Insect distributions and sampling protocols for stored commodities

Purpose of review: This review provides an overview on the importance of characterising and considering insect distribution infor- mation for designing stored commodity sampling protocols. Findings: Sampling protocols are influenced by a number of factors including government regulations, management practices, new technology and current perceptions of the status of insect pest damage. The spatial distribution of insects in stored commodities influ- ences the efficiency of sampling protocols; these can vary in response to season, treatment and other factors. It is important to use sam- pling designs based on robust statistics suitable for the purpose. Future research: The development of sampling protocols based on flexible, robust statistics allows for accuracy across a range of spatial distributions. Additionally, power can be added to sampling protocols through the integration of external information such as treatment history and climate. Bayesian analysis provides a coherent and well understood means to achieve this.

Deliberation and empowerment in Rio de Janeiro's favelas

In modern day Brazil, new media initiatives centred in local communities are attempting to change the face of mainstream ideas about favelas and their inhabitants. One of these initiatives is Viva Favela which is ideologically and physically supported by the NGO Viva Rio that is based in Rio de Janeiro. This non-government organisation runs projects that provide favela residents with skills to take, edit and print their own(photo)journalism contents that enable a community-based framing and documentation of favela life, personalities and issues. The NGO furthermore has developed a range of public venues for displaying these works of (photo)journalism, thus minimising the invisibility that favela dwellers feel in Brazilian political life. This paper takes a discursive and ethnographic approach to investigating how community media might contribute with the aims of empowering people and supporting deliberation within Rio de Janeiro’s favelas.

The taxing effects of the advance pricing arrangement program: A review of APAs and their impact on stakeholders

The current transfer pricing rules contained in Australia’s taxation regime are designed to counter the underpayment of tax by businesses engaged in international related-party dealings. Currently, these transactions must take place at an arm’s length price, a requirement which is becoming increasingly difficult to demonstrate. This results in an increased risk of an audit by the Australian Taxation Office. If a taxpayer wishes to avoid the risk of an audit, and any ensuing penalties, there is one option: an advance pricing arrangement (‘APA’). An APA is an agreement whereby the future transfer pricing methodology to be used to determine the arm’s length price is agreed to by the taxpayer and the relevant tax authority or authorities. This article investigates the use of APAs as a solution to the problem of transfer pricing and considers their impact on stakeholders. It is argued that while APAs provide a valuable practical tool for multinational entities facing the challenges of the taxation of global trading under the current regime, they may not be a practical long term solution.

Copyright vision : copyright jails

This article, published in ON LINE Opinion on 26 October 2006, discusses the broad ranging amendments to the Copyright Act which (in part) implement obligations under the Australia-US Free Trade Agreement (AUSFTA) which were introduced into parliament on October 19, 2006. It covers issues relating to the criminalisation of copyright infringement, user rights and liabilities, and Technological Protection Measures (TPMs).

Legal education and the 'idealistic student': using Foucault to unpack the critical legal narrative

It appears that few of the students holding ‘socially idealistic’ goals upon entering law school actually maintain these upon graduation. The critical legal narrative, which explains and seeks to act upon this shift in the graduate’s ‘legal identity’, posits that these ideals are repressed through power relations that create passive receptacles into which professional ideologies can be deposited, in the interests of those advantaged by the social and legal status quo. Using the work of Michel Foucault, this paper unpacks the assumptions underpinning this narrative, particularly its arguments about ideology, power, and the subject. In doing so, it will argue this narrative provides an untenable basis for political action within legal education. By interrogating this narrative, this paper provides a new way of understanding the construction of the legal identity through legal education, and a new basis for political action within law school.

Regulating the cost of small loans : overdue or overkill?

Small-amount short-term lending began in 1994 in response to the initial exemption of such loans from consumer credit regulation. Growing demand for such loans now produces industry turnover of approximately $800 million each year. Regulators recognised early the need for consumer protection due to the vulnerability of borrowers and the emergence of various predatory practices. This led to reforms designed to regulate these loans, prevent particular misconduct and provide remedies against injustice. Some were enacted as part of the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (Cth), which also imposed licensing and responsible lending requirements on lenders and increased consumer access to remedies. The Government has now introduced the Consumer Credit and Corporations Amendment (Enhancements) Bill 2011 which limits the price that can be charged for credit and restricts access to small loans. This article examines the extensive reforms which have taken place in this sector, and compares these regulatory approaches with the “bright line approach” of the Enhancements Bill. The article argues that the repercussions of this step will require careful monitoring to ensure that further harm is not suffered by those least able to bear it, and that the government will also need to facilitate other, more sustainable, solutions to the problem that small loans are currently used to solve. After we wrote this article, the Report of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services and the Report of the Senate Economics Legislation Committee on the Enhancements Bill were released. These are referred to in a postscript.

‘Personal Response’ and English Teaching

A case study relating to secondary education, examining the teacher student relationship as it operates within the English classroom is the topic of this paper. It describes how a certain conception of 'personal response' to literature provided a means for the teacher/counsellor to form the ethical capacities of children. 'Personal response' is usually associated with the moment in which the child is freed to be most natural. But for all the emphasis upon the irreducibly individual nature of the 'genuinely felt response', this pedagogic exercise finds its place within a series of strategies designed both to cherish and correct the child, to nurture and to scrutinise, to guide and to reconstruct.

Sustainable urban infrastructure development in South East Asia : evidence from Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore

Many South East Asian cities have experienced substantial physical, economic and social transformations during the past several decades. The rapid pace of globalization and economic restructuring has resulted in these cities receiving the full impact of urbanization pressures. In an attempt to ease these pressures, cities such as Singapore, Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur have advocated growth management approaches focusing especially on urban infrastructure sustainability. These approaches aim to achieve triple bottom line sustainability by balancing economic and social development, and environmental protection. This chapter evaluates three Asia-Pacific city cases, Singapore, Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur, and assesses their experiences in managing their urban forms and infrastructure whilst promoting sustainable patterns of urban development.

Human rights and environmental wrongs : achieving environmental justice through human rights law

The numerous interconnections between the environment and human rights are well established internationally. It is understood that environmental issues such as pollution, deforestation or the misuse of resources can impact on individuals’ and communities’enjoyment of fundamental rights, including the right to health, the right to an adequate standard of living, the right to self‐determination and the right to life itself. These are rights which are guaranteed under international human rights law and in relation to which governments bear certain responsibilities. Further, environmental issues can also impact on governments’ capacity to protect and fulfil the rights of their citizens. In this way human rights and environmental protection can be constructed as being mutually supportive. In addition to these links between the environment and human rights, human rights principles arguably offer a framework for identifying and addressing environmental injustice. The justice implications of environmental problems are well documented and there are many examples where pollution, deforestation or other degradation disproportionately impact upon poorer neighbourhoods or areas populated by minority groups. On the international level, environmental injustice exists between developed and developing States, as well as between present and future generations who will inherit the environmental problems we are creating today. This paper investigates the role of human rights principles, laws and mechanisms in addressing these instances of environmental injustice and argues that the framework of human rights norms provides an approach to environmental governance which can help to minimise injustice and promote the interests of those groups which are most adversely affected. Further, it suggests that the human rights enforcement mechanisms which exist at international law could be utilised to lend weight to claims for more equitable environmental policies.

Vitamin D intake, sun exposure and 25-hydroxy vitamin D status in Peritoneal dialysis (PD) and Haemodialysis (HD) patients

Inadequate vitamin D levels have been linked to bone disease but more recently have been associated with wider health implications. Limited studies suggest a high prevalence of Vitamin D deficiency in dialysis patients, although evidence is lacking on whether this is due to dietary restrictions, limited mobility and time outdoors or a combination of these. The aim of this study was to assess the contributions of diet, supplements and sunlight exposure to serum Vitamin D (25(OH)D) levels in dialysis patients. Cross-sectional data were obtained from 30 PD (Mean±SD age 56.9±16.2 y; n=13 male) and 22 HD (Mean±SD age 65.4±14.0 y; n=18 male) patients between 2009 and 2010. Serum 25(OH)D was measured and oral vitamin D intake estimated through a food-frequency-questionnaire and quantifying inactive supplementation. Sunlight exposure was assessed using a validated questionnaire. Prevalence of inadequate/insufficient vitamin D differed between dialysis modality (31% and 43% insufficient (<50nmol/L); 4% and 34% deficient (<25nmol/L) in HD and PD patients respectively (p=0.002)). In HD patients, there was a significant correlation between diet plus supplemental vitamin D intake and 25(OH)D (ρ=0.84, p<0.001). Results suggest a higher frequency of 25(OH)D inadequacy/deficiency in PD compared to HD patients. No other relationships between intake, sun exposure and 25(OH)D were seen. This could reflect limitations of the study design or the importance of other factors such as age, ethnicity and sun protection as interactions in the analysis. Understanding these factors is important given Vitamin D’s emerging status as a biomarker of systemic ill health.

A chance for diversity? Australian online journalism

Australia’s mainstream media landscape has long been recognised as highly limited – media ownership in the country has traditionally been concentrated in the hands of a very few, and (except for Sydney and Melbourne) it is common for major Australian cities to be served by only one local newspaper, usually produced by Rupert Murdoch’s News Ltd. This can be seen also to affect the quality and diversity of Australian journalism; additionally, the global decline of newspaper publishers’ revenues and overall adverse economic conditions exert further pressure on journalistic operations in the country. At the same time, and possibly in response to the increasing stresses on industrial journalism in the country and the implications they have for the quality of journalistic products, a vibrant and dynamic ecosystem of Australian industrial and citizen journalism publications has emerged online. Existing media organisations have built strong news brands online, while citizen journalists and political bloggers have given voice to issues, concerns, and opinions hitherto underrepresented in Australian mainstream journalism; of particular interest, however, is the increasing level of engagement and interaction between the two. While such interaction has been characterised by deep animosity at times (especially also in the context of the Australian federal election in November 2007), Australia has also seen the emergence and establishment of a number of new, intermediary online publications which act as spaces for public debate and analysis – from the public intellectualism of Online Opinion through the muckraking of Crikey to the progressive politics of New Matilda. The rise of social media as spaces for the discussion of news and politics further changes the media environment, potentially leading both to renewed conflict between professional and citizen journalists and to a greater level of engagement between journalists and audiences. Overall, then, such online developments offer a chance for a greater diversity of opinion and representation in Australian journalism, but also remain under a cloud from uncertain long-term business models and funding arrangements. This chapter outlines current trends in Australian online journalism, and speculates about their effect on the Australian news media landscape.

Effect of depithing on the safety and environmental aspects of bagasse stockpiling

Large scale sugarcane bagasse storage in uncovered stockpiles has the potential to result in adverse impacts on the environment and surrounding communities through hazards associated with nuisance dust, groundwater seepage, spontaneous combustion and generation of contaminated leachates. Managing these hazards will assist in improved health and safety outcomes for factory staff and reduced potential environmental impacts on surrounding communities. Removal of the smaller fibres (pith) from bagasse prior to stockpiling reduced the dust number of bagasse by 50% and modelling suggests peak ground level PM10 dust emissions would reduce by 70%. Depithed bagasse has much lower water holding capacity (~43%) than whole bagasse. This experimental and modelling study investigated the physical properties of depithed and whole bagasse. Dust dispersion modelling was undertaken to determine the likely effects associated with storage of whole and depithed sugarcane bagasse.

Private health insurance status and utilisation of dental services in Australia

This article focuses on the relationship between private insurance status and dental service utilisation in Australia using data between 1995 and 2001. This article employs joint maximum likelihood to estimate models of time since last dental visit treating private ancillary health insurance (PAHI) as endogenous. The sensitivity of results to the choice between two different but related types of instrumental variables is examined. We find robust evidence in both 1995 and 2001 that individuals with a PAHI policy make significantly more frequent dental consultations relative to those without such coverage. A comparison of the 1995 and 2001 results, however, suggests that there has been an increasing role of PAHI in terms of the frequency of dental consultations over time. This seems intuitive given the trends in the price of unsubsidised private dental consultations. In terms of policy, our results suggest that while government measures to increase private health insurance coverage in Australia has been successful to a significant degree, it may have come at some cost in terms of socio-economic inequality as the privately insured are provided much better access to care and financial protection.

Assessment of real-time networks and timing for process bus applications

Widespread adoption by electricity utilities of Non-Conventional Instrument Transformers, such as optical or capacitive transducers, has been limited due to the lack of a standardised interface and multi-vendor interoperability. Low power analogue interfaces are being replaced by IEC 61850 9 2 and IEC 61869 9 digital interfaces that use Ethernet networks for communication. These ‘process bus’ connections achieve significant cost savings by simplifying connections between switchyard and control rooms; however the in-service performance when these standards are employed is largely unknown. The performance of real-time Ethernet networks and time synchronisation was assessed using a scale model of a substation automation system. The test bed was constructed from commercially available timing and protection equipment supplied by a range of vendors. Test protocols have been developed to thoroughly evaluate the performance of Ethernet networks and network based time synchronisation. The suitability of IEEE Std 1588 Precision Time Protocol (PTP) as a synchronising system for sampled values was tested in the steady state and under transient conditions. Similarly, the performance of hardened Ethernet switches designed for substation use was assessed under a range of network operating conditions. This paper presents test methods that use a precision Ethernet capture card to accurately measure PTP and network performance. These methods can be used for product selection and to assess ongoing system performance as substations age. Key findings on the behaviour of multi-function process bus networks are presented. System level tests were performed using a Real Time Digital Simulator and transformer protection relay with sampled value and Generic Object Oriented Substation Events (GOOSE) capability. These include the interactions between sampled values, PTP and GOOSE messages. Our research has demonstrated that several protocols can be used on a shared process bus, even with very high network loads. This should provide confidence that this technology is suitable for transmission substations.

The impact of 'doomed race' assumptions in the administration of Queensland's Indigenous population by the Chief Protectors of Aboriginals from 1897 to 1942

This thesis researched how the anthropological claims of the Aborigines as a 'doomed race' in the decades between 1850 and 1870 became embedded and manifested in pervasive ideologies forming the racist protectionist policies framed in Queensland's Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act - 1897. Administering the Act was the government appointed Chief Protector of Aboriginals. Conferred with extraordinary powers, Chief Protectors acted and made decisions on behalf of successive governments who displayed little interest in Aboriginal affairs. Amendments to the Act between 1897 and 1939 reflected personal agendas and attitudes towards Aborigines by respective Chief Protectors. Conclusively, the research outcomes show that the 'doomed race' theory became a subterfuge for governments to mask society's racial prejudice against Indigenous peoples and allowed governments to dispossess the Indigenous people of their traditional lands without question from white settlers.