Rice ragged stunt oryzavirus genome segment S4 could encode an RNA dependent RNA polymerase and a second protein of unknown function

The complete nucleotide sequence of genome segment S4 of rice ragged stunt oryzavirus (RRSV, Thai-isolate) was determined. The 3823 bp sequence contains two large open reading frames (ORFs). ORF1, spanning nucleotides 12 to 3776, is capable of encoding a protein of M(r) 141,380 (P4a). The P4a amino acid sequence predicted from the nucleotide sequence contains sequence motifs conserved in RNA-dependent RNA polymerases (RDRPs). When compared for evolutionary relationships with RDRPs of other reoviruses using the amino acid sequences around the conserved GDD motif, P4a was shown to be more related to Nilaparvata lugens reovirus and reovirus serotype 3 than to rice dwarf phytoreovirus, bovine rotavirus or bluetongue virus. The ORF2, spanning nucleotides 491 to 1468, is out of frame with ORF1 and is capable of encoding a protein of 36, 920 (P4b). Coupled in vitro transcription-translation from cloned ORF2 in wheat germ extract confirmed the existence of ORF2 but in vivo production and possible function of P4b is yet to be determined.

Queensland diabetic foot hospitalisations (2005-10) : in what state is our foot hospital problem?

Background Diabetes foot complications are a leading cause of overall avoidable hospital admissions. Since 2006, the Queensland Diabetes Clinical Network has implemented programs aimed at reducing diabetes-related hospitalisation. The aim of this retrospective observational study was to determine the incidence of diabetes foot-related hospital admissions in Queensland from 2005 to 2010. Methods Data on all primary diabetes foot-related admissions in Queensland from 2005-2010 was obtained using diabetes foot-related ICD-10-AM (hospital discharge) codes. Queensland diabetes foot-related admission incidences were calculated using general population data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Furthermore, diabetes foot-related sub-group admissions were analysed. Chi-squared tests were used to assess changes in admissions over time. Results Overall, 24,917 diabetes foot-related admissions occurred, resulting in the use of 260,085 bed days or 1.4% of all available Queensland hospital bed days (18,352,152). The primary reasons for these admissions were foot ulcers (49.8%), cellulitis (20.7%), peripheral vascular disease (17.8%) and osteomyelitis (3.8%). The diabetes foot-related admission incidence among the general population (per 100,000) reduced by 22% (103.0 in 2005, to 80.7 in 2010, p < 0.001); bed days decreased by 18% (1,099 to 904, p < 0.001). Conclusion Diabetes foot complications appear to be the primary reason for 1.4 out of every 100 hospital beds used in Queensland. There has been a significant reduction in the incidence of diabetes foot-related admissions in Queensland between 2005 and 2010. This decrease has coincided with a corresponding decrease in amputations and the implementation of several diabetes foot clinical programs throughout Queensland.

Flag state responsibility for maritime terrorism

Modern international shipping is largely a flag state-based system. Only the flag state has complete authority over the vessels that fly its flag, and as a result, other states’ jurisdiction over these vessels is very limited. Against this backdrop, this article examines the flag state’s responsibility for maritime terrorism, a major security issue and vulnerability in the global supply chain. It is not an exaggeration that the global community’s repeated statements regarding the illegality of terrorism have created a customary international law obligation for states to take all possible steps for the prevention of terrorism. This article argues that providing flags to suspicious entities in an obscure registration system is not compatible with this obligation.

State responsibility for maritime terrorism

Maritime terrorism is one of the main maritime security issues in the contemporary world. The threat of maritime terrorism is more apparent than ever in the post-September 11 era. Although maritime terrorism is an old issue, the disastrous events of 11 September 2001 brought this issue again onto the global agenda. This incident brought to the forefront the longstanding concerns that terrorists could severely disrupt the global maritime supply chain by using shipping containers or vessels to attack major business centres, port facilities and offshore installations. A number of international criminal law studies have been conducted to identify international legal challenges in maritime security. Some of these works have critically examined the international legal framework for maritime security and identified the lacunas in the existing system. Some of these writings have also identified that emerging maritime terrorism issues are prompting States to introduce some stringent measures. Although the international legal regime related to maritime terrorism is a well-researched area, very little research work has explored the legal issues related to State responsibility for maritime terrorism. This article argues that, although the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) provisions related to maritime piracy may not be applicable for some dimensions of maritime violence, different provisions of UNCLOS may relevant in identifying State responsibility for maritime terrorism.

Local stress-strain distribution and load transfer across cartilage matrix at micro-scale using combined microscopy-based finite element method

Articular cartilage is the load-bearing tissue that consists of proteoglycan macromolecules entrapped between collagen fibrils in a three-dimensional architecture. To date, the drudgery of searching for mathematical models to represent the biomechanics of such a system continues without providing a fitting description of its functional response to load at micro-scale level. We believe that the major complication arose when cartilage was first envisaged as a multiphasic model with distinguishable components and that quantifying those and searching for the laws that govern their interaction is inadequate. To the thesis of this paper, cartilage as a bulk is as much continuum as is the response of its components to the external stimuli. For this reason, we framed the fundamental question as to what would be the mechano-structural functionality of such a system in the total absence of one of its key constituents-proteoglycans. To answer this, hydrated normal and proteoglycan depleted samples were tested under confined compression while finite element models were reproduced, for the first time, based on the structural microarchitecture of the cross-sectional profile of the matrices. These micro-porous in silico models served as virtual transducers to produce an internal noninvasive probing mechanism beyond experimental capabilities to render the matrices micromechanics and several others properties like permeability, orientation etc. The results demonstrated that load transfer was closely related to the microarchitecture of the hyperelastic models that represent solid skeleton stress and fluid response based on the state of the collagen network with and without the swollen proteoglycans. In other words, the stress gradient during deformation was a function of the structural pattern of the network and acted in concert with the position-dependent compositional state of the matrix. This reveals that the interaction between indistinguishable components in real cartilage is superimposed by its microarchitectural state which directly influences macromechanical behavior.

The Australian welfare state : who benefits now?

This text outlines the links between Australian's conceptions about welfare and the redistributive outcomes of the welfare state, canvassing theoretical explanations about why many Australians develop and maintain misconceptions of the broad disyributive mechanisms of the Ayustralian welfare state and hold negative attitudes towards its social welfare element. The book is an indispensable resource for students undertaking studies in sociology, social policy, public administrion and social work.

Work and the Welfare State : Street-Level Organizations and Workfare Politics

Work and the Welfare State places street-level organizations at the analytic center of welfare state politics, policy and management. This volume offers a critical examination of efforts to change the welfare state to a workfare state by looking at on-the-ground issues in six countries: the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands.

From Aussiewood Movies to Guerrilla Filmmaking: Independent Filmmaking and Contemporary Australian Cinema

Independent filmmaking within the context of Australian cinema is a multifaceted subject. In comparison to the United States, where production can be characterised as bifurcated between major studio production and so-called “indie” or independent production without the backing of the majors, since the 1970s and until recently the vast majority of Australian feature film production has been independent filmmaking. Like most so-called national cinemas, most Australian movies are supported by both direct and indirect public subvention administered by state and federal government funding bodies, and it could be argued that filmmakers are, to a certain degree, “dependent” on official mandates. As this chapter demonstrates national production slates are subjected to budget restraints and cut-backs, official cultural policies (for example pursuing international co-productions and local content quotas) and shifts in policy directions among others. Therefore, within the context of Australian cinema, feature film production operating outside the public funding system could be understood as “independent”. However, as is the case for most English-language national cinemas, independence has long been defined in terms of autonomy from Hollywood, and – as alluded to above – as Australia becomes more dependent upon international inputs into production, higher budget movies are becoming less independent from Hollywood. As such, this chapter argues that independence in Australian cinema can be viewed as having two poles: independence from direct government funding and independence from Hollywood studios. With a specific focus on industry and policy contexts, this chapter explores key issues that constitute independence for Australian cinema. In so doing it examines the production characteristics of four primary domains of contemporary independent filmmaking in Australia, namely: “Aussiewood” production; government-backed low-to-mid budget production; co-productions; and guerrilla filmmaking.

Traffic state estimation from partial Bluetooth and volume observations : case study in the Brisbane metropolitan area

The application of the Bluetooth (BT) technology to transportation has been enabling researchers to make accurate travel time observations, in freeway and arterial roads. The Bluetooth traffic data are generally incomplete, for they only relate to those vehicles that are equipped with Bluetooth devices, and that are detected by the Bluetooth sensors of the road network. The fraction of detected vehicles versus the total number of transiting vehicles is often referred to as Bluetooth Penetration Rate (BTPR). The aim of this study is to precisely define the spatio-temporal relationship between the quantities that become available through the partial, noisy BT observations; and the hidden variables that describe the actual dynamics of vehicular traffic. To do so, we propose to incorporate a multi- class traffic model into a Sequential Montecarlo Estimation algorithm. Our framework has been applied for the empirical travel time investigations into the Brisbane Metropolitan region.

A state-wide systems approach to embedding the learning and teaching of sustainability in teacher education

Education systems have a key role to play in preparing future citizens to engage in sustainable living practices and help create a more sustainable world. Many schools throughout Australia have begun to develop whole-school approaches to sustainability education that are supported by national and state policies and curriculum frameworks. Preservice teacher education, however, lags behind in building the capacity of new teachers to initiate and implement such approaches (ARIES, 2010). This proposed project seeks to develop a state-wide systems approach to embedding Education for Sustainability (EfS) in teacher education that is aligned with the Australian National Curriculum and the aspirations for EfS in the Melbourne Declaration and other national documents. Representatives from all teacher education institutions and other agents of change in the Queensland education system will be engaged in a multilevel systems approach, involving collaboration at the state, institutional and course levels, to develop curriculum practices that reflect a shared vision of EfS.

Interleukin-1β stimulates human renal fibroblast proliferation and matrix protein production by means of a transforming growth factor-β-dependent mechanism

One of the hallmarks of progressive renal disease is the development of tubulointerstitial fibrosis. This is frequently preceded by macrophage infiltration, raising the possibility that macrophages relay fibrogenic signals to resident tubulointerstitial cells. The aim of this study was to investigate the potentially fibrogenic role of interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta), a macrophage-derived inflammatory cytokine, on cortical fibroblasts (CFs). Primary cultures of human renal CFs were established and incubated for 24 hours in the presence or absence of IL-1beta. We found that IL-1beta significantly stimulated DNA synthesis (356.7% +/- 39% of control, P <.003), fibronectin secretion (261.8 +/- 11% of control, P <.005), collagen type 1 production, (release of procollagen type 1 C-terminal-peptide, 152.4% +/- 26% of control, P <.005), transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) secretion (211% +/- 37% of control, P <.01), and nitric oxide (NO) production (342.8% +/- 69% of control, P <.002). TGF-beta (1 ng/mL) and the phorbol ester phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA, 25 nmol/L) produced fibrogenic effects similar to those of IL-1beta. Neither a NO synthase inhibitor (N(G)-methyl-l-arginine, 1 mmol/L) nor a protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitor (bis-indolylmaleimide 1, 1 micromol/L) altered the enhanced level of fibronectin secretion or DNA synthesis seen in response to IL-1beta treatment. However, addition of a TGF-beta-neutralizing antibody significantly reduced IL-1beta-induced fibronectin secretion (IL-1beta + IgG, 262% +/- 72% vs IL-1beta + alphaTGF-beta 156% +/- 14%, P <.02), collagen type 1 production (IL-1beta + IgG, 176% +/- 28% vs IL-1beta + alphaTGF-beta, 120% +/- 14%, P <.005) and abrogated IL-1beta-induced DNA synthesis (245% +/- 49% vs 105% +/- 21%, P <.005). IL-1beta significantly stimulated CF DNA synthesis and production of fibronectin, collagen type 1, TGFbeta, and NO. The fibrogenic and proliferative action of IL-1beta on CF appears not to involve activation of PKC or production of NO but is at least partly TGFbeta-dependent.