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    Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in Fabry Disease
    Ghali, J ; Murugasu, A ; Day, T ; Nicholls, K (SPRINGER-VERLAG BERLIN, 2012)
    Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a common peripheral mononeuropathy affecting up to 4% of the general population, typically women in late middle age. The incidence in patients with Fabry disease (FD) is unclear, but may affect 25% of patients with this X-linked lysosomal storage disease. We report three cases of CTS in young Caucasian male patients with classical FD, who developed CTS symptoms with supportive nerve conduction study (NCS) findings. Two patients had bilateral CTS and two had evidence of concurrent ulnar nerve neuropathy on NCS, suggesting a systemic process contributed to nerve compression. All were receiving enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) and had a moderate burden of FD complications. It is possible that an increase in connective tissue in the intracarpal canal in FD patients may be incited by injury to fibroblasts, via either accumulation of globotriaosylceramide (GL3) or local ischaemia through endothelial injury. The former hypothesis may be a more plausible explanation for the development of CTS, as histology of the flexor retinaculae from our patients has demonstrated fibroblasts with characteristic vacuolation and excessive myxomatous stroma, despite endothelial clearance of GL3 in these patients receiving ERT. CTS should not be overlooked in FD patients and young patients presenting with CTS should be evaluated for an underlying systemic or genetic disorder. Surgical carpal tunnel decompression was effective in our patients, already troubled by long-standing acroparesthesia, in providing sustained relief of symptoms.
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    Privilege or problem: The distinct role of government in arts development in South Australia
    Caust, J (ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD, 2005-01-01)
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    Arts and business: The impact of business models on the activities of major performing arts organisations in Australia
    Caust, J (University of Queensland, School of Languages and Comparative Cultural Studies, 2010)
    Managerial business models were first introduced to Australian subsidised performing arts organisations by the then Howard Coalition government in 2000. Until the early 1990s, Australian arts organisations were contextualised as 'not for profit' entities, with an overall objective of producing good art. Over the past decade, however, major Australian performing arts organisations have been viewed more frequently as part of an 'industry' and, within this industry construct, framed as 'business entities', with a need to prove positive financial outcomes as a first priority. This article explores what is meant by business models in the context of Australian major performing arts organisations and looks at the impact of this approach.
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    Cultural wars in an Australian context: challenges in developing a national cultural policy
    Caust, J (ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD, 2015-03-15)
    In March 2013, the Australian Federal Labor Government released Creative Australia. This document was described as the first national Cultural Policy statement in 20 years since the publication by a previous Labor Government of Creative Nation in 1994. However, within 6 months of the launch of this new policy, a Coalition (Conservative) Federal government was elected in September 2013. Up till now, Coalition Governments have rejected the need for a national cultural policy, so the future for Creative Australia may in fact be both contested and limited. Indeed, during the previous Federal Coalition Government a ‘cultural war’ erupted between the government and artists and intellectuals, over the latter’s desire for an Australian cultural policy. This paper addresses questions around the process of developing this new national cultural policy, why it occurred, and what future it might have now there is a new Coalition Federal Government in power.
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    Auditor Style and Financial Statement Comparability
    Francis, JR ; Pinnuck, ML ; Watanabe, O (American Accounting Association, 2014-03-01)
    The term “audit style” is used to characterize the unique set of internal working rules of each Big 4 audit firm for the implementation of auditing standards and the enforcement of GAAP within their clienteles. Audit style implies that two companies audited by the same Big 4 auditor, subject to the same audit style, are more likely to have comparable earnings than two firms audited by two different Big 4 firms with different styles. By comparable we mean that two firms in the same industry and year will have a more similar accruals and earnings structure. For a sample of U.S. companies for the period 1987 to 2011, we find evidence consistent with audit style increasing the comparability of reported earnings within a Big 4 auditor's clientele.
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    There is not one ideal model: Different governments and how they relate to the arts
    Caust, J (WSB University, 2018)
    There are many approaches to the arts by governments. Some governments take a ‘hands-off’ approach to the extent of providing no funding or institutional support. Others are deeply involved from conception to production with arts practice, providing funding but also expecting the right to intervene and control what occurs. Some governments see the provision of funding in transactional terms, expecting specific economic or social outcomes. Others say that they operate with an ‘arms-length’ model, but nevertheless demonstrate forms of intervention. Whatever the nature of the relationship, there are usually expectations by governments around their engagement with the arts. Using three case studies as exemplars of government approaches, this paper explores the nature of the relationship between art makers and government funders and reviews the potential impact of the different approaches on both organisations and their art practise.
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    Photophysical Identification of Three Kinds of Low-Energy Green Band Defects in Wide-Bandgap Polyfluorenes
    Bo, Y-F ; Liu, Y-Y ; Soleimaninejad, H ; Yu, M-N ; Xie, L-H ; Smith, TA ; Ghiggino, KP ; Huang, W (AMER CHEMICAL SOC, 2019-04-04)
    Blue-light-emitting semiconductors based on polyfluorenes often exhibit an undesired green emission band. In this report, three well-defined oligofluorenes corresponding to three types of "defects" attributed to aggregation, keto formation, and chain entanglement, respectively, are systemically investigated to unveil the origins of the green emission band in fluorene-based materials. First, the optical properties of defect molecules in different states are studied. The defect associated with aggregation is absent in dilute solutions and in films doped at 0.01 wt % with poly(methyl methacrylate). Second, the dependence of the emission spectra on the solvent was monitored to compare the effects of the "keto-" and "chain-entanglement defect" molecules. The green emission of keto defects exhibited a strong dependence on solvent polarity, whereas this cannot be observed in case of chain-entanglement defect. Third, energy transfer between poly[4-(octyloxy)-9,9-diphenylfluoren-2,7-diyl]- co-[5-(octyloxy)-9,9-diphenyl-fluoren-2,7-diyl] and the keto or chain-entanglement defect molecules is illustrated. Compared to those of the chain-entanglement defect, the spectra of the keto defect molecule (1:10-3) show signs of defect emission at lower proportions. These investigations not only provide insight into the photophysics of oligofluorenes but also supply a new strategy to explore defects in semiconductor polymers, which will aid in the development of effective approaches to obtain stable, pure blue organic light-emitting diodes based on polyfluorenes.
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    Time-resolved emission microscopy of light-induced aggregation of luminescent polymers
    Xu, Y ; Zhou, J ; Smith, TA (IOP Publishing, 2019-12-23)
    Photon pressure has been used to induce the aggregation from solution of a series of photoluminescent conjugated polyelectrolytes containing tetraphenylethene units. These polymers show steady-state and time-resolved emission properties that are dependent on the local chromophore environment that can be influenced by the degree of intra- and inter-molecular interactions, which enables the photoaggregation process to be monitored by time-resolved fluorescence imaging techniques. Structural differences in the polymer lead to variations in the photo-induced aggregation behaviour.
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    The prevalence and clinicopathological features of programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression: a pooled analysis of literatures
    Lin, Z ; Xu, Y ; Zhang, Y ; He, Q ; Zhang, J ; He, J ; Liang, W (IMPACT JOURNALS LLC, 2016-03-22)
    BACKGROUND & AIMS: Programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) has been recognized as a critical and promising target in therapies that direct immune escape of cancers. However, its association with aggressive clinicopathological features in solid tumors remains unclear. We investigated this question by synthesizing published articles. METHODS: Electronic databases were searched for relevant studies. Outcomes of interest included age, gender, tumor size, tumor size, lymph node metastasis and tumor cell differentiation. RESULTS: A total of 61 studies involving 17 types of malignancies were included. The overall expression rate of PD-L1 was 44.5% (95% CI, 37.5% to 51.6 %). Patients with regional lymph node metastases (OR 1.38; P < 0.01), large size tumor (OR 1.89; P < 0.01) or poor differentiated tumors (OR 1.71; P < 0.01) were associated with higher PD-L1 expression rate. However, no significant association was observed between young and elder patients (OR 1.04; P = 0.58), or male and female patients (OR 1.13; P = 0.06). A numerically higher PD-L1 expression rate was detected in polyclonal antibodies (57.2%) than monoclonal antibodies (39.6%). In addition, the PD-L1 expression rate reported by studies from Asian areas (52.3%) was numerically higher than those from non-Asian areas, namely Caucasians (32.7%). CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis indicated that patients with larger tumors, regional lymph node metastases, or poor-differentiated tumors were associated with a higher PD-L1 expression rate; in addition the expression rate of PD-L1 in Asians might be higher than that of Caucasians. This information might be useful in screening candidates for relevant tests and treatments.