Waitara : a sense of place in 1998 : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Resource and Environmental Planning at Massey University

This study investigates and describes "senses of place" as experienced by 13 long- term Pakeha residents of Waitara in 1998. The town of Waitara is located on the West Coast of the North Island in New Zealand, and at the 1996 census had a population of 6,507 people. On 15 December 1997, the town's main employer, the AFFCO freezing works plant, was closed. The effect of this closure on the town of Waitara has been devastating. The town has gone from a 'working town' to one in which the majority of its working age population are now' dependent on State support as their primary source of income. The primary objective of this study is to examine how sense of place is affected by economic restructuring. This study uses a combination of secondary quantitative analysis, to situate Waitara within the broad patterns of global and national restructuring, and in-depth interviews to describe 13 individual experiences. This research documents that economic restructuring does indeed change places. The closure of the freezing works plant has left the town marginalised and disconnected from national and global economies. But more importantly the findings of this study support Massey's (1994) assertion that there is no universal sense of place. The identity of places, and therefore our 'senses of place', are constructed through our contact with the outside world. Consequently, an individual's sense of place is unfixed, contested and multiple and changes in response to processes occurring on a local, national and global scale. Finally, this study challenges planners to incorporate local knowledge into planning processes. To focus on a more people-centred style of planning, where the community is empowered to take a more direct role in local decision-making processes

Arctic Ice Chess

Arctic Ice Chess is an interactive chess game about climate change and the Arctic and its related geopolitical issues that involve the emerging shipping routes and petroleum deposits that the melting ice reveals

Adaptation of the mathematics recovery programme to facilitate progression in the early arithmetic strategies of Grade 2 learners in Zambia

Research indicates that many children finish primary school in Southern Africa still reliant on inefficient counting strategies. This study extends the research of the South African Numeracy Chair project to early mathematics intervention with Grade 2 learners. It investigated the possible adaptation of the Mathematics Recovery programme to facilitate learner progression in early arithmetic strategies. This study aimed to investigate the possibility of adapting the Mathematics Recovery programme for use in a whole class setting, and to research the effectiveness of such an adapted programme. This study also aimed to investigate the extent of the phenomenon of unit counting and other early arithmetic strategies used in the early years in Zambia. This study was conducted from an emergent perspective. A review of the literature indicated that children who become stuck using unit counting face later mathematical difficulties, and that teacher over-emphasis on unit counting in the early years of schooling may be a contributing factor. This study used a qualitative design research methodology that consisted of a preparation phase, teaching experiment and retrospective analysis. The context of this teaching experiment was a seven week after-school intervention with a class of Grade 2 learners aged seven to eight in a rural Zambian primary school. Data collection and analysis focused on video recordings of a sample of 6 learners. The experimental teaching content focused on the Early Arithmetic Strategies aspect of the Mathematics Recovery programme. Although limited by time and research focus, this study found that all learners made some progress in early arithmetic strategies, and indicates that the Mathematics Recovery programme has potential for adaptation for early intervention in whole class teaching to address the mathematical education challenges in Zambia and beyond. This study also found that unit counting predominated in the sample learners, but that strategies were not yet entrenched, indicating this was a suitable age for early intervention. This study makes methodological contributions to a growing body of research into the adaptation of the Mathematics Recovery in Southern African contexts and suggests avenues for possible further research

New Exploration in the Chitral Valley, Pakistan: An Extension of the Gandharan Grave Culture

NoNew survey in the Chitral Valley has doubled the number of recorded Gandharan Grave culture sites in the region and extended their geographical range. The numbers and location of sites indicates that the Gandharan Grave culture was well established in the Chitral valley, suggesting that the valley may have been central to this cultural development, rather than marginal

Role of synuclein proteins in auditory function

The recent discovery of synuclein proteins in peripheral auditory tissues has prompted a closer examination of the role of these proteins in hearing. In the present study, auditory brainstem response thresholds of synuclein knockout mice are compared to wild type mice

A comparison of polymeric denture base materials

Since its introduction in 1937, poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) has become the most commonly used material for denture bases. This is largely due to its favourable although not ideal characteristics. One of the main problems associated with PMMA is the polymerisation shrinkage exhibited by the material. Injection moulding systems have been developed to compensate for this by continuously injecting PMMA resin at pressure throughout a carefully controlled polymerisation procedure. This study aimed to compare acrylic specimens processed by injection moulding and conventional pressure packing in relation to dimensional accuracy. Subsequent experiments evaluated adherence of Candida albicans to denture base materials. A cobalt chrome control denture base was used to fabricate stone moulds in which 20 injection moulded and 20 conventional pressure packed PMMA resin denture bases were produced. These denture bases incorporated 6 reference points between which sequential measurements were taken using digital callipers. Base plate adaptation was additionally measured by weighing a vinyl polysiloxane film to reproduce any discrepancy between the denture base and master model. Linear dimensional measurements revealed that changes in dimension did not occur evenly over the entire denture base for either sample group. Injection moulded samples exhibited statistically significant differences when compared to control in two of the six measured linear dimensions. Conventional pressure packed materials exhibited a statistically significant difference in one of the measured linear dimensions compared to control. Statistically significant linear dimensional differences were determined between injection moulded and conventional pressure packed materials in three measured dimensions. For injection moulded materials, the location of the injection moulding inlet may have influenced the dimensional accuracy For the weighed vinyl polysiloxane data, a greater weight of material was recovered from conventional pressure packed material samples than injection moulded samples. These data demonstrate that injection moulded denture bases have superior internal surface adaptation compared to conventional pressure packed acrylic resin. Squares of denture base material were produced by injection moulding and conventional pressure packing techniques. Self cured PMMA resin was additionally included in candidal adherence and surface morphology analysis. Profilometer testing determined self-cure resin surfaces had more irregular surface characteristics than surfaces of conventional or injection moulded samples. Conventionally processed samples exhibited the smoothest material surface. However, conventional and injection moulded sample groups were similar. Scanning electron microscopy of the three material sample groups was performed to determine surface morphology and patterns of candidal adherence and subsequent biofilm formation. SEM examination revealed variations in surface morphology and following 1 hour, Candida albicans cells were observed to adhere and aggregate within the various surface irregularities of all three materials. Examination after 24 hours demonstrated the complex intertwining hyphae evident on all the material samples, irrespective of initial candidal adherence patterns. No significant differences were observed between attachment of the 9 C. albicans clinical strains when tested independently against each sample group. However, comparison of the mean attachment of all strains to the 3 sample groups revealed a statistically significant difference in attachment capacity between conventional and self cured sample groups. Self cured PMMA resin samples exhibited significantly less candidal attachment than conventionally processed samples, indicating that material surface factors may play a greater role in promoting or preventing candidal adhesion that the organism per se. As the denture bearing mucosa is compressible and the achieved palatal seal largely dependent on the prepared post dam, small dimensional changes demonstrated in this study may be of limited clinical relevance to the success or failure of the material as a denture base. C. albicans were found to adhere to all three types of PMMA resin and if left undisturbed, Candida cells proliferated to form a biofilm upon all resin materials. Therefore, the observed differences in attachment are likely to be of limited clinical importance in the prevention of candidal infection without consideration to denture and oral hygiene

Immunoglobulin concentrations in serum and secretions of vitamin A-deficient broiler chicks following Newcastle disease virus vaccination

Chicks depleted of hepatic vitamin A reserves were maintained on diets supplemented with either 2 ug retinol, 2 ug all-trans retinoic acid (RA), or 0.2 ug retinol/g of diet. Chicks were vaccinated with Newcastle disease virus (NDV) at 2 weeks of age. Serum samples were obtained weekly for determination of serum IgG, IgM, and IgA concentrations. At 7 weeks of age, RA-fed chicks were further divided into three treatment groups. One group remained on the RA control diet (2 ug/g of diet); the other two groups were fed either 0 or 0.2 ug RA/g of diet. Chicks fed 0.2 ug retinol/g of diet were changed to a vitamin A-free diet. Chicks fed the retinol control diet (2 ug retinol/g of diet) remained on this diet throughout the experiment. At 2, 4, or 6 days after final diet changes were made, chicks were revaccinated with Newcastle disease virus;At 7 weeks of age, serum IgG, IgM, and IgA concentrations were significantly greater in the retinol deficient and RA control chicks as compared with retinol control chicks. Eight days after the second NDV vaccination, serum IgG and IgM concentrations were significantly higher in chicks fed a retinol or RA deficient diet as compared with chicks fed either 2 ug of retinol or RA/g of diet, respectively. Serum IgA concentrations were greater in retinol deficient chicks after revaccination but lower or similar amounts of IgA were detected in the serum of RA deficient chicks as compared with controls. Despite an increase in serum immunoglobulin concentrations, serum antibody titer in response to the second NDV vaccination was significantly decreased in chicks fed a vitamin A deficient diet as compared with controls;Secretory IgA (SIgA) concentrations in bile, intestine, and trachea 8 days after revaccination were lower in vitamin A deficient chicks as compared with controls. In contrast to the low SIgA concentrations in tissues, significantly greater concentrations of IgM and IgG were found in intestine and trachea of vitamin A deficient chicks than in controls;Serum IgG, IgM, IgA, biliary IgA, and serum antibody responses were greater in chicks fed diets supplemented with 2 ug RA/g of diet than in chicks fed an equivalent amount of vitamin A in the form as retinol

A comparison of gender, age, grade, and experiences of authoritarian parenting amongst traditional and cyberbullying perpetrators

In this study, we explore the differences between learners who perpetrate cyberbullying and traditional bullying in Gauteng with regard to their sociodemographic characteristics and the level of self-reported, authoritarian parenting they experienced. This study was conducted on Grade Six and Seven learners from four primary schools in Benoni, Gauteng (N = 279). Pupils completed an adapted version of the Revised Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire (R-OBVQ) and items from the Parenting Practices Questionnaire (PPQ), which measured the authoritarian parenting style. Results revealed that grade was significantly associated with both traditional and cyberbullying perpetration; Grade Six learners were significantly more likely to have perpetrated traditional bullying behaviours, χ² (3, N = 272) = 9.26, p < .05, and Grade Seven learners were more likely to have perpetrated cyberbullying behaviours, χ² (1, N = 272) = 5.96, p < .05. Age was significantly associated with cyberbullying perpetration only, with older learners more likely to perpetrate such behaviours, χ² (2, N = 272) = 9.24, p < .05. Both types of bullying were significantly related to self-reported, authoritarian parenting, therein suggesting that this parenting style is more prevalent in the households of bullying perpetrators.Keywords: authoritarian parenting style; cyberbullying; Parenting Practices Questionnaire (PPQ); Revised Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire (R-OBVQ); traditional bullyin