Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand最新文献

{"title":"Emerging Antifungal Resistance in Tropical Mycoses: A Genomic and Clinical Perspective From Endemic Zones.","authors":"Meral Miraloglu","doi":"10.1002/snz2.70074","DOIUrl":"10.1002/snz2.70074","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Antifungal resistance in tropical mycoses is an increasingly important component of the global antimicrobial resistance crisis, particularly in endemic regions where diagnostic capacity, therapeutic options, and surveillance systems are limited. This review synthesizes clinical, environmental, and genomic evidence on resistance in major endemic and tropical fungal pathogens, including <i>Histoplasma capsulatum</i>, the <i>Sporothrix schenckii</i> complex, <i>Talaromyces marneffei</i>, the <i>Paracoccidioides brasiliensis</i> complex, and tropical <i>Aspergillus fumigatus</i> isolates. Reported mechanisms include target alteration involving ERG11/CYP51A and FKS1, overexpression of efflux transporters, altered ergosterol biosynthesis, stress response pathways, and biofilm-associated tolerance. Environmental and agricultural selection pressures, especially azole fungicide exposure, may promote the emergence of resistant strains before human infection occurs. The revised synthesis treats prevalence estimates as descriptive aggregations rather than a formal meta-analysis because included studies used heterogeneous antifungal susceptibility testing methods, breakpoints, and reporting formats. The evidence supports integrated surveillance that links clinical isolates, environmental sampling, antifungal stewardship, and genomic monitoring. Whole-genome sequencing and targeted molecular assays can shorten time to resistance detection, but genotype-phenotype discordance and incomplete resistance databases require cautious interpretation. Strengthening laboratory networks, improving access to validated diagnostics, and developing region-specific treatment guidance are essential to limit the clinical impact of antifungal resistance in endemic tropical settings.</p>","PeriodicalId":520341,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand","volume":"56 4","pages":"e70074"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2026-08-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13456969/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148709375","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Tapu-Noa Matrix for Determining Whether the Use or Registration of a Trade Mark Is Likely to Offend Māori.","authors":"Jayden Houghton Rereahu Maniapoto","doi":"10.1002/snz2.70069","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/snz2.70069","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In Aotearoa New Zealand, the Māori Trade Marks Advisory Committee advises the Commissioner of Trade Marks on whether trade mark applications that are, or appear to be, derivative of a Māori sign, are likely to be offensive to Māori. The Committee uses a Tapu-Noa Matrix to help ascertain offensiveness. This article explains and evaluates the Matrix, which is not examined in the existing scholarship. First, it explains the tikanga Māori legal system and the tikanga concepts mana, tapu and noa. Second, it outlines two iterations of the Tapu-Noa Matrix: a prototype matrix and the published practice note matrix. Third, it explains the axes of the matrices and provides examples of trade marks at different points. Fourth, it provides examples at coordinates on the matrices to illustrate their application. Finally, it evaluates the matrices and suggests that the published practice note matrix is more accurate and useful than the prototype matrix. In doing so, it demonstrates developments and challenges in applying tikanga concepts to serve tests under the state law.</p>","PeriodicalId":520341,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand","volume":"56 4","pages":"e70069"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2026-08-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13453289/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148703374","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Increasing Underrepresentation of Pacific Peoples in Community-Based Respiratory Surveillance in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2018-2024.","authors":"Liza Kelsall, Gerard J B Sonder, Andrew Anglemyer, Giles Graham, Rawiri Keenan, Debbie Ryan","doi":"10.1002/snz2.70068","DOIUrl":"10.1002/snz2.70068","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Pacific peoples experience a disproportionate burden of respiratory infectious diseases in Aotearoa New Zealand, and surveillance sensitivity depends on capturing transmission in high-risk populations. Despite substantial post-COVID investment in respiratory surveillance, representativeness for Pacific peoples has not been systematically evaluated. We analysed de-identified data from two national community-based surveillance systems-FluTracking and sentinel general practitioner (GP) respiratory surveillance-from 2018 to 2024. Observed Pacific participation was compared with population benchmarks and non-Pacific participation, and trends by age, sex, deprivation and health district were examined, including Pacific-dense districts. Pacific peoples, who experience a disproportionate burden of respiratory disease, were persistently underrepresented in FluTracking. After a temporary increase in 2020, representation declined by an average of 0.8% per year to 2024 (<i>p</i> = 0.027). By 2024, less than one-third of the expected sample was achieved annually. Pacific participants were disproportionately from less deprived areas. Sentinel GP surveillance showed the lowest density of participating practices relative to Pacific population size in Pacific-dense districts, particularly Counties Manukau and Waitematā. Underrepresentation creates a mismatch between disease burden and surveillance visibility, weakening early outbreak detection and limiting equitable public health responses. Embedding representational equity as a core design principle is essential for effective surveillance and equitable health outcomes.</p>","PeriodicalId":520341,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand","volume":"56 4","pages":"e70068"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2026-08-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13450118/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148698665","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Redefining Success in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery: Bridging the Gap Between Technical Outcomes and Patient Quality of Life.","authors":"Betul Gedik, Mehmet Ali Erdem, Abdulkadir Burak Cankaya, Zohaib Khurshid","doi":"10.1002/snz2.70072","DOIUrl":"10.1002/snz2.70072","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Traditional success metrics in oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMFS) primarily emphasize clinician-reported outcomes such as anatomical correction, osseointegration, skeletal stability, and disease control. However, growing evidence indicates a frequent mismatch between these objective measures and patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) and quality of life (QoL), particularly in interventions affecting facial appearance and socially relevant functions. This narrative review examines the alignment and divergence between clinical outcomes and PROMs across major OMFS subspecialties, including dental implantology, orthognathic surgery, temporomandibular joint surgery, and oral cancer reconstruction. Across these domains, technical success often fails to translate into perceived patient benefit, with persistent functional, esthetic, or psychosocial concerns despite clinical stability. These findings underscore the need to redefine success in OMFS beyond structural restoration. Incorporating standardized PROMs as coprimary outcomes and adopting patient-centered, multidisciplinary care models are essential for achieving outcomes that reflect both clinical efficacy and meaningful improvements in patients' lived experiences.</p>","PeriodicalId":520341,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand","volume":"56 4","pages":"e70072"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2026-08-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13440602/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148682107","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Reframing Data as a Taonga: A Māori Data Sovereignty Framework.","authors":"Simon Lambert, Hauiti Hakopa, Micheal Heimlick","doi":"10.1002/snz2.70071","DOIUrl":"10.1002/snz2.70071","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The value of data continues to increase as new technologies have a seemingly insatiable demand for information. This places Indigenous peoples in the difficult position as both users of diverse data for standard and unique ends and the producers of standard and unique data for diverse ends. In Aotearoa New Zealand, Māori have entered scholarly and policy debates on data with typical relish. Yet our communities are at different stages of understanding and empowerment as the owners, producers and users of data. This article details a co-design process in producing a data framework that originated in the biosecurity space but has wider applications. While we use cultural metaphors to explain and communicate our work with the mundane and sacred, we are committed to providing practical templates for groups wanting to engage in research. But just as our data is linked to our people, so are current and future technologies that are subject to influence through societal laws and regulations. We offer some thoughts on how a safer world might arise through working in a more ethical way with Indigenous peoples and their data.</p>","PeriodicalId":520341,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand","volume":"56 4","pages":"e70071"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2026-08-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13440601/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148682075","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Detection of Antibiotic-Resistant <i>Campylobacter</i> on Retail Chicken in New Zealand: A Sentinel Survey.","authors":"Kathleen J Sircombe, Daniel Pletzer, Sarah Hook","doi":"10.1002/snz2.70066","DOIUrl":"10.1002/snz2.70066","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Antibiotics are relied upon to treat and prevent infections in humans, animals, and plants. However, antimicrobial use, particularly when unnecessary or inappropriate, has contributed to the emergence and dissemination of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Foodborne transmission of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is an increasing public health concern, particularly through poultry contaminated with <i>Campylobacter jejuni</i>. In this study, the prevalence of <i>Campylobacter</i> contamination and associated antimicrobial resistance in fresh retail chicken purchased around New Zealand was investigated. <i>Campylobacter</i> was detected in 50% (12/24; 95% CI: 31.3%-68.7%) of samples using selective culture, PCR, and sequencing. Among confirmed isolates, high levels of resistance were observed to tetracycline (92%) and ciprofloxacin (83%), while 83% were susceptible to erythromycin. No isolate was fully susceptible to all interpreted antibiotics. These preliminary findings indicate that antimicrobial-resistant <i>Campylobacter</i> can be detected in fresh retail chicken in New Zealand and support the need for larger, probabilistic surveillance studies to generate national prevalence and resistance estimates. Continued surveillance, stricter policies on contaminated poultry products, and development of alternatives to traditional antibiotics are recommended to protect public health.</p>","PeriodicalId":520341,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand","volume":"56 4","pages":"e70066"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2026-07-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13422752/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148633335","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Building the Tools for Enhanced Waterway Surveillance: Prediction of Antimicrobial-Resistant <i>Escherichia coli</i> and Their Genes From an Urban River in Aotearoa New Zealand.","authors":"Sophie van Hamelsveld, Brigitta Kurenbach, Gayle C Ferguson, William A Godsoe, Deborah J Paull, Muyiwa E Adewale, Brent Gilpin, Anh Tu Phan, Jack A Heinemann","doi":"10.1002/snz2.70070","DOIUrl":"10.1002/snz2.70070","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Urban waterways are reservoirs and vectors of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), yet AMR is not routinely measured alongside faecal indicator bacteria. Using 2 years of data on <i>Escherichia coli</i> and AMR in a New Zealand urban river, we tested how AMR quantification could improve water quality risk assessment. Persistently high frequencies of AMR and pathogenic <i>E. coli</i> sequence types were detected near homes and places of recreation. We measured AMR phenotypes and gene mobilisation by conjugation. We compared phenotyping with genotyping by whole-genome sequencing to assess whether phenotyping could serve as a proxy for costly sequencing methods. Results suggest that one AMR phenotype could act as a sentinel for less common but problematic resistances, potentially due to plasmid-based linkage of antibiotic resistance genes or enrichment of clinically relevant sequence types. The study offers a low-cost water quality monitoring strategy to meet community needs. Widespread adoption of AMR hazard reporting could support the World Health Organization's Sustainable Development Goals and Global Action Plan on AMR.</p>","PeriodicalId":520341,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand","volume":"56 4","pages":"e70070"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2026-07-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13421802/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148633308","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Modelling Future Evolution of the Antarctic Ice Sheet With Explainable Machine Learning.","authors":"Paula Maddigan, Bach Hoai Nguyen, Peter Yu Feng Siew, Bing Xue, Nicholas Golledge, Mengjie Zhang","doi":"10.1002/snz2.70067","DOIUrl":"10.1002/snz2.70067","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The accelerating effects of climate change, particularly rising sea levels resulting from melting land ice, require accurate predictions of ice sheet dynamics. Traditional numerical models, such as the Parallel Ice Sheet Model (PISM), are widely used; however, they rely on simplifying assumptions and are computationally intensive, limiting their ability to make long-term predictions. This study addresses these limitations by employing machine learning techniques to emulate ice sheet dynamics, offering a faster, more efficient alternative to traditional numerical models. Using data generated by PISM for the Antarctic ice sheet spanning 2015 to 2100, we develop proof-of-concept machine learning models that predict key ice properties-ice mask, ice thickness, and ice velocity-based on climate inputs. Our models tackle both spatial and temporal challenges by incorporating the ice properties of neighbouring cells and past temporal values, thereby improving predictive accuracy. Additionally, explainable AI (XAI) techniques are applied to enhance trust and explainability. Our best-performing model, a Random Forest with an expanding window, achieves an average RMSE of 3.36 for thickness and 65.6 for velocity and misclassifies on average only 3 grid points per year for the ice mask out of 2257, demonstrating good accuracy comparable to that of the original simulator at a fraction of the computational cost. This approach not only improves the computational efficiency of scenario modelling but also contributes to the broader field of climate science by enabling more frequent and extensive analyses of climate change impacts on Antarctic ice sheets.</p>","PeriodicalId":520341,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand","volume":"56 4","pages":"e70067"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2026-07-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13412399/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148623599","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Mechanisms of Resistance, Insights From Case Reports, and Future Prospects in Mycobacteriophage Therapy.","authors":"Buhari Yusuf, Abdul Malik, Md Shah Alam, Lijie Li, Haftay Abraha Tadesse, Aweke Mulu Belachew, Cuiting Fang, Xirong Tian, Htin Lin Aung, Shuai Wang, Tianyu Zhang","doi":"10.1002/snz2.70064","DOIUrl":"10.1002/snz2.70064","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Evolution of drug-resistant mycobacterial infections warrants renewed efforts in identifying more efficient preventive and control strategies as well as alternative treatment options. Interest in phage therapy is regaining significant traction, especially in cases of failed conventional therapy. However, phage therapy faces challenges, including the identification of a suitable therapeutic phage, phage delivery, phage resistance, and host immunity. This article reviews existing clinical literature on the therapeutic use of mycobacteriophages as adjuncts to antibiotics in the treatment of drug-resistant mycobacterial infections and discusses such aspects as mycobacterial phage resistance, coevolutionary phage training, and impact of host immunity, as well as the benefits and limitations of phage therapy. To date, at least 27 patients received mycobacteriophage therapy, where <i>M. abscessus</i> accounts for 82.1% of all cases in contrast to <i>M. chelonae</i> (7.1%), <i>M. avium</i> complex (3.6%), and BCG (3.6%). Mycobacteriophages used were either wild-type or derivatives of BPs, D29, Fionnbharth, Fred313, Itos, Muddy, or ZoeJ. Evolution of phage resistance is rare, and the impact of host immunity varies between patients, with most treatment outcomes having little to do with immune responses. However, identification of a suitable therapeutic mycobacteriophage remains a pressing challenge, especially for infections involving the smooth morphotype of <i>M. abscessus</i>. Only about 10 mycobacteriophages made it to clinical use, including wild-type, host range mutants and engineered derivatives, which warrants the expansion of this narrow arsenal of therapeutic mycobacteriophages by building novel candidates or expanding the host ranges of existing ones. The outcomes recorded in these case reports represent a significant achievement. However, the results remain exploratory due to sample size limitations and therefore warrant larger, methodologically rigorous, controlled trials in the future.</p>","PeriodicalId":520341,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand","volume":"56 4","pages":"e70064"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2026-07-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13355554/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148428318","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Analytical Ultracentrifugation in Aotearoa: A Brief History of the Technique and its Place Among Other Tools Used to Investigate Biomolecular Interactions.","authors":"Liam S Turk, Zachary D Tillett, Rebecca E McKenzie, Sarah L Draper, Gavin F Painter, Renwick C J Dobson","doi":"10.1002/snz2.70063","DOIUrl":"10.1002/snz2.70063","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Analytical ultracentrifugation (AUC) is a powerful and versatile tool for studying biomolecular interactions. The purpose of this commentary is to provide foundational knowledge of the technique and its uses through the presentation of two case studies in which AUC provides key data to answer research questions. The first case study concerns a practical formulation problem associated with mRNA-based vaccines. The second case study showcases how we tackle the problem of defining the properties of a protein-DNA interaction that regulates gene expression. We place AUC in the context of other biophysical techniques that we use in the Biomolecular Interaction Centre, based at the University of Canterbury in Ōtautahi Christchurch. We hope this work may prove helpful for protein biochemists and biophysicists in Aotearoa New Zealand in selecting appropriate approaches for investigating biomolecular interactions and encourage them to contact us if any of the resources presented herein may be useful to them. We also use a portion of this commentary to acknowledge and document the foundational contributions of the early innovators in AUC in Aotearoa New Zealand.</p>","PeriodicalId":520341,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand","volume":"56 4","pages":"e70063"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2026-07-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13349315/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148428385","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}