Female reproductive strategies and mother-calf relationships of common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) in the Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Zoology at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand

This study reviewed the habitat use, social organisation and behaviour of common dolphin groups categorised by their youngest member, as well as the behaviour of common dolphin calves of different age classes. Most newborn calves were sighted over late spring and early summer, and in water temperatures warmer than for other groups. The water depths at which common dolphin groups were found did not vary according to the age class of their youngest member. However, only groups containing newborns or infants were sighted under 20 metres of water depth. A high percentage of groups encountered contained calves (82.5%). suggesting the importance of the Hauraki Gulf for common dolphins' reproduction. Groups of common dolphins containing calves were found to be of larger size than any other group type. All groups proved to be similarly involved in different behavioural states and showed comparable patterns of association with other species, although groups including newborns were significantly less likely to be seen associated with whales and birds. Groups of common dolphins as a whole did not show a differential reaction to the boat according to the age class of their youngest member. However, mothers and their young calves kept greater distances to the boat than mothers and older calves did. suggesting that the boat may be perceived as a threat during the newborn period. Most of the behaviours that characterise mother-calf relationships varied according to calf age class. The occurrence, frequency, duration and distance of separations increased with older aged calves. A similar increase was found in the time spent without the mother, in the occurrence of association with non-mother dolphins, in the time spent in 'echelon position', and in both mothers' and calves' dive time. Mothers also had longer dive times than calves. Older aged calves tend to present the lowest proportion of synchronous breaths. These changes are likely to represent a gradual increase in calves' independence. Results from this study have extended our knowledge of common dolphins' reproductive ecology, demonstrated that studies of mother-calf relationships in pelagic species of dolphins can he achieved, and allowed future research needs to he identified and management recommendations to be made

REGIONAL INCOME INEQUALITY AND URBANISATION TRENDS IN CHINA: 1978-2005

A long-standing economic literature has delivered rich empirical evidence on the relationship between economic growth and income inequality or urbanisation, since Simon Kuznets’ pioneering work on the inverted U curve hypothesis. This paper explores the relationship between urban inequality and urbanisation trends in China from 1978 to 2005, a period that corresponds to the economic opening up of the country to the market economy. One of the main issues, here, is not only to test the correlation between regional income inequality and urbanisation trends, but also to highlight the neighbouring effects of this correlation, mainly through the use of some new spatial analysis tools. This paper delivers two conclusions: firstly, neighbouring effects are stronger when it comes to income inequality than urbanisation; secondly, a distortion in development patterns, between northern and southern coastal China appears: in the first one, growth effects and urbanisation process spread all over the different provinces, while in the second one, Guangdong appears as a regional economic centre.INCOME INEQUALITY, URBANISATION, CHINA, SPATIAL

Effect of sonic boom on avalanches. Preparation for flight of a supersonic jet over the Lavay Valley

An experiment to determine the effect of sonic booms on the stability of the snow mantle in the Lavey Valley is proposed. It includes provisions for the aircraft trajectory, line of fucus, boom zone, as well as the determination of boom intensity levels for the whole valley

New Social Media and Politics in Thailand: the Emergence of Fascist Vigilante Groups on Facebook

Since 2010, Facebook has become a battleground between competing political camps in Thailand. Facebook groups like the Social Sanction group, tellingly abbreviated as SS, and the Rubbish Collector Organization, which was founded in 2014 and has attracted more than 200,000 members, have played a crucial role in the process of political radicalization. The aim of these groups is to expose political opponents by accusing them of lèse-majesté, which can result in a prison sentence of 15 years or more. The groups also serve as fora for hate speech and are increasingly used as a tool of mobilization for state-sponsored mass events by the authoritarian regime that came to power with the coup d’état of May 2014. Contrary to its popular perception as a tool for democratization, Facebook has been successfully used by political groups reminiscent of fascist vigilante groups. This paper analyses the genesis of these groups and discusses the phenomenon in a broader political and historical context

Competent uses of competence : on the difference between a value-judgment and empirical assessability

This article considers the concept of Competence as applied to educational theory and policy, and illuminates the possibility of significant variations in meaning. Referring to Wittgenstein’s distinctions between transitive and intransitive uses of notions and Holland’s description of mastery, the article argues in favour of two senses in which someone can be described as being competent: i) as expressive of a value judgment; and ii) as pointing to a person’s (formal) qualifications. While the latter opens a path towards different forms of measurements of competence, being competent as a value judgment eludes any such treatment. Making this distinction, it is argued that competence is a less illuminative theoretical term than, for example, the pair of concepts Bildung versus Ausbildung ((self-)subjectivation vs training), that has been used in the Continental tradition in order to describe a similar distinction. With examples from educational contexts, the article demonstrates that the moment educational theory is using one word for two meanings, this central distinction in education is either concealed or forgotten. Focusing on competence purely as an empirically assessable notion risks playing into the hands of instrumentalising education.Peer reviewe

Constitutionalism in Thailand: Key Questions of an On-Going Research

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Educar el juicio. Aprendiendo de la didáctica de la filosofía y de las manualidades

Teachers in vocational education face two problems. (1) Learning involves the ability to transcend and modify learned knowledge to new circumstances. How should vocational education prepare students for future, unknown tasks? (2) Students should strive to produce work of good quality. How does vocational education help them develop their faculty of judgment to differentiate between better and worse quality? These two questions are tightly interwoven. The paper compares the didactics of philosophy and sloyd. Both developed independently, but their solutions to how one advances the capacity for reflective judgment are similar. Central to this capacity is not merely devising efficient means to work towards pre-existing aims, but to reflect in practice on what one’s aim are and should be. This implies reflection on what future problems, as well as solutions to them, demand of us cognitively, socially and morally.Profesores de la enseñanza vocacional se enfrentan con dos problemas. (1) El aprendizaje incluye la capacidad para modificar conocimientos adquiridos a nuevas circunstancias. ¿Cómo debería la educación vocacional preparar los estudiantes para futuras, todavía desconocidas tareas? (2) Los estudiantes deberían producir trabajos de buena calidad. ¿En qué modo les ayuda la educación vocacional a desarrollar su habilidad para distinguir entre mejor y peor calidad? Estas dos preguntas son fuertemente enlazadas. El artículo compara la didáctica de la filosofía con la didáctica de las manualidades. Las dos se han venido desarrollando independientemente, pero la similitud entre sus respectivas soluciones para fomentar el desarrollo de la capacidad de reflexión es significativa. Tal capacidad no se centra únicamente en idear modos eficaces para laborar hacia metas predefinidas, sino implica reflexionar en la práctica sobre la meta que uno tiene o debería tener. Esto implica asimismo reflexión sobre lo que futuros obstáculos y sus soluciones requieren de uno en términos cognitivos, sociales y morales

VET and the “Competency-Tetris” : Inclusion of Whom, to What, and Where?

The purpose of the article is to empirically analyse how the idea of inclusion is portrayed within the boundaries of the “Competency-Tetris”: a metaphor that should not be confused with the Tetris® game but used to theoretically capture individualised, competency-based, and managerially governed Vocational Education and Training (VET). We argue that the meaning of social inclusion within and through VET is unclear and vested by the human capital doctrines and the neoliberal assumptions from which it is derived. Whom does inclusion in VET involve, and to what and where does inclusion take place? Employing a design-based research (DBR) approach, we used abductive applications to analyse data produced through participatory ethnographic observations in VET (N=32) of which counselling sessions (n=29), meetings (n=2) and a workshop (n=1) followed with subsequent semi-structured interviews (N=12) with VET counsellor and teacher practitioners. The results identified four abstracted themes: (1) Fitting the workforce auction; (2) Multi-professional support trajectories; (3) Inclusion of qualification measures; and (4) Social and cultural learning commu-nities. Concerning inclusion, the Competency-Tetris materialised as a social divider, providing the self-governing stu-dents a fast-track to the “work-force auction,” separating them from students in need of support in their learning. Be-cause of the “go-forward” engine, equal learning for all students faces a U-turn whilst the economic value accumulated in competency-based qualification measures is accentuated. Albeit obscured, another aspiration starts to take form, requiring inclusion in VET to concern major domains of life, human encounters based on dignity, mutual respect, and social generosity approached as part of, within, and through VET.Peer reviewe

Means and Meanings of Research Collaboration in the Face of a Suffering Earth : A Landscape of Questions

Peer reviewe