Exploring with Grammar in the Primary Years: Learning about Language in the Australian Curriculum: English

This new volume, Exploring with Grammar in the Primary Years (Exley, Kevin & Mantei, 2014), follows on from Playing with Grammar in the Early Years (Exley & Kervin, 2013). We extend our thanks to the ALEA membership for their take up of the first volume and the vibrant conversations around our first attempt at developing a pedagogy for the teaching of grammar in the early years. Your engagement at locally held ALEA events has motivated us to complete this second volume and reassert our interest in the pursuit of socially-just outcomes in the primary years. As noted in Exley and Kervin (2013), we believe that mastering a range of literacy competences includes not only the technical skills for learning, but also the resources for viewing and constructing the world (Freire and Macdeo, 1987). Rather than seeing knowledge about language as the accumulation of technical skills alone, the viewpoint to which we subscribe treats knowledge about language as a dialectic that evolves from, is situated in, and contributes to active participation within a social arena (Halliday, 1978). We acknowledge that to explore is to engage in processes of discovery as we look closely and examine the opportunities before us. As such, we draw on Janks’ (2000; 2014) critical literacy theory to underpin many of the learning experiences in this text. Janks (2000) argues that effective participation in society requires knowledge about how the power of language promotes views, beliefs and values of certain groups to the exclusion of others. Powerful language users can identify not only how readers are positioned by these views, but also the ways these views are conveyed through the design of the text, that is, the combination of vocabulary, syntax, image, movement and sound. Similarly, powerful designers of texts can make careful modal choices in written and visual design to promote certain perspectives that position readers and viewers in new ways to consider more diverse points of view. As the title of our text suggests, our activities are designed to support learners in exploring the design of texts to achieve certain purposes and to consider the potential for the sharing of their own views through text production. In Exploring with Grammar in the Primary Years, we focus on the Year 3 to Year 6 grouping in line with the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority’s (hereafter ACARA) advice on the ‘nature of learners’ (ACARA, 2014). Our goal in this publication is to provide a range of highly practical strategies for scaffolding students’ learning through some of the Content Descriptions from the Australian Curriculum: English Version 7.2, hereafter AC:E (ACARA, 2014). We continue to express our belief in the power of using whole texts from a range of authentic sources including high quality children’s literature, the internet, and examples of community-based texts to expose students to the richness of language. Taking time to look at language patterns within actual texts is a pathway to ‘…capture interest, stir the imagination and absorb the [child]’ into the world of language and literacy (Saxby, 1993, p. 55). It is our intention to be more overt this time and send a stronger message that our learning experiences are simply ‘sample’ activities rather than a teachers’ workbook or a program of study to be followed. We’re hoping that teachers and students will continue to explore their bookshelves, the internet and their community for texts that provide powerful opportunities to engage with language-based learning experiences. In the following three sections, we have tried to remain faithful to our interpretation of the AC:E Content Descriptions without giving an exhaustive explanation of the grammatical terms. This recently released curriculum offers a new theoretical approach to building students’ knowledge about language. The AC:E uses selected traditional terms through an approach developed in systemic functional linguistics (see Halliday and Matthiessen, 2004) to highlight the dynamic forms and functions of multimodal language in texts. For example, the following statement, taken from the ‘Language: Knowing about the English language’ strand states: English uses standard grammatical terminology within a contextual framework, in which language choices are seen to vary according to the topics at hand, the nature and proximity of the relationships between the language users, and the modalities or channels of communication available (ACARA, 2014). Put simply, traditional grammar terms are used within a functional framework made up of field, tenor, and mode. An understanding of genre is noted with the reference to a ‘contextual framework’. The ‘topics at hand’ concern the field or subject matter of the text. The ‘relationships between the language users’ is a description of tenor. There is reference to ‘modalities’, such as spoken, written or visual text. We posit that this innovative approach is necessary for working with contemporary multimodal and cross-cultural texts (see Exley & Mills, 2012). Other excellent tomes, such as Derewianka (2011), Humphrey, Droga and Feez (2012), and Rossbridge and Rushton (2011) provide more comprehensive explanations of this unique metalanguage, as does the AC:E Glossary. We’ve reproduced some of the AC:E Glossary at the end of this publication. We’ve also kept the same layout for our learning experiences, ensuring that our teacher notes are not only succinct but also prudent in their placement. Each learning experience is connected to a Content Description from the AC:E and contains an experience with an identified purpose, suggested resource text and a possible sequence for the experience that always commences with an orientation to text followed by an examination of a particular grammatical resource. Our plans allow for focused discussion, shared exploration and opportunities to revisit the same text for the purpose of enhancing meaning making. Some learning experiences finish with deconstruction of a stimulus text while others invite students to engage in the design of new texts. We encourage you to look for opportunities in your own classrooms to move from text deconstruction to text design. In this way, students can express not only their emerging grammatical understandings, but also the ways they might position readers or viewers through the creation of their own texts. We expect that each of these learning experiences will vary in the time taken. Some may indeed take a couple if not a few teaching episodes to work through, especially if students are meeting a concept or a pedagogical strategy for the first time. We hope you use as much, or as little, of each experience as is needed for your students. We do not want the teaching of grammar to slip into a crisis of irrelevance or to be seen as a series of worksheet drills with finite answers. We firmly believe that strategies for effective deconstruction and design practice, however, have much portability. We three are very keen to hear from teachers who are adopting and adapting these learning experiences in their classrooms. Please email us on b.exley@qut.edu.au, lkervin@uow.edu.au or jessicam@ouw.edu.au. We’d love to continue the conversation with you over time. Beryl Exley, Lisa Kervin & Jessica Mantei

Investigation of drive-train dynamics of mechanical transmissions incorporating cycloidal drives

Cycloidal drives are compact, high-ratio gear transmission systems used in a wide range of mechanical applications from conveyor drives to articulated robots. This research hypothesises that these drives can be successfully applied in dynamic loading situations and thereby focuses on the understanding of differences between static and dynamic loading conditions where load varies with time. New methods of studying the behaviour of these drives under static and dynamic loading circumstances were developed, leading to novel understanding and knowledge. A new model was developed to facilitate research and development on Cycloidal drives with potential benefits for manufacturing, robotics and mechanical-process-industries worldwide.

Climate-ready crops: Intellectual property, agriculture, and climate change

In The Climate Change Review, Ross Garnaut emphasised that ‘Climate change and climate change mitigation will bring about major structural change in the agriculture, forestry and other land use sectors’. He provides this overview of the effects of climate change on food demand and supply: ‘Domestic food production in many developing countries will be at immediate risk of reductions in agricultural productivity due to crop failure, livestock loss, severe weather events and new patterns of pests and diseases.’ He observes that ‘Changes to local climate and water availability will be key determinants of where agricultural production occurs and what is produced.’ Gert Würtenberger has commented that modern plant breeding is particularly concerned with addressing larger issues about nutrition, food security and climate change: ‘Modern plant breeding has an increasing importance with regard to the continuously growing demand for plants for nutritional and feeding purposes as well as with regard to renewal energy sources and the challenges caused by climate changes.’ Moreover, he notes that there is a wide array of scientific and technological means of breeding new plant varieties: ‘Apart from classical breeding, technologies have an important role in the development of plants that satisfy the various requirements that industrial and agricultural challenges expect to be fulfilled.’ He comments: ‘Plant variety rights, as well as patents which protect such results, are of increasingly high importance to the breeders and enterprises involved in plant development programmes.’ There has been larger interest in the intersections between sustainable agriculture, environmental protection and food security. The debate over agricultural intellectual property is a polarised one, particularly between plant breeders, agricultural biotechnology companies and a range of environmentalist groups. Susan Sell comments that there are complex intellectual property battles surrounding agriculture: 'Seeds are at the centre of a complex political dynamic between stakeholders. Access to seeds concerns the balance between private rights and public obligations, private ownership and the public domain, and commercial versus humanitarian objectives.' Part I of this chapter considers debates in respect of plant breeders’ rights, food security and climate change in relation to the UPOV Convention 1991. Part II explores efforts by agricultural biotechnology companies to patent climate-ready crops. Part III considers the report of the Special Rapporteur for Food, Olivier De Schutter. It looks at a variety of options to encourage access to plant varieties with climate adaptive or mitigating properties.

Treatment of proximal interphalangeal joint flexion contracture: Combined static and dynamic orthotic intervention compared with other therapy intervention: randomized controlled trial

Purpose To test the effectiveness of static and dynamic orthoses using them as an exclusive treatment for proximal interphalangeal (PIP) joint flexion contracture compared with other hand therapy conservative treatments described in the literature. Methods 60 patients who used orthoses were compared with a control group that received other hand therapy treatments. Clinical assessments were measured before the experiment and 3 months after and included active PIP joint extension and function. Results A significant improvement in the extension active range of motion at the PIP joint in the second measurement was found in both groups, but it was significantly greater in the experimental group. Improvement in function (Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand score) between the first and second assessment was similar in the control and experimental groups. Conclusions Using night progressive static and daily dynamic orthoses as an exclusive treatment during the proliferative phase led to significant improvements in the PIP joint active extension, but the improvement did not correlate with increased function as perceived by the patient.

The Cougar Point tuff: Implications for thermochemical zonation and longevity of high-temperature, large-volume silicic magmas of the Miocene Yellowstone hotspot

The 12.7-10.5 Ma Cougar Point Tuff in southern Idaho, USA, consists of 10 large-volume (>10²-10³ km³ each), high-temperature (800-1000 °C), rhyolitic ash-flow tuffs erupted from the Bruneau-Jarbidge volcanic center of the Yellowstone hotspot. These tuffs provide evidence for compositional and thermal zonation in pre-eruptive rhyolite magma, and suggest the presence of a long-lived reservoir that was tapped by numerous large explosive eruptions. Pyroxene compositions exhibit discrete compositional modes with respect to Fe and Mg that define a linear spectrum punctuated by conspicuous gaps. Airfall glass compositions also cluster into modes, and the presence of multiple modes indicates tapping of different magma volumes during early phases of eruption. Equilibrium assemblages of pigeonite and augite are used to reconstruct compositional and thermal gradients in the pre-eruptive reservoir. The recurrence of identical compositional modes and of mineral pairs equilibrated at high temperatures in successive eruptive units is consistent with the persistence of their respective liquids in the magma reservoir. Recurrence intervals of identical modes range from 0.3 to 0.9 Myr and suggest possible magma residence times of similar duration. Eruption ages, magma temperatures, Nd isotopes, and pyroxene and glass compositions are consistent with a long-lived, dynamically evolving magma reservoir that was chemically and thermally zoned and composed of multiple discrete magma volumes.

High-temperature, low-H₂O silicic magmas of the Yellowstone Hotspot: an experimental study of Rhyolite from the Bruneau-Jarbidge eruptive center, Central Snake River Plain, USA

The phase relations have been investigated experimentally at 200 and 500 MPa as a function of water activity for one of the least evolved (Indian Batt Rhyolite) and of a more evolved rhyolite composition (Cougar Point Tuff XV) from the 12·8-8·1 Ma Bruneau-Jarbidge eruptive center of the Yellowstone hotspot. Particular priority was given to accurate determination of the water content of the quenched glasses using infrared spectroscopic techniques. Comparison of the composition of natural and experimentally synthesized phases confirms that high temperatures (>900°C) and extremely low melt water contents (<1·5 wt % H₂O) are required to reproduce the natural mineral assemblages. In melts containing 0·5-1·5 wt % H₂O, the liquidus phase is clinopyroxene (excluding Fe-Ti oxides, which are strongly dependent on fO₂), and the liquidus temperature of the more evolved Cougar Point Tuff sample (BJR; 940-1000°C) is at least 30°C lower than that of the Indian Batt Rhyolite lava sample (IBR2; 970-1030°C). For the composition BJR, the comparison of the compositions of the natural and experimental glasses indicates a pre-eruptive temperature of at least 900°C. The composition of clinopyroxene and pigeonite pairs can be reproduced only for water contents below 1·5 wt % H₂O at 900°C, or lower water contents if the temperature is higher. For the composition IBR2, a minimum temperature of 920°C is necessary to reproduce the main phases at 200 and 500 MPa. At 200 MPa, the pre-eruptive water content of the melt is constrained in the range 0·7-1·3 wt % at 950°C and 0·3-1·0 wt % at 1000°C. At 500 MPa, the pre-eruptive temperatures are slightly higher (by 30-50°C) for the same ranges of water concentration. The experimental results are used to explore possible proxies to constrain the depth of magma storage. The crystallization sequence of tectosilicates is strongly dependent on pressure between 200 and 500 MPa. In addition, the normative Qtz-Ab-Or contents of glasses quenched from melts coexisting with quartz, sanidine and plagioclase depend on pressure and melt water content, assuming that the normative Qtz and Ab/Or content of such melts is mainly dependent on pressure and water activity, respectively. The combination of results from the phase equilibria and from the composition of glasses indicates that the depth of magma storage for the IBR2 and BJR compositions may be in the range 300-400 MPa (13 km) and 200-300 MPa (10 km), respectively.

One-step synthesis of high quality kesterite Cu2ZnSnS4nanocrystals: A hydrothermal approach

The present work demonstrates a systematic approach for the synthesis of pure kesterite-phase Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) nanocrystals with a uniform size distribution by a one-step, thioglycolic acid (TGA)-assisted hydrothermal route. The formation mechanism and the role of TGA in the formation of CZTS compound were thoroughly studied. It has been found that TGA interacted with Cu2+ to form Cu+ at the initial reaction stage and controlled the crystal-growth of CZTS nanocrystals during the hydrothermal reaction. The consequence of the reduction of Cu2+ to Cu+ led to the formation Cu2−xS nuclei, which acted as the crystal framework for the formation of CZTS compound. CZTS was formed by the diffusion of Zn2+ and Sn4+ cations to the lattice of Cu2−xS during the hydrothermal reaction. The as-synthesized CZTS nanocrystals exhibited strong light absorption over the range of wavelength beyond 1000 nm. The band gap of the material was determined to be 1.51 eV, which is optimal for application in photoelectric energy conversion device.

Optimum position of steel outrigger system for high rise composite buildings subjected to wind loads

The responses of composite buildings under wind loads clearly become more critical as the building becomes taller, less stiff and more lightweight. When the composite building increases in height, the stiffness of the structure becomes more important factor and introduction to belt truss and outrigger system is often used to provide sufficient lateral stiffness to the structure. Most of the research works to date is limited to reinforced concrete building with outrigger system of concrete structure, simple building plan layout, single height of a building, one direction wind and single level of outrigger arrangement. There is a scarcity in research works about the effective position of outrigger level on composite buildings under lateral wind loadings when the building plan layout, height and outrigger arrangement are varied. The aim of this paper is to determine the optimum location of steel belt and outrigger systems by using different arrangement of single and double level outrigger for different size, shape and height of composite building. In this study a comprehensive finite element modelling of composite building prototypes is carried out, with three different layouts (Rectangular, Octagonal and L shaped) and for three different storey (28, 42 and 57-storey). Models are analysed for dynamic cyclonic wind loads with various combination of steel belt and outrigger bracings. It is concluded that the effectiveness of the single and double level steel belt and outrigger bracing are varied based on their positions for different size, shape and height of composite building.

Who is the good high school student?

Schooling is one of the core experiences of most young people in the Western world. This study examines the ways that students inhabit subjectivities defined in their relationship to some normalised good student. The idea that schools exist to produce students who become good citizens is one of the basic tenets of modernist educational philosophies that dominate the contemporary education world. The school has become a political site where policy, curriculum orientations, expectations and philosophies of education contest for the ‘right’ way to school and be schooled. For many people, schools and schooling only make sense if they resonate with past experiences. The good student is framed within these aspects of cultural understanding. However, this commonsense attitude is based on a hegemonic understanding of the good, rather than the good student as a contingent multiplicity that is produced by an infinite set of discourses and experiences. In this book, author Greg Thompson argues that this understanding of subjectivities and power is crucial if schools are to meet the needs of a rapidly changing and challenging world. As a high school teacher for many years, Thompson often wondered how students responded to complex articulations on how to be a good student. How a student can be considered good is itself an articulation of powerful discourses that compete within the school. Rather than assuming a moral or ethical citizen, this study turns that logic on it on its head to ask students in what ways they can be good within the school. Visions of the good student deployed in various ways in schools act to produce various ways of knowing the self as certain types of subjects. Developing the postmodern theories of Foucault and Deleuze, this study argues that schools act to teach students to know themselves in certain idealised ways through which they are located, and locate themselves, in hierarchical rationales of the good student. Problematising the good student in high schools engages those institutional discourses with the philosophy, history and sociology of education. Asking students how they negotiate or perform their selves within schools challenges the narrow and limiting ways that the good is often understood. By pushing the ontological understandings of the self beyond the modernist philosophies that currently dominate schools and schooling, this study problematises the tendency to see students as fixed, measurable identities (beings) rather than dynamic, evolving performances (becomings). Who is the Good High School Student? is an important book for scholars conducting research on high school education, as well as student-teachers, teacher educators and practicing teachers alike.

A dynamic real time scheduling methodology for the emergency department

This project constructs a scheduling solution for the Emergency Department. The schedules are generated in real-time to adapt to new patient arrivals and changing conditions. An integrated scheduling formulation assigns patients to beds and treatment tasks to resources. The schedule efficiency is assessed using waiting time and total care time experienced by patients. The solution algorithm incorporates dispatch rules, meta-heuristics and a new extended disjunctive graph formulation which provide high quality solutions in a fast time-frame for real time decision support. This algorithm can be implemented in an electronic patient management system to improve patient flow in the Emergency Department.

MnOx/carbon nanotube/reduced graphene oxide nanohybrids as high-performance supercapacitor electrodes

Nanohybrids consisting of both carbon and pseudocapacitive metal oxides are promising as high-performance electrodes to meet the key energy and power requirements of supercapacitors. However, the development of high-performance nanohybrids with controllable size, density, composition and morphology remains a formidable challenge. Here, we present a simple and robust approach to integrating manganese oxide (MnOx) nanoparticles onto flexible graphite paper using an ultrathin carbon nanotube/reduced graphene oxide (CNT/RGO) supporting layer. Supercapacitor electrodes employing the MnOx/CNT/RGO nanohybrids without any conductive additives or binders yield a specific capacitance of 1070 F g−1 at 10 mV s−1, which is among the highest values reported for a range of hybrid structures and is close to the theoretical capacity of MnOx. Moreover, atmospheric-pressure plasmas are used to functionalize the CNT/RGO supporting layer to improve the adhesion of MnOx nanoparticles, which results in theimproved cycling stability of the nanohybrid electrodes. These results provide information for the utilization of nanohybrids and plasma-related effects to synergistically enhance the performance of supercapacitors and may create new opportunities in areas such as catalysts, photosynthesis and electrochemical sensors

Dynamic, invivo, real-time detection of retinal oxidative status in a model of elevated intraocular pressure using a novel, reversibly responsive, profluorescent nitroxide probe

Changes to the redox status of biological systems have been implicated in the pathogenesis of a wide variety of disorders including cancer, Ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury and neurodegeneration. In times of metabolic stress e.g. ischaemia/reperfusion, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production overwhelms the intrinsic antioxidant capacity of the cell, damaging vital cellular components. The ability to quantify ROS changes in vivo, is therefore essential to understanding their biological role. Here we evaluate the suitability of a novel reversible profluorescent probe containing a redox-sensitive nitroxide moiety (methyl ester tetraethylrhodamine nitroxide, ME-TRN), as an in vivo, real-time reporter of retinal oxidative status. The reversible nature of the probe's response offers the unique advantage of being able to monitor redox changes in both oxidizing and reducing directions in real time. After intravitreal administration of the ME-TRN probe, we induced ROS production in rat retina using an established model of complete, acute retinal ischaemia followed by reperfusion. After restoration of blood flow, retinas were imaged using a Micron III rodent fundus fluorescence imaging system, to quantify the redox-response of the probe. Fluorescent intensity declined during the first 60 min of reperfusion. The ROS-induced change in probe fluorescence was ameliorated with the retinal antioxidant, lutein. Fluorescence intensity in non-Ischemia eyes did not change significantly. This new probe and imaging technology provide a reversible and real-time response to oxidative changes and may allow the in vivo testing of antioxidant therapies of potential benefit to a range of diseases linked to oxidative stress

Plasmon nanofocusing with negative refraction in a high-index dielectric wedge

Here, we describe a metal-insulator-insulator nanofocusing structure formed by a high-permittivity dielectric wedge on a metal substrate. The structure is shown to produce nanofocusing of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) in the direction opposite to the taper of the wedge, including a range of nanoplasmonic effects such as nanofocusing of SPPs with negative refraction, formation of plasmonic caustics within a nanoscale distance from the wedge tip, mutual transformation of SPP modes, and significant local field enhancements in the adiabatic and strongly nonadiabatic regimes. A combination of approximate analytical and rigorous numerical approaches is used to analyze the strength and position of caustics in the structure. In particular, it is demonstrated that strong SPP localization within spatial regions as small as a few tens of nanometers near the caustic is achievable in the considered structures. Contrary to other nanofocusing configurations, efficient nanofocusing is shown to occur in the strongly nonadiabatic regime with taper angles of the dielectric wedge as large as ∼40° and within uniquely short distances (as small as a few dozens of nanometers) from the tip of the wedge. Physical interpretations of the obtained results are also presented and discussed.

Dynamic pattern of suicide in Australia, 1986-2005: A descriptive-analytic study

Objective This study explores the spatiotemporal variations of suicide across Australia from 1986 to 2005, discusses the reasons for dynamic changes, and considers future suicide research and prevention strategies. Design Suicide (1986–2005) and population data were obtained from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. A series of analyses were conducted to examine the suicide pattern by sex, method and age group over time and geography. Results Differences in suicide rates across sex, age groups and suicide methods were found across geographical areas. Male suicides were mainly completed by hanging, firearms, gases and self-poisoning. Female suicides were primarily completed by hanging and self-poisoning. Suicide rates were higher in rural areas than in urban areas (capital cities and regional centres). Suicide rates by firearms were higher in rural areas than in urban areas, while the pattern for self-poisoning showed the reverse trend. Suicide rates had relatively stable trend for the total population and those aged between 15 and 54, while suicide decreased among 55 years and over during the study period. There was a decrease in suicides by firearms during the study period especially after 1996 when a new firearm control law was implemented, while suicide by hanging continued to increase. Areas with a high proportion of indigenous population (eg, northwest of Queensland and top north of the Northern Territory) had shown a substantial increase in suicide incidence after 1995. Conclusions Suicide rates varied over time and space and across sexes, age groups and suicide methods. This study provides detailed patterns of suicide to inform suicide control and prevention strategies for specific subgroups and areas of high and increased risk.

Effects of Tamoxifen and oestrogen on histology and radiographic density in high and low mammographic density human breast tissues maintained in murine tissue engineering chambers

Mammographic density (MD) is a strong risk factor for breast cancer. It is altered by exogenous endocrine treatments, including hormone replacement therapy and Tamoxifen. Such agents also modify breast cancer (BC) risk. However, the biomolecular basis of how systemic endocrine therapy modifies MD and MD-associated BC risk is poorly understood. This study aims to determine whether our xenograft biochamber model can be used to study the effectiveness of therapies aimed at modulating MD, by examine the effects of Tamoxifen and oestrogen on histologic and radiographic changes in high and low MD tissues maintained within the biochamber model. High and low MD human tissues were precisely sampled under radiographic guidance from prophylactic mastectomy fresh specimens of high-risk women, then inserted into separate vascularized murine biochambers. The murine hosts were concurrently implanted with Tamoxifen, oestrogen or placebo pellets, and the high and low MD biochamber tissues maintained in the murine host environment for 3 months, before the high and low MD biochamber tissues were harvested for histologic and radiographic analyses. The radiographic density of high MD tissue maintained in murine biochambers was decreased in Tamoxifen-treated mice compared to oestrogen-treated mice (p = 0.02). Tamoxifen treatment of high MD tissue in SCID mice led to a decrease in stromal (p = 0.009), and an increase in adipose (p = 0.023) percent areas, compared to placebo-treated mice. No histologic or radiographic differences were observed in low MD biochamber tissue with any treatment. High MD biochamber tissues maintained in mice implanted with Tamoxifen, oestrogen or placebo pellets had dynamic and measurable histologic compositional and radiographic changes. This further validates the dynamic nature of the MD xenograft model, and suggests the biochamber model may be useful for assessing the underlying molecular pathways of Tamoxifen-reduced MD, and in testing of other pharmacologic interventions in a preclinical model of high MD.