Australia's relations with the South Pacific - challenge and change

"It is clearly the responsibility of both national governments and donor countries to ask themselves why the region has performed at this disappointing level. I for one do not think the constraints to development which I have mentioned above, or the lack of sufficient external assistance, provide the full answer to this question. Rather, I would contend that the policy frameworks adopted in the region have often retarded the prospects for long-term sustainable economic growth. Until appropriate national policies are implemented little improvement can be expected ..." - page

Wearable sensors in Huntington disease:a pilot study

Background: The Unified Huntington’s Disease Rating Scale (UHDRS) is the principal means of assessing motor impairment in Huntington disease but is subjective and generally limited to in-clinic assessments. Objective: To evaluate the feasibility and ability of wearable sensors to measure motor impairment in individuals with Huntington disease in the clinic and at home. Methods: Participants with Huntington disease and controls were asked to wear five accelerometer-based sensors attached to the chest and each limb for standardized, in-clinic assessments and for one day at home. A secondchest sensor was worn for six additional days at home. Gait measures were compared between controls, participants with Huntington disease, and participants with Huntington disease grouped by UHDRS total motor score using Cohen’s d values. Results: Fifteen individuals with Huntington disease and five controls completed the study. Sensor data were successfully captured from 18 of the 20 participants at home. In the clinic, the standard deviation of step time (timebetween consecutive steps) was increased in Huntington disease (p<0.0001; Cohen’s d=2.61) compared to controls. At home with additional observations, significant differences were observed in seven additional gait measures. The gait of individuals with higher total motor scores (50 or more) differed significantly from those with lower total motor scores (below 50) on multiple measures at home. Conclusions: In this pilot study, the use of wearable sensors in clinic and at home was feasible and demonstrated gait differences between controls, participants with Huntington disease, and participants with Huntington diseasegrouped by motor impairment

Economic development in the Asia-Pacific region: what role can our public sector play? by Gordon Bilney

The export of public sector skills is a critical element in promoting Australia's engagement with the Asia-Pacific region - the key Keating government theme for the 1990s

Australia and space

Australia has been extensively involved in space activities of one sort or another since the 1950s. In many cases projects undertaken in Australia and Australian products have been at the very forefront of international developments. But the Australian activity has always been uneven and fitful. Opportunities have been lost and investments wasted. We have lacked a national pace policy capable of providing coherence and direction. Australia cannot afford this state of affairs. The costs of short-term planning and of sectional perspectives and programs are too great. Space support for the Australian Defence Force will require significant investment - initially for communications and signals intelligence purposes and after, perhaps, for surveillance. These defence programs should be coordinated closely with Australia's civil space capabilities and interests - to ensure that there is no unnecessary duplication and that civil resources are used whenever practicable; and that the defence investment contributes, wherever possible, to national development. A viable space industry and infrastructure is itself a major defence asset. The commercial opportunities of space will increase significantly the next couple of decades, and it is critical that Australian industry technology share in this growth - with due consideration to national as well as commercial interests. here are many complex and controversial issues involved in the development of a national space policy designed to provide coherence and direction to Australia's space activities. The investments required are sometimes enormous. Are the relevant government authorities and private industry adequately equipped to make the most - from the national perspective - out of their programs? Have Australia's space defence and intelligence requirements been adequately defined, and how might they best be satisfied? What are the environmental implications of major Australian space projects? How might space-based sensors contribute to monitoring environmental developments? What machinery might be instituted for coordinating and supporting Australia's various space-related activities? These issues can only be resolved through a process of informed national debate. In November 1991 the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre at the Australian National University held a major conference to foster this debate. This volume consists of the revised and edited versions of the papers prepared for the conference

Strategic studies in a changing world: global, regional and Australian perspectives

To mark its 25th anniversary, in 1991 the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre held a major conference to consider how strategic studies has changed over that period, and where it should be heading. An outstanding group of specialists - both academic and practitioners - brought global, regional and Australian perspectives to a range of issues that will be important in the next decade. This volume consists of the revised and edited versions of the papers prepared for the conference. It was an appropriate time for this examination as the world was and is still undergoing the most fundamental transformations since the end of the Second World War. But while at first glance the strategic environment is more benign there are new world tensions. What will happen to the Soviet nuclear arsenal? What new challenges are ahead? What are the prospects for stability and security in our region? Security studies is becoming more complex. In our region there are more actors, both within the ASEAN countries and among the extra-regional countries such as China, Japan and India. A more profound complexity is the broadening concept of security, with the traditional concerns of insurgencies, separatism, expansion of maritime capabilities and power projection, being supplemented by issues of economic and environmental security. In a challenging way this volume examines the issues that will be crucial for security in the years to come