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Critical balance and the physics of magnetohydrodynamic turbulence
(American Astronomical Society, 2020) Oughton, Sean; Matthaeus, William H.
A discussion of the advantages and limitations of the concept of critical balance (CB), as employed in turbulence phenomenologies, is presented. The incompressible magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) case is a particular focus. The discussion emphasizes the status of the original Goldreich & Sridhar CB conjecture relative to related theoretical issues and models in an MHD description of plasma turbulence. Issues examined include variance and spectral anisotropy, influence of a mean magnetic field, local and nonlocal effects, and the potential for effects of external driving. Related models such as Reduced MHD provide a valuable context in the considerations. Some new results concerning spectral features and timescales are presented in the course of the discussion. Also mentioned briefly are some adaptations and variations of CB.
Decision-making for wāhine Māori facing breast cancer surgery: A qualitative study
(Taylor & Francis, 2025) Burrett, Vanessa; Blackmore, Tania Louise; Norman, Kimberley; Turanga, Karen; Scarlet, Jenni; Campbell, Ian; Lawrenson, Ross
Wāhine Māori (women/females) are disproportionally affected by breast cancer in Aotearoa New Zealand. Following a breast cancer diagnosis, wāhine must make important surgical decisions while navigating a Westernised health system that can be dismissive of Māori views of health and tikanga (customary practices). We investigated the decision-making process of wāhine who had undergone surgery for breast cancer within the preceding 12 months. Fifteen wāhine shared their perspectives on surgery, shared decision-making and information provided prior to surgery. Thematic analysis revealed that fear was a primary influence on decision -making, but this emotion could be mitigated by a good quality patient-clinician relationship fostered by the shared decision-making process. In particular, whakawhanaungatanga (establishing connection and relationships) was an essential basis for shared decision-making. Shared decision-making, in turn, enabled tino rangatiratanga (self-determination) and provided support during the difficult decision-making period. Multi-modal presentation of medical information, with inclusion of Te Reo Māori is relevant to many wāhine and could offer more equitable access to diagnostic information. These findings raise awareness of the importance of recognising tikanga, in particular, whakawhanaungatanga for wāhine Māori diagnosed with breast cancer.
Social work education under pressure: Access, workforce sustainability and the limits of acceleration
(University of Otago Library, 2026) Marlowe, Jay; Keddell, Emily; O'Donoghue, Kieran; Glubb-Smith, Kelly; Crichton-Hill, Yvonne
Recent revisions to the Social Workers Registration Board (SWRB) Education Standards 2026 mark a significant shift in social work education in Aotearoa New Zealand, removing time-based requirements and enabling shortened qualifying pathways, including the potential compression of postgraduate routes to registration. Drawing on the SWRB’s Official Information Act response and sector scholarship, this paper examines the implications of this shift for professional preparation, equity, and workforce sustainability. While the SWRB frames flexibility and compressed timeframes as a response to student financial hardship, declining enrolments and, most notably, workforce shortages, we argue that accelerated qualification pathways risk misdiagnosing the workforce crisis and positioning educational design as the primary lever for resolving what are fundamentally structural and political challenges. In doing so, costs and risks are displaced across the profession and sector, signalling concerns for workforce capability, organisational capacity, student learning and progression, and public safety. The paper contends that equity is not served if shortened pathways become diminished pathways and calls for coordinated system-level responses that preserve rigorous and coherent professional education.
Hydraulic performance of leaky barriers for water resource management and climate change adaptation using nature-based solutions
(The University of Waikato, 2026) Murugesan, Karthikeyan; Yoshikai, Masaya
Flooding is one of the most significant natural hazards affecting river systems and urban catchments worldwide, and its impacts are expected to intensify under future climate change conditions. Nature-Based Solutions (NbS), including engineered log jams and leaky barriers, are increasingly being investigated as sustainable alternatives to conventional hard-engineering flood management. These structures have the potential to attenuate flood peaks, increase upstream water storage, and improve ecological resilience while reducing reliance on traditional grey infrastructure. This research investigated the hydraulic performance of channel-spanning leaky barriers through HEC-RAS 1D steady-state modelling, an energy-slope validation method, and laboratory flume experiments across six barrier configurations at the University of Waikato. Calibration against 46 runs drawn from three published datasets (Muhawenimana et al., 2021; Huang et al., 2022; Schalko, 2018/2019) showed that barrier-induced resistance, rather than bed friction, dominates the hydraulic response of channel-spanning leaky barriers, with calibrated Manning's n values of 0.086–1.426. A backwater rise prediction framework, extended with an effective solid volume fraction correction for barriers with a clear bed gap, achieved a combined Nash–Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE) of 0.932 across 308 observations from four datasets; the correction proved essential, recovering NSE for the two gapped datasets from strongly negative values to above 0.87. A piecewise predictive equation for Manning's n was then developed from laboratory observations, expressing n as a power-law function of upstream depth and a cumulative array parameter (CA) for unsubmerged flow, and as a power-law decay from a maximum value with increasing submergence once the barrier is overtopped. The unsubmerged equation achieved an NSE of 0.853 and a mean absolute percentage error of 7.49%, using only geometric and hydraulic parameters known prior to a flood event. The research demonstrates that this relationship may be incorporated directly into HEC-RAS 1D through an iterative coupling with the backwater rise model, and sets out a physically consistent pathway, proposed but not yet directly tested, for incorporating the same relationship into two-dimensional and catchment-scale morphodynamic frameworks such as CAESAR-Lisflood. The outcomes of this research contribute to sustainable flood management practice and strengthen the evidence base for Nature-Based Solutions in climate change adaptation.
The power of peer-mediated reinforcement: Nurturing culture and classroom behaviour with tootling in Aotearoa New Zealand
(The University of Waikato, 2026) Pekepo, Anthony; Garnett, Amarie
This study aimed to extend the literature on tootling interventions within primary school classrooms in Aotearoa New Zealand. Tootling is a peer-mediated behavioural intervention in which students are taught to identify and report instances of their peers’ prosocial behaviour. A single subject multiple baseline design was used to evaluate the effects of the intervention on student on-task behaviour and teacher occupational stress across three Year 7-8 classrooms in a school with a 100% Māori student population, including two English-medium and one Māori-medium setting. Five teacher nominated students participated in the study. Students recorded instances of peers’ prosocial behaviour, which were later shared with the class and linked to a collective goal through an interdependent group contingency. Results indicated increases in on-task behaviour following the introduction of the intervention across classrooms, while outcomes for teacher occupational stress were mixed. Treatment integrity remained high, and teachers and students reported the intervention to be socially acceptable.