Promoting place: elevating place‐based discourse and new approaches in local governance in New South Wales

In recent years, disenchantment of extant planning systems has assisted the consideration of alternative, place‐based models. By offering a critical analysis of these approaches, this article attempts to explore the value and challenge of such for the planning system of NSW.     

The Interaction of the Soybean Seed High Oleic Acid Oil Trait With Other Fatty Acid Modifications

Oil value is determined by the functional qualities imparted from the fatty acid profile. Soybean oil historically had excellent use in foods and industry; the need to increase the stability of the oil without negative health consequences has led to a decline in soybean oil use. One solution to make the oil stable is to have high oleic acid (>70%) and lower linolenic acid content in the oil. Other fatty acid profile changes are intended to target market needs: low‐saturated fatty acid and high stearic acid content in the oil. The objective of this study is to determine the interaction of the high oleic acid oil trait with other alleles controlling fatty acid profiles. Soybean lines containing high oleic acid allele combinations plus other fatty acid modifying alleles were produced, and the seed was produced in multiple field environments over 2 years. Stable high oleic acid with low linolenic acid (<3.0%) was achieved with a 4‐allele combination. The target of >20% stearic acid in the seed oil was not achieved. Reducing total saturated fatty acids below 7% in a high oleic acid background was possible with mutant alleles of both an acyl‐ACP thioesterase B and a β‐ketoacyl‐[acyl‐carrier‐protein] synthase III gene. The results identified allele combinations that met the target fatty acid profile thresholds and were most stable across environments.     

Focal ischaemia of the rat brain elicits an unusual inflammatory response: early appearance of CD8+ macrophages/microglia

Cerebral ischaemia leads to profound glial activation and leukocyte infiltration into the infarct area. In this study, we provide evidence for a dual macrophage response in focal ischaemic lesions of the rat brain. We show that a considerable proportion of macrophages in the ischaemic lesions express the CD8alphabeta heterodimer to date only described on CD8+ T cells. As known from other lesion paradigms, CD4+ macrophages were also present. Interestingly, CD8- and CD4-expressing macrophages formed two non-overlapping subpopulations. CD8+ macrophages reached their maximum during the first week with pronounced downregulation thereafter whereas CD4+ cells persisted at high levels into the second week. In contrast to cerebral ischaemia, macrophages in the spleen and in Wallerian degeneration after optic nerve axotomy expressed CD4, but not CD8. In experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, CD8 was mainly associated with T cells and very weakly detectable on some ramified cells resembling activated microglia. In conclusion, we show that cerebral ischaemia triggers an unusual inflammatory response characterized by the appearance of CD8+/CD4- macrophages that might exert specific functions in the pathogenesis of ischaemic brain damage.     

Alterations in gastric physiology in Helicobacter pylori infection: causes of different diseases or all epiphenomena?

Although mice of the C3H strain normally respond to bacterial lipopolysaccharide with appropriate immune system activation, mice of the C3H/HeJ substrain do not because of a gene defect. This suggests they may be more susceptible to opportunistic bacterial infections and more likely to have otitis media than a normally responding substrain, such as the C3H/HeSnJ. Therefore these two substrains were evaluated for incidence of spontaneous middle ear disease at 2, 4, 6, 10, 12, 15, and 18 months of age. Auditory brain stem response audiometry to pure tones of 4, 8, 16, 24, and 32 kHz was performed to establish the impact of middle ear disease on auditory function. None of the lipopolysaccharide-responsive C3H/HeSnJ mice demonstrated middle ear disease. However, middle ear disease was present in 33% of the C3H/HeJ mice. The conductive loss caused by the otitis media resulted in auditory brain stem response threshold shifts of 15 to 40 dB SPL, lowered peak amplitudes, and increased latencies. Reduced lipopolysaccharide responsiveness by C3H/HeJ mice makes them less capable of reacting immunologically to bacterial infection and presumably underlies the failure to clear middle ear disease. The C3H/HeJ mouse may provide a valuable model in which to study lipopolysaccharide biologic activity and related middle ear inflammatory or immune mechanisms.     

A 200-MSample/s trellis-coded PRML read/write channel with analogadaptive equalizer and digital servo

A fully integrated partial response maximum likelihood (PRML) read/write IC with analog adaptive equalization operates up to 200 MSample/s. The chip implements both matched spectral null (MSN) trellis and standard PR4 Viterbi detectors in the digital domain as well as digital servo. The device is integrated in a mature 0.7-μm BiCMOS technology, has a die size of 54 mm², and dissipates 2 W with MSN code or 1.5 W with PR4 code at 4.5-V supply and 200 MSample/s     

Use of a thermomechanical analyzer to estimate the tensile compliance for polymeric materials

Values of the tensile compliance D for polymers ranging from hard plastics to rubbers have been estimated using a commercial thermomechanical analyzer in a novel manner. By slight modification of the standard instrumentation together with careful attention to experimental procedure, sample geometry, and data analysis, the values of D obtained for a wide variety of materials are shown to correlate well with values of the tensile modulus E obtained using more conventional techniques. The method appears to be capable of quickly and easily estimating values of D^?1 ranging from 10⁺⁶ to 5 × 10⁹ pascals.     

Refractive-index measurements of zinc germanium diphosphide at 300 and 77 K by use of a modified Michelson interferometer

A method to determine the absolute refractive index of materials available in the shape of flat wafers with parallel sides by using interferometric techniques is presented. With this method, nondestructive, sample-specific measurements can be made. The method is tested by using silicon, germanium and zinc selenide, and measurements for both the ordinary and extraordinary axes of ZnGeP2 for temperatures of 300 and 77 K are reported.     

Quantitative secondary ion mass spectrometry imaging of self-assembled monolayer films for electron beam dose mapping in the environmental scanning electron microscope

Fluorinated alkanethiol self-assembled monolayers (SAM) films immobilized on gold substrates have been used as electron-sensitive resists to map quantitatively the spatial distribution of the primary electronbeam scattering in an environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM). In this procedure, a series of electron dose standards are prepared by exposing a SAM film to electron bombardment in well-defined regions at different levels of electron dose. Microbeam secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) using Cs⁺ bombardment is then used to image the F^- secondary ion signal from these areas. From the reduction in F^- intensity as a function of increasing electron dose, a calibration curve is generated that allows conversion of secondary ion signal to electron dose on a pixel-by-pixel basis. Using this calibration, electron dose images can be prepared that quantitatively map the electron scattering distribution in the ESEM with micrometer spatial resolution. The SIMS imaging technique may also be used to explore other aspects of electron-surface interactions in the ESEM.