Bath: Narration in the Landscape . . . Notes from My Journal

Narration in architecture, and from my point of view, the landscape is an appropriate theme for this issue of OZ. Whether viewed as an intentional direction in design or as a way of interpreting or reading meaning from what has been done in the past, narrative plays a critical role in our experience of architecture and the environment..

Characterization of a Gene Expressed during Human Myeloid Cell Differentiation

Characterization of a gene expressed during human myeloid cell differentiation Previous work using differential screening of a cDNA library representing poly A+ RNA from the peripheral blood leukocytes of a chronic phase CGL patient had led to the isolation of cDNA clones representing mRNAs found at high abundance in this leukaemia compared to ANLL, CLL or normal peripheral blood leukocytes. The gene encoding one clone, pCG14, was also found to be expressed during normal human myelopoiesis in the neutrophilic myelocyte, a bone-marrow restricted neutrophil progenitor. In this work the pCG14 cDNA was completely sequenced and shown to encode HNP3, one of a group of three closely homologous peptides called defensins. These peptides are found in abundance in the granules of neutrophils and are involved in destruction of micro-organisms. The human defensin peptides HNP1 and HNP3 were shown to be encoded by two mRNAs differing at only one coding position that could be distinguished by PCR, and the regulation of the abundance of these mRNAs during myelopoiesis was investigated using induced differentiation of HL60 cells as a model system. Four different genes, two encoding HNP1 and two encoding HNP3, were isolated and one gene encoding HNP1 was characterized in detail. It was shown to be comprised of three exons and its 5'-regulatory region shown to contain two functional promoters. Using the presence of a single nucleotide change which distinguishes the coding regions of HNP1 and 3 genes, giving rise to a polymorphic Hae3 restriction enzyme site, individuals were shown to contain variable relative amounts of HNP1 and HNP3 genes. To explain these results it was hypothesized that individuals contain four defensin genes per diploid cell, one tandem pair on each chromosome 8. This model was tested using DNAs from a family where it was shown that defensin genes were inherited as a pair

Developing Insecurity: Sorcery, Witchcraft and Melanesian Economic Development

AusAI

Talking it Through: Responses to Sorcery and Witchcraft Beliefs and Practices in Melanesia

Sorcery and witchcraft practices and beliefs are pervasive across Melanesia. They are in part created by, and give rise to, a wide variety of poor social and developmental outcomes. These include uneven economic development, low public health, lack of social cohesion, crime, fear and insecurity. A further very visible problem is the attacks on men and women who are accused of being practitioners of witchcraft or sorcery, which can lead to serious bodily harm, banishment and sometimes death. Today, many communities, individuals, church organisations and policymakers in Melanesia and internationally are exploring ways to overcome the negative social outcomes associated with witchcraft and sorcery practices and beliefs. This book brings together a collection of chapters written by a diverse range of authors, both Melanesian and non-Melanesian, providing crucial insights both into how these practices and beliefs are playing out in contemporary Melanesia, and also the types of interventions that are being trialled or debated to address the problems associated with them

A Study of Community Interaction

This study analyses selected aspects of the community impact of the Kitsap Community Action Program projects entitled \u27\u27The Public Awareness of Kitsap (PACK). PACK was initiated as a response to a downsizing of Department of Defense activities in Kitsap County. With PACK, the Kitsap Community Action Program (KCAP) joined hands with the Washington Service Corps in an effort funded by the Defense Conversion Assistance program to revitalize the local Bremerton and Kitsap County economies

Stylistic atructures: a computational approach to text classification

The problem of authorship attribution has received attention both in the academic world (e.g. did Shakespeare or Marlowe write Edward III?) and outside (e.g. is this confession really the words of the accused or was it made up by someone else?). Previous studies by statisticians and literary scholars have sought "verbal habits" that characterize particular authors consistently. By and large, this has meant looking for distinctive rates of usage of specific marker words -- as in the classic study by Mosteller and Wallace of the Federalist Papers. The present study is based on the premiss that authorship attribution is just one type of text classification and that advances in this area can be made by applying and adapting techniques from the field of machine learning. Five different trainable text-classification systems are described, which differ from current stylometric practice in a number of ways, in particular by using a wider variety of marker patterns than customary and by seeking such markers automatically, without being told what to look for. A comparison of the strengths and weaknesses of these systems, when tested on a representative range of text-classification problems, confirms the importance of paying more attention than usual to alternative methods of representing distinctive differences between types of text. The thesis concludes with suggestions on how to make further progress towards the goal of a fully automatic, trainable text-classification system

Radiation dosimetry assessment of routine CT scanning protocols used in Western Australia

Technical data on local CT practice in Western Australia were collected for five major CT providers using a self-completed questionnaire. The CTDIvol DLP and effective dose for each protocol were obtained and providers were ranked according to radiation burden for each clinical scenario. The mean, median, 75th percentile and standard deviation were calculated for both effective dose and DLP for each scenario and these values were compared with published data. CT utilisation data were used to estimate the attributable radiation dose to the WA population and the potential change in population annual effective dose according to the protocol used was estimated. We found that wide variations in technique and radiation dose exist across providers for similar examinations, producing a higher radiation burden than reported internationally. As expected, the CT protocol used dramatically affects the radiation dose received, and this has a significant effect on annual population dose. This study highlights the need for recognition and understanding of both the degree of variation in radiation dose across providers and the relatively high radiation burden afforded by protocols in use in Western Australia so that necessary dialogue can be launched for practitioner consensus on appropriate diagnostic reference levels in CT scanning

Stylistic atructures: a computational approach to text classification

The problem of authorship attribution has received attention both in the academic world (e.g. did Shakespeare or Marlowe write Edward III?) and outside (e.g. is this confession really the words of the accused or was it made up by someone else?). Previous studies by statisticians and literary scholars have sought "verbal habits" that characterize particular authors consistently. By and large, this has meant looking for distinctive rates of usage of specific marker words -- as in the classic study by Mosteller and Wallace of the Federalist Papers. The present study is based on the premiss that authorship attribution is just one type of text classification and that advances in this area can be made by applying and adapting techniques from the field of machine learning. Five different trainable text-classification systems are described, which differ from current stylometric practice in a number of ways, in particular by using a wider variety of marker patterns than customary and by seeking such markers automatically, without being told what to look for. A comparison of the strengths and weaknesses of these systems, when tested on a representative range of text-classification problems, confirms the importance of paying more attention than usual to alternative methods of representing distinctive differences between types of text. The thesis concludes with suggestions on how to make further progress towards the goal of a fully automatic, trainable text-classification system

Polymorphisms of the acid sensing histidine kinase gene arsS in Helicobacter pylori populations from anatomically distinct gastric sites

Phase variation is frequently utilized by bacterial species to affect gene expression such that phenotypic variants are maintained within populations, ensuring survival as environmental or host conditions change. Unusual among Helicobacter pylori phase variable or contingency genes is arsS, encoding a sensory histidine kinase involved in the acid acclimation of the organism. The presence of a 3\u27 homopolymeric cytosine tract of variable length in arsS among Helicobacter pylori strains allows for the expression of various functional ArsS isoforms, differing in carboxy-terminal protein domains. In this study, we analyzed this 3\u27 arsS region via amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) and sequencing analyses for H. pylori populations from 3 different gastric sites of 12 patients. Our data indicate the presence of multiple arsS alleles within each population of H. pylori derived from the gastric antrum, cardia, or corpus of these patients. We also show that H. pylori, derived from the same anatomical site and patient, are predicted to express multiple ArsS isoforms in each population investigated. Furthermore, we identify a polymorphic deletion within arsS that generates another alternate ArsS C-terminal end. These findings suggest that four C-terminal variations of ArsS adds to the complexity of the ArsRS acid adaptation mechanism as a whole and may influence the ability of H. pylori to persist in the gastric niche for decades. (c) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved