Possum biocontrol: prospects for fertility regulation

1996 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 655 ◽  
Author(s):  
PE Cowan
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Bovine Tuberculosis ◽  
Native Plants ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Effective Solution ◽  
Fertility Regulation ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
Significant Damage ◽  
The Social

Research has begun recently into biocontrol of brushtail possums as the only long-term, cost-effective solution to the possum problem in New Zealand, where possums cause significant damage to native forests, threaten populations of native plants and animals, and infect cattle and deer with bovine tuberculosis. Fertility regulation as a means of biocontrol has the support of major animal welfare and conservation groups in New Zealand. Systems are being investigated, mostly in reproduction and development, with the ultimate aim of developing immunologically-based fertility regulation (immunocontraception), but much basic information essential to such an approach for possums is lacking. The key components for the success of this approach--suitable vectors expressing possum-specific reproductive antigens sufficiently to block reproduction--are reviewed. The social and political issues of local, national and international risk and acceptability arising from such an approach are also discussed.

Patchiness in distribution of rodents and mustelids in New Zealand forests

2010 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alison Fern Watkins ◽  
Judith L. McWhirter ◽  
Carolyn M. King
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Uniform Distribution ◽  
Rattus Rattus ◽  
Mixed Forest ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
The North ◽  
Cost Effective Method ◽  
Density Indices

Context. Relative density indices assuming uniform distribution of the target species are often the only cost-effective method for monitoring a population over the long term and at landscape scale, and the only source of valuable historical data. Yet, theoretical models emphasise the dangers of ignoring spatial heterogeneity, especially in short-term field data. Aims. To test whether Brown’s index of patchiness (BIP) can offer a simple means of checking rodent and mustelid survey data for violations of the assumption of uniform distribution. Methods. We use BIP to interrogate long-term legacy data collected by index trapping of mice (Mus musculus), rats (Rattus rattus and R. norvegicus) and stoats (Mustela erminea) in New Zealand forests. Key results. We found evidence of moderately patchy distributions that were independent of abundance in all three species. In two South Island beech (Nothofagus) forest valleys, 19% (6 of 31) of mouse samples and 8% (3 of 36) of stoat samples were significantly patchy, correlated with a seedfall event; in mixed forest at Pureora in the North Island, significant patchiness in distribution of ship rats was recorded in 19% (16 of 84) of Fenn trap samples and 5% (2 of 42) of rodent trap samples. Conclusions. Moderate patchiness is common. The consequences for any given study depend on the purpose of the work, but may be more important for practical management than for population modeling.

scholarly journals The December 28, 1989 Newcastle, Australia earthquake

1990 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 102-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. R. Brunsdon
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Insurance Industry ◽  
Masonry Buildings ◽  
Local Authorities ◽  
Populated Area ◽  
Significant Damage ◽  
The Social

The December 28, 1989 Newcastle earthquake resulted in the loss of twelve lives and caused significant damage to many masonry buildings. Although Australia has previously experienced earthquakes of greater magnitude and intensity, this was the first such event to occur near a highly populated area in that country. While this earthquake is a relatively moderate event in international terms, it is nevertheless of particular interest to New Zealand earthquake engineers and researchers and the insurance industry because of the social and organisational similarities between Newcastle and a number of large New Zealand cities. The nature of the damage to buildings and services is summarised, along with insurance aspects and the response of local authorities.

scholarly journals “A Moment of Science, Please”: Activism, Community, and Humor at the March for Science

2021 ◽  
Vol 41 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 46-57
Author(s):  
Hauke Riesch ◽  
Photini Vrikki ◽  
Neil Stephens ◽  
Jamie Lewis ◽  
Olwenn Martin
Keyword(s):  
Collective Identity ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Negative Stereotypes ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Social ◽  
Alternative Facts

In April 2017, scientists and science sympathizers held marches in the United Kingdom as part of a coordinated international March for Science movement that was held in over 600 cities worldwide. This article reports from participant-observation studies of the marches that took place in London and Cardiff. Supplemented with data from 37 interviews from marchers at the London event, the article reports on an analysis of the placards, focusing on marchers’ concerns and the language and images through which they expressed those concerns. How did the protesters articulate their concerns and objectives, and how were these articulations used to build a community? The placards did not represent a clear, focused, and unifying message; they instead illustrated disparate concerns ranging from human-induced climate change, Trump and “alternative facts,” and local UK specific political issues concerning the country’s exit from the European Union. Our analysis shows that placards gave a playful and whimsical character to the march, with slogans displaying significant amounts (and moments) of humor, often formulated through insider jokes, scientific puns, or self-deprecating appropriation of negative stereotypes about scientists. We analyze the march through the social movement literature and as a collective identity-building exercise for an (emergent) community of scientists and sympathizers with long-term aims of establishing a louder voice for scientists, and experts, in public discourse.

An Overview on Strategic ICT Implementations Toward Developing Knowledge Societies

2011 ◽  
pp. 1-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hakikur Rahman
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Society ◽  
National Level ◽  
Stakeholder Involvement ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Information And Communications Technologies ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
Grass Roots ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Impact

As nations continue to conceptualize, adopt, implement and monitor their respective information and communications technologies (ICTs) policies and e-strategies, it is vital that a critical assessment is undertaken on their effective progress. This includes analysis of strategies, methodologies and best practices while weighing the impact, effectiveness and efficiency of these policies and strategies. However, the demands, motivations and incentives of various governments for adopting, adapting and initiating ICTs varies from country to country, with diverse economic, social, cultural and political environments. Researches in this aspect recognized the necessity of a cohesive ICT policy and strategic framework in each country for socio-economic development at their grass roots. The execution of these policies and strategies should include concrete national commitment and strong political will at the highest levels of government, and an enabling environment that promotes stakeholder involvement in setting agendas and implementing plans and programs. This chapter provides insights into various national implementations in promoting related activities, tried to establish an analytical approach that would assist in formulating ICT policies and strategies by identifying different ICT indicators. Furthermore, this chapter focuses on critical aspects of different strategic national level policies with short-medium-long term visions that targeted both the immediate needs of the populace and long-term needs of nations by integrating ICTs. Finally, this chapter has recommended that via coherent and complimentary policies that engage both the private sector and civil society organizations, nations can move forward towards creating a knowledge society and at the same time by leveraging capabilities of ICT can address the social, economic and political issues on the ground.

scholarly journals A comparison of wildlife control and cattle vaccination as methods for the control of bovine tuberculosis

1999 ◽  
Vol 122 (3) ◽  
pp. 505-519 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. R. KAO ◽  
M. G. ROBERTS
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Great Britain ◽  
Control Strategy ◽  
Bovine Tuberculosis ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Control Area ◽  
Brushtail Possum ◽  
Source Of Infection ◽  
Wildlife Control ◽  
The Cost

The Australian brushtail possum is the major source of infection for new cases of bovine tuberculosis in cattle in New Zealand. Using hypothetical values for the cost of putative cattle and possum Tb vaccines, the relative efforts required to eradicate Tb in cattle using possum culling, possum vaccination or cattle vaccination are compared. For realistic assumed costs for 1080 poison bait, possum culling is found to be a cost-effective strategy compared to cattle vaccination if the required control area is below 13 ha per cattle herd, while possum vaccination is cost-effective for control areas of less than 3 ha per herd. Examination of other considerations such as the possible roles of possum migration and heterogeneities in possum population density suggest that each control strategy may be superior under different field conditions. Finally, the roles of the possum in New Zealand, and the Eurasian badger in Great Britain and Ireland in the transmission of bovine tuberculosis to cattle are compared.

An Overview on Strategic ICT Implementations Toward Developing Knowledge Societies

2008 ◽  
pp. 1-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hakikur Rahman
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Society ◽  
National Level ◽  
Stakeholder Involvement ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Information And Communications Technologies ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
Grass Roots ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Impact

As nations continue to conceptualize, adopt, implement and monitor their respective information and communications technologies (ICTs) policies and e-strategies, it is vital that a critical assessment is undertaken on their effective progress. This includes analysis of strategies, methodologies and best practices while weighing the impact, effectiveness and efficiency of these policies and strategies. However, the demands, motivations and incentives of various governments for adopting, adapting and initiating ICTs varies from country to country, with diverse economic, social, cultural and political environments. Researches in this aspect recognized the necessity of a cohesive ICT policy and strategic framework in each country for socio-economic development at their grass roots. The execution of these policies and strategies should include concrete national commitment and strong political will at the highest levels of government, and an enabling environment that promotes stakeholder involvement in setting agendas and implementing plans and programs. This chapter provides insights into various national implementations in promoting related activities, tried to establish an analytical approach that would assist in formulating ICT policies and strategies by identifying different ICT indicators. Furthermore, this chapter focuses on critical aspects of different strategic national level policies with short-medium-long term visions that targeted both the immediate needs of the populace and long-term needs of nations by integrating ICTs. Finally, this chapter has recommended that via coherent and complimentary policies that engage both the private sector and civil society organizations, nations can move forward towards creating a knowledge society and at the same time by leveraging capabilities of ICT can address the social, economic and political issues on the ground.

Circaseptan Aspects of Self-Assessed Sleep Protocols Covering 70 Nights on 33 Clinically Healthy Persons

2002 ◽  
Vol 95 (1) ◽  
pp. 258-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karl Hecht ◽  
Ingo Fietze ◽  
Manfred Herold ◽  
Germaine Cornélissen ◽  
George Katinas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Sleep Behavior ◽  
Self Monitoring ◽  
Falling Asleep ◽  
The Social ◽  
Group Basis ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Times

This study aimed to describe quantitatively some changes in sleep behavior. During 70 consecutive nights, 28 women and 3 men, 30 to 40 years of age and presumably clinically healthy, recorded the time of each awakening. Times of falling asleep were estimated from markings at 10-min. intervals from the times of lying down to sleep as an indication that the subject had not yet fallen asleep. Sleep duration and an index of effective sleep derived there from were analyzed by rhythmometric methods. On a group basis, anticipated components with periods of 1 and 0.5 wk., synchronized with the social schedule, were detected with statistical significance. Until long-term polysomnographic monitoring can readily cover the week automatically rather than only one or a few daily sleep spans, the self-monitoring of sleep behavior, yielding the circaseptan endpoints derived herein, may serve as a cost-effective tool in sleep research. By virtue of their relative simplicity, they could be part of a protocol designed to assess pharmacologic or nonpharmacologic interventions of sleep disturbance aimed at restoring undisturbed sleep.

Relative distance: ageing in rural New Zealand

2001 ◽  
Vol 21 (5) ◽  
pp. 605-619 ◽  
Author(s):  
SALLY KEELING
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Older People ◽  
Social Service ◽  
Urban Migration ◽  
Follow Up Study ◽  
The Social ◽  
Role Definitions

This paper explores aspects of kinship and geographical distance in terms of the social context of older people in the South Island of New Zealand, and with particular reference to the long-term epidemiological study of ageing in the community of Mosgiel. Comparisons between the numbers of relatives reported in the social networks of the older participants at baseline and in the six-year follow-up study indicate both losses and gains over time. A local qualitative study carried out within the Mosgiel study interprets meanings of closeness and distance from the ways that older people talk about family and friends. In discussing definitions of family, aspects of genealogical and generational connection are described, along with processes which allow for ‘proxies’ and ‘substitution’ in the light of geographical proximity. These role definitions within families, and the wider social networks within which they operate, provide continuity and reliable social support together with flexibility and adaptability to change. The Mosgiel study illustrates some aspects of the combined effects of low population density in the region, rural-to-urban migration, and recent health and social service restructuring on older people and on their families.

scholarly journals Cost Effectiveness in Primary Education: A Study of Pakistan

1994 ◽  
Vol 33 (4II) ◽  
pp. 1169-1180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zafar H. Ismail ◽  
Hafiz A. Pasha ◽  
A. Rauf Khan
Keyword(s):  
Social Action ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Policy Framework ◽  
School Construction ◽  
The People ◽  
The Social ◽  
Action Programme ◽  
General Recognition ◽  
The Government

The Government of Pakistan prepared the second Perspective Plan in 1987- 88 for the next ftfteen years to set the long-term social and economic policy framework. The Plan identifted that the long-term objectives could only be achieved if the education, skills, nutrition and health of the people were improved. These objectives have recently been operationalised in the donor supported Social Action Programme (SAP). However, there is general recognition of the resource constraint within which these objectives are to be achieved, especially given the low priority that has been attached traditionally to allocations to the social sectors. Therefore, the p{ogramme envisages the expansion of primary infrastructure through an accelerated school construction programme using cost -effective approaches to delivery including need-based criteria for school location and changes in the pattern of allocation of funds among sector inputs.

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