The Connected space of Māori governance: towards an indigenous conceptual understanding.

Theoretical understanding of governance is almost entirely based on non-indigenous epistemology. Despite Māori (along with other indigenous peoples) having robust intellectual and cultural frameworks to understand governance; substantive research into understanding governance from within indigenous culturally generated frameworks is almost non-existent. Instead, non-indigenous understanding of governance within governance theory is promulgated as the starting and end points of governance; subsequently then unilaterally globally applied to indigenous people, such as Māori. Consequently, Māori culturally generated values, principles and concepts are relegated to mere ancillary importance, being restricted within non-indigenous governance frameworks. Alternatively, governance is portrayed as a procedural outcome of equivalence translation, of non-Māori governance concepts into Māori conceptual space. In rejecting these existing formulations and framing of Māori governance, this research instead undertook a two-stage process, to purposely seek a distinctly Māori cultural perspective of governance. Firstly, use of Kaupapa Māori theory allowed an intellectual space to engage Mātauranga Māori [Māori knowledge]. The second stage invoked Whakapapa (the key basis of Mātauranga Māori) to conceptualise governance from within the creation realms of Te Pō, Te Ao Mārama and Te Kore. These realms represent a essential whakapapa [genealogy] within Mātauranga Māori. They signify the source of all that is, containing the principles, values and elements that forms a Māori understanding of life and of human knowledge. The conclusion reached is that whakapapa is in fact the implicit and fundamental basis of Māori society and its source of governance. Being a broader concept than just genealogy, whakapapa defines an encompassed whole; a system of connection through multifarious, complex and inclusive relationships storing knowledge and wisdom, simultaneously binding past, present and future, enabling deeper understanding of the world. Whakapapa represents conceptual, actual and ideal states, as without whakapapa, nothing can, could or does exist. This research has made explicit that the foundation of Māori society, whakapapa, is the Māori expression of governance. Governance is thus by implication not created and founded solely on western cultural understanding; it is innate to humanity and simultaneously exists across all peoples. Indigenous conceptions of governance are therefore equally legitimate forms of governance. In revealing a distinctly Māori but hitherto implicit governance, this thesis highlights a basis for a culturally grounded and tested indigenous Māori form of governance

A synthesis of aquatic science for management of Lakes Mead and Mohave: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1381

Lake Mead provides many significant benefits that have made the modern development of the southwestern United States possible. The lake also provides important aquatic habitat for a wide variety of wildlife including endangered species, and a diversity of world-class water based recreational opportunities for more than 8 million visitors annually. It is one of the most extensively used and intensively monitored reservoirs in the United States. The largest reservoir by volume in the United States, it supplies critical storage of water supplies for more than 25 million people in three western states (California, Arizona, and Nevada). Storage within Lake Mead supplies drinking water and the hydropower to provide electricity for major cities including Las Vegas, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Tucson, and San Diego, and irrigation of greater than 2.5 million acres of croplands. Due to the importance of Lake Mead, multiple agencies are actively involved in its monitoring and research. These agencies have a long history of collaboration in the assessment of water quality, water-dependent resources, and ecosystem health. In 2004, the National Park Service obtained funds from the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act to enhance this partnership and expand monitoring and research efforts to increase the overall understanding of Lake Mead and Lake Mohave. Participating agencies included the National Park Service, Southern Nevada Water Authority, U.S. Geological Survey, Nevada Department of Wildlife, Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and University of Nevada, Reno. Results of these important efforts have been presented in Lake Mead Science Symposia conducted in 2009 and 2012. The relationships forged by the collaboration led to the development in 2012 of the Lake Mead Ecosystem Monitoring (LaMEM) Work Group, which has formalized the partnership and documented an interagency purpose and mission statement with common objectives for protection of Lake Mead and Lake Mohave water quality and water-dependent resources. This Circular has been developed to summarize the state of the knowledge related to the interests and objectives of the LaMEM Work Group, to inform management and the public of current lake conditions, and identify future needs for monitoring and research. It is hoped that this report will provide a framework for continued long-term investigations and analysis of the environmental health of Lakes Mead and Mohave

Incommensurate Transverse Anisotropy Induced by Disorder and Spin-Orbit-Vibron Coupling in Mn12-acetate

It has been shown within density-functional theory that in Mn$_{12}$-acetate there are effects due to disorder by solvent molecules and a coupling between vibrational and electronic degrees of freedom. We calculate the in-plane principal axes of the second-order anisotropy caused by the second effect and compare them with those of the fourth-order anisotropy due to the first effect. We find that the two types of the principal axes are not commensurate with each other, which results in a complete quenching of the tunnel-splitting oscillation as a function of an applied transverse field.Comment: Will be presented at MMM conference 200

Neurobehavioral Evaluation for a Community with Chronic Exposure to Hydrogen Sulfide Gas

In May 2000, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry of the US government conducted a health investigation in response to community concerns regarding ambient and indoor hydrogen sulfide (H2S), odor, and health symptoms in Dakota City, Nebraska. The objective was to determine whether adult residents in an area with repeated exposure to H2S showed poorer performance on neurobehavioral tests than unexposed residents. Study participants were required to meet age (≥16 years of age) and length of residency (2 years) eligibility requirements. A battery of computer-assisted standardized neurobehavioral tests was administered in English or Spanish. A questionnaire was used to collect information about participants, demographic and health status. Three hundred forty-five people agreed to participate. After the exclusion of 10 persons, analyses were conducted on 335 participants; 171 residents in the target area and 164 residents in the comparison area. The two groups were comparable in demographic characteristics and various health conditions. Overall, neurobehavioral test results for the target and comparison groups were similar. Residence in the H2S-exposed area was associated with marginally poorer performance on a test of memory, namely, match to sample score, and a test of grip strength. However, these differences were not significant. Deficits in overall neurobehavioral performance were not associated with exposure to H2S in this study

Neurobehavioral Evaluation for a Community with Chronic Exposure to Hydrogen Sulfide Gas

In May 2000, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry of the US government conducted a health investigation in response to community concerns regarding ambient and indoor hydrogen sulfide (H2S), odor, and health symptoms in Dakota City, Nebraska. The objective was to determine whether adult residents in an area with repeated exposure to H2S showed poorer performance on neurobehavioral tests than unexposed residents. Study participants were required to meet age (≥16 years of age) and length of residency (2 years) eligibility requirements. A battery of computer-assisted standardized neurobehavioral tests was administered in English or Spanish. A questionnaire was used to collect information about participants, demographic and health status. Three hundred forty-five people agreed to participate. After the exclusion of 10 persons, analyses were conducted on 335 participants; 171 residents in the target area and 164 residents in the comparison area. The two groups were comparable in demographic characteristics and various health conditions. Overall, neurobehavioral test results for the target and comparison groups were similar. Residence in the H2S-exposed area was associated with marginally poorer performance on a test of memory, namely, match to sample score, and a test of grip strength. However, these differences were not significant. Deficits in overall neurobehavioral performance were not associated with exposure to H2S in this study

Evaluation of pressure transmission and intra-aneurysmal contents after endovascular repair using the Trivascular Enovus expanded polytetrafluoroethylene stent graft in a canine model of abdominal aortic aneurysm

ObjectiveEndotension has been defined as persistently increased pressure within the excluded sac of an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) resulting in increasing aneurysm size after endovascular repair in the absence of endoleak. Devices that use expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) have been associated with the development of endotension and continued AAA enlargement. In this study, intra-aneurysmal pressure and aneurysm content were evaluated after endovascular repair with the Enovus ePTFE stent graft in a canine model.MethodsProsthetic ePTFE aneurysms, each containing a solid-state, strain-gauge pressure transducer, were implanted in the infrarenal aorta of 13 mongrel dogs (25-35 kg). A second pressure transducer was inserted into the native aorta for systemic arterial pressure measurement. The stent graft was then deployed to exclude the aneurysm via distal aortic access. Comparison was made among three distinct stent grafts: the Trivascular Enovus (nonporous ePTFE; four animals), the original Gore Excluder (porous ePTFE; five animals), and the Medtronic AneuRx (Dacron; four animals). Daily systemic and intra-AAA pressures were measured for 4 weeks. Intra-aneurysmal pressures were indexed to simultaneously measured systemic pressures. After 4 weeks, the aorta, the prosthetic aneurysm, and its contents were harvested, photographed, and processed for histologic investigation with hematoxylin and eosin and Masson trichrome staining.ResultsWithin 24 hours after exclusion, the mean arterial pressure and pulse pressure within the AAA sac tapered to less than 20% of systemic pressure for all three stent graft types. Throughout the postoperative period, significantly lower indexed intra-aneurysmal pressures were present in the Enovus- and AneuRx-treated aneurysms as compared with those treated with the original Excluder stent graft (0.05 ± 0.04, 0.16 ± 0.06, and 0.06 ± 0.03 for the Enovus, Excluder, and AneuRx, respectively). Histologic analysis of the Enovus-treated aneurysms demonstrated intraluminal content characterized almost entirely by erythrocytes and infrequent white blood cells without the fibrin organization—characteristics of acute or chronic thrombus. This contrasted with the content of the Excluder-treated aneurysms, which contained poorly organized fibrin deposition suggestive of acute thrombus, and of the AneuRx-treated aneurysms, which demonstrated mature, well-organized collagenous connective tissue.ConclusionsExclusion of the AAA with the Enovus stent graft resulted in nearly complete elimination of intra-aneurysmal pressure in this model. Histologic analysis of the aneurysm content further suggested complete exclusion, including elimination of circulating clotting factors and fibroblasts responsible for thrombus formation and reorganization. Ultimately, clinical evaluation will be necessary to demonstrate the effectiveness of this stent graft in preventing the development of endotension.Clinical RelevanceEndovascular aneurysm repair is an effective method for the treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) subjected to the unique complications of endoleak and endotension, the indirect pressurization of a sac in the absence of endoleak. In our model, AAA exclusion with the Enovus stent graft results in inhibition of fluid and serum transudation into the AAA sac, a corresponding prompt pressure decay profile, and near-complete elimination of intra-aneurysmal pressure. With the advent of implantable wireless pressure transducers, this research can be readily translated to the clinical setting. Future intraoperative and postoperative studies may help elucidate the clinical significance of pressure decay profiles in identifying successful AAA exclusion and monitoring for the development of endotension and its clinical sequelae

The Cenozoic Climatic and Topographic Evolution of the Western North American Cordillera

Herein we present oxygen isotope records from Cretaceous to Recent terrestrial sediments in the western North American Cordillera. The purpose of this analysis is to use oxygen isotope records to understand the coupled surface elevation and climate histories of this region through the Cenozoic. To do this we constructed δ¹⁸(O) maps of surface waters for time intervals that trace the development of topography of western North America. These maps are based on 4861 oxygen isotope analyses from both published (4478) and new (383) data. We determined the δ¹⁸(O) values of surface waters using paleotemperatures derived previously from floral assemblages and the appropriate isotope fractionation factors. These data suggest that in the late Cretaceous to early Eocene the Sevier hinterland formed a plateau of unknown height. Around 50 Ma, a topographic wave developed in British Columbia and eastern Washington that swept southward reaching northeastern Nevada at ~40 to 38 Ma, and southern Nevada ~23 Ma. This southward encroachment of an Eocene Plateau (SWEEP) caused reorganization of drainage patterns such that the intraforeland basins of Wyoming and Utah drainages extended deep within the Sevier hinterland as the wave swept southward. The landscape within the Sevier hinterland developed into a rugged and high mountain range with the hypsometric mean elevation of ~4 km and relief of ~1.5 km. This Eocene highland was bordered on the west by a high Sierra Nevada ramp and on the east by the intraforeland basins that captured water draining these growing highlands. The spatial and temporal evolution of this highland correlates with the timing of volcanism and extension. These observations support tectonic models that call for north to south removal of the Farallon slab or piecemeal removal of mantle lithosphere. The isotopic data show that prior to growth of this highland the North American Monsoon (NAM) penetrated much farther north in the Paleocene/Eocene than today. The combined effects of global cooling, increasing latitudinal temperature gradients, and the generation of the orographic barrier created by the growing north to south highland produced a southward migration of the NAM front. By the Oligocene the hydrologic regime that we observe today was in place. It has been modified since then as a result of Basin and Range extension and collapse of the highlands in the mid-Miocene. This collapse allowed the NAM to penetrate farther north into the Great Basin of Nevada and Utah

The response to forced decompression in six species of Pacific rockfish

Pacific rockfish experience high discard mortality when captured owing to a condition called barotrauma,which is caused by the change in pressure during capture. This condition appears to be species specific at the macroscopic level; however, little is known about the microscopic tissue-level effects of barotrauma. Determining whether tissue-level injuries are also species specific or influenced by factors such as life history and phylogenetic relatedness can improve our management of discard mortality. We evaluated the responses of six species of Pacific rockfish (black rockfish Sebastes melanops, blue rockfish S. mystinus, yellowtail rockfish S. flavidus, quillback rockfish S. maliger, canary rockfish S. pinniger, and yelloweye rockfish S. ruberrimus) captured from varying depths to forced decompression at the histological level (heart ventricle, rete mirabile, head kidney, liver, gill, and eye) as well as the macroscopic level. At the macroscopic level we focused on injuries caused by barotrauma, namely, everted esophaguses, exophthalmia, ocular emphysema, and ruptured swim bladders. Yellowtail and quillback rockfish experienced the fewest macroscopic injuries. Depth of capture influenced the presence of exophthalmia in quillback rockfish and ocular emphysema in quillback and yelloweye rockfish. Tissue injuries as a result of forced decompression included emphysema in the heart ventricle, emboli in the vessels of the rete mirabile, and emboli in the vessels of the head kidney. No injuries were observed at the histological level in the liver, gill, or eye owing to barotrauma. We could not detect a difference in the tissue-level response to barotrauma among the six species, suggesting that all species are susceptible to high internal gas pressure during forced decompression

A Call to Action for Optimizing the Electronic Health Record in the Parenteral Nutrition Workflow

Parenteral nutrition (PN) is a complex therapeutic modality provided to neonates, children, and adults for various indications. Surveys have shown that current electronic health record (EHR) systems are in need of functionality enhancement for safe and optimal delivery of PN. This is a consensus statement from the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, and the American Society of Health‐System Pharmacists outlining some of the key challenges to prescribing, order review/verification, compounding, and administration of PN using EHRs today and is a call to action for clinicians and vendors to optimize their EHRs regarding the PN build and workflow.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146340/1/ncp10095.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146340/2/ncp10095_am.pd