New insights into ancient environments using dental characters in Australian Cenozoic lungfish

Environmentally-related wear conditions and pathologies affecting the dentition of fossil lungfish from freshwater deposits in Australia have been analysed and compared with similar changes in the dentition of the living Australian lungfish, Neoceratodus forsteri. Fossil populations from the Namba, Etadunna, Wipajiri and Katipiri formations in central Australia, and the Carl Creek Limestone and the Camfield beds in northern Australia were assessed. Tooth plates from populations of living lungfish from the Brisbane River and Enoggera Reservoir in southeast Queensland were analysed for comparison. Tooth plates were measured to determine the numbers of different age groups in each population. They were assessed for abrasion, attrition, spur and step wear, erosion and caries, and for trauma and pathological conditions such as malocclusion, hyperplasia, abscesses, osteopenia and parasitic damage. All of these conditions are related to the environment where the fish lived, are found in living members of the group, and can be compared directly with those of fossil relatives. The results suggest that some of the fossil populations were at risk before climatic changes late in the Cainozoic destroyed their habitats. Some fossil lungfish populations, such as those of the Wipajiri Formation, exhibit active spawning and recruitment, good growth rates and a low incidence of disease and environmentally related damage to the tooth plates. Others, like those of the Katipiri and Namba Formations, include no young, and the adult fish were ageing and show environmentally-related damage to the dentition. Etadunna lungfish had active recruitment, but the tooth plates show a high incidence of attrition and caries. Riversleigh lungfish were actively spawning but did not grow large. Tooth plates from this latter deposit have a high incidence of pathological conditions. Fish from the Camfield Beds, where food was severely limiting, had little serious pathology but high levels of caries. Pathologies among living lungfish are common, but fossil fish were comparatively healthy, with few serious dental problems. Information from studies of fossil lungfish confirms that conservation of the few living species of lungfish depends on the maintenance of clean environments that provide adequate supplies of food and suitable sites for spawning and for the growth of young fish.

Suntans and sun protection in Australian teen media: 1999 to 2000

In this study, the portrayal of tanned skin and sun protection in magazines, television programs, and movies popular with Australian adolescents were analyzed. Images of models in magazines (n = 1,791), regular/supporting characters in television programs (it = 867), and regular/supporting characters in cinema movies (n = 2,836) for the 12-month period August 1999 to July 2000 were coded and analyzed. Alight tan was the most predominant tan level, and protective clothing was the most common sun protection measure displayed across all forms of media. There were significant associations between gender and tan levels in the television and movie samples. Although it is important to monitor the portrayal of tan levels and sun protection measures in media targeting adolescents, overall, the authors' findings revealed a media environment generally supportive of sun protection objectives.

Identifying and discriminating among lucerne cultivars using plant morphological characters

The use of morphological data obtained from field (plot test) and glasshouse trials to identify and discriminate among four Iranian and two New Zealand lucerne (Medicago sativa L.) cultivars was investigated, following guidelines established by the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) for cultivar registration and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for seed certification. Data were collected for terminal leaflet length, width and ratio, angle of stem growth, date of first flowering, stem height at first flowering, flower colour, cutting recovery height, and disease scores. None of these characters were sufficient to identify or discriminate among the six cultivars. The results indicate a need to find cost-effective and efficient laboratory techniques to enhance the assessment of distinctness of lucerne cultivars (UPOV) and for determining cultivar purity for lucerne seed certification (OECD).

Engaging game characters: Informing design with player perspectives

The behavior of characters in current computer games is generally scripted and predictable. This paper discusses some issues related to creating game characters that enhance player engagement and identifies the need for a more player-centered approach to game character design. This paper reports the results of a focus group that was carried out with experienced game players to determine what game character behaviors would enhance their engagement in a game. The four general areas of concern that came out of this discussion were consistency with context, player expectations, social interactions and consistency with the environment. This paper discusses these issues and their implication for game character design with a view to creating engaging game characters. © Springer

DA PENA À PELÍCULA: AS PERSONAGENS DE CARANDIRU

Este estudo enfoca a transposição da obra literária Estação Carandiru, de Drauzio Varella, para o cinema, no que tange à construção de suas personagens. Para tanto, fez-se um levantamento das personagens e de suas características, de ambas as obras. O objetivo maior é compreender as escolhas feitas durante este diálogo entre mídias, que originou o filme Carandiru, de Hector Babenco, visto que houve uma grande redução no número de personagens. Para esta análise, adotou-se a pesquisa descritiva como procedimento metodológico. Constatou-se que a maior parte das origens das personagens cinematográficas vem de fusões de personagens literárias. Mas também foram encontradas personagens literárias que foram desmembradas e algumas que foram eliminadas. Não se encontrou nenhuma personagem acrescentada.(AU)

Regulation - the movie:a semiotic study of the periodic review of UK regulated industry

This paper explores the regulatory process of UK privatised utilities as manifest in the periodic review of prices. Two separate review processes are identified, operating concurrently - a covert dialogue between the regulator and the regulated and an overt dialogue taking place in the public arena. Using a semiotic analysis of the review the authors argue that the overt event is the real review. Furthermore they argue that the unfolding of each review is so similar that it can be likened to a film script which is constantly re-enacted. The purpose of the review as a legitimating vehicle for the regulator and regulated, who exist in a symbiotic relationship, is explored in terms of the semiotics involved and the myth creation role of legitimation in order to explain the significance of the regulatory process.

Drying processess in the United Kingdom:assessment of industrial energy utilisation and efficiency of drying systems and the modelling of drying characters using neural networks (BL)

Drying is an important unit operation in process industry. Results have suggested that the energy used for drying has increased from 12% in 1978 to 18% of the total energy used in 1990. A literature survey of previous studies regarding overall drying energy consumption has demonstrated that there is little continuity of methods and energy trends could not be established. In the ceramics, timber and paper industrial sectors specific energy consumption and energy trends have been investigated by auditing drying equipment. Ceramic products examined have included tableware, tiles, sanitaryware, electrical ceramics, plasterboard, refractories, bricks and abrasives. Data from industry has shown that drying energy has not varied significantly in the ceramics sector over the last decade, representing about 31% of the total energy consumed. Information from the timber industry has established that radical changes have occurred over the last 20 years, both in terms of equipment and energy utilisation. The energy efficiency of hardwood drying has improved by 15% since the 1970s, although no significant savings have been realised for softwood. A survey estimating the energy efficiency and operating characteristics of 192 paper dryer sections has been conducted. Drying energy was found to increase to nearly 60% of the total energy used in the early 1980s, but has fallen over the last decade, representing 23% of the total in 1993. These results have demonstrated that effective energy saving measures, such as improved pressing and heat recovery, have been successfully implemented since the 1970s. Artificial neural networks have successfully been applied to model process characteristics of microwave and convective drying of paper coated gypsum cove. Parameters modelled have included product moisture loss, core gypsum temperature and quality factors relating to paper burning and bubbling defects. Evaluation of thermal and dielectric properties have highlighted gypsum's heat sensitive characteristics in convective and electromagnetic regimes. Modelling experimental data has shown that the networks were capable of simulating drying process characteristics to a high degree of accuracy. Product weight and temperature were predicted to within 0.5% and 5C of the target data respectively. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that the underlying properties of the data could be predicted through a high level of input noise.

Androiden und (Anti)feminismus in The Stepford Wives

Since the early days of cinema the creation of artificial life with its various implications has been a popular topic on screen. Amongst the large number of films that deal with the theme of androids Bryan Forbes’ "The Stepford Wives" (1975) is noticeable for its focus on questions of gender and the relationship between the sexes. The film is set in a contemporary small suburban town where frustrated husbands have found a special way of dealing with their emancipated wives by replacing them with docile life-like robots. Mixing elements of the thriller and horror genres with farce and comedy "The Stepford Wives" was the first American mainstream film to deal explicitly with Women’s Lib. Unlike Ira Levin in his much more ambivalent novel that the film was based on, Forbes and his actors deliberately set out to make a feminist satire, and according to some critics succeeded in producing an important document of second wave feminism which soon acquired cult status. However, it also provoked a number of negative reactions from feminists who were very uncomfortable with a film in which men get away with murdering the female population of an entire town. A closer inspection reveals that the satirical element of the film is indeed not prominent and frequently counteracted, at times facilitating a misogynist rather than a feminist interpretation. This is mainly due to the ending of the film which implies the murderous elimination of the female protagonist. Unlike all other cinematic and literary works that feature androids "The Stepford Wives" shows the successful creation of artificial life which does not backfire. In addition, the film which clearly categorises itself as a thriller and horror movie, and specifically alludes to the tradition of threatened yet strong female characters in these genres, at the same time defies this convention in favour of a seemingly misogynist ending. Thus the way in which "The Stepford Wives" refuses to comply with the traditions of both the android theme and the horror genre, involuntarily serves to undermine its intention as a feminist social satire.

Az európai vállalkozó karaktere (The characters of the European entrepreneur and the European manager)

Miben különböznek motivációjukat, értékeit, habitusukat tekintve a vállalkozók, illetve a menedzserek a társadalom többi tagjától és egymástól? Egy 29 európai országra kiterjedő reprezentatív lakossági kérdőíves felmérés (European Social Survey) alapján keresik a szerzők a választ e kérdésre. A Schwartz-értéktesztet használják, amelynek segítségével meghatározhatók az általános célok, elvek, amelyek követését egy személy fontosnak tartja az életében. Így felrajzolható a személy karaktere. Hozzájárulásuk az irodalomhoz kettős. Bár készültek európai szinten elemzések a vállalkozók által vallott sajátos értékekről, a Schwartz-teszt átfogóbb, árnyaltabb és megbízhatóbb elemzést tesz lehetővé. Továbbá, az említett elemzések csak az önfoglalkoztatókat vizsgálták, amely kategória magában foglalja ugyan a vállalkozókat, ám tágabb annál. Az alkalmazott menedzserekről pedig tudomásuk szerint egyáltalán nem készült hasonló elemzés. / === / What distinguishes entrepreneurs and managers from the rest of society and from each other in terms of motivation and values? The authors attempt to answer these questions by analysing data from the European Social Survey covering the populations of 29 countries. They use the Schwartz value-test to identify the general goals and principles people choose to follow in their lives. The test enables them to paint the typical personal characters of entrepreneurs and managers. Their contribution to the literature is threefold. First, although the values held by European entrepreneurs have been investigated before, the Schwartz test provides for a more comprehensive and nuanced analysis. Second, prior statistical analyses have focussed on self-employed, which is a much broader category than entrepreneurs. Third, the distinguishing values of employed managers have not been analysed so far in a similar way.