Variability of soil chemistry following irrigation with recycled municipal effluent: a Great Western vineyard case study

In areas of Australia where viticultural operations have been limited by lack of an acceptable irrigation water source, considerable expansion has occurred through the use of recycled wastewater. Despite this rapid expansion, little is known of the potential impacts of the water’s chemical constituents on soil properties, or the long-term sustainability of the vineyards using the water. In order to establish the impacts of drip irrigated recycled wastewater on a vineyard in Great Western, Australia, a study comparing the soils from the vineyard inter-row and row area was undertaken. Chemical and physical properties of the soil with varying distances from the drip emitter were also investigated. During the irrigation season, significant differences between the inter-row and row area were found for several chemical parameters including pH(1:5soil/water) (P<0.001), electrical conductivity (EC1:5) (P<0.001), water-soluble sodium (WS Na+) (P<0.001), and water-soluble chloride (WS Cl-) (P<0.001). This paper will discuss differences observed between soil properties of the inter-row and vine row area, as well as the spatial distribution of solutes under the drip emitter.

The Great Western Woodlands : an introduction to the last, vast temperate woodland on earth

At 16 million hectares, the Great Western Woodlands is the world's largest remaining temperate woodland. Here, the woodland birds so decimated in other parts of Australia still survive and thrive. The size of the area ensures that species have the capacity to follow their preferred food resources across the entire landscape. The article outlines conservation efforts in the woodlands to date.

The impacts of recycled water on Great Western vineyard soils

Recycled water has facilitated expansion of viticulture in Great Western, Victoria. The recycled water is of medium salinity, and has high concentrations of nutrients and sodium. Irrigation has resulted in increased topsoil EC, pH, and ESP. Laboratory studies identified spatially heterogeneous soils which present a risk of groundwater and offsite contamination.

Ecological connectivity or barrier fence? Critical choices on the agricultural margins of Western Australia

Western Australia's State Barrier Fence represents a continuation of colonial era attitudes that considered kangaroos, emus and dingoes as 'vermin'. Recent plans to upgrade and extend the Barrier Fence have shown little regard for ecological impacts or statutory environmental assessment processes.

Quo iure? Defendants' liability to rescuers in the tort of negligence

The year 2001 marks the 80th anniversary of Cardozo J's judgment in Wagner v International Railway Co 232 NY 176 (1921). This article examines theoretical and procedural problems associated with the concept of duty of care as a foundation for the defendant's liability in negligence to altruistic rescuers, and suggests that Cardozo J's judgment did not establish the principle that defendants owe rescuers a duty of care in negligence. It is argued that subsequent judgments failed to provide the duty of care owed to rescuers under tortious negligence with proper jurisprudential foundations. Conceptual difficulties inherent in a jurisprudential principle that would provide physically injured rescuers with a legal right to a duty of care from the defendant under the tort of negligence were compounded once compensation for negligently occasioned pure emotional distress became available. This article analyses various theories of recovery for pure psychiatric injury and the classification of rescuers into primary and secondary victims. It proposes a solution in the form of a separate cause of action on the case for liability to injured rescuers, partly based on the principle of necessity that governs the Roman action for negotiorum gestio. Cases from the United States, England and Australia are used to illustrate the similarities and differences in the development of and approaches to, the law of rescue.

Risk factors for surgically treated benign prostatic hyperplasia in Western Australia

Objective: To determine the relationship between personal, hormonal and lifestyle risk factors and surgically treated benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Materials and methods: A population-based case–control study was conducted in Western Australia (WA) on men aged 40–75 years who were surgically treated at public and private hospitals for BPH during 2001–2002. Controls were recruited from the WA electoral roll. Cases and controls were compared with regard to demographic and lifestyle factors and proxy measures of hormonal status using logistic regression. Data were available for 398 cases and 471 controls. Results: No associations with BPH were found for family history of prostate cancer in father or brother, serving in the military in a combat area, pattern of baldness, smoking status, obesity, alcohol intake and occupational physical activity. The only inverse relationship was observed with heavy alcohol drinking (>30 g/day), however, this was not statistically significant. An increased risk of BPH, not statistically significant, was observed for British-born men compared to Australian born and for history of vasectomy. The analysis was repeated after excluding 28% of controls with moderate and severe symptoms of BPH and 7% of cases with mild symptoms prior to surgery, and our results remained essentially unchanged. Conclusions:The results suggest that there are few risk factors for BPH although perhaps country of birth, vasectomy and heavy alcohol consumption may be considered further.

Improving the quality of life for patients' with co-morbidities requiring acute care

Reduced mortality rates in the Western world have created an increase in people with co-morbidities who have the potential to require acute care hospital services. These patients' chronic conditions often require complex needs that may not always be met by an acute care focus. This has created a precedent for nurses concerned with the holistic care and quality of life for these patients. This paper aims to describe the experiences of patients with co-morbidities who were admitted to hospital with an acute illness. This exploratory descriptive design selected patients in acute care who had more than one co-morbidity for approximately five years. Data was obtained from a purposive sample of twelve patients within two weeks of being discharged home using a semi-structured interview approach. Data analysis was conducted utilising Nvivo software to process the Colaizzi [1978] method. The theme clusters revealed a lack of continuity and co-ordinated care of the patients' co-morbidities during the acute admission and in discharge planning. It was seen that combinations of chronic conditions and treatments affected these patients' experience of acute care and thereafter, where conceptualisations of co-morbidity failed to accurately capture the underlying health care needs of these patients. These findings have implications for a comprehensive and considered approach to these patients' health care needs and quality of life whilst developing an improved understanding of co-morbidity for nursing. Recommendations for further research conclude this paper.

Western Australia intercultural arts research project : an investigation into culturally and linguistically diverse art and artists in Western Australia

Background: The introduction of the Australia Council's 'Arts in a Multicultural Australia Policy' (AIMAP) (2000) represented a shift in how the arts in multicultural communities were viewed. It has long been recognised that the arts play a significant role in promoting social cohesion, social policy goals, economic growth, and shaping a nation’s sense of identity. However, prior to the introduction of this policy, multicultural arts was typically seen as involving cultural retentive activities which had their roots in expressions of migrant cultural traditions. The introduction of the policy heralded the beginning of an era in which culturally and linguistically diverse (CaLD) Australians were seen as integral to the fabric of the Australian arts sector. Evaluation of the policy in 2005 however, revealed that culturally and linguistically diverse Australians were under-represented in most artistic categories. Western Australia is the most culturally diverse state in Australia. It is therefore of great interest to the State Government to have a comprehensive picture of the situation in that state. Hence, the Office of Multicultural Interests (OMI) commissioned Deakin University to undertake an investigation into the participation rates of CaLD artists in the arts sector in Western Australia.

Scope: The project examined the participation in the arts of CaLD artists in Western Australia. The arts sector comprises many more individuals and organisations than artists. For example, there are arts agency administrators, venue operators, policy officers, curators, and countless others who work together to make up the arts sector. This project focused on the artists, the individuals such as those who make music, visual art, dance and theatre performances. In the past it has been shown that CaLD populations are not well represented in the broader arts sector. This research aimed to discover the current position for CaLD artists in terms of participation in the broader arts sector and what factors influence their situation.

Outlaw governance : boxing and western law

Outlaw Governance examines two-hundred years of Western legal development associated with the highly contentious sport of boxing. Drawing on an extensive sample of reported legal cases from the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, this volume demonstrates how the sport continues to evolve and generate enormous popularity despite considerable legal, medical and political resistance. This investigation shows how laws relating to crime, negligence, contract, public licensing and media regulation have been applied to the sport and its practitioners in each jurisdiction, often with a consistently restrictive and paternalistic focus. By using popular sporting narratives to give life to each legal dispute, this text provides a critical insight into the operation and limits of Western legal method which is accessible to any reader.

Flowering ecology of a Box-Ironbark Eucalyptus community

Box-Ironbark forests occur on the inland hills of the Great Dividing Range in Australia, from western Victoria to southern Queensland. These dry, open forests are characteristically dominated by Eucalyptus species such as Red Ironbark E. tricarpa, Mugga Ironbark E. sideroxylon and Grey Box E. microcarpa. Within these forests, several Eucalyptus species are a major source of nectar for the blossom-feeding birds and marsupials that form a distinctive component of the fauna. In Victoria, approximately 83% of the original pre - European forests of the Box-Ironbark region have been cleared, and the remaining fragmented forests have been heavily exploited for gold and timber. This exploitation has lead to a change in the structure of these forests, from one dominated by large 80-100 cm diameter, widely -spaced trees to mostly small (≥40 cm DBH), more densely - spaced trees. This thesis examines the flowering ecology of seven Eucalyptus species within a Box-Ironbark community. These species are characteristic of Victorian Box-Ironbark forests; River Red Gum E. camaldulensis, Yellow Gum E. leucoxylon, Red Stringybark E. macrorhyncha, Yellow Box E. melliodora, Grey Box E. microcarpa, Red Box E. polyanthemos and Red Ironbark E. tricarpa. Specifically, the topics examined in this thesis are: (1) the floral character traits of species, and the extent to which these traits can be associated with syndromes of bird or insect pollination; (2) the timing, frequency, duration, intensity, and synchrony of flowering of populations and individual trees; (3) the factors that may explain variation in flowering patterns of individual trees through examination of the relationships between flowering and tree-specific factors of individually marked trees; (4) the influence of tree size on the flowering patterns of individually marked trees, and (5) the spatial and temporal distribution of the floral resources of a dominant species, E. tricarpa. The results are discussed in relation to the evolutionary processes that may have lead to the flowering patterns, and the likely effects of these flowering patterns on blossom-feeding fauna of the Box-Ironbark region. Flowering observations were made for approximately 100 individually marked trees for each species (a total of 754 trees). The flower cover of each tree was assessed at a mean interval of 22 (+ 0.6) days for three years; 1997, 1998 and 1999. The seven species of eucalypt each had characteristic flowering seasons, the timing of which was similar each year. In particular, the timing of peak flowering intensity was consistent between years. Other spatial and temporal aspects of flowering patterns for each species, including the percentage of trees that flowered, frequency of flowering, intensity of flowering and duration of flowering, displayed significant variation between years, between forest stands (sites) and between individual trees within sites. All seven species displayed similar trends in flowering phenology over the study, such that 1997 was a relatively 'poor' flowering year, 1998 a 'good' year and 1999 an 'average' year in this study area. The floral character traits and flowering seasons of the seven Eucalyptus species suggest that each species has traits that can be broadly associated with particular pollinator types. Differences between species in floral traits were most apparent between 'summer' and 'winter' flowering species. Winter - flowering species displayed pollination syndromes associated with bird pollination and summer -flowering species displayed syndromes more associated with insect pollination. Winter - flowering E. tricarpa and E. leucoxylon flowers, for example, were significantly larger, and contained significantly greater volumes of nectar, than those of the summer flowering species, such as E. camaldulensis and E. melliodom. An examination of environmental and tree-specific factors was undertaken to investigate relationships between flowering patterns of individually marked trees of E. microcarpa and E. tricarpa and a range of measures that may influence the observed patterns. A positive association with tree-size was the most consistent explanatory variable for variation between trees in the frequency and intensity of flowering. Competition from near-neighbours, tree health and the number of shrubs within the canopy area were also explanatory variables. The relationship between tree size and flowering phenology was further examined by using the marked trees of all seven species, selected to represent five size-classes. Larger trees (≥40 cm DBH) flowered more frequently, more intensely, and for a greater duration than smaller trees. Larger trees provide more abundant floral resources than smaller trees because they have more flowers per unit area of canopy, they have larger canopies in which more flowers can be supported, and they provide a greater abundance of floral resources over the duration of the flowering season. Heterogeneity in the distribution of floral resources was further highlighted by the study of flowering patterns of E. tricarpa at several spatial and temporal scales. A total of approximately 5,500 trees of different size classes were sampled for flower cover along transects in major forest blocks at each of five sample dates. The abundance of flowers varied between forest blocks, between transects and among tree size - classes. Nectar volumes in flowers of E. tricarpa were sampled. The volume of nectar varied significantly among flowers, between trees, and between forest stands. Mean nectar volume per flower was similar on each sample date. The study of large numbers of individual trees for each of seven species was useful in obtaining quantitative data on flowering patterns of species' populations and individual trees. The timing of flowering for a species is likely to be a result of evolutionary selective forces tempered by environmental conditions. The seven species' populations showed a similar pattern in the frequency and intensity of flowering between years (e.g. 1998 was a 'good' year for most species) suggesting that there is some underlying environmental influence acting on these aspects of flowering. For individual trees, the timing of flowering may be influenced by tree-specific factors that affect the ability of each tree to access soil moisture and nutrients. In turn, local weather patterns, edaphic and biotic associations are likely to influence the available soil moisture. The relationships between the timing of flowering and environmental conditions are likely to be complex. There was no evidence that competition for pollinators has a strong selective influence on the timing of flowering. However, as there is year-round flowering in this community, particular types of pollinators may be differentiated along a temporal gradient (e.g. insects in summer, birds in winter). This type of differentiation may have resulted in the co-evolution of floral traits and pollinator types, with flowers displaying adaptations that match the morphologies and energy requirements of the most abundant pollinators in any particular season. Spatial variation in flowering patterns was evident at several levels. This is likely to occur because of variation in climate, weather patterns, soil types, degrees of disturbance and biotic associations, which vary across the Box-Ironbark region. There was no consistency among sites between years in flowering patterns suggesting that factors affecting flowering at this level are complex. Blossom-feeding animals are confronted with a highly spatially and temporally patchy resource. This patchiness has been increased with human exploitation of these forests leading to a much greater abundance of small trees and fewer large trees. Blossom-feeding birds are likely to respond to this variation in different ways, depending upon diet-breadth, mobility and morphological and behavioural characteristics. Future conservation of the blossom-feeding fauna of Box-Ironbark forests would benefit from the retention of a greater number of large trees, the protection and enhancement of existing remnants, and revegetation with key species, such as E. leucoxylon, E. microcarpa and E. tricarpa. The selective clearing of summer flowering species, which occur on the more fertile areas, may have negatively affected the year-round abundance and distribution of floral resources. The unpredictability of the spatial distribution of flowering patches within the region means that all remnants are likely to be important foraging areas in some years.

Western propaganda models reconsidered : the "Catherine Whell" of censorship circumvention in developing world internal conflicts

This study is a deep-text analysis of military censorship applied to the national press in the Sri Lankan conflict. We examine press coverage of two Sri Lankan military operations, namely Operation Jayasikurui (1997) and the Capture of Elephant Pass (2000), to identify patterns of signification that help us construct a novel theory of conflict reporting under censorship within the context of ethnic, intrastate conflict. Our study shows that Sri Lankan newspapers, while abiding by censorship regulations, contradictorily also manoeuvred around these regulations as if censorship did not exist. Noteworthy were the censorship circumvention techniques that were used. For example, journalists taught readers how to ‘read’ blank space. They used commentary to educate readers how to read the straight news. They used conflict frames to overcome bias towards official viewpoints. They used multi-source confirmation to avoid pre-dominance of official views. They used respectful words rather than demonised opponents. Great attention
was paid to victims of the conflict, destruction of life and property, and civil society. Our findings do not accord well with previous theoretical models of the media role in society and of press censorship under conflict. The Sri Lankan press is highly intertwined within its cultural context and follows its own value system. We propose the ‘Catherine Wheel Model of Censorship Circumvention’ about press behaviour in times of internal conflict. Our model attempts to explain internal conflict within the developing world context in which the press system is based deeply in culture and is more accustomed to circumventing censorship than obeying it.

Dean's great discovery : multiplication, division and fractions

Multiplication, division and fractions are 'hotspots' for students in the middle years with many students experiencing difficulty with these concepts (Siemon, Virgona & Cornielle, 2001). Arrays effectively model multiplication and help children develop multiplicative thinking and learn multiplication facts (Young-Loveridge, 2005). In this article we show how an open-ended array problem enabled a Grade 5/6 student to think about the relationship between multiplication, division and fractions. In the article we describe the project and 'hot spot' mathematical tasks that we used and provide some background on multiplicative thinking before presenting the case and a commentary (Western Melbourne Roundtable, 1997) of one student's exploration. This case was documented whilst we were working on a collaborative project with a team of upper primary teachers and a group of pre-service teachers at a local primary school.

Opportunistic destinations : transforming railway stations into sustainable urban centres

All over the world stations are changing to become new urban centres and destinations. Some flagship projects, like Atocha in Madrid or Grand Central in Manhattan, make great destinations with shops, restaurants, museums and exhibition spaces. The urban spaces around them have been redesigned to provide excellent public areas and rationalise functional needs. Suburban stations also have the potential to follow the same trend. After all, stations are places of high symbolic value, they are central to the life of many people and include all sections of society, while generating high footfall and stimulating the economy. For this reason, Station Master Planning must focus on 'place' as well as 'product' to respond to the multiple opportunities. Considering the need that designs of stations need to be sustainable and preserve and value the public spaces, this paper reflects on the case study of the station master plan of the Tottenham Hale Station in London where SKM Colin Buchanan applied opportunistic urban design principles and created a new, significant urban square for north London and a local destination for leisure and investment. The design methodology are transferred to the local context of Melbourne where the unique spatial circumstances of suburban stations along the New Regional Rail Link line are reviewed, highlighting how these stations possesses specific opportunistic and sustainable urban design answers.