Classical Corrections in String Cosmology

An important element in a model of non-singular string cosmology is a phase in which classical corrections saturate the growth of curvature in a deSitter-like phase with a linearly growing dilaton (an `algebraic fixed point'). As the form of the classical corrections is not well known, here we look for evidence, based on a suggested symmetry of the action, scale factor duality and on conformal field theory considerations, that they can produce this saturation. It has previously been observed that imposing scale factor duality on the $O(\alpha')$ corrections is not compatible with fixed point behavior. Here we present arguments that these problems persist to all orders in $\alpha'$. We also present evidence for the form of a solution to the equations of motion using conformal perturbation theory, examine its implications for the form of the effective action and find novel fixed point structure.Comment: 30 pages, Latex, epsfig, 6 figure

A 6-D Brane World Model

We consider a 6D space-time which is periodic in one of the extra dimensions and compact in the other. The periodic direction is defined by two 4-brane boundaries. Both static and non-static exact solutions, in which the internal spacetime has constant radius of curvature, are derived. In the case of static solutions, the brane tensions must be tuned as in the 5D Randall-Sundrum model, however, no additional fine-tuning is necessary between the brane tensions and the bulk cosmological constant. By further relaxing the sole fine-tuning of the model, we derive non-static solutions, describing de Sitter or Anti de Sitter 4D spacetimes, that allow for the fixing of the inter-brane distance and the accommodation of pairs of positive-negative and positive-positive tension branes. Finally, we consider the stability of the radion field in these configurations by employing small, time-dependent perturbations around the background solutions. In analogy with results drawn in 5 dimensions, the solutions describing a de Sitter 4D spacetime turn out to be unstable while those describing an Anti de Sitter geometry are shown to be stable.Comment: 22 pages, LaTeX file, no figure

Productivity Commission Inquiry into a National Disability Support Scheme "Treat disability related to injury the same as other disabilities”

The draft report Disability Care and Support contains an exciting vision of improved disability support for all people with disabilities, with provision as an entitlement to every Australian based on their need for support. This vision is strongly supported. It is quite unacceptable in a prosperous and fair society, as exists in Australia in 2011, that social security and universal health insurance provide a wide set of entitlement benefits, but that people with support needs due to disability have heavily rationed benefits, and that families bear the load of support in many cases, often with no or totally inadequate assistance. The Commission’s report is a once in a generation opportunity to correct long standing injustices to people with disability and the injured, and to remove the inefficient and inequitable support and compensation systems that have grown up piecemeal over a century or more. The Commission is urged to build on its draft proposals and so provide a base for governments to grasp the opportunity provided for the complete reform that is necessary.Centre for Disability Research and Polic

Characterization of Variant Equine Infectious Anemia Virus Long Terminal Repeat Sequences.

Equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) is the causative agent of a persistent disease in horses. The long terminal repeat (LTR) region of EIAV contains the enhancer and promoter elements necessary for transcription of the proviral genome. The LTR is also prone to a high degree of sequence variability between different virus isolates. Sequence alignments of LTR variants from both tissue culture-adapted strains of the virus as well as sequential horse isolates showed a high degree of sequence variability between variants. Sequence variability was further localized to a hypervariable region approximately 60 bp upstream of the TATA box. This region contained insertions resulting in the duplication of flanking sequences and the putative cis-elements they contain. Transient gene expression analysis of the LTR variants in three different cell lines showed that the promoter activities of the LTR variants were different and that these differences were cell line dependent. Further analysis using deletion mutants indicated that the hypervariable and flanking regions contained several cis-elements important for promoter activity and that duplication of these elements increased activity under basal conditions. Analysis of infected horse tissue DNA using competitive PCR analysis did not indicate a high degree of sequence divergence localized to the LTR. Therefore, LTR heterogeneity may not be required for the onset of acute disease. To assess the impact of LTR variability on viral replication kinetics and cytopathogenicity, an infectious EIAV molecular clone was created in which the cognate LTR region was replaced with the corresponding region of a virus stock which demonstrates accelerated cytopathogenic effects. The study showed that the LTR increased replication capacity but did not influence cytopathogenicity

Repeated supra-maximal sprint cycling with and without sodium bicarbonate supplementation induces endothelial microparticle release

Under normal homeostatic conditions, the endothelium releases microparticles (MP), which are known to increase under stressful conditions and in disease states. CD105 (endoglin) and CD106 (vascular cell adhesion molecule-1) are expressed on the surface of endothelial cells and increased expression in response to stress may be observed. A randomised-controlled double-blinded study aimed to examine the use of endothelial microparticles as a marker for the state of one’s endothelium, as well as whether maintaining acid-base homeostasis affects the release of these MP. This study tested seven healthy male volunteers, who completed a strenuous cycling protocol, with venous blood analysed for CD105+ and CD106+ MP by flow cytometry at regular intervals. Prior to each trial participants consumed either 0.3 g·kg-1 body mass of sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3), or 0.045 g·kg-1 body mass of sodium chloride (NaCl). A significant rise in endothelial CD105+MP and CD106+MP (p < 0.05) was observed at 90 minutes post exercise. A significant trend was shown for these MP to return to resting levels 180 minutes post exercise in both groups. No significance was found between experimental groups, suggesting that maintaining acid-base variables closer to basal levels has little effect upon the endothelial stress response for this particular exercise mode. In conclusion, strenuous exercise is accompanied by MP release and the endothelium is able to rapidly recover in healthy individuals, whilst maintaining acid-base homeostasis does not attenuate the MP release from the endothelium after exercise

Implications of a pre-exercise alkalosis-mediated attenuation of HSP72 on its response to a subsequent bout of exercise

The aim of this study was to investigate if a pre-exercise alkalosis-mediated attenuation of HSP72 had any effect on the response of the same stress protein after a subsequent exercise. Seven physically active males [25.0 ± 6.5 years, 182.1 ± 6.0 cm, 74.0 ± 8.3 kg, peak aerobic power (PPO) 316 ± 46 W] performed a repeated sprint exercise (EXB1) following a dose of 0.3 g kg⁻¹ body mass of sodium bicarbonate (BICARB), or a placebo of 0.045 g kg⁻¹ body mass of sodium chloride (PLAC). Participants then completed a 90-min intermittent cycling protocol (EXB2). Monocyte expressed HSP72 was significantly attenuated after EXB1 in BICARB compared to PLAC, however, there was no difference in the HSP72 response to the subsequent EXB2 between conditions. Furthermore there was no difference between conditions for measures of oxidative stress (protein carbonyl and HSP32). These findings confirm the sensitivity of the HSP72 response to exercise-induced changes in acid–base status in vivo, but suggest that the attenuated response has little effect upon subsequent stress in the same day

Cross Sector Service Coordination for People with High and Complex Needs: Harnessing Existing Evidence and Knowledge

People with high and complex needs will generally need an array of supports to enable social and economic participation as envisaged by the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). As participants, these people will receive funding from the NDIS to purchase services and supports from a range of different disability sector providers, but will also need to access various 'mainstream’ services including health, education, housing, justice and transport in order to pursue the life they choose. The complexity of the services system, and the interfaces between sectors, create gaps and barriers that are challenging for participants, service providers and for policy makers alike to navigate. Cross-sector coordination is a critical scheme design element to ensure that NDIS participants get the range of services and supports they need to pursue their goals and participate in society and the economy. Any failure of other sectors to provide access to quality services will increase the costs of disability support and risk the sustainability of the NDIS. Coordination can thus also be seen as a way of addressing this fundamental risk facing the NDIS. For these reasons cross-sector coordination should be a core element in NDIS design. The disability field is actively discussing these challenges and this paper aims to provide evidence to inform policy directions now being developed.The Centre for Disability Research and Policy at the University of Sydney and the Young People in Nursing Homes National Alliance were partners in a project, supported by the NDIACentre for Disability Research and Polic

Identifying Authorship from Linguistic Text Patterns

Research that deals with linguistic text patterns is challenging because of the unstructured nature of text. This research presents a methodology to compare texts to identify whether two texts are written by the same or different authors. The methodology includes an algorithm to analyze the proximity of text, which is based upon Zipf’s Law [47][48]. The results have implications for text mining with applications to areas such as forensics, natural language processing, and information retrieval

Implications of a Pre-Exercise Alkalosis Mediated Attenuation of HSP72 on its Response to a Subsequent Bout of Exercise

The aim of this study was to investigate if a pre-exercise alkalosis mediated attenuation of HSP72 had any effect on the response of the same stress protein after a subsequent exercise. Seven physically active males (25.0 ± 6.5 years, 182.1 ± 6.0 cm, 74.0 ± 8.3 kg, peak aerobic power (PPO) 316 ± 46 W) performed a repeated sprint exercise (EXB1) following a dose of 0.3 g kg-1 body mass of sodium bicarbonate (BICARB), or a placebo of 0.045 g kg-1 body mass of sodium chloride (PLAC). Participants then completed a 90-min intermittent cycling protocol (EXB2). Monocyte expressed HSP72 was significantly attenuated after EXB1 in BICARB compared to PLAC, however there was no difference in the HSP72 response to the subsequent EXB2 between conditions. Furthermore there was no difference between conditions for measures of oxidative stress (protein carbonyl and HSP32). These findings confirm the sensitivity of the HSP72 response to exercise induced changes in acid-base status in vivo, but suggest that the attenuated response has little effect upon subsequent stress in the same day