Equal remuneration under the Fair Work Act 2009

The Commission’s Pay Equity Unit commissioned this research report to: assist parties to equal remuneration proceedings under Part 2-7 to engage in productive discussion and work towards greater consensus in relation to the proceedings; and inform potential parties about the matters they might be required to address and the type of evidence they might be required to bring as part of an equal remuneration proceeding. The report responds to those objectives in the following structure: setting the global scene, by describing the international labour standards on equal remuneration, providing international data on the GPG and summarising key elements of the approaches taken in selected overseas jurisdictions analysing the treatment of equal remuneration under the Fair Work Act; outlining the SACS case and explaining the various decisions given by the Fair Work Commission and its predecessors  reviewing available literature on how the GPG might be explained and assessed; and drawing on the research undertaken for the above purposes, outlining approaches which might usefully guide the conduct of future proceedings under Part 2-7 of the Fair Work Act The report also includes three appendices. The first two detail the development of equal remuneration regulation at the federal level (Appendix A) and under the State industrial systems (Appendix B). The third, Appendix C, provides an overview of the approaches taken in the European Union and ten selected countries—Belgium, Canada, Ireland, Finland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States. The report is the product of independent research by the authors, and the views it contains are those of the authors, not of the staff or Members of the Fair Work Commission

NOUS: Construction and Querying of Dynamic Knowledge Graphs

The ability to construct domain specific knowledge graphs (KG) and perform question-answering or hypothesis generation is a transformative capability. Despite their value, automated construction of knowledge graphs remains an expensive technical challenge that is beyond the reach for most enterprises and academic institutions. We propose an end-to-end framework for developing custom knowledge graph driven analytics for arbitrary application domains. The uniqueness of our system lies A) in its combination of curated KGs along with knowledge extracted from unstructured text, B) support for advanced trending and explanatory questions on a dynamic KG, and C) the ability to answer queries where the answer is embedded across multiple data sources.Comment: Codebase: https://github.com/streaming-graphs/NOU

Finding the rarest objects in the universe: A new, efficient method for discovering BL Lacertae objects

We present a new, efficient method for discovering new BL Lac Objects based upon the results of the Einstein Extended Medium Sensitivity Survey (EMSS). We have found that all x-ray selected BL Lacs are radio emitters, and further, that in a 'color-color' diagram (radio/optical and optical/x-ray) the BL Lac Objects occupy an area distinct from both radio loud quasars and the radio quiet QSOs and Seyferts which dominate x-ray selected samples. After obtaining radio counterparts via VLA 'snapshot' observations of a large sample of unidentified x-ray sources, the list of candidates is reduced. These candidates then can be confirmed with optical spectroscopy and/or polarimetry. Since greater than 70 percent of these sources are expected to be BL Lacs, the optical observations are very efficient. We have tested this method using unidentified sources found in the Einstein Slew Survey. The 162 Slew Survey x-ray source positions were observed with the VLA in a mixed B/C configuration at 6 cm resulting in 60 detections within 1.5 position error circle radii. These x-ray/optical/radio sources were then plotted, and 40 BL Lac candidates were identified. To date, 10 candidates have been spectroscopically observed resulting in 10 new BL Lac objects! Radio flux, optical magnitude, and polarization statistics (obtained in white light with the Steward Observatory 2.3 m CCD polarimeter) for each are given

The Leishmania major BBSome subunit BBS1 is essential for parasite virulence in the mammalian host

Bardet–Biedl syndrome (BBS) is a human genetic disorder with a spectrum of symptoms caused by primary cilium dysfunction. The disease is caused by mutations in one of at least 17 identified genes, of which seven encode subunits of the BBSome, a protein complex required for specific trafficking events to and from the primary cilium. The molecular mechanisms associated with BBSome function remain to be fully elucidated. Here, we generated null and complemented mutants of the BBSome subunit BBS1 in the protozoan parasite, Leishmania. In the absence of BBS1, extracellular parasites have no apparent defects in growth, flagellum assembly, motility or differentiation in vitro but there is accumulation of vacuole-like structures close to the flagellar pocket. Infectivity of these parasites for macrophages in vitro is reduced compared with wild-type controls but the null parasites retain the ability to differentiate to the intracellular amastigote stage. However, infectivity of BBS1 null parasites is severely compromised in a BALB/c mouse footpad model. We hypothesize that the absence of BBS1 in Leishmania leads to defects in specific trafficking events that affect parasite persistence in the host. This is the first report of an association between the BBSome complex and pathogen infectivity

Under the Microscope: Painting from Histology

My goal as an artist is to create paintings which explore the intersections of biology, philosophy, aesthetics, and personal experience. I want to challenge the viewer to engage with their own anatomy and physiology on a microscopic scale. I also aspire to communicate my sense of awe and wonder at the structures and mechanisms of life on every scale, from the cellular to the cosmic. I am deeply interested in how physiological processes generate the human experience —I became a neuroscience major because I was interested in the mechanisms of sensation and perception. My love of histology—the study of the microscopic structure of biological tissues—started during a teaching assistantship I had in high school, where in between defrosting fetal pigs and washing glassware in the anatomy and physiology lab, I got to sit at the microscope in the back of the classroom and look through the boxes and boxes of slides. I was captured by the beauty of the forms of line and color, the organic patterns in these images, and was also amazed to literally see the physical mechanisms which make life possible. In my paintings, I depict these microscopic biological forms as symbols and narratives, as well as pure aesthetic expressions. I relate my own experiences and opinions of sensations such as touch to the colors and gestures which comprise the anatomical structures, which themselves are intrinsically related to my corporeal experience. For a long while now, I have sought an understanding of anatomy and physiology as a means of relating my experience to my body, especially within the contexts of physical and mental illness. I am curious how these intersecting systems of physiology and experience can generate spiritual and epistemic insights, and hope to find a greater sense of meaning and compassion for myself and the world around me

BAT AGN spectroscopic survey - XV: the high frequency radio cores of ultra-hard X-ray selected AGN

We have conducted 22 GHz radio imaging at 1 arcsec resolution of 100 low-redshift AGN selected at 14–195 keV by the Swift-BAT. We find a radio core detection fraction of 96 per cent, much higher than lower frequency radio surveys. Of the 96 radio-detected AGN, 55 have compact morphologies, 30 have morphologies consistent with nuclear star formation, and 11 have sub-kpc to kpc-scale jets. We find that the total radio power does not distinguish between nuclear star formation and jets as the origin of the radio emission. For 87 objects, we use optical spectroscopy to test whether AGN physical parameters are distinct between radio morphological types. We find that X-ray luminosities tend to be higher if the 22 GHz morphology is jet-like, but find no significant difference in other physical parameters. We find that the relationship between the X-ray and core radio luminosities is consistent with the L_R/L_X ∼ 10⁻⁵ of coronally active stars. We further find that the canonical fundamental planes of black hole activity systematically overpredict our radio luminosities, particularly for objects with star formation morphologies

The Communicability of Nature

The Communicability of Nature: Redefining Nature’s Voice In my paper my aim is to look at works by William Wordsworth, Henry David Thoreau, and Wislawa Szymborska and evaluate how nature appears in their works. With Wordsworth and Thoreau I take a critical approach to their self-centered sense of relationship with nature. In their works, nature takes on the form of a mirror to their thoughts—silent instead of present. Then I look at Szymborska as an example of equality in nature writing. Her work allows nature an individual voice that is in confrontation with the human speaker, using voice to highlight agency and resilience. Nature then begins to have an individual agency and power that takes it from the realm of simply “opposite to culture” (and silent) and into a space of actual presence. Once it has that presence, it can be heard, not just projected upon. I took a fairly basic English research approach that combines literary works with critical viewpoints to see the work from a new perspective. My critical viewpoint is Ecocriticism (or Eco-phenomenology), a relatively new field in the English academy. In my research I wasn’t able to find any work on Szymborska’s poem from an Eco-phenomenological perspective, which is my focus. As such, this paper adds to the discuss on Szymborska’s poem and contributes to the burgeoning field of research that seeks to open a space for nature in terms of agency and voice, adding it as a character instead of a backdrop

The Communicability of Nature

How do we experience nature? In what way can we find ourselves at one with nature, immersed in the experience of nature, and still allow nature a level of healthy “otherness,” of individual separation? Writers, scientists, and lost people have long gone to the wilderness, to nature, in search of answers to life’s mysteries. In effect it has become a destination, a place apart from humans, where it exists only as a haven and place of meditation. Nature has lost its own individuality, its sense of presence as an entity in and of itself. When we seek nature in order to look for answers, to communicate with it as a guide for life, we fail to see it as an independent presence. Instead, there is the sense that nature speaks “human” and tells us all of its secrets, which, of course, relate to human beings; it is perceived as unlocked

SB48-15/16: Regarding Kaimin Fee Increase

SB48-15/16: Regarding Kaimin Fee Increase. This resolution passed 20Y-0N-1A by roll call vote at the March 30, 2016 meeting of the Associated Students of the University of Montana (ASUM)

SB24-15/16: Amending Personnel Policy--Kaimin Job Descriptions

SB24-15/16: Resolution Amending Personnel Policy -- Kaimin Job Descriptions. This resolution was passed by unanimous consent at the November 4, 2015 meeting of the Associated Students of the University of Montana (ASUM)