OECD reviews of higher education in regional and city development, State of Victoria, Australia

With more than 5.3 million inhabitants Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Once a manufacturing economy, Victoria is now transforming itself into a service and innovation-based economy. Currently, the largest sectors are education services and tourism. In terms of social structure, Victoria is characterised by a large migrant population, 24% of population were born overseas and 44% were either born overseas or have a parent who was born overseas. About 70% of the population resides in Melbourne. Victoria faces a number of challenges, ranging from an ageing population and skills shortages to drought and climate change and increased risk of natural disasters. Rapid population growth, 2% annually, has implications for service delivery and uneven development as well as regional disparities. There are barriers to connectivity in terms of transport and infrastructure, and a high degree of inter-institutional competition in tertiary education sector. The business structure in Victoria includes some highly innovative activities such as in biotechnology, but other sectors, especially those with high number of small and medium-sized enterprises, are lagging behind. Most of the larger manufacturing enterprises are externally controlled and there is uncertainty over the long term investments they will make in the state, as well as the place of Victoria in the global production networks

Structure and variation of human ribosomal DNA: molecular analysis of cloned fragments

Eco-RI-A fragments of the human ribosomal RNA gene family from two types of tissue and three individuals were cloned in [lambda] vectors and compared by restriction enzyme digestion and electron microscopy. The EcoRI fragment A contains (i) 0.2 kb of the 3' end of the 18S rDNA, (ii) 2.5 kb of internal transcribed spacer and the 5.8S rDNA, and (iii) 4.6 kb of the 28S rDNA gene. All of the six cloned rDNA fragments isolated are identical by these analyses. Moreover, all contain a HincII site that is absent in about 50% of the rDNA identified by genomic blotting. Polymorphism in the nontranscribed spacer rDNA was studied on genomic blots of BamHI-digested DNA, using the 3' end of the 28S rDNA as a probe. The boundaries between the 18S rDNA, internal transcribed spacer, 28S rDNA, and external nontranscribed spacer were determined by R-loop analysis, further defining the organization of the ribosomal RNA precursor.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/24168/1/0000426.pd

Color separation gratings for diverting the unconverted light away from the NIF target

Most of the glass laser based inertial confinement fusion systems around the world today employ non-linear frequency conversion for converting the 1.053 micrometer light at the fundamental frequency (referred to as 1{omega} light) to either its second harmonic (called 2{omega}) at 527 nm or to its third harmonic (called 3{omega}) at 351 nm. Shorter wavelengths are preferred for laser fusion because of the improved coupling of the laser light to the fusion targets due to reduced fast electron production at shorter wavelengths. The frequency conversion process, however, is only about 60-70% efficient and the residual 30-40% of the energy remains at 1{omega} and 2{omega} frequencies. Color separation gratings (CSGs) offer a versatile approach to reducing and possibly eliminating the unconverted light at the target region. A CSG consists of a three- level lamellar grating designed so that nearly all of the 3{omega} light passes through undiffracted while the residual 1{omega} and 2{omega} energy is diverted into higher diffraction orders. The diffraction angle is determined solely by the grating period. We have demonstrated the concept of using a color separation grating. We fabricated a 345 micrometer period CSG in fused silica using lithographic processes and wet etching. The measured far field indicates that greater than 95% of the incident light is preserved in the 3{omega} zeroth order while less than 5% of unconverted 1{omega} and 2{omega} light is remaining in the zeroth order. We would like to add that diffractive optics fabricated in fused silica by wet etching in hydrofluoric acid should have high damage threshold. Our experience suggests that the damage threshold of the etched substrate is at least as high as the unetched part. 6 refs., 4 figs., 1 tab

Tracking cryptic SARS-CoV-2 Lineages Detected in NYC Wastewater

Tracking SARS-CoV-2 genetic diversity is strongly indicated because diversifying selection may lead to the emergence of novel variants resistant to naturally acquired or vaccine-induced immunity. To monitor New York City (NYC) for the presence of novel variants, we deep sequence most of the receptor binding domain coding sequence of the S protein of SARS-CoV-2 isolated from the New York City wastewater. Here we report detecting increasing frequencies of novel cryptic SARS-CoV-2 lineages not recognized in GISAID’s EpiCoV database. These lineages contain mutations that had been rarely observed in clinical samples, including Q493K, Q498Y, E484A, and T572N and share many mutations with the Omicron variant of concern. Some of these mutations expand the tropism of SARS-CoV-2 pseudoviruses by allowing infection of cells expressing the human, mouse, or rat ACE2 receptor. Finally, pseudoviruses containing the spike amino acid sequence of these lineages were resistant to different classes of receptor binding domain neutralizing monoclonal antibodies. We offer several hypotheses for the anomalous presence of these lineages, including the possibility that these lineages are derived from unsampled human COVID-19 infections or that they indicate the presence of a non-human animal reservoir

Lawson criterion for ignition exceeded in an inertial fusion experiment

For more than half a century, researchers around the world have been engaged in attempts to achieve fusion ignition as a proof of principle of various fusion concepts. Following the Lawson criterion, an ignited plasma is one where the fusion heating power is high enough to overcome all the physical processes that cool the fusion plasma, creating a positive thermodynamic feedback loop with rapidly increasing temperature. In inertially confined fusion, ignition is a state where the fusion plasma can begin "burn propagation" into surrounding cold fuel, enabling the possibility of high energy gain. While "scientific breakeven" (i.e., unity target gain) has not yet been achieved (here target gain is 0.72, 1.37 MJ of fusion for 1.92 MJ of laser energy), this Letter reports the first controlled fusion experiment, using laser indirect drive, on the National Ignition Facility to produce capsule gain (here 5.8) and reach ignition by nine different formulations of the Lawson criterion

Burnings and blessings: The cultural reality of the supernatural across early modern spaces

The searches for the cultural spaces of early modern European beliefs in the supernatural have followed many trails. While more complete descriptions of these searches will emerge below, some common features of the picture of these historical inquiries can be briefly summarized. The division between popular and elite understanding of the supernatural is one such feature of these spaces. Works in the latter category generally focus on an intellectual history of the beliefs that warranted the supernatural; Stuart Clark\u27s distinguished Thinking with Demons is an example of this genre. The second, more common, category is the study of popular manifestation of the supernatural in this period. Carlo Ginzburg\u27s Night Battles and Robin Briggs\u27s Witches and Neighbors illustrate this kind of study. A second feature, particular to the historical works focusing on popular beliefs, is the use of anthropological methods to inform these works. The final element of this historiography is a less common but powerful tool of analysis, geography. While historians have gained much insight using both these methods, my intent is to expand these results by using two separate sites of research: Normandy, France, and Kent, England. This work uses these sights and these methods to examine archival records of witchcraft trials from each site over the period 1560-1680. Using a tight geographical focus, qualitative and quantitative features of Norman and Kentish witchcraft are examined. The study ends with some comparisons and contrasts in the results of that research. The overall purpose of the work is to allow an examination of the broader underpinnings of the supernatural in this period