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Research into housing affordability has flourished alongside growth in house prices, just as successive governments have used a range of policy levers to curb price increases. To date, however, these policies have met with little success. One persuasive explanation for that failure is that housing policies have been developed using affordability metrics in ways that have reinforced neoliberal prescriptions for the provision of housing, and that such policies are doomed to fail. Neoliberal policy settings continue to be influential, even in an environment where, under the current Labour Government, there is a rhetorical rejection of these prescriptions. Against this background, this review paper explores how a housing affordability research agenda might be bolstered by examining intersections between dimensions of affordability and meanings of home. Emerging research suggests that when housing is unaffordable it becomes an arena of struggle in which dwellings are transformed in ways that undermine the potential to provide security, stability and connection associated with meanings of home. The article concludes by suggesting research questions to examine that struggle in the pursuit of a sense of home, and in so doing gain a better understanding of the lived experience of unaffordability.

Between 2017 and 2023, the circular economy was increasingly referenced by the Ministry for the Environment (MfE) and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) as a guide to more sustainable production and waste systems. It became an overarching idea for how to address many environmental challenges. MfE and MBIE statements refer to embedding circular principles into the economy and the role of central government in stewarding circular economy processes. They have, thus, led central government thinking on the circular economy, MfE focusing on the environment and MBIE on economic productivity and business. The circular economy is, however, an ambiguous and contested concept. This article examines references to the circular economy by MfE and MBIE using a framework that distinguishes between strong and weak models of circularity, organised around four themes: problematisations of the linear economy, the rationale for transitioning to a circular economy, policy tools, and the allocation of responsibility. The analysis concludes that both ministries have articulated weak models of circularity that neglect the transformational potential of a circular economy agenda. The article also examines the prospects for the circular economy agenda in the post-2023 election context, given current government scepticism towards many existing environmental protection institutions.

Wide participation in electronic surveys and reliable reporting of anthropometry can serve to reduce costs associated with monitoring of obesity among adolescents where resources are limited. We conducted a single school pilot study among Caribbean adolescents to assess use of electronic surveys and whether face to face encouragement could promote enrollment. In addition, we assessed students' ability to reliably report simple anthropometry. Students were provided with access to an electronic survey on anthropometry and food preferences regarding school-based food offerings. Responses to survey questions were presented as percentages. A sample of students also had their heights and weights measured after reporting these measures from memory. Intra-class correlation coefficients were used to assess reliability among measurers and Bland-Altman plots, consistency between student reported and recorded anthropometric measures and Support Vector Machine to assess robustness of anthropometry prediction models. Response rate to the electronic survey was low (9%). Students were able to interpret questions; open-ended options were inappropriately used 13% of the time. Post survey qualitative responses indicated displeasure with use of school-associated e-mail addresses. Concerns with confidentiality were expressed as well as preference for completion of surveys during school time. Students reliably reported anthropometry most measures fell within the 95% CI of Bland-Altman plots. SVM classified with a prediction accuracy of 95%. Estimates of overweight from recorded and reported measures were similar. Adolescents are able to report simple anthropometry, and this can be used to help with monitoring of growth and overweight. Although they are capable of competently completing electronic surveys, school-based email is an ineffective contact tool. In-person school-based contact and administration of surveys are preferred. Adolescents can reliably report simple anthropometry that can be utilized for estimation of overweight/obesity prevalence. This method can be widely applied.

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a heterogeneous disease characterized by severe angiogenic remodeling of the pulmonary artery wall and right ventricular hypertrophy. Thus, there is an increasing need for novel biomarkers to dissect disease heterogeneity, and predict treatment response. Although β-adrenergic receptor (βAR) dysfunction is well documented in left heart disease while endothelial cell-derived microparticles (Ec-MPs) are established biomarkers of angiogenic remodeling, methods for easy large clinical cohort analysis of these biomarkers are currently absent. Here we describe flow cytometric methods for quantification of βAR density on circulating white blood cells (WBC) and Ec-MPs in urine samples that can be used as potential biomarkers of right heart failure in PAH. Biotinylated β-blocker alprenolol was synthesized and validated as a βAR specific probe that was combined with immunophenotyping to quantify βAR density in circulating WBC subsets. Ec-MPs obtained from urine samples were stained for annexin-V and CD144, and analyzed by a micro flow cytometer. Flow cytometric detection of alprenolol showed that βAR density was decreased in most WBC subsets in PAH samples compared to healthy controls. Ec-MPs in urine was increased in PAH compared to controls. Furthermore, there was a direct correlation between Ec-MPs and Tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE) in PAH patients. Therefore, flow cytometric quantification of peripheral blood cell βAR density and urinary Ec-MPs may be useful as potential biomarkers of right ventricular function in PAH.

School-based research has historically played an important role within the education system contributing to our understanding of the organisation and practice of formal education. Supported by relevant literature, this article reports on current challenges in conducting school-based research in Aotearoa New Zealand as experienced by one researcher. It suggests that conducting school-based research is becoming increasingly difficult, with possible explanations for this being the divergent workflows of researcher and school-based participant(s), the volume of demands on teachers and schools, and restricted roles for teachers and parents, which increase the risk of research fatigue. The article argues that although school-based research is rarely an immediate priority for school leaders, it is imperative that they support it if they want to be informed by its insights for policy and practice.

BackgroundTesticular cancer is the most common male neoplasm occurring in men between the ages of 20 and 34. Although germ-line testicular tumors respond favorably to current standard of care, testicular stromal cell (TSC) tumors derived from Sertoli cells or Leydig cells often fail to respond to chemotherapy or radiation therapy and have a 5-year overall survival significantly lower than the more common and more treatable germ line testicular tumors.MethodsTo improve outcomes for TSC cancer, we have developed a therapeutic vaccine targeting inhibin-α, a protein produced by normal Sertoli and Leydig cells of the testes and expressed in the majority of TSC tumors.ResultsWe found that vaccination against recombinant mouse inhibin-α provides protection and therapy against transplantable I-10 mouse TSC tumors in male BALB/c mice. Similarly, we found that vaccination with the immunodominant p215-234 peptide of inhibin-α (Inα 215-234) inhibits the growth of autochthonous TSC tumors occurring in male SJL.AMH-SV40Tag transgenic mice. The tumor immunity and enhanced overall survival induced by inhibin-α vaccination may be passively transferred into naive male BALB/c recipients with either CD4+ T cells, B220+ B cells, or sera from inhibin-α primed mice.ConclusionsConsidering the lack of any alternative effective treatment for chemo- and radiation-resistant TSC tumors, our results provide for the first time a rational basis for immune-mediated control of these aggressive and lethal variants of testicular cancer.

Analyses the way statistical representations of housing problems in Aotearoa New Zealand are evident in policy briefings to incoming Ministers of Housing between 2008 and 2020 by Housing New Zealand (HNZ) and its successor Kāinga Ora, and the way these reflect and reinforce a neoliberal political rationality and an agenda to residualise and marketise state housing support. Identifies statistical representations within the discursive context that give weight to particular policy choices. Traces developments in problem framing and the links with varying policy responses, including the 2013 Housing Accord Special Housing Areas Act and the 2017 KiwiBuild proposal. Source: National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa, licensed by the Department of Internal Affairs for re-use under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 New Zealand Licence.

The onset of ill-health and frailty in later life, within the context of the policy of ageing-in-place, is increasingly being responded to through the provision of home care. In the philosophy of ageing-in-place, the home provides for continuity of living environment, maintenance of independence in the community and social inclusion. The provision of assistance to remain at home assumes continuity in the living environment and independence in the organisation of daily life and social contact. This paper explores the changes that occur as a result of becoming a care recipient within the home and concludes that the transition into receiving care is characterised by discontinuity and upheaval which tends to reinforce social exclusion. We draw on the rites of passage framework, which highlights social processes of separation, liminality and reconnection, in analysing this transition to enhance understanding of the experience and gain insights to improve the policy and practice of home care. Separation from independent living leads to a state of liminality. The final stage in the rites of passage framework draws attention to reconnections, but reconnection is not inevitable. Reconnection is, however, an appropriate goal for the care sector when supporting frail or disabled older people through the transition into becoming a home-care recipient.