Plasma Cholesterol Ester Fatty Acids: A New Biochemical Abnormality in Obstructive Jaundice

Changes in fatty acid patterns may explain many of the observed abnormalities found in obstructive jaundice. This study looked at fatty acids in plasma cholesterol esters, in a group of patients with obstructive jaundice and a matched group of controls. Significant abnormalities were demonstrated, most importantly a fall in essential fatty acids, in the jaundiced group. Overall the saturation of this fraction, as assessed by double bond index, rose. The essential fatty acids are important as factors in membrane function and as precursors of eicosanoids. The abnormalities found in this study provide further evidence of the significance of EFA in patients with obstructive jaundice

Spillway Rock Scour Analysis - Composite of Physical & Numerical Modelling, Paradise Dam, Australia

A number of problems and solutions of rock scour downstream of spillways have been evaluated using a composite approach, based on the gathering of detailed data from a physical model and utilising those data in a sequence of calibration and application of numerical modelling of the scour. Our paper will describe the application of the Computational Scour Model (CSM - Bollaert, 2002 and subsequent) as the numerical procedure that makes the composite approach a proven methodology for such problems. The paper will focus on a case study application of the procedure based on the experiences of flooding and scour at the Paradise Dam, Queensland, Australia. Flooding in 2013 caused substantial scour downstream of the primary spillway. The occurrence led to a series of studies for the evaluation of the geology, and the evident hydraulics behaviour using a well-instrumented physical model to capture pressure and velocity transients, all as part of a process to determine the scour mechanism, and to determine the response of the spillway and areas downstream to future floods of larger magnitude. Utilising the transient data from approximately 60 pressure transducers, ADV measurements for transient velocities, together with the detailed geologic assessment, the comprehensive scour modelling procedures developed by Bollaert were applied for calibration of the numerical model and its application for possible discharge scenarios. The paper will discuss the design and construction of the physical model and instrumentation as a key part of securing adequate data for the composite procedure, and go on to illustrate the outcomes of the CSM procedures

Book Reviews

Book Review 1Book Title: Ecotoxicology. The Study of Pollutants in Ecosystems. (Second edition)Book Author: F. MoriartyAcademic Press, 1988. 289 pages.Book Review 2Book Title: Ecology of Sandy ShoresBook Authors: A.C. Brown & A. McLachlanElsevier, 1990. 328 pages.Book Review 3Book Title: Ecology and Natural History of Tropical BeesBook Author: David W. RoubikCambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1989Book Review 4Book Title: The AntsBook Authors: Bert Hölldobler & Edward O. WilsonThe Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts,1990. 732 pages.Book Review 5Book Title: Social Insects: an evolutionary approach to castes and reproductionBook Author: Edited by W. EngelsSpringer Verlag, Berlin 1990. 265 pages.Book Review 6Book Title: Mathematical BiologyBook Author: J.D. MurraySpringer-Verlag, New York, 1989. 767 pages. Volume 19 in the Biomathematics series

Malignant Pancreatic Polypeptide Secreting Tumour of Islet Cells: A Case for Aggressive Surgical Palliation

A case of a malignant pancreatic polypeptide secreting tumour is reported. The tumour was metastatic at presentation at which time it was excised. Pancreatic duct obstruction occurred 3 years after excision causing severe pain on eating. Major palliative surgery, in the form of a pancreatico-jejunostomy, cured the severe symptoms. The patient survives, largely symptom free, over six years after original excision. This case illustrates the need for aggressive management of symptoms in tumours in which long term survival is possible despite locally advanced or metastatic disease

On the principal bifurcation branch of a third order nonlinear long-wave equation

We study the principal bifurcation curve of a third order equation which describes the nonlinear evolution of several systems with a long--wavelength instability. We show that the main bifurcation branch can be derived from a variational principle. This allows to obtain a close estimate of the complete branch. In particular, when the bifurcation is subcritical, the large amplitude stable branch can be found in a simple manner.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figure

Well-posedness of Hydrodynamics on the Moving Elastic Surface

The dynamics of a membrane is a coupled system comprising a moving elastic surface and an incompressible membrane fluid. We will consider a reduced elastic surface model, which involves the evolution equations of the moving surface, the dynamic equations of the two-dimensional fluid, and the incompressible equation, all of which operate within a curved geometry. In this paper, we prove the local existence and uniqueness of the solution to the reduced elastic surface model by reformulating the model into a new system in the isothermal coordinates. One major difficulty is that of constructing an appropriate iterative scheme such that the limit system is consistent with the original system.Comment: The introduction is rewritte

'It's the other assessment that is the key': three Norwegian physical education teachers' engagement (or not) with assessment for learning

peer-reviewedThe international agenda for assessment continues to convey a growing interest in assessment for learning (AfL) as a tool to support learning and enhance teaching. Complementing this, the recent literature on assessment in physical education acknowledges the need for physical educators to integrate AfL into their teaching and assessment practice as an important part of the future development of the subject. Appreciating that physical education must be recognized as part of the larger movement culture in society and is a place to learn about movement culture, this study explores how AfL is understood and enacted by physical education teachers and the extent to which such enactment complements or challenges learning movement cultures within physical education. This study shares how three Norwegian physical education teachers used AfL to term what they were practicing with respect to assessment in physical education. We follow the interactions of the selected teachers throughout focus groups, using the empirical data as our 'dialogue partner' in reconstructing and discussing their assessment stories. We conclude that the need of embedding AfL in learning theory may well be one of the strongest challenges to enacting AfL in physical education. We acknowledge that not only are most existing theories of learning defined cognitively, but also that learning connected to physical education and activity is, to a large extent, practical and embodied, and also linked to the powerful discourses of sport and related areas such as health.PUBLISHEDpeer-reviewe