22 April 2009
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Monash researchers have shown that babies born to mothers who smoke are more likely to be slower to wake or respond to stimulation – and this may explain their increased risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
Scientific director of the Ritchie Centre for Baby Health Research Associate Professor Rosemary Horne and PhD student Heidi Richardson compared babies of mothers who smoked both during the pregnancy and after the baby was born, with babies who lived in a smoke-free environment.
Professor Horne said the study suggested that maternal smoking can impair a baby's ability to respond to external stimuli, which may explain their increased risk of SIDS.
"Those babies whose mothers smoked did not have as many arousals overall and the progression of the arousal response through the brain was also impaired. Mothers who smoked while pregnant and continued to smoke afterward significantly increased their baby's chances of succumbing to SIDS," Professor Horne said.
Although the exact cause of SIDS is unknown, research suggests that an impairment of the arousal process from sleep in response to a life-threatening situation is involved.
Autopsies of SIDS victims have revealed brainstem abnormalities in key areas that are required for arousal and cardio respiratory control.
The study involved 12 healthy, full-term infants born to mothers who smoked an average of 15 cigarettes a day. Their arousal responses during daytime sleep were monitored and compared with that of healthy infants who were born to non-smoking mothers.
The study was performed on each child on three occasions: at two to four weeks, two to three months and five to six months.
Arousals were induced without compromising the infants' natural sleep cycles by delivering a pulsatile air-jet for five seconds at the infants' nostrils through a hand-held cannula.
22 April 2009
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A world-first treatment for high blood pressure has been successfully trialled in Melbourne.
The clinical trial, which included 50 patients from Australia and overseas, found there was a dramatic improvement in the blood pressure of participants who were given a new catheter-based surgical treatment.
The results are set to revolutionise high blood pressure treatment in patients around the world.
Director of the Monash Centre of Cardiovascular Research and Education in Therapeutics Professor Henry Krum and co-principal investigator Rob Whitbourn from St Vincent's Hospital led a team from Monash, the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, and St Vincent's Hospital to develop the new surgical technique.
Professor Krum said the treatment would benefit the 5 to 20 per cent of patients with high blood pressure who do not respond to medication.
"Patients who underwent the procedure had a significant reduction in their blood pressure levels and are therefore at a reduced risk of severe stroke or heart attack," Professor Krum said.
Professor Krum said the trial results were the most significant in the treatment of high blood pressure since the introduction of the drugs that are in wide use today.
"Reduction of blood pressure was evident as early as one month, was further reduced at three months, and persisted through subsequent assessments," Professor Krum said.
The procedure is carried out under local anaesthetic and uses radio energy frequency, delivered to the targeted nerve area via catheter. As a result the nerves are silenced in the renal artery, which supplies blood to the kidneys.
Researchers had long-believed that this region was a key regulator of blood pressure, but until these trial results the theory had not been successfully tested.
"The catheter allowed us to target a very specific area to deliver the right amount of frequency to the nerves without damaging the surrounding areas," Professor Krum said.
22 April 2009
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| Marianna Linnik |
Final year arts/law student Marianna Linnik has witnessed how human rights are debated and enforced, completing a one-month internship with the Australian delegation to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.
The Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe.
Marianna's internship involved attending the main session of the council and parallel meetings to debate draft human rights resolutions and meet with non-government organisations about human rights issues.
"My fellow intern and I were often the eyes and ears of the delegation, recording our observations and communicating them to the Australian Mission in Geneva," Marianna said.
Marianna said she enjoyed meeting a range of people from across the world and learnt a lot about topical human rights issues.
"This internship gave me a practical perspective on my studies, allowing me to witness how human rights law can be used in the international arena to encourage States to protect human rights," Marianna said.
"It has also encouraged me to get a better understanding of the world events that affect so many people.
"I'm now at the end of my bachelor degree, however undertaking this internship has inspired me to continue studying in the field."
Marianna encouraged students with an interest in human rights and diplomacy to apply for the internship program.
"It was one of the most interesting experiences of my life -- this type of hands-on experience is absolutely invaluable," Marianna said.
For more information on the internships available through the Castan Centre visit the Castan Centre Global Internships website.
22 April 2009
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| Dr Louise North |
New research by Deputy Head of Journalism Dr Louise North has found that during a time of rapid industry and technological change, gender remains an issue in journalists' careers.
In the first research of its kind in Australia, Dr North from the School of Humanities, Communications and Social Sciences at the Gippsland campus explored the experience of journalists in the Australian print media, discovering that male and female journalists experience the newsroom differently.
"While the industry considers new horizons and adjusts to dramatic technological change, gender politics in the newsroom remains stuck in another time: it is the forgotten issue which has a profound impact on the lives and careers of journalists," Dr North said.
"Male dominance of senior editorial positions remains unchallenged, yet this impacts significantly on a wide range of issues such as the allocation of particular stories to male and female journalists, promotional opportunities, sexual harassment and the ability of women to continue their careers after having children," Dr North said.
Dr North interviewed a number of print journalists varying in age and industry experience.
"I found that male journalists were predominantly more self-assured and confident in their career choice, whereas female journalists were more circumspect and in many cases disenchanted by the realities of the newsroom culture," Dr North said.
Dr North, who will now extend her research into the US, has called for more discussion of gender politics within the industry and in the training of journalists in universities.
Dr North's research is detailed in her book: The Gendered Newsroom: how journalists experience the changing world of media.
22 April 2009
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An information session called "Want to change the world" was held on 1 April at the Clayton campus to provide students with information about study and internship opportunities at Monash South Africa (MSA).
More than 50 participants heard from staff and students about study options, life in South Africa, as well as the volunteering opportunities available with the Monash University Student Volunteer Program (MUSVP).
MUSVP is the largest student-run volunteer program within the Monash network, with one quarter of the thousand students on the South African campus actively participating in programs run in local townships and among disadvantaged communities.
The South African campus also has strong ties with Oxfam and with the Oaktree Foundation.
The session included presentations by Monash Deputy Vice-Chancellor (International) Professor Stephanie Fahey, Gina Vassos from Monash Abroad, and MSA Deputy Pro Vice-Chancellor (International) Professor Simon Adams.
Honours student Laura Dortmans who has studied at MSA and was one of the first Monash/Oxfam interns also spoke about her unique experience. Several other Australian students also shared their life-changing experiences with the group.
The session was well attended with many informal discussions taking place following the presentations.
The formal presentations from the session will be made available on the Monash website for those students who were unable to attend.
Students going on intercampus exchange could be eligible for grants of up to A$3500 for one semester and A$4000 for two.
For more information contact Monash Abroad on +61 3 9905 1551, monash.abroad@adm.monash.edu.au or visit the Monash Abroad website.
22 April 2009
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| Monash University's first computer the Ferranti Sirius |
The Faculty of Information Technology will hold computing history tours of Melbourne on Saturday 16 May and Sunday 31 May, 2009.
The tours will begin at the Monash Museum of Computing History at the Caulfield campus, which houses the University's first computer.
Across the day tour participants will discover a connection between St Paul's Cathedral and 19th century computing pioneer Charles Babbage, who designed and partly built a steam-driven computer.
The tour will also visit the Melbourne Observatory's "computer room", which housed people rather than machines. Their task was to carry out astronomical calculations and take measurements of photos of the night sky.
After a few more stops, the tour will finish at the Melbourne Museum where participants will view the first computer in Australia (and fourth in the world).
Associate Professor Graham Farr said Melbourne had several remarkable links to the earliest days of computers.
"This tour is a chance to explore another dimension of Melbourne's history and to better understand how computers have changed science, business and society," Professor Farr said.
To join the free tour, which commences at 9.30 am, email Associate Professor Farr at Graham.Farr@infotech.monash.edu.au indicating your preferred date and numbers attending.
Costs for the day will include food and drink and a Zone 1 tram ticket.
For further information visit the Computing Tour web page.
22 April 2009
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| The virtual dentistry simulator |
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| Mohommadreza Arbabtafti |
A visiting PhD student from Iran's Tarbiat Modares University has developed a simulation for training dentists and bone surgeons.
Mohommadreza Arbabtafti has been working with Dr Barry Richardson, Director of the Bionics and Cognitive Science Centre (BCSC) in the Faculty of Arts, for the past nine months, using the centre's internationally-recognised virtual reality research facilities.
He also worked with Professor Bijan Shirinzadeh, Director of Robotics and Mechatronics Research in the Faculty of Engineering, to check that the simulation would look and feel real.
Dr Richardson said the simulation would allow trainee surgeons and dentists to learn techniques without risk to patients.
"Mohommadreza's work is an important development because it uses a physical model that takes into account the properties of bone material as well as size, shape and rotation speed of the tool used for the procedure," Dr Richardson said.
"As it uses a physical stylus, a trainee can receive tactile feedback instantly while receiving visual information on a computer screen (see photo right).
"It is also possible to scan a virtual three dimensional model of a patient's bone, which will allow trained surgeons to assess the likely success of various surgical procedures, again without risk to the patient."
Mr Tafti, who returns to Iran later this month to complete his PhD, said his time at Monash had been fruitful.
"Monash has high quality force feedback equipment not available in Iran," Mr Tafti said.
"The expertise in Cognitive Science and haptic programming in the BCSC helped me to optimise the simulation, and the facilities in the Faculty of Engineering were vital for the validation work.
"I also really appreciate the help I received from Research Fellows Jonathan Wells from BCSC and Yashar Madjidi in engineering."
The simulator is now being field tested by surgeons and dentists.
22 April 2009
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| Imrah Reyaz, Kenneth Mapanga and Ms Abeer Yusuf Sayed with Sunway campus Pro Vice-Chancellor and President (Malaysia) Professor Robin Pollard. |
Three students from Monash University's Sunway campus in Malaysia have taken out Malaysia's largest debating competition in their first competitive debate.
Not only was it a come-from-behind win, the team also beat the competition favourites the University of Nottingham, Malaysia.
The National Novice Debate Championship 2009, organised by the Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), brought together more than 70 teams from 31 institutions.
Monash sent a team of four debaters and four adjudicators to the competition, which was held at UiTM's campus in Shah Alam.
The three winning debaters - Imrah Reyaz, Abeer Yusuf Sayed and Kenneth Mapanga along with reserve debater Daniela Andrea Chaerry-Chavez were pleased to have done well in their first debate outing.
Abeer Yusuf Sayed, a second year Arts student from India, said the team's story was one of comeback.
"Our entry into the finals was made possible by a decision to pitch the top 16 teams in knock-out rounds," she said.
"At that point, we had won three debates and lost two.
"Things started to look brighter for us when we defeated the University of Nottingham who had been undefeated up until that point."
In the finals the team took on debaters from the UiTM with the judges unanimously in favour of Monash.
They team will now focus on their role in the newly-created Monash Sunway Association of Debaters.
22 April 2009
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| Children enjoy the newly-renovated garden at the Monash Caulfield Childcare Centre. |
A new children's garden has been opened at the Monash Caulfield Childcare Centre.
The newly-renovated garden space is complete with sandpits, a fernery, cubbyhouse, bridges, veggie patch, apple trees and water tanks.
It is the result of months of hard work by designer Ruth Czermak from Botanical Traditions, the team from Australian Landscape Management and centre staff.
Centre director Rukmini Bose-Rahman said the children had watched the process with eager anticipation and were enjoying playing and exploring in their new natural environment.
"There is so much to do, smell and touch. Staff have more scope to implement exciting outdoor experiences following the children's interests," Ms Bose-Rahman said.
Centre president Ben Conyers said families had also enjoyed the transformation.
"The children are coming home with stories about all the digging and exploring they have been doing," Mr Conyers said.
The garden has been funded by the Victorian government's Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.
For more information visit the Monash Caulfield Childcare Centre web page.
The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Education Julia Gillard announced the first part of the Federal Government's response to the recommendations of the Bradley Review of Higher Education when she opened the Inaugural Universities Australia Higher Education Conference on 4 March. In doing so she again expressed the Government's support for universities and the recognition of the relative neglect of this vital sector over the last dozen years or so.
She made the following specific announcements in that speech and another speech a few days later:
In addition to these announcements, the Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research Senator Kim Carr at the same meeting and in a later speech made comments relevant to the Bradley Review and the Cutler Review of Innovation along the following lines:
Notably both Ministers emphasised that the current financial situation meant that the government would be restricted in what it could do in the next budget and that it could only move towards increased funding commitments for university education and research in stages.
There are a number of implications of the announcements.
An increase in the number of graduates need not imply a great increase in the number of university places if retention and completion rates are increased and if the role of other education providers to bachelor level is increased, as is likely, by 2025.
For example, the role of the TAFE/VET sector in providing education to bachelor level has just started. The private sector has expanded considerably in scope and it is likely that many of these institutions will provide bachelor level education by 2025. Thirdly, the expansion of online education following improved technology and broad-band access will make it possible for universities and other providers to provide bachelor-level education to larger numbers of students in distributed locations. There will likely be an expanded role for Open Universities Australia and possible activities by large-scale international providers in Australia. Obviously the role of the central quality and accreditation agency in ensuring that the diverse range of providers delivers education of an appropriate quality will be vital. Research-intensive, campus-based universities will not be the only contributors to Bachelor-level education but will play a particular role at the top end of the tertiary sector.
The concept of deregulating undergraduate Australian student numbers in our universities with maintenance of capped fees raises the possibility of a number of scenarios over time. It will be tempting for universities to increase the number of domestic places in high demand, low-cost courses such as business and law, and decrease the number of places in high-cost courses or poorly compensated courses such as engineering, health sciences and education.
The reliance on market information to guide the choices of students and universities to deliver the appropriate outcome in terms of the number of graduates in areas of national need is optimistic at best. It is hard to imagine that the Federal Government will allow the number of graduates in areas of political sensitivity such as education, nursing and medicine to be left to the market especially when the market is distorted by price caps. On the other hand, universities will be likely to take national needs into account when deciding on the number of places offered in different disciplines and it will not be possible to make rapid changes to discipline mix given established staff numbers in different disciplines.
Equity targets are meaningless when we use the postcode of a student's residence as the measure of socioeconomic status. Other indicators will be required. Individual targets will need to be assigned for different universities and additional financial help given to generate and deliver the appropriate pathway programs and student support for the students coming from disadvantaged backgrounds.
A national quality and regulatory body seems essential given the diversification of institutions offering degrees. However as university and other tertiary education is currently regulated by the states, this will require agreement between the Commonwealth and the states.
The statement by Senator Carr stating that the government would move towards fully funding the costs of research is welcome. Increasing the Research Infrastructure Block Grant from its current 20 cents in the dollar to 50 cents in the dollar would be a welcome first step.
Senator Carr's comments about compacts appeared a little paradoxical in view of the silence of the Bradley Review on this topic and the advocacy by Deputy Prime Minister Gillard of minimal interference by government in the affairs of universities with accountability based on outcomes.
Regardless of the rhetoric substantially increased investment in universities will be needed if they are to achieve the benefits for Australia articulated in the two reviews and recognised by the two ministers. The tough financial situation will make it difficult for the government to deliver this but a start must be made towards redressing the financial neglect of recent years.
Our universities have done well over the recent past but could deliver so much more for the prosperity of Australia and the welfare of its people and its environment if they were properly funded.
22 April 2009
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Name: Ann Corcoran
Title: University Student Ombudsman
How long have you been with Monash University?
I started in November 2007 as Interim Ombudsman and formally dropped the interim in February 2009.
Prior to working at Monash, where were you located and what was your role?
Most recently I was a Federal Member of Parliament (Isaacs, ALP). Before that I worked as an accountant in various places including schools, hospitals and the University of Melbourne.
What is more challenging this role or politics?
Both involve not knowing what is coming today and meeting and dealing with people under stress. However in this job I get to go home each night and I don't work weekends.
What exactly does a student ombudsman do?
I investigate complaints in an entirely independent manner, and make recommendations for improvements in how things are done.
What sort of advice would you give students that need your assistance?
Think through clearly what it is you are upset about and what result you are seeking in lodging a complaint. Maintain your calm and sense of humour.
What challenges are ahead in the newly-created role of student ombudsman?
Helping to create a culture where complaints are seen as good things - they provide the opportunity to test that processes are fair, robust and workable - and where the role is valued because it ensures students can be heard if things go wrong.
What is it about your job that holds your interest or is particularly satisfying?
It is satisfying when an inquiry reaches a solution where everyone is happy (this doesn't always happen, but it does happen.) I enjoy the opportunity to meet people and explore parts of the University I have not yet seen or experienced. It is also great when I see a policy or procedure changed because of a recommendation I have made.
What is your favourite place in the world and why?
My back verandah with a cup of tea and today's crossword or sudoku within reach because it means peace – at least for a little while.
What is the best piece of advice you have received?
Listen with your mouth closed.
What is something about yourself that most of your colleagues wouldn't know?
The best moment of my life was when I realised that I could refuse to join the office footy tipping competition.
22 April 2009
The Monash University website turns 15 this month.
When it first went live in 1994 the website included a few hundred web pages, about a dozen websites and received about 500,000 hits a week.
Fifteen years on the website has evolved to include hundreds of thousands of pages and hundreds of websites and it receives more than 33 million hits a week.
The website has changed the way the University operates. Something that, in 1994, was "nice to have" is now an essential part of doing business.
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| The Monash website in 1994. |
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| The Monash website in 2009. |