Sydney's media cluster: Continuity and change in film and television

A significant media city globally , Sydney is the production and design centre for the Australian media system and a subsidiary node of larger international systems principally headquartered in Los Angeles and London. Its media cluster is undergoing transformations to improve its position internationally by increasing capabilities and ties to other Australian and international production clusters. Sydney’s media cluster is a collection of suburbs forming an “arc” along major transport corridors stretching from Macquarie Park in the north to Sydney airport in the south. As a dispersed rather than tightly bound cluster, it is defined by the functional proximity provided by automobile and telecommunication networks Sydney’s media cluster is considered here along two dimensions—that of Sydney’s place within the ecology of Australian and international media and that of its internal organization within the geographical space of metropolitan Sydney. The first examines Sydney’s media cluster at the level of the metropolitan area of Sydney within its state, national and international contexts; while the second digs below this level to explore its working out in urban space.

Emergency department models of care in the context of care quality and cost: A systematic review

To identify current ED models of care and their impact on care quality, care effectiveness, and cost. A systematic search of key health databases (Medline, CINAHL, Cochrane, EMbase) was conducted to identify literature on ED models of care. Additionally, a focused review of the contents of 11 international and national emergency medicine, nursing and health economic journals (published between 2010 and 2013) was undertaken with snowball identification of references of the most recent and relevant papers. Articles published between 1998 and 2013 in the English language were included for initial review by three of the authors. Studies in underdeveloped countries and not addressing the objectives of the present study were excluded. Relevant details were extracted from the retrieved literature, and analysed for relevance and impact. The literature was synthesised around the study's main themes. Models described within the literature mainly focused on addressing issues at the input, throughput or output stages of ED care delivery. Models often varied to account for site specific characteristics (e.g. onsite inpatient units) or to suit staffing profiles (e.g. extended scope physiotherapist), ED geographical location (e.g. metropolitan or rural site), and patient demographic profile (e.g. paediatrics, older persons, ethnicity). Only a few studies conducted cost-effectiveness analysis of service models. Although various models of delivering emergency healthcare exist, further research is required in order to make accurate and reliable assessments of their safety, clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness.

Spatiotemporal analysis of indigenous and imported dengue fever cases in Guangdong province, China

Background Dengue fever has been a major public health concern in China since it re-emerged in Guangdong province in 1978. This study aimed to explore spatiotemporal characteristics of dengue fever cases for both indigenous and imported cases during recent years in Guangdong province, so as to identify high-risk areas of the province and thereby help plan resource allocation for dengue interventions. Methods Notifiable cases of dengue fever were collected from all 123 counties of Guangdong province from 2005 to 2010. Descriptive temporal and spatial analysis were conducted, including plotting of seasonal distribution of cases, and creating choropleth maps of cumulative incidence by county. The space-time scan statistic was used to determine space-time clusters of dengue fever cases at the county level, and a geographical information system was used to visualize the location of the clusters. Analysis were stratified by imported and indigenous origin. Results 1658 dengue fever cases were recorded in Guangdong province during the study period, including 94 imported cases and 1564 indigenous cases. Both imported and indigenous cases occurred more frequently in autumn. The areas affected by the indigenous and imported cases presented a geographically expanding trend over the study period. The results showed that the most likely cluster of imported cases (relative risk = 7.52, p < 0.001) and indigenous cases (relative risk = 153.56, p < 0.001) occurred in the Pearl River Delta Area; while a secondary cluster of indigenous cases occurred in one district of the Chao Shan Area (relative risk = 471.25, p < 0.001). Conclusions This study demonstrated that the geographic range of imported and indigenous dengue fever cases has expanded over recent years, and cases were significantly clustered in two heavily urbanised areas of Guangdong province. This provides the foundation for further investigation of risk factors and interventions in these high-risk areas.

Spatial incidence of dengue infections in Queensland, Australia - reply

This study aimed to investigate the spatial clustering and dynamic dispersion of dengue incidence in Queensland, Australia. We used Moran's I statistic to assess the spatial autocorrelation of reported dengue cases. Spatial empirical Bayes smoothing estimates were used to display the spatial distribution of dengue in postal areas throughout Queensland. Local indicators of spatial association (LISA) maps and logistic regression models were used to identify spatial clusters and examine the spatio-temporal patterns of the spread of dengue. The results indicate that the spatial distribution of dengue was clustered during each of the three periods of 1993–1996, 1997–2000 and 2001–2004. The high-incidence clusters of dengue were primarily concentrated in the north of Queensland and low-incidence clusters occurred in the south-east of Queensland. The study concludes that the geographical range of notified dengue cases has significantly expanded in Queensland over recent years.

In Response

We would like to thank Hsu and others for their sincere response 1 to our short review on geographical information systems (GIS) for dengue surveillance 2 ; they raised a number of important points that we would like to address...

Temporal

An evolving meditation upon the complex, periodic processes that mark Australia’s seasonality, and our increasing ability to disturb them. By amplifying and shining light upon a myriad of mysterious lives lived in blackness, the work presents a sensuous, deep engagement with the rich, irregular spectras of seasonal forms: whilst hinting at a far less comforting background increasingly framed by anthropogenic climate change. ’Temporal’ uses custom interactive systems, illusionary techniques and real time spatial audio processes that draw upon a rich array of media, including seasonal, nocturnal field recordings sourced in the Bundaberg region and detailed observations of foliage & flowering phases from that region. By drawing inspiration from the subtle transitions between what Europeans once named ‘Summer’ and ‘Autumn’ and the multiple seasons recognised by other cultures, whilst also including bodily disturbances within the work, ’Temporal’ creates a compellingly immersive environment that wraps audiences in luscious yet ominous atmospheres beyond sight and hearing. This work completes a two year long project of dynamic mediated installations that have been presented in Sydney, Beijing, Cairns and Bundanon, that have each been somehow choreographed by environmental cycles; alluding to a new framework for making works that we named ‘Seasonal’. These powerful, responsive & experiential works each draw attention to that which will disappear when biodiverse worlds have descended into an era of permanent darkness – an ‘extinction of human experience’. By tapping into the deeply interlocking seasonal cycles of environments that are themselves intimately linked with social, geographical & political concerns, participating audiences are therefore challenged to see the night, their locality & ecologies in new ways through extending their personal limits of perception, imagery & comprehension.

(Digital library) education or (digital) library education? An Australian perspective

Education for Library and Information professionals in the digital environment has been an important discussion point the world over. However, before designing and implementing a programme for digital library education, it is prudent that the skills and knowledge required to work in this environment are identified to enable informed decisions to be made. Hitherto, there has been very little research which has sought the opinion of both educators and practitioners on this topic, and none with a wide geographical coverage of Australia. This paper presents the key findings of research undertaken at Tallinn University in the first half of 2009.

Geography and international assessment: Opportunity or distraction

Assessments of students in primary and secondary education are debated among practitioners, policy-makers, and parents. In some countries, assessment scores serve a criterion for passage between levels of education, for example, from secondary school to post-secondary education. Those practices are often traditions and while they come under criticism, they are a long-accepted part of the educational practices within a country. In those countries, the students’ assessment and examination scores are posted in public places or published in local news media. In other countries, assessments are used for the periodic checks on individual student progress. The results of assessments may be used for rating schools, and in some cases, they are used for evaluating the performance of teachers. Assessments are used less often to analyze student performance and make judgments regarding the performance of the curriculum. Even less often, assessments serve to critically establish strategies for the improvement of student learning and educational practices. The ends on the continuum of the assessment debate often focus on the opportunities that assessments present to improve education on one end. The other end is that assessments serve as a major distraction from the important work of teachers by removing classroom room time from instruction. The debate on those issues continues.

Privacy, modesty, hospitality and the design of Muslim homes in Australia

The home environment is conceptualised in prolific ways within the academic literature. A home is an unparalleled base for human settlement and habitation that embodies a sensorial space that is layered with personal memories and traces of history. The success of a home in providing a strong ‘sense of place’ depends on various factors such as geographical location, monetary funds or personal perceptions. A home too, is an influential medium that allows its dwellers to express, perform and continue their cultural traditions and religious faiths. Traditional Islamic teachings and practices involve guidelines that apply directly to the domestic space. The principles of privacy, modesty and hospitality are paramount to these guidelines and each has a significant influence upon the design of Muslim homes and the home owners’ or dwellers’ domestic behaviours. Despite a significant increase of Muslim population in Australia over the last decade, very little is known about their perceptions of domestic life and their use of domestic spaces within an Australian context. This research investigated on how Muslims in Brisbane live and adapt within their Australian homes and if these homes meet their personal and familial needs to perform their daily activities, as well as maintaining and practising their Islamic faiths and traditions. Specific attention has been given to their perceptions on tripartite principles of privacy, modesty, and hospitality (PMH) and how they achieve these three objectives. A qualitative case study approach was used to investigate six Muslim families living in four Brisbane suburbs, consisting of: a) Case Study 1: three Muslim families residing in one suburb of Brisbane and, b) Case Study 2: three international Muslim students living in three different Brisbane suburbs. This research indicates that apart from minor ‘design-related’ difficulties, case study participants were able to continue to perform their daily activities within their current homes through minor changes to the use of the available interior spaces. Above all, case study participants opined that their current Australian homes provide them with adequate safety and privacy for their families without any major disturbances. Insight gained from these cases suggests that greater research attention needs to be given to the potential development of Australian home designs that are adaptable to the ever-changing needs of the Australian multicultural society. Awareness of the multifactorial nature of the influences on Muslims’ perceptions of home and their use of domestic space is needed if architects, building designers, engineers and builders are to be properly equipped to meet the needs of their Muslim clients.

The Hazards

"The much-anticipated second collection from the 2007 winner of the Thomas Shapcott Prize. Charged with fierce imagination and swift lyricism, Holland-Batt’s cosmopolitan poems reflect a predatory world rife with hazards both real and imagined. Opening with a vision of a leveret’s agonising death by myxomatosis and closing with a lover disappearing into dangerous waters, this collection careens through diverse geographical territory – from haunted post-colonial landscapes in Australia to brutal animal hierarchies in the cloud forests of Nicaragua. Engaging everywhere with questions of violence and loss, erasure and extinction, The Hazards inhabits unsettling terrain, unafraid to veer straight into turbulence."--Publisher website

Estimates of lost material stock of buildings and roads due to the great east Japan earthquake and tsunami

This article describes research conducted for the Japanese government in the wake of the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami that struck eastern Japan on March 11, 2011. In this study, material stock analysis (MSA) is used to examine the losses of building and infrastructure materials after this disaster. Estimates of the magnitude of material stock that has lost its social function as a result of a disaster can indicate the quantities required for reconstruction, help garner a better understanding of the volumes of waste flows generated by that disaster, and also help in the course of policy deliberations in the recovery of disaster-stricken areas. Calculations of the lost building and road materials in the five prefectures most affected were undertaken. Analysis in this study is based on the use of geographical information systems (GIS) databases and statistics; it aims to (1) describe in spatial terms what construction materials were lost, (2) estimate the amount of infrastructure material needed to rehabilitate disaster areas, and (3) indicate the amount of lost material stock that should be taken into consideration during government policy deliberations. Our analysis concludes that the material stock losses of buildings and road infrastructure are 31.8 and 2.1 million tonnes, respectively. This research approach and the use of spatial MSA can be useful for urban planners and may also convey more appropriate information about disposal based on the work of municipalities in disaster-afflicted areas.

Not learning from the past: Adaptive governance challenges for Australian natural resource management

Australia’s governance arrangements for NRM have evolved considerably over the last thirty years. The impact of changes in governance on NRM planning and delivery requires assessment. We undertake a multi-method program evaluation using adaptive governance principles as an analytical frame and apply this to Queensland to assess the impacts of governance change on NRM planning and governance outcomes. Data to inform our analysis includes: 1) a systematic review of sixteen audits/evaluations of Australian NRM over a fifteen-year period; 2) a review of Queensland’s first generation NRM Plans; and 3) outputs from a Queensland workshop on NRM planning. NRM has progressed from a bottom-up grassroots movement into a collaborative regional NRM model that has been centralised by the Australian Government. We found that while some adaptive governance challenges have been addressed, others remained unresolved. Results show that collaboration and elements of multi-level governance under the regional model were positive moves, but also that NRM arrangements contained structural deficiencies across multiple governance levels in relation to public involvement in decision-making and knowledge production for problem responsiveness. These problems for adaptive governance have been exacerbated since 2008. We conclude that the adaptive governance framework for NRM needs urgent attention so that important environmental management problems can be addressed.

Striving for a better world: Lessons from Freire in Grenada, Jamaica and Australia

The author of this paper considers the influence of Paulo Freire’s pedagogical philosophy on educational practice in three different geographical/political settings. She begins with reflections on her experience as a facilitator at Freire’s seminar, held in Grenada in 1980 for teachers and community educators, on the integration of work and study. This case demonstrates how Freire’s method of dialogic education achieved outcomes for the group of thoughtful collaboration leading to conscientisation in terms of deep reflection on their lives as teachers in Grenada and strategies for decolonising education and society. The second case under consideration is the arts-based pedagogy shaping the work of the Area Youth Foundation (AYF) in Kingston, Jamaica. Young participants, many of them from tough socio-economic backgrounds, are empowered by learning how to articulate their own experiences and relate these to social change. They express this conscientisation by creating stage performances, murals, photo-novella booklets and other artistic products. The third case study describes and evaluates the Honey Ant Reader project in Alice Springs, Australia. Aboriginal children, as well as the adults in their community, learn to read in their local language as well as Australian Standard English, using booklets created from indigenous stories told by community Elders, featuring local customs and traditions. The author analyses how the “Freirean” pedagogy in all three cases exemplifies the process of encouraging the creation of knowledge for progressive social change, rather than teaching preconceived knowledge. This supports her discussion of the extent to which this is authentic to the spirit of the scholar/teacher Paulo Freire, who maintained that in our search for a better society, the world has to be made and remade. Her second, related aim is to raise questions about how education aligned with Freirean pedagogy can contribute to moving social change from the culture circle to the public sphere.

Country-by-country reporting: A critical analysis

This thesis evaluates the recent work of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and civil society groups in creating requirements for multinational entities to disclose financial information on a Country-by-Country basis. Country-by-Country reports may identify profit-shifting activities and enable various stakeholders to hold multinational entities accountable for their global conduct, through the provision of transparent and decision-useful information. This thesis identifies inadequacies in current disclosure requirements and develops a standardised Country-by-Country model, which is applied to the disclosures of three multinational entities to illustrate its pragmatic feasibility and the improvement in quality of financial information available to users.

Technology transfer offices as boundary spanners in the pre-spin-off process: The case of a hybrid model

Over the past decades, universities have increasingly become ambidextrous organizations reconciling scientific and commercial missions. In order to manage this ambidexterity, technology transfer offices (TTOs) were established in most universities. This paper studies a specific, often implemented, but rather understudied type of TTO, namely a hybrid TTO model uniting centralized and decentralized levels. Employing a qualitative research design, we examine how and why the two TTO levels engage in diverse boundary spanning activities to help nascent spin-off companies move through the pre-spin-off process. Our research identifies differences in the types of boundary spanning activities that centralized and decentralized TTOs perform and in the parties they engage with. We find geographical, technological and organizational proximity to be important antecedents of the TTOs’ engagement in external and internal boundary spanning activities. These results have important implications for both academics and practitioners interested in university technology transfer through spin-off creation.