BACKGROUND The Surveillance of Australian workplace Based Respiratory Events (SABRE) New South Wales (NSW) scheme is a voluntary notification scheme established to determine the incidence of occupational lung diseases in NSW Australia. AIMS Data presented in this paper summarize the last 7 years of reporting to SABRE (June 2001 to December 2008). METHODS Every 2 months, participating occupational physicians, respiratory physicians and general practitioners (accredited by the NSW WorkCover Authority) reported new cases of occupational lung disease seen in their practices. Data collected include gender, age, causal agent and the occupations and industries believed responsible. Estimated incidence was calculated for each disease. RESULTS Three thousand six hundred and fifty-four cases were notified to the scheme, consisting of 3856 diagnoses. Most of the cases were males (76%). Pleural plaques [1218 (28%)] were the most frequently reported condition, followed by mesothelioma [919 (24%)]. Silicosis [90 (2%)] and occupational asthma [OA; 89 (2%)] were the most frequently reported non-asbestos-related diseases. Estimated rates for mesothelioma, diffuse pleural thickening (DPT) and OA were 83, 83 and 5 cases per million employed males per year, respectively. Trades such as carpenters and electricians associated with the building industry, electricity supply and asbestos product manufacture were the most common occupations and industries reported. CONCLUSIONS Asbestos-related diseases are the most frequently reported conditions to SABRE NSW. The very low incidence of OA for NSW most likely reflects under-diagnosis as well as under-reporting. Occupational lung disease is still occurring in NSW despite current preventative strategies. The SABRE scheme currently provides the only available information in this area.

Aerosol Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (AToFMS) was used to examine co-association between two inhaled drugs, fluticasone propionate (FP) and salmeterol xinofoate (SX), in fine aerosolised particles emitted from Seretide(R)/Advair(R) inhaled combination products. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used to identify fragmentation patterns indicative of either pure or co-associated particles (particles containing both drugs). A third component of the particles emitted from dry powder inhalers (DPIs), lactose, gave only a very weak mass spectral signal and no interpretable data was acquired for this compound; however, it was not found to interfere with the detection of the two drug substances. High levels of co-association were found in the emitted doses from both pressurised metered dose inhaler (pMDI) and dry powder inhaler (DPI) products.

Abstract There is evidence that introns are basically ancient, though intron insertion events can also occur. Introns in the ,various classes of split gene may ,have been derived by ‘translational streamlining’ from ancestral elements formerly performing functional roles inearly cells, roles which later became redundant. For example, the exons of structural genes,could ,have ,originally ,been ,small ,'minigene' mRNAs ,cotranscribed polycistronically, and the spliceosomal introns could formerly have been excised spacers orcleavage,sites between ,the minigene ,cistrons. Similar ideas can be advanced ,for introns of tRNA and perhaps of rRNA.

Aims In Australia, the SABRE programme, a notification scheme, has been established to collect incidence data on occupational lung disease. This paper reports the first 3.5 years of this scheme and the results of an occupational asthma validation study.Methods A notification form is mailed regularly to thoracic physicians and occupational physicians in the Australian states of Victoria and Tasmania, who use this to report new cases of occupational lung disease. The validation study was performed by a blinded panel of two doctors, who reviewed information extracted from the medical files of a sample of reported cases of occupational asthma.Results A total of 520 diagnoses were reported. The mean (+/- SD) age of the 448 patients notified was 55.7 +/- 16.2 years. There were 394 (88%) males and 54 females. The most common single condition was asthma for which the most common causative agent was wood dust. However, the most commonly reported agent overall was asbestos. The validation study of occupational asthma found only fair agreement (kappa = 0.4) between the panel and notifying doctors. However, agreement was better (kappa = 0.5) when the analysis was restricted to those cases where the reporting doctor considered the likelihood of the diagnosis was high.Conclusions Occupational asthma is the most common occupational respiratory condition reported, which suggests increasing importance for this disease over more traditional forms of occupational lung disease. The validation study suggests that such schemes should restrict notifications only to those cases where the likelihood of the diagnosis is considered high.

The hairpin ribozyme of plant virusoids and the Varkud ribozyme from a retroplasmid of fungal mitochondria show notable similarities in sequence and secondary structure. Some more distant inter-relationships appear to exist between this pair, the viroid/virusoid hammerhead and the hepatitis delta ribozyme.

There is an 8/13 sequence match between actin and flagellin in their N-terminal regions.

In response to significant technological changes that continue to impact the Canadian (and global) communications industry, this paper considers new models for the jurisdiction and structure of a communications regulator. It considers the state of the current regulatory framework, and how it may be improved to ensure that the Commission can accomplish its public policy goals. It identifies emerging telecommunications and broadcasting trends, and proposes how the regulator can best focus on these so that its effectiveness, efficiency and relevance can be sustained. The paper will examine the CRTC's main areas of responsibility and whether its jurisdiction is complete. Specific attention will be paid to the issues of copyright and self‐regulation.

The introns-early view has been challenged for several genes; prominent instances are triose phosphate isomerase (TPI), aldolase, pyruvate kinase (PK), alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH), glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) and myosin heavy chain. While some of their introns appear to be phylogenetically ancient and/or to delineate exons corresponding to protein modules, a considerable number seemingly do not. But it is argued here that many of these anomalous introns are periodic, that is, relics of internal sequence repetitions within the ancestral gene. Some of these periodic-intron patterns are shared between related genes, as in the alphabeta -barrels of TPI, aldolase and PK, or the Rossmann nucleotide-binding domain common to PK, ADH and GAPDH. This is further evidence for the ancestral status of these introns. The myosin heavy chain C-terminal rod region is paradoxical in that its sequence is clearly periodic but its intron placements are not; however, they exhibit a remarkable coherence of intron translational phases, suggesting that these introns may also have originally had a periodic arrangement now obscured by intron slipping.

The hammerhead and the hairpin ribozymes of plant viroids/virusoids and the hepatitis delta ribozyme were generally considered to be unrelated to one another. Here we report notable sequence interrelationships and some structural ones connecting all three.

The TetR regulatory gene from the transposon Tn10 has some excellent characteristics for transgenic control in higher cells. However, we experienced severe problems with mRNA instability for this gene in eucells (CHO cells). This may be connected with the existence within the Tn10 TetR mRNA of several sizeable hairpins. They resemble canonical RNase E sites for mRNA destabilisation in procells and possibly also in eucells. Two of the hairpins also included sequences resembling eucell hnRNA polyadenylation or processing signals. The TetR counterpart from the plasmid RA1 appears to have less of the hairpin secondary structure; perhaps because of this, it did not present these mRNA instability problems in CHO cells, and it may prove a valuable alternative for transgene control in gene therapy and biotechnology.

Some globin introns appear to be ancestral features, others have been interpreted as later additions. However, these "anomalous" introns may be ancient relics of internal duplications within the original gene.

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Bidwell, J. Keith M.D.1; Young, Jeremy W.R. M.D.1; Elder, David M.D.1; Saylor, Lyle M.D.2 Author Information

There are a few relatively cool, clear-water, gravel-bottom streams in the southern tip of Illinois. These streams are of particular interest since they support populations of spotted bass and other game fishes. The present work considers the fish population of the headwaters of one of these stream systems, the Clear Creek drainage. This system includes about 15 miles of stream, made up of Clear Creek proper and its major tributary, Hutchinsˈ Creek. With the exception of periods of excessive rainfall, the headwaters of the streams are in the form of pools 100 to 200 feet long separated by riffles and shallows 50 to 1,000 feet in length and ranging in width from 6 to 20 feet. Pool depths range up to 5 feet. The pools were sampled by means of an electrofishing device at selected sampling stations located at intervals of about 1 mile or less. A sample consisted of the majority of the fish from a large pool along with those of the adjoining riffles. Analysis of the populations included consideration of species composition, size composition, and determination of rate of growth and coefficient of condition where possible. Twenty-three species of fish were taken from the headwaters of the two streams. The principal species included: longear sunfish, Lepomis megalotis (Rafinesque); green sunfish, Lepomis cyanellus (Rafinesque); spotted bass, Micropterus punctulatus (Rafinesque); stoneroller, Campostoma anomalum (Rafinesque); bluntnose minnow, Hyborhynchus notatus (Rafinesque); creek chub, Semotilus atromaculatus (Mitchill); golden redhorse, Moxostoma erythrurum (Rafinesque); white sucker, Catostomus commersoni (Lacépède); rainbow darter, Poecilichthys caeruleus (Storer); and madtom, Schilbeodes insignis (Richardson). The stoneroller was by far the most abundant fish. The longear and green sunfish were common enough to furnish some fishing. The spotted bass was very scarce although it is known to be present in larger numbers in these waters in the spring. The population of green and longear sunfish included a surprisingly large number of larger fish. It was concluded that heavy predation on younger fishes probably accounted for this unusual size distribution.

have pointed out, undergraduate research is "the pedag ogy for the twenty-first century," but "Humanities departments have been the slowest to participate" (Dotterer, 2002). In this article, I hope to add another per- spective to those teacher-scholars who in the pages of the CUR Quart erly and else- wher e have encouraged humanities faculty to participate in this significant pedagogi- cal movement. Specifically, I want to affirm the value of independent research as a model for undergraduate research in the humanities in order to increase humanities students' participation in this important pedagogical movement. I suggest that as humanities students partake in undergraduate research in greater numbers, we as teachers will learn more about how to facilitate it. As a result, we can create new oppor- tunities for our students, including re-thinking the nature of the humanities "research paper" and expanding opportunities for advanced undergraduate research.