A comparison of family functioning, temperament, and childhood conditions in monozygotic twin pairs discordant for lifetime bulimia nervosa

Objective: The authors investigated differences between twins in nine pairs of female monozygotic twins in the Australian Twin Registry who were discordant for lifetime bulimia nervosa. Method: The twins affected and unaffected by lifetime bulimia nervosa were compared on self-report measures, including a measure of parental bonding, four measures of temperament, and six early-childhood medical conditions. Results: No twins had current bulimia nervosa, and there was no difference in weight or eating status between the affected and unaffected twins. The affected twins reported significantly lower self-esteem and less warmth but more overprotection by their mothers during childhood. Conclusions: Although limited by the small number of discordant twin pairs and the inability to detect causal relationships, these results suggest that environmental influences that promote low self-esteem may also increase the risk for bulimia nervosa. These temperamental differences may explain the discrepancies in parenting or perceived parenting.

The play of identities in Cypriot-Australian family storytelling

This article adopts a microanalytic approach to examine storytelling as a co-construction by family members in a Cypriot-Australian family. Previous studies on family storytelling have focused on the various roles of family members in storytelling with a means of studying family socialization (Miller et al., 1990; Ochs & Taylor, 1992; Blum-Kulka, 1997). These studies used critical discourse analysis, socioculturel theories, performance and pragmatic approaches to storytelling. This article offers a distinctive approach to family storytelling by examining the discourse and social identities that family members display during the storytelling. The data originate in a study that involves interviews with three generations of Greek-Australian and Cypriot-Australian women regarding their relationships with each other. In this paper we investigate the contributions of the father and the daughters in the course of the mother's turn at storytelling. The first part of the analysis focuses on the husband's discourse identities as a contributor, initiator and elicitor of his wife's storytelling. During the storytelling we also observe the production and exchange of different social identities between the husband and the mother, such as the 'unwilling suitor', the 'embarrassed schoolgirl' or the 'forceful but teasing husband'. The second part describes how the daughters take part in their mother's storytelling, producing a variety of identities such as the 'impatient mother', the 'complaining', 'happy', or 'good' mothers and daughters. These investigations succinctly illustrate how narratives become a resource for members' 'display' and 'play' of identities. Copyright ©2002, John Benjamins B.V.

Irrational schematic beliefs and psychological distress in caregivers of people with traumatic brain injury

Objective: To investigate the relation between irrational schematic beliefs and psychological distress in caregivers of persons with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Design: Cross-sectional mail survey. Participants: One hundred sixteen caregivers of persons with TBI living in the Australian states of Victoria and Queensland who were members of community support groups and brain injury associations. Measures: The Irrational Beliefs Inventory, Brief Symptom Inventory, income satisfaction, degree of personality and behavior change in the TBI individual, and injury severity. Results: Hierarchical regression analyses showed that after controlling for the effects of characteristics of the caregiving situation and the individual with TBI, greater adherence to irrational beliefs was related to higher levels of global psychological distress. Specifically, irrational beliefs related to Worrying were associated with all areas of psychological distress. Conclusion: Results support the cognitive theory proposal that irrational beliefs play an important role in the adaptation to TBI caregiving. Findings suggest the inclusion of cognitive therapy strategies in interventions for caregivers.

Analysis of acousto-ultrasonic characteristics for contact-type transducers coupled to composite laminated plates

The acousto-ultrasonic (AU) input-output characteristics for contact-type transmitting and receiving transducers coupled to composite laminated plates are considered in this paper. Combining a multiple integral transform method, an ordinary discrete layer theory for the laminates and some simplifying assumptions for the electro-mechanical transduction behaviour of the transducers, an analytical solution is developed which can deal with all the wave processes involved in the AU measurement system, i.e, wave generation, wave propagation and wave reception. The spectral response of the normal contact pressure sensed by the receiving transducer due to an arbitrary input pulse excited by the transmitting transducer is obtained. To validate the new analytical-numerical spectral technique in the low-frequency regime, the results are compared with Mindlin plate theory solutions. Based on the analytical results, numerical calculations are carried out to investigate the influence of various external parameters such as frequency content of the input pulse, transmitter/receiver spacing and transducer aperture on the output of the measurement system. The results show that the presented analytical-numerical procedure is an effective tool for understanding the input-output characteristics of the AU technique for laminated plates. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

The status of the Diplosentidae (Acanthocephala : Palaeacanthocephala) and a new family of acanthocephalans from Australian wrasses (Pisces : Labridae)

The status and composition of the Diplosentidae Tubangui et Masilungan, 1937 are reviewed. The type species of the type genus, Diplosentis amphacanthi Tubangui et Masilungan, 1937 from Siganus canaliculatus (Park, 1797) in the Philippines, is concluded to have been described inaccurately,in supposedly possessing, only two cement glands and lemnisci enclosed in a membranous sac. The species is almost certainly very close to species of Neorhadinorhynchus yamaguti, 1939 and Sclerocollum Schmidt of Paperna, 1978 which have also been reported from siganids from the tropical Indo-Pacific. Species of these genera have four cement glands and unexceptional lemnisci. As a result, Diplosentis Tubangui et Masilungan, 1937 is best considered to have affinities with the Cavisomidae Meyer, 1932. The Cavisomidae has priority over the Diplosentidae; thus the Diplosentidae becomes a synonym of the Cavisomidae. Neorhadinorhynchus and Sclerocollum are considered synonyms of Diplosentis. The affinities of the other species and genera formerly included in the Diplosentidae (other species of Diplosentis, Allorhadinorhynchus Yamaguti, 1959, Amapacanthus Salgado-Maldonado et Santos, 2000, Pararhadinorhynchus Johnston et Edmonds, 1947, Golvanorhynchus Noronha, do Fabio et Pinto, 1978 and Slendrorhynchus Amin et Soy, 1996) are discussed. It is concluded that all but Pararhadinorhynchus, two species of Diplosentis and Amapacanthus can be accommodated elsewhere satisfactorily. A new family, Transvenidae, is proposed for a small group of acanthocephalans that genuinely possess only two cement glands. Transvena annulospinosa gen. n., sp. n. is described from the labrids Anampses neoguinaicus Bleeker, 1878 (type host), A. geographicus Valenciennes, 1840, A. caeruleopunctatus Ruppell, 1829, Hemigymnus fasciatus (Bloch, 1792), and H. melapterus (Bloch, 1791) from the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, Australia. Transvena gen. n. is distinguished from all other acanthocephalan genera by having a combination of a single ring of small spines on its trunk near or at the junction between the neck and trunk, two cement glands, a double-walled proboscis receptacle and hooks which decrease in length from the apex to the base of the proboscis. A second new genus within the Transvenidae, Trajectura, is proposed for T. perinsolens sp. n. from Anampses neoguinaicus, also from the Great Barrier Reef. Trajectura gen. n. is distinguished by the possession of only two cement glands and an anterior conical projection (function unknown) on the females. Diplosentis ikedai Machida, 1992 shares these characters and is recombined as Trajectura ikedai comb. n. Pararhadinorhynchus is transferred to the Transvenidae and Diplosentis manteri Gupta et Fatma, 1979 is recombined as Pararhadinorhynchus manteri comb. n.

A review of the family Enenteridae Yamaguti, 1958 (Digenea), with descriptions of species from Australian waters, including Koseiria huxleyi n. sp.

The family Enenteridae is reviewed, with keys to the genera and species and diagnoses of the family and genera, based on a cladistic analysis utilising 44 characters. Subfamilies are not recognised. Descriptions of the following taxa from Australian marine teleosts are given: Enenterum mannarense from Kyphosus sydneyanus, SW Australia, E. elongatum from Kyphosus sydneyanus, SW Australia (these two species are distinguished by the number of oral lobes and the ovary to anterior testis distance), Koseiria huxleyi n. sp. from Chaetodontoplus meredithi, Great Barrier Reef (this new species is distinguished by the vitellarium reaching into the forebody, the infundibuliform terminal oral sucker, the unlobed ovary and the distinct post-oral ring), Koseiria xishaense from Kyphosus cinerascens and K. vaigiensis, Great Barrier Reef, Cadenatella isuzumi from Kyphosus cinerascens and K. vaigiensis, Great Barrier Reef, and C. pacifica (Yamaguti, 1970) n. comb. [was Jeancadenatia] from Kyphosus cinerascens and K. vaigiensis, Great Barrier Reef. The genus Jeancadenatia is considered a synonym of Cadenatella, and the new combination C. dollfusi (Hafeezullah, 1980) is formed. Members of the family are parasitic mainly in herbivorous fishes with a few genera and species from non-herbivorous fishes.

Stable expression of noncytopathic Kunjin replicons simulates both ultrastructural and biochemical characteristics observed during replication of Kunjin virus

This report focuses mainly on the characterization of a Vero cell line stably expressing the flavivirus Kunjin (KUN) replicon C20SDrep (C20SDrepVero). We showed by immunofluorescence and cryoimmunoelectron microscopy that unique flavivirus-induced membrane structures, termed convoluted membranes/paracrystalline structures, were induced in the C20SDrepVero cells. These induced cytoplasmic foci were immunolabeled with KUN virus anti-NS3 antibodies and with antibodies to the cellular markers ERGIC53 (for the intermediate compartment) and protein disulfide isomerase (for the rough endoplasmic reticulum). However, in contrast to the large perinuclear inclusions observed by immunofluorescence with anti-double-stranded (ds)RNA antibodies in KUN virus-infected cells, the dsRNA in C20SDrepVero cells was localized to small isolated foci scattered throughout the cytoplasm, which were coincident with small foci dual-labeled with the trans-Golgi specific marker GaIT. importantly persistent expression of the KUN replicons in cells did not produce cytopathic effects, and the morphology of major host organelles (including Golgi, mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum, and nucleus) was apparently unaffected. The amounts of plus- and minus-sense RNA synthesis in replicon cells were similar to those in KUN virus-infected cells until near the end of the latent period, but subsequently increases of about 10- and fourfold, respectively, occurred in infected cells. Virus-specified protein synthesis in C20SDrepVero cells was also about 10-fold greater than that in infected cells. When several KUN replicon cell lines were compared with respect to membrane induction, the relative efficiencies increased in parallel with increases in viral RNA and protein synthesis, consistent with the increases observed during the virus infectious cycle. Based on these observations, cell lines expressing less-efficient replicons may provide a useful tool to study early events in flavivirus RNA replication, which are difficult to assess in Virus infections. (C) 2001 Academic press.

Predicting coal ash slag flow characteristics (viscosity model for the Al2O3-CaO-'FeO'-SiO2 system)

A model has been developed which enables the viscosities of coal ash slags to be predicted as a function of composition and temperature under reducing conditions. The model describes both completely liquid and heterogeneous, i.e. partly crystallised, slags in the Al2O3-CaO-'FeO'-SiO2 system in equilibrium with metallic iron. The Urbain formalism has been modified to describe the viscosities of the liquid slag phase over the complete range of compositions and a wide range of temperatures. The computer package F * A * C * T was used to predict the proportions of solids and the compositions of the remaining liquid phases. The Roscoe equation has been used to describe the effect of presence of solid suspension (slurry effect) on the viscosity of partly crystallised slag systems. The model provides a good description of the experimental data of fully liquid, and liquid + solids mixtures, over the complete range of compositions and a wide range of temperatures. This model can now be used for viscosity predictions in industrial slag systems. Examples of the application of the new model to coal ash fluxing and blending are given in the paper. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Olfaction in the Queensland fruit fly, Bactrocera tryoni. II: Response spectra and temporal encoding characteristics of the carbon dioxide receptors

Single-unit electrophysiology was used to record the nerve impulses from the carbon dioxide receptors of female Queensland fruit flies, Bactrocera tryoni. The receptors responded to stimulation in a phasic-tonic manner and also had a period of inhibition of the nerve impulses after the end of stimulation, at high stimulus intensities. The cell responding to carbon dioxide was presented with a range of environmental odorants and found to respond to methyl butyrate and 2-butanone. The coding characteristics of the carbon dioxide cell and the ability to detect other odorants are discussed, with particular reference to the known behavior of the fly.