Upper circulation deck, Mooloomba House, Point Lookout, North Stradbroke Island

View along circulation deck to belvedere (deck) beyond.

Inala Darra Peace Committee during Hiroshima Day 1964, Brisbane

Members of the Inala Darra Peace Committee during Hiroshima Day 1964, Brisbane.

Graceville and District Peace Committee members with banner during Hiroshima Day 1964, Brisbane

Graceville and District Peace Committee members with banner during Hiroshima Day 1964, Brisbane, Australia.

WWF Peace Committee float during Mayday procession in Brisbane, Australia

WWF Peace Committee float during Mayday procession in Brisbane, Australia. Banners include Drop prices not bombs and World peace for a better life. Men women and children are aboard the truck, some in costume.

A multi-sectorial committee in directing HIV/AIDS-specific interventions in the occupational setting: An example from South Africa

We present a descriptive analysis of a mechanism to coordinate and implement human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention and care in the occupational setting. The mechanism we describe is a multidisciplinary committee composed of stakeholders in the occupational health environment including unions, management, medical researchers, and medical personnel. The site chosen for the analysis was a South African sugar mill in rural KwaZulu-Natal. The factory is situated in an area of high HIV seroprevalence and has a workforce of 400 employees. The committee was initiated to coordinate a combined prevention-care initiative. The issues that were important in the formation of the committee included confidentiality, trust, and the traditional roles of the stakeholder relationships. When these points were addressed through the focus on a common goal, the committee was able to function in its role as a coordinating body. Central to this success was the inclusion of all stakeholders in the process, including those with traditionally opposing, interests and legitimacy conferred by the stakeholders. This committee was functionally effective and demonstrated the benefit of a freestanding committee dedicated to addressing HIV/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) issues. We describe the implementation and feasibility of a multisectoral committee in directing HIV/AIDS initiatives in the occupational setting in rural South Africa.

The Australian Universities Teaching Committee project in 'Learning Outcomes and Curriculum Development in Psychology'

The Australian Universities Teaching Committee (AUTC) funds projects intended to improve the quality of teaching and learning in specific disciplinary areas. The project brief for 'Learning Outcomes and Curriculum Development in Psychology' for 2004/2005 was to 'produce an evaluative overview of courses ... with a focus on the specification and assessment of learning outcomes and ... identify strategic directions for universities to enhance teaching and learning'. This project was awarded to a consortium from The University of Queensland, University of Tasmania, and Southern Cross University. The starting point for this project is an analysis of the scientist-practitioner model and its role in curriculum design, a review of current challenges at a conceptual level, and consideration of the implications of recent changes to universities relating to such things as intemationalisation of programs and technological advances. The project will seek to bring together stakeholders from around the country in order to survey the widest possible range of perspectives on the project brief requirements. It is hoped also to establish mechanisms for fiiture scholarly discussion of these issues, including the establishment of an Australian Society for the Teaching of Psychology and an annual conference.

Effects of antenatal corticosteroid treatment on pulmonary ventilation and circulation in neonatal lambs with hypoplastic lungs

Our aim was to determine whether antenatal corticosteroids improve perinatal adaptation of the pulmonary circulation in lambs with lung hypoplasia (LH). LH was induced in 12 ovine fetuses between 105 and 140 days gestation (term similar to 147 days); in 6 of these the ewe was given a single dose of betamethasone (11.4 mg im) 24 hr before delivery (LH + B). All lambs, including a control group (n = 6), were delivered at similar to 140 days and ventilated for 2 hr during which arterial pressures, pulmonary blood flow (PBF), and ventilating pressure and flow were recorded. During ventilation, respiratory system compliance was lower in both LH + B and LH groups than in controls. Pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) was lower in LH + B lambs than in LH lambs and similar to controls; PBF was reduced in LH lambs but was restored to control levels by betamethasone. The mean density of small arteries of LH + B lambs was similar to that of LH lambs (P = 0.06) and lower than in controls; the thickness of the media of small pulmonary arteries from LH + B lambs was similar to that in LH lambs and thicker than in controls. VEGF mRNA levels were not different between groups. PDGF mRNA levels in LH + B lambs were higher than in LH lambs; a similar trend (P = 0.06) was seen for PECAM-1. SP-C mRNA levels were greater in both LH and LH + B lambs than in controls. Effects of betamethasone were greater on indices of pulmonary circulation than ventilation. We conclude that a single dose of maternal betamethasone 24 hr prior to birth has significant favorable effects on the postnatal adaptation of the pulmonary circulation in lambs with LH.