The occurrence and origin of salinity in non-coastal groundwater in the Waikato region

Aims The aims of this project are to describe the occurrence, and determine the origin of non-coastal saline groundwater in the Waikato region. High salinity limits the use of the water for supply and agricultural use. Understanding the origin and distribution of non-coastal salinity will assist with development and management of groundwater resources in the Waikato. Method The occurrence of non-coastal groundwater salinity was investigated by examining driller’s records and regional council groundwater quality information. Selected wells were sampled for water quality analyses and temperatures were profiled where possible. Water quality analyses include halogens such as chloride, fluoride, iodide and bromide. Ratios of these ions are useful to differentiate between geothermal and seawater origins of salinity (Hem, 1992). Other ionic ratio approaches for differentiating sources and influences on salinity such as those developed by Alcala and Emilio (2008) and Sanchez-Martos et al., (2002), may also be applied. Potential sources of salinity include seawater, connate water, geothermal and anthropogenic influences. The hydrogeologic settings of saline occurrence were also investigated, to explore the potential to predict further occurrence. Results Numerous occurrences of non-coastal saline groundwater have been observed in the Waikato region. Where possible, wells with relatively high total dissolved solids (TDS) were selected for further investigation. Several groundwater samples are moderately saline and exceed the TDS drinking water aesthetic guideline of 1,000 g m-3 (Ministry of Health, 2008). Selected ion ratios (predominantly halogens) were used to assist in differentiating between influences on salinity such as seawater and geothermal. Bromide to iodide ratios, in particular, infer a greater geothermal influence on salinity, although other ratios are not definitive. The anomalously elevated salinity observed appears natural but nevertheless has constrained localised groundwater resource development for dairy factory, industrial and prison water supply use. Further work may show some relationship with geology or tectonics, which could assist prediction of inland saline groundwater occurrence

The Aboriginal Flag

Is the Aboriginal Flag art? And, if it is, to what end does that claim serve? ‘Art’ is not a helpful noun, and certainly a risky one on which to base an argument. Yet, to fail to read the Aboriginal Flag as art – or, more precisely, to fail to read it as Indigenous activist art – is to fail to understand the Aboriginal Flag, and more broadly the role of culture in Indigenous activism, post European settlement. The Aboriginal Flag’s Indigenous and Western art epistemologies are instrumental in shaping its form and semantics. As Aboriginal art, the flag represents a continuum with traditional Aboriginal themes and aesthetic values. In a Western context, it is read as a flag, and it exists as a mass-produced object. In all its guises the Aboriginal Flag has melded itself into many aspects of popular imagination and become one of Australia’s significant symbols. The contested history of the Aboriginal Flag – evident in the passion it evokes on both sides of Australia’s race-based cultural divide – demonstrates that both white and black Australians understand the Aboriginal Flag to be a powerful political symbol. The Aboriginal Flag is therefore two things simultaneously: a work of art and an activist symbol. As a successful pairing, this alliance is rare because each entity or discipline has different values and agendas: activism seeks to bring about social change, art-making is concerned with the subject of art. To confuse matters further, as a work of social and political art the Aboriginal Flag achieves something very rare: it brings about social change. Understood in this way, the Aboriginal Flag has three conceptualising foundations: art, activism and social change. In its totality, the Aboriginal Flag represents evidence of a particular type of art – of which it is exemplary – that remains largely unrecognised as an artistic genre. In light of these factors, it is necessary to define the Aboriginal Flag as distinct from other social and political contemporary works of art that have emerged in recent decades. These art-based interpretations of the Aboriginal Flag constitute the architecture or, more precisely, the armature of this thesis. They give form and structure to the flag’s histories and meanings that in their totality form a cohesive reading of the Aboriginal Flag that is whole and distinctly Indigenous

Debating Lapita: Distribution, chronology, society and subsistence

‘This volume is the most comprehensive review of Lapita research to date, tackling many of the lingering questions regarding origin and dispersal. Multidisciplinary in nature with a focus on summarising new findings, but also identifying important gaps that can help direct future research.’ — Professor Scott Fitzpatrick, Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon ‘This substantial volume offers a welcome update on the definition of the Lapita culture. It significantly refreshes the knowledge on this foundational archaeological culture of the Pacific Islands in providing new data on sites and assemblages, and new discussions of hypotheses previously proposed.’ — Dr Frédérique Valentin, Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS), Paris This volume comprises 23 chapters that focus on the archaeology of Lapita, a cultural horizon associated with the founding populations who first colonised much of the south west Pacific some 3000 years ago. The Lapita culture has been most clearly defined by its distinctive dentate-stamped decorated pottery and the design system represented on it and on further incised pots. Modern research now encompasses a whole range of aspects associated with Lapita and this is reflected in this volume. The broad overlapping themes of the volume—Lapita distribution and chronology, society and subsistence—relate to research questions that have long been debated in relation to Lapita

Intelligent Sensor Networks

In the last decade, wireless or wired sensor networks have attracted much attention. However, most designs target general sensor network issues including protocol stack (routing, MAC, etc.) and security issues. This book focuses on the close integration of sensing, networking, and smart signal processing via machine learning. Based on their world-class research, the authors present the fundamentals of intelligent sensor networks. They cover sensing and sampling, distributed signal processing, and intelligent signal learning. In addition, they present cutting-edge research results from leading experts

Indigenous Participation in Australian Economies II: Historical engagements and current enterprises

This is the second volume to emerge from a project on Indigenous participation in the Australian economy, funded by an Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Grant, and involving the cooperation of the School of Archaeology and Anthropology at The Australian National University and the National Museum of Australia. The Chief Investigators were Ian Keen, Chris Lloyd, Anthony Redmond, the Partner Investigator was Mike Pickering, Fiona Skyring was an associate researcher on the project, and Natasha Fijn was research assistant. The present volume arises out of a conference in Canberra on Indigenous Participation in Australian Economies at the National Museum of Australia on 9–10 November 2009, which attracted more than thirty presenters. The diverse themes included histories of economic relations, the role of camels and dingoes in Indigenous–settler relations, material culture and the economy, the economies of communities from missions and stations to fringe camps and towns, the transitions from payment-in-kind to wage economies and Community Development Employment Projects, the issue of unpaid and stolen wages, local enterprises, and conflicts over development. Sixteen of those papers have been developed as chapters in this volume, together with a foreword by Professor Jon Altman. This book comprises a companion volume to Indigenous Participation in Australian Economies: Historical and Anthropological Perspectives, published by ANU E Press in 2010

Human-Computer Interaction

In this book the reader will find a collection of 31 papers presenting different facets of Human Computer Interaction, the result of research projects and experiments as well as new approaches to design user interfaces. The book is organized according to the following main topics in a sequential order: new interaction paradigms, multimodality, usability studies on several interaction mechanisms, human factors, universal design and development methodologies and tools

International Perspectives of Distance Learning in Higher Education

This book, written by authors representing 12 countries and five continents, is a collection of international perspectives on distance learning and distance learning implementations in higher education. The perspectives are presented in the form of practical case studies of distance learning implementations, research studies on teaching and learning in distance learning environments, and conceptual and theoretical frameworks for designing and developing distance learning tools, courses and programs. The book will appeal to distance learning practitioners, researchers, and higher education administrators. To address the different needs and interests of audience members, the book is organized into five sections: Distance Education Management, Distance Education and Teacher Development, Distance Learning Pedagogy, Distance Learning Students, and Distance Learning Educational Tools

Evidence-based eLearning Design: Develop and Trial a Prototype Software Instrument for Evaluating the Quality of eLearning Design Within a Framework of Cognitive Load Theory

A major research direction within higher education in Australia and internationally is the evaluation of learning design quality and the extent to which the design–teaching–learning–evaluation cycle is evidence based. The quest for increased evidence-based learning design, which has been influenced by evidence-based medical research standards, is driven by its link to improved learning outcomes, higher learner engagement levels and lower attrition rates. Cognitive Load Theory (CLT) has risen to prominence over the past three decades as an evidence-based framework for informing instructional design in traditional, blended and multimedia learning environments. CLT approaches learning from the perspective of engaging specific strategies to manage the loads imposed on a limited working memory in order to form and automate long-term memory schemas. CLT operates on the premise that optimal learning conditions may be obtained by aligning pedagogical strategies with the structure and functions of human cognitive architecture and the individual learner’s prior knowledge. CLT has contributed a suite of strategies derived from a unified model of human cognitive architecture and validated through randomised controlled trial (RCT) experiments as exerting strengthening effects on learning, thus suiting the CLT framework for use as an evidence-based standard in this study. Up to this point, a single digital system has not yet been developed for managing, monitoring and evaluating the implementation and impact of CLT strategies at scale. The key contribution of this study is a new prototype software instrument called Cognitive Load Evaluation Management System (CLEMS) that addresses this issue and also provides a model for its implementation. CLEMS is underpinned by a personalised model of teacher–learner interactions defined as mediative–adaptive in nature that includes diagnostic conversations (DCs) for identifying barriers to learning, interventions called Nodes of Expertise (NOEs) for advancing learners to new levels of understanding of complex knowledge, and validation conversations (VCs) for evaluating learner progress. In addition, the heutagogical or self-directed learning capability of learners, including motivation, has been brought to the fore as a significant factor contributing to schema automation. A qualitative Design-based Research (DBR) methodological approach was used to develop CLEMS, which emerged over three research iterations through the synthesis of literature review findings and empirical data from expert focus groups. Emergent data was continuously triangulated between research iterations and ongoing literature reviews to refine the design and development of CLEMS from a theoretical model to an operational digital prototype. The conceptual framework of the study has been derived from Critical Realism (CR) which posits an ontological–epistemological view of reality that is stratified and multi-mechanistic, thus aligning with the complex nature of authentic learning environments as well as the multi-faceted model of human cognitive architecture contributed by CLT. The implications of the study have been discussed with reference to stakeholders including teachers, learners and educational institutions. Recommendations for future research include the ongoing development of CLEMS for the systematic implementation of CLT strategies at scale.Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Education, 202