9 research outputs found
Australian Education Joins the OECD : Federalism, Regionalization, and the Role of Education in a Time of Transition
This chapter argues that Australian interactions with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in the field of education in the mid- to late-1970s pointed in two separate but not yet incompatible directionsâone equity-oriented and the other more in line with the standardization and accountability regime typically identified with the OECDâs current policiesâboth of which favored a shift of authority toward the national level in educational policy-making. In the process, the chapter highlights the importance of considering movements between different spatial levels of analysis when tracing the ability of international organizations to get their ideas and visions âout of house.â The chapter first outlines the international and domestic contexts for Australiaâs early involvement in the OECD, followed by a discussion of the negotiations of state and federal interests on the Australian Commonwealth Department of Educationâs advisory committee on OECD matters. This discussion, in turn, frames the last three analytical sections of the chapter, on interactions between the OECD and the Australian education authorities at different levels on initiatives negotiating both the location of authority between these levels and the role of education at a time when the relation between its social and economic potential was up for revision.Non peer reviewe
RNAi-mediated suppression of isoprene emission in poplar transiently impacts phenolic metabolism under high temperature and high light intensities: a transcriptomic and metabolomic analysis
In plants, isoprene plays a dual role: (a) as thermo-protective agent proposed to prevent degradation of enzymes/membrane structures involved in photosynthesis, and (b) as reactive molecule reducing abiotic oxidative stress. The present work addresses the question whether suppression of isoprene emission interferes with genome wide transcription rates and metabolite fluxes in grey poplar (Populusxcanescens) throughout the growing season. Gene expression and metabolite profiles of isoprene emitting wild type plants and RNAi-mediated non-isoprene emitting poplars were compared by using poplar Affymetrix microarrays and non-targeted FT-ICR-MS (Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry). We observed a transcriptional down-regulation of genes encoding enzymes of phenylpropanoid regulatory and biosynthetic pathways, as well as distinct metabolic down-regulation of condensed tannins and anthocyanins, in non-isoprene emitting genotypes during July, when high temperature and light intensities possibly caused transient drought stress, as indicated by stomatal closure. Under these conditions leaves of non-isoprene emitting plants accumulated hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), a signaling molecule in stress response and negative regulator of anthocyanin biosynthesis. The absence of isoprene emission under high temperature and light stress resulted transiently in a new chemo(pheno)type with suppressed production of phenolic compounds. This may compromise inducible defenses and may render non-isoprene emitting poplars more susceptible to environmental stress