A preliminary OSL chronology for coastal dunes on Moreton island, Queensland, Australia – Marginal deposits of A large-scale quaternary shelf sediment system

Moreton Island and several other large siliceous sand dune islands and mainland barrier deposits in SE Queensland represent the distal, onshore component of an extensive Quaternary continental shelf sediment system. This sediment has been transported up to 1000 km along the coast and shelf of SE Australia over multiple glacioeustatic sea-level cycles. Stratigraphic relationships and a preliminary Optically Stimulated Luminance (OSL) chronology for Moreton Island indicate a middle Pleistocene age for the large majority of the deposit. Dune units exposed in the centre of the island and on the east coast have OSL ages that indicate deposition occurred between approximately 540 ka and 350 ka BP, and at around 96±10 ka BP. Much of the southern half of the island has a veneer of much younger sediment, with OSL ages of 0.90±0.11 ka, 1.28±0.16 ka, 5.75±0.53 ka and <0.45 ka BP. The younger deposits were partially derived from the reworking of the upper leached zone of the much older dunes. A large parabolic dune at the northern end of the island, OSL age of 9.90±1.0 ka BP, and palaeosol exposures that extend below present sea level suggest the Pleistocene dunes were sourced from shorelines positioned several to tens of metres lower than, and up to few kilometres seaward of the present shoreline. Given the lower gradient of the inner shelf a few km seaward of the island, it seems likely that periods of intermediate sea level (e.g. ~20 m below present) produced strongly positive onshore sediment budgets and the mobilisation of dunes inland to form much of what now comprises Moreton Island. The new OSL ages and comprehensive OSL chronology for the Cooloola deposit, 100 km north of Moreton Island, indicate that the bulk of the coastal dune deposits in SE Queensland were emplaced between approximately 540 ka BP and prior to the Last Interglacial. This chronostratigraphic information improves our fundamental understanding of long-term sediment transport and accumulation on large-scale continental shelf sediment systems.

An exploration of The Virtues Project: Ontological, educational and cross-cultural inquiries into a moral education program within a Mongolian school setting

This thesis explores The Virtues Project's ontological, educational and cross-cultural dimensions taking Charles Taylor's philosophical perspective of an anthropological account of the self and a phenomenological account of moral life and engagement. The experience of Mongolian schoolteachers implementing this moral education program is analyzed using a narrative inquiry method. The globally attractive project appears in moral education and virtues ethics research and surveys, yet no critical evaluation has been undertaken. Its conceptual features are appraised from a Taylorean perspective. The Listening Guide analysis of teacher experiences is presented in two narratives. The first is about the teachers' implementation experiences of moral flourishing as selves, in relationships and in community. The second is about their experience of becoming Mongolian in their modern day context. In conclusion, the project is coherent, constructive and potentially suitable cross-culturally.

A comparative study of antibody expressions in primary biliary cirrhosis and autoimmune cholangitis using phage display

Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) and autoimmune cholangitis (AIC) are serologic expressions of an autoimmune liver disease affecting biliary ductular cells. Previously we screened a phage-displayed random peptide library with polyclonal IgG from 2 Australian patients with PBC and derived peptides that identified a single conformational (discontinuous) epitope in the inner lipoyl domain of the E2 subunit of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDC-E2), the characteristic autoantigen in PBC. Here we have used phage display to investigate the reactivity of PBC sera from 2 ethnically and geographically distinct populations, Japanese and Australian, and the 2 serologic expressions, PBC and AIC. Random 7-mer and 12-mer peptide libraries were biopanned with IgG from 3 Japanese patients with PBC and 3 with AIC who did not have anti-PDC-E2. The phage clones (phagotopes) obtained were tested by capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for reactivity with affinity-purified anti-PDC-E2, and compared with those obtained from Australian patients with PBC. Peptide sequences of the derived phagotopes and sequences derived by biopanning with irrelevant antisera were aligned to develop a guide tree based on physicochemical similarity. Both Australian and Japanese PBC-derived phagotopes were distributed in branches of the guide tree that contained the peptide sequences MH and FV previously identified as part of an immunodominant conformational epitope of PDC-E2, indicating that epitope selection was not influenced by the racial origin of the PBC sera. Biopanning with either PBC or AIC-derived IgG yielded phagotopes that reacted with anti-PDC-E2 by capture ELISA, further establishing that there is a similar autoimmune targeting in PBC and AIC.

Towards the pathogenesis of autoimmune liver disease

There have been recent improvements in the clinical understanding and definition of the major types of autoimmune liver disease. However, still lacking is knowledge of their prevalence and pathogenesis. Three areas of study are in progress in our laboratory. First, in type 1 autoimmune hepatitis, the search continues to identify a liver/disease-specific autoantigenic reactant. Using hepatocyte membrane preparations, immunoblotting has underlined the problem of distinguishing, among multiple reactants, those that may be causally rather than consequentially related to hepatocellular damage. Second, in primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), the need for population screening to ascertain prevalence and detect preclinical cases can be met by a rapid automated procedure for detection, by specific enzyme inhibition in microtitre wells, of antibody (anti-M2) to the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex E2 subunit (PDC-E2). Third, the structure of the conformational epitope within the inner lipoyl domain of PDC-E2 is being investigated by screening random phage-displayed peptide libraries using PBC sera. This has yielded phage clones in which the sequence of the peptide insert portrays the structure of this epitope, as judged by clustering of PBC-derived sequences to particular branches of a guide-tree that shows relatedness of peptides, and by reactivity of selected phage clones with anti-PDC-E2. Thus phage display identifies a peptide 'mimotope' of the antibody epitope in the inner lipoyl domain of PDC-E2.

A novel LEMD3 mutation common to patients with osteopoikilosis with and without melorheostosis

Recent studies have reported loss of function mutations in the LEMD3 gene, encoding an inner nuclear membrane protein that influences Smad signaling, as a cause of osteopoikilosis, Buschke-Ollendorff syndrome, and melorheostosis. We investigated LEMD3 in a three-generation family with osteopoikilosis from the Azores, an affected father and daughter from Ireland with osteopoikilosis (the daughter also had melorheostosis), and two other individuals from the UK with isolated melorheostosis. We found a novel C to T substitution at position 2032 bp (cDNA) in exon 8 of LEMD3, resulting in a premature stop codon at amino acid position 678. This mutation co-segregates with the osteopoikilosis phenotype in both the Azorean family and the Irish family. It was not detected in any of the six unaffected family members or in 342 healthy Caucasian individuals. No LEMD3 mutations were detected in the two patients with sporadic melorheostosis. The LEMD3 mutation reported was clearly the cause of osteopoikilosis in the two families but its relationship to melorheostosis in one of the family members is still unclear. Perhaps unsurprisingly in what is a segmental disease, we did not find LEMD3 mutations in peripheral-blood-derived DNA from the two other individuals with sporadic melorheostosis. The nature of the additional genetic and/or environmental influences required for the development of melorheostosis in those with osteopoikilosis requires further investigation.

Biofabrication of customized bone grafts by combination of additive manufacturing and bioreactor knowhow

This study reports on an original concept of additive manufacturing for the fabrication of tissue engineered constructs (TEC), offering the possibility of concomitantly manufacturing a customized scaffold and a bioreactor chamber to any size and shape. As a proof of concept towards the development of anatomically relevant TECs, this concept was utilized for the design and fabrication of a highly porous sheep tibia scaffold around which a bioreactor chamber of similar shape was simultaneously built. The morphology of the bioreactor/scaffold device was investigated by micro-computed tomography and scanning electron microscopy confirming the porous architecture of the sheep tibiae as opposed to the non-porous nature of the bioreactor chamber. Additionally, this study demonstrates that both the shape, as well as the inner architecture of the device can significantly impact the perfusion of fluid within the scaffold architecture. Indeed, fluid flow modelling revealed that this was of significant importance for controlling the nutrition flow pattern within the scaffold and the bioreactor chamber, avoiding the formation of stagnant flow regions detrimental for in vitro tissue development. The bioreactor/scaffold device was dynamically seeded with human primary osteoblasts and cultured under bi-directional perfusion for two and six weeks. Primary human osteoblasts were observed homogenously distributed throughout the scaffold, and were viable for the six week culture period. This work demonstrates a novel application for additive manufacturing in the development of scaffolds and bioreactors. Given the intrinsic flexibility of the additive manufacturing technology platform developed, more complex culture systems can be fabricated which would contribute to the advances in customized and patient-specific tissue engineering strategies for a wide range of applications.

Postglacial Early Permian (late Sakmarian-early Artinskian) shallow-marine carbonate deposition along a 2000 km transect from Timor to west Australia

Late Sakmarian to early Artinskian (Early Permian) carbonate deposition was widespread in the marine intracratonic rift basins that extended into the interior of Eastern Gondwana from Timor in the north to the northern Perth Basin in the south. These basins spanned about 20° of paleolatitude (approximately 35°S to 55°S). This study describes the type section of the Maubisse Limestone in Timor-Leste, and compares this unit with carbonate sections in the Canning Basin (Nura Nura Member of the Poole Sandstone), the Southern Carnarvon Basin (Callytharra Formation) and the northern Perth Basin (Fossil Cliff Member of the Holmwood Shale). The carbonate units have no glacial influence and formed part of a major depositional cycle that, in the southern basins, overlies glacially influenced strata and lies a short distance below mudstone containing marine fossils and scattered dropstones (perhaps indicative of sea ice). In the south marine conditions became more restricted and were replaced by coal measures at the top of the depositional sequence. In the north, the carbonate deposits are possibly bryozoan–crinoidal mounds; whereas in the southern basins they form laterally continuous relatively thin beds, deposited on a very low-gradient seafloor, at the tops of shale–limestone parasequences that thicken upward in parasequence sets. All marine deposition within the sequence took place under very shallow (inner neritic) conditions, and the limestones have similar grain composition. Bryozoan and crinoidal debris dominate the grain assemblages and brachiopod shell fragments, foraminifera and ostracod valves are usually common. Tubiphytes ranged as far south as the Southern Carnarvon Basin, albeit rarely, but is more common to the north. Gastropod and bivalve shell debris, echinoid spines, solitary rugose corals and trilobite carapace elements are rare. The uniformity of the grain assemblage and the lack of tropical elements such as larger fusulinid foraminifera, colonial corals or dasycladacean algae indicate temperate marine conditions with only a small increase in temperature to the north. The depositional cycle containing the studied carbonate deposits represents a warmer phase than the preceding glacially influenced Asselian to early Sakmarian interval and the subsequent cool phase of the “mid” Artinskian that is followed by significant warming during the late Artinskian–early Kungurian. The timing of cooler and warmer intervals in the west Australian basins seems out-of-phase with the eastern Australian succession, but this may be a problem of chronostratigraphic miscorrelation due to endemic faunas and palynofloras.

Multifocal electroretinogram responses in Nepalese diabetic patients without retinopathy

Purpose To determine neuroretinal function with multifocal electroretinogram (mfERG) in diabetic subjects without retinopathy. Methods Multifocal electroretinogram (mfERG) was performed in 18 eyes of 18 diabetic subjects without retinopathy and 17 eyes of 17 age and gender-matched healthy control participants. Among 18 diabetic subjects, two had type 1 and 16 had type 2 diabetes. MfERG responses were averaged by the retinal areas of six concentric rings and four quadrants, and 103 retinal locations; N1–P1 amplitude and P1-implicit time were analysed. Results Average mfERG N1–P1 amplitude (in nv/deg2) of 103 retinal locations was 56.3 ± 17.2 (mean ± SD) in type 1 diabetic subjects, 47.2 ± 9.3 in type 2 diabetic subjects and 71.5 ± 12.7 in controls. Average P1-implicit time (in ms) was 43.0 ± 1.3 in type 1 diabetic subjects, 43.9 ± 2.3 in type 2 diabetic subjects and 41.9 ± 2.1 in controls. There was significant reduction in average N1–P1 amplitude and delay in P1-implicit time in type 2 diabetic subjects in comparison to controls. mfERG amplitude did not show any significant correlation with diabetes duration and blood sugar level. However, implicit time showed a positive correlation with diabetes duration in type 2 diabetic subjects with diabetes duration ≥5 years. Conclusions This is the first study in a Nepalese population with diabetes using multifocal electroretinography. We present novel findings that mfERG N1–P1 amplitude is markedly reduced along with delay in P1-implicit time in type 2 diabetic subjects without retinopathy. These findings indicate that there might be significant dysfunction of inner retina before the development of diabetic retinopathy in the study population, which have higher prevalence of diabetes than the global estimate and uncontrolled blood sugar level.

Underlying scaling relationships between solar activity and geomagnetic activity revealed by multifractal analyses

his paper identifies some scaling relationships between solar activity and geomagnetic activity. We examine the scaling properties of hourly data for two geomagnetic indices (ap and AE), two solar indices (solar X-rays Xl and solar flux F10.7), and two inner heliospheric indices (ion density Ni and flow speed Vs) over the period 1995–2001 by the universal multifractal approach and the traditional multifractal analysis. We found that the universal multifractal model (UMM) provides a good fit to the empirical K(q) and τ(q) curves of these time series. The estimated values of the Lévy index α in the UMM indicate that multifractality exists in the time series for ap, AE, Xl, and Ni, while those for F10.7 and Vs are monofractal. The estimated values of the nonconservation parameter H of this model confirm that these time series are conservative which indicate that the mean value of the process is constant for varying resolution. Additionally, the multifractal K(q) and τ(q) curves, and the estimated values of the sparseness parameter C1 of the UMM indicate that there are three pairs of indices displaying similar scaling properties, namely ap and Xl, AE and Ni, and F10.7 and Vs. The similarity in the scaling properties of pairs (ap,Xl) and (AE,Ni) suggests that ap and Xl, AE and Ni are better correlated—in terms of scaling—than previous thought, respectively. But our results still cannot be used to advance forecasting of ap and AE by Xl and Ni, respectively, due to some reasons

Factors associated with health risk behavior among school children in urban Vietnam

Background Health risk behavior among young people is a public health problem in Vietnam. In addition, road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death for those aged 15–29 years. The consequences can be devastating for adolescents and their families, and can create a significant economic burden on society. Objective: The aim of this study was to identify protective and risk factors that may influence three health risk behaviors among school children: suicidal thinking (ST), drinking alcohol (DA), and underage motorbike driving (MD). Methods A cross-sectional survey of 972 adolescents (aged 12–15 years) was conducted in two secondary schools in Hanoi, Vietnam. The schools were purposely selected, one each from the inner city and a suburban area, from which classes (grade 6 to 8) were randomly selected. All students attending classes on survey days took part in the survey. The anonymous, self-completed questionnaire included measures of risk behavior, school connectedness, parental bonding, and other factors. Multivariable regression models were used to examine associations between the independent variables and the three health risk behaviors controlling for confounding factors. Results Young people in the inner city school reported a higher prevalence of all three risk behaviors than those in the suburban area (ST: 16.1% [95% confidence interval, or CI, 12.9–19.3] versus 4.6% [95% CI 2.7–6.5], p<0.001; DA: 20.3% [95% CI 16.8–23.8] versus 8.3% [95% CI 5.8–10.8], p<0.001, and MD: 10.1% [95% CI 7.4–12.8] versus 5.7% [95% CI 3.6–7.8], p<0.01). School connectedness and mother and father care appeared to be significant protective factors. For males, bullying in school was associated with suicidal thoughts, whereas for both males and females, school connectedness may be protective against suicidal ideation. Conclusion This study supports findings from other nations regarding suicidal thoughts and alcohol use, and appears to be one of the first to examine risk and protective factors forMD. Health promotion within schools should be introduced to improve students’ feelings of connectedness in combination with communication and education campaigns focusing on parental care and engaging teachers for the promotion of safer, supportive school environments.

Energy expenditure and the body cell mass in cystic fibrosis

Poor nutritional status in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) is associated with severe lung disease, and possible causative factors include inadequate intake, malabsorption, and increased energy requirements. Body cell mass (which can be quantified by measurement of total body potassium) provides an ideal standard for measurements of energy expenditure. The aim of this study was to compare resting energy expenditure (REE) in patients with CF with both predicted values and age-matched healthy children and to determine whether REE was related to either nutritional status or pulmonary function. REE was measured by indirect calorimetry and body cell mass by scanning with total body potassium in 30 patients with CF (12 male, mean age = 13.07 ± 0.55 y) and 18 healthy children (six male, mean age = 12.56 ± 1.25 y). Nutritional status was expressed as a percentage of predicted total body potassium. Lung function was measured in the CF group by spirometry and expressed as the percentage of predicted forced expiratory volume in 1 s. Mean REE was significantly increased in the patients with CF compared with healthy children (119.3 ± 3.1% predicted versus 103.6 ± 5% predicted, P < 0.001) and, using multiple regression techniques, REE for total body potassium was significantly increased in patients with CF (P = 0.0001). There was no relation between REE and nutritional status or pulmonary disease status in the CF group. In conclusion, REE is increased in children and adolescents with CF but is not directly related to nutritional status or pulmonary disease.

Elevated temperature mechanical properties of hollow flange channel sections

The fire performance of cold-formed steel members is an important criterion to be verified for their successful use in structural applications. However, lack of clear design guidance on their fire performance has inhibited their usage in buildings. Their elevated temperature mechanical properties, i.e., yield strengths, elastic moduli and stress–strain relationships, are imperative for the fire design. In the past many researchers have proposed elevated temperature mechanical property reduction factors for cold-formed steels, however, large variations exist among them. The LiteSteel Beam (LSB), a hollow flange channel section, is manufactured by a combined cold-forming and electric resistance welding process. Its web, inner and outer flange elements have different yield strengths due to varying levels of cold-working caused by their manufacturing process. Elevated temperature mechanical properties of LSBs are not the same even within their cross-sections. Therefore an experimental study was undertaken to determine the elevated temperature mechanical properties of steel plate elements in LSBs. Elevated temperature tensile tests were performed on web, inner and outer flange specimens taken from LSBs, and their results are presented in this paper including their comparisons with previous studies. Based on the test results and the proposed values from previous studies and fire design standards, suitable predictive equations are proposed for the determination of elevated temperature mechanical properties of LSB web and flange elements. Suitable stress–strain models are also proposed for the plate elements of this cold-formed and welded hollow flange channel section.

Cycling for transport and recreation: Associations with the socio-economic, natural and built environment

This study examined associations between objective environmental attributes and, separately, transport (TC) and recreational cycling (RC). Environmental attributes were more strongly associated with TC than RC. Distances to areas with the best bicycle infrastructure and urban amenities may be key environmental factors influencing TC but not RC. Government investments in bicycle infrastructure within inner Brisbane appear to have resulted in more TC than in outer areas and to appeal to residents of both the most and least disadvantaged neighbourhoods. Extending this infrastructure to residents living in disadvantaged and advantaged neighbourhoods outside the CBD could expand TC participation.

Diffraction Of Elastic Waves By Two Parallel Rigid Strips Embedded In An Infinite Orthotropic Medium

The elastodynamic response of a pair of parallel rigid strips embedded in an infinite orthotropic medium due to elastic waves incident normally on the strips has been investigated. The mixed boundary value problem has been solved by the Integral Equation method. The normal stress and the vertical displacement have been derived in closed form. Numerical values of stress intensity factors at inner and outer edges of the strips and vertical displacement at points in the plane of the strips for several orthotropic materials have been calculated and plotted graphically to show the effect of material orthotropy.

Self-Absorption and Focusing Effects in Carrier Relaxation Dynamics under Depletion Conditions

The effect of a one-dimensional field (1) on the self-absorption characteristics and (2) when we have a finite numerical aperture for the objective lens that focuses the laser beam on the solid are considered here. Self-absorption, in particular its manifestation as an inner filter for the emitted signal, has been observed in luminescence experiments. Models for this effect exist and have been analyzed, but only in the absence of space charge. Using our previous results on minority carrier relaxation in the presence of a field, we obtain expressions incorporating inner filter effects. Focusing of a light beam on the sample, by an objective lens, results in a three-dimensional source and consequently a three-dimensional continuity equation to be solved for the minority carrier concentration. Assuming a one-dimensional electric field and employing Fourier-Bessel transforms, we recast the problem of carrier relaxation and solve the same via an identity that relates it to solutions obtained in the absence of focusing effects. The inner filter effect as well as focusing introduces new time scales in the problem of carrier relaxation. The interplay between the electric field and the parameters which characterize these effects and the consequent modulation of the intensity and time scales of carrier decay signals are analyzed and discussed.