Random Breath Testing Operation and Effectiveness in 1985

Random breath testing (RBT) was introduced in South Australia in 1981 with the intention of reducing the incidence of accidents involving alcohol. In April 1985, a Select Committee of the Upper House which had been established to “review the operation of random breath testing in this State and any other associated matters and report accordingly” presented its report. After consideration of this report, the Government introduced extensive amendments to those sections of the Motor Vehicles Act (MVA) and Road Traffic Act (RTA) which deal with RBT and drink driving penalties. The amended section 47da of the RTA requires that: “(5) The Minister shall cause a report to be prepared within three months after the end of each calendar year on the operation and effectiveness of this section and related sections during that calendar year. (6) The Minister shall, within 12 sitting days after receipt of a report under subsection (5), cause copies of the report to be laid before each House of Parliament.” This is the first such report. Whilst it deals with RBT over a full year, the changed procedures and improved flexibility allowed by the revision to the RTA were only introduced late in 1985 and then only to the extent that the existing resources would allow.

Portrait of Sassona "Sony" Baron nee Meyerhof.

1994 photo of Sassona (Sony) Meyerhof (1952-) married Baron;

High-resolution melt-curve analysis of random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD-HRM) for the characterisation of pathogenic leptospires: intra-serovar divergence, interserovar convergence, and evidence of attenuation in Leptospira reference collections.

High-resolution melt-curve analysis of random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD-HRM) is a novel technology that has emerged as a possible method to characterise leptospires to serovar level. RAPD-HRM has recently been used to measure intra-serovar convergence between strains of the same serovar as well as inter-serovar divergence between strains of different serovars. The results indicate that intra-serovar heterogeneity and inter-serovar homogeneity may limit the application of RAPD-HRM in routine diagnostics. They also indicate that genetic attenuation of aged, high-passage-number isolates could undermine the use of RAPD-HRM or any other molecular technology. Such genetic attenuation may account for a general decrease seen in titres of rabbit hyperimmune antibodies over time. Before RAPD-HRM can be further advanced as a routine diagnostic tool, strains more representative of the wild-type serovars of a given region need to be identified. Further, RAPD-HRM analysis of reference strains indicates that the routine renewal of reference collections, with new isolates, may be needed to maintain the genetic integrity of the collections.

Lucien Levy-Bruehl, Albert Einstein, Franz Oppenheimer, Arthur Liebert and his son, Paul Tillich, unidentified woman and Mrs. Charles Blondel outside the Grand Hotel Curhaus during the Davoser Hochschulkurse; Davos, Switzerland Portraits Groups

The Davoser Hochschulkurse took place for the first time in 1928. Mainly university teachers from Germany, France, Switzerland (perhaps elsewhere) offered lectures to students recovering from tuberculosis at the health resort in the Swiss mountains. The lecturers were accommodated at the Grand Hotel Curhaus, where the lectures also took place.

Salmonella Virchow and Salmonella Weltevreden in a Random Survey of the Asian House Gecko, Hemidactylus frenatus, in Houses in Northern Australia.

Background: Salmonella enterica serotype Virchow is the most common cause of invasive nontyphoid salmonellosis in North Queensland, particularly in infants, but the zoonotic source is unknown. This study aimed at determining (i) the prevalence of the introduced Asian house gecko, Hemidactylus frenatus, in houses in North Queensland and (ii) whether they were a potential source of Salmonella Virchow. Methods: Asian house geckos were collected in a random survey of houses in Townsville, North Queensland. Gut contents underwent microbiological analysis within 2 h of removal using both direct plating and enrichment broth methods. Any organism found to be a presumptive Salmonella spp. was then sent to a reference lab for confirmation of genus/species, serotyping, and phage typing if indicated. Results: One hundred Asian house geckos were collected from 57 houses. Geckos were present in 100% of houses surveyed, and prevalence of Salmonella in large intestinal contents was 7% (95% confidence interval 2, 12%). Three serotypes were found: Virchow (phage type 8), Weltevreden, and an untypable subspecies 1 serotype 11:-:1,7. Conclusion: Since Salmonella Virchow (phage type 8) is associated with invasive disease, the introduced Asian house gecko may play a significant role in the epidemiology of sporadic salmonellosis in places invaded by these peridomestic reptiles. These results justify more detailed epidemiological studies on the role of the Asian house gecko in sporadic salmonellosis and development of evidence-based strategies to decrease this potential zoonotic hazard.

Distribution of the angle of rotation plane random walks

We study the probability distribution of the angle by which the tangent to the trajectory rotates in the course of a plane random walk. It is shown that the determination of this distribution function can be reduced to an integral equation, which can be rigorously transformed into a differential equation of Hill's type. We derive the asymptotic distribution for very long walks.

Portrait of Sassona "Sony" Baron nee Meyerhof.

1994 photo of Sassona (Sony) Meyerhof (1952-) married Baron;

Baron Edmund Rothschild

Digital image

Baron Edmund de Rothschild Commemorative Coin

Obverse: Portrait of Baron Rothschild. Reverse: Inscription, emblem of the State of Israel.

Baron Edmund de Rothschild Commemorative Coin

Obverse: Portrait of Baron de Rothschild. Reverse: Emblem of the State of Israel, inscription

A note on the effective medium theory of random resistive-reactive medium

The effective medium theory for a system with randomly distributed point conductivity and polarisability is reformulated, with attention to cross-terms involving the two disorder parameters. The treatment reveals a certain inconsistency of the conventional theory owing to the neglect of the Maxwell-Wagner effect. The results are significant for the critical resistivity and dielectric anomalies of a binary liquid mixture at the phase separation point.

Dilute Solution Properties of Methyl Methacrylate/Acrylonitrile Random Copolymers, 2a)

The Stockmayer-Fixman relation was used to evaluate the short range and long range interaction parameters for methyl methacrylate/acrylonitrile copolymers of 0,566 and 0,657 mole fraction of monomeric units of acrylonitrile in the solvents acetonitrile, 2-butanone, dimethyl formamide, and y-butyrolactone, at different temperatures (30, 45, and 60 “C). The values of KO were found to be lower than those of the parent homopolymers, and their values depend on both solvent and temperature. Even negative Ko-values were obtained, in cases in which the Mark Houwink exponent a is nearly unity. The values of the polymer-solvent interaction parameter, x, , are high and close to 0,5, indicating that these solvents are not good. The values of the excess interaction parameter, xAB, are negative and are not affected by temperature. The large extension of these copolymer chains, as exhibited by a and a;-values, can be understood in terms of unusual short range interactions only. Similar results were obtained for some cellulose derivatives.

Industrial Removal Office records undated, 1899-1922

Contains Board of Directors minutes (1903, 1907), Executive Committee minutes (1907), Removal Committee minutes (1903-1917), Annual Reports (1910, 1913), Monthly Reports (1901-1919), Monthly Bulletins (1914-1915), studies of those removed, Bressler's "The Removal Work, Including Galveston," and several papers relating to the IRO and immigration. Financial papers include a budget (1914), comparative per capita cost figures (1909-1922), audits (1915-1918), receipts and expenditures (1918-1922), investment records, bank balances (1907-1922), removal work cash book (1904-1911), office expenses cash account (1903-1906), and the financial records of other agencies working with the IRO (1906). Includes also removal case records of first the Jewish Agricultural Society (1899-1900), and then of the IRO (1901-1922) when it took over its work, family reunion case records (1901-1904), and the follow-up records of persons removed to various cities (1903-1914). Contains also the correspondence of traveling agents' contacts throughout the U.S. from 1905-1914, among them Stanley Bero, Henry P. Goldstein, Philip Seman, and Morris D. Waldman.

Baron de Hirsch Fund records undated, 1870-1991.

Contains Deed of Trust, By-Laws, Annual Reports, Corporation Minutes (1909, 1913-1919, 1923-1924, 1926-1933), Minutes of the Board of Trustees (1893, 1899, 1907, 1910, 1915-1916, 1918, 1923, 1926-1927, 1930-1933), and the minutes, correspondence, and reports of the various national and local committees. Financial materials include income and expenditure records (1891-1933), audits (1919-1923, 1926-1928), the records of agricultural loans and mortgages, bond and real estate holdings, and bequests. Includes also correspondence and other materials regarding the establishment of the Fund, correspondence of and other papers concerning the Baron and Baroness de Hirsch, and several histories of the Fund. Included in the wide range of activities are material on the work of the Agriculture Bureau and the Jewish Agriculture Society, Housing, English Classes, Immigration (including monthly reports for several ports of entry 1885-1916) and Immigrant Aid, German Refugee Aid in the early years of the Holocaust, Kings Park, N.Y. Test Farm, the Laundry Project, Peekskill Farm, Public Baths, Student Loans, the Baron de Hirsch Trade School, and the Woodbine Colony and Baron De Hirsch Agricultural & Industrial School. Contains also materials on the Colonization attempts made in Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Galveston, Texas, The Southwest, Washington, Canada, and Mexico.