A view of computer music from New Zealand: Auckland, Waikato and the Asia/Pacific connection

Dealing predominantly with ‘art music’ aspects of electroacoustic music practice, this paper looks at cultural, aesthetic, environmental and technical influences on current and emerging practices from the upper half of the North Island of New Zealand. It also discusses the influences of Asian and Pacific cultures on the idiom locally. Rather than dwell on the similarities with current international styles, the focus is largely on some of the differences

Judas the Film: Storytellers Then and Now

Judas blends the gospels and adds ingredients not found in scripture, the made-for-television film may be distinctive as the only U.S. production to focus centrally on the difficult New Testament character of the betrayer of Jesus. Judas does not break particularly new ground for Jesus movies. Judas, played by Johnathon Schaech, hopes Jesus will lead a revolt, a warmed-over motive for betrayal explored before in movies and novels

A Review of Clinical Disease Scoring Systems for Cicatricial Diseases of the Conjunctiva

Cicatricial conjunctival diseases (CCDs), are a diverse group of ocular surface diseases characterized by chronic scarring of the conjunctiva. These diseases can cause significant ocular morbidity. They are life-long once acquired and can be debilitating, painful diseases leading to visual loss. A recent international consensus of ocular surface disease experts have placed emphasis on the need of validated clinical disease scoring systems for CCDs, important for the objective evaluation of disease severity, outcomes of therapies, and longitudinal monitoring of disease. This review aims to describe the various published clinical disease scoring systems available for CCDs and evaluates the benefits and limitations of each system. It can be used as a guide for clinicians managing patients with CCDs and for researchers evaluating potential therapies in clinical trials

Some research experiences in socio-economics of non-industrial forestry in the Philippines

This paper examines the findings of a socio-economic research project carried out to examine the financial performance, adoption progress and impediments to adoption, of a range of Australian tree species in the Philippines. This ACIAR-supported project was an extension of research into transfer of Australian tree production technologies to the Philippines by Australian scientists, with a focus on trees from the genera Eucalyptus, Acacia, Grevillea and Casuarina. The socio-economic research indicated that financial performance of acacias, though perhaps not other Australian species, is comparable with that of traditional species such as gmelina and mahogany. Some uncertainty exists with regard to likely growth and financial performance of eucalypts because site index data are not available, and while early stand growth has been impressive there was a lack of data on which to model later growth. A wide variety of potential impediments to adoption of farm and community forestry, and Australian species in particular, was noted

Fixação de nitrogênio na rizosfera de Paspalum notatum e da cana-de-açúcar

Nitrogen fixation in the rhizosphere of Paspalum notatum, variety “Batatais”, associated with Azotobacter paspali and sugar cane associated with Beijerinckia sp., both grown in the field, was studied by the acetylene reduction method. In the association P. notatum - A. paspali values equivalent to a Nitrogen fixation of 15 to 93 kg/ha/year were obtained (ratio C2H2:N2 = 3:1). Almost all of the nitrogenase activity was concentrated on the root surface and very little was found in rhizosphere soil. Nitrogenase activity of both systems was very sensitive to oxygen. On roots separated from soil a pO2 of 0.04 atm was optimal while in the intact systems the oxygen tension above the soil had little effect. Nitrogenase activity in the rhizosphere of P. notatum seemed directly dependent upon photosynthetic activity of the plant. Normal 8 hour night periods did not change nitrogenase activity but when the dark period was extended the activity slowed down. On returning the plants into light, within hours the original activity was reached.Fixação de nitrogênio na rizosfera de Pospalum notatum, cultivar Batatais, e de cana-de-açúcar, colhidos no campo, foi estudada pelo método de redução de acetileno que avalia a atividade da nitrogenase, enzima responsável pela fixação biológica de N2. Na associação P. notatum-Azotobacter  paspali, valores equivalentes a uma fixação de 15 a 93 kg de N/ha/ano foram obtidos e quase toda a atividade se concentrou na superfície das raízes, não sendo fixadas quantidades de N consideráveis no solo. Na cana-de-açúcar associada com Beijerinckia houve, além de fixação na superfície das raízes, ainda fixação de N2 no solo, somando a atividade do conjunto planta - solo até 50 kg de N/ha/ano. A atividade da nitrogenase de ambos os sistemas foi muito sensível à pressão parcial de oxigênio, sendo 0,04 atm de O2 o valor ótimo para raízes retiradas do solo. No sistema intato planta - solo, a pO2 da atmosfera acima do solo não teve interferência, parecendo estabelecer a planta, em torno das raízes, uma pressão parcial de oxigênio adequada à atividade da nitrogenase. No P. notatum a fixação de nitrogênio foi estreitamente ligada à fotossíntese da planta. Num ciclo diurno de 16 horas a atividade da nitrogenase continuou linearmente também durante a noite, mas quando o período escuro foi prolongado, a atividade diminuiu gradativamente. Ao retornar as plantas à luz, dentro de horas houve um aumento da atividade, sendo as taxas iniciais atingidas após 15 horas de luz

Altered Patterns of Fungal Keratitis at a London Ophthalmic Referral Hospital: An Eight-Year Retrospective Observational Study.

PURPOSE: In previous studies of fungal keratitis (FK) from temperate countries, yeasts were the predominant isolates, with ocular surface disease (OSD) being the leading risk factor. Since the 2005-2006 outbreak of contact lens (CL)-associated Fusarium keratitis, there may have been a rise in CL-associated filamentary FK in the United Kingdom. This retrospective case series investigated the patterns of FK from 2007 to 2014. We compared these to 1994-2006 data from the same hospital. DESIGN: Retrospective observational study. METHODS: All cases of FK presenting to Moorfields Eye Hospital between 2007 and 2014 were identified. The definition of FK was either a fungal organism isolated by culture or fungal structures identified by light microscopy (LM) of scrape material, histopathology, or in vivo corneal confocal microscopy (IVCM). Main outcome measure was cases of FK per year. RESULTS: A total of 112 patients had confirmed FK. Median age was 47.2 years. Between 2007 and 2014, there was an increase in annual numbers of FK (Poisson regression, P = .0001). FK was confirmed using various modalities: 79 (70.5%) by positive culture, 16 (14.3%) by LM, and 61 (54.5%) by IVCM. Seventy-eight patients (69.6%) were diagnosed with filamentary fungus alone, 28 (25%) with yeast alone, and 6 (5.4%) with mixed filamentary and yeast infections. This represents an increase in the proportion of filamentary fungal infections from the pre-2007 data. Filamentary fungal and yeast infections were associated with CL use and OSD, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The number of FK cases has increased. This increase is due to CL-associated filamentary FK. Clinicians should be aware of these changes, which warrant epidemiologic investigations to identify modifiable risk factors