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Research Commons is the University of Waikato's open access research repository, housing research publications and theses produced by the University's staff and students.
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Item Recyclable hemp hurd fibre-reinforced PLA composites for 3D printing(Journal Article, Elsevier, 2024)In this study, 3D printing filaments were produced from hemp hurd fibre-reinforced polylactide (PLA) composites. Hemp hurd microfibres were obtained through alkaline digestion followed by a bleaching treatment and were used to produce PLA-based composites with 20–40 wt% fibre content for fused deposition modelling. Tensile testing of 3D printed composites revealed a gradual increase of Young's modulus with the addition of fibres, reaching a maximum of 7.1 GPa for the 40 wt% composite - a two-fold increase to neat PLA. However, tensile strength was only improved for the 20 wt% formulation, with an increase of 8% in comparison with neat PLA. Nevertheless, the thermo-mechanical properties of the composites were significantly enhanced with the addition of fibres. In addition, physical objects were printed from the recycled filaments to assess their recyclability and printability. It was found that the recycled filaments maintained comparable mechanical properties and printability after three recycling cycles.Publication A decision support system for predicting the complications of diabetes mellitus: A design science research approach(Thesis, The University of Waikato, 2024)Health information systems (HIS) serve as the cornerstone of modern healthcare, seamlessly weaving data into actionable insights and empowering professionals to make informed decisions and elevate patient care. Decision support systems became a prominent research area in the discipline of HIS, where clinical decision support systems (CDSSs) with the ability to diagnose and prognosis of disease are recognised as the most common and beneficial information systems. Moreover, the high prevalence and adverse effects of diabetes all over the globe evidently make it vital to predict diabetes and its complications. The current study aims to resolve an issue at Te Whatu Ora, by generating a CDSS which can predict the complications of diabetes mellitus (CoDM) while answering the knowledge gap. Although a rich data set of diabetes patients’ is maintained at Te Whatu Ora, their involvement in decision-making is unsatisfactory. This study created a CDSS to resolve the issue at Te Whatu Ora while considering two perspectives of the question: design and data analysis. The system design followed design science research methodologies (DSRM) while selecting suitable techniques in the steps of the empirical cycle to confirm their applicability in the domain. The data analysis perspective of the study focused on survival analysis methods due to their appropriateness in fulfilling the identified research gaps. The created CDSS is the primary outcome of the research, which resolves the real-world issue while addressing the recognised research gaps. The solution's design perspective confirms the applicability of adopting design science research approaches in the context of a systematic solution-design process. The data analytics perspective confirms the appropriateness of survival techniques in the domain while validating the system’s performance. The outcome of this research has significant academical, and managerial implications. The implemented CDSS is capable of providing a chronological risk percentage for 10 CoDM in a cohort of New Zealand. The systematic procedure adopted in the research contributes to the existing knowledge gaps while answering the design, implementation, and evaluation stages. The managerial implications of the study expand through policy-makers, resource-allocators, iii and healthcare administrators to doctors, nurses, and patients. The predicted risk of CoDM may be beneficial in managing the patients by issuing early warnings, starting treatment plans, conducting diagnosis tests, recommending dietary/exercise routines and more from the perspective of patient care. The visualisation of the statistical details and the survival curves in the system may assist in managing diabetes data repositories efficiently. This study creates a cohort-specific risk prediction model based on the New Zealand cohort. The interoperability challenges in the CDSS could occur due to the variety of practices in real life. Future research studies in this domain can concentrate on increasing the accuracy of the models with more features of a rich dataset while protecting the patents’ confidentiality. Additionally, the cohort specificity of the CDSS can be avoided with the engagement of a global dataset.Publication Exploring cross-modal association in canine (canis familiaris) scent detection: A framework for training dogs to identify multiple odours(Thesis, The University of Waikato, 2024-04-19)Dog’s olfaction abilities and trainability have made them valuable companions in scent detection tasks for centuries. While research has focused on dogs detecting single odours, there is a gap in understanding if they can emit different responses to different odours. Based on the principles of stimulus control and existing evidence of dogs’ ability to learn to perform similar tasks, it was hypothesised that dogs, using cross-modal association through olfaction and vision modalities, can match odours to corresponding shapes. Using an automated scent delivery apparatus, four dogs were trained using operant conditioning procedures to discriminate between two odours and select a corresponding shape. One dog met the mastery criteria and progressed to three odours. It was found that dogs were able to discriminate between odours at greater accuracy than chance, confirming our hypothesis. Yet, all dogs did display a bias towards one of the four touchscreen quadrants. The findings were similar to those observed in other studies involving different animal species, but the accuracy rates observed in this study were lower than those reported in other similar studies. These findings have implications for tasks the detection of multiple scents and further the understanding of dogs’ abilities to perform cross-modal discrimination tasks. This study established a methodological framework for cross-modal scent discrimination tasks but there are several improvements to the methods that might enhance dogs’ performance in future research.Publication Ceremonious storytelling: Exploring experiences within the publicly funded health service(Thesis, The University of Waikato, 2024-07-27)Background: Chronic disease is defined as a condition impacting organs or organ systems causing dysfunction or dysregulation that lasts longer than six months or remains, despite medical intervention or treatment. Research has shown that barriers, including those of a financial, physical, institutional and patient orientated nature significantly impact on outcomes. Māori are significantly over-represented in chronic health condition statistics, particularly relating to cardiac, respiratory, renal and mental health. Further, Māori are more likely to have a negative experience engaging with primary and secondary health services, leading to disempowerment and dis-engagement. Therefore, research which explores how quality of care for Māori can be improved is of pressing value. Objective: This study seeks to explore the experiences of Māori and non-Māori health-care consumers and providers within the publicly funded health service of Aotearoa. Participants: Advertising across primary and secondary care settings resulted in a total of 37 responses from health care consumers (31 respondents contributing to pūrākau) and 37 responses from health professionals (27 respondents contributing to pūrākau). Methods: This study utilised kaupapa Māori methodological approaches, frameworks and models to guide and intertwine qualitative and quantitative research methods. Participants were able to engage with any subset of questions, defining their responses through pūrākau, which supports the development of narratives within questions that are outside the limits of other worldviews. Māori methods such as pūrākau are flexible, enabling the development of research methods that are culturally aware and safe for Indigenous and non-Indigenous people globally Results: Key themes found within pūrākau highlighted the importance of meaningful engagement, person focused, trauma informed care to positively impact willingness and ability to engage with primary, secondary and tertiary services. The study reported that consumers had a strong willingness to engage with services. Conclusion: Health is personal and impacts people in various ways. Access to health services, while funded in Aotearoa, still create barriers for some people and perpetuates the gap between prevention and diagnosis of chronic disease. Kaupapa Māori methods within research support Māori engagement and definition within research through historical ways of being, knowing and conducting research. Participants of this study detailed experiences within health services, highlighting willingness and ability to engage with health services. Prior research defined the development of the Levesque access and accessibility framework, which correlates with the findings within this study."Publication Soil carbon stocks under fencelines and adjacent paddocks to test the importance of dung returns(Thesis, The University of Waikato, 2024)Soils are the largest terrestrial store of carbon (C), but agriculture has depleted around 133 Pg C from the upper 2 m of soil, contributing to increases in atmospheric CO2. Soil C sequestration can help offset these atmospheric increases and is determined by the balance between C inputs and C outputs. New Zealand’s temperate climate supports year-round grazing on approximately one-third of the country’s land area. The conversion of New Zealand’s native forests to pastures increased soil C stocks, yet the mechanisms behind this increase remain unclear. Grazing animals influence the C cycle through the consumption of C embodied within the feed they eat, with excreta returning C to the soil. Although C balances of New Zealand pastures suggest excreta is an important return of C to the soil, this has been poorly quantified. The objectives of this thesis were to determine if soil C stocks (0–0.6m) differed between paddock and fenceline areas, assuming the paddock received more dung input. To test this assumption, the spatial distribution of dung in relation to the fenceline was mapped, and dung loading was estimated. Stocks of particulate organic matter C (POM-C) and mineral-associated organic matter C (MAOM-C) were also determined in the top 0.1 m of soil to understand which forms of C contributed to any measured differences in total C stocks. Differences in Olsen P and pH were also determined. Paddock and fenceline sites (38 pairs) distributed across six farms in the Waikato region were sampled to a depth of 0.6 m. On average, soil C and N stocks were 10.3 t C ha−1 (P = .002) and 0.96 t N ha−1 (P = .002) higher in paddock areas when compared to fenceline areas. When excluding one paired site with a very poor match of mineral surface area, the differences decreased to 9.3 t C ha−1 (P = .004) and 0.86 t N ha−1 (P = .003). The greatest differences were observed in the 0–0.1 m depth increment. At the 0–0.1 m depth increment, POM-C was significantly greater in paddock samples and largely accounted for the observed difference in total soil C. This suggested that the observed C stock increase was in a more degradable fraction, implying that decreases in dung returns could result in rapid soil C loss. There was no relationship between the age of the fenceline and C stock differences, indicating that differences may have occurred rapidly to a new steady state. Mapping of 2000+ dug pats showed that paddocks received more dung, with only one pat being within the fenceline sampling zone. The average dung density was 0.2 pats m−2 and a dung-C loading rate of 1.1 t C ha−1 y−1 was calculated. The detected differences in C stocks due to varying dung input aligned with other studies on cattle manure’s influence on soil C, POM-C and MAOM-C stocks. Further research is needed to better understand the contribution of dung returns to soil C and its potential vulnerability to loss.
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