title: Novel Brominated Alkaloids from the Bryozoan Amathia citrina

authors: Shrubsall, Jacob

subjects: Natural Products

abstract: Sixteen bryozoan species from the United Kingdom and New Zealand were surveyed for the presence of brominated secondary metabolites by Liquid Chromatography tandem Mass Spectrometry (LCMS) analysis. Brominated metabolites were detected in six of these samples. Collections of the species Amathia citrina and Amathia verticillata were determined as ideal candidates for a natural products study due to the presence of potentially novel brominated secondary metabolites in reasonable abundance.
The sample with the greatest number and seemingly highest concentration of brominated secondary metabolites, of all species surveyed, was the species Amathia citrina (previously Bowerbankia citrina) from Swansea, Wales, and so was selected as the candidate for this study.
Eight related metabolites were detected in A. citrina, speculated to be a family of brominated alkaloids. Attempts were made to isolate and purify two members of this family of compounds by reversed-phase and size exclusion chromatography, but were unable to be obtained in a pure state. Nevertheless, they were then partially characterised by mass spectrometry (MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to be discovered as a new family of brominated indole alkaloids, tentatively named the amathamines.

text: Novel Brominated Alkaloids from the Bryozoan Amathia citrina Sixteen bryozoan species from the United Kingdom and New Zealand were surveyed for the presence of brominated secondary metabolites by Liquid Chromatography tandem Mass Spectrometry (LCMS) analysis. Brominated metabolites were detected in six of these samples. Collections of the species Amathia citrina and Amathia verticillata were determined as ideal candidates for a natural products study due to the presence of potentially novel brominated secondary metabolites in reasonable abundance.
The sample with the greatest number and seemingly highest concentration of brominated secondary metabolites, of all species surveyed, was the species Amathia citrina (previously Bowerbankia citrina) from Swansea, Wales, and so was selected as the candidate for this study.
Eight related metabolites were detected in A. citrina, speculated to be a family of brominated alkaloids. Attempts were made to isolate and purify two members of this family of compounds by reversed-phase and size exclusion chromatography, but were unable to be obtained in a pure state. Nevertheless, they were then partially characterised by mass spectrometry (MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to be discovered as a new family of brominated indole alkaloids, tentatively named the amathamines.

year: 2017

title: International symposium on volcanic-ash soils and field workshop in Mt Fuji area, Japan - conference report

authors: Lowe, David J.

abstract: An international symposium on Andisols and related soils, comprising one day of invited lectures at the Ikuta campus of Meiji University (17 March, 2006) and a two-day field trip in the Mt Fuji-Hakone area (18–19 March), was convened by soil scientist Professor Hiroshi Takesako, School of Agriculture, Meiji University (Ikuta campus), Kawasaki city, Kanagawa prefecture (near Tokyo). The 44 symposium and field trip were followed by the 50th anniversary meeting of the Japanese Society of Pedology (JSP), which consisted of one day of presentations (20 March) in the College of Bioresource Sciences, Nihon University (Shonann campus), Fujisawa city, Kanagawa prefecture. The symposium was sponsored by the Institute of Science and Technology of Meiji University, and by JSP.  
Prof. Hiroshi Takesako, who twice has visited the Department of Earth Sciences at University of Waikato (in September, 2001 – see Lowe, 2001 – and in August-September, 2004), organized the symposium partly to expose his students to an international panel of English-speaking soil scientists with some expertise in Andisols or related volcanic-ash derived soils. Hiroshi was also keen to sponsor and support scientists from developing Asian countries (and New Zealand). Consequently, six invited speakers each presented ~40-minute lectures on the first day of the symposium. All wrote up their lectures as papers for publication in the Proceedings (edited by Hiroshi Takesako). Copies of powerpoint presentations were made available as handouts (most in colour) for the participants to help enable them to follow the talks. Around 50 geoscientists and students attended the symposium lectures.

text: International symposium on volcanic-ash soils and field workshop in Mt Fuji area, Japan - conference report An international symposium on Andisols and related soils, comprising one day of invited lectures at the Ikuta campus of Meiji University (17 March, 2006) and a two-day field trip in the Mt Fuji-Hakone area (18–19 March), was convened by soil scientist Professor Hiroshi Takesako, School of Agriculture, Meiji University (Ikuta campus), Kawasaki city, Kanagawa prefecture (near Tokyo). The 44 symposium and field trip were followed by the 50th anniversary meeting of the Japanese Society of Pedology (JSP), which consisted of one day of presentations (20 March) in the College of Bioresource Sciences, Nihon University (Shonann campus), Fujisawa city, Kanagawa prefecture. The symposium was sponsored by the Institute of Science and Technology of Meiji University, and by JSP.  
Prof. Hiroshi Takesako, who twice has visited the Department of Earth Sciences at University of Waikato (in September, 2001 – see Lowe, 2001 – and in August-September, 2004), organized the symposium partly to expose his students to an international panel of English-speaking soil scientists with some expertise in Andisols or related volcanic-ash derived soils. Hiroshi was also keen to sponsor and support scientists from developing Asian countries (and New Zealand). Consequently, six invited speakers each presented ~40-minute lectures on the first day of the symposium. All wrote up their lectures as papers for publication in the Proceedings (edited by Hiroshi Takesako). Copies of powerpoint presentations were made available as handouts (most in colour) for the participants to help enable them to follow the talks. Around 50 geoscientists and students attended the symposium lectures.

year: 2006

title: Leadership: Going beyond personal will and professional skills to give life to Ka Hikitia

authors: Berryman, Mere

subjects: education policy

abstract: This paper investigates the Ka Hikitia Māori education policy and its subsequent influence in effecting system change towards Māori students’ achievement. It discusses how a Request for Proposal to the Ministry of Education’s Building on Success was conceptualised to support English-medium secondary schools across New Zealand to address this policy. The result, Kia Eke Panuku, is a professional learning and development response that works with Strategic Change Leadership Teams to create culturally responsive and relational contexts for learning, focused on Māori students enjoying and achieving educational success as Māori. It is argued that neither a political mandate for change nor a set of learned strategies by school personnel will truly bring about a changed reality for Māori students. Rather the reform must be led by transformative leaders who are driven by both the moral imperative to change and a keen sense of urgency to see this happen in our schools for Māori students and their home communities.
The major issues raised in this paper, and the solutions that have been reached thus far, can help inform others who are trying to raise the participation, inclusion and achievement of students who may currently be marginalised from formal education settings.

text: Leadership: Going beyond personal will and professional skills to give life to Ka Hikitia This paper investigates the Ka Hikitia Māori education policy and its subsequent influence in effecting system change towards Māori students’ achievement. It discusses how a Request for Proposal to the Ministry of Education’s Building on Success was conceptualised to support English-medium secondary schools across New Zealand to address this policy. The result, Kia Eke Panuku, is a professional learning and development response that works with Strategic Change Leadership Teams to create culturally responsive and relational contexts for learning, focused on Māori students enjoying and achieving educational success as Māori. It is argued that neither a political mandate for change nor a set of learned strategies by school personnel will truly bring about a changed reality for Māori students. Rather the reform must be led by transformative leaders who are driven by both the moral imperative to change and a keen sense of urgency to see this happen in our schools for Māori students and their home communities.
The major issues raised in this paper, and the solutions that have been reached thus far, can help inform others who are trying to raise the participation, inclusion and achievement of students who may currently be marginalised from formal education settings.

year: 2015