Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand最新文献

In aquaculture breeding or production programmes, counting juvenile fish represents a considerable cost in terms of the human hours needed. In this study, we explored the use of two state-of-the-art machine learning architectures (Single Shot Detection, hereafter SSD and Faster Regions with convolutional neural networks, hereafter Faster R-CNN) to augment a manual image-based juvenile fish counting method for the Australasian snapper (Chrysophrys auratus) bred at The New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Limited. We tested model accuracy after tuning for confidence thresholds and non-maximal suppression overlap parameters, and implementing a bias correction using a Poisson regression model. Validation of image data showed that after tuning, bias-corrected SSD and Faster R-CNN models had mean absolute percent errors (MAPE) of less than 10%, with SSD having MAPE of less than 5%. Comparison of the results with those from manual counts showed that, while manual counts are slightly more accurate (MAPE = 1.56), the machine learning methods allow for more rapid assessment of counts and thus facilitating a higher throughput. This work represents a first step for deploying machine learning applications to an existing real-life aquaculture scenario and provides a useful starting point for further developments, such as real-time counting of fish or collecting additional phenotypic data from the source images.

The New Zealand Genetic Frontotemporal Dementia Study (FTDGeNZ) is an emerging longitudinal study of a large New Zealand pedigree with genetic frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Natural history studies of genetic FTD cohorts provide a unique opportunity to identify biomarkers of pre-symptomatic dementia, as carriers can be identified and studied decades before expected symptom onset. FTDGeNZ was established in 2016 with the aim of identifying the earliest pre-symptomatic biomarkers of FTD, in collaboration with international multi-centre cohorts. We enrolled 25 participants from a single family between April 2016 and August 2018. Participants were genotyped to determine whether they were pre-symptomatic carriers of the mutation (MAPT IVS 10 + 16 C > T), or non-carrier controls. Participants have undergone clinical assessments including neuropsychological and mood assessment; olfactory testing; assessment of social cognition; and blood collection for analyses of microRNA and protein fluid biomarkers annually. We have also performed structural and functional MRI of the brain and assessment of autobiographical memory biennially, and retinal imaging at baseline. Here, we describe the full study protocol and the baseline demographic and clinical characteristics of the FTDGeNZ cohort, and we highlight the latest findings in the field.

This paper provides an overview of 'Kia Tika, Kia Pono - Honouring Truths' (Te Rōpū Arotahi 2022), an ethical framework to guide engagement with tamariki (children) and rangatahi (young people) who are care experienced (that is, who currently or at some stage in their lives have been in foster or residential care). Centring the voices and priorities of rangatahi with care experience, 'Kia Tika, Kia Pono' is intended for use by organisations and others working across the range of sectors and services that seek to engage tamariki and rangatahi who are care experienced in governance, policy making, service design, media or research. Its purpose is to ensure that these efforts are ethical, meaningful, and culturally safe. Grounded in Te Tiriti o Waitangi and participatory rights frameworks, 'Kia Tika, Kia Pono' is responsive to the cultural context of New Zealand. It is also distinctive in its centring of rangatahi with care experience as both knowledge-holders and knowledge-creators. In summarising the key elements of the 'Kia Tika, Kia Pono' framework, we also draw upon our insights from the research process regarding participatory practice with rangatahi with care experience. Kupu Māori/glossary of Māori words: Aroha: love, compassion, empathy; hapū: kinship group, sub-tribe, sub-nation, to be pregnant; hui: gathering, meeting, assembly, seminar, conference; iwi: extended kinship group, tribe, nation, people, bone; kai: food, meal; karakia: incantation; a set form of words to state or make effective a ritual activity; kaupapa: purpose, agenda; koha gift; especially one maintaining social relationships and has connotations of reciprocity; korowai: ornamented cloak; mana: spiritually sanctioned or endorsed influence, power, and authority; manaakitanga: showing and receiving care, respect, kindness, and hospitality; māramatanga: enlightenment, insight, understanding; mauri: life principle, life force, vital essence; pono: to be absolutely true, unfeigned, genuine; rangatahi: younger generation; rangatira: chiefly, esteemed, leader; tamariki: children; Te Tiriti o Waitangi: the Māori version of the Treaty of Waitangi; tika: what is right/good for any particular situation; tikanga Māori: customary system of values and practices that have been developed over time and are deeply embedded in the social context; tūāpapa: foundation, platform; ūkaipō: a place of nurturing and of spiritual and emotional strength; wairuatanga: spirituality; wānanga: to meet, discuss, deliberate, consider; whanau: to be born, extended family, family group; whanaungatanga: relationship, kinship, sense of family connection; a relationship through shared experiences and working together which provides people with a sense of belonging.

The New Zealand policy response to methamphetamine contamination of housing has resulted in reduction of public housing stock, award of significant remediation costs and evictions. The New Zealand Tenancy Tribunal (NZTT) has adjudicated methamphetamine contamination disputes between tenants and landlords without specific guidance in legislation. A 2018 scientific review by the Chief Science Advisor prompted a significant increase in the contamination threshold. To evaluate the outcomes from this policy change, we compared 195 NZTT orders following the threshold increase with 685 orders from before the threshold increase. Landlords remain as major applicants to the NZTT. Cases involving public housing tenancies dramatically decreased from 33% (pre threshold increase) to none. Mention of baseline testing and methamphetamine test results became more prominent after the threshold increase. The average remediation costs decreased from NZ$10,300 to NZ$3,500 per order, perhaps reflecting fewer rooms of houses requiring remediation under the new threshold. Applicants and respondents continued to support their claims based on different scientific thresholds and reports. Discrepancies between adjudicators' interpretations of test results and the threshold to apply continued to generate inconsistencies in NZTT decisions. Legislative and regulatory guidance is still needed to consistently and equitably resolve these disputes.

Despite recent advances in AI, building systems that can engage in natural and realistic cooperative interactions with human partners remains a challenge. In this article, we argue that as a precursor to modelling sophisticated cooperation in adults, it's useful to build a model of how cooperation develops in infants. We present a simple initial model of infant cooperation, embodied in BabyX - a hyperrealistic virtual simulation of an 18-month-old infant that can interact with human partners in real time. Our focus in this paper is on cooperative behaviours in the nonverbal domain. The framework for our model of these behaviours is a cognitive model of events and event processing. We detail how cognitive and motor mechanisms in BabyX lead to rudimentary cooperation manifested in nonverbal turn-taking. We introduce a novel empirical paradigm for testing BabyX's model of cooperation, by comparing her interactions with users with 'real' interactions between human infants and their caregivers, which we observed in a detailed empirical study. In this study, we find nonverbal turn-taking in human infant-caregiver interactions, consistent with our BabyX model. This initial model provides the foundation for a comprehensive, and developmentally consistent, model of human cooperation.

For Pacific children in Aotearoa New Zealand under 20 years of age, this study investigates whether parental education is protective in terms of hospitalisations. For 139,686 Pacific and 659,055 other (non-Māori/non-Pacific) children, a population data extract for them and their parents was used from linked 2013 Census, health and demographic data. Binary indicators of incidence of hospitalisations between 1 March 2013 and 28 February 2018 were analysed using modified Poisson regression models with robust standard errors. The highest parental educational level of either parent ranged from 0 indicating no qualification and increased incrementally to 10 signifying a PhD. Over the study period, 1% of Pacific children were hospitalised in private hospitals and 24% with a potentially avoidable hospitalisation. Highest parental education level was protective for Pacific children, with a single level in parental qualification associated with a small but significantly lower risk of potentially avoidable hospitalisation (RR = 0.97, p < 0.0001), but a higher risk of private hospitalisation (RR = 1.25, p < 0.0001). This finding remained significant, independent from the contribution of increased socioeconomic benefits that accompanied improved education. These findings support ongoing Pacific focused initiatives for promoting continuing education as an investment for the future health of Pacific families.

New Zealand research on inequities in children's developmental health outcomes is sparse. We aimed to describe the prevalence, clustering, and socio-environmental associations of developmental health in preschool-aged children. A latent profile analysis was performed using data from child participants of Growing Up in New Zealand at age 4.5-years to identify profiles of developmental health status. Seven measures were included in the latent profile analysis, representing four domains of developmental health: 'physical', 'motor', 'socioemotional and behavioural', and 'communication and learning'. Multinominal logistic regression was used to investigate socio-environmental associations of latent profile membership. Six latent profiles were identified (N = 6109), including three healthy/flourishing profiles: 'healthy' (52.6% of the sample), 'early social skills flourishing' (14.5%), and 'early learning skills flourishing' (4.0%); and three suboptimal profiles: 'early learning skills difficulties' (19.5%), 'physical health difficulties' (5.6%), and 'developmental difficulties cluster' (3.7%). Children experiencing socioeconomic disadvantage, of Māori or Pacific ethnicity, and with unmet healthcare needs had increased odds of being classified to suboptimal developmental health profiles. In this large, diverse cohort, one-in-four children were classified as having suboptimal developmental health. Addressing inequities in developmental health is crucial to improving health over the life course.

Thirty years ago, DNA sequences were obtained from an extinct Aotearoa New Zealand animal for the first time. Since then, ancient DNA research has provided many - often unexpected - insights into the origins of New Zealand's terrestrial and marine vertebrate fauna. Because recent human activities in New Zealand have caused the decline or extinction of many endemic plant, bird, reptile, and marine mammal species, ancient DNA has been instrumental in reconstructing their identities and origins. However, most ancient DNA studies focusing on New Zealand species have been restricted to vertebrates, with small sample sizes, and/or relatively few genetic markers. This has limited their power to infer fine-scale biogeographic patterns, including (pre)historic distributions and range-shifts driven by past climate and environmental change. Recently, 'next-generation' methodological and technological advances have broadened the range of hypotheses that can feasibly be tested with ancient DNA. These advances represent an exciting opportunity for further exploring New Zealand biogeography using ancient DNA, but their promise has not yet been fully realised. In this review, we summarise the last 30 years of ancient DNA research into New Zealand faunal biogeography and highlight key objectives, challenges, and possibilities for the next 30 years and beyond.