An empirical investigation of trade flows between Australia and its major trading partners

This study introduces Net Export (NX) models to examine the determinants of the trade flows between Australia and eight selected trading partner (TP) countries (China, France, Germany, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States of America) in four selected Trade Deficit (TD) categories (Pharmaceutical Products; Nuclear Reactors, Boilers, Machinery and Mechanical Appliances; Electrical Machinery and Equipment; Sound Recorders and Producers, and Vehicles Other Than Railway or Tramway Rolling-Stock). A total of 29 NX models are estimated, which are based on both the monetary and Quantity (QTY) values. Findings in this study suggest that macroeconomic variables such as money supply, interest rates and savings rates have no-significant effect in the determination of the NX levels in the selected categories. This highlights that monetary policy cannot influence the NX levels in the selected TD categories in Australia. This study also identifies some policy implications which arise from this paper

Effect of Steamed Broccoli Juice (Brassica Oleraceae L. Var. Italica) to the Serum Interleukin 8 Level in Colitis Murine Model

Background: Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a bowel inflammation that happens in the colon and rectum. In UC there is an increased level of inflammatory mediators, one of which is interleukin-8 (IL-8), the main chemoattractant for polymorphonuclear (PMN) inflammatory cells causing inflammation to worsen. Broccoli (Brassica oleraceae L. var. italica) contains sulforaphane which can inhibit nuclear factor kappa B (NF-ĸB), resulting in the decrease of IL-8. This study was performed to identify the effect of steamed broccoli juice to the serum interleukin-8 level in murine model of colitis.Method: This study was a true experimental laboratory study using complete randomized design. Experimental animals being used were 28 murines with Balb/c strain and were divided into 4 intervention groups. Serum IL-8 level was measured by using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method. Data analysis was performed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) test, followed by multiple comparisons Tukey honest significant difference (HSD) test (a = 0.05) and p 0.05.Results: The highest mean of IL-8 level was found in the positive control group. This study also showed highly significant difference (p < 0.001) of IL-8 level between positive control group and treatment group.Conclusion: Steamed broccoli juice could decrease serum interleukin-8 level in murine model of colitis

Comparison of Tissue Adhesive Glue with Subcuticular Absorbable Suture for Skin Closure Following Thyroid Surgery: A single blinded randomized controlled trial

Objectives: The objective of this study was to compare the skin closure time, postoperative pain and the scar outcome between tissue adhesive and sub-cuticular sutures in thyroid surgery. Methods: This was a prospective, single-blinded, randomized controlled trial. A sample size of 64 in each group was calculated. Adult patients undergoing thyroid surgery were included while those with previous neck surgery, history of keloids/hypertrophic scars and those undergoing concomitant neck dissections were excluded. Following platysma closure, they were randomised into two groups - tissue adhesive or subcuticular sutures, using Serially Numbered Opaque Sealed Envelopes technique. The primary outcome was the skin closure time. The secondary outcomes were postoperative pain at 24 hours and scar scoring at 1st and 3rd post-operative month. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS software version 19.0 for Windows. Results: The median skin closure time and postoperative pain was significantly lower in the tissue adhesive group as compared to the suture group (p<0.01). However, there was no statistically significant difference in scar outcome at 1st month (p=0.088) and in 3rd month (p=0.137) between the two groups. There were no wound-related complications in either group. It was seen on a subgroup analysis that there was no difference in the scar outcome or wound-related complications in patients with comorbidities. There were no instances of allergic contact dermatitis to the tissue adhesive. Conclusion: The use of tissue adhesive leads to lower operative time and less post-operative pain in thyroid surgeries. The scar outcome is comparable between tissue adhesives and subcuticular sutures. Keywords: Thyroidectomy; scar; tissue glue; subcuticular suture

Community-based control of a neglected tropical disease: the mossy foot treatment and prevention association

Podoconiosis (endemic non-filarial elephantiasis, also known as mossy foot) is a non-communicable disease now found exclusively in the tropics, caused by the conjunction of environmental, genetic, and economic factors. Silicate particles formed by the disintegration of lava in areas of high altitude (over 1,000 m) and seasonal rainfall (over 1,000 mm per annum) penetrate the skin of barefoot subsistence farmers, and in susceptible individuals cause lymphatic blockage and subsequent elephantiasis [1]. Although an estimated one million Ethiopians (of a total population of 77 million) are afflicted with podoconiosis [2], which creates a huge economic burden in endemic areas [3], no national policy has yet been developed to control or prevent the condition, and most affected communities remain unaware of treatment options

Provider perspectives on patient-provider communication for adjuvant endocrine therapy symptom management

Providers’ communication skills play a key role in encouraging breast cancer survivors to report symptoms and adhere to long-term treatments such as adjuvant endocrine therapy (AET). The purpose of this study was to examine provider perspectives on patient-provider communication regarding AET symptom management and to explore whether provider perspectives vary across the multi-disciplinary team of providers involved in survivorship care

Transferring an Analytical Technique from Ecology to the Sport Sciences

Background: Learning transfer is defined as an individual’s capability to apply prior learnt perceptual, motor or conceptual skills to a novel task or performance environment. In the sport sciences, learning transfers have been investigated from an athlete-specific perspective. However, sport scientists should also consider the benefits of cross-disciplinary learning to aid critical thinking and metacognitive skill gained through the interaction with similar quantitative scientific disciplines. Objective: Using team sports performance analysis as an example, this study aimed to demonstrate the utility of a common analytical technique in ecology to the sports sciences; namely, non-metric multidimensional scaling. Methods: To achieve this aim, three novel research examples using this technique are presented, each of which enables the analysis and visualisation of athlete (organism), team (aggregation of organisms) and competition (ecosystem) behaviours. Results: The first example reveals the technical behaviours of Australian Football League Brownlow medallists from the 2001 to 2016 seasons. The second example delineates dissimilarity in higher and lower ranked National Rugby League teams within the 2016 season. Lastly, the third example shows the evolution of game-play in the basketball tournaments between the 2004 to 2016 Olympic Games. Conclusions: In addition to the novel findings of each example, the collective results demonstrate that by embracing cross-disciplinary learning and drawing upon an analytical technique common to ecology, novel solutions to pertinent research questions within sports performance analysis could be addressed in a practically meaningful way. Cross-disciplinary learning may subsequently assist sport scientists in the analysis and visualisation of multivariate datasets

Ice flow dynamics and surface meltwater flux at a land-terminating sector of the Greenland ice sheet

AbstractWe present satellite-derived velocity patterns for the two contrasting melt seasons of 2009–10 across Russell Glacier catchment, a western, land-terminating sector of the Greenland ice sheet which encompasses the K(angerlussuaq)-transect. Results highlight great spatial heterogeneity in flow, indicating that structural controls such as bedrock geometry govern ice discharge into individual outlet troughs. Results also reveal strong seasonal flow variability extending 57 km up-glacier to 1200 m elevation, with the largest acceleration (100% over 11 days) occurring within 10 km of the margin coincident with spring melt. By late July 2010, 2 weeks before peak melt and runoff, 48 % of the 2400 km2 catchment had slowed to less than the winter mean. This observation supports the hypothesis that the subglacial hydrological system evolves from an inefficient distributed to an efficient drainage system, regulating flow dynamics. Despite this, the cumulative surface flux over the record melt year of 2010 was still greater compared with the perturbation over the average melt year of 2009. This study supports the proposition that local surface meltwater runoff couples to basal hydrology driving ice-sheet dynamics, and although the effect is nonlinear, our observations indicate that greater meltwater runoff yields increased net flux over this sector of the ice sheet.</jats:p