Related party transactions under Pt 2E of the corporations act: time for reconsideration

The related party provisions under Pt 2E of the Corporations Act 2001 were introduced in 1992 to protect the resources of companies and shareholder interests by requiring that directors disclose financial benefits given to 'related parties' -- those capable of exercising significant influence over the giving of such benefits. The contention of the authors in this article is that Pt 2E has been unsuccessful in achieving its intended purpose, and should be repealed in its entirety. The authors argue that the various provisions of Pt 2E are so confusing and convoluted that they potentially violate the rule of law virtue that laws must be promulgated in a manner that is clear, so that it is apparent from reading the laws what one must do. Further, [*2] the manner in which Pt 2E is presently drafted, especially the definition of related party, fails to reflect the purpose behind the provisions, making the overall operation of Pt 2E ineffective. It is also argued that Pt 2E is superfluous since the fiduciary duty of directors to disclose a conflict of interest, and to a lesser extent the requirement for disclosure of material personal interests under s 191 of the Corporations Act, adequately deal with the transactions presently attracting the attention of Pt 2E. In light of all this, it is contended that the law would be demonstrably improved by repealing Pt 2E.

Optimizing oxygen transport through La0.6Sr0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O3-δ hollow fiber by microstructure modification and Ag/Pt catalyst deposition

This work compares the oxygen permeation fluxes of five different La0.6Sr0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O3−δ membranes (e.g. disk, conventional hollow fiber, modified hollow fiber, Ag- or Pt-deposited hollow fiber membranes) to elucidate the dominance of a particular oxygen transport limiting step (e.g., bulk-diffusion or surface reaction) within each of these membranes. At 900 °C and 100 mL min–1 helium gas sweep rate, the oxygen fluxes for disk, conventional hollow fiber, modified hollow fiber, Ag-deposited modified hollow fiber, and Pt-deposited modified hollow fiber membranes are 0.10, 0.33, 0.84, 1.42, and 2.62 mL min–1 cm–2, respectively, denoting enhanced performance in this sequential order. More than 300% enhancement of fluxes is evidenced by modifying the geometry from disk to conventional hollow fiber. This is attributed to the thickness reduction from 1 mm to 0.3 mm, thus implying bulk-diffusion and surface reaction as the jointly limiting transport step for this disk membrane. In contrast to a conventional hollow fiber that has a sandwich cross-sectional structure (e.g. dense center layer sandwiched by two finger-like layers) as well as dense outer and inner circumference surfaces, the modified hollow fiber has only one dense layer in its outer circumference surface with finger-like porous layer extending all the way from outer cross-sectional part to the inner cross-sectional part. This microstructural difference, in turn, provides substantial reduction of membrane thickness and enlarges surface reaction area for modified hollow fiber (relative to conventional hollow fiber), both of which contributes to the reduced bulk-diffusion and surface reaction resistance; evidenced by almost 250% oxygen flux enhancement. To enhance the performance even further, catalyst (e.g., Ag or Pt) deposition on the outer circumference surface of modified hollow fiber can be utilized to reduce its dominating surface reaction resistance. While both catalysts increase the oxygen fluxes, Pt reveals itself as the better candidate relative to Ag due to melting-induced aggregation and growth of Ag at 950 °C.

From little things, big things grow: trends and fads in 110 years of Australian ornithology

Publishing histories can reveal changes in ornithological effort, focus or direction through time. This study presents a bibliometric content analysis of Emu (1901–2011) which revealed 115 trends (long-term changes in publication over time) and 18 fads (temporary increases in publication activity) from the classification of 9,039 articles using 128 codes organised into eight categories (author gender, author affiliation, article type, subject, main focus, main method, geographical scale and geographical location). Across 110 years, private authorship declined, while publications involving universities and multiple institutions increased; from 1960, female authorship increased. Over time, question-driven studies and incidental observations increased and decreased in frequency, respectively. Single species and ‘taxonomic group’ subjects increased while studies of birds at specific places decreased. The focus of articles shifted from species distribution and activities of the host organisation to breeding, foraging and other biological/ecological topics. Site- and Australian-continental-scales slightly decreased over time; non-Australian studies increased from the 1970s. A wide variety of fads occurred (e.g. articles on bird distribution, 1942–1951, and using museum specimens, 1906–1913) though the occurrence of fads decreased over time. Changes over time are correlated with technological, theoretical, social and institutional changes, and suggest ornithological priorities, like those of other scientific disciplines, are temporally labile

Integrated High-Efficiency Pt/Carbon Nanotube Arrays for PEM Fuel Cells

A facile strategy to deposit Pt nanoparticles with various metal-loading densities on vertically aligned carbon nanotube (ACNT) arrays as electrocatalysts for proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells is described. The deposition is achieved by electrostatic adsorption of the Pt precursor on the positively charged polyelectrolyte functionalized ACNT arrays and subsequent reduction by L-ascorbic acid. The application of the aligned electrocatalysts in fuel cells is realized by transferring from a quartz substrate to nafion membrane using a hot-press procedure to fabricate the membrane electrode assembly (MEA). It is shown that the MEA with vertically aligned structured electrocatalysts provides better Pt utilization than that with Pt on conventional carbon nanotubes or carbon black, resulting in higher fuel cell performance.

Conditions favoring the formation of monomeric Pt(III) derivatives in the electrochemical oxidation of trans-[Pt(II){(p-BrC6F4)NCH2CH2NEt2}Cl(py)]

Characterization of the anticancer active compound trans-[Pt^II{(p-BrC6F4)NCH2CH2NEt2}Cl(py)] is described along with identification of electrochemical conditions that favor formation of a monomeric one-electron-oxidized Pt^III derivative. The square-planar organoamidoplatinum(II) compound was synthesized through a carbon dioxide elimination reaction. Structural characterization by using single-crystal X-Ray diffraction reveals a trans configuration with respect to donor atoms of like charges. As Pt^III intermediates have been implicated in the reactions of platinum anticancer agents, electrochemical conditions favoring the formation of one-electron-oxidized species were sought. Transient cyclic voltammetry at fast scan rates or steady-state rotating disc and microelectrode techniques in a range of molecular solvents and an ionic liquid confirm the existence of a well-defined, chemically and electrochemically reversible one-electron oxidation process that, under suitable conditions, generates a Pt^III complex, which is proposed to be monomeric [Pt^III{(p-BrC6F4)NCH2CH2NEt2}Cl(py)]⁺. Electron paramagnetic resonance spectra obtained from highly non-coordinating dichloromethane/([Bu4N][B(C6F5)4]) solutions, frozen to liquid nitrogen temperature immediately after bulk electrolysis in a glove box, support the Pt^III assignment rather than formation of a Pt^II cation radical. However, the voltammetric behavior is highly dependent on the timescale of the experiments, temperature, concentration of trans-[Pt^II{(p-BrC6F4)NCH2CH2NEt2}- Cl(py)], and the solvent/electrolyte. In the low-polarity solvent CH2Cl2 containing the very weakly coordinating electrolyte [Bu4N][B(C6F5)4], a well-defined reversible one-electron oxidation process is observed on relatively long timescales, which is consistent with the stabilization of the cationic platinum(III) complex in non-coordinating media. Bulk electrolysis of low concentrations of [Pt{(p-BrC6F4)NCH2CH2NEt2}Cl(py)] favors the formation of monomeric [Pt^III{(p-BrC6F4)NCH2CH2NEt2}Cl(py)]⁺. Simulations allow the reversible potential of the Pt^II/Pt^III process and the diffusion coefficient of [Pt^III{(p-BrC6F4)- NCH2CH2NEt2}Cl(py)]⁺ to be calculated. Reversible electrochemical behavior, giving rise to monomeric platinum(III) derivatives, is rare in the field of platinum chemistry.

Risk factors for violence in psychosis: systematic review and meta-regression analysis of 110 studies

Background

Previous reviews on risk and protective factors for violence in psychosis have produced contrasting findings. There is therefore a need to clarify the direction and strength of association of risk and protective factors for violent outcomes in individuals with psychosis.

Method

We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis using 6 electronic databases (CINAHL, EBSCO, EMBASE, Global Health, PsycINFO, PUBMED) and Google Scholar. Studies were identified that reported factors associated with violence in adults diagnosed, using DSM or ICD criteria, with schizophrenia and other psychoses. We considered non-English language studies and dissertations. Risk and protective factors were meta-analysed if reported in three or more primary studies. Meta-regression examined sources of heterogeneity. A novel meta-epidemiological approach was used to group similar risk factors into one of 10 domains. Sub-group analyses were then used to investigate whether risk domains differed for studies reporting severe violence (rather than aggression or hostility) and studies based in inpatient (rather than outpatient) settings.

Findings

There were 110 eligible studies reporting on 45,533 individuals, 8,439 (18.5%) of whom were violent. A total of 39,995 (87.8%) were diagnosed with schizophrenia, 209 (0.4%) were diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and 5,329 (11.8%) were diagnosed with other psychoses. Dynamic (or modifiable) risk factors included hostile behaviour, recent drug misuse, non-adherence with psychological therapies (p values<0.001), higher poor impulse control scores, recent substance misuse, recent alcohol misuse (p values<0.01), and non-adherence with medication (p value <0.05). We also examined a number of static factors, the strongest of which were criminal history factors. When restricting outcomes to severe violence, these associations did not change materially. In studies investigating inpatient violence, associations differed in strength but not direction.

Conclusion

Certain dynamic risk factors are strongly associated with increased violence risk in individuals with psychosis and their role in risk assessment and management warrants further examination.