Transmission loss and psychoacoustics of magnesium panels for automotive dash panel applications

Many drivers are subjected to excessive noise from the powertrain during normal vehicle operation in everyday life. Currently, steel and aluminum are being exclusively used with an automotive underpad backing and plastic covering in many automobiles for the dash panel. Many automotive companies are now trying to produce light-weight vehicles to lower emissions and increase fuel efficiency. A proposed method currently being considered is to replace steel or aluminum with magnesium for the dash panel. One particular area of performance that needs to be evaluated before mass production of the dash panels is the acoustic properties of the materials. A particular aspect that is evaluated is transmission loss. This thesis discusses the impedance tube device and methods used to measure the transmission loss of materials, the importance of this property, as well as the evaluation of absorption coefficients of underpads and psychoacoustic parameters

Establishing a baseline: Ecological monitoring for Panama Rock and Stones remnant, Le Bons Bay, Banks Peninsula

The eastern side of Banks Peninsula was created by eruptions and subsequent erosion of the Akaroa volcano which was active between 9 and 8 million years ago. Banks Peninsula was completely forested but due to human settlement approximately one percent of the forested area was left by the early 1900s. This large-scale removal of forest and the introduction of exotic mammals created a mass extinction of New Zealand’s native biota. The present day landscape is a mixture of bush occupying gullies which either escaped clearance or have regenerated due to more ideal moisture conditions and less disturbance from farming stock. The forested areas consist of either kanuka canopy or a mixed canopy of Fuchsia, mahoe, fivefinger, lemonwood, lacebark, ribbonwood, pigeonwood, kowhai and kaikomako. Within the eastern side of Banks Peninsula, inland from Le Bons Bay, is an area called Panama Rock, also known as Keller’s Peak. This peak is a trachyte dome with a feeder dike trending away south westwards. An invertebrate study on 19 covenant and reserves on eastern Banks Peninsula found that the Panama Rock remnant had high diversity compared to the others. The Panama Rock remnant was bought by the Joseph Langer Trust to conserve the native flora and fauna of the area and to make it available for the public to enjoy. This research aims to identify the native and pest fauna of the area. Monitoring will assist with management decisions by identifying: which native species are present, species in need of conservation, and exotic pests that need to be eradicated. Baseline surveys will allow the Trust to compare with future years and be able to gauge if their management actions are working. If the Trust is planning to trap introduced mammals at Panama Rock and/or the Stones remnant, monitoring will help to determine whether trapping is helping the native biodiversity

Identification of weta foraging on brodifacoum bait and the risk of secondary poisoning for birds on Quail Island, Canterbury, New Zealand

Brodifacoum is a second-generation anticoagulant used for rodent control in New Zealand. Concerns about the poisoning of non-target species have resulted in restrictions being imposed on the mainland. It is, however, still commonly employed on offshore islands. Previous research investigating the poisoning risks of brodifacoum has generally focused on birds eating brodifacoum bait (primary poisoning) or through depredation of live rodents or carrion containing brodifacoum residues (secondary poisoning). Other research has highlighted the potential for secondary poisoning of birds via the consumption of contaminated invertebrates. An inspection of rodent bait stations undertaken on Quail Island revealed that both cave and ground weta were feeding on brodifacoum bait. A sample of ground weta (Hemiandrus n. sp.) and cave weta (Pleioplectron simplex) was removed from Quail Island and exposed to toxic bait for 60 days. These weta were then assayed for brodifacoum residues and the values used to quantify the secondary poisoning risk for bird species found around Quail Island. We also calculated the risk to birds of secondary poisoning from the tree weta (Hemideina ricta) and the risk of primary poisoning via direct consumption of brodifacoum bait. The LD50 estimates indicated a low risk of secondary poisoning from contaminated ground weta and cave weta. By contrast, the estimates indicated a higher risk from larger-bodied tree weta; however, our calculations were based on a single residue concentration value and should be treated with caution. Of most concern was the primary poisoning risk from the brodifacoum bait. The results indicated that all the 17 bird species assessed are more susceptible to primary poisoning than secondary poisoning and access to brodifacoum bait by non-target bird species needs to be minimised

Mt Grand Station – Wildlife Conservation

This document is a collection of reports from students of ECOL609 Conservation Biology (Semester 1, 2023). The aim of this course is to investigate the challenges and future options for nature conservation management within the agricultural and policy framework and the landscape mosaic of the New Zealand High Country. The focus of the course this year was a case study of the Lincoln University’s High Country Station in Hawea, Central Otago. A 4-day residential field course was attended by more than 30 students with the support of five academic staff from the Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the Farm Manager. This paper typically attracts students from several different disciplines and postgraduate study programmes, mostly Masters programmes. Overseas students accounted for a large proportion of the group, particularly from our Master of International Nature Conservation (MINC) joint programme with University of Gottingen in Germany, together with a good number of New Zealand students from various postgraduate study programmes including MINC. Overseas visitors were from a diverse range of countries including USA, Sweden and Kazakhstan. Each student identified and developed their own research project that formed the practical component of the course. Although these were individual research projects, much value was placed on broader learning, sharing of knowledge, discussion, debate and teamwork. The breadth of research topics reflects the varied interests of the students, but all projects have a primary focus on some aspect of Conservation Biology at Mt Grand. These reports provide an original and unique contribution to knowledge of the agroecology of this beautiful landscape and, in our view, fully justify their collation

Teaching Professional Responsibility Through Theater

This article is about ethics-focused, law school courses, co-taught with a theater director, in which students wrote, produced and performed in plays. The plays were about four men who, separately, were wrongfully convicted, spent decades in prison, and finally were released and exonerated, formally (two) or informally (two). The common themes in these miscarriages of justice were that 1) unethical conduct of prosecutors (especially failures to disclose exculpatory evidence) and of defense counsel (especially incompetent representation) undermined the Rule of Law and produced wrongful convictions, and 2) conversely, that the ethical conduct of post-conviction lawyers and law students helped to partially vindicate the rights of those wrongfully convicted, but could not provide any real remedy for decades of wrongfully deprived freedom. In sharp contrast, the worst and best of the legal profession were on display. We argue that reproducing these extraordinary stories as plays, with students playing the roles of prosecutors, defense counsel, defendants (with not only wrongful convictions but also decades of wrongful incarceration), family members, crime victims, and people in the affected communities, is a powerful way to teach both law students and public audiences about the direct connections between legal ethics rules and the Rule of Law. It teaches as well the ripple effects on many people and communities, not just the parties, of unethical lawyer behavior. The students learned about legal ethics through in depth analysis of the actual case records, from pretrial motions through trial transcripts and appellate briefs (in the nature of ethics autopsies), and from the personal presentations in class by the exonerated men and their families. As important, the students learned about professional responsibility and irresponsibility, from their immersion in the roles of the lawyers and “secondary” characters, like the affected families of the four men and the crime victims and their communities. The students also learned about competence, including how to work collaboratively to develop and to tell stories, to appreciate cultural differences, to examine witnesses, and to deal with performance anxiety. Because the men, all African Americans, were tried in 1968 (two), 1975, and 1983, the plays served as important points of comparison of criminal justice—criminal law and procedure—then and now. In this respect, the courses also were virtual laboratories in which to explore legal realism and critical legal theory, especially race theory; the true stories were powerful critiques of the romanticized, theoretical model of due process that underlies the formal criminal justice curricula

The eradication of mammalian predators from Quail Island, Banks Peninsula, Canterbury, New Zealand

In the period from January 2000 to January 2003 an attempt was made to eradicate mammalian pests (rodents, mustelids and hedgehogs) from Quail Island (Otamahua) to allow re-introductions of native species that were once present. Eradication techniques involved live trapping, kill trapping using Fenn traps and night searches that removed a total of 353 individuals. A ground-based poison operation was also undertaken. During 2 - 9 August 2002, 555 bait stations (yellow and black) were placed at 40m intervals covering Quail Island. Stations were baited with Pestoff 20R rodent bait pellets (0.002% brodifacoum) and, at later stages of the operation, Talon 50 WB briquette (0.005% brodifacoum). An analysis of predominant vegetation surrounding stations was also undertaken. Exotic grassland was the dominant habitat where hedgehogs were trapped and found during night searches. Hedgehogs were caught more readily on or near tracks, which they presumably use to feed and travel around the island. Male rats made up 70% of the rat catch. Bait-take by rodents was highest from black bait stations and from scrubland habitats surrounding bait stations on Quail Island. Eradication could not be confirmed, as a few bait stations were still active but most, if not all damage, appears to be by ground (Hemiandrus sp.) and cave weta (Pleioplectron simplex Hutton). Furthermore, a few hedgehog scats have been found since the poison operation began and no hedgehogs have been observed or trapped for 18 months indicating they have become vary scarce or have been eradicated. This information will be important for future management of Quail Island due to the proximity of the mainland, via mudflats, will need ongoing vigilance to protect against pest reinvasion

Establishment of restoration monitoring at Tārerekautuku Yarrs Lagoon: Conservation Biology (ECOL609) project reports

Ninety percent of New Zealand’s wetlands have been lost along with the endemic plants, fish, birds, and invertebrates. Those that remain are threatened by choking weeds, suffocating sediment, pollution from livestock and continued drainage and clearance (Hansford, 2010). Therefore, all remaining wetlands, regardless of their ecological state, are precious and need to be restored and managed to maximise the biodiversity within. Tārerekautuku Yarrs Lagoon is a 76.9 ha reserve located along the Ararira/LII River between Lincoln and Te Waihora/Lake Ellesmere. Tārerekautuku is administered by the Selwyn District Council (SDC) who have recognised the wetland’s intrinsic value. The lagoon area was known as a significant mahinga kai (food gathering) site for Ngāi Tahu, and particularly the local hapū of Ngāi Te Ruahikihiki based at Taumutu. Mahinga kai species being gathered at this site include tuna (eel), koareare (the edible rhizome of raupō/bullrush), koukoupara (bullies), mawehe (kōaro), pārera (grey duck), pūtakitaki (paradise duck), pākura (pukeko), whio (blue duck), kaaha (shag) and aruhe (bracken fern root) (Taiaroa 1880). The cultural and biodiversity values of Tārerekautuku are significant and ecological restoration of the lagoon has a huge potential to enhance these (Boffa Miskell, 2017). Selwyn District Council, with the support of the Department of Conservation (mainly Robin Smith), received approximately $800,000 from Ministry for the Environment ‘Freshwater Improvement Fund’ towards achieving five objectives: 1. To control willows and other weeds across approximately 87 ha in the Tārerekautuku Yarrs Lagoon Wetland. 2. To undertake predator control within the wetland and surrounding catchment to target mustelids, rats, and possums 3. To reduce sediment loads through instream works (up to five sediment traps or equivalent) and waterways re-battering work (approximately 2,000 m), including installing two bridges for site access. 4. To plant at least 12,516 native plants and trees across eight ha of Tārerekautuku wetland and connecting waterways. 5. To establish a monitoring programme at the Tārerekautuku wetland for Mātauranga Māori to measure ecological change over time. With Lincoln University’s proximity and MOU (pending) between them and SDC, this project provides a win-win scenario for students to help monitor ecological changes over time (objective 5). The project summaries that follow are an integral part of the ECOL609 (Conservation Biology) course that is undertaken in the first semester of 2022 where students chose a conservation area to monitor. Vegetation quadrat monitoring intended to replicate Stammer (2010); however, access to the site was deemed unsafe to proceed. This work has been added as an Appendix in this report to allow future comparisons

Conservation and biology of the rediscovered nationally endangered Canterbury knobbled weevil, Hadramphus tuberculatus

Three areas near Burkes Pass Scenic Reserve were surveyed for the presence of Hadramphus tuberculatus, a recently rediscovered endangered weevil. The reserve itself was resurveyed to expand on a 2005/2006 survey. Non-lethal pitfall traps and mark and recapture methods were used. Six H. tuberculatus were caught in pitfall traps over 800 trap nights. Day and night searching of Aciphylla aurea was conducted. Four specimens were observed on Aciphylla flowers between 9 am and 1.30 pm within the reserve. No specimens were found outside of the reserve by either method. Other possible locations where H. tuberculatus may be found were identified and some visited. At most locations Aciphylla had already finished flowering, no H. tuberculatus were found. Presence of H. tuberculatus at other sites would be best determined by searching of Aciphylla flowers during the morning from late October onwards

Loperamide for treatment of acute diarrhoea in infants and young children

No Abstract

Parsimony and Model-Based Analyses of Indels in Avian Nuclear Genes Reveal Congruent and Incongruent Phylogenetic Signals

Insertion/deletion (indel) mutations, which are represented by gaps in multiple sequence alignments, have been used to examine phylogenetic hypotheses for some time. However, most analyses combine gap data with the nucleotide sequences in which they are embedded, probably because most phylogenetic datasets include few gap characters. Here, we report analyses of 12,030 gap characters from an alignment of avian nuclear genes using maximum parsimony (MP) and a simple maximum likelihood (ML) framework. Both trees were similar, and they exhibited almost all of the strongly supported relationships in the nucleotide tree, although neither gap tree supported many relationships that have proven difficult to recover in previous studies. Moreover, independent lines of evidence typically corroborated the nucleotide topology instead of the gap topology when they disagreed, although the number of conflicting nodes with high bootstrap support was limited. Filtering to remove short indels did not substantially reduce homoplasy or reduce conflict. Combined analyses of nucleotides and gaps resulted in the nucleotide topology, but with increased support, suggesting that gap data may prove most useful when analyzed in combination with nucleotide substitutions