High-resolution 3D optical microscopy inside the beating zebrafish heart using prospective optical gating

3D fluorescence imaging is a fundamental tool in the study of functional and developmental biology, but effective imaging is particularly difficult in moving structures such as the beating heart. We have developed a non-invasive real-time optical gating system that is able to exploit the periodic nature of the motion to acquire high resolution 3D images of the normally-beating zebrafish heart without any unnecessary exposure of the sample to harmful excitation light. In order for the image stack to be artefact-free, it is essential to use a synchronization source that is invariant as the sample is scanned in 3D. We therefore describe a scheme whereby fluorescence image slices are scanned through the sample while a brightfield camera sharing the same objective lens is maintained at a fixed focus, with correction of sample drift also included. This enables us to maintain, throughout an extended 3D volume, the same standard of synchronization we have previously demonstrated in and near a single 2D plane. Thus we are able image the complete beating zebrafish heart exactly as if the heart had been artificially stopped, but sidestepping this undesirable interference with the heart and instead allowing the heart to beat as normal

Respects of Character

The uniform evidence legislation, unlike the common law, allows the accused to claim a good char-acter in a ‘particular respect’ and, if that is done, limits the Crown to rebuttal evidence relating to the ‘particular respect’. The varieties of good character evidence that may be given were already enormous, and this ‘particular respect’ idea multiplies the combinations even further by allowing, for example, not merely the accused’s lack of criminal convictions as a whole to be proved, but also his lack of convictions in any selected field. But what is a ‘respect of character’? There is no help at all in the legislation. This article will show that the problem can however be solved by reference to the already established principle that the accused cannot raise character except intentionally. It is therefore the accused’s delineation of the ‘respect’, properly understood, that defines it.Greg Taylo

Why were Aborigines originally excluded from the races power?

In a recent paper, the Chief Justice of Western Australia has considered why Aborigines were originally expressly excluded from the federal races power in section 51 (xxvi) of the 'Constitution' until it was amended to include them in 1967. The paragraph, with the deletion made in 1967 shown, grants to the federal Parliament concurrent legislative power over.Greg Taylo

The three Queenslands — Sir Samuel Griffith’s ‘ghost’ draft for a Queensland federation

From 1890 to 1892, Sir Samuel Griffith, as Premier of Queensland, promoted a scheme under which Queensland would itself have been divided into a federation of initially three provinces — North, Central and South Queensland — and then two provinces, North and South Queensland. This startling idea would certainly have changed the map of Australia, probably permanently. At least at some points, the idea was expressed that each province would enter the Australian federation as a separate State and the Queensland federal government would simply be dissolved upon federation. The Bill to divide Queensland into a federation of two provinces passed the lower House of State Parliament but was defeated in the nominee Legislative Council. It then fell victim to the change of government consequent upon Griffith’s appointment as Chief Justice of Queensland, to the urgent problems presented by the economic depression, and even, from the conservative point of view, to the rise of labour in politics. Little has been known about this nearly successful plan until now. This article attempts to close that gap.Greg Taylo

‘Squizzy’ and the Cuckold : How Majority Jury Verdicts Got their Australian Foothold”

Majority jury verdicts in criminal cases were introduced far earlier in South Australia than in most comparable places. A number of factors combined to produce this result: one was the South Australian Law Reform Commission of 1923–27, a body which can now be seen as ahead of its time despite the ridicule heaped upon it by Mr Justice Evatt because it was not staffed by lawyers. It uncovered and mobilised a substantial degree of support for majority verdicts among the leaders of the profession. In Victoria in the same decade there was a great deal of anxiety about jury squaring (rigging) based partly on rumours surrounding the notorious gangster ‘Squizzy’ Taylor. This spread to South Australia, and, unlike the Victorian, the South Australian legislature was in a position to take decisive action. Nevertheless, rumours of and even proof of jury squaring continued after majority verdicts were introduced.Greg Taylo