Freedom of Information Commissioner: annual report 2015-16

In the 2015-16 financial year the Office revised and updated the Strategic Plan which had originally been developed in 2014. The revision took into account proposed legislative changes and the future of FOI in Victoria. The Strategic Plan identifies future challenges and reflects our commitment to working with applicants, agencies and our stakeholders, understanding their expectations and prioritising our activities accordingly. Our strategic priorities are – 1: To conduct reviews and handle complaints; 2:To provide accurate advice, education and guidance on FOI; 3:To develop and support our people; and 4:To maintain good corporate governanc

Freedom of Information

OBJECTIVE: It has previously been shown that a combination of inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) and intravenous (IV) steroid attenuates endotoxin-induced organ damage in a 6-hour porcine endotoxemia model. We aimed to further explore these effects in a 30-hour model with attention to clinically important variables. DESIGN: Randomized controlled trial. SETTING: University animal laboratory. SUBJECTS: Domestic piglets (n = 30). INTERVENTIONS: Animals were randomized into 5 groups (n = 6 each): 1) Controls, 2) LPS-only (endotoxin/lipopolysaccharide (LPS) infusion), 3) LPS + iNO, 4) LPS + IV steroid, 5) LPS + iNO + IV steroid. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Exposure to LPS temporarily increased pulmonary artery mean pressure and impeded renal function with elevated serum creatinine and acidosis compared to a control group over the 30-hour study period. Double treatment with both iNO and IV steroid tended to blunt the deterioration in renal function, although the only significant effect was on Base Excess (p = 0.045). None of the LPS + iNO + IV steroid treated animals died during the study period, whereas one animal died in each of the other LPS-infused groups. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that combined early therapy with iNO and IV steroid is associated with partial protection of kidney function after 30 hours of experimental LPS infusion

When Tony met Bobby

In June 1999, Wal-Mart intervened spectacularly in an agreed merger between Asda and Kingfisher by paying £6.7bn to takeover Asda outright. Reactions ranged dramatically; this was the death-knell of British retailing or the redemption of British consumers. Whatever the view, Wal-Mart buying a major retailer such as Asda, and in such a significant European market, was a landmark in the globalisation of retailing. One issue around this takeover attracted considerable speculation at the time and has been the focus of discussion specifically and generally. Some months previous to the takeover, a meeting apparently took place in Downing Street between the Prime Minister and Wal-Mart. The very fact this meeting occurred, and at that time, is intriguing. Secrecy surrounding the meeting increased speculation over the contents of any discussion. It was raised in Parliament and during investigations on retailing by the Select Committee on the Environment, Transport and Regional Affairs. Over time however the meeting has faded from public attention and consideration. Yet, it still remains potentially significant. The introduction from January 2005 of the Freedom of Information Act potentially opened a window on this previously ‘secret’ meeting. This commentary concerns the meeting itself and the use of the Freedom of Information Act to obtain information about it. It raises questions about lobbying, secrecy and retail change

Developments Under the Freedom of Information Act

This article reviews authors' recently developed algorithm for identification of nonlinear state-space models under missing observations and extends it to the case of unknown model structure. In order to estimate the parameters in a state-space model, one needs to know the model structure and have an estimate of states. If the model structure is unknown, an approximation of it is obtained using radial basis functions centered around a maximum a posteriori estimate of the state trajectory. A particle filter approximation of smoothed states is then used in conjunction with expectation maximization algorithm for estimating the parameters. The proposed approach is illustrated through a real application