Zoledronic acid preserves bone structure and increases survival but does not limit tumour incidence in a prostate cancer bone metastasis model

Background The bisphosphonate, zoledronic acid (ZOL), can inhibit osteoclasts leading to decreased osteoclastogenesis and osteoclast activity in bone. Here, we used a mixed osteolytic/osteoblastic murine model of bone-metastatic prostate cancer, RM1(BM), to determine how inhibiting osteolysis with ZOL affects the ability of these cells to establish metastases in bone, the integrity of the tumour-bearing bones and the survival of the tumour-bearing mice. Methods The model involves intracardiac injection for arterial dissemination of the RM1(BM) cells in C57BL/6 mice. ZOL treatment was given via subcutaneous injections on days 0, 4, 8 and 12, at 20 and 100 µg/kg doses. Bone integrity was assessed by micro-computed tomography and histology with comparison to untreated mice. The osteoclast and osteoblast activity was determined by measuring serum tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase 5b (TRAP 5b) and osteocalcin, respectively. Mice were euthanased according to predetermined criteria and survival was assessed using Kaplan Meier plots. Findings Micro-CT and histological analysis showed that treatment of mice with ZOL from the day of intracardiac injection of RM1(BM) cells inhibited tumour-induced bone lysis, maintained bone volume and reduced the calcification of tumour-induced endochondral osteoid material. ZOL treatment also led to a decreased serum osteocalcin and TRAP 5b levels. Additionally, treated mice showed increased survival compared to vehicle treated controls. However, ZOL treatment did not inhibit the cells ability to metastasise to bone as the number of bone-metastases was similar in both treated and untreated mice. Conclusions ZOL treatment provided significant benefits for maintaining the integrity of tumour-bearing bones and increased the survival of tumour bearing mice, though it did not prevent establishment of bone-metastases in this model. From the mechanistic view, these observations confirm that tumour-induced bone lysis is not a requirement for establishment of these bone tumours.

The Industry Commission inquiry into charitable organisations : the draft report implications for the future of community services

In December 1993, the Commonwealth Assistant Treasurer., Mr George Gear announced an Inquiry into Charitable Organisations in Australia. The inquiry would be undertaken by the Industry Commission, the structure charged by the Commonwealth to oversight its micro-economic reform agenda. The inquiry had been on the Industry Commission's forward workplan since 1992. In July 1993 a draft terms of reference was prepared for comment by the State Premiers...

Charities and the industry commission

On 27 October 1994 the Industry Commission (the Commission) handed down a draft report on its inquiry into charitable organisations. The Commission had spent nearly 12 months investigating community social welfare organisations (CSWOs) including the appropriateness of the present taxation treatment of charitable organisations. The draft report makes recommendations for the taxation of CSWOs including alterations to their exemption from sales tax, fringe benefits tax and other indirect taxes with alterations to the threshold of tax deductible gifts and range of organisations qualifying for public benevolent status. This article examines the current taxation treatment for these organisations and the recommended changes made by the Industry Commission.

A taxing definition — a comment on the industry commission's draft proposals for defining community social welfare organisations

The draft report of the Industry Commission's charitable organisations inquiry introduces a new term for nonprofit organisations delivering human services. The new term is "community social welfare organisation" or "CSWO". The report recommends that tax deductibility of donations be extended such organisations. It then hints at making the definition of CSWO a standard criteria for state taxation exemptions. This paper examines the definition of the new term community social welfare organisation and charts its possible consequences if adopted by the federal government. The promise of tax deductibility status to previously shunned organisations is largely illusory. The Commission's aim of simplification through clarification of the definition is flawed and will not reduce the administration costs for the Australian Tax Office (ATO) or organisations.

Waterfall : Nature and Culture

Many people take pleasure in visiting waterfalls and much has been written on the subject. Numerous accounts of Niagara Falls were published after Hennepin's late seventeenth-centure descriptions, particularly from the early nineteenth century, but is was only later that other waterfalls became the subject of books. George Holley's Niagara and Other Famous Cataracts of the World, published in 1883, and John Gibson's Great Waterfalls, Cataracts and Geysers, published in 1887, are early examples of global accounts of major falls. Most books about waterfalls are guides to the falls of a particular country, state or region. Apart from a few slim illustrated volumes, few books have been puslished on the world's waterfalls since Edward Rashleigh's Among the Waterfalls (1935). Most of these are slim pictorial volumes, some aimed at the children's market. Geologist Richard Maxwell Pearl published a series of waterfall articles in his journal Earth Science between 1973 and 1975, apparently with the intention of turning them into a book, but this never materialized. My book, the culmination of more than a decade of waterfalls research, is comprehensive in its approach, but is not intended to describe as many of the world's waterfalls as possible. This is far from my aim, and readers may be disappointed at my omission of falls they feel deserved mention. What I have attempted to do is celebrate the delights of these beautiful wonders of nature by considering them from many points of view, emphasizing the roles that they play in the human experience. To be as representative as possible, I draw on examples of waterfalls from all over the world, some famous, many not. North and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania and, with recent global warming, the Earth's polar regions, all feature in the discussion. Even though there are already enough books and articles about Niagara Falls to fill a large library, it has been impossible to avoid making frequent reference to this great cataract, which has been so important in the history of travel and tourism, power generation, urban development and art. Amoung the issues that I consider is the human impact on waterfalls, particularly the effects of hydropower schemes and tourism development. Also considered are artificial waterfalls, which have long been features of the designed landscape. Their contemporay role is poignantly exemplified in the design of the National September 11 Memorial, in which the footprints of the Twin Towers are traced by walls of waterfalls. A geographer and urban and regional planner by training, I have ventured into many other fields of knowledge that are outside my areas of expertise. I apologize for any errors that I may have made in my book and invite correction.

Relationship between the nature of the search task types and query reformulation behaviour

Success of query reformulation and relevant information retrieval depends on many factors, such as users’ prior knowledge, age, gender, and cognitive styles. One of the important factors that affect a user’s query reformulation behaviour is that of the nature of the search tasks. Limited studies have examined the impact of the search task types on query reformulation behaviour while performing Web searches. This paper examines how the nature of the search tasks affects users’ query reformulation behaviour during information searching. The paper reports empirical results from a user study in which 50 participants performed a set of three Web search tasks – exploratory, factorial and abstract. Users’ interactions with search engines were logged by using a monitoring program. 872 unique search queries were classified into five query types – New, Add, Remove, Replace and Repeat. Users submitted fewer queries for the factual task, which accounted for 26%. They completed a higher number of queries (40% of the total queries) while carrying out the exploratory task. A one-way MANOVA test indicated a significant effect of search task types on users’ query reformulation behaviour. In particular, the search task types influenced the manner in which users reformulated the New and Repeat queries.

Open in art, nature and emergence

The interactive art system +-now is modelled on the openness of the natural world. Emergent shapes constitute a novel method for facilitating this openness. With the art system as an example, the relationship between openness and emergence is discussed. Lastly, artist reflections from the creation of the work are presented. These describe the nature of open systems and how they may be created.