NAPLAN, achievement gaps and embedding Indigenous perspectives in schooling: Disrupting the decolonial option

In 2004, the Queensland State Government rolled out the Embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Perspectives in Schooling (EATSIPS) program. The policy was relaunched in 2009. This initiative aimed to improve Indigenous student learning outcomes, improve relationships between schools and Indigenous communities, and to develop a deeper understanding and respect for traditional and contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures amongst all students (EATSIPS 2011: 13). We are interested in the social justice possibilities of EATSIPS and its potential contribution to Reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australia. We are also interested in whether schooling practices informed by EAT-SIPS could reflect decolonising opportunities. This point is illustrated by the fact that, from 2009, it was mandatory for all state-school teachers to undergo professional development in EATSIPS, and all state schools underwent an EATSIPS audit of their policy, curriculum and pedagogical practices...

Hospital in the Nursing Home program reduces emergency department presentations and hospital admissions from residential aged care facilities in Queensland, Australia: A quasi-experimental study

Background There has been considerable publicity regarding population ageing and hospital emergency department (ED) overcrowding. Our study aims to investigate impact of one intervention piloted in Queensland Australia, the Hospital in the Nursing Home (HiNH) program, on reducing ED and hospital attendances from residential aged care facilities (RACFs). Methods A quasi-experimental study was conducted at an intervention hospital undertaking the program and a control hospital with normal practice. Routine Queensland health information system data were extracted for analysis. Results Significant reductions in the number of ED presentations per 1000 RACF beds (rate ratio (95 % CI): 0.78 (0.67–0.92); p = 0.002), number of hospital admissions per 1000 RACF beds (0.62 (0.50–0.76); p < 0.0001), and number of hospital admissions per 100 ED presentations (0.61 (0.43–0.85); p = 0.004) were noticed in the experimental hospital after the intervention; while there were no significant differences between intervention and control hospitals before the intervention. Pre-test and post-test comparison in the intervention hospital also presented significant decreases in ED presentation rate (0.75 (0.65–0.86); p < 0.0001) and hospital admission rate per RACF bed (0.66 (0.54–0.79); p < 0.0001), and a non-significant reduction in hospital admission rate per ED presentation (0.82 (0.61–1.11); p = 0.196). Conclusions Hospital in the Nursing Home program could be effective in reducing ED presentations and hospital admissions from RACF residents. Implementation of the program across a variety of settings is preferred to fully assess the ongoing benefits for patients and any possible cost-savings.

Plasma polymer and biomolecule modification of 3-D scaffolds for tissue engineering

Plasma polymerization was used to coat a melt electrospun polycaprolactone scaffold to improve cell attachment and organization. Plasma polymerization was performed using an amine containing monomer, allylamine, which then allowed for the subsequent immobilization of biomolecules i.e. heparin and fibroblast growth factor-2. The stability of the plasma polymerized amine-coating was demonstrated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis and imaging time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry revealed that a uniform plasma amine-coating was deposited throughout the scaffold. Based upon comparison with controls it was evident that the combination scaffold aided cell ingress and the formation of distinct fibroblast and keratinocyte layers.

Literacy leadership and accountability practices: Holding onto ethics in ways that count

Despite the rhetoric of schools serving the needs of specific communities, it is evident that the work of teachers and principals is shaped by government imperatives to demonstrate success according to a set of standard ‘benchmarks’. In this chapter, we draw from our current study of new forms of educational leadership emerging in South Australian public primary schools to explore the ways in which test-based accountability requirements are being mediated by principals in schools that serve high poverty communities. Taking an institutional ethnography approach we focus on the everyday work of a principal and a literacy leader in one suburban primary school to show the complexity of the impact of national testing on practices of literacy leadership. We elaborate on the inescapable textual framings and tasks faced by the principal and literacy leader, and those that they create and modify – such as a common literacy agreement and ‘literacy chats’ between a literacy leader and classroom teacher – in order to ‘hold on to ethics’. We argue that while leaders’ and teachers’ everyday work is regulated by ‘ruling relations’ (Smith, 1999), it is also organic and responsive to the local context. We conclude with a reflection on the important situated work that school leaders do in mediating trans-local policies that might otherwise close down possibilities for engaging ethically with students and their learning in a particular school.

Land use regression model (LUR) for ultrafine particles in Brisbane

Traffic-related air pollution has been associated with a wide range of adverse health effects. One component of traffic emissions that has been receiving increasing attention is ultrafine particles(UFP, < 100 nm), which are of concern to human health due to their small diameters. Vehicles are the dominant source of UFP in urban environments. Small-scale variation in ultrafine particle number concentration (PNC) can be attributed to local changes in land use and road abundance. UFPs are also formed as a result of particle formation events. Modelling the spatial patterns in PNC is integral to understanding human UFP exposure and also provides insight into particle formation mechanisms that contribute to air pollution in urban environments. Land-use regression (LUR) is a technique that can use to improve the prediction of air pollution.

The overexpression of SASH1 stimulates cell death in lung cancer cells

SASH1 (SAM and SH3 domain-containing protein 1) is a recently identified gene with tumour suppressor properties with a role in the induction of apoptosis. Previous work has shown that 90% of lung cell lines have a decrease in SASH1 mRNA levels, however little characterisation of SASH1 function in lung cancer has been undertaken.

Australia and the Scottish independence referendum

This essay examines how, given the close historical and cul-tural ties which exist between Australia and the United Kingdom (including Scotland), the Scottish independence referendum was reported, analysed and made sense of in the Australian media. The analysis is based on mainstream news coverage (online and print media) produced in Australia and accessed from the internet between January 2012 and the end of September 2014 (two weeks after the referendum on September 18). A total of 95 items were included in the sample, which does not include broadcast news coverage or specialist current affairs periodicals. The online sites of broadcasters such as the ABC and SBS were included in the sam-ple. The great majority of these items were published in the run-up to polling day, in August and September 2014, with spikes in the frequency of item around particular events such as the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. to the fore will be relevant for years to come.

Proteomic identification of putative microRNA394 target genes in Arabidopsis thaliana identifies MLP family members critical for normal development

Expression of the F-Box protein Leaf Curling Responsiveness (LCR) is regulated by microRNA, miR394, and alterations to this interplay in Arabidopsis thaliana produce defects in leaf polarity and shoot apical meristem (SAM) organisation. Although the miR394-LCR node has been documented in Arabidopsis, the identification of proteins targeted by LCR F-box itself has proven problematic. Here, a proteomic analysis of shoot apices from plants with altered LCR levels identified a member of the Major Latex Protein (MLP) family gene as a potential LCR F-box target. Bioinformatic and molecular analyses also suggested that other MLP family members are likely to be targets for this post-translational regulation. Direct interaction between LCR F-Box and MLP423 was validated. Additional MLP members had reduction in protein accumulation, in varying degrees, mediated by LCR F-Box. Transgenic Arabidopsis lines, in which MLP28 expression was reduced through an artificial miRNA technology, displayed severe developmental defects, including changes in leaf patterning and morphology, shoot apex defects, and eventual premature death. These phenotypic characteristics resemble those of Arabidopsis plants modified to over-express LCR. Taken together, the results demonstrate that MLPs are driven to degradation by LCR, and indicate that MLP gene family is target of miR394-LCR regulatory node, representing potential targets for directly post-translational regulation mediated by LCR F-Box. In addition, MLP28 family member is associated with the LCR regulation that is critical for normal Arabidopsis development.