The conservation status of New Zealand bats, 2009

The New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS) is a national system used to assess the risk of extinction faced by New Zealand plants, animals and fungi. The system is specifically designed to be relevant to New Zealand's unusual ecological and geographic conditions. We undertook a re-evaluation of the status of seven bat taxa based on our knowledge of New Zealand bats using revised NZTCS criteria. Five taxa were listed as Threatened or At Risk: one as Nationally Critical (long-tailed bat Chalinolobus tuberculatus ‘South Island’), one as Nationally Endangered (southern lesser short-tailed bat Mystacina tuberculata tuberculata), two as Nationally Vulnerable (long-tailed bat ‘North Island’ and northern lesser short-tailed bat M. t. aupourica) and one as Declining (central lesser short-tailed bat M. t. rhyacobia). One taxon was assessed as Data Deficient (greater short-tailed bat M. robusta) and one (little red flying fox Pteropus scapulatus) as Vagrant. We suspect declines result primarily from predation and competition from introduced mammals, habitat degradation, and disturbance.

Literacy and numeracy project: Final report 2009

Literacy and numeracy are critical for young people during and after their schooling. The subjects and courses that students undertake during their school years incorporate a range of academic literacy and numeracy practices which students must be able manage if they are to be successful. Pathways beyond schooling also require specific, and changing, understandings of, and proficiencies with, literacy and numeracy as new communication technologies increasingly impact on further study, work, and everyday life. Teaching and learning numeracy is a new emphasis in the SACE and as yet we have little understanding about the ways in which secondary schools handle this area. Students in Years 10 and 11 are at a crucial point in their educational and life pathways as they begin to refine their future aspirations. For those who have difficulty with academic literacies and numeracies – and often a long history of such problems – this period can be fraught unless teachers are able to provide specific support when it is needed, or students are able to access it from care-givers or community members. The School to Work Literacy and Numeracy Project involved teachers from nine schools across the three sectors and university researchers working together to design curriculum interventions for students with a history of low measurable achievement in literacy and/or numeracy. The project started from the premise that working with ‘rich tasks’, an approach to learning and assessment developed in the Productive Pedagogies work undertaken in Queensland (Hayes et al., 2006), would improve students’ motivation, engagement and learning and that this work could best be done by teachers working in school-based, cross-curriculum teams with a school leadership team member and a university researcher as mentor. A key idea in designing rich tasks is that students will have opportunities to demonstrate their learning in assessments which are aligned with the learning expectations (for example a film festival to publicly launch student-produced films, advertising to sell student-made cubby-houses, a household budget based on students’ likely incomes in future work). In other words the assessments should be designed to allow for authentic communication and displays of what the students have learned through serious engagement with the curriculum. The project was conducted from Term 1-4 2009, with follow-up checks with some project teachers in the early weeks of 2010.

"I take care of my own" : a field study on how leadership handles conflict between individual and collective incentives

From the early literature on the role of firm managers (Alchian and Demsetz 1972) to the industrial organisation on contracts and mechanism design (Laont and Martimort 2009), economists have given a lot of attention to find solutions to the imperfect alignment between individuals' incentives and an organisation's collective goals (Prendergast 1999). In that literature a key role of managers is to monitor individuals to reward behaviour aligned with the collective goals and reduce sub- optimal behaviour, such as shirking. How- ever, another strand of literature, since Akerlof (1982), has put forward a vision of reciprocal behaviour between an organisation's leadership and its members: gifts (high wages, recognition) from the organisation are reciprocated by high effort from the members of the organisation. By rewarding individual members (rather than strictly monitoring them), organisations may benefit from greater effort and cohesion. Experimental research in organizational economics has provided mixed results suggesting that agents do react to personal incentives but also that reciprocal behaviour can play a substantial role (Camerer and Weber 2012).

Using conservation evidence to guide management

Almost 10 years ago, Pullin and Knight (2001) called for an “effectiveness revolution in conservation” to be enabled by the systematic evaluation of evidence for conservation decision making. Drawing from the model used in clinicalmedicine, they outlined the concept of “evidencebased conservation” in which existing information, or evidence, from relevant and rigorous research is compiled and analyzed in a systematic manner to inform conservation actions (Cochrane 1972). The promise of evidencebased conservation has generated significant interest; 25 systematic reviews have been completed since 2004 and dozens are underway (Collaboration for Environmental Evidence 2010). However we argue that an “effectiveness revolution” (Pullin & Knight 2001) in conservation will not be possible unless mechanisms are devised for incorporating the growing evidence base into decision frameworks. For conservation professionals to accomplish the missions of their organizations they must demonstrate that their actions actually achieve objectives (Pullin & Knight 2009). Systematic evaluation provides a framework for objectively evaluating the effectiveness of actions. To leverage the benefit of these evaluations, we need resource-allocation systems that are responsive to their outcomes. The allocation of conservation resources is often the product of institutional priorities or reliance on intuition (Sutherland et al. 2004; Pullin & Knight 2005; Cook et al. 2010). We highlight the NICE technologyappraisal process because it provides an example of formal integration of systematic-evidence evaluation with provision of guidance for action. The transparent process, which clearly delineates costs and benefits of each alternative action, could also provide the public with new insight into the environmental effects of different decisions. This insight could stimulate a wider discussion about investment in conservation by demonstrating how changes in funding might affect the probability of achieving conservation objectives. ©2010 Society for Conservation Biology

Heavy vehicle crash characteristics in Oman, 2009-2011

In recent years, Oman has seen a shift in the burden of diseases towards road accidents. The main objective of this paper, therefore, is to describe key characteristics of heavy vehicle crashes in Oman and identify the key driving behaviours that influence fatality risks. Crash data from January 2009 to December 2011 were examined and it was found that of the 22,543 traffic accidents that occurred within this timeframe, 3,114 involved heavy vehicles. While the majority of these crashes were attributed to driver behaviours, a small proportion was attributed to other factors. The results of the study indicate that there is a need for a more thorough crash investigation process in Oman. Future research should explore the reporting processes used by the Royal Oman Police, cultural influences on heavy vehicle operations in Oman, and improvements to the current licensing system.

Spatiotemporal pattern of bacillary dysentery in China from 1990 to 2009: What is the driver behind?

BACKGROUND Little is known about the spatiotemporal pattern of bacillary dysentery (BD) in China. This study assessed the geographic distribution and seasonality of BD in China over the past two decades. METHODS Data on monthly BD cases in 31 provinces of China from January 1990 to December 2009 obtained from Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and data on demographic and geographic factors, as well as climatic factors, were compiled. The spatial distributions of BD in the four periods across different provinces were mapped, and heat maps were created to present the seasonality of BD by geography. A cosinor function combined with Poisson regression was used to quantify the seasonal parameters of BD, and a regression analysis was conducted to identify the potential drivers of morbidity and seasonality of BD. RESULTS Although most regions of China have experienced considerable declines in BD morbidity over the past two decades, Beijing and Ningxia still had high BD morbidity in 2009. BD morbidity decreased more slowly in North-west China than other regions. BD in China mainly peaked from July to September, with heterogeneity in peak time between regions. Relative humidity was associated with BD morbidity and peak time, and latitude was the major predictor of BD amplitude. CONCLUSIONS The transmission of BD was heterogeneous in China. Improved sanitation and hygiene in North-west China, and better access to clean water and food in the big floating population in some metropolises could be the focus of future preventive interventions against BD. BD control efforts should put more emphasis on those dry areas in summer.

Epidemiology of ankylosing spondylitis: IGAS 2009

The International Genetics of Ankylosing Spondylitis (IGAS) meeting was held in Houston, Texas, July 25, 2009. Sixteen investigators from Asia, Australia, Europe, and North and South America presented the status of their respective cohorts of patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS). They also reviewed a proposal to examine their patients by single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping on an Illumina Infinium microarray SNP genotyping chip in a case-control cohort exceeding 12,000 samples. This chip will type 200,000 SNP selected from the most strongly associated variants identified in genome-wide association studies of inflammatory diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease, psoriasis, and ankylosing spondylitis.

The genetic basis of spondyloarthritis: SPARTAN/IGAS 2009

A joint meeting was held in July 2009 in Houston, Texas, of members of the Spondyloarthritis Research and Therapy Network (SPARTAN), founded in 2003 to promote research, education, and treatment of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and related forms of spondyloarthritis (SpA), and members of International Genetics of AS (IGAS), founded in 2003 to encourage and coordinate studies internationally in the genetics of AS. The general topic was the genetic basis of SpA, with presentations on the future of human genetic studies; microbes, SpA, and innate immunity; susceptibility of AS to the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) and non-MHC; and individual discussions of the genetics of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, uveitis, inflammatory bowel disease, and enteropathic arthritis. Summaries of those discussions are presented.

Prevalence and characteristics of road traffic injuries among young drivers in Oman, 2009-2011

Objectives Studies from different parts of the world have indicated that the impact of road traffic incidents disproportionally affects young adults. Few known studies have been forthcoming from Arabian Gulf countries. Within Oman, a high proportion of the population is under the age of 20. Coupled with the drastic increase of motorization in recent years there is a need to understand the state of road safety among young people in Oman. The current research aimed to explore the prevalence and characteristics of road traffic injuries among young drivers aged 17-25 years. Methods Crash data from 2009-2011 was extracted from the Directorate General of Traffic, Royal Oman Police (ROP) database in Oman. The data was analyzed to explore the impact of road crashes on young people (17-25 years), the characteristics of young driver crashes and how these differ from older drivers and to identify key predictors of fatalities in young driver crashes. Results Overall, young people were over-represented in injuries and fatalities within the sample time period. While it is true that many young people in crashes were driving at the time, it was also evident that young people were often a victim in a crash caused by someone else. Thus, to reduce the impact of road crashes on young people, there is a need to generally address road safety within Oman. When young drivers were involved in crashes they were predominantly male. The types of crashes these drivers have can be broadly attributed to risk taking and inexperience. Speeding and night time driving were the key risk factors for fatalities. Conclusion The results highlight the need to address young driver safety in Oman. From these findings, the introduction of a graduated driver licensing system with night time driving restrictions could significantly improve young driver safety.

Activities in the $FeTiO_{3}-NiTiO_{3}$ Solid Solution from Alloy-Oxide Equilibria at 1273 K

Nine tie-lines between Fe-Ni alloys and FeTiO3-NiTiO3 solid solutions were determined at 1273 K. Samples were equilibrated in evacuated quartz ampoules for periods up to 10 days. Compositions of the alloy and oxide phases at equilibrium were determined by energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy. X-ray powder diffraction was used to confirm the results. Attainment of equilibrium was verified by the conventional tie-line rotation technique and by thermodynamic analysis of the results. The tie-lines are skewed toward the FeTiO3 corner. From the tie-line data and activities in the Fe-Ni alloy phase available in the literature, activities of FeTiO3 and NiTiO3 in the ilmenite solid solution were derived using the modified Gibbs-Duhem technique of Jacob and Jeffes [K.T. Jacob and J.H.E. Jeffes, An Improved Method for Calculating Activities from Distribution Equilibria, High Temp. High Press., 1972, 4, p 177-182]. The components of the oxide solid solution exhibit moderate positive deviations from Raoult's law. Within experimental error, excess Gibbs energy of mixing for the FeTiO3-NiTiO3 solid solution at 1273 K is a symmetric function of composition and can be represented as: Delta G(E) = 8590 (+/- 200) X-FeTiO3 X-NiTiO3 J/mol Full spectrum of tie-lines and oxygen potentials for the three-phase equilibrium involving Fe-Ni alloys, FeTiO3-NiTiO3 solid solutions, and TiO2 at 1273 K were computed using results obtained in this study and data available in the literature.

Helsingin galleriakenttä, kentän muutokset ja positiot vuosina 1983-2009

Tutkielman aiheena on Helsingin taidegalleriat ja niiden muodostama galleriakenttä. Tutkielmassa tarkastellaan galleriakenttää, galleriakentän ja galleriatoiminnan muutoksia sekä gallerioiden asemia ja asemien muutoksia kentän sisällä vuosina 1983–2009. Tutkielman tavoitteena on toimia Helsingin galleriakentän ja sen lähihistorian perustutkimuksena ja galleriakentän sisäisten asemien rakentumisen analyysina. Tutkimuskysymykset ovat seuraavat: Millaisia muutoksia Helsingin taidegalleriakentässä, sen toimijajoukossa ja gallerioiden toiminnassa on tapahtunut 1980-luvun alkupuolelta 2000-luvun ensimmäisen vuosikymmenen loppuun tultaessa? Mitkä ja millaiset galleriat ovat tutkittavan ajanjakson eri vaiheissa muodostaneet keskeisten gallerioiden joukon, mihin tämä asema on perustunut ja miten galleriakentän sisäiset asemat ovat muuttuneet? Galleriakenttää analysoidaan ja tarkastellaan yhdistäen taidehistoriallisen perustutkimuksen menetelmiä taiteensosiologiseen analyysiin. Tutkielman teoreettinen näkökulma perustuu sosiologi Pierre Bourdieun kenttää koskevaan teoriaan. Teorian rooli on toimia työkaluna tutkittavan kentän ja sen toimijoiden asemien havainnoinnissa ja analyysissa. Tutkielman empiirinen aineisto muodostuu tutkielman tekijän laatimien 28 galleristin ja muun galleriakentän toimijan haastattelujen muodostamasta haastatteluaineistosta. Haastatellut edustavat 22 galleriaa. Niiden muodostama joukko koostuu yksityisistä gallerioista, taiteilijaliittojen gallerioista ja vaihtoehtoisiksi tai taiteilijavetoisiksi määriteltävissä olevista tutkitulla ajanjaksolla eri tavoin keskeisinä pidetyistä gallerioista. Haastattelujen ohella tärkeänä aineistona toimii tutkittavan ajanjakson lehtikirjoittelu. Sen osalta lähteenä on käytetty Helsingin galleriakenttää ja gallerioita koskevaa lehtikirjoittelua, joka on tallennettu Kuvataiteen keskusarkiston leikearkistoon. Lisäksi lähteinä ovat Taide-lehden vuosikerrat tutkittavalta ajalta. Galleriakentän lähihistorian tarkastelun pohjaksi tutkielmassa analysoidaan gallerioiden roolia kuvataiteen kentän portinvartijoina, galleriakentän toimijoiden näkemyksiä keskeisen gallerian aseman rakentumisesta ja gallerioita koskevia luokituksia ja ryhmityksiä. Tutkielman ytimen muodostaa luku, jossa käydään kronologisesti läpi galleriakentän muutoksia ja keskeisiä toimijoita tutkielmassa tarkastellulla ajanjaksolla. Lopuksi syvennetään kentän kronologisen kuvauksen pohjalta galleriakentän muutosten analyysia Bourdieun teorian ja käsitteiden avulla. Tutkielman yhtenä tuloksena on tutkittavan kentän ajanjakson hahmottuminen seuraaviksi jaksoiksi: vuodet 1983–1990, vuodet 1990–1997, vuodet 1997–2002 ja vuodesta 2002 alkanut kentän nykytilanteeseen sidostuva jakso. Jaksot hahmottuvat tarkastellun kentän, galleriatoiminnan ja kentällä kulloinkin keskeisten toimijoiden joukon muutosten pohjalta. Jaksojen liitoskohdat ovat muutosten tihentymiä kentän keskeisten toimijoiden joukossa. Jaksot liittyvät osittain myös yleisen taloustilanteen muutoksiin siltä osin kuin ne ovat vaikuttaneet galleriatoimintaan ja siihen, millainen galleriatoiminta ja mitkä toimijat kulloinkin ovat nousseet keskeisiksi. Tutkielman ydinluvussa tarkasteltava ja analysoitava kentän muutosten ja gallerioiden asemien kronologinen kuvaus muodostaa kokonaisuudessaan tutkielman tärkeimmät perustutkimukselliset tulokset. Tulosten loppupäätelminä tutkielmassa päädytään seuraavaan analyysiin. Galleriakentän muutokset sidostuvat kuvataiteen muutoksiin ja talouden nousu- ja laskukausiin, ne eivät kuitenkaan ole tämänkaltaisista ulkoisista tekijöistä johdettavissa. Gallerioiden asemien rakentuminen ja muutokset ovat kytköksissä kentän sisäisiin muutoksiin siten, että kentän toimijajoukon muutokset joko sidostuvat toisiinsa tai asettuvat samanaikaisiksi. Kentän asemien tila vaikuttaa siihen, millaisen aseman uusi galleria pyrkii ottamaan sekä millaisen aseman se saa kentällä ja mediassa. Kenttä näyttäytyy tilana, jossa toisen toimijan poistuminen kentältä luo aukkoja ja tilauksia toisten toimijoiden synnylle. Kentän asemien rakentuminen ja muutokset syntyvät toisaalta gallerioiden toiminnan ja niiden esittämän taiteen ja taiteilijoiden perusteella sekä toisaalta myös suhteessa gallerioiden jaotteluihin ja luokitteluihin. Kentän rakenteen muodostuessa kentän voimasuhteiden tilan kautta muodostuvat keskeisiksi koettujen gallerioiden joukon muutokset erityisen oleellisiksi sille, miten asemat kentällä ovat kulloinkin rakentuneet