The informal diplomacy of the Australian American leadership dialogue

After 20 years, the Australian American Leadership Dialogue has acquired enviable access to political leaders in the foreign policy establishments of both countries. The influence of the Dialogue is at earlier consensus-building stages of decision making. Its importance has been in ‘relationship maintenance’ of the bilateral alliance which it has pursued through processes of informal diplomacy. The Dialogue now faces its own challenges of organisational renewal and relevance in the wider ‘interpretative community’ of Australian think tanks, university policy institutes and opinion-formers

22nd Annual Elementary Choral Music Festival

Program listing performers and works performed

Experimental studies of species-specificity in cecropia-ant relationships

Journal ArticleStrict coevolution requires that interactions among organisms be speciesspecific. We assessed the relative roles of host- and habitat-specificity in determining the match between a genus of myrmecophytic trees and a guild of obligate plant-ants in the moist tropical forests of Madre de Dios, Peru. Four locally coexisting but habitat-restricted Cecropia species were cultivated in screen tents until all plants had developed myrmecophytic traits. Saplings were then placed within replicate blocks of each of two habitat types: riversides and small forest light gaps. Colonization events were recorded every 3 d between June and August of 1992, and queens were later removed from stem internodes for identification and brood censuses. A similar experiment, conducted in September through November of 1993, included just two species of Cecropia hosts. Effects of host species and habitat on queen colonization rates were evaluated by log-likelihood goodness-of-fit tests and contingency table tests. For three ant species, we also conducted queen preference experiments to compare queen behaviors across a range of host plants. Differences among ants in the extent of habitat-specificity vs. host-specificity provide evidence for multiple evolutionary routes to obligate association with Cecropia. Habitat- specificity exceeded host-specificity in Azteca ovaticeps (Dolichoderinae), for which queen preference experiments revealed no significant discrimination among hosts. This extreme riverside specialist is thought to have descended from generalist live-stem nesters in secondgrowth habitats. In Azteca australis, host-specificity was strong, and in this species only, directed toward hosts where brood production was most successful. Conflicting habitat associations in the two experiments indicated the weakness or absence of a consistent habitat affiliation in Azteca australis and suggested that colonization frequencies were influenced instead by proximity to foundress sources. Close relatives of A. australis live in exposed carton nests, which may have been positioned ancestrally on key resource plants, e.g., those producing lipid- and amino-acid-rich pearl bodies. Pachycondyla luteola (Ponerinae) exhibited both strong habitat and host associations and may have undergone pairwise coevolution with its forest-gap-dwelling primary host. Queens of Camponotus balzani (Formicinae), possibly a recent and secondary associate of Cecropia, were overrepresented in forest gap habitat but were host generalists, underrepresented only on a host with extremely small internodes. Apparently greater host-specificity in C. balzani at later stages of colony establishment may be due to differential post colonization mortality on the various hosts. Attack of ant queens by parasitoid wasps was strongly concentrated in the linear riverside habitat and weak to absent in the patchily distributed forest gap habitat. Due to lower rates of either parasitoid attack or other forms of queen mortality, Camponotus balzani experienced greater success in the forest gap habitat, where it was overrepresented in colonization experiments. Historical coincidences and preadaptations appear to have strongly influenced pairings between Cecropia species and their obligate plant-ants and account for much of the "apparent" niche partitioning observed in the system. Species-specificity seems to be determined mainly by coincident habitat affiliations of ants and plants ("coordinated dispersal") and by preadapted capacities of ants to distinguish among host-plant species. Multiple mechanisms for species-specificity may be characteristic of relationships in which associates disperse separately from one another (i.e., show horizontal transmission). Our results are consistent with the view that coadaptation and co-cladogenesis are more likely in systems where dispersal of associates is tightly coupled

Potential implications of practice effects in Alzheimer's disease prevention trials.

IntroductionPractice effects (PEs) present a potential confound in clinical trials with cognitive outcomes. A single-blind placebo run-in design, with repeated cognitive outcome assessments before randomization to treatment, can minimize effects of practice on trial outcome.MethodsWe investigated the potential implications of PEs in Alzheimer's disease prevention trials using placebo arm data from the Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study donepezil/vitamin E trial in mild cognitive impairment. Frequent ADAS-Cog measurements early in the trial allowed us to compare two competing trial designs: a 19-month trial with randomization after initial assessment, versus a 15-month trial with a 4-month single-blind placebo run-in and randomization after the second administration of the ADAS-Cog. Standard power calculations assuming a mixed-model repeated-measure analysis plan were used to calculate sample size requirements for a hypothetical future trial designed to detect a 50% slowing of cognitive decline.ResultsOn average, ADAS-Cog 13 scores improved at first follow-up, consistent with a PE and progressively worsened thereafter. The observed change for a 19-month trial (1.18 points) was substantively smaller than that for a 15-month trial with 4-month run-in (1.79 points). To detect a 50% slowing in progression under the standard design (i.e., a 0.59 point slowing), a future trial would require 3.4 times more subjects than would be required to detect the comparable percent slowing (i.e., 0.90 points) with the run-in design.DiscussionAssuming the improvement at first follow-up observed in this trial represents PEs, the rate of change from the second assessment forward is a more accurate representation of symptom progression in this population and is the appropriate reference point for describing treatment effects characterized as percent slowing of symptom progression; failure to accommodate this leads to an oversized clinical trial. We conclude that PEs are an important potential consideration when planning future trials

Within-Home versus Between-Home Variability of House Dust Endotoxin in a Birth Cohort

Endotoxin exposure has been proposed as an environmental determinant of allergen responses in children. To better understand the implications of using a single measurement of house dust endotoxin to characterize exposure in the first year of life, we evaluated room-specific within-home and between-home variability in dust endotoxin obtained from 470 households in Boston, Massachusetts. Homes were sampled up to two times over 5–11 months. We analyzed 1,287 dust samples from the kitchen, family room, and baby’s bedroom for endotoxin. We fit a mixed-effects model to estimate mean levels and the variation of endotoxin between homes, between rooms, and between sampling times. Endotoxin ranged from 2 to 1,945 units per milligram of dust. Levels were highest during summer and lowest in the winter. Mean endotoxin levels varied significantly from room to room. Cross-sectionally, endotoxin was moderately correlated between family room and bedroom floor (r = 0.30), between family room and kitchen (r = 0.32), and between kitchen and bedroom (r = 0.42). Adjusting for season, the correlation of endotoxin levels within homes over time was 0.65 for both the bedroom and kitchen and 0.54 for the family room. The temporal within-home variance of endotoxin was lowest for bedroom floor samples and highest for kitchen samples. Between-home variance was lowest in the family room and highest for kitchen samples. Adjusting for season, within-home variation was less than between-home variation for all three rooms. These results suggest that room-to-room and home-to-home differences in endotoxin influence the total variability more than factors affecting endotoxin levels within a room over time

Heritage and Resilience: Issues and Opportunities for Reducing Disaster Risks

This paper examines the unique role of cultural heritage in disaster risk reduction. Itintroduces various approaches to protect heritage from irreplaceable loss and considers ways to draw upon heritage as an asset in building the resilience of communities and nations to disasters. The paper proposes ways forward and builds on the current momentum provided by the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters” (HFA) and the advancement of a post-2015 framework for disaster risk reduction (HFA2) and the post-2015 development agenda. Cultural heritage is often associated with grandiose monuments and iconic archaeological sites that can hold us in awe of their beauty, history and sheer scale. However, the understanding of cultural heritage has undergone a marked shift during the last few decades in terms of what it is, why it is important, why it is at risk and what can be done to protect it. Cultural heritage today encompasses a broader array of places such as historic cities, living cultural landscapes, gardens or sacred forests and mountains, technological or industrial achievements in the recent past and even sites associated with painful memories and war. Collections of movable and immoveable items within sites, museums, historic properties and archives have also increased significantly in scope, testifying not only to the lifestyles of royalty and the achievements of great artists, but also to the everyday lives of ordinary people. At the same time intangibles such as knowledge, beliefs and value systems are fundamental aspects of heritage that have a powerful influence on people’s daily choices and behaviors. Heritage is at risk due to disasters, conflict, climate change and a host of other factors.At the same time, cultural heritage is increasingly recognized as a driver of resilience that can support efforts to reduce disaster risks more broadly. Recent years have seen greater emphasis and commitment to protecting heritage and leveraging it for resilience;but initiatives, such as the few examples that are presented here, need to be encouraged and brought more fully into the mainstream of both disaster risk reduction and heritage management. These are issues that can be productively addressed in a post-2015 framework for disaster risk reduction and, likewise, in the post-2015 development agenda