605 research outputs found
Author Peter FitzSimons speaking at the National Library of Australia, Canberra, 13 November 2012 /
No full textTitle from acquisitions documentation.; Part of the collection: Portraits of author Peter FitzSimons speaking at the National Library of Australia, Canberra, 13 November 2012.; Acquired in digital format; access copy available online.; Mode of access: Online.; Photographed by a staff member of the National Library of Australia
Front Matter of Combating Violence & Abuse of People with Disabilities: A Call to Action
No full textComplete Digitized Text of the Front Matter (Contents, About the Author, Contributors, Forward by Dick Sobsey, Preface, and Acknowledgments) of the book Combating Violence & Abuse of People with Disabilities: A Call to Action by Nancy M. Fitzsimons.https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/books-fitzsimons-combating-violence/1001/thumbnail.jp
An Evaluation of Glaciated Valley Landsystems: Environmental Reconstruction of the Ohau Valley, MacKenzie Basin, New Zealand
No full textCharacterising CG5846 (Peep) in Drosophila melanogaster neural function : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Biochemistry at Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand
No full textHistone deacetylase 4 (HDAC4) is a transcriptional regulator that has been implicated in a number of neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative diseases that are associated with intellectual disability, cognitive defects, and/or memory loss. Both the accumulation of nuclear HDAC4 and its loss-of-function have been linked to these conditions, therefore exploring HDAC4’s role in neuronal function is essential to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying these diseases.
In Drosophila, overexpression of HDAC4 results in defects in morphogenesis of axons in the mushroom body, a structure essential for memory formation, as well as long-term memory defects and disruption to the development of the compound eye. The molecular mechanisms underlying these HDAC4-induced phenotypes are currently unknown. RNA-sequencing on fly heads in which HDAC4 was overexpressed has previously been performed and showed few genes were transcriptionally regulated by HDAC4. In addition, an enhancer/suppressor rough eye phenotype screen has also been performed which identified a number of genes that interact genetically in the same molecular pathway as HDAC4.
To further investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying HDAC4 dysfunction, an RNA interference (RNAi) based candidate screen for potential HDAC4-interactors was performed, which involved quantification of developmental defects in the mushroom body and eye following RNAi knockdown of each candidate. It was hypothesised that if a phenotype resulting from RNAi knockdown was similar to that induced by HDAC4 overexpression, that candidate may function in similar molecular pathways. A single candidate-interactor was selected (CG5846, named Peep) for further investigation. On overexpression, Peep and HDAC4 co- distribute in nuclei of mushroom body neurons, however no physical interaction was detected. Furthermore, overexpression of Peep did not rescue the HDAC4-induced mushroom body or eye defects.
Due to the uncharacterised nature of Peep, a thorough investigation was performed to assess the importance of Peep in survival, longevity, motor function, brain development, courtship learning and memory, and wing development. Peep was observed to be essential for survival of glial cells and for normal mushroom body development, which warrants further investigation.
Reduced expression of Peep also resulted in a unique severe necrotic eye phenotype, and through this, Peep was shown to play a potential role in processes involved in regulating mitochondrial and proteasomal function, apoptosis and oxidative stress.
These data provide the first documented characterisation of the functional role of Peep in Drosophila development and provide the basis for further investigation into the underlying molecular mechanisms involved in mushroom body and eye development
All living things are diminished: breaking the national consensus on the environment
No full textAll living things are diminished: Breaking the national consensus on the environment was authored by The Honourable Bob Debus AM - lawyer and broadcaster; NGO leader; and longserving politician in the NSW and Federal Parliaments.
"Our history shows that some substantial degree of national political consensus is necessary for the long‐term advancement of nature conservation and sustainable production," Debus says.
"It is well worth recalling that the issue of climate change was, at an earlier time, addressed at the domestic level with a degree of bipartisanship. The Coalition Opposition under Andrew Peacock and John Hewson possessed substantial greenhouse gas reduction targets."
Debus contrasts the history of a consensus on key environmental policy directions hewn from debate, compromise and negotiation. He chronicles the reversal and decline associated with the disruption of the current evolving environmental settlement
A compositional approach to understanding the formation of basal ice in Antarctic glaciers
No full textThe composition of ice from four case studies based on the facies, solute, stable isotope, and debris content reveals compositional differences reflective of different modes of ice formation. In Southern McMurdo Sound, there is a distinctive geochemical signature that differentiates between meteoric-origin and marine-origin ice. Analysis of the basal ice of three glaciers from the McMurdo Dry Valleys shows that liquid water does contribute to its formation. The basal ice sequences are structurally and compositionally different and are reflective of different modes of formation or entrainment active at the glacier margins. In the cases of the Rhone and Wright Lower glaciers marginal sediments and liquid water are key to understanding the accretion of debris-rich ice and both have basal facies consistent with refreezing in subzero conditions. The liquid water is formed by ephemeral melt during the summer. In the Rhone Glacier, melt water refreezes on the apron and is entrained into the advancing glacier. By contrast, by the Wright Lower Glacier adjacent streams or ponds saturate unconsolidated sediments which are entrained during ice advance. In the Taylor Glacier, the basal ice is comprised of a thick sequence of intercalated layers of clean clear ice and fine-grained debris layers. These laminated facies have a solute composition consistent with evaporites formed from a relict seawater intrusion. The combination of entrained debris, high solutes and laminations is consistent with interaction at the glacier bed and regelation. Interpreting empirically derived co-isotopic slopes is problematic, as highlighted in the case study of the Taylor Glacier where laminated facies have all the hallmarks of refrozen ice, yet plot on a co-isotopic slope that is typically interpreted as meteoric. Similarly, ice from the McMurdo Ice Shelf shows a clear difference in absolute isotope values which is interpreted as being refrozen from seawater, yet its co-isotopic plot is statistically indistinguishable from the meteoric water line. The ice compositional approach has highlighted several shortcomings. Firstly, solutes deposited in inland areas have limited solute pathways and do not distinguish between different types of ice but are useful in distinguishing between marine and continental salts. Secondly, co-isotopic analysis to reconstruct freezing history is dependent on statistically-derived interpretations which do not explain slopes that lie between physically-based models of meteoric and freezing slopes. In empirical studies, slopes between 5 and 8 are common, and are probably cosmopolitan samples. Finally, ice composition is inconsistent between similar ice types in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, as similar facies have different ice compositions, and origins. This underlines the problem with the premise that structurally similar ice facies are formed by the same process
A compositional approach to understanding the formation of basal ice in Antarctic glaciers
No full textThe composition of ice from four case studies based on the facies, solute, stable isotope, and debris content reveals compositional differences reflective of different modes of ice formation. In Southern McMurdo Sound, there is a distinctive geochemical signature that differentiates between meteoric-origin and marine-origin ice. Analysis of the basal ice of three glaciers from the McMurdo Dry Valleys shows that liquid water does contribute to its formation. The basal ice sequences are structurally and compositionally different and are reflective of different modes of formation or entrainment active at the glacier margins. In the cases of the Rhone and Wright Lower glaciers marginal sediments and liquid water are key to understanding the accretion of debris-rich ice and both have basal facies consistent with refreezing in subzero conditions. The liquid water is formed by ephemeral melt during the summer. In the Rhone Glacier, melt water refreezes on the apron and is entrained into the advancing glacier. By contrast, by the Wright Lower Glacier adjacent streams or ponds saturate unconsolidated sediments which are entrained during ice advance. In the Taylor Glacier, the basal ice is comprised of a thick sequence of intercalated layers of clean clear ice and fine-grained debris layers. These laminated facies have a solute composition consistent with evaporites formed from a relict seawater intrusion. The combination of entrained debris, high solutes and laminations is consistent with interaction at the glacier bed and regelation. Interpreting empirically derived co-isotopic slopes is problematic, as highlighted in the case study of the Taylor Glacier where laminated facies have all the hallmarks of refrozen ice, yet plot on a co-isotopic slope that is typically interpreted as meteoric. Similarly, ice from the McMurdo Ice Shelf shows a clear difference in absolute isotope values which is interpreted as being refrozen from seawater, yet its co-isotopic plot is statistically indistinguishable from the meteoric water line. The ice compositional approach has highlighted several shortcomings. Firstly, solutes deposited in inland areas have limited solute pathways and do not distinguish between different types of ice but are useful in distinguishing between marine and continental salts. Secondly, co-isotopic analysis to reconstruct freezing history is dependent on statistically-derived interpretations which do not explain slopes that lie between physically-based models of meteoric and freezing slopes. In empirical studies, slopes between 5 and 8 are common, and are probably cosmopolitan samples. Finally, ice composition is inconsistent between similar ice types in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, as similar facies have different ice compositions, and origins. This underlines the problem with the premise that structurally similar ice facies are formed by the same process
Novel application of biomarkers and imaging in different stages of heart failure
No full textHeart failure (HF) is a global pandemic affecting ~38 million people.1 Worldwide a person is diagnosed
with HF every minute.2
In developed nations 1–2% of the population suffer from heart failure, rising to
≥10 % in people over 70 years of age.3 By 2030 prevalence is predicted to increase by 50% compared
to 2013; less than two decades earlier.4
The aim of the research in this thesis was to explore the utility of biomarkers for identification of patients
at higher risk of adverse outcomes across the spectrum of HF. In acute heart failure (AHF) the
relationship between transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) and NT-proBNP levels in the first 90-days
following hospital admission was quantified. In chronic heart failure (CHF), the importance of iron
deficiency (ID) and anaemia was explored, focusing on patients with HF with preserved ejection fraction
(HFpEF), the impact of biomarker chosen to define ID and the natural history of ID if left untreated.
Finally, in heart transplant recipients, whether a high-sensitivity troponin assay had diagnostic utility to
replace or reduce the need for endomyocardial biopsy (EMB) for acute cellular rejection (ACR) was
determined.
The primary findings were: 1) In patients with HFrEF who achieve and sustain an NT-proBNP level
below 120pmol/l, improvement in cardiac remodelling occurs early post-discharge and in parallel with
reduction in NT-proBNP levels. 2) Choice of biomarker to define ID is important. ID defined by soluble
transferrin receptor criteria is an independent risk factor for mortality across the spectrum of HF,
whereas common definitions utilising ferritin or transferrin saturation criteria were not in patients with
HFpEF. 3) Persistence of ID is common and a poor prognostic sign with twice the risk of mortality than
ID that self-resolves within 6-months of diagnosis. 3) High sensitivity troponin (hsTn) assays have no
role in diagnosing ACR following heart transplantation.
These studies demonstrate specific biomarkers importance across the spectrum of heart failure.
Biomarkers help define and explain response to treatment in AHF, and accurately identify ID that
independently impacts morbidity and mortality. However, hsTn assays have no role in replacing EMB
for diagnosis of ACR following heart transplant
Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid: How Word of Mouth Influences the Speaker
No full textConsumers frequently share stories about consumption experiences with others through word of mouth (WOM). Past research has focused on how hearing WOM influences the listener; I examine how sharing WOM influences the speaker. My proposed model outlines variables that determine storytelling language, predicts how specific language influences speakers' evaluations of experiences, and identifies the process through which language influences speakers. I test this model in five experimental studies and in a field study using Amazon.com data. I find that stories containing relatively more explaining language influence speakers through a process of sense-making. Sense-making helps consumers understand and recover from experiences by allowing them to figure out why experiences occurred and why they liked or disliked them. Making sense of experiences through explaining language has several consequences for consumers. Explaining language can cause paradoxical effects of WOM in terms of consumers' evaluations of experiences and their intentions to repeat and recommend experiences. Explaining positive experiences can decrease speakers' evaluations of experiences, making experiences less positive and decreasing consumers' willingness to repeat and recommend these experiences. Conversely, explaining negative experiences can increase speakers' evaluations of experiences, making experiences less negative and increasing consumers' willingness to repeat and recommend these experiences. In addition, making sense of and explaining experiences decreases consumers' intentions to spread future word of mouth about their experiences.</p
Lost in translation: The power of language
No full textThis paper brings together ideas about culture, difference and the importance of translation and interpretation in educational contexts. A key component of this paper is the promotion of curriculum based on a dialogical framework.The paper developed an argument of the impossibility of perfect translation, and points towards linguistic hospitality as the ethical dimension to the inadequate representation of the ‘other’. It highlights the complex role of teacher as translator – an activity that is relational and creative - and the child in translation as a process of metamorphosis rather than reproduction. We were asked to submit this paper to a special Special Issue on Power and Language for Education Philosophy and Theory after presenting a paper on a similar theme at the Philosophy of Education Conference, Brisbane, December, 2008. This special issue is to be re-published in book form in 2012. Educational Philosophy and Theory has an ERA research journal ranking of A+ and a Q score of 19.93. This paper brings together ideas about culture, difference and the importance of translation and interpretation in educational contexts. A key component of this paper is the promotion of curriculum based on a dialogical framework.The paper developed an argument of the impossibility of perfect translation, and points towards linguistic hospitality as the ethical dimension to the inadequate representation of the ‘other’. It highlights the complex role of teacher as translator – an activity that is relational and creative - and the child in translation as a process of metamorphosis rather than reproduction. We were asked to submit this paper to a special Special Issue on Power and Language for Education Philosophy and Theory after presenting a paper on a similar theme at the Philosophy of Education Conference, Brisbane, December, 2008. This special issue is to be re-published in book form in 2012. Educational Philosophy and Theory has an ERA research journal ranking of A+ and a Q score of 19.93. My contribution Each author contributed equally to the structure, organization, development and writing of the paper. Peter Fitzsimons contributed the writing on Nietszche, and I contributed the writing on linguistic hospitality. We worked equally on the theorizing of translation in regard to Foucault and Derrida. My specific contribution develops Ricoeurean concepts in particular the writing on linguistic hospitality. This concept promotes the importance of shared understandings, the role of metaphor in creating new understandings, and the critical role of readership in interpretation
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