A numerical investigation of the effects of model parameterization on the delineation of source protection zones under uncertainty.

Source protection zone delineation has evolved over the past decades from fixed radius or analytical and numerical methods which do not consider uncertainty, to more complex stochastic numerical approaches. In this paper we explore options for delineating a source protection zone, while considering the inherent uncertainty involved in characterizing hydraulic conductivity. We consider a representative pumping well in an unconfined alluvial aquifer under steady-state flow conditions, with the hydraulic conductivity distribution inferred from borehole lithology data in the West Melton area near Christchurch, New Zealand.

The use of prescription medication and other drugs by New Zealand drivers with illegal blood alcohol levels.

Objective: This study examined the prevalence of the use of prescription medicines and other drugs by a selected subgroup of New Zealand drivers. The use of potentially impairing prescription drugs by the driving population is largely unknown. The population studied was drivers who were stopped by police, failed a breath alcohol test, elected to provide a blood sample for laboratory analysis, and had blood alcohol levels exceeding the legal limit.

Analysis of forensic polymer samples using double shot pyrolysis gas chromatography - Mass spectrometry.

Polymers are present in many different products, such as paints, plastics, and rubbers, which are routinely encountered in forensic casework. Comparison of such samples involves an initial visual examination followed by comparison of the chemical compositions of the exhibits. Techniques such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and pyrolysis gas chromatography - mass spectrometry (PyGC-MS) have been reported for determining the chemical compositions of polymers in forensic samples.

A case-control study and molecular epidemiology of yersiniosis in Aotearoa New Zealand.

The objective of this study was to determine risk factors and sources attributed to yersiniosis in Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ). A risk factor questionnaire was administered to 247 notified yersiniosis cases and 258 control participants from the Canterbury and/or Wellington regions of NZ. sp.

Reporting population size in wastewater-based epidemiology: A scoping review.

Knowledge of the number of people present in a catchment is fundamental for the assessment of spatio-temporal trends in wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE). Accurately estimating the number of people connected to wastewater catchments is challenging however, because populations are dynamic. Methods used to estimate population size can significantly influence the calculation and interpretation of population-normalised wastewater data (PNWD).

Public health use and lessons learned from a statewide SARS-CoV-2 wastewater monitoring program (MiNET).

The global SARS-CoV-2 monitoring effort has been extensive, resulting in many states and countries establishing wastewater-based epidemiology programs to address the spread of the virus during the pandemic. Challenges for programs include concurrently optimizing methods, training new laboratories, and implementing successful surveillance programs that can rapidly translate results for public health, and policy making. Surveillance in Michigan early in the pandemic in 2020 highlights the importance of quality-controlled data and explores correlations with wastewater and clinical case data aggregated at the state level.

Warming drives dissolved organic carbon export from pristine alpine soils.

Despite decades of research, the influence of climate on the export of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) from soil remains poorly constrained, adding uncertainty to global carbon models. The limited temporal range of contemporary monitoring data, ongoing climate reorganisation and confounding anthropogenic activities muddy the waters further. Here, we reconstruct DOC leaching over the last ~14,000 years using alpine environmental archives (two speleothems and one lake sediment core) across 4° of latitude from Te Waipounamu/South Island of Aotearoa New Zealand.

EpiDiP/NanoDiP: a versatile unsupervised machine learning edge computing platform for epigenomic tumour diagnostics.

DNA methylation analysis based on supervised machine learning algorithms with static reference data, allowing diagnostic tumour typing with unprecedented precision, has quickly become a new standard of care. Whereas genome-wide diagnostic methylation profiling is mostly performed on microarrays, an increasing number of institutions additionally employ nanopore sequencing as a faster alternative. In addition, methylation-specific parallel sequencing can generate methylation and genomic copy number data.

Using CHROMagar™ STEC medium exclusively does not recover all clinically relevant Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli in Aotearoa, New Zealand.

Diagnostic laboratories in Aotearoa, New Zealand (NZ) refer cultures from faecal samples positive for Shiga toxin genes to the national Enteric Reference Laboratory for isolation of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) for epidemiological typing. As there was variation in the culture media being referred, a panel of 75 clinical isolates of STEC, representing 28 different serotypes, was used to assess six commercially available media and provide guidance to clinical laboratories. Recommendations were subsequently tested for a 3-month period, where STEC isolations and confirmations were assessed by whole genome sequencing analysis against the culture media referred.

Wastewater-based Epidemiology to Investigate Spatio-Temporal Trends in Alcohol Consumption in Aotearoa, New Zealand.

Alcohol is an influential drug that has extensive societal impact. In Aotearoa New Zealand, there are a number of worrying trends related to alcohol consumption including rates of alcohol-related harm and violence and heavy episodic drinking. To understand and address these issues, alcohol consumption rates and related trends need to be understood.

Rapid analysis of amphetamine-type substances using Agilent's QuickProbe gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer technology.

The Agilent QuickProbe gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer (QP-GCMS) is a rapid analytical instrument requiring minimal sample preparation. The instrument was considered for the screening of samples for potential implementation at New Zealand's border screening laboratory. One of the project's primary aims was to validate the method for the analysis of border seizures, including drug concealments, novel psychoactive substances (NPS), low-dose drugs and unknown substances.

High-performing plastic clones best explain the spread of yellow monkeyflower from lowland to higher elevation areas in New Zealand.

The relative contribution of adaptation and phenotypic plasticity can vary between core and edge populations, with implications for invasive success. We investigated the spread of the invasive yellow monkeyflower, Erythranthe gutatta in New Zealand, where it is spreading from lowland agricultural land into high-elevation conservation areas. We investigated the extent of phenotypic variation among clones from across the South Island, looked for adaptation and compared degrees of plasticity among lowland core versus montane range-edge populations.

Gut microbial communities of hybridising pygmy angelfishes reflect species boundaries.

Hybridisation and introgression of eukaryotic genomes can generate new species or subsume existing ones, with direct and indirect consequences for biodiversity. An understudied component of these evolutionary forces is their potentially rapid effect on host gut microbiomes, and whether these pliable microcosms may serve as early biological indicators of speciation. We address this hypothesis in a field study of angelfishes (genus Centropyge), which have one of the highest prevalence of hybridisation within coral reef fish.

Use of carrion fly iDNA metabarcoding to monitor invasive and native mammals.

Severely fragmented habitats increase the risk of extirpation of native mammal populations through isolation, increased edge effects, and predation. Therefore, monitoring the movement of mammal populations through anthropogenically altered landscapes can inform conservation. We used metabarcoding of invertebrate-derived DNA (iDNA) from carrion flies (Calliphoridae and Sarcophagidae) to track mammal populations in the wheat belt of southwestern Australia, where widespread clearing for agriculture has removed most of the native perennial vegetation and replaced it with an agricultural system.

Surface-modified activated carbon for N-nitrosodimethylamine removal in the continuous flow biological activated carbon columns.

The carcinogenic nitrogenous disinfection by-product, N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), is challenging to adsorb due to its high polarity and solubility. Our previous research demonstrated that the adsorptive removal of NDMA can be improved using surface-modified activated carbon (AC800). The current study evaluated the efficacy of AC800 in removing NDMA in a continuous-flow column over 75 days, using both granular activated carbon (GAC) and biologically activated carbon (BAC) columns.

How Saliva Interferes with Colorimetric Gold Nanoparticle Aptasensors: Understanding and Mitigating Surface Interactions.

Colorimetric gold-nanoparticle-based biosensors are an attractive platform for the detection of small-molecule analytes. Taking advantage of the adsorption of DNA aptamer probes on AuNPs, these sensors can be simple, rapid, sensitive, selective, and cost-effective. These properties are important for rapid detection of drugs like methamphetamine in biological matrices.

Chromosome-level assembly of the genome reveals adaptation in effector gene families.

species are notorious plant pathogens, with some causing devastating tree diseases that threaten the survival of their host species. One such example is , the causal agent of kauri dieback - a root and trunk rot disease that kills the ancient, iconic and culturally significant tree species, (New Zealand kauri). A deeper understanding of how pathogens infect their hosts and cause disease is critical for the development of effective treatments.

Ancient DNA provides insights into 4,000 years of resource economy across Greenland.

The success and failure of past cultures across the Arctic was tightly coupled to the ability of past peoples to exploit the full range of resources available to them. There is substantial evidence for the hunting of birds, caribou and seals in prehistoric Greenland. However, the extent to which these communities relied on fish and cetaceans is understudied because of taphonomic processes that affect how these taxa are presented in the archaeological record.

DNA metabarcoding identifies urban foraging patterns of oligolectic and polylectic cavity-nesting bees.

Urbanisation modifies natural landscapes resulting in built-up space that is covered by buildings or hard surfaces and managed green spaces that often substitute native plant species with exotics. Some native bee species have been able to adapt to urban environments, foraging and reproducing in these highly modified areas. However, little is known on how the foraging ecology of native bees is affected by urbanised environments, and whether impacts vary among species with different degrees of specialisation for pollen collection.

Deposition of methamphetamine residues produced by simulated smoking.

In New Zealand, many concerns have been raised over the presence of methamphetamine contamination in households, especially when its provenance is unknown. Previous research found that contamination levels on household surfaces were higher after the premises had been used as a clandestine laboratory. It is believed that the levels of contamination produced from smoking methamphetamine are much less than those produced through manufacture.

Key factors to consider in the use of environmental DNA metabarcoding to monitor terrestrial ecological restoration.

Ecological restoration of terrestrial environments is a globally important process to combat the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Holistic monitoring of restored biota and active management of restoration is necessary to improve restoration processes and outcomes, and provide evidence to stakeholders that targets are being achieved. Increasingly, environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding is used as a restoration monitoring tool because it is able to generate biodiversity data rapidly, accurately, non-destructively, and reliably, on a wide breadth of organisms from soil microbes to mammals.

Accounting for Interaction Kinetics between Gold Nanoparticles and Aptamers Enables High-Performance Colorimetric Sensors.

DNA aptamers have emerged as promising probes for challenging analytes that cannot be easily detected by conventional probes, including small-molecule targets. Among the different signal transduction approaches, gold nanoparticle (AuNP) aggregation assays have been widely used to generate a colorimetric response from aptamer-target interactions. This sensor design relies on the competition between the aptamer adsorbing to the AuNP surface versus interacting with the target, whereby target binding reduces the number of adsorbed aptamers that destabilizes AuNPs toward salt-induced aggregation, thereby inducing a color change.

New Zealand travellers to high-risk destinations for arbovirus infection make little effort to avoid mosquito bites.

There has been no local transmission of arbovirus disease recorded in New Zealand to date. However, in the past two decades, there have been increasing numbers of overseas-acquired cases of arbovirus infections in New Zealand, mainly dengue, Zika, chikungunya and Ross River viruses. The repeated introduction of these viruses to the immunologically naïve New Zealand population through viraemic travellers represents a potential risk for local transmission by resident or new mosquito vectors.

Ancient proteins resolve controversy over the identity of eggshell.

The realization that ancient biomolecules are preserved in "fossil" samples has revolutionized archaeological science. Protein sequences survive longer than DNA, but their phylogenetic resolution is inferior; therefore, careful assessment of the research questions is required. Here, we show the potential of ancient proteins preserved in Pleistocene eggshell in addressing a longstanding controversy in human and animal evolution: the identity of the extinct bird that laid large eggs which were exploited by Australia's indigenous people.