title: The Howard government's foreign policy: Really realist?

authors: McCraw, David

subjects: foreign policy

abstract: Several scholars have suggested that the Howard government took a Realist approach to foreign policy, and others have claimed that it made important deviations from Realism. This article constructs a template of a Realist foreign policy and examines the Howard government's policies against it. It finds that the government scores highly on two of the indicators of Realism – emphasis on military power and lack of enthusiasm for multilateral institutions – and scores fairly well on the third, the subordination of values promotion to the advancement of interests. The Howard government, however, promoted democracy and human rights in situations in which no other Australian interest was involved, so its Realism was somewhat modified.
The foreign policy of the Howard government has been characterised by several scholars as being in the Realist tradition of all Australian Liberal–National governments. Other scholars, however, have noted an important set of departures from that tradition, sparked, they say, by the imperatives of domestic politics. This article seeks to examine more closely the question of the Realist nature of recent Australian foreign policy. It will seek to establish a template of a Realist foreign policy, assess the Howard government's policies against that template and, finally, suggest how the Howard government's foreign policy may best be characterised.

text: The Howard government's foreign policy: Really realist? Several scholars have suggested that the Howard government took a Realist approach to foreign policy, and others have claimed that it made important deviations from Realism. This article constructs a template of a Realist foreign policy and examines the Howard government's policies against it. It finds that the government scores highly on two of the indicators of Realism – emphasis on military power and lack of enthusiasm for multilateral institutions – and scores fairly well on the third, the subordination of values promotion to the advancement of interests. The Howard government, however, promoted democracy and human rights in situations in which no other Australian interest was involved, so its Realism was somewhat modified.
The foreign policy of the Howard government has been characterised by several scholars as being in the Realist tradition of all Australian Liberal–National governments. Other scholars, however, have noted an important set of departures from that tradition, sparked, they say, by the imperatives of domestic politics. This article seeks to examine more closely the question of the Realist nature of recent Australian foreign policy. It will seek to establish a template of a Realist foreign policy, assess the Howard government's policies against that template and, finally, suggest how the Howard government's foreign policy may best be characterised.

year: 2008

title: New esters of okadaic acid in seawater and blue mussels (Mytilus edulis)

authors: Torgersen, Trine

subjects: chemistry

abstract: Marine algal toxins of the okadaic acid (OA) group can occur as diol esters and sulfated diol esters in algae and as fatty acid esters in shellfish. Several of these ester forms have been identified, but the most common procedure for detecting OA group toxin esters is by measuring the increase in parent toxin after alkaline hydrolysis. Use of this alkaline hydrolysis method led to the discovery of high levels of conjugates of OA and dinophysistoxins-2 (DTX2) in seawater and of OA, DTX1, and DTX2 in blue mussel hepatopancreas (HP) from Flødevigen, Norway, during a bloom of Dinophysis spp. In the water sample, a C8-diol ester, a C9-diol ester, and a previously undescribed C8-triol ester of OA were characterized using HPLC-MS2, -MS3, and -MS4 in combination with various derivatization procedures. Palmitic acid (16:0) ester derivatives of these diol/triol esters were found in mussel HP and characterized using HPLC-MS2, -MS3, and -MS4. To the authors’ knowledge, hybrid diol-fatty acid esters of OA have not been previously described. Mass spectral analysis showed the presence of two forms of hybrid esters: one with the fatty acid conjugated to the 7-OH of the OA moiety and the other with the fatty acid conjugated to the OH group in the “diol” moiety. In the water sample, the C8-diol ester was the most abundant, whereas in the mussels, the 16:0-C9-diol hybrid ester was most abundant, and only minor amounts of the 16:0-C8-diol hybrid ester were detected, suggesting that C8- and C9-diol esters of OA may be metabolized differently in blue mussels. 7-O-acyl esters of OA, DTX1, and DTX2 are thought to contribute to shellfish toxicity by being hydrolyzed in the human stomach to the parent toxins, and the newly characterized hybrid esters are likely to contribute similarly.

text: New esters of okadaic acid in seawater and blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) Marine algal toxins of the okadaic acid (OA) group can occur as diol esters and sulfated diol esters in algae and as fatty acid esters in shellfish. Several of these ester forms have been identified, but the most common procedure for detecting OA group toxin esters is by measuring the increase in parent toxin after alkaline hydrolysis. Use of this alkaline hydrolysis method led to the discovery of high levels of conjugates of OA and dinophysistoxins-2 (DTX2) in seawater and of OA, DTX1, and DTX2 in blue mussel hepatopancreas (HP) from Flødevigen, Norway, during a bloom of Dinophysis spp. In the water sample, a C8-diol ester, a C9-diol ester, and a previously undescribed C8-triol ester of OA were characterized using HPLC-MS2, -MS3, and -MS4 in combination with various derivatization procedures. Palmitic acid (16:0) ester derivatives of these diol/triol esters were found in mussel HP and characterized using HPLC-MS2, -MS3, and -MS4. To the authors’ knowledge, hybrid diol-fatty acid esters of OA have not been previously described. Mass spectral analysis showed the presence of two forms of hybrid esters: one with the fatty acid conjugated to the 7-OH of the OA moiety and the other with the fatty acid conjugated to the OH group in the “diol” moiety. In the water sample, the C8-diol ester was the most abundant, whereas in the mussels, the 16:0-C9-diol hybrid ester was most abundant, and only minor amounts of the 16:0-C8-diol hybrid ester were detected, suggesting that C8- and C9-diol esters of OA may be metabolized differently in blue mussels. 7-O-acyl esters of OA, DTX1, and DTX2 are thought to contribute to shellfish toxicity by being hydrolyzed in the human stomach to the parent toxins, and the newly characterized hybrid esters are likely to contribute similarly.

year: 2008

title: Artefacts, biology and bias in museum collection research

authors: Wehi, Priscilla M.

subjects: experimenta design

abstract: Museum collections are increasingly subjected to scientific scrutiny, including molecular, isotopic and trace-element analyses. Recent advances have extended analyses from natural history specimens to historical artefacts. We highlight three areas of concern that can influence interpretation of data derived from museum collections: sampling issues associated with museum collection use, methods of analysis, and the value of cross-referencing data with historical documents and data sets. We use a case study that focuses on kiwi (Apteryx spp.) feather samples from valuable 19th century Māori cloaks in New Zealand to show how sampling and analysis challenges need to be minimized by careful design. We argue that aligning historical records with scientific data generated from museum collections significantly improves data interpretation.

text: Artefacts, biology and bias in museum collection research Museum collections are increasingly subjected to scientific scrutiny, including molecular, isotopic and trace-element analyses. Recent advances have extended analyses from natural history specimens to historical artefacts. We highlight three areas of concern that can influence interpretation of data derived from museum collections: sampling issues associated with museum collection use, methods of analysis, and the value of cross-referencing data with historical documents and data sets. We use a case study that focuses on kiwi (Apteryx spp.) feather samples from valuable 19th century Māori cloaks in New Zealand to show how sampling and analysis challenges need to be minimized by careful design. We argue that aligning historical records with scientific data generated from museum collections significantly improves data interpretation.

year: 2012-07