Imperium et Libertas: G.C. Henderson and ‘Colonial Historical Research

In 1907 J.M. Dent & Co, London, in partnership with E.P. Dutton & Co, New York, published a book by the Professor of History at the University of Adelaide: G.C. Henderson’s Sir George Grey: Pioneer of Empire in Southern Lands. The volume was well received, both in Australia and in Britain. The Academy called it ‘an able piece of work, clear, discriminating, judicial’ and Frederick Watson, later to be editor of Historical Records of Australia, sung its praises.1 ‘Nearly all the London papers & reviews [spoke] very favourably of the work’, reported Henderson in December 1908 to the Australian Prime Minister, Alfred Deakin, who had written with his own compliments.2 An ‘Oxford scholar, holding a chair in an Australian university’, Henderson possessed an outlook that, according to The Academy, was ‘Imperial rather than Colonial’.3 His position in a colonial university did not – or so the reviewer believed – set him apart from his metropolitan colleagues: ‘he delivers himself of no shibboleths’, concluded the article.4 This chapter argues that Henderson’s book, and the outlook and experiences that informed both it and his work at the University of Adelaide, need to be understood in terms of the social and institutional contexts that linked Australia and Britain at the turn of the century. Moving within the networks of the British academic world, Henderson’s travels and the landscapes of affection and connection born of them, not only shaped the way he approached his work, but his experience of undertaking it in turn also shaped his vision for ‘colonial historical research’ at Adelaide.5 I Born in 1870 near Newcastle in New Sout

Afterword: What was Britain? Where is its history?

© 2016 Australian Historical Association. This article considers the different ways British history has been located and defined in the last forty years, highlighting in particular the shifting and porous nature of its borders. The article reflects on the disinclination of many contributors in this issue to adopt the label of 'British historian'. It points out that, despite the emergence of transnational history, those historians working in Australia on British sources continue to find themselves pulled between the national imperatives of multiple countries. But both transnational and national historical approaches might be seen as attempts to make sense of human lives and institutions made within systems that work by at once connecting and separating localities. The article concludes by arguing that historians working on British sources in Australia need to claim both labels of 'British' and 'Antipodean'. They need to situate themselves both within the supply chains of trade, labour and governance, family, expertise and belief that stretched across space, and within the various politics that sought to locate and contain them in different locations

Photometric Analysis of the Optical Counterpart of the Black Hole HMXB M33 X-7

Aims: Study the high-mass X-ray binary X-7 in M33 using broad-band optical data. Methods: We used recently published CFHT r' and i' data for variable stars in M33 to extract the light curve of the optical counterpart of X-7. We combined these data with DIRECT B and V measurements in order to search for an independent optical modulation with the X-ray periodicity. The periodic modulation is modelled with the ellipsoidal effect. We used UBVRr'i' magnitudes of the system to constrain the temperature and radius of the optical component. Results: The optical data revealed a periodicity of 3.4530 +- 0.0014 days, which is consistent with the known X-ray period. Double modulation, which we attributed to ellipsoidal modulation, is clearly seen in four different optical bands. The absolute magnitude in six optical bands is most consistent with a stellar counterpart with 33000 < T_{eff} < 47000 K and 15 < R < 20 R_{\sun}. We modelled the optical periodic modulation and derived the masses of the two components as a function of the orbital inclination and the radius of the stellar component. The resulting mass range for the compact object is 1.3 < M < 23 M_{\sun}. Conclusions: The system is probably a black hole HMXB, similar to Cyg X-1, LMC X-1 and LMC X-3.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&

Tightly Correlated X-ray/Hα\alpha Emitting Filaments in the Superbubble and Large-Scale Superwind of NGC 3079

Using Chandra and HST we show that X-ray and H$\alpha$ filaments that form the 1.3-kpc diameter superbubble of NGC 3079 have strikingly similar patterns at 0."8 resolution. This tight match seems to arise from cool disk gas that has been driven by the wind, with X-rays being emitted from upstream, stand-off bowshocks or by conductive cooling at the cloud/wind interfaces. We find that the soft X-ray plasma has thermal and kinetic energies of $2\times10^{56}\sqrt{\eta_x}$ and $5\times10^{54}\sqrt{\eta_X}$ erg respectively, where $\eta_X$ is the filling factor of the X-ray gas and may be small; these are comparable to the energies of the optical line-emitting gas. X-rays are also seen from the base of the radio counterbubble that is obscured optically by the galaxy disk, and from the nucleus (whose spectrum shows the Fe K$\alpha$ line). Hydrodynamical simulations reproduce the obbservations well using large filling factors within both filament systems; assuming otherwise seriously underestimates the mass loss in the superwind. The superbubble is surrounded by a fainter conical halo of X-rays that fill the area delineated by high angle, H$\alpha$-emitting filaments, supporting our previous assertion that these filaments form the contact discontinuity/shock between galaxy gas and shocked wind. About 40\arcsec (3 kpc) above the disk, an X-ray arc may partially close beyond the bubble, but the north-east quadrant remains open, consistent with the superwind having broken out into at least the galaxy halo.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, to appear in Sept. 10 Ap

Plant biomass nitrogen and effects on the risk of nitrate leaching of intercrops under organic farming in Eastern Austria

Data on the potential of intercrops to reduce soil nitrate contents, on their N accumulation and biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) are lacking for organic farming in the dry, pannonic region of Eastern Austria. The effect of legumes, non-legumes, and legumes + non-legumes used as intercrops on inorganic soil nitrogen, crop yield and biomass N, and BNF were tested in comparison to bare fallow. Non-legumes and legumes + non-legumes were more efficient than legumes in reducing inorganic soil N contents in autumn and nitrate contents in soil solution from the subsoil in winter. This reduction in inorganic soil N did not last until March of the following year due to an N mineralisation from the mulch. The legume + non-legume mixture contained a larger amount of crop N than both legumes and non-legumes. This was due to the combined effect of soil-N uptake by the non-legumes and BNF by the legumes in the mixture

Changes in olfactory bulb volume following lateralized olfactory training.

Repeated exposure to odors modifies olfactory function. Consequently, "olfactory training" plays a significant role in hyposmia treatment. In addition, numerous studies show that the olfactory bulb (OB) volume changes in disorders associated with olfactory dysfunction. Aim of this study was to investigate whether and how olfactory bulb volume changes in relation to lateralized olfactory training in healthy people. Over a period of 4 months, 97 healthy participants (63 females and 34 males, mean age: 23.74 ± 4.16 years, age range: 19-43 years) performed olfactory training by exposing the same nostril twice a day to 4 odors (lemon, rose, eucalyptus and cloves) while closing the other nostril. Before and after olfactory training, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans were performed to measure OB volume. Furthermore, participants underwent lateralized odor threshold and odor identification testing using the "Sniffin' Sticks" test battery.OB volume increased significantly after olfactory training (11.3 % and 13.1 % respectively) for both trained and untrained nostril. No significant effects of sex, duration and frequency of training or age of the subjects were seen. Interestingly, PEA odor thresholds worsened after training, while olfactory identification remained unchanged.These data show for the first time in humans that olfactory training may involve top-down process, which ultimately lead to a bilateral increase in olfactory bulb volume