title: Men's experiences of parenting successfully with a serious mental illness (SMI)

authors: Ashe, Jonathon Paul

abstract: Many of the men in Aotearoa/New Zealand with Serious Mental Illness (SMI) are fathers, who like others maintain intimate, loving relationships and live healthy and fulfilling lives.  This research seeks to understand what enables this group of fathers to sustain their relationships and parenting responsibilities, through times of illness and stress.  The study interviewed twelve New Zealand European men aged between 34-68 who were coping well with their illnesses and parenting responsibilities.  
Findings revealed that fathering was perceived as a positive element of individual identity that contributed to overall well-being, motivating these men to overcome their adversities.  Communication was considered key in the maintenance of relationships.  Fathers shared the responsibilities of providing and child-rearing with their co-parents and routinely participated in the household chores, demonstrating the practices of a truly ‘involved father’.  Recovery was viewed along a continuum, and self- managed care was considered pivotal in the maintenance of well-being.  Support consisted predominately of small kin networks, of which partners and or parents/in-law were the principal supporters.  General Practitioners provided the primary point of mental health contact.  For those who engaged with specialist mental health services, the needs of their children and or families were not incorporated into their care.  
 In conclusion, these men and their families are focused on living good, meaningful, and engaged lives irrespective of, or perhaps because of SMI.  At the centre of their success appears to be an interrelated process of shared responsibilities, effective communication, and organised routines with a significant degree of reciprocity evident across their relationships.  In conjunction with this, individually these fathers demonstrate an absolute sense of personal responsibility for the maintenance of their overall well-being.

text: Men's experiences of parenting successfully with a serious mental illness (SMI) Many of the men in Aotearoa/New Zealand with Serious Mental Illness (SMI) are fathers, who like others maintain intimate, loving relationships and live healthy and fulfilling lives.  This research seeks to understand what enables this group of fathers to sustain their relationships and parenting responsibilities, through times of illness and stress.  The study interviewed twelve New Zealand European men aged between 34-68 who were coping well with their illnesses and parenting responsibilities.  
Findings revealed that fathering was perceived as a positive element of individual identity that contributed to overall well-being, motivating these men to overcome their adversities.  Communication was considered key in the maintenance of relationships.  Fathers shared the responsibilities of providing and child-rearing with their co-parents and routinely participated in the household chores, demonstrating the practices of a truly ‘involved father’.  Recovery was viewed along a continuum, and self- managed care was considered pivotal in the maintenance of well-being.  Support consisted predominately of small kin networks, of which partners and or parents/in-law were the principal supporters.  General Practitioners provided the primary point of mental health contact.  For those who engaged with specialist mental health services, the needs of their children and or families were not incorporated into their care.  
 In conclusion, these men and their families are focused on living good, meaningful, and engaged lives irrespective of, or perhaps because of SMI.  At the centre of their success appears to be an interrelated process of shared responsibilities, effective communication, and organised routines with a significant degree of reciprocity evident across their relationships.  In conjunction with this, individually these fathers demonstrate an absolute sense of personal responsibility for the maintenance of their overall well-being.

year: 2018

title: Medicinal cannabis for neuropathic pain

authors: McKinnon, Marion

abstract: Neuropathic pain is caused by a dysfunction of the nervous system. It differs from normal pain sensations as it is no longer protective and can be present in the absence of a stimulus. It affects eight percent of the population worldwide and has several causes. Diabetes is the most prevalent cause, with about half of those diagnosed developing diabetic neuropathy. Other causes are genetic diseases (e.g. Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease), immune disorders or medications (e.g. chemotherapy drugs) or injury. Neuropathic pain, regardless of its cause, is often poorly managed leading to poor quality of life for those patients. The currently available analgesic options show little efficacy and are often dose-limiting due to adverse effects. Treatments that improve efficacy or offer lower adverse effects need to be investigated; one such potential treatment is medicinal cannabis. To this end, cannabis isolates and a high CBD whole extract were tested to determine efficacy to relieve neuropathic pain symptoms in a pre-clinical mouse model of neuropathy.
A dose-response trial using gene expression biomarkers was completed in wildtype mice. This was to determine what doses of orally administered CBD (25 - 150 mg/kg) in an olive oil vehicle had a biological effect in the dorsal root ganglia of peripheral nerves of mice. CBD (6.25 - 100 mg/kg), a high CBD whole extract (containing CBD 12.5 mg/kg and THC 0.867 mg/kg) and a pure CBD:THC mix (at the same concentrations) were then used to determine efficacy in ameliorating neuropathic pain in a CMT2A mouse model. Finally, a single high-dose streptozotocin-induced diabetic neuropathy mouse model was characterised to determine the parameters of peripheral neuropathy and neuropathic pain symptoms in male wildtype B6:D2 mice. 
A pure isolate of 12.5 mg/kg CBD showed the greatest efficacy in treating thermal hyperalgesia symptoms in CMT2A mice. This paralleled a clinically relevant dose of gabapentin (40mg/kg) in efficacy for improving thermal hyperalgesia, both as a single dose and in multiple doses across eight hours. Of the cannabinoids tested, high CBD whole extract showed greater efficacy in improving thermal hyperalgesia symptoms in CMT2A mice, with a wider therapeutic window than either CBD alone or CBD:THC. This indicates that in addition to THC, other components in cannabis may contribute to efficacy, or be the result of an entourage effect. 
Characterisation of the diabetic neuropathy model was completed, with two-thirds of the mice developing high blood glucose (≥ 17 mmol/L) within two weeks of a single high dose of streptozotocin. All diabetic mice showed thermal hyperalgesia symptoms and 40% of those also developed mechanical allodynia; with symptoms evident from as early as week four post- streptozotocin. There was no loss of motor function seen across the trial period of 13 weeks. Sciatic nerve tissue taken from these mice showed a marked loss of acetylated alpha-tubulin in both proximal and distal sciatic nerves when compared to the wildtype control group.

text: Medicinal cannabis for neuropathic pain Neuropathic pain is caused by a dysfunction of the nervous system. It differs from normal pain sensations as it is no longer protective and can be present in the absence of a stimulus. It affects eight percent of the population worldwide and has several causes. Diabetes is the most prevalent cause, with about half of those diagnosed developing diabetic neuropathy. Other causes are genetic diseases (e.g. Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease), immune disorders or medications (e.g. chemotherapy drugs) or injury. Neuropathic pain, regardless of its cause, is often poorly managed leading to poor quality of life for those patients. The currently available analgesic options show little efficacy and are often dose-limiting due to adverse effects. Treatments that improve efficacy or offer lower adverse effects need to be investigated; one such potential treatment is medicinal cannabis. To this end, cannabis isolates and a high CBD whole extract were tested to determine efficacy to relieve neuropathic pain symptoms in a pre-clinical mouse model of neuropathy.
A dose-response trial using gene expression biomarkers was completed in wildtype mice. This was to determine what doses of orally administered CBD (25 - 150 mg/kg) in an olive oil vehicle had a biological effect in the dorsal root ganglia of peripheral nerves of mice. CBD (6.25 - 100 mg/kg), a high CBD whole extract (containing CBD 12.5 mg/kg and THC 0.867 mg/kg) and a pure CBD:THC mix (at the same concentrations) were then used to determine efficacy in ameliorating neuropathic pain in a CMT2A mouse model. Finally, a single high-dose streptozotocin-induced diabetic neuropathy mouse model was characterised to determine the parameters of peripheral neuropathy and neuropathic pain symptoms in male wildtype B6:D2 mice. 
A pure isolate of 12.5 mg/kg CBD showed the greatest efficacy in treating thermal hyperalgesia symptoms in CMT2A mice. This paralleled a clinically relevant dose of gabapentin (40mg/kg) in efficacy for improving thermal hyperalgesia, both as a single dose and in multiple doses across eight hours. Of the cannabinoids tested, high CBD whole extract showed greater efficacy in improving thermal hyperalgesia symptoms in CMT2A mice, with a wider therapeutic window than either CBD alone or CBD:THC. This indicates that in addition to THC, other components in cannabis may contribute to efficacy, or be the result of an entourage effect. 
Characterisation of the diabetic neuropathy model was completed, with two-thirds of the mice developing high blood glucose (≥ 17 mmol/L) within two weeks of a single high dose of streptozotocin. All diabetic mice showed thermal hyperalgesia symptoms and 40% of those also developed mechanical allodynia; with symptoms evident from as early as week four post- streptozotocin. There was no loss of motor function seen across the trial period of 13 weeks. Sciatic nerve tissue taken from these mice showed a marked loss of acetylated alpha-tubulin in both proximal and distal sciatic nerves when compared to the wildtype control group.

year: 2024

title: Images of Pakeha-Māori: A Study of the Representation of Pakeha-Māori by Historians of New Zealand From Arthur Thomson (1859) to James Belich (1996)

authors: Bentley, Trevor William

subjects: Pakeha-Maori

abstract: This thesis investigates how Pakeha-Māori have been represented in New Zealand non-fiction writing during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The chronological and textual boundaries range from Arthur Thomson's seminal history The Story of New Zealand (1859) to James Belich's Making Peoples (1996). It examines the discursive inventions and reinventions of Pakeha-Māori from the stereotypical images of the Victorian era to modern times when the contact zone has become a subject of critical investigation and a sign of changing intellectual dynamics in New Zealand and elsewhere.

This thesis is about the history of attitudes to culture-crossers in New Zealand, the use of the term 'Pakeha-Māori', and the images that underlie the thinking of Britons and Pakeha about them. It explores the motives and backgrounds of specific authors and the ways in which they frame New Zealand history. It elucidates the ambiguous and contradictory perspectives of Pakeha-Māori in the literature and analyses its impact on changing public perceptions about them. The study critiques the literature with emphasis on theoretically informed research, historical analysis, and literary insights. Discussion is confined to published texts, with the aim of exploring the multiplicity of Pakeha-Māori images and the processes that gave rise to them.

This study is essentially an investigation into how and why historians and other scholars try to draw boundaries between cultures in order to create a satisfactory metanarrative or myth of the 'settlement' of New Zealand and thus to forge a sense of New Zealandness. The cultural and racial categories of 'Māori' and 'Pakeha' are very unstable, however, and a consideration of the 'in-between' or 'culture-crossing' category of 'Pakeha-Māori' can reveal the way in which 'Māori' and 'Pakeha' and a sense of New Zealand and New Zealanders have been constructed. More particularly, consideration of representations of those culture-crossers or race-crossers called Pakeha-Māori can reveal the hopes and fears of Pakeha writers regarding Pakeha, Māori and New Zealand and how Pakeha-Māori have frequently been a barometer or litmus test of public perceptions of relations between Māori and Pakeha in different historical periods.

text: Images of Pakeha-Māori: A Study of the Representation of Pakeha-Māori by Historians of New Zealand From Arthur Thomson (1859) to James Belich (1996) This thesis investigates how Pakeha-Māori have been represented in New Zealand non-fiction writing during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The chronological and textual boundaries range from Arthur Thomson's seminal history The Story of New Zealand (1859) to James Belich's Making Peoples (1996). It examines the discursive inventions and reinventions of Pakeha-Māori from the stereotypical images of the Victorian era to modern times when the contact zone has become a subject of critical investigation and a sign of changing intellectual dynamics in New Zealand and elsewhere.

This thesis is about the history of attitudes to culture-crossers in New Zealand, the use of the term 'Pakeha-Māori', and the images that underlie the thinking of Britons and Pakeha about them. It explores the motives and backgrounds of specific authors and the ways in which they frame New Zealand history. It elucidates the ambiguous and contradictory perspectives of Pakeha-Māori in the literature and analyses its impact on changing public perceptions about them. The study critiques the literature with emphasis on theoretically informed research, historical analysis, and literary insights. Discussion is confined to published texts, with the aim of exploring the multiplicity of Pakeha-Māori images and the processes that gave rise to them.

This study is essentially an investigation into how and why historians and other scholars try to draw boundaries between cultures in order to create a satisfactory metanarrative or myth of the 'settlement' of New Zealand and thus to forge a sense of New Zealandness. The cultural and racial categories of 'Māori' and 'Pakeha' are very unstable, however, and a consideration of the 'in-between' or 'culture-crossing' category of 'Pakeha-Māori' can reveal the way in which 'Māori' and 'Pakeha' and a sense of New Zealand and New Zealanders have been constructed. More particularly, consideration of representations of those culture-crossers or race-crossers called Pakeha-Māori can reveal the hopes and fears of Pakeha writers regarding Pakeha, Māori and New Zealand and how Pakeha-Māori have frequently been a barometer or litmus test of public perceptions of relations between Māori and Pakeha in different historical periods.

year: 2007