The Effects of Live, Taped and No Music on People Experiencing Posttraumatic Amnesia

This study compared the effects of live, taped, and no music, on agitation and orientation levels of people experiencing posttraumatic amnesia (PTA). Participants (N = 22) were exposed to all 3 conditions, twice over 6 consecutive days. Songs used in the live and taped music conditions were identical and were selected based on participants' own preferred music. Pre and posttesting was conducted for each condition using the Agitated Behavior Scale (Corrigan, 1989) and the Westmead PTA Scale (Shores, Marosszeky, Sandanam, Batchelor, 1986). Participants' memory for the music used was also tested and compared with their memory for pictorial material presented in the Westmead PTA Scale. Results indicate that music significantly reduced agitation (p

Half-Filled Layered Organic Superconductors and the Resonating-Valence-Bond Theory of the Hubbard-Heisenberg Model

We present a resonating-valence-bond theory of superconductivity for the Hubbard-Heisenberg model on an anisotropic triangular lattice. Our calculations are consistent with the observed phase diagram of the half-filled layered organic superconductors, such as the beta, beta('), kappa, and lambda phases of (BEDT-TTF)(2)X [bis(ethylenedithio)tetrathiafulvalene] and (BETS)(2)X [bis(ethylenedithio)tetraselenafulvalene]. We find a first order transition from a Mott insulator to a d(x)(2)-y(2) superconductor with a small superfluid stiffness and a pseudogap with d(x)(2)-y(2) symmetry.

Thylakoid membrane architecture

Confocal scanning laser microscopic observations were made on live chloroplasts in intact cells and on mechanically isolated, intact chloroplasts. Chlorophyll fluorescence was imaged to observe thylakoid membrane architecture. C-3 plant species studied included Spinacia oleracea L., Spathiphyllum sp. Schott, cv. 'Mauna Loa', and Pisum sativum L. C-4 plants were also investigated: Saccharum officinarum L., Sorghum bicolor L. Moench, Zea mays L. and Panicum miliaceum L. Some Spinacia chloroplasts were treated with 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea (DCMU) to enhance or sodium dithionite (SD) to reduce the photosystem II fluorescence signal. Confocal microscopy images of C-3 chloroplasts differed from electron microscopy pictures because they showed discrete spots of bright fluorescence with black regions between them. There was no evidence of fluorescence from stroma thylakoids. The thylakoid membrane system at times appeared to be string-like, with brightly fluorescing grana lined up like beads. C-4 bundle sheath chloroplasts were imaged from three different types of C-4 plants. Saccharum and Sorghum bundle sheath chloroplasts showed homogeneous fluorescence and were much dimmer than mesophyll chloroplasts. Zea had rudimentary grana, and dim, homogeneous intergrana fluorescence was visualised. Panicum contained thylakoids similar in appearance and string-like arrangement to mesophyll chloroplasts. Isolated Pisum chloroplasts, treated with a drop of 5 mM MgCl2 showed a thylakoid membrane system which appeared to be unravelling. Spongy mesophyll chloroplasts of Spinacia treated with 5 mM sodium dithionite showed a granal thylakoid system with distinct regions of no fluorescence. A time-series experiment provided evidence of dynamic membrane rearrangements over a period of half an hour.

Patterns of alcohol consumption in young Australian women: socio-demographic factors, health-related behaviours and physical health

Objective: To determine which sociodemographic factors. health-related behaviours and physical health conditions are associated with non-drinking, binge drinking and hazardous/harmful drinking in young Australian women. Methods: Cross-sectional data were obtained from the baseline survey of 14,762 young women (aged 18-23 years) enrolled in the Women's Health Australia study in 1996. Associations between a range of drinking patterns and sociodemographic factors, health-related behaviours and health conditions were examined. Results: Half the women were 'low intake' drinkers, a third 'rarely drank' and 9% were non-drinkers; however, 70% reported binge drinking with one-quarter of the binge drinkers doing so at least weekly. Nondrinkers were more likely than drinkers to be married, pregnant, non-smokers, born in non-English speaking countries, to live in the Northern Territory, and to have lower levels of education, employment, and private health insurance. Low intake/binge weekly' drinkers (12%) and 'hazardous/ harmful' drinkers (5%) were more likely than 'low risk' drinkers to be unmarried; to live in shared accommodation, alone or with their parents; to live in rural or remote areas; to have ever had any sexually transmitted infection; to be current smokers or ex-smokers and to have used unhealthy weight-control practices. Conclusions: The results confirm findings from other countries about the importance of social conditions as determinants of alcohol consumption by young women. Implications: Health promotion to reduce young women's alcohol consumption needs to be carefully targeted to take account of their demographies, living environments and beliefs.

The Parkes half-jansky flat-spectrum sample

We present a new sample of Parkes half-jansky flat-spectrum radio sources, having made a particular effort to find any previously unidentified sources. The sample contains 323 sources selected according to a flux limit of 0.5 Jy at 2.7 GHz, a spectral index measured between 2.7 and 5.0 GHz of alpha(2.7/5.0) > -0.5, where S(nu) proportional to nu(alpha), Galactic latitude \b\ > 20 degrees and -45 degrees < declination (B1950) < +10 degrees. The sample was selected from a region 3.90 steradians in area. We have obtained accurate radio positions for all the unresolved sources in this sample, and combined these with accurate optical positions from digitized photographic sky survey data to check all the optical identifications. We report new identifications based on R- and Kn-band imaging and new spectroscopic measurements of many of the sources. We present a catalogue of the 323 sources, of which 321 now have identified optical counterparts and 277 have measured spectral redshifts.

Complex natural resonances of conducting planar objects buried in a dielectric half-space

A scheme is presented to incorporate a mixed potential integral equation (MPIE) using Michalski's formulation C with the method of moments (MoM) for analyzing the scattering of a plane wave from conducting planar objects buried in a dielectric half-space. The robust complex image method with a two-level approximation is used for the calculation of the Green's functions for the half-space. To further speed up the computation, an interpolation technique for filling the matrix is employed. While the induced current distributions on the object's surface are obtained in the frequency domain, the corresponding time domain responses are calculated via the inverse fast Fourier transform (FFT), The complex natural resonances of targets are then extracted from the late time response using the generalized pencil-of-function (GPOF) method. We investigate the pole trajectories as we vary the distance between strips and the depth and orientation of single, buried strips, The variation from the pole position of a single strip in a homogeneous dielectric medium was only a few percent for most of these parameter variations.

City profile - Colombo

Rooted in a history that dates back 1500 years, the concentration of economic activity and infrastructure in Colombo represents an extreme case of urban primacy within the national context of Sri Lanka. Located on the West Coast of the country, the Colombo metropolitan area accommodates a quarter of the country's 18.6 million population, and is the economic and political core of the country. However, Colombo is a city of extremes. Its modem and well-serviced core stands in stark contrast to the circumstances of more than half of its population, who live in poorly serviced shack and shanty settlements. The proportion of the population living in these areas continues to expand, notwithstanding a history of innovative and participatory approaches to development planning and management. Complicating these development challenges, the potential of the city is undermined by a civil war that has been under way since the early 1980s, taking an immense toll in loss of life, political polarization, and economic opportunity costs. This paper traces Colombo's historical development, provides a description of contemporary characteristics and challenges faced by the city, and examines the evolution of plans and programmes designed to improve the conditions of low-income settlements in the city. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

GAIP participates in budding of membrane carriers at the trans-Golgi network

Galpha interacting protein (GAIP) is a regulator of G protein signaling protein that associates dynamically with vesicles and has been implicated in membrane trafficking, although its specific role is not yet known. Using an in vitro budding assay, we show that GAIP is recruited to a specific population of trans-Golgi network-derived vesicles and that these are distinct from coatomer or clathrin-coated vesicles. A truncation mutant (NT-GAIP) encoding only the N-terminal half of GAIP is recruited to trans -Golgi network membranes during the formation of vesicle carriers. Overexpression of NT-GAIP induces the formation of long, coated tubules, which are stabilized by microtubules. Results from the budding assay and from imaging in live cells show that these tubules remain attached to the Golgi stack rather than being released as carrier vesicles. NT-GAIP expression blocks membrane budding and results in the accumulation of tubular carrier intermediates. NT-GAIP-decorated tubules are competent to load vesicular stomatitis virus protein G-green fluorescent protein as post-Golgi, exocytic cargo and in cells expressing NT-GAIP there is reduced surface delivery of vesicular stomatitis virus protein G-green fluorescent protein. We conclude that GAIP functions as an essential part of the membrane budding machinery for a subset of post-Golgi exocytic carriers derived from the trans-Golgi network.