AITPM national newsletter president's report April 2010

Well, it has been Clem 7 month here in Brisbane and my impression is “so far, so good!” For those of you who know Brisbane, the four lane twin Clem Jones Tunnel (M7) is approximately 4.5km long, and connects Ipswich Road (A7) at the Princess Alexandra Hospital on the south side with Bowen Bridge Road (A3) at the Royal Brisbane Hospital on the north side. There are also south access ramps to the Pacific Motorway and east access ramps to Shafston Avenue (headed to/from Wynnum). Brisbanites have been enjoying a three week no-toll taste test, and I paced through it one evening with minimal fuss. The tunnel seems to have eased the congestion at the Stanley Street on-ramp to the Pacific Motorway quite a bit, and Ipswich Road – Main Street through the ‘Gabba. One must watch the signage carefully, but once we get used to the infrastructure, this will not likely be problematic. It will be interesting to see how traffic behaves when the system settles after tolling, which has likely commenced by the time you’re reading. I believe a passenger car toll is about $4.20 one way but saves about 24 signalised intersection pass-throughs.

Subtropical design in South East Queensland : a handbook for planners, developers and decision makers

Subtropical Design in South East Queensland provides a direct link between climatic design, applied urban design and sustainable planning policy. The role that character and identity of a place plays in achieving environmental sustainability is explained. Values of local distinctiveness to do with climate, landscape and culture are identified and the environmental, social and economic benefits of applying subtropical design principles to planning are described. The handbook provides planners and urban designers with an understanding of how subtropical design principles apply within the different contexts of urban planning including the entire spectrum of urban scales from the regional scale, to the city, neighbourhood, street, individual building or site. Twelve interactive principles, and interrelated strategies, drawn predominantly from the body of knowledge of landscape architecture, architectural science and urban design are described in detail in text, and richly illustrated with diagrams and photographs.

Development of diagnostic and prognostic algorithms from vacuum circuit breaker restrike review and its validation proposal

The CIGRE WGs A3.20 and A3.24 identify the requirements of simulation tools to predict various stresses during the development and operational phases of medium voltage vacuum circuit breaker (VCB) testing. This paper reviews the modelling methodology [13], VCB models and tools to identify future research. It will include the application of the VCB model for the impending failure of a VCB using electro-magnetic-transient-program with diagnostic and prognostic algorithm development. The methodology developed for a VCB degradation model is to modify the dielectric equation to cover a restriking period of more than 1 millimetre.

The sample complexity of pattern classification with neural networks: the size of the weights is more important than the size of the network

Sample complexity results from computational learning theory, when applied to neural network learning for pattern classification problems, suggest that for good generalization performance the number of training examples should grow at least linearly with the number of adjustable parameters in the network. Results in this paper show that if a large neural network is used for a pattern classification problem and the learning algorithm finds a network with small weights that has small squared error on the training patterns, then the generalization performance depends on the size of the weights rather than the number of weights. For example, consider a two-layer feedforward network of sigmoid units, in which the sum of the magnitudes of the weights associated with each unit is bounded by A and the input dimension is n. We show that the misclassification probability is no more than a certain error estimate (that is related to squared error on the training set) plus A3 √((log n)/m) (ignoring log A and log m factors), where m is the number of training patterns. This may explain the generalization performance of neural networks, particularly when the number of training examples is considerably smaller than the number of weights. It also supports heuristics (such as weight decay and early stopping) that attempt to keep the weights small during training. The proof techniques appear to be useful for the analysis of other pattern classifiers: when the input domain is a totally bounded metric space, we use the same approach to give upper bounds on misclassification probability for classifiers with decision boundaries that are far from the training examples.

Outcomes following operative and non-operative management of humeral midshaft fractures: a prospective, observational cohort study of 47 patients

Background Although the non-operative management of closed humeral midshaft fractures has been advocated for years, the increasing popularity of operative intervention has left the optimal treatment choice unclear. Objective To compare the outcomes of operative and non-operative treatment of traumatic closed humeral midshaft fractures in adult patients. Methods A multicentre prospective comparative cohort study across 20 centres was conducted. Patients with AO type 12 A2, A3 and B2 fractures were treated with a functional brace or a retrograde-inserted unreamed humeral nail. Follow-up measurements were taken at 6, 12 and 52 weeks after the injury. The primary outcome was fracture healing after 1 year. Secondary outcomes included sub-items of the Constant score, general patient satisfaction, complications and cost-effectiveness parameters. Functions of the uninjured extremity were used as reference parameters. Intention-to-treat analysis was applied with the use of t-tests, Fisher’s exact tests, Mann–Whitney U-tests and adjusted analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results Forty-seven patients were included. The patient sample consisted of 23 women and 24 men, with a mean age of 52.7 years (range 17–86 years). Of the 47 cases, 14 were treated non-operatively and 33 operatively. The follow-up rate at 1 year was 81%. After 1 year, 11 fractures (100%) healed in the non-operative group and at least 24 fractures (≥89%) healed in the operative group [1 non-union patient (4%) and no data for 2 patients (7%)]. There were no significant differences in pain, range of motion (ROM) of the shoulder and elbow, and return to work after 6 weeks, 12 weeks and 1 year. Although operatively treated patients showed significantly greater shoulder abduction strength (p = 0.036), elbow flexion strength (p = 0.021), functional hand positioning (p = 0.008) and return to recreational activities (p = 0.043) after 6 weeks, no statistically significant differences existed in any outcome measure at the 1-year follow-up. Conclusions Our findings indicate that the non-operative management of humeral midshaft fractures can be expected to have similar functional outcomes and patient satisfaction at 1 year, despite an early benefit to operative treatment. If no radiological evidence of fracture healing exists in non-operatively treated patients during early follow-up, a switch to surgical treatment results in good functional outcomes and patient satisfaction. Keywords: Humeral shaft fracture, Non-operative treatment, Functional brace, Operative treatment, Unreamed humeral nail (UHN), Prospective, Cohort study

Serine protease inhibition and mitochondrial dysfunction associated with cisplatin resistance in human tumor cell lines : targets for therapy

Indicators of mitochondrial function were studied in two different cell culture models of cis-diamminedichloroplatinum-II (CDDP) resistance: the intrinsically resistant human ovarian cancer cell line CI-80-13S, and resistant clones (HeLa-S1a and HeLa-S1b) generated by stable expression of the serine protease inhibitor—plasminogen activator inhibitor type-2 (PAI-2), in the human cervical cancer cell line HeLa. In both models, CDDP resistance was associated with sensitivity to killing by adriamycin, etoposide, auranofin, bis[1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane]gold(I) chloride {[Au(DPPE)2]Cl}, CdCl2 and the mitochondrial inhibitors rhodamine-123 (Rhl23), dequalinium chloride (DeCH), tetraphenylphosphonium (TPP), and ethidium bromide (EtBr) and with lower constitutive levels of ATP. Unlike the HeLa clones, CI-80-13S cells were additionally sensitive to chloramphenicol, 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium ion (MPP+), rotenone, thenoyltrifluoroacetone (TTFA), and antimycin A, and showed poor reduction of 1-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT), suggesting a deficiency in NADH dehydrogenase and/or succinate dehydrogenase activities. Total platinum uptake and DNA-bound platinum were slightly lower in CI-80-13S than in sensitive cells. The HeLa-S1a and HeLa-S1b clones, on the other hand, showed poor reduction of triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC), indicative of low cytochrome c oxidase activity. Total platinum uptake by HeLa-S1a was similar to HeLa, but DNA-bound platinum was much lower than for the parent cell line. The mitochondria of CI-80-13S and HeLa-S1a showed altered morphology and were fewer in number than those of JAM and HeLa. In both models, CDDP resistance was associated with less platinum accumulation and with mitochondrial and membrane defects, brought about one case with expression of a protease inhibitor which is implicated in tumor progression. Such markers may identify tumors suitable for treatment with gold phosphine complexes or other mitochondrial inhibitors.

Coordinated probabilistic optimal decision-making model for multi-area ATC with risk control

In the decision-making of multi-area ATC (Available Transfer Capacity) in electricity market environment, the existing resources of transmission network should be optimally dispatched and coordinately employed on the premise that the secure system operation is maintained and risk associated is controllable. The non-sequential Monte Carlo simulation is used to determine the ATC probability density distribution of specified areas under the influence of several uncertainty factors, based on which, a coordinated probabilistic optimal decision-making model with the maximal risk benefit as its objective is developed for multi-area ATC. The NSGA-II is applied to calculate the ATC of each area, which considers the risk cost caused by relevant uncertainty factors and the synchronous coordination among areas. The essential characteristics of the developed model and the employed algorithm are illustrated by the example of IEEE 118-bus test system. Simulative result shows that, the risk of multi-area ATC decision-making is influenced by the uncertainties in power system operation and the relative importance degrees of different areas.

Analysis and control of cracking due to shrinkage in cast-in-place reinforced concrete slabs

The numerical analysis method of cracking in cast-in-place reinforced concrete slabs is presented. T he results agree w ell with the actual conditions. T he current state of knowledge and some new research findings on crack-control are introduced such as increasing the quantities of the distribution steel, adopting fibre reinforced concrete etc. Some recommended crack-control procedures used in design construction is presented based on the investigation and study of cracking in a frame structure.

Serine protease inhibition and mitochondrial dysfunction associated with cisplatin resistance in human tumor cell lines: targets for therapy

Indicators of mitochondrial function were studied in two different cell culture models of cis-diamminedichloroplatinum-II (CDDP) resistance: the intrinsically resistant human ovarian cancer cell line CI-80-13S, and resistant clones (HeLa-S1a and HeLa-S1b) generated by stable expression of the serine protease inhibitor—plasminogen activator inhibitor type-2 (PAI-2), in the human cervical cancer cell line HeLa. In both models, CDDP resistance was associated with sensitivity to killing by adriamycin, etoposide, auranofin, bis[1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane]gold(I) chloride {[Au(DPPE)2]Cl}, CdCl2 and the mitochondrial inhibitors rhodamine-123 (Rhl23), dequalinium chloride (DeCH), tetraphenylphosphonium (TPP), and ethidium bromide (EtBr) and with lower constitutive levels of ATP. Unlike the HeLa clones, CI-80-13S cells were additionally sensitive to chloramphenicol, 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium ion (MPP+), rotenone, thenoyltrifluoroacetone (TTFA), and antimycin A, and showed poor reduction of 1-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT), suggesting a deficiency in NADH dehydrogenase and/or succinate dehydrogenase activities. Total platinum uptake and DNA-bound platinum were slightly lower in CI-80-13S than in sensitive cells. The HeLa-S1a and HeLa-S1b clones, on the other hand, showed poor reduction of triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC), indicative of low cytochrome c oxidase activity. Total platinum uptake by HeLa-S1a was similar to HeLa, but DNA-bound platinum was much lower than for the parent cell line. The mitochondria of CI-80-13S and HeLa-S1a showed altered morphology and were fewer in number than those of JAM and HeLa. In both models, CDDP resistance was associated with less platinum accumulation and with mitochondrial and membrane defects, brought about one case with expression of a protease inhibitor which is implicated in tumor progression. Such markers may identify tumors suitable for treatment with gold phosphine complexes or other mitochondrial inhibitors.

Age-related changes in cardiac adenosine receptor expression

Adenosine is an important cardioprotective agent that works via several adenosine receptor (ADOR) subtypes to regulate cardiovascular activity. It is well established that functional responses to adenosine decline with age. What is unclear, though, is whether these changes occur at the receptor, second messenger or translational level. In this study we determined the effect of age on cardiac adenosine receptor expression using the housekeeping gene 18S rRNA versus the adenosine A2B receptor gene as internal controls. Absolute quantification showed that no age-related changes occurred in the expression of 18S rRNA or adenosine A2B receptor internal control genes. Subsequently, relative analysis of the adenosine receptor subtypes using 18S rRNA found a significant age-related reduction in the expression of the adenosine A1 receptor (5.5-fold), with no changes in the expression of the adenosine A2A, A2B and A3 receptors. When using the expression of the adenosine A2B receptor as the internal control gene, a significant down regulation of both the adenosine A1 (5.4-fold) and A2A (2.2-fold) receptors with no change in the expression of adenosine A3 receptor was found. Therefore, the high level of expression of the 18S rRNA housekeeping gene was found to mask a significant change in expression of the adenosine A2A receptor with age. Ultimately, these findings show an age-related reduction in adenosine A1 and A2A receptor expression in rat heart.

The environmental enigma : why do producers professing stewardship continue to practice poor natural resource management?

Despite a wide acceptance that primary producers in Australia subscribe to a stewardship ethic, land and water degradation remains an ongoing problem. Recent calculations suggest that the economic cost of Australia's environmental degradation is amounting to more than $A3.5 billion a year with an estimated cost of managing (not overcoming) problems of salinity, acidification, soil erosion totalling $A60 billion over the next decade. This paper argues that stewardship itself is an unsatisfactory concept when looking to landholders to respond to environmental problems, for rarely does the attitude of stewardship translate into behaviours of improving natural resource management practices on private land. Whilst there is some acceptance of the environmental problem among primary producers, a number of external constraints may also impede the uptake of conservation-orientated practices. In light of the prevailing accounts of poor adoption of sustainable practices a number of policy options are reviewed in this paper, including formal regional partnerships, regulatory frameworks and market-based measures. It is concluded that the contentious nature of some of these new opportunities for change will mean that any moves aimed at reversing environmental degradation in Australia will be slow.

The role of the ethnic enclave in facilitating immigrant business performance and social integration

Chinese immigrant entrepreneurs, known the world over for their successful business practices (Kee, 1994), tend to start businesses within their ethnic enclave. But in a move away from multiculturalism, host countries increasingly fear that immigration and asylum pose a threat to social integration resulting in a lack of social cohesion and a plethora of government programs (Cheong, Edwards, Goulbourne & Solomos, 2007). For many immigrant entrepreneurs, the EE is an integral part of their social and cultural context and the location where ethnic resources reside (Logan, Alba & Stults, 2003). Immigrant entrepreneurs can harness the networks for labor and customers through various ties in their EE (Portes and Zhou, 1996). Yang, Ho and Chang (2010) illustrate in their paper that the Chinese immigrant entrepreneurs (IE) were able to utilize ethnic network resources as their social capital in order to reduce transaction costs and thus enhance business performance. Tilly (1990) explains that immigrants’ reliance on such networks for business or other information minimizes the socioeconomic hardships they would experience in host countries (Raijman & Tienda, 2000). Acquiring jobs in ethnic businesses and establishing businesses within an EE may facilitate migrants’ social integration into the host country (Tian & Shan, 1999). Although an EE has distinct economic advantages for immigrant entrepreneurs, Sequeira and Rasheed (2006: 367) argue that ‘Exclusive reliance on strong ties within the immigrant enclave has a negative effect on growth outside the enclave community.’ Similarly, Drori, Honig and Ginsberg (2010: 20) also propose that ‘The greater the reliance of transnational entrepreneurs on ethnic (versus societal) embedded resources and network structure, the narrower their possibilities of expanding the scope of their business.’ This research asks, ‘What is the role of the ethnic enclave in facilitating immigrant business growth and social integration? This project has the following important aims: A1 To better understand the role of IE, in particular Chinese IE in the Australian economy A2 To investigate the role of the EE in facilitating or inhibiting immigrant business performance A3 To understand how locating their firm inside or outside of the EE will affect the IE’s embeddedness in co-ethnic and nonco-ethnic networks and social integration A4 To understand how an IE’s social network affects business performance and social integration

Effect of 5′UTR introns on gene expression in Arabidopsis thaliana

Background The majority of introns in gene transcripts are found within the coding sequences (CDSs). A small but significant fraction of introns are also found to reside within the untranslated regions (5′UTRs and 3′UTRs) of expressed sequences. Alignment of the whole genome and expressed sequence tags (ESTs) of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana has identified introns residing in both coding and non-coding regions of the genome. Results A bioinformatic analysis revealed some interesting observations: (1) the density of introns in 5′UTRs is similar to that in CDSs but much higher than that in 3′UTRs; (2) the 5′UTR introns are preferentially located close to the initiating ATG codon; (3) introns in the 5′UTRs are, on average, longer than introns in the CDSs and 3′UTRs; and (4) 5′UTR introns have a different nucleotide composition to that of CDs and 3′UTR introns. Furthermore, we show that the 5′UTR intron of the A. thaliana EFIα-A3 gene affects the gene expression and the size of the 5′UTR intron influences the level of gene expression. Conclusion Introns within the 5′UTR show specific features that distinguish them from introns that reside within the coding sequence and the 3′UTR. In the EFIα-A3 gene, the presence of a long intron in the 5′UTR is sufficient to enhance gene expression in plants in a size dependent manner.

Nutrition and physical activity policies and practices in family child care homes in oregon : baseline findings from the healthy home child care project

Baseline findings from the Healthy Home Child Care Project include data from Family Child Care Providers (FCCPs) in Oregon (n=53) who completed assessments of nutrition and physical activity policies and practices and BMI data for children in the care of FCCPs (n=205). Results show that a significant percentage of FCCPs failed to meet child care standards in several areas and that 26.8% of children under the care of FCCPs were overweight or obese. These data supported the development of an Extension-delivered intervention specific to FCCPs in Oregon and highlight areas of concern that should be addressed through targeted trainings of FCCPs.