Adolescent parenthood : a costly mistake or a search for love?

Family life is changing worldwide and an increasing number of women are choosing single parenthood. Adolescents who become pregnant and early childbearers do not always become pregnant unintentionally; some actively plan pregnancy while others are ambivalent mainly about the timing. This paper reports on a study using an ethnographic approach that explored the mothering experiences of five sole-supporting Australian teenage mothers who had a child over six months of age. It focuses on the story of one of them, a young woman who gave birth at 16 and set up home for herself and her son. Early childbearing is often a response to adverse social conditions such as poverty or homelessness and is not uncommonly chosen by teenage girls from socially deprived backgrounds. Educational and employment opportunities may be limited, whilst motherhood may provide a purpose in life when few other options are possible. Young women who make this choice need comprehensive services to support them in the parenting role, including appropriate health care, welfare and housing benefits, and support in dealing with parenting, a role which they may greatly desire but are not automatically well prepared for.

The importance of Sino-Australian sister city type relationships in regional development

Using the Jiangsu-Victoria and Greater Green Triangle-Yangzhou relationships as case studies this paper provides an initial analysis of the origins, objectives, achievements, and limitations of SinoAustralian Sister City Type Relationships. Based on research to date, we suggest that certain factors, including the development of inappropriate SCTRs have seriously limited the capacity of these relationships to achieve their stated and unstated regional development objectives. After reviewing the recent history and perceived effectiveness of Sino Australian SCTRs. the paper concludes by commenting on the potential of such relationships to contribute to economic and cultural development in regional Australia.

Bacterial lessons on organelle division

Mitochondria and chloroplasts arose from bacterial endosymbionts about a billion years ago. This ancestry is now showing us how these organelles divide in modem cells.

Functional analysis of the sheep Wilson disease protein (sATP7B) in CHO cells

In this study we investigated the function of the sheep orthologue of ATP7B (sATP7B), the protein affected in the human copper toxicosis disorder Wilson disease. Two forms of sATP7B are found in the sheep, a ‘normal’ form and one with an alternate N terminus, both of which were expressed in CHO-K1 cells. Cells expressing either form of sATP7B were more resistant to copper than the parental CHO-K1 cells. Subcellular localisation studies showed that both forms of sATP7B were similarly located in the trans-Golgi network (TGN). When the extracellular copper concentration was increased, each form of sATP7B redistributed to a punctate, vesicular compartment that extended throughout the cytoplasm. Both forms of sATP7B recycled to the perinuclear location within one hour when the cells were subsequently incubated in basal medium. After treatment of cells with bafilomycin A1 sATP7B accumulated in cytoplasmic vesicles, implying that ATP7B continuously recycles via the endocytic pathway. These results suggest that both forms of sATP7B are functional copper-transport proteins and that the intracellular location and trafficking of the sheep protein within the cell also appears normal.

Copper in disorders with neurological symptoms: Alzheimer`s, Menkes, and Wilson Diseases

Copper is an essential element for the activity of a number of physiologically important enzymes. Enzyme-related malfunctions may contribute to severe neurological symptoms and neurological diseases: copper is a component of cytochrome c oxidase, which catalyzes the reduction of oxygen to water, the essential step in cellular respiration. Copper is a cofactor of Cu/Zn-superoxide-dismutase which plays a key role in the cellular response to oxidative stress by scavenging reactive oxygen species. Furthermore, copper is a constituent of dopamine-β-hydroxylase, a critical enzyme in the catecholamine biosynthetic pathway. A detailed exploration of the biological importance and functional properties of proteins associated with neurological symptoms will have an important impact on understanding disease mechanisms and may accelerate development and testing of new therapeutic approaches. Copper binding proteins play important roles in the establishment and maintenance of metal-ion homeostasis, in deficiency disorders with neurological symptoms (Menkes disease, Wilson disease) and in neurodegenerative diseases (Alzheimer’s disease). The Menkes and Wilson proteins have been characterized as copper transporters and the amyloid precursor protein (APP) of Alzheimer’s disease has been proposed to work as a Cu(II) and/or Zn(II) transporter. Experimental, clinical and epidemiological observations in neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s disease and in the genetically inherited copper-dependent disorders Menkes and Wilson disease are summarized. This could provide a rationale for a link between severely dysregulated metal-ion homeostasis and the selective neuronal pathology.

Information warfare and ethics

This paper examines the ethics of the practice of information warfare at both the national and corporate levels. Initially examining the present and past actions of individual hackers, it moves to the more organised, future military and economic warfare scenarios. It examines the lack of legal or policy initiatives in this area.

Conservative treatment of patellar tendinopathy

Patellar tendinopathy disrupts athletic careers in several sports and is resistant to many forms of conservative treatment. Outcome after conservative treatment has been minimally investigated, and the effect of these treatments on the pathology of overuse tendinopathy are not well understood.

The clinical assessment of patellar tendinopathy appears straightforward, but evidence suggests that the importance of imaging and palpation in diagnosis and ongoing assessment may be overestimated. There is a lack of clinically relevant research on which to base treatment. However, the principles of management for patellar tendinopathy derived from clinical experience include load modification, musculotendinous rehabilitation, and intervention to improve the shock absorbing capacity of the limb. The role of electrophysical agents, massage, and stretching in the treatment of patellar tendinopathy are also discussed. The progression of treatment is based on clinical grounds due to a lack of reliable subjective and objective tools to assess recovery.

The failure of some conservative programs could be due to either athlete compliance or practitioner expertise. The management of patellar tendinopathy is complex, and if the physiotherapist addresses all the principles of treatment, the chance of success could be increased.

Suppression of bitterness using sodium salts

Bitterness is an ongoing taste problem for both the pharmaceutical and food industries. This paper reports on how salts (NaCI, NaAcetate, NaGluconate, LiCI, KCI) and bitter compounds (urea, quinine-HCI, caffeine, amiloride-HCI, magnesium sulfate, KCI) interact to influence bitter perception. Sodium salts differentially suppress bitterness of these compounds; for example urea bitterness was suppressed by over 70% by sodium salts, while MgSO4 bitterness was not reduced. This study indicated that lithium ions had the same bitter suppressing ability as sodium ions, however the potassium cation had no bitter suppression ability. Changing the anion attached to the sodium did not affect bitter suppression, however, as the anion increased in size, perceived saltiness decreased. This indicates that sodium's mode of action is at the peripheral taste level, rather than a cognitive affect. A second experiment revealed that suppressing bitterness with a sodium salt in a bitter/sweet mixture causes an increase in sweetness. This suggests adding salt to a food matrix will not only increase salt perception, but also potentiate flavor by differential suppression of undesirable tastes such as bitter, while increasing more desirable tastes such as sweet.

Quality managers: beyond 2000?

A review on current quality management literature discloses a conglomeration of sentiments amongst quality managers with regards to the future of their quality profession. These sentiments can primarily be grouped into two categories: (1) that quality managers will no longer play a role in functional management, as quality will become an integral part of the organization; and (2) alternatively, they will play a significantly different role, leading to a specialized job design (Stratton, 1996, Quality Progress, 29, pp. 73-74). Despite the fact that many have voiced their concerns regarding the future of the quality profession, little formal research has been conducted to address this issue. Thus, the significance of undertaking this research is to aim to verify and substantiate their sentiments. Findings of the research may also contribute as a signal to quality managers with regards to their future roles and may inspire them to prepare themselves better for meeting future qualityrelated endeavours. It is important not to prophesy the precise future role of quality managers, as no one outside the psychic industry will claim to be capable of it. Rather, the research endeavours to predict the role of quality manager in the next decade by conducting interviews with various professionals in the quality-related fields, testing the significance of research questions generated from these interviews through surveys and reviewing current quality manager-related literature. Thus, synthesizing the results from the above-mentioned means to predict the role of quality managers in the years beyond 2000.

Estimating mean exposures from censored data: exposure to benzene in the Australian petroleum industry

A retrospective assessment of exposure to benzene was carried out for a nested case control study of lympho-haematopoietic cancers, including leukaemia, in the Australian petroleum industry. Each job or task in the industry was assigned a Base Estimate (BE) of exposure derived from task-based personal exposure assessments carried out by the company occupational hygienists. The BEs corresponded to the estimated arithmetic mean exposure to benzene for each job or task and were used in a deterministic algorithm to estimate the exposure of subjects in the study. Nearly all of the data sets underlying the BEs were found to contain some values below the limit of detection (LOD) of the sampling and analytical methods and some were very heavily censored; up to 95% of the data were below the LOD in some data sets. It was necessary, therefore, to use a method of calculating the arithmetic mean exposures that took into account the censored data. Three different methods were employed in an attempt to select the most appropriate method for the particular data in the study. A common method is to replace the missing (censored) values with half the detection limit. This method has been recommended for data sets where much of the data are below the limit of detection or where the data are highly skewed; with a geometric standard deviation of 3 or more. Another method, involving replacing the censored data with the limit of detection divided by the square root of 2, has been recommended when relatively few data are below the detection limit or where data are not highly skewed. A third method that was examined is Cohen's method. This involves mathematical extrapolation of the left-hand tail of the distribution, based on the distribution of the uncensored data, and calculation of the maximum likelihood estimate of the arithmetic mean. When these three methods were applied to the data in this study it was found that the first two simple methods give similar results in most cases. Cohen's method on the other hand, gave results that were generally, but not always, higher than simpler methods and in some cases gave extremely high and even implausible estimates of the mean. It appears that if the data deviate substantially from a simple log-normal distribution, particularly if high outliers are present, then Cohen's method produces erratic and unreliable estimates. After examining these results, and both the distributions and proportions of censored data, it was decided that the half limit of detection method was most suitable in this particular study.

Cyclic GMP modulates stomatal opening induced by natriuretic peptides and immunoreactive analogues

In this paper we demonstrate that compounds that promote stomatal opening such as kinetin, atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) and plant natriuretic peptide immunoanalogues (irPNP) significantly elevate cGMP in guard cell protoplasts. Stomata opened by irPNP are induced to close in the presence of the guanylate cyclase inhibitor, LY 83583. The effect of cGMP on stomatal opening appears to be linked with Ca2+ levels. ANP, irPNP and 8-Br-cGMP all induce stomatal opening and this is inhibited by compounds that lower intracellular Ca2+ levels such as ethylene glycol bis(β-aminoethyl ether) N,N,N’,N’-tetraacetic acid (EGTA), ruthenium red and procaine.

ACCCN national nursing workforce survey of intensive care units

A descriptive study was designed and implemented by the Australian College of Critical Care Nurses (ACCCN) Workforce Planning Advisory Committee to capture data pertaining to workforce issues of intensive care nurses. All intensive care units (ICUs) within Australia were mailed a self reporting survey. Despite a low response rate (52 per cent) and difficulty reported by respondents in gaining the appropriate data requested, the results revealed an interesting snapshot of the intensive care nursing workforce.
Types of services offered by units varied considerably; paid overtime hours were low (<2 per cent of total hours worked) and use of both part-time and agency staff was also low (10 per cent of total hours worked). Private hospitals utilised a greater proportion of part-time and agency nursing staff than public hospitals (20:10 per cent). The turnover rate for registered nursing staff was estimated at 18 per cent, with education, skill acquisition and improved communication reported as the major incentives used by managers to attract and retain staff. This study demonstrated that valuable data are currently uncaptured and recommends a more refined process of a national database to record and manage this important information for future workforce planning.

Surface modification and bleaching of pigmented wool

We treat naturally pigmented karakul wool with a surface modification system of chlorination and catalytic bleaching, then examine its structure and properties. SEM photos reveal the surface morphology of karakul wool, and the Allworden reaction shows the extent of damage to the epicuticle. The results show that the surface modification removes the bulk of the fiber scales and bleaching increases fiber whiteness. After bleaching, the felting propensity of karakul wool improves slightly and its dye uptake decreases. For modified and bleached karakul wool, the felting propensity decreases, the dyeing rate increases, and equilibrium exhaustion decreases compared with untreated karakul wool.

C/EBPÁ and G-CSF receptor signals cooperate to induce the myeloperoxidase and neutrophil elastase genes

To assess cooperation between G-CSF signals and C/EBP, we characterized Ba/F3 pro-B cell lines expressing C/EBPWT-ER and the G-CSF receptor (GCSFR). In these lines, GCSFR signals can be evaluated independent of their effect on C/EBP levels. G-CSF alone did not induce the MPO, NE, LF, or PU.1 RNAs, and C/EBPWT-ER alone stimulated low-level MPO and high-level PU.1 expression. Simultaneous activation of the GCSFR and C/EBPWT-ER markedly increased MPO and NE induction at 24 h, and LF mRNA was detected at 48 h. G-CSF did not increase endogenous GCSFR, endogenous C/EBP or exogenous C/EBPWT-ER levels, and C/EBPWT-ER did not induce endogenous or exogenous GCSFR. Several GCSFR mutants were also co-expressed with C/EBPWT-ER. Mutation of all four cytoplasmic tyrosines prevented NE induction but enhanced MPO induction. Mutation of Y704 was required for increased MPO induction. Consistent with this finding, removing IL-3 without G-CSF addition enabled MPO, but not NE, induction by C/EBPWT-ER. GCSFR signals or related signals from other receptors may cooperate with C/EBP to direct differentiation of normal myeloid stem cells.