Sustainability in the New Zealand wine industry: drivers,stakeholders and practices

This research aims to investigate various sustainability issues in the New Zealand wine industry. Namely, the study examines (1) what drives the industry to engage in sustainability practices, (2) the role of stakeholders in the company's decision-making, and (3) environmental practices related to water utilization, chemicals and waste management. A qualitative research approach supplemented by quantitative measures was adopted to answer the research questions. Twenty-four wineries were studied. The research found that the most important drivers for sustainable practices are personal values, preferences and satisfaction with the profession (i.e., enjoyment of the work itself), followed by product quality and customers' demand. Size of firm also appears to be an important factor. New Zealand wine companies are also driven by the market, but companies do not receive a price premium for grapes grown sustainably or organically grown. The study proposes a typology matrix that differentiates wineries' involvement in sustainability based on the extent of sustainability practices and sustainability drivers.     

A simple,rapid, and highly informative PCR-based procedure for prenatal diagnosis and carrier screening of phenylketonuria

The polymorphic information content (PIC) and the degree of heterozygosity of several polymorphic systems within the phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH) gene were determined in 85 European Caucasian and 19 Chinese phenylketonuria (PKU) kindreds. The first system examined, a short tandem repeat (STR), had a PIC of 80 and 73 per cent in these Caucasian and Chinese samples, respectively. The degree of heterozygosity actually observed for this system was 81 and 64 per cent in the Caucasian and Chinese PKU families, respectively. Through the addition of a second polymorphism based on a variable number of tandem repeats (VNTR), the PIC was increased to 90 per cent in Caucasians, but only to 75 per cent in Chinese. The degree of heterozygosity observed for this combination was 94 per cent in European PKU families and 67 per cent in Chinese PKU families. The further addition of an Xmnl RFLP increased both the PIC and the level of heterozygosity in Caucasians to 95 per cent, but did not change either of these measures in Chinese. The combined use of these three polymorphisms significantly increases the informativity of prenatal diagnostic and carrier screening procedures in both Caucasian and Chinese PKU kindreds. Furthermore, since each of these polymorphisms can be studied by PCR-based methods, these new tests can be performed more quickly and easily than previous Southern-based procedures.     

Prenatal ultrasound finding of atypical genitalia: Counseling,genetic testing and outcomes

Objective

To report uptake of genetic counseling (GC) and prenatal genetic testing after the finding of atypical genitalia on prenatal ultrasound (US) and the clinical and genetic findings of these pregnancies.

Methods

A retrospective cohort study (2017–2019) of atypical fetal genitalia in a large expert center for disorders/differences of sex development. We describe counseling aspects, invasive prenatal testing, genetic and clinical outcome of fetuses apparently without [group 1, n = 22 (38%)] or with [group 2, n = 36 (62%)] additional anomalies on US.

Results

In group 1, 86% of parents opted for GC versus 72% in group 2, and respectively 58% and 15% of these parents refrained from invasive testing. Atypical genitalia were postnatally confirmed in 91% (group 1) and 64% (group 2), indicating a high rate of false positive US diagnosis of ambiguous genitalia. Four genetic diagnoses were established in group 1 (18%) and 10 in group 2 (28%). The total genetic diagnostic yield was 24%. No terminations of pregnancy occurred in group 1.

Conclusions

For optimal care, referral for an expert fetal US scan, GC and invasive diagnostics including broad testing should be offered after prenatal detection of isolated atypical genitalia.     

A stochastic model of urinary nitrogen and water flow in grassland soil in New Zealand

A mathematical model of urinary nitrogen and water flow in soil has been developed that incorporated stochastic rainfall and stochastic temperature events. This model was used to characterise the variability in urine patch nitrogen leaching at Taupo, New Zealand. This stochastic model was also used to more accurately determine the effect of urinary patch overlap on cow urinary nitrogen flow and leaching in soil. Nitrogen leaching from single urine deposits on pasture in the winter ranged from 0 to 75% of applied nitrogen as a result of stochastic rainfall events. Rainfall effects explained 98% of the variance in nitrogen leaching due to stochastic rainfall and temperature effects combined. The model predicted that on average 38, 61, and 71% of the nitrogen in single, double and triple urine patches is leached in the winter. Nitrogen leaching rates were significantly greater in the winter than the summer months. The distribution in the amount of nitrogen leached from single urine patches was close to normal in the winter but approximately exponentially distributed in the summer. The variability in total nitrogen leached from a field also decreased as the stocking rate increased. A quantitative modelling framework is crucial for understanding nitrogen transport in pastoral systems and for effectively setting and enforcing restrictions imposed by regulatory bodies on nitrogen losses from pastoral farming and this study represents a component of this framework.     

A methodology for CSR reporting: assuring a representative diversity of indicators across stakeholders,scales, sites and performance issues

This paper presents a framework called the CSR Deliberation Matrix for the structuring of CSR issue identification, stakeholder dialogues, indicator selection and reporting, with an overarching goal to achieve an appropriate balance between sensitivity to individual situations and the benefits of “generic” indicators applicable to a large spectrum of reporting contexts.We suggest guidelines to (1) define the full spectrum of sustainability concerns and of relevant stakeholder dialogue contexts; (2) mobilise a relevant “data bank” which provides a profile of candidate CSR indicators; (3) obtain a parsimonious selection of indicators in a site-level CSR reporting process through a stakeholder dialogue; and (4) obtain a “representative diversity” of indicators at the interface of site-level and higher-level CSR reporting contexts.