A two-species stage-structured model for West Nile virus transmission

We develop a host–vector model of West Nile virus (WNV) transmission that incorporates multiple avian host species as well as host stage-structure (juvenile and adult stages), allowing for both species-specific and stage-specific biting rates of vectors on hosts. We use this ordinary differential equation model to explore WNV transmission dynamics that occur between vectors and multiple structured host populations as a result of heterogeneous biting rates on species and/or life stages. Our analysis shows that increased exposure of juvenile hosts generally results in larger outbreaks of WNV infectious vectors when compared to differential host species exposure. We also find that increased juvenile exposure is an important mechanism for determining the effect of species diversity on the disease risk of a community

Making Sense of Commercial Common Sense

The article examines the use of "commercial common sense" in the interpretation of commercial contracts. It reviews the origins of the test of commercial common sense and traces the application of the test in relatively recent New Zealand and United Kingdom appellate decisions. The author's contention is that the test is only properly applied when a court asks itself which of the interpretations put forward by the parties is most consistent with the contracting parties' mutual commercial purpose. The test is not properly applied when a court prefers one interpretation to another simply because it is the court's view that the alternative would mean one party made a particularly bad bargain.&nbsp

Book Review: Feminist Judgments of Aotearoa New Zealand – Te Rino: A Two-Stranded Rope

Book review of Elisabeth McDonald, Rhonda Powell, Māmari Stephens and Rosemary Hunter (eds) Feminist Judgments of Aotearoa New Zealand – Te Rino: A Two-Stranded Rope (Hart Publishing, Portland, 2017)

Dr. Right : Elderly Women in Pursuit of Negotiated Health Care and Mutual Decision Making

This study explores a group of elderly women who were searching for physicians that were interested in providing negotiated health care options with particular interest in mutual decision making. The grounded theory approach was used to explore the health care interactions between the physicians and the elderly women (Strauss & Corbin, 1998). Qualitative interviews were conducted with eleven women, 75 years and older. The categorical working title of Looking for Dr. Right helped to focus our discovery of the reasons for these women\u27s search for a new physician. Grounded in the data, a proposed hypothesis was developed regarding the need for a two-way dialogue addressing specific health care concerns between an elderly woman and her physician

Defining Health and Health-Related Behaviors Following a Near-Death Experience

While broad categories of health and influences on definitions of health have been identified, the process through which adults define and re-define health has not been researched. The purpose of this study was to investigate the process of defining health and appropriate health-related behaviors following a near-death experience (NDE) as an adult and to articulate a grounded theory of decision-making. Five men and 15 women from the United States and United Kingdom were interviewed and the data were analyzed using the constant comparative method. The basic social process was I Still Had to Go Through the Process of Understanding. Understanding involved making sense of the NDE and precipitating event, gaining knowledge and insight, and applying this information in everyday life. This process was comprised of coming back, defining health, the experience of health, and meaning. The latter was a thread which ran through the entire process and was related to both the near-death experience and living one\u27s health. Coming back involved coming to terms with the physical, emotional, and spiritual consequences of the event, understanding what the NDE was and what it meant, and achieving some level of stabilized health. When their health was stable, participants were able to think about what health was and how it could be achieved or maintained. This typically occurred in three trajectories: the immediate aftermath, a combination of intervals, and over time. Imagery seen or meanings given to the NDE often influenced definitions of health and health behaviors. The experience of health included thinking about health, living with health issues, and exposure to external sources of health information. Self-management and living well described the two broad philosophies and strategies used to live health. These findings extend existing views of health, support research identifying multiple definitions of health and patterns of health behaviors, support the need to ask clients about health beliefs and health practices, and have implications for nursing practice, research, and education