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Item Some aspects of graph theory(Massey University, 2005) Little, C. H. C. (Charles Huw Crawford)This thesis embodies most of the research I have undertaken since the completion of my Ph.D. dissertation in 1972. It seems appropriate, and is indeed a pleasure, at this point to acknowledge the influences of others on my work over the years. My interest in graph theory was originally stimulated in 1968 by Alfred Lehman, who supervised my masterate at the University of Toronto. The resulting thesis consisted of the development and implementation of an algorithm for testing the planarity of a graph. Although this masterate was in computer science, I realised that it was the mathematical aspects of the work that most interested me. Consequently I enrolled for a doctorate in graph theory at the University of Waterloo, where I studied under the supervision of Dan Younger. There I focussed on 1-factors of graphs, investigating in particular Kasteleyn's method for enumerating them. I attempted to characterise those graphs for which Kasteleyn's method succeeds. Since the method was known to succeed for planar graphs, this work was not far removed from my earlier interest in planarity. Consequently the two themes of topological graph theory and matchings in graphs were prominent from the early stages of my research career. Following the completion of my degree at the University of Waterloo, in 1973 I secured an appointment at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology Ltd. Here I had the great good fortune to be in contact with Derek Helter, now a professor at the University of Otago. His office at the University of Melbourne was only about a 15-minute walk from my own, and we often worked together. I interested him in my ideas on planarity and together we succeeded in discovering a characterisation of planar graphs. Alas Chernyak, working in Russia, beat us to that result, but by the time his proof appeared Derek and I were already collaborating on a generalisation. Derek was really a mentor for me at that early stage in my career, and I owe him a great deal. My interests in topological graph theory and 1-factors of graphs have been maintained since my arrival at Massey University in 1982. My collaborators since that time have included my masterate student Janet McCall, doctoral students Paul Bonnington, Allister Campbell and Serguei Norine and postdoctoral fellows Hong Wang and Feng Ming Dong. With Paul I wrote my first book, The Foundations of Topological Graph Theory. Dong inspired many of us in the mathematics discipline at Massey with his enthusiasm for chromatic polynomials, and this topic became a third theme in my research. More recently I have collaborated with Bruce van Brunt and Kee Teo in writing a second book, The Number Systems of Analysis. Of my other collaborators, special mention should be made of Ilse Fischer, with whom I worked at the University of Klagenfurt during my period of study leave in 1999. Together with her I characterised Pfaffian near bipartite graphs, and this result represents what is probably my best work.Item Epidemiology of non-communicable diseases : a collection of published papers presented in application for the degree of Doctor of Science at Massey University(Massey University, 2002) Pearce, NeilThe scientific publications contained in this thesis represent more than 20 years of work in the epidemiology of non-communicable disease. Chapter 1 includes methodological papers that are relevant to non-communicable diseases and epidemiology in general. This work falls into four main areas. Firstly, several papers discuss the analysis of epidemiologic studies. These particularly involve work that I did in the 1980s on the analysis of cohort studies, particularly involving time-related factors. At that time, there were well-established methods for analysing case-control studies, but the analysis of cohort studies was less developed, and there were few programmes or analytical approaches available for taking time-related factors into account. More recently, I have published on epidemiologic concepts of interaction and the implications for approaches to data analysis. Secondly, two papers from the 1980s discuss the epistemological basis of epidemiologic research. At that time, the leading textbook of epidemiology advocated a Popperian approach to the philosophy of science. These papers discussed the limitations of the Popperian approach, and showed that the actual practice of epidemiologists was more consistent with alternative approaches to the philosophy of science. Thirdly, several papers discuss the principles of epidemiologic study design. My contributions particularly involve the theory and practice and case-control studies, and the demonstration that these do not involve "backwards causality" or a radically different study design to that used for cohort studies. Finally, in recent years I have played a major role in an ongoing debate on the future of epidemiology, and published a series of papers on the need for epidemiology to rediscover the population perspective and to use theories and methods that take the population context into account. Chapters 2-5 then include substantive studies of these particular public health issues, as well as more specific methodological papers arising from these studies. My early interest was in occupational and environmental health, with a particular emphasis on cancer, and this work is included in chapter 2. This work falls into three major areas. Firstly, my methodological work particularly includes the textbook of occupational epidemiology published by Oxford University Press in 1989, which I co-authored. This also produced a series of papers on the theory, practice, and teaching of occupational epidemiology. Once again, it particularly involved the analysis of cohort studies, and the design of case-control studies for the specific situation of occupationalhealth research. Secondly, my occupational cancer work has particularly included studies of cancer in farmers and related occupations. These studies were the first to show that meat workers have an increased risk of some types of cancer. This work has also included the firstoccupational cancer cohort study in New Zealand, which examined cancer risk in nuclear test veterans. Finally, I have also studied the particular issues of occupational cancer in developing countries, and the more general issues of environmental change and human health. Chapter 3 includes papers on socio-economic determinants of health, with a particular emphasis on non-communicable disease. In the 1980s I conducted the first studies of socio-economic differences in health and life expectancy in New Zealand. Since the first publication in 1983, at a time when there was little interest in this field of research, this has grown to become a major area of research in New Zealand. My work in Māori health has involved assisting the work of the late Professor Eru Pomare and others in documenting and discussing the causes of differences in health between Māori and non-Māori in New Zealand. This included the first studies to show that the high mortality rates in Māori were not solely to due to socio-economic factors, but also represented problems of access to health care for Māori. Chapter 4 covers studies of asthma mortality, particularly the studies of the role of fenoterol in the New Zealand asthma mortality epidemic of the 1970s and 1980s. These studies were the first to identify that the beta agonist fenoterol was responsible for an epidemic of asthma deaths in New Zealand. These studies were highly controversial, and were strongly criticised, but eventually the New Zealand Ministry of Health restricted the availability of fenoterol in New Zealand and the asthma death rate immediately fell by one half. Unlike the other chapters in this thesis, the work described in this chapter was more clearly done as part of a group, rather than by myself as an individual. The group included an epidemiologist (myself), a clinical research, respiratory physician and a pharmacologist. Inevitably with such a multidisciplinary approach the authorship was variable, although I played the major role in the design and analysis of the epidemiological studies. I have included several review papers since they give an overview of research in this area, and the relative contribution of my own studies to the development of this debate. Finally, chapter 5 includes studies on the prevalence, causes and management of asthma, as well as related methodological work. This work falls into four main areas. Firstly, I have produced a textbook of asthma epidemiology, published by Oxford University Press. This has involved a substantial amount of work in developing the theory and practice of epidemiology in the context of asthma. This is a relatively new field, since asthma is a non-fatal chronic disease that is difficult to diagnose, and asthma studies usually involve prevalence rather than incidence or mortality. This work has led to a number of review papers on asthma epidemiology methods. Secondly, I have been heavily involved in the development of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC). Phase I of the study involved more than 700,000 children in 155 centres in 60 countries, and Phase III is currently in progress. Thirdly, in more recent years my research has focussed on the primary causes of asthma, and particularly on the role of non-allergic mechanisms. In addition to specific studies on environmental and occupational causes of asthma, I have published a series of reviews and commentaries that question the importance of allergic mechanisms for asthma. This series of papers is becoming increasingly influential in re-orienting asthma research towards a greater interest in non-allergic mechanisms. My current research interests focus on studies of these mechanisms.Item Water and solutes in soil : hydraulic characterisation, sustainable production, and environmental protection : application for the degree of Doctor of Science from Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand(Massey University, 2002) Clothier, Brent EThe soil of the rootzone, the fragile and fertile interface between the atmosphere and the subterranean realm, is characterised by massive transfers of water and solutes. Our understanding of the biophysical transport processes into, and through, soil has been enhanced by the research endeavours of the applicant, Brent Euan Clothier. Dr Clothier, a 1977 Ph.D. graduate of Massey University, has developed tools and techniques that increased the acuity of our vision of transport processes of water and solutes in soil, as well it has sharpened our ability to hydraulically characterise those mechanisms for the purpose of modelling and risk assessment. His research has also enhanced our understanding of how these biophysical processes affect sustainable agriculture, environmental protection, and the bioremediation of contamination. These endeavours are grouped, in this thesis, into four overlapping areas of research: • Processes and properties of water movement into and through soil • Processes and properties of solute movement through soil • Root uptake processes and sustainable irrigation • Plants, groundwater protection and bioremediation of contaminated soil. The key elements of these four themes, and their contribution to knowledge, form Chapters 2-5 of this thesis. Dr Clothier's awards, honours, and impact are discussed in Chapter 6.Item Contributions to applied probability : a thesis presented for the degree of Doctor of Science at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand(Massey University, 2004) Hunter, Jeffrey JosephThis thesis covers a selection of published research papers, manuscripts and book chapters of the contributions that the author has made in the field of applied probability. The overall themes focus on the development of the theory and applications of Markov renewal processes, Markov chains, generalized matrix inverses, queueing models, and two dimensional renewal processes. The presentation highlights some strong interconnections between many of the topics including Markov renewal theory and Markov chains to queueing models; generalized matrix inverses to Markov chains and Markov renewal processes; and correlated bivariate processes as two-dimensional renewal processes and arrival processes to queueing models. Many of the research papers have appeared in the "Advances in Applied Probability" or in "Linear Algebra and its Applications" highlighting the strong interdisciplinary links and contributions that the author has made to the both the fields of Applied Probability and Linear Algebra.Item Advocacy outcomes : professional advocacy in the lives of disabled people : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Social Work at Massey University(Massey University, 2003) Ussher, SusanAfter working alongside disabled individuals in a casework capacity as a full time, paid advocacy worker for some time, I became increasingly interested in the evaluation of the outcomes of advocacy. This interest began with my own practice and developed into an analysis of the usefulness of advocacy as a professional tool in bringing about change in individuals' lives. Specifically I was interested in the analyses of the people who have had the experience of being advocated for. Subsequently, this project enabled me to explore the relevant literature regarding advocacy and to engage with individuals who access or have accessed advocacy services in order to identify these outcomes. This thesis predominantly documents the investigation of the outcomes and the process of professional advocacy practice as experienced, understood and interpreted from the point of view of three disabled people who have accessed advocacy within the London Borough of Southwark in the United Kingdom. The research provided the opportunity to firstly determine whether professional advocacy supported individuals to represent their needs clearly so that they gained access to appropriate services. Secondly, it examined whether any outcomes were a direct response to the advocacy interaction or were they attributed to various other factors such as social, economic and political change in the context in question. The former is evident and accordingly the key findings of the research have highlighted that professional advocacy practice can support individuals to represent their needs clearly and accurately and ensure that they gain access to appropriate services. Professional advocacy is particularly effective in the areas of community care and housing. Moreover, the research has identified the process of advocacy as empowering if transference of skills occurs between professional advocate and individual thus challenging the current culture of learnt and maintained dependence. Through this, professional advocacy can contribute to and support self-advocacy of disabled people and the essential continued promotion of the Social Model of disability within our communities.Item Exploring gender differences in employee attitudes towards work-family practices and use of work-family practices(Emerald, 2005) Haar J; O'Driscoll MItem Evolutionary Distributed Control of a Biologically Inspired Modular Robot(IntechOpen, 2008) Lal SP; Yamada K; Iba, HItem Perspectives of Wanganui employers and providers of adult literacy services 2005-2006: A report from the Wanganui adult literacy and employment programme(Department of Communication and Journalism, Massey University, 2006) Neilson D; Culligan N; Watson B; Comrie M; Sligo F; Vaccarino F; Franklin JItem Perspectives of adult literacy learners 2004-2006: A report from the adult literacy and employment programme(Department of Communication and Journalism, Massey University, 2006) Tilley E; Comrie M; Watson B; Murray N; Sligo F; Franklin J; Vaccarino FItem Action research reflections: The Wanganui adult literacy and employment project(Department of Communication, Journalism and Marketing, Massey University, 2007) Vaccarino F; Comrie M; Murray N; Sligo F
