Indigenous climate change adaption in the Port Philip Bay region : a longitudinal investigation into the physical and cultural transformation of the bay from an indigenous and landscape architectural perspective

Currently there is a dearth of research into Australian Indigenous knowledge and their understanding of climate change especially in regard to how it fits into their world view. Recent discussions by the National Climate Change Adaptation Research facility (NCCARF) have highlighted this deficiency but also the need to source relevant research projects that may address this knowledge and perspective, and enable the incorporation of Traditional ecological Knowledge into the planning climate change adaptions strategies in the Port Phillip Bay region thereby increasing their engagement in this discussion. Within this context, this paper examines the use and understanding of landscape, both urban and regional, surrounding Port Phillip Bay and the risks and opportunities climate change adaptation brings to the local Indigenous communities. It synthesises focused interviews with the (Wurundjeri (Yarra Valley), Wathaurong Geelong-Bellarine Peninsular) & Boon Wurrung (Mornington Peninsula)) to elicit a contemporary and local response to issues raised by NCCARF but importantly to articulate a possible Indigenous position about the formation, change and direction that Port Phillip Bay and its environs should take from their perspectives. Research draws upon how these communities have adapted to climate change physically, mentally and spiritually over their long habitation of a shared geological asset and their perceptions of climate change in respect to forecasting and adapting to climate change for this century. The project looks to uncover a longitudinal perspective of change and adaptation focused upon Indigenous views of ‘country’ and traditional custodial obligations to ‘country’ including accumulated cultural and environmental histories.

Developing and presenting conceptual maps of course content

Teaching online involves providing an environment that is interactive and engaging. A large part of this is providing suitable learning resources. In this talk we will demonstrate an efficient method for producing conceptual maps of the actual course content, showing the structure of the subject for students in a visual way. The structures that result allows for learning resources to be linked in as required. The maps are developed using PowerPoint but they can be deployed in a web-friendly format or on CD-ROM.

Linking attitudes and demographics in a tourist segmentation model : a two-stage approach

Segmentation has been widely studied in tourism research e.g. Dolnicar (2004). Dawley (2006) points that commonly used segmentation variables such as demographics lead to identifiable segments which are not actionable while other useful approaches e.g. psychographics, are actionable but not identifiable. The objective of this paper is to develop a two-stage linkage approach to segmentation whereby cluster analysis using psychographic variables is conducted within demographic group. Demographic groups are selected based on propensity to travel. This research utilizes data generated from a cross-sectional self-completed survey of 49,105 Australian respondents on travel and tourism. The managerial usefulness of this segmentation is assessed. Clearly segments can be directly linked both demographically and psychographically.

Pathway planning and 'becoming somebody' : Exploring the tensions between wellbeing and credentialism with students at (educational) risk

This paper maps the policy shifts around the education and training of youth that frame how schools respond to issues of youth' at risk'. These shifts have occurred with the move from the self managing schools marked by market discourses of competition, autonomy and image management that supplanted earlier discourses of welfare and community, through to recent policies in Victoria arising from the Kirby Review of Post compulsory Education and Public Education, the Next Generation undertaken by the Labor government. These reports, and the policies emerging out of them, are producing new discourses about youth and schooling focusing on wellbeing, learning networks and more systemic support for schools at the same time as there is increased accountability and expectations of schools. Drawing on the school exclusion literature from the U.K, and using Bourdieu's notion of habitus, we examine the findings from a recent study undertaken on the Geelong Pathways Planning project, funded through a Victorian government strategy, to discuss how schools respond to such initiatives. The project explored the ways in which students in the Geelong region understood and worked with the job planning pathways program, and how service providers (schools, community education facilities, job networks etc) coordinated to meet the needs of individual youth. There was a disjuncture in the participating schools between the discourses of care and welfare for students at risk, and the actual practices and policies that ignored or excluded such students. This paper concludes with a discussion of what might be required systemically, in schools and in their relations to other education providers, to build the capacity to respond more effectively to all students.

Darumbal voyaging: intensifying use of central Queensland's Shoalwater Bay islands over the past 5000 years

Island archipelagos of the tropical coast of central Queensland include the most distant offshore islands used by Aboriginal Australians. Excavations on Collins, Otterbourne and High Peak Islands, located up to 40 km from the mainland, reveal evidence of offshore voyaging and marine specialisation in the Shoalwater Bay region for at least 5200 years. A time lag of up to 3000 years between island formation and systematic island use may reflect delayed development of key marine resources. Expansion of island use commencing around 3000–3500 years ago is linked to population increases sustained by synchronous increases in marine resources. Occupational hiatuses variously between 1000 and 3000 years ago are associated with increased ENSO activity. Intensified island use within the past 1000 years is primarily a social phenomenon associated with continuing demographic pressures and the development of more coastally and marine-focused mainland groups, with settlement patterns increasingly encompassing adjacent islands. The viability of risky offshore canoe voyaging was underwritten by two key high-return subsistence pursuits – hunting green turtles and collecting turtle eggs. In addition to subsistence and quartz quarrying, a key motivation for island visitation may have been socially restricted (e.g. ceremonial) practices.

The effect of mechanical loading on the size and shape of bone in pre-, peri-, and postpubertal girls: a study in tennis players

Exercise during growth results in biologically important increases in bone mineral content (BMC). The aim of this study was to determine whether the effects of loading were site specific and depended on the maturational stage of the region. BMC and humeral dimensions were determined using DXA and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the loaded and nonloaded arms in 47 competitive female tennis players aged 8-17 years. Periosteal (external) cross-sectional area (CSA), cortical area, medullary area, and the polar second moments of area (I_p, mm⁴) were calculated at the mid and distal sites in the loaded and nonloaded arms. BMC and I _p of the humerus were 11-14% greater in the loaded arm than in the nonloaded arm in prepubertal players and did not increase further in peri- or postpubertal players despite longer duration of loading (both, _p < 0.01). The higher BMC was the result of a 7-11% greater cortical area in the prepubertal players due to greater periosteal than medullary expansion at the midhumerus and a greater periosteal expansion alone at the distal humerus. Loading late in puberty resulted in medullary contraction. Growth and the effects of loading are region and surface specific, with periosteal apposition before puberty accounting for the increase in the bone's resistance to torsion and endocortical contraction contributing late in puberty conferring little increase in resistance to torsion. Increasing the bone's rt.osistance to torsion is achieved hy modifying bone shape and mass, not necessarily bone density.

Using community-based monitoring with GIS to create habitat maps for a marine protected area in Australia

In recent years there has been an increase in community-based monitoring programmes developed and implemented worldwide. This paper describes how the data collected from such a programme could be integrated into a Geographic Information System (GIS) to create temperate subtidal marine habitat maps. A differential Global Positioning System was utilized to accurately record the location of the trained community-based SCUBA diver data. These georeferenced data sets were then used to classify benthic habitats using an aerial photograph and digitizing techniques. This study demonstrated that trained community-based volunteers can collect data that can be utilized within a GIS to create reliable and cost-effective maps of shallow temperate subtidal rocky reef systems.

Complementing a region descriptor for shape retrieval

In this paper, we propose to complement a region descriptor for shape retrieval with a contour descriptor; the descriptor thus obtained is a composite descriptor. We use a combination of a region descriptor and contour descriptor to obtain the proposed descriptor. A contour extraction technique is also proposed; it is required for extracting the contour of the image prior to applying a contour descriptor. Normalization of descriptors is required before disparate descriptors can be combined into a single descriptor. Hence, we test the performance of two common methods for normalization of descriptors and adopt the better performing method. Experiments are performed to test the effectiveness of the proposed descriptor for retrieval of 2d images. Sets of composite descriptors, obtained by assigning different weights to the region component and the contour component, are also evaluated. Item S8 within the MPEG-7 Still Images Content Set is used for performing experiments; this dataset consists of 3621 still images. Experimental results show that the proposed descriptor is effective.

Does baiting influence the relative composition of the diet of foxes?

The changes in the diet of foxes (Vulpes vulpes) in the Jervis Bay Region was assessed following a long-term baiting program by analysing the composition of fox faecal excreta (scats). In all, 470 fox scats were collected between April and August 2003 from two baited sites, Booderee National Park (BNP) and Beecroft Peninsula, and from two unbaited sites in the southern and northern parts of Jervis Bay National Park (SJBNP and NJBNP respectively). Diet was compared between these sites and mammalian diet was also compared from scats collected before baiting in 1996 and after baiting in 2000 at Beecroft Peninsula and in 2001 at Booderee National Park. In 2003, the most common species consumed by foxes was the common ringtail possum (Pseudocheirus peregrinus), except at unbaited NJBNP, where the swamp wallaby (Wallabia bicolor) was the most frequent dietary item. Significant dietary differences were found between unbaited and baited sites, with the long-nosed bandicoot (Perameles nasuta) and P. peregrinus featuring more in the diet of foxes from the baited sites. Marked increases in the frequency of occurrence of P. peregrinus and P. nasuta in fox scats occurred from before baiting through to after baiting. Relative fox abundance, as indexed by the number of scats collected per kilometre, was lowest in Booderee, followed by Beecroft, then SJBNP, with NJBNP having the highest relative abundance of foxes. We suggest that baiting did affect the diet of foxes on both peninsulas and that the dietary changes across baiting histories were intrinsically related to an increase in abundance in some taxa as a result of relaxed predator pressure following sustained fox control. However, the lack of unbaited control sites over the whole study precludes a definitive conclusion.

Natriuretic peptides and their receptors in the brain of the amphibian, Bufo marinus

The natriuretic peptides, atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) and C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP) are members of a family of hormones that play an important role in mammalian fluid and electrolyte balance. In the periphery, natriuretic peptides reduce blood volume and subsequently blood pressure by increasing renal natriuresis and diuresis and relaxation of vascular smooth muscle. The actions of natriuretic peptides are mediated via two membrane-linked guanylate cyclase receptors (NPR-GC); natriuretic peptide receptor-A (NPR-A) which has a high affinity for ANP and BNP; and natriuretic peptide receptor-B (NPR-B)which has the greatest affinity for CNP. A third receptor not linked to guanylate cyclase, natriuretic peptide receptor-C (NPR-C) also exists, which binds to ANP, BNP and CNP with a relatively equal affinity, and is involved with clearance of the peptides from the circulation and tissues. The natriuretic peptides are present in the brain and are particularly predominant in cardiovascular and fluid and electrolyte regulating areas such as the anteroventral third ventricle (AV3V) region. This distribution has led to the suggestion natriuretic peptides play a neuromodulatory role in the central control of fluid homeostasis. Natriuretic peptides in the brain have been observed to inhibit the release of other fluid and electrolyte regulating hormones such as arginine vasopressin (AVP) and angiotensin II (AII). Natriuretic peptides have also been identified in the non-mammalian vertebrates although information regarding the distribution of the peptides and their receptors in the non-mammalian brain is limited. In amphibians, immunohistochemical studies have shown that natriuretic peptides are highly concentrated in the preoptic region of the brain, an area believed to be analogous to the A\T3\ region in mammals, which suggests that natriuretic peptides may also be involved in central fluid and electrolyte regulation in amphibians. To date, CNP is the only natriuretic peptide that has been isolated and cloned from the lower vertebrate brain, although studies on the distribution of CNP binding sites in the brain have only been performed in one fish species. Studies on the distribution of ANP binding sites in the lower vertebrate brain are similarly limited and have only been performed in one fish and two amphibian species. Moreover, the nature and distribution of the natriuretic peptide receptors has not been characterised. The current study therefore, used several approaches to investigate the distribution of natriuretic peptides and their receptors in the brain of the amphibian Bufo marinus. The topographical relationship of natriuretic peptides and the fluid and electrolyte regulating hormone arginine vasotocin was also investigated, in order to gain a greater understanding of the role of the natriuretic peptide system in the lower vertebrate brain. Immunohistochemical studies showed natriuretic peptides were distributed throughout the brain and were highly concentrated in the preoptic region and interpeduncular nucleus. No natriuretic peptide-like immunoreactivity (NP-IR) was observed in the pituitary gland. Arginine vasotocin-like immunoreactivity (AvT-IR) was confined to distinct regions, particularly in the preoptic/hypothalamic region and pituitary gland. Double labelling studies of NP-JR and AvT-IR showed the peptides are not colocalised in the same neural pathways. The distribution of natriuretic peptide binding sites using the ligands 125I-rat ANP (125I-rANP) and 125I-porcine CNP (125I-pCNP) showed different distributions in the brain of B. marinus. The specificity of binding was determined by displacement with unlabelled rat ANP, porcine CNP and C-ANF, an NPR-C specific ligand. 125I-rANP binding sites were broadly distributed throughout the brain with the highest concentration in pituitary gland, habenular, medial pallium and olfactory region. Minimal 125I-rANP binding was observed in the preoptic region. Residual 125I-rANP binding in the presence of C-ANF was observed in the olfactory region, habenular and pituitary gland indicating the presence of both NPR-GC and NPR-C in these regions. 125I-pCNP binding was limited to the olfactory region, pallium and posterior pituitary gland. All 125I-pCNP binding was displaced by C-ANF which suggests that CNP in the brain of B. marinus binds only to NPR-C. Affinity cross-linking and SDS-PAGB demonstrated two binding sites at 136 kDa and 65 kDa under reducing conditions. Guanylate cyclase assays showed 0.1 µM ANP increased cGMP levels 50% above basal whilst a 10-fold higher concentration of CNP was required to produce the same result. Molecular cloning studies revealed a 669 base pair fragment showing 91% homology with human and rat NPR-A and 89% homology with human, rat and eel NPR-B. A 432 base pair fragment showing 67% homology to the mammalian NPR-C and 58% homology with eel NPR-D was also obtained. The results show natriuretic peptides and their receptors are distributed throughout the brain of B. marinus which indicates that natriuretic peptides may participate in a range of regulatory functions throughout the brain. The potential for natriuretic peptides to regulate the release of the fluid and electrolyte regulating hormone AVT also exists due to the high number of natriuretic peptide binding sites in the posterior pituitary gland. At least two populations of natriuretic peptide receptors are present in the brain of B. marinus, one linked to guanylate cyclase and one resembling the mammalian clearance receptor. Furthermore, autoradiography and guanylate cyclase studies suggest ANP may be the major ligand in the brain of B. marinus, even though CNP is the only natriuretic peptide that has been isolated from the lower vertebrate brain to date.

Harm reduction as anarchist practice : a user’s guide to capitalism and addiction in North America

In spite of its origins as an illegal, clandestine, grassroots activity that took place either outside or in defiant opposition to state and legal authority, there is growing evidence to suggest that harm reduction in North America has become sanitized and depoliticized in its institutionalization as public health policy. Harm reduction remains the most contested and controversial aspect of drug policy on both sides of the Canada–US border, yet the institutionalization of harm reduction in each national context demonstrates a series of stark contrasts. Drawing from regional case study examples in Canada and the US, this article historically traces and politically re-maps the uneasy relationship between the autonomous political origins of harm reduction, contemporary public health policy, and the adoption of the biomedical model for addiction research and treatment in North America. Situated within a broader theoretical interrogation of the etiology of addiction, this study culminates in a politically engaged critique of traditional addiction research and drug/service user autonomy. Arguing that the founding philosophy and spirit of the harm reduction movement represents a fundamentally anarchist-inspired form of practice, this article concludes by considering tactics for reclaiming and re-politicizing the future of harm reduction in North America.