4,6,8,10,16-penta- and 4,6,8,10,16,18-hexamethyldocosanes from the cane beetle Antitrogus parvulus - Cuticular hydrocarbons with unprecedented structure and stereochemistry

[GRAPHICS] The major cuticular hydrocarbons from the cane beetle species Antitrogus parvulus were deduced to be 4,6,8,10,16,18-hexa- and 4,6,8,10,16-pentamethyldocosanes 2 and 3, respectively. Isomers of 2,4,6,8-tetramethylundecanal 27, 36, and 37, derived from 2,4,6-trimethylphenol, were coupled with the phosphoranes 28 and 29 to furnish alkenes and, by reduction, diastereomers of 2 and 3. Chromatographic and spectroscopic comparisons confirmed 2 as either 6a or 6b and 3 as either 34a or 34b.

Alcohol and other drug use disorders among older-aged people

In Australia people aged 65 years or older currently comprise 12.1% of the population. This has been estimated to rise to 24.2% by 2051. Until recently there has been relatively little research on alcohol and other drug use disorders among these individuals but, given the ageing population, this issue is likely to become of increasing importance and prominence. Epidemiological research shows a strong age-related decline in the prevalence of alcohol and other drug use disorders with age. Possible reasons for this include: age-related declines in the use and misuse of alcohol and other drugs; increased mortality among those with a lifetime history of alcohol and other drug use disorders; historical differences in exposure to and use of alcohol and other drugs. Despite the age-related decline in the prevalence of these disorders, they do still occur among those aged 65 years or older and, given historical changes in exposure to and use of illicit drugs, it likely that the prevalence of these disorders among older-aged individuals will rise. Specific issues faced by older-aged individuals with alcohol and other drug use problems are discussed. These include: interactions with prescribed medications, under-recognition and treatment of alcohol and drug problems, unintentional injury and social isolation. Finally, a brief discussion of treatment issues is provided.

Cross-border insolvency: Adoption of CLERP 8 as an evolution of Australian insolvency law

In 1997 the United Nations adopted the UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency and recommended that member states adopt it as part of domestic legislation. In 2002 Australia, an active participant in UNCITRAL's Working Group on Insolvency Law, announced that the next phase of the Commonwealth Government's Corporate Law Economic Reform Program would be a review of cross-border insolvency law. CLERP 8 seeks feedback on the proposed enactment of the Model Law by a separate Commonwealth statute. This article places such a development within the context of Australian cross-border insolvency law as it has evolved from early English bankruptcy legislation through case law arising from the banking collapses of the late 19th century to the more recent jurisprudence produced by corporate collapses of the late 1980s to early 1990s and current high-profile insolvencies.

Effectiveness of case management and post-acute services in older people after hospital discharge

Objective: To evaluate the benefits of coordinating community services through the Post-Acute Care (PAC) program in older patients after discharge from hospital. Design: Prospective multicentre, randomised controlled trial with six months of follow-up with blinded outcome measurement. Setting: Four university-affiliated metropolitan general hospitals in Victoria. Participants: All patients aged 65 years and over who were discharged between August 1998 and October 1999 and required community services after discharge. Interventions: Participants were randomly allocated to receive services of a Post-Acute Care (PAC) coordinator (intervention) versus usual discharge planning (control). Main outcome measures: Comparison of quality of life and carer stress at one-month post-discharge, mortality, hospital readmissions, use of community services and community and hospital costs over the six months post-discharge. Results: 654 patients were randomised, and 598 were included in the analysis (311 in the PAC group and 287 in the control group). There was no difference in mortality between the groups (both 6%), but significantly greater overall quality-of-life scores at one-month follow-up in the PAC group. There was no difference in unplanned readmissions, but PAC patients used significantly fewer hospital bed-days in the six months after discharge (mean, 3.0 days; 95% CI, 2.1-3.9) than control patients (5.2 days; 95% CI, 3.8-6.7). Total costs (including hospitalisation, community services and the intervention) were lower in the PAC than the control group (mean difference, $1545; 95% CI, $11-$3078). Conclusions: The PAC program is beneficial in the transition from hospital to the community in older patients.

Review of time-domain polarization measurements for assessing insulation condition in aged transformers

This paper presents a review of the time-domain polarization measurement techniques for the condition assessment of aged transformer insulation. The polarization process is first described with appropriate dielectric response theories and then commonly used polarization methods are described with special emphasis on the most widely used return voltage(rv) measurement. Most recent emphasis has been directed to techniques of determining moisture content of insulation indirectly by measuring rv parameters. The major difficulty still lies with the accurate interpretation of return voltage results. This paper investigates different thoughts regarding the interpretation of rv results for different moisture and ageing conditions. Other time domain polarization measurement techniques and their results are also presented in this paper.

A longitudinal analysis of sex differences in bone mineral accrual in healthy 8-19-year-old boys and girls

Background: Although early in life there is little discernible difference in bone mass between boys and girls, at puberty sex differences are observed. It is uncertain if these differences represent differences in bone mass or just differences in anthropometric dimensions. Aim: The study aimed to identify whether sex independently affects bone mineral content (BMC) accrual in growing boys and girls. Three sites are investigated: total body (TB), femoral neck (FN) and lumbar spine (LS). Subjects and methods: 85 boys and 67 girls were assessed annually for seven consecutive years. BMC was assessed by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Biological age was defined as years from age at peak height velocity (PHV). Data were analysed using a hierarchical (random effects) modelling approach. Results: When biological age, body size and body composition were controlled, boys had statistically significantly higher TB and FN BMC at all maturity levels (p < 0.05). No independent sex differences were found at the LS (p > 0.05). Conclusion: Although a statistical significant sex effect is observed, it is less than the error of the measurement, and thus sex difference are debatable. In general, sex difference are explained by anthropometric difference

Overweight and obesity in Australia: The 1999-2000 Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle Study (AusDiab)

Objective: To measure the prevalence of obesity in Australian adults and to examine the associations of obesity with socioeconomic and lifestyle factors. Design: AusDiab, a cross-sectional study conducted between May 1999 and December 2000, involved participants from 42 randomly selected districts throughout Australia. Participants: Of 20 347 eligible people aged greater than or equal to 25 years who completed a household interview, 11247 attended the physical examination at local survey sites (response rate, 55%). Main outcome measures: Overweight and obesity defined by body mass index (BMI; kg/m(2)) and waist circumference (cm); sociodemographic factors (including smoking, physical activity and television viewing time). Results: The prevalence of overweight and obesity (BMI greater than or equal to 25.0 kg/m(2); waist circumference greater than or equal to 80.0 cm [women] or greater than or equal to 94.0 cm [men]) in both sexes was almost 60%, defined by either BMI or waist circumference. The prevalence of obesity was 2.5 times higher than in 1980. Using waist circumference, the prevalence of obesity was higher in women than men (34.1% v 26.8%; P < 0.01). Lower educational status, higher television viewing time and lower physical activity time were each strongly associated with obesity, with television viewing time showing a stronger relationship than physical activity time. Conclusions: The prevalence of obesity in Australia has more than doubled in the past 20 years. Strong positive associations between obesity and each of television viewing time and lower physical activity time confirm the influence of sedentary lifestyles on obesity, and underline the potential benefits of reducing sedentary behaviour, as well as increasing physical activity, to curb the obesity epidemic.

Geometric isomers of chloro(6-methyl-1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradecane-6-amine)cobalt(III) tetrachlorozincate(II)

The crystal structures of a pair of cis and trans isomers of the macrocyclic chloropentaamine title complex, as their tetrachlorozincate(II) salts, [CoCl(C11H27N5)][ZnCl4], are reported. The two distinct isomeric forms lead to significant variations in the Co-N bond lengths and, furthermore, hydrogen bonding between the complex ions is influenced by the folded (cis) or planar (trans) conformations of the coordinated ligand.

Isomers of 1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradecane-6,13-dicarboxylate characterized as cobalt(III) complexes

The major trans (1) and minor cis (2) isomers of 1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradecane-6,13-dicarboxylate have been characterized as the complexes [Co(1)](ClO4) and [Co(H-2)(OH2)]Cl(ClO4).H2O. The former crystallized in the C-2/c space group and the latter in the P2(1)/c space group, with cell parameters a 16.258(7), b 9.050(3), c 15.413(6) Angstrom, beta133.29(3)degrees, and a 9.694(4), b 16.135(1), c 12.973(5) Angstrom, beta 93.00(2)degrees, respectively. Their characterization completes identification of the respective trans and cis isomers for the series of C-pendant macrocycles also including 1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradecane-6-amine-13-carboxylate ((3), (4)) and 1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradecane-6,13-diamine ((5), (6)). The complexes show limited distortion from octahedral geometry with the strain in the presence of the coordinated C-pendant carboxylate significantly reduced compared with that for the C-pendant amine in analogues, a consequence mainly of six-membered as opposed to five-membered chelate rings involving the pendant donor. A comparison of the physical properties for the trans isomers of the octahedral complexes of (1), (3), and (5), which reflect progressively increasing strain, is presented.

A????es premiadas no 8?? Concurso Inova????o na Gest??o P??blica Federal

Projetos premiados no 8?? Concurso Inova????o na Gest??o P??blica Federal. Representam contribui????es para a melhoria da gest??o p??blica nas seguintes ??reas: articula????o de parcerias, estabelecimento de padr??es de atendimento e servi??os, gerenciamento de informa????es, implementa????o de melhoria cont??nua, inclus??o social e simplifica????o e agiliza????o de procedimentos

Texto para discuss??o 8: desempenho e controle na reforma administrativa

Grande parte das quest??es da reforma administrativa pode ser resumida em duas perguntas: como fazer com que os ??rg??os da administra????o funcionem bem? E como controlar as institui????es, para que elas n??o fa??am uso indevido dos recursos p??blicos? A maneira tradicional de tratar deste assunto ?? pensar que estas duas coisas dependem uma da outra, ou seja, que a melhor maneira de fazer com que as institui????es funcionem bem ?? coloc??-las sob um regime de controle e supervis??o restritos

Implanta????o de unidade de arrecada????o e fiscaliza????o no TRT 8?? regi??o

O projeto de implanta????o de Unidade de Arrecada????o e Fiscaliza????o do INSS nas depend??ncias do Tribunal Regional do Trabalho da 8?? Regi??o, com sede em Bel??m, Par??, foi efetivamente implementado em 31/03/97, com a cess??o gratuita, por parte do TRT 8a Regi??o, de parte do espa??o f??sico do pr??dio, sede daquele Tribunal (sito na Trav. D. Pedro I , 746) com a finalidade exclusiva de abrigar a referida unidade, pelo prazo de cinco anos. A experi??ncia visou a obter o integral cumprimento da legisla????o previdenci??ria em vigor, no que concerne ?? incid??ncia de contribui????es previdenci??rias sobre parcelas pagas em decorr??ncia de acordos/senten??as trabalhistas, vez que verificou-se ?? ??poca, a exist??ncia de significativa evas??o fiscal, decorrente da sistem??tica at?? ent??o utilizada para promover o pagamento das referidas contribui????es . Com a implanta????o da referida Unidade, efetivou-se ( a custo praticamente zero), n??o apenas um incremento na arrecada????o setorial, promovendo-se maior controle e agilidade aos recolhimentos, como tamb??m uma eficaz presen??a do INSS no local onde s??o decididas as demandas entre patr??o e empregado, com conseq??ente divulga????o da legisla????o previdenci??ria, maior integra????o INSS/TRT, al??m de facilitar o contato INSS/Empresa, que pode optar por promover o pagamento das contribui????es devidas em ag??ncia banc??ria localizada no pr??prio Tribunal

Resolu????o simplificadora de formalidades e procedimentos relativos aos atos de que trata o art. 54 da Lei n?? 8.884 de 11 de junho 1994

O controle de ag??ncias de defesa da concorr??ncia sobre a estrutura dos mercados constitui pr??tica comum em pa??ses maduros e vem ganhando import??ncia crescente em economias emergentes. Tal atividade envolve exame de atos de concentra????o econ??mica tais como fus??es, aquisi????es, joint ventures ou incorpora????es. No Brasil este tipo de controle ?? recente, tendo sido institu??do pela Lei n?? 8.884, de junho de 1994. Desde ent??o, o Conselho Administrativo de Defesa da Concorr??ncia - CADE julgou 29 (vinte e nove) atos de concentra????o, em contraste com a experi??ncia secular de pa??ses como EUA, Canad?? e Austr??lia e de v??rias d??cadas nas na????es europ??ias depois da Segunda Guerra. A exemplo de v??rias outras ??reas de pol??tica p??blica, tornou-se imperativo agilizar os ??rg??os de defesa da concorr??ncia. Isto decorre, entre outros fatores, do intenso processo de reestrutura????o produtiva em curso no pa??s associados ?? desestatiza????o e abertura da economia. Diante das circunst??ncias descritas, ?? preciso assegurar agilidade, transpar??ncia, excel??ncia t??cnica no processo decis??rio e estabilidade de regras, todos ingredientes indispens??veis para gerar seguran??a jur??dica. Esta ??ltima, por seu turno, diminui o risco do investimento, estimulando invers??es, produ????o e emprego. Nesse sentido, o CADE promoveu mudan??as importantes no procedimento de an??lise de atos de concentra????o em colabora????o com a Secretaria de Direito Econ??mico do Minist??rio da Justi??a (SDE) e a Secretaria de Acompanhamento Econ??mico do Minist??rio da Fazenda (SEAE) mediante a edi????o da Resolu????o 5, de 28 de agosto de 1996