Can parents and teachers provide a reliable and valid report of behavioral inhibition?

Reliability and validity of parent and teacher report of behavioral inhibition (BI) was examined among children aged 3 to 5 years. Confirmatory factor analysis supported 6 correlated factors reflecting specific BI contexts, each loading on a single, higher order factor of BI. Internal consistency was acceptable, with moderate stability over 1 year and strong correlation with a brief inhibition subscale from a temperament questionnaire. Children who were rated by mothers and teachers as high BI took longer to initiate contact with a stranger, spoke less often and for shorter periods, and required more prompting to elicit speech compared with low-BI peers in a simulated stranger interaction task. Father report of BI was significantly associated with mean duration of speech and eye gaze.

Political science and public administration: The saga of a difficult relationship

This paper is based on 'The perennial ugly duckling-public sector education in tertiary institutions before and after Coombs, an invited contribution on management education delivered at the Sydney Academics Symposium on the Coombs Commission in Retrospect, IPAA National Conference, 28 November 2001.

Coherent state construction of representations of osp(2|2) and primary fields of osp(2|2) conformal field theory

Representations of the superalgebra osp(2/2)(k)((1)) and current superalgebra. osp(2/2)k in the standard basis are investigated. All finite-dimensional typical and atypical representations of osp(2/2) are constructed by the vector coherent state method. Primary fields of the non-unitary conformal field theory associated with osp(2/2)(k)((1)) in the standard basis are obtained for arbitrary level k. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A comparative analysis of entrepreneurial approaches within public healthcare organisations

This article examines the development of two distinct models of organising allied health professionals within two public sector health service organisations in Australia. The first case illustrated a mode of organising that facilitated a culture that focused on asset protection and whose external orientation was threat oriented because its disparate multiple identities operated as a fractured, fragmented and competitive set of profession disciplines. In this milieu, there was no evidence of entrepreneurial approaches being used. In contrast, the second case study illustrated a mode of organising that facilitated an entrepreneurial culture that focused on asset growth and an external orientation that was opportunity oriented because of the evolution of a strong superordinate allied health identity that operated as a single united health services stakeholder. This evolution was coupled with the emergence of a corporate boardroom model of management that is consonant with Savage et al. (1997) IDS/N model of management. Once this structure and strategy were in place, corporate entrepreneur ship became the modus operandi. Consequently, because the case study was a situation where corporate entrepreneurship existed in the public sector, it was possible to compare the factors that stimulate corporate entrepreneurship in Sadler's (2000) study with factors that were observed in our study.

Random error in willingness to pay measurement: A multiple indicators, latent variable approach to the reliability of contingent values

The reliability of measurement refers to unsystematic error in observed responses. Investigations of the prevalence of random error in stated estimates of willingness to pay (WTP) are important to an understanding of why tests of validity in CV can fail. However, published reliability studies have tended to adopt empirical methods that have practical and conceptual limitations when applied to WTP responses. This contention is supported in a review of contingent valuation reliability studies that demonstrate important limitations of existing approaches to WTP reliability. It is argued that empirical assessments of the reliability of contingent values may be better dealt with by using multiple indicators to measure the latent WTP distribution. This latent variable approach is demonstrated with data obtained from a WTP study for stormwater pollution abatement. Attitude variables were employed as a way of assessing the reliability of open-ended WTP (with benchmarked payment cards) for stormwater pollution abatement. The results indicated that participants' decisions to pay were reliably measured, but not the magnitude of the WTP bids. This finding highlights the need to better discern what is actually being measured in VVTP studies, (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Increased mononuclear cell activation and apoptosis early after human liver transplantation is associated with a reduced frequency of acute rejection

Experimental models of orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) have shown that the very early events post-OLT are critical in distinguishing immunogenic and tolerogenic reactions. In rodents, increased leukocyte apoptosis and cytokine expression have been demonstrated in tolerogenic strain combinations. Information from human OLT recipients is less abundant. The aim of this study was to determine the amount of early leukocyte activation and apoptosis following human OLT, and to correlate this with subsequent rejection status. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were isolated from 76 patients undergoing OLT - on the day prior, 5 hrs after reperfusion (day 0), and 18-24 hrs post-OLT (day 1). The mean level of apoptotic PBMCs on post OLT day 1 was higher than healthy recipients (0.9% +/- 0.2 vs. 0.2% +/- 0.1, p = 0.013). Apoptosis was greater in nonrejecting (NR) (1.1% +/- 0.3) compared with acutely-rejecting (R) (0.3% +/- 0.1, p = 0.021) patients. On day 1, PBMC from NR patients had increased expression of IFN-gamma (p = 0.006), IL-10 (p = 0.016), and CD40 ligand (p = 0.02) compared with R. Donor cell chimerism on day 1 did not differ between the groups indicating that this was unlikely to account for increased PBMC apoptosis in the NR group. Interestingly, the level of chimerism on day 0 was significantly higher in NR (3.8% +/- 0.6) compared with R (1.2% +/- 0.4, p = 0.004) patients and there was a close correlation between chimerism on day 0 and cytokine expression on day 1. These results imply that similar mechanisms are occurring in the human liver to promote graft acceptance as in the experimental models of liver transplantation and suggest that strategies that promote liver transplant acceptance in rodents might be applicable to humans.

Near-resonant holographic interferometry and absorption measurements of seeded atomic species in a flame

The development of near-resonant holographic interferometry techniques for use on flows seeded with atomic species is described. A theoretical model for the refractivity that is due to the seed species is outlined, and an approximation to this model is also described that is shown to be valid for practical regimes of interest and allows the number density of the species to be determined without knowledge of line-broadening effects. The details of quantitative number density experiments performed on an air-acetylene flame are given, and a comparison with an alternative absorption-based experiment is made. (C) 2004 Optical Society of America.

OH concentration and temperature measurements by use of near-resonant holographic interferometry

Near-resonant holographic interferometry is demonstrated to measure temperature and species concentration in a two-dimensional steady premixed air-acetylene flame. A peak temperature of (2600 +/- 100) K and a peak OH number density of (9.6 +/- 0.3) X 10(22) m(-3) are obtained, consistent with the expected values for such a flame. These values are determined by recording interferograms with a laser assumed sufficiently detuned from line center so that pressure and temperature broadening can be ignored. The results are thus obtained without making prior assumptions on the temperature or pressure of the flame beyond the existence of thermal equilibrium. (C) 2004 Optical Society of America.

Management effectiveness: Assessing management of protected areas?

To maximise the potential of protected areas, we need to understand the strengths and weaknesses in their management and the threats and stresses that they face. There is increasing pressure on governments and other bodies responsible for protected areas to monitor their effectiveness. The reasons for assessing management effectiveness include the desire by managers to adapt and improve their management strategies, improve planning and priority setting and the increasing demands for reporting and accountability being placed on managers, both nationally and internationally. Despite these differing purposes for assessment, some common themes and information needs can be identified, allowing assessment systems to meet multiple uses. Protected-area management evaluation has a relatively short history. Over the past 20 years a number of systems have been proposed but few have been adopted by management agencies. In response to a recognition of the need for a globally applicable approach to this issue, the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas developed a framework for assessing management effectiveness of both protected areas and protected area systems. This framework was launched at the World Conservation Congress in Jordan in 2000. The framework provides guidance to managers to develop locally relevant assessment systems while helping to harmonise assessment approaches around the world. The framework is strongly linked to the protected area management process and is adaptable to different types and circumstances of protected areas around the world. Examples from Fraser Island in Australia and the Congo Basin illustrate the use of the framework.

Options for guaranteeing the effective management of the world's protected areas

A rapid increase in the number and size of protected areas has prompted interest in their effectiveness and calls for guarantees that they are providing a good return on investment by maintaining their values. Research reviewed here suggests that many remain under threat and a significant number are already suffering deterioration. One suggestion for encouraging good management is to develop a protected-area certification system: however this idea remains controversial and has created intense debate. We list a typology of options for guaranteeing good protected-area management, and give examples, including: danger lists; self-reporting systems against individual or standardised criteria; and independent assessment including standardised third-party reporting, use of existing certification systems such as those for forestry and farming and certification tailored specifically to protected areas. We review the arguments for and against certification and identify some options, such as: development of an accreditation scheme to ensure that assessment systems meet minimum standards; building up experience from projects that are experimenting with certification in protected areas; and initiating certification schemes for specific users such as private protected areas or institutions like the World Heritage Convention.

Experimental expansion tube study of the flow over a toroidal ballute

An experimental investigation of high-enthalpy flow over a toroidal ballute (balloon/parachute) was conducted in an expansion tube facility. The ballute, proposed for use in a number of future aerocapture missions, involves the deployment of a large toroidal-shaped inflatable parachute behind a space vehicle to generate drag on passing through a planetary atmosphere, thus, placing the spacecraft in orbit. A configuration consisting of a spherical spacecraft, followed by a toroid, was tested in a superorbital facility. Measurements at moderate-enthalpy conditions (15-20 MJ/kg) in nitrogen and carbon dioxide showed peak heat transfer rates of around 20 MW/m(2) on the toroid. At higher enthalpies (>50 MJ/kg) in nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and a hydrogen-neon mixture, heat transfer rates above 100 MW/m(2) were observed. Imaging using near-resonant holographic interferometry showed that the flows were steady except when the opening of the toroid was blocked.

Prediction of BRCA1 status in patients with breast cancer using estrogen receptor and basal phenotype

Purpose: To investigate the proportion of breast cancers arising inpatients with germ line BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations expressing basal markers and developing predictive tests for identification of high-risk patients. Experimental Design: Histopathologic material from 182 tumors in BRCA1 mutation carriers, 63 BRCA2 carriers, and 109 controls, collected as part of the international Breast Cancer Linkage Consortium were immunohistochemically stained for CK14, CK5/6, CK17, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), and osteonectin. Results: All five basal markers were commoner in BRCA1 tumors than in control tumors (CK14: 61% versus 12%; CK5/6: 58% versus 7%; CK17: 53% versus 10%; osteonectin: 43% versus 19%; EGFR: 67% versus 21%; P < 0.0001 in each case). In a multivariate analysis, CK14, CK5/6, and estrogen receptor (ER) remained significant predictors of BRCA1 carrier status. In contrast, the frequency of basal markers in BRCA2 tumors did not differ significant from controls. Conclusion: The use of cytokeratin staining in combination with ER and morphology provides a more accurate predictor of BRCA1 mutation status than previously available, that may be useful in selecting patients for BRCA1 mutation testing. The high percentage of BRCA1 cases positive for EGFR suggests that specific anti-tyrosine kinase therapy may be of potential benefit in these patients.