Allies down under? The Australian at war

There can be no doubt that the Murdoch press played an important role in cohering what support there was for Australia's involvement in 'Gulf War Two'. From the start, Murdoch's 'Australian' newspaper was firmly committed to the coalition of the willing and provided a well-orchestrated cheer squad for Prime Minister John Howard and the war against Iraq.

Wiring the country: Local telecommunications and Australian rural communities

In rural Australia in the early twenty-first century, telecommunications reform has seen the rise of local telecommunications as a new way to wire the country, delivering new technologies and meeting community needs and aspirations. 1his paper discusses the prospects for local telecommunications in light of a research project on online rural communities commissioned by the Telstra Consumer Consultative Council. Based on interviews conducted in three small towns in rural eastern Australia, the paper examines the role of community networking as a new force in telecommunications service delivery, posing questions for local and regional communications policy development.

International images and mass media: The effects of media coverage on Canadians' perceptions of ethnic and race relations in Australia

Recently, there has been much speculation about the impact of international media coverage of Australia's position on Indigenous people, migrants and asylum seekers on other nations' images of Australia. In this experiment we examined whether there was any basis for such concerns by considering the short-term impact of negative TV coverage of Australians on Canadian viewers. A questionnaire provided baseline data on Canadian students' perceptions of Australians and Australian race relations. Four months later, the students were assigned to one of three conditions that varied media contact with Australians. Students viewed one of two television programs (about right-wing political independent, Pauline Hanson, and her emotive criticisms of Aborigines and Asian immigrants or about an ethnically-mixed group of young Australians and their positive sense of cultural identity), or they viewed no program (no contact control). Results indicated that both positive and negative media coverage of Australians affected Canadians' views of Australia in the short-term. In particular, negative coverage (of Hanson) promoted less favourable views of Australians and Australian race relations over time and relative to the positive media and no media control conditions. The media's role in shaping international images is discussed.

C-reactive protein, cardiovascular risk, and renal disease in a remote Australian Aboriginal community

Rates of cardiovascular and renal disease in Australian Aboriginal communities are high, but we do not know the contribution of inflammation to these diseases in this setting. In the present study, we sought to examine the distribution of C-reactive protein (CRP) and other markers of inflammation and their relationships with cardiovascular risk markers and renal disease in a remote Australian Aboriginal community. The study included 237 adults (58% of the adult population) in a remote Aboriginal community in the Northern Territory of Australia. Main outcome measures were CRP, fibrinogen and lgG concentrations, blood pressure (BP), presence of diabetes, lipids, albuminuria, seropositivity to three common micro-organisms, as well as carotid intima-media thickness (IMT). Serum concentrations of CRP [7 (5-13) mg/l; median (inter-quartile range)] were markedly increased and were significantly correlated with fibrinogen and lgG concentrations and inversely correlated with serum albumin concentration. Higher CRP concentrations were associated with lgG seropositivity to Helicobacter pylori and Chlamydia pneumoniae and higher lgG titre for cytomegalovirus. Higher CRP concentrations were associated with the following: the 45-54-year age group, female subjects, the presence of skin sores, higher body mass index, waist circumference, BP, glycated haemoglobin and greater albuminuria. CRP concentrations increased with the number of cardiovascular risk factors, carotid IMT and albuminuria independently of other risk factors. These CRP concentrations were markedly higher than described in other community settings and are probably related, in a large part, to chronic and repeated infections. Their association with markers of cardiovascular risk and renal disease are compatible with the high rates of cardiovascular and renal disease in this community, and provide more evidence of strong links between these conditions, through a shared background of infection/inflammation. This suggests that a strong focus on prevention and management of infections will be important in reducing these conditions, in addition to interventions directed at more traditional risk factors.

The media, marketing, and single sex schooling

The Australian media's interest in education, as in many Anglophone countries, is frequently dominated by concerns about boys in schools. In 2002, in a country region of the Australian State of Queensland, this concern was evident in a debate on the merits of single sex schooling that took place in a small local newspaper. The debate was fuelled by the inclusion in this newspaper of an advertising brochure for an elite private girls' school. The advertisement utilized the current concerns about boys in schools to advocate the benefits of girls' only schools. Drawing on research that suggests that boys are a problem in school, and utilising a peculiar mix of liberal feminism alongside a neo-liberal class politics, it implicitly denigrated the education provided by government co-educational schools. The local government high and primary school principals, incensed at this advertisement, contacted the paper to refute many of its claims and assumptions and to assert the benefits, to both boys and girls, of their particular schools. A letters to the editor debate then followed an article representing these government school principals' views. These letters were from two private school principals. This country newspaper thus became a medium through which various school principals engaged with the current boys' debate, and research associated with it, in order to market their schools. This paper examines this particular newspaper debate and argues that, in the absence of nuanced, research based, and thoughtful policy responses to gender issues, many school policies on gender are being shaped through and by the media in ways that elide the complexities of the issues involved.

Educating readers: Breast cancer in Australian women's magazines

Women's magazines in Australia have become increasingly involved in various public health awareness campaigns. In particular, breast cancer has been targeted as an issue for attention. This disease occupies a privileged position in women's magazines, being represented as treatable and survivable with an emphasis on the advocacy of early detection through breast self-examination and screening programs. In this way, women's magazines can be seen to be proactive in serving the public interest of their readers. Information and advice about breast cancer are not limited to medical articles, advice columns and diet pages, but occur, perhaps more accessibly, in feature articles of personal accounts of experiences with breast cancer. This paper looks at coverage of the disease in Australian women's magazines over the last 3 years to see how this role in public health awareness operates. It pays particular attention to illness narratives in feature articles and to stories associated with the magazines' own breast cancer campaigns.

Rules of engagement: Cross-cultural glances in critical writing on recent French and Australian 'youth' films

This Article does not have an abstract.

Aspergillazines A-E: novel heterocyclic dipeptides from an Australian strain of Aspergillus unilateralis

Biological and chemical pro ling of an Australian strain of the fungus Aspergillus unilateralis (MST-F8675), isolated from a soil sample collected near Mount Isa, Queensland, revealed a complex array of metabolites displaying broad chemotherapeutic properties. Noteworthy among these metabolites were a unique series of highly modified dipeptides aspergillazines A-E, incorporating a selection of unprecedented and yet biosynthetically related heterocyclic systems. Co-occurring with the aspergillazines was the recently described marine-derived fungal metabolite trichodermamide A (cf. penicillazine), whereas re-fermentation of A. unilateralis in NaCl (1%) enriched media resulted in co-production of the only other known example of this structure class, the marine-derived fungal metabolite trichodermamide B. Further investigation of A. unilateralis returned the known terrestrial fungal metabolite viridicatumtoxin as the cytotoxic and antibacterial principle, together with E-2-decenedioic acid, ferulic acid, (7E,7'E)-5,5'-diferulic acid and (7E,7'E)-8,5'-diferulic acid. The aromatic diacids have previously been reported from the chemical and enzymatic (esterase) treatment of plant cell wall material, with their isolation from A. unilateralis being their first apparent reported occurrence as natural products. Structures for all metabolites were determined by detailed spectroscopic analysis and, where appropriate, comparison to literature data and/or authentic samples.

Ethical perspectives of the Australian live export trade

Objective To examine the ethical perspectives of the Australian live export trade. Design and method The perspectives of farmers and other industry personnel, overseas consumers, the Australian public, veterinarians and the assumed interests of transported animals are compared in relation to the ethical consequences. Animal welfare, societal, personal and professional ethics are identified and the ratification of different perspectives considered. Results and conclusions There are positive and negative aspects of the trade for each stakeholder group, and the overall position adopted by any individual reflects their perspective of the balance of these components. The debate as to whether Australia should continue with the trade will be best served by consideration of the interests of all parties in the trade, including the consumers and animals, which are among the most affected by the trade. There is a need for further research to address the major welfare problems for the animals, an openness to inspection on the part of the trade and balance in media reporting.

Don't talk about me . . . like I'm not here: Disability in Australian national cinema

The article analyzes the representation of disability in Australian national cinema. Disability has been an enduring topic in Australian films and it has got occasional mentions in film and cultural criticism. An important pioneering treatment in this field is film critic Elizabeth Ferrier's examination of the trope of creative disabilities. Ferrier draws attention to disability in Australian film. She provides a stimulating and nuanced reading in light of the thematics of Australian cultural anxieties. "My One Legged Dream Lover," is one of the few productions that features a disabled lead character, Kath Duncan, played by disabled performer, Kath Duncan.