title: Crown perspective

authors: Smith, Hon Dr Nick

abstract: My primary role this morning is to give an overview of Government policy direction around freshwater management; to reflect on where we are after our 7 years in government, and to give a bit of a steer on my new challenges in the Environment role since the October election.

text: Crown perspective My primary role this morning is to give an overview of Government policy direction around freshwater management; to reflect on where we are after our 7 years in government, and to give a bit of a steer on my new challenges in the Environment role since the October election.

year: 2015

title: Analyzing users’ behaviour to identify their privacy concerns

authors: Cunningham, Sally Jo

subjects: privacy

abstract: The majority of studies examining privacy concerns of Internet users are based on surveys. Many problems have, however, been identified with using surveys to measure people’s privacy concerns. Based on our experience from our previous studies, in this paper we discuss how ethnographic interviews and observation techniques could be used to analyze users’ behaviour in terms of how they share personal information and multimedia content with others, and utilize this to identify issues related to their privacy concerns more comprehensively than it is otherwise possible with conventional surveys.

text: Analyzing users’ behaviour to identify their privacy concerns The majority of studies examining privacy concerns of Internet users are based on surveys. Many problems have, however, been identified with using surveys to measure people’s privacy concerns. Based on our experience from our previous studies, in this paper we discuss how ethnographic interviews and observation techniques could be used to analyze users’ behaviour in terms of how they share personal information and multimedia content with others, and utilize this to identify issues related to their privacy concerns more comprehensively than it is otherwise possible with conventional surveys.

year: 2010

title: Telomere length in early childhood is associated with sex and ethnicity

authors: Ly, Kien

subjects: Science & Technology

abstract: Telomeres are repetitive DNA sequences at the end of chromosomes that function to protect chromosomes from degradation. Throughout the life course, telomere length decreases with age and is influenced by environmental factors and health conditions. This study aimed to determine the relative telomere lengths in a diverse cohort of about 4000 four-year-old children in New Zealand. Linear regression was used to investigate the relationship between telomere length, child gender, ethnicity, paternal age and deprivation. We observed substantial variation in telomere length according to sex and self-identified ethnicity. Telomere length was longer in females compared to males (coefficient of 0.042, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.024–0.060). European children had shorter telomere than both the indigenous Māori (coefficient of 0.03, CI 0.007–0.055) and Pacific children (coefficient of 0.15, CI 0.12–0.18). The data suggest that telomere lengths are highly variable and variability between individuals arise from early age, influenced partly by sex and ethnicity. Longer telomeres in indigenous Māori and Pacific children may reflect the heritability of telomere length in genetically less complex populations. This study increases our understanding of telomere dynamics in young children since the majority of telomere studies are conducted in adults.

text: Telomere length in early childhood is associated with sex and ethnicity Telomeres are repetitive DNA sequences at the end of chromosomes that function to protect chromosomes from degradation. Throughout the life course, telomere length decreases with age and is influenced by environmental factors and health conditions. This study aimed to determine the relative telomere lengths in a diverse cohort of about 4000 four-year-old children in New Zealand. Linear regression was used to investigate the relationship between telomere length, child gender, ethnicity, paternal age and deprivation. We observed substantial variation in telomere length according to sex and self-identified ethnicity. Telomere length was longer in females compared to males (coefficient of 0.042, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.024–0.060). European children had shorter telomere than both the indigenous Māori (coefficient of 0.03, CI 0.007–0.055) and Pacific children (coefficient of 0.15, CI 0.12–0.18). The data suggest that telomere lengths are highly variable and variability between individuals arise from early age, influenced partly by sex and ethnicity. Longer telomeres in indigenous Māori and Pacific children may reflect the heritability of telomere length in genetically less complex populations. This study increases our understanding of telomere dynamics in young children since the majority of telomere studies are conducted in adults.

year: 2019