92 research outputs found
Asiaâs Economic Transformation: Implications for Australia
This policy brief details recent economic developments
in four of Asiaâs largest economies - Japan, India, China
and Indonesia - and assesses the implications of these
changes for Australia. Jenny Corbett looks at how economic
frustrations led to political change in Japan and argues that,
despite this yearâs devastating earthquake and tsunami,
there is opportunity for continued economic growth if the
Japanese government, in conjunction with industry, pursues
a program of smart rebuilding and does not become mired
in prolonged political disagreement. Raghbendra Jha looks
at how structural changes in the Indian economy, along with
changes in Indian society, have increased the rate of growth
in the worldâs second largest country. He argues that while
trade and investment relations between Australia and India
are strong, there is substantial room for improvement. He
highlights infrastructure and the services sector as potential
expansion areas. Ligang Song sees continued benefits to
Australia from Chinaâs ongoing growth in the third part
of this policy brief. This rapid growth, however, will bring
macroeconomic, environmental, and social challenges in
China that can only be overcome through major structural
reforms. Finally, Ross McLeod examines the issues confronting
Indonesiaâs economy, including high inflation, corruption
and wasteful energy use. He argues that while these present
significant challenges, Indonesiaâs economy is still performing
strongly, being one of the few countries not to have suffered
a severe decline in growth as a result of the Global Financial
Crisis
Effectiveness of local support for the adoption of a national programme â a descriptive study
Background Change management in health care is a complex and time-consuming endeavour, and no less so in implementing technological systems. In deploying a nationwide programme, the personally controlled electronic health record (PCEHR), the Australian Government employed a number of national and local change management programmes.Objective This article describes the processes undertaken and the experiences of introducing the PCEHR into 74 general practices across a specific area of metropolitan Melbourne.Method An online survey was developed by an independent evaluator and offered to all participating practices. The response rate was 82%.Results The deployment and testing of the eHealth infrastructure and the roll- out of the PCEHR were deeply supported through face-to-face, locally contextualised support processes. The area Medicare Local (ML), an organisation that provides support services to general practice and allied health in the community, provided support and programme coordination. This support occurred in the environment of a number of other initiatives to improve adoption.Conclusion The impact and value of this support in the registration and adoption process was explored in an online survey and found to be the key factor in practice engagement and success. ML support was seen as instrumental in improving adoption and was more effective than other activities. This article highlights the role of local support, in this case, MLs, in the effective implementation of eHealth programmes across a range of stakeholder groups, in particular, general practice, and the potential for the lessons learned from the engagement model of such an entity to be more generally applied
Cold chains in Hanoi and Bangkok:changing systems of provision and practice
We know that patterns of domestic consumption are situated within broader systems of provision and that home appliances like the fridge freezer bridge between practices of cooking, shopping and eating, on the one hand, and increasingly global systems of food production, distribution and diet on the other. In analysing uses of fridge freezers in Hanoi and Bangkok as expressions, in microcosm, of complex and evolving processes of urbanisation and food provisioning this paper provides new insight into how specific configurations, dependencies and patterns of consumption take hold and how they vary and change. Our analysis of systems and practices in flux has the dual function of showing how household strategies reflect and contribute to more extensive transformations, and of demonstrating how these are shaped by ongoing tensions and relations between new and established forms of urban food supply and associated concepts of freshness and safety. The result is a subtle account of the multiple routes through which consumer âneedsâ evolve
Evaluating a pre-surgical health optimisation programme: a feasibility study
BACKGROUND: Health optimisation programmes are increasingly popular and aim to support patients to lose weight or stop smoking ahead of surgery, yet there is little published evidence about their impact. This study aimed to assess the feasibility of evaluating a programme introduced by a National Health Service (NHS) clinical commissioning group offering support to smokers/obese patients in an extra 3 months prior to the elective hip/knee surgery pathway. METHODS: Feasibility study mapping routinely collected data sources, availability and completeness for 502 patients referred to the hip/knee pathway in FebruaryâJuly 2018. RESULTS: Data collation across seven sources was complex. Data completeness for smoking and ethnicity was poor. While 37% (184) of patients were eligible for health optimisation, only 28% of this comparatively deprived patient group accepted referral to the support offered. Patients who accepted referral to support and completed the programme had a larger median reduction in BMI than those who did not accept referral (â 1.8 BMI points vs. â 0.5). Forty-nine per cent of patients who accepted support were subsequently referred to surgery, compared to 61% who did not accept referral to support. CONCLUSIONS: Use of routinely collected data to evaluate health optimisation programmes is feasible though demanding. Indications of the positive effects of health optimisation interventions from this study and existing literature suggest that the challenge of programme evaluation should be prioritised; longer-term evaluation of costs and outcomes is warranted to inform health optimisation policy development. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13741-022-00255-2
National PReCePT Programme: a before-and-after evaluation of the implementation of a national quality improvement programme to increase the uptake of magnesium sulfate in preterm deliveries
Beyond national narratives? : centenary histories, the First World War and the Armenian Genocide
In April 2015 the centenary of the Armenian Genocide was commemorated. Just like the First World War centenary, this anniversary has provoked a flurry of academic and public interest in what remains a highly contested history. This article assesses the state of the current historiography on the fate of the Ottoman Armenians. It focuses on the possibilities for moving beyond the national narratives which continue to dominate the field, in particular through connecting the case of the Armenian Genocide to what has been termed a âtransnational turnâ in the writing of the history of the First World War
Crop Updates 2005 - Lupins and Pulses
This session covers sixty five papers from different authors:
1. 2004 LUPIN AND PULSE INDUSTRY HIGHLIGHTS, Peter White Department of Agriculture
2. BACKGROUND, Peter White Department of Agriculture
2004 REGIONAL ROUNDUP
3. Northern Agricultural Region, Martin Harries, Department of Agriculture
4. Central Agricultural Region, Ian Pritchard, Department of Agriculture
5. Great Southern and Lakes, Rodger Beermier, Department of Agriculture
6. Esperance Port Zone, Mark Seymour, Department of Agriculture, and David Syme, The Grain Pool of WA
LUPIN AND PULSE PRODUCTION AGRONOMY AND GENETIC IMPROVEMENT
7. Lupin, Martin Harries, Department of Agriculture
8. Narrow-leafed lupin breeding, Bevan Buirchell, Department of Agriculture
9. Yellow lupin breeding in Western Australia, Kedar Adhikari, Mark Sweetingham and Bevan Buirchell, Department of Agriculture
10. WALAB2000 - First Anthracnose resistant albus lupins, Kedar Adhikari, Bevan Buirchell, MarkSweetingham and Geoff Thomas, Department of Agriculture
11. Improving lupin grain quality and yield through genetic manipulation of key physiological traits, Jon Clements1 and Bevan Buirchell2,1CLIMA, The University of Western Australia 2Department of Agriculture
12. Lupin alkaloids in four Australian species, Shao Fang Wang, Chemistry Centre (WA), CLIMA, The University of Western Australia
13. Improving lupin tolerance to herbicides of metribuzin, isoxaflutole and carfentrazone-ethyl, Ping Si1, Mark Sweetingham12, Bevan Buirchell12, David Bowran2 and Huaan Yang12 , 1CLIMA, The University of Western Australia, 2Department of Agriculture
14. Combined cultural and shielded sprayer herbicide application for weed management, Martin Harries and Mike Baker Department of Agriculture
15. Field testing of lupin seed of various sources with and without post maturity, pre harvest rain for field establishment, Martin Harries, Wayne Parker, Mike Baker, Department of Agriculture
16. Lupin seed rate by wide row spacing, Martin Harries, Bob French, Damien Owen Dâarcy, Department of Agriculture
17. How environment influences row spacing response in lupins, Bob French, Department of Agriculture
18. The effect of wider row spacing on lupin architecture, growth and nutrient uptake dynamics, Bill Bowden and Craig Scanlan, Department of Agriculture
19. Fertiliser placement and application rate in wide rows, Martin Harries, Damien Owen Dâarcy, Department of Agriculture
20. The pros and cons of cowing lupins in âwideâ rows, Wayne Parker, Bob French and Martin Harries, Department of Agriculture
21. Investigation into the influence of row orientation in lupin crops, Jeff Russell1 and Angie Roe2, 1Department of Agriculture, 2Farm Focus Consultants
22. Making the most of Mandelup, Greg Shea and Chris Matthews, Department of Agriculture
23. The effect of wild radish density and lupin cultivars on their competition at Merredin, Shahab Pathan, Abul Hashem and Bob French, Department of Agriculture
24. The potential of pearl lupin (Lupinus mutabilis) for southern Australia, Jon Clements1, Mark Sweetingham2, Bevan Buirchell2, Sofia Sipsas2, Geoff Thomas2, John Quealy1, Roger Jones2, Clive Francis1, Colin Smith2 and Gordon Francis1, 1CLIMA, University of Western Australia 2Department of Agriculture
25. Field pea, Mark Seymour, Department of Agriculture
26. Breeding highlights, Tanveer. Khan and Bob French, Department of Agriculture
27. Variety evaluation, Tanveer Khan, Kerry Regan, Jenny Garlinge and Rod Hunter, Department of Agriculture
28. Large scale field pea variety trials, Martin Harries, Department of Agriculture
29. Kaspa demonstrations, Rodger Beermier, Mark Seymour, Ian Pritchard, Graham Mussell, Department of Agriculture
30. Field pea harvesting demonstration at Merredin, Glen Riethmuller, Greg Shea and Bob French, Department of Agriculture
31. Does Kaspa respond differently to disease, fungicides, time of sowing or seed rate, Mark Seymour, Department of Agriculture
32. Field pea response to foliar Manganese in mallee district, Mark Seymour, Department of Agriculture
33. Kaspa harvesting observations 2004, Mark Seymour, Ian Pritchard, Glen Riethmuller, Department of Agriculture
34. âBlackspot Managerâ for understanding blackspot of peas and ascochyta blight management, Moin Salam and Jean Galloway, Department of Agriculture
35. 250,000 ha of field pea in WA â Is it sustainable? Larn McMurray1 and Mark Seymour2, 1South Australian Research and Development Institute, 2Department of Agriculture
36. Desi chickpea, Wayne Parker, Department of Agriculture
37. Breeding highlights, Tanveer Khan1,2 and Kadambot Siddique2,1Department of Agriculture, 2CLIMA, The University of Western Australia
38. Variety evaluation, Tanveer Khan, Kerry Regan, Jenny Garlinge and Rod Hunter, Department of Agriculture
39. Large scale variety testing of desi chickpeas, Martin Harries, Greg Shea, Mike Baker, Dirranie Kirby, Department of Agriculture
40. Desi variety chickpea trial, Martin Harries and Murray Blyth, Department of Agriculture
41. Seeding rates and row spacing of chickpea desi, Martin Harries, MurrayBlyth, Damien Owen Dâarcy, Department of Agriculture
42. Molecular characterisation of chickpea wild relatives, Fucheng Shan, Heather Clarke and Kadambot Siddique, CLIMA, The University of Western Australia
43. Plant phosphorus status has a limited influence on the concentration of phosphorus-mobilising carboxylates in the rhizosphere of chickpea, Madeleine Wouterlood, Hans Lambers and Erik Veneklaas, The University of Western Australia
44. Kabuli chickpea, Kerry Regan, Department of Agriculture, and CLIMA, The University of Western Australia
45. âKimberly Largeâ A high quality and high yielding new variety for the Ord River Irrigation Area, Kerry Regan1,2, Kadambot Siddique2, Peter White1,2, Peter Smith1 and Gae Plunkett1,1Department of Agriculture, 2CLIMA, University of Western Australia
46. Development of ascochyta resistant and high quality varieties for Australia, Kadambot Siddique1, Kerry Regan1,2, Tim Pope1 and Mike Baker2, 1CLIMA, The University of Western Australia 2Department of Agriculture
47. Towards double haploids in chickpeas and field pea, Janine Croser, Julia Wilson and Kadambot Siddique, CLIMA, The University of Western Australia
48. Crossing chickpea with wild Cicer relatives to introduce resistance to disease and tolerance to environmental stress, Heather Clarke and Kadambot Siddique, CLIMA, The University of Western Australia
49. Faba bean, Peter White, Department of Agriculture
50. Germplasm evaluation, Peter White1,2, Kerry Regan1,2, Tim Pope2, Martin Harries1, Mark Seymour1, Rodger Beermier1 and Leanne Young1, 1Department of Agriculture, 2CLIMA, The University of Western Australia
51. Lentil, Kerry Regan, Department of Agriculture, and CLIMA, The University of Western Australia
52. Variety and germplasm evaluation, Kerry Regan1,2, Tim Pope2, Leanne Young1, Martin Harries1, Murray Blyth1 and Michael Materne3, 1Department of Agriculture, 2CLIMA, University of Western Australia, 3Department of Primary Industries, Victoria
53. Lathyrus species, Kadambot Siddique1, Kerry Regan2, and Colin Hanbury2, 1CLIMA, the University of Western Australia, 2Department of Agricultur
Identification of a BRCA2-Specific modifier locus at 6p24 related to breast cancer risk
Common genetic variants contribute to the observed variation in breast cancer risk for BRCA2 mutation carriers; those known to date have all been found through population-based genome-wide association studies (GWAS). To comprehensively identify breast cancer risk modifying loci for BRCA2 mutation carriers, we conducted a deep replication of an ongoing GWAS discovery study. Using the ranked P-values of the breast cancer associations with the imputed genotype of 1.4 M SNPs, 19,029 SNPs were selected and designed for inclusion on a custom Illumina array that included a total of 211,155 SNPs as part of a multi-consortial project. DNA samples from 3,881 breast cancer affected and 4,330 unaffected BRCA2 mutation carriers from 47 studies belonging to the Consortium of Investigators of Modifiers of BRCA1/2 were genotyped and available for analysis. We replicated previously reported breast cancer susceptibility alleles in these BRCA2 mutation carriers and for several regions (including FGFR2, MAP3K1, CDKN2A/B, and PTHLH) identified SNPs that have stronger evidence of association than those previously published. We also identified a novel susceptibility allele at 6p24 that was inversely associated with risk in BRCA2 mutation carriers (rs9348512; per allele HRâ=â0.85, 95% CI 0.80-0.90, Pâ=â3.9Ă10â8). This SNP was not associated with breast cancer risk either in the general population or in BRCA1 mutation carriers. The locus lies within a region containing TFAP2A, which encodes a transcriptional activation protein that interacts with several tumor suppressor genes. This report identifies the first breast cancer risk locus specific to a BRCA2 mutation background. This comprehensive update of novel and previously reported breast cancer susceptibility loci contributes to the establishment of a panel of SNPs that modify breast cancer risk in BRCA2 mutation carriers. This panel may have clinical utility for women with BRCA2 mutations weighing options for medical prevention of breast cancer
An original phylogenetic approach identified mitochondrial haplogroup T1a1 as inversely associated with breast cancer risk in BRCA2 mutation carriers
Introduction: Individuals carrying pathogenic mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes have a high lifetime risk of breast cancer. BRCA1 and BRCA2 are involved in DNA double-strand break repair, DNA alterations that can be caused by exposure to reactive oxygen species, a main source of which are mitochondria. Mitochondrial genome variations affect electron transport chain efficiency and reactive oxygen species production. Individuals with different mitochondrial haplogroups differ in their metabolism and sensitivity to oxidative stress. Variability in mitochondrial genetic background can alter reactive oxygen species production, leading to cancer risk. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that mitochondrial haplogroups modify breast cancer risk in BRCA1/2 mutation carriers. Methods: We genotyped 22,214 (11,421 affected, 10,793 unaffected) mutation carriers belonging to the Consortium of Investigators of Modifiers of BRCA1/2 for 129 mitochondrial polymorphisms using the iCOGS array. Haplogroup inference and association detection were performed using a phylogenetic approach. ALTree was applied to explore the reference mitochondrial evolutionary tree and detect subclades enriched in affected or unaffected individuals. Results: We discovered that subclade T1a1 was depleted in affected BRCA2 mutation carriers compared with the rest of clade T (hazard ratio (HR) = 0.55; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.34 to 0.88; P = 0.01). Compared with the most frequent haplogroup in the general population (that is, H and T clades), the T1a1 haplogroup has a HR of 0.62 (95% CI, 0.40 to 0.95; P = 0.03). We also identified three potential susceptibility loci, including G13708A/rs28359178, which has demonstrated an inverse association with familial breast cancer risk. Conclusions: This study illustrates how original approaches such as the phylogeny-based method we used can empower classical molecular epidemiological studies aimed at identifying association or risk modification effects.Peer reviewe
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