Ectomycorrhizal fungi are able to ameliorate heavy metal stress to host trees in polluted soils. Their sensitivity or tolerance to heavy metals is usually examined based on growth and proliferation on heavy metal amended media. However, there are no data on cellular effects of heavy metals and detoxification in live cells of these fungi. Organelle morphology has recently been recognized as an indication of cellular health and its changes can be used to assess cytotoxicity. The aim of this study was, therefore, to investigate short term effects of common heavy metal pollutants, Zn2+ and Ni2+ on the morphology of vacuoles, mitochondria and microtubules in hyphal tip cells of two Paxillus involutus strains. Vacuoles, mitochondria and microtubules were labeled with Oregon Green?? 488 carboxylic acid diacetate, 3,3'-dihexyloxacarbocyanine iodide ((DiOC6(3)) and anti-??- tubulin antibodies, respectively. They were treated with 0-1 mmol L-1 NiSO4 or 0-100 mmol L-1 ZnSO4 or K2SO4 (SO4 2- control) and examined by fluorescence microscopy. Vacuoles and mitochondria in untreated hyphal tip cells of strain P2 which originated from a heavy metal-rich soil were motile and tubular forming networks. Exposure to the metals caused tubular vacuole thickening and vesiculation as well as fragmentation of tubular mitochondria in living hyphal tip cells. The highest K2SO4 concentration also had severe effects on mitochondria. These effects were metal, concentration and exposure time dependent. NiSO4 caused these effects at a hundred fold lower concentration than ZnSO4 and induced severe microtubule disruption. Vacuole tubularity recovered after removal of the metal solutions depending on the metal, concentration and exposure time. Mitochondrial tubularity recovered to pretreatment morphology in a shorter time and even during exposure to the highest metal concentration. Vacuoles of strain P46 which originated from a non-polluted soil were pleomorphic, but mainly spherical with occasional tubular interconnections. The vacuoles were too sensitive to UV light exposure required for fluorescence microscopy to investigate their response to heavy metals. The mitochondrial network and microtubules resembled those of strain P2. The highest ZnSO4 and NiSO4 concentrations caused similar trends in response of mitochondria and microtubules of the two strains. However, mitochondria of strain P46 were less sensitive at lower metal concentrations. The highest K2SO4 concentration had more severe effects on mitochondria of strain P46 than in strain P2 from which tubularity was not recovered. This investigation is the first to reveal that heavy metals affect organelle morphology in two strains of an ectomycorrhizal fungus. Nickel effects on the organelles are likely to result from microtubule disruption. Metal induced mitochondrial fragmentation is possibly an apoptotic response and the recovery of tubular organelle networks suggests cellular detoxification.

On a global basis over A$450 billion is invested each year in foreign direct investment and aid with a view to supporting development. Developing countries themselves allocate significant sums out of their own budgets in order to stimulate development. Development is concomitantly a major goal and enterprise of the global economy. Developed countries through aid (Official Development Assistance) spend large sums purportedly to improve the development status of developing countries. Recently voices from within the developed world???s establishment have derided the performance of aid and by default the performance of state organisations charged with managing aid delivery. Australia has not been immune from this criticism. Its aid program while modest by global standards still consumes A$1.5 billion in taxpayers money each year. Australian aid is delivered primarily by the Australian International Aid Agency (AusAID) with smaller contributions through the Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Defence and Australian Federal Police. AusAID has recently faced severe criticism over failure of the aid investment in the South Pacific to engender development. Most South Pacific countries (excluding Fiji and Samoa) have failed to show desired development. A number have faced bankruptcy (Naru, Solomon Islands), while others have increasing lawlessness (Papua New Guinea). It is important in the above milieu to examine the delivery mechanisms of Australian aid through its chosen vehicle (AusAID) and determine whether aid has really been effective or not. This thesis reviews the development effectiveness of Australian aid in one Pacific island nation ??? Samoa. In this context, the effectiveness of Australian development assistance is reviewed in terms of the results of four case studies of project aid to Samoa. The four case studies cover a range of project activity in differing sectors and offer specific insights into aid policy and delivery and the effects other variables such as culture, history and development status have on development outcomes. The thesis tests the hypothesis that Australian aid to Samoa has resulted in only limited development success and then in ways that are not generally sustainable. In confirming the hypothesis, this thesis identifies that while variables such as the procedural and policy underpinnings of the Australian aid program, aid design/delivery and management, and the history, culture and development status of Samoa impact on the development outcomes, they do not prohibit development. This thesis concludes that development outcomes will be maximised when there are good macro policies present, sound sector policies and real commitments of the government and people to development. Moreover, this thesis finds that while development theories inform the debate over aid none successfully encapsulates the actual development process.

Issue Addressed: Access block (the prolonged wait for an inpatient hospital bed after emergency department (ED) treatment) is regarded as one of the major issues currently facing emergency medicine both in Australia and internationally. At this tertiary referral hospital review of existing data has indicated that access block has continued to increase in recent years, with a sharp rise in emergency access problems since July 1999 and is now identified as a system wide problem. Objective: This research thesis sought to explore four main areas of inquiry concerning access issues within this hospital. The first objective was to determine the current bed capacity of this hospital and identify the percentage of access block within this system. The second objective was to seek an understanding of hospital clinicians??? experiences of access block and to identify the factors they perceive directly influence patient access to acute in-patient care. The third objective was to identify change strategies to improve patient access. The final objective was to determine whether collaborative participation and involvement of clinicians would lead to a change in hospital culture and foster a collective ownership of access block as a hospital wide problem. Method: In a participatory action research inquiry, hospital clinicians within this hospital were invited to be co-researchers. The process of concurrent investigation and action followed a five- part sequence of entry, issue identification, planning, action and reflection. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods were used including in-depth semi structured interviews, focus groups, process mapping, control charts and statistical analysis. Results: The research findings revealed a consistently high level of access block experienced by this hospital with bed occupancy rates in excess of 90%. During the study, hospital clinicians??? became actively involved in identifying major access issues. Six main delay categories evolved: Access delays due to limited imaging and diagnostic services, patient transport delays, barriers within the patient discharges process, insufficient access and availability to transitional, hostel, rehabilitation and nursing home beds and delays due to poor internal processes within the wards. Multi-disciplinary working parties were formed to implement six intervention strategies identified by the hospital clinicians. These included: the development of a patient access database and hospital wide alert system for code red status, the design of a pharmacy discharge prescription tracking system, the establishment of a patient discharge lounge, a quality study of the aged care assessment team within the ED and the formation of a transport working group to evaluate an electronic transport booking system within the hospital. Conclusion: In recording the qualitative process involved in gaining hospital clinicians??? perceptions of the problem of access block some indicators of engagement and empowerment were documented. The success of this participatory action approach is based on the simple principal that those that are doing the job are in the best position to change or improve it.

In the past decade some 150 planets have been detected outside our Solar System, mostly via precise radial-velocity measurements of their host stars. Using an alternative method, transit searches have recently added 6 planets to the tally, and are expected to make more significant contributions in the future. The transit method is based on the detection of the tiny, periodic dip in the apparent brightness of a star when an orbiting planet passes in front of it. It requires intensive photometric monitoring of ??? 104 stars, with a precision better than ??? 1%. The 0.5 m Automated Patrol Telescope (APT) at Siding Spring Observatory, Australia, with its wide field of view and large aperture, is ideal for this task. This combination is also somewhat unique among telescopes used in transit searches. Since 2001, the APT has been semi-dedicated to a search for extrasolar planets. In this thesis work, observing, data reduction and analysis procedures were developed for the project. A significant fraction of the initial effort was focused on reaching the required photometric precision. This was achieved by implementing a new observing technique, and robust data reduction software. In the first two years of regular observations (starting in August 2002), 8 crowded Galactic fields were monitored, with photometric precision reaching 0.2% for the brightest stars. We searched the lightcurves of the brightest stars (V &lt13) and selected 5 planet candidates. Follow-up photometry and spectroscopy revealed all of these to be eclipsing binary stars. To date, no planets have been detected by this project. A detailed Monte Carlo simulation of the observations, using the currently known frequency and properties of extrasolar planets, resulted in a low calculated detection rate, consistent with the lack of detections. Using this simulation, we have investigated the observational and target star/planet parameters that determine the sensitivity of transit searches. The results highlighted the factors limiting our detection rate, and allowed us to significantly improve our observing strategy. According to the simulations, we should now detect ??? 2 planets per year. This will increase by a factor of a few when a new camera, currently under construction, is installed on the APT in early 2006.

This study extends research on the information content of qualified audit opinions in more developed markets to the emerging capital market in China. It investigates the market reaction to audit opinions of listed Chinese companies on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. A sample of 3128 company/year observations was included, with 386 modified audit opinions and 2742 unqualified audit opinions during the investigation period 1999 to 2003. The variable of interest is audit opinions. Control variables include those used in studies of developed countries, such as earnings surprise, concurrent bad news disclosure, audit report delay, leverage, the presence of loss and firm size. Also included are variables controlling for specific Chinese institutional characteristics, such as ???special treatment???, as well as bull and bear market indicators. When all modified audit opinions are combined, this study does not find evidence that the modified audit opinions have significant information value to Chinese investors. However, when modified audit opinions are classified by type, the market is found to significantly react to qualified audit opinions with explanatory notes and disclaimer audit opinions, which are the severest audit opinions investigated in this study. When the entire sample is partitioned by year, a significant stock price revision to modified audit opinions is documented in 2003. This study also examined in the Chinese context the Melumad and Ziv (1997) model of stock price response to avoidable and unavoidable modified audit opinions. Consistent with Melumad and Ziv (1997) predictions, the market reaction to avoidable audit reports is unclear, while investors view unavoidable audit reports as necessarily negative information. In conclusion, this study finds mixed evidence in support of the notion that the Chinese stock market views audit opinions as valuable information.

Platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of vascular occlusive disorders such as atherosclerosis and restenosis, in part due to its regulation of smooth muscle cell (SMC) phenotype. The molecular mechanisms regulating the expression of PDGF-receptor-?? (PDGF-R-??), which binds all known dimeric forms of PDGF except PDGF-DD, are poorly understood. Here it is demonstrated that PDGF-R-?? protein and transcriptional regulation in SMCs is under the positive regulatory influence of the zinc finger nuclear protein, Sp1. An atypical G-rich Sp1-binding element from -61 to -52 bp (-61G10 - 52) upstream of the transcriptional start site, was identified in the PDGF-R-?? promoter via electrophoretic mobility shift, competition and supershift analysis. Mutation of this sequence ablated endogenous Sp1 binding and activation of the PDGF-R-?? promoter. In addition to Sp1 regulation of PDGF-R-??, it was shown that fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2) represses PDGF-R-?? transcription, mRNA and protein expression in SMCs. The FGF-2-induced inhibition of PDGF-R-?? was rescued by block of extracellular signal-regulated kinase-1/2 (ERK1/2) signaling. Interestingly, mutation of the aforementioned novel Sp1-response-element blocked FGF-2-induced repression of PDGF-R-?? transcription. FGF-2 was also shown to stimulate Sp1 phosphorylation in an ERK1/2-dependent manner, enhancing its interaction with the PDGF-R-?? promoter. Further analysis revealed that mutations of residues Thr453 and Thr739 in Sp1 resulted in loss of FGF-2-mediated repression of PDGF-R-?? transcription. These findings demonstrate that FGF-2 stimulates ERK1/2- dependent Sp1 phosphorylation, thereby repressing PDGF-R-?? transcription via Sp1 binding the -61/-52 element in the PDGF-R-?? promoter. Thus, phosphorylation triggered by FGF-2, switches Sp1 from an activator to a repressor of PDGF-R-?? transcription, a finding previously unreported in any Sp1-dependent gene. It is also shown in this thesis that the proto-oncogene Ets-1 controls PDGF-R-?? transcription and mRNA expression in SMCs. Mutational, electrophoretic mobility shift and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays revealed the existence of a reverse Ets binding motif (-45TTCC-42) in the proximal region of the PDGFR- ?? promoter which bound both recombinant and endogenous Ets-1. Ets-1- inducible PDGF-R-?? expression was dependent upon the integrity of both the - 45TTCC-42 motif and the previously identified -61G10 -52 element, which resides upstream of -45TTCC-42 and mediates Sp1 induction. Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) at nanomolar concentrations, stimulated levels of Ets-1 and increased PDGF-R- ?? transcription and mRNA expression without affecting Sp1 expression. Disruption of the -45TTCC-42 motif or -61G10 -52 element blocked H2O2 activation of the PDGF-R-?? promoter. These studies identify a functional Ets motif in the PDGF-R-?? promoter which plays a pivotal role in agonist-inducible PDGF-R-?? transcription. The interplay between transcription factors such as Sp1 and Ets- 1 in the promoter of genes can exert profound influences on gene regulation. Modulating gene expression affects biological processes such as SMC proliferation and phenotype changes, which contributes to changes in vessel integrity, a hallmark of atherosclerosis. This study provides a greater insight in the functional consequences of Sp1 and Ets-1 interplay in PDGF-R-?? gene regulation and in general, provides a greater understanding of the functional regulation of cooperating transcription factors.

By elucidating the origins of the banlieue rouge, a belt of communist-dominated suburbs surrounding Paris that arose during the interwar years and reached its apogee under the Fourth Republic, this thesis addresses the problem of why twentieth-century France was home to a pro-Soviet communist party with mass support. Specifically, a local study of the PCF in Arcueil and Cachan, two neighbouring communes south of Paris with divergent political evolutions since World War I, is used to discern how and why the Parti communiste fran??ais (PCF) came to exert hegemony in the working-class suburbs of Paris. After surveying the historiography of communism in France and beyond, this thesis concludes that the communist banlieue rouge was born of working-class alienation from bourgeois society that was nourished by a communist counter-society that was contingent upon the PCF???s capacity to adapt and respond to local circumstances. Using archival sources and statistical analysis, it demonstrates that in Arcueil and Cachan rapid suburbanisation and an attendant proletarianisation created the pre-conditions for the rise of the PCF. This study finds that during the interwar period the PCF rapidly emerged as an electoral force in both suburbs as it set about laying the foundations of a communist counter-society, especially in Arcueil where it won control of local government in 1935. In Arcueil, the PCF spearheaded the local Resistance movement during World War II and then under the Fourth Republic went on to consolidate a nascent communist communal identity, while in Cachan its influence fell victim to Cold War politics. The pre-conditions for the rise of communism were apparent earlier and to a greater degree in Arcueil, an industrialised, working-class suburb with long-standing radical traditions, than in the traditionally conservative Cachan. In Arcueil, the PCF was more successful than its counterpart in Cachan at exploiting an alienation that was not only part of the deep-seated historical traditions of the French working class but was also part of everyday life f or workers forced to live in miserable conditions. In suburbs such as Arcueil, suburban working-class pride at being a social outcast was conflated with communism to create a durable communist communal identity.

Introduction: In previous decades, the basis of child health and survival strategy in the developing countries has been the promotion of breastfeeding. However, transmission of HIV through breast milk to infants in the postnatal period has caused uncertainty over the best feeding technique. Previous policies in Uganda promoted breastfeeding even among HIV positive mothers without offering an informed choice of feeding mode. Consequently, the Ugandan Ministry of Health developed and adopted policy guidelines on feeding of infants and young children in the context of HIV/AIDS in 2001. However, little is known about their impact on infant feeding behaviour in Bushenyi district. Methods: This cross-sectional study conducted in Bushenyi district, Uganda, compared 94 HIV positive and 100 HIV negative mothers with infants aged less than 12 months on infant feeding practice, on the predictors of the different modes of infant feeding practice, and adherence to Ugandan infant feeding guidelines. Results: All HIV negative and 55% of HIV positive mothers were breastfeeding their infants aged less than 12 months. Among breastfeeding mothers, 85% of the HIV negative were breastfeeding non-exclusively. Of concern to the possibility of HIV transmission, 61% of the HIV positive mothers who were breastfeeding were doing so non-exclusively. Adherence to Ugandan infant feeding guidelines was higher in HIV positive mothers (67%) than in HIV negative mothers (41%). HIV negative mothers were more likely to be adherent if the mothers??? youngest infant was not a first-born (OR= 0.30, 95% CI = 0.10 ??? 0.88) and if they were aware of HIV transmission during pregnancy (OR = 2.60, 95% CI = 1.02 ??? 6.66). The single most predictive factor of adherence among HIV positive mothers was attendance at an infant feeding counselling session (OR= 5.63, 95% CI = 2.15???14.73). Conclusions: Counselling support is necessary for mothers to make infant feeding choices that are viable and sustainable. The self-reported method of assessing adherence in our study could have been sub-optimal and may therefore overestimate the adherent proportions reported here. Addressing development of better assessment methods and methods for improving adherence to guidelines is crucial for preventive strategies. Recommendations: Increase coverage of infant feeding counselling by introducing peer counsellors in the community.

In this thesis, multiple-response sequences (MRSs) are examined. These are a language classroom practice in which two or more students respond to a teacher???s question or other elicitation. The study uses tools of Conversation Analysis to investigate over 38 hours of classroom talk- in-interaction in TESOL classes comprising monolingual adult Korean learners. Classes were recorded on audio and video in Seoul, South Korea and Sydney, Australia. About 1050 cases of MRSs were found and analysed. In the study, four distinct major types of multiple responses (MRs) are identified. These are: the identical MR, in which two or more students provide the same response; the complementary MR, in which two or more students??? responses provide essent ially the same meaning, but in different forms; the collaborative MR, in which two or more students collectively provide various parts of the response in the construction of a single response; and the competitive MR, in which two or more students provide responses that diverge from one another. The study also examines complex MRs, which are combinations of the basic four types, and expanded sequences, in which MRs occur in preparatory stage or post-expansion sequences. It was found that the teacher and students can produce highly complex, co-ordinated and orderly talk in the course of MRSs. The study also considers MRSs as a potential locus for second language learning. The relevance of this study to some major theories of second language acquisition is discussed, in particular in relation to social interaction in the classroom.Finally, some suggestions for future research in the area are presented.

This thesis investigates the impact of insider trading regulation and its enforcement on bid-ask spreads, information asymmetry proxies, volatility, trade frequency and trade sizes. It employs an exclusive intra-day market-microstructure data-set for 29 countries and 32 exchanges and utilizes structural simultaneous equations models with distributed geometric lags estimated with GMM, controlling for market architecture, trading demand, minimum tick size and Fama-French factors. This thesis finds that enforcement of insider trading regulation in a country, rather than the strictness of written insider trading law, reduces information asymmetry and bid-ask spreads, increases volatility, and has an overall positive impact on traded value. The positive impact is mostly concentrated in the smallest stocks in the sample. The regulation of disclosure requirements has similar, but not identical, beneficial externalities in the market. The results support the prediction by Bhattacharya and Daouk (2002) that the fall in the cost of equity that results from insider trading prosecution in a country is due to a reduction in adverse selection. This thesis also find some support of the free inside information scenario of Medrano and Vives (2004), where volatility increases when insiders are forced to disclose the inside information before legally trading on it, if insider trading is not permitted and the regulation is enforced.