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Excited ${0}^{+}$ states in $^{160}\mathrm{Gd}$ have been examined with the $(n,{n}^{\ensuremath{'}}\ensuremath{\gamma})$ reaction at incident neutron energies up to 2.8 MeV. Gamma-ray excitation functions and angular distribution measurements allow the confirmation of the existence of ${0}^{+}$ states at 1379.70 keV and 1558.30 keV, but we reject the assignments of additional previously suggested ${0}^{+}$ candidates. Limits on the level lifetimes of the observed ${0}^{+}$ states permit an evaluation of the collectivity of these states.

To estimate the frequency of slipped extraocular muscle (SM) in cases of repeat strabismus surgery and to compare the results of a number of putative preoperative tests for the detection of SM, with direct intraoperative inspection and histologic confirmation.Retrospective analysis of audit records followed by prospective interventional case series.Case records of 715 adults presenting for repeat surgical correction of horizontal strabismus. Five patients suspected of having horizontal SM were consecutively recruited for the prospective case series.Slipped extraocular muscle frequency was determined retrospectively from surgical outcome data in 715 adult horizontal strabismus surgeries in 1 center. A separate prospective study examined 5 participants with putative SM in detail. Gaze-dependent clinical tests (squint magnitude, eye movement range, palpebral fissure widening, naked-eye saccadic velocity estimation, intraocular pressure change) and saccade main sequence parameters (infrared eye-tracking) were recorded before and 2 weeks after corrective surgery. Intraoperative diagnosis was made by direct muscle examination and confirmed by histologic examination. Length of slippage and forced duction tests were intraoperative outcome measures.Slipped extraocular muscle frequency was 10.6%. The muscles of 3 participants in the prospective series were slipped. Direct intraoperative inspection accurately identified all SM cases. All other clinical tests produced false-positive and false-negative results, although SM was suggested preoperatively by limited eye movement range. Distorted saccadic velocity profiles were significantly (P0.0001) associated with prior strabismus surgery. Saccade main sequence parameters were not diagnostic for SM.Direct intraoperative inspection can accurately diagnose SM. Preoperative diagnosis of long-standing SM was not possible. In contradiction to a previous report, SM was not reliably associated with reduced peak saccadic velocity. The association between distorted saccadic velocity profiles and previous strabismus surgery is, to our knowledge, reported here for the first time.

This paper is a preliminary attempt to evaluate changing patterns of democratic governance, at least in Westminster-style parliamentary settings, and possibly more generally. It has two specific purposes: first, to propose a paradigm for evaluating the empirical evolution of democratic governance; and second, to illustrate the explanatory potential of this paradigm through a mini-case study of changing patterns of governance in one particular polity. The conceptual framework is drawn from March and Olsen's eponymous study (1995) from which polar (‘thick’ and ‘thin’) forms of democratic governance are derived. Four conjectures about its evolution are then explored. First, in its mass party phase, the pattern of democratic governance approximated the ‘thick’ pole. Second, the subsequent evolution of democratic politics has been in the direction of the ‘thin’ (minimalist or populist) pole. Third, the cause of this shift was a failure to adapt political institutions to changing citizen identities, which was masked by the ascendancy amongst political elites of the neo-liberal account of governance. Fourth, the paper considers the means by which democratic governance might be renewed. The approach is applied to explain changes in Australian politics over recent decades.

The House of Commons select committees witnessed some of the most constructive political theatre of the 2010-2015 Parliament. Recall the Murdoch’s public contrition, Margaret Hodge’s assault on MNC tax evasion, and Keith Vaz’s timely interrogations of G4S etc. All of these represented the public face of a newly empowered system. Less noticed longer term activity was no less significant – for example, Andrew Tyrie’s Banking Commission, the Energy Committee’s reports on the challenge of decarbonising the UK, the Political and Constitutional Reform Committee’s focus on a written constitution or the Education Committee’s inquiries on the multiple causes of under-achievement in education. Behind these developments lay significant changes in the standing of the committee system. Following the Wright Committee proposals, the Coalition government agreed to the election of Committee chairs by the whole House and the election of Members by their own parties. Their enhanced standing was exploited in various ways by individual committees – some by a focus on media attention, some by a concern for longer term policy issues, some by reaching out to their publics, some by more stringent scrutiny and most by various combinations of such approaches.This present article focuses on four external assessments: a 2015 report for the Centre for Policy Studies by Treasury Committee Chair Andrew Tyrie; one for the Institute for Government by Dr Hannah White; a 2013 report for the Hansard Society on digital media; and finally a report on public engagement commissioned by the Liaison Committee from several academics.

Indigenous policy presents in acute form a case study of challenges to present public administration practice. Successive governments have promised to reduce extreme disadvantage and to do this in conjunction with affected citizens. But failures persist. So how equipped is the Australian public service to meet such challenges? This chapter suggests there is a long way to go. Moreover, the central obstacles to their realisation lie in structural features that are keystones of new public management. At the heart of this chapter is a simple claim: there is an imperative need to reframe governance. This composite concept recognises the essential interdependence between the formal apparatus of the state and its publics. The parties are engaged in a dynamic exchange: the opposite of directed, deferential, passive or paternalistic linkage. In achieving positive and sustainable outcomes, engagement has a primary not a secondary role. Compounding this challenge is the overlap of policy responsibilities between federal and state government. Whilst present rhetoric gestures to the inter-governmental, systemic and contextual character of policy challenges, practice falls far short of stated ambitions. Indigenous policy presents in acute form a case study of challenges to present public administration practice.

Indigenous policy presents in acute form a case study of challenges to present public administration practice. Successive governments have promised to reduce extreme disadvantage and to do this in conjunction with affected citizens.2 But failures persist. In looking for explanations, Dr Peter Shergold (2006) has not only arraigned governance as a threshold cause but also set a high bar for its practice

Acute cholecystitis is one of the most common diseases requiring emergency surgery. Ultrasonography is an accurate test for cholelithiasis but has a high false-negative rate for acute cholecystitis. The Murphy sign and laboratory tests performed independently are also not particularly accurate. This study was designed to review the accuracy of ultrasonography for diagnosing acute cholecystitis in a regional hospital.We studied all emergency cholecystectomies performed over a 1-year period. All imaging studies were reviewed by a single radiologist, and all pathology was reviewed by a single pathologist. The reviewers were blinded to each other's results.A total of 107 patients required an emergency cholecystectomy in the study period; 83 of them underwent ultrasonography. Interradiologist agreement was 92% for ultrasonography. For cholelithiasis, ultrasonography had 100% sensitivity, 18% specificity, 81% positive predictive value (PPV) and 100% negative predictive value (NPV). For acute cholecystitis, it had 54% sensitivity, 81% specificity, 85% PPV and 47% NPV. All patients had chronic cholecystitis and 67% had acute cholecystitis on histology. When combined with positive Murphy sign and elevated neutrophil count, an ultrasound showing cholelithiasis or acute cholecystitis yielded a sensitivity of 74%, specificity of 62%, PPV of 80% and NPV of 53% for the diagnosis of acute cholecystitis.Ultrasonography alone has a high rate of false-negative studies for acute cholecystitis. However, a higher rate of accurate diagnosis can be achieved using a triad of positive Murphy sign, elevated neutrophil count and an ultrasound showing cholelithiasis or cholecystitis.La cholécystite aiguë est l’une des maladies les plus répandues exigeant une chirurgie d’urgence. L’échographie est un test précis pour le dépistage de la cholélithiase, mais elle s’accompagne d’un taux élevé de diagnostics faux-négatifs de cholécystite aiguë. Le signe de Murphy et les analyses de laboratoire effectuées indépendamment ne sont pas non plus particulièrement précis. Cette étude a été conçue pour vérifier la précision de l’échographie dans le diagnostic de la cholécystite aiguë dans un hôpital régional.Nous avons passé en revue toutes les cholécystectomies d’urgence effectuées sur une période d’un an. Toutes les épreuves d’imagerie ont été examinées par un seul radiologue et toutes les analyses d’anatomopathologie, par un seul anatomopathologiste. Les examinateurs n’étaient pas au courant de leurs conclusions respectives.En tout, 107 patients ont eu besoin d’une cholécystectomie d’urgence au cours de la période de l’étude; 83 ont subi une échographie. La concordance d’opinion entre les radiologues a été de 92 % en ce qui concerne l’échographie. Pour la cholélithiase, l’échographie a présenté une sensibilité de 100 %, une spécificité de 18 %, une valeur prédictive positive (VPP) de 81 % et une valeur prédictive négative (VPN) de 100 %. En ce qui concerne la cholécystite aiguë, l’échographie a présenté une sensibilité de 54 %, une spécificité de 81 %, une VPP de 85 % et une VPN de 47 %. Tous les patients souffraient de cholécystite chronique et 67 % présentaient une cholécystite aiguë à l’examen histologique. Alliée à un signe de Murphy positif et à une élévation de la numération des neutrophiles, une échographie révélant une cholélithiase ou cholécystite aiguë offrait une sensibilité de 74 %, une spécificité de 62 %, une VPP de 80 % et une VPN de 53 % pour ce qui est du diagnostic de la cholécystite aiguë.L’échographie seule a donné lieu à un taux élevé de diagnostics fauxnégatifs de la cholécystite aiguë. Toutefois, la précision diagnostique augmente lorsque l’on observe simultanément un signe de Murphy positif, une augmentation de la numération des neutrophiles et des signes de cholélithiase cholécystite aiguë à l’échographie.

This paper discusses the attraction of multi-national corporation (MNC) investment as an emerging economic role for the state. First, the changing strategic environment of states is explored through consideration of the new importance of international investment and trade, the role of MNCs and the opportunities to shape the manufacturing and services structure which thus arise. Second, theories about MNC internationalisation are considered to identify strategic factors shaping their location decisions. The third section summarises recent findings on the economic attractiveness of states. The paper concludes with a brief survey of the approaches and organisational arrangements of states that have placed the pursuit of MNCs at the forefront of their development strategies.

This paper explores two issues: first, the strategic and coalition-building tasks that may be routinely associated with New Public Management (NPM); and second, the implications of acknowledging these tasks for the conception of public management. NPM focuses on performance. It invites managers to accept responsibility for whole programs or systems (Kettle, 1997; Dunleavy, 1994; Ridley, 1996; Hood, 1995). This directs attention to basic program frameworks (that is, program strategy), as well as to operations. It involves the purposes of programs. It involves routine attention to such factors as the effectiveness of outcomes, the identification of alternative program configurations, the implications of emerging issues and needs, and the mobilisation of authority for change. In practice, this authority derives both from program stakeholders, as well as from ministers and the broader political system.

This paper seeks to extend discussion of the areas of state activity that are relevant to economic performance. It does this by linking several literatures that are now usually considered in isolation from each other. These are institutionalist theory, developmental state theory, and comparative and historical institutionalism. The paper focuses particularly on the experience of the east Asian developmental states. The paper suggests a new role for the state as catalyst in the formation of ideas, choice sets and motives concerning economic performance. It can play this role at national and policy community levels and in relation to desired overall outcomes, export or cluster development and innovation. The notion that economic globalization will inexorably drive convergence between states is discounted. On the contrary, this is as likely to nourish miscomprehension or incomprehension between citizens of different states. This is an additional reason for attending to the quality of opinion formation by states.

The starting point for this chapter is that Australia is a high-cost economy with a fading resources boom and a diminished domestic manufacturing sector. The chapter explores the fresh challenge that these structural developments present to public policy. It argues that this requires a shift from the dominant neo-classical policy paradigm, which has to date provided the intellectual muscle for a transformation of Australia's political economy. The chapter makes the case for policies framed to foster innovation and knowledge as the approach needed for Australia to succeed in an environment characterised by the new international distribution of manufacturing, the impact of new technologies, and the prevalence of global supply chains. To realise innovation-based economic renewal requires capacities for much more targeted interventions that engage business at cluster, sectoral, and/or regional levels. The chapter concludes by considering the obstacles to, and the possibilities for, policy change.

Considers the significant shift of Australian business investment from Europe and the USA to the Asian region since 1992. Reveals that over 65 per cent of manufacturing, 90 per cent of infrastructure, and some 90 per cent of services investment, committed or under consideration in the last three years, involves projects in regional states. Survey findings suggest the need to locate operations close to customers is the primary motive, followed by the growth of particular markets. Lower labour costs have also been a factor. In recent years, Australia has also sought to position itself as a regional headquarters location ‐ and has been particularly successful in the telecommunications and software sectors. Finally, Australia has sought to attract regional firms seeking bases in, or experience of, Western environments. Argues that all these developments mark changes in business strategies and in the public policy environment. This realignment of activities creates new opportunities for international managers as it poses an array of new strategic and operational issues for Australian managers. These implications have yet to be reflected in management research.

In 1994 the ABC announced that it would screen an edited telecast of the forthcoming Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. This proposal stimulated a major public campaign by opposing groups. Some opposed the timing of the telecast and others opposed a screening at any time. This campaign was distinguished by its scale, the vehemence of some of the views expressed and by their generally uncompromising character. Amongst other issues, the legitimacy of homosexuality as a lifestyle was challenged, as were the claims of homosexuals to social and political standing. This paper considers the task facing those—in this case the ABC board—who must respond to such campaigns. The empirical core of the paper is an analysis of the approximately 5000 protest letters received by the ABC. This covers the gender and occupation of the correspondents, their postal districts and their interest group affiliations. Further, the arguments of correspondents are analysed to identify the principal themes and propositions. How this c...

This paper evaluates the political impact of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, now in its fifteenth year. The paper summarises the evolution of Mardi Gras from a protest march into a month long festival, culminating in a street parade. It traces the development of governance and organisational arrangements. The impact of this event in five contexts is then discussed: the political consciousness and organisational mobilisation of the gay and lesbian community; public attitudes; the major political centres; and the state. In particular the evolution of relations with the NSW state government, at political and executive levels, and with the police is reviewed. The paper concludes Mardi Gras has played a pace‐setting role in each context The success of Mardi Gras, at least in terms of attracting public attention, does however create new strategic challenges for its sponsors.

Purpose: The focus of this work is to perform Monte Carlo-based dosimetry for several pediatric cancer xenografts in mice treated with a novel radiopharmaceutical 131I-CLR1404. Methods: Four mice for each tumor cell line were injected with 8–13 µCi/g of the 124124I-CLR1404. PET/CT images of each individual mouse were acquired at 5–6 time points over the span of 96–170 hours post-injection. Following acquisition, the images were co-registered, resampled, rescaled, corrected for partial volume effects (PVE), and masked. For this work the pre-treatment PET images of 124I-CLR1404 were used to predict therapeutic doses from 131I-CLR1404 at each time point by assuming the same injection activity and accounting for the difference in physical decay rates. Tumors and normal tissues were manually contoured using anatomical and functional images. The CT and the PET images were used in the Geant4 (v9.6) Monte Carlo simulation to define the geometry and source distribution, respectively. The total cumulated absorbed dose was calculated by numerically integrating the dose-rate at each time point over all time on a voxel-by-voxel basis. Results: Spatial distributions of the absorbed dose rates and dose volume histograms as well as mean, minimum, maximum, and total dose values for each ROI were generated for each time point. Conclusion: This work demonstrates how mouse-specific MC-based dosimetry could potentially provide more accurate characterization of efficacy of novel radiopharmaceuticals in radionuclide therapy. This work is partially funded by NIH grant CA198392.

Purpose: The calculation of 3D internal dose calculations in targeted radionuclide therapy requires the acquisition and temporal coregistration of a serial PET/CT or SPECT/CT images. This work investigates the dosimetric impact of different temporal coregistration methods commonly used for 3D internal dosimetry. Methods: PET/CT images of four mice were acquired at 1, 24, 48, 72, 96, 144 hrs post-injection of 124I-CLR1404. The therapeutic 131I-CLR1404 absorbed dose rate (ADR) was calculated at each time point using a Geant4-based MC dosimetry platform using three temporal image coregistration Methods: (1) no coregistration (NC), whole body sequential CT-CT affine coregistration (WBAC), and individual sequential ROI-ROI affine coregistration (IRAC). For NC, only the ROI mean ADR was integrated to obtain ROI mean doses. For WBAC, the CT at each time point was coregistered to a single reference CT. The CT transformations were applied to the corresponding ADR images and the dose was calculated on a voxel-basis within the whole CT volume. For IRAC, each individual ROI was isolated and sequentially coregistered to a single reference ROI. The ROI transformations were applied to the corresponding ADR images and the dose was calculated on a voxel-basis within the ROI volumes. Results: The percent differences in the ROI mean doses were as large as 109%, 88%, and 32%, comparing the WBAC vs. IRAC, NC vs. IRAC, and NC vs. WBAC methods, respectively. The CoV in the mean dose between the all three methods ranged from 2–36%. The pronounced curvature of the spinal cord was not adequately coregistered using WBAC which resulted in large difference between the WBAC and IRAC. Conclusion: The method used for temporal image coregistration can result in large differences in 3D internal dosimetry calculations. Care must be taken to choose the most appropriate method depending on the imaging conditions, clinical site, and specific application. This work is partially funded by NIH Grant R21 CA198392-01.

The story of liberal democracy over the last half century has been a triumphant one in many ways, with the number of democracies increasing from a minority of states to a significant majority. Yet substantial problems afflict democratic states, and while the number of democratic countries has expanded, democratic practice has contracted. This book introduces a novel framework for evaluating the rise and decline of democratic governance. Examining three mature democratic countries – Britain, Australia and New Zealand – the authors discuss patterns of governance from the emergence of mass democracy at the outset of the twentieth century through to its present condition. The shared political cultures and institutional arrangements of the three countries allow the authors to investigate comparatively the dynamics of political evolution and the possibilities for systemic developments and institutional change.