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Empowerment and joy: NZ's Special Olympics Summer Games remind us what sport is about
Get PDFOne of New Zealand’s biggest sporting events of this year, at least in terms of the number of participants, may not be one you expected.
From December 10 to 14, the Special Olympics National Summer Games will see 1,200 athletes with an intellectual disability converge on Christchurch from around the country.
With thousands of family members, coaches, volunteers and support crew in attendance, the four-yearly games will certainly be a highlight of the city’s sporting calendar
Ethnic Chinese participation in long-term visions for collaborative freshwater planning in Canterbury, Aotearoa New Zealand
Get PDFIn attempting to address environmental degradation through participatory processes, planners need to be cognisant of societies becoming more ethnically diverse. This poses challenges to both engage with recent migrants, and to provide education and opportunities for involvement in host governance systems. Here, freshwater values of concern to ethnic Chinese in Aotearoa New Zealand are explored, along with involvement in participatory freshwater management processes. Results from surveys (n ¼ 151), and interviews with public officials and prominent ethnic Chinese (n ¼ 10), showed that values centred strongly on drinking water quality. While there was clear support for involvement in planning; very few had previously engaged due to a range of surmountable barriers. Given 30% population were born overseas, planners should expand engagement methods to facilitate the participation of diverse ethnicities. Such an approach would help to build relationships between local government and diverse publics that may aid collaborative responses to environmental change
Microbial contributions to regional wine typicity and potential consequences of climate change
No full textMicrobial communities play a core role in the quality of agricultural products, with measurable effects on nutrient availability and plant disease resilience. The wine industry is particularly dependent on the role microbial communities play during fermentation, transforming grapes to wine, and how they contribute to the quality of wine produced. Previous research reports microbial community composition correlates with wine chemical properties. In combination with microbial community differentiation by geographic region, there is now compelling evidence of a microbial aspect to wine regional typicity, or terroir. However, climate change models predict temperature increases for all winegrowing regions in New Zealand. Temperature can alter microbial species interactions and community dynamics in model communities, but how this translates to microbial communities of significance for wine styles is unknown. We predict that increases in temperature will change the composition of microbial communities in New Zealand vineyards and are interested in their interaction with vine physiology and effects on wine characteristics, including regional wine typicity. Using a combination of field and laboratory-based experiments, we will evaluate aspects of microbial community ecology and population biology to understand how temperature shapes microbial communities associated with vines and winemaking, and how these differences might affect wine chemical composition. By understanding changes in microbial communities and plant phenotypes in response to climate change, the New Zealand Wine Industry will be better prepared to implement strategies to adapt to potential changes in regional wine styles with the aim of retaining their current reflection of regional wine typicity
Fade to grey: The changing landscape of sport and recreation in super-aged Aotearoa New Zealand
No full textPopulation ageing is a global megatrend, which will have profound impacts on economies, health systems, families, and patterns of sport and recreation participation within three decades. Despite the inevitability of this demographic shift, too little attention is being paid by decision makers and urban planners to the fundamental and myriad ways in which this phenomenon impacts community recreation and wellbeing. In this presentation I will discuss the changing nature of New Zealand’s population, national patterns of sport and recreation among older adults, the prevailing disconnect between urban recreation provision and the needs and preferences of older consumers, and the potential for meaningfully embedding age-friendliness as an overarching design ethos. The window for entrenching age-inclusive design in new recreation, active travel, and community infrastructure is rapidly closing with current decisions potentially constraining our capacity to respond effectively to the greying of Aotearo
Cooling strategies using thermal alliesthesia: A complementary approach to enhancing greenway walking comfort
Get PDFA favourable thermal environment along urban greenways supports public health and sustainability. In dense built-up areas, limited land availability makes it difficult to rely solely on high-quality green spaces for continuous greenway development. Planners are attempting to increase tree canopies along municipal roads, even under less than ideal conditions. The key challenge is how to improve thermal comfort for those walking along these road corridors. Combining a literature review and field investigation, this paper introduces thermal alliesthesia as a perspective that complements physical design. Existing strategies to improve thermal comfort in greenways focus on enhancing static environmental quality. In contrast, ‘thermal alliesthesia’ emphasises how changing subjective perception can shape thermal experience. The thermal alliesthesia effect can be triggered by variations in the physical environment. Taking Beijing’sSecond Ring Road Greenway as a case study, this paper proposes route planning and landscape design for urban greenways as strategies to elicit this effect. It describes the detailed design of a representative section of the greenway to demonstrate how this concept can be applied. This approach is adaptable across climate zones, provided designers develop flexible, site-specific solutions. The findings offer practical insights for greenway planning and design in complex urban contexts
Light regulates secreted metabolite production and antagonistic activity in Trichoderma
No full textSecondary metabolism is one of the main mechanisms Trichoderma uses to explore and colonize new niches, and 6-pentyl-α-pyrone (6-PP) is an important secondary metabolite in this process. This work focused on standardizing a method to investigate the production of 6-PP. Ethanol and ethyl acetate were both effective solvents for quantifying 6-PP in solution and had limited solubility in potato–dextrose–broth media. The 6-PP extraction using ethyl acetate provided a rapid and efficient process to recover this metabolite. The 6-PP was readily produced during the development of Trichoderma atroviride growing in the dark, but light suppressed its production. The 6-PP was purified, and its spectrum by nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectroscopy was identical to that of commercial 6-PP. Light also induced or suppressed other unidentified metabolites in several other species of Trichoderma. The antagonistic activity of T. atroviride was influenced by light, as suppression of plant pathogens was greater in the dark. The secreted metabolite production on potato–dextrose–agar was differentially regulated by light, indicating that Trichoderma produced several metabolites with antagonistic activity against plant pathogens. Light has an important influence on the secondary metabolism and antagonistic activity of Trichoderma, and this trait is of key relevance for selecting antagonistic Trichoderma strains for plant protection
Tissue oxygenation in response to low-load and high-load back squats with continuous blood flow restriction in athletes
No full textTo determine muscle oxygenation with continuous blood flow restriction (BFR) training in high load (HL), 80% one-repetition maximum (1RM) and low load (LL), 30% 1RM squat exercises. In week-2 of a 4-week resistance training programme as part of their 3-set training routine, two groups of athletes (n = 4 each), one performing HL training with low cuff pressure (20% arterial occlusion pressure (AOP)), the other LL training with high cuff pressure (60% AOP) had muscle oxygenation assessed with near-infrared spectrophotometry (NIRS), arterial oxygen saturation (SPO₂), heart rate (HR), barbell velocity and ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) during barbell back squats (BBS). Changes in the vastus lateralis oximetry were compared to pre- and post-training squat (1RM). Across athletes, there were significant associations between two pre-set-3 exercise variables and post-training 1RM, Tissue Saturation Index (TSI) (R² = 0.92, p < 0.0002) and HHb concentration (R² = 0.79, p < 0.003). Generalised regression models indicated that TSI % and HHb concentrations before and after set 3 timepoints were significant predictors of post-training 1RM in the LL group (R² = 0.99, BIC = −24.9). Well-tolerated continuous LL-BFR training provided greater increases in strength than HL-BFR in athletes
Wick stochastic differential equations
No full textIn this chapter, we discuss the Wick type stochastic differential equations (WSDEs) and their analytical solutions. First, we present the WSDEs within the context of applications in complex systems, and why it is important to use WSDE in modeling phenomena encountered especially in chemical transformations. We then present mathematical spaces and theorems that are used to in developing analytical solutions. Then we discuss the analytical solutions, and lastly, we compute the analytical solutions for simplified WSDEs
Fuel choices for cooking and heating and gender empowerment: Implications for promoting gender equality and sustainable rural development
No full textThis study evaluates the impact of fuel choices for cooking and heating on gender empowerment using rural household survey data from China. We investigate rural households' fuel-stacking behaviors by classifying fuels into non-clean, clean, and mixed categories and distinguish an incomplete energy transition (i.e. switching from non-clean fuels to mixed fuels) from a complete energy transition (i.e. switching from non-clean to clean fuels). The decision-making power of men and women measures gender empowerment. We use the multinomial endogenous switching regression model to address the endogeneity issue associated with rural households' fuel choices. The results show that incomplete and complete energy transitions for heating significantly increase men's decision-making power, while the same transitions for cooking have no significant impact. Incomplete and complete energy transitions for cooking significantly empower rural women, while a complete energy transition for heating also significantly empowers women. These findings suggest that promoting a complete energy transition supports broader rural development by empowering women to participate more actively in household decision-making. We also find that a complete energy transition for cooking and heating reduces the decision-making power gap between men and women more than an incomplete one, highlighting that a complete energy transition contributes more to gender equality. Therefore, fostering complete energy transitions is essential for closing gender disparities and establishing a foundation for sustainable rural development through enhanced female empowerment
Great expectations for collective management: The mismatch between supply and demand for catchment groups
No full textGlobally, agri-environmental policies targeting individual farmers have made little progress on the problem of diffuse water pollution, leading to increased demand for collective approaches to manage cumulative effects. To understand the emerging supply of collective institutions to meet this demand, researchers have studied local initiatives in many countries. However, the challenges of crafting new collective institutions are still poorly understood. In Aotearoa New Zealand, many farmers have established catchment groups in response to regulation of farming practices and public concern about unhealthy waterways. These groups typically do not have the features commonly expected of collective management institutions, e.g., few have specific environmental objectives or agreed actions or practices to protect resource sustainability. Our research with catchment group leaders, Indigenous representatives, and policy actors revealed differences in their logics about and expectations of catchment groups. These differences have given rise to a mismatch between the type of collective action that is in demand by government and the type being supplied by catchment groups. To bridge the supply-demand gap, agencies should seek to better understand their own logics while acknowledging the importance of groups’ priorities, and support groups to articulate goals and strategies and how these relate to government objectives. Conversely, catchment groups can be equipped with tools and insights to help them better understand their own motivations and goals, and those of agencies and other actors, to help them navigate these complex ideas and relationships in challenging and changing environments. In settler-colonial landscapes, resources should also be provided for Indigenous groups to realize their own aspirations and to bring their genealogical narratives to these conversations. More generally, it is important for agencies and other observers to understand what motivates collective entities, rather than assume that they share the management logic that informs collective management as described in the literature