Physiographic history and the soils, entrenched stream systems, and gullies, Harrison County, Iowa /

Literature cited: p. 82-87.

Building an effective trade practices commission : the role of Professor Robert Baxt AO

Bob Baxt, the third Chairman of the Trade Practices Commission, served for a single three year term from 1988 to 1991. He followed Bob McComas, who had deliberately adopted a non-litigious approach to preserving the competitive process, believing that he understood business as an insider and that much of what it did was not anti-competitive, when correctly viewed. Baxt was far more pro-active in his approach, and more closely aligned with that of the first Chairman, Ron Bannerman. Baxt sought to push the frontiers of investigation and precedent, and perhaps, more significantly, sought to influence his Ministers, the government, public servants and public opinion about the need to expand the coverage of the Trade Practices Act, increase penalties and properly resource the Commission so that it could perform its assigned roles. This article examines Baxt’s early and on-going role in teaching Australian students and professionals through his interdisciplinary Trade Practices Workshops, the political context of Baxt’s tenure, including his relations with the Attorney-General ,Michael Duffy, and his skilful handling of the Queensland Wire case.

Accumulation of recombinant cellobiohydrolase and endoglucanase in the leaves of mature transgenic sugar cane

A major strategic goal in making ethanol from lignocellulosic biomass a cost-competitive liquid transport fuel is to reduce the cost of production of cellulolytic enzymes that hydrolyse lignocellulosic substrates to fermentable sugars. Current production systems for these enzymes, namely microbes, are not economic. One way to substantially reduce production costs is to express cellulolytic enzymes in plants at levels that are high enough to hydrolyse lignocellulosic biomass. Sugar cane fibre (bagasse) is the most promising lignocellulosic feedstock for conversion to ethanol in the tropics and subtropics. Cellulolytic enzyme production in sugar cane will have a substantial impact on the economics of lignocellulosic ethanol production from bagasse. We therefore generated transgenic sugar cane accumulating three cellulolytic enzymes, fungal cellobiohydrolase I (CBH I), CBH II and bacterial endoglucanase (EG), in leaves using the maize PepC promoter as an alternative to maize Ubi1 for controlling transgene expression. Different subcellular targeting signals were shown to have a substantial impact on the accumulation of these enzymes; the CBHs and EG accumulated to higher levels when fused to a vacuolar-sorting determinant than to an endoplasmic reticulum-retention signal, while EG was produced in the largest amounts when fused to a chloroplast-targeting signal. These results are the first demonstration of the expression and accumulation of recombinant CBH I, CBH II and EG in sugar cane and represent a significant first step towards the optimization of cellulolytic enzyme expression in sugar cane for the economic production of lignocellulosic ethanol.

Journalism at the movies

Welcome to the first of what will be a regular review essay on films about journalism, covering recent releases as well as looking back at established classics and under-rated obscurities. And there is plenty to write about. Since 2008, and the end of the research period which informed my 2010 book on Journalists in Film there has been a steady stream of films in which a journalist is a primary character, and in which the nature and functioning of journalism is a theme. Morning Glory (Roger Michell, 2010), the story of a ‘serious’ news man (Harrison Ford) having to adapt to the infotainment environment of breakfast news, came out early in 2011 in the United Kingdom. The well-received UK indie Monsters (Gareth Edwards, 2010), a sci-fi with a journalist at its heart, was released in 2010. In The Soloist (Joe Wright, 2009) Robert Downey Jr played a feature journalist who befriends a mentally ill street musician and seeks to rescue him through his writing. Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy has produced three Swedish films, all of them focused on the campaigning journalist Mikael Blomkvist. The first of these is being remade by Hollywood as of this writing.

Book Review: "Rethinking Learning in Early Childhood Education" written by Nicola Yelland, Libby Lee, Maureen O’Rourke & Cathie Harrison

There is a growing body of work that responds to the impact of the rapid uptake of information and communication technology (ICT) on education (Buckingham, 2003; Cheung, 2003; Cuban, 2003; Leung, 2003; Prensky, 2005; Green & Hannon, 2007; Brooks-Gunn & Donahue, 2008; Lyman et al, 2008). Mostly, this work has been positioned in the context of upper-primary or secondary classrooms. More recently, there has been a growing call for research about the impact of ICT on the early years or in early childhood contexts. This text initiates a response to that call. The authors concur that today’s children are a generation who create, learn, work, play and communicate very differently from their parents and teachers (Buckingham, 2003), and that classroom activity needs to reflect this difference.

Letter To Robert Lowell

Poem

Isolation and functional characterisation of banana phytoene synthase genes as potential cisgenes

Carotenoids occur in all photosynthetic organisms where they protect photosystems from auto-oxidation, participate in photosynthetic energy-transfer and are secondary metabolites. Of the more than 600 known plant carotenoids, few can be converted into vitamin A by humans and so these pro-vitamin A carotenoids (pVAC) are important in human nutrition. Phytoene synthase (PSY) is a key enzyme in the biosynthetic pathway of pVACs and plays a central role in regulating pVAC accumulation in the edible portion of crop plants. Bananas are a major commercial crop and serve as a staple crop for more than 30 million people. There is natural variation in fruit pVAC content across different banana cultivars, but this is not well understood. Therefore, we isolated PSY genes from banana cultivars with relatively high (cv. Asupina) and low (cv. Cavendish) pVAC content. We provide evidence that PSY in banana is encoded by two paralogs (PSY1 and PSY2), each with a similar gene structure to homologous genes in other monocots. Further, we demonstrate that PSY2 is more highly expressed in fruit pulp compared to leaf. Functional analysis of PSY1 and PSY2 in rice callus and E. coli demonstrate that both genes encode functional enzymes, and that Asupina PSYs have approximately twice the enzymatic activity of the corresponding Cavendish PSYs. These results suggest that differences in PSY enzyme activity contribute significantly to the differences in Asupina and Cavendish fruit pVAC content. Importantly, Asupina PSY genes could potentially be used to generate new cisgenic or intragenic banana cultivars with enhanced pVAC content.

Origins of Australian Football: Victoria's Early History. Volume 1 Amateur Heroes and the Rise of the Clubs, 1858 to 1876

This is volume 1 in a series of four volumes about the origins of Australian football as it evolved in Victoria between 1858 and 1896. This volume addresses its very beginnings as an amateur sport and the rise of the first clubs. Invented by a group of Melbourne cricketers and sports enthusiasts, Australian Rules football was developed through games played on Melbourne's park lands and was originally known as "Melbourne Football Club Rules". This formative period of the game saw the birth of the first 'amateur heroes' of the game. Players such as T.W. Wills, H.C.A. Harrison, Jack Conway, George O'Mullane and Robert Murray Smith emerged as warriors engaged in individual rugby-type scrimmages. The introduction of Challenge Cups was an important spur for this burgeoning sport. Intense competition and growing rivalries between clubs such as Melbourne, South Yarra, Royal Park, and Geelong began to flourish and the game developed as a result. By the 1870s the game "Victorian Rules" had become the most popular outdoor winter sport across the state. In subsequent decades, rapid growth in club football occurred and the game attracted increasing media attention.

Years lived with disability (YLDs) for 1160 sequelae of 289 diseases and injuries 1990–2010 : a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010

Background Non-fatal health outcomes from diseases and injuries are a crucial consideration in the promotion and monitoring of individual and population health. The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) studies done in 1990 and 2000 have been the only studies to quantify non-fatal health outcomes across an exhaustive set of disorders at the global and regional level. Neither effort quantified uncertainty in prevalence or years lived with disability (YLDs). Methods Of the 291 diseases and injuries in the GBD cause list, 289 cause disability. For 1160 sequelae of the 289 diseases and injuries, we undertook a systematic analysis of prevalence, incidence, remission, duration, and excess mortality. Sources included published studies, case notification, population-based cancer registries, other disease registries, antenatal clinic serosurveillance, hospital discharge data, ambulatory care data, household surveys, other surveys, and cohort studies. For most sequelae, we used a Bayesian meta-regression method, DisMod-MR, designed to address key limitations in descriptive epidemiological data, including missing data, inconsistency, and large methodological variation between data sources. For some disorders, we used natural history models, geospatial models, back-calculation models (models calculating incidence from population mortality rates and case fatality), or registration completeness models (models adjusting for incomplete registration with health-system access and other covariates). Disability weights for 220 unique health states were used to capture the severity of health loss. YLDs by cause at age, sex, country, and year levels were adjusted for comorbidity with simulation methods. We included uncertainty estimates at all stages of the analysis. Findings Global prevalence for all ages combined in 2010 across the 1160 sequelae ranged from fewer than one case per 1 million people to 350 000 cases per 1 million people. Prevalence and severity of health loss were weakly correlated (correlation coefficient −0·37). In 2010, there were 777 million YLDs from all causes, up from 583 million in 1990. The main contributors to global YLDs were mental and behavioural disorders, musculoskeletal disorders, and diabetes or endocrine diseases. The leading specific causes of YLDs were much the same in 2010 as they were in 1990: low back pain, major depressive disorder, iron-deficiency anaemia, neck pain, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, anxiety disorders, migraine, diabetes, and falls. Age-specific prevalence of YLDs increased with age in all regions and has decreased slightly from 1990 to 2010. Regional patterns of the leading causes of YLDs were more similar compared with years of life lost due to premature mortality. Neglected tropical diseases, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and anaemia were important causes of YLDs in sub-Saharan Africa. Interpretation Rates of YLDs per 100 000 people have remained largely constant over time but rise steadily with age. Population growth and ageing have increased YLD numbers and crude rates over the past two decades. Prevalences of the most common causes of YLDs, such as mental and behavioural disorders and musculoskeletal disorders, have not decreased. Health systems will need to address the needs of the rising numbers of individuals with a range of disorders that largely cause disability but not mortality. Quantification of the burden of non-fatal health outcomes will be crucial to understand how well health systems are responding to these challenges. Effective and affordable strategies to deal with this rising burden are an urgent priority for health systems in most parts of the world. Funding Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Anglican Church knew clergyman Robert Waddington was a risk

AUSTRALIAN church officials knew of child-sex allegations in Britain against a senior clergymen when they pushed a victim into accepting a compensation payout on the basis that there was no evidence to back up his claims of abuse. Former Church of England investigator Ray Morris says he prepared a 2004 report about allegations in Britain and Australia - from the 1960s and 80s - against Robert Waddington. He sent it to north Queensland diocese officials, who were at the time involved in mediation with the Australian victim over his claims that he was abused weekly by Waddington between 1964 and 1968, who was headmaster of St Barnabas boarding school in Ravenshoe, southwest of Cairns.

Robert Waddington's cycle of abuse stretches beyond 50 years

THE Church of England banished serial pedophile priest Robert Waddington to Australia, where he abused children across a decade, after suspicions were raised about him molesting choirboys in his London parish. In an alleged church cover-up spanning almost 60 years, Waddington was suddenly and unexpectedly sent to a small school in regional Queensland in 1956 amid claims he was molesting the son of an English politician. Last month the Church of England ordered an independent inquiry into the handling of allegations against Waddington, after a joint investigation by The Australian and The Times of London. But it can now be revealed that Waddington - who died in 2007, facing allegations he abused students in Australia in the 1960s and English choirboys in the 80s and 90s - was molesting children as soon as he joined the church in 1953. The latest allegations have been made by Ray Munn, 70, who was recruited by Waddington, then a curate at St John's church in Bethnal Green, East London, to sing in the choir in 1953. He was almost immediately groomed by the Cambridge University-educated clergyman, who took him on holidays in the English countryside, before he began molesting the then 11-year-old.

Capital cost model for Robert evaporators

ROBERT EVAPORATORS in Australian sugar factories are traditionally constructed with 44.45 mm outside diameter stainless steel tubes of ~2 m length for all stages of evaporation. There are a few vessels with longer tubes (up to 2.8 m) and smaller and larger diameters (38.1 and 50.8 mm). Queensland University of Technology is undertaking a study to investigate the heat transfer performance of tubes of different lengths and diameters for the whole range of process conditions typically encountered in the evaporator set. Incorporation of these results into practical evaporator designs requires an understanding of the cost implications for constructing evaporator vessels with calandrias having tubes of different dimensions. Cost savings are expected for tubes of smaller diameter and longer length in terms of material, labour and installation costs in the factory. However these savings must be considered in terms of the heat transfer area requirements for the evaporation duty, which will likely be a function of the tube dimensions. In this paper a capital cost model is described which provides a relative cost of constructing and installing Robert evaporators of the same heating surface area but with different tube dimensions. Evaporators of 2000, 3000, 4000 and 5000 m2 are investigated. This model will be used in conjunction with the heat transfer efficiency data (when available) to determine the optimum tube dimensions for a new evaporator at a specified evaporation duty. Consideration is also given to other factors such as juice residence time (and implications for sucrose degradation and control) and droplet de-entrainment in evaporators of different tube dimensions.