title: The responsibility towards indigenous holism: Rethinking ethical research in the university

authors: Mika, Carl Te Hira

abstract: If there is one fundamental aspect of indigenous philosophy in much indigenous-related literature, it is that all things in the world are interconnected (see eg. Arola (2011); Mika (2017); Andreotti et al (2011)). The nature of this interconnection can only be speculated on (and there is undoubtedly room for more than one perspective on this). Moreover, how it could possibly take form in research, so that research is then ethical from that indigenous holistic perspective, is also at the theoretical stage, and awaits further development. In this presentation, I explore some of the exciting philosophical challenges that await the Maori theorist working in this area, including how any Maori representation about those challenges is itself constituted by all other things.

text: The responsibility towards indigenous holism: Rethinking ethical research in the university If there is one fundamental aspect of indigenous philosophy in much indigenous-related literature, it is that all things in the world are interconnected (see eg. Arola (2011); Mika (2017); Andreotti et al (2011)). The nature of this interconnection can only be speculated on (and there is undoubtedly room for more than one perspective on this). Moreover, how it could possibly take form in research, so that research is then ethical from that indigenous holistic perspective, is also at the theoretical stage, and awaits further development. In this presentation, I explore some of the exciting philosophical challenges that await the Maori theorist working in this area, including how any Maori representation about those challenges is itself constituted by all other things.

year: 2018

title: Outcomes in different ethnic groups of New Zealand patients with screen-detected vs. non-screen-detected breast cancer.

authors: Lawrenson, Ross

subjects: Breast screening

abstract: OBJECTIVE: To compare characteristics and survival of New Zealand European, Māori, and Pacific women with screen-detected vs. non-screen-detected breast cancer. 
METHODS: Women aged 45-69 diagnosed with invasive breast cancer between January 2005 and May 2013 were identified from the Waikato and Auckland Breast Cancer Registries. Patient demographics and tumour characteristics were described by detection mode and ethnicity. Kaplan-Meier method was used to estimate the five-year breast cancer-specific survival of women with stage I-III breast cancer by ethnicity and detection mode. 
RESULTS: Women with screen-detected cancers were older, had smaller tumours, fewer stage IV (0.8% vs. 7.6%), fewer high grade (16.8% vs. 39.0%), and fewer lymph node positive diseases (26.3% vs. 51.5%) than women with non-screen-detected cancers. There were more Luminal A (70.0% vs. 54.0%), fewer human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 positive non-Luminal (4.4% vs. 8.8%), and fewer triple negative cases (7.0% vs. 13.8%) in screen-detected than non-screen-detected cancers. If not screen detected, 22.7% of breast cancers in Pacific women were stage IV compared with 2.4% if screen detected. If not screen detected, the five-year breast cancer-specific survival was 91.1% for New Zealand European women, 84.2% for Māori women, and 80.2% for Pacific women (p-value <0.001). For screen-detected breast cancer, survival between different ethnic groups was similar.
CONCLUSIONS: Breast cancers detected through screening are diagnosed at an earlier stage and have a greater proportion of subtypes, with better outcome. Variations in survival for Māori and Pacific women are only found in women with non-screen-detected breast cancer.

text: Outcomes in different ethnic groups of New Zealand patients with screen-detected vs. non-screen-detected breast cancer. OBJECTIVE: To compare characteristics and survival of New Zealand European, Māori, and Pacific women with screen-detected vs. non-screen-detected breast cancer. 
METHODS: Women aged 45-69 diagnosed with invasive breast cancer between January 2005 and May 2013 were identified from the Waikato and Auckland Breast Cancer Registries. Patient demographics and tumour characteristics were described by detection mode and ethnicity. Kaplan-Meier method was used to estimate the five-year breast cancer-specific survival of women with stage I-III breast cancer by ethnicity and detection mode. 
RESULTS: Women with screen-detected cancers were older, had smaller tumours, fewer stage IV (0.8% vs. 7.6%), fewer high grade (16.8% vs. 39.0%), and fewer lymph node positive diseases (26.3% vs. 51.5%) than women with non-screen-detected cancers. There were more Luminal A (70.0% vs. 54.0%), fewer human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 positive non-Luminal (4.4% vs. 8.8%), and fewer triple negative cases (7.0% vs. 13.8%) in screen-detected than non-screen-detected cancers. If not screen detected, 22.7% of breast cancers in Pacific women were stage IV compared with 2.4% if screen detected. If not screen detected, the five-year breast cancer-specific survival was 91.1% for New Zealand European women, 84.2% for Māori women, and 80.2% for Pacific women (p-value <0.001). For screen-detected breast cancer, survival between different ethnic groups was similar.
CONCLUSIONS: Breast cancers detected through screening are diagnosed at an earlier stage and have a greater proportion of subtypes, with better outcome. Variations in survival for Māori and Pacific women are only found in women with non-screen-detected breast cancer.

year: 2019

title: Crossing new frontiers: extending tephrochronology as a global geoscientific research tool

authors: Abbott, Peter M.

subjects: Science & Technology

abstract: Tephrochronology is a unique stratigraphic tool for linking, dating, and synchronising geological, palaeoenvironmental, or archaeological sequences and events (Lowe, 2011; Alloway et al., 2013). It relies on the identification and tracing of tephra or cryptotephra horizons spatially between various depositional sequences. These horizons can provide stratigraphic event layers (tephrostratigraphy) and, when dated, isochronous age markers — since most tephra are deposited on a scale of days to weeks — that can be transferred from site to site (tephrochronology) (Lane et al., 2017b). The correlation of horizons between different sequences is reliant on matching the physical characteristics, mineralogical assemblages, and geochemical compositions of minerals and/or glass shards in tephra deposits using a range of analytical methods and visual and statistical approaches (e.g. Lowe et al., 2017). Correlating tephra deposits back to their volcanic source allows tephrochronological studies to provide information on the eruption frequency and geochemical evolution of volcanic regions and individual volcanoes.

text: Crossing new frontiers: extending tephrochronology as a global geoscientific research tool Tephrochronology is a unique stratigraphic tool for linking, dating, and synchronising geological, palaeoenvironmental, or archaeological sequences and events (Lowe, 2011; Alloway et al., 2013). It relies on the identification and tracing of tephra or cryptotephra horizons spatially between various depositional sequences. These horizons can provide stratigraphic event layers (tephrostratigraphy) and, when dated, isochronous age markers — since most tephra are deposited on a scale of days to weeks — that can be transferred from site to site (tephrochronology) (Lane et al., 2017b). The correlation of horizons between different sequences is reliant on matching the physical characteristics, mineralogical assemblages, and geochemical compositions of minerals and/or glass shards in tephra deposits using a range of analytical methods and visual and statistical approaches (e.g. Lowe et al., 2017). Correlating tephra deposits back to their volcanic source allows tephrochronological studies to provide information on the eruption frequency and geochemical evolution of volcanic regions and individual volcanoes.

year: 2020