Local Voices on forced mergers in small rural Australian communities:The case of the Guyra Shire Council

When an Australian state or territory government launches a program of forced municipal mergers, it typically attracts much less attention in metropolitan areas compared with regional, rural and remote locations where the local council is often “government of last resort”. In these latter areas the socio-economic effects of compulsory council consolidation can be severe. This paper explores the perceived impact of the forced amalgamation of Guyra Shire Council with the much larger neighbouring Armidale Dumaresq Council under the recent New South Wales (NSW) Government’s Fit for the Future structural reform program by anticipated by Guyra residents who participated in a focus group

Health of American Indian and Alaska Native Elders in California

Analyzes the health risks, health status, and utilization of and access to health services among American Indians/Alaska Natives age 55 and older in California, as well as trends in demographics and underlying factors including economic security

Introduction to Teaching Art History with New Technology: Reflections and Case Studies

This book documents some of the changes that have occurred in the teaching of art history in the last decade. It provides both a history and an analysis of the increasing number of computer-based tools now at the disposal of art historians. It was prompted by the dearth not only of readily accessible information about teaching art history with new technologies,1 but of pedagogical literature for art history in general.

National Register of Historic Places Eligibility Testing of Site 41LE326 Lee County, Texas

Between March 5 and 12, 2007, PBS&J conducted National Register of Historic Places eligibility testing at site 41LE326, under contract to the Texas Department of Transportation Environmental Affairs Division (TxDOT ENV) (CSJ No. 0211-03-032). This investigation was conducted in advance of proposed improvements to U.S. Highway 77 in central Lee County, Texas, under regulations of the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 USC §470 et seq.) and the Antiquities Code of Texas (Title 9, chapter 191, Texas Natural Resource Code). Site 41LE326 is a prehistoric campsite that was initially recorded by PBS&J in October 2006 during a cultural resources survey and is located on the south side of Middle Yegua Creek. National Register testing consisted of the mechanical excavation of nine trenches totaling 47.3 linear meters and two scraped areas totaling approximately 55 square meters, and the manual excavation of nine shovel tests and four 1-x-1-meter test units. Analyses of artifacts recovered during testing suggest that occupation of the site likely occurred intermittently from at least the Late Prehistoric period and perhaps as early as the Middle Archaic period. Artifact categories recovered consisted of lithic manufacturing debris, lithic tools, burned matrix, and thermally altered rock. Subsurface investigations at 41LE326 failed to encounter any evidence that intact buried prehistoric cultural deposits or features exist on the portion of the site within the TxDOT right of way. Based on stratigraphic data, lack of intact features, and low subsurface artifact density, it appears that the investigated portion of the site lacks integrity, and it is unlikely that additional archeological investigations within this portion of 41LE326 would contribute to our understanding of the area’s prehistory. Therefore, the investigated portion of 41LE326 within the area of potential effect consisting of the existing right of way does not contribute to the site’s eligibility for listing in the National Register of Historic Places and does not warrant designation as a State Archeological Landmark. No further investigation is recommended. Final curation of all collected materials will occur at the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory in consultation with TxDOT ENV

Relationships Among Temperament Characteristics of Adolescents Born Prematurely and Maternal Temperament Characteristics

Abstract available through the Developmental Psychobiology

Stylobates birtlesi sp. n., a new species of carcinoecium-forming sea anemone (Cnidaria, Actiniaria, Actiniidae) from eastern Australia

This is the publisher's version, also available electronically from http://www.pensoft.net.We describe a new species of carcinoecium-forming sea anemone, Stylobates birtlesi sp. n., from sites 680-960 m deep in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, Australia. An anemone of this genus settles on a gastropod shell inhabited by a hermit crab, then covers and extends the shell to produce a chitinous structure termed a carcinoecium. Stylobates birtlesi sp. n. is symbiotic with the hermit crab Sympagurus trispinosus (Balss, 1911). The nature of marginal sphincter muscle and nematocyst size and distribution distinguish Stylobates birtlesi sp. n. from other species in the genus. The four known species are allopatric, each inhabiting a separate ocean basin of the Indo-west Pacific. We also extend the known range of Stylobates loisetteae in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Western Australia

Insertion and Evolution of an Endogenous Retrovirus into KIT is Responsible for Multiple Phenotypes at the White Locus in the Domestic Cat

The Dominant White locus (W) in the domestic cat demonstrates pleiotropic effects exhibiting complete penetrance for absence of coat pigmentation and incomplete penetrance for deafness and iris hypopigmentation. I preformed linkage analysis using a pedigree segregating White to identify KIT (Chr. B1), as the feline W locus. Segregation and sequence analysis of the KIT gene in two pedigrees (P1 and P2) revealed the remarkable retrotransposition and evolution of a feline endogenous retrovirus (FERV1) as responsible for two distinct phenotypes of the W locus, Dominant White, and White Spotting. The retrotransposition interrupts a DNase I hypersensitive site in KIT intron 1 that was previously demonstrated to regulate temporal and tissue specific expression of KIT in mice. A large population-genetic survey of cats (n=269), supports our findings and demonstrates statistical significance of the FERV1 LTR and full-length element with Dominant White (p < 0.0001) and White Spotting (p< 0.0001), respectively

Estimation of GFR in Patients With Cystic Fibrosis: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) have frequent infectious complications requiring nephrotoxic medications, necessitating monitoring of renal function. Although adult studies have suggested that cystatin C (CysC)-based estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) may be preferable due to reduced muscle mass of patients with CF, pediatric patients remain understudied. Objective: Our objective was to determine which eGFR formula is best for estimating glomerular filtration rate (GFR) in pediatric patients with CF. Methods: A total of 17 patients with CF treated with nephrotoxic antibiotics were recruited from the Children’s Hospital at London Health Sciences Centre, London, Ontario, Canada. 99Tc DTPA GFR (measured GFR [mGFR]) was measured with 4-point measurements starting at 120 minutes using a 2-compartmental model with Brøchner-Mortensen correction, with simultaneous measurement of creatinine, urea, and CysC. The eGFR was calculated using 16 known equations based on creatinine, urea, CysC, or combinations of these. Primary outcome measures were correlation with mGFR, and agreement within 10% for various eGFR equations. Results: Mean mGFR was 136 ± 21 mL/min/1.73 m2. Mean creatinine, CysC, and urea were 38 ± 10 μmol/L, 0.72 ± 0.08 mg/L, and 3.9 ± 1.4 mmol/L, respectively. The 2014 Grubb CysC eGFR had the best correlation coefficient (r = 0.75, P =.0004); however, only 35% were within 10%. The new Schwartz formula with creatinine and urea had the best agreement within 10%, but a relatively low correlation coefficient (r = 0.63, P =.0065, 64% within 10%). Conclusions: Our study suggests that none of the eGFR formulae work well in this small cohort of pediatric patients with CF with preserved body composition, possibly due to inflammation causing false elevations of CysC. Based on the small numbers, we cannot conclude which eGFR formula is best

Temperament, Distraction, and Learning in Toddlerhood

The word- and nonword-learning abilities of toddlers were tested under various conditions of environmental distraction, and evaluated with respect to children\u27s temperamental attentional focus. Thirty-nine children and their mothers visited the lab at child age 21-months, where children were exposed to fast-mapping word-learning trials and nonlinguistic sequential learning trials. It was found that both word- and nonword-learning were adversely affected by the presentation of environmental distractions. But it was also found that the effect of the distractions sometimes depended on children\u27s level of attentional focus. Specifically, children high in attentional focus were less affected by environmental distractions than children low in attentional focus when attempting to learn from a model, whereas children low in attentional focus demonstrated little learning from the model. Translationally, these results may be of use to child health-care providers investigating possible sources of cognitive and language delay