Breaking the consensus: The politicisation of Maori affairs

This article takes issue with the claim made by Tremewan (2005a) that the New Zealand social sciences have been uncritical of neotraditionalist and culturalist trends in social policy. It points out that at least since the 1980s there has existed a significant body of social science literature critical of these trends. The article also takes issue with Tremewan’s attribution of increased political dissent in the area of Maori affairs to the culturalist ideological currents dominating social policy. The article provides an alternative explanation for this increase in political dissent by focusing upon the material conditions of existence and the opportunism of power-seeking politicians

Vot Long Pati Ia! (Your vote, our party)

Review of the film "Vot Long Pati Ia!" The film is made by Wan Smolbag Theatre in Vanuatu and is a fascinating dramatization of political and developmental dilemmas in the South Pacific

Problems with the census conception of ethnic group: an anthropological perspective

From the perspective of social anthropology, this paper examines the collection and analysis of census data on ethnic group membership. It identifies a fundamental problem lying in the census's attempt to enumerate a subjective identity. The problem is seen as exacerbated by allowing census respondents to report membership in more than one ethnic group. This not only contradicts the census's own definition of ethnic group, and steers respondents toward a racial conception of ethnicity, but involves the census in the arbitrary re-allocation of respondent's answers. The paper then reviews two influential social science analyses of census data on ethnic group membership and finds that the analysts concerned impose their own quite different definitions of ethnic groups onto the data. It is concluded that the whole process of collecting and analysing census data of ethnic group membership is subjective and arbitrary from start to finish

The Unseen City: Anthropological Perspectives on Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, by Michael Goddard (Book Review)

Review of the book "The Unseen City: Anthropological Perspectives on Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea", by Michael Goddard. “The Unseen City” that is the focus of this collection of essays is the part of Port Moresby that remains out of sight for most non-Melanesians. It is the everyday social environment of migrant settlers and urban villagers who daily negotiate the legacies of tradition and the colonial past and the contemporary challenges of living in a modern city. Contrary to stereotypical portrayals of Port Moresby as the site of crime and corruption, the essays in this volume present a picture of creative, dynamic “grassroots” responses to the demands of everyday life

Assessing the invertebrate fauna trajectories in remediation sites of Winstone Aggregates Hunua quarry in Auckland

This study monitored the invertebrates in restoration plantings in the Winstone Aggregates Hunua Quarry. This was to assess the re-establishment of invertebrates in the restoration planting sites and compare them with unplanted control and mature sites. This study follows on from a baseline study carried out in 2014-2015 measuring the restoration trajectory of invertebrates in the Winstone Aggregate Hunua quarry site. A range of entomological monitoring techniques were used and found that dung beetles, millipedes, foliage moths, leaf litter moths and some mite species increased in numbers from the control sites through to the mature sites, while ants, rove beetles, grass moths, some carabid beetles, and worms showed a downwards trend from the mature sites to the control sites. Further monitoring of invertebrates in the restoration area should be carried out

Molecular Mechanisms Mediating Retinal Reactive Gliosis Following Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation.

A variety of diseases lead to degeneration of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) and their axons within the optic nerve resulting in loss of visual function. Although current therapies may delay RGC loss, they do not restore visual function or completely halt disease progression. Regenerative medicine has recently focused on stem cell therapy for both neuroprotective and regenerative purposes. However, significant problems remain to be addressed, such as the long-term impact of reactive gliosis occurring in the host retina in response to transplanted stem cells. The aim of this work was to investigate retinal glial responses to intravitreally transplanted bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) to help identify factors able to modulate graft-induced reactive gliosis. We found in vivo that intravitreal BM-MSC transplantation is associated with gliosis-mediated retinal folding, upregulation of intermediate filaments, and recruitment of macrophages. These responses were accompanied by significant JAK/STAT3 and MAPK (ERK1/2 and JNK) cascade activation in retinal Muller glia. Lipocalin-2 (Lcn-2) was identified as a potential new indicator of graft-induced reactive gliosis. Pharmacological inhibition of STAT3 in BM-MSC cocultured retinal explants successfully reduced glial fibrillary acidic protein expression in retinal Muller glia and increased BM-MSC retinal engraftment. Inhibition of stem cell-induced reactive gliosis is critical for successful transplantation-based strategies for neuroprotection, replacement, and regeneration of the optic nerve.This work was support by funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), the HB Allen Charitable Trust, the Cambridge Eye Trust, the Jukes Glaucoma Research Fund and by Pfizer, Neusentis. We thank Dr. Andras Lakatos from the University of Cambridge (UK) for donating the GFAP-STAT3 CKO mice, Prof. Verdon Taylor from the University of Basel (CH) for the Hes5 GFP+ve mice, Dr. Stefano Pluchino from the University of Cambridge (UK) for donating the mouse neural precursor cell (NPC) line and Prof. Astrid Limb from UCL, London (UK) for the MIO-M1 cell line.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Wiley via http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/stem.209

A Study of Alumni Engagement and Satisfaction as Related to Alumni Volunteerism and Philanthropy

Keith Barber Educational Leadership Dissertation 2013.This is a study of factors and issues that influence alumni satisfaction and engagement. It is formatted as a journal-ready dissertation composed of two studies. The first study examined factors impacting alumni satisfaction and engagement at a rural state college and offered direction for all institutions in an era when competition for students, dollars, and favored political assistance is exceptionally high. The second study examined motivation factors of alumni from the same state college and how these factors impacted alumni volunteerism and philanthropy. It also incorporated validated motivational theories to better understand the why, what, and when of alumni engagement.Donald W. Leech; Larry F. Wiley; Karla M. Hull; John D. Crawfor

High resolution synchrotron imaging of wheat root hairs growing in soil and image based modelling of phosphate uptake

Root hairs are known to be highly important for uptake of sparingly soluble nutrients, particularly in nutrient deficient soils. Development of increasingly sophisticated mathematical models has allowed uptake characteristics to be quantified. However, modelling has been constrained by a lack of methods for imaging live root hairs growing in real soils.We developed a plant growth protocol and used Synchrotron Radiation X-ray Tomographic Microscopy (SRXTM) to uncover the 3D interactions of root hairs in real soil. We developed a model of phosphate uptake by root hairs based directly on the geometry of hairs and associated soil pores as revealed by imaging.Previous modelling studies found that root hairs dominate phosphate uptake. By contrast, our study suggests that hairs and roots contribute equally. We show that uptake by hairs is more localised than by roots and strongly dependent on root hair and aggregate orientation.The ability to image hair-soil interactions enables a step change in modelling approaches, allowing a more realistic treatment of processes at the scale of individual root hairs in soil pores

Growing Environmental Activists: Developing Environmental Agency and Engagement Through Children’s Fiction.

We explore how story has the potential to encourage environmental engagement and a sense of agency provided that critical discussion takes place. We illuminate this with reference to the philosophies of John Macmurray on personal agency and social relations; of John Dewey on the primacy of experience for philosophy; and of Paul Ricoeur on hermeneutics, dialogue, dialectics and narrative. We view the use of fiction for environmental understanding as hermeneutic, a form of conceptualising place which interprets experience and perception. The four writers for young people discussed are Ernest Thompson Seton, Kenneth Grahame, Michelle Paver and Philip Pullman. We develop the concept of critical dialogue, and link this to Crick's demand for active democratic citizenship. We illustrate the educational potential for environmental discussions based on literature leading to deeper understanding of place and environment, encouraging the belief in young people that they can be and become agents for change. We develop from Zimbardo the key concept of heroic resister to encourage young people to overcome peer pressure. We conclude with a call to develop a greater awareness of the potential of fiction for learning, and for writers to produce more focused stories engaging with environmental responsibility and activism

Effects of Nitrogen and Planting Seed Size on Cotton Growth, Development, and Yield

A standardized experiment was conducted during 2009 and 2010 at 20 location-years across U.S. cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.)-producing states to compare the N use requirement of contemporary cotton cultivars based on their planting seed size. Treatments consisted of three cotton varieties with planting seed of different numbers of seed per kg and N rates of 0, 45, 90, and 134 kg ha⁻¹. Soil at each trial location was sampled and tested for nitrate presence. High levels of soil nitrate (>91 N-NO₃⁻kg ha⁻¹) were found in Arizona and western Texas, and soil nitrate in the range of 45 to 73 kg N-NO₃⁻ ha⁻¹ was found at locations in the central United States. Cotton lint yield responded to applied N at 11 of 20 locations. Considering only sites that responded to applied N, highest lint yields were achieved with 112 to 224 kg ha⁻¹of applied plus pre-plant residual soil NO₃—translating to an optimal N requirement of 23 kg ha⁻¹ per 218 kg bale of lint produced. Among the varieties tested those with medium-sized seed produced higher yields in response to N than did larger and smaller seeded varieties. Varieties with larger seed had longer and stronger fibers, higher fiber length uniformity than small seeded varieties and decreased micronaire. Seed protein and oil increased and decreased slightly in response to increasing amounts of soil nitrate plus applied N, respectively