Search

Music heritage in cities has become a significant area of interest in the twenty-first century because it is linked to profitable music tourism and a growing cultural economy. Melbourne, the Victorian state capital, is used as a case study; in March 2013, the city was unofficially crowned Australia’s music capital because it, at the time, had the most music venues and a vibrant music economy. However, this paper argues that this identification is somewhat ahistorical for two reasons. Firstly, it leaves out the colonial and gold rush prehistory of Melbourne’s music culture. Secondly, it omits the critical recognition of Melbourne’s (and Australia’s) first international music superstar exports, such as opera diva Dame Nellie Melba (nee Helen Porter Mitchell), who was named after her home town of Melbourne, and pianist prodigy and composer Percy (Aldridge) Grainger. Drawing on a textual analysis of government policies, economic reports, and the work of historians, musicologists and journalists, this paper synergises the history of Melbourne’s music culture from its colonial beginnings in 1835, until 1927, when the city was no longer Australia’s political capital. It identifies four early stages of Melbourne’s musical development, which laid the foundations for iconic music venues, Australia’s first opera company, music entrepreneurs, and the initial nurturing of the nation’s first music superstars in Melba and Grainger. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The imprisonment of Al Jazeera English (AJE) journalists (Australian Peter Greste, Egyptian-Canadian national Mohamed Fahmy, and Egyptian Baher Mohamed) in Egypt between 2013 and 2015 reflected the recent ten agenda items of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) about the safety of journalists (Pöyhtäri & Berger, 2015). Building on the relevance of press theories (Siebert, Peterson, & Schramm, 1956; Curran, 2002) as well as developmental and peace journalism (Carpentier, 2007 cited in Cammaerts & Carpentier, 2007) as a theoretical basis, this paper examines the twenty-one month reportage of the AJE case by public broadcasters such as AJE, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). It assesses whether the UNESCO’s Safety of Journalist agenda was covered. A “mixed method” (Kolmer, 2008), quantitative and qualitative content analysis research design, was used. Four hundred and ninety-five articles from the three broadcasters’ coverage were analyzed in two stages which overall began from the day (December 29, 2013) of arrest of the AJE trio until a week after Fahmy’s and Mohamed’s final release (September 30, 2015). The analysis found that items noted in the UNESCO’s Safety of Journalists’ agenda were not overtly spelt out in the coverage by the broadcasters but cloaked under a wider press freedom framework that hung over the case. Findings also reflected the critical need to address the safety of journalists in Egypt and other parts of Africa, despite the democratic awaking of the 2011 Arab Spring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alzheimer's disease is a progressive disease that ultimately results in dementia and complete loss of intellectual capacity. As yet, there is no treatment for it. Since one characteristic of the disorder is degeneration of neurons, the cells in the brain, it is possible that potentially therapeutic substances could be tested on human cells grown under laboratory conditions. If cells in tissue culture respond to an agent, it is possible that neurons in living patients would respond in a similar manner. The approach is systematic, inexpensive, and involves no risk to patients. Fibroblasts, the cells that manufacture connective tissue, were taken from Alzheimer patients and were grown in the laboratory with attention to two of their properties. These were their production of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (AMP) when stimulated with isoproterenol, and their pH, a measure of their acidity. Several lines of control cells were also grown. L-carnitine, a substance that has been used to treat several neurological disorders, was used as the therapeutic agent. Results showed that the Alzheimer cells produced almost twice as much cyclic AMP after stimulation with isoproterenol as control cells, and that their production became normal after treatment with L-carnitine. The substance did not affect cyclic AMP in normal cells. The Alzheimer cells had a somewhat lower pH than the control fibroblasts before L-carnitine, but the pH of the two groups was similar after treatment. Both of the cell properties tested are a result of cell membrane characteristics, and it has been suggested that Alzheimer's disease affects cell membranes. Based on this and other evidence, L-carnitine shows promise as a therapeutic agent, but further clinical trials are needed. Tissue culture may be a useful way of screening potential compounds for treating Alzheimer's disease. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)