi-spectral remotely sensed data can provide critical information on the distribution and status of moorland vegetation is not refuted in this thesis. Remotely sensed data would make the greatest contribution to management if linked to other spatial data as part of a Geographical Information System. In the absence of such a formal structure satellite imagery can still provide a regular and unique inventory of the moorland habitat which will increase the efficiency of management
Using imagery to solve spatial problems
No full textThis report focuses on the use of imagery to solve a range of spatial problems. The research projects reviewed in this report offer some insight into the range of strategies used by solvers of spatial problems and point to relationships between spatial and verbal skills
Dialogue and Collaboration in the Creation of New Works for Clarinet
No full textThis PhD thesis explores dialogue-based, “intimate” collaboration through the creation of new works for clarinet. It borrows from Grounded Theory in order to facilitate an analysis through which emergent themes within a dialogue-based
collaboration are discovered. The aim has not been to insist on one model of collaboration, but to discover methods for improving one’s collaborative skills and to identify ways in which one benefits from a focus on dialogue in
collaboration. Furthermore, it aims to suggest that through collaboration one can make discoveries about the instrument: original contributions to clarinet technique are made within this thesis. The literature from which the research draws inspiration to further collaborative “technique” is cross-disciplinary and wide-ranging: it draws from social theory, collaborative creative writing, dance, the visual arts and of course, music. Added to this is a select discussion of collaboration throughout the repertoire of the clarinet. Finally, this consists of practice-based research. Seven new pieces for clarinet accompany the text
FIGURE 23. Alpheus floridanus africanus Balss, 1916 in Provisional revision of American snapping shrimp allied to Alpheus floridanus Kingsley, 1878 (Crustacea: Decapoda: Alpheidae) with notes on A. floridanus africanus
No full textFIGURE 23. Alpheus floridanus africanus Balss, 1916: a–h, male (RMNH 9312 = tissue/sequence ULLZ 9122): a, habitus; b, c, anterior carapace, dorsal; d, anterior carapace; e, major right cheliped, lateral; f, right major cheliped carpus and merus, mesial; g, right minor cheliped, lateral; h, sixth abdominal somite, telson and uropods, dorsal. Scale bars = 2.0 mm.Published as part of Bracken-Grissom, Heather D. & Felder, Darryl L., 2014, Provisional revision of American snapping shrimp allied to Alpheus floridanus Kingsley, 1878 (Crustacea: Decapoda: Alpheidae) with notes on A. floridanus africanus, pp. 451-491 in Zootaxa 3895 (4) on page 486, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3895.4.1, http://zenodo.org/record/22914
Biophenols and antioxidant activity in wild and cultivated heather
No full textOver the last decade, there has been an increasing interest to study the antioxidants from natural sources which can be applied to replace the synthetic compounds commonly used in food or as cosmetic ingredients. Calluna vulgaris (L.) Hull (heather), a plant grown in most parts of Europe and Northern America, has been used in ethnopharmacology. The content of selected biophenols and the antioxidant capacity of the extracts of wild heather collected from natural environmental localities of central Poland were assessed in this study and compared with cultivated plant. Chlorogenic acid was the major biophenolic compound present in the extracts, followed by a high amount of catechins. The reducing power of the extracts evaluated by Folin–Ciocalteau assay was in the range of 75.7–89.1 mg GA/g dry flowers. The cultivated plant extract showed the largest radical scavenging on 1,1-diphenyl-2-pirylhydrazyl (DPPH) radicals.</p
Prescribed Heather Burning on Peatlands: A Review of Ten Key Claims Made About Heather Management Impacts and Implications for Future UK Policy
No full textIn a previous Mires and Peat article, Bacon et al. (2017) questioned ten common assumptions frequently made about peatlands “ in the academic literature, practitioner reports and the popular media which are either ambiguous or in some cases incorrect ”. In a similar vein, here, we critically examine ten claims frequently made by the UK governmental, non-governmental organisations, popular media and scientists in relation to the effects of prescribed burning of heather on peatlands. The ten claims are: 1. Prescribed heather burning causes a net peat carbon loss and contributes to the climate crisis; 2. Fire and heather dominance are a result of recent management changes; 3. Prescribed heather burning reduces Sphagnum moss abundance and peat formation; 4. Rewetting reduces heather dominance and thus protects peatlands against wildfire; 5. Cessation of heather burning results in wetter peat, less heather cover and no need to burn; 6. Seventy-five percent of global heather moorland is found in the UK; 7. Prescribed heather burning causes water colour and quality issues; 8. Prescribed heather burning causes flooding; 9. Peatlands offer huge carbon sequestration potential and are climate change ‘saviours’; and 10. Prescribed heather burning causes loss of biodiversity. We critically examine the evidence surrounding each of these claims and use our findings to make policy and research recommendations for those interested in the future management of UK peatlands and to facilitate an informed and unbiased debate. The key findings of our assessment are that: (a) government agencies and policymakers need to re-examine the strengths and limitations of the evidence base and be wary of generalisations around management needs and options on heather-dominated peatlands, especially for prescribed burning; (b) researchers need to fully account for potential site-specific and pre-management differences and limitations in temporal and spatial scales , especially in urgently needed systematic reviews; (c) in any future work, all major alternative management scenarios should be compared adequately and robustly to burning and assessed for short-term (disturbance) and long-term (trajectory) impacts across appropriate landscape scales, so that management effects (benefits and risks) on ecosystems, their functions and services can be reliably identified to inform policy
Land management (specifically controlled heather burning) as a factor controlling carbon loss from upland peat soils
No full textPeatlands contain a significant proportion of the worlds’ total soil carbon, and are
commonly assumed to serve as carbon sinks. There is however increasing evidence of
carbon loss from peat soils, and DOC concentrations in UK rivers have increased
markedly over the past three decades. Numerous drivers for increasing DOC release
have been proposed but to date the potential role of land management has not been fully
explored.
This study examines the potential effects of land management on DOC production and
release from upland peat for a series of catchments in the South Pennines and North
Yorkshire Moors. Spatial variability in drainage DOC concentration was examined in
50 small headwater catchments (<3 km
2
) and nine reservoir catchments (1.5-21 km
2
). A
subset of the reservoir catchments was further examined through time to establish any
relationship between land management and DOC.
Of the factors assessed, representing all combinations of soil type and land use, the
proportion of new vegetation burn on blanket peat was consistently identified as the
most significant predictor of spatial variation in DOC concentration. Significant
relationships were identified between both temperature and sulphate deposition and
longer-term DOC concentrations, but no interaction or cumulative effect of these two
factors was shown. In contrast, the area of new burn on blanket peat explains more than
twice the degree of variance in DOC over the same period. For catchments where no
change in the area of new burn was determined, drainage DOC increases were minimal.
This study demonstrates that land management activities are important landscape-scale
drivers of DOC concentration. Exposed peat surface following burning may be altering
peat hydrology and improving conditions for microbial activity and enhanced DOC
production. Land management therefore has significant consequence for water utilities
facing increased costs of treatment and also for the conservation of blanket bog and
blanket peat ecosystems currently managed by fire
Controlled drinking, harm reduction and their roles in the response to alcohol-related problems
No full textThis article first distinguishes three meanings of the term ‘harm reduction’ in the literature on alcohol problems: a European sense in which a change in drinking is not necessarily required; an American sense which includes the controlled drinking (CD) goal of treatment; and a government policy sense in which it is seen as an alternative to whole population alcohol policies. The article then goes on to consider the roles of the CD goal and the harm reduction philosophy in response to three groups of people with alcohol problems or increased risk of such problems: the non-treatment-seeking population of hazardous and harmful drinkers; the population of socio-economically disadvantaged street drinkers or others who are thought unlikely to make radical changes in drinking behaviour; and the regular population of treatment-seeking problem drinkers. It is concluded, inter alia, that the equation of harm reduction and the CD goal in the American sense of harm reduction is confusing and may have had a detrimental effect of the practice of CD treatment. The CD goal should imply an aim of harm-free drinking
Prescribed heather burning on peatlands:A review of ten key claims made about heather management impacts and implications for future UK policy
No full textIn a previous Mires and Peat article, Bacon et al. (2017) questioned ten common assumptions frequently made about peatlands “in the academic literature, practitioner reports and the popular media which are either ambiguous or in some cases incorrect”. In a similar vein, here, we critically examine ten claims frequently made by the UK governmental, non-governmental organisations, popular media and scientists in relation to the effects of prescribed burning of heather on peatlands. The ten claims are: 1. Prescribed heather burning causes a net peat carbon loss and contributes to the climate crisis; 2. Fire and heather dominance are a result of recent management changes; 3. Prescribed heather burning reduces Sphagnum moss abundance and peat formation; 4. Rewetting reduces heather dominance and thus protects peatlands against wildfire; 5. Cessation of heather burning results in wetter peat, less heather cover and no need to burn; 6. Seventy-five percent of global heather moorland is found in the UK; 7. Prescribed heather burning causes water colour and quality issues; 8. Prescribed heather burning causes flooding; 9. Peatlands offer huge carbon sequestration potential and are climate change ‘saviours’; and 10. Prescribed heather burning causes loss of biodiversity. We critically examine the evidence surrounding each of these claims and use our findings to make policy and research recommendations for those interested in the future management of UK peatlands and to facilitate an informed and unbiased debate. The key findings of our assessment are that: (a) government agencies and policymakers need to re-examine the strengths and limitations of the evidence base and be wary of generalisations around management needs and options on heather-dominated peatlands, especially for prescribed burning; (b) researchers need to fully account for potential site-specific and pre-enagement differences and limitations in temporal and spatial scales, especially in urgently needed systematic reviews; (c) in any future work, all major alternative management scenarios should be compared adequately and robustly to burning and assessed for short-term (disturbance) and long-term (trajectory) impacts across appropriate landscape scales, so that management effects (benefits and risks) on ecosystems, their functions and services can be reliably identified to inform policy
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