Hyperlinking history and illegitimate imagination : the historiographic metafictional E-novel

‘Historiographic Metafiction’ (HM) is a literary term first coined by creative writing academic Linda Hutcheon in 1988, and which refers to the postmodern practice of a fiction author inserting imagined--or illegitimate--characters into narratives that are intended to be received as authentic and historically accurate, that is, ostensibly legitimate. Such adventurous and bold authorial strategies frequently result in “novels which are both intensely self-reflexive and yet paradoxically also lay claim to historical events and personages” (Hutcheon, A Poetics 5). They can be so entertaining and engaging that the overtly intertextual, explicitly inventive work of biographical HM can even change the “hegemonic discourse of history” (Nunning 353) for, as Philippa Gregory, the author of HM novel The Other Boleyn Girl (2001), has said regarding this genre of creative writing: “Fiction is about imagined feelings and thoughts. History depends on the outer life. The novel is always about the inner life. Fiction can sometimes do more than history. It can fill the gaps” (University of Sussex). In a way, this article will be filling one of the gaps regarding HM...

The driving visual field and a history of motor vehicle collision involvement in older drivers: A population-based examination

Purpose We designed a visual field test focused on the field utilized while driving to examine associations between field impairment and motor vehicle collision involvement in 2,000 drivers ≥70 years old. Methods The "driving visual field test" involved measuring light sensitivity for 20 targets in each eye, extending 15° superiorly, 30° inferiorly, 60° temporally and 30° nasally. The target locations were selected on the basis that they fell within the field region utilized when viewing through the windshield of a vehicle or viewing the dashboard while driving. Monocular fields were combined into a binocular field based on the more sensitive point from each eye. Severe impairment in the overall field or a region was defined as average sensitivity in the lowest quartile of sensitivity. At-fault collision involvement for five years prior to enrollment was obtained from state records. Poisson regression was used to calculate crude and adjusted rate ratios examining the association between field impairment and at-fault collision involvement. Results Drivers with severe binocular field impairment in the overall driving visual field had a 40% increased rate of at-fault collision involvement (RR 1.40, 95%CI 1.07-1.83). Impairment in the lower and left fields was associated with elevated collision rates (RR 1.40 95%CI 1.07-1.82 and RR 1.49, 95%CI 1.15-1.92, respectively), whereas impairment in the upper and right field regions was not. Conclusions Results suggest that older drivers with severe impairment in the lower or left region of the driving visual field are more likely to have a history of at-fault collision involvement.

Penal Colonies

Prostitution has been closely associated with the transportation of women convicts to British penal colonies. Convict labor was used to found a number of British colonies including Barbados, Jamaica, Maryland, Virginia, Singapore, New South Wales, Tasmania, and Western Australia. Between 1607 and 1939, Britain transported approximately 400,000 convicts, 162,000 of whom came to Australia and about 50,000 to North America. Significant numbers of women were among those transported to the Australian and North American colonies, although their numbers were relatively small in comparison to male convicts. Transportation was typically reserved for the most recalcitrant of female offenders. Most women transported came from working-class populations, resided in metropolitan centers, and were single at the time of their offense. Although few of these women were actually sentenced for activities associated with prostitution, large numbers had a history of involvement with prostitution. Transportation was considered to offer prostitutes a chance at redemption, with colonial commentators drawing contrasts between the Old World and its vice-ridden sensuality and the colonies, which offered opportunities for redemption through religious devotion and hard work. Many women transported to the Australian colonies were described by officials as being "on the town" at their time of apprehension and were collectively considered to be "damned whores, possessed of neither virtue nor honesty". Recently, historians have argued that these assessments were emblematic of middle-class prejudices toward the open and aggressive sexuality of working-class women. The number of convict women involved in prostitution may have been higher than recorded crimes, typically involving "larceny", suggest. A number of women were charged with theft from men who had paid them (or, in some instances, refused to pay them) for sex. Historians have estimated that one in five convict women were part-time or full-time prostitutes before transportation. Many continued in prostitution after transportation, with prostitution becoming an important element in the social and economic life of the Australian colonies, where, between 1788-1830, men outnumbered women six to one. Officially, prostitution was tolerated to dissuade men from vice. For women, prostitution presented a means of securing physical protection and accommodation at a time when general amenities and employment opportunities were restricted.

Natural history of corneal nerve morphology in mild neuropathy associated with type 1 diabetes : Development of a potential measure of diabetic peripheral neuropathy

Purpose To investigate longitudinal changes of subbasal nerve plexus (SNP) morphology and its relationship with conventional measures of neuropathy in individuals with diabetes. Methods A cohort of 147 individuals with type 1 diabetes and 60 age-balanced controls underwent detailed assessment of clinical and metabolic factors, neurologic deficits, quantitative sensory testing, nerve conduction studies and corneal confocal microscopy at baseline and four subsequent annual visits. The SNP parameters included corneal nerve fiber density (CNFD), branch density (CNBD) and fiber length (CNFL) and were quantified using a fully-automated algorithm. Linear mixed models were fitted to examine the changes in corneal nerve parameters over time. Results At baseline, 27% of the participants had mild diabetic neuropathy. All SNP parameters were significantly lower in the neuropathy group compared to controls (P<0.05). Overall, 89% of participants examined at baseline also completed the final visit. There was no clinically significant change to health and metabolic parameters and neuropathy measures from baseline to the final visit. Linear mixed model revealed a significant linear decline of CNFD (annual change rate, -0.9 nerve/mm2, P=0.01) in the neuropathy group compared to controls, which was associated with age (β=-0.06, P=0.04) and duration of diabetes (β=-0.08, P=0.03). In the neuropathy group, absolute changes of CNBD and CNFL showed moderate correlations with peroneal conduction velocity and cold sensation threshold, respectively (rs, 0.38 and 0.40, P<0.05). Conclusion This study demonstrates dynamic small fiber damage at the SNP, thus providing justification for our ongoing efforts to establish corneal nerve morphology as an appropriate adjunct to conventional measures of DPN.

Reconsidering pro bono : a comparative analysis of protocols in Australia, the united states, the United Kingdom and Singapore

As of now, there is little evidence on the questions of whether pro bono services are effective, whether lawyer charity is a cheaper way to provide them (because it does cost money to do pro bono), or whether it would in fact be more efficient and effective if firms and attorneys stopped giving their time and instead donated money to the organizations already specializing in these clients and causes. Pro bono may or may not be an efficient way of doing socially important work; at this point, we simply do not know

History, status and future of Australia's native Sydney rock oyster industry

The Sydney rock oyster (Saccostrea glomerata) (SRO) is an oyster species that only occurs in estuaries along Australia's east coast. The SRO industry evolved from commercial gathering of oyster in the 1790s to a high production volume aquaculture industry in the 1970s. However, since the late 1970s the SRO industry has experienced a significant and continuous decline in production quantities and the industry's future commercial viably appears to be uncertain. The aim of this study was to review the history and the status of the SRO industry and to discuss the potential future prospects of this industry. This study summarised findings of the existing literature about the industry and defined development stages of the industry. Particular focus was put on the more recent development within the industry (1980s-present) which has not been covered adequately in the existing literature. The finding from this study revealed that major issues of the industry are linked to the management of prevailing diseases, the handling of water quality impairments from increasing coastal development, increasing competition from Australia's Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas) industry and the current socio-economic profile of the industry. The study also found that policy makers are currently confronted by the dilemma of saving a "dying art". Findings from this industry review may be vital for current and future fisheries managers and stakeholders as a basis for reviewing industry management and development strategies. This review may also be of interest for other aquaculture industries and fisheries who are dealing with similar challenges as the SRO industry.

The National Curriculum and history school textbooks in Australia and the Russian Federation

This chapter analyses recent policy reforms in the national history curriculum in both Australia and the Russian Federation. It analyses those emphases in the national curriculum in history that depict new representations and historiography and the ways in which this is foregrounded in History school textbooks. In doing so, it considers the debates about what version of the nation’s past are deemed significant, and what should be transmitted to future generations of citizens. In this discussion of national history curricula, consideration is made of the curriculum’s officially defined status as an instrument in the process of ideological transformation, and nation-building. The chapter also examines how history textbooks are implicit in this process, in terms of reproducing and representing what content is selected and emphasised in a national history curriculum.

What does the review of the Australian Curriculum mean for Senior Modern History?

In this paper we briefly explore some of recommendations of the Review of the Australian Curriculum Final Report (Australian Government, 2014a), henceforth referred to as the Review, with reference to Modern History in the senior secondary Australian Curriculum. We also refer to the invited papers provided by history subject matter specialists, Professor Gregory Melleuish and Mr Clive Logan, published as the Review’s Supplementary Material (Australian Government, 2014b). In doing so, we note that both documents devote most of their attention to critiquing the Australian Curriculum: History in the compulsory years from Foundation (F) to Year 10.

Introduction to Point and Counterpoint: What does the Review of the Australian Curriculum mean for History?

The April 2015 edition of Curriculum Perspectives has a special focus and casts light on the continuing development of the Australian Curriculum. This paper provides an introduction to a series of papers in the Point and Counterpoint section of this edition on the Review of the Australian Curriculum with reference to History. It makes clear that History is one of the most contested areas of the curriculum and that whilst politicians and policy makers are concerned with the importance of history in relation to national identity and nation building, history serves other purposes. The paper reiterates the need to pay attention to the particularities of discipline–based knowledge for the study of history in schools and the central role of inquiry for student learning in history. In doing so, it establishes the context for the five papers which follow.

Mandatory Reporting Laws for Child Sexual Abuse in Australia : A Legislative History

This work conducts a comprehensive historical review and analysis of the legislative principles for mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse in each State and Territory of Australia. The research traces and explains all the significant changes in the development of the laws in each jurisdiction since their inception in 1969 to the year 2013. The research also identifies why the legislation changed in each jurisdiction, covering research into publicly available records, focusing on significant government inquiries and law reform reports, and parliamentary debates. The research is situated within a treatment of the modern discovery of child sexual abuse as a widespread phenomenon of significant public health concern.

World architecture 1900-2000 : A critical mosaic : Southeast Asia and Oceania [Volume 10]

"World Architecture records the major architectural contributions made in all regions of the world to the development of human culture. Grouped into 10 geographical regions and representing five twenty-year-periods, the buildings have been selected by approximately 80 eminent international architectural critics. Each volume contains 100 buildings from one particular region, each object accompanied by an analytical text as well as by drawings and photographs. Introduction essays by the general editor, Kenneth Frampton, and the editor(s) of each volume complete the survey. The series comprises 10 volumes. The books are handsome, linen-bound and stitched, generously formatted (21,5 x 28,5 cm/8,4 x 11 inches) and contain approx. 300 pages and 400 colour prints each. This unique project gives the most precise and authoritative description of 1000 of the century's most notable buildings. Countries: Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, The Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and Oceania."

Hearing parties' voices in Coordinated Family Dispute Resolution (CFDR) : An Australian pilot of a family mediation model designed for matters involving a history of domestic violence

This paper discusses the Coordinated Family Dispute Resolution (family mediation) process piloted in Australia in 2010–2012. This process was evaluated by the Australian Institute of Family Studies as being ‘at the cutting edge of family law practice’ because it involves the conscious application of mediation where there has been a history of family violence, in a clinically collaborative multidisciplinary and multi-agency setting. The Australian government’s failure to invest resources in the ongoing funding of this model jeopardises the safety and efficacy of family dispute resolution practice in family violence contexts, and compromises the hearing of the voices of family violence victims and their children.