Background: To date, there is a lack of research that has focused on the needs of late cochlear implanted adults with prelingual deafness. The specific study aims were: (1) to explore the met and unmet long-term needs of late cochlear implanted adults with prelingual deafness from their own perspectives and those of the employees at SCIP; and 2) to identify a consensus of the most important met and unmet long-term needs of late cochlear implanted adults with prelingual deafness. Method: This study used a modified Delphi technique with two rounds. In the first round, nine adults who were considered experts on this topic participated in semi-structured in-depth interviews. The participants were five late cochlear implanted recipients with prelingual deafness who were involved in the Southern Cochlear Implant Programme in New Zealand, and four clinicians from the programme. The interview transcripts were analysed using qualitative content analysis. The results from the first round were used to inform the development of the survey for the second round. The second round of the study involved surveying the same participants who participated in the first round. These surveys were quantitatively analysed so as to discover which needs were considered important and met, and important and unmet for the cochlear implant recipients, from the perspectives of the two categories of participants. Results: The first round of the study revealed 42 met needs and 39 unmet needs that fell into 15 categories. Of these needs, 26 met needs and 18 unmet needs were identified as being important by a majority of the participants in the second round. Conclusion: The results from the study may impact potential CI recipients’ and their families’ expectations of what the device can provide, as well as the development of future services and governmental policies in the area.

No description available.

The personal essay provides a vibrant method of inquiry for exploring migration. Migration tests the individual on all levels and the personal essay bears witness to that lived experience in writing. In applying Montaigne’s maxim “What do I know?” to experience, the joint endeavor of trial and assessment coincide in the migrant and the personal essay. Yet to date, no study of how the personal essay and the migrant intersect and reinforce their parallel journey of discovery has been published. Emphasizing observation, reflection and synthesis, the personal essay provides a rigorous and innovative approach to investigate what migrants encounter firsthand. Both the genre and the migrant try, weigh and test experience for its value and significance in writing and in the real world. This study of the nexus between migration and the personal essay genre addresses a crucial gap in the research, a space of increasing relevance in a progressively more mobile and globalized world. Migration is a lifelong experience, and New Zealand is a nation of migrants. This research examines personal essays written by contemporary migrants to New Zealand from twenty different countries. By probing the roots and routes of migration, migrant essays address complex questions around identity and belonging to assess the lived stakes of migration. Migrants cross geographic, linguistic and existential frontiers, and their personal essays bear witness to the contact zones between self and other, self and text. The migrant personal essay reflects and analyzes experience from the outsider perspective and testifies to the dominant culture how belonging is predicated on mutual acceptance of the other. As this study demonstrates, the personal essay is the ideal genre to explore how migrants negotiate and assess the space between inner and outer, home and journey, experience and meaning – abstractions intrinsic to our sense of self and world.

This text is a venture in honoring principles manifest within conversations for being related. It focuses upon the relationship between culture and curriculum, combining academic discourse relating to the construction of identity, policy and curriculum with conversations undertaken with 42 members of a school community in Aotearoa New Zealand; the intention being to inform the project of teaching culture. This study contributes to curriculum theory by describing a 'language' for the processes and purposes of culture in education, and by modeling the principles of that 'language.' The 'language' describes the tone for conversations for being related, the assumption being that the speakers will contribute their own vocabulary. Principles of the suggested language include the following 'tonal' qualities: • adopting a global perspective of culture that honors particularities of the local context; • incorporating many ways of knowing culture and expressing that knowing; • developing non-oppositional interpretations of cultural difference; • perceiving the teaching of culture as a collaborative, long-term, holistic project; • affirming the coexistence of change and constancy in understandings of culture; • making explicit the teacher's curricular contribution to understandings of culture; • respecting the voices of community, voices that may amend and stand alongside the academic canon. In conclusion, this study suggests that while an initial premise of fluidity and complexity in understandings of culture is present in academic and community sources, so too are principles of constancy which emphasize relatedness. In order that these principles may inform understandings of culture in the teaching of culture, a revisionary perspective is needed towards the canon (particularly the sources of knowledge to be regarded as authoritative), and towards the research, interpretation and representation of understandings of culture. The development of a 'language for being related' is suggested as one way in which teacher and researcher understandings of culture might embrace diversity and equity issues in curriculum. This project contributes to the much needed discussion on ways in which 'culture' might work to promote a philosophy of education that combines many ways of knowing in conversations for being related.

A gradual rise in Earth's surface temperature marks a transition from the late Paleocene to the early Eocene ca. 58-51 Ma. Paleocene/Eocene boundary (∼55.5 Ma) sediments deposited in the midst of this slow warming ubiquitously reveal evidence for a massive isotopically light carbon injection and an associated rapid but transient global warming event, or hyperthermal, that has been termed the Paleocene Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) and attributed to a carbon injection from multiple potential sources. The PETM has gained importance over the past two decades as a potential geologic analog to the modern anthropogenic carbon injection and climate change. However significant questions surrounding the nature of the carbon injection at the onset of the PETM remain. The Clarence River valley, located in the Marlborough region, South Island, New Zealand, contains a series of outcrops of lithified late Paleocene to early Eocene sediments originally deposited on a paleo-slope margin. Within these sections, the Lower Limestone Member of the Amuri Limestone Formation records the interval of interest. A Lower Limestone prominent recessed unit consisting of multiple marl-rich beds and recording a pronounced negative carbon isotopic excursion (CIE) marks the PETM at sections that have been bisected by tributaries to the Clarence River, including Mead Stream and Dee Stream. Here I detail and discuss Clarence valley Lower Limestone sections and relate these records to global trends with an emphasis on adding constraints to the PETM carbon injection. Specifically, I document the lithologic and carbon isotopic expression of the PETM and two younger paired sets of early Eocene events that, similar to the Mead Stream and Dee Stream PETM sections, reveal negative CIEs and expanded marl-rich units coincident to identical CIEs and condensed carbonate dissolution horizons in deep-sea sections. I further quantify the abundance of bioturbating macrofauna trace fossils through the PETM at both Mead Stream and Dee Stream and argue that New Zealand margin intermediate waters became hypoxic precisely coincident to the PETM carbon injection. In concert, these findings suggest a PETM carbon addition mechanism capable of both diminishing intermediate water dissolved oxygen and of repeated early Eocene injections. / U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF); Joint Oceanographic Institutions (JOI), Inc.

ABSTRACT There has been a change in the nature of work over recent decades with an increase in the use of non-standard forms of work. Non-standard work includes for example the use of contractors and sub-contractors. These forms of employment lead to a greater vulnerability of the workforce. These workers are missing out on union representation, training opportunities and basic employment protection. This directly impacts the safety of the workers due to the confusing legislation over duty of care. It is often unclear who is responsible for providing occupational health and safety (OHS) training for these workers. It is for this reason the following report will attempt to gain a better understanding of the policies and regulations surrounding OHS in two countries. Sweden and New Zealand have been chosen as a focus for this research because they represent two different governing systems. The aim of this research was to describe what structures and policies regulate occupational health and safety matters in Sweden and New Zealand comparatively. It was also the aim of this research to seek insight into the policy conversation around OHS training in both Sweden and New Zealand. Three research questions have been used throughout the report to guide the researcher when selecting relevant documents collating the main themes and overall ensuring that the research stays on track. The questions are as follows: What structures and policies regulate occupational health and safety matters in Sweden and New Zealand? What characterises both the Swedish and the New Zealand work environment? What is the policy conversation around OHS training in Sweden and New Zealand? The methodology choosen for this research was a qualitative approach because greater in-depth  understanding for OHS matters were sought after. The research was focused around policy documents from both Sweden and New Zealand. The documents from each country were chosen because of their current and topical relevance to each country. The main findings from this research were grouped into five themes based on key termes identified in both countries documents. The five themes are as follows:  Work Environment and Regulation OHS Training and Attitudes Worker Participation OHS Research Longer Working Life Conclusions were made based on these themes. OHS regulation was found to be adequate in Sweden in contrast to New Zealand. In New Zealand there is a call for major reforms to be made to the OHS legislation because due to its lack of adequate coverage for the current workforce. The term work environment is used in Sweden and includes a more holistic view, compared to the term occupational health and safety which is used in New Zealand and focuses more on safety and the prevention of work-related harm. Inadequate training for safety representatives were found to be an issue both in Sweden and New Zealand. In Sweden safety representatives are entitled to sufficient paid leave to fulfill their duties including training, in contrast to New Zealand where the safety representatives are entitled to only two days paid leave annualy. OHS training was suggested to be a necessary component in many tertiary education programs both in Sweden and New Zealand. The suggestion was made to better prepare prospective managers who will have OHS responsibilities. Worker participation was found to be a necessary component of a well functioning OHS scheme in both the countries. It was not adequately regulated in New Zealand until the implementation of the Health and Safety in Employment Amendment Act 2002. In both Sweden and New Zealand new OHS research functions were suggested to be established. The changing nature of work is highlighted as a concern in both countries, because legislation does not adequately cover the new forms of work and is not conducive to OHS.

This thesis investigates the rhythm and mean pitch of the English of Māori speakers. Recordings are analysed from speakers who have varying degrees of fluency and socialisation in Māori. The rhythm and mean pitch of their English language recordings are measured and analysed in order to address two questions. The first part addresses the question, ‘Has the distinctive syllable-timed rhythm of modern Māori English developed from the mora-timed rhythm of the Māori language?’ Changes in the rhythm of the English of Māori speakers are measured over time. The rhythm of these speakers is then compared with age-matched Pākehā English speakers. The results show that the distinctive syllable-timed rhythm has indeed developed from the mora-timed rhythm of the Māori language and the use of this rhythm is related to the degree of Māori identity felt by the speaker. The second part is also concerned with prosody and addresses the question, ‘Are rhythm and mean pitch influenced by topic?’ This is investigated by topic tagging the recordings and comparing the rhythm and mean pitch of each tagged section of speech. Two sets of topic tags are used; Set One has tags representing five categories (Subject, Referent, Location, Time and Attitude) and Set Two has only one tag per topic. The results suggest that mean pitch is not influenced by topic but is higher in sections of quoted speech than in regular speech. The subtle variations observed in rhythm are highly individualised and are influenced most strongly by the referent of the topic and the degree of affinity felt towards that referent.

This study explores the Australian and New Zealand media-government relationship during foreign instability and regional military intervention. It offers a critique of print media coverage and political communication during the 2002-2003 Solomon Islands crisis and the subsequent Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands. By reviewing the Indexing Hypothesis and CNN Effect, this thesis considers media and government data from the year preceding the intervention. By investigating the media-government relationship in the Pacific region, this study builds on the literature that has so far primarily focused on American and European led interventions. Previous research has illustrated the advantages and limitations to specific methodological practises. This study has drawn from the current literature to form a unique methodical approach. The methods to test the Australian and New Zealand media-government relationship include content analysis, and qualitative techniques for use in four complementary tests. Findings from this study indicate that while there is some degree of the media using the political elite as a cue for newsworthy issues, the media appear to often report independently from the political elite perspectives. The political elite set the range of debate, and while the media stay within this range, they appear to sensationalise certain aspects of the debate. Government also appear to benefit from this media behaviour as it uses the media to gauge responses during the policy formation process.

New Zealand is an isolated island nation and more than 95% of its commodities are imported by ship, making New Zealand particularly vulnerable to marine bioinvasion. Its marine biota and ecosystem are unique with numerous endemic organisms, and it is a biodiversity hotspot of global significance. The objective of this study was to integrate invasive theory with phylogeographic studies on a native ascidian. This study was motivated by the introduction of an invasive ascidian, Styela clava to New Zealand. To date, S. clava’s cytochrome oxidase I (COI) data indicate limited sharing of haplotypes between the ports of Lyttelton and Auckland, and areas within Hauraki Gulf. The connectivity between these disparate sites may be a consequence either of common overseas origins via international shipping or local vectoring within New Zealand by coastal shipping. In this thesis I have examined the phylogeographic relationships among populations of an endemic ascidian, Cnemidocarpa nisiotis, to attempt to gauge the likely role that local vectoring plays in the movement of ascidians and other species among New Zealand ports. This study also provides the first population genetic information on a native New Zealand ascidian An endemic New Zealand ascidian was chosen as the study species because the use of an endemic species excludes or at least reduces the possibility of external input from overseas sites con-founding any patterns observed in the data. Furthermore, by excluding external input, the pattern of genetic diversity observed in this species might enable us to determine if local shipping pathways are homogenising C. nisiotis populations. C. nisiotis individuals were collected inside and outside of ports and marinas around Haruaki Gulf, Wellington, Lyttelton, and Dunedin harbours. Each individual were dissected and morphologically identified. Morphological identification of C. nisiotis matched type specimen (Chapter 2). However, preliminary results with COI haplotype network revealed three lineages (A, B and C) and such was the level of differences among these lineages raised the question of the possibility of a cryptic species. This 3 hypothesis was further investigated with phylogenetic analysis using both COI and 18S ribosomal DNA sequence data. Phylogeographic analysis of C. nisiotis COI molecular data demonstrated no significant population genetic structure, with a single common haplotype shared between the North and South islands (Chapter 4). Sharing of haplotypes was also evident between harbours in the South Island and within sites where population samples from inside ports, marinas, and natural habitats were not significantly different from each other. The lack of difference between the North and South Island for this species was surprising given that it was believed to have limited dispersal ability in the absence of anthropogenic movement. However, C. nisiotis displays a star-like phylogeny indicative of a selective sweep, population bottleneck or founder event followed by a population range expansion, thus the lack of difference between islands may be a consequence of too little evolutionary time having passed since the populations shared a common origin for differentiation to have occurred.

Abalone (Haliotis spp.) are marine broadcast spawners that inhabit temperate and tropical waters across the globe. Their importance as a fisheries resource has resulted in considerable research into key aspects of their biology, particularly around growth and reproduction. In addition, there has been ongoing interest regarding the genetic variation in both wild and hatchery populations. The majority of abalone dispersal probably occurs during a pelagic lecithotrophic larval stage. In general, oceanographic features, life history characteristics, and larval dispersal ability can manipulate dispersal and gene flow patterns of marine fauna. In the case of abalone, considerable research has examined the population genetic structure of a variety of species, and several papers implicate ocean currents and life history characteristics as important factors that define population genetic structure. In comparison to other abalone species, little information regarding the genetic structure of New Zealand's endemic H. iris exists. The goal of this thesis was to elucidate the genetic structure of H. iris using mitochondrial and nuclear markers in regards to two potential barriers to gene flow, the Cook Strait region and the gamete recognition protein, lysin. The genetic structure of H. iris was first examined in regards to a consistent pattern of genetic structure emerging in recent literature of coastal marine invertebrates around New Zealand: specifically, a north-south genetic split that occurs in the Cook Strait region (Chapter 2). Two regions of the mitochondria (totaling 1055 bp) were amplified across 477 individuals from 25 locations around New Zealand. A north-south split around the Cook Strait region was evident among H. iris samples. Unlike the other studies of New Zealand coastal marine invertebrates, the north-south split for H. iris was not located across regions of reported upwelling; instead the split was located across Cook Strait narrows. The north-south split was reflected in increased haplotype diversity for the northern samples. Genetic structure was also examined using microsatellite loci. After unsuccessful attempts at cross-species amplification using 8 loci developed for H. rubra and 11 loci developed for H. midae, 13 polymorphic loci were isolated de novo for H. iris (Chapter 3). Of these, three very polymorphic loci were optimized for population genetic analyses. These three loci were used to genotype 447–459 individuals from the same 25 locations examined with mitochondrial DNA (Chapter 4). Like the mitochondrial DNA, the microsattelites indicated population genetic structure around the Cook Strait region; however the split identified with microsatellites occurred in the greater Cook Strait region with two sample sites from the north of the South Island grouping with the North Island. Extrinsic barriers, like the Cook Strait region, are the primary focus of studies examining differentiation in marine invertebrate fauna. However, dispersal of an individual to a new population does not necessarily mean it can successfully reproduce with individuals of the new population. Potentially, populations may be diverging at genes essential for reproduction, i.e. gamete recognition proteins. The abalone egg recognition protein, lysin, is one of the best characterized gamete recognition proteins in marine broadcast spawners. Despite its well-understood function and structure, studies examining variation in lysin have been limited to small sample sizes (N ≤ 11) and have found very little variation. Here, lysin was screened across 287 individuals from 17 sampling sites around New Zealand to assess intraspecific variation and genetic structure across the Cook Strait region (Chapter 5). The majority of the variation in a 783 bp fragment spanning from exon 4 to 5, was located in the intron. The variability in this fragment detected no genetic structure among samples or across the Cook Strait region. The variation in lysin was considerably lower than the variation in either the mitochondrial DNA or the microsatellite loci. To determine whether this was an artifact of being a nuclear sequence, which, in general, have a lower mutation rates than microsatellite markers and mitochondrial DNA and a larger effective population size then mitochondrial DNA, or was a signature of a recent selective sweep, 857 bp of the Gα1 intron was assessed for genetic variation in 227 H. iris individuals from 14 sampling locations (Chapter 6). The Gα1 intron was considerably more diverse than the lysin fragment examined, suggesting that the relative lack of variation in the lysin fragment has resulted from a recent selective sweep. Additionally, the Gα1 intron was used to examine population genetic structure across the Cook Strait region and detected a weak but significant pattern of structure consistent with that detected using the microsatellite loci. Overall, the a priori tests of genetic structure based on mitochondrial DNA, microsatellite markers, and the across Gα1 intron all identified a north-south genetic split around the Cook Strait region; however, the patterns of this split was slightly inconsistent among molecular markers. When cluster analyses were applied the patterns of genetic structure became more similar: for the mitochondrial, microsatellite, and Gα1 intron data, cluster analyses indicate that only one sample from the north of the South Island groups with the North Island, while a few discrepancies existed in regards the grouping of samples from the east coast of the North Island.