Converse Bergmann cline in a eucalyptus herbivore, paropsis atomaria olivier (coleoptera: chrysomelidae) : phenotypic plasticity or local adaptation?

Aim To measure latitude-related body size variation in field-collected Paropsis atomaria Olivier (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) individuals and to conduct common-garden experiments to determine whether such variation is due to phenotypic plasticity or local adaptation. Location Four collection sites from the east coast of Australia were selected for our present field collections: Canberra (latitude 35°19' S), Bangalow (latitude 28°43' S), Beerburrum (latitude 26°58' S) and Lowmead (latitude 24°29' S). Museum specimens collected over the past 100 years and covering the same geographical area as the present field collections came from one state, one national and one private collection. Methods Body size (pronotum width) was measured for 118 field-collected beetles and 302 specimens from collections. We then reared larvae from the latitudinal extremes (Canberra and Lowmead) to determine whether the size cline was the result of phenotypic plasticity or evolved differences (= local adaptation) between sites. Results Beetles decreased in size with increasing latitude, representing a converse Bergmann cline. A decrease in developmental temperature produced larger adults for both Lowmead (low latitude) and Canberra (high latitude) individuals, and those from Lowmead were larger than those from Canberra when reared under identical conditions. Main conclusions The converse Bergmann cline in P. atomaria is likely to be the result of local adaptation to season length.

Consonance in urban form : morphogenetic analysis of architectural elements within urban forms

"By understanding how places have evolved, we are better able to guide development and change in the urban fabric and avoid the incongruity created by so much of the modern environment" (MacCormac, R (1996), An anatomy of London, Built Environment, Dec 1996 This paper proposes a theory on the relevance of mapping the evolutionary aspects of historical urban form in order to develop a measure of evaluating architectural elements within urban forms, through to deriving parameters for new buildings. By adopting Conzen's identification of the tripartite division of urban form; the consonance inurban form of a particular palce resides in the elements and measurable values tha makeup the fine grain aggregates of urban form. The paper will demonstrate throughthe case study of Brisbane in Australia, a method of conveying these essential components that constitute a cities continuity of form and active usage. By presenting the past as a repository of urban form characteristics, it is argued that concise architectural responses that stem from such knowledge should result in an engaged urban landscape. The essential proposition is that urban morphology is a missing constituent in the process of urban design, and that the approach of the geographical discipline to the study of urban morphology holds the key to providing the evidence of urban growth characteristics, and this methodology suggests possibilities for an architectural approach that can comprehensively determine qualitative aspects of urban buildings. The relevance of this research lies in a potential to breach the limitations of current urban analysis whilst continuing the evolving currency of urban morphology as an integral practice in the design of our cities.

The role of intermediaries in the implementation and development of asynchronous rural access

In Orissa state, India, the DakNet system supports asynchronous Internet communication between an urban hub and rural nodes. DakNet is noteworthy in many respects, not least in how the system leverages existing transport infrastructure. Wi-Fi transceivers mounted on local buses send and receive user data from roadside kiosks, for later transfer to/from the Internet via wireless protocols. This store-and-forward system allows DakNet to offer asynchronous communication capacity to rural users at low cost. The original ambition of the DakNet system was to provide email and SMS facilities to rural communities. Our 2008 study of the communicative ecology surrounding the DakNet system revealed that this ambition has now evolved – in response to market demand – to the extent that e-shopping (rather than email) has become the primary driver behind the DakNet offer.

The role of extreme sports in lifestyle enhancement and wellness

Alternative sports are fast becoming the physical activity of choice. Participation rates are even outstripping more traditional activities such as golf. At their most extreme there is no second chance, the most likely outcome of a mismanaged error or accident is death. At this level participants enjoy activities such as B.A.S.E. (Buildings, Antennae, Space, Earth) jumping, big wave surfing, waterfall kayaking, extreme skiing, rope-free climbing and extreme mountaineering. Probably the most common explanation for participation in extreme sports is the notion that participation is just a matter of some people‟s need to take unnecessary risks. This study reports on findings that indicate a more positive experience. A phenomenological method was used via unstructured interviews with 15 extreme sports participants (ages 30 – 72 years) and other firsthand accounts. Extreme sport participants directly related their experience to personal transformations that spill over to life in general. Athletes report feelings of deep psychological wellbeing and meaningfulness. The extreme sport experience enables a participant to break through personal barriers and develop an understanding of their own resourcefulness and emotional, cognitive, physical and spiritual capabilities. Furthermore such a breakthrough also seems to trigger a change in personal philosophy or view on life. The extreme sport experience transforms a participant though not in terms of working towards an external (social or cultural) perception of identity or towards some constructed perception of an ideal self, but by touching something within.

Дизайнът на взаимодействията, масовата комуникация и предизвикателствата на споделеното експертно знание (Interaction Design, Mass Communication And the Challenge of Distributed Expertise)

This paper considers some of the implications of the rise of design as a master-metaphor of the information age. It compares the terms 'interaction design' and 'mass communication', suggesting that both can be seen as a contradiction in terms, inappropriately preserving an industrial-age division between producers and consumers. With the shift from mass media to interactive media, semiotic and political power seems to be shifting too - from media producers to designers. This paper argues that it is important for the new discipline of 'interactive design' not to fall into habits of thought inherited from the 'mass' industrial era. Instead it argues for the significance, for designers and producers alike, of what I call 'distributed expertise' -including social network markets, a DIY-culture, user-led innovation, consumer co-created content, and the use of Web 2.0 affordances for social, scientific and creative purposes as well as for entertainment. It considers the importance of the growth of 'distributed expertise' as part of a new paradigm in the growth of knowledge, which has 'evolved' through a number of phases, from 'abstraction' to 'representation', to 'productivity'. In the context of technologically mediated popular participation in the growth of knowledge and social relationships, the paper argues that design and media-production professions need to cross rather than to maintain the gap between experts and everyone else, enabling all the agents in the system to navigate the shift into the paradigm of mass productivity.

To have and have not (you don't know what you've got till it's gone)

John Hartley uses the TV show "Dead Like Me" to show how far TV has evolved from the broadcast era.

Leading indigenous education in a remote location : reflections on teaching to be "proud and deadly"

This thesis is a critical reflection of the author’s time as a Principal of an Indigenous state school from 2003-2004. The purpose is to reassess the impact of her principalship in terms of the staff, students and Community change that affected learning outcomes at the school and to reanalyse to what actions and to whom positive changes could be attributed. This thesis reflects and identifies, in light of the literature, strategies which were effective in enhancing student learning outcomes. The focus of this thesis was the Doongal State School*, its students, staff and facilities. The author will attempt to draw out theoretical frameworks in terms of: (1) what changed educationally in Doongal State School, (2) what seemed to be important in the Principal’s role, (3) the processes that took place, and (4) the effect of being non- Indigenous and a female. Overall, the author undertook this critical reflection in order to understand and embrace educational practices that will (a) lessen the gap between the academic outcomes achieved by Indigenous and non-Indigenous students, and (b) enhance life choices for Indigenous children. The findings indicate that principal leadership is critical for success in Indigenous schools and is the centrepiece of the models developed to explain improvement at Doongal State School. School factors, Principal Leadership factors, Change factors and factors relating to being a non-Indigenous female principal, which, when implemented, will lead to improved educational outcomes for Indigenous students, have evolved as a result of this thesis. Principal Leadership factors were found to be the enablers for the effective implementation of the key components for success.

The Special Broadcasting Service after 30 years : public service media and new ways of thinking about media and citizenship

This article considers the distinctive ways in which the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) has evolved over its history since 1980, and how it has managed competing claims to being a multicultural yet broad-appeal broadcaster, and a comprehensive yet low-cost media service. It draws attention to the challenges presented by a global rethinking of the nature of citizenship and its relationship to media, for which SBS is well placed as a leader, and the challenges of online media for traditional public service media models, where SBS has arguably been a laggard, particularly when compared with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). It notes recent work that has been undertaken by the author with others into user-created content strategies at SBS and how its online news and current affairs services have been evolving in recent years.

Biomechanical aspects of bone microstructure in vertebrates : potential approach to paleontological investigations

The biomechanical or biophysical principles can be applied to study biological structures in their modern or fossil form. Bone is an important tissue in paleontological studies as it is a commonly preserved element in most fossil vertebrates, and can often allow its microstructures such as lacuna and canaliculi to be studied in detail. In this context, the principles of Fluid Mechanics and Scaling Laws have been previously applied to enhance the understanding of bone microarchitecture and their implications for the evolution of hydraulic structures to transport fluid. It has been shown that the microstructure of bone has evolved to maintain efficient transport between the nutrient supply and cells, the living components of the tissue. Application of the principle of minimal expenditure of energy to this analysis shows that the path distance comprising five or six lamellar regions represents an effective limit for fluid and solute transport between the nutrient supply and cells; beyond this threshold, hydraulic resistance in the network increases and additional energy expenditure is necessary for further transportation. This suggests an optimization of the size of bone’s building blocks (such as osteon or trabecular thickness) to meet the metabolic demand concomitant to minimal expenditure of energy. This biomechanical aspect of bone microstructure is corroborated from the ratio of osteon to Haversian canal diameters and scaling constants of several mammals considered in this study. This aspect of vertebrate bone microstructure and physiology may provide a basis of understanding of the form and function relationship in both extinct and extant taxa.

The planning of airport regions and National Aviation Policy Issues and challenges in the Australian experience 2008-2009

The planning of airports has long been contentious because of their localisation of negative impacts. The globalisation, commercialisation and deregulation of the aviation industry has unleashed powerful new economic forces both on and offairport. Over the last two decades, many airports have evolved into airport cities located at the heart of the wider aerotropolis region. This shifts the appropriate scale of planning analysis towards broader regional concerns. However,governments have been slow to respond and airport planning usually remains poorly integrated with local, city and regional planning imperatives. The Australian experience exemplifies the divide. The privatization of major Australian airports from 1996 has seen billions of dollars spent on new airside and landside infrastructure but with little oversight from local and state authorities because the ultimate authority for on-airport development is the Federal Minister for Transport. Consequently, there have been growing tensions in many major airport regions between the private airport lessee and the broader community, exacerbated by both the building of highly conspicuous non-aeronautical developments and growing airport area congestion. This paper examines the urban planning content of Australia’s national aviation policy review (2008-09) with reference to current and potential opportunities for all-of-region collaboration in the planning process.

The educational affordances of generative media in arts education

Network Jamming systems provide real-time collaborative media performance experiences for novice or inexperienced users. In this paper we will outline the theoretical and developmental drivers for our Network Jamming software, called jam2jam. jam2jam employs generative algorithmic techniques with particular implications for accessibility and learning. We will describe how theories of engagement have directed the design and development of jam2jam and show how iterative testing cycles in numerous international sites have informed the evolution of the system and its educational potential. Generative media systems present an opportunity for users to leverage computational systems to make sense of complex media forms through interactive and collaborative experiences. Generative music and art are a relatively new phenomenon that use procedural invention as a creative technique to produce music and visual media. These kinds of systems present a range of affordances that can facilitate new kinds of relationships with music and media performance and production. Early systems have demonstrated the potential to provide access to collaborative ensemble experiences to users with little formal musical or artistic expertise.This presentation examines the educational affordances of these systems evidenced by field data drawn from the Network Jamming Project. These generative performance systems enable access to a unique kind of music/media’ ensemble performance with very little musical/ media knowledge or skill and they further offer the possibility of unique interactive relationships with artists and creative knowledge through collaborative performance. Through the process of observing, documenting and analysing young people interacting with the generative media software jam2jam a theory of meaningful engagement has emerged from the need to describe and codify how users experience creative engagement with music/media performance and the locations of meaning. In this research we observed that the musical metaphors and practices of ‘ensemble’ or collaborative performance and improvisation as a creative process for experienced musicians can be made available to novice users. The relational meanings of these musical practices afford access to high level personal, social and cultural experiences. Within the creative process of collaborative improvisation lie a series of modes of creative engagement that move from appreciation through exploration, selection, direction toward embodiment. The expressive sounds and visions made in real-time by improvisers collaborating are immediate and compelling. Generative media systems let novices access these experiences with simple interfaces that allow them to make highly professional and expressive sonic and visual content simply by using gestures and being attentive and perceptive to their collaborators. These kinds of experiences present the potential for highly complex expressive interactions with sound and media as a performance. Evidence that has emerged from this research suggest that collaborative performance with generative media is transformative and meaningful. In this presentation we draw out these ideas around an emerging theory of meaningful engagement that has evolved from the development of network jamming software. Primarily we focus on demonstrating how these experiences might lead to understandings that may be of educational and social benefit.

Private television production companies in China : new strength in the market

As most people know, all mass media, including television stations, are state-owned in China. However, with the economic reform in the broadcasting system and China entering the World Trade Organization (WTO), the television industry has expanded greatly and the television market has evolved, with an ensuing growth of competition. The players in China’s television industry have changed from a monologue of TV stations to stations that hold multiple roles and a growth of production companies and overseas television companies although the TV stations still dominate China’s television market. Private television production companies are, however, becoming increasingly active in this market.

Porous polyurethane coatings bonded onto surface-modified titanium substrates for the growth of an endothelial cell layer

Cardiovascular diseases refer to the class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels (arteries and veins). Examples of medical devices for treating the cardiovascular diseases include ventricular assist devices (VADs), artificial heart valves and stents. Metallic biomaterials such as titanium and its alloy are commonly used for ventricular assist devices. However, titanium and its alloy show unacceptable thrombosis, which represents a major obstacle to be overcome. Polyurethane (PU) polymer has better blood compatibility and has been used widely in cardiovascular devices. Thus one aim of the project was to coat a PU polymer onto a titanium substrate by increasing the surface roughness, and surface functionality. Since the endothelium of a blood vessel has the most ideal non-thrombogenic properties, it was the target of this research project to grow an endothelial cell layer as a biological coating based on the tissue engineering strategy. However, seeding endothelial cells on the smooth PU coating surfaces is problematic due to the quick loss of seeded cells which do not adhere to the PU surface. Thus it was another aim of the project to create a porous PU top layer on the dense PU pre-layer-coated titanium substrate. The method of preparing the porous PU layer was based on the solvent casting/particulate leaching (SCPL) modified with centrifugation. Without the step of centrifugation, the distribution of the salt particles was not uniform within the polymer solution, and the degree of interconnection between the salt particles was not well controlled. Using the centrifugal treatment, the pore distribution became uniform and the pore interconnectivity was improved even at a high polymer solution concentration (20%) as the maximal salt weight was added in the polymer solution. The titanium surfaces were modified by alkli and heat treatment, followed by functionlisation using hydrogen peroxide. A silane coupling agent was coated before the application of the dense PU pre-layer and the porous PU top layer. The ability of the porous top layer to grow and retain the endothelial cells was also assessed through cell culture techniques. The bonding strengths of the PU coatings to the modified titanium substrates were measured and related to the surface morphologies. The outcome of the project is that it has laid a foundation to achieve the strategy of endothelialisation for the blood compatibility of medical devices. This thesis is divided into seven chapters. Chapter 2 describes the current state of the art in the field of surface modification in cardiovascular devices such as ventricular assist devices (VADs). It also analyses the pros and cons of the existing coatings, particularly in the context of this research. The surface coatings for VADs have evolved from early organic/ inorganic (passive) coatings, to bioactive coatings (e.g. biomolecules), and to cell-based coatings. Based on the commercial applications and the potential of the coatings, the relevant review is focused on the following six types of coatings: (1) titanium nitride (TiN) coatings, (2) diamond-like carbon (DLC) coatings, (3) 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine (MPC) polymer coatings, (4) heparin coatings, (5) textured surfaces, and (6) endothelial cell lining. Chapter 3 reviews the polymer scaffolds and one relevant fabrication method. In tissue engineering, the function of a polymeric material is to provide a 3-dimensional architecture (scaffold) which is typically used to accommodate transplanted cells and to guide their growth and the regeneration of tissue. The success of these systems is dependent on the design of the tissue engineering scaffolds. Chapter 4 describes chemical surface treatments for titanium and titanium alloys to increase the bond strength to polymer by altering the substrate surface, for example, by increasing surface roughness or changing surface chemistry. The nature of the surface treatment prior to bonding is found to be a major factor controlling the bonding strength. By increasing surface roughness, an increase in surface area occurs, which allows the adhesive to flow in and around the irregularities on the surface to form a mechanical bond. Changing surface chemistry also results in the formation of a chemical bond. Chapter 5 shows that bond strengths between titanium and polyurethane could be significantly improved by surface treating the titanium prior to bonding. Alkaline heat treatment and H2O2 treatment were applied to change the surface roughness and the surface chemistry of titanium. Surface treatment increases the bond strength by altering the substrate surface in a number of ways, including increasing the surface roughness and changing the surface chemistry. Chapter 6 deals with the characterization of the polyurethane scaffolds, which were fabricated using an enhanced solvent casting/particulate (salt) leaching (SCPL) method developed for preparing three-dimensional porous scaffolds for cardiac tissue engineering. The enhanced method involves the combination of a conventional SCPL method and a step of centrifugation, with the centrifugation being employed to improve the pore uniformity and interconnectivity of the scaffolds. It is shown that the enhanced SCPL method and a collagen coating resulted in a spatially uniform distribution of cells throughout the collagen-coated PU scaffolds.In Chapter 7, the enhanced SCPL method is used to form porous features on the polyurethane-coated titanium substrate. The cavities anchored the endothelial cells to remain on the blood contacting surfaces. It is shown that the surface porosities created by the enhanced SCPL may be useful in forming a stable endothelial layer upon the blood contacting surface. Chapter 8 finally summarises the entire work performed on the fabrication and analysis of the polymer-Ti bonding, the enhanced SCPL method and the PU microporous surface on the metallic substrate. It then outlines the possibilities for future work and research in this area.

Devising a scenographic approach in Jonzi D's Hip Hop theatre

Jonzi D, one of the leading Hip Hop voices in the UK, creates contemporary theatrical works that merge dance, street art, original scored music and contemporary rap poetry, to create theatrical events that expand a thriving sense of a Hip Hop nation with citizens in the UK, throughout southern Africa and the rest of the world. In recent years Hip Hop has evolved as a performance genre in and of itself that not only borrows from other forms but vitally now contributes back to the body of contemporary practice in the performing arts. As part of this work Jonzi’s company Jonzi D Productions is committed to creating and touring original Hip Hop theatre that promotes the continuing development and awareness of a nation with its own language, culture and currency that exists without borders. Through the deployment of a universal voice from the local streets of Johannesburg and the East End of London, Jonzi D creates a form of highly energized performance that elevates Hip Hop as great democratiser between the highly developed global and under resourced local in the world. It is the staging of this democratised and technologised future (and present), that poses the greatest challenge for the scenographer working with Jonzi and his company, and the associated deprogramming and translation of the artists particular filmic vision to the stage, that this discussion will explore. This paper interrogates not only how a scenographic strategy can support the existence of this work but also how the scenographer as outsider can enter and influence this nation.