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In schools today inclusion involves a challenge to attitudes and expectations within educational communities. "The New Zealand Disability Strategy" (Minister for Disability Issues, 2001), is a guide for government action to promote a more inclusive society. Out of its 15 Objectives, Objective 1 encourages and educates the community and society to understand, respect and support disabled people. Objective 3 looks at providing the best education for disabled people. Objective 5 fosters leadership by disabled people. The summary states that New Zealand will be fully inclusive when it's "a society that highly values our lives and continually enhances our full participation". Educators must be committed to "The New Zealand Disability Strategy" because its main focus is about a fully inclusive community. Often, through role models, strong messages challenge negative assumptions and prove that there are alternative ways of looking at the world. Generally those who are the most critical to implementing inclusion, such as teachers, are introduced to the notion by individuals for whom it is a theoretical, rather than a lived concept. This article involves a sharing of experiences of two women who are involved in teaching inclusion at tertiary level, who live with physical disabilities and who have proved this to be a powerful combination in changing attitudes.

Objective: The objective of the present study is to examine variations in paramedic care of the agitated patient, including verbal de‐escalation, physical restraint and sedation, provided by ambulance services in Australia and New Zealand. Methods: To examine the care of agitated patients, we first identified and reviewed all clinical practice guidelines for the management of agitated patients in Australian and New Zealand ambulance services between September and November 2018. We then conducted a structured questionnaire to obtain further information on the training, assessment and care of agitated patients by the ambulance services. Two authors extracted the data independently, and all interpretations and results were reviewed and confirmed by relevant ambulance services. Results: There were 10 independent clinical practice guidelines for the care of agitated patients in the 10 ambulance services. All services reported training in the management of agitated patients, and two services used a validated tool to assess the level of agitation. All services used physical restraint, although six services required police presence to restrain the patient. All ambulance services used some form of sedation, typically divided into the management of mild to moderate, and severe agitation. The most common agent for sedation was midazolam, while ketamine was the most common agent for sedating severely agitated patients. The maximum dose was varied, and contraindications for sedating agents varied between services. Conclusions: There were wide variations across the ambulance services in terms of the assessment of agitation, as well as the use of physical restraint and sedation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article outlines some of the key prevalence studies regarding the psychological health of veterinarians, and highlights the reasons for distress, with factors such as workload, financial issues, long working hours, challenging interactions, unexpected outcomes, euthanasia and fear of complaints or making mistakes being commonly cited. During the last decade, many ways to improve veterinarians' wellbeing have been suggested, including both individual and organisational strategies. However, what appears to be lacking is a body of intervention research to test the effectiveness of these strategies. This article outlines some of the types of psychological distress which have been reported in veterinarians, and emphasises key issues such as the impact of practitioners' help-seeking behaviour and moral and ethical dilemmas. Some wellbeing interventions from overseas studies are highlighted, with a focus on strategies that can be adopted by organisations as well as individuals. The review includes several recommendations to improve the psychological wellbeing of veterinarians such as using multi-disciplinary clinician wellbeing models to structure interventions, the possibilities of mindful self-compassion practices, and the regular use of peer support and reflective groups. It concludes that implementation and robust evaluation of wellbeing initiatives in the New Zealand veterinary population are urgently needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New Zealand has a population of 5 million, is geographically isolated and has a low volume Paediatric cardiac transplant service dependent on national cardiac organ donation only. A 5 year old female (B blood group; weight 25 kg; BSA 0.89) presented to hospital with abdominal pain and lethargy. She had severe cardiomegaly and significantly raised pro-BNP (2222 pmol/L). Echo-cardiogram showed a severely dilated LV (LVEDD 6.7cm (Z score 11), LVEF of < 20%, severe RV dysfunction and severe mitral and tricuspid regurgitation. Despite maximal medical therapy, she developed progressive end organ dysfunction and was emergently placed on femoral VA ECMO and LV venting. No cause for her cardiomyopathy was identified on extensive screening and cardiac biopsy and after 10 days of ECMO there was no recovery of cardiac function. The only approved centrifugal implantable HVAD available had recently been withdrawn from the market. Concurrently, Berlin Heart only made suitable sized pumps available to already implanted patients, due to supply deficit. She was therefore converted from VA ECMO to LV apex and aorta cannulation with Berlin Heart EXCOR® cannulae connected to a centrifugal pump. With this configuration we anticipated that we would be unable to provide safe, sustained support. After 7 days a 59 year old, 102 kg male borderline donor became available. The heart was accepted due to her critical clinical state and an expected limitation of more appropriate donor offers. The enormous donor-recipient weight mismatch (4:1) posed several surgical challenges, including an aortic valve repair. After several attempts, limited by compressive haemodynamic compromise, the chest was closed 12 days later. Other post-operative issues included atrial fibrillation, chylothorax and hypertension, which settled over a few weeks. She was discharged from hospital 4 weeks after transplantation. At 16 months follow-up the patient is active, asymptomatic and enjoys going to school. The patients critical state, lack of medical resources and limited donor availability, necessitated the utilisation of a borderline donor in a borderline recipient with an extreme size mismatch. Early successful outcomes can be achieved despite surgical challenges and complex post-operative management [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the influence of Erica Burman’s book Deconstructing Developmental Psychology in one university department over two decades. To illustrate, three colleagues describe their separate geographical and theoretical journeys towards critical study of human development. Ongoing influences of Burman’s work in Aotearoa New Zealand are outlined. In particular, Burman’s view—that development is socially constructed within particular cultural, economic and historical circumstances—has become central to our research and university curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The mating strategy of Halicarcinus cookii was investigated to ascertain how males maximised their fitness through mate choice. An intertidal population at Kaikoura, New Zealand, was dominated by mature crabs of both sexes in summer and by immature crabs in the colder months. More than 95% of mature females were ovigerous with early stage and late stage broods found in almost every month, indicating that egg production and larval release is continuous. The operational sex ratio was less than 1 male/female in summer, but often more than 1.0 in the colder months. The gonosomatic index increased along with brood development so that as soon as zoeae were released, the next clutch of eggs was ready to be fertilised. Males searched for receptive females and began pre-copulatory mate guarding without any courtship display. They mated preferentially with late stage or non-ovigerous females: copulation duration was longest for stage 5 females as was post-copulatory guarding (mean 18.3h). Late stage females were up to 14% of the female population. Mate attraction seems to be the result of an ovarian signal rather than from the developing brood. Manipulation of the sex ratio had effects upon copulation duration and post-copulatory guarding: presence of a rival male increased duration of guarding. Females showed precocious mating in the penultimate instar and were able to lay fertilised eggs after their pubertal moult in the absence of males. H. cookii females have many mates, but males attempt to ensure paternity by preferentially pursuing mature females close to egg laying and by guarding these females after copulation. These behaviours are all elements of a competitive strategy to ensure that a male loses (not wins) the race to copulate because females have a ventral seminal receptacle, giving sperm precedence to the last male to mate. Male mating behaviour is a consequence and evolutionary response to female morphology. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The spread of grapevine leafroll-associated virus 3 (GLRaV-3) through a newly planted block of Merlot and Chardonnay grapevines in a commercial vineyard was measured between 1998 and 2003. The population changes of the mealybug vector (Pseudococcus longispinus) were recorded over the same period in 12–17-year-old GLRaV-3-infected grapevines immediately adjacent to two sides of the new block. Relationships between the spread of GLRaV-3 and mealybug numbers were examined. Mealybugs developed through three generations a year and populations were low for 4 of the 6 years. Numbers were usually higher in the 12–17-year-old Sauvignon Blanc vines and adjacent young 1–6-year-old Merlot vines than in the 12–17-year-old Breidecker and adjacent young 1–6-year-old Chardonnay vines on the other side of the block. However, GLRaV-3 spread more rapidly in young Chardonnay vines than in young Merlot vines. New infections in both Merlot and Chardonnay initially occurred at random, but newly infected vines were more often clustered from 2002 to 2003, and especially in Merlot. Most newly infected Chardonnay were recorded in the years following the highest numbers of mealybugs, in 1997–98 and 2000–01, but the disease spread more gradually in the Merlot. The data indicated that GLRaV-3 did not spread into the new block when third generation mealybug populations in adjacent infected vines were lower than ~5 mealybugs/leaf. Three methods for virus transmission by mealybug were proposed: one method was from natural, crawling dispersal of infected mealybugs, leading predominantly to within-row, vine-to-vine transmission; another method was from human-assisted movement of mealybug crawlers (such as on vineyard machinery) leading to random but localised infection on a within- or between-block scale; and a third method was through aerial dispersal of infectious mealybugs, resulting in random infections of vines and particularly operating on a between-block or between-vineyard scale. Infection in any vineyard probably occurs by all three methods, mediated by the poorly understood, and possibly site- and grape variety-specific, transmission ecology that underpins the mealybug-virus-vine relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although long-term use of cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 inhibitors may be associated with increased cardiovascular risk, their effects on vascular reactivity in atherosclerosis has remained largely unexplored. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the role of COX-2 induced by an atherosclerotic process, in the local control of vascular tone. New Zealand White rabbits were fed 0.3% cholesterol and subjected to balloon injury of the abdominal aorta. After 2 wk, the aorta was removed and used for organ bath experiments and immunohistochemistry, and the prostaglandins released were measured using enzyme immunoassays. Hypercholesterolemia and vascular injury significantly increased the thickness of the intimal layer, which was associated with an induction of COX-2 immunoreactivity throughout the aortic wall. In these preparations, a significant decrease of the maximal contractions induced by norepinephrine was observed. The norepinephrine-induced contractions of atherosclerotic preparations were restored by the COX inhibitors DuP-697 (0.5 μmol/l) and indomethacm (1.7 μmol/l), to similar contractions as was observed in aortic preparations derived from healthy rabbits. Norepinephrine stimulation of the abdominal aorta was accompanied by increased levels of prostaglandin I2 but not of prostaglandin E2, prostaglandin D2, or thromboxane A2 in atherosclerotic compared with normal aorta. Selective COX-2 inhibition significantly decreased the prostaglandin `2 release from atherosclerotic aorta but had no effect on the prostaglandin release from aortic preparations derived from normal rabbits. These observations suggest that the local induction of COX-2 during atherosclerosis decreased the sensitivity to norepinephrine and that COX-2 inhibitors may increase vascular reactivity at sites of atherosclerotic lesions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study that aims to determine whether community and trophic structure of chronically stressed soil systems remains stable when faced with subsequent disturbance. Under the investigation, a New Zealand grassland that is heavily contaminated with polluted city waste, sludge, farmyard manure and dune sand were applied to fertilize, equalize, and pave the top layer soil for agriculture. Nematode worms, which are a representative of the soil food web and ecosystem stability, were used to evaluate soil community reaction to different disturbance regimes, namely, contaminant zinc and heat shock. Results suggest that history of contamination and the type of disturbance determine the response of soil communities, as reactions of nematodes to zinc and heat shock are different.