We review the theory and application of generalized linear autoregressive moving average observation-driven models for time series of counts with explanatory variables and describe the estimation of these models using the R package glarma. Forecasting, diagnostic and graphical methods are also illustrated by several examples.

OBJECTIVE:This study determined the prevalence and nature of voice problems in New Zealand (NZ) teachers using a national self-report questionnaire.STUDY DESIGN:Epidemiological cross-sectional survey.METHODS:Participants were 1879 primary and secondary teachers (72.5% females). Three prevalence timeframes were estimated. Severity of voice problems, recovery time, days away from work, symptoms, health assistance, and voice education were also investigated.RESULTS:Prevalence of self-reported vocal problems was 33.2% during their teaching career, 24.7% over the teaching year, and 13.2% on the day of the survey. Primary teachers (P<0.001; odds ratio [OR]=1.74; confidence interval [CI]=1.33-2.40), females (P=0.008; OR=1.63; CI=1.13-2.37), and those aged 51-60 years (P=0.010; OR=1.45; CI=1.11-3.00) were more likely to report problems. Among teachers reporting voice problems during the year, 47% were moderate or severe; for 30%, voice recovery took more than 1 week. Approximately 28% stayed away from work 1-3 days owing to a vocal problem and 9% for more than 3 days. Women reported longer recovery times and more days away. Symptoms associated with voice problems (P<0.001) were voice quality alteration (OR=4.35; CI=3.40-5.57), vocal effort (OR=1.15; CI=0.96-1.37), voice breaks (OR=1.55; CI=1.30-1.84), voice projection difficulty (OR=1.25; CI=1.04-1.50), and throat discomfort (OR=1.22; CI=1.02-1.47). Of the teachers reporting voice problems, only 22.5% consulted a health practitioner. Only 38% of the teachers with chronic voice problems visited an otolaryngologist. Higher hours of voice training/education were associated with fewer self-reported voice problems.CONCLUSIONS:Voice problems are of concern for NZ teachers, as has been reported for teachers in other countries. There is still limited awareness among teachers about vocal health, potential risks, and specialized health services for voice problems.

Globally, dung beetles (Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) are linked to many critical ecosystem processes involving the consumption and breakdown of mammal dung. Endemic New Zealand dung beetles (Canthonini) are an anomaly, occurring at high abundance and low diversity on an island archipelago historically lacking terrestrial mammals, except bats, and instead dominated by birds. Have New Zealand’s dung beetles evolved to specialise on bird dung or carrion, or have they become broad generalist feeders? We test dietary preferences by analysing nitrogen isotope ratios of wild dung beetles and by performing feeding behaviour observations of captive specimens. We also use nitrogen and carbon stable isotopes to determine if the dung beetle Saphobius edwardsi will consume marine-derived carrion. Nitrogen isotope ratios indicated trophic generalism in Saphobius dung beetles and this was supported by behavioural observations where a broad range of food resources were utilised. Alternative food resource use was further illustrated experimentally by nitrogen and carbon stable isotope signatures of S . edwardsi , where individuals provided with decomposed squid had δ 15 N and δ 13 C values that had shifted toward values associated with marine diet. Our findings suggest that, in the absence of native mammal dung resources, New Zealand dung beetles have evolved a generalist diet of dung and carrion. This may include marine-derived resources, as provided by the seabird colonies present in New Zealand forests before the arrival of humans. This has probably enabled New Zealand dung beetles to persist in indigenous ecosystems despite the decline of native birds and the introduction of many mammal species.

1. Dung beetles (Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) are integral parts of many ecosystems because of their role in decomposition of dung; particularly mammal dung, which forms the diet of both larvae and adults.2. New Zealand dung beetles are unusual as they are flightless and evolved on islands with a highly depauperate mammal fauna and thus without the usual dung resource used by dung beetles elsewhere. The diet of New Zealand dung beetles is unknown.3. We hypothesised (1) that the endemic dung beetle Saphobius edwardsi would be attracted to a broad range of food types, and (2) that S. edwardsi would be able to survive and reproduce on a range of dung types and puriri (Vitex lucens) humus.4. Laboratory choice tests identified that S. edwardsi was attracted to a range of mammal, bird, invertebrate, and reptile dung types, but not to non‐dung food sources. Five‐month no‐choice tests found that beetle survival rates were lower for beetles fed with humus compared with those fed on mammal, bird, or invertebrate dung. None of the beetles reproduced.5. This study suggests S. edwardsi have a strong preference for dung, and are likely to be broad dung generalists in their feeding behaviour.

We consider the use of the generalized lambda distribution (GLD) family as a flexible distribution with which to model financial data sets. The GLD can assume distributions with a large range of shapes. Analysts can therefore work with a single distribution to model almost any class of financial assets, rather than needing several. This becomes especially useful in the estimation of risk measures, where the choice of the distribution is crucial for accuracy. We introduce a new parameterization of the GLD, wherein the location and scale parameters are directly expressed as the median and interquartile range of the distribution. The two remaining parameters characterize the asymmetry and steepness of the distribution. Conditions are given for the existence of its moments, and for it to have the appropriate support. The tail behavior is also studied. The new parameterization brings a clearer interpretation of the parameters, whereby the distribution's asymmetry can be more readily distinguished from its steepness. This is in contrast to current parameterizations of the GLD, where the asymmetry and steepness are simultaneously described by a combination of the tail indices. Moreover, the new parameterization can be used to compare data sets in a convenient asymmetry and steepness shape plot.

Omneuron 3T MRI Research Center, 99 El Camino Real, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA E-mail: [email protected]

Study Type – Diagnosis (prevalence study) Level of Evidence 2b OBJECTIVE • To address the question of whether Maori and Pacific Islander men in Auckland present with more advanced prostate cancer at diagnosis than New Zealand European or European men. PATIENTS AND METHODS • A retrospective database audit was undertaken of all men presenting for a first prostate biopsy under the Auckland Hospital Urology Service in 2005 and 2006. • Ethnicity was coded from self‐identification codes on hospital databases. • Population numbers were obtained from the 2006 Census figures from Statistics New Zealand. • Primary outcome measures used as surrogates for advanced disease were PSA level at biopsy, Gleason Score and palpable abnormality on digital rectal examination and rates of metastatic disease as determined by nuclear medicine bone scan. RESULTS • There was no appreciable difference when Maori and Pacific Islander men were compared with European men for median PSA level (13.30 vs 12.55 ng/mL, P = 0.264); median Gleason score (7 and 7), mean Gleason score (7.0 vs 6.9, P = 0.196) or the proportion of Gleason Score 7 or 8–10 ( P = 0.431) • There was no difference between the rates of metastatic disease at presentation (11.5% vs 7.8%, P = 0.376). • There appeared to be a significant difference in the proportion of Maori and Pacific Islanders presenting with palpable disease (67.2%) compared with European men (53.3%, P = 0.042). • The crude population biopsy rate per 100 000 was similar for Maori and Pacific Islander and European men (560 vs 547). CONCLUSIONS • Maori and Pacific Islander men present with similar prostate cancer characteristics to European men at diagnosis but there appears to be a real discrepancy in the rates of palpable disease.

International Statistical ReviewVolume 78, Issue 2 p. 324-324 Short Book Reviews R Through Excel: A Spreadsheet Interface for Statistics, Data Analysis, and Graphics by Richard M. Heiberger, Erich Neuwirth David J. Scott, David J. Scott Department of Statistics, The University of AucklandPrivate Bag 92019, Auckland 1142, New Zealandd.scott@auckland.ac.nzSearch for more papers by this author David J. Scott, David J. Scott Department of Statistics, The University of AucklandPrivate Bag 92019, Auckland 1142, New Zealandd.scott@auckland.ac.nzSearch for more papers by this author First published: 03 August 2010 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-5823.2010.00118_10.xRead the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Volume78, Issue2August 2010Pages 324-324 RelatedInformation

The main result in this paper is an invariance principle for the law of the iterated logarithm for square integrable martingales subject to fairly mild regularity conditions on the increments. When specialized to the case of identically distributed increments the result contains that of Stout [16] as well as the invariance principle for independent random variables of Strassen [17]. The martingale result is also used to obtain an invariance principle for the iterated logarithm law for a wide class of stationary ergodic sequences and a corollary is given which extends recent results of Oodaira and Yoshihara [10] on ϕ-mixing processes.

Several studies have shown marked differences in the neural localization of language functions in the brains of left‐handed individuals when compared with right‐handers. Previous experiments involving functional lateralization have demonstrated cerebral blood flow patterns that differ concordantly with subject handedness while performing language‐related tasks. The effect of handedness on function in specific stages of memory processing, however, is a largely unexplored area. We used a paired‐associates verbal memory task to elicit activation of neural areas related to declarative memory, examining the hypothesis that there are differences in activation in the medial temporal lobe (MTL) between handedness groups. 15 left‐handed and 25 right‐handed healthy adults were matched for all major demographic and neuropsychological variables. Functional and structural imaging data were acquired and analyzed for group differences within MTL subregions. Our results show that activation of the MTL during declarative memory processing varies with handedness. While both groups showed activation in left and right MTL subregions, the left‐handed group showed a statistically significant increase in the left hippocampus and amygdala during both encoding and recall. No increases in activation were found in the right‐handed group. This effect was found in the absence of any differences in performance on the verbal memory task, structural volumetric disparities, or functional asymmetries. This provides evidence of functional differences between left‐handers and right‐handers, which extends to declarative memory processes. Hum Brain Mapp 2009. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

International Statistical ReviewVolume 77, Issue 1 p. 164-164 Applied Econometrics with R by Christian Kleiber, Achim Zeileis David J. Scott, David J. Scott Department of Statistics, The University of Auckland PB 92019, Auckland 1142, New Zealand d.scott@auckland.ac.nzSearch for more papers by this author David J. Scott, David J. Scott Department of Statistics, The University of Auckland PB 92019, Auckland 1142, New Zealand d.scott@auckland.ac.nzSearch for more papers by this author First published: 26 March 2009 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-5823.2009.00074_20.x Editor: Simo Puntanen Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Volume77, Issue1April 2009Pages 164-164 RelatedInformation

Controversy remains regarding the mechanisms of acupuncture analgesia. A prevailing theory, largely unproven in humans, is that it involves the activation of endogenous opioid antinociceptive systems and μ-opioid receptors (MORs). This is also a neurotransmitter system that mediates the effects of placebo-induced analgesia. This overlap in potential mechanisms may explain the lack of differentiation between traditional acupuncture and either non-traditional or sham acupuncture in multiple controlled clinical trials. We compared both short- and long-term effects of traditional Chinese acupuncture (TA) versus sham acupuncture (SA) treatment on in vivo MOR binding availability in chronic pain patients diagnosed with fibromyalgia (FM). Patients were randomized to receive either TA or SA treatment over the course of 4 weeks. Positron emission tomography (PET) with 11C-carfentanil was performed once during the first treatment session and then repeated a month later following the eighth treatment. Acupuncture therapy evoked short-term increases in MOR binding potential, in multiple pain and sensory processing regions including the cingulate (dorsal and subgenual), insula, caudate, thalamus, and amygdala. Acupuncture therapy also evoked long-term increases in MOR binding potential in some of the same structures including the cingulate (dorsal and perigenual), caudate, and amygdala. These short- and long-term effects were absent in the sham group where small reductions were observed, an effect more consistent with previous placebo PET studies. Long-term increases in MOR BP following TA were also associated with greater reductions in clinical pain. These findings suggest that divergent MOR processes may mediate clinically relevant analgesic effects for acupuncture and sham acupuncture.

Abstract Based on available tectonostratigraphic, geochronological, and structural data for northeastern Canada and western Greenland, we propose that the early, upper plate history of the Trans-Hudson orogen was characterized by a number of accretionary–tectonic events, which led to the nucleation and growth of a northern composite continent (the Churchill domain), prior to terminal collision with and indentation by the lower plate Superior craton. Between 1.96 and 1.91 Ga Palaeoproterozoic deformation and magmatism along the northern margin of the Rae craton is documented both in northeastern Canada (Ellesmere–Devon terrane) and in northern West Greenland (Etah Group–metaigneous complex). The southern margin of the craton was dominated by the accumulation of a thick continental margin sequence between c. 2.16 and 1.89 Ga, whose correlative components are recognized on Baffin Island (Piling and Hoare Bay groups) and in West Greenland (Karrat and Anap nunâ groups). Initiation of north–south convergence led to accretion of the Meta Incognita microcontinent to the southern margin of the Rae craton at c. 1.88–1.865 Ga on Baffin Island. Accretion of the Aasiaat domain (microcontinental fragment?) in West Greenland to the Rae craton resulted in formation of the Rinkian fold belt at c. 1.88 Ga. Subsequent accretion–collision of the North Atlantic craton with the southern margin of the composite Rae craton and Aasiaat domain is bracketed between c. 1.86 and 1.84 Ga (Nagssugtoqidian orogen), whereas collision of the North Atlantic craton with the eastern margin of Meta Incognita microcontinent in Labrador is constrained at c. 1.87–1.85 Ga (Torngat orogen). Accretion of the intra-oceanic Narsajuaq arc terrane of northern Quebec (no correlative in Greenland) to the southern margin of the composite Churchill domain at 1.845 Ga was followed by terminal collision between the lower plate Superior craton (no correlative in Greenland) and the composite, upper plate Churchill domain in northern and eastern Quebec at c. 1.82–1.795 Ga. Taken as a set, the accretionary–tectonic events documented in Canada and Greenland prior to collision of the lower plate Superior craton constrain the key processes of crustal accretion during the growth of northeastern Laurentia and specifically those in the upper plate Churchill domain of the Trans-Hudson orogen during the Palaeoproterozoic Era. This period of crustal amalgamation can be compared directly with that of the upper plate Asian continent prior to its collision with the lower plate Indian subcontinent in the early Eocene. In both cases, terminal continental collision was preceded by several important episodes of upper plate crustal accretion and collision, which may therefore be considered as a harbinger of collisional orogenesis and a signature of the formation of supercontinents, such as Nuna (Palaeoproterozoic Era) and Amasia (Cenozoic Era).

New Zealand has one of the lowest reported higher education qualification completion rates in the OECD, significantly below Australia. Why do so many New Zealand students not complete their qualification? This paper looks behind some of the numbers in an attempt to understand better and assess New Zealand's performance compared with Australia and internationally. It looks, for example, at the impact of part-time and partial qualification study on completion rates. New Zealand has the highest reported level of part-time study in the OECD, and one in eight bachelor's degree students in New Zealand pass every subject they've enrolled in, yet have not completed their degree after five years. What does this tell us about intentions and about how we should gauge success? The paper takes another look at some international comparisons focusing on full-time students, and also looks at the impact of transfers, changing qualifications, and what happens to rates when a ten-year window is taken instead of a five-year window.

International Statistical ReviewVolume 77, Issue 1 p. 164-165 Analysis of Integrated and Cointegrated Time Series with R, Second Edition by Bernhard Pfaff David J. Scott, David J. Scott Department of Statistics, The University of Auckland PB 92019, Auckland 1142, New Zealand d.scott@auckland.ac.nzSearch for more papers by this author David J. Scott, David J. Scott Department of Statistics, The University of Auckland PB 92019, Auckland 1142, New Zealand d.scott@auckland.ac.nzSearch for more papers by this author First published: 26 March 2009 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-5823.2009.00074_21.x Editor: Simo Puntanen Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Volume77, Issue1April 2009Pages 164-165 RelatedInformation

We investigate the generalized lambda distribution with infinite support as an alternative distribution for modeling financial return series with power law tails. We derive expressions for the distribution, for random number generation, and for financial risk measures including value at risk, expected shortfall and tail indices. We introduce a new robust moment approach for the estimation of the distribution parameters based on the median, interquartile range, Bowley’s skewness and Moors’ kurtosis. In addition using a Monte Carlo approach we explore the use of several estimation approaches including maximum log likelihood, maximum product spacing, goodness of fit testing, and histogram binning. A new four-parameter parameterization allows an intuitive interpretation based on the asymmetry and the tail behaviour of the distribution. We also introduce a new method of obtaining parameter estimates in which the data is standardized to have zero median and unit interquartile range and then a generalized lambda distribution with zero median and unit interquartile range is fitted to the data. This reduces the number of parameters to two allowing for more efficient parameter estimation.