Ecological and physical characteristics of the Te Awa O Katapaki Stream, Flagstaff, Waikato

1. The fish, macroinvertebrates, aquatic vegetation, and water quality indicate that the Te Awa O Katapaki Stream is an unpolluted, pastureland stream that is typical of the Waikato region. 2. The stream has very high nutrient concentrations that probably result from the dairy farming upstream. 3. The fish fauna is dominated by the native shortfinned eels. The presence of the migratory common smelt indicates that swimming fish species also have free access to the stream from the Waikato River. 4. Fish of high conservation value, such as giant or banded kokopu (Galaxias argenteus or G. fasciatus) were absent, which is predictable given the warm, unshaded nature of the stream. 5. Fish and invertebrates would soon recolonise the restored stream following any work in the streambed

Social play spaces for active community engagement

This paper puts forward the perspective that social play spaces are opportunities to utilise both technology and body for the benefit of community culture and engagement. Co-located social gaming coupled with tangible interfaces offer active participant engagement and the development of the local video game scene. This paper includes a descriptive account of Rabble Room Arcade, an experimental social event combining custom-built physical interface devices and multiplayer video games

Experimental and Numerical Investigation of Therapeutic Ultrasound Angioplasty

Therapeutic ultrasound angioplasty is an emerging minimally invasive cardiovascular surgical procedure that involves the delivery of ultrasonic displacements to the distal-tip of small diameter wire waveguides. The ultrasonic distal-tip displacements affect atherosclerotic plaque and thrombus by direct contact ablation, pressure wave components and cavitation, in addition to an acoustic streaming event around the distal-tip. This study uses experimental and numerical methods to investigate ultrasonic displacements in wire waveguides and the effect the distal-tip displacements have on the surrounding fluid. An experimental therapeutic ultrasound wire waveguide apparatus is described that delivers displacements to the distal-tip of 1.0 mm and tapered 0.35 mm diameter nickel-titanium (NiTi) waveguides. The operating frequency of the apparatus has been experimentally determined to be 23.5 kHz and for the power settings tested delivers displacements of up to 85 µm peak-to-peak (p-p) to the distal-tip of 1.0 mm diameter waveguides. The apparatus has been shown to directly ablate calcified materials with a stiffer response when compared with atherosclerotic plaques and to generate cavitation and acoustic streaming. A coupled fluid-structure numerical model of the waveguide and fluid surrounding the distal-tip has been developed that predicts the waveguide displacements and stresses along the entire length of the wire waveguide. The structural results of the model have been validated against experimental measurements of the displacements of the waveguide with the inclusion of a constant damping value of 4.5%. The fluid results of the model predict the pressure amplitudes developed in the surrounding fluid and compare closely with values reported in literature. The model predicts the distal-tip displacements required to cause cavitation, a major disruptive event, and has been compared with experimental observations made with the ultrasonic wire waveguide apparatus. The waveguide numerical model will prove a valuable design tool in the further development and improvement of this emerging cardiovascular technology

Investigating the Impact of Maternal Residential Mobility on Identifying Critical Windows of Susceptibility to Ambient Air Pollution during Pregnancy

© 2018 The Author(s). Identifying periods of increased vulnerability to air pollution during pregnancy with respect to the development of adverse birth outcomes can improve understanding of possible mechanisms of disease development and provide guidelines for protection of the child. Exposure to air pollution during pregnancy is typically based on the mother's residence at delivery, potentially resulting in exposure misclassification and biasing the estimation of critical windows of pregnancy. In this study, we determined the impact of maternal residential mobility during pregnancy on defining weekly exposure to particulate matter less than or equal to 10 µm in aerodynamic diameter (PM 10) and estimating windows of susceptibility to term low birth weight. We utilized data sets from 4 Connecticut birth cohorts (1988-2008) that included information on all residential addresses between conception and delivery for each woman. We designed a simulation study to investigate the impact of increasing levels of mobility on identification of critical windows. Increased PM 10 exposure during pregnancy weeks 16-18 was associated with an increased probability of term low birth weight. Ignoring residential mobility when defining weekly exposure had only a minor impact on the identification of critical windows for PM 10 and term low birth weight in the data application and simulation study. Identification of critical pregnancy windows was robust to exposure misclassification caused by ignoring residential mobility in these Connecticut birth cohorts

Classical pion fields in the presence of source

Classical pion field similar to Disoriented Chiral Condensate (DCC) is considered in the presence of the external source. This field is similar to DCC in the sense that its isotopic orientation is specified with a single vector at the whole space. We study the classical field solutions in the nonlinear sigma-model both in the chiral limit with massless pion and for the finite pion mass. In both cases the field resembles the Coulomb field of charged particle however the nonlinear pion interactions lead to the existence of several solutions. In the massless case and for the very small size of the source there is the lot of classical solutions with finite discrete energies. In the more realistic situation of large nucleus (heavy ion) there are no stable solutions of the above type, but there is the possibility for the formation of the quasistationary states. They can live for a long time slowly decaying through the emission of very soft pions. The structure and the energies of these solutions is investigated numerically.Comment: 10 pages, LaTeX, 1 figure, epsfig.sty, corrected typos, added reference

Genome sequences of five African swine fever virus genotype IX isolates from domestic pigs in Uganda

Complete genome sequences of five African swine fever virus isolates were determined directly from clinical material obtained from domestic pigs in Uganda. Four sequences were essentially identical to each other, and all were closely related to the only known genome sequence of p72 genotype IX

Consumer attitudes towards production diseases in intensive production systems

Many members of the public and important stakeholders operating at the upper end of the food chain, may be unfamiliar with how food is produced, including within modern animal production systems. The intensification of production is becoming increasingly common in modern farming. However, intensive systems are particularly susceptible to production diseases, with potentially negative consequences for farm animal welfare (FAW). Previous research has demonstrated that the public are concerned about FAW, yet there has been little research into attitudes towards production diseases, and their approval of interventions to reduce these. This research explores the public’s attitudes towards, and preferences for, FAW interventions in five European countries (Finland, Germany, Poland, Spain and the UK). An online survey was conducted for broilers (n = 789), layers (n = 790) and pigs (n = 751). Data were analysed by means of Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA, exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modelling. The results suggest that the public have concerns regarding intensive production systems, in relation to FAW, naturalness and the use of antibiotics. The most preferred interventions were the most “proactive” interventions, namely improved housing and hygiene measures. The least preferred interventions were medicine-based, which raised humane animal care and food safety concerns amongst respondents. The results highlighted the influence of the identified concerns, perceived risks and benefits on attitudes and subsequent behavioural intention, and the importance of supply chain stakeholders addressing these concerns in the subsequent communications with the public