Australian Organic Market Report 2008

Being four years since the publication of a similar research document, the Australian Organic Market Report (AOMR) 2008 is a landmark report for the organic industry. The report will be invaluable for monitoring and planning the industry development during a period of high growth. Delivering consistent data for benchmarking growth across the various sectors of the industry, it will be a key tool for decision making by organic producers and marketers, along with interested parties such as government and media, in assisting in understanding the nature, size and development of the organic industry in Australia. Supply chain development has been hindered over many years by a lack of basic information about volumes, seasonality, continuity and quality, not only making it difficult for potentially new members of industry to feel confident about investing in organic, however also likely to cause overseas buyers to look for other countries with more comprehensive industry information. The report is an important base research document required by any growing industry. It has been commissioned by Biological Farmers of Australia (BFA), and has been carried out independently by the University of New England’s Organic Research Group. The report has the financial support of major sponsor Westpac Bank, all State Governments in Australia as well as many dedicated industry businesses

Two dimensional eye tracking: Sampling rate of forcing function

A study was conducted to determine the minimum update rate of a forcing function display required for the operator to approximate the tracking performance obtained on a continuous display. In this study, frequency analysis was used to determine whether there was an associated change in the transfer function characteristics of the operator. It was expected that as the forcing function display update rate was reduced, from 120 to 15 samples per second, the operator's response to the high frequency components of the forcing function would show a decrease in gain, an increase in phase lag, and a decrease in coherence

Head tracking at large angles from the straight ahead position

One of the big advantages of a helmet sight in a high performance aircraft is its off-boresight capability in aiming a fire control system. However, tracking data using a target that is moving rapidly and randomly for an extended period of time is missing. This study is intended to provide data in this area that will be of value to engineers in designing head control systems

Pattern formation by lateral inhibition with feedback: a mathematical model of Delta-Notch intercellular signalling

In many developing tissues, adjacent cells diverge in character so as to create a fine-grained pattern of cells in contrasting states of differentiation. It has been proposed that such patterns can be generated through lateral inhibition—a type cells–cell interaction whereby a cell that adopts a particular fate inhibits its immediate neighbours from doing likewise. Lateral inhibition is well documented in flies, worms and vertebrates. In all of these organisms, the transmembrane proteins Notch and Delta (or their homologues) have been identified as mediators of the interaction—Notch as receptor, Delta as its ligand on adjacent cells. However, it is not clear under precisely what conditions the Delta-Notch mechanism of lateral inhibition can generate the observed types of pattern, or indeed whether this mechanism is capable of generating such patterns by itself. Here we construct and analyse a simple and general mathematical model of such contact-mediated lateral inhibition. In accordance with experimental data, the model postulates that receipt of inhibition (i.e. activation of Notch) diminishes the ability to deliver inhibition (i.e. to produce active Delta). This gives rise to a feedback loop that can amplify differences between adjacent cells. We investigate the pattern-forming potential and temporal behavior of this model both analytically and through numerical simulation. Inhomogeneities are self-amplifying and develop without need of any other machinery, provided the feedback is sufficiently strong. For a wide range of initial and boundary conditions, the model generates fine-grained patterns similar to those observed in living systems

Retention of Student Pharmacists\u27 Knowledge and Skills Regarding Overdose Management with Naloxone

BACKGROUND: Overdose education and naloxone training was recently implemented into the required curriculum of the College of Pharmacy at the University of Rhode Island. The objective of this study was to compare the retention of knowledge between student pharmacists who received a didactic lecture only versus student pharmacists who received the same lecture plus a skills-based objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) with a standardized patient actor. METHODS: Students in their first-professional year (P1) of the Doctor of Pharmacy program (n = 129) and students in their second-professional (P2) year (n = 123) attended a required lecture on opioid overdose, including detailed naloxone training. P2 students were additionally required to participate in an OSCE assessment following the didactic lecture component. An anonymous, voluntary survey was offered to all students approximately 6 months later. A Chi-Square or Fisher\u27s Exact Test was performed on the survey responses to assess any difference in the responses between the two groups. RESULTS: A total of 99 P1 students (76.7%) and 116 P2 students (94.3%) completed the survey. P1 students were found to be more knowledgeable regarding the duration of naloxone action and identification of risk factors for opioid overdose. P2 students were found to be more knowledgeable regarding non-medical ways patients may obtain opioids and the correct order of emergency response during a suspected opioid overdose... Conclusions: P2 students did not demonstrate superior retention of information regarding naloxone and opioid use disorder on survey questions compared with P1 students. There was a trend towards P2 students feeling more confident in their ability to counsel patients for overdose prevention and reporting disagreement with the statement that overdose prevention for people who use drugs is a waste of time and money compared with the P1 students, but these did not reach statistical significance. Since the opioid crisis continues unabated, naloxone training using OSCE and didactic methods remain an on-going required part of the pharmacy curriculum

Neon and Sulfur Abundances of Planetary Nebulae in the Magellanic Clouds

The chemical abundances of neon and sulfur for 25 planetary nebulae (PNe) in the Magellanic Clouds are presented. These abundances have been derived using mainly infrared data from the Spitzer Space Telescope. The implications for the chemical evolution of these elements are discussed. A comparison with similarly obtained abundances of Galactic PNe and HII regions and Magellanic Clouds HII regions is also given. The average neon abundances are 6.0x10(-5) and 2.7x10(-5) for the PNe in the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds respectively. These are ~1/3 and 1/6 of the average abundances of Galactic planetary nebulae to which we compare. The average sulfur abundances for the LMC and SMC are respectively 2.7x10(-6) and 1.0x10(-6). The Ne/S ratio (23.5) is on average higher than the ratio found in Galactic PNe (16) but the range of values in both data sets is similar for most of the objects. The neon abundances found in PNe and HII regions agree with each other. It is possible that a few (3-4) of the PNe in the sample have experienced some neon enrichment, but for two of these objects the high Ne/S ratio can be explained by their very low sulfur abundances. The neon and sulfur abundances derived in this paper are also compared to previously published abundances using optical data and photo-ionization models.Comment: 13 pages, 4 tables, 5 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap

In vivo evaluation of edge-loading in metal-on-metal hip resurfacing patients with pseudotumours

Objectives: Pseudotumours (abnormal peri-prosthetic soft-tissue reactions) following metal-on-metal hip resurfacing arthroplasty (MoMHRA) have been associated with elevated metal ion levels, suggesting that excessive wear may occur due to edge-loading of these MoM implants. This study aimed to quantify in vivo edge-loading in MoMHRA patients with and without pseudotumours during functional activities. Methods: The duration and magnitude of edge-loading in vivo was quantified during functional activities by combining the dynamic hip joint segment contact force calculated from the three-dimensional (3D) motion analysis system with the 3D reconstruction of orientation of the acetabular component and each patient’s specific hip joint centre, based on CT scans. Results: Edge-loading in the hips with pseudotumours occurred with a four-fold increase in duration and magnitude of force compared with the hips without pseudotumours (p = 0.02). Conclusions: The study provides the first in vivo evidence to support that edge-loading is an important mechanism that leads to localised excessive wear (edge-wear), with subsequent elevation of metal ion levels in MoMHRA patients with pseudotumours

The ins and outs of participation in a weather information system

In this paper our aim is to show even though access to technology, information or data holds the potential for improved participation, participation is wired into a larger network of actors, artefacts and information practices. We draw on a case study of a weather information system developed and implemented by a non-profit organisation to both describe the configuration of participation, but also critically assess inclusion and exclusion. We present a set of four questions - a basic, practical toolkit - by which we together with the organisation made sense of and evaluated participation in the system