Suicide, statistics and the coroner: A comparative study of death investigations

Australia has a significantly higher suicide rate than England. Rather than accepting that this ‘statistical fact’ is a direct reflection of some positivist truth, this paper begins with the premise that how suicide is counted depends upon what counts as suicide. This study involves semi-structured interviews with coroners both in Australia and England, as well as observations at inquests. Important differences between the two coronial systems include: first, quite different logics of operation; second, the burden of proof for reaching a finding of suicide is significantly higher in England; and third, the presence of family members at English inquests results in far greater pressure being brought to bear upon coroners. These combined factors result in a reduced likelihood of English coroners reaching a finding of suicide. The conclusions are twofold. First, this research supports existing criticisms of comparative suicide statistics. Second, this research adds theoretical weight to criticisms of positivist analyses of social phenomena.

Comparative studies made simple in GPFlow

This work describes recent extensions to the GPFlow scientific workflow system in development at MQUTeR (www.mquter.qut.edu.au), which facilitate interactive experimentation, automatic lifting of computations from single-case to collection-oriented computation and automatic correlation and synthesis of collections. A GPFlow workflow presents as an acyclic data flow graph, yet provides powerful iteration and collection formation capabilities.

Reconsidering pro bono : a comparative analysis of protocols in Australia, the united states, the United Kingdom and Singapore

As of now, there is little evidence on the questions of whether pro bono services are effective, whether lawyer charity is a cheaper way to provide them (because it does cost money to do pro bono), or whether it would in fact be more efficient and effective if firms and attorneys stopped giving their time and instead donated money to the organizations already specializing in these clients and causes. Pro bono may or may not be an efficient way of doing socially important work; at this point, we simply do not know

Rethinking restrictive practices : a comparative analysis

This paper undertakes the first comparative analysis of restrictive practices legislation in Australia. This legislation, which regulates practices used to manage ‘challenging behaviours’ of people with intellectual disability or cognitive impairment, currently exists in four Australian jurisdictions. The paper demonstrates the gaps in coverage of this legislation and the wide variation of law nationally. We argue that legislation governing restrictive practices is needed, it should regulate the provision of all restrictive practices (not just some) and that there should be a national consistent approach.

XV World Congress of Comparative Education Societies Buenos Aires, June 2013

This article reports on the organisation and main events of the 15th World Congress of the World Council of Comparative Education Societies (WCCES), held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 2013.

MRI of postmortem specimens of endangered species for comparative brain anatomy

Many of the 5,500 threatened species of vertebrates found worldwide are highly protected and generally unavailable for scientific investigation. Here we describe a noninvasive protocol to visualize the structure and size of brain in postmortem specimens. We demonstrate its utility by examining four endangered species of kiwi (Apteryx spp.). Frozen specimens are thawed and imaged using MRI, revealing internal details of brain structure. External brain morphology and an estimate of brain volume can be reliably obtained by creating 3D models. This method has facilitated a comparison of brain structure in the different kiwi species, one of which is on the brink of extinction. This new approach has the potential to extend our knowledge of brain structure to species that have until now been outside the reach of anatomical investigation.

Comparative genomics of koala, cattle and sheep strains of Chlamydia pecorum

Background Chlamydia pecorum is an important pathogen of domesticated livestock including sheep, cattle and pigs. This pathogen is also a key factor in the decline of the koala in Australia. We sequenced the genomes of three koala C. pecorum strains, isolated from the urogenital tracts and conjunctiva of diseased koalas. The genome of the C. pecorum VR629 (IPA) strain, isolated from a sheep with polyarthritis, was also sequenced. Results Comparisons of the draft C. pecorum genomes against the complete genomes of livestock C. pecorum isolates revealed that these strains have a conserved gene content and order, sharing a nucleotide sequence similarity > 98%. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) appear to be key factors in understanding the adaptive process. Two regions of the chromosome were found to be accumulating a large number of SNPs within the koala strains. These regions include the Chlamydia plasticity zone, which contains two cytotoxin genes (toxA and toxB), and a 77 kbp region that codes for putative type III effector proteins. In one koala strain (MC/MarsBar), the toxB gene was truncated by a premature stop codon but is full-length in IPTaLE and DBDeUG. Another five pseudogenes were also identified, two unique to the urogenital strains C. pecorum MC/MarsBar and C. pecorum DBDeUG, respectively, while three were unique to the koala C. pecorum conjunctival isolate IPTaLE. An examination of the distribution of these pseudogenes in C. pecorum strains from a variety of koala populations, alongside a number of sheep and cattle C. pecorum positive samples from Australian livestock, confirmed the presence of four predicted pseudogenes in koala C. pecorum clinical samples. Consistent with our genomics analyses, none of these pseudogenes were observed in the livestock C. pecorum samples examined. Interestingly, three SNPs resulting in pseudogenes identified in the IPTaLE isolate were not found in any other C. pecorum strain analysed, raising questions over the origin of these point mutations. Conclusions The genomic data revealed that variation between C. pecorum strains were mainly due to the accumulation of SNPs, some of which cause gene inactivation. The identification of these genetic differences will provide the basis for further studies to understand the biology and evolution of this important animal pathogen. Keywords: Chlamydia pecorum; Single nucleotide polymorphism; Pseudogene; Cytotoxin

The contribution of major depression to the global burden of ischemic heart disease : a comparative risk assessment

Background Cardiovascular disease and mental health both hold enormous public health importance, both ranking highly in results of the recent Global Burden of Disease Study 2010 (GBD 2010). For the first time, the GBD 2010 has systematically and quantitatively assessed major depression as an independent risk factor for the development of ischemic heart disease (IHD) using comparative risk assessment methodology. Methods A pooled relative risk (RR) was calculated from studies identified through a systematic review with strict inclusion criteria designed to provide evidence of independent risk factor status. Accepted case definitions of depression include diagnosis by a clinician or by non-clinician raters adhering to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) or International Classification of Diseases (ICD) classifications. We therefore refer to the exposure in this paper as major depression as opposed to the DSM-IV category of major depressive disorder (MDD). The population attributable fraction (PAF) was calculated using the pooled RR estimate. Attributable burden was calculated by multiplying the PAF by the underlying burden of IHD estimated as part of GBD 2010. Results The pooled relative risk of developing IHD in those with major depression was 1.56 (95% CI 1.30 to 1.87). Globally there were almost 4 million estimated IHD disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), which can be attributed to major depression in 2010; 3.5 million years of life lost and 250,000 years of life lived with a disability. These findings highlight a previously underestimated mortality component of the burden of major depression. As a proportion of overall IHD burden, 2.95% (95% CI 1.48 to 4.46%) of IHD DALYs were estimated to be attributable to MDD in 2010. Eastern Europe and North Africa/Middle East demonstrate the highest proportion with Asia Pacific, high income representing the lowest. Conclusions The present work comprises the most robust systematic review of its kind to date. The key finding that major depression may be responsible for approximately 3% of global IHD DALYs warrants assessment for depression in patients at high risk of developing IHD or at risk of a repeat IHD event.

Mechanics of Polyropylene-Seed-Coat-Fibres Composites AndPolyropylene –Wood Fibres Composites-A Comparative Study

Forestry by-products have potential applications as components of wood composites. Replacement of conventional pine radiata wood-fibres by the fibres from the seeds (SCF) of the by-products, require determining and optimizing the mechanical properties to producing highest quality products. Response to mechanical stress is an important aspect to consider towards partial or full replacement of the wood-fibres by SCFs. In the present study the critical strain energy release rate, and the fracture toughness are derived from the published data. The present work uses rules of mixture to derive the mechanical and the physical properties of the SCF and relates the performance of the composites of the wood-fibres and the SCF to chemical composition, dispersion, weight and Vf of the fibres. We have also derived the Gc, the critical strain energy release rate, KIC, the fracture toughness of the composites.

Australian DOCAs versus UK pre-packs and CVAs : sifting through the ashes of comparative dividend returns

This article is something of a brief extension of recent research into deeds of company arrangement (DOCAs) under Pt 5.3A of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), conducted with the support of the Australian Restructuring Insolvency & Turnaround Association’s (ARITA’s) Terry Taylor Scholarship (TTS). This article presents some of the findings of that research (namely, the dividend outcomes delivered by sampled Australian DOCAs) in a manner consistent with reports which have recently emerged from similar research conducted in the UK. In so doing, a basic comparison can be made of the performance of Australian DOCAs against analogous UK procedures.

Is biggest best? A comparative analysis of the financial viability of the Brisbane City Council

Structural reform through forced mergers has been a dominant feature of Australian local government for decades. Advocates of compulsory consolidation contend that larger municipalities perform better across a wide range of attributes, including financial sustainability. While empirical scholars of local government have invested considerable effort into investigating these claims, no-one has yet examined the performance of Brisbane City Council against other local authorities, despite the fact that it is by far the largest council in Australia. This paper seeks to remedy this neglect by comparing Brisbane with Sydney City Council, an average of six south east Queensland councils and an average of ten metropolitan New South Wales councils against four measures of financial performance over the period 2008 to 2011.

Journalism students' motivations and expectations of their work in comparative perspective

Based on a survey of 4,393 journalism students in Australia, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, and the United States, this study provides much-needed comparative evidence about students’ motivations for becoming journalists, their future job plans, and expectations. Findings show not only an almost universal decline in students’ desire to work in journalism by the end of their program but also important national differences in terms of the journalistic fields in which they want to work, as well as their job expectations. The results reinforce the need to take into account national contexts when examining journalism education across the globe.