Evaluating the Australasian Consumer Fraud Awareness Month, 2007

As part of a global effort to fight mass-marketed consumer scams, consumer protection agencies in 33 western countries have participated in a month of fraud prevention activities each year to raise awareness of the problem and to provide advice to consumers on how to avoid being victimised. In Australia and New Zealand, nineteen government agencies now comprise the Australasian Consumer Fraud Taskforce (ACFT) that conducted a campaign in March 2007, the theme of which was ‘Scams Target You – Protect Yourself’. This paper provides an evaluation of the impact of the activities undertaken by the Taskforce, including the effect that the extensive publicity had on the official reporting of scams by consumers. The results of an online survey of 841 self-selected respondents are also presented. It is concluded that the campaign was highly effective in raising consumer awareness, with reporting rates increasing substantially throughout the period of the campaign

Organised crime and public sector corruption

Foreword: In 2006, the Australian Government introduced the Anti-money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth) which increased regulatory controls over businesses potentially able to facilitate organised criminal activities such as money laundering. The implementation of tougher legislation and associated law enforcement interventions may result in criminal organisations adjusting their tactics in order to continue their activities without detection. In this paper, the risk and potential impact of tactical displacement by organised criminals is discussed with regard to the potential for increased attempts by organised crime groups to corrupt public servants. There is a paucity of research exploring the nature and extent of public sector corruption committed by organised crime groups. This discussion is informed by literature on ‘crime scripts’ originally developed by Cornish (1994) and the 5I’s crime prevention framework developed by Ekblom (2011). Making use of public-source information about the commission of such crimes, as exemplified in two recent corruption cases, some intervention strategies are proposed that may be effective in reducing the risks of corruption of public sector officials by organised crime groups in Australia

Raising public awareness of consumer fraud in Australia

As part of a global effort to fight mass-marketed consumer scams, each year consumer protection agencies in 33 western countries participate in a month of fraud prevention activities to raise awareness of the problem and to provide advice to consumers on how to avoid being victimised. In Australia and New Zealand, 19 government agencies comprise the Australasian Consumer Fraud Taskforce (ACFT), which conducted a campaign in March 2007 with the theme \u27Scams target you - protect yourself\u27. This paper describes the activities undertaken by the ACFT and assesses the impact that the publicity had on official reporting of scams by consumers. The results of an online survey of 841 self-selected respondents are also presented. It is concluded that the campaign was highly effective in raising consumer awareness, with reporting rates increasing substantially throughout the period of the campaign. &nbsp

Cerebral Venous Thrombosis in the Mediterranean Area in Adults. Role of Behçet’s Disease as an Underlying Cause

Cerebral venous and dural sinus thrombosis (CVT) is a rare condition with a wide spectrum of clinical presentations. The epidemiology of the disease has evolved considerably during the recent decades with increasing oral contraceptive use in young and middle-aged women. CVT has various causes including genetic and acquired prothrombotic disorders and it usually has a favorable outcome with a low rate of thrombotic recurrence and mortality. Geographical and ethnic variations between populations may result in different distribution of CVT etiologies leading to different pathophysiological mechanisms and clinical presentations. In CVT series reported mostly from the Americas and the western European countries Behçet’s disease (BD) is not reported as a common cause of CVT. However it can be discerned as a frequent cause of CVT in BD series. Due to the high prevalence of BD in the southeast Mediterranean region BD is a frequent cause of CVT in the area. Discerning characteristics of patients with BD and CVT have been reported previously and these might be helpful in guiding diagnosis and treatment of CVT especially in this part of the world

Restoring circadian gene profiles in clock networks using synthetic feedback control

The circadian system—an organism’s built-in biological clock—is responsible for orchestrating biological processes to adapt to diurnal and seasonal variations. Perturbations to the circadian system (e.g., pathogen attack, sudden environmental change) often result in pathophysiological responses (e.g., jetlag in humans, stunted growth in plants, etc.) In view of this, synthetic biologists are progressively adapting the idea of employing synthetic feedback control circuits to alleviate the effects of perturbations on circadian systems. To facilitate the design of such controllers, suitable models are required. Here, we extend our recently developed model for the plant circadian clock—termed the extended S-System model—to model circadian systems across different kingdoms of life. We then use this modeling strategy to develop a design framework, based on an antithetic integral feedback (AIF) controller, to restore a gene’s circadian profile when it is subject to loss-of-function due to external perturbations. The use of the AIF controller is motivated by its recent successful experimental implementation. Our findings provide circadian biologists with a systematic and general modeling and design approach for implementing synthetic feedback control of circadian systems

Shock tunnel studies of scramjet phenomena, supplement 5

A series of reports are presented on SCRAMjet studies, shock tunnel studies, and expansion tube studies. The SCRAMjet studies include: (1) Investigation of a Supersonic Combustion Layer; (2) Wall Injected SCRAMjet Experiments; (3) Supersonic Combustion with Transvers, Circular, Wall Jets; (4) Dissociated Test Gas Effects on SCRAMjet Combustors; (5) Use of Silane as a Fuel Additive for Hypersonic Thrust Production, (6) Pressure-length Correlations in Supersonic Combustion; (7) Hot Hydrogen Injection Technique for Shock Tunnels; (8) Heat Release - Wave Interaction Phenomena in Hypersonic Flows; (9) A Study of the Wave Drag in Hypersonic SCRAMjets; (10) Parametric Study of Thrust Production in the Two Dimensional SCRAMjet; (11) The Design of a Mass Spectrometer for use in Hypersonic Impulse Facilities; and (12) Development of a Skin Friction Gauge for use in an Impulse Facility. The shock tunnel studies include: (1) Hypervelocity flow in Axisymmetric Nozzles; (2) Shock Tunnel Development; and (3) Real Gas Efects in Hypervelocity Flows over an Inclined Cone. The expansion tube studies include: (1) Investigation of Flow Characteristics in TQ Expansion Tube; and (2) Disturbances in the Driver Gas of a Shock Tube

Lagrange structure and quantization

A path-integral quantization method is proposed for dynamical systems whose classical equations of motion do \textit{not} necessarily follow from the action principle. The key new notion behind this quantization scheme is the Lagrange structure which is more general than the Lagrangian formalism in the same sense as Poisson geometry is more general than the symplectic one. The Lagrange structure is shown to admit a natural BRST description which is used to construct an AKSZ-type topological sigma-model. The dynamics of this sigma-model in $d+1$ dimensions, being localized on the boundary, are proved to be equivalent to the original theory in $d$ dimensions. As the topological sigma-model has a well defined action, it is path-integral quantized in the usual way that results in quantization of the original (not necessarily Lagrangian) theory. When the original equations of motion come from the action principle, the standard BV path-integral is explicitly deduced from the proposed quantization scheme. The general quantization scheme is exemplified by several models including the ones whose classical dynamics are not variational.Comment: Minor corrections, format changed, 40 page

Simple sequence repeat-based assessment of genetic diversity in 'Dimrit' and 'Gemre' grapevine accessions from Turkey

It is widely believed that Turkey has played an important role in the evolution of modern day grapes due to its unique geographical location with close proximity to the regions of grape diversity. Despite this, the rich grape germplasm found in Turkey has not been sufficiently analyzed genetically. In this study, 31 grapevine accessions from 'Dimrit' (or 'Dilmit') and 'Gemre' grape groups were genetically analyzed at eight SSR (microsatellite) loci (VVS2, VVMD5, VVMD7, VVMD24, VVMD27, VVMD28, VrZAG62 and VrZAG79) and for a number of ampeolographic characteristics. These analyses identified sufficient genetic diversity between these two grape groups that, in general, clustered separately in the dendrogram constructed based on the SSR data. However, the ecogeographical distribution and genetic relationship of the genotypes did not show any significant correlation. Two 'Gemre' accessions were determined as genetically identical. In addition, one case of synonym and several cases of homonym genotypes were identified. The results reported here are important first steps towards better characterization of these grape genotypes and would aid future germplasm management and breeding efforts.

disk laser welding of ti 6al 4v titanium alloy plates in t joint configuration

Abstract Titanium alloys are employed in a wide range of applications, ranging from aerospace to medicine. In particular, Ti-6Al-4V is the most common, thanks to an excellent combination of low density, high specific strength and corrosion resistance. Laser welding has been increasingly considered as an alternative to traditional techniques to join titanium alloys. An increase in penetration depth and a reduction of possible welding defects is indeed achieved; moreover a smaller grain size in the fused zone is benefited in comparison to either TIG and plasma arc welding, thus providing an increase in the tensile strength of the welded structures. The aim of this work is to study disk-laser welding of 3.2mm thick Ti-6Al-4V plates in T-joint configuration without using a filler wire, defining the influence of different process parameters. The issue concerning the clamping of the plates is discussed and a proper device is developed to carry out welds. A structured plan has to be carried out in order to characterize the process thus discussing the response variables. Power and welding speed are considered as crucial input variables since they determine the thermal input to the work-piece; furthermore, given the particular configuration analyzed, tilt angle is considered as a further variable, whereas focus position is fixed below the upper surface to obtain a full penetration. Welding beads have been first examined with a coordinate measuring machine to study distortions, and then from a morphological point of view. Eventually, Vickers microhardness testing has been conducted to discuss structural changes in fusion and heat affected zone due to welding thermal cycles

Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo after radiologic scanning: a case series

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) is the most common type of vertigo. It is frequently seen in elderly patients, and the course of the attack may easily mimic cerebrovascular disease. A BPPV attack after a radiologic examination has not been reported previously. We report the cases of two patients who had BPPV attacks after radiologic imaging.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>The first patient with headache and tremor was admitted to the radiology department for cranial computed tomography (CT) imaging. During scanning, she was asked to lie in the supine position with no other head movements for approximately 10 minutes. After the cranial CT imaging, she stood up rapidly, and suddenly experienced a vertigo attack and nausea. The second patient was admitted to the radiology department for evaluation of his renal arteries. During the renal magnetic resonance angiography, he was in the supine position for 20 minutes and asked not to move. After the examination, he stood up rapidly with the help of the technician and suddenly experienced a vertigo attack with nausea and vomiting. The results of standard laboratory analyses and their neurologic examinations were within normal limits and Dix-Hallpike tests showed rotatory nystagmus in both cases. An Epley maneuver was performed to the patients. The results of a control Dix-Hallpike tests after 1 Epley maneuver were negative in both patients.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Radiologists and clinicians must keep in mind that after radiologic imaging in which the patient is still for some time in the supine position and then helped to stand up rapidly, a BPPV attack may occur.</p