The Future of the Uniting Church in Australia: The Application of Scenario Planning to the Creation of Four “Futures” for the Uniting Church in Australia

This dissertation examines the future of the Uniting Church through the use of scenario planning. This is the first time that this management technique has been used on an Australian church. Chapter 1 explains why the dissertation was written and how it was done. Chapter 2 provides an overview of the Uniting Church in Australia. Chapter 3 explains the management technique of scenario planning and the creation of scenarios (“futures”). Part II consists five chapters. Chapter 4 is an introduction to the four scenarios (or “futures”). Chapter 5 deals with the first scenario: “Word and Deed” and examines how the Uniting Church could become a church of a small number of large parishes providing both spiritual activities and social welfare. Chapter 6 deals with the second scenario: “Secular Welfare” and examines how the Uniting Church could let the parishes fade away and instead focus on the provision of social welfare (albeit derived from a Christian tradition). Chapter 7 deals with the third scenario: “Return to the Early Church”, which examines how the Uniting Church could reinvent itself as per the first three centuries of the Christian church. Chapter 8 deals with the fourth scenario: “Recessional” in which the Uniting Church is wound up and its assets dispersed. Part III, containing chapter 9, asks the question “Where to from here?” This chapter argues that the Uniting Church has fundamental organizational problems. It then examines some basic ideas to assist the Uniting Church to think about its future. The Appendix contains information on how I work with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in assessing their future. There is also a detailed Bibliography

Tempo bands, metre and rhythmic mode in Marri Ngarr 'Church Lirrga' songs

During the 1970s, the Marri Ngarr composer Pius Luckan and his brother Clement Tchinburur created a set of liturgical songs ('churcb lirrga') based on the didjeridu-accompanied dance-song genre Lirrga, one of several public ceremonial genres in Wadeye, NT. Musical analysis and discussion witb composers sbows that the songs fall into named distinct tempo ranges ('tempo bands’), that tempo bands correlate witb different metres in the vocal part (tbis combination is termed 'rhythmic mode'), and that singers highlight rhythmic mode by systematic juxtaposition of contrasting songs. Accounts of similar compositional practices in other Australian song repertoires are noted.Australian Research Counci

That spatial shit: Exploring the space between actor training and training to play rugby union

It is sometimes argued, albeit anecdotally, that performing artists and sports practitioners have certain basic things in common when it comes to the goals and methods of training for their respective professions: discipline, focus, care of the body. However, in the case of actor training and training to play rugby union football—the two practices with which this thesis is concerned—it is also clear that arts and sports training take place within vastly different cultural contexts. Each of these fields of practice has its own set of expectations about the performative outcomes that training should support. Each acculturates quite specific bodily habits and values. On the one hand, actors are encouraged to explore a subtle form of embodiment, one that ‘awakens all the senses’ (Bogart 2005: 20) creating an openness to a variety of psychophysical demands. In contrast, a key concern of rugby union players is to be fitter, faster, stronger, and thus, techniques of the body (Mauss 1973) are shaped to reflect the requirements of the sport. Yet, although rugby union is a physically tough collision sport, there are chaotic elements of the game that require players to exploit a more intuitive set of bodily dispositions; ones that are not developed within regular rugby union training regimes. Hence the question arises, what if anything, might a rugby union player learn from being exposed to forms of actor training? And on what terms could an interaction between these different training regimes occur? In exploring the space between actor training and training to play rugby union, this thesis raises larger questions about the possibilities of crossover training between many other disciplines

Kalman-filter-based EEG source localization

This thesis uses the Kalman filter (KF) to solve the electroencephalographic (EEG) inverse problem to image its neuronal sources. Chapter 1 introduces EEG source localization and the KF and discusses how it can solve the inverse problem. Chapter 2 introduces an EEG inverse solution using a spatially whitened KF (SWKF) to reduce the computational burden. Likelihood maximization is used to fit spatially uniform neural model parameters to simulated and clinical EEGs. The SWKF accurately reconstructs source dynamics. Filter performance is analyzed by computing the innovations’ statistical properties and identifying spatial variations in performance that could be improved by use of spatially varying parameters. Chapter 3 investigates the SWKF via one-dimensional (1D) simulations. Motivated by Chapter 2, two model parameters are given Gaussian spatial profiles to better reflect brain dynamics. Constrained optimization ensures estimated parameters have clear biophysical interpretations. Inverse solutions are also computed using the optimal linear KF. Both filters produce accurate state estimates. Spatially varying parameters are correctly identified from datasets with transient dynamics, but estimates for driven datasets are degraded by the unmodeled drive term. Chapter 4 treats the whole-brain EEG inverse problem and applies features of the 1D simulations to the SWKF of Chapter 2. Spatially varying parameters are used to model spatial variation of the alpha rhythm. The simulated EEG here exhibits wave-like patterns and spatially varying dynamics. As in Chapter 3, optimization constrains model parameters to appropriate ranges. State estimation is again reliable for simulated and clinical EEG, although spatially varying parameters do not improve accuracy and parameter estimation is unreliable, with wave velocity underestimated. Contributing factors are identified and approaches to overcome them are discussed. Chapter 5 summarizes the main findings and outlines future work

Effect of posttranslational modification on the Na+, K+ ATPase kinetics

The Na+, K+ ATPase is an essential membrane protein in eukaryotic cells, which transports Na+ out of the cell in exchange for K+ into the cell. For this transport it hydrolyses one molecule of ATP for each cycle. The partial reactions of the ATPase cycle and the effects of posttranslational modifications on ATPase activity have been studied extensively. However, amalgamation of the reported rate constants for the partial reactions along with the effect of posttranslational modifications have never been attempted. We have designed a simplified four-state mathematical model of the Na+, K+ ATPase using published results for the partial reactions. We have incorporated the effect of the Na+ allosteric site and poise dependent glutathionylation and attempted to replicate K+ activated transient currents reported in voltage clamped cardiomyocytes. Our voltage clamped cardiomyocyte results indicate the K+ activated transient is an effect of poise dependent glutathionylation rather than the Na+ subsarcolemmal space. These results can be replicated to some extent by the proposed kinetic model. This is the first kinetic model of the Na+, K+ ATPase that incorporates both partial rate constants and a reported posttranslational modification which is able to reproduce voltage clamped cardiomyocyte data

Making and breaking order via clothing Clothing regulation, cross-dressing, and the ordering mentality in later medieval and early modern England

Following the events which disrupted social stability in fourteenth and fifteenth-century England, individuals from a variety of social contexts demonstrated a particular necessity to see order visibly displayed in society. This thesis examines sumptuary regulations and cross-dressing side by side to demonstrate clothing's relationship to both making and breaking order. In the act of revealing this relationship, this thesis will argue that the two cases demonstrate clothing’s importance in creating a visible confirmation of social order which ultimately brings to the surface an underlying collective ordering mentality that equated a sense of security with arranging everyone in society in their rightful place

Eculizumab-C5 complexes express a C5a neoepitope in vivo: Consequences for interpretation of patient complement analyses

Contains fulltext : 177337.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access)The complement system has obtained renewed clinical focus due to increasing number of patients treated with eculizumab, a monoclonal antibody inhibiting cleavage of C5 into C5a and C5b. The FDA approved indications are paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria and atypical haemolytic uremic syndrome, but many other diseases are candidates for complement inhibition. It has been postulated that eculizumab does not inhibit C5a formation in vivo, in contrast to what would be expected since it blocks C5 cleavage. We recently revealed that this finding was due to a false positive reaction in a C5a assay. In the present study, we identified expression of a neoepitope which was exposed on C5 after binding to eculizumab in vivo. By size exclusion chromatography of patient serum obtained before and after infusion of eculizumab, we document that the neoepitope was exposed in the fractions containing the eculizumab-C5 complexes, being positive in this actual C5a assay and negative in others. Furthermore, we confirmed that it was the eculizumab-C5 complexes that were detected in the C5a assay by adding an anti-IgG4 antibody as detection antibody. Competitive inhibition by anti-C5 antibodies localized the epitope to the C5a moiety of C5. Finally, acidification of C5, known to alter C5 conformation, induced a neoepitope reacting identical to the one we explored, in the C5a assays. These data are important for interpretation of complement analyses in patients treated with eculizumab

Epidemiological investigations into the 2007 outbreak of equine influenza in Australia

Equine influenza is a highly contagious and widespread viral respiratory disease of horses and other equid species, characterised by fever and a harsh dry cough. Prior to August 2007, Australia was one of only three countries to have remained free of equine influenza. An incursion of equine influenza virus H3N8 in that month resulted in a four-month outbreak during which approximately 69,000 horses were infected on an estimated 9599 premises across two States. Most of the geographic spread occurred within the first 10 days and was associated with the movement of infected horses prior to the implementation of movement controls. The outbreak was contained through a series of interventions that ultimately led to the eradication of equine influenza from Australia. During and immediately after the outbreak, intensive epidemiological investigations, laboratory and retrospective analytical studies were conducted culminating in a series of detailed reports and publications, and the collation of a highly detailed outbreak dataset. Further research into the factors that contributed to the spread of the outbreak and the effectiveness of measures implemented to control and contain it was considered important. The aim of this thesis was therefore to investigate the factors that contributed to the spread of the 2007 equine influenza outbreak in Australia and to develop statistical methods and tools useful for informing the surveillance and control of future emergency animal disease events. A case-control study was conducted to investigate premises-level risk factors, specifically whether compliance with advised biosecurity measures prevented the spread of equine influenza onto horse premises. Horse owners and managers on 200 properties across highly affected areas of New South Wales were interviewed. The proximity of premises to the nearest infected premises was the factor most strongly associated with case status. Case premises were more likely than control premises to be within 5 km and beyond 10km of an infected premises. Having a footbath in place on the premises before any horses were infected was associated with a nearly four-fold reduction in odds of infection (odds ratio = 0.27; 95% confidence interval: iv 0.09, 0.83). This protective association may have reflected overall premises biosecurity standards related to the fomite transmission of equine influenza: there was high correlation amongst several, generally protective, variables representing personal ‗barrier hygiene‘ biosecurity measures (hand-washing, changing clothes and shoes, and having a footbath in place). The movement of infected horses and local disease diffusion were known to be important mechanisms of spread early in this outbreak. A network analysis was conducted to investigate the relative contribution of each mechanism. The relationship between infected and susceptible horse premises (contact through animal movements and spatial proximity) was described by constructing a mixed transmission network. During the first 10 days of the 2007 equine influenza outbreak in Australia, horses on 197 premises were infected. A new likelihood-based approach was developed and it was estimated that 28.3% of early disease spread (prior to the implementation of horse movement restrictions) was through the movement of infected horses (95% CI: 25.6, 31.0%). Most local spread was estimated to have occurred within 5 km of infected premises. Based on a direct estimate of the shape of the spatial transmission kernel, the incidence beyond 15 km was very low. The median distance that infected horses were moved was 123 km (range 4–579 km). In an extension of the network analysis, novel methods were developed to delineate spatial clusters of infected premises and describe the sequence of cluster formation and the widespread dispersal experienced during the first 30 days of the outbreak. Premises identified as infected by the movement of infected horses were found to be critical to the seeding of infection in spatial clusters. Combined analysis of spatial and contact network data demonstrated that early in this outbreak local spread emanated outwards from the small number of infected premises in the contact network, up to a distance of around 15 km. A purely spatial method of modelling epidemic spread (kriging) was imprecise in describing the pattern of spread during this early phase of the outbreak (explaining only 13% of the variation in estimated date of onset of v infected premises), because early dissemination was dominated by network-based spread. Prior to this thesis, there was an abundance of anecdotal information regarding the role of meteorological factors and other environmental determinants in the spread of the 2007 equine influenza outbreak in Australia. A survival analysis was therefore conducted to empirically estimate the association between meteorological variables (wind, air temperature, relative humidity and rainfall) and time-to-infection in the largest cluster of the outbreak, in northwest Sydney. The equine influenza outbreak dataset was structured to enable generalised Cox regression modelling of the association between time-varying covariates representing premiseslevel meteorological conditions. The cumulative incidence in the northwest Sydney cluster was estimated to be 53.0% (95% CI: 51.4, 54.7%). Local spatial spread of equine influenza was found to be associated with relative humidity, air temperature and wind velocity. Meteorological conditions 3–5 days prior were strongly associated with hazard of influenza infection. Strong winds (>30 km hour-1) from the direction of nearby infected premises were associated with influenza infection, as was low relative humidity (<60%). A nonlinear relationship was observed with air temperature: the lowest hazard was on days when maximum daily air temperature was between 20–25 °C. Drawing on the findings of the above studies, a spatially-explicit stochastic epidemic model of equine influenza transmission was developed to investigate the underlying disease process, estimate the effectiveness of several control measures applied during the 2007 outbreak and to provide a dynamic modelling framework for rapid assessment of future equine influenza outbreaks in Australia. A reversible jump Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm was used to estimate Bayesian posterior distributions of key epidemiological parameters based on data from two highly affected regions. A large amount of regional heterogeneity was observed in the underlying epidemic process, the estimated rate of decay of transmission by distance from infected premises, the intra-premises transmission rate and the effect of premises area. Model outputs were highly cross-correlated both temporally and spatially with data observed during vi the 2007 outbreak, and with outputs of a previous model. Pseudo-validation of the model against data, not used in its development, demonstrated of how it may be applied to develop rapid assessments of future outbreaks affecting horse populations in comparable regions to those studied. The study results documented in this thesis have elucidated the key factors underlying the spread of the 2007 equine influenza outbreak in Australia, and presented new methods of describing such rapidly spreading epidemics. The movement of infected horses, meteorological variables (air temperature, humidity and wind speed), on-farm biosecurity measures and intrinsic features of horse premises (proximity to other infected premises, numbers of horses held and premises area) were all important variables that influenced the spread of infection onto horse premises. These insights allow development of better policy and control programs in the event of a future equine influenza virus incursion

Depictions of Thailand in Australian and Thai writings:Reflections of the Self and Other

This thesis offers both an examination of the depiction of Thailand in Australian novels, short stories and poems written in the 1980s and after, and an analysis of modern Thai novels and short stories that reflect similar themes to those covered in the Australian literature. One Australian film is also examined as the film provides an important framework for the analysis of some of the short stories and novels under consideration. The thesis establishes a dialogue between Thai and Australian literatures and demonstrates that the comparison of Australian representations of Thailand with Thai representations challenges constructively certain dominant political and social ideologies that enhance conservatism and the status quo in Thailand. The author acknowledges that the discussion of the representations of Thailand in contemporary Australian novels and short stories needs to take into account the colonial legacy and the discourse of Orientalism that tends to posit the ‘East’ as the ‘West’’s ‘Other’. Textual analysis is thus informed by post-colonial and cross-cultural theories, starting from Edward Said’s powerful and controversial critique of Western representation of the East in Orientalism. The first part of the thesis examines Australian crime stories and shows how certain Orientalist images and perceptions persist and help reinforce the image of the East and its people as the antithesis of the West. From Chapters Three through Six, however, more literary works by Australian authors are examined. The important finding is that most of the Australian authors under consideration attempt, though not always successfully, to resist and challenge the Eurocentric stereotypes of Asia and Asians that dominated Australian literature in earlier periods. This difference between contemporary Australian authors and their predecessors seems to reflect modern Australia’s endeavor to distinguish itself from the rest of the Western world and to redefine its relationship with Asia. As literary representations cannot be separated from socio-political contexts, the thesis also includes discussion of the Thai social and political history and, where appropriate, shows how colonialism and neo-colonialism exert their impact on modern Thailand

Safety evaluation of conditionally immortalized cells for renal replacement therapy

Contains fulltext : 208411.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)End-stage kidney disease represents irreversible kidney failure. Dialysis and transplantation, two main treatment options currently available, present various drawbacks and complications. Innovative cell-based therapies, such as a bioartificial kidney, have not reached the clinic yet, mostly due to safety and/or functional issues. Here, we assessed the safety of conditionally immortalized proximal tubule epithelial cells (ciPTECs) for bioartificial kidney application, by using in vitro assays and athymic nude rats. We demonstrate that these cells do not possess key properties of oncogenically transformed cells, including anchorage-independent growth, lack of contact inhibition and apoptosis-resistance. In late-passage cells we did observe complex chromosomal abnormalities favoring near-tetraploidy, indicating chromosomal instability. However, time-lapse imaging of ciPTEC-OAT1, confined to a 3D extracellular matrix (ECM)-based environment, revealed that the cells were largely non-invasive. Furthermore, we determined the viral integration sites of SV40 Large T antigen (SV40T), human telomerase (hTERT) and OAT1 (SLC22A6), the transgenes used for immortalization and cell function enhancement. All integrations sites were found to be located in the intronic regions of endogenous genes. Among these genes, early endosome antigen 1 (EEA1) involved in endocytosis, and BCL2 Like 1 (BCL2L1) known for its role in regulating apoptosis, were identified. Nevertheless, both gene products appeared to be functionally intact. Finally, after subcutaneous injection in athymic nude rats we show that ciPTEC-OAT1 lack tumorigenic and oncogenic effects in vivo, confirming the in vitro findings. Taken together, this study lays an important foundation towards bioartificial kidney (BAK) development by confirming the safety of the cell line intended for incorporation