Tim Bartness, Ph.D. (1953-2015)

Tim Bartness (Fig. 1) was a friend, mentor, collaborator and leader to many scientists, younger and older, across a variety of disciplines. He died September 24, 2015 at the age of 62 after a one-year battle with multiple myeloma. Tim not only helped educate many of us, but also challenged us to think critically and to laugh heartily about both the bad and the good we experienced in life. Tim was dedicated to science and to those around him. He worked diligently on his research right up the very end until he no longer could

Examining the rapid non-classical effects of 17 beta estradiol on sexual advertisement behavior of the golden hamster (mesocricetus auratus)

Female Syrian hamsters engage in vaginal scent-marking (VM) to advertise their sexual receptivity. VM is facilitated by estrogen; however, the hormone\u27s mechanism of action is unknown. Classically, estrogen binds to intracellular receptors and promotes gene transcription to eventually affect behavior. Estrogen may non-classically and rapidly affect behavior via binding to membrane localized receptors. In order to determine how estrogen modulates VM, VM levels were examined in 10 female hamsters across several hormone conditions. Levels of VM were assessed across 3 trials in intact, normally-cycling subjects. These trials were repeated following ovariectomy. A final set of trials were conducted in ovariectomized subjects injected with either 113 -estradiol or vehicle and tested 30 minutes following injection. VM frequency significantly decreased after ovariectomy. There was no significant effect, however of 113 -estradiol compared to vehicle injections on VM behavior. These results suggest that estradiol may not regulate vaginal marking via a non-classical mechanism

Speculations on Primordial Magnetic Helicity

We speculate that above or just below the electroweak phase transition magnetic fields are generated which have a net helicity (otherwise said, a Chern-Simons term) of order of magnitude $N_B + N_L$, where $N_{B,L}$ is the baryon or lepton number today. (To be more precise requires much more knowledge of B,L-generating mechanisms than we currently have.) Electromagnetic helicity generation is associated (indirectly) with the generation of electroweak Chern-Simons number through B+L anomalies. This helicity, which in the early universe is some 30 orders of magnitude greater than what would be expected from fluctuations alone in the absence of B+L violation, should be reasonably well-conserved through the evolution of the universe to around the times of matter dominance and decoupling, because the early universe is an excellent conductor. Possible consequences include early structure formation; macroscopic manifestations of CP violation in the cosmic magnetic field (measurable at least in principle, if not in practice); and an inverse-cascade dynamo mechanism in which magnetic fields and helicity are unstable to transfer to larger and larger spatial scales. We give a quasi-linear treatment of the general-relativistic MHD inverse cascade instability, finding substantial growth for helicity of the assumed magnitude out to scales $\sim l_M\epsilon^{-1}$, where $\epsilon$ is roughly the B+L to photon ratio and $l_M$ is the magnetic correlation length. We also elaborate further on an earlier proposal of the author for generation of magnetic fields above the EW phase transition.Comment: Latex, 23 page

Integrated marketing communications and power imbalance : the strategic nature of marketing to children and adolescents by food and beverage companies

This chapter seeks to complement others in this book by highlighting the public health concerns associated with the use of the relatively new business practice of Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) to promote energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods and beverages to children and adolescents, and the power imbalances inherent in this situation. Seeking to encourage international awareness and relevance of this issue we have attempted to take a global approach, while still recognizing the Australian context in which both authors work. To this end, we include three case studies of branded food products that target children as a means of demonstrating the reach and complexity of IMC in a contemporary marketplace