Mid 1990s Research Articles

Woomera’s Women: camera operators on the Anglo-Australian rocket range 1947–1970, a case study of Laurine (Hall) East

ABSTRACT After WW2, with the onset of the Cold War, by virtue of an Anglo-Australian Joint Venture, Australia became a centre for scientific research into rockets and long-range weapons (including Britain’s atomic warheads) testing. By the mid 1950s a new outback town - Woomera had been created in the Australian Desert to conduct the tests. Each test generated 1,000s of images and 50,000 pictures could be generated per trial. Women’s roles at Woomera were initially expected to be traditional – supportive wives and mothers. This research based on archival records, documentary film and oral histories with those who worked on the range during 1947-1970, reveals women undertaking roles operating the kinetheodolites that filmed and tracked the rocket firings and female “computers,” who assisted in the production processes. These women recorded and analysed the data from filming and can be considered Australia’s “hidden figures”. Previous Woomera histories exclude any detailed mention of this industrial phenomenon – women as camera operators and data analysts/computers. This article examines the work of one of these women as revealed through film, archival records and oral history drawn from a broader study that examined the work of 12 former camera operators and four “computers” on the Woomera rocket range.

STATE OF KNOWLEDGE DISCOVERY PROCESS MODELS AND FRAMEWORKS

INTRODUCTION
 The first knowledge discovery process models were developed in the late 1990s, almost three decades ago. Based on several surveys, researchers F. Martínez-Plumed et al. (Martinez-Plumed, F. et al., 2021) and Rotondo A., Fergus Q. (Rotondo, A., Quilligan, F., 2020) argue that CRISP-DM (Chapman, et al., 2000) remains the default standard for developing data acquisition and retrieval projects. In almost thirty years, the industry and technology has evolved, and data science is now the leading term. The knowledge discovery process has changed significantly since the inception of the CRISP-DM model. An area in which the CRISP-DM model does not work well enough is data-driven products, and most products nowadays are in fact data driven. The amount and complexity of data in applications suggests that data processing requires significant technical work on management and infrastructure. In the CRISP-DM model, data is included as a static unit in the middle of the process (Martinez-Plumed, F. et al., 2021), which means that the knowledge retrieval process needs to be viewed in the context of the knowledge retrieval framework in which the process is applied.
 MATERIALS AND METHODS
 To identify the state of knowledge discovery process models and frameworks, the authors adopted a systematic literature review approach on knowledge discovery process models and knowledge discovery frameworks to answer two research questions. Q1: what kinds of process models are available and what is the state of knowledge discovery process models? And Q2: what are the design principles that characterise knowledge discovery frameworks? To achieve this objective, research articles addressing process models and frameworks were analysed.
 RESULTS
 The knowledge discovery process models developed in the mid 90s are still being used in organisational data mining projects. Most data retrieval algorithms and tools stop at creating and delivering models that meet technical requirements. Models are being developed, but entrepreneurs are either not interested in them or do not know what to do next to add value to their business decisions. Knowledge discovery in organisations is mostly a closed process for solving optimisation problems starting with problem definition, framework or model development to the discovery of workable models designed to provide functioning business insights that can be linked to or integrated with business processes and systems. Obtaining information and hidden correlations from data has a growing trend in information systems; in order to provide better services to end users and support decision-making processes, as well as to acquire valuable knowledge, it is necessary to integrate and analyse the generated data sets from different domains. Multiple innovative knowledge discovery frameworks are being analysed in the research paper.
 DISCUSSION
 The heterogeneity of the definition of knowledge and the perception of its concept creates wide possibilities for interpretation. One of the knowledge definitions according to Ikujiro Nonaka and Hirotaka Takeuchi's (Nonaka, I., Takeuchi, H., 1995) theory of knowledge creation is the acquisition of new knowledge applied to its usefulness to a particular organisation by relating it to the social context in which the knowledge is created and used. Knowledge discovery process models are still widely used within organisations and there are multiple knowledge discovery framework proposals for various fields. The necessity and corresponding technological requirements for knowledge discovery frameworks remain open for discussion.
 Recommended future research directions involve the following points:
 
 Technical requirements of knowledge discovery frameworks that define the requirements of components.
 Security requirements for knowledge discovery frameworks.
 Personal data protection requirements for knowledge discovery.

Why Using Biological Control Approaches Against Sugar Beet Aphid Pests Will Not Control Virus Yellows – a Post-script

As an advocate of natural pest control wherever possible, the author has no quarrel with Professor Loxdale?s appeal for research funders to consider enhancing the resources already available in the natural environment. In an ideal world, this would be the most acceptable method for producing healthy crops for our benefit, not to mention encouraging biodiversity within the landscape. However, in the real world, a more pragmatic approach is sometimes required to avoid catastrophic yield losses, such as those which occurred in sugar beet in the mid 1970s, and most recently in 2020, when it was estimated that 25% of sugar beet yields were lost to the aphid-transmitted yellowing viruses that infected 38% of the national sugar beet crop. Controlling up to 50 % of aphids by parasitoids or other natural enemies, whilst commendable in a situation where aphids might cause significant yield loss by direct-feeding, is certainly not sufficient to prevent widespread virus infection within crops, simply because it does not take many aphids to spread viruses. The threshold for aphid control using insecticide sprays in sugar beet in the UK is, and has been for decades, one green wingless aphid per four plants. This level of infection is actually quite difficult for a human to detect to make the judgement to use a spray or not, and it is a population level that does not attract many parasitoids or predators, even though they are better at finding them than we humans. But that threshold is necessary to help reduce the spread of the yield-reducing viruses and protect the yield of sugar beet.

HORIZONTAL WELL PERFORMANCE MODELLING USING PSEUDOWELL TECHNIQUE

The potential improvement of horizontal productivity has been recognized since mid 1950s, where horizontal well allows longer flow interval hence higher flow rate with lower pressure drawdown. Such remarkable productivity improvement has fascinated the great interest of petroleum industries around the world to fit the role of effective field development strategy. The objective is to reduce the overall cost of field development. In the case of offihore oil fields, the horizontal well drilling is desired to eliminate required number of vertical wells and utilizing of expensive sub-sea technology. The continuous development and application of horizontal well drilling technologies have been reported in many publications, Nowadays, the horizontal well drilling and completion with complex trajectory is possible. However, the costs required by horizontal well drilling and completion is still considerably more expensive than the vertical one. The future needs of horizontal well drilling tend to arise depending on the economical aspect by means the horizontal well productivity outweigh the incremental drilling and completion costs. An adequate method is required to estimate it's expected productivity to determine the economic feasibility. This paper proposes a horizontal well performance modeling by the concept of pseudowell technique.

The Catcher: Melbourne’s 1960s discotheques and law and order

By the middle of the 1960s, Australia’s ‘first wave’ of rock and roll had been superseded by a maturing set of music-media industries, although significant differences remained between Australian cities and states in relation to live music circuits (venue trading hours, types of venues and their uses). The Catcher, a Flinders Lane music venue that operated from 1966 to 1971 as part of a flourishing inner Melbourne scene of blues, rock and rhythm and blues, is examined as part of a discotheque boom that granted the city the status of Australia’s ‘pop capital’. In examining the circumstances of the unlicensed discotheque period that emerged from the mid 1960s, the Catcher’s relatively brief yet vivid tenure represented the expansion of Melbourne’s live music sector derived from a distinctive combination of regulatory, industry and media contexts. At the same time, examination of subsequent media and bureaucratic attention placed venues such as the Catcher within wider local concerns about youth, sexuality and ‘responsible’ nightlife. This article situates the Catcher within moral panic cycles of media/governmental attention and its consequences for local youth and popular music scenes.

Marine Environmental Change Induced by Anthropogenic Activities – From a Viewpoint of Aquatic Palynomorph Assemblages Preserved in Sediment Cores of Beppu Bay, West Japan

Stratigraphic cluster analysis using aquatic palynomorphs preserved in the core sediments revealed a rapid eutrophication due to anthropogenic activities from the mid 1960s in Beppu Bay, East Kyushu, Japan. These assemblages were divided into three major units: BP-I, BP-II and BP-III, and also only dinoflagellate cyst assemblages were divided into the following four units in Beppu Bay: BP-A, BP-B, BP-C, and BP-D. Unit boundaries based on aquatic palynomorphs and dinoflagellate cysts were different except in the upper part, BP-III and BP-D, both of which clearly indicated anthropogenic eutrophication in both sea water and bottom sediments. On the other hand, in dinoflagellate cyst assemblages, Unit BP-A was characterized by stable occurrence of Spiniferites bulloideus and Spiniferites hyperacanthus, Lingulodinium machaerophorum of Gonyaulacales, and reduction of heterotrophic Peridinioid Brigantedinium spp. In Unit BP-C there was a clear decrease of L. machaerophorum. Unit BP-B was characterized by decreases of S. bulloideus, S. hyperacanthus, and L. machaerophorum, and little increase of Spniferites bentori. Unit BP-C was characterized by an increase in S. bulloideus and heterotrophic Peridinioid Echinidinium spp. Unit BP-D was subdivided into Subunit BP-D1 where dinoflagellate cysts showed a marked increase in S. bulloideus accompanied by the appearance of L. machaerophorum and Tuberculodinium vancampoae, and Subunit PB-D2 where there was a decrease of total dinoflagellate cysts. From the dinoflagellate cyst assemblages, the marine environment of the period of BP-A Unit was suggested to be warm and stable. However, L. machaerophorum started to decrease in BP-B. The clear decrease of L. machaerophorum suggest that the marine environment became cooler than that of Unit BP-A. Significant increases of S. bulloideus, S. hypearcanthus, L. machaerophorum, T. vancampoae, Brigantedinium spp., and Polykrikos kofoidii were characteristic of Unit BP-D. The increase in total dinoflagellate cyst density and the increase of the ratio of heterotrophic dinoflagellate cysts in Subunit BP-D1 are manifestations of the Oslo fjord Signal and Heterotroph Signal, respectively. In addition, the decrease in microforaminiferal lining that continued from Unit BP-C to Unit BP-D might indicate deterioration of the bottom sediment environment.

Reception of Cultural Texts in the Progressive Rock Concept Albums

Relevance of research. The special place of progressive rock among other phenomena of popular music is not least due to its semantic richness, concentration of bold artistic ideas and originality of creative solutions, which immediately transferred this layer of pop culture into the category of “music for listening”. The main achievements of progressive rock belong to a relatively short period (late 1960s — mid 1970s). However, it had a significant impact on the further development of rock music and popular music in general. Many studio albums by progressive rock bands show signs of some kind of echo with a number of specific cultural texts, as well as with the systems of cultural codes.
 Main objective of the article is to describe the mechanisms of the work of the cultural memory in the processes of creating a new artistic integrity by demonstrating in the creative works of progressive rock groups the projections of cultural texts related to different traditions and layers of artistic heritage.
 The research methods. The article is dominated by the principles of the semiotic approach, which allows us to apply to the subject of research such concepts and categories as reception, cultural memory, cultural texts, interpretation, reflection, intertextuality.
 Results and conclusions. The artistic value and semantic richness of the creative heritage of progressive rock bands of the “classical” period was formed in the interaction of many components, which showed itself both in dynamics, at different stages of the formation and implementation of the idea, and in the final result: a combination of compositional and dramatic characteristics and means of musical expression. In the case of conceptual albums, the initial stages are of great importance, when the mechanisms of transferring the cultural memory are started in the process of creative search. In fact, it is this that becomes the main factor ensuring the emergence of a general principle, which should unite individual fragments into a single whole. Examples of the albums by “Genesis”, “Camel”, Rick Wakeman and others, allow us to determine the effect of the reception of cultural texts in different variations: from reinterpretation with a significant transformation of the source material to subtle displays of intertextuality (intermediality). The value of the finds localized in this layer of musical culture triggered further experiments in the field of popular music (such as Sting’s albums of the 2000s), which is a confirmation of the depth of the already implemented and the limitless potential of future dialogues of cultures.

Impacts of land-use change and urban development on carbon sequestration in tropical seagrass meadow sediments

Seagrass meadows store significant carbon stocks at a global scale, but land-use change and other anthropogenic activities can alter the natural process of organic carbon (Corg) accumulation. Here, we assessed the carbon accumulation history of two seagrass meadows in Zanzibar (Tanzania) that have experienced different degrees of disturbance. The meadow at Stone Town has been highly exposed to urban development during the 20th century, while the Mbweni meadow is located in an area with relatively low impacts but historical clearing of adjacent mangroves. The results showed that the two sites had similar sedimentary Corg accumulation rates (22–25 g m−2 yr−1) since the 1940s, while during the last two decades (∼1998 until 2018) they exhibited 24–30% higher accumulation of Corg, which was linked to shifts in Corg sources. The increase in the δ13C isotopic signature of sedimentary Corg (towards a higher seagrass contribution) at the Stone Town site since 1998 points to improved seagrass meadow conditions and Corg accumulation capacity of the meadow after the relocation of a major sewage outlet in the mid–1990s. In contrast, the decrease in the δ13C signatures of sedimentary Corg in the Mbweni meadow since the early 2010s was likely linked to increased Corg run-off of mangrove/terrestrial material following mangrove deforestation. This study exemplifies two different pathways by which land-based human activities can alter the carbon storage capacity of seagrass meadows (i.e. sewage waste management and mangrove deforestation) and showcases opportunities for management of vegetated coastal Corg sinks.

Complete mitochondrial genomes of June sucker and Utah sucker (Chasmistes liorus and Catostomus ardens)

The relationship between June sucker (Chasmistes liorus, Jordan, 1878) and Utah sucker (Catostomus ardens, Jordan & Gilbert, 1881) has been a matter of controversy since the mid 1900s. Chasmistes liorus is endemic to Utah Lake, UT and has a subterminal mouth adapted for pelagic feeding. Catostomus ardens is widely distributed throughout the Bonneville Basin and Upper Snake River Basin and has a ventral mouth adapted for benthic feeding. Chasmistes has been recognized as a separate ancient genus. Despite being morphologically distinct, no study has successfully identified residual genetic markers that separate these species. Of these studies, several have used a subset of mitochondrial genes, but no study has analyzed the complete mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) of these suckers (Pisces: Catostomidae). To further explore the genetic relationships between these species, we report the complete mitogenomes of Chasmistes liorus and Catostomus ardens. DNA was sequenced using an Illumina HiSeq 2500 system and mitogenomes were assembled and annotated using Geneious v. 2021.2 and MitoAnnotator, respectively. The mitogenomes of Chasmistes liorus and Catostomus ardens are both 16,623 bp and are ∼0.072% divergent. We examine the phylogenetic relationship between Chasmistes liorus and Catostomus ardens using 33 mitogenomes, representing 16 species, from Catostomidae. Our data suggest that Chasmistes liorus is sister to Catostomus ardens. Additional samples from multiple localities and/or cohorts of these species will allow us to better resolve the complicated phylogenetic relationships between these species.

Bus franchising in English and Scottish regions – Viable solution or unfeasible instrument?

Much research surrounds the move from publicly owned and operated bus markets to publicly controlled and privately operated markets, or in the case of Great Britain, a fully deregulated market. Little research however exists concerning the counter move and the issues that this may raise. Such a step would be consistent with Gwilliam's regulatory cycle, which suggests that a combination of self seeking behaviour of suppliers and unrealistic aspirations of politicians leads to instability in the regulatory arrangements for the provision of bus services. Consequently, the associated structural and institutional arrangements go through a cycle of private/public ownership and competitive/regulated markets.The paper discusses some of the practicalities at the regional level of introducing the measures provided by the Bus Services Act 2017 in England and the Transport Act 2019 in Scotland, both of which offer the option of a partial or full economic reregulation of bus services. Theories of radical policy change are examined and applied in the context of the issue through interviews with key informants in regional authorities in Scotland and England. The overriding conclusion from this analysis is that whilst deregulating the market does not actually break Gwilliam's regulatory cycle, it makes it very difficult to ‘re-connect’, and thus a further long term consequence of bus deregulation in Britain in the mid 1980s is that future policy options may have been severely restricted in the very long term.

An Unwavering Passion: Doran Ross's Scholarship on Asafo Flags

An Unwavering Passion: Doran Ross's Scholarship on Asafo Flags

Generalization of five q-series identities of Ramanujan and unexplored weighted partition identities

Ramanujan recorded five interesting q-series identities in a section that is not as systematically arranged as the other chapters of his second notebook. These five identities do not seem to have acquired enough attention. Recently, Dixit and the third author found a one-variable generalization of one of the aforementioned five identities. From their generalized identity, they were able to derive the last three of these q-series identities but did not establish the first two. In the present article, we derive a one-variable generalization of the main identity of Dixit and the third author from which we successfully deduce all the five q-series identities of Ramanujan. In addition to this, we also establish a few interesting weighted partition identities from our generalized identity. In the mid 1980s, Bressoud and Subbarao found an interesting identity connecting the generalized divisor function with a weighted partition function, which they proved by means of a purely combinatorial argument. Quite surprisingly, we found an analytic proof for a generalization of the identity of Bressoud and Subbarao, starting from the fourth identity of the aforementioned five q-series identities of Ramanujan.

The Carboniferous conodont Lochriea commutata (Branson and Mehl, 1941), the type species of Lochriea Scott, 1942: nomenclatural history, apparatus composition and effects on Lochriea species

AbstractLochriea commutata (Branson and Mehl, 1941), a senior subjective synonym of Lochriea montanaensis Scott, 1942, is the type species of Lochriea Scott, 1942, one of the first conodont genera named using bedding-plane assemblages. Lochriea commutata is both wide- and long-ranging, locally stratigraphically important, and a consistently recognized Carboniferous species, despite its taxonomic journey from Spathognathodus to Gnathodus to Paragnathodus to Lochriea.Lochriea commutata was, as Lochriea montanaensis, initially reported to contain 22+ elements, the apparatus composition of the genus being subsequently amended to 17+ elements based on Lochriea wellsi Melton and Scott, 1973, which is an untenable hypothesis because the latter was a conodontophage. Restudy of original and new bedding-plane assemblages in the mid 1970s established that the first assemblages studied were fecal, the initial reconstruction incorporated elements of two individuals, and Lochriea commutata possessed a feeding apparatus of 2P1, 2P2, 2M, 2S1, 2S2, 2S3, 2S4, and 1S0 elements. A Lochriea sp. bedding-plane assemblage was subsequently found to have the same element composition, and restudy of type material, available bedding-plane assemblages, and new fused clusters confirms that Lochriea commutata had a 15-element ozarkodinid apparatus.While species are still assigned to Lochriea using carminiscaphate P1 elements almost exclusively, those assignments must be considered tentative until their apparatuses are determined to be similar to that of L. commutata, and until characteristics of elements other than the P1 element, particularly the makellate M element and the bipennate S3/4 element, are also taken into account.Lochriea bigsnowyensis Scott, 1942 is reassigned to Cavusgnathus Harris and Hollingsworth, 1933.

Trends in Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) testing and prostate cancer incidence and mortality in Australia: A critical analysis

BackgroundPopulation trends in PSA testing and prostate cancer incidence do not perfectly correspond. We aimed to better understand relationships between trends in PSA testing, prostate cancer incidence and mortality in Australia and factors that influence them. MethodsWe calculated and described standardised time trends in PSA tests, prostate biopsies, treatment of benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH) and prostate cancer incidence and mortality in Australia in men aged 45–74, 75–84, and 85 + years. ResultsPSA testing increased from its introduction in 1989 to a peak in 2008 before declining in men aged 45–84 years. Prostate biopsies and cancer incidence fell from 1995 to 2000 in parallel with decrease in trans-urethral resections of the prostate (TURP) and, latterly, changes in pharmaceutical management of BPH. After 2000, changes in biopsies and incidence paralleled changes in PSA screening in men 45–84 years, while in men ≥85 years biopsy rates stabilised, and incidence fell. Prostate cancer mortality in men aged 45–74 years remained low throughout. Mortality in men 75–84 years gradually increased until mid 1990s, then gradually decreased. Mortality in men ≥ 85 years increased until mid 1990s, then stabilised. ConclusionAge specific prostate cancer incidence largely mirrors PSA testing rates. Most deviation from this pattern may be explained by less use of TURP in management of BPH and consequent less incidental cancer detection in TURP tissue specimens. Mortality from prostate cancer initially rose and then fell below what it was when PSA testing began. Its initial rise and fall may be explained by a possible initial tendency to over-attribute deaths of uncertain cause in older men with a diagnosis of prostate cancer to prostate cancer. Decreases in mortality rates were many fold smaller than the increases in incidence, suggesting substantial overdiagnosis of prostate cancer after introduction of PSA testing.

William Turner: the sources of the rainbow theme in the art of Konstantin Somov

The article examines the influence of William Turner's landscapes with a rainbow on the landscapes of Konstantin Somov also depicting a rainbow of the late 1890s - mid 1920s. It is revealed that direct impressions from his paintings received in London played a large role in his passion for Turner's art. Thanks to them, Somov was carried away by the task of conveying a rainbow in a landscape as an atmospheric phenomenon. Essays on art history, i.e. written sources, are also found - the works of John Ruskin and Richard Muter prepared his interest in this master back in St Petersburg.

On the question of L.A. Tikhomirov's views on the state through the prism of participation in populist political organizations (1870s - mid 1880s)

On the question of L.A. Tikhomirov's views on the state through the prism of participation in populist political organizations (1870s - mid 1880s)

Listy akademika Aleksandra Nikołajewicza Samojłowicza do profesora Tadeusza Kowalskiego

Professor Tadeusz Kowalski (1889–1948) corresponded with scholars from practically all over the world. He was interested in the developments of Oriental studies in the Soviet Union. He valued the publications he received from the USSR, as well as all contacts he had with Russian researchers. He sought to cooperate with Alexander Samoylovich (1880–1938) – one of the most eminent Turkologists in the Soviet Union. This goal had been partially achieved. The archives of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences in Kraków now hold, catalogued under ref. No. KII-4, j. 174, just three letters from the Russian Turkologist. Despite their small number, these materials are an engrossing source of knowledge on the state of Soviet Turkish studies in the mid 1920s and the Soviet Oriental studies community. These letters are all the more precious – as the author managed to determine – as the branch of the archives at the Russian Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg, where the legacy of professor Samoylovich is kept, has no copies. It is interesting that there are no surviving copies of the letters from professor Kowalski to the Russian Turkologist. The article’s purpose is the edition of the letters of Alexander Nikolaevich Samojłowicz – a Soviet turkologist – to Professor Tadeusz Kowalski, including their translation into Polish. These documents constitute a certificate of international academic relations development between scientists from Poland and the Soviet Union in the interwar period.

Genomic selection in beef cattle creates additional opportunities for embryo technologies to meet industry needs.

The use of genotype information to improve the predictability of Expected Progeny Difference was first implemented in American Angus cattle in 2009 and has now grown to where over 50% of all registered calves are genotyped. Animals with only a genotype now have genetic prediction accuracy equivalent to eight or more progeny records across all traits. Reproductive technologies have also been widely adopted with approximately 50% of all calves born being the result of artificial insemination. Non-surgical embryo transfer started increasing in the mid 1990s with just over 10% of calves born being the result of embryo transfer since 2005. The number of embryos created with in vitro technologies has risen sharply since 2015 and now accounts for close to 30% of all ET calves. Genomics has enabled embryo technologies to be more impactful, as females can be selected with greater accuracy and sires can be used at earlier ages with moderate accuracy. Large numbers of females genotyped each year also increases the number of selection candidates, increasing the selection intensity. Genomics, combined with increased recording, also provides more information on females. This increases the spread in the estimated index values of current dams, identifying more elite dams for selection as embryo donors. The greater scope of female selection also contributes to better inbreeding management. Commercial animals genotyped could be targeted for oocyte harvesting at slaughter, creating opportunities for low cost high value beef embryos to be used in the beef on dairy segment of the industry.

ТРАНСГРАНИЧНЫЕ ПЕРЕХОДЫ КАК ФАКТОР ПРЕОДОЛЕНИЯ САНКЦИОННОГО ДАВЛЕНИЯ

In the paper, the author considers the missed opportunities for opening cross-border crossings between the regions of Primorye and the Amur region with the northeast of China to overcome financial, economic and sanctions crises. Since the mid 90s in the 20th century, negotiations were underway to build a cross-border infrastructure to expand trade between the two countries, but not a single project was implemented.

NEW CMOS PHOTOMETRY AND ARCHIVAL PHOTOGRAPHIC OBSERVATIONS OF THE W UMA STAR V752 CEN: EXTENDING THE O-C RECORD OF PERIOD CHANGES

We present new CMOS Bayer g-band photometry of the southern W UMa star V752 Cen, presenting two new times of primary minimum, and use archival photographic photometry from the Bamberg Sky Survey (mid 1960s) and the Harvard plate collection (∼1890 to 1990) to extend the O-C diagram back in time to ∼1900. Earlier authors have reported a constant period from the earliest published photometry in 1970 to about the year 2000, when a sudden change occurred to an increasing period. The archival photographic record presented here indicates the period was effectively constant back to 1900. Our 2020 data are also consistent with reported period increase. The V752 Cen system is known from earlier work to be a W UMa binary orbiting a lower mass spectroscopic binary. Our preliminary calculations, based on the reported centre-of-mass velocity change of the W UMa binary, suggest the wide orbit may have a period near 245 d, and could give rise to a light-travel time-effect of order 0.02 d. This does not however appear to be consistent with the SuperWASP photometric O-C results. Hence we suggest that considerable uncertainty exists concerning the properties of the wide orbit.