Massey Documents by Type
Permanent URI for this communityhttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/294
Browse
814 results
Search Results
Item Publications on aspects of veterinary public health(Massey University, 1989) Blackmore, DKThis application, to be examined for the degree of Doctor of Science (Massey University), is based on work which could be broadly classified under the heading of veterinary public health. The 1956 W.H.O. definition of veterinary public health is "the utilisation of veterinary medical arts and sciences in the prevention of disease, protecting life, and promoting the wellbeing and efficiency of man." The scope of the subject is therefore wide and of a multidisciplinary nature. The applicant was formally appointed to promote the discipline of veterinary public health at Massey University in 1973. However, he has had a major interest in the topic since becoming involved in insecticide toxicity in the early 1960's. This interest led to the development of animal models for the study of human infectious disease, particularly cariogenic streptococci, and the use of gnotobiotic techniques. [From Preface]Item Environmental physiology : effects on plant growth and development : application for the degree of Doctor of Science from Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand(Massey University, 1988) Warrington, Ian JamesThe research papers selected in this application for the Degree of Doctor of Science (Massey University) are based on original research in the field of environmental physiology, especially in the areas of spectral quality, photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD - "light intensity"), photoperiod (daylength), and temperature (including freezing stress) and their effects on plant growth and development. The aim of this research has been to study how these factors of the environment influence plant growth form and function. The work has been carried out using a combination of controlled environment technology and field based research.Item Studies on the fertility and breeding management of New Zealand dairy cows : a thesis presented to Massey University as a requirement for the degree of Doctor of Science(Massey University, 1982) Macmillan, K. L.This thesis reviews an extensive research program on the fertility of dairy catt1e in New Zealand. Most of the work was completed between 1967 and 1977. It involved studying numerous basic aspects of reproductive physiology by analysing extensive amounts of data either lodged within a large centralised recording system, or produced through the participating cooperation of herd owners or inseminators. New concepts were developed and old recommendations sometimes found to be inappropriate.Item A study of the effects of plant spacing and irrigation on seed production and seed development in Siratro (Macroptilium atropurpureum) : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Seed Technology at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand(Massey University, 1983) Juntakool, SunantaSince 1980 the Thai government has been interested and active in increasing livestock production by improving the productivity and quality of natural and sown grassland. The introduction of forage legumes, particularly Siratro (Macroptilium atropurpureum), is one of the ways in which this can and is being achieved. The present study was carried out in two parts - the first involving two field trials conducted in Thailand during the wet and the dry season, and the second involving a controlled climate study at Palmerston North (N.Z.). The aim of the field trials was to investigate the effects of plant spacing, and during the dry season the effect of irrigation on Siratro seed production. In the controlled climate study a more detailed investigation was undertaken of the effects of water stress on plant growth and development and subsequent effects on seed yield. Particular attention was also given to relevant aspects of seed development in the latter study. Irrigation during the dry season produced relatively small but significant increases in plant dry weight and LAI and led to a significant increase in seed yield by the final harvest 40 days after peak flowering. By comparison, plant spacing had a marked effect on plant components and seed yield showing a negative response on a per plant basis but a positive response on a per unit area basis with increasing plant density. During the longer growing period of the wet season experiment, plant growth was substantial and again showed the same significant responses to increasing plant density stated above. Maximum seed yield per hectare was achieved at very high plant population densities approximately 15 x 15 cm spacings. The major contributions to seed yield in both trials were inflorescence numbers and especially pod numbers, reflecting their sensitivity to water stress and plant competition. Numbers of seeds per pod and individual seed weight were relatively insensitive to those environ mental factors. The growth room study clearly showed that early and extended soil moisture stress can cause a severe reduction in plant weight, branch development, leaf number and LAI, leading to a significant reduction in seed yield. However, soil moisture stress imposed at peak flowering resulted in a significant increase in seed yield compared with adequate moisture to final harvest. This beneficial effect was again due mainly to the increase in the number of inflorescences and pods formed on the primary and particularly the secondary branches. Numbers of seeds per pod and individual seed weight were again unaffected by water stress. The development of Siratro seed followed two obvious phases viz the growth and food reserve.accumulation phase and the ripening phase. Water stress reduced the time from anthesis to seed maturity and increased the percentage of hard seed at harvest when imposed early at the mid- vegetative stage. Plant spacing and irrigation had little or no effect on seed quality characteristics of Siratro, as quality appeared to be more dependent on stage of maturity. High seed quality can be achieved by harvesting Siratro 20 - 30 days after peak flowering. The possibility of growing Siratro for seed production in Thailand is also discussed.Item Selected defoliation studies on butternut Cucurbita moschata, Duchesne cv. Waltham : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Agricultural Science in Plant Physiology at Massey University(Massey University, 1986) Syed Ibrahim, Syed MohdA field experiment was carried out in the summer 1985/84 at Massey University Campus, Palmerston, New Zealand, to study the effect of selective defoliation on both growth and partitioning of dry matter during reproductive growth in Butternut (Cucurbita moschata, Dunchesne). The plants were trained to grow toward one direction, with one main vine through regular pruning of side branching. Defoliations was carried out at early flowering growth stage, leaving the treated plants with one, two or three block of leaves, at different positions, with different combinations on the stem. Each block has equall number on node, determined at the time of treatment. Newly developed leaves within the defoliated plant section were regularly removed. Results showed that removal of basal leaves block significantly increased the total dry weight and yield by 25% and 30% respectively. This was attributed to the high unit leaf rate and leaf area duration in the later period. Removal of one or more block of leaves from other part of the stem, all reduced plant growth and yield The Butternut plants exhibited a very stable pattern of dry matter partitioning between their organs. The sign of "recovery" which resulted in the proportion of dry matter found in each organs similar to that of CON plants, was observed at the first harvest (7 days) after defoliation. Partitioning of dry matter to fruits was observed to become stronger toward the end of growing period irrespective of pattern of defoliations. The pattern of fruit distributions on the plant was strongly influenced by the position of leaves. At final harvest higher total fruit dry weight and fruit number was found on the stem section with leaves presence. High number of fruit abortions reduced the yield in the stem section without leaves. The overall plant growth was strongly influenced by the age and the total area of leaf present on the plant after defoliation. Plants with more proportion of younger leaves grew better than plants with older leaves.Item Plastic Packaging in the Marine Environment(Department of Conservation, 1989) McNeill, JItem Women's perceptions of their health, family and personal needs in a rural area : some implications for social work practice : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Social Work at Massey University(Massey University, 1987) McIntyre, AnnA democratic - socialist, feminist perspective was adopted to undertake an in-depth investigation of the social requirements and support needs of a group of 50 women living in the rural Far North. Critical health, family and community support service needs were identified using qualitative research techniques. An analysis of the information so derived highlighted a range of difficulties experienced by women living in the rural area. These difficulties included isolation, access, inequality, poverty, unemployment and pervasive sexist attitudes among key service providers. Certain conclusions were made, particularly with respect to the practice of social work in rural areas and the training of future social workers. It is also clear that further research into the consequences of inadequate social services in rural areas should be undertaken.Item Unrealised plans : the New Zealand Company in the Manawatu, 1841-1844 : a research exercise presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Diploma in Social Sciences in History at Massey University(Massey University, 1988) Krivan, MarkThe New Zealand Company was formed in August 1839 following the amalgamation of two earlier colonising bodies. The Company was the instrument with which Edward Gibbon Wakefield hoped to give practical expression to his theories of colonisation, and it was representative of a Victorian trend toward colonisation by which the British ' ••• commercial classes and many of the British Ministers (worked) toward the expansion of British trade and shipping in the Far East.•1 Edward Gibbon Wakefield's theories of systematic colonisation and the activities of the New Zealand Company in New Zealand have been well documented and described in the literature.2 This essay is in the form of a regional case study, as it examines the Company's plans to open up the Manawatu and Horowhenua districts for European settlement by purchasing a vast tract of land from one Maori tribe with rights of landownership. [From Introduction]Item A reappraisal of Robert Henryson's Orpheus and Eurydice [microform] : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of M.A. (Hons.) in English at Massey University(Massey University, 1987) Woodfield, Jennifer KatherineRobert Henryson's Orpheus and Eurydice must be reappraised because critical thought has not grasped the complexity and accompanying message contained in the poem. Much of this thought concentrates on the adequacy of the Moralitas. Chapter One, therefore, examines critical attitudes towards the Moralitas, and the relations of the Moralitas with the body of the poem. The chapter finds that the Moralitas is superficially adequate as a moral lesson for Orpheus and Eurydice, but is at a deeper level insufficient. The conclusion of the chapter suggests that this insufficiency may be due to the presence of a narrative persona in the poem. Chapter Two examines the poem in the light of a possible narrator, finding substantial textual evidence for such a concept. The narrator's voice alternates with a different, authorial tone until the Moralitas is reached, and the narratorial tone predominates. Music is emphasised to an unprecedented degree in Orpheus and Eurydice, and the narrator is most obvious in 1 240-242 where he emphatically denies any musical expertise. Chapter Three, therefore, acknowledges the importance of music in the poem and for the Orpheus myth itself by making a brief examination of the growth of musical and cosmological theory in the Middle Ages. The chapter ends by assessing the accumulation of musical detail in the most central versions of the Orpheus story prior to Sir Orfeo. Chapter Four examines Sir Orfeo in detail because it provides a significant contrast with Henryson's poem. For the first time Orpheus' music is able to rescue his wife permanently from her plight, and music in Sir Orfeo is found to be inextricably intertwined with the concepts of universal and temporal order. Chapter Five ties these strands of thought into a coherent whole. The role of music in Orpheus and Eurydice places much more emphasis on the divinity and excellence of Orpheus' musical ability and on the singing of the spheres (an indication of cosmic order) than does Sir Orfeo, thus heightening the irony and tragedy when Orpheus' music is unable to prevent him looking back and losing his wife. We must conclude that Henryson is using this incompatibility between the emphasis on divine music which orders the universe and its ultimate impotence to point the way to a deeper issue. Chapter Five relates this musical conflict to the insufficient Moralitas and its overbearing narrator, and finds that many traditional 'Medieval' aspects of the story are undermined by Henryson as author. Henryson is using Orpheus and Eurydice as a vehicle, not to deny, but to wistfully question his inherited Medieval world view. Orpheus and Eurydice, then, reveals Henryson's disquiet with the Medieval cosmological model through the narrative persona (and the insufficient Moralitas) and the role of music in the Orpheus story.