Judicial review in the New Zealand planning system: 1926–1977

This paper explores the development of the planning appeal system in New Zealand in the period from 1926 to 1977 under the first two town planning acts, in particular focusing on the judicial aspects of that process. Drawing on archival and oral history sources it traces the development of the system from one of an expert panel to an appeal board which functioned as a tribunal and increasingly blended town planning and legal considerations. It was also a system that ran on the proverbial shoestring while at the same time developing an appeals system and a cannon of decisions that influenced the development of town planning in New Zealand.     

Multiple Land Regimes: Rethinking Land Governance in Maputo’s Peri-urban Spaces

Africa’s increasing levels of urbanisation have significant implications for urban land. Growing populations imply that there is increasing pressure on cities to provide economic opportunities, housing, infrastructure and social services to existing and incoming urban dwellers. These activities take place on urban land, and much of the new growth occurs outside of the state regulatory and legal frameworks. Using survey data collected in Maputo’s peri-urban areas of Luis Cabral and Hulene B, this paper explores how ordinary urban dwellers access, hold, transact and manage land. These findings suggest that a land market that is technically outside of the legal system exists. Notwithstanding its illegality, these land practices are organised, comprising sophisticated local land management and regulatory systems. The low incidence of land conflicts in both neighbourhoods shows that these governance practices are relatively functional. Local practices are characterised by a complex web of social roleplayers, including family members, neighbours, local leadership structures and state officials all of whom lend credibility and legitimacy to the existence of a local land market. These findings challenge conventional understanding of formal and informal markets. It is argued that these socially embedded land markets indicate how urban territory is segmented and managed, and their existence also transforms the way we conceptualise formality and informality in African cities. This situation shows how informal urban economies are co-produced by state and non-state regulatory systems. These hybrid economies have implications for how we understand governance, markets and the role of the state in our cities.     

Dielectric strength of Al2O3/silicone composites after high‐temperature aging

Silicones are widely used for electrical insulation owing to their high dielectric strength and thermal stability. However, recent studies revealed insufficient stability of silicone for high‐temperature applications. To study the effect of Al₂O₃ fiber on silicone stability, we measured the dielectric strength of unfilled silicone and Al₂O₃/silicone composites as a function of aging time at 250°C in air and analyzed data by Weibull probability distribution to determine characteristic dielectric strength (E₀) and shape parameter (β). Prior to aging, unfilled silicone and composites had similar behavior, with E₀ at about 20 kV/mm and β > 15. During aging, unfilled silicone developed both micro‐ and macrocracks, with β dropped below five in 240 h and E₀ decreased significantly. Composites developed microcracks, with β dropped below 5 in longer time and E₀ remained almost constant. Addition of Al₂O₃ slowed down crack growth in silicone matrix, resulting in longer lasting high‐temperature dielectric materials. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014 , 131, 41170.     

Role of Methyl Salicylate on Oviposition Deterrence in Arabidopsis thaliana

Plants attacked by herbivores have evolved different strategies that fend off their enemies. Insect eggs deposited on leaves have been shown to inhibit further oviposition through visual or chemical cues. In some plant species, the volatile methyl salicylate (MeSA) repels gravid insects but whether it plays the same role in the model species Arabidopsis thaliana is currently unknown. Here we showed that Pieris brassicae butterflies laid fewer eggs on Arabidopsis plants that were next to a MeSA dispenser or on plants with constitutively high MeSA emission than on control plants. Surprisingly, the MeSA biosynthesis mutant bsmt1-1 treated with egg extract was still repellent to butterflies when compared to untreated bsmt1-1. Moreover, the expression of BSMT1 was not enhanced by egg extract treatment but was induced by herbivory. Altogether, these results provide evidence that the deterring activity of eggs on gravid butterflies is independent of MeSA emission in Arabidopsis, and that MeSA might rather serve as a deterrent in plants challenged by feeding larvae.     

Solid Tumors and Kinase Inhibition: Management and Therapy Efficacy Evolution

The increasing numbers of cancer cases worldwide and the exceedingly high mortality rates of some tumor subtypes raise the question about if the current protocols for cancer management are effective and what has been done to improve upon oncologic patients’ prognoses. The traditional chemo-immunotherapy options for cancer treatment focus on the use of cytotoxic agents that are able to overcome neoplastic clones’ survival mechanisms and induce apoptosis, as well as on the ability to capacitate the host’s immune system to hinder the continuous growth of malignant cells. The need to avert the highly toxic profiles of conventional chemo-immunotherapy and to overcome the emerging cases of tumor multidrug resistance has fueled a growing interest in the field of precision medicine and targeted molecular therapies in the last couple of decades, although relatively new alternatives in oncologic practices, the increased specificity, and the positive clinical outcomes achieved through targeted molecular therapies have already consolidated them as promising prospects for the future of cancer management. In recent years, the development and application of targeted drugs as tyrosine kinase inhibitors have enabled cancer treatment to enter the era of specificity. In addition, the combined use of targeted therapy, immunotherapy, and traditional chemotherapy has innovated the standard treatment for many malignancies, bringing new light to patients with recurrent tumors. This article comprises a series of clinical trials that, in the past 5 years, utilized kinase inhibitors (KIs) as a monotherapy or in combination with other cytotoxic agents to treat patients afflicted with solid tumors. The results, with varying degrees of efficacy, are reported.     

Genome-Wide Association Analysis and Genomic Prediction of Thyroglobulin Plasma Levels

Thyroglobulin (Tg) is an iodoglycoprotein produced by thyroid follicular cells which acts as an essential substrate for thyroid hormone synthesis. To date, only one genome-wide association study (GWAS) of plasma Tg levels has been performed by our research group. Utilizing recent advancements in computation and modeling, we apply a Bayesian approach to the probabilistic inference of the genetic architecture of Tg. We fitted a Bayesian sparse linear mixed model (BSLMM) and a frequentist linear mixed model (LMM) of 7,289,083 variants in 1096 healthy European-ancestry participants of the Croatian Biobank. Meta-analysis with two independent cohorts (total n = 2109) identified 83 genome-wide significant single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within the ST6GAL1 gene (p<5×10−8). BSLMM revealed additional association signals on chromosomes 1, 8, 10, and 14. For ST6GAL1 and the newly uncovered genes, we provide physiological and pathophysiological explanations of how their expression could be associated with variations in plasma Tg levels. We found that the SNP-heritability of Tg is 17% and that 52% of this variation is due to a small number of 16 variants that have a major effect on Tg levels. Our results suggest that the genetic architecture of plasma Tg is not polygenic, but influenced by a few genes with major effects.     

Impact Sensitivity Reduction Via Exo-Electron Control

Many materials, upon fracturing, emit electrons (exo-electrons) by a process called fracto-emission. For a substance or mixture that can deflagrate or detonate upon impact or friction, these exo-electrons may contribute to the initiation of deflagration or detonation. Some materials, such as p-type semiconductors, can absorb exo-electrons and, as used as additives, can reduce the impact or friction sensitivity of propellants or explosives. It was found that the addition of 1% p-type silicon powder did decrease the impact sensitivity of a propellant consisting of ammonium perchlorate in a polybutadiene matrix, but did not reduce the impact sensitivity of powdered cyclotetramethylenetetranitramine (HMX), cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine (RDX), and pentaerythritol trinitrate (PETN).     

Acetaldehyde in Mineral Water Stored in Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) Bottles: Odour Threshold and Quantification

The use of PET bottles for packaging soft drinks and mineral waters is still growing world wide. The production process for these bottles is improving constantly. These improvements are focussed on bottles with better barrier properties, higher inertness and higher heat stability. One of the factors determining the quality of PET bottles is the release of acetaldehyde into the product during storage. A literature survey was conducted on the odour and taste detection threshold of acetaldehyde in water. A method is described to rapidly determine the concentration of acetaldehyde in water up to a level of 1 μg/l. This method was used to determine the concentration of acetaldehyde in mineral water during storage in PET bottles. In still water no acetaldehyde could be found, whereas the concentration of acetaldehyde in carbonated mineral water increased steadily upon storage. Model experiments were performed to find an explanation.