title: Optimizing the ratio of captures to trapping effort in a black rat Rattus rattus control programme in New Zealand

authors: King, Carolyn M.

subjects: rattus rattus

abstract: The ratio of captures to unit effort is an important cost/benefit measure for volunteer pest control programmes. We describe an experiment designed to investigate the use of pre-feeding and trap pulsing as possible means of increasing this ratio. In 20 traps locked-open and pre-fed with non-toxic pellets for five days, the same number of black rats was caught over the next 5 days as in 20 non pre-fed traps set for the whole 10 days (32 rats each). Allowing for successful traps being unavailable for an average of half a night each, the capture rate in the pre-fed traps was 47% over five days, more than double that in the non pre-fed traps set for twice as long (total 19% in 10 days).

text: Optimizing the ratio of captures to trapping effort in a black rat Rattus rattus control programme in New Zealand The ratio of captures to unit effort is an important cost/benefit measure for volunteer pest control programmes. We describe an experiment designed to investigate the use of pre-feeding and trap pulsing as possible means of increasing this ratio. In 20 traps locked-open and pre-fed with non-toxic pellets for five days, the same number of black rats was caught over the next 5 days as in 20 non pre-fed traps set for the whole 10 days (32 rats each). Allowing for successful traps being unavailable for an average of half a night each, the capture rate in the pre-fed traps was 47% over five days, more than double that in the non pre-fed traps set for twice as long (total 19% in 10 days).

year: 2013

title: Flat primes and thin primes

authors: Broughan, Kevin A.

subjects: flat prime

abstract: A number is called upper (lower) flat if its shift by +1 ( −1) is a power of 2 times a squarefree number. If the squarefree number is 1 or a single odd prime then the original number is called upper (lower) thin. Upper flat numbers which are primes arise in the study of multi-perfect numbers. Here we show that the lower or upper flat primes have asymptotic density relative to that of the full set of primes given by twice Artin’s constant, that more than 53% of the primes are both lower and upper flat, and that the series of reciprocals of the lower or the upper thin primes converges.

text: Flat primes and thin primes A number is called upper (lower) flat if its shift by +1 ( −1) is a power of 2 times a squarefree number. If the squarefree number is 1 or a single odd prime then the original number is called upper (lower) thin. Upper flat numbers which are primes arise in the study of multi-perfect numbers. Here we show that the lower or upper flat primes have asymptotic density relative to that of the full set of primes given by twice Artin’s constant, that more than 53% of the primes are both lower and upper flat, and that the series of reciprocals of the lower or the upper thin primes converges.

year: 2010

title: Intersecting knowledge worlds: Describing the cultural interfaces within a socioscientific issue

authors: Wagner, Brent

subjects: cultural interface

abstract: Increasing numbers of science teachers in Aotearoa New Zealand are exploring ways to incorporate indigenous mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge and ways of knowing) into their science programmes. This article presents findings from a study that examined how senior biology students in two English-medium secondary schools incorporated mātauranga Māori alongside biological science knowledge in their discussions about the use of 1080 poison to control mammalian predators. From a social constructivist ontology and interpretivist mode of inquiry using qualitative methodology, a triadic epistemic agency conceptual framework was developed inductively and used to analyse students’ written scripts for their national school leaving qualification (NCEA), and transcriptions of individual interviews. The study took place prior to the introduction of equal status to mātauranga Māori within the New Zealand Curriculum. Deductive analysis using the Triadic identified a group of ten students who drew from both knowledge systems, with varying degrees of knowledge integration. In addition to detailed representations of the theoretical space of the locale of the learner, the findings also identified three distinctive cultural interfaces occupied by the students: conflicted, parallel, and, connected. The findings underscore the importance of enabling diverse knowledge systems in biology classes to converge. Specifically, the incorporation of mātauranga Māori alongside biological science knowledge encourages a critical stance towards knowledge claims, supports pluralist knowledge use among culturally and linguistically diverse learners and promotes critical engagement with socioscientific issues (SSI) in senior secondary school biology.

text: Intersecting knowledge worlds: Describing the cultural interfaces within a socioscientific issue Increasing numbers of science teachers in Aotearoa New Zealand are exploring ways to incorporate indigenous mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge and ways of knowing) into their science programmes. This article presents findings from a study that examined how senior biology students in two English-medium secondary schools incorporated mātauranga Māori alongside biological science knowledge in their discussions about the use of 1080 poison to control mammalian predators. From a social constructivist ontology and interpretivist mode of inquiry using qualitative methodology, a triadic epistemic agency conceptual framework was developed inductively and used to analyse students’ written scripts for their national school leaving qualification (NCEA), and transcriptions of individual interviews. The study took place prior to the introduction of equal status to mātauranga Māori within the New Zealand Curriculum. Deductive analysis using the Triadic identified a group of ten students who drew from both knowledge systems, with varying degrees of knowledge integration. In addition to detailed representations of the theoretical space of the locale of the learner, the findings also identified three distinctive cultural interfaces occupied by the students: conflicted, parallel, and, connected. The findings underscore the importance of enabling diverse knowledge systems in biology classes to converge. Specifically, the incorporation of mātauranga Māori alongside biological science knowledge encourages a critical stance towards knowledge claims, supports pluralist knowledge use among culturally and linguistically diverse learners and promotes critical engagement with socioscientific issues (SSI) in senior secondary school biology.

year: 2026