The culture of the journey as structure of the landscape: an inquiry on mobility facilities and identity of place

The structure of the travel, meant as cultural activity, is proposed as a key to read and design the urban or rural landscape.

Development of zonal cartilage constructs : effects of chondrocyte subpopulation, compressive stimulation, and culture models

Articular cartilage is a highly resilient tissue located at the ends of long bones. It has a zonal structure, which has functional significance in load-bearing. Cartilage does not spontaneously heal itself when damaged, and untreated cartilage lesions or age-related wear often lead to osteoarthritis (OA). OA is a degenerative condition that is highly prevalent, age-associated, and significantly affects patient mobility and quality of life. There is no cure for OA, and patients usually resort to replacing the biological joint with an artificial prosthesis. An alternative approach is to dynamically regenerate damaged or diseased cartilage through cartilage tissue engineering, where cells, materials, and stimuli are combined to form new cartilage. However, despite extensive research, major limitations remain that have prevented the wide-spread application of tissue-engineered cartilage. Critically, there is a dearth of information on whether autologous chondrocytes obtained from OA patients can be used to successfully generate cartilage tissues with structural hierarchy typically found in normal articular cartilage. I aim to address these limitations in this thesis by showing that chondrocyte subpopulations isolated from macroscopically normal areas of the cartilage can be used to engineer stratified cartilage tissues and that compressive loading plays an important role in zone-dependent biosynthesis of these chondrocytes. I first demonstrate that chondrocyte subpopulations from the superficial (S) and middle/deep (MD) zones of OA cartilage are responsive to compressive stimulation in vitro, and that the effect of compression on construct quality is zone-dependent. I also show that compressive stimulation can influence pericelluar matrix production, matrix metalloproteinase secretion, and cytokine expression in zonal chondrocytes in an alginate hydrogel model. Subsequently, I focus on recreating the zonal structure by forming layered constructs using the alginate-released chondrocyte (ARC) method either with or without polymeric scaffolds. Resulting zonal ARC constructs had hyaline morphology, and expressed cartilage matrix molecules such as proteoglycans and collagen type II in both scaffold-free and scaffold-based approaches. Overall, my findings demonstrate that chondrocyte subpopulations obtained from OA joints respond sensitively to compressive stimulation, and are able to form cartilaginous constructs with stratified organization similar to native cartilage using the scaffold-free and scaffold-based ARC technique. The ultimate goal in tissue engineering is to help provide improved treatment options for patients suffering from debilitating conditions such as OA. Further investigations in developing functional cartilage replacement tissues using autologous chondrocytes will bring us a step closer to improving the quality of life for millions of OA patients worldwide.

The Creative Industries, Culture and Policy

The rise of creative industries requires new thinking in communication, media and cultural studies, media and cultural policy, and the arts and information sectors. The Creative Industries, Culture and Policy sets the agenda for these debates, providing a richer understanding of the dynamics of cultural markets, creative labor, finance and risk, and how culture is distributed, marketed and creatively reused through new media technologies. This book: develops a global perspective on the creative industries and creative economy draws insights from media and cultural studies, innovation economics, cultural policy studies, and economic and cultural geography explores what it means for policy-makers when culture and creativity move from the margins to the center of economic dynamics makes extensive use of case studies in ways that are relevant not only to researchers and policy-makers, but also to the generation of students who will increasingly be establishing a ‘portfolio career’ in the creative industries. International in coverage, The Creative Industries traces the historical and contemporary ideas that make the cultural economy more relevant that it has ever been. It is essential reading for students and academics in media, communication and cultural studies. Table of Contents - Introduction - Origins of Creative Industries Policy - International Models of Creative Industries Policy - From Culture Industries to Cultural Economy - Products, Services, Production and Creative Work - Consumption, Markets, Technology and Cultural Trade - Globalization, Cities and Creative Spaces - Creative Industries and Public Policy - Conclusion

Waterfall : Nature and Culture

Many people take pleasure in visiting waterfalls and much has been written on the subject. Numerous accounts of Niagara Falls were published after Hennepin's late seventeenth-centure descriptions, particularly from the early nineteenth century, but is was only later that other waterfalls became the subject of books. George Holley's Niagara and Other Famous Cataracts of the World, published in 1883, and John Gibson's Great Waterfalls, Cataracts and Geysers, published in 1887, are early examples of global accounts of major falls. Most books about waterfalls are guides to the falls of a particular country, state or region. Apart from a few slim illustrated volumes, few books have been puslished on the world's waterfalls since Edward Rashleigh's Among the Waterfalls (1935). Most of these are slim pictorial volumes, some aimed at the children's market. Geologist Richard Maxwell Pearl published a series of waterfall articles in his journal Earth Science between 1973 and 1975, apparently with the intention of turning them into a book, but this never materialized. My book, the culmination of more than a decade of waterfalls research, is comprehensive in its approach, but is not intended to describe as many of the world's waterfalls as possible. This is far from my aim, and readers may be disappointed at my omission of falls they feel deserved mention. What I have attempted to do is celebrate the delights of these beautiful wonders of nature by considering them from many points of view, emphasizing the roles that they play in the human experience. To be as representative as possible, I draw on examples of waterfalls from all over the world, some famous, many not. North and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania and, with recent global warming, the Earth's polar regions, all feature in the discussion. Even though there are already enough books and articles about Niagara Falls to fill a large library, it has been impossible to avoid making frequent reference to this great cataract, which has been so important in the history of travel and tourism, power generation, urban development and art. Amoung the issues that I consider is the human impact on waterfalls, particularly the effects of hydropower schemes and tourism development. Also considered are artificial waterfalls, which have long been features of the designed landscape. Their contemporay role is poignantly exemplified in the design of the National September 11 Memorial, in which the footprints of the Twin Towers are traced by walls of waterfalls. A geographer and urban and regional planner by training, I have ventured into many other fields of knowledge that are outside my areas of expertise. I apologize for any errors that I may have made in my book and invite correction.

How research findings can inform legislation and school policy on cyberbullying.

Recent empirical research has found that the psychological consequences for young people involved in cyberbullying are more severe than in the case of traditional bullying (Campbell, Spears, Slee, Butler, & Kift, 2012; Perren, Dooley, Shaw, & Cross, 2010). Cybervictimisation has been found to be a significant predictor of depressive symptoms over and above that of being victimised by traditional bullying (Perren et al., 2010). Cybervictims also have reported higher anxiety scores and social difficulties than traditional victims, with those students who had been bullied by both forms showing similar anxiety and depression scores to cyberbullying victims (Campbell et al., 2012). This is supported by the subjective views of many young people, not involved in bullying, who believed that cyberbullying is far more harmful than traditional bullying (Cross et al., 2009). However, students who were traditionally bullied thought the consequences of traditional bullying were harsher than did those students who were cyberbullied (Campbell, et al., 2012). In Slonje and Smith’s study (2008), students reported that text messaging and email bullying had less of an impact than traditional bullying, but that bullying by pictures or video clips had more negative impact than traditional bullying.

Reducing actuator switchings for motion control of autonomous underwater vehicles

A priority when designing control strategies for autonomous underwater vehicles is to emphasize their cost of implementation on a real vehicle and at the same time to minimize a prescribed criterion such as time, energy, payload or combination of those. Indeed, the major issue is that due to the vehicles' design and the actuation modes usually under consideration for underwater platforms the number of actuator switchings must be kept to a small value to ensure feasibility and precision. This constraint is typically not verified by optimal trajectories which might not even be piecewise constants. Our goal is to provide a feasible trajectory that minimizes the number of switchings while maintaining some qualities of the desired trajectory, such as optimality with respect to a given criterion. The one-sided Lipschitz constant is used to derive theoretical estimates. The theory is illustrated on two examples, one is a fully actuated underwater vehicle capable of motion in six degrees-of-freedom and one is minimally actuated with control motions constrained to the vertical plane.

Understanding the fear of bicycle riding in Australia

Rates of bicycle commuting currently hover around 1 - 2% in most Australian capital cities, although 17.8% of Australians report riding at least once per week. The most commonly stated reason for choosing not to ride a bicycle is fear of motorised vehicles. This paper sets out to examine the literature and offer a commentary regarding the role fear plays as a barrier to bicycle riding. The paper also provides an estimate of the relative risk of driving and riding, on a per trip basis. An analysis of the existing literature finds fear of motorised traffic to be disproportionate to actual levels of risk to bicycle riders. Moreover, the health benefits of bicycling outweigh the risks of collision. Rather than actual collisions forming the basis of people’s fear, it appears plausible that near collisions (which occur far more frequently) may be a significant cause for the exaggerated levels of fear associated with bicycle riding. In order to achieve the Australian Government’s goal of doubling bike riding participation, this review suggests it will be necessary to counter fear through the creation of a low risk traffic environment (both perceived and real), involving marketing/promotional campaigns and the development of a comprehensive bicycle infrastructure network and lower speed limits.

Culture, technology and the city

The 21st century has been described as the “century of cities”. By 2030, 70 per cent of the world’s population will live in cities, with the most rapid urbanization occurring in the developing world. This paper will draw up geographer Ed Soja’s concept of the “spatial turn” in social theory to consider how the culture of cities can act as a catalyst to innovation and the development of new technologies. In doing so, the paper will develop a three-layered approach to culture as: the arts; the way of life of people and communities; and the embedded structure underpinning socio-economic relations. It will also consider technology at a three-layered element, including devices, practices and ‘logics’ of technology, or what the Greeks termed techne. The paper will consider recent approaches to urban cultural policy, including cluster development and creative cities, and suggest some alternatives, noting that a problem with current approaches is that they focus excessively upon production (clusters) or consumption (creative cities). It will also consider the development of digital creative industries such as games, and the strategies of different cities to develop an innovation culture.

Fear, voice, and the environment in Sonya Hartnett's Forerst and The Midnight Zoo

Subtle is not a word that is normally associated with Sonya Hartnett’s style. Rather, she is known for her stark, bold approach. However, when it comes to the Australian environment, Hartnett is indeed subtle in her approach. Hartnett has set in play a new, almost posthumanist style of writing about the nonhuman. The Australian landscape and environment has always figured prominently in Australian literature for both adults and children but Hartnett has taken this writing in a totally different direction. This article looks at two of Hartnett's novels, Forest and The Midnight Zoo, and examines how Hartnett offers new and exciting avenues of thought regarding the place of humans in that environment.

Understanding the relationships between the calf muscle pump, ankle range of motion and healing for adults with venous leg ulcers: a review of the literature

Exercise offers the potential to improve circulation, wound healing outcomes, and functional and emotional wellbeing for adults experiencing venous leg ulceration. Individuals with chronic leg ulcers typically have multiple comorbidities such as arthritis, asthma, chronic obstructive airways disease, cardiac disease or neuromuscular disorders, which would also benefit from regular exercise. The aim of this review is to highlight the relationships between the calf muscle pump and venous return and range of ankle motion for adults with venous leg ulcers. The effect of exercise will also be considered in relation to the healing rates for adults experiencing venous leg ulceration. The findings suggest there is evidence that exercises which engage the calf muscle pump improve venous return. Ankle range of motion, which is crucial for complete activation of the calf muscle pump, can also be improved with simple, home-based exercise programs. However, observational studies still report that venous leg ulcer patients are less physically active than age-matched controls. Therefore, the behavioural reasons for not exercising must be considered. Only two studies, both underpowered, have assessed the effect of exercise on the healing rates of venous leg ulcers. In conclusion, exercise is feasible with this patient population. However, future studies with larger sample sizes are needed to provide stronger evidence to support the therapeutic benefit of exercise as an adjunct therapy in wound care.

Experimental evaluation of the culture performance of three exotic and a ‘local’ Giant Freshwater Prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii, De Man 1879) culture strain in Fiji

Giant freshwater prawn (GFP; Macrobrachium rosenbergii) aquaculture has expanded rapidly since 1990. Most local culture industries, however, have developed in an unsystematic way. Fiji has a small culture industry producing the ‘Anuenue’ strain; however, performance of this strain has never been systematically evaluated. Recently, some Fijian farmers have reported declines in stock productivity. The current project evaluated the relative performance of three exotic strains with different genetic backgrounds from Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam, against the ‘local’ strain in Fiji in a 4 × 3 replicated pond trial experiment. A total of 5827 prawns were harvested after 143 days growout. Individual growth rate and relative survival of the Fiji strain were not statistically different from any of the introduced strains, but Vietnam strain was superior to that of the Malaysia strain. Genetic diversity showed significant differences in variability among strains, with the Malaysian strain displaying the lowest genetic diversity. Indonesia strain showed that females were reaching maturation earlier than other strains and were smaller in size. This study suggests that Malaysian and Indonesian strains would constitute a poor choice for Fiji, whereas the Vietnam strain consistently performed well on all criteria measured. High variation among replicate ponds within strains unfortunately confounded among-strain variation.

Visual motion perception predicts driving hazard perception ability

PURPOSE: To examine the basis of previous findings of an association between indices of driving safety and visual motion sensitivity and to examine whether this association could be explained by low-level changes in visual function. METHODS: 36 visually normal participants (aged 19 – 80 years), completed a battery of standard vision tests including visual acuity, contrast sensitivity and automated visual fields. and two tests of motion perception including sensitivity for movement of a drifting Gabor stimulus, and sensitivity for displacement in a random-dot kinematogram (Dmin). Participants also completed a hazard perception test (HPT) which measured participants’ response times to hazards embedded in video recordings of real world driving which has been shown to be linked to crash risk. RESULTS: Dmin for the random-dot stimulus ranged from -0.88 to -0.12 log minutes of arc, and the minimum drift rate for the Gabor stimulus ranged from 0.01 to 0.35 cycles per second. Both measures of motion sensitivity significantly predicted response times on the HPT. In addition, while the relationship involving the HPT and motion sensitivity for the random-dot kinematogram was partially explained by the other visual function measures, the relationship with sensitivity for detection of the drifting Gabor stimulus remained significant even after controlling for these variables. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that motion perception plays an important role in the visual perception of driving-relevant hazards independent of other areas of visual function and should be further explored as a predictive test of driving safety. Future research should explore the causes of reduced motion perception in order to develop better interventions to improve road safety.

Re-made in Asia : transformation across Asian markets and popular culture

The thesis is an examination of how Japanese popular culture products are remade (rimeiku). Adaptation of manga, anime and television drama, from one format to another, frequently occurs within Japan. The rights to these stories and texts are traded in South Korea and Taiwan. The ‘spin-off’ products form part of the Japanese content industry. When products are distributed and remade across geographical boundaries, they have a multi-dimensional aspect and potentially contribute to an evolving cultural re-engagement between Japan and East Asia. The case studies are the television dramas Akai Giwaku and Winter Sonata and two manga, Hana yori Dango and Janguru Taitei. Except for the television drama Winter Sonata these texts originated in Japan. Each study shows how remaking occurs across geographical borders. The study argues that Japan has been slow to recognise the value of its popular culture through regional and international media trade. Japan is now taking steps to remedy this strategic shortfall to enable the long-term viability of the Japanese content industry. The study includes an examination of how remaking raises legal issues in the appropriation of media content. Unauthorised copying and piracy contributes to loss of financial value. To place the three Japanese cultural products into a historical context, the thesis includes an overview of Japanese copying culture from its early origins through to the present day. The thesis also discusses the Meiji restoration and the post-World War II restructuring that resulted in Japan becoming a regional media powerhouse. The localisation of Japanese media content in South Korea and Taiwan also brings with it significant cultural influences, which may be regarded as contributing to a better understanding of East Asian society in line with the idea of regional ‘harmony’. The study argues that the commercial success of Japanese products beyond Japan is governed by perceptions of the quality of the story and by the cultural frames of the target audience. The thesis draws on audience research to illustrate the loss or reinforcement of national identity as a consequence of cross-cultural trade. The thesis also examines the contribution to Japanese ‘soft power’ (Nye, 2004, p. x). The study concludes with recommendations for the sustainability of the Japanese media industry.

The effect of warm-up intensity on range of motion and anaerobic performance

Although there is a paucity of scientific support for the benefits of warm-up, athletes commonly warm up prior to activity with the intention of improving performance and reducing the incidence of injuries. The purpose of this study was to examine the role of warm-up intensity on both range of motion (ROM) and anaerobic performance. Nine males (age = 21.7 +/- 1.6 years, height = 1.77 +/- 0.04 m, weight = 80.2 +/- 6.8 kg, and VO2max = 60.4 +/- 5.4 ml/kg/min) completed four trials. Each trial consisted of hip, knee, and ankle ROM evaluation using an electronic inclinometer and an anaerobic capacity test on the treadmill (time to fatigue at 13 km/hr and 20% grade). Subjects underwent no warm-up or a warm-up of 15 minutes running at 60, 70 or 80% VO2max followed by a series of lower limb stretches. Intensity of warm-up had little effect on ROM, since ankle dorsiflexion and hip extension significantly increased in all warm-up conditions, hip flexion significantly increased only after the 80% VO2max warm-up, and knee flexion did not change after any warm-up. Heart rate and body temperature were significantly increased (p < 0.05) prior to anaerobic performance for each of the warm-up conditions, but anaerobic performance improved significantly only after warm-up at 60% VO2max (10%) and 70% VO2max (13%). A 15-minute warm-up at an intensity of 60-70% VO2max is therefore recommended to improve ROM and enhance subsequent anaerobic performance.