Massey Documents by Type
Permanent URI for this communityhttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/294
Browse
37 results
Search Results
Item Examining the discursive landscape of women's sexual desire and implications for sexual subjectivity : a dissertation presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology at Massey University, New Zealand(Massey University, 2025-10-28) Tappin, JessicaSexual desire and pleasure can be an “awkward” subject to bring up in conversation, many choosing to ignore it completely, or relegate it to the private realm. Yet, our media landscape is filled with various representation of sex that fundamentally shape the way we can think about, speak about, and enact expressions of sexual desire. A substantial corpus of feminist research suggests that discursive representations of sexual desire are highly gendered and heteronormative. These researchers have mapped cultural and social constructions of women’s sexual desire, tracing its portrayal as, for example, absent, relational, and aligned with postfeminist discourses of sexual agency. Previous scholarship has considered how these discourses are circulated within talk, and through mainstream media. A research gap remains in considering alternative feminist media, and psychological literature as sites that circulate discourses of sexual desire. The central aim of this thesis is to determine how women’s sexual desire is constructed across three sites of discourse circulation: (a) mainstream media, (b) alternative media, and (c) psychological literature, how prevalent discourses are supported, transformed, and resisted, as well as the implications for women’s sexual subjectivity and sexual agency. Foucauldian-informed discourse analysis was conducted with each set of textual data collected from those sites. Specifically, 75 advice columns or articles from mainstream media websites, 55 articles from alternative feminist publications, and 12 published articles from psychological and therapeutic journals. Key findings from these analyses indicate that (i) an essentialist biological discourse of desire is prevalent, shaping women’s sexual subjectivity in relation to men, (ii) many discourses and sexual subjectivities on offer within the texts are highly heteronormative and restrict agency outside of a narrow prescription of appropriate desire, (iii) a neoliberal incitement for women to reflect on and work on themselves in various ways underscored much of the data, and (iiii) alternative media texts provided opportunities for resistance of heterosexual norms, along with a broadening understanding of what desire is and can be for women.Item The analysis of inquiry in students' conversations in the biochemistry laboratory : the elucidation of proton-coupled electron-transfer reaction mechanism in manganese superoxide dismutase through structural analysis of mutants : a dissertation presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry at Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand(Massey University, 2023) Hermawan, JatnikaSuperoxide dismutases (SODs) have very significant biological importance, protecting organisms against reactive oxygen species such as superoxide. They are also known as the fastest enzyme with the largest kcat/Km of any known enzyme. To perform super-fast enzymatic function, SOD must shuttle proton-coupled electrons in an efficient systematic way. However, since its discovery in 1968, the mechanistic nature of SOD catalytic function remains vague. Wide-ranging approaches have attempted to uncover the catalytic mechanism of the manganese-containing SOD, MnSOD, but there were experimental limitations that obstructed the investigations. Here, the structural analyses of two dimer interface mutants of MnSOD, S126D and S126W, explored possible changes in water structure near the active site providing new information to examine the hypothesis of the Glu170 bridge as a key player in the proton shuttle in the outer-sphere mechanism. To gain insight into the mechanism of the proton-coupled electron-transfer (PCET) reaction mechanism, the technique of single-crystal X-ray crystallography was used to observe the three-dimensional structure of Escherichia coli MnSOD mutants, analytical ultracentrifugation was used to observe quaternary association in solution, and protein stability was assessed by differential scanning calorimetry. The key residue Ser126 at the conserved but asymmetric dimer interface of the MnSOD was mutated with the initial intent to generate a monomeric species. Ser126 is not essential for activity and is not part of the active site, whereas Glu170 forms part of the dimer interface where Glu170 from one subunit forms part of the active site of the second subunit of the dimer. The loss of activity occurring in a monomeric MnSOD may indicate an alternative catalytic mechanism of the MnSOD enzyme. The substitution of Ser126 to Asp, intended to produce a monomeric species by charge repulsion, surprisingly produced a dimer at pH>7.5 with little change in structure at the Mn active site, but there was a 94 % reduction in catalytic activity. Partial loss of activity in Ec-MnSOD-S126D may be due to electrostatic effects of the negative charge ~7 Å from metal centre perturbing the Mnᴵᴵᴵ/Mnᴵᴵ redox couple. The substitution of Ser126 to Trp, intended to produce a monomeric species by steric bulk, enforces mostly monomeric Ec-MnSOD S126W in solution form, coupled with a 99.9 % reduction in catalytic activity. Here one mutation to a conserved dimer interface led to altered tertiary structure and a completely different dodecameric domain-swapped quaternary association in the crystalline state and complete loss of activity in Ec-MnSOD-S126W in the solution state. In the course of evolution, higher and less often lower degrees of oligomerisation have arisen. Evolving complexity does not require multiple mutations. As part of the scholarship requirements, this dissertation contains a pedagogical component. Student conversations in a guided inquiry third-year biochemistry laboratory were recorded and analysed to discover the extent of higher-order critical thinking that might occur. Although students initially struggled to move beyond core first-year laboratory skills, they were at all times strongly engaged in the project-style experiment, which ran over three five- to eight-hour sessions. Some progress in the level of inquiry was captured from their conversations from the first to the third laboratory session. A simple diagram and table were developed to help guide teachers in a guided inquiry-based learning in higher education.Item Predicting replicability—Analysis of survey and prediction market data from large-scale forecasting projects(Public Library of Science (PLoS), 2021-04-14) Gordon M; Viganola D; Dreber A; Johannesson M; Pfeiffer TThe reproducibility of published research has become an important topic in science policy. A number of large-scale replication projects have been conducted to gauge the overall reproducibility in specific academic fields. Here, we present an analysis of data from four studies which sought to forecast the outcomes of replication projects in the social and behavioural sciences, using human experts who participated in prediction markets and answered surveys. Because the number of findings replicated and predicted in each individual study was small, pooling the data offers an opportunity to evaluate hypotheses regarding the performance of prediction markets and surveys at a higher power. In total, peer beliefs were elicited for the replication outcomes of 103 published findings. We find there is information within the scientific community about the replicability of scientific findings, and that both surveys and prediction markets can be used to elicit and aggregate this information. Our results show prediction markets can determine the outcomes of direct replications with 73% accuracy (n = 103). Both the prediction market prices, and the average survey responses are correlated with outcomes (0.581 and 0.564 respectively, both p < .001). We also found a significant relationship between p-values of the original findings and replication outcomes. The dataset is made available through the R package “pooledmaRket” and can be used to further study community beliefs towards replications outcomes as elicited in the surveys and prediction markets.Item Emulsion-based delivery systems to improve gut and brain bioaccessibility of curcumin in relation to Alzheimer’s disease prevention : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Food Technology at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand(Massey University, 2023) Lunelli, TacianaMedium chain triglycerides (MCT) from coconut oil, omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids from fish, phospholipids from dairy milk, and curcumin from turmeric all have been recognized for their anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. Curcumin is also a potential candidate for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) prevention; however, curcumin is poorly bioavailable unless emulsified. The milk fat globule membrane (MFGM) has natural emulsifying properties. I aimed to design an emulsion-based delivery system containing functional oils to encapsulate and deliver curcumin to the brain. I evaluated three commercial MFGM components with coconut and fish oils to produce emulsions with improved curcumin bioavailability. The emulsion structures were characterised by particle size, zeta-potential at the surface, microscopic structure, curcumin loading efficiency, and phospholipid distribution. All emulsions showed stable to particle size changes over 40 days at 4°C. Emulsion particle size decreased significantly with increasing concentrations of emulsifier, and presented negative zeta-potential varying from -50 to -20 mV, with the MFGM fractions creating significantly different charges and curcumin loading efficiency based on phospholipid and protein composition. All MFGM fractions efficiently created stable emulsions with small particle size and encapsulated curcumin. After simulated in vitro digestion, the emulsion with the highest phospholipid content had significantly higher curcumin bioaccessibility compared to the others. Fresh and digested emulsions and their components were assessed in the BE(2)-M17 neuroblastoma cell model for amyloid-β (Aβ) toxicity. Emulsions composed of both fish and coconut oils provided greater protection against Aβ toxicity compared to coconut oil alone. Curcumin was transported in vivo across the intestinal wall to the bloodstream and across the blood-brain barrier to the brain in rats fed all curcumin delivery formats. The kinetics of curcumin in blood and brain varied depending on the emulsion format. MFGM emulsions significantly reduced the curcumin and its metabolites peak time in blood and brain compared to the commercial curcumin preparation Meriva®, and all emulsions improved overall curcumin bioavailability and accumulation in the brain compared to free curcumin. A novel ex vivo approach using rat plasma samples directly in the neuroblastoma cell model requires further optimisation but demonstrated a significant interaction between gender and treatment on cell viability.Item Unpacking ethnology within contemporary paradigms (the practice of packaging, transfer, and delivery) : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Creative Arts at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand(Massey University, 2023) Henare-Findlay, FraserThis thesis examines multi-layered notions of Māori identity and descriptions of Māori contextualised against a personal artistic response to being Māori. The art of packaging, transfer, and delivery is presented as an artistic embodiment of Māori identity, illustrating how popular beliefs shape not only the construction of identity but also influence cultural institutions and affiliations. Examples of Māori identity are discussed throughout the study to illustrate how artists and established practices embracing Māori concepts advance Māori identity. The packaged artworks explore the theme of identity by weaving together narratives and concepts that draw attention to the displaced and disconnected perspective of what it means to be Māori. They also shed light on the subjugation and stereotyping of Māori culture and identity. This sense of displacement is intricately linked to the process of postage, delivery, and receipt. Ethnology, which is essentially the comparative study of ethnicity to understand the characteristics of different peoples (races) and the differences and relationships between them, is featured in the thesis title and in the packaged artwork that constitutes the practical component of the thesis. However, it is not extensively discussed within the thesis itself. This is not due to its lack of importance as a field of study but rather because the packaged artworks primarily feature various characters who have been either created for the screen or have developed personas within the music industry. Most of these characters are 'constructed' identities, meaning they have been shaped to adopt the attitudes of the screenwriter. These diverse characters have played a significant role in shaping my own identity and have contributed to who I am today. In this study, a comprehensive examination of Māori identity, art, and the prevalent impacts of stereotyping and discrimination will be conducted through a diverse range of methodological approaches. These multifaceted methods will not only inform the creative and theoretical dimensions of the artwork but also highlight the relationship between Māori identity and the researcher. Key methodologies, such as Kaupapa Māori research and Autoethnography, will be applied, with a particular focus on incorporating personal experiences and reflections into the research process, inspiring and clarifying the intended significance of the artwork.Item Transforming scientific research and development in precision agriculture : the case of hyperspectral sensing and imaging : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor in Philosophy in Agriculture at Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand(Massey University, 2021) Cushnahan, MeganThere has been increasing social and academic debate in recent times surrounding the arrival of agricultural big data. Capturing and responding to real world variability is a defining objective of the rapidly evolving field of precision agriculture (PA). While data have been central to knowledge-making in the field since its inception in the 1980s, research has largely operated in a data-scarce environment, constrained by time-consuming and expensive data collection methods. While there is a rich tradition of studying scientific practice within laboratories in other fields, PA researchers have rarely been the explicit focal point of detailed empirical studies, especially in the laboratory setting. The purpose of this thesis is to contribute to new knowledge of the influence of big data technologies through an ethnographic exploration of a working PA laboratory. The researcher spent over 30 months embedded as a participant observer of a small PA laboratory, where researchers work with nascent data rich remote sensing technologies. To address the research question: “How do the characteristics of technological assemblages affect PA research and development?” the ethnographic case study systematically identifies and responds to the challenges and opportunities faced by the science team as they adapt their scientific processes and resources to refine value from a new data ecosystem. The study describes the ontological characteristics of airborne hyperspectral sensing and imaging data employed by PA researchers. Observations of the researchers at work lead to a previously undescribed shift in the science process, where effort moves from the planning and performance of the data collection stage to the data processing and analysis stage. The thesis develops an argument that changing data characteristics are central to this shift in the scientific method researchers are employing to refine knowledge and value from research projects. Importantly, the study reveals that while researchers are working in a rapidly changing environment, there is little reflection on the implications of these changes on the practice of science-making. The study also identifies a disjunction to how science is done in the field, and what is reported. We discover that the practices that provide disciplinary ways of doing science are not established in this field and moments to learn are siloed because of commercial constraints the commercial structures imposed in this case study of contemporary PA research.Item Novel approaches for multimedia data processing : a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science at Massey University, Albany, Auckland, New Zealand(Massey University, 2020) Ji, WantingMultimedia data processing is an active research field contributing to many frontiers of science and technology. It involves the processing of audio, image, video, text, and other forms of data. In this thesis, four novel approaches are proposed to address two key issues in multimedia data processing: (i) how to reduce the annotation costs of sound event classification/tagging, and (ii) how to improve the quality of video captions. To address the issue of how to reduce the annotation costs of sound event classification/tagging, we propose a Gabor dictionary-based active learning (DBAL) approach for semi-automatic sound event classification. In DBAL, sound features are extracted from audio recordings through a Gabor dictionary. Based on the extracted features, sound events in the recordings will be manual or automatic tagged through active learning. Then a classifier is trained by these recordings with their true or predicted labels. Thus, DBAL can be evaluated by the accuracy of the classifier. Further, a learnt dictionary-based active learning (LDAL) approach is proposed to tackle the same issue. In LDAL, a K-SVD learnt dictionary replaces the Gabor dictionary for feature extraction. The same active learning mechanism and classifier are used for tagging and evaluation. Compared with other existing approaches, our approaches (i.e., DBAL and LDAL) achieve higher classification accuracies but require much fewer annotation costs. To tackle the issue of how to improve the quality of video captions, we propose an attention-based dual learning (ADL) approach for video captioning. Two modules (i.e., a caption generation module and a video reconstruction module) are contained in ADL, which are fine-tuned via dual learning. Thus, ADL can enhance the quality of the generated captions by minimizing the differences between raw and reconstructed/reproduced videos. Further, we propose a bidirectional relational recurrent neural network (Bidirectional RRNN) to tackle the same issue. By fully utilizing the local and global context information as well as visual information in videos, Bidirectional RRNN can capture all events in a video, reason the relationships between events, and generate a set of informative sentences to describe video contents. Experimental results on benchmark datasets demonstrate that our approaches (i.e., ADL and Bidirectional RRNN) are superior to the state-of-the-art approaches. In conclusion, this thesis proposes four effective approaches for processing multimedia data. Experimental results show that our approaches outperform the state-of-the-art approaches.Item What do mindfulness scales measure? : expectation effects examined : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor in Psychology at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand(Massey University, 2020) Ghanbari Noshari, MonaThe increasing popularity of mindfulness practices has seen an accompanying growth in research. However, most research has focused on the beneficial aspects of practicing mindfulness, but often without comparison to a control group, therefore the results that have been observed may not be “real” effects. In our current research, we aimed to see whether there were expectancy effects for mindfulness practice by designing two different studies and recruiting hundred and twenty participants to three different jigsaws (as a focused practice) groups: 1) Passive control group; which received no specific mention of mindfulness or mindfulness instruction in both studies, 2) Active control group; which received the label mindfulness on the task in study 1 (without any further intervention), and the introduction of negative information about mindfulness and possible downsides of practicing in study 2, and 3) Experimental group; which received actual mindfulness training in study 1, and positive information about mindfulness and advantages of practicing in study 2. A pretest and posttest design was employed using established self-report measures for mindfulness and wellbeing, in both studies of this research. The results indicated that supported expectancy effects for mindfulness as compared to the control condition. Also, while positive information led to improvements in scores compared to the control group, negative information led to a deterioration in scores compared to the control group. This research suggests that researchers need to be cautious in evaluating the self-reports of mindfulness practice due to expectancy effects.Item Is it worthwhile going immersive? : evaluating the performance of virtual simulated stores for shopper research : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Marketing at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand(Massey University, 2020) Schnack, AlexanderAdvances in simulation technology offer the possibility of more authentic shopper environments for virtual store experiments. Criticisms of subjective measures of consumer behavior previously led to the use of test markets or simulated stores for consumer experimental research. As cost implications made such experiments unavailable to the wider market research community, virtual simulated stores (VSSs) were developed as an alternative. However, the adoption of VSSs has been slow as traditional desktop-operated VSSs do not provide an authentic multicategory shopper experience. New simulation technologies offer the opportunity for more immersive and authentic VSS environments. Yet there has been little research on how authenticity of VSSs is impacted by newly available technology such as head-mounted displays, motion tracking, force feedback controllers, and application of place and plausibility cues. Thus, this dissertation asks whether immersive technologies have potential to provide highly authentic VSS environments. Of the many factors that may determine authenticity, this dissertation examines three; participants’ sense of telepresence, the realism of shopper behaviour, and the effects of shopper locomotion alternatives. An immersive VSS incorporating new virtual technologies was specifically designed and built for this research. Three studies were undertaken. The first compared perceived telepresence and usability between a desktop-operated VSS and an equivalent immersive walk-around VSS. The second examined the authenticity of shopper behaviour in the immersive walk-around VSS by comparing observed shopping patterns to those previously reported in the marketing literature. The third tested whether walk-around locomotion was necessary for authenticity, or whether a simpler teleportation method would result in equivalent shopper behaviour and emotions. Results showed that immersive VSS systems are preferable to traditional desktop-operated systems with regards to telepresence and usability. Further, authentic behavioural patterns can be found in immersive walk-around store experiments, including plausibility of private label shares, pack inspection times, shelf-height effects and impulse purchases. Lastly, there were no differences in shopper emotions and purchase behaviour between walk-around locomotion and controller-based instant teleportation, implying that the teleportation technique can be used, thereby reducing the required physical footprint for immersive VSS simulations. Collectively, the findings imply that marketers who study in-store shopper behavior can be confident using immersive VSS for their research as opposed to outdated desktop VSS technology.Item Particle coating using foams and bubbles : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand(Massey University, 2017) Singh, ShaktiThis thesis investigates powder coating using foams or bubbles. The work initially started on foams. Wettability studies first showed that foams can be used to coat powders. Research then focussed on the fundamental unit of foams, the bubble. An experimental apparatus was designed and built to perform particle-bubble impact studies in air. Bubble solutions comprised of water, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) and sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS). Four distinct physical behaviours occur when a particle impacts a bubble: (i) particle capture, (ii) particle slide-off, (iii) bubble burst and (iv) bubble self-healing. The rate processes that occur during particle-bubble impact are; (i), surface area creation by bubble film stretching; (ii), delivery of surface active molecules to the newly created surface; and (iii), stress dissipation as the film is stretched. The ability of the solutions to do (ii) and (iii) are highly complex relying on the thermodynamic equilibrium of the solutions and the local perturbations in the near surface region. Therefore, establishing quantitative boundaries of behaviour is a difficult exercise. It is proposed that, for solutions above the cac or cmc, (critical aggregate concentration, critical micelle concentration) where self-healing occurs, the rate of (ii) > rate of (i) and the rate of (iii) > rate of (i). For solutions below the cac, where bursting occurs, the opposite is true, the rate of (ii) < rate of (i) and the rate of (iii) < rate of (i). Intermediate behaviours such as slide-off of capture are within the range of self-healing behaviours, but where the energy of the particle is insufficient to penetrate the bubble. These behaviours are explained by complexation theory. For SDS concentration ≥ cac and cmc, small aggregates of SDS and HPMC locally supply surfactant to the surface of the stretching bubble film. This maintains low surface tension stress and self-healing results. For SDS concentrations < cac, self-healing occurs because the complexation is a HPMC-SDS sea containing SDS islands. The HPMC-SDS sea structure is sufficiently interlinked to simply stretch with the film, while the SDS islands de-aggregate quickly in the near surface region to supply the newly created surface with surfactant. Here the supply rate is faster than the stretching and so the new surface area is populated with SDS molecules. In contrast bursting occurs when the complexation is HPMC-SDS islands in a SDS sea. Here, the rapid film extension is so fast that the islands of HPMC-SDS become isolated and the film loses structural homogeneity. Furthermore, the rate of new surface creation is too fast for diffusion of SDS molecules from the bulk ‘sea’ to the newly created surface. This results in both an inhomogeneous structure and local increases in surface tension, causing both stress concentration in the film and the Marangoni effect. Extensional viscosity measurements, conducted in collaboration with Monash University, Australia, produced three behaviours as solutions were thinned: bead-on-string, blob and long-lived filaments. Solutions which produced long lived filaments here correspond to those that self-healed during particle impact (when the impact velocity was sufficient). It is proposed that this long-lived filament behaviour is due to the SDS concentration being > cmc, where the SDS micelles act like ‘ball-bearings’ between the extending HPMC chains. Coatings were characterised by SEM and gravimetric measurement. Cross-sectional imaging of the soft particle that penetrated self-healing bubbles were found to have a continuous coating layer around the particle. Surface topography of bubble coated particles were compared with classical droplet coated single particles from the literature. Bubble coated particles were found to be smoother than the droplet coated particle. The knowledge gained here was used to suggest how an industrial-scale particle coater using bubbles may be designed.