Jean Baptiste Francois Pompallier, Thomas Arnold and Julian Edmund Tenison Woods and their contribution to the formation and development of Catholic schooling in Australasia

Histories of Catholic education have received little attention by Church historians and are usually written by members of the Catholic clergy, with a strong emphasis placed on the spiritual and building accomplishments of the bishops. This thesis examines the provision of Catholic Education in Australasia, with a focus on the contribution of three men, Jean Baptiste Francois Pompallier, Thomas Arnold and Julian Edmund Tenison Woods. These men received support from the female religious orders in the regions where they worked, frequently with little recognition or praise by Catholic Church authorities. The tenets of their faith gave Pompallier and Woods strength and reinforced their determination to succeed. Arnold, however, possessed a strong desire to change society. All three believed in the desirability of providing Catholic schooling for the poor, with the curriculum facilitating the acquisition of socially desirable values and traits, including obedience, honesty, moral respectability and a strong adherence to Catholic religious values. The beneficiaries included society, future employers, the Church, the children and their parents. With the exception of promoting distinctly Catholic religious values, Roman Catholic schools and National schools in Australasia shared identical objectives. Historians have neglected the contributions of these men.

An X chromosome association scan of the Norfolk Island genetic isolate provides evidence for a novel migraine susceptibility locus at Xq12

Migraine is a common and debilitating neurovascular disorder with a complex envirogenomic aetiology. Numerous studies have demonstrated a preponderance of women affected with migraine and previous pedigree linkage studies in our laboratory have identified susceptibility loci on chromosome Xq24-Xq28. In this study we have used the genetic isolate of Norfolk Island to further analyse the X chromosome for migraine susceptibility loci. An association approach was employed to analyse 14,124 SNPs spanning the entire X chromosome. Genotype data from 288 individuals comprising a large core-pedigree, of which 76 were affected with migraine, were analysed. Although no SNP reached chromosome-wide significance (empirical α = 1×10−5) ranking by P-value revealed two primary clusters of SNPs in the top 25. A 10 SNP cluster represents a novel migraine susceptibility locus at Xq12 whilst a 11 SNP cluster represents a previously identified migraine susceptibility locus at Xq27. The strongest association at Xq12 was seen for rs599958 (OR = 1.75, P = 8.92×10−4), whilst at Xq27 the strongest association was for rs6525667 (OR = 1.53, P = 1.65×10−4). Further analysis of SNPs at these loci was performed in 5,122 migraineurs from the Women’s Genome Health Study and provided additional evidence for association at the novel Xq12 locus (P<0.05). Overall, this study provides evidence for a novel migraine susceptibility locus on Xq12. The strongest effect SNP (rs102834, joint P = 1.63×10−5) is located within the 5′UTR of the HEPH gene, which is involved in iron homeostasis in the brain and may represent a novel pathway for involvement in migraine pathogenesis.

Taxonomy and redescription of the Fawn Antechinus, Antechinus bellus (Thomas) (Marsupialia: Dasyuridae)

We provide a taxonomic redescription of the Fawn Antechinus, Antechinus bellus (Thomas). A. bellus is the only member of its genus to occur in Australia’s Northern Territory, where it can be found in savannah woodlands of the Top End. It is perhaps the most distinctive antechinus, and clearly distinguishable from the other 10 extant species of antechinus found in Australia: externally, A. bellus has pale body fur, white feet and large ears; A. bellus skulls have large auditory bullae and narrow interorbital width, while broadening abruptly at the molar row; mitochondrial and nuclear genes clearly dis-tinguish A. bellus from all congeners, phylogenetically positioning the Fawn Antechinus as sister to Queensland’s A. leo Van Dyck, 1980, with which it shares a curled supratragus of the external ear and a similar tropical latitudinal range.

Taxonomy and redescription of the Atherton Antechinus, Antechinus godmani (Thomas) (Marsupialia: Dasyuridae)

We provide a taxonomic redescription of the dasyurid marsupial Atherton Antechinus, Antechinus godmani (Thomas). A. godmani is only rarely encountered and limited to wet tropical rainforests of north-east Queensland, Australia, between the towns of Cardwell and Cairns (a distribution spanning 135 kilometres from north to south). The distinctive species occurs at altitudes of over 600 meters asl, in all major rainforest types, and can be found with both the northern subspecies of the Yellow-footed Antechinus, A. flavipes rubeculus Van Dyck and the Rusty Antechinus, A. adustus (Thomas). A. god-mani is clearly separated from all congeners on the basis of both morphometrics and genetics. A. godmani can be distin-guished from all extant congeners based on external morphology by a combination of large size, naked-looking tail and reddish fur on the face and head. A. godmani skulls are characteristically large, with a suite of long features: basicranium, palate, upper premolar tooth row, inter-palatal vacuity distance and dentary. Phylogenies generated from mt- and nDNA data position Antechinus godmani as monophyletic with respect to other members of the genus; A. godmani is strongly supported as the sister-group to a clade containing all other antechinus, but excluding the south-east Australian Dusky An-techinus, A. swainsonii (Waterhouse) and Swamp Antechinus, A. minimus (Geoffroy). Antechinus godmani are genetically very divergent compared to all congeners (mtDNA: range 12.9–16.3%).

Book review - Richard Goldberg, Medicinal Product Liability and Regulation (Hart Publishing, Oxford, 2013) 214pp

In December 2013, settlement was reached between approximately 100 Australian and New Zealand Thalidomide victims and the company which had acted as the Australian distributor of the infamous drug, thus putting to rest the possibility of litigation. Around the same time, Thalidomide victims in the United Kingdom (UK) launched a similar bid for compensation against the manufacturer and distributor. It is clear that despite a lengthy amount of time having passed ever since the thalidomide disaster commenced in 1962, the controversy over compensation continues. Indeed, the author of Medicinal Product Liability and Regulation (published before the announcement of the British legal claim), Professor Goldberg, notes that claims for resulting birth defects continue to emerge right into the present day. His prescient insight into the contemporary relevance of compensation for pharmaceutical injuries thus makes Medicinal Product Liability and Regulation a very relevant addition to the small body of scholarship that is available on this rather specific and complex issue.

Conservation genetics of the water mouse, Xeromys myoides Thomas, 1889

The water mouse, Xeromys myoides, is currently recognised as a vulnerable species in Australia, inhabiting a small number of distinct and isolated coastal regions of Queensland and the Northern Territory. An examination of the evolutionary history and contemporary influences shaping the genetic structure of this species is required to make informed conservation management decisions. Here, we report the first analysis undertaken on the phylogeography and population genetics of the water mouse across its mainland Australian distribution. Genetic diversity was assessed at two mitochondrial DNA (Cytochrome b, 1000 bp; D-loop, 400 bp) and eight microsatellite DNA loci. Very low genetic diversity was found, indicating that water mice underwent a recent expansion throughout their Australian range and constitute a single evolutionarily significant unit. Microsatellite analyses revealed that the highest genetic diversity was found in the Mackay region of central Queensland; population substructure was also identified, suggesting that local populations may be isolated in this region. Conversely, genetic diversity in the Coomera region of south-east Queensland was very low and the population in this region has experienced a significant genetic bottleneck. These results have significant implications for future management, particularly in terms of augmenting populations through translocations or reintroducing water mice in areas where they have gone extinct.

Émile Durkheim and Thomas Luckmann: Religion, spirituality and mental health

This chapter examines connections between religion, spirituality and mental health. Religion and spirituality influence the way people conceive themselves, others and the world around them, as well as how they behave – and are strongly associated with numerous mental health outcomes. Religion and spirituality therefore demand the attention of those who seek a comprehensive understanding of the factors that affect mental health. Mental health professionals are increasingly being asked to consider their clients’ religious and/or spiritual beliefs when devising their treatment plans, making the study of religion and spirituality an essential area of learning for those working in the mental health field. Initial discussion in this chapter will focus on the different approaches taken by sociologists in studying mental health. Emile Durkheim, one of the founders of sociology, proposed that religion was fundamental to societal wellbeing and was the first to demonstrate a link between religion and mental health at a population level in the late 19th century. Durkheim’s classic theory of religion, together with the work of Thomas Luckmann and other contemporary social theorists who have sought to explain widespread religious change in Western countries since World War II will be examined. Two key changes during this period are the shift away from mainstream Christian religions and the widespread embracing of ‘spirituality’ as an alternative form of religious expression. In combination, the theories of Durkheim, Luckmann and other sociologists provide a platform from which to consider reasons for variations in rates of mental health problems observed in contemporary Western societies according to people’s religious/spiritual orientation. This analysis demonstrates the relevance of both classic and contemporary sociological theories to issues confronting societies in the present day.

A taxonomic assessment of the Australian Dusky Antechinus Complex: A new species, the Tasman Peninsula Dusky Antechinus (Antechinus vandycki sp. nov.) and an elevation to species of the Mainland Dusky Antechinus (Antechinus swainsonii mimetes (Thomas))

In 2014, the northern outlying population of carnivorous marsupial Dusky Antechinus (Antechinus swainsonii) was nominated a new species, A. arktos. Here, we describe a further new species in the dasyurid A. swainsonii complex, which now contains five taxa. We recognise two distinct species from Tasmania, formerly represented by A. swainsonii swainsonii (Waterhouse); one species (and 2 subspecies) from mainland south-eastern Australia, formerly known as A. swainsonii mimetes (Thomas) and A. swainsonii insulanus Davison; and one species from the Tweed Caldera in mid-eastern Australia, formerly known as A. s. mimetes but recently described as A. arktos Baker, Mutton, Hines and Van Dyck. Primacy of discovery dictates the Tasmanian Dusky Antechinus A. swainsonii (Waterhouse) is nominate; the Mainland Dusky Antechinus taxa, one raised from subspecies within A. swainsonii mimetes (Thomas) is elevated to species (now A. mimetes mimetes) and the other, A. swainsonii insulanus Davison is transferred as a subspecies of A. mimetes (now A. mimetes insulanus); a species from Tasmania, the Tasman Peninsula Dusky Antechinus, is named A. vandycki sp. nov. These taxa are strongly differentiated: geographically (in allopatry), morphologically (in coat colour and craniodental features) and genetically (in mtDNA, 7.5-12.5% between species pairs).

Other Side of This Life : Death, Value, and Social Being in Thomas Pynchon's Fiction

This dissertation analyzes the interrelationship between death, the conditions of (wo)man s social being, and the notion of value as it emerges in the fiction of the American novelist Thomas Pynchon (1937 ). Pynchon s present work includes six novels V. (1963), The Crying of Lot 49 (1966), Gravity s Rainbow (1973), Vineland (1990), Mason & Dixon (1997), Against the Day (2006) and several short stories. Death constitues a central thematic in Pynchon s work, and it emerges through recurrent questions of mortality, suicide, mass destruction, sacrifice, afterlife, entropy, the relationship between the animate and the inanimate, and the limits of representation. In Pynchon, death is never a mere biological given (or event); it is always determined within a certain historical, cultural, and ideological context. Throughout his work, Pynchon questions the strict ontological separation of life and death by showing the relationship between this separation and social power. Conceptual divisions also reflect the relationship between society and its others, and death becomes that through which lines of social demarcation are articulated. Determined as a conceptual and social "other side", death in Pynchon forms a challenge to modern culture, and makes an unexpected return: the dead return to haunt the living, the inanimate and the animate fuse, and technoscientific attempts at overcoming and controlling death result in its re-emergence in mass destruction and ecological damage. The questioning of the ontological line also affects the structuration of Pynchon's prose, where the recurrent narrated and narrative desire to reach the limits of representation is openly associated with death. Textualized, death appears in Pynchon's writing as a sudden rupture within the textual functioning, when the "other side", that is, the bare materiality of the signifier is foregrounded. In this study, Pynchon s cultural criticism and his poetics come together, and I analyze the subversive role of death in his fiction through Jean Baudrillard s genealogy of the modern notion of death from L échange symbolique et la mort (1976). Baudrillard sees an intrinsic bond between the social repression of death in modernity and the emergence of modern political economy, and in his analysis economy and language appear as parallel systems for generating value (exchange value/ sign-value). For Baudrillard, the modern notion of death as negativity in relation to the positivity of life, and the fact that death cannot be given a proper meaning, betray an antagonistic relation between death and the notion of value. As a mode of negativity (that is, non-value), death becomes a moment of rupture in relation to value-based thinking in short, rationalism. Through this rupture emerges a form of thinking Baudrillard labels the symbolic, characterized by ambivalence and the subversion of conceptual opposites.

Empowering PNG Women through Building Media Arts Production Capacity as Cultural Drivers: Showreel

The creative work comprises six short digital screen stories and emerges from a collaboration between the Discipline of Film Screen and Animation at Queensland University of Technology and the Centre for Social and Creative Media at University of Goroka, funded via the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's Australia Awards Fellowship. Six fellows traveled from Papua New Guinea to Brisbane for a two-week intensive course to learn the advanced skills necessary in order to create media that will empower women and girls to make more of their own economies in Papua New Guinea, and increase the representation of women and their well-being through leadership and decision-making. The resulting creative work is evidence of innovative media teaching-making methods designed to build human and cultural assets in PNG and address the increasing demand for media materials driven by the influx of mobile phones and internet services. The creative work provides a platform to directly address and positively impact gender issues in PNG and builds on the success of the Pawa Meri project, which trained six female directors to tell stories of women in leadership roles in PNG. One of the directors was a producer of this creative work. The creative work frames but problematises the complex issues influencing gender equity through the selection of content and narrative structures in ways which address the dynamics of male/female relationships and power in PNG society and will include strategies to illustrate transformed male and female behaviours. The creative work adopts a scaffolded approach, incorporating the findings of the Train the Trainer approach developed by UoG and QUT for the Life Drama research project. The creative work takes into account current developmental themes and approaches in the production of rich media products, and skills the key participants so that they are able to in turn train others in the wider community. The creative work was presented to partners and key stakeholders on 3 July 2015 at the Glasshouse, QUT Creative Industries Precinct and at the Dean’s Research Seminar Poster Exhibition 15 July 2015 at Room 212-213, Level 2, J Block, Gardens Point QUT and subsequent eBook. It has since returned to PNG to be showcased and distributed, and the skills and strategies disseminated.

Kurt Hirschfeld (left) speaking with Thomas Mann Portraits Groups Men

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Adolpf Molling, Janet Krakauer nee McColl, Hymie Joachim and Thomas Krakauer (l-r); Weggis, Switzerland Portraits Groups

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Portrait of (l-r) unidentified man, Thomas Mann, Singer (painter), Lion Feuchtwanger and unidentified man Portraits Groups Men

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Kurt Hirschfeld (left) speaking with Thomas Mann Portraits Groups Men

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