Tales of Two Referendums: Comparing Debate Quality between the UK and New Zealand Voting System Referendums of 2011

Two voting system referendums in the same year in two countries with institutional and cultural similarities provide an excellent opportunity for comparison, particularly given the significant differences in how those referendums were regulated and conducted. In New Zealand, a well-funded and balanced official information campaign led the debate; in Britain, the debate was dominated by campaign organisations. Based on content analysis of newspaper coverage of the campaigns, this paper explores how regulatory differences between these two cases shaped the quality of debate as reflected in media discourse. It finds that they made a difference, suggesting that positive interventions to promote better debate can work. It also concludes, however, that contextual factors are crucial too: interventions that work in one context will not necessarily work in another

Quantifying annual variation in catchability for commercial and research fishing

Biomass indices, from commercial catch per unit of effort (CPUE) or random trawl surveys, are commonly used in fisheries stock assessments. Uncertainty in such indices, often ex-pressed as a coefficient of variation (CV), has two components: observation error, and annual variation in catchability. Only the former can be estimated directly. As a result, the CVs used for these indices either ignore the annual-variation component or assume a value for it (often implicitly). Two types of data for New Zealand stocks were examined: 48 sets of residuals and catchability estimates from stock assessments using either CPUE or trawl survey indices; and biomass estimates from 17 time series of trawl surveys with between 4 and 25 species per time series. These data show clear evidence of significant annual variation in catchability. With the trawl survey data, catchability was detectably extreme for many species in about one year in six. The assessment data suggest that this annual variability typically has a CV of about 0.2. For commercial CPUE the variability is slightly less, and a typical total CV (including both components) of 0.15 to 0.2. This is much less than the values of 0.3 to 0.35 that have commonly been assumed in New Zealand. Some estimates of catchability are shown to be implausible

A Randomised, Blinded, Placebo-Controlled, Dose Escalation Study of the Tolerability and Efficacy of Filgrastim for Haemopoietic Stem Cell Mobilisation in Patients With Severe Active Rheumatoid Arthritis

Autologous haemopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) represents a potential therapy for severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA). As a prelude to clinical trails, the safety and efficacy of haemopoietic stem cell (HSC) mobilisation required investigation as colony-stimulating factors (CSFs) have been reported to flare RA. A double-blind, randomised placebo-controlled dose escalation study was performed. Two cohorts of eight patients fulfilling strict eligibility criteria for severe active RA (age median 40 years, range 24-60 years; median disease duration 10.5 years, range 2-18 years) received filgrastim (r-Hu-methionyl granulocyte(G)-(SF) at 5 and 10 microg/kg/day, randomised in a 5:3 ratio with placebo. Patients were unblinded on the fifth day of treatment and those randomised to filgrastim underwent cell harvesting (leukapheresis) daily until 2 X 10^6/kg CD34+ cells (haemopoietic stem and progenitor cells) were obtained. Patients were assessed by clinical and laboratory parameters before, during and after filgrastim administration. RA flare was defined as an increase of 30% or more in two of the following parameters: tender joint count, swollen joint count or pain score. Efficacy was assessed by quantitation of CD34+ cells and CFU-GM. One patient in the 5 microg/kg/day group and two patients in the 10 microg/kg/day group fulfilled criteria for RA flare, although this did not preclude successful stem cell collection. Median changes in swollen and tender joint counts were not supportive of filgrastim consistently causing exacerbation of disease, but administration of filgrastim at 10 microg/kg/day was associated with rises in median C-reactive protein and median rheumatoid factor compared with placebo. Other adverse events were well recognised for filgrastim and included bone pain (80%) and increases in alkaline phosphatase (four-fold) and lactate dehydrogenase (two-fold). With respect to efficacy, filgrastim at 10 microg/kg/day was more efficient with all patients (n = 5) achieving target CD34+ cell counts with a single leukapheresis (median = 2.8, range = 2.3-4.8 X 10^6/kg, median CFU-GM = 22.1, range = 4.2-102.9 X 10^4/kg), whereas 1-3 leukaphereses were necessary to achieve the target yield using 5 microg/kg/day. We conclude that filgrastim may be administered to patients with severe active RA for effective stem cell mobilisation. Flare of RA occurs in a minority of patients and is more likely with 10 than 5 microg/kg/day. However, on balance, 10 microg/kg/day remains the dose of choice in view of more efficient CD34+ cell mobilisation

Including supramaximal verification reduced uncertainty in VO2peak response rate.

Many reports describe using a supramaximal verification phase - exercising at a power output higher than the highest power output recorded during an incremental cardiopulmonary test - to validate VO2max. The impact of verification phases on estimating the proportion of individuals who increased VO2peak in response to high-intensity interval training (HIIT) remains an underexplored area in the individual response literature. This analysis investigated the influence of same-day and separate-day verification phases during repeated measurements (incremental tests – INCR1 and INCR2; incremental tests + supramaximal verification phases – INCR1+ and INCR2+) of VO2peak on typical error (TE) and the proportion of individuals classified as responders (i.e. the response rate) following four weeks of HIIT (n=25) or a no-exercise control period (n=9). Incorporation of supramaximal verification consistently reduced the standard deviation of individual response, typical error, and confidence interval widths. However, variances were statistically similar across all groups (p>0.05). Response rates increased when incorporating either one (INCR1 to INCR1+; 24% to 48%, p=0.07) or two (INCR2 to INCR2+; 28% to 48%, p=0.063) supramaximal verification phase(s). However, response rates remained unchanged when either zero-based thresholds or smallest worthwhile difference response thresholds were used (50% and 90% confidence intervals, all p>0.05). Supramaximal verification phases reduced random variability in VO2peak response to HIIT. Compared with separate-day testing (INCR2 and INCR2+), the incorporation of a same-day verification (INCR1+) reduced CI widths the most. Researchers should consider using a same-day verification phase to reduce uncertainty and better estimate VO2peak response rate to HIIT

Linking Adult Reproduction and Larval Density of Invasive Carp in a Large River

Eeotogists increasingly recognize the need to understand how landscapes ami food webs interact. Reservoir ecosystems are heavily subsidized by nutrients and detritus from surrounding watersheds, and ofren contain abundant populations of gizzard shad, an omnivorous ftsh that consumes plankton and detritus. Gizzard shad link terrestrial landscapes ami pelagic reservoir food webs by consuming detritus, translocating nutrients from sedimctn detritus to the water column, and consuming zooplaukton. The abundance of gizzard shad increases with watershed agricuhuralization, most likely through n variety oj mechanisms npeniting on ttuvat and adult life stages. Gizzard shad have myriad effects on reservoirs, including impacts on nutrients, phytoplankton, zooplankton, and fish, and many of their effects vary with ecosystem productivity (i.e., watershed land use). Interactive feedbacks among watersheds, gizzard shad populations, and reservoir food webs operate to maintain dominance of gizzard shad in highly productive systems. Thus, effective stewardship of reservoir ecosystems must incorporate both watershed and food-web perspective