Tuwhera Research Repository

The Tuwhera Research Repository provides sustainable open access and archiving to a broad range of AUT produced research - theses, research outputs and datasets.

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Recent Submissions

Access status: Open Access ,
Methods for Quantification of Cannabinoids: A Narrative Review
(Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2020-10-09) Pourseyed Lazarjani, Masoumeh; Torres, Stephanie; Hooker, Thom; Fowlie, Chris; Young, Owen; Seyfoddin, Ali
BACKGROUND: Around 144 cannabinoids have been identified in cannabis plant, among them tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) are the most prominent ones. Because of the legal restrictions on cannabis in many countries, it is difficult to obtain standards to use in research; nonetheless, it is important to develop a cannabinoid quantification technique with pharmaceutical applications for quality control of future therapeutic cannabinoids. METHOD: To find relevant articles for this narrative review paper, a combination of keywords such as medicinal cannabis, analytical, quantification and cannabinoids were searched for in PubMed, EMBASE, MEDLINE, Google Scholar and Cochrane Library (Wiley) databases. RESULTS: The most common cannabinoid quantification techniques include gas chromatography (GC) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). GC is often used in conjunction with mass spectrometry (MS) or flame ionization detection (FID). The major advantage of GC is terpenes quantification however, for evaluating acidic cannabinoids it needs to be derivatised. The main advantage of HPLC is the ability to quantify both acidic and neutral forms of cannabinoids without derivatisation which is often with MS or ultraviolet (UV) detectors. CONCLUSION: Based on the information presented in this review, the ideal cannabinoid quantification method is HPLC- MS/MS for the cannabinoids.
Access status: Open Access ,
Disentangling Director Attributes: Human Capital Versus Social Capital of Directors
(MDPI AG, 2022-07-29) Andersen, Angela; Garel, Alexandre; Gilbert, Aaron; Tourani-Rad, Alireza
This study seeks to disentangle the human capital and the social capital of directors to improve our understanding of the value that directors bring to their boardroom. Employing social network analysis (SNA) to measure the social capital of directors and using a unique and comprehensive sample of New Zealand publicly listed firms over the period of 2000–2015, we find a positive and significant relationship between the human capital and the social capital of directors, where the human capital appears to predict changes in social capital. We contend that the growing literature in the area of corporate finance and governance investigating the impact of characteristics of directors on corporate outcomes, need to take note of the complementary impact that social capital can have in addition to human capital.
Access status: Open Access ,
From Speculation to Immersive Space: Designing Narratives about Emotionally Diminished Futures
(Auckland University of Technology, 2026) Xu, Luwen; Tapuni, Nooroa; Sills-Jones, Dafydd
This practice-based research explores how speculative performance design, developed through hybrid scenographic practices, can create immersive narrative spaces that prompt emotional and critical reflection on imagined futures of emotional diminishment. This speculative premise forms the core of the project, envisioning a distant civilisation that has lost empathy, creativity, and emotional depth and fails to reclaim these qualities. The scenario provides a lens through which to reconsider the vulnerability of human experience in technologically accelerated societies. Rather than providing a linear narrative, the research translates speculative ideas into spatial, sensory, and performative experiences. Methodologically, the research adopts a hybrid scenographic approach that combines virtual production and physical fabrication. Digital modelling, VR testing, animation, and material experimentation are used to explore spatial scale, atmosphere, and embodied experience. This dual-pathway process creates a feedback loop between virtual and physical experimentation, positioning making and testing as forms of inquiry. Through performative elements such as light, sound, projection, and large-scale installation, the project invites visitors to construct meaning through movement, perception, and interpretation. The resulting installation creates a speculative scenographic environment that challenges the conventional boundary between audience and stage. Chinese bronze script (Jinwen, 金文) is also used as a semiotic and performative element. Its pictographic qualities and varying degrees of legibility transform language into spatial form, allowing meaning to emerge through perception and interpretation rather than direct communication. This research brings speculative design and performance design together through hybrid scenographic practice to explore how imagined futures can be encountered through embodied spatial experience. Rather than providing solutions, the project uses immersive speculation to question what might be lost, and what may remain valuable, in futures shaped by technological acceleration and emotional diminishment.
Access status: Restricted ,
Modulations of Programmed Cell Death-Ligand 1 and Multidrug-Resistance Protein 5 in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer by Kānuka Leaf Extract
(Auckland University of Technology, 2026) Dhaliwal, Harmandeep; Li, Yan; Yoo, Michelle
Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a clinically aggressive and biologically heterogeneous subtype defined by the absence of ER, PR, and HER2 overexpression. This receptor negative profile limits systemic therapy options to cytotoxic chemotherapy, contributing to high metastatic potential, early relapse, and poor overall prognosis. These challenges underscore the urgent need for alternative therapeutic strategies capable of addressing both tumour intrinsic drivers and the immunological features that enable tumour progression. Natural products with multimodal bioactivity have emerged as promising candidates because they can simultaneously target cancer cell vulnerabilities and modulate the tumour immune microenvironment. Within this context, the present thesis provides the first comprehensive evaluation of Kunzea ericoides (kānuka) leaf extract as a potential anticancer and chemo sensitising agent in TNBC. This work characterises the extract’s phytochemical composition, defines its tumour intrinsic and immunomodulatory effects, and identifies mechanistic intersections between drug resistance and immune evasion. Phytochemical profiling using LC-MS revealed that methanolic extraction yields a phenolic-rich preparation predominantly composed of catechin derivatives and quercetin glucuronides. This complex mixture of polyphenols suggests the capacity to engage multiple cellular pathways. Functional assays in TNBC cell lines demonstrated that kānuka extract induces potent cytotoxic and pro apoptotic effects, reducing cell viability and triggering concentration dependent apoptosis. The consistency of these responses across models highlights the extract’s intrinsic anticancer activity. Beyond direct cytotoxicity, kānuka extract modulated key immunological pathways associated with tumour immune escape. Western blot analyses showed a marked reduction in PD L1 protein expression in MDA MB 231 and BT 549 cells following treatment. Given PD L1’s central role in suppressing T cell activation through PD 1 engagement, this downregulation suggests that kānuka may impair tumour mediated immune suppression. Jurkat-TNBC coculture assays revealed differential modulation of IL 2 secretions, indicating that the extract influences cytokine mediated communication between tumour cells and Jurkat T cells. Together, these findings demonstrate that kānuka exerts both tumour intrinsic and immune modulatory effects with potential to enhance antitumour immunity. A novel mechanistic insight emerged from the investigation of multidrug resistance protein 5 (MRP5). CRISPR mediated MRP5 knockdown reduced PD L1 expression and significantly increased sensitivity to doxorubicin, revealing a previously uncharacterised link between efflux transporter activity and immune checkpoint regulation. This dual role suggests that chemoresistance and immune evasion may be co regulated in TNBC. Consistent with this model, kānuka extract increased intracellular doxorubicin accumulation and synergistically potentiated doxorubicin induced cytotoxicity. The dose dependent rise in caspase activity further supports a synergistic or additive interaction. Collectively, the results support a mechanistic framework in which kānuka extract acts through multiple pathways: inducing apoptosis, suppressing immune checkpoint expression, modulating tumour and T cell cytokine interactions, enhancing intracellular drug accumulation, and synergising with doxorubicin. This multifactorial activity profile aligns with the behaviour of polyphenol rich botanical preparations and highlights kānuka’s therapeutic potential in TNBC, particularly in combination regimens aimed at overcoming chemoresistance and improving immune responsiveness. Future work should isolate active constituents of kānuka leaf extract, dissect the underline molecular pathways with greater resolution, evaluate its pharmacokinetics and toxicity, and validate its efficacy in vivo. These findings establish a strong foundation for continued investigation of Kunzea ericoides as a potential adjunctive or standalone therapeutic candidate for TNBC.
Access status: Open Access ,
A Place to Call Home: Reimaging Paediatric Hospice Environments Through Landscape and Narrative in Ōtepoti Dunedin
(Auckland University of Technology, 2026) Pointing, Jenni; Pedersen Zari, Maibritt
This dissertation investigates how narrative architecture can engage with landscape and biophilic design to shape paediatric palliative care environments in Aotearoa New Zealand, with particular attention to Ōtepoti Dunedin and the lower South Island. It responds to the limited provision of purpose designed paediatric palliative care facilities and to the inadequacy of adult oriented care settings in addressing the emotional, cultural, developmental, and relational needs of tamariki and their whānau. A design led, phenomenological methodology was adopted, integrating literature review, precedent analysis, industry engagement, site interpretation, and iterative design testing. Through sketches, diagrams, models, and early spatial propositions, the research explored how narrative sequence, threshold, refuge, outlook, whānau presence, and ecological continuity could be translated into architectural form. Rather than treating landscape as a backdrop and biophilic design as a decorative insertion, the project examined how contour, planting, microclimate, light, and sensory variation might structure emotional pacing, orientation, and care relationships. The research found that narrative architecture became most effective when expressed through lived spatial conditions such as arrival, pause, gathering, retreat, remembrance, and farewell, rather than through symbolic form alone. It also found that culturally grounded and landscape responsive design can support agency, belonging, memory, and environmental connection for tamariki and whānau, while challenging institutional models of care. The resulting proposal advances a paediatric hospice framework where architecture acts as an active participant in care, integrating relational, cultural, and ecological dimensions within a regionally specific context. This dissertation argues that paediatric palliative care environments in Aotearoa should be conceived not only as places of treatment, but as places of belonging, continuity, and care.