Embodied women at work in neo-liberal times and places

In this article five women explore (female) embodiment in academic work in current workplaces. In a week-long collective biography workshop they produced written memories of themselves in their various workplaces and memories of themselves as children and as students. These memories then became the texts out of which the analysis was generated. The authors examine the constitutive and seductive effects of neoliberal discourses and practices, and in particular, the assembling of academic bodies as particular kinds of working bodies. They use the concept of chiasma, or crossing over, to trouble some aspects of binary thinking about bodies and about the relations between bodies and discourses. They examine the way that we simultaneously resist and appropriate, and are seduced by and appropriated within, neoliberal discourses and practices.

Quality of care of patients hospitalized with acute coronary syndromes

Background: Measurement and improvement of quality of care is a priority issue in health care. Patients hospitalized with acute coronary syndromes (ACS) constitute a high-risk population whose care, if shown to be suboptimal on the basis of available research evidence, may benefit from quality improvement interventions. Aim: To evaluate the quality of in-hospital care for patients with ACS, using explicit quality indicators. Methods: Retrospective case note review was undertaken of 397 patients admitted to three teaching hospitals in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, between 1 October 2000 and 17 April 2001. The main out-come measures were 12 process-of-care quality indicators, calculated as either: (i) the proportion of all patients who received specific interventions or (ii) the proportion of ideal patients who received -specific interventions (i.e. patients with clear indi-cations and lacking contraindications). Results: Quality indicators with values above 80% included: (i) patient selection for thrombolysis (100%) and discharge prescription of beta-blockers (84%), (ii) antiplatelet agents (94%) and (iii) lipid-lowering agents (82%). Indicators with values between 50% and 80% included: (i) timely per-formance of electrocardiogram (ECG) on admission (61%), (ii) early coronary angiography (75%), (iii) measurement of serum lipids (71%) and (iv) discharge prescription of angiotensin-converting-enzyme (ACE) inhibitors (73%). Indicators with values <50% included: (i) timely administration of thrombolysis (35%), (ii) non-invasive risk assessment (23%) and (ii) formal in-hospital and post-hospital cardiac rehabilitation (47% and 7%, respectively). Conclusion: There were delays in performing ECG and administering thrombolysis to patients who presented to emergency departments with ACS. Improvement is warranted in use of non-invasive procedures for identifying high-risk patients who may benefit from coronary revascularization as well as use of serum lipid measurements, ACE inhibitors and cardiac rehabilitation.

First clinical experience with a new non-indwelling voice prosthesis (Provox (R) NID (TM)) for voice rehabilitation after total laryngectomy

Conclusion. The new Provox(R) NID (TM) non- indwelling voice prosthesis investigated in this study provides a good option for laryngectomized patients using non- indwelling voice prostheses and can potentially improve safety and increase patients' satisfaction with their voice and speech. Objective. To investigate the feasibility of and patient satisfaction with the Provox NID non- indwelling voice prosthesis. Material and methods. Pre- and post- study questionnaires were used to evaluate the patients' former voice prosthesis and the Provox NID voice prosthesis. In addition, measurements of pull- out force, maximum phonation time and loudness were made for both voice prostheses. In vitro measurements of airflow characteristics were also made. Following a 6- week trial, all patients provided feedback on the new voice prosthesis and the results were used to further improve the Provox NID. This final version of the new voice prosthesis was subsequently trialled and evaluated by 10 patients 6 months later. Results. Overall results showed that patient satisfaction with the Provox NID non- indwelling voice prosthesis was favourable. The pull- out force for the new prosthesis was significantly higher than that for the formerly used prosthesis and its aerodynamic characteristics were better.

Sustainable Native Floriculture?

The Centre for Native Floriculture (CNF) commenced in May 2003 at The University of Queensland, Gatton. The CNF is a joint initiative with the Queensland State Government, with funding for an initial 3-year period. The phase-out of bush-picking under the South East Queensland Forests Agreement was a catalyst for the Centres establishment. The CNF vision is: ‘to help create an internationally competitive and environmentally sustainable native floriculture industry that provides significant employment opportunities in Queensland’. The Centre is comprised of three research, development and extension programs. The Value Chain Program assists native floriculture industry groups in developing efficient consumer-orientated production, handling and marketing systems for select high potential species. These value chain systems will serve as models for realizing the market potential of and regional fiscal returns on other native ornamental species identified as crop ideotypes that are sought after by end-users (e.g. florists). The Floriculture Program supports the value chain by working to enhance germplasm for the native floriculture industry through selection and breeding, optimize cultivation protocols and overcome any technical barriers that arise. Such barriers include propagation constraints, disease problems and post-harvest limitations. The Capacity Building Program operates to transfer technology and other skills (e.g. value chain management principles) to industry members, train operatives for the industry and promote native floriculture. Conservation of native flora is encouraged through cultivation and community engagement. Protection of biodiversity is advocated via regional production systems that spare natural areas and educate the public as to the biological, floricultural and aesthetic values of native flora. Eco-agricultural tourism focused on wildflowers both in nature and in cultivation is also advocated by the CNF.

Behavioural abnormalities of the hyposulphataemic Nas1 knock-out mouse

We recently generated a sodium sulphate cotransporter knock-out mouse (Nas1-/-) which has increased urinary sulphate excretion and hyposulphataemia. To examine the consequences of disturbed sulphate homeostasis in the modulation of mouse behavioural characteristics, Nas1-/- mice were compared with Nas1+/- and Nas1+/+ littermates in a series of behavioural tests. The Nas1-/- mice displayed significantly (P < 0.001) decreased marble burying behaviour (4.33 +/- 0.82 buried) when compared to Nas1+/+ (7.86 +/- 0.44) and Nas1+/- (8.40 +/- 0.37) animals, suggesting that Nas1-/- mice may have decreased object-induced anxiety. The Nas1-/- mice also displayed decreased locomotor activity by moving less distance (1.53 +/- 0.27 m, P < 0.05) in an open-field test when compared to Nas1+/+ (2.31 +/- 0.24 m) and Nas1+/- (2.15 +/- 0.19 m) mice. The three genotypes displayed similar spatiotemporal and ethological behaviours in the elevated-plus maze and open-field test, with the exception of a decreased defecation frequency by the Nas1-/- mice (40% reduction, P < 0.01). There were no significant differences between Nas1-/- and Nas1+/+ mice in a rotarod performance test of motor coordination and in the forced swim test assessing (anti-)depressant-like behaviours. This is the first study to demonstrate behavioural abnormalities in the hyposulphataemic Nas1-/- mice. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Out of the shadows: The critical sociology of sport in Australia, 1986 to 1996

The sociology of sport in Australia has reached a key point in its development. A critical tradition in the subdiscipline has been established over the last decade, but its intellectual and institutional progress has been uneven. This article briefly traces the emergence of critical sports sociology in a country outside the major centers in the UK and U.S., its break with functionalist approaches, and its attempts to overcome the neglect of local mainstream sociology. The authors proceed to examine (self-reflexively) the changes of theoretical direction and the new lines of research that are being explored in the field. A recent ''skirmish'' with narrative history over the preferred theories and methods in sports analysis is discussed as illustrative of the difficulties encountered by an energetic but small, dispersed and underorganized scholarly movement in Australia.