Marx as a Critical Discourse Analyst: The genesis of a critical method and its relevance to the critique of global capital

In this paper we identify elements in Marx´s economic and political writings that are relevant to contemporary critical discourse analysis (CDA). We argue that Marx can be seen to be e n gaging in a form of discourse analysis. We identify the elements in Marx´s historical materialist method that support such a perspective, and exemplify these in a longitudinal comparison of Marx´s texts.

Testing insect movement theory: empirical analysis of pest data routinely collected from agricultural crops

Observations of an insect's movement lead to theory on the insect's flight behaviour and the role of movement in the species' population dynamics. This theory leads to predictions of the way the population changes in time under different conditions. If a hypothesis on movement predicts a specific change in the population, then the hypothesis can be tested against observations of population change. Routine pest monitoring of agricultural crops provides a convenient source of data for studying movement into a region and among fields within a region. Examples of the use of statistical and computational methods for testing hypotheses with such data are presented. The types of questions that can be addressed with these methods and the limitations of pest monitoring data when used for this purpose are discussed. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

The relative importance of domestic and global factors in explaining Australian stock returns

In this study, we explore the relative importance of the several documented factors in explaining the behaviour of stock returns for a sample of 157 Australian companies over the period 1993–9. In line with prior evidence, we contend that the influence of global (market, industry and currency) factors is related to the extent of a firm's international activity. We find that Australian firms are in large part impacted by domestic factors with the level of sensitivity declining as the level of international activity increases. In contrast to prior literature, we also show that Australian firm returns are related to regional market, global industry and currency factors and the firm's sensitivity to these factors is an increasing function of its level of international activities.

Global distribution and genetic discontinuities of mangroves - emerging patterns in the evolution of Rhizophora

Mangroves are often described as a group of plants with common features and common origins based mostly on their broad distributional patterns, together with an erroneous view of comparable abilities in long-distance dispersal. However, whilst mangroves have common needs to adapt to rigorous environmental constraints associated with regular seawater inundation, individual taxa have developed different strategies and characteristics. Since mangroves are a genetically diverse group of mostly flowering plants, they may also have evolved at quite different geological periods, dispersed at different rates from different locations and developed different adaptive strategies. Current distributions of individual taxa show numerous instances of unusual extant distribution which demonstrate finite dispersal limitations, especially across open water. Our preliminary assessment of broad distribution and discontinuities reveals important patterns. Discontinuities, in the absence of current dispersal barriers, may be explained by persistent past barriers. As we learn more about discontinuities, we are beginning to appreciate their immense implications and what they might tell us about past geological conditions and how these might have influenced the distribution and evolution of mangroves. In this article, we describe emerging patterns in genetic relationships and distributions based on both current knowledge and preliminary results of our studies of molecular and morphometric characteristics of Rhizophora species in the Indo West Pacific region.

How reliably do rheumatologists measure shoulder movement?

Objective: To assess the intrarater and interrater reliability among rheumatologists of a standardised protocol for measurement of shoulder movements using a gravity inclinometer. Methods: After instruction, six rheurnatologists independently assessed eight movements of the shoulder, including total and glenohumeral flexion, total and glenohumeral abduction, external rotation in neutral and in abduction, internal rotation in abduction and hand behind back, in random order in six patients with shoulder pain and stiffness according to a 6x6 Latin square design using a standardised protocol. These assessments were then repeated. Analysis of variance was used to partition total variability into components of variance in order to calculate intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs). Results: The intrarater and interrater reliability of different shoulder movements varied widely. The movement of hand behind back and total shoulder flexion yielded the highest ICC scores for both intrarater reliability (0.91 and 0.83, respectively) and interrater reliability (0.80 and 0.72, respectively). Low ICC scores were found for the movements of glenohumeral abduction, external rotation in abduction, and internal rotation in abduction (intrarater ICCs 0.35, 0.43, and 0.32, respectively), and external rotation in neutral, external rotation in abduction, and internal rotation in abduction (interrater ICCs 0.29, 0.11, and 0.06, respectively). Conclusions: The measurement of shoulder movements using a standardised protocol by rheumatologists produced variable intrarater and interrater reliability. Reasonable reliability was obtained only for the movement of hand behind back and total shoulder flexion.

Global trade in GM food and the cartagena protocol on biosafety: Consequences for China

The UN Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety adopted in Montreal, 29 January, 2000 and opened for signature in Nairobi, 15-26 May, 2000 will exert a profound effect on international trade in genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and their products. In this paper, the potential effects of various articles of the Protocol on international trade in GMOs are analyzed. Based on the present status of imports of GMOs and domestic research and development of biotechnology in China, likely trends in imports of foreign GM food and related products after China accedes to WTO is explored. Also, China's potential countermeasures to control and regulate imports of GMOs in line with implementation of the Protocol are discussed. China, in recent times, has increased its food and agricultural imports substantially from USA and Canada. China imported soybean 10.42 mill. tons in 2000 and about 15 mill tons in 2001, of which majority are from USA where GM soybean accounts for 60%. The plantation of US Monsanto's transgenic Bt cotton was increased to more than 1 million ha in China in 2001. Though China has paid great attention to develop biotechnology, it appears to have little scope to export GMOs and GM products. So China may consider a range of administrative measures to implement the Cartagena Protocol and to regulate its import of GMOs and GM agricultural products. Consequently, the Regulation on Safety of Agri-GMOs was issued on June, 2001 and followed three detailed rules issued in Jan. of 2002, with a priority to limit foreign GMOs importing by safety certification and labeling system. These were outlined taking into account policies adopted in Western countries such as green barriers to international trade.

Effect of the movement speed of resistance training exercises on sprint and strength performance in concurrently training elite junior sprinters

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of 7 weeks of high- and low-velocity resistance training on strength and sprint running performance in nine male elite junior sprint runners (age 19.0 +/- 1.4 years, best 100 m times 10.89 +/- 0.21 s; mean +/- s). The athletes continued their sprint training throughout the study, but their resistance training programme was replaced by one in which the movement velocities of hip extension and flexion, knee extension and flexion and squat exercises varied according to the loads lifted (i.e. 30-50% and 70-90% of 1-RM in the high- and low-velocity training groups, respectively). There were no between-group differences in hip flexion or extension torque produced at 1.05, 4.74 or 8.42 rad . s(-1), 20 m acceleration or 20 m 'flying' running times, or 1-RM squat lift strength either before or after training. This was despite significant improvements in 20 m acceleration time (P < 0.01), squat strength (P< 0.05), isokinetic hip flexion torque at 4.74 rad . s(-1) and hip extension torque at 1.05 and 4.74 rad . s(-1) for the athletes as a whole over the training period. Although velocity-specific strength adaptations have been shown to occur rapidly in untrained and non-concurrently training individuals, the present results suggest a lack of velocity-specific performance changes in elite concurrently training sprint runners performing a combination of traditional and semi-specific resistance training exercises.

Simulation of insect movement with respect to plant architecture and morphogenesis

Developments in computer and three dimensional (3D) digitiser technologies have made it possible to keep track of the broad range of data required to simulate an insect moving around or over the highly heterogeneous habitat of a plant's surface. Properties of plant parts vary within a complex canopy architecture, and insect damage can induce further changes that affect an animal's movements, development and likelihood of survival. Models of plant architectural development based on Lindenmayer systems (L-systems) serve as dynamic platforms for simulation of insect movement, providing ail explicit model of the developing 3D structure of a plant as well as allowing physiological processes associated with plant growth and responses to damage to be described and Simulated. Simple examples of the use of the L-system formalism to model insect movement, operating Lit different spatial scales-from insects foraging on an individual plant to insects flying around plants in a field-are presented. Such models can be used to explore questions about the consequences of changes in environmental architecture and configuration on host finding, exploitation and its population consequences. In effect this model is a 'virtual ecosystem' laboratory to address local as well as landscape-level questions pertinent to plant-insect interactions, taking plant architecture into account. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Coordination and movement pathology: models of structure and function

Here we consider the role of abstract models in advancing our understanding of movement pathology. Models of movement coordination and control provide the frameworks necessary for the design and interpretation of studies of acquired and developmental disorders. These models do not however provide the resolution necessary to reveal the nature of the functional impairments that characterise specific movement pathologies. In addition, they do not provide a mapping between the structural bases of various pathologies and the associated disorders of movement. Current and prospective approaches to the study and treatment of movement disorders are discussed. It is argued that the appreciation of structure-function relationships, to which these approaches give rise, represents a challenge to current models of interlimb coordination, and a stimulus for their continued development. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Shoulder movement after breast cancer surgery: results of a randomised controlled study of postoperative physiotherapy

Breast screening programmes have facilitated more conservative approaches to the surgical and radiotherapy management of women diagnosed with breast cancer. This study investigated changes in shoulder movement after surgery for primary, operable breast cancer to determine the effect of elective physiotherapy intervention. Sixty-five women were randomly assigned to either the treatment (TG) or control group (CG) and assessments were completed preoperatively, at day 5 and at 1 month, 3, 6, 12 and 24 months postoperatively. The CG only received an exercise instruction booklet in comparison to the TG who received the Physiotherapy Management Care Plan (PMCP). Analyses of variance revealed that abduction returned to preoperative levels more quickly in the TG than in the CG. The TG women had 14degrees more abduction at 3 months and 7degrees at 24 months. Functional recovery at 1 month was greater in those randomised to the TG, with a dominant operated arm (OA) or receiving breast-conserving surgery. However, it was not possible to predict recovery over the 2 years postoperatively on the basis of an individual woman's recovery at 1 month postoperatively. The eventual recovery of abduction or flexion range of movement was not related to the dominance of the OA nor to the surgical procedure performed. The PMCP provided in the early postoperative period is effective in facilitating and maintaining the recovery of shoulder movement over the first 2 years after breast cancer surgery.