Chemical composition of bottom sediments and rocks from DSDP Holes 3-14 through 64-477

Data on analyses of chemical composition of DSDP samples of bottom sediments and rocks carried out in P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology are reported. Basal sediments and sedimentary rocks prevail in the sample set.

An examination of tax-deductible donations made by individual Australian taxpayers in 2008-09, ACPNS Working Paper 54

Each year, The Australian Centre for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies (CPNS) at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) collects and analyses statistics on the amount and extent of tax-deductible donations made and claimed by Australians in their individual income tax returns to deductible gift recipients (DGRs). The information presented below is based on the amount and type of tax-deductible donations made and claimed by Australian individual taxpayers to DGRs for the period 1 July 2008 to 30 June 2009. This information has been extracted mainly from the Australian Taxation Office's (ATO) publication Taxation Statistics 2008-09. The 2008-09 report is the latest report that has been made publicly available. It represents information in tax returns for the 2008-09 year processed by the ATO as at 31 October 2010.

Insurance and transport law : controlling insurance contract terms : Section 54 of the Insurance Contracts Act – compliance, recovery and accountability

Commonwealth legislation covering insurance contracts contains numerous provisions designed to control the operation and effect of terms in life and general insurance contracts. For example, the Life Insurance Act 1995 (Cth) contains provisions regulating the consequences attendant upon incorrect statements in proposals [1] and non-payment of premiums, [2] provides that an insurer may only exclude liability in the case of suicide if it has made express provision for such contingency in its policy, [3] and severely restricts the efficacy of conditions as to war risks. [4] The Insurance Contracts Act 1984 (Cth) is even more intrusive and has a major impact upon contractual provisions in the general insurance field. It is beyond the scope of this note to explore all of these provisions in any detail but examples of controls and constraints imposed upon the operation and effect of contractual provisions include the following. A party is precluded from relying upon a provision in a contract of insurance if such reliance would amount to a failure to act with the utmost good faith. [5] Similarly, a policy provision which requires differences or disputes arising out of the insurance to be submitted to arbitration is void, [6] unless the insurance is a genuine cover for excess of loss over and above another specified insurance. [7] Similarly clause such as conciliation clauses, [8] average clauses, [9] and unusual terms [10] are given qualified operation. [11] However the provision in the Insurance Contracts Act that has the greatest impact upon, and application to, a wide range of insurance clauses and claims is s 54. This section has already generated a significant volume of case law and is the focus of this note. In particular this note examines two recent cases. The first, Johnson v Triple C Furniture and Electrical Pty Ltd [2012] 2 Qd R 337, (hereafter the Triple C case), is a decision of the Queensland Court of Appeal; and the second, Matthew Maxwell v Highway Hauliers Pty Ltd [2013] WASCA 115, (hereafter the Highway Hauliers case), is a decision of the Court of Appeal in Western Australia. This latter decision is on appeal to the High Court of Australia. The note considers too the decision of the New South Wales Court of Appeal in Prepaid Services Pty Ltd v Atradius Credit Insurance NV [2013] NSWCA 252 (hereafter the Prepaid Services case).These cases serve to highlight the complex nature of s 54 and its application, as well as the difficulty in achieving a balance between an insurer and an insured's reasonable expectations.

The evolutionary history of termites as inferred from 66 mitochondrial genomes

Termites have colonized many habitats and are among the most abundant animals in tropical ecosystems, which they modify considerably through their actions. The timing of their rise in abundance and of the dispersal events that gave rise to modern termite lineages is not well understood. To shed light on termite origins and diversification, we sequenced the mitochondrial genome of 48 termite species and combined them with 18 previously sequenced termite mitochondrial genomes for phylogenetic and molecular clock analyses using multiple fossil calibrations. The 66 genomes represent most major clades of termites. Unlike previous phylogenetic studies based on fewer molecular data, our phylogenetic tree is fully resolved for the lower termites. The phylogenetic positions of Macrotermitinae and Apicotermitinae are also resolved as the basal groups in the higher termites, but in the crown termitid groups, including Termitinae + Syntermitinae + Nasutitermitinae + Cubitermitinae, the position of some nodes remains uncertain. Our molecular clock tree indicates that the lineages leading to termites and Cryptocercus roaches diverged 170 Ma (153-196 Ma 95% confidence interval [CI]), that modern Termitidae arose 54 Ma (46-66 Ma 95% CI), and that the crown termitid group arose 40 Ma (35-49 Ma 95% CI). This indicates that the distribution of basal termite clades was influenced by the final stages of the breakup of Pangaea. Our inference of ancestral geographic ranges shows that the Termitidae, which includes more than 75% of extant termite species, most likely originated in Africa or Asia, and acquired their pantropical distribution after a series of dispersal and subsequent diversification events.

Polymorphism in codon 17 of the CTLA-4 gene (+49 A/G) is not associated with susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis in British Caucasians

The role of the CTLA-4 antigen in the development of autoimmune diseases is well documented, with several autoimmune disorders showing association or linkage with the CTLA-4 locus. Its role in the aetiology of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) however, remains unclear, as the functional studies of the B7-CTLA-4 pathway in mouse models of RA and genetic studies in humans have given contrasting results. We have studied the single nucleotide polymorphism at position +49 (A/G) of the CTLA-4 gene, in a cohort of 421 RA cases and 452 healthy controls from the UK. Despite the high statistical power to detect even a weak susceptibility effect, no significant association was found. We also analysed the distribution of the allele and genotype frequencies with respect to the presence of the shared epitope (a known RA susceptibility factor) and found no statistically significant differences. We conclude that, although the importance of the B7-CTLA-4 interaction in the development of RA can not be excluded, the CTLA-4 gene is unlikely to be a predisposing factor to this disease.

Accountability of insurers under s 54: Striking the balance between commerciality and consumer protection

Section 54 of the Insurance Contracts Act 1984 (Cth) continues to occupy a prominent position in insurance-related litigation. This section which imposes a concept of causation, or prejudice to the insurer, to restrict an insurer’s reliance upon contractual terms to avoid liability for particular claims, is often before the courts. This note focuses upon the recent High Court of Australia decision in Maxwell v Highway Hauliers Pty Ltd [2014] HCA 33.

Temporal expression of G-protein-coupled receptor 54 (GPR54), gonadotropin-releasing hormones (GnRH), and dopamine receptor D2 (drd2) in pubertal female grey mullet, Mugil cephalus.

The G-protein-coupled receptor 54 (muGPR54) cDNA was cloned from the brain of the grey mullet, and its expression level, as well as those of the gonadotropin-releasing hormones (GnRH1, GnRH2, GnRH3) and dopamine receptor D2 (drd2), in the brain, pituitary and ovary of pubertal fish (early, intermediate, advanced) were determined by real-time quantitative RT-PCR (QPCR). The muGPR54 cDNA has an open reading frame of 1140 bp with a predicted 380 amino acid peptide, containing seven putative transmembrane domains and putative N-glycosylation and protein kinase C phosphorylation sites. QPCR results showed that the early stage of puberty in grey mullet is characterized by significantly high levels of expression of GPR54, GnRH and drd2 in the brain relative to the intermediate and advanced stages, except for GnRH1 that increased at the advanced stage of puberty. In the pituitary, drd2 expression declined significantly at the advanced stage relative to levels at the intermediate stage. Ovarian expression of GPR54 significantly increased from the intermediate stage of puberty relative to the early stage while that of GnRH1 acutely increased at the advanced stage of puberty. The ovarian expression of drd2 decreased as puberty progressed, but the changes were not significant. The results suggest the possible role of GPR54 and GnRH in positively regulating pubertal development in grey mullet and the dopaminergic inhibition of reproductive function mediated by drd2.

Tombstone of Adolf Molling and his wife Henriette (Henny) nee Meyerhof in the Jewish cemetery An der Strangriede Str. 54. 7; Hannover, Germany. Cemeteries Tombs

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Tombstone of Adolf Molling and his wife Henriette (Henny) nee Meyerhof; Strangriede Cemetery Str.54.7; Hannover Cemeteries Tombs

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Tombstone of Adolf Molling and his wife Henriette (Henny) nee Meyerhof in the Jewish cemetery An der Strangriede Str. 54. 7; Hannover, Germany. Cemeteries Tombs

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Tombstone of Adolf Molling and his wife Henriette (Henny) nee Meyerhof; Strangriede Cemetery Str.54.7; Hannover Cemeteries Tombs

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Caracterización de la curva de lactancia y el comportamiento reproductivo de vaquillas Holstein bajo implementación de medidas de manejo en el período pre-parto

Con el objetivo de caracterizar la curva de lactancia y evaluar el comportamiento reproductivo se analizaron los registros mensuales (N=10) de vaquillas Holstein bajo la implementación y falta de implementación de medidas de manejo pre-parto en la Empresa Agropecuaria “San Ignacio” Mateare, Nicaragua. Para caracterizar la curva de lactancia, se utilizó el modelo de Wood (1967) de forma linealizada Ln Yx = Lna + b Lnx - ex , donde Yx es la producción diaria en el período x, a representa la producción inicial, b el ascenso al pico, c el descenso de producción, a partir del mismo se generaron la Persistencia (S), Rendimiento al pico (RP), Tiempo al pico (TP), también se evaluó el Intervalo parto - concepción (IPC) y el Número de servicios por concepción (NSPC) . Al presentar problemas reproductivos la proporción de curvas atípicas encontradas en este Trabajo fue de 40%. Al analizar la curva de lactancia del grupo experimental se observa un a= 11.00212 kg, b = 0.083528 kg, e = 0.00407148 kg, RP = 12.790 kg, TP = 29.54 días, S = 6.126. El grupo testigo presenta un a = 6.4384 kg, b = 0.193048 kg, e = 0.00466974 kg, RP = 9.49 kg, TP = 34.32 días, S = 6.421. En el análisis de varianza se encontró que el RP tiene diferencia significativa entre los tratamientos a un nivel de significancia (P<0.05). Los parámetros reproductivos IPC y NSPC para el grupo experimental fueron de 243.6 días y 3 servicios respectivamente, el grupo testigo presentó un IPC = 221.8 días y NSPC = 3.6 servicios .

Letras, 2006, nº 54 (número completo)

Contenido: Letras, en sus Bodas de Plata -- Poesía y espacio. Cala en la obra poética de Luis A. Martínez Cuitiño / María Amelia Arancet Ruda -- Agitación de las cosas “Tras el diluvio” / Magdalena Cámpora -- Una lectura de los cuatro cuartetos de T. S. Eliot / Inés de Cassagne -- El placer de la cautiva: una lectura hermenéutica / Dolores de Elizalde -- Eduardo Gutiérrez y sus “dramas del terror” / José Mariano García -- Amelia Biagioni: por una (re)definición de su lugar en el canon / Valeria Melchiorre -- Harold Pinter: palabras y silencios / Rosa E. M. D. Penna -- La antropofagia de Serafim Ponte Grande / Marcela Pezzuto -- Lecturas y experiencias en “La escritura o la vida” (1995) de Jorge Semprún / María Lucía Puppo -- Poesía tradicional de Japón ante el mundo hispánico / Norio Shimizu -- Reseñas bibliográficas