Judith Butler's postmodern existentialism : a critical analysis

Bucher ascertains that Butler's description of the temporalized process of structuration, which seeks to avoid recourse to political voluntarism, or the sovereign intentionality of the autonomous individual, yields powerful insights into social identity. He asserts further that Butler's description of the dominant heterosexual culture in terms of melancholia, and her insights into the structures of repetition and difference that make up the social conventions that produce cultural norms, represent important resources in thinking about contemporary cultural conflicts.

Broadcast anti-jamming systems

In a traditional anti-jamming system a transmitter who wants to send a signal to a single receiver spreads the signal power over a wide frequency spectrum with the aim of stopping a jammer from blocking the transmission. In this paper, we consider the case that there are multiple receivers and the transmitter wants to broadcast a message to all receivers such that colluding groups of receivers cannot jam the reception of any other receiver. We propose efficient coding methods that achieve this goal and link this problem to well-known problems in combinatorics. We also link a generalisation of this problem to the Key Distribution Pattern problem studied in combinatorial cryptography

Lean meat and heart health

The general health message to the public about meat consumption is both confusing and misleading. It is stated that meat is not good for health because meat is rich in fat and cholesterol and high intakes are associated with increased blood cholesterol levels and coronary heart disease (CHD). This paper reviewed 54 studies from the literature in relation to red meat consumption and CHD risk factors. Substantial evidence from recent studies shows that lean red meat trimmed of visible fat does not raise total blood cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol levels. Dietary intake of total and saturated fat mainly comes from fast foods, snack foods, oils, spreads, other processed foods and the visible fat of meat, rather than lean meat. In fact, lean red meat is low in saturated fat, and if consumed in a diet low in SFA is associated with reductions in LDL-cholesterol in both healthy and hypercholesterolemia subjects. Lean red meat consumption has no effect on in vivo and ex vivo production of thromboxane and prostacyclin or the activity of haemostatic factors. Lean red meat is also a good source of protein, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin B12, niacin, zinc and iron. In conclusion, lean red meat, trimmed of visible fat, which is consumed in a diet low in saturated fat does not increase cardiovascular risk factors (plasma cholesterol levels or thrombotic risk factors).

Letting go without a fight : decolonization, democracy and war, 1900-94

Does the type of regime really make no difference to the likelihood of violent conflict over basic issues of stateness such as separatism and decolonization? Can democratic peace theory be successfully applied when dealing with the national identity or stateness question? This article extends the application of the democratic peace to the process of decolonization. It examines conflict between imperial states and their colonies during the process of decolonization and investigates the question of whether democracy affects the likelihood of conflict. The central finding is that, contrary to the implications of some prominent theories of state formation and democracy, democratic imperial states are significantly less likely to go to war with their colonial possessions in the process of achieving independence. Further, the authors find only a monadic, not dyadic, democratic peace effect. The regime type of the colony does not have a significant effect on the likelihood of war. It is the nature of the regime of imperial states, rather than that of colonies, that is a significant factor. In addition, the predominant source of this effect appears to be the institutional constraints placed on executive action within democracies, rather than the influence of mass politics or the effects of political competition. Regarding power-related factors, power parity between sovereign and colony makes conflict more likely (a colonial power-transition effect), but imperial decline actually makes war with colonies less likely. Sensitivity analysis reveals that a number of other hypothesized effects cannot find robust support. Simulations are used to assess the magnitude of the effect of regime type pre- and post-independence. Overall, the article contributes to theory development by investigating different institutional aspects of democracy and by distinguishing monadic and dyadic effects.

Use of high resolution digital multi-spectral imagery to assess the distribution of disease caused by Phytophthora cinnamomi on heathland at Anglesea, Victoria

Disease caused by the soilborne plant pathogen Phytophthora cinnamomi causes long-term floristic and structural changes in native vegetation communities in Australia. Key components of the management of this disease are to know where it occurs and the rate at which it spreads. The distribution of P. cinnamomi has generally been assessed as locality points of infestation and mapping the extent of diseased vegetation in any area is difficult and costly. This study was undertaken in P. cinnamomi-infested heathland communities in southern Victoria, Australia, where the symptoms of P. cinnamomi arise as a mosaic within healthy vegetation. We investigated the potential to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of mapping and monitoring vegetation affected by P. cinnamomi using digital multi-spectral imaging. This technique was developed for the purposes of monitoring vegetation and provides a single, seamless ortho-rectified digital image over the total area of interest. It is used to spatially quantify small differences in the characteristics of vegetation. In this study, the symptoms of disease caused by P. cinnamomi infestation were related to differences in the imagery and were used to map areas of infestation. Comparison of the digital multi-spectral imaging indications with on-ground observations gave moderate accuracy between the datasets (κ = 0.49) for disease and healthy indications. This study demonstrates the ability of the technique to determine disease extent over broad areas in native vegetation and provides a non-invasive, cost effective tool for management.

On performance of transform domain adaptive filters with Markov-2 inputs

In this paper, the analysis for the performance of the discrete Fourier transform LMS adaptive filter (DFT-LMS) and the discrete cosine transform LMS adaptive filter (DCT-LMS) for the Markov-2 inputs is presented. To improve the convergence property of the least mean squares (LMS) adaptive filter, the DFT-LMS and DCT-LMS preprocess the inputs with the fixed orthogonal transforms and power normalization. We derive the asymptotic results for the eigenvalues and eigenvalue distributions of the preprocessed input autocorrelation matrices with DFT-LMS and DCT-LMS for Markov-2 inputs. These results explicitly show the superior decorrelation property of DCT-LMS over that of DFT-LMS, and also provide the upper bounds for the eigenvalue spreads of the finite-length DFT-LMS and DCT-LMS adaptive filters. Simulation results are demonstrated to support the analytic results.

Bare life in second life : Giorgio Agamben's politics in performance

This paper describes and analyzes the necessary misreadings of Giorgio Agamben’s account of ‘bare life’ in a recent performance in Melbourne, Australia. The ‘Bare Life’ project deals with Australia’s treatment of asylum seekers with reference to Agamben’s work on sovereign power and uses the on-line second life world as both a metaphor for the refugee’s desire for a new life, and a literal site of performance. The development showing explored the interactions between live performance and second life avatars in real time. This paper deals with the philosophical, ethical and practical problems that emerged during the development, and argues that the ‘misreading’ is an inevitable, but useful part of finding ways to embody philosophical and political ideas in performance.

More than a mere story : social and political markers in Australian short fiction of the 1980's

This thesis is a literary history which argues that much of the short fiction published in Australia during the 1980s was deeply influenced by the rapid social and political changes during that decade. My argument concentrates on links between the short stones of the period and the socio/political environment into which they were written. The decade was marked by massive changes in technology, the workplace, and in all other areas of social life. In general terms, the ideology of the 'market' predominated over notions of small 'l' liberalism and the last vestiges of state intervention in the economy. The Australian short story benefited from the social 'experiments' of the 1970s in that its concerns became broader - encompassing the onslaught of feminism, the foregrounding of 'multicultural' concerns, and a move away from the bush into the city as a primary site for narratives. The decade was a rich period for the genre. Why was there a tolerance for a new diversity, in literary terms, when the social and political environment was turning to the right? This is a central question of the thesis. I argue that instead of the 'base' determining the 'superstructure' (i.e. culture) the superstructural changes were essential to the deconstruction of the social and political landscape. This thesis contends that a relationship always exists between the 'literary' and 'the social'. I argue, among other things, that many of the short fictions were influenced by 'postmodern' theory to the extent that they became a form of traumatic note-taking, which masked a late romanticism beneath a fear of the sovereign subject. The fear of 'closure' which insinuated itself into many of the texts, besides being a form of academic corrective, was also a flight from emotional candor. I argue that storytelling was, in many cases, the loser.

Introduction of electronic trading in index futures : volatility and volume effects

There is continuing debate in the US over full introduction of electronic trading in those index futures contracts that are still traded at the CME via open outcry. Since the late 1990s major international exchanges trading index futures contracts have converted to full electronic trading. Recent empirical studies have focused on effects on bid/ask spreads and related price volatility following these changes. We take a different approach and investigate and test for structural change in conditional volatility and volume effects following the shift to electronic trading in the Australian Share Price Index futures contract. Multiple Switching point GARCH models are employed with the data sampled at 5, 15 and 30-minute intervals from transaction records supplied by the Sydney Futures Exchange. There is significant evidence of structural changes in both the persistence of volatility shocks and simultaneous volume effects following the change to screen trading in this futures market.

An international society - if you can keep it...

This paper is a defense of the ideal of an international society of sovereign states in an era of growing challenges to its practice. However, in order to defend the ideal of international society in an era of growing threats to the practice of this ideal, particularly in the forms of transnational harm, graphic interstate inequality, revisionist non-state actors and confrontational US foreign policy, I agree with those scholars that the theory of international society needs to be revised. While the English School (ES), also referred to as Rationalism, has examined and defended the ideal of an international society, the current problems facing the society of sovereign states require us to rethink the conceptual tools of the ES. While this paper defends the desirability of a society of sovereign states, I argue that that the pluralist-solidarist divide invites us to make ultimately unhelpful choices about ethics and politics within contemporary world politics. Consequently, I am going to propose that rather than concentrating on the ends that such a society ought to uphold, we ought to concentrate on the ways in which an international society could be sustained and the roles that individuals could play in the contemporary constitution of a robust international society.

Cholesterol-lowering effects of plant sterol esters and non-esterified stanols in margarine, butter and low-fat foods

Objectives: To determine the efficacy on plasma cholesterol-lowering of plant sterol esters or non-esterified stanols eaten within low-fat foods as well as margarine.
Design: Randomised, controlled, single-blind study with sterol esters and non-esterified plant stanols provided in breakfast cereal, bread and spreads. Study 1 comprised 12 weeks during which sterol esters (2.4 g) and stanol (2.4 g) -containing foods were eaten during 4 week test periods of cross-over design following a 4 week control food period. In Study 2, in a random order cross-over design, a 50% dairy fat spread with or without 2.4 g sterol esters daily was tested.
Subjects: Hypercholesterolaemic subjects; 22 in study 1 and 15 in study 2.
Main outcome measures: Plasma lipids, plasma sterols, plasma carotenoids and tocopherols.
Results: Study 1¾median LDL cholesterol was reduced by the sterol esters (-13.6%; P<0.001 by ANOVA on ranks; P<0.05 by pairwise comparison) and by stanols (-8.3%; P=0.003, ANOVA and <0.05 pairwise comparison). With sterol esters plasma plant sterol levels rose (35% for sitosterol, 51% for campesterol; P<0.001); plasma lathosterol rose 20% (P=0.03), indicating compensatory increased cholesterol synthesis. With stanols, plasma sitosterol fell 22% (P=0.004), indicating less cholesterol absorption. None of the four carotenoids measured in plasma changed significantly. In study 2, median LDL cholesterol rose 6.5% with dairy spread and fell 12.2% with the sitosterol ester fortified spread (P=0.03 ANOVA and <5% pairwise comparison).
Conclusion: 1. Plant sterol esters and non-esterified stanols, two-thirds of which were incorporated into low-fat foods, contributed effectively to LDL cholesterol lowering, extending the range of potential foods. 2. The LDL cholesterol-raising effect of butter fat could be countered by including sterol esters. 3. Plasma carotenoids and tocopherols were not reduced in this study.

The impact of political behaviours on internationalisation : the case of Australian companies internationalising to China

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to test a model of cooperation between internationalising businesses and local and host country governments in the context of Australian companies internationalising to China.

Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents a model for the political dimensions of internationalising based on corporate political theory and the cooperative view of management. Data were collected from personal interviews with representatives from 40 Australian organisations with businesses or operations in China. The data were analysed using NVivo.

Findings – Assistance provided by the Australian government was often sought and was perceived to be beneficial. Most participants experienced policies and regulations which affected their entry modes. In ten cases they acted as barriers and significantly influenced entry mode choice. The majority of participants viewed the development of relationships with the Chinese government as important and employed a variety of relationship behaviours. Over half of the participants identified the need to understand and deal with the psychically distant government structures of the Chinese government, namely government intervention in business.

Practical implications – The model links the organisational objectives of businesses internationalising to China, understanding the political/regulatory environment, selecting an entry mode and developing/maintaining a successful business. To achieve these objectives corporate political behaviour must reflect the sovereign powers in place at the time.

Originality/value – The paper presents a model which develops the literature for the political dimensions of internationalisation. It also presents empirical data on the political dimensions of internationalising into China. These findings will assist businesses in understanding political factors when internationalising to China.

Centring the subject in order to educate

It is important for educators to recognise that the various calls to decentre the subject—or self—should not be interpreted as necessarily requiring the removal of the subject altogether. Through the individualism of the Enlightenment the self was centred. This highly individualistic notion of the sovereign self has now been decentred especially through post-structuralist literature. It is contended here however, that this tendency to decentre the subject has been taken to an extreme at times, especially by some designers of school frameworks and curricula, who have eliminated the subject altogether. Such elimination is argued to contribute to the numbers of youth who are dropping out of school. By adopting an existential perspective and by drawing mainly upon Kierkegaard's subjective truth and Dewey's notion of centeredness, the case is made that for education the subject should not only be included but should actually be centred—at least momentarily.

Australia-China and Stern Hu : a dint in relations or business as usual?

China’s economic growth over the last decade has been spectacular and Australia has been a beneficiary of this growth in terms of China’s demand for resources and the strength of Chinese exports. Pundits even suggest that Australia avoided the global recession as a result of this strong trade relationship. Trade relations between Australia and China resulted in China becoming Australia’s key trading partner. The arrest and charging in 2009/10 of four Rio Tinto executives (including Stern Hu the head of Rio’s operation in China) based in China raised fears of posing a strain on this vital economic relationship. Moreover China’s inability to takeover Rio Tinto and the significance and consequences of this incident are at the core of this paper. How do these events reflect the uncertainties of doing business in China or do these events demonstrate China’s sovereign right to enforce anti-corruption legislation? While China has embraced the international business community, to what extent has the arrest and imprisonment of Stern Hu changed the Australian-China trade
relations including doing business in this thriving and buoyant market?