bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
In Defence of the CISG
Authors: Kee Christopher , Munoz Edgardo
Published: April 2016

In this article, the authors respond to certain criticisms made against the 1980 Vienna Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (the ‘CISG’) and explain what they perceive as the shortcomings of, and impediments to, a particular model of a proposed new global code. A goal of both the CISG and the proposed global code is to create an environment which promotes international trade. Predictability in the law is a fundamental element to achieve such an environment. The CISG has been criticised as failing to provide such predictability. It has been suggested that it has not been uniformly interpreted, contains internal inconsistencies and allows countries to establish varying mini-codes. While there may be some merit in some of these criticisms there is also much that is overstated and wrong. The CISG may not be a perfect instrument. However, it has been widely accepted and that alone makes it a strong basis from which to develop. A global code applied with absolute uniformity throughout the world might provide predictability. However, such a uniform law is unrealistic and, in any event, undesirable. The authors propose a more realistic solution. The law should be the framework upon which individually nuanced contracts could be built. Predictability is obtained by developing and establishing avenues of communication. It is also obtained by developing and establishing means of explaining and understanding the concepts upon which the framework has been built. The CISG allows for all of this.
Symposium Introduction - Food Law: Challenges and Future Directions
Authors: Freckelton Ian
Published: April 2016

Food law, viewed in historical context, through the lens of recent human rights instruments, and in the glare of modern globalisation, is necessarily international. However, as yet international approaches toward trade restrictions and tariffs, provision of aid, processes to regulate the growing,
sale, contamination, labelling and distribution of food, as well as crop production are substantially at variance. So too are legal responses, including criminal liability, coronial inquests and the civil liability of regulators. However, there is much to be said for better discourse about such matters at an international level through an International Association
of Food Law and Policy in order to explore the potential to reduce inconsistencies, based upon scientific approaches to health and safety and the creation of coherent approaches to what are essentially transnational dilemmas.
Protecting Legal Rights when Things Go Wrong: Legal Recourse if Mandatory Fortification of a Food Were To Harm Human Health
Authors: Lederman Joe
Published: April 2016

Food laws can encompass considerations that extend beyond food safety. The recent food standard mandating the fortification of flour with folic acid in Australia illustrates the legal problems and legal risks when governments
introduce food standards that aim to medicinalise the population through the food supply despite a lack of scientific consensus. Legal analysis of the process by which the folic acid fortification was introduced into flour in Australia demonstrates legal inadequacies, administrative and policy
failures, as well as flaws in safety assumptions. An analysis of the restrictions on legal rights and remedies for any adversely affected consumers seeking legal redress, and the existence of statutory immunities for governments, demonstrates a need for legal reform and changes in policy development processes.
Recruitment and Retention of Community Sector Lawyers: Regional Differences within New South Wales
Authors: Cain Michael , Forrell Suzie
Published: April 2016

The Aboriginal Legal Service, Community Legal Centres, Legal Aid NSW and private solicitors undertaking legal aid work all have a role in meeting the legal needs of disadvantaged communities in rural, regional and remote (RRR) parts of NSW. Yet there are reports that staff shortages are affecting the capacity of these services to perform this work — in some areas more than others. In order to gain a ‘snapshot’ of solicitor availability in RRR areas and to assess any regional differences in their availability to undertake community sector legal work in NSW, the Law and Justice Foundation of NSW has undertaken a census of all public legal assistance positions in NSW. The study examined whether the positions were filled or vacant, how they were filled, and the length of time that they were filled (or vacant). The research also drew upon data from the NSW Law Society and the three main public legal services in NSW to map solicitor availability across NSW against a range of indicators, including socio-economic disadvantage. In addition, interviews were conducted with solicitors working in (and who had left) ‘hard to staff’ areas with a view to better understanding differences in the recruitment and retention of solicitors across RRR areas of NSW. The major findings of the Foundation’s full research report are discussed in this paper.
The UN 'Norms on the Responsibility of Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises with Regard to Human Rights': A Requiem
Authors: Miretski Pini Pavel , Bachmann Sascha-Dominik
Published: April 2016

On 11 June 2011, the United Nations Human Rights Council endorsed the ‘Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights’ as a new set of guiding principles for global business designed to provide a global standard for preventing and addressing the risk of adverse impacts on human rights linked to business activity. This outcome was preceded by an earlier unsuccessful attempt by a Sub-Commission of the UN Commission on Human Rights to win approval for a set of binding corporate human rights norms, the so called ‘Norms on the Responsibilities of Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises with Regard to Human Rights’. This article identifies and discusses the reasons why the Norms eventually failed to win approval by the then UN Commission on Human Rights. This discussion assists an understanding of the difficulties in establishing binding ‘hard law’ obligations for transnational corporations with regard to human rights within the wider framework of international law. It elucidates the possible motives as well as the underlying rationale which led first to the adoption and then the rapid abandoning of the Norms. The discussion also sheds light on the future of the voluntarism of business human rights compliance, on the likelihood of finding alternative solutions, and finally on the rationale for, and effect of, the ‘Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights’.
Defining and Describing What We Do: Doctrinal Legal Research
Authors: Hutchinson Terry , Duncan Nigel
Published: April 2016

The practitioner lawyer of the past had little need to reflect on process. The doctrinal research methodology developed intuitively within the common law — a research method at the core of practice. There was no need to justify or classify it within a broader research framework. Modern academic lawyers are facing a different situation. At a time when competition for limited research funds is becoming more intense, and in which interdisciplinary work is highly valued and non-lawyers are involved in the assessment of grant applications, lawyer-applicants who engage in doctrinal research need to be able to explain their methodology more clearly. Doctrinal scholars need to be more open and articulate about their methods. These methods may be different in different contexts. This paper examines the doctrinal method used in legal research and its place in recent research dialogue. Some commentators are of the view that the doctrinal method is simply scholarship rather than a separate research methodology. Richard Posner even suggests that law is ‘not a field with a distinct methodology, but an amalgam of applied logic, rhetoric, economics and familiarity with a specialized vocabulary and a particular body of texts, practices, and institutions ...’.1 Therefore, academic lawyers are beginning to realise that the doctrinal research methodology needs clarification for those outside the legal profession and that a discussion about the standing and place of doctrinal research compared to other methodologies is required.
Reforming the Remedy: Getting the Right Remedial Structure to Protect Personal Privacy
Authors: Petrie Nicholas
Published: April 2016

Politicians, journalists and academics have exhausted many hours over the last decade debating the question of whether Australia should have a statutory cause of action for invasion of personal privacy. In the midst of this ongoing debate, a simple question has often been overlooked: what remedies should be available to a person whose privacy been breached? In posing and answering that question, it is argued that a wide range of remedies for intrusions of personal privacy should be available to the courts. Perhaps most controversially, the author asserts that exemplary damages, which aim to punish defendants and deter future breaches of the law, should be available for the most heinous breaches of personal privacy.
Music Mash-Ups: The Current Australian Copyright Implications, Moral Rights and Fair Dealing in the Remix Era
Authors: Potter Wellett
Published: April 2016

This article discusses the likely Australian copyright implications of an increasingly popular form of digital music expression: the music mash-up, a majority of which are created from pre-existing audio/sound recordings and video without permission of the copyright owner. In examining this issue, the analysis of the courts in the recent Larrikin music copyright infringement cases are examined. Consideration of the implications of music mash-up creation to moral rights is also considered. In the hypothetical scenario that a music mash-up artist is accused of copyright infringement, consideration is given as to the likely outcome of the application of the fair dealing exceptions under the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). Finally, a suggestion is made as to the direction of future law reform in this area.
An Elegy for Greg Ham: Copyright Law, the Kookaburra Case, and Remix Culture
Authors: Rimmer Matthew
Published: April 2016

The Kookaburra case was a tragic and controversial copyright dispute, highlighting the need for copyright law reform by the Australian Parliament. In this case, a copyright action was brought by Larrikin Records against Men at Work, alleging copyright infringement by Down Under of the Kookaburra song composed by Marion Sinclair. The dispute raised a host of doctrinal matters. There was disquiet over the length of the copyright term. There were fierce contests as to the copyright ownership of the Kookaburra song. The litigation raised questions about copyright infringement and substantiality — particularly in relation to musical works. The case highlighted frailties in Australia’s regime of copyright exceptions. The litigation should spur the Australian Law Reform Commission to make recommendations for law reform in its inquiry, Copyright and the Digital Economy. This paper provides a critical evaluation of the options of a defence for transformative use; a defence for fair use; and statutory licensing. The paper also examines the question of appropriate remedies in respect of copyright infringement. The conclusion considers the implications of the Kookaburra case for other forms of musical works — including digital sampling, mash-ups, and creative remixes. It finishes with an elegy for Greg Ham — paying tribute to the multi-instrumentalist for Men at Work.
The Novel as Social Satire: 60 Years Later, The Wind Done Gone and the Limitations of Fair Use
Authors: Thampapillai Dilan
Published: April 2016

The absence of the doctrine of fair use from Australian copyright law has been a bone of contention in Australia after the Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement (FTA). As the Australian government reformed the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) in the aftermath of the FTA it eschewed the option of adopting fair use. Instead, Australia chose to incorporate a version of fair use into its existing fair dealing framework. Accordingly, the Copyright Amendment Act 2006 (Cth) inserted ss 41A and 103AA into the Copyright Act. These provisions provide that a fair dealing with a copyright protected work does not constitute an infringement if it is done for the purposes of parody or satire. These provisions codify part of the ratio of the United States Supreme Court in the seminal case of Campbell v Acuff Rose Music. However, the parameters of these new provisions are unexplored and the sparse nature of fair dealing jurisprudence means that the true meaning of the provisions is unclear. Moreover, two cases from the United States, SunTrust Bank v Houghton Mifflin and Salinger v Colting, underline just how important it is to have legal rules that protect literary ‘re-writes’. Both cases involved authors using an original novel to ‘write back’ to the original author and the broader culture. ‘Writing back’ or the ‘re-write’ has a firm basis in literature. It adds something invaluable to our culture. The key question is whether our legal landscape can allow it to flourish. This paper examines the interaction between fair use and literary re-writes.
Police Bargaining Disputes and Third-Party Intervention in Australia: Which Way Forward?
Authors: Carabetta Giuseppe
Published: April 2016

The essential duties that police officers perform, and the absence of a right to strike, creates the need for an effective, impartial procedure for the resolution of bargaining disputes. This article argues that, with the shift of focus under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) to good-faith bargaining, police officers have been left without an effective dispute resolution mechanism, partly because of the limitations on arbitration but also because of uncertainties surrounding the scope of the ‘protected action’ provisions of the Act for police officers. Following a review of police pay-setting arrangements in comparable jurisdictions, this article examines and proposes options for an alternative model, including a mandatory ‘final-offer’ arbitration (‘FOA’) model as used for police bargaining in Canada, New Zealand and the United States. Research shows that — aside from providing an effective closure mechanism for bargaining disputes where strikes or lock-outs are unavailable — mandatory FOA offers a range of benefits to police bargaining, and could provide an ideal ‘fit’ for the current bargaining-centred system. The article’s findings are of significance not only to police officers, but to all emergency services workers covered by the Fair Work bargaining regime.
Intellectual Property, Business and China: Taking a Stand
Authors: Menzies Jane , Xynas Lydia , Orr Stuart , Chung Mona
Published: April 2016

Over the last 40 years, China has developed laws for the protection of intellectual property rights. Unfortunately, these laws have not been uniformly enforced, making such protection problematic for Australian and other foreign organisations wishing to do business in China. This article first scrutinises the current Chinese laws covering intellectual property protection. It then examines the outcomes of a qualitative study that addressed intellectual property protection issues faced by selected Australian organisations conducting business with Chinese counterparts located in China. Forty Australian business managers/owners from Australian companies having business relationships with Chinese firms were interviewed for this study. The findings show that protection issues are only relevant to certain types of businesses that have intellectual property to protect. Nevertheless, a number of the managers/owners interviewed believed that infringement threats were real and inevitable in China, and some had even experienced cases of copying. The study found that, despite such concerns, there was little evidence of organisations taking proactive and positive steps to adequately protect their intellectual property. In order to address this, the authors of this article have developed a protection strategy that incorporates the use of the law, together with firms’ organisational designs, so that foreign firms can protect their rights when interacting with the Chinese market.
Litigiousness in Australia: Lessons from Comparative Law
Authors: Wolff Leon
Published: April 2016

How litigious are Australians? Although quantitative studies have comprehensively debunked the fear of an Australian civil justice system in crisis, the literature has yet to address the qualitative public policy question of whether Australians are under- or over-using the legal system to resolve their disputes. On one view, expressed by the insurance industry, the mass media and prominent members of the judiciary, Australia is moving towards an American-style hyper-litigiousness. By contrast, Australian popular culture paints the typical Australian as culturally averse to formal rights assertion. This article explores the comparative law literature on litigiousness in two jurisdictions that have attracted significant scholarly attention — the United States and Japan. More specifically, it seeks to draw lessons from this literature for both understanding litigiousness in modern Australia and framing future research projects on the issue.
Bearing the Economic Loss of Industrial Action: The Payment of Striking Employees under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth)
Authors: Wheelwright Karen
Published: April 2016

This article aims to elucidate the legal principles governing the right of striking employees in Australia to payment during periods of industrial action. It explains briefly the common law antecedents to the strike pay provisions of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) and discusses in detail a number of decisions that interpret those provisions, including the recent High Court decision in CFMEU v Mammoet, which held that the prohibition on payments to employees who take protected industrial action is confined to the withholding of wages and does not permit employers to withhold other benefits, such as employer-sponsored accommodation. The article argues that, whilst the High Court decision provides a welcome clarification, there is a need for further judicial clarification of the partial work ban provisions in particular. The article discusses the assertions that the Fair Work Act provisions are overly prescriptive and the reasons for this, and suggests that they are unlikely to be relaxed in the current political climate.
The Evolution of Lawyers' Professional Identity: The Contribution of the ADR in Legal Education
Authors: Douglas Kathy
Published: April 2016

Alternative or Appropriate Dispute Resolution (‘ADR’) is a crucial area for lawyers to understand in order to engage in present day legal practice. ADR is now common in courts and the community and is supported by legal policy at both federal and state levels. Learning about ADR can contribute to the moulding of law students’ professional identity so that they are better able to engage in commonly used processes such as negotiation and mediation. This article discusses research into the teaching of ADR in legal education. It draws on a project where the teaching of ADR was researched in depth to examine the content and pedagogy of this area of the legal curriculum. The article argues that ADR is an important part of legal education as it can assist law students to develop non-adversarial, holistic approaches to legal problem-solving.
A Case From Australia's War Crimes Trials: Lieutenant-General Nishimura, 1950
Authors: Lee Lisa
Published: April 2016

In the aftermath of World War II, Australia undertook domestic trials of suspected Japanese war criminals between 1945 and 1951. This article focuses on Australia’s war crimes trial of Lieutenant-General Nishimura as held at the Los Negros court in mid-June 1950, and the subsequent petitioning period and confirmation process. The Australian war crimes courts were military courts vested with broad discretionary powers that facilitated the expeditious trials of accused. The procedure of war crimes courts differed from that of field general courts-martial in two main areas: admissible evidence and sentencing range — and this article highlights concomitant problems arising during the trial and subsequent case on review. This article examines the prosecution of the case entirely on documentary evidence; the impact of low admissibility thresholds for evidence; issues regarding the voluntariness and reliability of witness evidence; and the option of capital punishment in the Nishimura trial.
Sexuality Law Reform and the Language of Progress: What lies behind statements that equality for lesbian and gay people is inevitable
Authors: Blore Kent
Published: April 2016

Equality for lesbian and gay people is increasingly being treated as inevitable. This article questions this sense of inevitability by exploring three possible explanations: (1) a cynical explanation that the language of inevitability is being used as a rhetorical device, (2) a mechanical explanation that the impending equality is an effect of prior causes in time, and (3) a teleological explanation that history is progressing towards its purpose of achieving equality. The article concludes that invocations of inevitability do not stand up to theoretical scrutiny and explores what options are then open to equality activists.
Assessing Loss Dependent upon Hypothetical Past Events
Authors: Harder Sirko
Published: April 2016

The assessment of loss allegedly caused by a civil wrong depends upon what would have happened but for the wrong. Where this cannot be resolved with certainty, the plaintiff’s loss must be assessed either on the balance of probabilities according to the more likely hypothesis (all or nothing), or by reference to the degree of probability that an event would have occurred but for the defendant’s wrong (partial recovery). Australian courts have not subjected all uncertain events to a single approach. This article explores how the courts have approached the various categories of hypothetical past events, and how the plaintiff’s loss will be assessed where multiple events of different types are inextricably interwoven
Common Sense or Unnecessary Complexity? The Recent Change to the Right to Silence in New South Wales
Authors: Cameron Ashley
Published: April 2016

The New South Wales government has now enacted section 89A of the Evidence Act 1995 (NSW), which will significantly amend the right to silence. The new provision allows courts in certain circumstances to draw unfavourable inferences from evidence of silence in criminal proceedings. Parliament has justified the legislation as a ‘common sense’ approach, intended to prevent offenders hiding behind a wall of silence. However the benefits of the legislation are expected to be minimal at best. Although critics have already put forward weighty theoretical arguments opposing the enactment of the new provision, how it will operate in New South Wales courts remains to be seen. This article will undertake a detailed comparative analysis, examining the operation of similar legislation in the United Kingdom to determine how section 89A might be interpreted and applied in New South Wales. This analysis suggests that the need for extensive and complicated jury directions, the problems in determining whether the provision is to be invoked at all, and the complex test used in deciding whether it was reasonable for the accused to remain silent, will create significant difficulties in the application of section 89A. It is contended that the number and seriousness of these difficulties, coupled with the only limited benefit (if any) to be derived from the section, justify the close monitoring of section 89A and its review at an appropriate time.
Gender Quota in the Boardroom: The Dutch Approach
Authors: Luckerath-Rovers Mijntje
Published: April 2016

Since 2013 the Dutch Civil Code has required a minimum of 30 per cent women (and men) on both the executive and the supervisory boards of companies. The law is based on the comply or explain principle: companies that have not reached the 30 per cent target on one or other of these Boards should explain in their annual report why the seats are not evenly distributed, how the company has tried to achieve a balanced distribution of the seats and how the company intends in future to realise a balanced distribution of the seats. Research among the 87 listed companies in the Netherlands shows that the average percentage of women on supervisory boards increased to 25 per cent in 2014, but that the percentage on executive boards increased only to 6 per cent. While the 30 per cent target should have been reached by January 2016, it seems only a matter of time before a quota with sanctions will be introduced in the Netherlands.
Gender Quotas on Boards - Is It Time for Australia to Lean In?
Authors: Spender Peta
Published: April 2016

This article examines whether Australia should introduce a gender quota on ASX 200 boards. Although existing institutional arrangements favour voluntary initiatives, Australia may be at a critical juncture where two factors — the public, pragmatic nature of the statutory regulation of corporations in Australia and the current salience of gender as a political issue —may favour the introduction of a quota. In particular, Australian policy-makers may be amenable to change by observing initiatives from other jurisdictions. It is argued that we should maintain a healthy scepticism about functionalist arguments such as the business case for women on boards. Rather, we should invoke enduring justifications such as equality, parity and democratic legitimacy to support a quota. The optimal design of an Australian gender board quota will be also be explored.
Gender Diversity in the Boardroom and It's Impacts: Is the Example of Norway a Way Forward?
Authors: Sjafjell Beate
Published: April 2016

Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world, with a high level of gender equality and a high percentage of women at work. Nevertheless, mandatory rules appeared necessary to bring about changes in the composition of corporate boards. This article describes the coup that made Norway the first country in the world to mandate gender diversity on corporate boards and outlines Norway’s innovative legislative approach to this issue. The significance of gender diversity to corporate governance is discussed, drawing on empirical studies of the effect of diversity on the performance of companies. The article also discusses the potentially broader impact of gender diversity in the boardroom, including the pressing question of whether gender diversity in the boardroom can help companies create sustainable value within the planetary boundaries.
Louie, Louis: The Fictional, Stage, and Auteur Personas of Louis C.K. in Louie
Authors: Piper Melanie
Published: April 2016

This paper examines stand-up comedy in light of the persona studies idea of the proliferation of the public self to consider the ways comedians are represented and self-presented. Stand-up comedy as a performance mode deploys a literal version of Goffman’s front-stage and back-stage personas, raising questions about who comedians “really” are. Where the simultaneous observation of the on- and off-stage personas of comedy performers was previously only afforded in representational fiction, the diversification of what constitutes on-stage space for comedians has provided opportunities for comedians to perform versions of their back-stage selves in a broader variety of public, front-stage spaces. In the case of American comedian Louis C.K., his television series, Louie, has proven to be a liminal entity that operates in the spirit of presentational media, while produced, constructed, and distributed as representational media. This paper uses Louie to examine the front-stage and back-stage personas of personal, confessional comedians like C.K. who present aspects of their private lives in their public work. In addition, I look at how C.K. asserts his public persona as a self-presentational meta-presence within the representational depiction of his fictionalised self on television. The result is a step toward understanding the nature of self-performance in the front- and back-stage personas of stand-up comedians and how representational media with a distinct authorial voice can act in the spirit of presentational media.
Gaze 1; Gaze 2; Gaze 3
Authors: Hannigan Shelley
Published: April 2016

My three artworks Gaze 1, Gaze 2 and Gaze 3 depict the individual experience of looking but at the same time being aware of being looked at. This has been explored throughout art history – in particular through feminist critiques of art where the female muse in paintings was changed to a figure that confronted the viewer. Such renditions of the gaze tend to be expressed in art history as particular events as in the case of Hieronymus Bosch's painting The Conjurer. This painting depicts a group of individuals observing objects, whilst one individual in the background confronts the viewer. John Berger noted in Ways of Seeing how women in particular are aware of being looked at as they go about their day. In contrast to these event-focused, social and cultural explorations of the gaze in art history, Gaze 1, Gaze 2 and Gaze 3 portray how looking and being aware of being looked at, can occur for the individual in unison. I am interested in the psychological experience of the gaze – a form of paranoia perhaps - and how this constructs selves.
I Me Mine: Artistic Self/Artistic Persona
Authors: D'Cruz Glenn
Published: April 2016

This work comprises of a series of video portraits and sound recordings that explore the connections between gesture, gaze and voice in video portraiture. Most of the subjects are artists represented in the current exhibition, but the disjunction between sound and image makes it difficult to categorically identify the authors of the sound bites on the work’s soundtrack. Designed to function as an introduction to the themes and issues generated by the Self/Persona relationship in the nascent field of Persona Studies, the work is also concerned with the presentation of the artistic self, and the ‘loss of self’ that may or may not occur as a consequence of artistic practice. Formally, the piece plays with the repetition and symmetry to underscore the vulnerability and mutability of the self within contemporary culture.
Muchas Personas
Authors: McIntyre Steven
Published: April 2016

In a recent interview I was asked to locate my core persona, to define ‘the real Steven McIntyre’. This piece is an audiovisual, psycho-acoustic response to that question. Rather than something necessarily fixed or immanent, my sense of self is contingent, fragmentary, plural, and cut across by all the diverse relationships and experiences, the awareness of constructed memory, and the feelings of separation and loss engendered by my adult life as a migrant. Much of the source footage for this piece was shot in Mexico where I lived for almost a decade, and looking at these images now, they are as much resonant of the cartel-related social disintegration affecting so many people there — los enfrentamientos violentos, masacres y desapariciones que han afectado muchas personas — as they are of my own elusive, haptic remembrances.
Crying
Authors: Lim Eugenia
Published: April 2016

Crying explores the tension between an 'authentic' and a 'performed' moment of vulnerability and the complex emotions associated with being both artist and new mother. The artist has approximately one hour to capture this work in her backyard, before her baby wakes and demands her full attention and care. The challenge she sets herself is to cry on camera. In dialogue with Bas Jan Ader's I'm too sad to tell you (1970), in which Ader sobs for an unknown reason (in the tradition of the "melancholy white male artist", as Jennifer Doyle writes in her book  'Hold it Against Me: Difficulty and Emotion in Contemporary Art'), Crying captures a performed and staged sadness, a feminist reworking of Ader's intimate yet self-indulgent action. Ader has become a mythical figure after he was lost at sea in 1975, three weeks after setting off alone in a small sailing boat, attempting to cross the Atlantic Ocean. In motherhood, Lim feels almost daily to be 'lost at sea', charged with the responsibility of a new life and love so strong as to be almost unbearable.
Making Intellectual Room for Persona Studies: A New Consciousness and a Shifted Perspective
Authors: Marshall P. David , Barbour Kim
Published: April 2016

It is an enormously difficult—and perhaps impossible, but ultimately important—task to comprehensively define the contemporary moment through a particular concept. This introduction and this journal make the claim that both in a pervasive way and to a pandemic extent, there is enormous activity and energy in the production, construction, and exhibition of personas. Something quite extraordinary has shifted over the last twenty years that has led to this intensive focus on constructing strategic masks of identity. The catalyst is the development of online culture and its invocation to personalize the expression of a public self—essentially a persona—regularly and incessantly. This culture of producing and monitoring our public selves is the focus of this journal as online culture blends with everyday culture and leads to an insistent proliferation of personas for both presentation and for strategic purposes in order to manage very new notions of value and reputation. The task of investigating persona is complex, and is dependent on connections and intersections across an array of disciplines. This journal and the field of Persona Studies is designed to serve as a site for this essential work of comprehending, analysing, and critiquing persona, and to allow disciplines to intersect, exchange ideas, and debate the play of persona historically and in contemporary culture.
Responsible Management of Online Academic Reputations
Authors: McDonald Sharyn
Published: April 2016

Online professional persona creation in academia provides individuals and their employing institutions a range of positive reputational benefits. However, not all academics are equipped to keep pace with the speed and dynamism of the new media environment. This paper examines the challenges experienced by academics who are communicating with multiple audiences across several online platforms, some mandated by their institutions. Some academics are vulnerable to the negative consequences of heightened exposure and need additional protection and support. This paper outlines a set of recommendations that centres on the need for universities to accept greater social responsibility in managing this emerging issue.
Introduction: Personas at Work
Authors: Lee Katja
Published: April 2016

In this special issue we take up many of these threads in order to examine and to better understand the work persona as a public identity we mobilize and perform to manage the demands of our labour. In particular we are interested in work as a social condition that makes particular demands on us, and compels and inspires us to craft and perform particular identities. The ways in which our labour and our employers shape, influence, and discipline our constructions and performances of persona in work settings does not, however, negate our agency in this process: the negotiation and management of sometimes competing and contradictory roles, impulses, and desires can be a site of anxiety and friction but also of creativity.
In this introduction to the issue, work personas are framed as necessary—perhaps even inevitable—identity performances that are a condition of work, working, and interacting with other workers. However, because the conditions of how, where, and why we labour and what constitutes “work” have changed significantly over time, so too have our strategies for producing and performing work identities. In our present moment, the work persona has explicitly and self-consciously entered the marketplace as a valuable commodity as both employers and employees become hyper-aware of the significance, function, and processes of image management. Moreover, the ways in which digital and social media have changed our work cultures now make it increasingly difficult to talk about and perform a work persona that is a distinct entity from personas performed in other contexts.
Neuroprotective Effect of Garcinia Mangostana on Streptozotocin Induced Sporadic Type Alzheimer’s Disease in Mice
Authors: Bakshi Vasudha , P Avinash , R Arun Reddy , Begum Nazia
Published: April 2016

Objectives: The main objective of the study is to determine the neuroprotective potential of ethonolic extract of Garcinia mangostana (EEGM) in mouse against Intracerebroventricular- Streptozotocin (ICV –STZ) induced sporadic type Alzheimer's disease. Methods: Neurotoxicity was induced by ICV injection of STZ (0.5 mg/kg/b.w) as a first dose then the second dose after the 48 hours and the animals were pre-treated with ethanolic extract of Garcinia mangostana for 28 days. To assess the behavioral parameters learning and memory, open field and Y-maze were employed. Acetylcholinesterase, antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidise, reduced glutathione and catalase) were estimated in brain tissue. Results: Pre-treatment with EEGM (200 and 400 mg/kg/b.w) exhibited a dose dependent reduction of AChE levels and increased habituation memory and percentage alteration which are indicative of the enhanced cognitive function. The extract showed significant increase in the antioxidant parameter. Conclusion: The study results suggested that the neuroprotective potentiality of EEGM against ICV STZ induced neurotoxicity. The extract of EEGM proved to have a potential therapeutic action in preventing or decreasing the progression of sporadic Alzheimer‟s disease due to aging and oxidative stress.
Neuroprotective Effect of Nevirapine on Cerebral Ischemic Stroke by Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion in Wistar Rats
Authors: Bakshi Vasudha , Ram CH Maneesha , Begum Nazia , Pathakala Naveen
Published: April 2016

Objective: To evaluate the neuroprotective effect of Nevirapine on cerebral ischemia stroke by middle cerebral artery occlusion in wistar rats. Methods: The rats were pre and post treated with Nevirapine (NVP) at selective doses (5, 10 mg/kg/g, p.o) for a period of 14 days followed by middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). Neurobehavioral changes were evaluated by using Y-maze and open field habituation. Biochemical markers such as acetyl cholinesterase (AChE), glutamate, differential leukocyte count (DLC), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), antioxidants such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPX) and catalase were estimated. Results: Obtain results revealed that 14 days of treatment with NVP was effective in averting neurotoxicity. NVP treatment significantly reduced AChE, glutamate, DLC, LDH and elevated levels of antioxidant parameters such as SOD, catalase and GPX.. Conclusion: These results clearly revealed that Nevirapine exhibited cognitive improvement which is related to its antioxidant and neuroprotective activity. Further studies are suggested to evaluate molecular mechanism of involved in neuroprotection.
Wavelet analysis of the complex precipitation series in the Northern Jiansanjiang Administration of the Heilongjiang land reclamation, China
Authors: Liu Dong , Fu Qiang , Li Tianxiao , Hu Yuxiang , Imran Khan M. , Abrar Faiz M.
Published: April 2016

Due to interference from natural factors and the intensity of human activities, the complex characteristics of the regional precipitation process have become increasingly evident, which creates a challenge for the rational development and utilisation of precipitation resources. In this perspective of complexity diagnosis, the multi-timescale variation characteristics of precipitation were analysed in the Northern Jiansanjiang Administration of Heilongjiang land reclamation, China, by the wavelet analysis method. The results showed that the most complex precipitation series was at Qinglongshan Farm. There are five significant main periods of approximately 2, 3, 4, 9 and 12 years in the seasonal and annual precipitation of Qinglongshan Farm; these periodic variation characteristics are almost identical to the periods of the EI Niño-Southern Oscillation phenomena and sunspot activity, which illustrates that climate change has a major influence on the local precipitation variation characteristics. At the same time, precipitation in summer and autumn has similar periods and a similar variation trend to the annual precipitation at Qinglongshan Farm, which indicates that the local annual precipitation variation characteristics are mainly affected by summer and autumn precipitation variation. In contrast with the harmonic analysis method based on Fourier transform, wavelet analysis has a significant advantage in terms of accurately identifying the main cycle of the hydrological time series.
The spatiotemporal patterns of surface soil moisture in Northeast China based on remote sensing products
Authors: Zheng Xingming , Zhao Kai , Ding Yanling , Jiang Tao , Zhang Shiyi , Jin Mengjie
Published: April 2016

Northeast China (NEC) has become one of China's most obvious examples of climate change because of its rising warming rate of 0.35 °C/10 years. As the indicator of climate change, the dynamic of surface soil moisture (SSM) has not been assessed yet. We investigated the spatiotemporal dynamics of SSM in NEC using a 32-year SSM product and found the following. (1) SSM displayed the characteristics of being dry in the west and wet in the east and decreased with time. (2) The seasonal difference was found for the temporal dynamics of SSM: it increased in summer and decreased in spring and autumn. (3) For all four regions studied, the temporal dynamics of SSM were similar to those of the whole of NEC, but with different rates of SSM change. Moreover, SSM in regions B and D had a lower spatial variance than the other two regions because of the stable spatial pattern of cropland. (4) The change rates for SSM were consistent with that observed for the warming rates, which indicated that SSM levels derived from remote sensing data will correlate with climate change. In summary, a wetter summer and a drier spring and autumn were observed in NEC over the past 30 years.
Water quality management in the context of future climate and development changes: a South African case study
Authors: Slaughter A. S. , Mantel S. K. , Hughes D. A.
Published: April 2016

Globally, water resources are being over-utilised; a situation exacerbated by degenerating water quality of rivers. To achieve sustainable management of water resources, uncertainty under climate change and development must be considered. A companion study was the first to incorporate uncertainty within water resources development scenario modelling for a catchment in South Africa using the Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP) model. That study is extended in the current study by considering water quality in the form of nutrients and salinity. The WEAP model was calibrated against available observed data for the period 1999–2005. Using the calibrated WEAP model, driven by flow predicted using downscaled climate change models and projected future development, water quality was simulated for the years 2046–2065. Future simulations indicated marginally increased dilution capacity as well as increased nutrient inputs. It is evident that WEAP suffers major limitations in its water quality simulation capacity. Adaptive management along with continual monitoring as a strategy to cope with uncertainty associated with climate change and development is recommended. The shortcomings identified within WEAP in the current study were the motivation for the development of a new water quality decision support system specific to the requirements of water management in southern Africa.
Computational Methods Applied to Rational Drug Design
Authors: Ramírez David
Published: April 2016

Due to the synergic relationship between medical chemistry, bioinformatics and molecular simulation, the development of new accurate computational tools for small molecules drug design has been rising over the last years. The main result is the increased number of publications where computational techniques such as molecular docking,de novodesign as well as virtual screening have been used to estimate the binding mode, site and energy of novel small molecules. In this work I review some tools, which enable the study of biological systems at the atomistic level, providing relevant information and thereby, enhancing the process of rational drug design.
Experimental investigation of the linear polarization state of high power fusion cutting with 1 μm laser radiation
Authors: Goppold Cindy , Pinder Thomas , Herwig Patrick
Published: April 2016

An increase of the cut quality or enhanced process efficiency is still an aim for cutting of thick metal plates with 1.07 μm laser radiation. Nowadays, linear polarization is well investigated for CO2-lasers as an approach to a solution. The same attempt is not explored as much for laser beam fusion cutting of thick metal plates with high power solid state lasers. For this case, the present letter examines the linear polarization in contrast to statistically polarized cuts.
Synthesis and Antioxidant Properties of Novel Pyrimidine-Containing Heterocycles
Authors: Salem Marwa Sayed , Errayes Asma Omer
Published: April 2016

4-(Benzo[ d][1,3]dioxol-5-yl)-2-hydrazinyl-6-oxo-1,6-dihydropyrimidine-5-carbonitrile was utilised to construct fused heterocyclic systems, namely triazolopyrimidines, as well as non-fused heterocyclic systems such as pyrazole and dioxopyrazolidine derivatives. The antioxidant activity of the new compounds was evaluated. Most of the synthesised compounds have potent antioxidant activity.
Searching for Change: Scottish Stop and Search Powers
Authors: Lennon Genevieve
Published: April 2016

Dr Lennon examines the existing Scottish law relating to police stop and search powers, and offers a critique of their compatibility with the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights. She argues that two of the three categories of powers – non-statutory and suspicionless statutory – are likely to be in breach of the ECHR, with the final category evidencing poor practice that provides insufficient protection to the public and insufficient guidance to officers. While she argues that the non-statutory power should be prohibited, the other categories can be amended to ensure they comply the requirements of the ECHR and best practice. There is an urgent need for law reform in this area.
Novel Ion Trap Design for Strong Ion-Cavity Coupling
Authors: Márquez Seco Alejandro , Takahashi Hiroki , Keller Matthias
Published: April 2016

We present a novel ion trap design which facilitates the integration of an optical fiber cavity into the trap structure. The optical fibers are confined inside hollow electrodes in such a way that tight shielding and free movement of the fibers are simultaneously achievable. The latter enables in situ optimization of the overlap between the trapped ions and the cavity field. Through numerical simulations, we systematically analyze the effects of the electrode geometry on the trapping characteristics such as trap depths, secular frequencies and the optical access angle. Additionally, we simulate the effects of the presence of the fibers and confirm the robustness of the trapping potential. Based on these simulations and other technical considerations, we devise a practical trap configuration that isviable to achieve strong coupling of a single ion.