Hearing voices: A narrative analysis of the senate inquiry into the social and economic impacts of rural wind farms

This is a preliminary examination of the public debate initiated as a result of the rapid expansion of wind farms in rural spaces. The study is based on a sample of submissions to the Senate Inquiry, The Social and Economic Impact of Rural Wind Farms (2011). Using a narrative analysis (Riessman 2008), the study identifies the issues raised in support of, or opposition to, wind farm developments in south-west Victoria. Narratives of personal loss or personal gain and by extension, community gain, were used to frame the stories. The narratives of loss struggled to connect to a contemporary public discourse and were as a result marginalised. The narratives of gain were found to link more successfully to themes with national and international currency that allowed the narratives to assume a 'just' stance. This study may be useful for others who engage, communicate and negotiate in the context of further wind farm developments

Gene Expression Changes in GABAA Receptors and Cognition Following Chronic Ketamine Administration in Mice

Ketamine is a well-known anesthetic agent and a drug of abuse. Despite its widespread use and abuse, little is known about its long-term effects on the central nervous system. The present study was designed to evaluate the effect of long-term (1- and 3-month) ketamine administration on learning and memory and associated gene expression levels in the brain. The Morris water maze was used to assess spatial memory and gene expression changes were assayed using Affymetrix Genechips; a focus on the expression of GABAA receptors that mediate a tonic inhibition in the brain, was confirmed by quantitative real-time PCR and western blot. Compared with saline controls, there was a decline in learning and memory performance in the ketamine-treated mice. Genechip results showed that 110 genes were up-regulated and 136 genes were down-regulated. An ontology analysis revealed the most significant effects of ketamine were on GABAA receptors. In particular, there was a significant up-regulation of both mRNA and protein levels of the alpha 5 subunit (Gabra5) of the GABAA receptors in the prefrontal cortex. In conclusion, chronic exposure to ketamine impairs working memory in mice, which may be explained at least partly by up-regulation of Gabra5 subunits in the prefrontal cortex

Fast Retinal Vessel Detection and Measurement Using Wavelets and Edge Location Refinement

The relationship between changes in retinal vessel morphology and the onset and progression of diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) has been the subject of several large scale clinical studies. However, the difficulty of quantifying changes in retinal vessels in a sufficiently fast, accurate and repeatable manner has restricted the application of the insights gleaned from these studies to clinical practice. This paper presents a novel algorithm for the efficient detection and measurement of retinal vessels, which is general enough that it can be applied to both low and high resolution fundus photographs and fluorescein angiograms upon the adjustment of only a few intuitive parameters. Firstly, we describe the simple vessel segmentation strategy, formulated in the language of wavelets, that is used for fast vessel detection. When validated using a publicly available database of retinal images, this segmentation achieves a true positive rate of 70.27%, false positive rate of 2.83%, and accuracy score of 0.9371. Vessel edges are then more precisely localised using image profiles computed perpendicularly across a spline fit of each detected vessel centreline, so that both local and global changes in vessel diameter can be readily quantified. Using a second image database, we show that the diameters output by our algorithm display good agreement with the manual measurements made by three independent observers. We conclude that the improved speed and generality offered by our algorithm are achieved without sacrificing accuracy. The algorithm is implemented in MATLAB along with a graphical user interface, and we have made the source code freely available

Keeping the Romance Alive - The Four 'Rs' of Relationship Building

Not availabl

Home among the gumtrees : RMIT Hamiliton

Protecting the Future showcases tangible examples of the practical implementation of global sustainability and the triple bottom-line plus one (comprising environmental, social and cultural economic and governance dimensions) in the scholarship and operations of RMIT University. These practical initiatives, applications and methodologies can provide information and inspiration for individuals or organisations wanting to implement global sustainability principles in their planning and operations. Global sustainability is one of the fastest growing concerns around the world. Organisations of all kinds are increasingly aware that their future may well depend on their ability to create solutions to economic, environmental, social and cultural as well as governance issues

Governance in the gaps: inter-agency action in a rural town

It is generally understood that local people with local knowledge and a long-term interest in their area are uniquely equipped to create sustainable solutions to local needs. At the same time, higher-level support and resourcing is often needed to make 'grassroots' solutions work. Current governance models thus posit a facilitatory vertical relationship between government agencies and local actors in which the former devolves responsibility and resources to the latter - often characterised as the quest for greater 'local participation.' Questions are frequently raised, however, about the amount of local autonomy that is actually achievable within these vertical governance frameworks. How can locals influence the larger contexts in which they work? This paper discusses and reflects upon several recent local experiences of inter-agency action in a rural Australian town. As local organisations come together to tackle common issues and themes at the local level, they create new governance spaces that lie outside of existing government and organisational bureaucracies. What is the potential for such arrangements to leverage local influence over existing higher-level structures, and to what extent is local action still constrained

The Good, the Bad and the Very Small - What are the special challenges/opportunities of Micro-university sites?

Micro-university sites sit at the axis of the relationship between a large institution and local community, bridging differences in language, protocol, expectations, and highlighting the importance of clarity, commitment and communication. Sites like RMIT Hamilton in rural south west Victoria see 'the good, the bad, and the ugly' of community engagement from both the university perspective and the community perspective. They understand firsthand the dual challenge of embeddedness. But their voices are small. This paper considers key issues identified by staff at one micro-university site, and asks: How can micro-university sites document their experiences and leverage their knowledge, so as to achieve their strategic potential as sites of embedded community engagement

Clockwork and network: getting things done in a rural town

This paper explores the tensions between informal and formal institutions of governance in rural towns, in order to reveal some of the stresses and contradictions of attempting to create partnerships between governments and communities. Drawing on published accounts, ethnographic observations, and conversations with professionals in government and government-funded organisations, the paper emphasises the importance of informal, personal, and extra-bureaucratic networks for `'getting things done' - from immediate problem solving to long-term strategic planning. Government departments, particularly at State level, are increasingly recognising the value of local networks as innovators. Yet as large, formal bureaucratic institutions, they are incapable of engaging with informal networks on their own terms. Partnerships must be formally established, policies observed, and decision-making about new initiatives must pass through institutional protocols. Networks are expected to function like 'clockwork' - that is, to follow a managerial, rather than a community, model of governance. Meanwhile, government policy at local, State and Commonwealth levels increasingly limits and channels informal action by formalising and regulating it. This paper argues that the meeting point between government and community institutions is a very tenuous one, and any serious attempt at partnership must acknowledge the importance of informal institutions and resist the temptation to change them into what they are not