Motivations, expectations and experiences of Australian rural and regional planners

Despite playing an extremely important role in shaping communities, the role and contribution of planners is not widely understood or acknowledged. At the same time, there is a shortage of planners in Australia, especially in non-urban areas. Thus, though an online survey of 185 rural and regional planners, this research explores their motivations, expectations and experiences. Most enjoyed and felt confident in their role, explaining that they valued the relaxed family orientated rural lifestyle and the varied nature of the planning work. Although they sometimes felt isolated, the non-urban location provided quicker progression to senior roles, the ability to engage directly with the community and to see the consequences of their decisions. Only half felt their education had prepared them well for their role, citing gaps in terms of computerised modelling, team leadership and conflict resolution skills. Their feedback centred on providing a more practical course, focussing more on regional planning, and encouraging urban and rural experience placements. As the first study to quantifiably explore rural and regional Australian planners perceptions of their role and challenges, the findings illustrate current experiences, key planning challenges, perceived educational gaps and future priorities

Forecasting Population Changes and Service Requirements in the Regions: A Study of Two Regional Councils in Queensland, Australia

Forecasting population growth to meet the service needs of a growing population is a vexed issue. The task of providing essential services becomes even more difficult when future population growth forecasts are unavailable or unreliable. The aim of this paper is to identify the main methods used in population forecasting and thereby select an approach to demonstrate that such forecasting can be undertaken with certainly and transparency, barring exogenous events. We then use the population forecasts to plan for service needs that arise from changes in population in the future. Interestingly, although there are techniques available to forecast such future population changes and much of this forecasting occurs, such work remains somewhat clouded in mystery. We strive to rectify this situation by applying an approach that is verifiable, transparent, and easy to comprehend. For this purpose we select two regional councils in Queensland, Australia. The experience derived from forecasting shows that forecasts for service needs of larger populations are more easily and accurately derived than for smaller populations. Hence, there is some evidence, at least from a service provision point of view, to justify the benefits of council/municipality amalgamation in recent times in Australia and elsewhere. The methodology used in this paper for population forecasting and the provision of service needs based on such forecasts will be of particular interest to policy decision-makers and planners.Regional Population forecasting, service provision, Box-Jenkins model

Forecasting population changes and service requirements in the regions: a study of two regional councils in Queensland, Australia

Forecasting population growth to meet the service needs of a growing population is a vexed issue. The task of providing essential services becomes even more difficult when future population growth forecasts are unavailable or unreliable. The aim of this paper is to identify the main methods used in population forecasting and thereby select an approach to demonstrate that such forecasting can be undertaken with certainly and transparency, barring exogenous events. We then use the population forecasts to plan for service needs that arise from changes in population in the future. Interestingly, although there are techniques available to forecast such future population changes and much of this forecasting occurs, such work remains somewhat clouded in mystery. We strive to rectify this situation by applying an approach that is verifiable, transparent, and easy to comprehend. For this purpose we select two regional councils in Queensland, Australia. The experience derived from forecasting shows that forecasts for service needs of larger populations are more easily and accurately derived than for smaller populations. Hence, there is some evidence, at least from a service provision point of view, to justify the benefits of council/ municipality amalgamation in recent times in Australia and elsewhere. The methodology used in this paper for population forecasting and the provision of service needs based on such forecasts will be of particular interest to policy decisionmakers and planners.Regional Population forecasting, service provision, Box-Jenkins model

Cell-Surface Marker Signatures for the Isolation of Neural Stem Cells, Glia and Neurons Derived from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells

Neural induction of human pluripotent stem cells often yields heterogeneous cell populations that can hamper quantitative and comparative analyses. There is a need for improved differentiation and enrichment procedures that generate highly pure populations of neural stem cells (NSC), glia and neurons. One way to address this problem is to identify cell-surface signatures that enable the isolation of these cell types from heterogeneous cell populations by fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS).We performed an unbiased FACS- and image-based immunophenotyping analysis using 190 antibodies to cell surface markers on naïve human embryonic stem cells (hESC) and cell derivatives from neural differentiation cultures. From this analysis we identified prospective cell surface signatures for the isolation of NSC, glia and neurons. We isolated a population of NSC that was CD184(+)/CD271(-)/CD44(-)/CD24(+) from neural induction cultures of hESC and human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC). Sorted NSC could be propagated for many passages and could differentiate to mixed cultures of neurons and glia in vitro and in vivo. A population of neurons that was CD184(-)/CD44(-)/CD15(LOW)/CD24(+) and a population of glia that was CD184(+)/CD44(+) were subsequently purified from cultures of differentiating NSC. Purified neurons were viable, expressed mature and subtype-specific neuronal markers, and could fire action potentials. Purified glia were mitotic and could mature to GFAP-expressing astrocytes in vitro and in vivo.These findings illustrate the utility of immunophenotyping screens for the identification of cell surface signatures of neural cells derived from human pluripotent stem cells. These signatures can be used for isolating highly pure populations of viable NSC, glia and neurons by FACS. The methods described here will enable downstream studies that require consistent and defined neural cell populations

RNIB College learners get smart with their mobile phones

Becta research grant 2009 - Mobile Phone Project. RNIB college disabled students exploring their use of smart phones. Can mobile phones be used to improve communication between staff and disabled learners

Forecasting population changes and service requirements in the regions: A study of two regional councils in Queensland, Australia

Forecasting population growth to meet the service needs of a growing population is a vexed issue. The task of providing essential services becomes even more difficult when future population growth forecasts are unavailable or unreliable. The aim of this paper is to identify the main methods used in population forecasting and thereby select an approach to demonstrate that such forecasting can be undertaken with certainly and transparency, barring exogenous events. We then use the population forecasts to plan for service needs that arise from changes in population in the future. Interestingly, although there are techniques available to forecast such future population changes and much of this forecasting occurs, such work remains somewhat clouded in mystery. We strive to rectify this situation by applying an approach that is verifiable, transparent, and easy to comprehend. For this purpose we select two regional councils in Queensland, Australia. The experience derived from forecasting shows that forecasts for service needs of larger populations are more easily and accurately derived than for smaller populations. Hence, there is some evidence, at least from a service provision point of view, to justify the benefits of council/municipality amalgamation in recent times in Australia and elsewhere. The methodology used in this paper for population forecasting and the provision of service needs based on such forecasts will be of particular interest to policy decision-makers and planners

Remediation of Radiation-Induced Cognitive Dysfunction through Oral Administration of the Neuroprotective Compound NSI-189.

Clinical management of primary and secondary central nervous system (CNS) malignancies frequently includes radiotherapy to forestall tumor growth and recurrence after surgical resection. While cranial radiotherapy remains beneficial, adult and pediatric brain tumor survivors suffer from a wide range of debilitating and progressive cognitive deficits. Although this has been recognized as a significant problem for decades, there remains no clinical recourse for the unintended neurocognitive sequelae associated with these types of cancer treatments. In previous work, multiple mechanisms have been identified that contribute to radiation-induced cognitive dysfunction, including the inhibition of neurogenesis caused by the depletion of radiosensitive populations of stem and progenitor cells in the hippocampus. To explore the potential neuroprotective properties of a pro-neurogenic compound NSI-189, Long-Evans rats were subjected to a clinically relevant fractionated irradiation protocol followed by four weeks of NSI-189 administered daily by oral gavage. Animals were then subjected to five different behavioral tasks followed by an analysis of neurogenesis, hippocampal volume and neuroinflammation. Irradiated cohorts manifested significant behavioral decrements on all four spontaneous exploration tasks. Importantly, NSI-189 treatment resulted in significantly improved performance in four of these tasks: novel place recognition, novel object recognition, object in place and temporal order. In addition, there was a trend of improved performance in the contextual phase of the fear conditioning task. Importantly, enhanced cognition in the NSI-189-treated cohort was found to persist one month after the cessation of drug treatment. These neurocognitive benefits of NSI-189 coincided with a significant increase in neurogenesis and a significant decrease in the numbers of activated microglia compared to the irradiated cohort that was given vehicle alone. The foregoing changes were not accompanied by major changes in hippocampal volume. These data demonstrate that oral administration of a pro-neurogenic compound exhibiting anti-inflammatory indications could impart long-term neurocognitive benefits in the irradiated brain

Amelioration of Both Central and Peripheral Neuropathy in Mouse Models of Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes by the Neurogenic Molecule NSI-189

While peripheral neuropathy is the most common complication of long-term diabetes, cognitive deficits associated with encephalopathy and myelopathy also occur. Diabetes is a risk factor for Alzheimer disease (AD) and increases the risk of progression from mild cognitive impairment to AD. The only current recommendation for preventing or slowing the progression of peripheral neuropathy is to maintain close glycemic control, while there is no recommendation for central nervous system disorders. NSI-189 is a new chemical entity that when orally administered promotes neurogenesis in the adult hippocampus, increases hippocampal volume, enhances synaptic plasticity, and reduces cognitive dysfunction. To establish the potential for impact on peripheral neuropathy, we first showed that NSI-189 enhances neurite outgrowth and mitochondrial functions in cultured adult rat primary sensory neurons. Oral delivery of NSI-189 to murine models of type 1 (female) and type 2 (male) diabetes prevented multiple functional and structural indices of small and large fiber peripheral neuropathy, increased hippocampal neurogenesis, synaptic markers and volume, and protected long-term memory. NSI-189 also halted progression of established peripheral and central neuropathy. NSI-189, which is currently in clinical trials for treatment of major depressive disorder, offers the opportunity for the development of a single therapeutic agent against multiple indices of central and peripheral neuropathy