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The key actors in the legal profession--judges, legal practitioners and the academy--each have roles to play in influencing and shaping the development of Australian constitutional law. This article addresses the importance of those key actors taking their own roles, and the roles of each other, seriously. It does so by examining three core themes--or threads--running through the fabric of Australian constitutional law: facts, framework and the judicial function. That examination reveals the importance of judges taking the role of judging as seriously as they do in shaping Australian constitutional law, but also the importance of practitioners and the academy understanding the judicial role, as well as their own roles, in helping to shape Australian constitutional law. In the end, judges, legal practitioners and academics travel the same road. Each brings unique contributions to the unceasing development and shaping of the mosaic which is Australian constitutional law., I INTRODUCTION Constitutional law affects all members of society--it fundamentally shapes the way that society functions by ensuring that 'all power of government is limited by law'. (1) Judges, practitioners [...]

Institutions are under increasing scrutiny--not only in what they do but, in some cases, their very existence. Courts are not, and should not be, immune from this scrutiny. In the case of the High Court of Australia, we must pause and ask: what gives a court institutional integrity, and what gives the High Court its integrity? This piece considers factors which may influence the Court's integrity in light of two broad categories: internal factors, aspects of the way in which the Court operates and is administered; and external factors, aspects of the wider political and legal framework into which the Court was born and continues to live. Overall, the Court's institutional integrity relies on a balanced constitutional structure, maintenance of which depends on both a political culture and a culture of politics., CONTENTS I Introduction II What Is Institutional Integrity? III Internal Factors IV External Factors A Political Culture B Constitutional Setting C Representative and Responsible Government V Conclusion I INTRODUCTION The [...]

[The Commonwealth's use of its taxing power affects not only Commonwealth, state and territory governments, commerce and industry but Australia's future. Consideration of the constitutionality of the exercise of that [...]

A safe and effective HIV-1 vaccine is urgently needed to control the worldwide AIDS epidemic. Traditional methods of vaccine development have been frustratingly slow, and it is becoming increasingly apparent that radical new approaches may be required. Computational and mathematical approaches, combined with evolutionary reasoning, may provide new insights for the design of an efficacious AIDS vaccine. Here, we used codon-based substitution models and maximum-likelihood (ML) methods to identify positively selected sites that are likely to be involved in the immune control of HIV-1. Analysis of subtypes B and C revealed widespread adaptive evolution. Positively selected amino acids were detected in all nine HIV-1 proteins, including Env. Of particular interest was the high level of positive selection within the C-terminal regions of the immediate-early regulatory proteins, Tat and Rev. Many of the amino acid replacements were associated with the emergence of novel (or alternative) myristylation and casein kinase II (CKII) phosphorylation sites. The impact of these changes on the conformation and antigenicity of Tat and Rev remains to be established. In rhesus macaques, a single CTL-associated amino substitution in Tat has been linked to escape from acute SIV infection. Understanding the relationship between host-driven positive selection and antigenic variation may lead to the development of novel vaccine strategies that preempt the escape process.

There are many factors that contribute to increased rates of multiple relationships in rural practice. Although limited availability of mental health practitioners and access difficulties are the most commonly cited factors, characteristics of rural communities and characteristics of psychologists who practice there may also promote the likelihood of these relationships. These characteristics may consequently promote acceptance of multiple relationships. This article addresses some of the unique aspects of rural practice and provides strategies for evaluating, preventing, and managing multiple relationships in rural practice.

The brain cholecystokinin-B/gastrin receptor (CCK-BR) is a major target for drug development because of its postulated role in modulating anxiety, memory, and the perception of pain. Drug discovery efforts have resulted in the identification of small synthetic molecules that can selectively activate this receptor subtype. These drugs include the peptide-derived compound PD135,158 as well as the nonpeptide benzodiazepine-based ligand, L-740,093 (S enantiomer). We now report that the maximal level of receptor-mediated second messenger signaling that can be achieved by these compounds (drug efficacy) markedly differs among species homologs of the CCK-BR. Further analysis reveals that the observed differences in drug efficacy are in large part explained by single or double aliphatic amino acid substitutions between respective species homologs. This interspecies variability in ligand efficacy introduces the possibility of species differences in receptor-mediated function, an important consideration when selecting animal models for preclinical drug testing. The finding that even single amino acid substitutions can significantly affect drug efficacy prompted us to examine ligand-induced signaling by a known naturally occurring human CCK-BR variant (glutamic acid replaced by lysine in position 288; 288E [approaches] K). When examined using the 288E [approaches] K receptor, the efficacies of both PD135,158 and L-740,093 (S) were markedly increased compared with values obtained with the wild-type human protein. These observations suggest that functional variability resulting from human receptor polymorphisms may contribute to interindividual differences in drug effects.

Imidazo(1,2-c)pyrimidin-3-one compounds are produced by the cyclodehydration of 5-(carboxymethy)amino-substituted pyrimidines using acid anhydrides. X-ray crystal structure studies reveal the bicyclic type A(super-1) mesoionic-like structures of the compounds. These compounds possess a combination structure of a valence tautomer and a resonance hybrid and are mesoionic. Substituted alkyl halides, under basic reaction conditions, alkylate the position N-1, where the compound has no blocking group.

The development of antiretroviral (ARV) drugs and their use in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV‐1) has led to the effective control of HIV replication in infected patients. However the emergence of resistant HIV‐1 strains still remains a problem. Literature has shown that mutations may accumulate in the protease (PR) and gag regions of HIV‐1 patients who fail therapy with protease inhibitor (PI) drugs [1, 2]. Gag mutations have also been found to play an important role in the evolution of PI resistance [2]. Despite this, the standard genotypic drug‐resistance test examines mutations in the reverse transcriptase (RT) and PR region of HIV‐1 and not gag [3]. This study investigated the frequency of gag drug resistance mutations in the absence of major PI mutations in HIV‐1 subtype C patients, failing a PI inclusive treatment regimen. Sixty‐eight samples were retrieved from patients that were classified as second line treatment failures as they had a viral load greater than 1000 copies\mL, as well as detectable lopinavir (LPV) levels. The gag and protease region of these patients were genotyped. Mutations in the gag and protease region were assessed using the REga Db sequencing tool and the CPR programme on the Stanford University HIV drug resistance database. The mean LPV level of these samples was 11.66 µg/mL. 69.11% (n=46) of the patients have no major PI mutations in protease. The following mutations that are associated with PI exposure were present in the data set: G62R (n=6), H219Q (n=11), S737T (n=8), I389T (n=8) and Q474L (n=7). Predictably, mutations that are associated with PI resistance were found, which are generally located in the p7/p1 and p1/p6 cleavage site. These mutations are K436R (n=4), I437V (n=1), L449P (n=5), R452K (n=4) and P453L\T (n=9). These results contribute to the knowledge of resistance mutations in gag and their impact on PI resistance., References Fun A, Wensing AM, Verheyen J, Nijhuis M. Human immunodeficiency virus gag and protease: partners in resistance. Retrovirology. 2012;9: 63. Dam E, Quercia R, Glass B, Descamps D, Launay [...]

C 1s electron energy loss spectra of gaseous benzene, naphthalene, anthracene, phenanthracene, triphenylene, pyrene, and 1,2-benzanthracene are recorded under dipole conditions. Comparison of the spectra by two techniques indicates the dipole approximation is likely valid for the XRS results. The study will be valuable while using XRS to characterize more complex systems with unknown fused ring composition.