An ITS Vision for Melbourne’s Southbank Precinct

Melbourne’s Southbank area is achieving prominence as an activity centre because of the variety of cultural, sporting and entertainment opportunities which it provides. This paper outlines opportunities to maximise the economic and social value of the area by facilitating travel to andthrough the area. The focus here concerns the integration of intelligent transport systems (ITS) into the Southbank area. ITS covers the application of advanced information processing and communications, sensing and control technologies to surface transport. ITS will assist in the reduction of traffic congestion and inconvenience to drivers, public transport users, pedestrians, bicyclists and other travellers. The level of technology that is presently available revolves around variable message roadside signs, radio broadcasts and telephone services. For motorised vehicles, roadside systems appear to present the best option for parking and traffic information. Radio and television systems have the advantage of reaching an urban-wide audience while the roadside systems can focus on particular areas. The linear nature of the Southbank area and associated transport infrastructure lends itself to roadside information providing directions to parking and other facilities. Information for pedestrians can be provided in localised information booths or kiosks. This information could relate to entertainment, places of interest, public transport timetables, provisions of taxi services and parking. The Southbank area stands to benefit not only in the long term, but also during the period when much of the area is being developed, from investment in an ITS to cater for the diverse needs of the many people will visit Melbourne’s entertainment, sporting and cultural hub

Synthetic molecular line observations of the first hydrostatic core from chemical calculations

This is the final version. Available from OUP via the DOI in this recordThe first stable object to develop in the low-mass star formation process has long been predicted to be the first hydrostatic core (FHSC). Despite much effort, it has still yet to be definitively observed in nature. More specific observational signatures are required to enable observers to distinguish the FHSC from young, faint, but more evolved protostars. Here we present synthetic spectral line observations for CO, SO, CS and HCO$^+$ that were calculated from radiation (magneto)hydrodynamical models, chemical modelling and Monte Carlo radiative transfer. HCO$^+$ $(1-0)$ and SO $(8_7 - 7_6)$ spectra of the FHSC show variations for observations at a low inclination which may allow a candidate FHSC to be distinguished from a more evolved object. We find that the FHSC outflow is unlikely to be detectable with ALMA, which would discount the observed sources with slow outflows that are currently identified as candidate FHSCs. We compare the results of simulated ALMA observations with observed candidate FHSCs and recommend Oph A SM1N and N6-mm as the most promising candidates to follow up.European Commissio

Exploring Graphs with Time Constraints by Unreliable Collections of Mobile Robots

A graph environment must be explored by a collection of mobile robots. Some of the robots, a priori unknown, may turn out to be unreliable. The graph is weighted and each node is assigned a deadline. The exploration is successful if each node of the graph is visited before its deadline by a reliable robot. The edge weight corresponds to the time needed by a robot to traverse the edge. Given the number of robots which may crash, is it possible to design an algorithm, which will always guarantee the exploration, independently of the choice of the subset of unreliable robots by the adversary? We find the optimal time, during which the graph may be explored. Our approach permits to find the maximal number of robots, which may turn out to be unreliable, and the graph is still guaranteed to be explored. We concentrate on line graphs and rings, for which we give positive results. We start with the case of the collections involving only reliable robots. We give algorithms finding optimal times needed for exploration when the robots are assigned to fixed initial positions as well as when such starting positions may be determined by the algorithm. We extend our consideration to the case when some number of robots may be unreliable. Our most surprising result is that solving the line exploration problem with robots at given positions, which may involve crash-faulty ones, is NP-hard. The same problem has polynomial solutions for a ring and for the case when the initial robots' positions on the line are arbitrary. The exploration problem is shown to be NP-hard for star graphs, even when the team consists of only two reliable robots

Notes on the Construction of a General Map of Africa, 1/Two Million: Discussion

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Conophytum bachelorum and its relatives: the introduction of a new conophytum from Namaqualand, C. confusum.

Summary: A reassessment of a group of four closely related taxa of the dwarf succulent genus Conophytum from Namaqualand, South Africa has been undertaken. This has resulted in the description of a newly discovered taxon, namely Conophytum confusum

Leaf epidermal structure in the dwarf succulent genus Conophytum N.E. Br. (Aizoaceae)

The epidermal structure of 66 species and subspecies of the dwarf succulent genus Cono- phytum N.E. Br. was examined using scanning electron microscopy. Taxa within this genus pos- sess a number of adaptations to their arid envi- ronment including sunken stomata, a prominent wax layer and trichomes. The range of epidermal morphologies present in this genus is described and the use of these to inform infrageneric classi- fication in Conophytum is discussed. In many cases the epidermis of closely related species is similar but this is not always the case across the 16 sections that comprise the genus. Whilst this study confirms the assignment of several recently described taxa to existing sections it suggests that the infrageneric classification of Conophytum needs to be re-evaluated

Pforams@microtax: Anew online taxonomic database for planktonic foraminifera

A new relational taxonomic database for planktonic foraminifera (“pforams@mikrotax�) has been constructed and is now freely available online at http://www.mikrotax.org. It represents amajor advance from its predecessor, the CHRONOS online taxonomic database, which has served the research community since 2005. The benefits of the new database to the research and industrial biostratigraphic communities are many, as it will serve as an immediately accessible taxonomic guide and reference for specialists and non-specialists alike by providing access to a wealth of information and images from original authors and from expertswho have inserted recent authoritative updates to planktonic foraminiferal taxonomy, phylogeny and biostratigraphy. The database will be continually updated and used as a guide for training current and future generations of students and professionals who will be able to self-educate on planktonic foraminiferal taxonomy and biostratigraphy. Further investigation of species traditionally included in the Cretaceous genera Heterohelix, Globigerinelloides, Marginotruncana, and Globotruncana is required to exclude the use of polyphyletic morphotaxa. The taxonomy for Paleogene planktonic foraminifera is quite stable following publication of the Paleocene, Eocene, and Oligocene taxonomic atlases, but revisions to the taxonomy and phylogeny of Neogene taxa are needed to incorporate results from genetic sequencing studies and recent biostratigraphic observations

Methylated DNA recognition during the reversal of epigenetic silencing is regulated by cysteine and cerine residues in the Epstein-Barr Virus lytic switch protein

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) causes infectious mononucleosis and is associated with various malignancies, including Burkitt's lymphoma and nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Like all herpesviruses, the EBV life cycle alternates between latency and lytic replication. During latency, the viral genome is largely silenced by host-driven methylation of CpG motifs and, in the switch to the lytic cycle, this epigenetic silencing is overturned. A key event is the activation of the viral BRLF1 gene by the immediate-early protein Zta. Zta is a bZIP transcription factor that preferentially binds to specific response elements (ZREs) in the BRLF1 promoter (Rp) when these elements are methylated. Zta's ability to trigger lytic cycle activation is severely compromised when a cysteine residue in its bZIP domain is mutated to serine (C189S), but the molecular basis for this effect is unknown. Here we show that the C189S mutant is defective for activating Rp in a Burkitt's lymphoma cell line. The mutant is compromised both in vitro and in vivo for binding two methylated ZREs in Rp (ZRE2 and ZRE3), although the effect is striking only for ZRE3. Molecular modeling of Zta bound to methylated ZRE3, together with biochemical data, indicate that C189 directly contacts one of the two methyl cytosines within a specific CpG motif. The motif's second methyl cytosine (on the complementary DNA strand) is predicted to contact S186, a residue known to regulate methyl-ZRE recognition. Our results suggest that C189 regulates the enhanced interaction of Zta with methylated DNA in overturning the epigenetic control of viral latency. As C189 is conserved in many bZIP proteins, the selectivity of Zta for methylated DNA may be a paradigm for a more general phenomenon

A 5 item version of the Compliance Questionnaire for Rheumatology (CQR5) successfully identifies low adherence to DMARDs

© 2013 Hughes et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly citedTaking DMARDs as prescribed is an essential part of self-management for patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis. To date, the Compliance Questionnaire for Rheumatology (CQR) is the only self-report adherence measure created specifically for and validated in rheumatic diseases. However, the factor structure of the CQR has not been reported and it can be considered lengthy at 19 items. The aim of this study was to test the factor structure of the CQR and reduce the number of items whilst retaining robust explanation of non-adherence to DMARDs. Such a reduction would increase the clinical utility of the scale, to identify patients with sub-optimal adherence to DMARDs in the clinic as well as for research purposes.Peer reviewe