Who's afraid of designer babies?

Australian scientists in Sydney made medical history by creating a life-saving brother for a child with an incurable genetic disease. Features the case of a Tasmanian couple who, with their help, have this life-saving baby, at their third try. The pioneering IVF treatment, which is legal only in N.S.W., hit the news headlines, sparking an ethical storm. Examines the moral and ethical issues that genetic manipulation raises, including the potential uses and misuses of genetic technology. Raises also the spectre of an extreme form of eugenics, as seen in the World War II Nazi push to create a master race through human genetics. Some view eugenics as another form of PGD. Presents the diverse views of eminent ethicists and the Catholic Church, world wide.

Body dissatisfaction and body change behaviors in Chile : the role of sociocultural factors

With interest in body image and body change behaviors growing around the world, there has been surprisingly little research conducted in Latin America on these issues. In order to gain some understanding of them in this context, this study investigated body image and body change behaviors, and the sociocultural factors that may influence them, among 337 Chilean adolescents aged 12–18 years. Participants completed a questionnaire that assessed BMI, body dissatisfaction, strategies to lose weight and strategies to increase muscle bulk. In addition, perceived pressure from family, peers, and the media to change body shape was evaluated. Results were partially consistent with those reported in Western nations. Girls were found to report greater body dissatisfaction than boys, but no difference was found between males and females in perceived pressure from adults in the family or from older siblings/cousins to lose weight. However, girls experienced higher levels of perceived pressure to lose weight from the media than boys, and boys reported greater perceived pressure from peers to lose weight than girls, and more pressure than girls from all sources to increase muscle bulk. These findings are discussed in relation to research conducted in other contexts, and it is concluded that findings from other locations may not be applied universally.

Decimals and percent - walls, and clocks

The diagrams of fraction-walls, and beyond, may be useful aids for teaching those fascinating topics of fractions, and their cousins decimals and percentages.

Predicting subjective quality of life

This thesis showed that as samples move from a homeostatic position of high-normal subjective quality of life, to normal, to low-normal subjective quality of life, the contributions of personality (extroversion and neuroticism) and perceived control (approach and avoidant control) to the maintenance of subjective quality of life becomes more complicated

Case study demonstration of the family context of anxiety disorders across the lifespan and the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioural interventions

This portfolio aims to explore some of the issues related to the treatment of anxiety disorders in clinical practice by reviewing the literature on anxiety disorders across the lifespan and presenting four clinical case studies of individuals with different anxiety disorders.

Tantalus and the tyranny of territory : pursuing the dream of parity in rural and metropolitan population health outcomes through primary health care programs

Many health professionals and rural health academics are motivated by the challenge of achieving equitable access to health care in rural communities with the implicit vision that fairer access to services might ultimately lead to more equitable health outcomes for people living in rural and remote settings. The purpose of this paper is to put the issue of rural and urban health outcome parity into perspective and assess recent progress towards achieving the ultimate goal of improving rural health status. I will also explore ways in which rural communities might increase their access to and use of primary health care revenue in the future to improve community health outcomes. While some improvements have been achieved across the rural health system in recent times, the fundamental problem of maintaining infrastructure to service community needs in rural areas remains as daunting as ever. Extensive evidence has now been assembled to show that rural people generally enjoy a much lower standard of health care, health outcomes and life expectancy than their urban cousins. The question underlying all of this evidence, however, is... must this always be so? Is it possible to redress the current inequities between rural and urban populations and could new primary health care initiatives, such as the Enhanced Primary Care (EPC) program, be vehicles for achieving more equitable health care arrangements and health outcomes for people living in rural communities?

In search of the philosopher’s stone: alchemy, ARM and the Sydney Opera House

Since the Middle Ages, alchemists sought the Philosopher’s Stone; a mythical elixir of life and longevity and essential for – chrysopoeia – the transmutation of lead to gold, of base metals to noble ones. The Sydney Opera House is widely regarded within the discipline of architecture as a ‘flawed masterpiece;’ its iconic exterior celebrated as Sydney’s golden architectural icon, while the interiors by Peter Hall, are largely criticised as the leaden cousins of the building’s original major and minor hall designs. Like the mythical Philosopher’s Stone, Jørn Utzon’s designs for the interior of the building remained elusive until Unseen Utzon (1994/5). This exhibition revealed the major hall (now the Concert Hall) as an expanse lined with gold and red-radiating waves, and the minor hall (now the Opera Theatre) awash in silver and blue, an apparition of Uzton’s genius and completion of his original vision.