The Foreign States Immunities Act 1985 (Cth) provides that foreign states are immune to the jurisdiction of Australian courts, and that their property is immune from execution. Those immunities are subject to important ‘commercial exceptions’. First, foreign states are not immune in Australian proceedings insofar as they concern a ‘commercial transaction’. Second, foreign states are not immune from execution in respect of ‘commercial property’. The distinction between the commercial and the non-commercial may be difficult to pin down. With reference to recent case law, including the High Court's decision in Firebird Global Master Fund II Ltd v Republic of Nauru (2015) 258 CLR 31, this article aims to articulate the scope of the commercial exceptions. It is argued that the scope of the commercial transaction exception is uncertain, and depends on courts’ approach to the task of characterisation. It is also argued that the commercial property exception is undesirably narrow, and will present a recurring impediment to the vindication of private rights.

Partisan polarization on “culture war” issues has become a defining feature of contemporary American politics. This was not always the case; for the first two-thirds of the twentieth century, social issues such as abortion and LGBTQ rights played no role in politics. Where and when did the partisan divide begin? Did the initiative come from state or national parties? Was there a critical moment, or was position change incremental? We have constructed an original database of nearly 2,000 state party platforms from 1960 to 2018. These platforms allow us to trace position-taking on these issues and generate estimates of platform ideology. By the time national parties took positions, we show, they lagged state-level position-taking. Contrary to long-held assumptions, we show that state party system polarization did not occur around any critical moment but rather was incremental.

This paper presents the first continuous multi-proxy record of climate and vegetation change from the central Namib Desert extending over much of the last ca. 39,000 years. Derived from rock hyrax middens, evidence from stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes, pollen, and microcharcoal reveals significant differences between glacial-age and Holocene climates and vegetation types. Although still arid to semi-arid, conditions during Marine Oxygen Isotope Stages (MIS) 2–3 were significantly more humid than in the Late Holocene. Considerable associated vegetation change is apparent, with cooler temperatures and higher/more-regular rainfall promoting the westward expansion of relatively mesic shrubby karroid vegetation during MIS 2–3. With the last glacial–interglacial transition, increasing temperatures and less/less-regular rainfall resulted in marked vegetation changes and the establishment of current xeric grasslands. The inter-plant spacing of the karroid vegetation promoted by wetter conditions does not carry fire effectively, and the microcharcoal record indicates that more extensive fires may develop only with the development of grassier vegetation under drier conditions. As with other terrestrial records from the Namib Desert and environs, no Cape flora elements were found to support previously hypothesised expansion of the Fynbos Biome during the last glacial period.

Often to the detriment of human decision making, people are prone to an impact bias when making affective forecasts, overestimating the emotional consequences of future events. The cognitive processes underlying the impact bias, and methods for correcting it, have been debated and warrant further exploration. In the present investigation, we examined both individual differences and contextual variables associated with cognitive processing in affective forecasting for an election. Results showed that the perceived importance of the event and working memory capacity were both associated with an increased impact bias for some participants, whereas retrieval interference had no relationship with bias. Additionally, an experimental manipulation effectively reduced biased forecasts, particularly among participants who were most distracted thinking about peripheral life events. These findings have theoretical implications for understanding the impact bias, highlight the importance of individual differences in affective forecasting, and have ramifications for future decision making research. The possible functional role of the impact bias is discussed within the context of evolutionary psychology.

The southwestern Cape of South Africa is a particularly dynamic region in terms of long-term climate change. We analysed fossil pollen from a 25,000 year sediment core taken from a near-coastal wetland at Pearly Beach that revealed that distinct changes in vegetation composition occurred along the southwestern Cape coast. From these changes, considerable variability in temperature and moisture availability are inferred. Consistent with indications from elsewhere in southwestern Africa, variability in Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) was identified as a strong determinant of regional climate change. At Pearly Beach, this resulted in phases of relatively drier conditions (~24–22.5 cal ka BP and ~22–18 cal ka BP) demarcated by brief phases of increased humidity from ~24.5–24 cal ka BP and 22.5–22 cal ka BP. During glacial Termination I (~19–11.7 ka), a marked increase in coastal thicket pollen from ~18.5 to 15.0 cal ka BP indicates a substantial increase in moisture availability, coincident, and likely associated with, a slowing AMOC and a buildup of heat in the southern Atlantic. With clear links to glacial and deglacial Earth system dynamics and perturbations, the Pearly Beach record represents an important new contribution to a growing body of data, providing insights into the patterns and mechanisms of southwestern African climate change.

Flow pulsatility is ubiquitous in biological and biomedical fluid dynamics. Cardiovascular flow, the most well-studied pulsatile flow, has benefited from decades of fundamental studies of the temporal influences of basic parameter changes in simplified models. A similar approach is employed herein on a relatively unstudied, canonical flow configuration. Using experiments and simulations, we examine highly pulsatile flow over a surface-mounted bluff body. The pulsatile (i.e. with no flow reversal) inflow waveform is sinusoidal, and the inflow pulsation frequency is varied from low-frequency, quasi-steady pulsation to high-frequency pulsatility. A wake regime map encompassing the range of pulsation frequency is created, and a mechanistic explanation of the regimes observed is put forth. Finally, we introduce a non-dimensional parameter applicable to pulsatile flows and point out remarkable similarity to the formation time parameter associated with vortex ring generation, including a similar critical value, despite substantive differences in the flow configurations.

OBJECTIVES/SPECIFIC AIMS: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common cause of liver disease in the United States and increases risk for cirrhosis and liver cancer. Identifying modifiable risk factors for NAFLD could allow better targeting of prevention programs. Insulin resistance (IR) plays a significant role in the development and progression of NAFLD. IR is also an important precursor to the development of type 2 diabetes (T2DM). However, the development and duration of IR during young adulthood and its association with NAFLD and T2DM in midlife is unclear. To test whether trajectories of IR using homeostatic model assessment (HOMA-IR) change throughout early adulthood are associated with risk of prevalent NAFLD and T2DM among persons with NAFLD in midlife independent of current or baseline HOMA-IR. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Participants from the CARDIA study, a prospective multicenter population-based biracial cohort of adults (baseline age 18–30 years), underwent HOMA-IR measurement (≥8 h fasting and not pregnant) at baseline (1985–1986) and follow-up exam years 7, 10, 15, 20, and 25. At Year 25 (Y25, 2010–2011), liver fat was assessed by noncontrast computed tomography (CT). NAFLD was defined as CT liver attenuation <51 Hounsfield Units after exclusion of other causes of liver fat (alcohol/hepatitis/medications). Latent mixture modeling was used to identify 25-year trajectories in HOMA-IR over time. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to assess associations between HOMA-IR trajectory groups and prevalent NAFLD with adjustment for baseline or Y25 HOMA-IR. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Among 3060 participants, we identified 3 distinct trajectory groups for HOMA-IR for individuals free from diabetes in middle adulthood: qualitatively low-stable (46.7% of the cohort), moderate-increasing (42.0%), and high-increasing (11.3%) with a NAFLD prevalence at Y25 of: 8.3%, 33.4%, and 63.5%, respectively (p-trend<0.0001). After adjustment for confounders (baseline smoking status, alcohol use, body mass index, physical activity score, systolic blood pressure, antihypertensive medication use, and total/HDL cholesterol ratio) and baseline HOMA-IR, increasing HOMA-IR trajectories were associated with greater NAFLD prevalence compared with the low-stable trajectory group [odds ratio (95% CI): 5.8 (4.3–7.9) and 22.3 (14.2–34.9) for moderate and high, respectively]. These associations were attenuated, but remained significant, even after controlling for current Y25 HOMA-IR [OR=3.6 (2.6–5.0) for moderate and 5.9 (3.4–10.3) for high (referent: low)]. Among participants with NAFLD (n=511), high-increasing HOMA-IR trajectory was associated with greater prevalent [OR=6.5 (1.6–25.7)] and incident [OR=8.7 (2.2–34.4)] T2DM at Y25 independent of confounders and Y25 HOMA-IR (referent: low-stable). DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT: In this community-based sample of individuals free from diabetes at baseline, an increasing HOMA-IR trajectory through young adulthood was associated with greater NAFLD prevalence in midlife. Knowledge of changes in IR throughout adulthood provides new information on the risk of T2DM among persons with NAFLD in midlife independent of current level of IR. These findings highlight early identification of increasing IR as a potential target for primary prevention of T2DM in the setting of NAFLD.

Presented here are stable nitrogen isotope data from a rock hyrax (Procavia capensis) middens from northwestern Namibia that record a series of rapid aridification events beginning at ca. 3800 cal yr BP, and which mark a progressive decrease in regional humidity across the Holocene. Strong correlations exist between this record and other terrestrial and marine archives from southern Africa, indicating that the observed pattern of climate change is regionally coherent. Combined, these data indicate hemispheric synchrony in tropical African climate change during the Holocene, with similar trends characterising the termination of the ‘African Humid Period’ (AHP) in both the northern and southern tropics. These findings run counter to the widely accepted model of direct low-latitude insolation forcing, which requires an anti-phase relationship to exist between the hemispheres. The combined dataset highlights: 1) the importance of forcing mechanisms influencing the high northern latitudes in effecting low-latitude climate change in Africa, and 2) the potential importance of solar forcing and variations in the Earth's geomagnetic shield in determining both long-term and rapid centennial-scale climate changes, identifying a possible mechanism for the variations marking the AHP termination in both the southern and northern tropics.

We describe eight cases of primary cerebral lymphoma seen in Manitoba from 1980 to 1985.

The clinical presentation is similar to other primary brain tumors. The diagnosis should be considered when single or multiple, often deep lesions, show dense enhancement on computerized tomographic (CT) scan, but are avascular at angiography. These tumors are histologically indistinguishable from non-Hodgkins lymphomas arising outside the CNS.

The prognosis is poor. However, radiotherapy with or without surgery may offer significant palliation. Although there is no consensus on the value of chemotherapy, corticosteroids alone or multiagent chemotherapy have shown promise in a few cases. For these reasons, histologic diagnosis should be sought in all cases and surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy should be considered, as prolonged survival is possible.

Recent advances utilizing forced assembly multilayer coextrusion have led to the development of a new approach to study the structure–property relationships of confined polymer crystallization. Confinement of crystalline polymer materials in layer thicknesses ranging from hundreds to tens of nanometers thick, resulted in multilayer films possessing enhanced gas barrier properties. The enhanced gas barrier has been attributed to nanolayer confinement of the crystalline polymer resulting in a highly ordered intralayer lamellae orientation extending over micron or larger scale areas. Research into the confined crystallization mechanism of the multilayered polymer films has resulted in several material case studies as well as an understanding of the chemical and thermodynamic parameters that control the degree and rate of the confinement in multilayer polymer systems. This review highlights our recent studies on the confinement of poly(ethylene oxide), poly(ε-caprolactone), polypropylene, and poly(vinylidene fluoride) polymers in multilayered films.

For over a century, liturgical manuscripts from the Augustinian priory at Klosterneuburg have tended toward a misleading androgyny. While scholars have long known that Klosterneuburg was a double house, with separate precincts for men and for women, many have been content to regard the liturgical manuscripts preserved there as reflecting the institution as a whole, or of the men in particular. To be sure, some manuscripts have always been recognized as women's books. For other manuscripts, though, such gendered associations have proven elusive. Nowhere is this more clearly evident than in discussions of Klosterneuburg's twelfth-century antiphoners (A-KN 1010, A-KN 1012, and A-KN 1013). Among the earliest musical manuscripts in German-speaking Europe to show pitches on a staff, these manuscripts have been seen by many scholars as reflecting the use of Klosterneuburg generally, if at all, while a few scholars have associated them with the women of Klosterneuburg specifically. Whether the result of an unusual placement for the feast of the Dedication of the Church or the conformance of the musical notation with that of manuscripts known to be associated with the women, the occasional assignments of the twelfth-century antiphoners to Klosterneuburg's women were more a consequence of what was not known about the women and their liturgical practice (the date for their church's dedication, for example) than of what was known. The very lack of information about the liturgical practice of Klosterneuburg's women, moreover, has cloaked an even larger obstacle to understanding the liturgical manuscripts used by the women and the liturgy that was expressed within them. For all the attention given these manuscripts, and for all the consideration given to the possible connection between these manuscripts and the canonesses, few scholars have considered the possibility that the liturgy celebrated by Klosterneuburg's women might have been independent from that of the men.