Nature and genesis of clay minerals of the Rustler Formation in the vicinity of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in Souteastern New Mexico

Detailed mineralogical studies of the matrix and fracture-fill materials of a large number of samples from the Rustler Formation have been carried out using x-ray diffraction, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, electron microprobe analysis, x-ray fluorescence, and atomic absorption spectrophotometry. These analyses indicate the presence of four clay minerals: interstratified chlorite/saponite, illite, chlorite, and serpentine. Corrensite (regularly stratified chlorite/saponite) is the dominant clay mineral in samples from the Culebra dolomite and two shale layers of the lower unnamed member of the Rustler Formation. Within other layers of the Rustler Formation, disordered mixed chlorite/saponite is usually the most abundant clay mineral. Studies of the morphology and composition of clay crystallites suggest that the corrensite was formed by the alteration of detrital dioctahedral smectite in magnesium-rich pore fluids during early diagenesis of the Rustler Formation. This study provides initial estimates of the abundance and nature of the clay minerals in the Culebra dolomite in the vicinity of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant.

Using Trauma Injury Severity Score (TRISS) variables to predict length of hospital stay following trauma in New Zealand

Aim – To develop and assess the predictive capabilities of a statistical model that relates routinely collected Trauma Injury Severity Score (TRISS) variables to length of hospital stay (LOS) in survivors of traumatic injury. Method – Retrospective cohort study of adults who sustained a serious traumatic injury, and who survived until discharge from Auckland City, Middlemore, Waikato, or North Shore Hospitals between 2002 and 2006. Cubic-root transformed LOS was analysed using two-level mixed-effects regression models. Results – 1498 eligible patients were identified, 1446 (97%) injured from a blunt mechanism and 52 (3%) from a penetrating mechanism. For blunt mechanism trauma, 1096 (76%) were male, average age was 37 years (range: 15-94 years), and LOS and TRISS score information was available for 1362 patients. Spearman’s correlation and the median absolute prediction error between LOS and the original TRISS model was ρ=0.31 and 10.8 days, respectively, and between LOS and the final multivariable two-level mixed-effects regression model was ρ=0.38 and 6.0 days, respectively. Insufficient data were available for the analysis of penetrating mechanism models. Conclusions – Neither the original TRISS model nor the refined model has sufficient ability to accurately or reliably predict LOS. Additional predictor variables for LOS and other indicators for morbidity need to be considered.

Contemporary New Zealand coefficients for the Trauma Injury Severity Score: TRISS(NZ)

Aims – To develop local contemporary coefficients for the Trauma Injury Severity Score in New Zealand, TRISS(NZ), and to evaluate their performance at predicting survival against the original TRISS coefficients. Methods – Retrospective cohort study of adults who sustained a serious traumatic injury, and who survived until presentation at Auckland City, Middlemore, Waikato, or North Shore Hospitals between 2002 and 2006. Coefficients were estimated using ordinary and multilevel mixed-effects logistic regression models. Results – 1735 eligible patients were identified, 1672 (96%) injured from a blunt mechanism and 63 (4%) from a penetrating mechanism. For blunt mechanism trauma, 1250 (75%) were male and average age was 38 years (range: 15-94 years). TRISS information was available for 1565 patients of whom 204 (13%) died. Area under the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves was 0.901 (95%CI: 0.879-0.923) for the TRISS(NZ) model and 0.890 (95% CI: 0.866-0.913) for TRISS (P<0.001). Insufficient data were available to determine coefficients for penetrating mechanism TRISS(NZ) models. Conclusions – Both TRISS models accurately predicted survival for blunt mechanism trauma. However, TRISS(NZ) coefficients were statistically superior to TRISS coefficients. A strong case exists for replacing TRISS coefficients in the New Zealand benchmarking software with these updated TRISS(NZ) estimates.

Testing advertising via new media : an exploratory study of advertising practitioner attitudes

New media, as a free and universal communication tool, has had an impact on the power of the general public to comment on a variety of issues. As the public can comment favourably or unfavourably on advertisements, such as on Youtube, the advertising industry must start using weblogs to research reaction to their advertising campaigns. This exploratory study examines the responses of some advertising industry practitioners, both advertisers and agencies, on the impact of new media, specifically weblogs, and the use of new media as a source of research on advertising campaigns.

Disrupting the new orthodoxy : emergency intervention and Indigenous social policy

This article develops a critical analysis of the ideological framework that informed the Australian Federal government’s 2007 intervention into Northern Territory Indigenous communities (ostensibly to address the problem of child sexual abuse). Continued by recently elected Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, the NT ‘emergency response’ has aroused considerable public debate and scholarly inquiry. In addressing what amounts to a broad bi-partisan approach to Indigenous issues we highlight the way in which Indigenous communities are problematised and therefore subject to interventionist regimes that override differentiated Indigenous voices and intensify an internalised sense of rage occasioned by disempowering interventionist projects. We further argue that in rushing through the emergency legislation and suspending parts of the Racial Discrimination Act, the Howard and Rudd governments have in various ways perpetuated racialised and neo-colonial forms of intervention that override the rights of Indigenous people. Such policy approaches require critical understanding on the part of professions involved most directly in community practice, particularly when it comes to mounting effective opposition campaigns. The article offers a contribution to this end.

Histopathological examination of chronic laminitis in Kaimanawa feral horses of New Zealand

AIMS: To investigate the prevalence, histopathological and histomorphometric presentation of chronic laminitis in a population of Kaimanawa feral horses. METHODS: Following the capture and euthanasia of feral horses from the Kaimanawa Ranges of New Zealand, the left forefoot of 28 stallions and 28 mares aged between 6 and 12 years were removed and processed for histology. Sections of lamellar samples from each horse were examined using light microscopy. The presence of laminitis was assessed and the histopathological lesions were described. Horses were grouped by histological diagnosis into laminitic and non-laminitic groups and histomorphometric analysis was conducted and compared between groups. The parameters examined were total length of primary epidermal lamellae (PEL), keratinised length of PEL, and the length of secondary epidermal lamellae (SEL) at the abaxial end and axial end of each PEL. RESULTS: Of the horses examined, 25 (45%) were diagnosed with chronic laminitis. The most prevalent histopathological features were the presence of excessive cap horn, and multi-branched and attenuated SEL. Histomorphometric assessment of the lamellar architecture revealed no difference in morphometric measurements between the normal and laminitic groups for any parameter measured (p>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The current study found a high prevalence of laminitis in feral Kaimanawa horses. The reason for this in the Kaimanawa population is not known. Histomorphometric analysis may not be a good indicator of chronic laminitis in feral horses. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: It is an important finding that the feral horse lifestyle in the environment of the Kaimanawa Ranges in New Zealand offers no protection against foot disease. The finding suggests that horses are vulnerable to laminitis whether in domestic care or in a feral habitat.

Residential care workers and residents : the New Zealand story

Aims To describe the nature and size of long-term residential care homes in New Zealand; funding of facilities; and the ethnic and gender composition of residents and residential care workers nationwide. Methods A postal, fax, and email survey of all long-term residential care homes in New Zealand. Results Completed surveys were received from an eligible 845 facilities (response rate: 55%). The majority of these (54%) facilities housed less than 30 residents. Of the 438 (94%) facilities completing the questions about residents’ ethnicity, 432 (99%) housed residents from New Zealand European (Pakeha) descent, 156 (33%) housed at least 1 Maori resident, 71 (15%) at least 1 Pacific (Islands) resident, and 61 (13%) housed at least 1 Asian resident. Facilities employed a range of ethnically diverse staff, with 66% reporting Maori staff. Less than half of all facilities employed Pacific staff (43%) and Asian staff (33%). Registered nursing staff were mainly between 46 and 60 years (47%), and healthcare assistant staff were mostly between 25 and 45 years old (52%). Wide regional variation in the ethnic make up of staff was reported. About half of all staff were reported to have moved within the previous 2 years. Conclusions The age and turnover of the residential care workforce suggests the industry continues to be under threat from staffing shortages. While few ethnic minority residents live in long-term care facilities, staff come from diverse backgrounds, especially in certain regions.

Cungellela by William ‘Dura Danje’ Leisha and Shem ‘Curan Danje’ Leisha

Research background: Cungelela is an intercultural music project undertaken in collaboration with William ‘Dura Danje’ Leisha and Shem ‘Curan Danje’ Leisha. The project contributes to cultural maintenance for Australian First Nations peoples, and is informed by prior work in this area by scholars including Peter Dunbar-Hall, Chris Gibson and Karl Neuenfeldt. These existing studies have discussed the complexities of intercultural collaboration, and the types of cultural politics that are involved when Indigenous and non-Indigenous musicians and scholars work together on projects of cultural significance. Critical race theory has also informed the creative work, as a means of interpreting the implicit and explicit discourses of race that arise through intercultural creative practice. The project asked the research question, in what ways can collaborative music making contribute to intercultural understanding and support cultural maintenance for Australian First Nations people affected by the Stolen Generations? Research contribution: This project has identified that collaborative production of recorded popular music can produce shared affective, embodied and transformative forms of knowledge about the impact of the Stolen Generations on Australian First Nations peoples. Research significance: The compact disc was presented by Aunty Anne Leisha as part of an invited presentation at the World Indigenous Nations Higher Education Consortium in New Mexico, 2013. The work also formed part of a refereed conference presentation at the 2013 conference of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music held at the University of Oviedo, Gijon, Spain.

Colonoscopy requirements of population screening for colorectal cancer in New Zealand

Aim: To estimate the colonoscopy burden of introducing population screening for colorectal cancer in New Zealand. Methods: Screening for colorectal cancer using biennial immunochemical faecal occult blood tests offered to people aged 50-74 years of age was modelled using population estimates from Statistics New Zealand for 2011-2031. Modelling to determine colonoscopy requirements was based on participation and test positivity rates from published results of screening programmes. Estimates of the number of procedures required for ongoing adenoma surveillance were calculated using screening literature results of adenoma yield, and New Zealand Guidelines for Adenoma Surveillance. Sensitivity analysis was undertaken on key parameters. Results: For a test positivity of 6.4%, biennial screening using immunochemical faecal occult blood testing with a 60% participation rate, would require 18,000 colonoscopies nationally, increasing to 28,000 by 2031. The majority of procedures are direct referrals from a positive FOBT, with surveillance colonoscopy numbers building over time. Conclusion: Colonoscopy requirements for immunochemical faecal occult blood based population screening for colorectal cancer are high. Significant expansion of services is required and careful management of surveillance procedures to ensure timely delivery of initial colonoscopies whilst maintaining symptomatic services. A model re-run informed by data from the screening pilot will allow improved estimates for the New Zealand setting.

The new screen ecology : A new wave of media globalisation?

There may be a new wave of media globalisation based on what may appear to be the virtually frictionless, near-global reach of major digital content delivery platforms, pre-eminently YouTube. This article looks at the scale and significance of this new screen ecology, considering its continuities and discontinuities with established understandings of media globalisation, arguing against the notion that it provides a platform for new forms of cultural hegemony. Focusing on the periphery rather than the centre, it uses Australia as a case study in asking the question: in what ways does it make sense to talk about a nationally demarked YouTube space?