Floating on a sea of talk: Reading comprehension through speaking and listening

Talk is the foundation for thought and understanding, and the key to literacy learning. Research demonstrates that powerful meta-cognitive strategies can be taught to help students self-monitor their comprehension when reading print and digital texts. This paper provides a repertoire of motivating speaking and listening tips to develop the meta-cognitive thinking of students in the elementary years.

Moving from Awareness to Knowing, Understanding, Speaking and Doing: Indigenous Women Academics in Higher Education. National Tertiary Education Women's Conference, 18-19 July 2009, South Melbourne, Victoria.

Bronwyn Fredericks was asked to outline some of the issues faced by Indigenous women academics.

Comparing the ethical predisposition of university students in five English-speaking countries : an examination of 14 questionable business practices

Recent years have seen intense scrutiny focused on the reported ethical breaches of enterprises across the globe. At the forefront of the accompanying criticism are the actions of giant American firms such as WorldCom, Arthur Anderson, and Enron. However, such deviations from acceptable standards of conduct have not been confined to the American market. Australia endured its era of “corporate excess” in the 1980s [Milton-Smith, 1997]. As a result, a spate of ethics-based research was undertaken in the early 1990s. More recently, China has been identified as a major venue for behavior deemed to be unacceptable, even unsafe. Issues such as counterfeit fashion items, software, and automobile parts have been a concern for several years [Gonzalez, 2007]. Perhaps more disconcerting are the recent recalls of children’s products, many of which were produced for leading toy companies such as Mattel and Fisher-Price, because of the use of dangerous lead-based paint. As one might anticipate, news reports and consumer protection agencies have been quick to condemn any action that falls within the “controversial” category. Indeed, many segments of society characterize such actions as unethical behavior. One result of this increased level of concern is the higher level of attention given to ethics in higher education programs. Even accreditation bodies such as AACSB have virtually mandated the integration of ethics into the curriculum. As a consequence, academicians have ramped up their ethics-based research agendas.

Increase in Body Mass Index decreases body satisfaction of their abdominal, arm and thigh regions in young Japanese women [in Japanese]

The aim of the present study was to examine body concern and satisfactions in 191 female university students and their relationships with measured body composition and circumferences of selected body parts. Body composition and circumference measurements of participants were conducted after obtaining their consent. Body concern and satisfaction were determined using the Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ) and the Body parts and General subscales from the Body Satisfaction Scales (BSS). Increase in body composition and circumferences were associated with decrease in body concern and satisfaction. Increase in body size, including circumferences did not decrease whole body satisfaction but increased dissatisfaction at the abdominal, arm and thigh regions.

Human brain regions required for the dividing and switching of attention between two features of a single object

This combined PET and ERP study was designed to identify the brain regions activated in switching and divided attention between different features of a single object using matched sensory stimuli and motor response. The ERP data have previously been reported in this journal [64]. We now present the corresponding PET data. We identified partially overlapping neural networks with paradigms requiring the switching or dividing of attention between the elements of complex visual stimuli. Regions of activation were found in the prefrontal and temporal cortices and cerebellum. Each task resulted in different prefrontal cortical regions of activation lending support to the functional subspecialisation of the prefrontal and temporal cortices being based on the cognitive operations required rather than the stimuli themselves.

New Patterns in Global Television : Peripheral Vision

Over recent decades, the flow of television programmes and services between nations has prompted concerns about `Cultural Imperialism', the idea that the powerful metropolitan nations at the centre of the world system are breaking down the integrity and autonomy of the peripheral countries. New Patterns in Global Television challenges that notion by showing that some of the countries outside the traditionally dominant centres have now developed strong television industries of their own, and have been expanding into regional markets, especially - but not exclusively - where linguistic and cultural similarities exist. This book brings together contributions from specialist researchers on the most dynamic of these regions: Latin America, India, the Middle East, Greater China and, in the English-speaking world, Canada and Australia. It provides the first comprehensive overview of the new patterns of flow in international television programme exchange and service provision in the satellite era, patterns unrecognised by the perspective of the prevailing theoretical orthodoxies in international communication research and policy.

Motorcycle rider protective apparel wearing : observational study results from the Brisbane and Canberra regions

The continued growth in popularity of motorcycling is an area of concern within the road safety domain due to the vulnerability of motorcyclists sustaining injury in the event of a crash. Currently in Australia only motorcycle helmets are mandatory for motorcyclists or pillions to wear and there is no legislative standard for other protective apparel. This paper reports the results obtained from a series of motorcyclists’ apparel observational studies undertaken in the Brisbane and Canberra regions. The sites selected for the research were designed to enable the observation of both recreational and commuter riders. The results highlight both similarities and differences in the type of protective apparel worn by motorcyclists and pillions observed across the two regions. Encouragingly, across all the sites the majority of riders were wearing protective apparel on their upper body. However, a lower proportion of riders were observed wearing protective apparel on their lower body, particularly at the commuter sites in Brisbane. Similarly, the wearing of full face helmets was very high, except at the commuter sites in Brisbane. The generally lower use of protective apparel among commuter riders in Brisbane would appear to reflect both situational factors, such as climate, and the higher proportion of scooters observed at the sites. The implications of these results are discussed and recommendations are made for future research to identify factors that influence the wearing of protective motorcycle apparel.

P2 purinergic receptor mRNA in rat and human sinoatrial node and other heart regions.

It is known that adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) is a cotransmitter in the heart. Additionally, ATP is released from ischemic and hypoxic myocytes. Therefore, cardiac-derived sources of ATP have the potential to modify cardiac function. ATP activates P2X(1-7) and P2Y(1-14) receptors; however, the presence of P2X and P2Y receptor subtypes in strategic cardiac locations such as the sinoatrial node has not been determined. An understanding of P2X and P2Y receptor localization would facilitate investigation of purine receptor function in the heart. Therefore, we used quantitative PCR and in situ hybridization to measure the expression of mRNA of all known purine receptors in rat left ventricle, right atrium and sinoatrial node (SAN), and human right atrium and SAN. Expression of mRNA for all the cloned P2 receptors was observed in the ventricles, atria, and SAN of the rat. However, their abundance varied in different regions of the heart. P2X(5) was the most abundant of the P2X receptors in all three regions of the rat heart. In rat left ventricle, P2Y(1), P2Y(2), and P2Y(14) mRNA levels were highest for P2Y receptors, while in right atrium and SAN, P2Y(2) and P2Y(14) levels were highest, respectively. We extended these studies to investigate P2X(4) receptor mRNA in heart from rats with coronary artery ligation-induced heart failure. P2X(4) receptor mRNA was upregulated by 93% in SAN (P < 0.05), while a trend towards an increase was also observed in the right atrium and left ventricle (not significant). Thus, P2X(4)-mediated effects might be modulated in heart failure. mRNA for P2X(4-7) and P2Y(1,2,4,6,12-14), but not P2X(2,3) and P2Y(11), was detected in human right atrium and SAN. In addition, mRNA for P2X(1) was detected in human SAN but not human right atrium. In human right atrium and SAN, P2X(4) and P2X(7) mRNA was the highest for P2X receptors. P2Y(1) and P2Y(2) mRNA were the most abundant for P2Y receptors in the right atrium, while P2Y(1), P2Y(2), and P2Y(14) were the most abundant P2Y receptor subtypes in human SAN. This study shows a widespread distribution of P2 receptor mRNA in rat heart tissues but a more restricted presence and distribution of P2 receptor mRNA in human atrium and SAN. This study provides further direction for the elucidation of P2 receptor modulation of heart rate and contractility.

Urban growth management for sustainable urbanization : examples from Asia-Pacific city regions

During the past three decades cities in the Asia-Pacific region have undergone massive transformations, characterised by rapid population growth and urbanisation. The rapid pace of globalisation and economic restructuring has resulted in these cities receiving the full impact of urbanisation pressures. In attempting to ease these pressures, major cities have advocated growth management approaches that give particular interest to sustainable urbanization and emphasise compact and optimum development of urban forms. This paper seeks to provide an insight into sustainable urbanisation practice, particularly on the promotion of compact urbanisation within Asia-Pacific’s fastest growing regions. The finding shows that within the context of resource constraints, sustainable urbanisation has been a key factor in the adoption of urban growth management initiatives promoting viable use of scarce resources for urban expansion.

Speaking to each other at last? the ghost of tv past, present and to come...

John Hartley discusses TV past, present and future and concludes that 'This brave new world does have a couple of dystopian elements. One is that no-one knows how to fund non-universal TV production. Another is that any future 'imagined community' will have to get used to the fact that most people aren't inside it.

The planning of airport regions and National Aviation Policy Issues and challenges in the Australian experience 2008-2009

The planning of airports has long been contentious because of their localisation of negative impacts. The globalisation, commercialisation and deregulation of the aviation industry has unleashed powerful new economic forces both on and offairport. Over the last two decades, many airports have evolved into airport cities located at the heart of the wider aerotropolis region. This shifts the appropriate scale of planning analysis towards broader regional concerns. However,governments have been slow to respond and airport planning usually remains poorly integrated with local, city and regional planning imperatives. The Australian experience exemplifies the divide. The privatization of major Australian airports from 1996 has seen billions of dollars spent on new airside and landside infrastructure but with little oversight from local and state authorities because the ultimate authority for on-airport development is the Federal Minister for Transport. Consequently, there have been growing tensions in many major airport regions between the private airport lessee and the broader community, exacerbated by both the building of highly conspicuous non-aeronautical developments and growing airport area congestion. This paper examines the urban planning content of Australia’s national aviation policy review (2008-09) with reference to current and potential opportunities for all-of-region collaboration in the planning process.

Queensland Aborigines, multiple realities and the social sources of suffering: Psychiatry and moral regions of being (Part 1)

This two part paper considers the experience of a range of magico-religious experiences (such as visions and voices) and spirit beliefs in a rural Aboriginal town. The papers challenge the tendency of institutionalised psychiatry to medicalise the experiences and critiques the way in which its individualistic practice is intensified in the face of an incomprehensible Aboriginal „other‟ to become part of the power imbalance that characterises the relationship between Indigenous and white domains. The work reveals the internal differentiation and politics of the Aboriginal domain, as the meanings of these experiences and actions are contested and negotiated by the residents and in so doing they decentre the concerns of the white domain and attempt to control their relationship with it. Thus the plausibility structure that sustains these multiple realities reflects both accommodation and resistance to the material and historical conditions imposed and enacted by mainstream society on the residents, and to current socio- political realities. I conclude that the residents‟ narratives chart the grounds of moral adjudication as the experiences were rarely conceptualised by local people as signs of individual pathology but as reflections of social reality. Psychiatric drug therapy and the behaviourist assumptions underlying its practice posit atomised individuals as the appropriate site of intervention as against the multiple realities revealed by the phenomenology of the experiences. The papers thus call into question Australian mainstream „commonsense‟ that circulates about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people which justifies representations of them as sickly outcasts in Australian society.