Free Trade Agreements - Boon or Bane?": Through the Lens of PACER

This paper examines three dimensions of the Pacific islands’ relationship with Australia and New Zealand under the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations (PACER): first the context, where Pacific governments appear increasingly nervous about free trade negotiations, but believe they have few alternatives; second, how the complex and opaque legal framework of PACER and onerous requirements for WTO compatibility set the terms for future trade negotiations with Australia and New Zealand; and third, the inter-relationship between PACER and the Pacific Plan. It concludes that free trade negotiations risk determining the development options for the Pacific islands and leave no room for Pacific governments or people to explore genuine development alternatives

Going Nowhere in a Hurry? The Pacific's EPA Negotiations with the European Union

This paper explores the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) negotiation process of the EU-ACP with a focus on the Pacific region. To comply with the requirements of the Cotonou Agreement 2000 and the requirements of the WTO EPAs must be negotiated before 2008. They will replace the trade arrangements between the EU and the ACP States pursuant to the Cotonou Agreement 2000. The Pacific states have proposed a creative EPA text to address their concerns about the effects of any new agreement with the EU. Professor Kelsey's view is that the Pacific 'wish list' contains two intrinsic tensions : one between its trade liberalisation and development agendas, and the other between the affirmation of sovereign integrity and supranational institutional arrangements. Moreover, the EU and the Pacific states have different trade interests and the demands made by the Pacific states have largely been rejected by the EU. The conclusion is that the production of a final text of the Pacific EPA is not imminent.This paper was written prior to the military coup in Fiji on 5 December 2006 and does not discuss the significant implications of that event for the negotiations

Cooked turkey roasts have different processing characteristics then cooked beef roasts

Roasts were manufactured from lean beef and turkey by injecting with brine to 25% above green weight so the raw product contained 1.8% salt and 0.3% sodium phosphate. Meat muscle characteristics (pH and protein solubility) and processing characteristics were measured as cook yields and expressible moisture. The species significantly affects some basic properties of the meat. Turkey meat had significantly higher pH and extractible myofibrillar proteins than beef. The increased cook yield was correlated with higher pH and higher expressible moisture. The differences observed suggest that processors need to treat the starting materials differently

'Selling off New Zealand'...and Claiming it Back

'Selling off New Zealand'...and Claiming it Bac

The effect of strategies of personal resilience on depression recovery in an Australian cohort : a mixed methods study

Strategies of personal resilience enable successful adaptation in adversity. Among patients experiencing depression symptoms, we explored which personal resilience strategies they find most helpful, and tested the hypothesis that use of these strategies improves depression recovery. We used interview and survey data from the Diagnosis, Management and Outcomes of Depression in Primary Care 2005 cohort of patients experiencing depression symptoms in Victoria, Australia. 564 participants answered a computer assisted telephone interview question at 12 months follow-up, about what they found most helpful for their depression, stress or worries. Depressive disorder and severity were measured at annual follow-up using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview and the PHQ-9 self-rating questionnaire. Using interview responses we categorised participants as users or not of strategies of personal resilience, specifically, drawing primarily on expanding their own inner resources or pre-existing relationships: 316 (56%) were categorised as primarily users of personal resilience strategies. Of these, 193 (61%) reported expanding inner resources, 79 (25%) drawing on relationships, and 44 (14%) reported both. There was no association between drawing on relationships and depression outcome. There was evidence supporting an association between expanding inner resources and depression outcome: 25% of users having major depressive disorder one year later compared to 38% of non-users (adjusted OR 0.59, CI 0.36-0.97). This is the first study to show improved outcome for depression for those who identify as most helpful the use of personal resilience strategies. The difference in outcome is important as expanding inner resources includes a range of low intensity, yet commonly available strategies

Phase 2 of the UNCITRAL ISDS Review: Why ‘Other Matters’ Really Matter

The authors argue that UNCITRAL Working Group III, as part of its mandate for reform of the international investment regime, should consider issues at the core of the concerns about the regime\u27s accountability and legitimacy, especially in the case of investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS). These issues include: the right of standing for affected parties, the customary duty to exhaust local remedies, the chilling effect of ISDS, and the relationship of the international investment regime to goals of sustainable development and the rule of law. Procedural reforms of ISDS are necessary but not sufficient to address these concerns

Structures and fragmentation reactions of protonated neonicotinoid insecticides by infrared multiphoton dissociation spectroscopy and computational methods

Imidacloprid and thiamethoxam belong to the nitroguanidine subclass of neonicotinoid insecticides. Nitroguanidine neonicotinoids induce higher acute and chronic toxicity in bees, therefore, analytical methods have been developed to evaluate the biological and ecological effects of neonicotinoids. The structures and unimolecular chemistries of protonated imidacloprid and protonated thiamethoxam have been studied in the gas phase by infrared multiphoton dissociation (IRMPD) spectroscopy and computational methods. Electronic structure calculations employing density functional theory (DFT) were conducted to determine thermodynamic results, relative enthalpies and Gibbs energies, and to compute the infrared frequencies of stretching and bending vibrations. Comparison of the experimental IRMPD and computed IR spectra was done to identify the vibrational features of the protonated neonicotinoids, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam. The lowest energy isomer of protonated imidacloprid, protonated at the pyridine nitrogen, generates an IR spectrum that is most consistent with the IRMPD spectrum. The spectroscopic IRMPD data for protonated imidacloprid urea (loss of N₂O), protonated desnitroimidacloprid (loss of NO2*), protonated desnitrosoimidacloprid (loss of NO*), and the loss NO* and *OH from protonated imidacloprid are also presented. A DFT calculated potential energy diagram of protonated desnitroimidacloprid reveals the energetic barriers for intramolecular proton transfer versus bond dissociation of NO₂*. A possible mechanism for the loss of NO* and *OH from protonated imidacloprid describes isomerization of the NO* loss product ion and tautomerization of the *OH product ion. The structures, energetics, and infrared spectra of protonated thiamethoxam were computed using the B3LYP and M06-2X methods. There is a discrepancy in the computed energies for the lowest energy isomers of protonated thiamethoxam, therefore, a comparison of the calculated IR spectra and the IRMPD spectrum reveals that the oxygen protonated isomer is the best match. IRMPD spectroscopy experiments in conjunction with DFT computations are also performed for protonated desnitro-thiamethoxam (loss of NO₂*), and protonated dechlorinated desnitro-thiamethoxam (loss of NO₂* and Cl*)

ADVANCING IMAGING TECHNIQUES FOR ASSESSING PULMONARY MUCUS MACROSTRUCTURE AND MICROSTRUCTURE

In pulmonary diseases, such as cystic fibrosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, we observe changes in pulmonary mucus behavior. However, our current understanding of how mucus properties may relate to the observed breakdown of the mucociliary clearance (MCC) system in diseased states is limited, both in terms of macroscopic mechanical properties and microscopic structure. Existing imaging techniques for assessing the viscoelasticity by directly measuring cilia-driven fluid flow in mucus samples lack controlled strain application, hindering their effectiveness. Also, commonly used techniques for sensing biomaterial nanostructure often require sample dehydrating or staining, which restricts their applicability. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) offers distinct advantages in performing depth-resolved tracking of fluid flow and dynamic light scattering of nanoparticles diffusing within the meshes of biomaterials which hinder their diffusion. The increased depth penetration and capability to assess small samples make OCT particularly advantageous. In this dissertation, we present work aimed at observing mucus flow under physiologically relevant strains and simultaneously quantifying shear-induced anisotropy of mucus meshwork. First, we developed a micro-parallel plate strain induction chamber combined with OCT which was applied to track Newtonian fluid motion and mucus under physiologically relevant shear. Then, using polarization-sensitive OCT, we quantified translational (DT) and rotational (DR) diffusion coefficients of plasmonic gold nanorods as diffusive probes introduced into in polyethylene oxide solutions, hyaluronic acid solutions, agarose gels, and bronchial mucus. For all samples, DT and DR monotonically decrease with increasing solids concentration, which is attributed to increasingly constrained diffusion by the meshwork. Importantly, DR exhibits higher sensitivity and lower intra-sample variability than in DT dehydrated mucus, which is particularly amenable to studying disease-like mucus. DT and DR measurements of gold nanorods in hypertonic saline-treated human bronchial epithelial cell cultures revealed cilia-induced dynamic mixing effects and the presence of hard-packed mucus. Lastly, diffusion tensor OCT (DT-OCT) hardware is designed to rapidly query angle-dependent DT and DR and is assessed in isotropic agarose and collagen gel samples. Overall, these experiments enhance our understanding of biofluid flow and nanostructure in mucus under physiologically relevant conditions, shedding light on mucus properties and their significance in respiratory health and therapy.Doctor of Philosoph