Governing through representatives of the community: A case study on farmer organizations in rural Australia

The concept ‘governing through the community’ has been used frequently to interpret the neoliberal policy embraced by Australian governments since the 1990s. Yet explanation is still inadequate of how ‘governing through the community’ is conducted in practice, particularly the specific mechanisms that regulate interaction among government agencies, groups seeking to represent the community and individuals in the community. In this study, we find that ‘governing through the community’ is actually ‘governing through representatives of the community’ because it is the representatives that make the community visible and governable. This observation is based on a case study of three kinds of farmer organizations, in two states of Australia, who see their role as serving the community and are regarded by outsiders as representatives of the community at least on certain issues. An understanding of the interaction among different stakeholders within and outside of the community is developed through three themes of ‘paperwork’, ‘data’ and ‘price’ that were used by locals from Landcare groups, grower groups and farmer cooperatives, respectively, to articulate how they experience the mechanisms through which their interactions are regulated. This paper concludes that these groups can claim to represent some residents within a defined geographical area, rather than any exact definition of ‘the community’ and that this is a sufficient claim to enable these groups to participate in the process of ‘governing through the community’. The tensions between government agencies, community representatives and community members threaten the legitimacy of the community representatives as intermediaries. Government agencies do try to contribute to reduce these tensions by strengthening the legitimacy of community representatives through various policy and project mechanisms. However, while the stated aim of ‘governing through the community’ is often focused on producing a ‘flourishing rural community’ through improving democratic modes of representation, this study demonstrates that it is only part of the community, namely the ‘targeted customers’ of the farmer organizations, that is potentially reachable to ‘the state’

Zeb2 is essential for Schwann cell differentiation, myelination and nerve repair

Schwann cell development and peripheral nerve myelination require the serial expression of transcriptional activators, such as Sox10, Oct6 (also called Scip or Pou3f1) and Krox20 (also called Egr2). Here we show that transcriptional repression, mediated by the zinc-finger protein Zeb2 (also known as Sip1), is essential for differentiation and myelination. Mice lacking Zeb2 in Schwann cells develop a severe peripheral neuropathy, caused by failure of axonal sorting and virtual absence of myelin membranes. Zeb2-deficient Schwann cells continuously express repressors of lineage progression. Moreover, genes for negative regulators of maturation such as Sox2 and Ednrb emerge as Zeb2 target genes, supporting its function as an inhibitor of inhibitors in myelination control. When Zeb2 is deleted in adult mice, Schwann cells readily dedifferentiate following peripheral nerve injury and become repair cells. However, nerve regeneration and remyelination are both perturbed, demonstrating that Zeb2, although undetectable in adult Schwann cells, has a latent function throughout life

Case report and review of septicemia due to Serratia ficaria

Serratia ficaria was first described in 1979 as part of the fig tree ecosystem (P.A.D. Grimont, F. Grimont, and M. P. Starr, Curr. Microbiol. 2:277-282, 1979). Since then, it has been isolated from clinical specimens from a few human patients (C. Bollet, J. Freney, P. de Micco, F. Grimont, and P.A.D. Grimont, Méd. Mal. Infect. 20:97-100, 1990; J.A. Brouillard, W. Hansen, and A. Compere, J. Clin. Microbiol. 19:902-904, 1984; H. Darbas, H. Jean-Pierre, G. Boyer, and M. Riviere, Méd. Mal. Infect. 23:269-270, 1993; V.J. Gill, J.J. Farmer, III, P.A.D. Grimont, M.A. Asbury, and C.L. McIntosh, J. Clin. Microbiol. 14:234-236, 1981; F.D. Pien and J.J. Farmer III, South. Med. J. 76:1591-1592, 1983; C. Richard, J. de Coquet, and C. Suc, Méd. Mal. Infect. 19:45-47, 1989), but the pathogenicity of S. ficaria was always questionable. We are reporting the case of an aged cancer patient who developed S. ficaria septicemia. The habitat of this organism and its potential role as a pathogen are discussed.</jats:p

Pathogenicity in two cases of Staphylococcus schleiferi, a recently described species

Staphylococcus schleiferi is a new species of coagulase-negative staphylococcus first described in April 1988 (J. Freney, Y. Brun, M. Bes, H. Meugnier, F. Grimont, P. A. D. Grimont, C. Nervi, and J. Fleurette, Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol. 38:168-172, 1988). There are few data in the literature on its pathogenicity. We report two cases in which its role as an opportunistic nosocomial appears to be incontestable.</jats:p

<i>Serratia ficaria</i> : a Misidentified or Unidentified Rare Cause of Human Infections in Fig Tree Culture Zones

ABSTRACT Serratia ficaria , an enterobacterium involved in the fig tree ecosystem, has been isolated from human clinical samples in rare instances, and its role as a pathogen is unclear. In 7 years, we have isolated S. ficaria from seven patients; it was the only pathogen in 4 patients, including a patient with septicemia described previously and three patients with gallbladder empyemas described in the present report. From March 1995 to July 1997, the incidence of biliary infections due to S. ficaria was 0.7%. We discuss the digestive carriage of this bacterium and its epidemiology with respect to the fig tree life cycle. Since fig trees grow around the Mediterranean as well as in the United States (California, Louisiana, Hawaii), S. ficaria should be more frequently isolated. In our experience, various strains have been misidentified or unidentified by commercial systems. Incorrect identification could be an additional explanation for the paucity of reported cases. S. ficaria produces nonpigmented, lactose-negative colonies which give off a potatolike odor. This odor is the primary feature of S. ficaria and must prompt reexamination of the identifications proposed by commercial systems. We tested 42 novel strains using three commercial systems: Vitek gram-negative identification (GNI) cards and API 20E and ID 32E strips (bioMérieux, Marcy-l’Etoile, France). The percentages of positivity that we have obtained were lower than those published previously for the following characteristics: lipase, gelatinase, DNase, and rhamnose. The best system for the recognition of S. ficaria is ID 32E, which correctly identified 27 of 42 strains. The API 20E system gave correct identifications for only two strains. S. ficaria was not present in the Vitek GNI card system database. </jats:p

Prosthetic Joint Infection due to Veillonella dispar

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