Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand最新文献

Implementation of the National Bowel Screening Programme for Aotearoa New Zealand has been a 26-year journey with many challenges and obstacles. This paper describes lessons learnt. Despite international evidence of efficacy from studies before the year 2000, country-specific decisions shaped by committed multidisciplinary teams were required. Before introducing bowel screening, many initiatives to improve related healthcare delivery were implemented, which often led to systemic improvements. A pilot study was needed to demonstrate that bowel screening was safe, affordable, and could be delivered equitably. Despite comprehensive plans based on the Pilot with ongoing adjustments, to date, the programme has fallen short of achieving equity for participation for Māori and Pacific peoples. The delays involved in developing the required population IT system were challenging resulting in a period where two different IT systems were being used simultaneously. This should be avoided. General Practice was involved from the outset, with an increasing role as the programme developed. Critics of progress were sometimes vocal, but input from global leaders in bowel screening helped keep the programme on track to national implementation. The programme has delivered in terms of safety and early diagnosis of cancer. Its lessons provide a foundation for future public health initiatives.

Image classification for species identification has applications in areas such as conservation and education. Given New Zealand's geographic isolation and the relatively small number of species present on its islands, there is an opportunity to apply machine learning to enable accurate automatic species identification for Aotearoa, even on mobile devices without Internet access. We present neural network-based image classification models trained to classify organisms present in New Zealand. The data for model development and evaluation, obtained from the crowd-sourcing website iNaturalist, comprises 14,991 species, including 6,216 Animalia, 6,173 Plantae, and 2,407 Fungi species, alongside a small set of observations of Bacteria, Chromista, Protozoa, and Viruses. It contains organisms observed in the natural environment as well as captive and cultivated organisms. The trained models achieve over 76% classification accuracy across all species and produce class probability estimates, calibrated using temperature scaling, that can be used to gauge confidence in their classifications. Input attribution methods can be used to interpret a model's inferences by highlighting its areas of focus on images. The models are available to the public as downloadable model files and as part of both web and mobile applications for species identification that are distributed as open-source software.

In Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ), healthcare access inequities exist for unintentional injuries between older Māori and non-Māori. We investigated the acceptability and exploratory efficacy of a co-designed paeārahi (navigator)-led injury prevention and care model for koeke (older Māori) in a prospective, non-randomised, pilot study. We enrolled 192 community-dwelling older Māori participants (≥ 55 years) from three primary healthcare clinics. The primary outcome was intervention acceptability, using an acceptability framework and kaupapa Māori theory to analyse focus group and interview data. Exploratory efficacy outcomes included changes in mobility, fall rates, koeke confidence in injury care, and healthcare utilisation. 132 koeke (mean ± SD age: 68.3 ± 8.5 years) completed the study, and 25 people participated in acceptability data collection (focus groups/interviews). The care model was acceptable to koeke, whānau (family), paeārahi and other health providers, and perceived as having a positive impact across multiple wellbeing domains and improving koeke and whānau control over healthcare. Paeārahi working within healthcare teams contributed to acceptability by assisting with referrals and healthcare access. Participants' confidence in preventing injury and accessing support increased (p = 0.004 and p = 0.009, respectively). Although assessment points need streamlining, these findings support further evaluation of this model among koeke in more community settings.

While there is broad agreement on the challenges facing the Aotearoa New Zealand food system now and in the near future, there is less agreement on the action to be taken. Poor agreement is fuelled by gaps in both our scientific understanding of the food system and data to support our decision making, particularly in the environmental and social spaces. Filling these gaps and being transparent about scientific confidence in future predictions will strengthen the evidence base for action.

The governance of Aotearoa New Zealand continues to be shaped by ongoing debates over the interpretation and implementation of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Recent legislative proposals, such as the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi and the Regulatory Standards Bill, highlight the persistent tensions between Māori and Western epistemologies. These tensions are not merely legal disputes but reflect deeper worldview differences that shape decision-making, authority and relational obligations. This viewpoint argues for a Tiriti Relationships Framework that moves beyond adversarial, binary approaches to governance and instead prioritises relational engagement. Rather than treating Te Tiriti as a static legal document, we propose a framework honouring tino rangatiratanga (Māori self-determination) and kāwanatanga (Crown governance) through codecision-making and power-sharing. By centring relationships, this model challenges the dominance of Western legalism and fosters governance structures that reflect Aotearoa's diverse and evolving social realities. Through examples, we demonstrate how relational approaches lead to more sustainable and equitable outcomes. We argue that reimagining governance in this way is essential for realising the full potential of Te Tiriti as a living and dynamic agreement that benefits all peoples of Aotearoa.

The aim of the present study is to provide a snapshot of how depression is understood and addressed by Pacific peoples in Aotearoa New Zealand. Participants were 548 Pacific peoples (age range 16-83 years) residing in Aotearoa New Zealand, who completed the Pasifika Mental Health in Aotearoa (PMHA) survey containing questions regarding depression. Content Analysis was used to categorise open-ended responses, and descriptive statistics were used to analyse participant response frequencies. Participant conceptualisations of depression demonstrated a strong understanding of depression, with most identifying multiple symptoms and many describing symptoms aligned with DSM-5-TR criteria. When asked about addressing depression, participants overwhelmingly endorsed seeking informal support, followed by formal support. Consistent with these preferences, participants rated talking to friends and counsellors as most helpful, while substance use, including alcohol and drugs, was strongly identified as harmful. This study reveals that Pacific peoples in Aotearoa New Zealand understand depression with strong preferences for both informal and formal support. These findings challenge assumptions about the low level of mental health literacy in Pacific communities and highlight the importance of culturally responsive approaches.

Māori-centred research reflects a partnership between Māori and non-Māori researchers, working together on projects designed to benefit whānau Māori (Māori families). Such cross-cultural partnerships are challenging, particularly when embedded within Western-centred academic environments. The goal of our project was to review publications discussing how Māori-centred research had been or should be undertaken to identify ways such research partnerships could be better supported in academia. From a structured review of 19 articles, we generated a model of partnership, Ngā Wai Rerekē (water streams of difference), that incorporates key concepts of whakapapa (history), whanaungatanga (relationship), mana ōrite (shared management), kotahitanga (unity), wero (challenge), and he koha mō te iwi Māori (benefit for Māori). Ngā Wai Rerekē is a model of two streams coming together to form a river, reflecting the relationship between Māori and non-Māori. The model emphasises the importance of this relationship between research partners over the research project. It highlights the necessity of beneficial outcomes for Māori, discusses the challenges that commonly present, and describes actions that can facilitate stronger relationships. At the conclusion, we present recommendations for individuals and institutions to facilitate Māori-centred research in a way that promotes meaningful outcomes for whānau Māori.

This study aimed to establish normal and reference pulse wave velocity (PWV) values and assess their relationship with the established cardiovascular risk factors in NZ. An observational cross-sectional study of 120 adults above 18 years was conducted at Auckland University of Technology within three age groups (18-30, 31-60, and >60 years) and four blood pressure (BP) categories (normal, elevated, stage 1 and stage 2) before being clustered as Normal Value Population (NVP) and Reference Value Population (RVP) based on BP and presence of other CVD risk. PWV was measured using Doppler ultrasound via the direct carotid-femoral method (distance × 0.8). Mean PWV for the whole study population was 5.88 ± 1.49 m/s and increased with age (p < 0.001) and with a more profound rise in the RVP group (p < 0.001, z = -4.98). Overall PWV values were lower than international reference standards, which may reflect population-specific physiological or methodological factors. A significant difference in mean PWV in the European and non-European populations (p = 0.004) indicated that ethnicity was an important part of the assessment. Age and mean blood pressure were the strongest predictors of PWV, accounting for 54.5% of the variability.

Recently, 360-degree visual tracking has become increasingly important in 360-degree video processing technology. Although visual tracking technology in 2D videos has gradually matured, there is no universal method for visual tracking in 360-degree videos that can effectively address image stretching and object deformation caused by the equirectangular representation of 360-degree images. In this paper, we propose a two-part method for 360-degree visual tracking. The first part is a general method that can be integrated into any 2D visual tracking system to be applied to 360-degree videos. This part converts equirectangular images into 2D gnomonic projections, enabling the use of existing 2D tracking algorithms while mitigating image distortion. Then, building upon the UPDT algorithm, the second part integrates the general 360-degree visual tracking method with additional enhancements to improve robustness and efficiency in 360-degree visual tracking. Furthermore, when tracking performance deteriorates, it combines results from the sample set and trajectory prediction to achieve more robust and accurate tracking. In our experiments, We use two datasets in 360-degree equirectangular representation to demonstrate the effectiveness and advantages of our proposed method. Additionally, we explore the application of 360-degree visual tracking methods in editing, enabling the automatic manipulation of moving objects in 360-degree videos.