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On-the-ground community responses to transitioning waste economies : a study of reparative social practices in Western Sydney, Australia
No full textAccepted abstract In this paper we sketch-out community economies of reuse and repair to address questions of scale and agency posed by the track titled Community Design & User Autonomy. With a focus on community-led activities in two local government areas, the paper identifies plural economies of material circulation alive in social practices of reuse, repair and share in western Sydney, aligning with national, state and local government agendas to move to a circular economy as integral to the sustainable future of Australian cities. We propose that amongst the first tasks in the transition to a circular economy is creating a ‘repair commons’ that includes the contribution of local civic society. Drawing on two studies exploring cultures of repair and community waste practices in culturally diverse and rapidly transforming urban areas of western Sydney we show that transition means a recalibration of the relationship between governments and communities, and a renegotiation of responsibilities for managing household waste. Employing a community economies lens, our vignette of a community of repair commoners is enabled by an ‘identikit’ of a locality transformed by possibilities of remaking from the already made. We intend to enact the ‘transformative thinking’ that Miller and Gibson-Graham (2019) call for in making other possibilities visible in the midst of the world we have now. The session offers a provocation to consider how our picture of a repair commons generates an alternative scalar imaginary, with potential to contribute to urban planning which prioritises a shared civic responsibility for material culture
Targeting divergent pathways in the nutritional management of depression
No full textThe nutritional management of depression has long been discussed, due to the perceived benefit of a nutritional product having less side effects than pharmaceutical agents. Candidate nutrients for managing depression include vitamin D, B vitamins, tryptophan, branch chain amino acids, probiotics, omega-3 fatty acids, folate/methylfolate (also known as vitamin B9), and s-adenosylmethionine. This paper provides a narrative review of three nutrients which have significant scientific support for the management of depression. A deficiency in each nutrient is associated with depression, and interventional studies indicate that the correction of the nutritional deficiency may provide clinical benefit. We present epidemiological evidence, a mechanistic explanation and a review of interventional studies for these nutrients. Finally, relevant nutritional guidelines are presented with their conclusion for the role of each nutrient in the management of depression
[In Press] Black and white, both and none : critical reflections on the limits of positionality discourse in Australia
No full textThe decades since the seminal writings of Aileen Morton-Robinson on whiteness (2000, 2000/2021, 2013, 2015) are marked with a significant body of contributions by Australian scholars that can be broadly summarised as a call to acknowledge Indigenous sovereignty—to expose the subtle ways in which racism operates to maintain the dominance of whiteness across Australia’s political, social, cultural and academic spheres. Yet, inherent in the indispensable work against the invisibility of whiteness as an essentialist position, the use of binary terms such as coloniser/colonised and black/white have become standard reference points of positionality demarcation for non-Indigenous scholars. While academics who identify as non-white and non-Indigenous are indeed complicit in ‘whiteness’ in the Australian context (Pugliese, 2010), either/or binaries based on ‘black or white’ co-ordinates can in fact reinforce ‘whiteness’ as an essentialist position, threatening to obscure the complexities of cultural biography and foreclosing further discussion. We argue that the value in making (our) invisible outsider/insider, color-elastic positionalities visible is in making room for authentic reflection on positionalities from which to ‘fall out of perspective’ and into the space of Indigenous self-determination within research (Nicoll, 2004b: 17; Shim, 2018). What we share reflects our own struggles in understanding and articulating our place, role and responsibilities in contemporary Australia, and is part of ongoing exploration into identity and positionality in the context of contemporary academic conventions
Maximising social media engagement in the future : building authentic relationships via Facebook : a not-for-profit case study
No full textThe World Health Organisation (WHO) says that breastfeeding is the “ideal food for infants” and yet, less then 50% of babies globally, are exclusively breastfed at 6 months (World Health Organisation, n.d.). In Australia, 96% of babies are breastfed at least once but, only 35% are exclusively breastfed to 6 months of age (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2023). The health, environmental and economic benefits of breastfeeding are well documented (WHO, n.d.; Smith 2019; Pereyra- Elías et al. 2022) and the Australian government has a published strategy advocating to support breastfeeding in the community “for as long as the mother and child desire” (NHMRC, 2015). A non-profit, volunteer powered organisation called, Australian Breastfeeding Association (ABA), provide nation- wide support for Australian mums and their families who wish to breastfeed. They are “Australia’s leading authority on breastfeeding” (Health Direct, n.d.) and the only nation-wide support service offering a 24-7 breastfeeding hotline (1300 MUM 2 MUM) and a network of qualified breastfeeding counsellors who can support families in their own communities
Carbon-phosphorus cycle models overestimate CO2 enrichment response in a mature Eucalyptus forest
No full textThe importance of phosphorus (P) in regulating ecosystem responses to climate change has fostered P-cycle implementation in land surface models, but their CO 2 effects predictions have not been evaluated against measurements. Here, we perform a data-driven model evaluation where simulations of eight widely used P-enabled models were confronted with observations from a long-term free- air CO2 enrichment experiment in a mature, P-limited Eucalyptus forest. We show that most models predicted the correct sign and magnitude of the CO 2 effect on ecosystem carbon (C) sequestration, but they generally overestimated the effects on plant C uptake and growth. We identify leaf-to-canopy scaling of photosynthesis, plant tissue stoichiometry, plant belowground C allocation, and the subsequent consequences for plant-microbial interaction as key areas in which models of ecosystem C-P interaction can be improved. Together, this data-model intercomparison reveals data-driven insights into the performance and functionality of P-enabled models and adds to the existing evidence that the global CO2-driven carbon sink is overestimated by models
Have we bothered to ask? : exploration of the attitude of teachers toward participating in inclusive education research
No full textObjective: The importance of research cannot be overemphasized. Research findings serve as a guide for the enactment of development policies and legislation. However, not all members of the target population willingly participate in a study. The current study explored the reasons why some individuals refused to partake in inclusive education research in a developing country, Ghana. The journaling helped to capture the voices of 87 participants who refused to take part in a larger inclusive education survey study. Results: The study found that the participants did not take part in the research because of reasons such as lack of financial gain, bad experience with previous research, lack of direct benefit, and lack of time. The findings of the study and its implication for policymaking in Ghana and research studies in sub-Saharan Africa are discussed
Substances as a core domain
No full textCentral to What Babies Know (Spelke, 2022) is the thesis that infants' understanding is divided into independent modules of core knowledge. As a test case, we consider adding a new domain: core knowledge of substances. Experiments show that infants' understanding of substances meets some criteria of core knowledge, and they raise questions about the relations that hold between core domains
Numerical simulation of targeted drug delivery to different regions of realistic human lung model under realistic aerosol breathing condition
No full textIn nearly all the previous studies on the particle transport and deposition of aerosols in human lungs, the airflow rate that is inhaled in the lung is assumed to be either constant or sinusoidal function of time, which does not represent the inhalation of aerosols into the lung in reality. This is the first-ever study of the transport and deposition of aerosols in a realistic human lung model employing transient flow rate for realistic aerosol breathing patterns. The measured transient airflow rate is used as the inlet condition in the numerical simulations, and the particles are released immediately when the patient inhales air into the lung, i.e., when the flow velocity starts to increase from zero. We found that the effects of aerosol size on aerosol deposition in different generations of the lung under realistic breathing conditions follow the same trend as those under constant velocity conditions. However, quantitatively, the deposition efficiencies at different parts of the lung model under the two breathing conditions are significantly different from each other. This conclusion signifies the importance of investigating aerosol deposition using realistic breathing conditions. We conducted numerical simulations for aerosol diameters ranging from 1 μm to 10 μm under transient flow conditions. The deposition efficiency in the mouth-throat area increases with aerosol diameter. The deposition efficiency at the trachea increases with increasing aerosol diameter up to 6 μm, and then it remains nearly unchanged. The maximum deposition efficiencies at generations 2 to 5 occur at aerosol diameters between 1 μm and 10 μm. The quantified effect of aerosol size on the deposition efficiency at every generation of the lung provides useful insight for targeted drug delivery