Six year follow-up of students who participated in a school-based physical activity interventions : a longitudinal cohort study

Background
The purpose of this paper was to evaluate the long-term impact of a childhood motor skill intervention on adolescent motor skills and physical activity.

Methods
In 2006, we undertook a follow-up of motor skill proficiency (catch, kick, throw, vertical jump, side gallop) and physical activity in adolescents who had participated in a one-year primary school intervention Move It Groove It (MIGI) in 2000. Logistic regression models were analysed for each skill to determine whether the probability of children in the intervention group achieving mastery or near mastery was either maintained or had increased in subsequent years, relative to controls. In these models the main predictor variable was intervention status, with adjustment for gender, grade, and skill level in 2000. A general linear model, controlling for gender and grade, examined whether former intervention students spent more time in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity at follow-up than control students.

Results
Half (52%, n = 481) of the 928 MIGI participants were located in 28 schools, with 276 (57%) assessed. 52% were female, 58% in Grade 10, 40% in Grade 11 and 54% were former intervention students. At follow-up, intervention students had improved their catch ability relative to controls and were five times more likely to be able to catch: ORcatch = 5.51, CI (1.95 – 15.55), but had lost their advantage in the throw and kick: ORthrow = .43, CI (.23 – .82), ORkick = .39, CI (.20 – .78). For the other skills, intervention students appeared to maintain their advantage: ORjump = 1.14, CI (.56 – 2.34), ORgallop = 1.24, CI (.55 – 2.79). Intervention students were no more active at follow-up.

Conclusion
Six years after the 12-month MIGI intervention, whilst intervention students had increased their advantage relative to controls in one skill, and appeared to maintain their advantage in two, they lost their advantage in two skills and were no more active than controls at follow up. More longitudinal research is needed to explore whether gains in motor skill proficiency in children can be sustained and to determine the intervention characteristics that translate to subsequent physical activity.

Predictors of body mass index change in Australian primary school children

Objective. To assess associations between multiple potential predictors and change in child body mass index (BMI). Methods.In the 1997 Health of Young Victorians Study, children in Grades preparatory to three (aged 510 years) had their height and weight measured. Parents provided information on potential predictors of childhood overweight across six domains (children’s diet, children’s activity level, family composition, sociodemographic factors, prenatal factors and parental adiposity). Measures were repeated three years later in 2000/1. BMI was transformed to standardised (z) scores using the US 2000 Growth Chart data and children were classified as non-overweight or overweight according to international cutpoints.Regression analyses, including baseline BMI z-score as a covariate, assessed the contribution of each potential predictor to change in BMI z-score, development of overweight and spontaneous resolution of overweight in 1 373 children.Results. BMI z-score change was positively associated with frequency of take-away food, food quantity, total weekly screen time, non-Australian paternal country of birth, maternal smoking during pregnancy, and maternal and paternal BMI.Inverse associations were noted for the presence of siblings and rural residence (all pB0.05). Predictors of categorical change (development and resolution of overweight) were less clearly identified, apart from an association between maternal BMI and overweight development (p0.02). Multivariable models suggested individual determinants have a cumulative effect on BMI change. Conclusions. Strong short-term tracking of BMI makes it difficult to identify predictors of change. Nonetheless, putative determinants across all domains assessed were independently associated with adiposity change. Multi-faceted solutions are likely to be required to successfully deal with the complexities of childhood overweight.

Walking and cycling to school : predictors of increases among children and adolescents

Background
Little is known about what happens to active commuting as children get older, and less is known about influences on changes in this behavior. This study examined predictors of increases in children's and adolescents' active commuting (walking or cycling) to/from school over a 2-year period.
Methods
Participants were initially recruited and assessed in 2001. Follow-up data were collected in 2004 and 2006 and analyzed in 2008. Participants were 121 children (aged 9.1±0.34 years in 2004) and 188 adolescents (aged 14.5±0.65 years in 2004) from Melbourne, Australia. Parents and adolescents reported their perceptions of individual-level factors and of the neighborhood social and physical environment. Weekly active commuting (walking or cycling) to/from school, ranging from 0 to 10 trips/week was also proxy- or self-reported at the initial measurement and again 2 years later. Logistic regression analyses examined predictors of increases in active commuting over time.
Results
Children whose parents knew many people in their neighborhood were more likely to increase their active commuting (OR=2.6; CI=1.2, 5.9; p=0.02) compared with other children. Adolescents whose parents perceived there to be insufficient traffic lights and pedestrian crossings in their neighborhood were less likely to increase their active commuting over 2 years (OR=0.4; CI=0.2, 0.8; p=0.01), whereas adolescents of parents who were satisfied with the number of pedestrian crossings were more likely to increase their active commuting (OR=2.4; CI=1.1, 5.4; p=0.03) compared with other adolescents.
Conclusions
Social factors and physical environmental characteristics were the most important predictors of active commuting in children and adolescents, respectively.

How do school day activity patterns differ with age and gender across adolescence?

Purpose
A knowledge of how young people use their time could be instrumental in informing health interventions, modeling consumer behaviors, and planning service delivery. The aim of the present study was to describe age- and gender-related patterns in the self-reported use of time on school days in a large sample of Australian children and adolescents aged between 10 and 18 years.

Methods
A single, detailed use-of-time diary for a school day was collected from 6024 Australians aged 10–18 from several state and regional surveys conducted in the states of South Australia (SA) and Victoria between 2001 and 2006. Time–use profiles were analyzed for a range of active and sedentary state behaviors.

Results
Boys reported higher physical activity levels (PALs), moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), and sports than girls. There were no differences in free play, and girls used more active transport. All activity-related variables decreased with age, except active transport, which peaked at 14–15 years. Boys exhibited higher levels of screen time, whereas girls had higher levels of passive transport. Screen time and its components (television, videogames, and computer use) peaked in the peripubertal years.

Conclusion
Age- and gender-related patterns of time use vary greatly within adolescence. This may reflect a mix of biological and social factors.

Pathways from rural schools : does school VET make a difference?

This paper reports results from an NREC funded study of the medium term outcomes for youth and their communities of VET programs delivered by rural schools. The key findings relate to the outcomes of school VET programs in terms of education and training, employment, and community outcomes such as rural youth retention, and to the features that contribute to successful outcomes. Rural school VET students are less likely to continue with post school education and training in general, but more likely to go onto further vocational education and training than school non-VET students. The study reports strong links between industry area of school VET course, and further education and training, or employment, in the same industry area. It also indicates that school VET students are more likely to live in a rural area at some time during their working life. The features of rural school VET programs that influence outcomes include the purpose of the school VET program and work placements. Student motivation and gender also influence outcomes for individual students. Rural school VET courses represent pathways to related education and training for students who intend to live in a rural area during their working life, and for those who do not.

The cost-effectiveness of Australia's active after-school communities program

The objective of this study was to assess from a societal perspective the cost-effectiveness of the Active After-school Communities (AASC) program, a key plank of the former Australian Government's obesity prevention program. The intervention was modeled for a 1-year time horizon for Australian primary school children as part of the Assessing Cost-Effectiveness in Obesity (ACE-Obesity) project. Disability-adjusted life year (DALY) benefits (based on calculated effects on BMI post-intervention) and cost-offsets (consequent savings from reductions in obesity-related diseases) were tracked until the cohort reached the age of 100 years or death. The reference year was 2001, and a 3% discount rate was applied. Simulation-modeling techniques were used to present a 95% uncertainty interval around the cost-effectiveness ratio. An assessment of second-stage filter criteria ("equity," "strength of evidence," "acceptability to stakeholders," "feasibility of implementation," "sustainability," and "side-effects") was undertaken by a stakeholder Working Group to incorporate additional factors that impact on resource allocation decisions. The estimated number of children new to physical activity after-school and therefore receiving the intervention benefit was 69,300. For 1 year, the intervention cost is Australian dollars (AUD) 40.3 million (95% uncertainty interval AUD 28.6 million; AUD 56.2 million), and resulted in an incremental saving of 450 (250; 770) DALYs. The resultant cost-offsets were AUD 3.7 million, producing a net cost per DALY saved of AUD 82,000 (95% uncertainty interval AUD 40,000; AUD 165,000). Although the program has intuitive appeal, it was not cost-effective under base-case modeling assumptions. To improve its cost-effectiveness credentials as an obesity prevention measure, a reduction in costs needs to be coupled with increases in the number of participating children and the amount of physical activity undertaken.

Can we skill and activate children through primary school physical education lessons? "Move it Groove it" - a collaborative health promotion intervention

Background: Physical education (PE) lessons are an ideal setting to improve child fundamental movement skills (FMSs) and increase physical activity (PA) for optimal health. Despite this, few studies have assessed the potential to do both simultaneously. The “Move It Groove It” primary school intervention in New South Wales, Australia, had this opportunity.

Methods: A whole school approach to implementation included establishment of school project teams, a teacher “buddy” system, project Web site, teacher training workshops, and small grants for equipment. The quasi-experimental evaluation involved 1,045 year 3 and 4 children (aged 7 to 10 years) in nine intervention and nine control rural primary schools (53% boys/47% girls). It utilised pre- and postobservational surveys of (1) mastery or near mastery levels for each of eight FMSs, (2) proportion of PE lesson time spent in moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA) and vigorous PA (VPA), and (3) teacher- and lesson-related contextual covariates. Data were analysed by hierarchical logistic multiple regression.

Results: For FMSs, overall mastery or near mastery level at baseline was 47% ranging from 22.7% for the overarm throw among girls to 75.4% for the static balance among boys. The intervention delivered substantial improvements in every FMS for both genders ranging from 7.2% to 25.7% (13 of 16 comparisons were significant). For PA level, mean MVPA at baseline was 34.7%. Baseline MVPA for boys was 38.7% and for girls was 33.2%. The intervention was associated with a nonsignificant 4.5% increase in MVPA and a significant 3.0% increase in VPA. This translates to a gain of <1 minute of MVPA per average 21-minute lesson.

Conclusions: This is the first study to show that by modifying existing PE lessons, significant improvements in FMS mastery can be gained without adversely affecting children’s MVPA and VPA. To increase PA levels, we recommend increasing the number of PE lessons per week.

Active school playgrounds - myth or reality? Results of the "Move It Groove It" project

Background: School playgrounds during break times provide potential opportunities for children to be active during the school day. However, there is limited research on how active children really are during these breaks.

Methods: The CAST (Children's Activity Scanning Tool) instrument was developed, validated, and used to assess the percentages of children engaged in moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and vigorous physical activity (VPA—a subset of MVPA) in 18 primary schools (children ages 5–12) in rural Australia. Related environmental factors were also measured.

Results: For a school of median size (200 students), 51.4% of boys and 41.6% of girls were engaged in MVPA while 14.7% of boys and 9.4% of girls were engaged in VPA. Levels of engagement in MVPA and VPA were significantly higher during lunch periods than during recess. MVPA and VPA engagement in smaller schools was significantly higher than in larger schools.

Conclusions: With growing concern about children's physical activity (PA), school playgrounds offer an opportunity to increase children's MVPA engagement especially among girls. Consideration may be given to the lengthening of recess periods in order to increase PA levels. More research is needed to investigate factors affecting PA levels in larger schools.

Levy grant training scheme evolution : focus on Fiji and Singapore

This thesis examines the evolution of national training policy in Fiji since 1973 with a particular emphasis on the national levy-grant scheme that was introduced in Fiji in that same year. Developments in the Fiji National Training Council (FNTC) levy-grants scheme since its inception, including substantive amendments to the legislation in late 2002, form part of the scholarship. The thesis will provide an analytical narration of the training policy objectives and their transformation over a time span of almost three decades in the context of a small island nation. To inform this study, it was considered essential to compare the Fiji experience of levy grants schemes with other levy grants scheme. The author decided to use as the focal comparative benchmark the case of the Skills Development Fund (SDF) in Singapore. The SDF has been increasingly portrayed, by the World Bank, the International Labour Organisation and other influential agencies, as the best practice case when it comes to managing a training levy grants scheme. The thesis adopted a qualitative approach that utilized elements of case study, historical research, and key person interviews. The challenges of doing 'insider* research were explored because of its pertinence to the study. Because the study also involved the comparison of the policy experiences of two distinct countries, it was imperative to consider the issues and challenges of undertaking comparative research with particular reference to training matters- Given that training is often enmeshed with other human resources management issues, cognisance was taken of some of the broader debates in this regard. Following consideration of the methodological issues, the research paper explores the objectives of national training strategies and, in particular, issues relating to national competitiveness and skills development. The purpose is to situate the issue of training and skills development within the broader discourse of national development. Alternative approaches to the strategic role of training are considered both at the national and organisational level and some of the classic and current debates surrounding human capital investment are visited. The thesis then proceeds to examine the forms of, and rationale for government interventions in the area of training. One of the challenges both in practice and theoretically is to arrive at a consensual definition of training because of the constantly evolving context and boundaries in which training policies are fashioned. This provides the setting to examine the role that governments can and do play in skills development and how levy-grant schemes, in particular, contribute to the process. Three forms of levy grants schemes are identified and examined: levy-generating; levy-exemption; and levy-grant and reimbursement schemes. The levy-grant and reimbursement variant is the basic thrust of this thesis. In this regard, the UK experience with the levy-grant system from 1964 to 1981 is also reviewed. Some of the issues in relation to training levies are scrutinized including the levy as a sheltered source of training finance, levy rates, duration of levy, impact of levy on the quality and quantity of training, benefits to small businesses, links between training and strategic business objectives, repackaging of training to qualify for grants, and the process by which training levy policies are devised. In looking at the policy formulation, it was necessary to unpack the processes involved and explore the role of the state further. In relation to policy development and implementation, the consultation processes, role of bureaucrats, the policy context, and approaches to policy transfer are examined. In looking at the role of the state in policy development, the alternative roles of government are explored and the concepts of the 'developmental state' and the 'corporatist state* evaluated. The notion of the developmental state has particular relevance to this study given the emphasis placed by the Singaporean government on human resource development policies. This sets the scene for a detailed examination of the role of levy-grant training schemes in Fiji and Singapore. The Skills Development Fund in Singapore was developed as an integral component of national economic policy when the Singaporean government decided to break out of the 'low-skills' trap and move the economy towards a higher value adding structure. The levy-grant system was designed to complement the strategy by focusing on upgrading the skills of employees on lower incomes, the assumption being that employees on lower remuneration were more likely to need skills upgrading. The study notes that the early objectives of the SDF were displaced when it was revealed that the bulk of SDF expenditure was directed at higher level supervisory and management training. As a result, the SDF had to refocus its activities on small and medium enterprises and the workers who were likely to miss out on formal training opportunities. The Singaporean context also shows trade unions playing a significant role in worker education and literacy programmes financed under the SDF. To understand this requires some understanding of the historical linkages between the present Singaporean government and trade union leadership. Another aspect of the development of the SDF has been the constant shifting of the institutional responsibility for the scheme. As late as September 2003, the SDF was again moved, this time to the newly created Singapore Workforce Development Agency, with the focus turning to lifelong learning and assisting Singaporeans who are unemployed or made redundant as a result of the economic restructuring. The Fiji experience with the FNTC scheme is different. It evolved in the context of perceived skills shortages but there was a degree of ambiguity over its objectives. There were no specific linkages with economic policy. Relationships with other public training institutions and more recently, private training providers, have been fraught with difficulties. The study examines the origins of the policy, the early difficulties including perceived employer grievances, and the numerous external assessments of the Fiji levy-grant scheme noting that some of them were highly critical. The thesis also examines an attempted reform of the scheme in 1992-93 that proved unsuccessful and the more recent legislative reforms to the scheme in 2002 that have expanded the role of the scheme to encompass, inter alia, national occupational standards and accreditation activities. The thesis concludes by comparing the two schemes noting that the SDF is well entrenched as a policy instrument in Singapore whilst the FNTC is facing a struggle to assert its legitimacy in Fiji.

Lived experience of gay men caring for others with HIV/AIDS : living, loving and dying in the era of HIV/AIDS

This thesis explored gay male carers’ experience of caring for their partner, brother or friend who had HIV/AIDS. Through using phenomenological methodology (van Manen, 1990), the day-to-day caring experiences were uncovered. The data gathered were then analysed through a nursing ‘lens’, with the concept of stigma as an anchoring point. The dual stigmas of homophobia and AIDS phobia impacted on the daily lives of these men as they cared for their loved one. The research identified six themes. These were: 1) the relationship; 2) coping with HIV and AIDS; 3) the corporal impact of HIV/AIDS; 4) experiences of carers including the absence of others; 5) living daily with the virus: Demands of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA); and 6) saying goodbye, but wanting to keep the memory alive. The caring these men undertook, for which they were frequently unprepared, was intensive and complex, but because of their commitment and love they battled on. Because of a sense of shame associated with AIDS phobia on the part of the PLWHA, the carer often had to undertake this care in isolation, without support from family, friends or home health care agencies. The carers struggled with not only the demands of day-to-day care, but also with non-acceptance from family, both of the nature of the relationship with their partner and of their homosexuality. Family members were forced, often with great difficulty, to acknowledge the close commitment the men had to each other. Recognition that one had a terminal disease, HIV/AIDS was also required. The fear of potential transmission was high among carers, friends and family members. Notably, there was an absence of blame on the part of the carer towards his partner for contracting HIV/AIDS. The physical decline and marking of the body further stigmatised the PLWHA, which added to carers’ burdens. They endeavoured to minimise the physical decline in their partner, so he could continue to pass as healthy, and attempted to make the day-to-day living as normal as possible. The methods of combating weight loss and opportunistic infections meant frequent medical appointments, complex intensive medical procedures and help with personal care, which was undertaken at home largely without support from health care staff. Carers frequently struggled also with their partner’s denial of being ill. One strategy all carers used was to escape with their partners from their everyday life in Melbourne and attempt metaphorically to leave the HIV/AIDS behind; this was a time when they could rekindle their life together as it was before HIV/AIDS came into their lives. Some carers chose to holiday without their partner, to give themselves a break from the day-to-day caring, while others planned and took holidays with their partner. The decline of the health in the PLWHA meant that family members had to recognise and accept both the nature of the relationship and the presence of the disease. This recognition and acceptance often came only when the partner was very ill, even at the point of dying. Carers and their partners discussed the potential use of euthanasia, as a means of ending the final phase of life with some dignity. One carer and his partner used euthanasia, despite its illegal status. The main concern for all carers was providing comfort and a reduction in the pain associated with HIV/AIDS for the partner. The widespread grief associated with HIV/AIDS was evident amongst these carers. All had known other gay men who had died, some carers own partner had died, or was about to die. There was an overwhelming sense of grief, which at times was repressed as a means of coping day-to-day. All carers felt it was important and necessary to remember those lost to HIV/AIDS through the various public memorials, as they did not want their partner to be just another faceless person lost to this disease. This phenomenological study of carers’ experience highlights the need for health care workers to be aware of the differing strategies that gay men use to cope with HIV/AIDS. While it may seem that the carers are coping with care of their partner, the outer façade is not always an accurate portrayal of the true situation. Health care workers should enquire as to the assistance these carers need from health care services in order to continue to care for their loved one. Such assistance can be the simple recognition of the partner and acceptance of them as part of the PLWHA’s network; this inclusion and acceptance is half the battle.

Crossing Bowen Street : mapping interventions in the classed subject

Synopsis: Crossing Bowen Street Crossing Bowen Street is an extended novel set in Melbourne, Australia. The protagonist, Meg Flanagan, is accepted to teachers' college. Meg is 24 years old and has worked, and lived out of home, since 17. Having completed her year 12 studies part time while working, she has applied to the Melbourne State College for a Bachelor of Education. Melbourne State College is subsequently 'amalgamated'A into Philip University, the original 19th century sandstone institution which borders MSC. Meg has worked as a medical secretary prior to commencing her studies. An only child, she is the first member of her family to go to university, indeed to finish high school. Tertiary study is exciting for Meg and the novel explores the psychic journey as well as the intellectual one, as Meg experiences challenges to the possibilities for her life and the trajectory along which she once assumed it would flow. The narrative is told through episodic and epistolary forms, with particular periods in Meg's cultural and academic life forming the focus, picking up the integral elements of her journey and examining the psychic context and action. Characters in the undergraduate chapters of the novel are somewhat transient, although very important to Meg's rapidly developing, changing sense of herself. The constant 'trying out' of ways of being and even lifestyles sees Meg losing old 'friendships' and making new, even temporary, ones all the time. This allows the opportunity for Meg to explore her feelings about connecting to others and the nature of her relationships. The Meg reflected back to her by others is of constant interest to her, particularly as she is frequently reminded that others see a very different Meg than she does. The novel commences at the outset of Meg's tertiary career, as she initially articulates the extent of her aspiration, of her sense of the possibility of her own life. Each vignette deals, chronologically, with an aspect of Meg's expanding sense of possibility, socially, emotionally, intellectually. Certain vignettes explore her relations with friends and acquaintances in the course, which in turn provide A In 1988, Federal Labor Minister for Education John Dawkins, devised a plan to end the streaming of Australian tertiary institutions and created what is called the Unified National System. This meant that colleges of advanced education and institutes of technology were either created universities in their own right, or more commonly, merged with an appropriate existing university. This process allows a fascinating insight into the class dimensions of hierarchies and stratifications. The need of universities and their members for status has been profoundly underscored. the background and context for her sexual relationships. That aspect of her developing subjectivity provides a marked contrast, which Meg uses as leverage, when set against her sense of herself as a scholar and her growing notion of entitlement, which allows her to 'choose', where previously she believed she had no choice; the choice is a scholarly career. Within all this, Meg discovers and is deeply empowered by certain political left, and feminist, discourses within the university community. She is equally dismayed and alienated by other feminist practices; her growing engagement with her own agency sees her quickly abandoning feminist subject positions previously dear to her, which served a particular purpose and are now superseded. This notion of feeling betrayed by the promise of a value system (or rather, its practitioners) will recur throughout the action of the novel, as Meg moves into an academic role, first as doctoral student and then as academic, seeking to live her values as practice and to remain true to what her trajectory has taught her. This is crystallised in the novel as the role played by the place she came from, and how that informs, and complicates, who she becomes. The novel seeks to explore the fundamental contradictions in doing so, through Meg's increasing awareness that the academy is not the harmonious, class aware institution she has idealised, but a world driven by status and hierarchies. This realisation must be reconciled in the light of Meg's anxieties about her working-class background. Meg's doctoral training at an elite university underscores her developing sense of what constitutes excellence and the role played by highly influential conservative institutions in maintaining social arrangements. As her academic career unfolds, the holding of a Cambridge PhD allows Meg opportunities to make change as certain privileges are afforded her by virtue of her Cambridge status. Yet it is this very notion that she seeks to challenge. Her growing passion for the State University of Victoria, an institution developed for the education of working-class people, informs her activism within the academy. Why are excellence and equity polarised? Why does the institution matter more than the scholarship? Why is so much practice within universities contrary to the values scholars often claim? These questions are explored through the dynamics of academic working life as student and later as a teacher at a university with an explicit equity agenda. The Start of the End (2003): The action commences on a late Friday after at SUV, when the Department of Communication & Cultural Studies has just been advised of Meg's promotion to Associate Professor. This vignette sees the initial soiree and celebrations and allows Meg to reflect on her experience. As her colleagues and friends are congratulating her, a particular student comes looking for Meg. It is clear that Angela Watson needs course advice particularly from Meg. Their discussion seems a straightforward one on the face of it, but it underscores many things; that Meg has come the full circle in her academic life, and what it is that her journey has really been about. The route to professorial appointment is considered, as is the source of Meg's greatest professional joy and fulfillment; is it scholarship, followed by leadership, in her discipline? It is knowing she has continued to speak and act to change the life chances of all students, wherever possible? Or is it the subtle distilling of both of these, along with the knowledge which emerges from the nexus of teaching and research. That scholarship, new knowledge, surely must be taking us somewhere specific in relation to others? The more we know, the more we can do...to what end? From this reflection, we see the action of the novel unfold. We return to this scene at the end of the novel, as Meg considers the trajectory of her life and its themes in her work. The novel ends as she is faced with the next challenge. Arrival (1989): Acceptance sees Meg as she is attempting to transform her life and create a new one. She has just been advised of her admission to an undergraduate Bachelor of Education program, at the major Melbourne teachers' college. Meg shares her rented home with her high school best friend, Anna, and her fiance, Jason, who appears to be superfluous in her life. Meg is aware he is a partner for who she used to be. We see Meg in her job as a medical secretary and this allows the mapping of Meg's sense of her own world, as she travels between home and work. This first stage of seeking her aspiration- to be an English teacher-evolves. As Meg considers the meaning of what she is about to do and how she knows it is right. This involves a consideration of what work means in our lives and how this is different for jobs according to how they are classed. Her relationship with the life she has known, the person she has been, is changing and this change is represented through her relationship with Jason. Meg's first day at teachers' college demonstrates that she is in a constant, often painful, dialogue with herself. The difficulties she encounters in making sense of the relation between her two 'lives' are thrown into sharp relief. The preparation for college sees Meg interrogating herself about how she can be different. Her initial experiences at the College resonate with her highest expectations of the life that awaits her, of the multiple possibilities currently being authored for her. Her first attendance at classes offers the opportunity to try out some of those possibilities, to test them against those she meets and to map the ways she could discover to 'be'. There is much tension and fear, but also endless excitement and these conflicting emotional states parallel and marble each other. It is on this day that she meets Jennifer Wren, her first real friend at university, who offers so many challenges to Meg. Their friendship involves a constant exhausting shift of subject positions, which Meg is able to look back on with affection in years to come. Going Bowling (1989): within a few weeks of commencing at university, Meg is socializing with some of her new friends, having neatly segmented her home and college lives. Meg has already realised that her friendships fall into separate groups; her friendship with Jennifer and the people Jennifer knows does not find its way into this group. They meet in the city to go bowling and have a meal. While Meg really enjoys these new people, already tensions are developing in relations between the group. Their unofficial leader, Rosemary Marshall, has a tendency to seek control and already resistance is showing. Rosemary particularly does not like Jennifer. Meg is enjoying her flirtation with Pete Danville, whom she has assumed to be gay. His very flattering attention has already developed Meg's confidence and stoked her ego, which has eroded in her stagnating relationship with Jason. Rosie has developed a crush on Pete and seems to take the flirtation with Meg personally. Dynamics in the group become slightly uncomfortable but Meg has grown quickly fond of her new friends, especially flamboyant Marina, another whom Rosemary seems to dislike. The discussions which occur during their evening deepen both the relationships and the tensions between them and draw lines which will determine the outcome of their various friendships. The Ball (1990): In the third year of her degree, much has happened to Meg. She is married to Jason, although she omits him from much of her psychic (and practical) life. Meg and her friends attend the Faculty's annual formal dinner dance. Meg has so far managed to balance the competitiveness which occurs between all of them, both academically and personally. The negotiation of her respective friendships with Jennifer and Marina requires a great deal of diplomacy; the subtext in this is very disturbing to Meg. What exactly is the conflict about? She can't be sure why they don't like each other; it could be Marina's smoking, or Jennifer's confidence to spare, but these things also annoy her, yet she does not fight with either girl as they do with each other. Rose has always insisted that the problem is Jennifer's private school background, but Marina went to a catholic girls' school, so what could the difference be? The ball is initially a happy occasion; the girls dress up and they dance and drink champagne together with the boys. But dynamics operating beneath the surface force their way up. Rosie is ready to force Pete to confront her continuing crush on him; Pete confronts Meg about their ongoing flirtation. Meg gives in and admits to herself for the first time that she does want to be with Pete. He is grown up and exciting and strong. He offers her something she has never had with Jason. Married less than a year, she pushes her husband out of her thoughts. The events of the ball force Meg to confront the differences between all her friends and the discomfort this affords everyone. Rosie's continued need for control over the group is acknowledged. Future Present (1991): Meg lives in Carlton with Pete. This is the busiest year thus far in her academic career and the financial, academic and emotional pressure is showing. This vignette gives us the range of Meg's academic activities and the way her life has fallen since the events at the ball eight months earlier. We see Meg grappling with her own evaluation of the changes in her 'way of being'; trying on different ways of living that she has idealised and finding them just as wanting as the last. Meg faces some key existential questions in this vignette and seeks answers which she finally discovers only she can give. Her relationship with Pete, the values and goals they share (and don't share) are thrown into sharp relief and provide a touchstone for the clearer determination of Meg's aspiration and future. Her relationship with various female friends is also revisited and this offers insight into Meg's constant checking of herself against idealised female templates. There is a crisis of identity and strength which constitutes an important fork in Meg's road. Beyond (1992): Beyond sees Meg determinedly seeking ways she can progress towards her goal, while still constantly checking against herself that postgraduate study (let alone a scholarly life) is available to her. We accompany Meg as she seeks and locates the academic path she wants; this is the backdrop for her further psychic exploration of the women who intimidate yet fascinate her, particularly Heloise Waul, who is a significant influence through Meg's postgraduate career. The sites in which Meg's personal struggles manifest are highlighted in this vignette, particularly in terms of dress and cultural pursuit. The conversations between Meg and Heloise also allow an exploration of the feminist politics of that milieu and the class tensions which operate tacitly within those politics. Bound to the Caucus (1992); Meg has now nearly completed her undergraduate degree and has been active for some time in university life and student politics. Her feminist and socialist education is well advanced. Bound to the Caucus shows us Meg in her student politics world for the first time, where the segue of her activism and academic life have taken her. Meg has found female friends who understand that part of her which struggles with inadequacy, although at this point in the novel this common struggle is not well understood or articulated. It is in this vignette that Meg admits her growing attraction for a Liberal student activist, Stuart Noble; this proscribed liaison raises many questions about values and aspiration, as well as the dominant sexual politics of the time and place. Bound to the Caucus also offers insight into the student activism occurring at universities like Philip in the early 1990s. Divergence (1993): Set in 1993, Meg is now in the early weeks of her honours program, although she has been at work on her thesis on the poet William Blake for some months. Living unhappily in a share household near the University, her relationship with Stuart Noble continues to develop, reaching a crisis point in this period. These events occur in the context of Meg's activist career in the Student Left, particularly as she encounters issues of identity around her class, feminism and difference amongst Left women. While Meg fights these battles passionately in an intense milieu, she considers them emotionally in terms of her changing sense of herself. Meg is increasingly aware that the personal impact of her class is changing for her. Additionally, she explores her relation with a 'boyfriend' of right wing political affiliation; Meg comes to recognise that this relationship is undermining her sense of herself in a way that her relationships with women in the left previously did. Honour Roll (1993): Meg is now undertaking honours and this vignette opens with Meg seeing the honours coordinator, Professor Michaela Moore, who approximates all those apparently middle-class traits to which Meg has such a push-pull relation. We see the return of a chapter of the honours thesis, discussion of the content and the constantly shifting subject positions these experiences offer Meg. This vignette also directly introduces Agnes. Mia and Agnes meet Meg after her supervision and this conversation allows very distinct if tacit class themes to develop. Meg has warmed quickly to Agnes, who is unlike anyone she has known; they have much in common in relation to their work and this binds them. Mia continually presents a viewpoint which irritates Meg, in relation to entitlement: to academic life, to funding, even to questioning how these things are enabled. Honour Roll allows us to see Meg's flourishing theoretical and intellectual life and its role in assisting her emotionally as she re-frames the same conundrums that previously constituted obstacles. The Cusp (1993): Meg's developing friendship with Agnes offers her enormous insights into difference and her developing sense of self and aspiration. While the girls come from diametrical backgrounds, they are united by their passion for their research and scholarly work. Meg is increasingly self-conscious through their discussions in terms of how she has seen herself and allowed herself to dream and seek. Cusp is set at the end of the honours year, prior to the release of results. Meg and Agnes explore their feelings about academia and this leads to discussions of purpose and the role of class within that. This vignette also documents Meg's growing social confidence and those aspects of herself which have become so sure to her, that she no longer considers them at all. Whom (1996): [Not included in this abridged edition]. Set at Cambridge, two thirds into Meg's doctorate, Whom shows Meg in the mental space which will take her back to Melbourne and the State University of Victoria. Having risen to the challenge of doctoral study, she is confronted now by deeper demons, and the need to explore and challenge them in the ambivalent context of Cambridge, which so excites her still, but which has proved empty of the profoundly held higher ideals she expected to see reflected. Set in the midst of Meg's doctoral study, this vignette is dramatically abridged in the submission novel. The importance of Whom lies in its concern with Meg's rapidly shifting sense of herself and her own scholarly subjectivity and the changes to these that the culture of Cambridge has wrought. By the second year of her PhD Meg is crystal clear about her goals and decides to spend the long break at home, rather than travelling, because she wishes to 'touch base' with her future. The action described segues into that in Courting the Enemy. Whom describes Meg's ambivalent and contradictory but passionate feelings about Cambridge. Whom demonstrates Meg's increasing anger at the status and privilege to which her education now automatically admits her, and her need to find some sort of stasis and safety in her emotional life. In this vignette, Meg meets her life partner, Jeremy McCallum (I have intentionally reduced the attention in the novel to Meg's romantic life as she matures into her career). Courting the Enemy (late 1990s): By this time, Meg is a senior lecturer in English at the State University of Victoria, which was established in the nineteenth century as the Worker's College. This vignette starts with Meg's attendance at a University Committee which is considering a transformation in relation to equity in admissions policy. Meg was drawn to SUV because of its transparent and determined commitment to educate the children of working-class people. An attack on the equity admission policy of her university galvanizes Meg and some of her colleagues. The action of the vignette considers the role of the scholar, and of such an institution as SUV, in the light of daily academic life. This vignette is primary in its demonstration of the themes of the novel. In the unabridged version, I took the opportunity to illustrate some of the vast range of administrative, intellectual and even physical demands on a senior scholar in the routine of academic life. In placing Meg in this context, I sought to highlight how a scholar of her values and commitment makes sense of the constantly shifting terrain of her working world and how this continually informs her practice. This vignette is also significant for its retrospective description of Meg's employment at SUV some years earlier. Locus: (1995). This piece of writing stands apart from the rest of the novel. I wished to write in a reflective voice, which might be from Meg's journal, were it not in the (omniscient) third person, in order to consider the headspace and meaning-making which occurs as Meg settles into Cambridge, and the lifestyle her situation allows her. Locus is a deeper engagement with Meg's sense of her identity. It considers the impact on her of the physical journeys she must make to match those of her psyche. These are thoughts too personal for a letter, even to Anna. Meg is exploring her ever shifting self and the growth in her self-belief allows her to explore what is rage; that she was bounded by illusions about her worth. Locus seeks to allow some context for Meg's anger at the role Cambridge plays. I seek to create the space in which Meg's dawning self understanding will lead her to her next, driven, purpose. Letters: throughout the novel letters are used to reveal and inform Meg's relationship with her family. This is an intentional device to distance the birth family in an attempt to blur and muddy an assessment of Meg's class through traditional measures. The letters between Meg and Aunty Jean particularly reveal much of the classed emotional antecedents of Meg's life. There are also letters exchanged with Meg's high school best friend, Anna, who has moved to the country and a very different lifestyle. Meg writes to Anna often, using the acceptance she feels in the friendship and her sense that Anna understands her, to touchstone her own emotional growth. Formal letters from institutions ring changes in settings and mark significant points in the geographical and academic trajectory of the character. All the letters serve to introduce time and event changes consistent with the episodic style of the narrative.

Integrity of the circadian time-keeping system in chronic fatigue syndrome

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) is a debilitating condition in which severe, ongoing fatigue is the most prominent of a complex of somatic, psychological and neuropsychological symptoms. The aetiology of CFS remains uncertain and, to date, efforts to distinguish a clear pathophysiological profile for the disorder have been unsuccessful. Current evidence suggests that, rather than being a discrete disease entity with a single cause, CFS is a clinical condition resulting from the interaction of a number of pathophysiological factors, including acute infections, stress and psychiatric disorder. Recently, there has been some interest in the proposition that disordered circadian time-keeping may contribute to the development and/or course of the illness. The rationale for the investigation of circadian factors in CFS is based on the fact that disorders known to be associated with circadian dysregulation, such as jet lag and shiftwork related syndromes have a high degree of symptomatological overlap with CFS. Also, the presence of circadian disturbance could account, in part, for other phenomenological aspects of CFS, including the high rates of comorbid affective disturbance, and the reports of low-level immune dyregulation among sufferers. While several recent studies have produced some evidence of chronobiological dysregulation in CFS patients, much work remains before conclusions can be drawn about the presence, nature and clinical significance of circadian disturbance in CFS. This thesis describes a series of studies that were designed to systematically investigate: 1. whether CFS is associated with a state of circadian dysregulation, and 2. whether circadian dysregulation contributes significantly to the symptomatology of CFS. The first of the 5 studies reported here compared the circadian patterns of sleep-activity of CFS sufferers with those of healthy controls. Results indicated that CFS patients' sleep-activity cycles were significantly phase delayed compared to controls, and that some aspects of their circadian profiles of sleep-activity were related to some measures of sleep-disturbance and well-being. Studies 2 and 3 investigated the relationship between rhythms of sleep-wake and core temperature in CFS patients and healthy controls. The major finding from these studies was that sleep-wake and core temperature rhythms appear to be less effectively synchronised. Further evidence was collected that suggested that there was a relationship between circadian parameters and symptom measures in the CFS group. While this indicated that circadian dysregulation is linked in some way to the symptoms of CFS, assessment of the actual clinical significance of circadian disturbances required the use of a prospective methodology. The final two studies, therefore, report on a placebo-controlled trial of clinical interventions that were designed to restore circadian integrity to CFS patients, in order to see whether this would lead to a reduction in symptom number or severity. Results indicated that, although patients experienced improvements across a range of measures of symptoms and functional capacity, these were small in magnitude, of unlikely clinical significance, and no greater, in general, to improvements reported by patients who underwent placebo treatment. These results, along with those of the earlier studies, are discussed with respect to their implications regarding the presence and significance of circadian dysregulation. It is concluded that, while they provide evidence that CFS is associated with a degree of both internal and external circadian desynchrony, these findings suggest that circadian dysregulation is likely to be only a peripheral, contributor to the processes that generate and maintain the symptom complex. These findings are discussed with respect to how they contribute to our overall understanding of this multi-dimensional condition, and the implications they have for the continuing effort to investigate the causes and treatment of CFS.

Students' experiences of e-learning at school

The dissertation describes the experiences of senior secondary students taking an online course for the first time to further their language education. The experiences are presented from the perspective of students, of supervising teachers and the 'virtual' teacher. Issues of importance with younger learners are identified and discussed and guidelines for the conduct of online courses at school level developed. It is proposed that online courses may have a worthwhile place in school education if specific learning needs can be met using this medium.

Labour productivity trends in Australian manufacturing : some time series properties

Labour productivity plays a significant role in economic growth, labour demand and employment situation of a particular economy. In this light, the presence of a structural break in productivity, and its unit root property, has important consequences for the overall economy and in major sectors such as manufacturing. In this article, using some recently developed unit root tests, we examine: (i) the null hypothesis of a unit root in the log-level of labour productivity for 38 manufacturing subdivisions against the alternative of trend stationarity over a three-decade period; and (ii) the presence of a structural break in the series, and whether the break has had a permanent or a transitory effect on manufacturing labour productivity. Our main finding is that shocks to labour productivity have had a transitory effect, implying that policies are likely to have only short-term effects.

Structural breaks and unit roots in Australian macroeconomic time series

We examine the unit root properties of 16 Australian macroeconomic time series using monthly data spanning the period 1960–2004. In addition to the standard Augmented Dickey Fuller (ADF) test, we implement one- and two-break endogenous structural break ADF-type unit root tests as well as one- and two-break Lagrange multiplier (LM) unit root tests. While the ADF test provides relatively little evidence against the unit root null hypothesis, once we allow for structural breaks we are able to reject the unit root null for just under half of the variables at the 10% level or better.