bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Role of Environmental Valuation in Public Policymaking: The Case of Urban Waterside Area in Japan
Authors: Hagihara Kiyoko , Hagihara Yoshimi
Published: March 2004

In this paper the authors aim to clarify the role of environmental valuation in public policymaking through a case study of valuing the waterside along a river in an urban area. A brief history of river policies in Japan is first discussed. Then, in order to identify residents' demands concerning the waterside, a discrete choice model is set up. The model is then applied to a case study. Not only revealed preference data but also stated preference data are used in the case study. Finally, the limited role of the value of the waterside environment that is obtained from the model is shown.
Canadian Biotechnology Policy: Designing Incentives for a New Technology
Authors: Niosi Jorge , Bas Tomas G
Published: March 2004

Since the early 1980s Canada has created a set of incentives in order to develop the new biotechnology based on genetic engineering. In the beginning, the emphasis was on agriculture and environmental biotechnology, but already by the late 1980s the focus had changed towards human health products and services. Even if the federal government was the original policymaker, several provinces added their own incentives in order to nurture a local industry. Although policies have been changing in scope and goals, the results have been positive and the country has acquired a certain leadership in several biotechnologies. National and regional innovation systems are the organising framework of this paper as they have proved useful in analysing the institutional canvas of biotechnology.
Secondhandedness: Consumption, Disposal, and Absent Presence
Authors: Hetherington Kevin
Published: March 2004

In this paper I argue that in the now-extensive work on the sociology of consumption there is very little that addresses directly the important issue of disposal. Furthermore, I argue that disposal is not just about questions of waste and rubbish but is implicated more broadly in the ways in which people manage absence within social relations. I develop this argument through a critical engagement with the work of Mary Douglas, Rolland Munro, Michael Thompson, and Robert Hertz. I seek to show that disposal is never final as is implied by the notion of rubbish but involves issues of managing social relations and their representation around themes of movement, transformation, incompleteness, and return. I suggest that rather than see the rubbish bin as the archetypal conduit of disposal within consumer practices the door might be seen as a better example. This has implications for understanding questions of representation, ethics, and the management of social relations within the practices of consuming.
And if the Global Were Small and Noncoherent? Method, Complexity, and the Baroque
Authors: Law John
Published: March 2004

What is it to be big? What is it to be small? And what is it to be global? Common sense, including a good deal of the common sense underlying network metaphors for complex globality, involves the assumption that the global is large, that it includes the (smaller) local, and that to understand it we need to adopt a holistic approach in which we look up to explore emergent complexities, and so obtain a provisional overview of the whole. In this paper I argue, following Chunglin Kwa, that this is a particular and romantic method for imagining complexity. I then follow Kwa by considering a baroque alternative. Instead of looking up, this looks down and discovers limitless internal complexity within, which is materially heterogeneous, specific, and sensuous. In this monadology there are no limits to complexity within, but neither is there any possibility of modeling and knowing that complexity in full. There is no overview and neither is there any assumption of coherence. In this way of thinking the global lies within each site and is small, sensuous, specific, heterogeneous, noncoherent, and cannot be more than patchily modeled.
Surgical Monads: A Social Topology of the Operating Room
Authors: Moreira Tiago
Published: March 2004

In this paper, I describe surgical interventions as events that occur simultaneously in four different spaces or topologies—region, network, fluid, and fire. I also develop a way of describing the relations between these spaces. My aim is to find a way of describing the relations between different forms of spatiality and so between different versions of scale, size, and, specially, of absence and presence. I argue that the operating room is an effect of the interferences between different types of special relations. This is presented as a neo-monadology: I suggest that the interference between these four spaces is generative, not only of the surgical event but also of the differences between the topologies themselves. I use this argument to develop a tool for understanding the multiple relations between the ‘local’ and the ‘global’.
‘Connected’ Presence: The Emergence of a New Repertoire for Managing Social Relationships in a Changing Communication Technoscape
Authors: Licoppe Christian
Published: March 2004

The aim of this research is to understand how the transformation of the communication technoscape allows for the development of particular patterns in the construction of social bonds. It provides evidence for the development of a ‘connected’ management of relationships, in which the (physically) absent party gains presence through the multiplication of mediated communication gestures on both sides, up to the point where copresent interactions and mediated distant exchanges seem woven into a single, seamless web. After reviewing some of the current social-science research, I rely on empirical studies of the uses of the home telephone, the mobile phone, and mobile text messaging in France to discuss how this particular repertoire of ‘connected’ relationships has gradually crystallized as these technologies have become widespread and as each additional communication resource has been made available to users. I also describe how such a ‘connected’ mode coexists with a previous way of managing ‘mediated’ relationships, in which communication technologies were thought to substitute or compensate for the rarity of face-to-face interactions.
Mobile Publics: Beyond the Network Perspective
Authors: Sheller Mimi
Published: March 2004

As practices of social coordination and connectivity shift in contemporary urban spaces, in part because of the increasing hybridisations of technologies and infrastructures of communication and transportation, public life is being reconfigured and respatialised. In this paper I argue that models of ‘publicity’ have paid insufficient attention to the ways in which publics are deeply embedded in social and machinic complexes involving the mobilities of people, objects, and information. The first half offers an overview of how the converging technologies of mobility and communication have created new temporalities and spatialities for public participation. In the second half I turn to a theoretical programme for rethinking public connectivity and disconnectivity not in terms of the conventional imagery of networks, but as more fluid and contingent social structures that Harrison White has described in terms of coupling and decoupling. Publics are becoming more ‘mobile’ in two ways: first, there is an increasing tendency to slip between private and public modes of interaction, as a result of the new forms of fluid connectivity enabled by mobile communication technologies; and, second, there are opportunities for new kinds of publics to assemble or gel momentarily (and then just as quickly dissolve) as a result of newly emerging places and arenas for communication.
Spatial Phenomenotechnics: Making Space with Charles Booth and Patrick Geddes
Authors: Osborne Thomas , Rose Nikolas
Published: March 2004

There are many ways in which humans articulate themselves through their ‘spatiality’. One neglected aspect of a historical anthropology of spatial relations and modes of existence concerns the role of the human and social sciences. Drawing on Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari's multifaceted distinction between ‘smooth’ space and ‘striated’ space, we propose some ways to analyse the logics of spatialisation at work in the social sciences. We take as case studies the writings of two ‘technicians of space’, Charles Booth and Patrick Geddes, together with some of their contemporaries. The paper is intended as a contribution not to the ‘history of ideas' but to contemporary debates about human spatiality. Whilst some postmodern ‘affirmations' of space counterpose abstract disciplinary ‘striated’ technologies of spatial regulation to nonabstractionist ‘smooth’ modes of spatiality, we take a different perspective. In doing so, we suggest some non-‘historical’ uses to which we might put the history of the social sciences today. We also try to demonstrate some of the merits of an empiricist approach rather than a postmodernist approach to questions of spatiality.
Incorrigible Venice and the War against Cliché
Authors: Nally David
Published: March 2004

The city of Venice, from at least the 16th century, has been popularly portrayed as a ‘fantasmatic’ scene of desire by a Western geographical imagination. I argue that these representational strategies closely parallel the homology and practice of Orientalism, most notably documented by Edward Said. Said's argument, however, pays precious little attention to the ‘connective imperative’ at work between colonial powers, a gendered erotics of knowledge, and heteronormative practices. Focusing on Thomas Mann's novella Death in Venice and Ian McEwan's more recent book The Comfort of Strangers, I argue that both authors continue an ‘erotics of composition’—the historical practice of framing, ordering, and composing Venice in gendered, heterosexist terms—which bolsters a series of stereotypes about the licentious behavior of ‘Orientals’.
‘Urban Village’ or ‘White House’: Envisioned Spaces, Experienced Places, and Everyday Life at Kensal House, London in the 1930s
Authors: Llewellyn Mark
Published: March 2004

The aim in this paper is to consider several interweaving narratives on Kensal House, which was the first housing estate inspired by Modern architecture to be built in Britain, opening in 1936. The analysis focuses on the ways in which architectural theory and everyday life collided at Kensal House—which is situated in Ladbroke Grove, North Kensington, London—through a reading of the theories, ideas, and ideals of the designers of the spaces combined with the often neglected narrative of the intended users of these domestic environments, the first inhabitants of the block. The paper offers an analysis of Modern architecture from two contrasting yet often complementary standpoints, considering Kensal House both as an ‘urban village’, as the architects called it, and as the ‘white house’, as it became known by residents of North Kensington. Particular focus will be made on the ways in which people responded to the striking domestic modernities of these blocks. Whereas some conventional narratives seem to argue that the architects had an isolated set of views which were simplistically imposed on their consumers, the argument here is that the relationship was rather more blurred and messy, with a constant dialogue among the interested parties. The debates concerning these spaces are polyvocal, including many, often marginalised, voices in the historical narrative of Modern architecture. Consequently, what is produced here is a complex, and often contradictory, tale—a thick description of home.
Wetting and the physiological responses of grain-fed cattle in a heated environment
Authors: Gaughan John B. , Davis M. Shane , Mader Terry L.
Published: March 2004

A controlled crossover experimental design was used to determine the effect of altered water sprinkling duration on heifers subjected to heat stress conditions. Heifers were subjected to 3 days of thermoneutral conditions followed by 3 days of hot conditions accompanied by water sprinkling between 1300 and 1500 h (HOT1–3). Then on the following 2 days (HOT4–5), environmental conditions remained similar, but 3 heifers were sprinkled between 1200 and 1600 h (WET) and 3 were not sprinkled (NONWET). This was followed by a 1-day period (HOT6) in which environmental conditions and sprinkling regimen were similar to HOT1–3. Rectal temperature (RT) was collected hourly, and respiration rate (RR) was monitored every 2 h on HOT Days 2, 4, 5, and 6. Dry matter intake and rate of eating were also determined. Sprinkling reduced RR and RT (P < 0.01) of all heifers during HOT1–3. During HOT4–5, WET heifers had lower (P < 0.05) RT than NONWET from 1300 to 700 h and lower RR from 1400 to 2000 h. Dry matter intake of NONWET heifers was reduced by 30.6% (P < 0.05) during HOT4–5 and by 51.2% on HOT6. On HOT4–5 the dry matter intakes of WET heifers were similar to intakes under thermoneutral conditions. During HOT6, RT was again reduced following sprinkling in all heifers. Comparison of RT and RR of NONWET and WET heifers on HOT1–3 v. HOT6 revealed that under similar environmental conditions, NONWET heifers had increased RT, partially due to carry-over from HOT4–5. However, NONWET heifers had 40% lower feed intake but tended to have lower RR on HOT6 v. HOT1–3. Only RR of WET heifers was greater on HOT6, possibly a result of switching from a 4-h back to a 2-h sprinkling period, while maintaining a 62% greater intake (5.80 v. 3.58 kg/day) than NONWET heifers during this time. Results suggest that inconsistent cooling regimens may increase the susceptibility of cattle to heat stress and elicit different physiological and metabolic responses.
Seed dormancy, germination, seedling emergence, and survival of some temperate perennial pasture grasses in northern New South Wales
Authors: Lodge G. M.
Published: March 2004

A series of seed and seedling studies was undertaken in northern New South Wales for the temperate perennial grasses phalaris (Phalaris aquatica cv. Sirosa and Australian), tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea cv. Demeter), perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne cv. Kangaroo Valley), and 2 wallaby grasses (Austrodanthonia bipartita syn. Danthonia linkii cv. Bunderra and A. richardsonii syn. D. richardsonii cv. Taranna). Studies were conducted to determine the level of dormancy in freshly harvested seed and the time required to overcome it, effects of alternating daily temperatures on the germination of non-dormant seed, effect of time-of-sowing on seedling emergence (2 studies) and survival, levels of seed production and soil seedbanks, and the effect of litter cover and soil type on the emergence of Sirosa phalaris seedlings.Grass species, time, and their interaction all had a significant effect (P < 0.05) on both dispersal unit and caryopses germination. One month after harvest, germination of caryopses was lower (P < 0.05, 2 and 1%, respectively) for Taranna and Bunderra than for Sirosa (79.5%). In March 1993, germination of the 2 wallaby grasses was also lower (P < 0.05) than that of Sirosa. Dormancy of freshly harvested seeds of Sirosa was mainly associated with the structures surrounding the caryopses (7.7 v. 79.5% mean germination), but for Taranna and Bunderra it was related to physiological dormancy of the caryopses.Germination levels that were not significantly different to the maximum occurred for temperature ranges of 35/30–15/10�C [Sirosa (commercial)], 35/25–15/10�C (Australian phalaris), and 35/30–15/05�C (Kangaroo Valley ryegrass). In contrast, maximum germination of wallaby grasses only occurred for Taranna in the temperature range 25/20–20/10�C, and for Bunderra at 25/15 and 20/15�C.Seedling emergence in the field was episodic, occurring on only 3 occasions from 1993 to 1996. No seedlings of Sirosa phalaris, Demeter tall fescue, or Kangaroo Valley ryegrass were successfully recruited, but Taranna and Bunderra successfully recruited new plants from natural seedfalls. Whereas seed production of the perennial grasses studied was relatively high (~10 000 seed/m2 in 1992), soil seedbank levels were much lower (generally <1000 seeds/m2). These data were used to indicate the likely successful establishment of sown perennial grasses or by regeneration from natural seedfall.
The evaluation of the spatial and temporal stability of sugarcane farm performance based on yield and commercial cane sugar
Authors: Lawes R. A. , Wegener M. K. , Basford K. E. , Lawn R. J.
Published: March 2004

In broader catchment scale investigations, there is a need to understand and ultimately exploit the spatial variation of agricultural crops for an improved economic return. In many instances, this spatial variation is temporally unstable and may be different for various crop attributes and crop species. In the Australian sugar industry, the opportunity arose to evaluate the performance of 231 farms in the Tully Mill area in far north Queensland using production information on cane yield (t/ha) and CCS (a fresh weight measure of sucrose content in the cane) accumulated over a 12-year period. Such an arrangement of data can be expressed as a 3-way array where a farm × attribute × year matrix can be evaluated and interactions considered. Two multivariate techniques, the 3-way mixture method of clustering and the 3-mode principal component analysis, were employed to identify meaningful relationships between farms that performed similarly for both cane yield and CCS. In this context, farm has a spatial component and the aim of this analysis was to determine if systematic patterns in farm performance expressed by cane yield and CCS persisted over time. There was no spatial relationship between cane yield and CCS. However, the analysis revealed that the relationship between farms was remarkably stable from one year to the next for both attributes and there was some spatial aggregation of farm performance in parts of the mill area. This finding is important, since temporally consistent spatial variation may be exploited to improve regional production. Alternatively, the putative causes of the spatial variation may be explored to enhance the understanding of sugarcane production in the wet tropics of Australia.
Simulating the water balance of border-check irrigated pasture on a cracking soil
Authors: Bethune M. , Wang Q. J.
Published: March 2004

The irrigated dairy industry relies on perennial pasture and is a major user of water in the Murray–Darling Basin of Australia. The sustainability of the irrigated dairy industry is threatened by high watertables and land salinisation. Options to alleviate these problems by reducing deep drainage are required. This paper assesses the potential to use the simulation model 'SWAP' to appraise options for reducing deep drainage. Minor modifications were made to SWAP so that it could simulate border-check irrigated pasture on a cracking soil. The model was tested against lysimeter data describing the water balance of irrigated pasture. Evapotranspiration, runoff, infiltration, soil water storage and deep drainage were well simulated when infiltration through soil cracks was modelled using the physically based approached in SWAP. Large errors in evapotranspiration, infiltration, runoff, soil water storage and deep drainage occurred when the process of infiltration through cracks was not simulated. Slight improvements in model predictions were achieved by specifying monthly crop factors, as opposed to a constant annual crop factor. However, a constant annual crop factor should be sufficiently accurate for most studies of deep drainage under border-check irrigated pastures.
Options for management of saline groundwater in an irrigated farming system
Authors: Bethune M. , Gyles O. A. , Wang Q. J.
Published: March 2004

Groundwater pumping is used to control salinity problems in many irrigation regions of Australia. Options for managing the pumped groundwater are required to be consistent with achieving high farm production levels and minimising salt export from irrigation regions. In this study, pasture production and economic aspects of 6 options for managing pumped groundwater are compared. The 6 options include (i) complete farm reuse of pumped groundwater for irrigation; (ii) complete export to river system; (iii) complete disposal to evaporation basin; (iv) partial farm reuse with reduced salt export; (v) partial farm reuse with reduced disposal to evaporation basin; and (vi) partial farm reuse with disposal to a salt tolerant forage crop. The comparison between the 6 options is made for a hypothetical 100 ha dairy farm that has a perennial pasture based production system. Complete farm reuse was the most economic option in areas where groundwater salinity is low (<5 dS/m). Partial farm reuse with disposal of surplus groundwater to a salt tolerant forage species was the most economical option for managing higher salinity groundwater.
Estimating hydraulic parameters for a surface irrigation model from field conditions
Authors: Robertson D. , Wood M. , Wang Q. J.
Published: March 2004

Border-check irrigation is the most common method of irrigating pastures in Northern Victoria. To make the best use of a border-check irrigation system, consideration needs to be given to the irrigation schedule and irrigation event management. Surface irrigation models can provide an inexpensive and rapid method for identifying optimal irrigation event performance. The most common difficulty encountered when using surface irrigation models is determining appropriate hydraulic parameters. Two experiments were conducted to investigate the relationship between hydraulic parameters of the Analytical Irrigation Model and easily observable field conditions. The field experiments were performed at Tatura, Victoria, on 12 irrigation bays characterised by a Lemnos loam, a red duplex soil, sown to perennial pasture. For each experiment, 3 replicates of 4 treatments were applied. The first experiment found a linear relationship between field soil water deficit, approximated by crop water use less effective rainfall, and the initial infiltration depth. The second experiment found no relationship between pasture height and the model surface roughness parameter. An alternative to estimate the surface roughness parameter is suggested, which involves making an early observation of irrigation advance and solving for the unknown roughness parameter. The parameter estimation method developed in this paper can assist in improving the management of border-check irrigation on Lemnos loam soil, which covers about 125 000 hectares in the Goulburn Valley. However, field-testing of the approach on commercial farms and other soil types is required.
A lysimeter study of the water balance of border-check irrigated perennial pasture
Authors: Bethune M. , Wang Q. J.
Published: March 2004

The dairy industry is a major user of water in northern Victoria and southern New South Wales. Water is typically applied to pasture using the border-check irrigation system. The border-check system is largely gravity driven and thus energy efficient. However, deep drainage can potentially be high because the system allows only limited control over the depth of water applied in each irrigation event. For this reason, heavy soils are regarded as the most suitable for border-check irrigation. This study quantified net deep drainage (deep drainage less capillary rise) under border-check irrigated pasture on a Goulburn clay loam soil. Additionally, the study investigated the extent to which irrigation frequency and watertable conditions influence water use, dry matter production and deep drainage.
The water balance and dry matter production were monitored over 2.5 years in a lysimeter facility in northern Victoria. The Goulburn clay loam is representative of the heavier textured soils used for border-check irrigation of pasture in northern Victoria. The average measured net deep drainage was 4 mm/year. This indicates that relatively small levels of net deep drainage can be achieved under well-managed border-check irrigation on a Goulburn clay loam soil. Net deep drainage losses were greatest following winter, when rainfall exceeded pasture water use for an extended period. Increasing the interval between irrigation events resulted in reduced plant water use, infiltration of irrigation water, rainfall runoff and pasture production. However, increasing the interval did not impact on net deep drainage or water use efficiency. Depth of watertable had a relatively minor impact on the water balance.
Temporal linkage between the phenotypic and genomic responses to caloric restriction
Authors: Dhahbi Joseph M. , Kim Hyon-Jeen , Mote Patricia L. , Beaver Robert J. , Spindler Stephen R.
Published: March 2004

Caloric restriction (CR), the consumption of fewer calories while avoiding malnutrition, decelerates the rate of aging and the development of age-related diseases. CR has been viewed as less effective in older animals and as acting incrementally to slow or prevent age-related changes in gene expression. Here we demonstrate that CR initiated in 19-month-old mice begins within 2 months to increase the mean time to death by 42% and increase mean and maximum lifespans by 4.7 (
P
= 0.000017) and 6.0 months (
P
= 0.000056), respectively. The rate of age-associated mortality was decreased 3.1-fold. Between the first and second breakpoints in the CR survival curve (between 21 and 31 months of age), tumors as a cause of death decreased from 80% to 67% (
P
= 0.012). Genome-wide microarray analysis of hepatic RNA from old control mice switched to CR for 2, 4, and 8 weeks showed a rapid and progressive shift toward the gene expression profile produced by long-term CR. This shift took place in the time frame required to induce the health and longevity effects of CR. Shifting from long-term CR to a control diet, which returns animals to the control rate of aging, reversed 90% of the gene expression effects of long-term CR within 8 weeks. These results suggest a cause-and-effect relationship between the rate of aging and the CR-associated gene expression biomarkers. Therefore, therapeutics mimicking the gene-expression biomarkers of CR may reproduce its physiological effects.
Complex molecular architecture of beet yellows virus particles
Authors: Peremyslov Valera V. , Andreev Igor A. , Prokhnevsky Alexey I. , Duncan George H. , Taliansky Michael E. , Dolja Valerian V.
Published: March 2004

Closteroviruses possess exceptionally long filamentous virus particles that mediate protection and active transport of the genomic RNA within infected plants. These virions are composed of a long “body” and short “tail” whose principal components are the major and minor capsid proteins, respectively. Here we use biochemical, genetic, and ultrastructural analyses to dissect the molecular composition and architecture of particles of beet yellows virus, a closterovirus. We demonstrate that the virion tails encapsidate the 5′-terminal, ≈650-nt-long, part of the viral RNA. In addition to the minor capsid protein, the viral Hsp70-homolog, 64-kDa protein, and 20-kDa protein are also incorporated into the virion tail. Atomic force microscopy of virions revealed that the tail possesses a striking, segmented morphology with the tip segment probably being built of 20-kDa protein. The unexpectedly complex structure of closterovirus virions has important mechanistic and functional implications that may also apply to other virus families.
Surfactant protein secreted by the maturing mouse fetal lung acts as a hormone that signals the initiation of parturition
Authors: Condon Jennifer C. , Jeyasuria Pancharatnam , Faust Julie M. , Mendelson Carole R.
Published: March 2004

Parturition is timed to begin only after the developing embryo is sufficiently mature to survive outside the womb. It has been postulated that the signal for the initiation of parturition arises from the fetus although the nature and source of this signal remain obscure. Herein, we provide evidence that this signal originates from the maturing fetal lung. In the mouse, secretion of the major lung surfactant protein, surfactant protein A (SP-A), was first detected in amniotic fluid (AF) at 17 days postcoitum, rising progressively to term (19 days postcoitum). Expression of IL-1β in AF macrophages and activation of NF-κB in the maternal uterus increased with the gestational increase in SP-A. SP-A stimulated IL-1β and NF-κB expression in cultured AF macrophages. Studies using
Rosa 26 Lac-Z
(B6;129S-Gt(rosa)26Sor) (
Lac-Z
) mice revealed that fetal AF macrophages migrate to the uterus with the gestational increase in AF SP-A. Intraamniotic (i.a.) injection of SP-A caused preterm delivery of fetuses within 6-24 h. By contrast, injection of an SP-A antibody or NF-κB inhibitor into AF delayed labor by >24 h. We propose that augmented production of SP-A by the fetal lung near term causes activation and migration of fetal AF macrophages to the maternal uterus, where increased production of IL-1β activates NF-κB, leading to labor. We have revealed a response pathway that ties augmented surfactant production by the maturing fetal lung to the initiation of labor. We suggest that SP-A secreted by the fetal lung serves as a hormone of parturition.
The Origins of Compulsory Arbitration in Western Australia
Authors: Plowman David H. , Calkin Genevieve
Published: March 2004

Western Australia was the first of the Australian states to legislate for compulsory arbitration. It did so in 1900. The paper presented here examines the paradox of this legislation. It was passed through an Upper House in which employers, who opposed the Bill, decided not to kill the legislation as had happened in other states. Instead, they so amended the Bill that the resultant Act proved inoperable. This Westralian legislation challenges some of the explanations offered for the introduction of compulsory arbitration in other states. Sweating was not an issue in Western Australia—at least not for those who were the intended beneficiaries of the Act. Voluntary arbitration had been tried, and unlike the experience in other parts of Australia, it had proved successful. This would suggest that there was no need to bypass the ad hoc, informal and voluntary dispute settlement system that had been employed. Employers, claimed by some as the architects of compulsion in the eastern states, did not initiate the Westralian legislation and opposed it. In contrast, unions, also claimed as the source of arbitration legislation, were in their embryonic stage and did not have the capacity to directly affect legislation. The same could be said of labour’s political wing. There was only one Labor member of the Lower House when the legislation was passed. Thus, Labor had little scope to support the legislation or to affect its form. The role of ‘liberals’, which has been seen as an important ingredient in arbitration in other states, was small and insufficient to affect outcomes in the Western Australian parliament. It is contended that a conflux of local factors explains the origins of compulsory arbitration legislation in WA. The first was political expediency that enabled Western Australia’s long-time premier to maintain office and thus secure a role in the first Australian parliament. The second was the need to modernise the state’s employment laws to take account of the collective activities that had increasingly accompanied employment relations since the early 1890s. The third factor was employers’ capacity to reduce the effectiveness of the compulsory elements of the legislation and to use it to chloroform unions.
Mandarins, Ministers and the Bar on Married Women
Authors: Sheridan Tom , Stretton Pat
Published: March 2004

Until November 1966 clauses in the Public Service Act prevented married women from being permanent employees in the Commonwealth Public Service (or in State public services outside of NSW). Examination of National Archives records reveals that removal of the marriage bar was a much more complicated process than hither to generally realised. Study of the pursuit of its removal over an eight-year period through two Inter-departmental Committees, a Permanent Heads Committee, a Cabinet Committee and through three formal submissions to Cabinet itself casts an interesting light on the interface between the varying goals of centralised public sector management and the political criteria and ambitions of its political masters. In the period before second-wave feminism reached Australia organised labour had various axes to grind—often hidden, sometimes conflicting. At all times macroeconomic currents were at least as persuasive as social preconditioning.
Employees’ Choice of Superannuation Plan: Effects of Risk Transfer Costs
Authors: Brown Kerry , Gallery Gerry , Gallery Natalie , Guest Ross
Published: March 2004

Consistent with a worldwide trend away from defined benefits towards accumulation benefits, many Australian employers, who traditionally offered their workers defined superannuation benefits, are closing their defined benefit plans to new members and/or offering existing members the option of transferring to an accumulation plan. There has also been a push to allow members greater choice in terms of both funds and investments. Against this background, the Superannuation Scheme for Australian Universities (SSAU) made an offer to its members in 1998 to transfer from the defined benefit section to an accumulation-style plan. Their position was that the choice of fund for employees should be a matter for the employer and the employees at the workplace or their respective representative organisations. At the conclusion of the offer period only one-third of SSAU members had elected to transfer to the Investment Choice Plan (ICP). This study seeks to explain why the majority of SSAU members chose to remain in the Defined Benefit Plan when offered the option of transferring to the accumulation-style ICP. We propose that ‘risk transfer costs’ explain the low ICP acceptance rate. Research findings show that both those who chose to stay in the Defined Benefit Plan (DBP) and those who elected to transfer to the ICP were prepared to accept trade-offs in their choice. DBP members were prepared to forego a higher quantum of expected benefits for greater security of benefits expected in the DBP, whereas the ICP members were prepared to forego such security and accepted higher investment risk in return for a higher expected quantum and greater control over their benefits. Differences in financial proficiency and differences across academic disciplines confirm that risk transfer costs were a key reason why the majority of SSAU members rejected the ICP choice. Important implications arising from this study include the need for greater transparency of the risk transfer costs involved in offers of benefit structure change, such as that offered by the SSAU, and the need to incorporate compensation for such costs into the offer. Cognizance also needs to be taken of the major risk transfer cost of becoming informed about superannuation and the consequences of such costs for the government’s intentions to mandate superannuation fund choice for all Australian workers.
Immunoglobulin V‐Lambda Transcription Profiling of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Patients Reveals Biased Usage of Genes Located Near the Jλ–Cλ Segments
Authors: Trevisan G. L. , Tamia‐Ferreira M. C. , Junta C. M. , Passos G. A. S.
Published: March 2004

To evaluate the distribution of usage and to quantify the transcription levels of the immunoglobulin lambda variable (IGLV) genes in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and normal individuals (NIs), cDNA samples from peripheral blood lymphocytes were prepared and probed with IGLV‐specific oligonucleotides. Because recombinations involving V‐lambda pseudogenes are nonproductive, we analysed the IGLV productive repertoire, as cDNAs were copied from IGLV mRNA producing B lymphocytes. Increased expression of the IGLV8a gene in SLE led us to analyse the transcription levels of all IGLV genes.

We developed an expression profiling approach to scan the entire V‐lambda locus on chromosome 22q11.2. The transcription profiling showed that usually the V‐lambda genes located near the Jλ–Cλ cluster were preferentially expressed in both groups, i.e. patients and NIs, with the expression levels of SLE patients being significantly higher.

However, genes displaying peaks of expression independent of Jλ–Cλ cluster proximity were observed along the IGLV locus. Our data permit us to conclude that there are differences in V‐lambda gene expression between SLE patients and NIs, and a preferential usage of genes located near the Jλ–Cλ cluster. The data also demonstrate the occurrence of Vλ–Jλ–Cλ‐productive recombinations independent of gene localization along the locus.
Regulation of Pituitary Corticotropin Releasing Factor Type‐1 Receptor mRNA Binding Proteins by Modulation of the Hypothalamic‐Pituitary‐Adrenal Axis
Authors: Wu Z. , Ji H. , Hassan A. , Aguilera G. , Sandberg K.
Published: March 2004

Long‐term adrenalectomy (ADX) is associated with marked down‐regulation of pituitary corticotropin releasing factor type‐1 receptors (CRF‐R1) but normal CRF‐R1 mRNA levels, suggesting that regulation of receptor levels occurs at post‐transcriptional sites. We have reported that adrenal cytosolic proteins, which bind to cis elements in the 5′ leader sequence (5′LS) of the rat angiotensin II type 1a receptor (AT1aR) mRNA, participate in the regulation of AT1aR density by inhibiting AT1aR mRNA translation. In this study, we examined anterior pituitary cytosolic proteins that form RNA protein complexes (RPC) with the 5′LS of the CRF‐R1 and the AT1aR. Competition studies and ultraviolet‐crosslinking analysis suggest that formation of CRF‐R1 and AT1aR 5′LS RPC require at least some proteins that are common to both receptor mRNAs. Pituitaries isolated from male Sprague‐Dawley rats six days after ADX showed significant (P < 0.05) increases of 2.9‐fold in CRF‐R1 5′LS RNA binding protein (BP) activity compared to pituitaries from sham‐operated rats; this effect of ADX was prevented by glucocorticoid replacement. By contrast, no differences in the number of pituitary AT1aR binding sites or pituitary AT1aR 5′LS BP activity were observed between sham and ADX rats, indicating that the effect of ADX on RPC formation was specific for CRF‐R1 mRNA. Addition of pituitary cytosolic extracts inhibited in vitro translation of CRF‐R1 mRNA by 79% under conditions that had no significant effects on the translation of a control mRNA. The data suggest that CRF‐R1 translation is regulated by modulation of the HPA axis through pituitary cytosolic proteins binding to the CRF‐R1 5′LS.
Regulation of Slo Potassium Channel Alternative Splicing in the Pituitary by Gonadal Testosterone
Authors: Mahmoud S. F. , McCobb D. P.
Published: March 2004

Slo gene‐encoded BK potassium channels are prominent in both adrenomedullary and pituitary tissues. At one alternative splicing site, both tissues express variants with and without the optional ‘STREX’ exon. In adrenal chromaffin cells, this splicing choice, which has important ramifications for cell excitability, has been shown to be regulated by steroid hormones, including glucocorticoids and adrenal androgens. Moreover, striking sex differences are seen between male and female tree shrews. Here, we test the hypothesis that gonadal testosterone regulates splicing in these tissues. No significant sex differences were found in rats, in either adrenals or pituitaries. In the adrenal medulla, prepubertal castration in male rats increased the relative abundance of STREX transcripts slightly, but not significantly, as measured several weeks after puberty. However, castration substantially decreased STREX representation in the rat pituitary. Silastic implants of testosterone inserted at castration prevented this STREX decline. In postpubescent males, castration or T implants had less effect. Thus, we report (i) steroidal regulation of Slo splicing in the pituitary and (ii) participation of the male gonads in this regulation.
Characterization of the cortisol response following an acute challenge with lipopolysaccharide in yellow perch and the influence of rearing density
Authors: Haukenes A. H. , Barton B. A.
Published: March 2004

Two experiments were performed to characterize the corticosteroid response of yellow perch Perca flavescens following an intraperitoneal injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and determine if sustained differences in rearing density alter this response. In the first experiment, yellow perch were injected with LPS (3 mg kg−1), saline, or handled without receiving any injection. Concentrations of cortisol in plasma were elevated in all groups relative to non‐disturbed fish at 1·5 and 3 h after handling but by 6 h after injection the mean concentration of cortisol in plasma from LPS‐injected yellow perch were three to five times higher than fish before injection and significantly larger than groups of fish not treated with LPS. In the second test, yellow perch were held at different rearing densities (9 v. 18‐19 kg m−3) for 3, 7 and 14 days before injection with LPS (3 mg kg−1). The cortisol response of yellow perch following LPS injection of fish held for 14 days at high density was significantly lower than that of fish held at the low density for the same duration. Additionally a trend of a decreased cortisol response to LPS injection as duration of holding increased was observed among fish held at high density relative to fish held at low density. These data illustrate that the corticosteroid response of yellow perch following LPS injection is distinct from handling alone and that the magnitude of the response is impacted by rearing density.
Reproductive biology of the rosylip sculpin, an intertidal spawner
Authors: Petersen C. W. , Zarrella K. A. , Ruben C. A. , Mazzoldi C.
Published: March 2004

Rosylip sculpin Ascelichthys rhodorus spawned in the intertidal during the winter in the north‐eastern Pacific. Large numbers of males typically congregated at spawning sites, where females deposited clutches. The mating system of this species was external fertilization and group spawning at specific oviposition sites under boulders in the intertidal, and no alternative male mating strategies. Males were abundant at sites while oviposition was occurring, and most abandoned the sites as spawning tapered off seasonally despite the presence of developing clutches. Experimental removal of males from sites suggested that males provided some short‐term benefits to clutches, with catastrophic loss of clutches significantly lower when males were present. The large number of males at an oviposition site and histological evidence indicating high sperm production and storage of sperm prior to release suggest a high level of sperm competition in this species. This spawning pattern appears to differ in substantial ways from any other reported fish mating system.
A comparison of the maturation and growth of female flathead sole in the central Gulf of Alaska and south‐eastern Bering Sea
Authors: Stark J. W.
Published: March 2004

Female flathead sole Hippoglossoides elassodon maturity appears not to be area dependent since the total length (LT) at which 50% were mature (LT50) was similar for the central Gulf of Alaska (333 mm) and south‐eastern Bering Sea (320 mm) areas. Likewise the age at which 50% were mature (A50) was similar in the south‐eastern Bering Sea (9·7 years) and central Gulf of Alaska (8·7 years). The timing of female flathead sole spawning may also be similar between areas. Batch or serial spawning was indicated for flathead sole. Female flathead sole grew at a similar rate in both the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea. In contrast, males grew faster in the Bering Sea than in the Gulf of Alaska. Males grew more slowly than females in both areas after 5 years of age, and reached a smaller maximum LT. The growth of both sexes was similar during 1993 and 1996 in the Gulf of Alaska.
Field evaluation of a sound system to reduce estuarine fish intake rates at a power plant cooling water inlet
Authors: Maes J. , Turnpenny A. W. H. , Lambert D. R. , Nedwell J. R. , Parmentier A. , Ollevier F.
Published: March 2004

An acoustic deterrent system producing 20–600 Hz sound was used to repel estuarine fishes away from a power station cooling water inlet. During sound emission, total fish impingement decreased by 60%. The avoidance response varied among species from no effect to highly efficient deflection. Lampetra fluviatilis and Pleuronectiformes were less affected by the sound system while the deflection of clupeoid species was particularly effective. Average intake rates of Clupea harengus and Sprattus sprattus decreased by 94·7 and 87·9%, respectively. The results were explained as a function of species‐specific differences in hearing ability and swimming performance. In general, species without swimbladders showed no or a moderate response while intake rates of species with accessory structures increasing the hearing abilities, such as a swimbladder or a functional connection between the swimbladder and the inner ear, were significantly reduced during test periods.
Conditioning of stress in Nile tilapia
Authors: Moreira P. S. A. , Volpato G. L.
Published: March 2004

A Pavlovian conditioning paradigm was used to induce a connection between a conditioned stimulus, light (CS), associated with an unconditioned stimulus, confinement (US) in Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus, which resulted in a conditioned endocrine response (CR) to the CS alone manifested as an increase in plasma cortisol. Individual isolated Nile tilapia were submitted for 10 days to the conditioning treatment consisting of turning on a light (CS) for 1 min with subsequent 30 min confinement (US). On the 10th day of the experiment, plasma cortisol was not increased when fish were subjected to no handling at all, or only light, or even a daily stressor for the 9 days. On the other hand, at the 10th day cortisol was significantly increased only when light was presented either with or without pairing with the stressor. These results confirmed that the cue, light (CS), was not stressful in itself, but when given as the CS in the absence of the US post conditioning the hypothalamus–pituitary–interrenal axis was activated. Therefore, it was concluded that memory of a previous experience with a stressor can be recalled by a conditioned stimulus and induce stress, which is the first demonstration of a memory‐induced stress in fishes.
Inter‐individual differences in rates of routine energy loss and growth in young‐of‐the‐year juvenile Atlantic cod
Authors: Peck M. A. , Buckley L. J. , Bengtson D. A.
Published: March 2004

Inter‐individual differences in rates of routine (non‐feeding) metabolism and growth were evaluated in young‐of‐the‐year (YOY) juvenile Atlantic cod Gadus morhua. Rates of O2 consumption, CO2 production and ammonia (TAN) excretion were measured in 64, 25–43 mm standard length (LS) YOY growing at different rates (0·27–0·47 mm day−1) in a common rearing tank. Parameter rates (y) increased allometrically (y = a·Mb) with increasing body mass (M) with b‐values for O2 production, CO2 consumption and TAN excretion equal to 0·81, 0·89 and 0·56, respectively. In some cases, residuals from these regressions were significantly negatively correlated to fish growth rate. In no cases did residuals of parameter rates increase with increasing growth rate. These data suggest that, during unfed periods, relatively fast‐growing fish were more metabolically efficient than slower‐growing fish from the same cohort. The fish condition factor, derived from , also significantly decreased with increasing growth rate. Results indicated differences in both the rates of routine energy loss and the patterns of growth allocation among YOY Atlantic cod. Since these physiological attributes were positively correlated with growth rate, they may be indicative of ‘survivors’ in field populations.
Asymmetry in sexual development of gonads in intersex rainbow trout
Authors: Quillet E. , Labbe L. , Queau I.
Published: March 2004

Large‐scale sampling of spontaneous rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss intersexes indicated a strong asymmetry of gonad differentiation in XX females; the right gonad was more sensitive to the mutation‐induced masculinization than the left one.