title: A symbiotic model for transforming public healthcare in New Zealand

authors: Green, Craig J.

abstract: Given the poor state of public healthcare in New Zealand, this study challenges researchers and practitioners to expand their conceptual repertoire beyond mere cost-cutting and piecemeal improvements to consider potentially transformative business models. It invites stakeholders to consider how they ascribe meaning to behaviour, events, and environments when participating in every aspect of healthcare provision.  

A Delphi study garnered expert opinion on the ideal healthcare system for New Zealand, which senior District Health Board interviewees confirmed should involve equitable access, patient-centred care, service integration, and shared resources. To deliver this ideal, traditional pipeline model elements and an emergent platform ecosystem were merged, creating a symbiotic, hybrid healthcare concept in which the pipeline’s efficient methodical processes and the platform’s flexible facilitation of patient/provider engagements combine to offer a context-specific approach to healthcare provision, superior value-based outcomes and fair distribution of resources. Model validation extended to consideration of a comprehensive implementation roadmap that emerged from the main mechanisms and stakeholder behaviours required to transform today’s healthcare system.  

As the healthcare landscape evolves, embracing dynamic and inclusive approaches that prioritise patients and harness the potential of technological advancements is crucial. By inviting practitioners to reflect on their participation in healthcare provision, this study contributes to the ongoing discourse on healthcare delivery models. It provides valuable insights for researchers, policymakers, and practitioners navigating the complex world of contemporary healthcare.

text: A symbiotic model for transforming public healthcare in New Zealand Given the poor state of public healthcare in New Zealand, this study challenges researchers and practitioners to expand their conceptual repertoire beyond mere cost-cutting and piecemeal improvements to consider potentially transformative business models. It invites stakeholders to consider how they ascribe meaning to behaviour, events, and environments when participating in every aspect of healthcare provision.  

A Delphi study garnered expert opinion on the ideal healthcare system for New Zealand, which senior District Health Board interviewees confirmed should involve equitable access, patient-centred care, service integration, and shared resources. To deliver this ideal, traditional pipeline model elements and an emergent platform ecosystem were merged, creating a symbiotic, hybrid healthcare concept in which the pipeline’s efficient methodical processes and the platform’s flexible facilitation of patient/provider engagements combine to offer a context-specific approach to healthcare provision, superior value-based outcomes and fair distribution of resources. Model validation extended to consideration of a comprehensive implementation roadmap that emerged from the main mechanisms and stakeholder behaviours required to transform today’s healthcare system.  

As the healthcare landscape evolves, embracing dynamic and inclusive approaches that prioritise patients and harness the potential of technological advancements is crucial. By inviting practitioners to reflect on their participation in healthcare provision, this study contributes to the ongoing discourse on healthcare delivery models. It provides valuable insights for researchers, policymakers, and practitioners navigating the complex world of contemporary healthcare.

year: 2025

title: Exploring the role of binding surface in enzymatic ligation of modified and synthetic substrates

authors: Dutta, Aakashdeep

subjects: XNA

abstract: Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) ligases are essential enzymes that catalyze the formation of phosphodiester bonds to repair nicks in DNA during replication and repair processes. Their ability to ligate synthetic non-canonical nucleic acids (NCNAs), such as unnatural base pairs (UBPs) and backbone-modified DNA/RNA, has significant implications for synthetic biology, biotechnology, and therapeutic applications. This study aimed to evaluate the activity of various DNA ligases on UBP and backbone-modified DNA/RNA substrates, optimize ligation conditions, and explore the relationship between ligase structure and substrate preference.

The study focused on three main objectives: (1) establishing baseline ligation activity for UBP and backbone-modified substrates across multiple ligases, (2) investigating the impact of ligase binding domain size on substrate preference, and (3) optimizing ligation conditions to enhance enzyme activity. A panel of ligases, including Human DNA ligase I, Escherichia coli ligase A, Neisseria gonorrhoeae ligase A, and several ATP-dependent ligases (Lig 3, Lig 4, Lig 5, Lig 12, Lig 15), were tested on substrates containing UBPs (P-Z and S-B systems) and backbone modifications (phosphorothioate (PPT) and 2’-Methoxyethoxy (MOE) RNA).

Results revealed that ligases exhibited varying levels of activity depending on the substrate type and modification position. H-Lig I and Lig 4 demonstrated the highest ligation activity on UBP substrates, particularly those with modifications at the 5’ end of the nick. In contrast, substrates with UBPs on both ends of the nick were poorly tolerated. Gel shift assays confirmed that low ligation activity was not due to binding failure but rather steric hindrance during the adenyl group transfer step. For backbone-modified substrates, Lig 3 and Lig 5 emerged as the most effective, with PPT modifications being better tolerated than MOE modifications. The addition of 10% polyethylene glycol (PEG) 3350 as a crowding agent significantly improved ligation efficiency, particularly for MOE substrates, but inhibited the activity of larger ligases like Lig 12 and H-Lig I.

In conclusion, this study provides valuable insights into the activity of DNA ligases on non-canonical substrates, highlighting the importance of ligase structure and reaction conditions in determining ligation efficiency. The findings contribute to the growing toolbox of synthetic biology and pave the way for further exploration of ligase-substrate interactions, enzyme engineering, and the development of novel biotechnological applications.

text: Exploring the role of binding surface in enzymatic ligation of modified and synthetic substrates Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) ligases are essential enzymes that catalyze the formation of phosphodiester bonds to repair nicks in DNA during replication and repair processes. Their ability to ligate synthetic non-canonical nucleic acids (NCNAs), such as unnatural base pairs (UBPs) and backbone-modified DNA/RNA, has significant implications for synthetic biology, biotechnology, and therapeutic applications. This study aimed to evaluate the activity of various DNA ligases on UBP and backbone-modified DNA/RNA substrates, optimize ligation conditions, and explore the relationship between ligase structure and substrate preference.

The study focused on three main objectives: (1) establishing baseline ligation activity for UBP and backbone-modified substrates across multiple ligases, (2) investigating the impact of ligase binding domain size on substrate preference, and (3) optimizing ligation conditions to enhance enzyme activity. A panel of ligases, including Human DNA ligase I, Escherichia coli ligase A, Neisseria gonorrhoeae ligase A, and several ATP-dependent ligases (Lig 3, Lig 4, Lig 5, Lig 12, Lig 15), were tested on substrates containing UBPs (P-Z and S-B systems) and backbone modifications (phosphorothioate (PPT) and 2’-Methoxyethoxy (MOE) RNA).

Results revealed that ligases exhibited varying levels of activity depending on the substrate type and modification position. H-Lig I and Lig 4 demonstrated the highest ligation activity on UBP substrates, particularly those with modifications at the 5’ end of the nick. In contrast, substrates with UBPs on both ends of the nick were poorly tolerated. Gel shift assays confirmed that low ligation activity was not due to binding failure but rather steric hindrance during the adenyl group transfer step. For backbone-modified substrates, Lig 3 and Lig 5 emerged as the most effective, with PPT modifications being better tolerated than MOE modifications. The addition of 10% polyethylene glycol (PEG) 3350 as a crowding agent significantly improved ligation efficiency, particularly for MOE substrates, but inhibited the activity of larger ligases like Lig 12 and H-Lig I.

In conclusion, this study provides valuable insights into the activity of DNA ligases on non-canonical substrates, highlighting the importance of ligase structure and reaction conditions in determining ligation efficiency. The findings contribute to the growing toolbox of synthetic biology and pave the way for further exploration of ligase-substrate interactions, enzyme engineering, and the development of novel biotechnological applications.

year: 2025

title: Kūkupa, koro, and kai: The use of Māori vocabulary items in New Zealand English children's picture books

authors: Daly, Nicola

subjects: New Zealand

abstract: When a linguistic form from one language is used in another language, such words are known as borrowings or loan words (Crystal 2003: 56). The English language is renowned for its large capacity for borrowing and it has been suggested that the growth in internationalism in recent times has led to people seeking new words to indicate their local identity (Crystal 1995; Crystal 2003). Certainly this is the case of New Zealand English, the most distinctive aspect of which is borrowings from te reo Maori (Deverson 1991). In 1984 Deverson estimated that most New Zealanders have a passive knowledge of at least 40-50 borrowed Maori loan words (Deverson 1984). This figure has been recently revised by Macalister to 70-80 such words (20,-,63.). A study of the frequency of Maori loan words in New Zealand English in New Zealand School Journals of the 1960s and 1990s showed an incidence of around 6 words per 1,000 (Macalister 1999). Kennedy and Yamazaki (1999) also found borrowed Maori words at a rate of 6 per thousand words. Macalister (2006b) has examined the use of Maori loan words in New Zealand English across a 150 year period from 1850-2000. He examined a corpus of a little under five and a half million words from three sources: Newspapers, parliamentary debates and School Journals. Across the three sources there was an increase from 3.29 words per 1,000 in 1850 to 8.8 per thousand in 2000. Macalister lists the reasons for this change as including urbanisation of the Maori population between 1945 and 1975, which created more contact; the changing status of the Maori language with the kOhanga reo movement; the establishment of the Maori Language Commission (Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Maori) and legislation of Maori as an official language of New Zealand in 1987.

text: Kūkupa, koro, and kai: The use of Māori vocabulary items in New Zealand English children's picture books When a linguistic form from one language is used in another language, such words are known as borrowings or loan words (Crystal 2003: 56). The English language is renowned for its large capacity for borrowing and it has been suggested that the growth in internationalism in recent times has led to people seeking new words to indicate their local identity (Crystal 1995; Crystal 2003). Certainly this is the case of New Zealand English, the most distinctive aspect of which is borrowings from te reo Maori (Deverson 1991). In 1984 Deverson estimated that most New Zealanders have a passive knowledge of at least 40-50 borrowed Maori loan words (Deverson 1984). This figure has been recently revised by Macalister to 70-80 such words (20,-,63.). A study of the frequency of Maori loan words in New Zealand English in New Zealand School Journals of the 1960s and 1990s showed an incidence of around 6 words per 1,000 (Macalister 1999). Kennedy and Yamazaki (1999) also found borrowed Maori words at a rate of 6 per thousand words. Macalister (2006b) has examined the use of Maori loan words in New Zealand English across a 150 year period from 1850-2000. He examined a corpus of a little under five and a half million words from three sources: Newspapers, parliamentary debates and School Journals. Across the three sources there was an increase from 3.29 words per 1,000 in 1850 to 8.8 per thousand in 2000. Macalister lists the reasons for this change as including urbanisation of the Maori population between 1945 and 1975, which created more contact; the changing status of the Maori language with the kOhanga reo movement; the establishment of the Maori Language Commission (Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Maori) and legislation of Maori as an official language of New Zealand in 1987.

year: 2007