48,076 results
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Evaluation of Tangible User Interfaces for Desktop AR
Dünser, A.; Looser, J.; Grasset, R.; Seichter, H.; Billinghurst, M. (2010)
Conference item
University of Canterbury LibraryIn this work we evaluated the usability of tangible user interaction for traditional desktop augmented reality environments. More specifically, we compared physical sliders and tracked paddles, and traditional mouse input for a system control task. While task accuracy was the same for all interfaces, mouse input performed the fastest and input with a tracked paddle the slowest. Performance with the physical sliders fell between those two. We present these results along with various findings from user comments, and discuss how they may influence the design of future desktop AR systems.
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Literary-Historical Influences on the Novels of Sarah Waters
Robinson, Rae (2007)
Masters thesis
Victoria University of WellingtonIn this thesis I examine the influences on the historical novels of Sarah Waters. Waters uses multiple sources from the Victorian literary tradition to construct her novels and displays an awareness of recent trends in scholarship in selecting those sources. Waters uses conventions that were popular with Victorian readers and updates them for a contemporary audience, by focusing, for example, on gay and lesbian characters and on sexuality.
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Grain Boundary Propagation and Epitaxy on (111) Surfaces of FCC Substrates: A Kinetic Monte Carlo Study with Lennard-Jones and Iridium Potentials
Williamson, David John (2007)
Masters thesis
Victoria University of WellingtonA Kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) method was developed to model homoepitaxy and grain boundary propagation on a (111) surface. Barrier energies were calculated using the Nudged Elastic Band (NEB) technique. A recently reported inertial relaxation technique named FIRE (the Fast Inertial Relaxation Engine) was used to relax the NEB images. Both the Lennard-Jones potential and a Sutton-Chen Iridium potential were used and compared. A doubly-refined lattice mesh was developed to incorporate atoms in Face-Centred-Cubic (FCC) and Hexagonal-Close-Packed (HCP) sites as well as atoms in decorated row sites (i.e. supported by 4 atoms). A look-up table was developed to identify hops in the KMC algorithm. The KMC results show that a small difference in energy barriers between FCC and HCP sites on the substrate can cause a substantial bias in the direction of grain boundary propagation. We also investigated the effect of the geometry of the grain boundary on its propagation, as well as the atomistic processes involved in grain boundary propagation and the merger of grain boundaries. Our deposition simulations produced islands with loosely triangular envelopes, where FCC islands are rotated 180° with respect to HCP islands. The results are similar to scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) images of Iridium deposition, although lack of computing power forced us to use a high deposition rate and this caused some differences.
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Distribution of Marine Palynomorphs in Surface Sediments, Prydz Bay, Antarctica
Storkey, Claire Andrea (2006)
Masters thesis
Victoria University of WellingtonPrydz Bay Antarctica is an embayment situated at the ocean-ward end of the Lambert Glacier/Amery Ice Shelf complex East Antarctica. This study aims to document the palynological assemblages of 58 surface sediment samples from Prydz Bay, and to compare these assemblages with ancient palynomorph assemblages recovered from strata sampled by drilling projects in and around the bay. Since the early Oligocene, terrestrial and marine sediments from the Lambert Graben and the inner shelf areas in Prydz Bay have been the target of significant glacial erosion. Repeated ice shelf advances towards the edge of the continental shelf redistributed these sediments, reworking them into the outer shelf and Prydz Channel Fan. These areas consist mostly of reworked sediments, and grain size analysis shows that finer sediments are found in the deeper parts of the inner shelf and the deepest areas on the Prydz Channel Fan. Circulation within Prydz Bay is dominated by a clockwise rotating gyre which, together with coastal currents and ice berg ploughing modifies the sediments of the bay, resulting in the winnowing out of the finer component of the sediment. Glacial erosion and reworking of sediments has created four differing environments (Prydz Channel Fan, North Shelf, Mid Shelf and Coastal areas) in Prydz Bay which is reflected in the palynomorph distribution. Assemblages consist of Holocene palynomorphs recovered mostly from the Mid Shelf and Coastal areas and reworked palynomorphs recovered mostly from the North Shelf and Prydz Channel Fan. The percentage of gravel to marine palynomorph and pollen counts show a relationship which may reflect a similar source from glacially derived debris but the percentage of mud to marine palynomorph and pollen counts has no relationship. Reworked palynomorphs consist of Permian to Eocene spores and pollen and Eocene dinocysts which are part of the Transantarctic Flora. Holocene components are a varied assemblage of acritarchs, dinoflagellate cysts (dinocysts), prasinophyte algae, red algae and large numbers of Zooplankton sp. and foraminifera linings. In situ dinocysts are dominated by the heterotroph form Selenopemphix antarctica and none of the Holocene dinocyst species found in Prydz Bay have been recorded in the Arctic. In contrast acritarchs, prasinophytes and red algae are all found in the Arctic and reflect a low salinity and glacial meltwater environment. Comparison with modern surface samples from the Arctic and Southern Ocean show there is a strong correlation to reduction in the autotroph:heterotroph dinocyst ratio with increasing latitude. Todays assemblage of marine palynomorphs are more complex than those recorded in ancient assemblages and there is a lower level of reworked material. Acritarchs (Leiosphaeridia spp. Sigmopollis sp.) and prasinophytes (Cymatiosphaera spp. Pterospermella spp. Tasmanites spp.) are recorded in the ancient record in Antarctica as well as surface sediments in Prydz Bay, but there are very low numbers of Leiosphaeridia spp. and Sigmopollis spp. present today in comparison to the ancient record. Dinocysts in situ and recovered in Prydz Bay are endemic to the Antarctic but have not been recorded in the ancient record.
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Studies of the establishment of subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum L.) and the rate of breakdown of hardseededness
Wu, Ying (1987)
Masters thesis
Lincoln UniversityThe object of first experiment was undertaken to determine the best time of subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum) sowing in autumn. The effect of dates (6 February, 4 March, 27 March and 9 April) of sowing, irrigation or no irrigation and vegetation cover (high and low) on the emergence and establishment of subterranean clover, c.v. Mt.Barker, oversown into unimproved pasture was investigated on a Templeton silt loam soil at Lincoln College. With no irrigation, the best establishment of subterranean clover (74.5% and 81.5%) was obtained from 27 March and 9 April sowings in the presence of cover. Vegetation cover was vital for good emergence and establishment of sub clover under no irrigation. With irrigation, time of sowing and vegetation cover were not critical. A second experiment was conducted to determine the rate of breakdown of sub clover hardseededness in the field on a steep sunny slope facing north west in North Canterbury hill country. This involved two herbicide treatments (with and without) and two insecticide treatments (with and without). The seed (c.v. Mt.Barker) used had a high level of hardseededness. Germination rate was 6% just after sowing in February but increased to a relatively low maximum of 24% by May. There was no significant differences in total percentage of germination between treatments. Germination studies were also carried out in the growth cabinets using hand harvested seed stored in the laboratory or buried in the soil. The germination percentages at constant temperature of 15°C remained low at each different time of sampling of the seed and there was no differences between seeds from laboratory or buried in the soil. A study over five months showed that germination remained low at constant temperature of 15°C. However, the fluctuating temperature of 35°/15°C significantly (<0.01) increased the germination by about 45% as compared with the constant temperature at the end of five months period. It is clear that in the field, temperature fluctuations were insufficient to cause substantial breakdown of hardseededness, thus resulting in a relatively low field germination. A further experiment was also conducted in 1986 to determine the total seed production, level of autumn germination and fate of natural seedlings of nine subterranean clover cultivars (Mt.Barker; Woogenellup; Trikkala; Nangeela; Seaton Park; Tallarook; Howard; Larisa; Clare) in the same hill site as Experiment two. Total seed production and total autumn germination were different between cultivars. The early flowering strain Howard produced the highest seed yield and the late flowering Larisa the least. The best autumn germination was obtained from midseason flowering strain Mt.Barker. Autumn germination of Nangeela and Trikkala were better in comparison to other six strains. When the seedlings were measured after grazing on 10 July, about 70% of the seedlings recorded before grazing were dead. This was probably because of hard grazing and trampling by sheep.
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Evaluating a Regional Approach to a National Problem: The 'Pacific Plan' and Poverty Reduction in the Kingdom of Tonga
Cocker, Chesna (2007)
Masters thesis
Victoria University of WellingtonMany national governments today insist that poverty reduction is the central objective of all development initiatives and policies. Increasingly however, poverty reduction initiatives have shifted away from a people-centered approach towards a focus on macroeconomic growth via a neo-liberal agenda, often promoted through regional agreements, in an attempt to meet the development needs of nations. This research seeks to explore the effectiveness of a regional approach to poverty reduction within the Pacific, using the Pacific Plan and the Kingdom of Tonga's 'Strategic Development Plan Eight' (2006/7-2008/9) as a case study, to examine the extent to which regional initiatives meet national goals for poverty reduction and development. As an interpretive study, semistructured interviews, literature analysis and focus groups were utilized in the research process in which the contributions of policy-influencers in Nuku'Alofa, and youth and villagers in Vava'u were sought. This research found that Tonga's national development plan had been heavily influenced by the dominant approach to development as exercised by the Pacific Plan in adopting a neo-liberal framework for development, seeking economic growth via the liberalization of trade and markets. Additionally this research sought to examine the perceptions of living standards in Tonga by those interviewed and the extent to which the government addressed these. What emerged was a clear indication that while the villagers felt they were coping, basic infrastructure was lacking which would aid their ability to go about their daily livelihood activities and to offer further opportunities for livelihood diversification. The overriding theme of 'self-help' seemingly adopted by the citizens and perpetuated by the policy-influencers was a clear indication that the Tongan government saw solutions to the reduction of hardship as lying with the citizens themselves. This also pointed to a possible requirement for the government to utilize their resources towards meeting the restructuring efforts needed in facilitating the regional frameworks and processes of the Pacific Plan as well as adhering to donor requirements rather than in directing these towards much needed social spending. An awareness of Tonga's place in the world as a unique nation, but one experiencing change at a rapid pace, which at times resulted in hardship, was evident. The research also suggests that although a dominant neo-liberal approach is adopted in both the SDP8 and the Pacific Plan, it may not be a best fit to effectively address poverty alleviation and the reduction of hardship for Tonga. Key words: regionalism, Tonga, poverty, Pacific Plan, development.
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Independent journalism in the South Pacific: two campus-based media case studies in Fiji and New Zealand
Robie, D (2011)
Conference item
Auckland University of TechnologyTwo South Pacific regional journalism university publications, one digital and the other primarily print based, have developed innovative and convergent partnerships with the news media industry and have become strategic models. Founded in 1996, Wansolwara, the newspaper of the University of the South Pacific regional journalism programme, has embarked on a publishing partnership with a leading Fiji daily newspaper, the Fiji Sun. Auckland-based Pacific Media Centre, established a decade later, and its news offshoot with an Asia-Pacific focus, Pacific Scoop, is working in tandem with New Zealand's leading independent online media organisation, Scoop Media Limited. Both publishing ventures represent parallel media strategies to combat growing regional censorship represented by Fiji’s sinister Media Industry Development Decree 2010. This paper examines case studies of both publications in Fiji and New Zealand. It assesses their publishing profiles and contrasts their independent brands focused on education, environmental issues—particularly climate change and deforestation—human rights, resource development, social justice, culture and language with mainstream media within a context of self-determination and geopolitical strategies.
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The effect of androstenedione immunisation on superovulated ewes
Fitzgerald, R. G. (1991)
Other thesis
Lincoln UniversityTwelve ewes were immunised against androstenedione (with Fecundin) from a total number of twenty four. The other twelve were used as controls. No significant difference (P<O.05) was shown by treatment in either mean number of corpora lutea or pre luteolysis blood progesterone concentrations. This suggests there is no effect of immunisation treatment upon ovulation rates of superovulated ewes. However, other work contradicts this observation. The data also suggested that blood progesterone concentrations prior to luteolysis do not influence numbers of corpora lutea. Further research is needed to understand the role of antibody titre and its influence upon ovulation rates of superovulated ewes.
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When the law is silent, trespassers w... : law and power in implied property rights
Brower, Ann L. (2011)
Conference item
Lincoln UniversityA public seminar presented 18 August 2011 at The University of Melbourne, titled "When the law is silent, *trespassers w... : law and power in implied property rights" [*trespassers will be prosecuted]. When it comes to property, the law does not always rule. We looked at prices emerging from on-going and hotly contested bilateral exchange of property interests in land in New Zealand high country of the South Island. Does relative value of property rights exchanged drive prices? In other words, does an economic interpretation of the law drive prices? This question has two components: who owns what rights? What is the value of those rights? Empirical economics research is used to impute the value of the property rights, and four competing interpretations of the law are tested concerning ownership of property rights in this exchange. Found that none of the stated arguments about who holds which rights (and how much they’re worth) explains the observed pattern of prices. So we turned to dynamics of the negotiation, and other ideas of political economy to offer explanations of the prices.
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The effects, in healthy adults, of 'morningness-eveningness' on information processing speeds for visual and auditory input : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science (M.Sc.) in Psychology at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand
Pope, Denyse Rosemary (2011)
Masters thesis
Massey UniversityThe study attempted to determine whether information processing speed was influenced by morningness-eveningness preference. Prior studies have not found any ‘synchrony effect’ between a person’s chronotype and time of testing on information processing speed despite other aspects of cognition exhibiting synchrony effects. Thirty five university students aged 18 to 25 years participated in the study. Morningness-eveningness preference was determined by the Horne and Ostberg (1976) ‘Morningness-Eveningness’ Questionnaire, and information processing speed for visual and auditory stimuli was assessed by the Computerised Auditory and Visual Test of Information Processing (CAVTIP) which was developed for the present study. Participants undertook testing at two time periods, one deemed optimal and one deemed non-optimal according to chronotype (9.00 a.m. and 5.00 p.m.). Results indicated that there was an overall synchrony effect for the most complex task but not the least complex, however post-hoc analyses indicated that the synchrony effect was modality specific. For visually presented stimuli there was no advantage in the morning for any chronotype, but there was a disadvantage for morning types in the evening. For the auditory stimuli, evening types experienced an advantage in the evening. Possible implications arising from the findings are suggested. Keywords: circadian rhythms, morningness-eveningness, chronotype, information processing speed
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What Makes a Good Graded Reader: Engaging with Graded Readers in the Context of Extensive Reading in L2
Claridge, Gillian Margaret Helen (2011)
Doctoral thesis
Victoria University of WellingtonIt is widely accepted in the ESOL field that Extensive Reading is good for ESOL learners and there are many studies purporting to show that this is true. As a result, the publication of Graded Readers in English today is a major commercial concern, although David Hill (2008, p. 189), former director of the Edinburgh Project on Extensive Reading, in his most recent study of Graded Readers, comments that they are being produced 'in a hostile climate where extensive reading is little valued, practised or tested.' However, anecdotal evidence from teachers and researchers claims that learners do not read anywhere near the recommended one Graded Reader a week prescribed by Nation and Wang (1999, p. 355) to provide the necessary amount of comprehensible input for increasing vocabulary. If these claims and Hill's comments are true, there may be a mismatch between the kind of reading material produced for learners of English and the nature and teaching of the texts currently recommended by teachers and librarians. Such a situation would not only be a huge waste in terms of resources; it could also lead to the alienation of generations of English learners from a potentially valuable means of improving and enjoying language learning. My study investigates this discrepancy by looking at the perceptions of the main stakeholders in Graded Readers, namely the publishers, the judges and academics, the teachers and the learners, to see how they differ and why. As each population is different, the methodologies used in the study are various, making for an approach described as 'bricolage' (Lincoln & Guba, 2000a, p. 164). At the heart of the study are five case studies of learners, set against the backdrop of data gathered from all the stakeholders. As the results indicate that the purpose of the reading appears to govern the perceptions of the individual learner, I found Louise Rosenblatt's (Rosenblatt, 1978) Transactional Theory of Reading Response was an appropriate framework within which to interpret the data.
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People Power: The Everyday Politics of Democratic Resistance in Burma and the Philippines
Henry, Nicholas (2011)
Doctoral thesis
Victoria University of WellingtonHow do Community Based Organisations (CBOs) in Burma and the Philippines participate in the construction of political legitimacy through their engagement in local and international politics? What can this tell us about the agency of non-state actors in international relations? This thesis explores the practices of non-state actors engaged in political resistance in Burma and the Philippines. The everyday dynamics of political legitimacy are examined in relation to popular consent, political violence, and the influence of international actors and norms. The empirical research in this thesis is based on a grounded theory analysis of in-depth semi-structured interviews with a wide cross-section of spokespeople and activists of opposition groups from Burma, and with spokespeople of opposition groups in the Philippines. The research covers community-based organisations with broad memberships, including women’s organisations, student and youth groups, ethnic minority and indigenous groups, and trade unions. The thesis demonstrates that CBOs exercise a range of tactics in forming political relationships in local and international contexts, and emphasises the role of learning processes in the interaction of local and international norms in the course of political change.
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An investigation of the outcomes of psycho-oncology interventions : a thesis presented as partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctorate in Clinical Psychology at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand
Croy, Philippa
Thesis
Massey UniversityCancer can have a significant psychological impact on those diagnosed, and their families. The ability of psychotherapy to reduce this impact has been extensively studied internationally. However, New Zealand-based research in this area remains limited. The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of psycho-oncology interventions, provided by a New Zealand psycho-oncology service, in reducing distress and improving quality of life for cancer patients and their families/whanau. Eighteen clients (patients/family members) of the service (intervention group) were recruited and matched for initial distress and wellbeing with patients/family members located in an area without a psycho-oncology service (control group). Wellbeing, wairua (spirituality), distress, impact and coping were measured pre- and posttherapy, and at follow-up. In addition, eight intervention group participants were interviewed to examine their experiences of cancer and the psychooncology service. Possible key factors influencing the effectiveness of service interventions were also investigated. The results showed that participants who had access to the psycho-oncology service showed significant improvements in all outcome measures by the end of therapy. The majority of these were maintained 3 months later. Improvements were also observed in the control group. Reasons for accessing therapy centred on diagnosis/prognosis concerns, communication with family, and talking to a non-family member about their worries. Although clients had no specific expectations prior to therapy, previous psychotherapy experiences influenced their perceptions of its potential effectiveness. Therapists’ personal and professional qualities were also viewed as crucial. Five key themes were identified as most beneficial - receiving individualised support, talking to someone who was not family, receiving expert/professional support, regaining a sense of control, and service availability/flexibility. Overall, psycho-oncology interventions had a significantly positive impact on clients’ lives, and were viewed as being extremely beneficial for those experiencing cancer-related distress. This research provides a unique contribution to the limited psycho-oncology research in New Zealand.
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The courage to speak : how investigative journalists persuade reluctant whistleblowers to tell their stories : a thesis submitted to Massey University in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), 2010.
Hollings, James (2010)
Doctoral thesis
Massey UniversityInvestigative journalism is often said to be based on two pillars of information gathering – documents and human sources. Yet while document retrieval and analysis have received much attention in recent years, particularly with the advent of computer‐assisted reporting and Freedom of Information legislation, remarkably little attention has been given in the journalistic literature to best practice for developing and maintaining sources, especially reluctant, vulnerable sources with high‐risk information. This thesis uses a case study approach to analyse four highprofile examples of New Zealand investigative journalism based on revelation by vulnerable and reluctant human sources. Using interviews with both the sources and the journalists who persuaded them to speak out, it draws on persuasion and social psychology theory to explain the decision‐making process of the whistleblowers and establish a model of best practice for journalists wishing to persuade reluctant, vulnerable people to speak out safely and effectively.
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Empirical Analysis of Schemata in Genetic Programming
Smart, Will (2011)
Doctoral thesis
Victoria University of WellingtonSchemata and buiding blocks have been used in Genetic Programming (GP) in several contexts including subroutines, theoretical analysis and for empirical analysis. Of these three the least explored is empirical analysis. This thesis presents a powerful GP empirical analysis technique for analysis of all schemata of a given form occurring in any program of a given population at scales not previously possible for the kinds of global analysis performed. There are many competing GP forms of schema and, rather than choosing one for analysis, the thesis defines the match-tree meta-form of schema as a general language expressing forms of schema for use by the analysis system. This language can express most forms of schema previously used in tree-based GP. The new method can perform wide-ranging analyses on the prohibitively large set of all schemata in the programs by introducing the concepts of maximal schema, maximal program subset, representative set of schemata, and representative program subset. These structures are used to optimize the analysis, shrinking its complexity to a manageable size without sacrificing the result. Characterization experiments analyze GP populations of up to 501 60- node programs, using 11 forms of schema including rooted-hyperschemata and non-rooted fragments. The new method has close to quadratic complexity on population size, and quartic complexity on program size. Efficacy experiments present example analyses using the new method. The experiments offer interesting insights into the dynamics of GP runs including fine-grained analysis of convergence and the visualization of schemata during a GP evolution. Future work will apply the many possible extensions of this new method to understanding how GP operates, including studies of convergence, building blocks and schema fitness. This method provides a much finer-resolution microscope into the inner workings of GP and will be used to provide accessable visualizations of the evolutionary process.
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Investor psychological bias towards number preferences in stock price endings : rationality vs irrationality : a research thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirement of the degree of Masters in Business Studies (Fin) at Massey University
Wang, Amanda Ling Qian (2011)
Masters thesis
Massey UniversityConsumer reactions towards products that end with $X.99 have been heavily researched in the marketing literature. My study has found psychological bias towards numbers in finance prices, where there is a positive return for prices ending in $X.01 and a negative return for prices ending in $X.99 for the American and Chinese Markets, with the return difference annualised to 22.65% and 54.43% per year, respectively. I find there are more buyer initiated stocks for stocks ending with the digit 9. This is not the same as consumer psychological bias, where consumers consider prices that end with 9 to be much cheaper than those ending in other digits. Rather, the case here is a rationality response to psychological bias. This would also explain why I did not find excessive buys in the Chinese market in relation to lucky numbers, as is found in the marketing literature.
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Locally least-cost error repair in LR parsers
Cerecke, Carl (2003)
Doctoral thesis
University of Canterbury LibraryThis thesis presents some methods for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of locally least-cost error repair algorithms for an LR-based parser. Three different algorithms for reducing the search space are described and compared using a collection of 59,643 incorrect Java programs collected from novice programmers. Two of the algorithms prove particularly effective at reducing the search space. Also presented is a more efficient priority queue implementation for storing transformations of the input string. The effect on repairs of different grammars describing the same language is investigated, and a comparison of different methods of assigning costs to edit operations is performed.
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The press and society in New Zealand
Weir, Jim
Thesis
University of Canterbury Library“I know not what use there may be in the study of history, if it be not to guide and instruct us in the present.” Disraeli. In the year 1946 the British National Union of journalists made a request for an inquiry into the operations of the Press in the United Kingdom. That inquiry is now under way. A similar request was made in the New Zealand Parliament, but so far no inquiry has been instituted. Why was it necessary to make such a request? Or does a country develop the Press, like the Government, it deserves? Rudyard Kipling declared that the function of the Press was to act as a “king over all the children of pride”. More recently Wickham Steed has elaborated the definition. The function of the Press, he declares, is “to chasten the haughty and succour the week, to scorn the bigot and confound the sceptic, to serve truth without fear, to admonish the people and expose the demagogue, to chide the wayward and embolden the faint-hearted – in a word to provide sound comment upon public life in all its aspects”. This, says Steed, should be “the task of the Press and the source of its power”. Has the New Zealand Press lived up to these expectations? Or has it cult itself off from the source of its privileges and its power and become “a branch of trade” rather than an organ of public opinion? Wickham Steed declares that the commercialisation of the Press has proceeded to such a degree that it has become “the central problem of modern democracy”. It has the aim of the present thesis to examine this contention in relation to the development of the Press in New Zealand.
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Earthquake News “Geotechnical Damage due to the 2011 Christchurch, New Zealand”
Yamada, S.; Orense, R.; Cubrinovski, M. (2011)
Journal article
University of Canterbury LibraryOn 22 February 2011，a magnitude Mw 6.3 earthquake occurred with an epicenter located near Lyttelton at about 10km from Christchurch in Canterbury region on the South Island of New Zealand (Figure 1). Since this earthquake occurred in the midst of the aftershock activity which had continued since the 4 September 2010 Darfield Earthquake occurrence, it was considered to be an aftershock of the initial earthquake. Because of the short distance to the city and the shallower depth of the epicenter, this earthquake caused more significant damage to pipelines, traffic facilities, residential houses/properties and multi-story buildings in the central business district than the September 2010 Darfield Earthquake in spite of its smaller earthquake magnitude. Unfortunately, this earthquake resulted in significant number of casualties due to the collapse of multi-story buildings and unreinforced masonry structures in the city center of Christchurch. As of 4 April, 172 casualties were reported and the final death toll is expected to be 181. While it is extremely regrettable that Christchurch suffered a terrible number of victims, civil and geotechnical engineers have this hard-to-find opportunity to learn the response of real ground from two gigantic earthquakes which occurred in less than six months from each other. From geotechnical engineering point of view, it is interesting to discuss the widespread liquefaction in natural sediments, repeated liquefaction within short period and further damage to earth structures which have been damaged in the previous earthquake. Following the earthquake, an intensive geotechnical reconnaissance was conducted to capture evidence and perishable data from this event. The team included the following members: Misko Cubrinovski (University of Canterbury, NZ, Team Leader), Susumu Yasuda (Tokyo Denki University, Japan, JGS Team Leader), Rolando Orense (University of Auckland, NZ), Kohji Tokimatsu (Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan), Ryosuke Uzuoka (Tokushima University, Japan), Takashi Kiyota (University of Tokyo, Japan), Yasuyo Hosono (Toyohashi University of Technology, Japan) and Suguru Yamada (University of Tokyo, Japan).
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The Determinants of Career Success in the New Zealand Accountancy Profession
Whiting, Rosalind H
Working or discussion paper
University of OtagoSixty-nine experienced New Zealand Chartered Accountants (CAs), displaying varying levels of family/work involvement were interviewed about their careers. The primary finding was that those with the least family responsibilities, irrespective of gender, were the most successful career-wise. Overall career success was enhanced by high career aspirations, long working hours and availability to clients, hard work, high technical competence and skills, networking, self-confidence, flexibility to relocate if required and large size and growth of the employing organisation. Most influential were career aspirations and a long hours/available work ethic, demonstrating the pervasiveness of the male linear career model. Career aspirations, desire for responsibility, perceived ability to handle pressure, long hours, availability to clients, networking and possibly technical skills (in cases of extended leave) were all influenced by the CA’s level of family responsibilities and not just gender alone
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