Twenty-five years: a history of Claremont Teachers College 1952 - 1977

This book had its beginning in our belief that it was appropriate in celebrating the seventy-fifth anniversary of Claremont Teachers College to record the significant contribution its staff and students have made to the development of Western Australia. The idea of writing a sequel to Dr Mossenson\u27s history of the first fifty years was endorsed by the College Council and I was given the task of finding a historian who would take on this work. I found that person in John McKenzie, who had trained and lectured at the college. Mr McKenzie willingly agreed to bring together the strands of the story of the college from just after the end of the Second World War until the present day. It has not been a simple exercise, and the format used-linking the development of the state to the college\u27s capacity to cope with pressures entailed in that development-has been most successful. All who know Claremont are most appreciative of the magnificent effort John McKenzie has made. I am sure his book will appeal not only to scholars and to those in the profession, but to the public at large..

Old bush schools: life and education in the small schools of Western Australia 1893 to 1961

In researching and recording historical and anecdotal comment on the Old Bush Schools of Western Australia, John McKenzie has secured oral elements of our history which could well have been lost forever, and woven them into the recorded facts of past decades. He has produced an entertaining and particularly illuminating picture of the life of the small-school teacher in outback Western Australia during most decades of the last one hundred years..

The experiences of women with polycystic ovary syndrome on a very low-calorie diet

The research was funded by an educational grant from LighterLife. Broom was the Medical Director for LighterLife at the time of the research. Johnson is the Head of Nutrition and Research at LighterLife. The authors report no other conflicts of interest in this work.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Evidence for changes in groundwater drought in temperate environments associated with climate change

There is currently a significant gap in our understanding of the effect of anthropogenic warming on groundwater drought. This is due to a number of factors including the limited availability of long groundwater level time series suitable for analysis, the low signal-to-noise ratios characteristic of many hydrological systems, and the infrequent nature of episodes of groundwater drought in temperate systems. Formal attribution of groundwater droughts due to anthropogenic warming is also challenging because of the potentially confounding influences of land use change and groundwater abstraction on groundwater drought. In the present study, we have not attempted to formally attribute groundwater droughts to climate change. Instead, we investigate how known centennialscale anthropogenic warming may be modifying the nature of groundwater droughts when other factors are discounted, and address the following question: how has the occurrence, duration, magnitude and intensity of groundwater drought, as expressed by changes in monthly Standardised Groundwater level Index (SGI) and in episodes of groundwater drought changed since 1891 under anthropogenic warming? Standardised indices of monthly groundwater levels (SGI), precipitation (SPI) and temperature (STI) are analysed, using two long, continuous monthly groundwater level data sets from the UK, for the period 1891 to 2015. Precipitation deficits are the main control on groundwater drought formation and propagation. However, long-term changes in groundwater drought include increases in the frequency and intensity of individual groundwater drought months, and increases in the frequency, magnitude and intensity of episodes of groundwater drought, are shown to be associated with anthropogenic warming over the study period. These is a transition from coincidence of episodes of groundwater and precipitation droughts at the end of the 19th century, to an increasing coincidence groundwater droughts with both precipitation droughts and with hot periods in the early 21st century. In the absence of long-term changes in precipitation deficits, it is inferred that the changing nature of groundwater droughts is due to changes in evapotranspiration (ET) associated with anthropogenic warming. Given the extent of shallow groundwater globally, anthropogenic warming may widely effect changes to groundwater drought characteristics in temperate environments

Universal subgap optical conductivity in quasi-one-dimensional Peierls systems

Quasi-one-dimensional Peierls systems with quantum and thermal lattice fluctuations can be modeled by a Dirac-type equation with a Gaussian-correlated off-diagonal disorder. A powerful new method gives the exact disorder-averaged Green function used to compute the optical conductivity. The strong subgap tail of the conductivity has a universal scaling form. The frequency and temperature dependence of the calculated spectrum agrees with experiments on KCP(Br) and trans-polyacetylene.Comment: 11 pages (+ 3 figures), LATEX (REVTEX 3.0

Surfboard Paddling Technique and Neuromechanical Control: A Narrative Review

Surfboard paddling is an essential activity when surfing. Research investigating surfboard paddling, especially as it pertains to neuromechanical control and techniques used, is limited. Previous research made use of swim ergometers to examine surfboard paddling demands. The validity of using swim ergometers in surfboard paddling research and training deserves further analysis. To establish ecologically valid findings, researchers have begun to use swim flumes and still-water paddling environments to investigate paddling efficiency and technique. This emerging body of research has reported that muscle activation patterns, intensities, and timings differ as surfers move through different paddle stroke phases. A deeper understanding of paddling\u27s neuromechanical control may help enhance the understanding of how to improve paddle performance and perhaps reduce injury risk. Therefore, the purpose of this review was to identify the gaps in the existing literature to help identify future research directions in relation to surfboard paddling techniques and neuromechanical control

Foliar herbicide control of sticky florestina (Florestina tripteris DC.)

Sticky florestina (Florestina tripteris DC.) is an annual exotic weed that has become naturalised near the townships of Tambo and Barcaldine in central western Queensland, Australia. Three experiments conducted near Barcaldine identified foliar herbicides effective in killing sticky florestina plants and in providing residual activity to reduce recruitment from the soil seed bank. An initial chemical screening experiment evaluated the efficacy of 28 herbicide treatments. The most promising herbicides were then further evaluated in two response-rate experiments. Overall, 2,4-D/picloram, aminopyralid/fluroxypyr, clopyralid, metsulfuron-methyl and triclopyr/picloram proved to be the most effective selective herbicides. Two of these, metsulfuron-methyl at 18 g active ingredient (a.i) ha–1 and 2,4-D + picloram at 900 g a.i. ha–1 + 225 g a.i. ha–1 have now been included in a minor use permit (PER11920) with the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) for the control of sticky florestina in pasture, stock route, roadside and non-crop situations using both spot and boom-spray applications (APVMA 2010). The permit also allows the use of 2,4-D amine for the control of seedlings only

The Ammount of Interstellar Carbon Locked in Solid Hydrogenated Amorphous Carbon

We review the literature and present new experimental data to determine the amount of carbon likely to be locked in form of solid hydrogenated amorphous carbon (HAC) grains. We conclude on the basis of a thorough analysis of the intrinsic strength of the C-H stretching band at 3.4 micron that between 10 and 80 ppM H of carbon is in the form of HAC grains. We show that it is necessary to know the level of hydrogenation (H/C) of the interstellar HAC to determine more precisely the amount of carbon it ties up. We present optical constants, photoluminescence spectroscopy, and IR absorption spectroscopy for a particular HAC sample that is shown to have a 3.4 micron absorption feature that is quantatively consistent with that observed in the diffuse interstellar medium.Comment: This paper is 14 pages long with 5 figures and will appear in the 1 December 1999 issue of Ap

Human Activity Mediates a Trophic Cascade Caused by Wolves

Experimental evidence of trophic cascades initiated by large vertebrate predators is rare in terrestrial ecosystems. A serendipitous natural experiment provided an opportunity to test the trophic cascade hypothesis for wolves (Canis lupus) in Banff National Park, Canada. The first wolf pack recolonized the Bow Valley of Banff National Park in 1986. High human activity partially excluded wolves from one area of the Bow Valley (low-wolf area), whereas wolves made full use of an adjacent area (high-wolf area). We investigated the effects of differential wolf predation between these two areas on elk (Cervus elaphus) population density, adult female survival, and calf recruitment; aspen (Populus tremuloides) recruitment and browse intensity; willow (Salix spp.) production, browsing intensity, and net growth; beaver (Castor canadensis) density; and riparian songbird diversity, evenness, and abundance. We compared effects of recolonizing wolves on these response variables using the log response ratio between the low-wolf and high-wolf treatments. Elk population density diverged over time in the two treatments, such that elk were an order of magnitude more numerous in the low-wolf area compared to the high-wolf area at the end of the study. Annual survival of adult female elk was 62% in the high-wolf area vs. 89% in the low-wolf area. Annual recruitment of calves was 15% in the high-wolf area vs. 27% without wolves. Wolf exclusion decreased aspen recruitment, willow production, and increased willow and aspen browsing intensity. Beaver lodge density was negatively correlated to elk density, and elk herbivory had an indirect negative effect on riparian songbird diversity and abundance. These alternating patterns across trophic levels support the wolf-caused trophic cascade hypothesis. Human activity strongly mediated these cascade effects, through a depressing effect on habitat use by wolves. Thus, conservation strategies based on the trophic importance of large carnivores have increased support in terrestrial ecosystems. Read More: http://www.esajournals.org/doi/full/10.1890/04-126