The transformation of bureaucracy? Structural change in the Commonwealth public service 1983-93

Commentators have predicted bureaucratic organisations would undergo substantial change as a result of social and economic pressures. We ask whether reforms to the Australian public service over the 1983–93 period exemplify this process. We use the methods of organisational analysis to characterise the direction of change, basing our assessment on the standard structural variables of complexity, formalisation and centralisation, together with a cultural variable. We find evidence that, overall, departments of state in the APS were becoming less bureaucratic in their structure, culture and internal function in the 1983–93 period. However, the effect was not uniform across departments, or unambiguous — formalisation, for example, increased in some respects and decreased in others. Centralisation increased overall, despite devolution of some decision-making.

A preference-based semantics for CTD reasoning

In [8] the authors developed a logical system based on the definition of a new non-classical connective ⊗ capturing the notion of reparative obligation. The system proved to be appropriate for handling well-known contrary-to-duty paradoxes but no model-theoretic semantics was presented. In this paper we fill the gap and define a suitable possible-world semantics for the system for which we can prove soundness and completeness. The semantics is a preference-based non-normal one extending and generalizing semantics for classical modal logics.

Mapping the regulatory sequences controlling 93 breast cancer-associated miRNA genes leads to the identification of two functional promoters of the Hsa-mir-200b cluster, methylation of which is associated with metastasis or hormone receptor status in advanced breast cancer

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs of 20 nt in length that are capable of modulating gene expression post-transcriptionally. Although miRNAs have been implicated in cancer, including breast cancer, the regulation of miRNA transcription and the role of defects in this process in cancer is not well understood. In this study we have mapped the promoters of 93 breast cancer-associated miRNAs, and then looked for associations between DNA methylation of 15 of these promoters and miRNA expression in breast cancer cells. The miRNA promoters with clearest association between DNA methylation and expression included a previously described and a novel promoter of the Hsa-mir-200b cluster. The novel promoter of the Hsa-mir-200b cluster, denoted P2, is located 2 kb upstream of the 5′ stemloop and maps within a CpG island. P2 has comparable promoter activity to the previously reported promoter (P1), and is able to drive the expression of miR-200b in its endogenous genomic context. DNA methylation of both P1 and P2 was inversely associated with miR-200b expression in eight out of nine breast cancer cell lines, and in vitro methylation of both promoters repressed their activity in reporter assays. In clinical samples, P1 and P2 were differentially methylated with methylation inversely associated with miR-200b expression. P1 was hypermethylated in metastatic lymph nodes compared with matched primary breast tumours whereas P2 hypermethylation was associated with loss of either oestrogen receptor or progesterone receptor. Hypomethylation of P2 was associated with gain of HER2 and androgen receptor expression. These data suggest an association between miR-200b regulation and breast cancer subtype and a potential use of DNA methylation of miRNA promoters as a component of a suite of breast cancer biomarkers.

Julius Pick aged 93 at his grandson Gary Godshaw's Bar Mitzvah; Buffalo, New York Portraits Men

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Julius Pick aged 93 at his grandson Gary Godshaw's Bar Mitzvah; Buffalo, New York Portraits Men

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Mapping of assembled epitopic regions of human chorionic gonadotropin reveals proximity of CTP alpha to the determinant loop beta 93-100

Three overlapping assembled epitopes of beta hCG have been mapped using MAb probes and a single step solid phase radioimmunoassay. These epitopes have been shown to be at receptor binding region comprising of the loop region beta Cys93-Cys100. Importance of disulphide bonds in maintaining integrity of these epitopes is assessed. Two MAbs (INN 58 and INN 22) interact with the beta region as well as the alpha C-terminal peptide, while the other MAb INN 24 interacts with only the beta region. Cross-reactivity pattern with beta hCG and hLH as web as the reported crystal structure of hCG substantiates the epitope identification. The results demonstrate utility of MAbs as probes in investigations on three-dimensional structure of gonadatropins.

Photo induced optical changes in Sb/As2S3 multilayered film and (As2S3)(0.93)Sb-0.07 film of equal thickness

The increase in optical band gap (photo bleaching) due to light illumination was studied at room temperature as well as at low (4.2 K) temperature for Sb/As2S3 multilayered film of 640 nm thickness by Fourier Transform Infrared Technique. The interdiffusion of Sb into As2S3 matrix results the formation of Sb-As2S3 ternary solid solutions which is explained by the change in optical band gap (E-g), absorption coefficient (alpha), Tauc parameter (B-1/2), Urbach edge (E-e). At the same time, photo darkening phenomena was observed in (As2S3)(0.93)Sb-0.07 film of same thickness both at low and room temperatures. From our X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy measurements,we are able to show that some of the As-As, S-S and Sb-Sb bonds are converted into As-S and S-Sb bonds in case of multilayers. We found that the energetically favoured heteropolar bond formation take place by a phonon-assisted mechanism using the lone pair pi electrons of S-2(0). But in case of (As2S3)(0.93)Sb-0.02 film, the homopolar bonds are playing a major role. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Estudio epidemiológico de la roya del café y su efecto sobre la producción en la Zona Norte de Nicaragua, ciclo 1992-93

Se estudió el comportamiento de las epidemias de roya en el ciclo 1992-93 en la zona norte de Nicaragua, así como sus diferencias respecto al ciclo 1991-92; el efecto de las precipitaciones sobre el desarrollo de las epidemias; la relación entre la enfermedad y la defoliación, y el efecto de la enfermedad sobre la producción en un ciclo de estudio, comparando métodos para la estimación de la relación roya-café. Se seleccionaron lotes colindantes en tres fincas ubicadas en la zona norte. En uno de los lotes se realizó un muestreo aleatorio por conglomerados, utilizando 15 plantas en un periodo de muestreo que duró 7 meses (un muestreo cada 2 semanas). Se registró cada dos semanas el número de nudos, nudos con frutos, hojas presentes, incidencia y severidad; además se registró la precipitación acumulada cada dos semanas, y el manejo agronómico realizado durante el periodo de muestreo. Este lote fue utilizado para la descripción de las epidemias y la comparación con los datos del ciclo 1991-92. Un segundo lote, colindante al anterior, se sometió a un diseño experimental de Parcelas Apareadas, donde se registraron las mismas variables, pero en lugar del número de nudos con frutos se registraron el número de frutos por bandola. Este último lote fue utilizado exclusivamente para la comparación con el lote del muestreo aleatorio por conglomerados. La epidemia comenzó a desarrollarse entre octubre y noviembre, alcanzando niveles bajos durante todo el muestreo, sus valores máximos se registraron en febrero. El inóculo residual tuvo un efecto importante en el desarrollo de la epidemia en el presente ciclo. Las precipitaciones moderadas determinaron el periodo adecuado para el desarrollo de la epidemia. La incidencia resultó ser un parámetro adecuado para la descripción de la epidemia. El desarrollo de la epidemia coincidió con el periodo de defoliación natural del café; la incidencia de la enfermedad influye considerablemente en la intensidad de ese fenómeno. La comparación entre ciclos demostró que la importancia de la enfermedad varía de un ciclo a otro, ya que los niveles de la incidencia y defoliación disminuyeron considerablemente. Los métodos estudiados mostraron que no hay un efecto negativo tangible de la roya sobre la producción del mismo ciclo de estudio de la incidencia. El muestreo aleatorio por conglomerados resultó ser un método práctico y sencillo, por lo tanto más adecuado para este tipo de estudio.

Sapientia, 1969, Vol. XXIV, nº 93 (número completo)

Contenido: Verdad e historia / Octavio N. Derisi – Estructura de la obra de arte / Omar Argerami – En el bicentenario de un opúsculo kantiano / Manuel Trevijano – Amor y libertad en la filosofía de Gabriel Marcel / Carmen Valderrey – Notas y comentarios -- Bibliografía

Die Bestandssituation der wichtigsten Nutzfischarten im NO-Atlantik 1992/93 unter besonderer Berücksichtigung des Kabeljaus

Fischarten im Nordostatlantik, die eine besondere Bedeutung für die deutsche Fischerei haben, sind Kabeljau, Schellfisch; Seelachs und Rotbarsch. Vieles aus der Biologie und über die verbreitung dieser wichtigen Nutzfische ist bekannt. Dennoch geben die großen Bestandsveränderungen sowohl der Fischerei wie auch der Fischereiwissenschaft immer wieder Rätsel um ihre Ursachen auf. Man kann vermuten, dass es ökologische oder klimatische, hydrologische oder fischereiliche Gründe sind, die solche Bestandsfluktuationen herbeiführen. Die Aufgabe der Wissenschaft ist es, die wahre Ursache nachzuweisen.