A review of Australian approaches for monitoring, assessing and reporting estuarine condition: I. International context and evaluation criteria

© 2016 Elsevier Ltd Given the immeasurable value of estuaries and their severe and growing pressures, sound understanding and reporting of estuarine condition is essential for their effective management and sustainable development. In light of this, we aim to provide a timely and comprehensive three-part review of the approaches currently employed for monitoring, assessing and reporting estuarine condition, focussing on Australian systems. Here, in Part 1, we establish the national and international context of our review and define globally-relevant evaluation criteria against which to assess Australian progress. We achieve this by examining effective monitoring, assessment and reporting programs from around the world and characterising ‘best practice’. We then highlight the Australian historical context and consider recent policies, frameworks, guidelines and legislation relating to the monitoring and reporting of estuarine condition nationwide

A review of Australian approaches for monitoring, assessing and reporting estuarine condition: III. Evaluation against international best practice and recommendations for the future

In this final component of a three-part review, we present a national synthesis and evaluation of approaches for monitoring, assessing and reporting estuarine condition across Australia. Progress is evaluated against objective criteria that together provide a model of international best practice. We critically assess the limitations, inconsistencies and gaps that are evident across Australian jurisdictions, and identify common obstacles to future progress. Major strengths and successes are also highlighted, together with specific examples of best practice from around Australia that are transferable to other States and beyond. Significant obstacles to greater national coordination of monitoring and reporting practices include inconsistent spatial scales of management, pluralistic governance structures and the lack of any overarching legislation. Nonetheless, many perceptible advances have been made over the last decade across Australia in estuarine monitoring and health assessment, and there is great potential for further progress. Finally, we provide a list of recommendations to address some of the most pressing limitations and gaps, and support improved future monitoring, assessment and reporting for Australian estuaries

Ecoengineering with Ecohydrology: Successes and failures in estuarine restoration

© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. Ecological Engineering (or Ecoengineering) is increasingly used in estuaries to re-create and restore ecosystems degraded by human activities, including reduced water flow or land poldered for agricultural use. Here we focus on ecosystem recolonization by the biota and their functioning and we separate Type A Ecoengineering where the physico-chemical structure is modified on the basis that ecological structure and functioning will then follow, and Type B Ecoengineering where the biota are engineered directly such as through restocking or replanting. Modifying the physical system to create and restore natural processes and habitats relies on successfully applying Ecohydrology, where suitable physical conditions, especially hydrography and sedimentology, are created to recover estuarine ecology by natural or human-mediated colonisation of primary producers and consumers, or habitat creation. This successional process then allows wading birds and fish to reoccupy the rehabilitated areas, thus restoring the natural food web and recreating nursery areas for aquatic biota. We describe Ecohydrology principles applied during Ecoengineering restoration projects in Europe, Australia, Asia, South Africa and North America. These show some successful and sustainable approaches but also others that were less than successful and not sustainable despite the best of intentions (and which may even have harmed the ecology). Some schemes may be 'good for the ecologists', as conservationists consider it successful that at least some habitat was created, albeit in the short-term, but arguably did little for the overall ecology of the area in space or time. We indicate the trade-offs between the short- and long-term value of restored and created ecosystems, the success at developing natural structure and functioning in disturbed estuaries, the role of this in estuarine and wetland management, and the costs and benefits of Ecoengineering to the socio-ecological system. These global case studies provide important lessons for both the science and management of estuaries, including that successful estuarine restoration is a complex and often difficult process, and that Ecoengineering with Ecohydrology aims to control and/or simulate natural ecosystem processes

Sociodemographic and Health Characteristics, Rather Than Primary Care Supply, are Major Drivers of Geographic Variation in Preventable Hospitalizations in Australia

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: The authors thank the many thousands of people participating in the 45 and Up Study. The authors also thank the Sax Institute, the NSW Ministry of Health, and the NSW Register of Births, Deaths, and Marriages for allowing access to the data, and the Centre for Health Record Linkage for conducting the probabilistic linkage of records.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Multidimensional collaboration; reflections on action research in a clinical context

This paper reflects on the challenges and benefits of multidimensional collaboration in an action research study to evaluate and improve preoperative education for patients awaiting colorectal surgery. Three cycles of planning, acting,observing and reflecting were designed to evaluate practice and implement change in this interactive setting, calling for specific and distinct collaborations. Data collection includes: observing educational interactions; administering patient evaluation questionnaires; interviewing healthcare staff, patients and carers; patient and carer focus groups; and examining written and audiovisual educational materials. The study revolves around and depends on multi-dimensional collaborations. Reflecting on these collaborations highlights the diversity of perspectives held by all those engaged in the study and enhances the action research lessons. Successfully maintaining the collaborations recognises the need for negotiation, inclusivity, comprehension, brokerage,and problem-solving. Managing the potential tensions is crucial to the successful implementation of changes introduced to practice and thus has important implications for patients’ well-being. This paper describes the experiences from an action research project involving new and specific collaborations, focusing on a particular healthcare setting. It exemplifies the challenges of the collaborative action research process and examines how both researchers and practitioners might reflect on the translation of theory into educational practices within a hospital colorectal department. Despite its context-specific features, the reflections on the types of challenges faced and lessons learned provide implications for action researchers in diverse healthcare settings across the world

Entebbe Mother and Baby Study - Data at one year

Dataset and supporting documentation collected as part of the Entebbe Mother and Baby Study (EMaBS), a clinical trial that investigated potential benefits of treating worm infections during pregnancy and early childhood. The dataset contains variables collected from mothers (at registration) and infants (when the child was one-year of age), including maternal age, education, parity and infection status (malaria, S. mansoni, hookworm, filariasis), and infant sex and immune responses (to HiB, diphtheria, Hepatitis B, pertussis, FHA, pertactin)

Paraoxonase 2 protein is spatially expressed in the human placenta and selectively reduced in labour

Humans parturition involves interaction of hormonal, neurological, mechanical stretch and inflammatory pathways and the placenta plays a crucial role. The paraoxonases (PONs 1–3) protect against oxidative damage and lipid peroxidation, modulation of endoplasmic reticulum stress and regulation of apoptosis. Nothing is known about the role of PON2 in the placenta and labour. Since PON2 plays a role in oxidative stress and inflammation, both features of labour, we hypothesised that placental PON2 expression would alter during labour. PON2 was examined in placentas obtained from women who delivered by cesarean section and were not in labour and compared to the equivalent zone of placentas obtained from women who delivered vaginally following an uncomplicated labour. Samples were obtained from 12 sites within each placenta: 4 equally spaced apart pieces were sampled from the inner, middle and outer placental regions. PON2 expression was investigated by Western blotting and real time PCR. Two PON2 forms, one at 62 kDa and one at 43 kDa were found in all samples. No difference in protein expression of either isoform was found between the three sites in either the labour or non-labour group. At the middle site there was a highly significant decrease in PON2 expression in the labour group when compared to the non-labour group for both the 62 kDa form (p = 0.02) and the 43 kDa form (p = 0.006). No spatial differences were found within placentas at the mRNA level in either labour or non-labour. There was, paradoxically, an increase in PON2 mRNA in the labour group at the middle site only. This is the first report to describe changes in PON2 in the placenta in labour. The physiological and pathological significance of these remains to be elucidated but since PON2 is anti-inflammatory further studies are warranted to understand its role

The Contemporary Durham Miners’ Banner: A Unique Expression for Post-Industrial Communities?

The increasing display and exhibition of historic miners’ banner acts as a catalyst in creating an appreciation of the value of these relics. New banners, commissioned by a community to replace their damaged or ‘retired’ historic banner, are being paraded at the Durham Miners’ Gala, which enjoys greater attendance now than in the 1970s, when pits were still fully operational. Walter Benjamin proposes that a piece of art in its original and intended location possesses an ‘aura’, and therefore this study asks whether these new miners’ banners can possibly possess the ‘aura’ of their historic counterparts. As ‘living objects’, Grayson Perry speaks of the banners paraded at the Durham Miners’ Gala in spiritual terms and draws parallels with the parading of treasured artworks in Medieval Florence. But how does a community represent its unique identity through the artwork of its banner? By interviewing artists within contemporary practices in Durham (North East England) and a fabric conservator with a speciality in banners, the historic and contemporary Durham Miners’ banners have been explored in relation to their relevance for new communities