New Zealand culture of intoxication: Local and global influences

This article shows that attitudes towards and behaviours involving the consumption of alcohol in New Zealand have long been problematic. It provides an historical account of social, economic and legislative factors which have influenced the development of the New Zealand drinking culture. Accordingly, it tracks a combination of local and global alcohol-related influences and documents the interrelationships amongst these factors. In particular, it proposes that the liberalisation of alcohol licensing laws and advertising/sponsorship regulations, alongside the growth of the alcohol-based hospitality industry have promoted the normalisation of an alcohol-based leisure lifestyle. Against this backdrop, the growth of consumer culture , tertiary student culture and the New Zealand drug culture, along with the development of new alcohol products and the establishment of commercial and social-networking websites have conjointly enabled the growth of a culture of intoxication, which is characterised by drinkers intentionally drinking to intoxication and viewing this behaviour as socially acceptable

Pleasure, profit and pain: Alcohol in New Zealand and the contemporary culture of intoxication

This book details the rich, complex and often contested role of alcohol in New Zealand society. It explores the three fundamental alcohol rights that continue to fight for dominance of the national drinking culture: the rights of individual drinkers to enjoy the pleasures of alcohol, the rights of society to protect itself from the harms of alcohol, and the rights of the alcohol industry to profit from the sale of a legal commodity. Historically, most of our intoxicated drinkers were adult males and drinking was typically separated from family, food and entertainment. With the sweeping social changes of the 1960s and 1970s, women and later young people, increasingly engaged with alcohol. A growing proportion of these groups have since joined men in a culture of intoxication, or binge drinking culture as it is often termed. New Zealand is not alone however, in having a culture of intoxication, with similar alcohol consumption patterns evident in many other developed nations. This book identifies the local and the global influences that have affected New Zealand society (and much of the rest of the world) since the late 1900s and details how these influences have sustained the contemporary culture of intoxication. Finally, this book will propose that to implement effective change to our national drinking culture, the rights of the alcohol industry and of individual drinkers will need to be pulled back from the liberal excesses that the 1980s and 1990s provided. A re-balancing is required in order to strengthen and sustain society’s right to protect itself from alcohol-related harm

A prospective longitudinal study of perceived infant outcomes at 18-24 months: Neural and psychological correlates of parental thoughts and actions assessed during the first month postpartum

The first postpartum months constitute a critical period for parents to establish an emotional bond with their infants. Neural responses to infant-related stimuli have been associated with parental sensitivity. However, the associations among these neural responses, parenting, and later infant outcomes for mothers and fathers are unknown. In the current longitudinal study, we investigated the relationships between parental thoughts/actions and neural activation in mothers and fathers in the neonatal period with infant outcomes at the toddler stage. At the first month postpartum, mothers (n=21) and fathers (n=19) underwent a neuroimaging session during which they listened to their own and unfamiliar baby’s cry. Parenting-related thoughts/behaviors were assessed by interview twice at the first month and 3-4 months postpartum and infants’ socioemotional outcomes were reported by mothers and fathers at 18-24 months postpartum. In mothers, higher levels of anxious thoughts/actions about parenting at the first month postpartum, but not at 3-4 months postpartum, were associated with infant’s low socioemotional competencies at 18-24 months. Anxious thoughts/actions were also associated with heightened responses in the motor cortex and reduced responses in the substantia nigra to own infant cry sounds. On the other hand, in fathers, higher levels of positive perception of being a parent at the first month postpartum, but not at 3-4 months postpartum, were associated with higher infant socioemotional competencies at 18-24 months. Positive thoughts were associated with heightened responses in the auditory cortex and caudate to own infant cry sounds. The current study provides evidence that parental thoughts are related to concurrent neural responses to their infants at the first month postpartum as well as their infant’s future socioemotional outcome at 18-24 months. Parent differences suggest that anxious thoughts in mothers and positive thoughts in fathers may be the targets for parenting-focused interventions very early postpartum

Energy consumption in the UK food chill chain – primary chilling

There is increasing pressure on governments and industries to make significant reductions in carbon emissions. In the UK, 11% of electricity is consumed by the food industry and in some sectors a substantial portion of site energy, up to 90%, is consumed by refrigeration systems. The aim of this work was to: identify the major primary chilling energy requirements in the UK; calculate or make a best estimate of their efficiency; and determine which chilling processes have the highest energy saving potential. In terms of the heat energy to be extracted during the primary chilling process, the six most important categories in rank order were milk (532 GWh/year), meat (114 GWh/year), potatoes (59 GWh/year), other vegetables (36 GWh/year), fish (6.5 GWh/ year) and fruit (5.9 GWh/year). There is little published data on the measured energy consumption of commercial primary chilling processes in the UK or that is directly applicable to the UK. From the data that is available, the energy efficiency (useful heat extracted from material/measured electrical energy used) varies from 0.138 to 5.337, with cooling of milk being far more efficient than that of the next two most important categories, meat and potatoes. Using the best of existing technologies it is estimated that 154 GWh could be saved per year in potato cooling, 128 GWh in milk and between 51 and 80 GWh in the cooling of carcass meat. Savings in other commodity areas are likely to be more than an order of magnitude less

Energy consumption in the UK food chill chain – primary chilling

There is increasing pressure on governments and industries to make significant reductions in carbon emissions. In the UK, 11% of electricity is consumed by the food industry and in some sectors a substantial portion of site energy, up to 90%, is consumed by refrigeration systems. The aim of this work was to: identify the major primary chilling energy requirements in the UK; calculate or make a best estimate of their efficiency; and determine which chilling processes have the highest energy saving potential. In terms of the heat energy to be extracted during the primary chilling process, the six most important categories in rank order were milk (532 GWh/year), meat (114 GWh/year), potatoes (59 GWh/year), other vegetables (36 GWh/year), fish (6.5 GWh/ year) and fruit (5.9 GWh/year). There is little published data on the measured energy consumption of commercial primary chilling processes in the UK or that is directly applicable to the UK. From the data that is available, the energy efficiency (useful heat extracted from material/measured electrical energy used) varies from 0.138 to 5.337, with cooling of milk being far more efficient than that of the next two most important categories, meat and potatoes. Using the best of existing technologies it is estimated that 154 GWh could be saved per year in potato cooling, 128 GWh in milk and between 51 and 80 GWh in the cooling of carcass meat. Savings in other commodity areas are likely to be more than an order of magnitude less

Fatigue-Life Prediction Methodology Using Small-Crack Theory

This paper reviews the capabilities of a plasticity-induced crack-closure model to predict fatigue lives of metallic materials using 'small-crack theory' for various materials and loading conditions. Crack-tip constraint factors, to account for three-dimensional state-of-stress effects, were selected to correlate large-crack growth rate data as a function of the effective-stress-intensity factor range (delta K(eff)) under constant-amplitude loading. Some modifications to the delta k(eff)-rate relations were needed in the near-threshold regime to fit measured small-crack growth rate behavior and fatigue endurance limits. The model was then used to calculate small- and large-crack growth rates, and to predict total fatigue lives, for notched and un-notched specimens made of two aluminum alloys and a steel under constant-amplitude and spectrum loading. Fatigue lives were calculated using the crack-growth relations and microstructural features like those that initiated cracks for the aluminum alloys and steel for edge-notched specimens. An equivalent-initial-flaw-size concept was used to calculate fatigue lives in other cases. Results from the tests and analyses agreed well

SPIFI: a Direct-Detection Imaging Spectrometer for Submillimeter Wavelengths

The South Pole Imaging Fabry-Perot Interferometer (SPIFI) is the first instrument of its kind -a direct-detection imaging spectrometer for astronomy in the submillimeter band. SPIFI ’s focal plane is a square array of 25 silicon bolometers cooled to 60 mK; the spectrometer consists of two cryogenic scanning Fabry-Perot interferometers in series with a 60-mK bandpass filter. The instrument operates in the short submillimeter windows (350 and 450 μm) available from the ground, with spectral resolving power selectable between 500 and 10,000. At present, SPIFI’s sensitivity is within a factor of 1.5-3 of the photon background limit, comparable with the best heterodyne spectrometers. The instrument ’s large bandwidth and mapping capability provide substantial advantages for specific astrophysical projects, including deep extragalactic observations. We present the motivation for and design of SPIFI and its operational characteristics on the telescope

Genotyping and Whole-Genome Resequencing of Welsh Sheep Breeds Reveal Candidate Genes and Variants for Adaptation to Local Environment and Socioeconomic Traits

Background: Advances in genetic tools applied to livestock breeding has prompted research into the previously neglected breeds adapted to harsh local environments. One such group is the Welsh mountain sheep breeds, which can be farmed at altitudes of 300 m above sea level but are considered to have a low productive value because of their poor wool quality and small carcass size. This is contrary to the lowland breeds which are more suited to wool and meat production qualities, but do not fare well on upland pasture. Herein, medium-density genotyping data from 317 individuals representing 15 Welsh sheep breeds were used alongside the whole-genome resequencing data of 14 breeds from the same set to scan for the signatures of selection and candidate genetic variants using haplotype- and SNP-based approaches.Results: Haplotype-based selection scan performed on the genotyping data pointed to a strong selection in the regions of GBA3, PPARGC1A, APOB, and PPP1R16B genes in the upland breeds, and RNF24, PANK2, and MUC15 in the lowland breeds. SNP-based selection scan performed on the resequencing data pointed to the missense mutations under putative selection relating to a local adaptation in the upland breeds with functions such as angiogenesis (VASH1), anti-oxidation (RWDD1), cell stress (HSPA5), membrane transport (ABCA13 and SLC22A7), and insulin signaling (PTPN1 and GIGFY1). By contrast, genes containing candidate missense mutations in the lowland breeds are related to cell cycle (CDK5RAP2), cell adhesion (CDHR3), and coat color (MC1R).Conclusion: We found new variants in genes with potentially functional consequences to the adaptation of local sheep to their environments in Wales. Knowledge of these variations is important for improving the adaptative qualities of UK and world sheep breeds through a marker-assisted selection.</p