Bachelor with Honours Dissertations - open access

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The "Bachelor with Honours Dissertations - open access" collection contains digital copies of AUT University B(Hons) dissertations approved for open access. B(Hons) dissertations are required to be open access from April 2022. Past students may contact the Tuwhera team (tuwhera.opentheses@aut.ac.nz) if they wish to make their B(Hons) open access.

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    Behavioural Biometrics: A Novel Approach to User Authentication in Information Systems Security
    (Auckland University of Technology, 2024) Mulligan, Joshua
    As information technology (IT) evolves, user authentication has shifted towards innovative approaches, with behavioural biometrics (BB) emerging as a leading contender. However, there are no studies that investigate the factors that shape user acceptance and trust in the biometric authentication systems. This dissertation employs a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) to investigate these focusing on behavioural biometrics. Past studies indicate that there is immense potential for BB as a robust authentication method to enhance user acceptance and trust. Therefore, this examination of the existing literature aims to provide a nuanced understanding of trust in IT and its intersection with BB. The outcomes of this study will inform the refinement of biometric technologies and provide crucial insights for practitioners, policymakers, and researchers, advancing secure and user-friendly digital authentication solutions in an ever-evolving technological landscape. By employing an SLR methodology, this research endeavours to bridge existing gaps. Based on a review of 88 articles, it is evident that the quality of data related to BB is often inconsistent, with inadequate quality assessment and poor reporting of detailed information. This study presents key reporting items to improve the transparency and comparability of future research on user authentication and adoption. It also emphasizes that user trust and acceptance of BB are poorly assessed and reported in both empirical and conceptual research, as well as across multiple industries. Additionally, it highlights common challenges faced by BB applications, including regulatory, technical, social, and research-related issues that need to be addressed for progress in the field.
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    Trophic Ecology of Gould’s Arrow Squid (Nototodarus gouldi) in Aotearoa New Zealand
    (Auckland University of Technology, 2024) Hu, Lucia
    Deep-sea squids (order Oegopsida) are recognised for their integral role in marine ecosystems, which can be investigated through detailed trophic studies. Gould’s arrow squid (Nototodarus gouldi) is a commercially exploited species in the southwest Pacific. Although prey composition has been reported from Australia, no research to date has been published on this species’ diet in Aotearoa, New Zealand. This integrative study combined morphological, DNA analyses and helminth parasite identification to provide the first data on the prey of N. gouldi in Aotearoa, New Zealand. Gut contents were visually screened for parasites and hard parts of prey remains—including otoliths, eye lenses, squid beaks, crustacean exoskeletons and soft tissues. The conservative DNA barcode region (cytochrome c oxidase subunit I [COI]) was sequenced for representative pieces of soft tissue (which could not be visually identified). Overall, 26 species from across six phyla were reported, including 18 novel species herein reported for the first time in the diet of N. gouldi. This baseline information on the prey species and parasites of N. gouldi may serve as a foundation for ecosystem-based fishery management and understanding trophic interactions and prey dynamics within the south Tasman region.
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    Violent and Unpredictable: Perceptions of Victims of Crime Who Are Living With a Mental Health Problem
    (Auckland University of Technology, 2024) Andersen, Joshua
    Public perceptions of mental illness are largely derived from stigmas and social norms that perpetuate punitive and discriminative rhetoric. In regard to illnesses like schizophrenia, these perceptions are overwhelmingly associated with violence and the threat of harm. Recent academic literature has questioned this notion. Our study explored how varying stigmas can influence perceptions of mock newspaper articles that depict a violent assault of which the victim has a mental illness. Members of the public (n = 106) were randomly assigned to one of six newspaper depictions of a violent assault, of which the victim was reported to have a mental illness (schizophrenia, depression, no mental illness). To test for the influence of substance use comorbidity, the presence of methamphetamine was also a variable in each mental illness condition. After reading the mock newspaper articles, participants then responded to the Social Distance Scale (Link et al., 1987) to assess participants desired social distance from the victim in the newspaper vignette. Participants also responded to several covariate measures that helped us better understand the judgements made in relation to the vignette. The results of our study suggest that mental illness alone did not substantially alter participant perceptions of mental illness. However, when factoring for methamphetamine presence, participants in the schizophrenia conditions reported significantly lower levels of desired social distance and subsequent stigma than those in control conditions. Future research could seek to better explore the interaction between mental illness and crime victimisation. As such, the implications of research in this domain work to resolve the prevalence of discriminative social stigma both within academic and public spheres.
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    Do Social Norms Predict Equestrians' Likelihood of Using Safety Equipment?
    (Auckland University of Technology, 2024) Hathaway, Alexandra
    Equestrian sports carry a high risk of injury. Despite the well known risks carried by these activities, there are still many riders who choose to not utilise safety equipment when working with horses. The current study examined whether social norms or differences in personality traits influenced riders’ decision to use various types of safety equipment. An online questionnaire (N = 115) was used to investigate whether agreeance with descriptive norms, injunctive norms, or differences in sensation seeking and conscientiousness predicted the use of helmets, protective vests, or safety stirrups. Consistent with prior research, the study found descriptive norms and injunctive norms both influenced the proportion of use of various safety equipment. More specifically, descriptive norms predicted the proportion of helmet and safety stirrup use, while personal and peer injunctive norms predicted the proportion of safety vest use. Sensation seeking was only found to be a predictor of helmet use and did not correlate to the proportion of safety vest or safety stirrup use. Conscientiousness was not found to be a predictor of any variable. The findings are significant within the equestrian community as they contribute to the understanding of what influences safety equipment use, allowing for more informed interventions to increase safe practices within equestrian sport.
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    Synthesis of Enzyme Inspired Immobilized Catalysts
    (Auckland University of Technology, 2023) Malingin, Marc
    The primary objective of this study is to develop an immobilized catalyst for transphosphorylation, drawing inspiration from enzymatic processes. To accomplish this goal, a set of key objectives were set. Firstly, the synthesis of TACN (A) and guanidinium (B) ligands is paramount. Then, the next objective is to immobilize these ligands onto a solid resin, establishing a bioactive site through a copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) "click reaction." Lastly, the study aims to evaluate the catalytic activity of these supported catalysts using the model substrate HPNPP. This assessment seeks to identify optimal conditions for catalytic activation and to elucidate potential cooperativity in the catalytic process. The focus of this project lies in investigating the catalytic properties of the selected ligands when immobilized on solid resin as an alternative to gold nanoparticles. The investigation includes the characterization of molecules, monitoring reactions through NMR and IR spectroscopy, and evaluating catalytic activity using UV-vis spectroscopy. TACN (A) was initially synthesized using a protective group, Boc, and this was employed to selectively perform a substitution reaction at the desired site. Subsequently, "click chemistry" was utilized to attach it to the resin. Finally, the protective group was cleaved under acidic conditions. The synthesis of Guanidinium (B) was approached through three distinct routes. The first route involved a standard substitution reaction, followed by a Staudinger reduction reaction, ending in guanylation. In the second route, with the aim of enhancing efficiency and effectiveness, a different starting material was used and tosylation was performed before following the aforementioned steps. The third route employed a completely different route, employing Gabriel synthesis to obtain the amine, which was eventually subjected to guanylation. Similar to the TACN synthesis, the "click reaction" was employed to immobilize the ligands, and deprotection was achieved through acidic conditions. We successfully showcased the immobilization of different functional groups onto the Merrifield resin's surface, resulting in the creation of a highly efficient transphosphodiesterase. This achievement holds promise for applications in synthesizing artificial enzymes characterized by great stability compared to their biological counterparts, along with the convenience of recovery and reusability. Our future research endeavors will focus on further enhancing this technology by exploring combinations of the two existing ligands and potentially introducing additional ligands in varying proportions, with the aim of developing artificial enzymes boasting even greater catalytic activities.
Dissertations are protected by the Copyright Act 1994 (New Zealand). The dissertation may be consulted by you, provided you comply with the provisions of the Act and the following conditions of use:
  • Any use you make of these documents or images must be for research or private study purposes only, and you may not make them available to any other person.
  • Authors control the copyright of their dissertation. You will recognise the author’s right to be identified as the author of the dissertation, and due acknowledgement will be made to the author where appropriate.
  • You will obtain the author’s permission before publishing any material from the dissertation.