Doctorat en philosophie et lettres / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

The thesis is the result of four years' work in mathematical education in Papua New Guinea. The first two years were spent in setting up a new Mathematics Education Centre at the University of Technology, Lae. A broad brief enabled the author to seek out the most crucial needs for the country and these appeared to lie in the area of basic number skills. Assessments of the situation and contributions to a changing attitude are described. This part of the thesis concludes with a critique of the role of a Mathematics Education Centre in a Third World country. The work had led to a conclusion that one of the priorities in mathematical education for the country lay in some form of adult numeracy campaign. At the same time the Department of Commerce had identified 'numeracy' as one of the prime needs for successful business development in Papua New Guinea. The author was therefore invited to spend a further two years in seeking to resolve this problem. The cheap long-life battery calculator became available at this point in time and provided the means for a possible solution. Its potential was appreciated and a grant was given from the Prime Minister's Nonformal Education Sectoral Fund to enable the author to research into ·the possibilities of adult numeracy teaching in the villages where 85% of the population lives. Detailed reports of the eighteen field tours undertaken are included in an appendix, together with some of the material specifically developed for the purpose. In this thesis the problems of organising an adult numeracy campaign in a country with poor communications and a limited budget are also considered. The thesis concludes with an attempt to identify the new style of teaching that will be required when a realistic use of the calculator is accepted as a normal part of the post-secondary and non-formal education system. This new style is seen to iriclude elements of the number skill teaching that was the prime concern of the first two years. References are made to the relatively few attempts to. teach adult numeracy in the Third World and also to some attempts in the developed world to meet the challenge presented by the incorporation of the calculator into the formal system of education.

This thesis explores the role mutualist pollinators and their symbionts play in the genetic structuring and speciation of their host plants along an elevational gradient in Papua New Guinea. Using the fig and fig-wasp mutualism as a model system, we employed high-throughput sequencing techniques to explore fine-scale population genomics of both fig and wasps along their elevational range. We found there to be clear lowland and highland clustering of tree populations along the gradient, often with a mid-elevation contact zone. In the case of the pollinating wasps, we retrieved the same clustering except in this case, the genetic difference between clusters was high enough as to consider them as separate species. This result supports evidence from other studies challenging the cospeciation paradigm of one wasp species per fig species. In addition, we explore ecological traits which may promote, or at least, maintain, reproductive isolation between fig (sub)species along with behavioural preference tests from pollinating wasps. In order to further investigate the mechanisms promoting wasp speciation along the gradient, we describe Wolbachia infection status as well as strain type. Wolbachia-induced cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI) is often invoked as a possible speciation agent since it can rapidly provoke and maintain reproductive isolation between otherwise freely interbreeding insect populations. Finally, we explore non-pollinating fig wasp (NPFW) diversity along the gradient for a subset of our focal species. Our study reveals that there is a tight relationship between NPFW diversity and host species, and a mid-elevation peak.

It has been a widely accepted belief in scientific and public discourse at the end of the twentieth century that cannibalism was the principal means of transmission of the disease call 'Kuru'.The study argues that other explanations might have been excluded from consideration, in particular, iatrogenic transmission.Circumstantial evidence in support of this proposition is examined.The work begins with an examination of the relationship between a number of diseases including, X disease, poliomyelitis, louping ill, scrapie and kuru through the first half of the twentieth century. Major themes of the work revolve around the boundary between research on animal and human disease, the complexities of research in this area, and the different messages that exist simultaneously in three domains: scientific research and publications, government and institutional archives, and the public domain. The thesis argues that the circumstantial evidence presented needs to be considered seriously and that further research in the area is required before we can come to a reliable understanding of the factors involved in the transmission of kuru / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

This research explores the experiences of young people, youth leaders, villager elders/ leaders, parents of teenagers, and government workers in Goroka, Papua New Guinea (PNG), to facilitate further understanding of youth development approaches and strategies. The study in particular investigates the possibility of establishing a link between relevant traditional youth upbringing methods and the positive youth development approaches emerging from the Western world. Positive youth development approaches are those strength-based approaches that promote young people’s capabilities to learn and strive in the diverse settings they live, in contrast to the conventional youth development approaches which addresses immediate youth problems. The National Youth Policy of PNG focuses on involving young men and women in meaningful activities in social, spiritual, political, and cultural development through participation in the affairs of their families and communities. The results of the research indicated that the Youth Policy’s objectives were never fully implemented in Goroka. This may have contributed to the numerous problems encountered by young people that include: confusion between traditional and modern cultures, poverty and hardship, drug and alcohol abuse, prostitution, theft, and unemployment. The enormous efforts by schools, churches, government departments, donors, and youth-oriented organisations to deal with youth issues seemed inadequate in relation to the contemporary youth population. It is evident that conventional youth development approaches have failed to educate young people that it is a viable option to return home and become productive citizens. Thus alternative youth development approaches have to be found to assist these youth. This finding points to a need to establish a link between traditional culture, whereby the whole community takes responsibility for guiding young men and women through the transition to adulthood, and positive youth development. It suggests further research should be conducted to determine how this might be achieved by building upon the existing youth development approaches and strategies.

This study focuses on the experiences of a group of educators engaged in a professional development program by distance education in Papua New Guinea. The participants in this study have been keeping professional journals, for periods of up to three years, about their experiences of distance education. Their discourses have been used to form a ‘connected group’ of research participants, who use an action framework to focus on problematic issues surrounding distance education in Papua New Guinea. It is a piece of research, framed by critical theory, and characterised by participation, collaboration, reflexivity, reciprocity and empowerment. The process of the study is based in dialogue, and takes the view that research is constituted of a transformative perspective, which alters the way research participants understand the multiple realities in which they live and work, arid ultimately results in improvements in their lived experiences. The nature of the methodology privileges Voice' and a discourse of difference from each participant which contributes to the problematic nature of the study. The study has concerned itself, increasingly, with issues of power and control in the research process, and this has resulted in significant changes in the research as participants have become more conscious of issues such as distance, dialogue and difference. The study has evolved over a period of time in significant ways, and evidence is available that teachers in Papua New Guinea, despite structural and pedagogical barriers, are critically reflective and are able to transform their practice in ways which are consistent with social, cultural and political contexts in which they live and work. A number of 'local1 theories about research and distance education in Papua New Guinea are developed by the participants as they become informed about issues during the research. The practice of distance education and professional development, at personal and institutional levels, undergoes reconstruction during the life of the research and the study 'signals' other ways in which distance education and professional development may be reconstructed in Papua New Guinea.

The D'Entrecasteaux Island (DEI) gneiss domes are fault-bounded domes with ~2.5 km of relief exposing ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) and high-pressure (HP) metamorphic gneisses and migmatites exhumed in an Oligocene-Miocene arc-continent collision and subduction zone subject to Late Miocene to Recent continental extension. To study the style of continental extension accompanying exhumation of the DEI gneiss domes, a grid of 1,518 km of 2-D multi-channel seismic (MCS) reflection data and well data is interpreted from the offshore areas surrounding the DEI, including the Trobriand basin and the Goodenough basin. The offshore study is combined with onshore geologic information to constrain the area's Oligocene to Recent basinal and tectonic evolution. MCS and well data show the Trobriand basin formed as a forearc basin caused by southward Miocene subduction at the Trobriand trench. Late Miocene basin inversion uplifted the southern and northern basin margins. Subduction slowed at ~8 Ma as the margin transitioned to an extensional tectonic environment. Since then, the Trobriand basin has subsided 1-2.5 km as a broad sag basin with few normal faults deforming the basin fill. South of the DEI, the Goodenough rift basin developed after extension began (~8 Ma) as the hanging-wall of the north-dipping Owen-Stanley normal fault bounding the southern margin of the basin. Rapid uplift of the adjacent footwall of the Owen-Stanley fault zone in the Papuan Peninsula accompanied the formation of the Goodenough submarine rift basin. The lack of upper crustal extension accompanying subsidence in the Trobriand and Goodenough basins suggests depth-dependent lithospheric extension from 8-0 Ma has accompanied uplift of the DEI gneiss domes. Structural reconstructions of seismic profiles show 2.3 to 13.4 km of basin extension in the upper crust, while syn-rift basin subsidence values indicate at least 20.7 to 23.6 km of extension occurred in the lower crust since ~8 Ma. Results indicating thinning is preferentially accommodated in the lower crust surrounding the DEI are used to constrain a schematic model of uplift of the DEI domes involving vertical exhumation of buoyant, post-orogenic lower crust, far-field extension from slab rollback, and an inverted two-layer crustal density structure. / text

Magistrantūros baigiamojo darbo tyrimų tikslas buvo nustatyti Naujosios Gvinėjos sprigėse (Impatiens hawkeri) plintančias ligas, kenkėjus, ištirti augalų apsaugos produktų ir augalų priežiūrai skirtų produktų efektyvumą jų daromai žalai sumažinti. Bandymai atlikti 2012–2013 m. R. Pauliuko ūkyje Plukių kaime, Panevėžio rajone ir Lietuvos Agrarinių ir Miškų Mokslų Centro filialo Sodininkystės ir daržininkystės instituto (LAMMC SDI) Augalų apsaugos laboratorijoje. Tyrimų objektas: Naujosios Gvinėjos (Impatiens hawkeri) sprigių veislės: ‘Paradise Logia‘,‘Paradise Moores‘ ir ‘Paradise Coiba‘. Tyrimų metodai. Tyrimai atlikti 2-iem etapais. Pirmo etapo 2012 m. tyrimuose nustatėme Naujosios Gvinėjos sprigėse plintančias pagrindines ligas, kenkėjus. Jų apibūdinimui naudojome vizualinį–simptomatinį, ligų sukėlėjų identifikavimui – drėgnų kamerų ir mikroskopavimo metodus. Antro etapo 2012–2013 m. tyrimuose įvertinome biologinių augalų priežiūrai skirtų produktų Mimoten, Funres, Konflic, augimo stimuliatoriaus Florone, augalų apsaugos produktų – fungicido Previcur 607 SL, insekticido Vertimec 018 EC poveikį sprigių ligų, kenkėjų prevencijai ir kontrolei, sprigių augimui ir vystymusi. Tyrimų rezultatai. Tyrimų rezultatai parodė, kad Naujosios Gvinėjos sprigės 'Paradise Logia', 'Paradise Moorea' ir 'Paradise Coiba' R. Pauliuko šiltnamyje buvo pažeistos kekeriniu puviniu, miltlige, netikrąja miltlige, pašaknio puviniais, dėmėtligėmis. Skirtingose sprigių veislėse šios ligos pasireiškė... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The main aim of Master studies research was to identify diseases and parasites that can harm New Guinea impatiens (Impatiens hawkeri). Also, investigate effectiveness and efficacy of plant protection and maintenance products. The investigation was conducted in the greenhouse of farmer R. Pauliukas in Plukiai, Panevėžys country and at Agricultural and Forest Sciences Center Gardening Institute Plant protection lab. Object of the research: New Guinea impatiens (Impatiens hawkeri) Breeds: Paradise Logia‘, ‚Paradise Mooera‘ and ‚Paradise Coiba‘. Research methods: Experiments were performed in two phases. First phase was performed in 2012 and major diseases and parasites were identified for New Guinea impatiens. Visual-symptomatic method was used for description of the diseases and parasites. Disease agent was identified with wet camera and microscopy. During a second phase we have evaluated biologically derived agents Mimoten, Funres, Konflic, and growth simulator Florone used in maintentance of plants. Also we have evaluated plant protectants fungicide Previcur, insecticide Vertimec effect on prevention and control of New Guinea impatiens diseases and parasites as well as effect on growth and development of the plant. Research results. The results of this investigation showed that New Guinea impatients ‚Paradise Logia‘, ‚Paradise Moorea‘ and ‚Paradise Coiba‘ in R. Pauliukas greenhouse were affected by gray mould (Botrytis cinerea), mildew (Oidium sp.), downy mildew (Plasmopara... [to full text]

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This research investigated teachers'perceptions, understandings and implementation of education standards in elementary and primary schools in Papua New Guinea. The main research question and two sub-questions were designed to explore teachers' perceptions and understanding of national standards. This exploration engaged teachers in identifying factors which they believed influenced their professional work. This study also explored stakeholders' perceptions of teachers' interpretations of national education standards. This study adopted social constructivist epistemology, symbolic interactionism, and ethnographic case study methodology. This provided the basis for its theoretical framework to purposefully understand human interactions within their culture and context. Social constructivism accommodates situated learning, a conceptual framework which was adapted to interrogate understanding and implementation of national education standards. A variety of research methods were used to elicit teachers' and stakeholders' perceptions and experiences of their professional world. These methods included in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, documentary analysis, field notes and observations. Most of the focus group discussions engaged participants to "tell their stories", thus storytelling became an avenue for eliciting teachers' and stakeholders'perceptions. Workshops conducted for teachers became another important strategy for data collection. Two schools, one rural and one urban, became case studies to understand national education standards as an external phenomenon. A total of 595 participants were involved in this study including teachers and pupils, parents and community members, school board members, members of curriculum committees, and policy makers. The study found numerous contextual factors influenced teachers' understandings, interpretation and implementation of standards at the school level. Foremost, teachers' own knowledge of formal education standards was deficient thus influencing their commitment to and enthusiasm in their professional work. Teachers' content knowledge and pedagogical skills influenced their ability to translate content standards into clear benchmarks for pupils' learning. The absence of effective monitoring systems of teachers' performance contributed to pupils' superficial assessment reports and of uncoordinated mastery of subject content and performance skills. The absence of effective school leadership affected teachers' commitment, attitudes and professionalism. This generated a culture of isolationism acute in both schools. Teachers were performing to hierarchically externally imposed requirements, and in the process, overlooked essential knowledge and skills that were needed to improve quality of students' learning. The national education standards are an inherited policy from the colonial administration. This study found that successful implementation of education standards is highly dependent on the social and cultural expectations of Papua New Guinea's rapidly changing society. At the local level, education standards are highly influenced by teachers' professionalism, provincial education boards and community expectations. This is compounded by the mismatch of priorities and policies between the national and provincial education divisions. Such a practice impacts negatively on the successful implementation of educational reform agendas. The study implies that a reconsideration of national education standards is necessary. This process will involve a rethinking of teacher education programmes, dismantling previous assumptions of national standards and local implementation, and accommodating challenges presented by economic, political, social and cultural change in Papua New Guinea.