Fashioning identities : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Sociology at Massey University

This research addresses the way in which individual and collective identities are constructed through fashions in the contemporary western world. The reciprocal and interdependent relationship of processually emergent identities, and fashion as a system of cultural representation, is initially established. The argument maintains that certain theoretical explanations of fashion have marginalised this component of the fashion process, and the aim of the thesis is to place the often contradictory junctures of fashions and identities in positions of central importance in the consideration of fashion dynamics. The argument critically reviews different feminist explanations of fashion, and the implications these have for feminist debates around gender and gender identity. The thesis further examines the sociological debates around modernism and postmodernism, and evaluates the contributions of this debate for both the study of fashion, and feminist understandings of identities. The research concludes that contemporary theoretical shifts in the investigation of fashions and identities are the fruition of a 'long revolution' in sociological theory and practice, which indicate important developments for the future resolution of critical problems in the theory of style and politics

Exploring the impact of telehealth videoconferencing services on work systems for key stakeholders in New Zealand : a sociotechnical systems approach : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Management at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand

Figure 2.9 is re-used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license. Figures 2.11 and 2.13 are re-used with the publishers' permission.This thesis explores how the impacts of telehealth videoconferencing services (THVCS) on work systems are perceived by key stakeholders in New Zealand. Telehealth - the use of information and communications technologies to deliver healthcare when patients and providers are not in the same physical location - exemplifies how technological developments are changing the ways in which healthcare is provided and experienced. With the objectives of improving access, quality, and efficiencies of financial and human resources, THVCS use real time videoconferencing to provide healthcare services to replace travel to a common location. Despite the benefits of telehealth reported in the extant literature, there continues to be difficulties with developing and sustaining services. The aim of this inquiry is to understand how THVCS impact key stakeholders in the work system. Specifically, it seeks to examine the characteristics of THVCS in the New Zealand context, identify the facilitators and barriers to THVCS, and understand how the work system can adapt for THVCS to be sustained practice. The research design is framed by a post-positivist approach and underpinned by sociotechnical systems (STS) theory. STS theory and a human factors/ergonomics design approach inform the methodology, including the use of the SEIPS 2.0 model. Forty semi-structured qualitative interviews and contextual observations in a two-phase methodology explore the perceptions of an expert telehealth group, and providers, receivers, and decliners of THVCS. These data are analysed using the framework method of thematic analysis. The key findings suggest that to enable sustained THVCS in New Zealand, factors such as new ways of working; change; human connection; what is best for patient; and equity need to be recognised and managed in a way that balances costs and consequence and ensures fit across the work system. Theoretical contributions to knowledge are made through the development of a conceptual model from the literature, exploring THVCS with an STS theory lens and developing SEIPS 2.0. Methodologically, this inquiry contributes a theory-based, qualitative approach to THVCS research and draws on the perceptions of unique groups of participants. Significantly, the findings make practical contributions to the design of the THVCS in the New Zealand context

Single shot, temporally and spatially resolved measurements of fast electron dynamics using a chirped optical probe

A new approach to rear surface optical probing is presented that permits multiple, time-resolved 2D measurements to be made during a single, ultra-intense ( > 1018 W cm−2) laser-plasma interaction. The diagnostic is capable of resolving rapid changes in target reflectivity which can be used to infer valuable information on fast electron transport and plasma formation at the target rear surface. Initial results from the Astra-Gemini laser are presented, with rapid radial sheath expansion together with detailed filamentary features being observed to evolve during single shots

Sex allocation theory reveals a hidden cost of neonicotinoid exposure in a parasitoid wasp

P.R.W. was funded by the University of Stirling, C.V.B. and S.M.G. were funded by Nuffield Research Placements and N.C., J.G. and D.M.S. were funded by NERC (NE/J024481/1).Sex allocation theory has proved to be one the most successful theories in evolutionary ecology. However, its role in more applied aspects of ecology has been limited. Here we show how sex allocation theory helps uncover an otherwise hidden cost of neonicotinoid exposure in the parasitoid wasp Nasonia vitripennis. Female N. vitripennis allocate the sex of their offspring in line with Local Mate Competition (LMC) theory. Neonicotinoids are an economically important class of insecticides, but their deployment remains controversial, with evidence linking them to the decline of beneficial species. We demonstrate for the first time to our knowledge, that neonicotinoids disrupt the crucial reproductive behaviour of facultative sex allocation at sub-lethal, field-relevant doses in N. vitripennis. The quantitative predictions we can make from LMC theory show that females exposed to neonicotinoids are less able to allocate sex optimally and that this failure imposes a significant fitness cost. Our work highlights that understanding the ecological consequences of neonicotinoid deployment requires not just measures of mortality or even fecundity reduction among non-target species, but also measures that capture broader fitness costs, in this case offspring sex allocation. Our work also highlights new avenues for exploring how females obtain information when allocating sex under LMC.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Influencing Change: When “Best Practice” Changes and the Prototypical Good Farmer Turns Bad

Twenty-nine farmers with a flock prevalence of lameness >5% were visited in 2013. They participated in a facilitated discussion on treatment of footrot, and evidence-based new “best practice.” One year later, farmers were revisited and management and motivators for change were discussed. Farmers were asked how they would persuade other farmers to adopt “best practice.” Initially, most participants were resigned to having lame sheep. They believed that prototypical “good farmers” (including trusted family) practiced foot trimming, the traditional “best practice” and that the new “best practice” would be expensive and time consuming. Between 2013 and 2014 lameness prevalence reduced from 7.6 to 4.3%. The major behavioral changes were reduction in foot trimming, increased use of antibacterials to treat footrot, and treating sheep within a week of becoming lame. In 2014, participants were re-interviewed. They reported that an increased knowledge of the evidence-base, trust in the facilitator and talking to other trusted farmers who had already adopted the new “best practice” overcame concerns about the prototypical “good farmer” and motivated change. Persistent change occurred because participants observed health benefits for their sheep and that the new “best practice” had saved time and money. Participants stated that other farmers would be convinced to change to the new “best practice” because it saved time and money, ironically, these were among the original barriers to change. This is possibly an example of cognitive dissonance because farmers had become positive about the benefits of saving time and money following a change in their own behaviors

Hornet: An Efficient Data Structure for Dynamic Sparse Graphs and Matrices on GPUs

Sparse data computations are ubiquitous in science and engineering. Unlike their dense data counterparts, sparse data computations have less locality and more irregularity in their execution, making them significantly more challenging to parallelize and optimize. Many of the existing formats for sparse data representations on parallel architectures are restricted to static data problems, while those for dynamic data suffer from inefficiency both in terms of performance and memory footprint. This work presents Hornet, a novel data representation that targets dynamic data problems. Hornet is scalable with the input size, and does not require any data re-allocation or re-initialization during the data evolution. We show a Hornet implementation for GPU architectures and compare it to the most widely used static and dynamic data structures

Pathways linking car transport for young adults and the public health in Northern Ireland: a qualitative study to inform the evaluation of graduated driver licensing.

BACKGROUND: Novice drivers are at relatively high risk of road traffic injury. There is good evidence that Graduated Driving Licensing (GDL) schemes reduce collisions rates, by reducing exposure to risk and by extending learning periods. Legislation for a proposed scheme in Northern Ireland was passed in 2016, providing an opportunity for future evaluation of the full public health impacts of a scheme in a European context within a natural experiment. This qualitative study was designed to inform the logic model for such an evaluation, and provide baseline qualitative data on the role of private cars in health and wellbeing. METHODS: Nine group interviews with young people aged 16-23 (N = 43) and two group interviews with parents of young people (N = 8) were conducted in a range of settings in Northern Ireland in 2015. Data were analysed using thematic content analysis. RESULTS: Informal car-pooling within and beyond households led to routine expectations of lift provision and uptake. Experiences of risky driving situations were widespread. In rural areas, extensive use of farm vehicles for transport needs meant many learner drivers had both early driving experience and expectations that legislation may have to be locally adapted to meet social needs. Cars were used as a site for socialising, as well as essential means of transport. Alternative modes (public transport, walking and cycling) were held in low esteem, even where available. Recall of other transport-related public health messages and parents' existing use of GDL-type restrictions suggested GDL schemes were acceptable in principle. There was growing awareness and use of in-car technologies (telematics) used by insurance companies to reward good driving. CONCLUSIONS: Key issues to consider in evaluating the broader public health impact of GDL will include: changes in injury rates for licensed car occupants and other populations and modes; changes in exposure to risk in the licensed and general population; and impact on transport exclusion. We suggest an important pathway will be change in social norms around offering and accepting lifts and to risk-taking. The growing adoption of in-car telematics will have implications for future GDL programmes and for evaluation

Autistic phenomenology: past, present, and potential future

We are now at a transition point in autism conceptualisation, science, and clinical practise, where phenomenology could play a key role. This paper takes a broad view of the history of phenomenological perspectives on the autism concept and how this has evolved over time, including contemporaneous theory and methods. Early inquiry from a clinical perspective within the tradition of classical continental phenomenology, linked closely to the consideration of schizophrenia, is contrasted with emerging observations of child development and a period in the second half of the twentieth century of scientific inquiry into a behavioural autistic phenotype where there was little or no phenomenological aspect; a phenotype that has determined the recent scientific and clinical conceptualisation of autism within current nosology. We then mark a more recent reawakening of interdisciplinary interest in subjective experience and phenomenological inquiry, which itself coincides with the increasing prominence and salience of the neurodiversity movement, autistic advocacy, and critical autism studies. We review this emerging phenomenological work alongside a contemporaneous clinical phenomenology perspective and representations of autistic experience from within the extensive literature (including life writing) from autistic people themselves; all perspectives that we argue need now be brought into juxtaposition and dialogue as the field moves forward. We argue from this for a future which could build on such accounts at a greater scale, working toward a more co-constructed, systematic, representative, and empirical autistic phenomenology, which would include citizen and participatory science approaches. Success in this would not only mean that autistic experience and subjectivity would be re-integrated back into a shared understanding of the autism concept, but we also argue that there could be the eventual goal of an enhanced descriptive nosology, in which key subjective and phenomenological experiences, discriminating for autism, could be identified alongside current behavioural and developmental descriptors. Such progress could have major benefits, including increased mutual empathy and common language between professionals and the autistic community, the provision of crucial new foci for research through aspects of autistic experience previously neglected, and potential new supportive innovations for healthcare and education. We outline a programme and methodological considerations to this end

Conditional Beliefs of Primary-Care Patients with Treatment-Resistant Depression

Background:Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) for patients with treatment-resistant depression (TRD) aims to reframe underlying conditional beliefs that are thought to maintain depression.Aim:To systematically explore conditional beliefs expressed by primary-care based patients with TRD, defined as non-response to at least 6 weeks of antidepressants.Method:Conditional beliefs (stated in an “If. . .then. . .” format) were extracted from a random sample of 50 sets of therapist notes from the CoBalT trial, a large randomized controlled trial of CBT for TRD in primary care. The beliefs were separated into their two constituent parts; the demands (Ifs) and consequences (thens). An approach based on framework analysis provided a systematic way of organizing the data, and identifying key themes.Results:Four main themes emerged from the demand part of the conditional beliefs (Ifs): 1. High standards; 2. Putting others first/needing approval; 3. Coping; and 4. Hiding “true” self. Three main themes emerged from the consequence part of the conditional beliefs (thens): 1. Defectiveness; 2. Responses of others; 3. Control of emotions.Conclusions: Identifying common themes in the conditional beliefs of patients with TRD adds to our clinical understanding of this client group, providing useful information to facilitate the complex process of collaborative case conceptualization and working with conditional beliefs within CBT interventions.</jats:p