Performing race, culture, and gender in an Indigenous Australian women's music and dance classroom

One perpetual concern among Indigenous Australian peoples is authenticity of voice. Who has the right to speak for, and to make representations about, the knowledges and cultures of Indigenous Australian peoples? Whose voice is more authentic, and what happens to these ways of knowing when they make the journey into mainstream Western academic classrooms? In this paper, I examine these questions within the politics of “doing” Indigenous Australian studies by focusing on my own experiences as a lecturer in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit at the University of Queensland. My findings suggest that representation is a matter of problematizing positionality and, from a pedagogical standpoint, being aware of, and willing to address, the ways in which power, authority, and voice are performed and negotiated as teachers and learners of Indigenous Australian studies.

Perceptions of mental health service delivery among staff and Indigenous consumers: it's still about communication

Objective: A needs analysis was undertaken to determine the quality and effectiveness of mental health services to Indigenous consumers within a health district of Southern Queensland. The study focussed on identifying gaps in the service provision for Indigenous consumers. Tools and methodologies were developed to achieve this. Method: Data were collected through the distribution of questionnaires to the target populations: district health service staff and Indigenous consumers. Questionnaires were developed through consultation with the community and the Steering Committee in order to achieve culturally appropriate wording. Of prime importance was the adaptation of questionnaire language so it would be fully understood by Indigenous consumers. Both questionnaires were designed to provide a balanced perspective of current mental health service needs for Indigenous people within the mental health service. Results: Results suggest that existing mental health services do not adequately meet the needs of Indigenous people. Conclusions: Recommendations arising from this study indicate a need for better communication and genuine partnerships between the mental health service and Indigenous people that reflect respect of cultural heritage and recognises the importance of including Indigenous people in the design and management of mental health services. Attention to the recommendations from this study will help ensure a culturally appropriate and effective mental health service for Indigenous consumers.

Does maintaining green leaf area in sorghum improve yield under drought? II. Dry matter production and yield

Retention of green leaf area at maturity (GLAM), known as stay-green, is used as an indicator of postanthesis drought resistance in sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] breeding programs in the USA and Australia. The critical issue is whether maintaining green leaves under postanthesis drought increases grain yield in stay-green compared with senescent hybrids. Field studies were undertaken in northeastern Australia on a cracking and self-mulching gay clay. Nine closely related hybrids varying in rate of leaf senescence were grown under two water-limiting regimes, post-flowering water deficit and terminal (pre- and postflowering) water deficit, and a fully irrigated control. Under terminal water deficit, grain yield tvas correlated positively with GLAM (r = 0.75**) and negatively with rate of leaf senescence (r = -0.74**). Grain yield also increased by approximate to 0.35 Mg ha(-1) for every day that onset of leaf senescence was delayed beyond 76 DAE in the water-limited treatments. Stay-green hybrids produced 47% more postanthesis biomass than their senescent counterparts (920 vs. 624 g m(-2)) under the terminal water deficit regime. No differences in grain yield were found among eight of the nine hybrids under fully irrigated conditions, suggesting that the stay-green trait did not constrain yield in the well-watered control. The results indicate that sorghum hybrids possessing the stay-green trait have a significant yield advantage under postanthesis drought compared with hybrids not possessing this trait.

Loss of connectivity in Alzheimer's disease: an evaluation of white matter tract integrity with colour coded MR diffusion tensor imaging

A novel MRI method-diffusion tensor imaging-was used to compare the integrity of several white matter fibre tracts in patients with probable Alzheimer's disease. Relative to normal controls, patients with probable Alzheimer's disease showed a highly significant reduction in the integrity of the association white matter fibre tracts, such as the splenium of the corpus callosum, superior longitudinal fasciculus, and cingulum. By contrast, pyramidal tract integrity seemed unchanged. This novel finding is consistent with the clinical presentation of probable Alzheimer's disease, in which global cognitive decline is a more prominent feature than motor disturbance.

Variation in mortality rates in Australia: correlation with Indigenous status, remoteness and socio-economic deprivation

Background The aim of this study was to study ecological correlations between age-adjusted all-cause mortality rates in Australian statistical divisions and (1) the proportion of residents that self-identify as Indigenous, (2) remoteness, and (3) socio-economic deprivation. Methods All-cause mortality rates for 57 statistical divisions were calculated and directly standardized to the 1997 Australian population in 5-year age groups using Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data. The proportion of residents who self-identified as Indigenous was obtained from the 1996 Census. Remoteness was measured using ARIA (Accessibility and Remoteness Index for Australia) values. Socioeconomic deprivation was measured using SEIFA (Socio-Economic index for Australia) values from the ABS. Results Age-standardized all-cause mortality varies twofold from 5.7 to 11.3 per 1000 across Australian statistical divisions. Strongest correlation was between Indigenous status and mortality (r = 0.69, p < 0.001). correlation between remoteness and mortality was modest (r = 0.39, p = 0.002) as was correlation between socio-economic deprivation and mortality (r = -0.42, p = 0.001). Excluding the three divisions with the highest mortality, a multiple regression model using the logarithm of the adjusted mortality rate as the dependent variable showed that the partial correlation (and hence proportion of the variance explained) for Indigenous status was 0.03 (9 per cent; p = 0.03), for SEIFA score was -0.17 (3 per cent; p = 0.22); and for remoteness was -0.22 (5 per cent; p = 0.13). Collectively, the three variables studied explain 13 per cent of the variability in mortality. Conclusions Ecological correlation exists between all-cause mortality, Indigenous status, remoteness and disadvantage across Australia. The strongest correlation is with indigenous status, and correlation with all three characteristics is weak when the three statistical divisions with the highest mortality rates are excluded. intervention targeted at these three statistical divisions could reduce much of the variability in mortality in Australia.

Variation in cervical cancer screening by region, socio-economic, migrant and Indigenous status in women in New South Wales

The purpose of this study was to estimate the extent of association of cervical screening in NSW women with socio-economic status (SES), rurality, and proportions of non-English speaking background (NESB) and Indigenous status. Data on women who had at least one Pap test over two years (January 1998-December 1999) were obtained from the NSW Pap test Register. Each local government area (LGA) was allocated to categories of population proportions of NESB and Indigenous status, a rurality classification based on population density and remoteness, and to an SES quintile. The odds ratios (OR) of having a Pap test were estimated and confounding adjusted by multiple logistic regression analysis. Implied Pap test rates in urban NESB and in rural Indigenous women were estimated from the modelled estimates. The adjusted OR for a Pap test in large rural centres (1.14) was significantly higher than those for metropolitan or capital city residents (0.9 and 1.0 respectively). Adjusted OR for a Pap test in other rural centres (0.73) and other remote areas (0.64) were significantly lower than those for metropolitan or capital city residents. In urban populations the lowest OR were in areas with both low SES and high proportion of NESB. The lowest OR for Pap screening in rural populations occurred in the most remote areas with the highest proportion of Indigenous women. For urban NESB women the biennial Pap test rate was estimated as 50%, and for rural Indigenous women 29%, compared with the NSW average of 59%.

Entanglement of indistinguishable particles in condensed-matter physics

The concept of entanglement in systems where the particles are indistinguishable has been the subject of much recent interest and controversy. In this paper we study the notion of entanglement of particles introduced by Wiseman and Vaccaro [Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 097902 (2003)] in several specific physical systems, including some that occur in condensed-matter physics. The entanglement of particles is relevant when the identical particles are itinerant and so not distinguished by their position as in spin models. We show that entanglement of particles can behave differently than other approaches that have been used previously, such as entanglement of modes (occupation-number entanglement) and the entanglement in the two-spin reduced density matrix. We argue that the entanglement of particles is what could actually be measured in most experimental scenarios and thus its physical significance is clear. This suggests that entanglement of particles may be useful in connecting theoretical and experimental studies of entanglement in condensed-matter systems.