An ecological study of Chinese privet (Ligustrum sinense Lour.) in the Waikato Region

Chinese privet (Ligustrum sinense) has naturalised across the Waikato region invading lowland native forest and wetland habitat. This shrub has the ability to form a dense canopy or subcanopy and appears to exclude other native species from establishing in the understorey. Chinese privet seedlings were found in abundance underneath privet canopy, where they grow slower than when invading a new site yet are able to succeed adult plants and continually occupy a site. Chinese privet seedlings establish readily under intact native canopy but are more prolific in disturbed high light environments. Fruit is produced in abundance and is dispersed by birds particularly beneath perch sites, which limits seed dispersal over open ground. Chinese privet seedlings appear to be palatable to stock, but rapidly out-compete and dominate regenerating native species when grazing pressure is removed. A short-lived seedbank, six months to one year viability, suggests that the removal of adult plants will quickly reduce the number of seedlings establishing. This invasive shrub is a serious weed in south-eastern USA where it is well established and would appear to have similar potential in New Zealand to form vast, dense thickets with very low floristic diversity

Waiwhakareke Restoration Plantings: Establishment of Monitoring Plots 2005-06

Waiwhakareke Natural Heritage Park is being developed to reconstruct native lowland and wetland ecosystems as were once widespread in the Waikato Region. The 60ha Natural Heritage Park is located on the north-west outskirts of Hamilton City and includes a peat lake (Horseshoe Lake) which is surrounded by introduced willow trees. There is some native marginal vegetation around the lake, including rushes and sedges, and an extensive area of gently sloping pasture completes the catchment. The restoration and recreation of the native plant and animal communities is being lead by the Hamilton City Council in partnership with The University of Waikato, Wintec, Nga Mana Toopu o Kirikiriroa Limited Resource Management and Cultural Consultants and Tui 2000 (McQueen 2005; McQueen & Clarkson 2003)

An application of software design and documentation language

The software design and documentation language (SDDL) is a general purpose processor to support a lanugage for the description of any system, structure, concept, or procedure that may be presented from the viewpoint of a collection of hierarchical entities linked together by means of binary connections. The language comprises a set of rules of syntax, primitive construct classes (module, block, and module invocation), and language control directives. The result is a language with a fixed grammar, variable alphabet and punctuation, and an extendable vocabulary. The application of SDDL to the detailed software design of the Command Data Subsystem for the Galileo Spacecraft is discussed. A set of constructs was developed and applied. These constructs are evaluated and examples of their application are considered

Leaving College: Why Students Withdrew from a University

The purpose of this study was to determine the reasons why students withdrew during a semester from a mid-sized, comprehensive university located in the Midwest. Six hundred forty-five students were asked to complete the ACT Withdrawing/Non-returning Student Survey during the 1992-93 academic year and summer semester. Three hundred sixty-five completed surveys were returned for a 57% response rate. Respondents indicated many different reasons for leaving which varied by year in school and whether or not the respondent was a graduate or undergraduate student. There was no typical withdrawing student and there were many reasons students withdrew over which the university has little or no control. The report concludes with a discussion of Vincent Tinto\u27s (1993) ideas concerning institutional departure. The retention and persistence of students in higher education has been the focus of serious intellectual inquiry for many years. Various concepts of institutional departure, persistence and models for programmatic interventions to reduce departure have been developed. (For example, see Pascarella & Terenzini, 1991; Stage & Rushin, 1993; Steele, Kennedy, & Gordon, 1993; Tinto, 1993; Wolfe, 1993.) The purpose of this study was to focus on one aspect of student attrition, and. to investigate the reasons and general trends as . to why students withdrew during a semester from a midsized comprehensive university located in the Midwest. This information could then be used to guide institutional action

Interventions for treating oral mucositis for patients with cancer receiving treatment

Background Treatment of cancer is increasingly effective but is associated with short and long term side effects. Oral and gastrointestinal side effects, including oral candidiasis, remain a major source of illness despite the use of a variety of agents to treat them. Objectives To assess the effectiveness of interventions for the treatment of oral candidiasis for patients with cancer receiving chemotherapy or radiotherapy or both. Search strategy Computerised searches of Cochrane Oral Health Group and PaPaS Trials Registers (to 1 June 2010), CENTRAL via the Cochrane Library (Issue 2, 2010, 1 June 2010), MEDLINE via OVID (1 June 2010), EMBASE via OVID (1 June 2010), CINAHL via EBSCO (1 June 2010), CANCERLIT via PubMed (1 June 2010), OpenSIGLE (1 June 2010) and LILACS via Virtual Health Library (1 June 2010) were undertaken. Reference lists fromrelevant articles were searched and the authors of eligible trials were contacted to identify trials and obtain additional information. Selection criteria All randomised controlled trials comparing agents prescribed to treat oral candidiasis in people receiving chemotherapy or radiotherapy for cancer. The outcomes were eradication of oral candidiasis, dysphagia, systemic infection, amount of analgesia, length of hospitalisation, cost and patient quality of life. Data collection and analysis Data were independently extracted, in duplicate, by two review authors. Trial authors were contacted for details of randomisation and withdrawals and a quality assessment was carried out. Risk ratios (RR) were calculated using fixed-effect models. Main results Ten trials involving 940 patients, satisfied the inclusion criteria and are included in this review. Drugs absorbed from the gastrointestinal (GI) tract were beneficial in eradication of oral candidiasis compared with drugs not absorbed from the GI tract (three trials: RR = 1.29, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.09 to 1.52), however there was significant heterogeneity. A drug absorbed from the GI tract, ketoconazole, wasmore beneficial than placebo in eradicating oral candidiasis (one trial: RR = 3.61, 95% CI 1.47 to 8.88). Clotrimazole, at a higher dose of 50 mg was more effective than a lower 10 mg dose in eradicating oral candidiasis, when assessed mycologically (one trial: RR = 2.00, 95% CI 1.11 to 3.60). Only one of the ten trials was assessed as at low risk of bias. Authors' conclusions There is insufficient evidence to claimor refute a benefit for any antifungal agent in treating candidiasis. Further well designed, placebo-controlled trials assessing the effectiveness of old and new interventions for treating oral candidiasis are needed. Clinicians need to make a decision on whether to prevent or treat oral candidiasis in patients receiving treatment for cancer. This review is published as a Cochrane Review in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2010, Issue 7. Cochrane Reviews are regularly updated as new evidence emerges and in response to comments and criticisms, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews should be consulted for the most recent version of the Review.</p

Gradually including potential users: A tool to counter design exclusions

The paper describes an iterative development process used to understand the suitability of different inclusive design evaluation tools applied into design practices. At the end of this process, a tool named Inclusive Design Advisor was developed, combining data related to design features of small appliances with ergonomic task demands, anthropometric data and exclusion data. When auditing a new design the tool examines the exclusion that each design feature can cause, followed by objective recommendations directly related to its features. Interactively, it allows designers or clients to balance design changes with the exclusion caused. It presents the type of information that enables designers and clients to discuss user needs and make more inclusive design decisions.We would like to thank the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (grant number 972367) and the India-UK Advanced Technology Centre (IU-ATC) for supporting the project of which this paper is part