Troubled Times in Australian Teacher Education : 2012-2013

The 2012 OLT National Teaching Fellowship described in this report has mapped and analysed the complex and competing internal and external agencies impacting on the whole-of-curriculum design in contemporary higher education in Australia, particularly on degrees in Education with an emphasis on initial teacher education. The Fellowship was conducted at a time of both heightened public and political scrutiny of teacher education and the imposition of new nationally-consistent accreditation processes. This scrutiny culminated in a call by the previous Federal Government for TEQSA (Tertiary Education Quality Standards Agency) to conduct a comprehensive review of teacher education beginning in 2014 and the incoming Government announcing it will establish a short term ministerial advisory group to report on the “priority issue of improving teacher quality” (Pyne, 2013).

Dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging as a biomarker for the pharmacological response of PTK787/ZK 222584, an inhibitor of the vascular endothelial growth factor receptor tyrosine kinases, in patients with advanced colorectal cancer and liver metastases: Results from two phase I studies

Purpose: PTK787/ZK 222584 (PTK/ZK), an orally active inhibitor of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor tyrosine kinases, inhibits VEGF-mediated angiogenesis. The pharmacodynamic effects of PTK/ZK were evaluated by assessing changes in contrast-enhancement parameters of metastatic liver lesions using dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) in patients with advanced colorectal cancer treated in two ongoing, dose-escalating phase I studies. Patients and Methods: Twenty-six patients had DCE-MRI performed at baseline, day 2, and at the end of each 28-day cycle. Doses of oral PTK/ZK ranged from 50 to 2000 mg once daily. Tumor permeability and vascularity were assessed by calculating the bidirectional transfer constant (Ki). The percentage of baseline Ki (% of baseline Ki) at each time point was compared with pharmacokinetic and clinical end points. Results: A significant negative correlation exists between the % of baseline Ki and increase in PTK/ZK oral dose and plasma levels (P = .01 for oral dose; P = .0001 for area under the plasma concentration curve at day 2). Patients with a best response of stable disease had a significantly greater reduction in Ki at both day 2 and at the end of cycle 1 compared with progressors (mean difference in % of baseline Ki, 47%, P = .004%; and 51%, P = .006; respectively). The difference in % of baseline Ki remained statistically significant after adjusting for baseline WHO performance status. Conclusion: These findings should help to define a biologically active dose of PTK/ZK. These results suggest that DCE-MRI may be a useful biomarker for defining the pharmacological response and dose of angiogenesis inhibitiors, such as PTK/ZK, for further clinical development. © 2003 by American Society of Clinical Oncology.

Prisoners, rights and citizenship

The denial of civil rights to convicts has a long history. Its origins lie in the idea of ‘civil death’. Convicts who were not punished by execution would instead suffer civil death which stripped them of inheritance, family and political rights (Davidson, 2004). In Australia and internationally the removal of prisoners’ voting rights has been a controversial topic which has been a subject of much debate and a number of legislation changes (Davidson, 2004). This article argues that even though the latest amendment to the Australian Electoral legislation is, on the face of it, democratic and inclusive, it is in fact a denial of prisoners’ civil rights, which has its roots in the concept of civil death. My argument is in keeping with the themes of the Crime and Governance thematic group and focuses on my research interests in sociology of deviance, social reactions to crime, and socio-legal topics.

Livable Housing Design : Who will take responsibility?

Current housing design and construction practices do not meet the needs of many people with disability and older people, and limits their inclusion and participation in community and family life. In spite of a decade of advocacy for regulation of access within residential environments, the Australian government has opted for a voluntary approach where the housing industry takes responsibility. Housing industry leaders have indicated that they are willing to transform their established practice, if it makes good business to do so, and if there is a demand from home buyers. To date, there has been minimal demand. In 2010, housing industry and community leaders formalised this commitment in an agreement, called Livable Housing Design, to transform housing design and construction practices, with a target of all new housing providing minimal access by 2020. This paper reports on a study which examined the assumption behind Livable Housing Design agreement; that is, individuals in the housing industry will respond voluntarily and take responsibility for the provision of inclusive housing. From interviews with developers, designers and builders in Brisbane, Queensland, the study found a complex picture of competing demands and responsibilities. Instead of changing their design and construction practices voluntarily to meet the future needs of users over the life of housing, they are more likely to focus on their immediate contractual obligations and to maintain the status quo. Contrary to the view of the government and industry leaders, participants identified that an external regulatory framework would be required if Livable Housing Design’s 2020 goal was to be met.

Intensive versus conventional glycaemic control for treating diabetic foot ulcers (Protocol)

This is the protocol for a review and there is no abstract. The objectives are as follows: To assess the effects of intensive glycaemic control compared to conventional control on the outcome of foot ulcers in patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

Biomechanical characteristics of peripheral diabetic neuropathy : a systematic review and meta-analysis of findings from the gait cycle, muscle activity and dynamic barefoot plantar pressure

Background: Diabetic peripheral neuropathy is an important cause of foot ulceration and limb loss. This systematic review and meta-analysis investigated the effect of diabetic peripheral neuropathy on gait, dynamic electromyography and dynamic plantar pressures. Methods: Electronic databases were searched systematically for articles reporting the effect of diabetic peripheral neuropathy on gait, dynamic electromyography and plantar pressures. Searches were restricted to articles published between January 2000 and April 2012. Outcome measures assessed included spatiotemporal parameters, lower limb kinematics, kinetics, muscle activation and plantar pressure. Meta-analyses were carried out on all outcome measures reported by ≥3 studies. Findings: Sixteen studies were included consisting of 382 neuropathy participants, 216 diabetes controls without neuropathy and 207 healthy controls. Meta-analysis was performed on 11 gait variables. A high level of heterogeneity was noted between studies. Meta-analysis results suggested a longer stance time and moderately higher plantar pressures in diabetic peripheral neuropathy patients at the rearfoot, midfoot and forefoot compared to controls. Systematic review of studies suggested potential differences in the biomechanical characteristics (kinematics, kinetics, EMG) of diabetic neuropathy patients. However these findings were inconsistent and limited by small sample sizes.; Interpretation: Current evidence suggests that patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy have elevated plantar pressures and occupy a longer duration of time in the stance-phase during gait. Firm conclusions are hampered by the heterogeneity and small sample sizes of available studies. Interpretation: Current evidence suggests that patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy have elevated plantar pressures and occupy a longer duration of time in the stance-phase during gait. Firm conclusions are hampered by the heterogeneity and small sample sizes of available studies.

Risky Business : managing creative practice postgraduates

In Australia, as elsewhere, universities are being encouraged to grow their postgraduate research candidature base while at the same time there is increasing pressure on resources with which to manage the burgeoning groups. In this environment HDR supervision strategies are seen as increasingly important as research managers seek the best possible ‘fit’ for an applicant: the candidate who will provide a sound return on investment and demonstrate endurance in the pursuit of a timely completion.

Governing young people’s drug use: Crime, harm and contemporary drug use practices

Since the nineteenth century, drug use has been variously understood as a problem of epidemiology, psychiatry, physiology, and criminality. Consequently drug research tends to be underpinned by assumptions of inevitable harm, and is often directed towards preventing drug use or solving problems. These constructions of the drug problem have generated a range of law enforcement responses, drug treatment technologies and rehabilitative programs that are intended to prevent drug related harm and resituate drug users in the realm of neo-liberal functional citizenship. This paper is based on empirical research of young people’s illicit drug use in Brisbane. The research rejects the idea of a pre-given drug problem, and seeks to understand how drugs have come to be defined as a problem. Using Michel Foucault’s conceptual framework of governmentality, the paper explores how the governance of illicit drugs, through law, public health and medicine, intersects with self-governance to shape young people’s drug use practices. It is argued that constructions of the drug problem shape what drug users believe about themselves and the ways in which they use drugs. From this perspective, drug use practices are ‘practices of the self’, formed through an interaction of the government of illicit drugs and the drug users own subjectivity.

Understanding dementia is vital in all health care staff

As the Australian population continues to age, health care staff will come into contact with and care for increasing numbers of people with dementia. A basic understanding of dementia is important to the quality of these interactions. This article summarises recently published research on levels of knowledge of Alzheimer’s disease among health care staff in an Australian regional health district (Smyth, Fielding, Beattie, Gardiner, Moyle, Franklin, Hines & MacAndrew, 2013).

Literature review : use of respite by carers of people with dementia

Respite care is a cornerstone service for the home management of people with dementia. It is used by carers to mitigate the stress related to the demands of caring by allowing time for them to rest and do things for themselves, thus maintaining the caring relationship at home and perhaps forestalling long-term placement in a residential aged care facility. Despite numerous anecdotal reports in support of respite care, its uptake by carers of people with dementia remains relatively low. The aim of this paper was to examine the factors that constitute the use of respite by carers of people with dementia by reviewing quantitative and qualitative research predominantly from the years 1990 to 2012. Seventysix international studies of different types of respite care were included for this review and their methods were critically appraised. The key topics identified were in relation to information access, the barriers to carers realising need for and seeking respite, satisfaction with respite services including the outcomes for carers and people with dementia, the characteristics of an effective respite service and the role of health workers in providing appropriate respite care. Finally, limitations with considering the literature as a whole were highlighted and recommendations made for future research.

'I wouldn't say that' : finding a young adult, female voice in a Queensland mining town

This is a practice-led project consisting of a Young Adult novel, Open Cut, and an exegesis, 'I Wouldn't Say That': Finding a Young Adult, Female Voice in a Queensland Mining Town. The thesis investigates the use of first person narration in order to create an immediate engaging, realist Young Adult Fiction. The research design is bound by a feminist interpretative paradigm. The methodology employed is practice-led, auto-ethnography, and participant observation. Particular characteristics of first person narration used in Australian Young Adult Fiction are identified in an analysis of Dust, by Christine Bongers, and Jasper Jones, by Craig Silvey. The exegesis also contains a reflection on the researcher's creative work, and the process used to draft, edit, plot and construct the novel. The research contributes to knowledge in the field of Young Adult Literature because it offers a graphic portrayal of an Australian mining town that has not been heard before.

A randomized controlled trial of a 10 percent CPP-ACP cream to reduce mutans streptococci colonization

Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of a 10 percent casein phosphopeptide-amorphous calcium phosphate (CPP-ACP) cream to reduce mutans streptococci (MS) colonization and prevent early childhood caries. Methods The cohort was randomized at mean age of 11 days old to receive once-daily CPP-ACP cream (n=102) or no product (comparison group; n=89) from the time of first tooth eruption. All mothers were contacted by telephone at six, 12, and 18 months and advised to brush their children's teeth twice daily with low-dose fluoride toothpaste. At 24 months, all children were examined at a community clinic. Results At 24 months old, one out of 65 (2 percent) children in the CPP-ACP group had caries vs. four out of 58 (seven percent) in the comparison group (difference not statistically significant). There were fewer MS-positive children in the CPP-ACP group (26 percent) vs. the comparison group (47 percent; P=.02). A dose-response effect of CPP-ACP usage on MS was observed, where MS was present in eight percent of regular CPP-ACP users, 28 percent of irregular users, and 47 percent of non-users (P<.02). Conclusions CPP-ACP reduced the percentages of mutans streptococci-positive 24-month-old children, although it did not reduce caries prevalence.

Reconstruction of the ancestral marsupial karyotype from comparative gene maps

BACKGROUND: The increasing number of assembled mammalian genomes makes it possible to compare genome organisation across mammalian lineages and reconstruct chromosomes of the ancestral marsupial and therian (marsupial and eutherian) mammals. However, the reconstruction of ancestral genomes requires genome assemblies to be anchored to chromosomes. The recently sequenced tammar wallaby (Macropus eugenii) genome was assembled into over 300,000 contigs. We previously devised an efficient strategy for mapping large evolutionarily conserved blocks in non-model mammals, and applied this to determine the arrangement of conserved blocks on all wallaby chromosomes, thereby permitting comparative maps to be constructed and resolve the long debated issue between a 2n=14 and 2n=22 ancestral marsupial karyotype. RESULTS: We identified large blocks of genes conserved between human and opossum, and mapped genes corresponding to the ends of these blocks by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). A total of 242 genes was assigned to wallaby chromosomes in the present study, bringing the total number of genes mapped to 554 and making it the most densely cytogenetically mapped marsupial genome. We used these gene assignments to construct comparative maps between wallaby and opossum, which uncovered many intrachromosomal rearrangements, particularly for genes found on wallaby chromosomes X and 3. Expanding comparisons to include chicken and human permitted the putative ancestral marsupial (2n=14) and therian mammal (2n=19) karyotypes to be reconstructed. CONCLUSIONS: Our physical mapping data for the tammar wallaby has uncovered the events shaping marsupial genomes and enabled us to predict the ancestral marsupial karyotype, supporting a 2n=14 ancestor. Futhermore, our predicted therian ancestral karyotype has helped to understand the evolution of the ancestral eutherian genome.