bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Psychosocial stressors and the prognosis of major depression: a test of Axis IV
Authors: Gilman S. E. , Trinh N.-H. , Smoller J. W. , Fava M. , Murphy J. M. , Breslau J.
Published: May 2012

Background

Axis IV is for reporting ‘psychosocial and environmental problems that may affect the diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of mental disorders’. No studies have examined the prognostic value of Axis IV in DSM-IV.

Method

We analyzed data from 2497 participants in the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC) with major depressive episode (MDE). We hypothesized that psychosocial stressors predict a poor prognosis of MDE. Secondarily, we hypothesized that psychosocial stressors predict a poor prognosis of anxiety and substance use disorders. Stressors were defined according to DSM-IV's taxonomy, and empirically using latent class analysis (LCA).

Results

Primary support group problems, occupational problems and childhood adversity increased the risks of depressive episodes and suicidal ideation by 20–30%. Associations of the empirically derived classes of stressors with depression were larger in magnitude. Economic stressors conferred a 1.5-fold increase in risk for a depressive episode [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.2–1.9]; financial and interpersonal instability conferred a 1.3-fold increased risk of recurrent depression (95% CI 1.1–1.6). These two classes of stressors also predicted the recurrence of anxiety and substance use disorders. Stressors were not related to suicidal ideation independent from depression severity.

Conclusions

Psychosocial and environmental problems are associated with the prognosis of MDE and other Axis I disorders. Although DSM-IV's taxonomy of stressors stands to be improved, these results provide empirical support for the prognostic value of Axis IV. Future work is needed to determine the reliability of Axis IV assessments in clinical practice, and the usefulness of this information to improving the clinical course of mental disorders.
Time to diagnosis in young-onset dementia as compared with late-onset dementia
Authors: van Vliet D. , de Vugt M. E. , Bakker C. , Pijnenburg Y. A. L. , Vernooij-Dassen M. J. F. J. , Koopmans R. T. C. M. , Verhey F. R. J.
Published: May 2012

Background

The extent to which specific factors influence diagnostic delays in dementia is unclear. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to compare duration from symptom onset to diagnosis for young-onset dementia (YOD) and late-onset dementia (LOD) and to assess the effect of age at onset, type of dementia, gender, living situation, education and family history of dementia on this duration.

Method

Data on 235 YOD and 167 LOD patients collected from caregivers from two prospective cohort studies were used. Multiple linear regression analysis was performed.

Results

The duration between symptom onset and the diagnosis of YOD exceeded that of LOD by an average of 1.6 years (2.8 v. 4.4 years). Young age and being diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia were related to increases in the time to diagnosis. Subjects with vascular dementia experienced shorter time to diagnosis.

Conclusions

There is a need to raise special awareness of YOD to facilitate a timely diagnosis.
Error patterns in young German children's wh-questions*
Authors: SCHMERSE DANIEL , LIEVEN ELENA , TOMASELLO MICHAEL
Published: May 2012

In this article we report two studies: a detailed longitudinal analysis of errors in wh-questions from six German-learning children (age 2 ; 0–3 ; 0) and an analysis of the prosodic characteristics of wh-questions in German child-directed speech. The results of the first study demonstrate that German-learning children frequently omit the initial wh-word. A lexical analysis of wh-less questions revealed that children are more likely to omit the wh-word was (‘what’) than other wh-words (e.g. wo ‘where’). In the second study, we performed an acoustic analysis of sixty wh-questions that one mother produced during her child's third year of life. The results show that the wh-word was is much less likely to be accented than the wh-word wo, indicating a relationship between children's omission of wh-words and the stress patterns associated with wh-questions. The findings are discussed in the light of discourse–pragmatic and metrical accounts of omission errors.
Estimated cumulative incidence of West Nile virus infection in US adults, 1999–2010
Authors: PETERSEN L. R. , CARSON P. J. , BIGGERSTAFF B. J. , CUSTER B. , BORCHARDT S. M. , BUSCH M. P.
Published: May 2012

West Nile virus (WNV) was first recognized in the USA in 1999. We estimated the cumulative incidence of WNV infection in the USA from 1999 to 2010 using recently derived age- and sex-stratified ratios of infections to WNV neuroinvasive disease (WNND) and the number of WNND cases reported to national surveillance. We estimate that over 3 million persons have been infected with WNV in the USA, with the highest incidence rates in the central plains states. These 3 million infections would have resulted in about 780 000 illnesses. A substantial number of WNV infections and illnesses have occurred during the virus' first decade in the USA.
Malignant anomalous left coronary artery associated with acute coronary syndrome and subsequent post-operative secondary stenosis of the reimplanted anomalous left coronary artery
Authors: Banerjee Debasish , Sriharan Mohanaluxmi , Nicol Edward D.
Published: May 2012

We present a case of a 14-year-old boy who presented with symptoms resulting from an anomalous left coronary artery. He underwent corrective surgery to reimplant the left coronary artery into the left coronary sinus. After 3 months, he developed new symptoms. On further investigation, a tight ostial stenosis of the left coronary artery was observed and the patient underwent left internal mammary artery to left anterior descending coronary artery bypass graft. This case showcases the importance of multi-modality imaging in the diagnosis of coronary artery anomalies and potential post-surgical complications.
An Evaluation of Training in Motivational Interviewing for Nurses in Child Health Services
Authors: Bohman Benjamin , Forsberg Lars , Ghaderi Ata , Rasmussen Finn
Published: May 2012

Background: Acquiring proficiency in motivational interviewing (MI) may be more difficult than generally believed, and training research suggests that the standard one-time workshop format may be insufficient. Although nurses represent one of the professions that have received most training in MI, training in this group has rarely been systematically evaluated using objective behavioral measures. Aims: To evaluate an enhanced MI training program, comprising a 3.5-day workshop, systematic feedback on MI performance, and four sessions of supervision on practice samples. Methods: Nurses (n = 36) in Swedish child health services were trained in MI. Skillfulness in MI was assessed using the Motivational Interviewing Treatment Integrity (MITI) Code. Effects of training were compared to beginning proficiency thresholds. Results: Participants did not reach beginning proficiency thresholds on any of the indicators of proficiency and effect sizes were small. Conclusions: The present study adds to a growing body of literature suggesting that the current standard MI training format may not provide practitioners with enough skillfulness. Moreover, the results indicate that even enhanced training, including systematic feedback and supervision, may not be sufficient. Suggestions for improved MI training are made.
The Contribution of Experiential Avoidance and Social Cognitions in the Prediction of Social Anxiety
Authors: Mahaffey Brittain L. , Wheaton Michael G. , Fabricant Laura E. , Berman Noah C. , Abramowitz Jonathan S.
Published: May 2012

Background: Cognitive models propose that social anxiety arises from specific dysfunctional cognitions about the likelihood and severity of embarrassment. Relational frame theory (RFT), on the other hand, posits that social anxiety arises from the unwillingness to endure unpleasant internal experiences (i.e. experiential avoidance [EA]). Although cognitive models have garnered empirical support, it may be that newer models such as RFT can improve our ability to predict and treat social anxiety. Aims: We aimed to elucidate the relationship between dysfunctional cognitions and EA, as well as their independent and relative contributions to the prediction of social anxiety symptoms. We hypothesized that dysfunctional cognitions and EA would each be associated with social anxiety, as well as with each other. We also predicted that both EA and dysfunctional cognitions would remain independent predictors of social anxiety symptoms after controlling for each other and general distress. Method: Undergraduates high (n = 173) and low (n = 233) in social anxiety completed measures of social anxiety, dysfunctional cognitions, EA, and general distress. The overall sample was 66.3% female; mean age = 20.01 years (SD = 2.06). Results: Correlational analyses revealed that EA, dysfunctional cognitions, and social anxiety symptoms were moderately correlated with one another. Additionally, hierarchical regression analyses revealed that dysfunctional cognitions predicted social anxiety symptoms even after controlling for EA; the reverse was not found. Conclusions: Results suggest that EA and social anxiety specific cognitive distortions overlap to a moderate extent. EA does not add to the prediction of social anxiety symptoms above and beyond dysfunctional cognitions. Additional theoretical and treatment implications of the results are discussed.
An N = 1 Evaluation of Enhanced CBT Supervision
Authors: Milne Derek L. , Reiser Robert P. , Cliffe Tom
Published: May 2012

Background: Clinical supervision plays an essential role in the development of mental health professionals and is increasingly viewed as a discrete professional specialization. However, research has rarely addressed core issues such as the measurement and manipulation of clinical supervision, so there are very few direct comparisons between the different supervision methods.Aims: To operationalize two related approaches, cognitive-behavioural (CBT) and evidence-based clinical supervision (EBCS), demonstrate their fidelity, and then evaluate their relative effectiveness in facilitating the experiential learning of one supervisee.Method:Within a multiple-baseline,N= 1 design, we rated audiotapes of supervision on a competence rating scale.Results: Findings generally favoured the EBCS approach, which was associated with higher fidelity by the supervisor and increased engagement in experiential learning by the supervisee.Conclusions: This preliminary but novel evaluation indicated that CBT supervision could be enhanced. Implications follow for supervisor training and a more rigorousN= 1 evaluation.
Factors associated with high compliance/feasibility during iron and folic acid supplementation in a tribal area of Madhya Pradesh, India
Authors: Chakma Tapas , Vinay Rao Pinnamneni , Meshram Pradeep Kumar
Published: May 2012

Objective

To study the feasibility of iron and folic acid (IFA) supplementation among tribal adolescent girls and identify factors associated with high compliance.

Design

Intervention study with IFA supplementation among tribal adolescent girls of Bijadandi block, Mandla district, Madhya Pradesh, India. Girls (n 274) from twelve villages randomly selected out of 100 potential villages received daily tablets containing iron (iii) hydroxide polymaltose complex equivalent to 100 mg of elemental Fe and 350 μg of folic acid (commercially available as Feritas tablets, marketed by Intas Pharmaceutical Ltd, India). IFA was given for 100 d and supervised by school teachers and anganwadi workers. Compliance was measured using cards and interviews.

Setting

Community-based iron supplementation programme.

Subjects

Tribal adolescent girls aged 12–19 years.

Results

In total 233 girls completed the study. Prevalence of anaemia was reduced from 94 % at baseline to 69 % after the intervention. Compliance rate (>80 tablets) was 89 %. Minor side-effects were reported by three girls, yet they consumed >80 tablets. Factors associated with compliance included fasting during the local festival (χ2 = 72·74, df 3; P < 0·0001) and counselling (χ2 = 72·74, df 3; P < 0·0001). Other qualitative factors like social mobilization, timely supply of tablets, quality of tablets (blister pack) and availability of teachers and anganwadi workers were also associated with the compliance and feasibility.

Conclusions

High compliance indicates that IFA supplementation with tablets is feasible among the tribal adolescent girls of Bijadandi block, Mandla district.
AN EQUAL-AREA METHOD FOR SCALAR CONSERVATION LAWS
Authors: KRAMAR FIJAVŽ MARJETA , LAKNER MITJA , ŠKAPIN RUGELJ MARJETA
Published: May 2012

We study the one-dimensional conservation law. We use a characteristic surface to define a class of functions, within which the integral version of the conservation law is solved in a simple and direct way. A simple algorithm for computing the unique solution is developed. The method uses the equal-area principle and yields the solution for any given time directly.
Personalisation and the Co-operative Tradition
Authors: Fisher Jenny , Baines Susan , Rayner Mary
Published: May 2012

There is growing interest in how enterprises based on co-operative values can help to meet needs relating to welfare and re-energise public services. The objective of this article is to examine critically the intersection of personalised adult social care services and the co-operative tradition, which emphasises mutual aid and value-led enterprise. We do this by retelling the story of personalisation through a co-operative lens, and ground this reading in case studies of two new co-operative enterprises that were supported under a Department of Health programme in England (2006–2009) intended to demonstrate how personalised adult social care could be extended by developing collaborative, co-operative organisational forms.
Screening for use of alcohol, tobacco and cannabis in pregnancy using self-report tools
Authors: Hotham E. , White J. , Ali R. , Robinson J.
Published: May 2012

The World Health Organization has identified substance use in the top 20 risk factors for ill health. Risks in pregnancy are compounded, with risk to the woman's health, to pregnancy progression and on both the foetus and the newborn. Intrauterine exposure can result in negative influences on offspring development, sometimes into adulthood. With effectively two patients, there is a clear need for antenatal screening. Biomarker reliability is limited and research efforts have been directed to self-report tools, often attempting to address potential lack of veracity if women feel guilty about substance use and worried about possible stigmatization. Tools, which assume the behaviour, are likely to elicit more honest responses; querying pre-pregnancy use would likely have the same effect. Although veracity is heightened if substance use questions are embedded within health and social functioning questionnaires, such tools may be too lengthy clinically. It has been proposed that screening only for alcohol and tobacco, with focus on the month pre-pregnancy, could enable identification of all other substances. Alternatively, the Revised Fagerstrom Questionnaire could be used initially, tobacco being highly indicative of substance use generally. The ASSIST V.3.0 is readily administered and covers all substances, although the pregnancy ‘risk level’ cut-off for tobacco is not established. Alcohol tools – the 4Ps, TLFB and ‘drug’ CAGE (with E: query of use to avoid withdrawal) – have been studied with other substances and could be used. General psychosocial distress and mental ill-health often co-exist with substance use and identification of substance use needs to become legitimate practice for obstetric clinicians.
Determination of primary sequence specificity of Arabidopsis MAPKs MPK3 and MPK6 leads to identification of new substrates
Authors: Sörensson Carolin , Lenman Marit , Veide-Vilg Jenny , Schopper Simone , Ljungdahl Thomas , Grøtli Morten , Tamás Markus J. , Peck Scott C. , Andreasson Erik
Published: May 2012

MAPKs (mitogen-activated protein kinases) are signalling components highly conserved among eukaryotes. Their diverse biological functions include cellular differentiation and responses to different extracellular stress stimuli. Although some substrates of MAPKs have been identified in plants, no information is available about whether amino acids in the primary sequence other than proline-directed phosphorylation (pS-P) contribute to kinase specificity towards substrates. In the present study, we used a random positional peptide library to search for consensus phosphorylation sequences for Arabidopsis MAPKs MPK3 and MPK6. These experiments indicated a preference towards the sequence L/P-P/X-S-P-R/K for both kinases. After bioinformatic processing, a number of novel candidate MAPK substrates were predicted and subsequently confirmed by in vitro kinase assays using bacterially expressed native Arabidopsis proteins as substrates. MPK3 and MPK6 phosphorylated all proteins tested more efficiently than did another MAPK, MPK4. These results indicate that the amino acid residues in the primary sequence surrounding the phosphorylation site of Arabidopsis MAPK substrates can contribute to MAPK specificity. Further characterization of one of these new substrates confirmed that At1g80180.1 was phosphorylated in planta in a MAPK-dependent manner. Phenotypic analyses of Arabidopsis expressing phosphorylation site mutant forms of At1g80180.1 showed clustered stomata and higher stomatal index in cotyledons expressing the phosphomimetic form of At1g80180.1, providing a link between this new MAPK substrate and the defined role for MPK3 and MPK6 in stomatal patterning.
Embryonic poly(A)-binding protein (EPAB) is required for oocyte maturation and female fertility in mice
Authors: Guzeloglu-Kayisli Ozlem , Lalioti Maria D. , Aydiner Fulya , Sasson Isaac , Ilbay Orkan , Sakkas Denny , Lowther Katie M. , Mehlmann Lisa M. , Seli Emre
Published: May 2012

Gene expression during oocyte maturation and early embryogenesis up to zygotic genome activation requires translational activation of maternally-derived mRNAs. EPAB [embryonic poly(A)-binding protein] is the predominant poly(A)-binding protein during this period in Xenopus, mouse and human. In Xenopus oocytes, ePAB stabilizes maternal mRNAs and promotes their translation. To assess the role of EPAB in mammalian reproduction, we generated Epab-knockout mice. Although Epab−/− males and Epab+/− of both sexes were fertile, Epab−/− female mice were infertile, and could not generate embryos or mature oocytes in vivo or in vitro. Epab−/− oocytes failed to achieve translational activation of maternally-stored mRNAs upon stimulation of oocyte maturation, including Ccnb1 (cyclin B1) and Dazl (deleted in azoospermia-like) mRNAs. Microinjection of Epab mRNA into Epab−/− germinal vesicle stage oocytes did not rescue maturation, suggesting that EPAB is also required for earlier stages of oogenesis. In addition, late antral follicles in the ovaries of Epab−/− mice exhibited impaired cumulus expansion, and a 8-fold decrease in ovulation, associated with a significant down-regulation of mRNAs encoding the EGF (epidermal growth factor)-like growth factors Areg (amphiregulin), Ereg (epiregulin) and Btc (betacellulin), and their downstream regulators, Ptgs2 (prostaglandin synthase 2), Has2 (hyaluronan synthase 2) and Tnfaip6 (tumour necrosis factor α-induced protein 6). The findings from the present study indicate that EPAB is necessary for oogenesis, folliculogenesis and female fertility in mice.
Design, Translation, Citizenship: Reflections on the Virtual (de)Territorialization of the US – Mexico Border
Authors: Weber Cynthia
Published: May 2012

Taking Zygmunt Bauman and Étienne Balibar's reflections on translation as its point of departure, this paper considers how the practice of translation operates through the discourse and practice of ‘design’. Specifically, it considers how design translates the US – Mexico border region into both a territorializing topography of cruelty where violence directed against undocumented migrants is so extreme that it appears to us to be worse than death and a virtual deterritorializing topography of civility where a collective participation in public practices to assist undocumented migrants is possible. It does this by analyzing US defensive designs (US border fence, surveillance) that inhibit the free flow of people across this border versus design projects by Judí Werthein (Brinco/Jump), Ricardo Domínguez et al (Transborder Immigrant Tool), and Robert Ransick (Casa Segura/Safe House) that enable the safer passage of undocumented migrants crossing through this border region. It concludes by reflecting on the limits of translation. Specifically, it considers how the always incompleteness yet overloadedness of translation—the ‘almost’ of translation—means that the virtual deterritorializing designs discussed in this paper place border subjects in positions of almost mobility, almost legality, almost hospitality, almost cruelty, and almost civility. In so doing, these designs go some way toward demonstrating how virtual deterritorializing practices of translation might make it possible, as Étienne Balibar puts it, “to ‘appropriate’ or ‘inhabit’ a transnational political space and transform it into a new public sphere” while at the same time materializing many of the “almost civilities” that are also “almost cruelties” that are activated in any call—including Balibar's—for us to become active citizens again.
Scaling Sustainable Development? How Voluntary Groups Negotiate Spaces of Sustainability Governance in the United Kingdom
Authors: Kythreotis Andrew P , Jonas Andrew E G
Published: May 2012

This paper seeks to address the way the politics of sustainability governance is spatially organised and contested by voluntary and community sector (VCS) groups in the United Kingdom. Using the research lens of the Local Strategic Partnership (LSP), we seek to demonstrate how sustainability governance at regional and national scales is negotiated and produced from the ‘bottom up’. We argue that VCS groups are agents of a complex process of ‘scalar manoeuvring’ whereby sustainability governance is produced and contested across a range of sites both within and across spatial scales. Such groups enter into external, nonstate-controlled governance networks as a reaction to state-orchestrated scales like LSPs. In the process, VCS groups engage with and utilise higher scales of state territoriality and governance to pursue quasi-autonomous sustainability objectives back at the local level. Such actions demonstrate how pragmatism is essential in enacting scalar agency in the pursuit of a local fix for sustainability. These findings contribute new insights into the ways in which local spaces of sustainability governance are produced and contested within wider UK state modernisation and rescaling processes.
Free Play and the Foreclosure of New Babylon
Authors: Keaney Gerald
Published: May 2012

Automation may be able to completely eliminate the need for labour. But how should we use the freed-up time? In his proposal for a future urbanism, New Babylon, Constant Nieuwenhuys thought people would engage in nonstop free play, remaking surroundings. I argue that at the core of New Babylon is an intuition about a satisfying life, that of Homo ludens. This intuition had a broad appeal in the 1960s. New Babylon is an intuition pump, not a utopia, and Constant wants Homo ludens to be possible and desirable. Possibility can today be most urgently equated with sustainability. I will argue that New Babylon is not sustainable. I will also argue Homo ludens is not desirable, and 1960s intuitions about the good life have dated. Constant forecloses on creative activity such as we might find in improving science and technology.
Between us in the City: Materiality, Subjectivity, and Community in the Era of Global Urbanization
Authors: Coward Martin
Published: May 2012

In this paper I consider the conceptual challenges for subjectivity and community in an era of global urbanisation. The urban environment comprises a complex assemblage of human and nonhuman entities. Urban political subjectivity is thus constituted by a distinctive relation with materiality. This reconceptualisation of the subject comprises a challenge to the classical morphology that has underpinned conceptions of citizenship and community. This morphology has rested on notions of autonomy that are predicated on a separability of the agent from context and community. Global urbanisation challenges the traditional conception of the urban subject as an autonomous citizen. In contrast to classical political morphologies I contend, via Nancy's account of the reticulated multiplicity of being singular plural, that urban political subjectivity is constituted by an ineluctable exposure to alterity that arises through our sharing of that which is ‘between us’ in the city: the material fabric of the urban environment.
Aboriginal Sovereignty and the Politics of Reconciliation: The Constituent Power of the Aboriginal Embassy in Australia
Authors: Muldoon Paul , Schaap Andrew
Published: May 2012

As a reoccupation of land immediately in front of Parliament House for six months in 1972, the Aboriginal Embassy was an inspiring demonstration of Aboriginal self-determination and land rights. Since 1972 demonstrators have maintained an Embassy on the site as part of the continuing Aboriginal struggle. Significantly, on its twentieth anniversary in 1992 Embassy protestors declared Aboriginal sovereignty just as the state-initiated formal reconciliation process was getting underway in Australia. Within mainstream public discourse in Australia, reconciliation is understood as aligned with a progressive politics. In this paper we examine the reactionary politics of reconciliation vis-à-vis the struggle for land rights and sovereignty that the Embassy embodies. To this end we examine a debate within legal theory about the relation between ‘constituted power’ (state sovereignty) and ‘constituent power’ (democratic praxis). Following Antonio Negri, the Embassy can be understood as one manifestation of the constituent power of Aboriginal people (and their non-Aboriginal supporters) that the Australian state appropriates to shore up its own defective claim to sovereignty. We illustrate this by comparing the symbolism of the Aboriginal Embassy with that of Reconciliation Place in Canberra. We complicate this analysis by discussing how the Embassy strategically exploits the ambiguous status of Aboriginal people as citizens within and without the community presupposed by the Australian state. In doing so the Embassy makes present the possibility of a break with the colonial past that is often invoked in the politics of reconciliation but which the Australian state has failed to enact.
Politics through a Web: Citizenship and Community Unbound
Authors: Stephens Angharad Closs , Squire Vicki
Published: May 2012

What happens to citizenship when the nation and the state are no longer assumed to be the inevitable starting points from which politics is defined? This paper considers how a refusal of the nation as political community and a questioning of the state as guarantor of rights and responsibilities reconfigure our understandings of citizenship. We do this by taking as a metaphor and analytical entry point an art installation developed by artist Tomás Saraceno titled 14 Billions (Working Title). Forming an exaggerated version of a black widow spider's web, this installation offers us a way of engaging politics in relational terms. Inspired by this installation, we ask: how are the categories of citizenship and community troubled or reconfigured when we address sociality and politics from a relational perspective? In which ways does 14 Billions prompt us to address questions of spatiality, power, coexistence, and contestation differently from those accounts of citizenship that remain wedded to the state as a contained geographical unit and to the nation as an imaginary of political community? And finally, how might this web installation suggest an intervention into the broader problematic of ‘citizenship without community’ that forms the focus of this theme issue? We address these questions by way of an engagement with the ‘lines’, ‘gaps’, and ‘tension points’ presented by 14 Billions and argue that an understanding of citizenship as based upon membership appears inadequate when we address politics through a web. In so doing, we contend that the provocation of citizenship without community presents a challenge that does not simply demand a shift from the nation to the state or the reaffirmation of a rights-bearing subject; rather, this provocation leads us to argue that politics involves more than a search for inclusion and recognition, whilst the web installation offers us a way in to thinking about politics through heterogeneous sites and moments of encounter.
Peptide Nucleic Acid Monomers: A Convenient and Efficient Synthetic Approach to Fmoc/Boc Monomers
Authors: Browne Elisse C. , Langford Steven J. , Abbott Belinda M.
Published: May 2012

A convenient and cost-effective method for the synthesis of Fmoc/Boc-protected peptide nucleic acid monomers is described. The Fmoc/Boc strategy was developed in order to eliminate the solubility issues during peptide nucleic acid solid-phase synthesis, in particular that of the cytosine monomer, that occurred when using the commercialized Bhoc chemistry approach.
Electronic Structure Underlying Colour Differences Between Diarylmethane Dyes and their Azomethine Analogues
Authors: Olsen Seth
Published: May 2012

We show that multireference perturbation theory based on a four-electron, three-orbital state-averaged complete active space self-consistent field model can reproduce the shift in colour between diarylmethane dyes and their corresponding azomethine analogues. We relate the azomethine shift to changes in the electronic structure, through an examination of the relative changes in the state-averaged one-electron Hamiltonian (Fock) and surprisal matrices that characterise the analogous self-consistent field solutions.
Oxygenated Terpenoids from the Australian Sponges Coscinoderma matthewsi and Dysidea sp., and the Nudibranch Chromodoris albopunctata
Authors: Katavic Peter L. , Jumaryatno Pinus , Hooper John N. A. , Blanchfield Joanne T. , Garson Mary J.
Published: May 2012

The isolation and structure elucidation of seven new oxygenated terpenoids and eight known terpene metabolites from marine invertebrates collected at the Inner Gneerings Reef, South East Queensland, is discussed. Investigation of the sponge Coscinoderma matthewsi yielded an epoxylactone derivative (1) of the known furanoterpene tetradehydrofurospongin-1 (2). A chemical investigation of the dissected nudibranch Chromodoris albopunctata provided the new oxygenated diterpenes 12α-acetoxyspongian-16-one (10), 20-acetoxyspongian-16-one (12), 20-oxyspongian-16-one propionate (13) and 12α,20-dioxyspongian-16-one dipropionate (14) in conjunction with three other known diterpene metabolites, while two new chromodorolides, D (17) and E (18), in addition to four known diterpenes were isolated from a Dysidea sp.
Synthesis and Characterization of a Novel Biodegradable Amphiphilic Dendritic Polyether-ester
Authors: Xiao Jin peng , Wang Hong , Yi Qiang , Ma Gejun , Zhang Xue fei
Published: May 2012

A novel biodegradable amphiphilic dendritic polyether-ester composed of glycerol, glycolic acid oligomer and methoxy poly(ethylene glycol) is described. The monomer unit composed of glycerol and glycolic acid was protected by tert-butyl and benzyl groups. The amphiphilic dendritic polyether-ester was prepared in high yield using sequential deprotection reactions and esterification. The structure of all compounds was confirmed by 1H NMR spectra, 13C NMR spectra, GC-MS or matrix-assisted laser desorption–ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry, and the amphiphilic dendritic macromolecule molecular weight and distribution were measured by gel permeation chromatography.
Molecular Mechanisms of K+ Selectivity in Na/K Pump
Authors: Yu Haibo , Ratheal Ian , Artigas Pablo , Roux Benoît
Published: May 2012

The sodium–potassium (Na/K) pump plays an essential role in maintaining cell volume and secondary active transport of other solutes by establishing the Na+ and K+ concentration gradients across the plasma membrane of animal cells. The recently determined crystal structures of the Na/K pump to atomic resolution provide a new impetus to investigate molecular determinants governing the binding of Na+ and K+ ions and conformational transitions during the functional cycle. The pump cycle is generally described by the alternating access mechanism, in which the pump toggles between different conformational states, where ions can bind from either the intracellular or the extracellular side. However, important issues concerning the selectivity of the Na/K pump remain to be addressed. In particular, two out of the three binding sites are shared between Na+ and K+ and it is not clear how the protein is able to select K+ over Na+ when it is in the outwardly facing phosphorylated conformation (E2P), and Na+ over K+ when it is in the inwardly facing conformation (E1). In this review article, we will first briefly review the recent advancement in understanding the microscopic mechanism of K+ selectivity in the Na/K pump at the E2·Pi state and then outline the remaining challenges to be addressed about ion selectivity.
Reduced Bimolecular Recombination in Conjugated Polymer Donor/Fullerene Acceptor Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells
Authors: Mozer Attila J. , Clarke Tracey M.
Published: May 2012

We show significantly reduced bimolecular recombination in a novel silole-based copolymer (KP115):fullerene blend, which allows the fabrication of polymer solar cells with relatively thick active layers. This leads to improved device efficiencies and makes roll-to-roll printing much easier. The origin of the reduced recombination, however, is not known. Our recent data suggest that published models are inadequate to explain this phenomenon.
Frequency-based Quantum Computers from a Chemist's Perspective
Authors: McKemmish Laura K. , Kedziora David J. , White Graham R. , Hush Noel S. , Reimers Jeffrey R.
Published: May 2012

Quantum computer elements are often designed and tested using molecular or nanoscopic components that form registers of qubits in which memory is stored and information processed. Often such registers are probed and manipulated using frequency-based techniques such as nuclear-magnetic resonance spectroscopy. A major challenge is to design molecules to act as these registers. We provide a basis for rational molecular design through consideration of the generic spectroscopic properties required for quantum computing, bypassing the need for intricate knowledge of the way these molecules are used spectroscopically. Designs in which two-qubit gate times scale similarly to those for one-qubit gates are presented. The specified spectroscopic requirements are largely independent of the type of spectroscopy used (e.g. magnetic resonance or vibrational) and are often independent of technical details of the application (e.g. broadband or high-resolution spectroscopy). This should allow the design of much larger quantum registers than have currently been demonstrated.
DMF/H2O Volume-Ratio-Controlled Assembly of 2D and 3D Ln-MOFs with 5-(Pyridin-4-yl)isophthalic Acid Ligand
Authors: Zhang Qingfu , Hu Falu , Wang Suna , Sun Dezhi , Wang Daqi , Dou Jianmin
Published: May 2012

Through middle-temperature solvothermal reactions of Ln(NO3)3·6H2O (Ln = Tb and Eu) with 5-(pyridin-4-yl)isophthalic acid (H2PIA), three Ln-MOFs [Tb(HPIA)(PIA)(H2O)2]n·0.5nH2O (1), [Eu(HPIA)(PIA)(H2O)2]n·0.5nH2O (2), and [Tb2(PIA)3(H2O)4]n·3nH2O (3) were obtained using DMF/H2O volume ratios of 1 : 54, 1 : 54, and 1 : 7, respectively. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis reveals that complexes 1 and 2 are isostructural and display a 2D uninodal 4-connected undulated sql topology with Ln3+ ions as nodes, while complex 3 exhibits a 3D uninodal 6-connected pcu topology with dinuclear octahedral [Tb2(CO2)6] secondary building units as nodes. Obviously, the DMF/H2O volume ratio plays an essential role in the crystallisation and construction of these coordination frameworks with distinct dimensionality and connectivity. The thermal and photoluminescence properties of complexes 1–3 in the solid state are also discussed.
Processing 15-nm Nanodiamonds Containing Nitrogen-vacancy Centres for Single-molecule FRET
Authors: Say Jana M. , Bradac Carlo , Gaebel Torsten , Rabeau James R. , Brown Louise J.
Published: May 2012

Colour centres in nanodiamonds have many properties such as chemical and physical stability, biocompatibility, straightforward surface functionalisation as well as bright and stable photoluminescence, which make them attractive for biological applications. Here we examine the use of fluorescent nanodiamonds containing a single nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centre, as an alternative nano-label over conventional fluorophores. We describe a series of chemical treatments and air oxidation to reliably produce small (~15 nm) oxidised nanodiamonds suitable for applications in bioscience. We use Förster resonance energy transfer to measure the coupling efficiency from a single NV centre in a selected nanodiamond to an IRDye 800CW dye molecule absorbed onto the surface. Our single-molecule Förster resonance energy transfer analysis, based on fluorescence lifetime measurements, locates the position of the photostable NV centre deep within the core of the nanodiamond.
Photochemical Upconversion Enhanced Solar Cells: Effect of a Back Reflector
Authors: Schulze Tim F. , Cheng Yuen Yap , Fückel Burkhard , MacQueen Rowan W. , Danos Andrew , Davis Nathaniel J. L. K. , Tayebjee Murad J. Y. , Khoury Tony , Clady Raphaël G. C. R. , Ekins-Daukes N. J. , Crossley Maxwell J. , Stannowski Bernd , Lips Klaus , Schmidt Timothy W.
Published: May 2012

Photochemical upconversion is applied to a hydrogenated amorphous silicon solar cell in the presence of a back-scattering layer. A custom-synthesized porphyrin was utilized as the sensitizer species, with rubrene as the emitter. Under a bias of 24 suns, a peak external quantum efficiency (EQE) enhancement of ~2 % was observed at a wavelength of 720 nm. Without the scattering layer, the EQE enhancement was half this value, indicating that the effect of the back-scatterer is to double the efficacy of the upconverting device. The results represent an upconversion figure of merit of 3.5 × 10–4 mA cm–2 sun–2, which is the highest reported to date.
Soils and climate change: potential impacts on carbon stocks and greenhouse gas emissions, and future research for Australian agriculture
Authors: Baldock J. A. , Wheeler I. , McKenzie N. , McBrateny A.
Published: May 2012

Organic carbon and nitrogen found in soils are subject to a range of biological processes capable of generating or consuming greenhouse gases (CO2, N2O and CH4). In response to the strong impact that agricultural management can have on the amount of organic carbon and nitrogen stored in soil and their rates of biological cycling, soils have the potential to reduce or enhance concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Concern also exists over the potential positive feedback that a changing climate may have on rates of greenhouse gas emission from soil. Climate projections for most of the agricultural regions of Australia suggest a warmer and drier future with greater extremes relative to current climate. Since emissions of greenhouse gases from soil derive from biological processes that are sensitive to soil temperature and water content, climate change may impact significantly on future emissions. In this paper, the potential effects of climate change and options for adaptation and mitigations will be considered, followed by an assessment of future research requirements. The paper concludes by suggesting that the diversity of climate, soil types, and agricultural practices in place across Australia will make it difficult to define generic scenarios for greenhouse gas emissions. Development of a robust modelling capability will be required to construct regional and national emission assessments and to define the potential outcomes of on-farm management decisions and policy decisions. This model development will require comprehensive field datasets to calibrate the models and validate model outputs. Additionally, improved spatial layers of model input variables collected on a regular basis will be required to optimise accounting at regional to national scales.
Transformational adaptation: agriculture and climate change
Authors: Rickards L. , Howden S. M.
Published: May 2012

Climate change presents the need and opportunity for what the Stern report called ‘major, non-marginal change’. Such transformational adaptation is rapidly emerging as a serious topic in agriculture. This paper provides an overview of the topic as it applies to agriculture, focusing on the Australian situation. It does so by first defining transformational adaptation, distinguishing it from other more incremental but overlapping modes of climate change adaptation and positing its emergence in agriculture as a response to both drivers and opportunities. The multiple dimensions of transformational adaptation are highlighted before two types or cases are focussed upon in order to tease out issues and highlight two major examples of transformation in agriculture in the past. Four key issues about climate change adaptation in agriculture particularly pertinent for transformational adaptation are then reviewed: the identification, level, distribution and management of the costs of adaptation; the definition, potential for and need to avoid maladaptation; the capacity demands that this level of adaptation presents; and the role of government in adaptation. Overall, transformational adaptation poses potential great gains but also great risks. It reinforces the realisation that agricultural research can no longer remain insulated from off-farm, non-science or non-agricultural knowledge or processes. Support and guidance of transformational adaptation requires that we understand how Australian agriculture is currently, and could be, positioned within the landscape, rural communities, and broader social, political and cultural environment.
Synthesis paper on socioeconomic factors relating to agriculture and community development
Authors: Alston Margaret
Published: May 2012

Agriculture is highly dependent on the social sustainability inherent in rural communities. Yet too often we focus on the economic and environmental drivers relating to agricultural production, ignoring the social and community aspects that make rural livelihood not only possible but also rewarding and nurturing. In this paper I focus on climate change as yet another factor associated with rural restructuring that defrays community wellbeing. I argue that attention to social factors and a stronger role for government in assisting communities will enable greater adaptation and enhance resilience in what are essentially very uncertain times.
Australia's landscapes in a changing climate—caution, hope, inspiration, and transformation
Authors: Alexandra Jason
Published: May 2012

Australia’s future landscapes will be shaped by global climatic, economic, and cultural drivers. Landscapes evolve. They are manifestations of the complex negotiations between nature and cultures, over millennia. In the Anthropocene, humans are the dominant evolutionary force reshaping the biosphere. Landscape management involves all human activities and interventions that change the forms and functions of landscapes. It also involves the ways we learn about, and understand the world, and our place in it. Responses to climate change are driving changes in natural resources policy, research and management. Building capability for large-scale, adaptive management is critical in an era of global change. By rigorously examining and learning from recent experience—bioregional conservation planning, natural resource management (NRM), landcare, and water reform—Australia can build capacity for integrated and adaptive resource management. Climate change compounds existing stressors on ecosystems. It adds complexity and presents new challenges for integrated assessment, planning, and management of natural resources. Given the dynamic nature of the ecosystems, static conservation paradigms and stationary hydrology models are increasingly redundant. In the face of inherent complexity and uncertainty, ‘predict and control’ strategies are likely to be less useful. Adaptive approaches are called for, due to the complex relationships and non-linear feedbacks between social, ecological, and climatic systems. Australia should invest in building professional and community capacity. Australia’s scientific and professional capacity in natural resources provides useful foundations, but substantially increased investment is called for. Research should be focused on guiding and influencing management at large scales and on avoiding undesirable thresholds or tipping points in complex ecological systems. Cultural and governance aspects are emphasised as central to effective adaptation strategies, because landscape management is an intergenerational, societal challenge that requires participatory, adaptive learning approaches.
Climate change through the farming systems lens: challenges and opportunities for farming in Australia
Authors: Hayman Peter , Rickards Lauren , Eckard Richard , Lemerle Deirdre
Published: May 2012

Adaptation to and mitigation of climate change in Australian agriculture has included research at the plant, animal, and soil level; the farming system level; and the community and landscape level. This paper focuses on the farming systems level at which many of the impacts of a changing climate will be felt. This is also the level where much of the activity relating to adaptation and mitigation can usefully be analysed and at which existing adaptive capacity provides a critical platform for further efforts. In this paper, we use a framework of nested hierarchies introduced by J. Passioura four decades ago to highlight the need for research, development and extension (RDE) on climate change at the farming systems level to build on more fundamental soil, plant, and animal sciences and to link into higher themes of rural sociology and landscape science. The many questions asked by those managing farming systems can be categorised under four broad headings: (1) climate projections at a local scale, (2) impacts of climate projections on existing farming systems, (3) adaptation options, and (4) risks and opportunities from policies to reduce emissions. These questions are used as a framework to identify emerging issues for RDE in Australian farming systems, including the complex balance in on-farm strategies between adapting to climate change and reducing greenhouse gas concentrations.
Climate is recognised as one of the defining features of different farming systems in Australia. It follows that if the climate changes, farming systems will have to shift, adapt, or be transformed into a different land use. Given that Australian farming systems have been adaptive in the past, we address the question of the extent to which research on adaptation to climate change in farming systems is different or additional to research on farming systems in a variable climate.