Enforceable undertakings : a new mechanism for minimum labour standards’ enforcement

Regulatory commentators have identified the need for more responsive regulation to allow enforcement agencies to respond to different types and degrees of non-compliance. One tool considered to support responsive enforcement is the Enforceable Undertaking (EU). EUs are used extensively by Australian regulators in decisions that forego litigation in exchange for offenders promising to (amongst other things) correct behaviour and comply in the future. This arguably allows regulatory agencies greater flexibility in how they obtain compliance with regulations. EUs became an additional enforcement tool for the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) under the Fair Work Act 2009. This paper is a preliminary exploration of the comparative use of EUs by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and the FWO to assess their effectiveness for the minimum labour standards' environment.

The legal framework for Australia's carbon pricing mechanism : a critique

As part of the Australian Government’s Clean Energy Plan, the Government has attempted to harness the legal innovation of the tradeable emissions unit, within a capped carbon trading system, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Such an approach promises to send a price signal to the market which will influence emitting behaviours and reduce our emissions in a cost-effective manner. However, if the carbon trading scheme is to successfully achieve cost-effective emissions reductions then the carbon market must be supported by an appropriate legal framework. This paper will consider the key features of the Australian Carbon Pricing Mechanism, including the Carbon Farming Initiative, and critique whether it has all the hallmarks of an effective legal framework to reduce Australia’s net greenhouse gas emissions. The likely future of the trading scheme, following the 2013 elections, will also be addressed.

Controlling Minimally-Actuated Vehicles for Applications in Ocean Observation

Establishing a persistent presence in the ocean with an AUV to observe temporal variability of large-scale ocean processes requires a unique sensor platform. In this paper, we propose a strategy that utilizes ocean model predictions to increase the autonomy and control of Lagrangian or profiling floats for precisely this purpose. An A* planner is applied to a local controllability map generated from predictions of ocean currents to compute a path between prescribed waypoints that has the highest likelihood of successful execution. The control to follow the planned path is computed by use of a model predictive controller. This controller is designed to select the best depth for the vehicle to exploit ambient currents to reach the goal waypoint. Mission constraints are employed to simulate a practical data collection mission. Results are presented in simulation for a mission off the coast of Los Angeles, CA USA, and show surprising results in the ability of a Lagrangian float to reach a desired location.

The proposal on the effective query mechanism for the encrypted database

In the recent past, there are some social issues when personal sensitive data in medical database were exposed. The personal sensitive data should be protected and access must be accounted for. Protecting the sensitive information is possible by encrypting such information. The challenge is querying the encrypted information when making the decision. Encrypted query is practically somewhat tedious task. So we present the more effective method using bucket index and bloom filter technology. We find that our proposed method shows low memory and fast efficiency comparatively. Simulation approaches on data encryption techniques to improve health care decision making processes are presented in this paper as a case scenario.

Gold coating of silica and zinc oxide nanoparticles by the surface reduction of gold(I) chloride

The possibility of a surface inner sphere electron transfer mechanism leading to the coating of gold via the surface reduction of gold(I) chloride on metal and semi-metal oxide nanoparticles was investigated. Silica and zinc oxide nanoparticles are known to have very different surface chemistry, potentially leading to a new class of gold coated nanoparticles. Monodisperse silica nanoparticles were synthesised by the well known Stöber protocol in conjunction with sonication. The nanoparticle size was regulated solely by varying the amount of ammonia solution added. The presence of surface hydroxyl groups was investigated by liquid proton NMR. The resultant nanoparticle size was directly measured by the use of TEM. The synthesised silica nanoparticles were dispersed in acetonitrile (MeCN) and added to a bis acetonitrile gold(I) co-ordination complex [Au(MeCN)2]+ in MeCN. The silica hydroxyl groups were deprotonated in the presence of MeCN generating a formal negative charge on the siloxy groups. This allowed the [Au(MeCN)2]+ complex to undergo ligand exchange with the silica nanoparticles, which formed a surface co-ordination complex with reduction to gold(0), that proceeded by a surface inner sphere electron transfer mechanism. The residual [Au(MeCN)2]+ complex was allowed to react with water, disproportionating into gold(0) and gold(III) respectively, with gold(0) being added to the reduced gold already bound on the silica surface. The so-formed metallic gold seed surface was found to be suitable for the conventional reduction of gold(III) to gold(0) by ascorbic acid. This process generated a thin and uniform gold coating on the silica nanoparticles. This process was modified to include uniformly gold coated composite zinc oxide nanoparticles (Au@ZnO NPs) using surface co-ordination chemistry. AuCl dissolved in acetonitrile (MeCN) supplied chloride ions which were adsorbed onto ZnO NPs. The co-ordinated gold(I) was reduced on the ZnO surface to gold(0) by the inner sphere electron transfer mechanism. Addition of water disproportionated the remaining gold(I) to gold(0) and gold(III). Gold(0) bonded to gold(0) on the NP surface with gold(III) was reduced to gold(0) by ascorbic acid (ASC), which completed the gold coating process. This gold coating process of Au@ZnO NPs was modified to incorporate iodide instead of chloride. ZnO NPs were synthesised by the use of sodium oxide, zinc iodide and potassium iodide in refluxing basic ethanol with iodide controlling the presence of chemisorbed oxygen. These ZnO NPs were treated by the addition of gold(I) chloride dissolved in acetonitrile leaving chloride anions co-ordinated on the ZnO NP surface. This allowed acetonitrile ligands in the added [Au(MeCN)2]+ complex to surface exchange with adsorbed chloride from the dissolved AuCl on the ZnO NP surface. Gold(I) was then reduced by the surface inner sphere electron transfer mechanism. The presence of the reduced gold on the ZnO NPs allowed adsorption of iodide to generate a uniform deposition of gold onto the ZnO NP surface without the use of additional reducing agents or heat.

Environmental factors controlling temporal and spatial variability in the soil-atmosphere exchange of CO2, CH4 and N2O from an Australian subtropical rainforest

The temporal variations in CO2, CH4 and N2O fluxes were measured over two consecutive years from February 2007 to March 2009 from a subtropical rainforest in south-eastern Queensland, Australia, using an automated sampling system. A concurrent study using an additional 30 manual chambers examined the spatial variability of emissions distributed across three nearby remnant rainforest sites with similar vegetation and climatic conditions. Interannual variation in fluxes of all gases over the 2 years was minimal, despite large discrepancies in rainfall, whereas a pronounced seasonal variation could only be observed for CO2 fluxes. High infiltration, drainage and subsequent high soil aeration under the rainforest limited N2O loss while promoting substantial CH4 uptake. The average annual N2O loss of 0.5 ± 0.1 kg N2O-N ha−1 over the 2-year measurement period was at the lower end of reported fluxes from rainforest soils. The rainforest soil functioned as a sink for atmospheric CH4 throughout the entire 2-year period, despite periods of substantial rainfall. A clear linear correlation between soil moisture and CH4 uptake was found. Rates of uptake ranged from greater than 15 g CH4-C ha−1 day−1 during extended dry periods to less than 2–5 g CH4-C ha−1 day−1 when soil water content was high. The calculated annual CH4 uptake at the site was 3.65 kg CH4-C ha−1 yr−1. This is amongst the highest reported for rainforest systems, reiterating the ability of aerated subtropical rainforests to act as substantial sinks of CH4. The spatial study showed N2O fluxes almost eight times higher, and CH4 uptake reduced by over one-third, as clay content of the rainforest soil increased from 12% to more than 23%. This demonstrates that for some rainforest ecosystems, soil texture and related water infiltration and drainage capacity constraints may play a more important role in controlling fluxes than either vegetation or seasonal variability

Regulating Prostitution: Controlling Women's Lives'

The chapter argues that the women who compose the majority of street prostitutes in Great Britain are currently subject to an interlocking system of regulation that variously defines them as criminal offenders, threats to public health, victims of child abuse, and vulnerable women who must be compelled under the threat of punishment to seek welfare help. Each label or approach to the street prostitute involves a set of interventions aimed at changing or working with different aspects of the women's lives. This produces an interlocking system of regulation, because the interventions are not mutually exclusive. A street prostitute can be defined as both a victim and an offender and as both a patient in need of medical help and a threat to public health. This comprehensive system of regulation means that a street prostitute faces not only a wide range of criminal justice dispositions, but also mandatory participation in programs in which her relationships and the choices she makes in her life outside of prostitution are subject to scrutiny and intervention. Given that street prostitutes are mostly poor women seeking economic survival in a profession that makes them vulnerable to victimization, the current regulatory system is an attempt to control a small group of poor women regarding their choices and relationships as they struggle to survive poverty. Whereas in the 1980s in Great Britain, a woman involved in street prostitution may have faced only a fine, now she is subject to a more extensive range of criminal justice actions accompanied by various government interventions designed to remake her life.

Unique residues involved in activation of the multitasking protease/chaperone HtrA from Chlamydia trachomatis

DegP, a member of the HtrA family of proteins, conducts critical bacterial protein quality control by both chaperone and proteolysis activities. The regulatory mechanisms controlling these two distinct activities, however, are unknown. DegP activation is known to involve a unique mechanism of allosteric binding, conformational changes and oligomer formation. We have uncovered a novel role for the residues at the PDZ1:protease interface in oligomer formation specifically for chaperone substrates of Chlamydia trachomatis HtrA (DegP homolog). We have demonstrated that CtHtrA proteolysis could be activated by allosteric binding and oligomer formation. The PDZ1 activator cleft was required for the activation and oligomer formation. However, unique to CtHtrA was the critical role for residues at the PDZ1:protease interface in oligomer formation when the activator was an in vitro chaperone substrate. Furthermore, a potential in vivo chaperone substrate, the major outer membrane protein (MOMP) from Chlamydia, was able to activate CtHtrA and induce oligomer formation. Therefore, we have revealed novel residues involved in the activation of CtHtrA which are likely to have important in vivo implications for outer membrane protein assembly.

A two-metal ion mechanism operates in the hammerhead ribozyme-mediated cleavage of an RNA substrate

Evidence for a two-metal ion mechanism for cleavage of the HH16 hammerhead ribozyme is provided by monitoring the rate of cleavage of the RNA substrate as a function of La3+ concentration in the presence of a constant concentration of Mg2+. We show that a bell-shaped curve of cleavage activation is obtained as La3+ is added in micromolar concentrations in the presence of 8 mM Mg2+, with a maximal rate of cleavage being attained in the presence of 3 microM La3+. These results show that two-metal ion binding sites on the ribozyme regulate the rate of the cleavage reaction and, on the basis of earlier estimates of the Kd values for Mg2+ of 3.5 mM and > 50 mM, that these sites bind La3+ with estimated Kd values of 0.9 and > 37.5 microM, respectively. Furthermore, given the very different effects of these metal ions at the two binding sites, with displacement of Mg2+ by La3+ at the stronger (relative to Mg2+) binding site activating catalysis and displacement of Mg2+ by La3+ at the weaker (relative to Mg2+) (relative to Mg2+) binding site inhibiting catalysis, we show that the metal ions at these two sites play very different roles. We argue that the metal ion at binding site 1 coordinates the attacking 2'-oxygen species in the reaction and lowers the pKa of the attached proton, thereby increasing the concentration of the attacking alkoxide nucleophile in an equilibrium process. In contrast, the role of the metal ion at binding site 2 is to catalyze the reaction by absorbing the negative charge that accumulates at the leaving 5'-oxygen in the transition state. We suggest structural reasons why the Mg(2+)-La3+ ion combination is particularly suited to demonstrating these different roles of the two-metal ions in the ribozyme cleavage reaction.

Observations on catalysis by hammerhead ribozymes are consistent with a two-divalent-metal-ion mechanism

Significant cleavage by hammerhead ribozymes requires activation by divalent metal ions. Several models have been proposed to account for the influence of metal ions on hammerhead activity. A number of recent papers have presented data that have been interpreted as supporting a one-metal-hydroxide-ion mechanism. In addition, a solvent deuterium isotope effect has been taken as evidence against a proton transfer in the rate-limiting step of the cleavage reaction. We propose that these data are more easily explained by a two-metal-ion mechanism that does not involve a metal hydroxide, but does involve a proton transfer in the rate-limiting step.

Understanding the mechanism behind invasion of African lovegrass

African lovegrass (Eragrostis curvula) is a C4 perennial grass, native to southern Africa, that was accidentally introduced into Australia in the late 1900s as a contaminant of pasture seed. Its utility for pasture improvement and soil conservation was explored because of its recognised ability to grow in areas of low rainfall and on nutrient-poor sandy loams. Several different agronomic types have now been intentionally introduced across Australia. African lovegrass is now found in all Australian states and territories. It is a declared weed in 33 council areas of New South Wales, a declared pest plant in the ACT and Tasmania and a Regionally Prohibited Weed in 5 out of 11 regions in Victoria. Victoria has also placed it in the very serious threat category (Carr et al. 1992). In Queensland, it has yet to be declared except under local law in the Eidsvold shire (Leigh and Walton, in press).

Gene duplication is an evolutionary mechanism for expanding spectral diversity in the long-wavelength photopigments of butterflies

Butterfly long-wavelength (L) photopigments are interesting for comparative studies of adaptive evolution because of the tremendous phenotypic variation that exists in their wavelength of peak absorbance (lambda(max) value). Here we present a comprehensive survey of L photopigment variation by measuring lambda(max) in 12 nymphalid and 1 riodinid species using epi-microspectrophotometry. Together with previous data, we find that L photopigment lambda(max) varies from 510-565 nm in 22 nymphalids, with an even broader 505- to 600-nm range in riodinids. We then surveyed the L opsin genes for which lambda(max) values are available as well as from related taxa and found 2 instances of L opsin gene duplication within nymphalids, in Hermeuptychia hermes and Amathusia phidippus, and 1 instance within riodinids, in the metalmark butterfly Apodemia mormo. Using maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood ancestral state reconstructions to map the evolution of spectral shifts within the L photopigments of nymphalids, we estimate the ancestral pigment had a lambda(max) = 540 nm +/- 10 nm standard error and that blueshifts in wavelength have occurred at least 4 times within the family. We used ancestral state reconstructions to investigate the importance of several amino acid substitutions (Ile17Met, Ala64Ser, Asn70Ser, and Ser137Ala) previously shown to have evolved under positive selection that are correlated with blue spectral shifts. These reconstructions suggest that the Ala64Ser substitution has indeed occurred along the newly identified blueshifted L photopigment lineages. Substitutions at the other 3 sites may also be involved in the functional diversification of L photopigments. Our data strongly suggest that there are limits to the evolution of L photopigment spectral shifts among species with only one L opsin gene and that opsin gene duplication broadens the potential range of lambda(max) values.

Dalcetrapib restoring belief in modulating CETP as a beneficial mechanism in cardiovascular disease

Abstract Background: As low HDL cholesterol levels are a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, raising HDL cholesterol substantially by inhibiting or modulating cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) may be useful in coronary artery disease. The first CETP inhibitor that went into clinical trial, torcetrapib, was shown to increase the levels of HDL cholesterol, but it also increased cardiovascular outcomes, probably due to an increase in blood pressure and aldosterone secretion, by an off-target mechanism/s. Objective/methods: Dalcetrapib is a new CETP modulator that increases the levels of HDL cholesterol, but does not increase blood pressure or aldosterone secretion. The objective was to evaluate a paper describing the effects of dalcetrapib on carotid and aortic wall thickness in subjects with, or at high risk, of coronary artery disease; the dal-PLAQUE study. Results: dal-PLAQUE showed that dalcetrapib reduced the progression of atherosclerosis and may also reduce the vascular inflammation associated with this, in subjects with, or with high risk of, coronary heart disease, who were already taking statins. Conclusions: These results suggest that modulating CETP with dalcetrapib may be a beneficial mechanism in cardiovascular disease. The results of the dal-HEART series, which includes dal-PLAQUE 1 and 2, and dal-OUTCOMES, when complete, will provide more definitive information about the benefit, or not, of dalcetrapib in coronary artery disease.