A way forward for land-use planning to achieve policy goals by using spatial modelling scenarios

This paper investigates how demographic (socioeconomic) and land-use (physical and environmental) data can be integrated within a decision support framework to formulate and evaluate land-use planning scenarios. A case-study approach is undertaken with land-use planning scenarios for a rapidly growing coastal area in Australia, the Shire of Hervey Bay. The town and surrounding area require careful planning of the future urban growth between competing land uses. Three potential urban growth scenarios are put forth to address this issue. Scenario A ('continued growth') is based on existing socioeconomic trends. Scenario B ('maximising rates base') is derived using optimisation modelling of land-valuation data. Scenario C ('sustainable development') is derived using a number of social, economic, and environmental factors and assigning weightings of importance to each factor using a multiple criteria analysis approach. The land-use planning scenarios are presented through the use of maps and tables within a geographical information system, which delineate future possible land-use allocations up until 2021. The planning scenarios are evaluated by using a goal-achievement matrix approach. The matrix is constructed with a number of criteria derived from key policy objectives outlined in the regional growth management framework and town planning schemes. The authors of this paper examine the final efficiency scores calculated for each of the three planning scenarios and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the three land-use modelling approaches used to formulate the final scenarios.

Career counselling in Australia

Historically, perhaps because of its matching process traditions, career counselling has tended to be viewed more simplistically than other fields of counselling. However, in the latter part of the 20th century the career development industry witnessed rapid growth and seems set for a promising future. Such growth has corresponded with irreversible change in the world of work, the emergence of lifelong learning as integral to people's careers, and broader and more holistic definitions of career and career development that have gained widespread acceptance. With the increased influence of constructivism, career counselling has emerged from its vocational guidance origins as a profession in its own right. Increasingly, policymakers are recognizing the importance of career guidance and counselling in assisting to achieve policy goals related to lifelong learning, employment, and social equity. Thus, closer links have been created between policymakers and practitioner associations such as the Australian Association of Career Counsellors (AACC). Such intense focus on career guidance and counselling has also resulted in closer scrutiny of its professional standards and qualifications. Consequently, at the same time as there being increased demand for and interest in career counselling, practitioner associations are faced with issues related to redefining their roles with members, the community, and policymakers. This article will describe the changed context of career counselling, current issues such as standards and accreditation, and redefinition of the profession. The AACC's response to these challenges will be the focus of this article.

Goat meat production: Present status and future possibilities

The bulk of the world's goat population is found in South-East Asia and Africa, where goats are the major source of meat production. Unfortunately, lack of an organized goat meat industry and marketing structure in developing countries is primarily responsible for their poor export earnings compared to those in developed countries such as Australia and New Zealand. Goat meat is leaner than meat from other domestic red meat species as well as being comparable in terms of its nutritional constituents. Furthermore, there are few, if any, religious or cultural taboos limiting the consumption of goat meat. Development of a carcass grading system and a suitable infrastructure in developing countries are some of the key requirements needed to establish a sustainable goat meat industry in the world. With an increase in demand by consumers for low-fat red meat alternatives, the future of the goat meat industry looks promising.

Predicting the Paths of Peripherals: The Interaction of Identification and Future Possibilities

Two studies investigated how both degree of identification and the individual's position within the group influence aspects of group loyalty. The authors considered ingroup position in terms of both the individual's current position within a group and expectations concerning the likelihood that one's position might change., in the future. Peripheral group members learned that their acceptance by other group members would improve in the future or that they could expect rejection by other group members. Various indices of group loyalty (ingroup homogeneity, motivation to work for the group, and evaluation of a motivated group member) showed that when group members anticipated future rejection, the lower the identification the less loyal they were. In contrast, those who expected future acceptance were more loyal (more motivated to work for the group) the lower their identification. Current group behavior depends on both intragroup future expectations and level of identification.

Long-run effects of unfunded social security with earnings-dependent benefits

This paper examines the effects of unfunded social security with bequests, fertility and human capital by considering a mix of earnings-dependent and universal social security benefits. We show that social security is more likely to promote growth by reducing fertility and increasing human capital investment if its benefits are more dependent on individuals' own earnings. Through simulations, we find that the differences in the effects of social security resulting from variations in the benefit formula can be too substantial to be ignored. We also investigate the welfare effect in calibrated economies. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Identifying and predicting adolescent smokers' developmental trajectories

Very few studies have defined trajectories of smoking. In the present study, we modeled growth in adolescent smoking and empirically identified prototypical trajectories. We conceptualized escalation of smoking as a growth process and modeled rates of change and heterogeneity of these patterns using latent growth mixture modeling. The analysis identified six trajectories with low ambiguity about group membership (early rapid escalators, late rapid escalators, late moderate escalators, late slow escalators-smokers, stable puffers, and late slow escalators-puffers). A trajectory of quitters was not identified. We also examined predictors of the smoking trajectories. The predictors were assessed across the adolescent years and included variables related to smoking and other substance use, as well as a range of variables related to sociodemographic factors and mental health. Observed change in the pattern of predictors across age has implications for the mechanism of effect of these variables in relation to smoking trajectories, including predictors that differentiated among daily smokers, variables that may determine the trajectory (e.g., friends smoking), and variables that may result from the trajectory (e.g., marijuana use, less attachment to friends).

Effects of phosphorus on the growth and nitrogen fixation rates of Lyngbya majuscula: implications for management in Moreton Bay, Queensland

Significant acetylene reduction and therefore N-2 fixation was observed for Lyngbya majuscula only during dark periods, which suggests that oxygenic photosynthesis and N-2 fixation are incompatible processes for this species. Results from a series of batch and continuous-flow-culture reactor studies showed that the specific growth rate and N-2 fixation rate of L, majuscula increased with phosphate (P-PO4) concentration up to a maximum value and thereafter remained constant. The P-PO4 concentrations corresponding to the maximum N-2 fixation and maximum growth rates were -0.27 and -0.18 muM respectively and these values are denoted as the saturation values for N-2 fixation and growth respectively. Regular monitoring studies in Moreton Bay, Queensland, show that concentrations Of P-PO4 generally exceed these saturation values over a large portion of the Bay and therefore, the growth of the bloom-forming L, majuscula is potentially maximised throughout much of the Bay by the elevated P-PO4 concentrations. Results from other studies suggest that the elevated P-PO4 concentrations in the Bay can be largely attributed to discharges from waste-water treatment plants (WWTPs), and thus it is proposed that the control of the growth of L. majuscula in Moreton Bay will require a significant reduction in the P load from the WWTP discharges. If the current strategy of N load reduction for these discharges is maintained in the absence of substantial P load reduction, it is hypothesised that the growth of L, majuscula and other diazotrophs in Moreton Bay will increase in the future.

Either interleukin-12 or interferon-gamma can correct the dendritic cell defect induced by transforming growth factor beta(1) in patients with myeloma

The poor response to immunotherapy in patients with multiple myeloma (MM) indicates that a better understanding of any defects in the immune response in these patients is required before effective therapeutic strategies can be developed. Recently we reported that high potency (CMRF44(+)) dendritic cells (DC) in the peripheral blood of patients with MM failed to significantly up-regulate the expression of the B7 co-stimulatory molecules, CD80 and CD86, in response to an appropriate signal from soluble trimeric human CD40 ligand. This defect was caused by transforming growth factor beta(1) (TGFbeta(1)) and interleukin (IL)-10, produced by malignant plasma cells, and the defect was neutralized in vitro with anti-TGFbeta(1). As this defect could impact on immunotherapeutic strategies and may be a major cause of the failure of recent trials, it was important to identify a more clinically useful agent that could correct the defect in vivo. In this study of 59 MM patients, the relative and absolute numbers of blood DC were only significantly decreased in patients with stage III disease and CD80 up-regulation was reduced in both stage I and stage III. It was demonstrated that both IL-12 and interferon-gamma neutralized the failure to stimulate CD80 up-regulation by huCD40LT in vitro. IL-12 did not cause a change in the distribution of DC subsets that were predominantly myeloid (CD11c+ and CDw123-) suggesting that there would be a predominantly T-helper cell type response. The addition of IL-12 or interferon-gamma to future immunotherapy trials involving these patients should be considered.

Recalling yesterday and predicting tomorrow

Three-, 4- and 5-year-old children were asked to report something that they did do yesterday and something that they were going to do tomorrow. They were also asked to recall events that had not occurred yesterday, and predict events that would not occur tomorrow. In two studies these simple questions revealed striking age differences in the ability to report personal events from the past and the future. Only a minority of 3-year-olds but a majority of the older children were able to appropriately answer these questions. These findings substantiate the proposal that the ability to recall past events and the ability to predict future events (i.e., mental time travel), emerge in tandem between the ages of 3 and 5 years. (c) 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The effect of copper toxicity on the growth and root morphology of Rhodes grass (Chloris gayana Knuth.) in resin buffered solution culture

A solution culture experiment was conducted to examine the effect of Cu toxicity on Rhodes grass (Chloris gayana Knuth.), a pasture species used in mine-site rehabilitation. The experiment used dilute, solution culture to achieve external nutrient concentrations, which were representative of the soil solution, and an ion exchange resin to maintain stable concentrations of Cu in solution. Copper toxicity was damaging to plant roots, with symptoms ranging from disruption of the root cuticle and reduced root hair proliferation, to severe deformation of root structure. A reduction in root growth was observed at an external Cu concentration of < 1 mu M, with damage evident from an external concentration of 0.2 mu M. Critical to the success of this experiment, in quantitatively examining the relationship between external Cu concentration and plant response, was the use of ion exchange resin to buffer the concentration of Cu in solution. After some initial difficulty with pH control, stable concentrations of Cu in solution were maintained for the major period of plant growth. The development of this technique will facilitate future investigations of the effect of heavy metals on plants.

Application of DNA parentage analyses for determining relative growth rates of Penaeus japonicus families reared in commercial ponds

The ability to track large numbers of individuals and families is a key determinant of the power and precision of breeding programs, including the capacity to quantify interactions between genotypes and their environment. Until recently, most family based selective breeding programs for shrimp, and other highly fecund aquaculture species, have been restricted by the number of animals that can be physically tagged and individually selected. Advances in the development of molecular markers, such as microsatellite loci, are now providing the means to track large numbers of individuals and families in commercial production systems. In this study microsatellites, coupled with DNA parentage analyses, were used to determine the relative performance of 22 families of R japonicus reared in commercial production ponds. In the experimental design 6000 post-larvae from each of 22 families, whose maternal parents had been genotyped at 8 microsatellite loci, were stocked into each of four I ha ponds. After 6 months the ponds were harvested and a total of 6000 individuals were randomly weighed from each pond. Mean wet weight of the shrimp from one pond was significantly lower than that of the other three ponds demonstrating a possible pond effect on growth rate. The representation of families in the top 10% of each pond's weight distribution was then determined by randomly genotyping up to 300 individuals from this upper weight class. Parentage analyses based on individual genotypic data demonstrated that some families were over-represented in the top 10% in all ponds, while others were under-represented due to slower growth rates. The results also revealed some weak, but significant, male genotype x environment (G x E) interactions in the expression of shrimp growth for some families. This indicates that G x E effects may need to be factored into future R japonicus selective breeding programs. This study demonstrated the utility of DNA parentage analyses for tracking individual family performance in communally stocked shrimp pond populations and, its application to examining G x E effects on trait expression under commercial culture conditions. Crown Copyright (c) 2005 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.