Bringing the state to England: Andrew Tooke's translation of Samuel Pufendorf's 'De officio hominis et civis'

Andrew Tooke's 1691 English translation of Samuel Pufendorf's De officio hominis et civis, published as The Whole Duty of Man According to the Law of Nature, brought Pufendorf's manual fo statist natural law into English politics at a moment of temporary equilibrium in the unfinished contest between Crown and Parliament for the rights and powers of sovereignty. Drawing on the authors' re-edition of The Whole Duty of Man, this article describes and analyses a telling instance of how--by translation--the core political terms and concepts of the German natural jurist's 'absolutist' formulary were reshaped for reception in the different political culture of late seventeenth-century England.

Effect of honey types and concentration on starch gelatinization

The complex and variable composition of honey, depending on source, season and processing, means different honey samples could cause variation in the characteristics of the finished product. The objective of this study was to determine how the minor components present in honey affect starch gelatinization. A Rapid Visco Analyser was used to measure changes in viscosity when unmodified maize starch was gelatinized in a honey or model sugar solution. When honey was compared to equivalent blends of sugars, there was an increase in starch viscosity with increasing levels of addition. However, at the same level, honey gave a lower viscosity than the blends of sugars. Honeys from different sources (differing in pH and amylase activity) show a varied effect on starch gelatinization, with starch viscosity increasing with addition level for six of the honeys, but decreasing with increasing addition level for two honey samples. Varying the pH also produced variation in starch gelatinization patterns between honey types. Between pH 3.0 and 4.0, starch viscosity was similar for all four honey types studied, while above this pH there were differences between all honey types. As expected, starch viscosity decreased as the solution pH neared the optimum for honey amylase activity (pH 5.3-5.6), though it did not increase as the pH moved away from the honey amylase activity optimum. Differences between honey samples, and between honey and a model sugar mixture, in their effect on starch gelatinization was attributed to honey amylase activity and the composition and concentration of minor organic compounds present. Crown Copyright (C) 2003 Published by Elsevier Ltd. on behalf of Swiss Society of Food Science and Technology

Lipopolysaccharide and lipoteichoic acid induce different innate immune responses in bovine mammary epithelial cells

The objective of the present study was to characterize the innate immune responses induced by in vitro stimulation of bovine primary mammary epithelial cells (bMEC) using gram-negative lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and gram-positive lipoteichoic acid (LTA) bacterial cell wall components. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) was employed to examine the mRNA expression of a panel of 22 cytokines, chemokines, beta-defensins and components of the Toll-Like Receptor signaling pathway. Stimulation of bMEC with LPS for 24 h elicited a marked increase in mRNA expression for IL-1 beta, IL-8, TNF alpha, CXCL6 and beta-defensin while members of the Toll-Like Receptor pathway.. although present, were largely unaffected. Surprisingly, stimulation of these cells with LTA for 24 h did not significantly alter the expression of these genes. A time course of the expression of IL-1 beta, IL-8, TNF alpha, CXCL6 and beta-defensin was subsequently performed. The mRNA levels of all genes increased rapidly after stimulation for 2-4 h with both LPS and LTA but only the former treatment resulted in sustained responses. In contrast, the increased gene expression for LTA stimulated cells returned to resting levels after 8-16 h with the exception of beta-defensin, which remained up-regulated. The limited and unsustained cytokine response to LTA may explain why mastitis caused by gram-positive bacteria has greater potential for chronic intra-mammary infection than gram-negative infection. It was concluded that bovine mammary epithelial cells have a strong but differential capacity to mount innate immune responses to bacterial cell wall components. Crown Copyright (c) 2005 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The origin of the metazoan biphasic life cycle: New insights from an ancient phylum

The biphasic life cycle, characterised by metamorphosis from a pelagic larva to a benthic adult, is found throughout the Metazoa. So is sexual reproduction via eggs and sperm. Amidst a tangled web of hypotheses on the origin of metazoan biphasy, current weight of opinion lies with a simple, larva-like holopelagic ancestor that independently settled multiple times to incorporate a benthic phase into the life cycle. This school of thought derives from Haeckel's interpretation of the gastrula as the recapitulation of a gastrean ancestor that evolved via selection on a simple, planktonic hollow ball-of-cells to develop the capacity to feed. We suggest that a paradigm shift is required to accomodate accumulating evidence of the genomic and developmental complexity of the metazoan last common ancestor, which was likely to have already possessed a biphasic lifecycle. Here we incorporate recent evidence from basal metazoans, in particular poriferans, to argue that a more parsimonious theory of the origin of biphasy is as a direct consequence of sexual reproduction in an ancestral benthic adult form. The metazoan embryo can itself be considered the precursor to a biphasic life cycle, wherein the embryo represents one phase and the adult another. Embryos in the water column are subject to natural selection for longeveity and dispersal, which sets them on the evolutionary trajectory towards the crown metazoan planktonic larvae. This alternate view considers the conserved use of regulatory genes in disparate metazoans as a reflection of both the complexity of the LCA and the antiquity of the biphasic life cycle. It does not require that extant embryogenesis, including gastrulation, recapitulates evolution.

Fossil trees in ancient fluvial channel deposits: evidence of seasonal and longer-term climatic variability

It has been established that large numbers of certain trees can survive in the beds of rivers of northeastern Australia where a strongly seasonal distribution of precipitation causes extreme variations in flow on both a yearly and longer-term basis. In these rivers, minimal flow occurs throughout much of any year and for periods of up to several years, allowing the trees to become established and to adapt their form in order to facilitate their survival in environments that experience periodic inundation by fast-flowing, debris-laden water. Such trees (notably paperbark trees of the angiosperm genus Melaleuca) adopt a reclined to prostrate, downstream-trailing habit, have a multiple-stemmed form, modified crown with weeping foliage, development of thick, spongy bark, anchoring of roots into firm to lithified substrates beneath the channel floor, root regeneration, and develop in flow-parallel, linear groves. Individuals from within flow-parallel, linear groves are preserved in situ within the alluvial deposit of the river following burial and death. Four examples of in situ tree fossils within alluvial channel deposits in the Permian of eastern Australia demonstrate that specialised riverbed plant communities also existed at times in the geological past. These examples, from the Lower Permian Carmila Beds, Upper Permian Moranbah Coal Measures and Baralaba Coal Measures of central Queensland and the Upper Permian Newcastle Coal Measures of central New South Wales, show several of the characteristics of trees described from modern rivers in northeastern Australia, including preservation in closely-spaced groups. These properties, together with independent sedimentological evidence, suggest that the Permian trees were adapted to an environment affected by highly variable runoff, albeit in a more temperate climatic situation than the modem Australian examples. It is proposed that occurrences of fossil trees preserved in situ within alluvial channel deposits may be diagnostic of environments controlled by seasonal and longer-term variability in fluvial runoff, and hence may have value in interpreting aspects of palaeoclimate from ancient alluvial successions. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Integrating high and moderate spatial resolution image data to estimate forest age structure

The collection of spatial information to quantify changes to the state and condition of the environment is a fundamental component of conservation or sustainable utilization of tropical and subtropical forests, Age is an important structural attribute of old-growth forests influencing biological diversity in Australia eucalypt forests. Aerial photograph interpretation has traditionally been used for mapping the age and structure of forest stands. However this method is subjective and is not able to accurately capture fine to landscape scale variation necessary for ecological studies. Identification and mapping of fine to landscape scale vegetative structural attributes will allow the compilation of information associated with Montreal Process indicators lb and ld, which seek to determine linkages between age structure and the diversity and abundance of forest fauna populations. This project integrated measurements of structural attributes derived from a canopy-height elevation model with results from a geometrical-optical/spectral mixture analysis model to map forest age structure at a landscape scale. The availability of multiple-scale data allows the transfer of high-resolution attributes to landscape scale monitoring. Multispectral image data were obtained from a DMSV (Digital Multi-Spectral Video) sensor over St Mary's State Forest in Southeast Queensland, Australia. Local scene variance levels for different forest tapes calculated from the DMSV data were used to optimize the tree density and canopy size output in a geometric-optical model applied to a Landsat Thematic Mapper (TU) data set. Airborne laser scanner data obtained over the project area were used to calibrate a digital filter to extract tree heights from a digital elevation model that was derived from scanned colour stereopairs. The modelled estimates of tree height, crown size, and tree density were used to produce a decision-tree classification of forest successional stage at a landscape scale. The results obtained (72% accuracy), were limited in validation, but demonstrate potential for using the multi-scale methodology to provide spatial information for forestry policy objectives (ie., monitoring forest age structure).

Imitation, mirror neurons and autism

Various deficits in the cognitive functioning of people with autism have been documented in recent years but these provide only partial explanations for the condition. We focus instead on an imitative disturbance involving difficulties both in copying actions and in inhibiting more stereotyped mimicking, such as echolalia. A candidate for the neural basis of this disturbance may be found in a recently discovered class of neurons in frontal cortex, 'mirror neurons' (MNs). These neurons show activity in relation both to specific actions performed by self and matching actions performed by others, providing a potential bridge between minds. MN systems exist in primates without imitative and 'theory of mind' abilities and we suggest that in order for them to have become utilized to perform social cognitive functions, sophisticated cortical neuronal systems have evolved in which MNs function as key elements. Early developmental failures of MN systems are likely to result in a consequent cascade of developmental impairments characterised by the clinical syndrome of autism. Crown Copyright (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Peripheral withdrawal recruits distinct central nuclei in morphine-dependent rats

This study examined if brain pathways in morphine-dependent rats are activated by opioid withdrawal precipitated outside the central nervous system. Withdrawal precipitated with a peripherally acting quaternary opioid antagonist (naloxone methiodide) increased Fos expression but caused a more restricted pattern of neuronal activation than systemic withdrawal (precipitated with naloxone which enters the brain). There was no effect on locus coeruleus and significantly smaller increases in Fos neurons were produced in most other areas. However in the ventrolateral medulla (A1/C1 catecholamine neurons), nucleus of the solitary tract (A2/C2 catecholamine neurons), lateral parabrachial nucleus, supramamillary nucleus, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis. accumbens core and medial prefrontal cortex no differences in the withdrawal treatments were detected. We have shown that peripheral opioid withdrawal can affect central nervous system pathways. Crown Copyright (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Canopy carbon and oxygen isotope composition of 9-year-old hoop pine families in relation to seedling carbon isotope composition, growth, field growth performance, and canopy nitrogen concentration

Carbon isotope composition (delta C-13), oxygen isotope composition (delta O-18), and nitrogen concentration (N-mass) of branchlet tissue at two canopy positions were assessed for glasshouse seedlings and 9-year-old hoop pine (Araucaria cunninghamii Ait. ex D. Don) trees from 22 open-pollinated families grown in 5 blocks of a progeny test at a water-limited and nitrogen-deficient site in southeastern Queensland, Australia. Significant variations in canopy delta C-13, delta O-18, and N-mass existed among the 9-year-old hoop pine families, with a heritability estimate of 0.72 for branchlet delta C-13 from the upper inner canopy position. There was significant variation in canopy delta C-13 of glasshouse seedlings between canopy positions and among the families, with a heritability estimate of 0.66. The canopy delta C-13 was positively related to canopy N-mass only for the upper outer crown in the field (R = 0.62, p < 0.001). Phenotypic correlations existed between tree height and canopy delta C-13 (R = 0.37-0.41, p < 0.001). Strong correlations were found between family canopy delta C-13 at this site and those at a wetter site and between field canopy delta C-13 and glasshouse seedling delta C-13. The mechanisms of the variation in canopy delta C-13 are discussed in relation to canopy photosynthetic capacity as reflected in the N-mass and stomatal conductance as indexed by canopy delta O-18.

Amino acid residues in conodont elements

Thermally unaltered conodont elements, brachiopods. and vertebrates were analyzed with reverse phase high profile liquid chromatography to locate and quantify amino acid remnants of the original organic matrix in the fossils. No consistent similarities in amino acid content were found in conodont taxa. and criteria based on organic residues appear to have no taxonomic significance in the fossils tested from these localities. However, hydroxyproline. an amino acid that is found in the collagen molecules of animals. as well as in the glycoproteins in the cell walls and reproductive tissues of certain plants, is represented in most taxa. The organic matter retained in the impermeable crowns of conodont elements might have been derived originally from a form of collagen. Biochemical analyses. correlated with histochemical tests, demonstrate that organic matter is an integral part of the hyaline tissue of the element crown and not the result of surface contamination. Tests of a range of vertebrate and invertebrate fossil hard tissues produced similar results. The analyses indicate that hyaline tissue in the conodont element crown is not a form of vertebrate enamel. which contains no collagen. Albid tissue. with little or no organic content. is not a form of vertebrate bone or dentine, both based on collagen and low in mineral. Although these results do not help to determine the phylogenetic affinities of conodont animals, they indicate teat conodont elements do not contain hard tissues characteristic of vertebrate animals.

The modelling of froth zone recovery in batch and continuously operated laboratory flotation cells

This paper proposes an integrated methodology for modelling froth zone performance in batch and continuously operated laboratory flotation cells. The methodology is based on a semi-empirical approach which relates the overall flotation rate constant to the froth depth (FD) in the flotation cell; from this relationship, a froth zone recovery (R,) can be extracted. Froth zone recovery, in turn, may be related to the froth retention time (FRT), defined as the ratio of froth volume to the volumetric flow rate of concentrate from the cell. An expansion of this relationship to account for particles recovered both by true flotation and entrainment provides a simple model that may be used to predict the froth performance in continuous tests from the results of laboratory batch experiments. Crown Copyright (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

The effects of temperature on the growth, survival and biomass of different families of juvenile Penaeus japonicus Bate

Variation in the growth, survival and change in total biomass (termed biomass increase) of different families of juvenile Penaeus japonicus was investigated over a range of temperatures in controlled laboratory experiments. In the first experiment, the effects of temperature on six families of juveniles were examined over a broad range of temperatures (24 to 30 degreesC). In the second experiment, the effects of temperature on six more families of juveniles were examined over a narrower range of temperatures (27.5 to 31.2 degreesC). Over the broad temperature range, mean growth and biomass increase were highest at 27 degreesC and mean survival was highest at 24 degreesC. Mean growth was lowest at 24 degreesC, whilst survival and biomass increase were lowest at 30 degreesC. However, there was a significant interaction between family and temperature, with some families tolerating a broader range of temperatures than others. As a result, the ranking of families in relation to growth, survival and biomass increase changed at each temperature. This effect was more pronounced for survival than for growth. Over the narrower range, temperature significantly affected growth, survival and biomass increase, but there was no significant interaction between family and temperature. Growth, survival and biomass increase were significantly lower at 31.2 than at 27.5 and 29.2 degreesC. These results suggest that if grow-out conditions for P. japonicus vary by more than a few degrees, interactions between family and temperature could affect the efficiency of selection. The results also suggest that the family x temperature interaction may have a more pronounced effect on survival than on growth. Crown Copyright (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

2,6,,9-trioxabicyclo[3.3.1]nona-3,7-dienes and 2,4,6,8-tetraoxaadamantanes: Novel chiral spacer units in macrocyclic polyethers

The unusual chiral heterocyclic systems, trioxabicyclo[3.3.1]nona-3,7-dienes (bridged bisdioxines), are incorporated as novel spacer molecules into macrocyclic polyether ring systems of various sizes (8, 9 as well as 11-15) by cyclocondensation reaction of the! bisacid chloride 4b or bisesters 6,7 and 10, with several ethylene glycols. The 2:2 macrocycles 12-14 are obtained in approximately 50:50 mixtures of diastereomers. These conclusions are mainly based on HPLC data presented in Table I as well as X-ray analyses of (1R,5R)-8c (space group Pbca, a = 10.163(3) Angstrom, b = 18.999(4) Angstrom, c = 36.187(10) Angstrom, V = 6987(3) Angstrom(3), Z = 8, d(calc) = 1.218 g cm(-3), 6974 reflections, R = 0.0553.), mesolrac-11 (space group P (1) over bar, a = 10.472(5) Angstrom, b = 16.390(5) Angstrom, c = 17.211(5) Angstrom, alpha = 98.69(2)degrees, beta = 93.04(2)degrees, gamma = 98.52(2)degrees, V = 2879.3(18) Angstrom(3), Z = 2, d(calc) = 1.173 g cm(-3), 11,162 reflections, R = 0.0945) and meso-12 (space group P2(1)/c, a = 9.927(2), b = 18.166(3), c = 17.820(3) Angstrom, beta = 96.590(10)degrees, V = 3192.3(10)Angstrom(3), Z = 4, D-c = 1.109 g cm(-3), 3490 reflections, R = 0.0646). The 1:1 macrocycles 8b,c are also formed by intramolecular transesterification of the open-chain bisesters 7b,c and their formation is favored by the use of metal ions as templates. The bridged bisdioxine moieties in 8b and 12 are converted into the corresponding chiral tetra-oxaadamantane spacers to afford macrocycles 16 and 17. Preliminary metal ion complexation studies with selected species (8c, 11-14) were also performed.

Mapping glider habitat in dry eucalypt forests for Montreal Process indicator 1.1: Fragmentation of forest types

Accurate habitat mapping is critical to landscape ecological studies such as required for developing and testing Montreal Process indicator 1.1e, fragmentation of forest types. This task poses a major challenge to remote sensing, especially in mixedspecies, variable-age forests such as dry eucalypt forests of subtropical eastern Australia. In this paper, we apply an innovative approach that uses a small section of one-metre resolution airborne data to calibrate a moderate spatial resolution model (30 m resolution; scale 1:50 000) based on Landsat Thematic Mapper data to estimate canopy structural properties in St Marys State Forest, near Maryborough, south-eastern Queensland. The approach applies an image-processing model that assumes each image pixel is significantly larger than individual tree crowns and gaps to estimate crown-cover percentage, stem density and mean crown diameter. These parameters were classified into three discrete habitat classes to match the ecology of four exudivorous arboreal species (yellowbellied glider Petaurus australis, sugar glider P. breviceps, squirrel glider P. norfolcensis , and feathertail glider Acrobates pygmaeus), and one folivorous arboreal marsupial, the greater glider Petauroides volans. These species were targeted due to the known ecological preference for old trees with hollows, and differences in their home range requirements. The overall mapping accuracy, visually assessed against transects (n = 93) interpreted from a digital orthophoto and validated in the field, was 79% (KHAT statistic = 0.72). The KHAT statistic serves as an indicator of the extent that the percentage correct values of the error matrix are due to ‘true’ agreement verses ‘chance’ agreement. This means that we are able to reliably report on the effect of habitat loss on target species, especially those with a large home range size (e.g. yellow-bellied glider). However, the classified habitat map failed to accurately capture the spatial patterning (e.g. patch size and shape) of stands with a trace or sub-dominance of senescent trees. This outcome makes the reporting of the effects of habitat fragmentation more problematic, especially for species with a small home range size (e.g. feathertail glider). With further model refinement and validation, however, this moderateresolution approach offers an important, cost eff e c t i v e advancement in mapping the age of dry eucalypt forests in the region.

Productivity growth in pre-1990 Mongolian agriculture: Spiralling disaster or emerging success?

The reasons for the spectacular collapse of so many centrally-planned economies are a source of ongoing debate. In this paper, we use detailed farm-level data to measure total factor productivity (TFP) changes in Mongolian grain and potato farming during the 14-year period immediately preceding the 1990 economic reforms. We measure TFP growth using stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) and data envelopment analysis (DEA) methods. Our results indicate quite poor overall performance, with an average annual TFP change of - 1.7% in grain and 0.8% in potatoes, over the 14-year period. However, the pattern of TFP growth changed substantially during this period, with TFP growth exceeding 7% per year in the latter half of this period. This suggests that the new policies of improved education, greater management autonomy, and improved incentives, which were introduced in final two planning periods in the 1980s, were beginning to have a significant influence upon the performance of Mongolian crop farming. Crown Copyright (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.