Stead Ellis, Architect

In December 1879, Stead Ellis landed in New Zealand, with family, seeking work as an architect in the South Island, along with his pupil, budding architect Joshua Charlesworth. Finding work in Nelson as the Architect for the Nelson Education Board in early 1880, Ellis was a key architect, along with Beatson, in the appearance of early Nelson's public buildings. Ellis was responsible for designing many school buildings in the Nelson region, and also other commissions such as the church at Motupiko. Very little remains of Ellis' lifetime of work, with most schools having replaced their buildings several times over, but some few scraps of Ellis' work remain - namely two buildings: the Bishops School, near the Nelson Cathedral, and the Anglican church at Motupiko. This paper will examine and trace remaining work of Stead Ellis

Adult Volunteer Development: Addressing the Effectiveness of Training New 4-H Leaders

4-H traditionally focuses on positive youth development, but adult volunteers are the mainstay of the programs. We evaluated the effectiveness of 4-H new leader education and its influence on the skill development of adult volunteer leaders. Using a retrospective pretest method, we found that participants in 4-H new leader training increased their knowledge and readiness to be 4-H leaders. Skills gained from new leader education were also being applied outside of the 4-H context. Planning and carrying out yearly club programs was identified as an area in which current training could be improved

Longitudinal study of trachomatous trichiasis in The Gambia: barriers to acceptance of surgery.

PURPOSE: Investigation of compliance with surgery for trachomatous trichiasis has become a priority of the World Health Organization. This study was conducted to investigate attitudes toward trichiasis and its treatment and to determine the rate of surgical uptake in The Gambia. METHODS: A 1-year longitudinal study was performed in 190 subjects with trichiasis. Persons with major trichiasis (involving five lashes or more) were referred for surgery, and those with minor trichiasis were advised to epilate. Outcome measures included attitudes toward trichiasis and its treatment, reported barriers to surgical uptake, acceptance rates for surgery, and factors affecting acceptance. RESULTS: Twenty-three percent (95% confidence interval [CI] 16.5%-30.6%) of subjects with major trichiasis attended for surgery during the year. Degree of ignorance about surgery, symptoms impeding work, and a multiple income source for the head of household predicted attendance. Reported lack of time predicted nonattendance. Sixty-eight percent of patients who had undergone surgery were trichiasis free at last follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Poor attendance for surgery remains a problem in The Gambia. Barriers include ignorance and lack of time and money. Health education and surgical delivery strategies are needed to overcome these barriers. Regular audit of surgical results is necessary, with retraining where indicated

A novel isolator-based system promotes viability of human embryos during laboratory processing

In vitro fertilisation (IVF) and related technologies are arguably the most challenging of all cell culture applications. The starting material is a single cell from which one aims to produce an embryo capable of establishing a pregnancy eventually leading to a live birth. Laboratory processing during IVF treatment requires open manipulations of gametes and embryos, which typically involves exposure to ambient conditions. To reduce the risk of cellular stress, we have developed a totally enclosed system of interlinked isolator-based workstations designed to maintain oocytes and embryos in a physiological environment throughout the IVF process. Comparison of clinical and laboratory data before and after the introduction of the new system revealed that significantly more embryos developed to the blastocyst stage in the enclosed isolator-based system compared with conventional open-fronted laminar flow hoods. Moreover, blastocysts produced in the isolator-based system contained significantly more cells and their development was accelerated. Consistent with this, the introduction of the enclosed system was accompanied by a significant increase in the clinical pregnancy rate and in the proportion of embryos implanting following transfer to the uterus. The data indicate that protection from ambient conditions promotes improved development of human embryos. Importantly, we found that it was entirely feasible to conduct all IVF-related procedures in the isolator-based workstations

Surgery versus epilation for the treatment of minor trichiasis in Ethiopia: a randomised controlled noninferiority trial.

Trachomatous trichiasis can cause corneal damage and visual impairment. WHO recommends surgery for all cases. However, in many regions surgical provision is inadequate and patients frequently decline. Self-epilation is common and was associated with comparable outcomes to surgery in nonrandomised studies for minor trichiasis (<six lashes touching eye). This trial investigated whether epilation is noninferior to surgery for managing minor trichiasis