Parliament of Australia

AIM: To describe the early formation of drusen and their relation to normal aging changes at the macula and to the development of age related maculopathy (ARM). METHOD: Histopathological features of 353 eyes without histological evidence of ARM are described and correlated with the clinical appearance. In addition, 45 of these eyes were examined by transmission electron microscopy. RESULTS: Drusen were detected histopathologically in 177 (50%) eyes but were seen clinically in only 34% of these. Drusen were mainly small hard drusen with an occasional soft distinct drusen: no soft indistinct drusen were seen. Only those drusen deposits larger than 25-30 microns in diameter were detectable clinically. Preclinical drusen in eyes with only an occasional drusen were seen on electron microscopy as entrapment sites of coated membrane bound bodies which formed adjacent to the inner collagenous zone of Bruch's membrane. In contrast, preclinical drusen deposits in eyes with many drusen were seen as accumulations of amorphous material which appeared hyalinised by light microscopy. A distinct feature were rows of dense hyalinised microdrusen (1-2 microns in diameter), over which larger globular hyalinised drusen formed. CONCLUSION: Histological and ultrastructural examination can recognise and distinguish the earliest drusen formed as a result of normal aging from those associated with ARM. In eyes without diffuse deposits, histologically all drusen were of the hard hyalinised variety or their derivatives; no soft drusen composed of membranous debris were found. These findings support and explain those of other authors who do not consider the presence of a few small hard drusen to be a risk factor for the development of ARM.

Abstract Contiguity of the Shan-Thai Terrane and NW Australia is suggested for Cambro-Ordovician times by the close faunal affinities seen in Late Cambrian trilobites, Ordovician molluscs, stromatoporoids, brachiopods and conodonts. Taxa such as Spanodonta and Georgina are found only on these two blocks whilst others have a Shan-Thai North China, Australian distribution. This, with a re-evaluation of early Palaeozoic palaeomagnetism, places Shan-Thai against NW Australia, N China against N Australia, S China against the western Himalayan-Iran region with Indo-China and Tarim lying between S China and Shan-Thai. A palaeomagnetically required anticlockwise rotation of this greater Gondwana from the Early Cambrian to the Middle Ordovician satisfactorily accounts for the changing biogeographic patterns, in particular the differences between North and South China during the Ordovician. Recent studies on micro vertebrates and conodonts suggest that Shan-Thai was still very close to Australia in the Middle Devonian, as seen by similar turiniform thelodont species from western Yunnan, northern Thailand, and South Australia, as well as the polygnathid P. labiosus lineage, species of which have recently been found in Thailand. Continental fish faunas were highly endemic in South China from Silurian through to Early and Middle Devonian, indicating prolonged isolation of this terrane and separation of South China from Gondwana probably in the Silurian. In the Late Devonian, shared biotic assemblages between North China and South China (endemic Zhongning/Wuting plant flora; endemic antiarch placoderm and polybranchiaspid agnathan fishes); and between these Chinese terranes and Australia (sinolepid antiarchs, earlier appearances of certain antiarchs) indicate close continental proximity of these three major regions. New palaeomagnetic data for Ningxia, together with biogeographic data suggests that this region may have constituted a separate 'Hexizoulang Terrane'.

We document the short- and long-run effects of male-biased sex ratios. We exploit a natural historical experiment where large numbers of male convicts and far fewer female convicts were sent to Australia in the 18th and 19th centuries. In areas with more male-biased sex ratios, women were historically more likely to get married and less likely to work outside the home. In these areas today, both men and women continue to have more conservative attitudes towards women working, and women work fewer hours outside the home. While these women enjoy more leisure, they are also less likely to work in high-ranking occupations. We demonstrate that the consequences of uneven sex ratios on cultural attitudes, labour supply decisions, and occupational choices can persist in the long run, well after sex ratios are back to the natural rate. We document the roles of vertical cultural transmission and marriage homogamy in sustaining this cultural persistence.

Purpose To review skills needed by library and information science (LIS) professionals in the twenty‐first century and suggest a new approach to four key skills. Design/methodology/approach Considers the DNA skills approach of Hallam and Partridge and analyses the four skills using examples of innovative developments in library and information services. Findings LIS professionals need a range of skills that should be fostered by educators and in the workplace. By promoting these in the wider community, the next generation of LIS professionals can see LIS as an attractive profession. Practical implications Suggests alternatives for communicating the skills required for future members of the LIS industry. Originality/value Provides a new analysis of selected generic and LIS skills which can be innovatively communicated to potential LIS staff and to employers and educators.

This paper reports the results of a large-scale analysis of a nationwide disease management program in Germany for patients with diabetes mellitus. The German program differs markedly from "classic" disease management in the United States. Although it combines important hallmarks of vendor-based disease management and the Chronic Care Model, the German program is based in primary care practices and carried out by physicians, and it draws on their personal relationships with patients to promote adherence to treatment goals and self-management. After four years of follow-up, overall mortality for patients and drug and hospital costs were all significantly lower for patients who participated in the program compared to other insured patients with similar health profiles who were not in the program. These results suggest that the German disease management program is a successful strategy for improving chronic illness care.

A spill of fuel oil at West Falmouth, Massachusetts, in 1969, contaminated contiguous salt marshes with up to 6000 micrograms of oil per gram (ppm) of wet mud and affected local populations of Uca pugnax. Directly related to high-sediment oil content were reduced crab density, reduced ratio of females to males, reduced juvenile settlement, heavy overwinter mortality, incorporation of oil into body tissues, behavioral disorders such as locomotor impairment, and abnormal burrow construction. Concentrations of weathered fuel oil greater than 1000 ppm were directly toxic to adults, while those of 100 to 200 ppm were toxic to juveniles. Cumulative effects occurred at lower concentrations. Recovery of the marsh from this relatively small oil spill is still incomplete after 7 years.

Importance: Randomized clinical trials showed that earlier peanut introduction can prevent peanut allergy in select high-risk populations. This led to changes in infant feeding guidelines in 2016 to recommend early peanut introduction for all infants to reduce the risk of peanut allergy. Objective: To measure the change in population prevalence of peanut allergy in infants after the introduction of these new guidelines and evaluate the association between early peanut introduction and peanut allergy. Design: Two population-based cross-sectional samples of infants aged 12 months were recruited 10 years apart using the same sampling frame and methods to allow comparison of changes over time. Infants were recruited from immunization centers around Melbourne, Australia. Infants attending their 12-month immunization visit were eligible to participate (eligible age range, 11-15 months), regardless of history of peanut exposure or allergy history. Exposures: Questionnaires collected data on demographics, food allergy risk factors, peanut introduction, and reactions. Main Outcome and Measures: All infants underwent skin prick tests to peanut and those with positive results underwent oral food challenges. Prevalence estimates were standardized to account for changes in population demographics over time. Results: This study included 7209 infants (1933 in 2018-2019 and 5276 in 2007-2011). Of the participants in the older vs more recent cohort, 51.8% vs 50.8% were male; median (IQR) ages were 12.5 (12.2-13.0) months vs 12.4 (12.2-12.9) months. There was an increase in infants of East Asian ancestry over time (16.5% in 2018-2019 vs 10.5% in 2007-2011), which is a food allergy risk factor. After standardizing for infant ancestry and other demographics changes, peanut allergy prevalence was 2.6% (95% CI, 1.8%-3.4%) in 2018-2019, compared with 3.1% in 2007-2011 (difference, -0.5% [95% CI, -1.4% to 0.4%]; P = .26). Earlier age of peanut introduction was significantly associated with a lower risk of peanut allergy among infants of Australian ancestry in 2018-2019 (age 12 months compared with age 6 months or younger: adjusted odds ratio, 0.08 [05% CI, 0.02-0.36]; age 12 months compared with 7 to less than 10 months: adjusted odds ratio, 0.09 [95% CI, 0.02-0.53]), but not significant among infants of East Asian ancestry (P for interaction = .002). Conclusions and Relevance: In cross-sectional analyses, introduction of a guideline recommending early peanut introduction in Australia was not associated with a statistically significant lower or higher prevalence of peanut allergy across the population.

Summary Eco‐schemes are set to play an important role in the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) post‐2022 for the delivery of environmental and climate benefits and enhanced animal welfare. This article surveys current plans for the design of eco‐schemes in fifteen European Union Member States. The number of eco‐scheme measures to be offered per country varies between 3 and 21, and the complexity and level of ambition of the individual measures are quite heterogeneous. The majority of the proposed eco‐scheme measures either build upon components from greening obligations or stem from agri‐environmental and climate schemes currently offered under Pillar 2. All fifteen Member States address Green Deal targets, with particular emphasis being given to biodiversity enhancement and non‐productive land. Eight of the countries surveyed are planning to provide support for organic farming through an eco‐scheme. The greater creative freedom offered by the CAP’s New Delivery Model has resulted in a situation where similar measures are programmed as eco‐schemes in some countries and as Pillar 2 measures in others. By adding yet another policy instrument to the CAP’s toolbox, the complexity of the CAP is vastly increased. It remains to be seen how farmers will respond.

Community development is generally considered to be a core component of social work practice and knowledge. Yet much professional social work education and discourse seems to relegate community development to the margins. This paper critically analyses the development of a community development subject within one particular Australian social work course. Particular attention is drawn to subject objectives, content, reading material, teaching methods and assessment. Some suggestions are made for new educational initiatives that could potentially enhance the contribution that community development skills and processes make to social work practice efficacy and wisdom.

Abstract The ileal digestibilities of dry matter (DM), nitrogen (N), energy and amino acids were measured using pigs prepared with either re‐entrant or simple ileal cannulae and fed a basal wheat diet, a wheat/lupin diet and a wheat/meat and bone meal (MBM) diet. The same pigs were also used to determine the faecal digestibilities of DM, N and energy in these diets. Addition of lupins to the basal diet had no significant effect on the true digestibilities of amino acids but addition of MBM significantly ( <0.01) reduced amino acid digestibility. It was calculated that an average of about 90% of the amino acids in lupin and wheat but only 65% of those in MBM were absorbed from the stomach and small intestine of the pig. Compared to lupin and wheat, a much larger proportion of the protein in MBM disappeared in the large intestine (approximately 4, 6 and 15% respectively). On the other hand, a large proportion of the energy in lupins but little of that in wheat and MBM (32, 8 and 4% respectively) disappeared in the large intestine. There were no significant differences between the re‐entrant and simple cannulae for ileal digestibility values of DM, N and amino acids.

The increasing popularity of public private partnerships (PPPs) thrusts on to centre stage the inherent tension between accountability and transparency on the one hand, and efficiency and commerciality on the other. This paper explores a number of accountability issues that are exacerbated by a public private partnership structure. The organisational structure of a PPP, where much of the activity associated with the delivery of a public service is embedded in a private‐sector entity, increases the likelihood that public scrutiny of decisions and actions is significantly inhibited

"Rights in context: law and justice in late modern society." Commonwealth Law Bulletin, 38(4), pp. 751–752

ABSTRACT The unrest in London during the ‘Exclusion Crisis’ filled Charles II with fear and foreboding of a new civil war. Yet although recent research has highlighted the important role played by the capital's inhabitants in the period, the evidence available for studying the groups of radicals involved has been sketchy and fragmentary. This article uses a new source, in the form of a mass petition, signed by almost 16,000 citizens, which was presented to the king in January 1680. It offers a unique opportunity to measure public opinion during one of the most turbulent periods of the Restoration, and to test assumptions about the character of the opposition to the king. After a discussion of the aims and conduct of the campaign, a prosopographical study of some of the most readily identifiable signatories provides the basis for a detailed examination of the political, religious, geographical, economic and social dimension of the petition. Finally, London's popular reaction to national politics is considered in terms of its effectiveness in altering royal policy, and its impact on the rest of the country.

ICT-based methods of communication, and especially new forms of social media, offer parliaments the opportunity to communicate with citizens and engage them in the political process more effectively. This is important in a context of declining levels of trust in parliaments where new media is often identified as a tool to address poor engagement with politics. However, the use of ICT poses significant challenges to parliaments, many of which do not readily adopt new technology. As a result, most parliaments have acquired some of the forms and elements of ICT and the new social media, but most have not yet been able to use them in a highly successful manner or incorporate them effectively into their work. Sound management, adequate staff and funding are clearly important. However, cultural and institutional factors, along with how a parliament uses technology, can have as significant an effect as management procedures and financial resources.

The sixth edition of what has now become a standard textbook in its field, this book has been updated about every four years since the first edition was published in 1994. The author is a professor...

This article examines how the idea of reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians became entwined with the Sydney 2000 Olympics. It does this by undertaking a critical reading of media stories on the twin issues of Cathy Freeman’s 400 m race, and the fear of Indigenous protest disrupting the games. We argue the Olympic Games helped to reinforce a discourse of reconciliation that best suited non-Indigenous peoples, and that the Games came to be represented as the space where reconciliation could and should take place. We argue that, in combination with nationalist stories, the impending Olympic Games were deployed as a way of disciplining Indigenous people and maintaining a particularly conservative understanding of reconciliation; one that did little to change the unequal power relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.

Current source inverters (CSI) offer advantages of voltage boost, short-circuit protection, reduced electromagnetic interference, and direct regeneration. While CSI control strategies are less developed than for voltage source inverters (VSI), the topologies are functional duals and have much in common in a control sense. In particular, since CSI voltage regulation is the dual of VSI current regulation, current regulation control strategies for a VSI can be readily implemented as equivalent voltage control strategies for a CSI. This paper shows how a high-performance proportional-integral stationary frame and P+Resonant CSI voltage regulator can be analytically designed and optimized, while in particular taking into account the second-order response of a CSI filter/load combination.

The debate over merit pay can be summed up as follows: economists like it, voters love it, and teachers are divided. Can merit pay be made to work? I survey three sets of data that are relevant to answering this question: impact studies of teacher merit-pay schemes, evidence on teacher attitudes to merit pay, and surveys of attitudes in the general public to merit pay. Looking at the existing merit-pay plans, one is struck by the fact that their incentive schemes are often very complicated, and most estimates are of short-run effects (so do not capture selection into the teaching profession). Teacher attitudes are mixed, with new teachers more open to merit pay than their more experienced colleagues. Teachers are particularly hostile to merit-pay schemes based on test scores, raising a particular challenge for the political sustainability of such plans. I conclude with 10 suggestions for future research on teacher merit pay.

A highly winter-active cultivar of tall fescue, Melik, was compared with 3 commercial cultivars in a field experiment in South West Victoria. Winter production of Melik was superior to the widely used commercial cultivars (P<0.05). In a second experiment, a selection from a Melik nursery, designated Melik Select, was compared with the summer-active cultivars, Demeter and AU Triumph. Seed blends of Melik Select and Demeter (1:2 or 2:1 mix) were also evaluated and seasonal production was measured under grazing. Over 3 years, the cumulative yield of tall fescue per se was not different between cultivars, despite a 73% increase in winter for Melik Select compared with Demeter (P<0.001). Melik Select produced 55% of its annual yield in winter. For Demeter the winter proportion was 33%. Spring (P<0.01) and summer production (P<0.001) was superior from the summer-active cultivars, Demeter and AU Triumph, when compared with the yield from Melik Select. Melik Select plots were however, characterised by higher contributions from subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum L.). After 7 years of rotational grazing by sheep, the frequency of Melik Select plants (63%) was greater than that of Demeter (9%) and AU Triumph (8%) (P<0.01). Melik Select exhibited greater crown rust (Puccinia coronata) resistance than Demeter and AU Triumph (P<0.001) in autumn. The seed blend treatments, which included 66% Melik Select, did not increase winter production above that obtained from the summer-active cultivars (P>0.05). It was concluded that, while increased cool season production from tall fescue may be obtained by the use of highly winter-active cultivars sown alone, blends of the contrasting types of tall fescue may provide a more even distribution of growth throughout the year. To significantly increase winter growth in the Hamilton climate, however, the highly winter-active component may have to represent >66% of the blend. Options for using Mediterranean type tall fescue for their autumn–winter growth potential are discussed for districts with a shorter growing season. Melik Select was compared against 5 check cultivars, in a 3-year field experiment at Hamilton, to characterise the seasonal growth of 36 Neotyphodium endophyte infected accessions of tall fescue collected from the Mediterranean basin. These accessions contained endophyte variants differing from N. coenophialum, as found in continental winter-dormant types of tall fescue. Ratings confirmed the importance of Mediterranean material as a source of vigorous growth during the cool season. Melik Select was superior to other cultivars and accessions in both the cool and warm seasons. The use of Melik Select to develop and evaluate a new type of highly winter-active tall fescue for temperate Australia, since released as cultivar Fraydo, is discussed.

This article examines the ways in which Australian mainstream print media represented indigenous athletes in the period of the 27th Olympiad, including at Sydney 2000. Australian mainstream media has held an apparent fascination with promoting indigenous athletes as the face of the Olympic Games and national unity and as one of the principal means by which the Games were promoted to a national and international audience. The article specifically attempts to unravel the complexities of the developing media discourse surrounding two key indigenous athletes, Nova Peris-Kneebone and Cathy Freeman, principally concentrating on issues of race and racial representation, and the depiction of indigenous running. Although there were some significant developments, issues of indigenous identity continued to be presented within, and confined by, the discourse of national unity.