A mathematical dynamic model is derived for compliant, constant-force compression-mechanisms, based on the pseudo-rigid-body model simplification of the device. The compliant constant-force compression mechanism (CFCM) is a slider mechanism incorporating large-deflection beams, which outputs near-constant-force across the range of its designed deflection. The equation of motion is successfully calibrated with empirical data from five separate mechanisms, comprising two basic configurations of CFCMs. The dynamic equation is derived from a generalized pseudo-rigid-body model. This allows every configuration to be represented by the same model, so a separate treatment is not required for each configuration. An unexpected dynamic trait of the constant-force mechanism is discovered. There exists a range of input deflection frequencies for which the output force of the mechanism is nearer to constant-force than it is with static input deflections.

Background Burn resuscitation, including titration of fluids and administration of colloids, is often driven by physicians’ orders. Inconsistencies in burn resuscitation cause overresuscitation, which has adverse consequences. Methods Retrospective chart reviews were completed to evaluate fluid resuscitation and complications for 12 months before and after development and implementation of a nurse-driven burn resuscitation protocol. Results Before implementation of the protocol, results at 24 hours after injury indicated that 58% of patients were overresuscitated, had a serum level of lactate of at least 2 mmol/L (100%), and had complications (pulmonary edema 20%, abdominal compartment syndrome 7%, acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome 30%) within the first 5 days. Two outcomes differed from before to after implementation of the protocol: serum level of lactate at 24 hours (t37.8 =2.38, P =.007) and central venous pressure at 48 hours (t31 =2.27, P =.03). After implementation of the protocol, no patients had abdominal compartment syndrome develop. Conclusions Implementation of the nurse-driven burn resuscitation protocol improved nurses’ awareness and assessment of fluid status during resuscitation and improved patients’ outcomes.

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Geographer John Wylie critiques problematic claims of belonging to place that would suggest a natural connection between people and topos. Such ontopological beliefs in a homeland rely on environmental determinism or historicization to assert an inextricable link between blood and soil formed over centuries of human occupation and use. In this article we examine ways ontopology operates in the protected areas of Aotearoa New Zealand, which as places that are understood as 'wild' and thus outside of the presence of people, provide an intriguing contrast for considering ontopology and how it may be approached through design. Wylie identifies two counter-ontopological positions for landscape: one an orientation towards hospitality, welcome, and sanctuary; the other seeking to destabilise homeland thinking through unsettling, dislocating, and distancing such troubling claims of belonging to place. Drawing on these directions, we examine a landscape design project undertaken by Lincoln University's Landscope Designlab at Ararira Wetland in the South Island of Aotearoa New Zealand, which reimagines protected areas by expanding ways people might engage with them through the design of counter-ontopological forms.

This article presents ways to rethink current approaches to protected areas in New Zealand, which have been dominated by problematic colonial ideas that uniformly construct such places as separate from people and as reminiscent of a pre-human past. This has resulted in the strict separation of productive landscapes from protected landscapes in Aotearoa, New Zealand. A re-evaluation of the idea of allocating further lands that have high endemic biodiversity values solely for protection is considered in light of the country’s public conservation lands reaching 33 per cent of the country’s total land area and still continuing to grow. Using a design-directed research approach we put forward seven alternatives to imagining protected areas that act as speculative futures from which to reimagine and expand the potential of New Zealand’s indigenous biodiversity beyond solely preservation-focused approaches that have been based on a fortress conservation model. These futures are not prescriptive but opportunities to extend the value that New Zealand’s indigenous biodiversity might have, and consider its capacity to foster deep connections between people and place, in ways in which both endemic biodiversity and people thrive.