The feasibility of long range battery electric cars in New Zealand

New Zealand transport accounts for over 40% of the carbon emissions with private cars accounting for 25%. In the Ministry of Economic Development's recently released “New Zealand Energy Strategy to 2050”, it proposed the wide scale deployment of electric vehicles as a means of reducing carbon emissions from transport. However, New Zealand's lack of public transport infrastructure and its subsequent reliance on private car use for longer journeys could mean that many existing battery electric vehicles (BEVs) will not have the performance to replace conventionally fuelled cars. As such, this paper discusses the potential for BEVs in New Zealand, with particular reference to the development of the University of Waikato's long-range UltraCommuter BEV. It is shown that to achieve a long range at higher speeds, BEVs should be designed specifically rather than retrofitting existing vehicles to electric. Furthermore, the electrical energy supply for a mixed fleet of 2 million BEVs is discussed and conservatively calculated, along with the number of wind turbines to achieve this. The results show that approximately 1350 MW of wind turbines would be needed to supply the mixed fleet of 2 million BEVs, or 54% of the energy produced from NZ's planned and installed wind farms

The emergence of battery electric vehicles: A NZ manufacturing opportunity?

Personal passenger transport faces several challenges in the coming decades: depletion of cheap oil reserves, increasing congestion, localised pollution, the need for reduced carbon emissions and the long term goal of sustainability. One way of solving some of these problems could be to introduce comfortable, energy efficient, battery electric vehicles. Currently, hybrid vehicles have been presented as a means to reducing the transportation related oil demand. New developments in materials and technologies have made them, cleaner and safer as well as more fuel efficient. However, hybrids will only prolong the use of oil until alternatively fuelled vehicles are developed. One long term alternative is the battery electric vehicle (BEV). A BEV designed to be light, aerodynamic with high efficiency drive train and latest battery technology would have a performance comparable to a typical internal combustion engine vehicle (ICEV). Recent developments in virtual engineering, rapid prototyping and advanced manufacturing might enable low-cost development of niche market BEV’s designed and built in New Zealand for export markets. This work examines the collaborative development of a twin seat BEV using new materials and latest technologies by the University of Waikato’s Engineering Department and a group of NZ and foreign companies. The car will be used to research the potential of BEVs and will also compete in the Commuter Class of the World Solar Challenge in 2007

Evaluating the Effects of Symptom Monitoring on Menopausal Health Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Evidence suggests that monitoring and appraising symptoms can result in increased engagement in medical help-seeking, improved patient-doctor communication, and reductions in symptom prevalence and severity. To date, no systematic reviews have investigated whether symptom monitoring could be a useful intervention for menopausal women. This review explored whether symptom monitoring could improve menopausal symptoms and facilitate health-related behaviours. Results suggested that symptom monitoring was related to improvements in menopausal symptoms, patient-doctor communication and medical decision-making, heightened health awareness, and stronger engagement in setting treatment goals. Meta-analyses indicated large effects for the prolonged use of symptom diaries on hot flush frequencies. Between April 2019 and April 2021, PsychInfo, EMBASE, MEDLINE, CINAHL, Cochrane, ProQuest, PsychArticles, Scopus, and Web of Science were searched. Eighteen studies met the eligibility criteria and contributed data from 1,718 participants. Included studies quantitatively or qualitatively measured the impact of symptom monitoring on menopausal populations and symptoms. Research was narratively synthesised using thematic methods, 3 studies were examined via meta-analysis. Key themes suggest that symptom monitoring is related to improvements in menopausal symptoms, improved patient-doctor communication and medical decision-making, increased health awareness, and stronger engagement in goal-setting behaviours. Meta-analysis results indicated large effects for the prolonged use of symptom diaries on hot flush frequency: 0.73 [0.57, 0.90]. This review is limited due to the low number of studies eligible for inclusion, many of which lacked methodological quality. These results indicate that symptom monitoring has potential as an effective health intervention for women with menopausal symptoms. This intervention may be beneficial within healthcare settings, in order to improve patient-doctor relations and adherence to treatment regimes. However, findings are preliminary and quality assessments suggest high risk of bias. Thus, further research is needed to support these promising outcomes. Systematic Review Registration Number: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?, PROSPERO, identifier: CRD42019146270

PET and P300 Relationships in Early Alzheimer\u27s Disease

The P300 (P3) wave of the auditory brain event-related potential was investigated in patients with probable Alzheimer\u27s disease to determine whether P300 latency discriminated these patients from controls and whether prolonged P300 latency correlated with rates of brain glucose metabolism as measured by Positron Emission Tomography. P300 latency was prolonged by more than 1.5 standard deviations from age expectancy in 14 of 18 patients, but none of 17 controls. In these subjects P300 latency was shown to be inversely correlated with relative metabolic rates of parietal and, to a lesser extent, temporal and frontal association areas, but not with subcortical areas

Distributed collection development: How to grow your library without knowing everything!

But I was an English major as an undergrad. What do I know about biblical theology resources? If this type of thought has crossed your mind, you are not alone! No one can know everything about every academic discipline.There are people who know, however, who can help us develop a more complete library collection. But guess what? They do not know everything either! It takes the collective effort of many to truly provide a well-rounded collection that supports your degree programs. Collaboration is key, especially for solo librarians with limited time and resources, but this applies to all librarians. The information in this article is the collaborative result of five of the Association of Christian Librarian’s (ACL’s) solo librarians and was presented to the Solo Librarian Interest Group at the 2021 ACL Conference. Some of the comments from other solos during the presentation discussion are also included. By using resources already at your disposal and by building a rapport with experts in their field, you can share the collection development responsibility and maintain a robust and relevant library

Distribution of giardia duodenalis assemblages A and B among children living in a remote Indigenous Community of the Northern Territory, Australia

Giardiasis is a communicable gastrointestinal disease caused by Giardia duodenalis and two genetic assemblages, A and B, cause human infection. In remote Indigenous communities of Australia, giardiasis is highly prevalent among children but disease transmission is poorly understood. This study investigated the prevalence of Giardia and genetic subtypes contributing to human disease in a remote Indigenous community, in the Northern Territory of Australia. Eighty-seven faecal samples were collected from 74 children (<15 years) over an 18 month period, and the distribution of positive cases relative to participant age and gender were examined. Screening by microscopy and 18S rRNA PCR amplification showed 66.7% (58/87) of faecal samples were positive for Giardia. Both males and females were equally affected and high detection rates were obtained for participants aged 0–<5 years and 5–<10 years (66.0 and 60.0% respectively). For 58.6% of the positive samples, Giardia was only detected by 18S rRNA PCR. Approximately 75% of cases were assemblage B, and subassemblage analyses using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism of the glutamate dehydrogenase gene demonstrated that a variety of genetic variants were present. The high proportion of positive cases that were not detectable by microscopy, and dominance of assemblage B cases highlights the need for further research in this community, to assess the contribution of Giardia to chronic gastrointestinal disease among children, and to understand conditions conductive to assemblage B transmission

The experiences of migrants to Australia who stutter

Purpose: Migration is a contemporary, global matter. With the number of international migrants doubling over the past four decades, speech-language pathologists will likely work with migrants who have childhood-onset stuttering. However, combined migration and stuttering experiences have never been investigated specifically. This study is the first to investigate the experiences of migrants to Australia who stutter. Methods: Three women and six men, aged 23 to 66 years old, participated. Data from individual interviews were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis to examine the ‘lived experience’ of participants, as well as with NVivo 12 software for the management of coding. Participants also completed The Overall Assessment of the Speaker\u27s Experience of Stuttering (OASES™). Results: The stress experienced from migration interacted and compounded the existing stress of stuttering. Central themes emerged pertaining to the impact of increased stress on self-identity, the interactions of the stresses, as well as the coping strategies/facilitators. Stuttering and other personal factors, such as language(s) spoken and accent, had a negative impact on communication skills. Conclusion: Migration cannot be experienced independently of a stutter, as both are intrinsically linked to self-identity. The combined stress of migration with stuttering amplified the perception of feeling abnormal and resulted in difficulties with establishing a stable self-identity and a sense of belonging in the new context. Participants found strength in the company of others and considered Australia to be accepting of stuttering

Crystalline cataract caused by a heterozygous missense mutation in γD-crystallin (CRYGD)

Purpose: To describe phenotypic characteristics of two pedigrees manifesting early onset crystalline cataract with mutations in the γD-crystallin gene (CRYGD). Methods: A detailed medical history was obtained from two Caucasian pedigrees manifesting autosomal dominant congenital cataracts. Genomic DNA was extracted from saliva (DNA Genotek). Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) based genome analysis of the larger pedigree revealed linkage to an 8.2 MB region on chromosome 2q33-q35 which encompassed the crystallin-gamma gene cluster (CRYG). Exons and flanking introns of CRYGA, CRYGB, CRYGC and CRYGD were amplified and sequenced to identify disease-causing mutations. Results: A morphologically unique cataract with extensive refractile “crystals ” scattered throughout the nucleus and perinuclear cortex was found in the probands from both pedigrees. A heterozygous C→A mutation was identified at position 109 of the coding sequence (R36S of the processed protein) in exon 2 of CRYGD and this missense mutation was found to cosegregate with the disease in the larger family; this mutation was then identified in affected individuals of pedigree 2 as well. Conclusions: The heterozygous 109C→A CRYGD missense mutation is associated with a distinct crystalline cataract in two US Caucasian pedigrees. This confirms crystalline cataract formation with this mutation, as previously reported in sporadic childhood case from the Czech Republic and in members of a Chinese family