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Erosion leading to sedimentation in surface water may disrupt aquatic habitats and deliver sediment‐bound nutrients that contribute to eutrophication. Land use changes causing loss of native vegetation have accelerated already naturally high erosion rates in New Zealand and increased sedimentation in streams and lakes. Sediment‐bound phosphorus (P) makes up 71–79% of the 17–19 t P y−1 delivered from anthropogenic sources to Lake Rotorua in New Zealand. Detainment bunds (DBs) were first implemented in the Lake Rotorua catchment in 2010 as a strategy to address P losses from pastoral agriculture. The bunds are 1.5–2 m high earthen stormwater retention structures constructed across the flow path of targeted low‐order ephemeral streams with the purpose of temporarily ponding runoff on productive pastures. The current DB design protocol recommends a minimum pond volume of 120 m3 ha−1 of contributing catchment with a maximum pond storage capacity of 10 000 m3. No previous study has investigated the ability of DBs to decrease annual suspended sediment (SS) loads leaving pastoral catchments. Annual SS yields delivered to two DBs with 20 ha and 55 ha catchments were 109 and 28 kg SS ha−1, respectively, during this 12‐month study. The DBs retained 1280 kg (59%) and 789 kg (51%) of annual SS loads delivered from the catchments as a result of the bunds' ability to impede stormflow and facilitate soil infiltration and sediment deposition. The results of this study highlight the ability of DBs to decrease SS loads transported from pastures in surface runoff, even during large storm events, and suggests DBs are able to reduce P loading in Lake Rotorua. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developed a model of education reform based on a study of change in five jurisdictions in four countries (Alberta and Manitoba, Canada; Minnesota, United States; England; and New Zealand).The model, which contains four interactive elements: origins, adoption, implementation, and outcomes, builds a more comprehensive approach to the analysis of reform from political, organizational, and educational perspectives. (SLD)

Water-quality impairment due to excess nutrients entering Lake Rotorua has been recognised since the 1960s. So as to improve water-quality, the 2012 Lake Rotorua Nutrient Management Plan has set a target to reduce phosphorus (P) loads delivered to the lake by 10 t/year from a baseline of ~40 t P/year. Dissolved P and sediment-bound P loss from agriculture have been identified as significant sources of P entering the lake. Storm periods present significant opportunities to mitigate these losses. Detainment bunds (DBs) are a mitigation strategy that could potentially decrease P losses in storm events. A detainment bund is a low earthen dam constructed on productive pasture, which is capable of temporarily ponding large quantities of overland flow delivered by storm-generated ephemeral streams. Prior research on DBs and sedimentation basins serves as a proof of concept for the technology; however, there is no quantitative data available on the capacity of DBs to attenuate contaminants under New Zealand conditions. Quantification of DB performance is essential to the potential implementation of the technology at regional or national scales, and to the modelling of treatment efficacy in nutrient-management software such as OVERSEER®. The present study reports on preliminary data from a DB receiving surface runoff from 19.7 ha within the Lake Rotorua catchment during three contrasting storm events. The results indicated that retaining water in DBs resulted in discharges with decreased volumes of water and decreased concentrations of suspended sediments, dissolved reactive P and total P. Load attenuation related to event size and resulted in decreased loads of sediment (14–91%), dissolved reactive P (19–69%) and total P loads (18–67%) discharged downstream. These preliminary results indicated the potential of this mitigation strategy to decrease loads of sediment and P delivered to Lake Rotorua by surface runoff from pastoral agriculture. The present study investigated the ability of a detainment bund to mitigate sediment and phosphorus losses from pastoral agriculture. The performance of this mitigation strategy, which temporarily ponds storm-generated surface runoff for 48–80 h on productive pasture, has never been quantified. Results of the study suggest that this detainment bund is effective at attenuating suspended sediment and phosphorus, although further research should be conducted before promoting detainment bunds at a wider scale and before land managers make substantial investments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The geroscience hypothesis posits that therapies to slow biological processes of aging can prevent disease and extend healthy years of life. To test such "geroprotective" therapies in humans, outcome measures are needed that can assess extension of disease-free life span. This need has spurred development of different methods to quantify biological aging. But different methods have not been systematically compared in the same humans. We implemented 7 methods to quantify biological aging using repeated-measures physiological and genomic data in 964 middle-aged humans in the Dunedin Study (New Zealand; persons born 1972-1973). We studied 11 measures in total: telomere-length and erosion, 3 epigenetic-clocks and their ticking rates, and 3 biomarker-composites. Contrary to expectation, we found low agreement between different measures of biological aging. We next compared associations between biological aging measures and outcomes that geroprotective therapies seek to modify: physical functioning, cognitive decline, and subjective signs of aging, including aged facial appearance. The 71-cytosine-phosphateguanine epigenetic clock and biomarker composites were consistently related to these aging-related outcomes. However, effect sizes were modest. Results suggested that various proposed approaches to quantifying biological aging may not measure the same aspects of the aging process. Further systematic evaluation and refinement of measures of biological aging is needed to furnish outcomes for geroprotector trials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Early-life intelligence has been shown to predict multiple causes of death in populations around the world. This finding suggests that intelligence might influence mortality through its effects on a general process of physiological deterioration (i.e., individual variation in "biological age"). We examined whether intelligence could predict measures of aging at midlife before the onset of most age-related disease. Methods: We tested whether intelligence assessed in early childhood, middle childhood, and midlife predicted midlife biological age in members of the Dunedin Study, a population-representative birth cohort. Results: Lower intelligence predicted more advanced biological age at midlife as captured by perceived facial age, a 10-biomarker algorithm based on data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), and Framingham heart age (r = 0.1-0.2). Correlations between intelligence and telomere length were less consistent. The associations between intelligence and biological age were not explained by differences in childhood health or parental socioeco-nomic status, and intelligence remained a significant predictor of biological age even when intelligence was assessed before Study members began their formal schooling. Discussion: These results suggest that accelerated aging may serve as one of the factors linking low early-life intelligence to increased rates of morbidity and mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Could it be that despite a huge literature spanning decades from many disciplines, a corpus of writing that examines seemingly every twist and turn of a complex situation, we still are missing something basic and fundamental to a proper understanding of contemporary cultural politics in Aotearoa New Zealand? A thing so obvious and omnipresent, that it was characterized long ago in the anthropological literature as the fundamental dynamic of Polynesian culture, and acknowledged even further back by Maori in their ancestral sayings? He tauranga uta, he toka tu moana (a resting place ashore, a firm rock at sea). 'This metaphor describes the chief whose influence is unchallenged in his territory which extends from the land to the sea' (Mead and Grove 2003:125). But surely real chiefs, those solid anchoring points, no longer exist as they did before the coming of the Pakeha. Be that as it may, the elements of social organization and associated cultural values of chiefly status continue to resonate in contemporary society. This paper argues that Goldman's concept of status rivalry is that crucial overlooked aspect of cultural politics necessary to a full understanding of what is happening today in the Waitangi Tribunal, Parliament, and so many other places where biculturalism and multiculturalism are debated and discussed, and that it is an aspect of Polynesian culture that has been part of the interrelationship between the Crown and te tangata whenua (the indigenous people) since their first encounters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: People with a DNA mismatch repair (MMR) gene mutation have a substantially elevated risk of colorectal cancer (CRC) but the modifiers of this risk are not well established. We investigated the association between dietary supplement intake and CRC risk for carriers.Methods: This study included 1966 (56% female) carriers of an MMR gene mutation (719 MLH1, 931 MSH2, 211 MSH6 and 105 PMS2) who were recruited from the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand into the Colon Cancer Family Registry between 1997 and 2012. Information on lifestyle factors including supplement intake was collected at the time of recruitment. Using Cox proportional hazards regression weighted to correct for ascertainment bias, we estimated hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for associations between self-reported multivitamin, calcium and folic acid supplement intake and CRC risk.Results: Of 744 carriers with CRC, 18%, 6% and 5% reported intake of multivitamin, calcium and folic acid supplements for at least 1 month, respectively, compared with 27%, 11% and 10% of 1222 carriers without CRC. After adjusting for identified confounding variables, a decreased CRC risk was associated with multivitam inintake for at least 3 years (HR 0.47, 95% CI 0.32-0.69) and calcium intake for at least 3 years(HR 0.42, 95% CI 0.23-0.74), compared with never users. There was no evidence of an association between folic acid supplement intake and CRC risk (P = 0.82).Conclusion: Intake of multivitamin and calcium supplements might be associated with a decreased risk of CRC for MMR gene mutation carriers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stimulated by a recent government ban on kosher slaughter (shechita), and a whale stranding involving Ngāti Toa near Wellington, the author compares the quests of Indigenous and minority groups for cultural rights in Aotearoa (New Zealand). Observing Māori and Jews navigating in the contexts of the Treaty of Waitangi and human rights legislation, this paper provides concrete ethnographic examples that highlight how such claims articulate with the political and legal contexts in this Antipodean nation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Whanganui National Park is one of New Zealand's leading tourist attractions. Tieke Kāinga (Tieke settlement) is a Department of Conservation camp site in the middle reaches of the river that was occupied in the mid-1990s by members of Tamahaki an indigenous group who claim that the land was taken from them illegally. Although a modus vivendi currently exists whereby the Department and Maori group co manage the site, Tamahaki's struggle for exclusive ownership of it continues. Part of the strategy they adopted to solidify their claim involves welcoming tourists and government officials to Tieke Kāinga in a manner that accords with Maori tradition. Such welcomes establish dramatically that Tamahaki own Tieke and that the guests formally acknowledge by their participation in the performance that they are visitors. This paper questions the authenticity of the welcomes performed there and concludes that they are real for good reason. Authentic Maori welcomes solidify Tamahaki's occupation of Tieke and broadcast the morality of their claim to the site. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In May 2010 New Zealand's government, in the interest of animal welfare, required that all animals slaughtered for commercial purposes be stunned before being killed. This rule effectively banned the Jewish practice of slaughtering, which requires that a kosher animal (e.g., cloven hooves, chews the cud, is in good health, etc.), be killed by a trained butcher who slits its throat with one stroke of an extremely sharp knife. A stunned animal (i.e., one shocked electrically), if not already dead, is considered injured and unhealthy, and, therefore, not kosher for slaughter. The government's position was due to recommendations by New Zealand's National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee and studies by veterinary scientists. Members of the small Jewish community went to New Zealand's High Court alleging that the ban infringed on their constitutional rights. The issue of humane animal treatment versus civil liberties proved to be much more involved, and was instructive as a local example of cultural politics. (Cultural politics, animal welfare, multiculturalism, New Zealand Jews) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Maori site of Tieke Marae is located on a Department of Conservation campsite in Whanganui National Park, New Zealand. It has been occupied for 16 years by members of the Tamahaki hapu (sub-tribe, known as Te Whanau o Tieke (the family of Tieke), and their supporters. Tamahaki maintain that Tieke Marae was confiscated illegally, and that they will remain in place until the New Zealand Government recognises their claim to 267 acres currently inside the Park. Te Whanau o Tieke has effectively put its stamp on Tieke by landscaping the marae (ceremonial meeting ground) erecting buildings, raising a pou whenua (an elaborately carved pole that demarcates their territory) conducting burials, and hosting thousands of visitors, including government officials. Their occupation has been peaceful, helped in recent years by the spirit of cooperation that has developed between the group and the Department of Conservation. Events at Tieke Marae seem to reinforce some points recently made in anthropological and legal literature about solving disputes over contested sacred sites. Brown (2004) and Yablon (2004) maintain that local agencies, rather than courts, are better placed to work out compromises between indigenous people and national governments than courts. While agreeing about the usefulness of local agencies in bringing out solutions to issues involving federal use of indigenous sacred sites, I conclude that a real solution at Tieke requires the kind of definitive justice that only a court or some equivalent legal body can deliver. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The current method of delivering gene replacement to the posterior segment of the eye involves a three-port pars plana vitrectomy followed by injection of the agent through a 37-gauge cannula, which is potentially wrought with retinal complications. In this paper we investigate the safety and efficacy of delivering adeno-associated viral (AAV) vector to the suprachoroidal space using an ab externo approach that utilizes an illuminated microcatheter. Methods: 6 New Zealand White rabbits and 2 Dutch Belted rabbits were used to evaluate the ab externo delivery method. sc-AAV5-smCBA-hGFP vector was delivered into the suprachoroidal space using an illuminated iTrackTM 250A microcatheter. Six weeks after surgery, the rabbits were sacrificed and their eyes evaluated for AAV transfection using immunofluorescent antibody staining of GFP. Results: Immunostaining of sectioned and whole-mounted eyes demonstrated robust transfection in all treated eyes, with no fluorescence in untreated control eyes. Transfection occurred diffusely and involved both the choroid and the retina. No apparent adverse effects caused by either the viral vector or the procedure itself could be seen either clinically or histologically. Conclusions: The ab externo method of delivery using a microcatheter was successful in safely and effectively delivering a gene therapy agent to the suprachoroidal space. This method presents a less invasive alternative to the current method of virally vectored gene delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maori individuals and groups in New Zealand have been active for many years claiming rights to property and resources guaranteed to them by the Treaty of Waitangi 1840. An important contemporary case, Wai 262, extends the scope of these claims to include ownership of Maori culture and its products. The tendency in this claim to reify culture, and to assert indigenous ownership of it, is common. However, New Zealand's approach to the issue of cultural rights is unique. The state has established a quasi-judicial forum, the Waitangi Tribunal, to hear claims about violations of Maori Treaty rights. In this particular instance the Treaty - Tribunal framework has shaped indigenous claims in ways that paint the claimants into a corner. Their position at the hearings’ closings comes into conflict with the kind of liberal democratic values that provide Maori iwi (tribes) opportunities to make their case. It is therefore unlikely that Wai 262 will afford a solution to the problems of cultural appropriation and marginalization that exist in contemporary New Zealand. As such, this long-running case leaves the claimants, and those sympathetic to their plight, with some unfinished business. It also provides an important new window into the contradictions facing indigenous peoples who seek redress through law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Like most voluntary organisations, Barnardos New Zealand has faced a number of challenges as a result of changes in the way the Government funds social services. It found itself in economic difficulties as it scrambled for contracts and faced real doubts that the organisation would be able to sustain its founding mission of providing welfare services for children in New Zealand. Led by a new chief executive (CEO), Barnardos began an ambitious programme of renewal by integrating services. Seen as a way of countering fragmentation, service integration has a long history but an ambiguous record of success in bringing about its desired ends. This paper, based on interviewing and focus groups, looks at integrated services from the perspective of staff at Barnardos New Zealand. It reports their views on whether this particular restructuring exercise is something worth doing, how it is happening and how to advance it further. The article uses Bourdieu's critique of neoliberalism to put some of the doubts and expectations regarding integrated services here into a wider context. Uncertainties notwithstanding, service integration still has considerable appeal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study of the restructuring of a New Zealand non-governmental welfare agency concerned with the needs of children and their families shows how a prominent local non-governmental organization sought to reverse the detrimental effects that New Zealand's adoption of neoliberal ideology, policy, and practice has had on the country's voluntary sector. The research indicates that the attempt at restructuring has the potential to align the organization more closely with emerging local developments in neoliberalism and offers an analysis of what happened. The analysis presented here supports the view that neoliberalism is fragmentary, uncertain, and variable; a contextual rather than a unitary phenomenon. That the market-oriented ideology constitutes "a thing that acts in the world" paradoxically emerges stronger than before. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. Wind-induced sediment resuspension in shallow lakes affects many physical and biological processes, including food gathering by zooplankton. The effects of suspended sediment on clearance rate were determined for a dominant cladoceran, Daphnia carinata, and calanoid copepod, Boeckella hamata, in Lake Waihola, New Zealand. 2. Animals were incubated at multiple densities for 4 days in lake water containing different amounts of suspended lake sediment. Rates of harvest of major food organisms were determined for each sediment level (turbidity) from changes in net growth rate with grazer density. 3. Daphnia cleared all food organisms 7–40 μm in length at similar rates, but was less efficient in its removal of free bacteria, phytoplankton <7 μm, and large cyanobacterial filaments. Elevation of sediment turbidity from 2 to 10 nephelometric turbidity units (NTU) (63 mg DW L−1 added sediment) reduced Daphnia clearance of phytoplankton, heterotrophic flagellates and ciliates by 72–100%, and of amoebae and attached bacteria by 21–44%. Further inhibition occurred at higher turbidity. 4. Boeckella hamata removed microzooplankton primarily, rather than phytoplankton. The rate at which it cleared rotifers was reduced by 56% when turbidity was increased from 2.5 to 100 NTU. 5. In the absence of macrozooplankton, algal growth increased with sediment turbidity, suggesting that sediment also inhibits rotifer grazing. 6. As mid-day turbidity in Lake Waihola is ≥10 NTU about 40% of the time, sediment resuspension may play a major role in moderating energy flow and structuring pelagic communities in this lake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New Zealand's Members of Parliament have seldom been credited with significant opportunities to display leadership in an environment dominated by a strong executive and highly disciplined political parties. The select committee system has been identified as one setting in which Parliament might be able to gain greater autonomy vis-à-vis the executive, giving MPs opportunities to make a distinctive contribution to the law-making process. This article considers factors influencing MPs in the altered select committee environment brought about by New Zealand's multi-party parliament and `mixed member proportional' electoral system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the political system in New Zealand. Changes in the nation's version of Westminster democracy; Increase in the political and ethnic diversity of the legislature; Sovereignty issues involving the country's indigenous Maori population; Challenges facing the New Zealand polity as it seeks to adapt inherited political institutions to its multi-cultural circumstances as a South Pacific nation.

The relationships between social and cultural transformation and identity change are subtle and complex. This paper reflects on trends in these relationships in the Samoan community in Wellington, New Zealand through an examination of the content of interviews about an important cultural practice (fa'alavelave). After discussing fa'alavelave and its importance to Samoan life four themes are presented that show how our informants perceive the interrelations between social change and cultural continuity. Although the body of data discussed does not provide a sufficient basis for speaking with any certainty about prevailing trends, it is a useful ingredient to a discussion of how we might proceed to gain a clearer understanding of the balance between the forces impinging upon Samoan identity in New Zealand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New Zealand politics during the 1990s was dominated by debate over a new electoral system, MMP (mixed member proportional), recommended in 1986 and endorsed by voters in 1992 and 1993. The four elections held during the 1990s were influenced, and at times overshadowed, by moves to adopt a new voting system based on proportional representation principles. The loss of confidence in New Zealand's two major parties, National and Labour, was accompanied by a rise in support for smaller parties. A related theme of 1990s politics revolves around the political career of Winston Peters, whose odyssey parallels the rise and fall in public esteem of the new electoral system itself. By the end of the 1990s, it was far from clear that the new system – and the political leadership which has come to power under its auspices – would be able to achieve for New Zealanders the goals of consensus and a sense of common enterprise valued by so many. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article highlights Jewish ethnicity among New Zealanders of mixed parentage. Modern social life is sometimes characterized as "post traditional," an environment where personal identity is continually reconstructed. Concepts of ethnic identity on the other hand usually evoke some notion of tradition, continuity with the past, and intersubjectivity. With this perspective on modernity's effects upon ethnicity and Jewish identification, some New Zealand Jews combine specific cultural themes and symbolic resources to produce various types of identification. The principal debate in the literature on contemporary Jewish ethnicity is between transformationists and assimilationists. Assimilation see changes in Jewish behavior and identification as evidence of loss and decline. An individualization of ethnicity has occurred, in which voluntarism and personal concerns of identity assume the centrality formerly occupied by cultural practices and group organization. This kind of ethnicity is merely symbolic, requiring neither institutions nor networks of interaction to sustain itself.

Explores the October 12, 1996 general election in New Zealand. Proportional representation and political change; New Zealand's electoral system; Results of the election; Process of government formation; Policies and composition of the new National/New Zealand First coalition government.

Presents a perspective on the natural history of epidemic neuromyasthenia and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) in West Otago, New Zealand. Incidence of CFS; Signs and symptoms; Prevention of relapses; Prognosis for epidemic neuromyasthenia-associated CFS. INSET: Patients and methods..

The article presents an update of reports that provide a complete and up-to-date record of all survey research conducted by political scientists on voting behavior at the national political level in New Zealand. The inventories provides useful guide to survey research in the country and overseas scholars. The reports represent an item-by-item summary of each of the academic surveys on which much of the electoral studies literature depends. It updates information about the listed surveys by attention to publications.

The article focuses on the 1993 New Zealand general election and the referendum to change the country's voting system. It analyzes the results of the general election as well as the referendum by citing official statistic results generated during the event. Moreover, it discusses the campaign strategies employed by the four political parties to ensure their victories as well as the initiatives established by the government to disseminate information regarding the referendum. Furthermore, it analyzes the distribution of votes during the general election and the referendum, which reflects the desire of the citizens for a new style of governance.

Explores the impact of electoral reform on the public service in New Zealand. Background on the extensive public sector reforms during the mid-to-late 1980s; Outline of the concerns and expectations about the consequences of the electoral system; Extent to which the public service has been affected by the electoral reform.

The article provides information on the bills of rights in Parliamentary settings in New Zealand and Israel. The history and obstacles of introducing the movement for a bill of rights in both countries are discussed. In New Zealand, former law professor Geoffrey Palmer presented the concept of a draft bill of rights into the parliamentary process, while in Israel, the movement for the bill was led by members of the academic legal profession. As a result, the proposals to enact the rights collided to some extent with the reality of an incomplete acceptance of prevailing political arrangements by ethnic minorities in both countries.

• Detainment bunds are capable of impounding up to 10,000 m3 of surface runoff. • Impeding stormflow increased residence time and facilitated soil infiltration. • Surface runoff reaching downstream waterways decreased by 43% and 63%. • Soil infiltration rates in areas are decreasing due to repetitive ponding. • The novel strategy is likely to decrease sediment and nutrient loading downstream. Storm generated surface runoff is responsible for significant portions of the contaminants exported from grazed pastures that contribute to water quality impairment in inland and coastal waters. Detainment bunds (DBs) were investigated as a novel strategy to mitigate the losses of nutrients and sediment in surface runoff from pastures in the Lake Rotorua catchment, in New Zealand. A DB is a ∼1.5-2 m high earthen stormwater retention structure constructed on productive pastures in the flow path of targeted ephemeral streams. The current DB design protocol recommends a minimum pond volume of 120 m3 per hectare of contributing catchment. Bunds are capable of temporarily ponding up to 10,000 m3 of surface runoff, which can be rapidly drained by opening an outlet valve. This 12-month study of 2 DB sites with 55 ha and 20 ha subcatchments in the Lake Rotorua catchment, found that DBs effectively decreased annual discharge volumes by 31% and 43%. Decreased runoff discharges were the result of increased soil infiltration facilitated by increased stormwater residence times on well-drained soils in the ponding area. Furthermore, discharges from the DBs occurring after runoff generation in the catchment had ceased were likely to infiltrate the soils downstream of the DBs. Combining the in-pond and downstream infiltration, the DBs prevented 43% and 63% of the annual runoff generated in the targeted catchments from reaching downstream surface waters. The results of this study demonstrate that DBs constructed on sufficiently permeable soils reduce surface runoff volumes from pastures, and are thereby capable of decreasing contaminant loads delivered to receiving surface waters. As such, DBs are likely to be an effective strategy to add to the nutrient mitigation toolbox in the Lake Rotorua catchment, and in other pastoral locations where contaminants mobilised by surface runoff contribute to water quality degradation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article introduces a series of papers originally delivered at the August 2007 annual conference entitled "60 years of New Zealand Independence" sponsored by the New Zealand Political Studies Association, held at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, which include papers on the history of New Zealand's independence and New Zealand's Prime Ministers Peter Fraser and Walter Nash.

The article presents insights on the aspects of the complex nature of the scientific and medical issues facing fertility preservation (FP) by the academic adolescent and young adult (AYA) community. Topics covered include the possible consequences of an over-zealous approach to FP, the need to prioritize cancer fertility registry and the research gaps existing in the area of FP.

The article focuses on the implication of the New Zealand Political Change Project for the development of the country's political system research. The primary purpose of the research is to deepen the academic and public understanding of the country's political system. The researchers hope that by working with the Project, it will promote both in scholarly and policy-related aspect. During her speech at the Wallace Awards, Elizabeth McLeay emphasizes three basic components to be consider in discovering improvement in political science research for electoral system reform. The Mixed Member Proportional System (MMP) is described as the main subject of the Project.

Background: Whole breast irradiation delivered once per day over 3-5 weeks after breast conserving surgery reduces local recurrence with good cosmetic results. Accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) delivered over 1 week to the tumour bed was developed to provide a more convenient treatment. In this trial, we investigated if external beam APBI was non-inferior to whole breast irradiation.Methods: We did this multicentre, randomised, non-inferiority trial in 33 cancer centres in Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Women aged 40 years or older with ductal carcinoma in situ or node-negative breast cancer treated by breast conserving surgery were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive either external beam APBI (38·5 Gy in ten fractions delivered twice per day over 5-8 days) or whole breast irradiation (42·5 Gy in 16 fractions once per day over 21 days, or 50 Gy in 25 fractions once per day over 35 days). Patients and clinicans were not masked to treatment assignment. The primary outcome was ipsilateral breast tumour recurrence (IBTR), analysed by intention to treat. The trial was designed on the basis of an expected 5 year IBTR rate of 1·5% in the whole breast irradiation group with 85% power to exclude a 1·5% increase in the APBI group; non-inferiority was shown if the upper limit of the two-sided 90% CI for the IBTR hazard ratio (HR) was less than 2·02. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT00282035.Findings: Between Feb 7, 2006, and July 15, 2011, we enrolled 2135 women. 1070 were randomly assigned to receive APBI and 1065 were assigned to receive whole breast irradiation. Six patients in the APBI group withdrew before treatment, four more did not receive radiotherapy, and 16 patients received whole breast irradiation. In the whole breast irradiation group, 16 patients withdrew, and two more did not receive radiotherapy. In the APBI group, a further 14 patients were lost to follow-up and nine patients withdrew during the follow-up period. In the whole breast irradiation group, 20 patients were lost to follow-up and 35 withdrew during follow-up. Median follow-up was 8·6 years (IQR 7·3-9·9). The 8-year cumulative rates of IBTR were 3·0% (95% CI 1·9-4·0) in the APBI group and 2·8% (1·8-3·9) in the whole breast irradiation group. The HR for APBI versus whole breast radiation was 1·27 (90% CI 0·84-1·91). Acute radiation toxicity (grade ≥2, within 3 months of radiotherapy start) occurred less frequently in patients treated with APBI (300 [28%] of 1070 patients) than whole breast irradiation (484 [45%] of 1065 patients, p<0·0001). Late radiation toxicity (grade ≥2, later than 3 months) was more common in patients treated with APBI (346 [32%] of 1070 patients) than whole breast irradiation (142 [13%] of 1065 patients; p<0·0001). Adverse cosmesis (defined as fair or poor) was more common in patients treated with APBI than in those treated by whole breast irradiation at 3 years (absolute difference, 11·3%, 95% CI 7·5-15·0), 5 years (16·5%, 12·5-20·4), and 7 years (17·7%, 12·9-22·3).Interpretation: External beam APBI was non-inferior to whole breast irradiation in preventing IBTR. Although less acute toxicity was observed, the regimen used was associated with an increase in moderate late toxicity and adverse cosmesis, which might be related to the twice per day treatment. Other approaches, such as treatment once per day, might not adversely affect cosmesis and should be studied.Funding: Canadian Institutes for Health Research and Canadian Breast Cancer Research Alliance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On UT 29 June 2015, the occultation by Pluto of a bright star (r′ = 11.9) was observed from the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) and several ground-based stations in New Zealand and Australia. Pre-event astrometry allowed for an in-flight update to the SOFIA team with the result that SOFIA was deep within the central flash zone (~22 km from center). Analysis of the combined data leads to the result that Pluto's middle atmosphere is essentially unchanged from 2011 and 2013 (Person et al. 2013; Bosh et al. 2015); there has been no significant expansion or contraction of the atmosphere. Additionally, our multi-wavelength observations allow us to conclude that a haze component in the atmosphere is required to reproduce the light curves obtained. This haze scenario has implications for understanding the photochemistry of Pluto's atmosphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We evaluated oomycete presence and abundance in the rhizosphere of wild perennial Solanum species to investigate the presence of plant pathogenic or mycoparasitic species. Furthermore, we investigated whether these plant species could function as hosts, or associated plants, for off-season survival of economically important pathogens. We collected soil samples in Sweden from Solanum dulcamara and as a control from Vitis vinifera over all four seasons of a year, and in New Zealand from Solanum nigrum and Solanum laciniatum in the summer. Species identification, confirmed by ITS and Cox2 sequencing, and root infection assays on the crop plant Solanum tuberosum and on S. dulcamara , suggested the presence of mainly Pythiales species. In Sweden, we also found evidence for the presence of Phytophthora infestans , the causal agent of potato late blight, in the rhizosphere of S. dulcamara. These Ph. infestans isolates had no negative effects on root growth of S. dulcamara in Sweden, but were more pathogenic on potato leaves than a common lab strain. Oomycete diversity measures indicated a high similarity between seasons and countries. In conclusion, our study suggests a previously unknown overwintering strategy for the pathogen Ph. infestans , indicating a possible influence of the wild species S. dulcamara on the epidemiology of potato late blight in Sweden. • Evidence for previously unknown overwintering strategy for the pathogen, Phytophthora infestans. • Plant pathogenic Pythiales species are the most abundant oomycetes in the rhizosphere of wild solanum plants in both Sweden and New Zealand. • Oomycete diversity measures indicated a high similarity between seasons and countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]