Role of the domestic chicken (Gallus gallus) in the epidemiology of urban visceral leishmaniasis in Brazil

Zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis (ZVL) is a serious public health problem in several Brazilian cities. Although the proximity of chicken houses is often cited as a risk factor in studies of urban ZVL, the role chickens play in the epidemiology of the disease has not been defined. Chickens attract both male and female sand flies (Lutzomyia longripalpis) but are unable to sustain Leishmania infections, and their presence may exert a zooprophylactic effect. We discuss environmental, physiologic, socioeconomic, and cultural factors related to chicken raising that could influence Le. infantum transmission in Brazilian cities and evaluate whether this practice significantly affects the risk of acquiring ZVL.

Linguistic evaluation method for the environmental assessment of infrastructure projects

A soft linguistic evaluation method is proposed for the environmental assessment of physical infrastructure projects based on fuzzy relations. Infrastructure projects are characterized in terms of linguistic expressions of 'performance' with respect to factors or impacts and the 'importance' of those factors/impacts. A simple example is developed to illustrate the method in the context of three road infrastructure projects assessed against five factors/impacts. In addition, a means to include hard or crisp factors is presented and illustrated with respect to a sixth factor.

The devolution of indigenous local government authority in Queensland: Opportunities for statutory planning

Government policy change to self detennination over the past two decades has gradually given rise to various structures of Indigenous self government across Australia. Indigenous Local Government Authorities (LGAs) are the governing structure which receive the greatest devolution of State authority, especially those found in Queensland and the Northern Territory. Their statutory basis has developed over a relatively short period of time and is still very much evolving. This paper explores what opportunities exist for Indigenous LGAs to adopt statutory planning mechanisms.

Rural lines of flight: Telecommunications and post-metro dreaming

Information and communications technologies hold a prominent place in the cultural imagination of many people living outside the Australian metropolis, especially recent émigrés. A vision of a wired pastoral conjures up the possibilities of city work, connections and pleasures accompanying the flight to the country. Such aspirations have given a twist to one of the great topos of Australian post-invasion communications history, communications ameliorating the perceived isolation in the bush. This article examines important changes to rural telecommunications in the 1990s coinciding with post-metro dreaming and digital convergence, namely the rise of local telecommunications. Neo-Foucauldian accounts of citizenship hold some promise for explaining the criss-cross of tangled lines of flight in regional communications in the twenty-first century: emergent subjectivities, utopian digital modes of becoming, new politics of infrastructure, reconfigured relationships among state, market and citizen.

An evaluation of participatory planning at Mapoon Aboriginal community: Opportunities for inclusive local governance

The Queensland Government is increasingly using participatory planning as a means to improve infrastructure and service delivery to Indigenous settlements. In addition to technical and economic goals, participatory planning practice seeks also to achieve social development goals, including empowerment, capacity building, community control and ownership. This article presents the findings of an evaluation of one such planning project, conducted at Old Mapoon in 1995. Despite various efforts to follow participatory processes, the plan had mixed success in achieving social development goals. This suggests some misunderstandings between the practice of participatory planning and the workings of local governance. It also presents some opportunities for participatory planning methods to be integrated with more inclusive forms of governance.