Research at the Interface: Bicultural studio in New Zealand, a Case Study

It has been suggested that Aotearoa New Zealand’s designed and cultural landscapes do not reflect its status as a bi-cultural nation. To address this problem, the Landscape Architecture programme at Victoria University of Wellington set up a partnership with Manaaki Taha Moana: Enhancing Coastal Ecosystems for Iwi and Hapü, funded until 2015 by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, Wellington. Masters’ students were asked to explore landscape design that would help iwi and hapü envisage ecological restoration or design projects that might enhance connections to their ancestral lands. This research considers the focus groups with students and iwi held after the studio and proposes a strategy for more effective bi-cultural design partnerships, which includes establishment of a protocol with a “research at the interface” approach. Finally, it recommends a number of strategies to better educate students in the responsibilities of designing in a bi-cultural environment and to promote more effective bi-cultural partnerships in the future

Remote sounding through semi-transparent cirrus cloud

A large portion of the earth is covered by thin semi-transparent cirrus cloud. The cirrus results from the natural injection of moisture into the upper troposphere by deep convection (i.e., anvils) and from man-made moisture injected into the upper troposphere by jet aircraft. Although most cirrus clouds are semi-transparent to infrared wavelengths, their heights, thicknesses, and spectral absorption properties must be known in order to retrieve atmospheric temperature and moisture profiles from the data. An algorithm is developed for accounting for the radiative properties of semi-transparent cloud in the retrieval of vertical temperature and moisture profiles. The algorithm is to be applied to the NASA ER2 HIS data collected during the FIRE cirrus field program

Mortality in young adults following in utero and childhood exposure to arsenic in drinking water.

BackgroundBeginning in 1958, the city of Antofagasta in northern Chile was exposed to high arsenic concentrations (870 µg/L) when it switched water sources. The exposure abruptly stopped in 1970 when an arsenic-removal plant commenced operations. A unique exposure scenario like this--with an abrupt start, clear end, and large population (125,000 in 1970), all with essentially the same exposure--is rare in environmental epidemiology. Evidence of increased mortality from lung cancer, bronchiectasis, myocardial infarction, and kidney cancer has been reported among young adults who were in utero or children during the high-exposure period.ObjectiveWe investigated other causes of mortality in Antofagasta among 30- to 49-year-old adults who were in utero or ≤ 18 years of age during the high-exposure period.MethodsWe compared mortality data between Antofagasta and the rest of Chile for people 30-49 years of age during 1989-2000. We estimated expected deaths from mortality rates in all of Chile, excluding Region II where Antofagasta is located, and calculated standardized mortality ratios (SMRs).ResultsWe found evidence of increased mortality from bladder cancer [SMR = 18.1; 95% confidence interval (CI): 11.3, 27.4], laryngeal cancer (SMR = 8.1; 95% CI: 3.5, 16.0), liver cancer (SMR = 2.5; 95% CI: 1.6, 3.7), and chronic renal disease (SMR = 2.0; 95% CI: 1.5, 2.8).ConclusionsTaking together our findings in the present study and previous evidence of increased mortality from other causes of death, we conclude that arsenic in Antofagasta drinking water has resulted in the greatest increases in mortality in adults < 50 years of age ever associated with early-life environmental exposure

Seasonal variation of arsenic concentrations in tubewells in west Bengal, India.

This study was conducted to monitor the changes in arsenic concentration during different seasons in a one-year period during 2002-2003 in selected tubewells in an arsenic-affected area in the district of South 24 Parganas in West Bengal, India, and to map the location of the wells. Seasonal variations in concentrations of arsenic in water were measured from 74 selected tubewells, ranging in depth from 40 to 500 feet. Water samples were collected from these wells during winter, summer, monsoon, and the following winter in 2002-2003. A global positioning system was used for locating the tubewells, and a geographic information system was used for mapping. There was evidence of seasonal variation in concentrations of arsenic in water (p=0.02) with the minimum average concentration occurring in the summer season (694 microg/L) and the maximum in the monsoon season (906 microg/L). From the winter of 2002 to the winter of 2003, arsenic concentrations increased, irrespective of the depth of the tubewells, from an average of 464 microg/L to 820 microg/L (p<0.001). This extent of variation in arsenic concentration, if confirmed, has important implications for both epidemiological research and mitigation programmes

Bolivian Neocorynura (Hymenoptera: Halictidae): A new species and preliminary key to the fauna

This is the publisher's version, also available electronically from http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/.A new species of the diverse and complicated augochlorine bee genus Neocorynura Schrottky (Augochlorini: Augochlorina) is described and figured. Neocorynura faceta sp. n. is described and figured from the Andes of Bolivia and is most similar to the more northern Andean species, N. papallactensis Engel from Ecuador and N. iguaquensis Smith-Pardo & Gonzalez from Colombia, but can be distinguished on the basis of integumental sculpturing and coloration. A preliminary key to the species of Neocorynura known to occur in Bolivia is provided

First report of the stinkbug \u3ci\u3eEdessa leucogramma\u3c/i\u3e (Perty) (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Pentatomidae: Edessinae) attacking \u3ci\u3eHandroanthus chrysanthus\u3c/i\u3e (Jacq.) S.O. Grose (Bignoniaceae), with descriptions of the adult and immatures and notes on associated fungi and protozoa

The stinkbug Edessa leucogramma (Perty) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae: Edessinae) is reported as a pest of young yellow guayacán trees (Handroanthus chrysanthus (Jacq.) S.O. Grose, Bignoniaceae) in the met­ropolitan area of the Aburra Valley in Antioquia, Colombia (AMVA). We provide a short description of the adult and immature stages and report for the first-time protozoa associated with the digestive system of this species of true bug in addition to information regarding a fungus found associated with Edessa leucogramma in the field. Se reporta el chinche Edessa leucograma (Perty) (Hemíptera: Pentatomidae: Edessinae), como plaga importante de árboles jóvenes del guayacán amarillo (Handroanthus chrysanthus (Jacq.) S.O. Grose, Bignoniaceae) en el área metropolitana del Valle de Aburra en Antioquia, Colombia. Se presentan descrip­ciones cortas del adulto y los estadios inmaduros, y se reporta por primera vez la presencia de protozoarios asociados con el sistema digestivo de esta especie de chinche y proveemos información acerca de un hongo encontrado en asociación con Edessa leucogramma en el campo

Case-control study of arsenic in drinking water and lung cancer in California and Nevada.

Millions of people are exposed to arsenic in drinking water, which at high concentrations is known to cause lung cancer in humans. At lower concentrations, the risks are unknown. We enrolled 196 lung cancer cases and 359 controls matched on age and gender from western Nevada and Kings County, California in 2002-2005. After adjusting for age, sex, education, smoking and occupational exposures, odds ratios for arsenic concentrations ≥85 µg/L (median = 110 µg/L, mean = 173 µg/L, maximum = 1,460 µg/L) more than 40 years before enrollment were 1.39 (95% CI = 0.55-3.53) in all subjects and 1.61 (95% CI = 0.59-4.38) in smokers. Although odds ratios were greater than 1.0, these increases may have been due to chance given the small number of subjects exposed more than 40 years before enrollment. This study, designed before research in Chile suggested arsenic-related cancer latencies of 40 years or more, illustrates the enormous sample sizes needed to identify arsenic-related health effects in low-exposure countries with mobile populations like the U.S. Nonetheless, our findings suggest that concentrations near 100 µg/L are not associated with markedly high relative risks

New genus of Calliopsini.

71 pages : illustrations (chiefly color) ; 26 cm.We establish a new genus for an unusual species of Peruvian calliopsine bees (Panurginae: Calliopsini) that was initially reported in the literature as an undescribed species of Spinoliella Ashmead that purportedly expanded the range of the latter genus beyond Argentina and Chile. Although the new genus superficially resembles Spinoliella, it is easily distinguished by a unique combination of characters in both sexes but particularly in the male hidden metasomal sterna and genitalia. A cladistic analysis of 82 adult external morphological characters including all species of Spinoliella, as well as species of the remaining genera of Calliopsini, suggests that this group is sister to a clade consisting of Spinoliella and Callonychium Brèthes. We describe and illustrate Xeranthrena imponticula Gonzalez and Engel, new genus and species, from males and females collected in xeric areas along the Pacific slopes of the Peruvian Andes. In addition, the phylogenetic study suggests two well-defined clades within Spinoliella and corresponding to the previously recognized subgenera, although we do not advocate for their reinstatement. We briefly discuss new putative synapomorphies for Spinoliella and, building upon prior revisionary work, we describe and figure five new species: Spinoliella aidae Gonzalez, Smith-Pardo, and Engel, new species; S. confusa Gonzalez and Engel, new species; S. propinqua Gonzalez and Engel, new species; S. packeri Gonzalez and Engel, new species; and S. polita Gonzalez and Engel, new species. In addition, we synonymize S. karhadra Rodríguez, Toro, and Ruz under S. rufiventris Toro and Ruz (new synonymy). We provide new geographical and floral records, an identification keys to all 17 recognized species of Spinoliella, and updated key to the genera of Calliopsini