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Discusses ethnic speech styles in New Zealand, the extent to which they can be detected, and how they and English received pronunciation are evaluated by listeners. (EKN)

The article presents a study on the use of a modified Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Programme (EMAP) aquatic vertebrates sampling protocol to assess diversity of reach-scale fishes in wadeable stream in New Zealand. The study uses single pass electrofishing method to sample fish abundance in 73 stream reaches with 345 meter length. Result shows that 150 meter stream reaches are feasible to describe fish richness using the method, however detection of fishes beyond 150 meter was rare.

As part of an eradication program, field searches were conducted to verify the geographical extent of the painted apple moth (PAM; Teia anartoides Walker: Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae) incursion and to determine which plants were being attacked. Most PAM were found on the wattle species, in particular Paraserianthes lophanta and Acacia mearnsii. Other species with large numbers of PAM included the native Corynocarpus laevigatus (karaka) and Avicennia marina (grey mangrove). The large number of PAM on these New Zealand species would not have been predicted from the known unrelated Australian hosts. The relatively high number of PAM found on inanimate objects demonstrated the mobility of PAM larvae and that plants upon which few larvae were found may not be suitable hosts for PAM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper documents the post-war business cycle facts for Australia. The Hodrick-Prescott filter is used to remove the trend component from quarterly macroeconomic series. The business cycle facts we report are the volatilities of the cyclical (detrended) series and their cross correlations with cyclical real output. These facts are consistent with the business cycle facts reported for the United States, the United Kingdom and New Zealand with one exception. For most of the period since 1974, the real wage in Australia is strongly counter-cyclical whereas for these countries it is procyclical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the pattern of basic personality dimensions which has been established in factor-analytic research is reasonably consistent, factor levels and modes of expression are often not. In all, 597 high school children in New Zealand completed Forms A and B of the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire. When their scores were compared with 1859 American high school children who had responded to Form A and another 1656 who had taken Form B of the same test, some significant differences were found. In the broadest terms, New Zealanders scored higher on a narrow measure of verbal intelligence and were relatively more independent. Americans were found to be more extraverted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Twelve hundred Maori and Pakeha (White, European) children in New Zealand ranging from five to twelve years of age, have been tested for intergroup preferences in a series of studies. These investigations spanned the years 1961-1970. and were conducted in four different regions. Previous analysis of these results had concentrated on the ontogeny of ethnic awareness and attitude development, and has not succeeded in relating distinct regional differences to population characteristics such as density or contact rate. The present study re-examines available data, following Tajfel's recent theoretical developments relating social identity to the process of social change. Two judges independently rated the four New Zealand regions in question in terms of perceived status relationships between Maori and Pakeha, ranging from relatively static to relatively fluid. Both resorted to two major variables in the judging: rural versus urban, and year of study. Inter-judge agreement for ratings was total across the four regions. The resulting dimension was conceived as one which could reflect a restructuring of intergroup choices as a consequence of social change. It was found that Maori children have shown a clear shift away from out-group preference as a function of urbanism and of time. While the rural context may have offered a form of security via a more 'classical' Moori identity, the collapse of this system in an urban context reveals Maori/Pakeha social inequity for what it is, particularly in the eyes of older children. This trend has been accelerated in the seventies by a knowledge of minority group assertions elsewhere, particularly in the United Stales There is some evidence of a shift in Fake ha behaviour too. Blatant in-group preference has diminished as a facet of social change, though Pakehas could retrench if a militant pattern appeared in Maori behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eighty white, New Zealand-born students were tested for their social distance attitudes towards Maoris and 15 other national groups. It was found that their scores on a social distance scale correlated significantly with the extent to which the groups were judged to be physically similar to white New Zealanders. More social distance was accorded to Maoris than to members of groups of Northwestern European stock. These trends were attributed to the importance of race as a determinant of social distance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: A 2017 laboratory survey conducted by the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia Quality Assurance Programs (RCPAQAP) asked participants which antimicrobials they would report for given organisms in either blood or urine cultures in order to identify opportunities for improvement of antimicrobial reporting., Methods: Over-reporting was defined as reporting of broad-spectrum antimicrobials on isolates susceptible to narrow-spectrum antimicrobials. Inappropriate reporting was defined as reporting antimicrobials not appropriate for the site of infection., Results: For a fully susceptible Escherichia coli in blood culture, 65% of laboratories (55/84) over-reported at least one antimicrobial. Importantly, 15% (10/65) of laboratories that tested meropenem reported the result. A significant proportion of laboratories (12%, 10/84) reported antimicrobials generally considered inappropriate for treatment of bacteraemia on blood culture isolates. Overall, 82% (77/94) of laboratories either over-reported or inappropriately reported at least one antimicrobial., Conclusions: This survey identifies significant opportunities for improvement and standardization of 'cascade' or 'selective' reporting of antimicrobials and highlights ways in which microbiology laboratories can contribute to antimicrobial stewardship and judicious use of antimicrobials.