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Setting in train various forms of curriculum and pedagogic change in schools whilst seeking to improve both teaching strategies and Aboriginal educational outcomes in Australia is a complex business. This involves a sustained effort to equip the next generation of educators with the skills and knowledges to identify, diagnose, and devise remedies for the 'problems' that are sometimes ascribed to Aboriginal learners. The work of Paolo Freire is a point of reference here. However, the halo around Freire and his work may occlude thinking about how to evoke his concepts, (specifically conscientisation) in the contemporary Australian context. We discuss the strengths and weaknesses of Freire's work in this light. We also discuss the Culturally Nourishing Schooling (CNS) project, a whole school reform model where teachers are encouraged to shift their reflective gaze onto themselves and on the settings in which they work. We argue that for 'success' in education to no longer be defined by deficit thinking, firstly, conscientisation must be a collective process. To change teachers and their practice and schooling requires a different conception of both change and of conscientisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the renewed emphasis on higher education as an agent for development and economic growth, Australia has joined other Western countries in contributing to increasing the intellectual workforce of Africa[1]. While Australia has provided scholarships to Africans for more than three decades, since 2005, the Australian Government has dramatically increased its commitment to invest in Africa's future by providing a series of development awards scholarships for Africans to advance their learning in priority areas including agriculture, food security, water and sanitation, public health, energy and resource management. These scholarships are the largest component of Australia's total aid to Africa. However, very little empirical research has been done to determine the impact of Australia Africa Long Term scholarship awards (AALT). This paper examines this new African intellectual workforce by presenting qualitative data from alumni engaging in this new flow of knowledge mobility. Experiences of public health graduates of Australia scholarship awards from Uganda and Mozambique will be discussed. Overall, we argue that that the Australia Africa scholarships program has a positive impact on alumni and is viewed favourably by Alumnis' employers and their alumni's families. However, there are many challenges and struggles which can impede alumnis' success in bringing forth the change they might envisage. Some of these factors include: finding a job at a suitable level, implementing their new knowledge, using their new skills and, generally, reintegrating into their home country (both socially and professionally).

Management actions to protect endangered species and conserve ecosystem function may not always be in precise alignment. Efforts to recover the California Ridgway’s Rail (Rallus obsoletus obsoletus; hereafter, California rail), a federally and state-listed species, and restoration of tidal marsh ecosystems in the San Francisco Bay estuary provide a prime example of habitat restoration that has conflicted with species conservation. On the brink of extinction from habitat loss and degradation, and non-native predators in the 1990s, California rail populations responded positively to introduction of a non-native plant, Atlantic cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora). California rail populations were in substantial decline when the non-native Spartina was initially introduced as part of efforts to recover tidal marshes. Subsequent hybridization with the native Pacific cordgrass (Spartina foliosa) boosted California rail populations by providing greater cover and increased habitat area. The hybrid cordgrass (S. alterniflora × S. foliosa) readily invaded tidal mudflats and channels, and both crowded out native tidal marsh plants and increased sediment accretion in the marsh plain. This resulted in modification of tidal marsh geomorphology, hydrology, productivity, and species composition. Our results show that denser California rail populations occur in invasive Spartina than in native Spartina in San Francisco Bay. Herbicide treatment between 2005 and 2012 removed invasive Spartina from open intertidal mud and preserved foraging habitat for shorebirds. However, removal of invasive Spartina caused substantial decreases in California rail populations. Unknown facets of California rail ecology, undesirable interim stages of tidal marsh restoration, and competing management objectives among stakeholders resulted in management planning for endangered species or ecosystem restoration that favored one goal over the other. We have examined this perceived conflict and propose strategies for moderating harmful effects of restoration while meeting the needs of both endangered species and the imperiled native marsh ecosystem.

Understanding the characteristics of high-quality avian habitat is critical for guiding salt marsh management and restoration. Existing insights into salt marsh avian habitat are often based on the composition of marsh vegetation, e.g., individual plant species cover. This study investigated whether the spatial configuration of marsh surface cover (e.g., patch number, density, size, shape complexity and compactness, degree of dissection of the landscape, variation and repetition of cover type, and the variance within these metrics) is a useful, additional indicator of avian habitat quality for the Alameda Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia pusillula), a non-migratory California Species of Special Concern endemic to southern San Francisco Bay. M. m. pusillula density during the breeding seasons of 2002 through 2005 was estimated at 82 observation points in 10 marsh sites within the bird’s geographic range. The mean bird density index (overall mean: 5.61 birds detected per hectare of marsh) was not significantly different among marshes of different ages. We mapped the vegetation zones, open water, and upland areas within each marsh site using high resolution aerial photographs and automated classification analysis. We quantified the configuration of surface cover around each bird observation point by 31 metrics. Bird density index was best modeled by a multiple linear regression containing positive relationships with the metrics Mean Core Area Index and Patch Core Area Coefficient of Variation (R 2= 0.210, p < 0.0001). Qualitatively, this model suggested that M. m. pusillula abundance during the breeding season was greatest in marsh areas with compact patches that spanned a variety of patch sizes from moderate-to-large, uninterrupted by other cover. We conclude that configuration-based vegetation pattern analysis could usefully complement more customary composition-based habitat assessments to aid wetland habitat research, management, and restoration.

Extensive habitat loss and degradation have resulted in decreases in populations of tidal marsh breeding birds in the San Francisco Estuary in the past 150 years. We conducted point count surveys and nest monitoring in tidal marsh habitat at China Camp State Park from 1996 through 2007 to assess bird abundance, species richness and reproductive success over time. We found overall species richness at China Camp to be significantly lower than that of other San Pablo Bay tidal marshes, but also to be increasing during the study period. We present relative density indices and confirm breeding for three focal species that are of conservation concern: San Pablo song sparrow (Melospiza melodia samuelis), California black rail (Laterallus jamaicensis coturniculus), and California clapper rail (Rallus longirostris obsoletus). Song sparrows were observed at higher densities at China Camp than at other San Pablo Bay sites. There was no apparent trend in song sparrow density during the study period at China Camp, in contrast with the rest of San Pablo Bay, which displayed a significant decline. We determined song sparrow nest survival probability using the method described by Mayfield (1975) and found that nest survival at China Camp varied markedly among years, from >30% in 1996 to 6% in 2006, with no discernible trend. The main causes of nest failure were predation and tidal flooding. Song sparrow nests were found predominantly in gumplant (Grindelia stricta) and pickleweed (Sarcocornia pacifica) and less commonly in saltgrass (Distichlis spicata). Clapper rails nested exclusively in pickleweed and black rail nests were found mainly in gumplant and less commonly in saltgrass. China Camp’s expansive ancient marsh supports endemic and bird species of conservation concern, while serving as a reference site for tidal marsh studies in San Francisco Bay. The long-term monitoring of tidal marsh bird breeding parameters at China Camp has the potential to provide early detection of declining population trends before local populations become imperiled.

A comprehensive protocol for the assessment of cartilage-induced attenuation and z-focus distortion in chondrocytes was developed based on confocal microscopy and extended conventional image analysis methods for serial section data. The protocol permits the efficient acquisition, visualization and measurement of the dynamic volumes of chondrocytes in situ based on an integrated confocal laser-scanning microscopy and vital cell labeling. The method also permitted the determination of absolute cell volumes.

Given that a future linked employer-employee database may use Business Demography data as a backbone, what are the basic qualities of this dataset? What are the observed patterns in job [...]