Integrating Digital Technologies to Aid Grassland Productivity and Sustainability

Digital technologies provide an opportunity to further increase the sustainability and productivity of grasslands and rangelands. Three resources are key to that change. These are the soil on which forage grows, the forages that grow on those soils and the animals that use the forage resource as food. This paper describes elements of technologies to measure and monitor these resources and provides some insights on combining that knowledge and controlling the animal's utilization through virtual fencing. There are many potential challenges to the application of digital technologies to pastoral farming. These often require the calibration of digital signals to define biophysical characteristics. The significant repository of historic data of pasture growth over many geo-climatic regions, for example, provides New Zealand with an opportunity to accelerate that development. Future advances in rangeland use, nutrient deposition, greenhouse gas emissions and the provision and utilization of high quality and quantity will be enabled by the application of digital technologies at scale, under the control of virtual fencing. Digital technologies may provide the means to maintain or enhance ruminant production from grassland in a sustainable operating space into the future.

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FIFTY YEARS OF RYEGRASS RESEARCH IN NEW ZEALAND

Proceedings of the New Zealand Grassland Association ◽

10.33584/jnzg.1989.50.1876 ◽

1989 ◽

pp. 11-23 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

W.F. Hunt ◽

H.S. Easton

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

Seedling Growth ◽

Mineral Nutrition ◽

Agricultural Systems ◽

High Quality ◽

Wide Range ◽

Herbage Quality ◽

History Of ◽

Pastoral Farming ◽

Management Effects

Ryegrasses have dominated seed mixtures since the inception of pastoral farming in New Zealand largely because perennial ryegrasses are easily established, and persistent under a wide range of climatic and management conditions. Annual ryegrasses have vigorous seedling growth and can provide valuable high quality feed during the cool seasons. These virtues make ryegrass easily thk most important grass in New Zealand agriculture. This review traces the history of ryegrass use and development form the early days of bush burn mixtures to the present day array of bred cultivars Areas of research covered in the review include: (1) The selection and breeding of cultivars (2) Management effects on density and persistence (3) Physiology (responses to light, temperature and mineral nutrition) (4) Ryegrass diseases (5) Ryegrass pests (6) The ryegrass endophyte (7) Ryegrass herbage quality The concluding section examines the role ryegrasses are to play in diverse modern agricultural systems, and hence the goals for breeders.

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Technical fitting-out of agriculture in terms of digitalization: A theoretical background

Regional Economics Theory and Practice ◽

10.24891/re.18.12.2391 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 18 (12) ◽

pp. 2391-2405

Author(s):

A.K. Subaeva ◽

G.S. Klychova ◽

L.M. Mavlieva

Keyword(s):

Production Process ◽

Digital Technologies ◽

Theoretical Background ◽

Digital Economy ◽

Energy Resources ◽

High Quality ◽

Study Methods ◽

Technological Infrastructure ◽

Agricultural Enterprises ◽

Technological Processes

Subject. This article discusses the issues related to the technological infrastructure of agriculture, improving the efficiency of energy resources, minimizing labor and material costs, and ensuring the continuity of the production process. Objectives. The article aims to study methods to improve the technological infrastructure of agricultural enterprises in the digital economy terms. Methods. For the study, we used the methods of comparison and classification. Results. The article describes patterns of development of technological processes in agriculture in the digital economy. Conclusions. The technical fitting-out of agriculture in the digital economy should be considered as a set of measures to prepare the industry for the production of high-quality products, which implies the use of digital technologies that minimize human participation in the production process.

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Safe Deliveries?: a Review of New Zealand's Midwifery Regulation through the Lens of the Health and Disability Commissioner

10.26686/wgtn.17006728 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

◽

Claire Sweetman

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

Maternity Care ◽

Poor Quality ◽

Disability Services ◽

Birth Experience ◽

High Quality ◽

Quality Healthcare ◽

Fundamental Part ◽

Main Consumer ◽

Pregnancy And Birth

Although birth is a fundamental part of the life process, competing factions within the health profession struggle to agree on the best way to deliver maternity services. Despite this long-standing tension, the midwifery-led model has dominated New Zealand’s maternity system for more than two decades with the majority of consumers expressing satisfaction with the care provided. Unfortunately for a small number of mothers and babies the pregnancy and birth experience is not a positive one and families are left suffering life-long, and often tragic, consequences. As one of the main consumer watchdogs in New Zealand, the Health and Disability Commissioner is charged with investigating claims of poor quality healthcare. This paper examines the central themes in the Commissioner’s reports on substandard midwifery practice and proposes a number of regulatory solutions to the issues involved. Working in unison, these amendments have the potential to ease the pressure placed on midwives; enhance interprofessional relationships; improve practitioner competence; and increase overall compliance with the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers’ Rights. By implementing these changes, the New Zealand Government could safeguard valuable midwifery-based principles whilst still ensuring that high quality maternity care is provided to all of the country’s mothers and babies.

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The case for an ?Excellence in Scholarship for Australia? initiative

Pacific Conservation Biology ◽

10.1071/pc110228 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 16 (4) ◽

pp. 228 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Mike Calver

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

New Zealand ◽

Research Priorities ◽

Education Sector ◽

Research Quality ◽

Research Assessment ◽

High Quality ◽

High Quality Research ◽

Quality Research

Only those truly cryptozoic for all of 2010 could have missed the bustle and concern created by the Australian Commonwealth?s Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) initiative (http://www.arc.gov.au/era/default.htm). In common with other national research assessment exercises such as the RAE (UK) and PBRF (New Zealand), ERA is designed to assess research quality within the Australian higher education sector, identifying and rewarding those institutions and departments producing high-quality research. The linkages between achievement, recognition and reward have the potential to shape the research priorities and agendas of institutions and individual researchers.

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Population-scale long-read sequencing uncovers transposable elements contributing to gene expression variation and associated with adaptive signatures in Drosophila melanogaster

10.1101/2021.10.08.463646 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Gabriel Rech ◽

Santiago Radio ◽

Sara Guirao-Rico ◽

Laura Aguilera ◽

Vivien Horvath ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gene Expression ◽

Genetic Variation ◽

Transposable Elements ◽

Natural Populations ◽

Gene Expression Variation ◽

High Quality ◽

Expression Variation ◽

Climatic Regions ◽

Genomic Studies ◽

Reference Genomes

High quality reference genomes are crucial to understanding genome function, structure and evolution. The availability of reference genomes has allowed us to start inferring the role of genetic variation in biology, disease, and biodiversity conservation. However, analyses across organisms demonstrate that a single reference genome is not enough to capture the global genetic diversity present in populations. In this work, we generated 32 high-quality reference genomes for the well-known model species D. melanogaster and focused on the identification and analysis of transposable element variation as they are the most common type of structural variant. We showed that integrating the genetic variation across natural populations from five climatic regions increases the number of detected insertions by 58%. Moreover, 26% to 57% of the insertions identified using long-reads were missed by short-reads methods. We also identified hundreds of transposable elements associated with gene expression variation and new TE variants likely to contribute to adaptive evolution in this species. Our results highlight the importance of incorporating the genetic variation present in natural populations to genomic studies, which is essential if we are to understand how genomes function and evolve.

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Children's exposure to sexually explicit content: Parents’ awareness, attitudes and actions

10.31235/osf.io/zte27 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Edgar Pacheco ◽

Neil Melhuish

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

Quantitative Study ◽

Digital Technologies ◽

First Line ◽

Online Safety ◽

Key Players ◽

Sexually Explicit ◽

Explicit Content ◽

Nationally Representative ◽

Children’S Exposure

Parents are key players in relation to the online safety of their children. However, while evidence shows that New Zealand teens regard their parents as the first line of support in dealing with online risks and challenges, parents seem to underestimate or be unaware of the frequency of such risks. This report presents findings from a larger quantitative study about parenting, digital technologies and online risks. It focuses on parents and caregivers’ awareness and attitudes towards their child’s access and exposure to sexually explicit content, both deliberately and/or accidentally, in the prior year. We conducted a quantitative survey with parents/whānau (and caregivers) of children aged 9 to 17 years old. The study was conducted in New Zealand based on a nationally representative sample. Our findings show that parents’ main online concerns are their children sharing nudes of themselves, being treated in a hurtful way, and seeing sexually explicit content. Also, the study found that 1 in 5 parents said their children were exposed to sexually explicit content online in the prior year.

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Sampled 3D models for Cultural Heritage: which uses beyond visualization?

Virtual Archaeology Review ◽

10.4995/var.2012.4537 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 3 (5) ◽

pp. 109 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Roberto Scopigno

Keyword(s):

Cultural Heritage ◽

Digital Technologies ◽

3D Models ◽

3D Scanning ◽

High Quality ◽

Research Results

Digital technologies are now mature for producing high quality digital replicas of Cultural Heritage (CH) artefacts. The research results produced in the last decade have shown an impressive evolution and consolidation of the technologies for acquiring high-quality digital 3D models (3D scanning) and for rendering those models at interactive speed. Technology is now mature enough to push us to go beyond the plain visualization of those assets, devising new tools able to extend our insight and intervention capabilities and to revise the current consolidated procedures for CH research and management. The paper presents a few recent experiences where high-quality 3D models have been used in CH research, restoration and conservation. These examples constitutes a broad review of different uses of digital 3D assets in the CH domain.

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Newspaper quality, content and competition in New Zealand

Pacific Journalism Review – Te Koakoa ◽

10.24135/pjr.v20i1.193 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

pp. 181 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Matthew Gibbons

Keyword(s):

Content Analysis ◽

New Zealand ◽

Investment Strategies ◽

High Quality

Content analysis results show that investment strategies and newspaper quality vary between companies in New Zealand. Indeed, Allied Press’ Otago Daily Times prints considerably more news than Fairfax papers with similar circulations, and almost as much news as the Christchurch Press. The results also provide some support for the theory that producing a relatively high quality newspaper, when quality is measured by the quantity of news published and number of journalists employed, is associated with relatively high readership. Vigorous competition between companies for dominance in the Queenstown newspaper market suggests that less concentrated newspaper ownership could increase competition and benefit consumers in other parts of New Zealand. Although the results are from 2006, strong similarities between the newspapers surveyed and more recent issues of these titles means the results and policy lessons drawn are still relevant.

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The Relational Newsroom: An Appreciative Inquiry into how Leadership Empowers Learning in Newsrooms

10.26686/wgtn.17007730 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

◽

Bernard Whelan

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

Appreciative Inquiry ◽

News Media ◽

Digital Technologies ◽

Training And Development ◽

Interaction Process ◽

The Public ◽

Turn On ◽

Hierarchical Levels ◽

Personal Leadership

The field of journalism in New Zealand has gone through significant changes in the last few years, with the onset of digital technologies, their impact on the funding of journalism and on readership, and in turn on the way journalism is performed. Therefore, the aim of this study is to understand how leadership empowers learning in newsrooms and, in turn, contributes to the training and development of journalists. The intent here is to contribute to the constantly evolving field of journalism as it deals with the digital changes driving what is arguably the most concentrated period of change in its history. Appreciative Inquiry (AI) has typically been used in organisations to manifest positive change for people. However, for this study I have creatively adapted and applied the Appreciative Inquiry framework to situate qualitative research methods inside three newsrooms in New Zealand. Focus groups in each newsroom were comprised of individuals from different hierarchical levels of the workplace. As the lead researcher I led the groups who operated as co-researchers following the AI process of four phases comprising Discover, Dream, Design and Destiny seeking to understand how leadership empowers learning in newsrooms. The findings were initially drawn from an analysis of the themes which arose in the discussions. From the findings I use AI theory and adapt the AI process to propose a Relational Newsroom framework for use in newsrooms. By embedding newsroom groups constantly using the 4-D cycle of AI and involving the public in live interaction process with newsroom decision-making, the framework would generate practices of communication, trust, personal leadership and structure identified in the findings. This study concludes with proposals in the form of action statements for use in both news media and journalism school newsrooms to have journalists engaged and involved in creating the future of the field.

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Digital Workflow for Homemade Aligner

10.5772/intechopen.100347 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Dalal Elmoutawakkil ◽

Nabil Hacib

Keyword(s):

New Technology ◽

Digital Technologies ◽

High Strength ◽

High Quality ◽

Digital Devices ◽

The World ◽

3D Printers ◽

Dental Profession ◽

Dental Offices ◽

Clear Aligner

Advanced digital technology is rapidly changing the world, as well as transforming the dental profession. The adoption of digital technologies in dental offices allied with efficient processes and accurate high-strength materials are replacing conventional aligners workflows to improve overall patients’ experiences and outcomes. Various digital devices such as 3D printers, intraoral and face scanners, cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT), software for computer 3D ortho setup, and 3D printing provide new potential alternatives to replace the traditional outsourced workflow for aligners. With this new technology, the entire process for bringing clear aligner production in-office can significantly reduce laboratory bills and increase patient case acceptance to provide high-quality and customized aligner therapy.

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