Ignorance is Bliss: The Construction of Homelessness in Online News Media in Aotearoa/New Zealand : A thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Science (Thesis Only) in Psychology at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand

As an entity central to our society the news media provides us with narratives that we access as resources in order to construct our understanding of individual and global people, groups, organisations, and phenomenon (Silverstone, 2007). This thesis explores the news media’s construction of homelessness in Aotearoa/New Zealand based on articles sourced from online news media provider stuff.co.nz. The dominant narrative presented through the analysed articles is one that promotes a construction of homelessness that identifies this phenomenon as an issue resulting from individual deficits and personal failings. The narrative of individual deficit is supported through the use of ignorant framings of homelessness that are filled with hegemonic silences. These silences allow for a notable absence of narrative regarding the structural causes of homelessness as a social problem. Through predominantly constructing homelessness as a phenomenon linked to individual deficit the narrative allows for a construction of homelessness that supports the neoliberal ideals of New Zealand’s current right wing government and its use of a penal based welfare system

Formation of Nanotwin Networks during High-Temperature Crystallization of Amorphous Germanium

Germanium is an extremely important material used for numerous functional applications in many fields of nanotechnology. In this paper, we study the crystallization of amorphous Ge using atomistic simulations of critical nano-metric nuclei at high temperatures. We find that crystallization occurs by the recurrent transfer of atoms via a diffusive process from the amorphous phase into suitably-oriented crystalline layers. We accompany our simulations with a comprehensive thermodynamic and kinetic analysis of the growth process, which explains the energy balance and the interfacial growth velocities governing grain growth. For the $\langle111\rangle$ crystallographic orientation, we find a degenerate atomic rearrangement process, with two zero-energy modes corresponding to a perfect crystalline structure and the formation of a $\Sigma3$ twin boundary. Continued growth in this direction results in the development a twin network, in contrast with all other growth orientations, where the crystal grows defect-free. This particular mechanism of crystallization from amorphous phases is also observed during solid-phase epitaxial growth of $\langle111\rangle$ semiconductor crystals, where growth is restrained to one dimension. We calculate the equivalent X-ray diffraction pattern of the obtained nanotwin networks, providing grounds for experimental validation

On the diffusive anomalies in a long-range Hamiltonian system

We scrutinize the anomalies in diffusion observed in an extended long-range system of classical rotors, the HMF model. Under suitable preparation, the system falls into long-lived quasi-stationary states presenting super-diffusion of rotor phases. We investigate the diffusive motion of phases by monitoring the evolution of their probability density function for large system sizes. These densities are shown to be of the $q$-Gaussian form, $P(x)\propto (1+(q-1)[x/\beta]^2)^{1/(1-q)}$, with parameter $q$ increasing with time before reaching a steady value $q\simeq 3/2$. From this perspective, we also discuss the relaxation to equilibrium and show that diffusive motion in quasi-stationary trajectories strongly depends on system size.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures. References added and correcte

Wounding patterns and human performance in knife attacks: optimising the protection provided by knife-resistant body armour

Stab attacks generate high loads,1 and to defeat them, armour needs to be of a certain thickness and stiffness.2,3 Slash attacks produce much lower loads and armour designed to defeat them can be far lighter and more flexible.Methods and subjects: Phase 1: Human performance in slash attacks: 87 randomly selected students at the Royal Military College of Science were asked to make one slash attack with an instrumented blade on a vertically mounted target. No instructions on how to slash the target were given. The direction, contact forces and velocity of each attack were recorded. Phase 2: Clinical experience with edged weapon attacks: The location and severity of all penetrating injuries in patients attending the Glasgow Royal Infirmary between 1993 and 1996 were charted on anatomical figures.Results Phase 1: Two types of human slash behaviour were evident: a ‘chop and drag’ blow and a ‘sweep motion’ type of attack. ‘Chop and drag’ attacks had higher peak forces and velocities than sweep attacks. Shoulder to waist blows (diagonal) accounted for 82% of attacks, 71% of attackers used a long diagonal slash with an average cut length of 34 cm and 11% used short diagonal attacks with an average cut length of 25 cm. Only 18% of attackers slashed across the body (short horizontal); the average measured cut length of this type was 28 cm. The maximum peak force for the total sample population was 212 N; the maximum velocity was 14.88 m s−1. The 95 percentile force for the total sample population was 181 N and the velocity was 9.89 m s−1. Phase 2: 431 of the 500 patients had been wounded with edged weapons. The average number of wounds sustained by victims in knife assaults was 2.4. The distribution of wounds by frequency and severity are presented.Conclusions Anti-slash protection is required for the arms, neck, shoulders, and thighs. The clinical experience of knife-attack victims provides information on the relative vulnerabilities of different regions of the body. It is anticipated that designing a tunic-type of Police uniform that is inherently stab and slash resistant will eventually replace the current obvious and often bulky extra protective vest. Attempts at making a combined garment will need to be guided by ergonomic considerations and field testing. A similar anatomical regional risk model might also be appropriate in the design of anti-ballistic armour and combined anti-ballistic and knife-resistant armour

Cyclical quality assurance of examinations is critical but causality needs to be attributed carefully

The work of Khafagy and colleagues, reported in this issue, is a reminder of the need to undertake quality assurance activities for high stakes examinations, including the individual items that make up the examination. Quality assurance provides evidence to the candidates taking the examination, and to those who rely on its results, of its validity and reliability. It is also important for another, often forgotten, group of stakeholders: the item writers

3D-Mesomechanical analysis of external sulfate attack in concrete

The present study focuses on degradation of concrete by external sulfate attack. The numerical model developed by the MECMAT/UPC group, incorporates coupled C-M analysis using a meso-mechanical approach with discrete cracking, using the MEF and zero thickness interface elements with a constitutive law based on nonlinear fracture mechanics concepts. Examples of application are run on 2D and 3D samples, with geometries and FE meshes generated with a code developed also in-house. The numerical analysis is carried out using two independent codes and a “staggered” procedure. The first code performs the mechanical analysis and the second the diffusive/reaction chemical problem. 2D uncoupled and coupled analysis are presented and discussed. Preliminary coupled 3D results are also presented and compared with equivalent 2D results, and the differences are detected and analyzed

The Department of Public Administration Newsletter Fall 2017

This is the fall 2017 edition of the semi-annual newsletter of the Department of Public Administration\u27s Masters of Public Administration students, featuring news and updates on current students and alumni, faculty and department activities.https://digitalcommons.brockport.edu/mpa_news/1006/thumbnail.jp

Department of Public Administration Newsletter Spring 2017

This is the spring 2017 edition of the semi-annual newsletter of the Department of Public Administration\u27s Masters of Public Administration students, featuring news and updates on current students and alumni, faculty and department activities.https://digitalcommons.brockport.edu/mpa_news/1005/thumbnail.jp