New Zealand Consumer Lifestyles

This article reports on the results of a consumer lifestyles segmentation study of the adult New Zealand population, which is part of an ongoing research programme conducted by consumer behaviour researchers at the University of Otago since 1979. Six lifestyle segments were identified: the ‘Educated Liberals’, ‘Financial Strugglers’, ‘Contemporary New Zealanders’, ‘Uncertain Young’, ‘Traditional Family Values’, and, the ‘Disengaged’. These segments are based on responses to nearly 200 questions about consumer attitudes, opinions and behaviours from 1,640 respondents. The discussion of the segments provides a number of new and useful insights into the contemporary world of the New Zealand consumer.

Multimodal Biometric Recognition Using Iris and Face Features

Multimodal biometrics has recently gained interest over single biometric modalities. This interest stems from the fact that this technique offers improvements in recognition and more security. In this ongoing research programme, we propose a new feature extraction technique for a biometric system based on face and iris recognition. The extraction of iris and facial features is performed using the Discrete Wavelet Transform combined with the Singular Value Decomposition. Merging the relevant characteristics of the two modalities is used to create a pattern for each individual in the dataset. The evaluation process is performed using two datasets (i.e., Faces94 Faces dataset and IIT Delhi Iris dataset). The experimental results carried out in this programme showed the robustness of the proposed technique.

Regional income disparities, monopoly and finance

The overall rise in inequality in the USA since 1980 has been matched by a rise in inequality between places; local and regional development policies aimed at reversing this polarisation have seen limited success. We propose an explanation for the spatial polarisation of prosperity and the failure of the policies to remedy it. Our explanation is based on the interaction of monopoly power, agglomeration economies in technology clusters and the power of financial sector actors over non-financial firms—all phenomena characteristic of the post-1980 economy. We review evidence for each of these elements and propose some causal relationships between them, as an outline of an ongoing research programme.

Occurrence of Anticyclonic Tornadoes in a Topographically Complex Region of Mexico

Tornadoes are violent and destructive natural phenomena that occur on a local scale in most regions around the world. Severe storms occasionally lead to the formation of mesocyclones, whose direction or sense of rotation is often determined by the Coriolis force, among other factors. In the Northern Hemisphere, more than 99% of all tornadoes rotate anticlockwise. The present research shows that, in topographically complex regions, tornadoes have a different probability of rotating clockwise or anticlockwise. Our ongoing research programme on tornadoes in Mexico has shown that the number of tornadoes is significantly higher than previously thought. About 40% of all tornadoes occur in the complex topographic region of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt. Data collected (from Internet videos) on the rotation of tornadoes formed in this region showed that about 50% of them rotated in a clockwise direction, contradicting tornado statistics for most of North America. Time series of the helicity parameter showed that tornadoes formed in topographically complex areas exhibited different behaviours compared to those formed in plains that are related with supercell systems.

First Record of Cheiloneurus clαviger (Thomson) (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) on Corfu Island

During an ongoing research programme on Saissetia oleae (Oliv.) (Homoptera: Coccidae) and its parasites on the island of Corfu, the presence of the hyperparasite Cheiloneurus clαviger (Thomson) (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) was recorded, for the first time, in samples of parasitized Saissetia oleae in 1991. The identification of C. clagiver was made by the junior author. The adults of Cheiloneurus clαviger emerged from S. oleae females parasitized by Metaphycus lounsburyi (How.) (Hymenoptera: Encytridae), after they were placed in plastic capsules. Tables 1 and 2 give the number of adults of S. oleae, C. claviger and M. lounsburyi that emerged from S. oleae at two experimental fields. M. lounsburyi is one of the main parasitoids of S. oleae acting as an internal parasite of the fourth larval instar. The numbers of C. claviger emerged were very low compared with the numbers of M. lounsburyi, indicating that at present C. claviger is not a serious limiting factor for the population of M. lounsburyi. The presence of a group of coarse bristles at the apex of the scutellum and the long marginal vein of fore wings are the peculiarities of the genus Cheiloneurus. The incomplete infuscation of the fore wings and the colour of the antennae with only the 5th funicular segment blackish can easily allow the discrimination of C. claviger females from those of congeneric species. Cheiloneurus clαviger is reported as a hyperparasitoid of several coccids of economic impor tance mainly via other encyrtid parasitoids. In Italy, C. claviger has been found to act as a hyperparasite of Kermesidi (genus Kermes) which infest Pinoideae. Previous reports on the entomophagous fauna of S. oleae on Corfu do not include C. claviger and it is assumed that the hyperparasitoid has been introduced rather recently. The actual role oil the parasitic complex of S. oleae and the distribution of this hyperparasite on the island should be further investigated.

The application of mass spectrometry to identify immunogenic components of excretory/secretory products from adult Dictyocaulus viviparus

Proteomics has come to the forefront in the post-genomic era. The ability to compare and identify proteins expressed in a particular cell type under specific physiological or pathological states requires a range of technologies, including separation of complex protein or peptide mixtures, densitometry-based or isotope-coded methods for comparison of multiple proteomes, and mass spectrometric methods for identification of individual low abundance proteins. Although an emergent technology, thus far, proteomics has provided new perspectives on many problems in biomedical science. In parasitology, proteomics has been used to answer specific biological questions relating to survival and development, and also to identify candidates for vaccines. Here, we describe an ongoing research programme in which proteomics is being used to identify potential vaccine candidates for the bovine lungworm, Dictyocaulus viviparus. This work is focusing on antibody responses to the adult parasite excretory/secretory (ES) products, with selection of candidate antigens based on differential screening with serum from immune versus non-immune animals to simplify the proteome and the ensuing analytical challenges. Thus far, we have identified seven candidate proteins using this strategy. Of these, one protein showed significant identity to a previously cloned gene from D. viviparus, whilst the other six proteins have shown no significant identities. Isolation of further peptide sequences is now warranted to facilitate cloning of the genes encoding these antigens.

Microstructural studies of matrix and interface in ceramic fibre-reinforced aluminium alloys

This study is a part of an ongoing research programme aimed at optimising the properties of ceramic fibre reinforced aluminium alloys. It involves a detailed study of matrix and interface and an understanding of the overall mechanical behaviour of the composite. Here, we report an investigation of an Al-7wt%Si alloy reinforced with alumina fibres. A range of techniques including analytical electron microscopy are used to characterise the structure of the fibre matrix interface, the crystallography and morphology of matrix precipitates, and dislocation substructures.It is shown that the eutectic structure of the Al-Si alloy is markedly changed in the presence of fibres, with silicon showing a tendency to segregate on the fibres. Coarse silicon particles are characterised by twins having the twin the {111} silicon habit plane and related by a rotation of 180° about the [110] direction.The particles have a lamellar morphology with the longitudinal axis lying in the {111} habit plane, but show no evidence of any epitaxial relationship with the aluminium lattice.

Functional Obsolescence in the Planned Environment

This paper introduces the theoretical basis for investigating obsolescence that has resulted from the preliminary stage of an ongoing research programme. A specification for model building is included.

Design, Synthesis and H1 - Antihistaminic Activity of Novel Thieno [2, 3-d] pyrimidinones

Some of the fused pyrimidinones were reported from our laboratory with antihistaminic and bronchodilatory activities. As part of our ongoing research programme on the potential utility of thienopyrimidines, a novel series of compounds were designed based on the general pharmacophore model for H1- antihistaminic agents. The designed molecules were synthesized and evaluated for antihistaminic activity and anticholinergic activity. Various descriptors like HOMO (Highest Occupied Molecular Orbital), LUMO (Lowest Unoccupied Molecular Orbital) and clogP that can influence the sedative and anticholinergic activity of the molecules were computed while designing the molecules using Chem Office-2008. All the virtual screening data was correlating with the experimental values.