What's On at UWA

Dr Prue Hart is from the Institute of Child Health Research

Michael Clark, MMedSc Student, School of Medicine & Pharmacology, will present a research seminar titled "Plasma and cellular tocopherol concentrations in hypobetalipoproteinemia"

School of Indigenous Studies and Institute of Advanced Studies,The University of Western Australia

Invite you to a discussion forum to celebrate the launch of

Whitewash: On Keith Windschuttle's Fabrication of Aboriginal History, Edited by Robert Manne (Black Inc)

Featuring speakers: Cathie Clement, Neville Green, Marilyn Lake, Jill Milroy, Henry Reynolds.

In December 2002, The Fabrication of Aboriginal History Vol.1 by Keith Windschuttle was published. It argued that violence between whites and Aboriginals in colonial Tasmania had been vastly exaggerated and sought to rewrite the most contentious part of Australian history. The book soon attracted massive coverage, including heated criticism. Until now Windschuttle's arguments, agenda and methods have not been comprehensively examined. Whitewash collects Australia's leading writers on Aboriginal history to do just this; the result is an authoritative account of the history and politics of the colonial frontier and a demolition of revisionism.

Whitewash is edited by Robert Manne, and is the first in Black Inc.'s new Agenda series.

Introduced by Sally Morgan

ALL WELCOME

Books are available for sale, courtesy of University Co-op Bookshop.

The Speakers:

Dr Cathie Clement, MPHA, is a Perth-based historian and heritage consultant. She specializes in researching and writing about people, places and events in Australia’s north-west. Her curriculum vitae lists 40 books, articles, reports and papers in which she has presented her findings on that region

Dr Neville Green, MPHA, is a Western Australian historian specializing in Aboriginal education, Native Title research and the study of contact and change in indigenous societies. He is the author of The Forrest River Massacres (1995).

Professor Marilyn Lake holds a Personal Chair in History at La Trobe University. She formerly held the chair in Australian Studies at Harvard University. Her most recent book is Faith: Faith Bandler, Gentle Activist, winner of the HREOC Arts Award for non-fiction in 2002.

Jill Milroy teaches Aboriginal History at the University of Western Australia where she is the Head of the School of Indigenous Studies.

Professor Sally Morgan is Director of the Centre for Indigenous History and the Arts at the University of Western Australia, a writer of international acclaim and a visual artist.

Professor Henry Reynolds is currently an ARC Senior Research Fellow at the University of Tasmania at Launceston. He was for many years at James Cook University in Townsville. He is the author of many well-known books including The Other Side of the Frontier, Law of the Land, Fate of a Free People, and Why Weren’t We Told? His latest book, North of Capricorn, will be published next week.

School of Indigenous Studies and Institute of Advanced Studies

Invite you to celebrate the Perth launch of

North of Capricorn: The untold story of Australia’s North

By Henry Reynolds

Published by Allen and Unwin Australia

To be launched by Sally Morgan

ALL WELCOME

Books available courtesy University Co-op Bookshop for sale and signing.

RSVP essential to Institute of Advanced Studies on 9380 2020 or [email protected] by Friday 10 October

1300-1310: Professor Lou Landau. Welcoming address.

1310-1345: Dr Simon Brown. Keynote address: Preventing anaphylaxis to venom of the jack jumper ant (Myrmecia pilosula).

1345-1400: John Brereton. Prehospital airway management in Perth.

1400-1415: Dr Paul Bailey. Functional analysis of the venom of three Australian jellyfish.

1415-1430: Dr Peter Sprivulis. Establishing ECHO.

1430-1445: Nick Gibson. Epidemiology of asthma in the prehospital setting.

1445-1500: Dr Paul Quigley. Drink-spiking Investigation Project.

1530-1545: Dr Tom Hitchcock. Magic bullets of new health systems: information, communication and behavioural change.

1545-1600: David Ford. Prehospital use of intranasal fentanyl.

1600-1615: Dr Rod Ellis. Comparison of routes of injection for the treatment of envenomation by red-back spider bite trial.

1615-1630: Dr Yusuf Nagree. Low acuity patients do not cause or contribute to ambulance diversion in metropolitan Perth.

1630-1645: Dr Mark Little. Prehospital care and jellyfish envenomation.

1645-1700: Dr Daniel Fatovich. A pilot trial of thrombolysis in cardiac arrest (the TICA trial).

If a tourniquet is applied to the base of a rat’s tail and then released, the tail becomes hypersensitive to subsequent noxious challenges. A similar phenomenon may underlie dysmenorrhoeic pain. Reperfusion hyperalgesia has characteristics similar to those of inflammatory and post-traumatic hyperalgesia, which are also of substantial clinical importance. We have measured the responses of neurones with receptive fields in the tail, in the thalamus, spinal cord and coccygeal nerve of rats, and identified neurones with responses to noxious challenge during reperfusion which are congruent with the behavioural responses of the rats. We also have established that the behavioural hyperalgesia can be blocked with opiates, cyclo-oxygenase inhibitors, NMDA receptor antagonists, benzodiazepines and histamine antagonists; for some of these pharmacological agents we have investigated how the underlying neuronal pathways respond, and again the neuronal and behavioural responses are congruent. Apart from revealing the neurophysiological and neurochemical substrates of an important clinical phenomenon, our investigations have allowed us to develop an assay for new pain-relieving drugs, with important scientific and ethical advantages over other animal-based assays.

Although most animals are gonochoric (have separate sexes), hermaphroditism is widespread, particularly among primitive groups and groups with external fertilisation. I would like to argue that, despite its numerical subordinance, hermaphroditism is the ancestral form of gender expression in all animals and that the (repeated) transition to gonochorism is a (predominantly) oneway transition with major consequences for evolution and speciation.

The National Heart Foundation of Australia (NHF) is holding a Research Information Session for all researchers in the area of cardiovascular disease.

This presentation will offer information about the National Research Program at the Heart Foundation, detailing all award types and funding details.

We will also be presenting information about new developments to the National Research Program including improvements in funding, media opportunities and more. A senior member from the WA division of the Heart Foundation will be present at the session to answer questions and say a few words.

This session is for both new and experienced researchers in the cardiovascular field who may already have NHF funding or may be seeking it. It is an opportunity for you to learn more about what the NHF has to offer researchers and how you can benefit from the new developments being made to the NHF Research Program.

Come along and bring your colleagues!

Europe and its Racisms series: 2003 program Wednesday 22 October at 6.00 pm Geography Lecture Theatre 1, UWA

Thomas Hylland Eriksen (University of Oslo) 'Racism, ethnicity and evolutionary theory'

Abstract The Scandinavian countries have for many years been perceived as culturally homogeneous, in spite of the fact that they all have old ethnic minorities, including Saami, Gypsies and Greenlandic Inuits, whose relationship to the majority and the state has been complex and sometimes tragic. In the second half of the 20th century, moreover, immigration from non-European countries has transformed the social structure of Scandinavian cities. Questions relating to immigration and minority issues have thus become prominent features of public debate. The lecture, concentrating on the present, will compare the situation of the "old" minorities with that of the "new", unpacking the complex relationship between race, culture and ethnicity in the current debates about integration and cultural rights.

Thomas Hylland Eriksen is Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Oslo. He has published widely in English and Norwegian on globalisation, ethnicity, nationalism and a number of other topics, including Darwinism, the history of anthropology and information technology. He has won several awards for his writings, and his work has been translated into more than fifteen languages.

The lecture is free and all are welcome. For more information please contact the Institute of Advanced Studies on 9380 1340

You are invited to the 2003 Selby Lecture by Professor Charles J. Arntzen, Arizona State University in Tempe, and 2003 Selby Fellow, Australian Academy of Science

Using Crop Biotechnology to Reduce the Impact of Infectious Diseases in the Developing World

Charles J. Arntzen was appointed to the Florence Ely Nelson Presidential Endowed Chair at Arizona State University in Tempe in 2000. He served as the Founding Director of the Arizona Biodesign Institute until May, 2003, and currently serves as the Director of the Center for Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology of that Institute. In 2001 he was appointed as a member of President George W. Bush’s Council of Advisors on Science & Technology in the Office of Science and Technology Policy where he participated on the task force on bioterrorism threat reduction technology and currently co-chairs the nanotechnology task force.

Dr. Arntzen’s primary research interests are in plant molecular biology and protein engineering, as well as the utilization of plant biotechnology for enhancement of food quality and value, for expression of pharmacologically active products in transgenic plants, and for overcoming health and agricultural constraints in the developing world. He has been recognized as a pioneer in the development of plant-based vaccines for human disease prevention (with special emphasis on needs of poor countries) and for disease prevention in animal agriculture. Recently this research has been extended to creation of effective vaccines against biowarfare agents.

As part of his Fellowship, Professor Arntzen is touring Australia with lectures and consultations. The Selby Travelling Fellowship is presented annually by the Australian Academy of Science to distinguished overseas scientists to enable a visit to Australia for a national public lecture/seminar tour.

ABSTRACT: Oral vaccines are a convenient and potentially safer means of implementing universal vaccination programs in the developing world (as well as in economically advanced countries). Vaccines which would not require refrigeration would greatly reduce the cost of such programs. To meet the needs for temperature stable, oral products, we have genetically engineered crops using genes from human pathogens. We have asked the question if these "pharmacrops" would produce subunits of the pathogens that would induce protective oral immune responses. Three human clinical trials have validated the concept of oral immunization when the plant samples are simply eaten as food. I will discuss our current production system that uses genetic containment greenhouses to grow tomatoes, and food process technology to obtain freeze-dried, tomato fruit-derived, temperature-stabile vaccine doses for clinical trials. The importance of working within a strong regulatory framework to ensure that the GM plants are strictly segregated from crops grown for food consumption will be emphasized.

Plant-based vaccines build upon a technology base derived from agriculture and food processing. Because it does not require capital intensive pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities, it could be directly transferred to developing countries to establish a sustainable, in-country capacity for vaccine manufacture. One major outcome of this technology transfer would be for self-sufficiency in public health care needs of poor populations, thereby expanding the global capacity for health promotion

THE SPEAKER: Dr. Arntzen held previous faculty positions at the University of Illinois and Michigan State University, and visiting professorships in the Laboratoire de Photosynthèse du CNRS in France, the Department of Applied Mathematics in Canberra, Australia, and the Academia Sinica in Beijing, China. He also served as a research scientist with the USDA and as the director of the Michigan State University-Plant Research Laboratory (funded by the Department of Energy). In 1984 he joined the DuPont Company in Wilmington, Delaware as Director of Plant Science and Microbiology and was later promoted to Director of Biotechnology in the Agricultural Products Department. In 1988 he was appointed Dean and Deputy Chancellor for Agriculture at Texas A&M University, and subsequently served as Director of the University's Plant Biotechnology Program of the Institute of Biosciences and Technology. From 1995-2000, Dr. Arntzen served as President and CEO of Boyce Thompson Institute - a not-for-profit corporation which is affiliated with Cornell University.

Dr. Arntzen was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in 1983 and to the National Academy of Sciences in India the following year. He is a fellow of The American Association for the Advancement of Science, received the Award for Superior Service from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for international project leadership in India, and received the degree of Doctor of Science honoris causa from Purdue University in 1997. He has been a member of numerous national and international committees that serve general scientific interests, and in 2003 was awarded the Selby Fellowship by the Australian Academy of Sciences. He was a member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Governors of the University of Chicago for the Argonne National Laboratory and served as chairperson of their Science and Technology Advisory Committee. He served as chairman of the National Biotechnology Policy Board of the National Institutes of Health, as chairman of the National Research Council's Committee on Biobased Industrial Products, and on the National Research Council's Committee on Space Biology and Medicine. He served for eight years on the Editorial Board of SCIENCE.

Dr. Arntzen served until 1998 on the Board of Directors of DeKalb Genetics, Inc. and on the Board of Directors of Third Wave Agbio, Inc. and on the Scientific Advisory Board for Sumitomo Chemical Company, Ltd. until 2001. He now serves on the Board of Directors of Advanced BioNutrition, Inc., and is on the Advisory Board of the Burrill and Company’s Agbio Capital Fund and The Nutraceuticals Fund, and on the Scientific Advisory Boards of Advanced BioNutrition, Inc., and Epicyte Pharmaceuticals. He also serves as a Distinguished Advisor on the Council for Biotechnology.

All welcome. Parking in Car Park P3, Hackett Drive, Entrance 1.

Oral vaccines are a convenient and potentially safer means of implementing universal vaccination programs in the developing world (as well as in economically advanced countries). Vaccines which would not require refrigeration would greatly reduce the cost of such programs. To meet the needs for temperature stable, oral products, we have genetically engineered crops using genes from human pathogens. We have asked the question if these "pharmacrops" would produce subunits of the pathogens that would induce protective oral immune responses. Three human clinical trials have validated the concept of oral immunization when the plant samples are simply eaten as food. I will discuss our current production system that uses genetic containment greenhouses to grow tomatoes, and food process technology to obtain freeze-dried, tomato fruit-derived, temperature-stabile vaccine doses for clinical trials. The importance of working within a strong regulatory framework to ensure that the GM plants are strictly segregated from crops grown for food consumption will be emphasized. Plant-based vaccines build upon a technology base derived from agriculture and food processing. Because it does not require capital intensive pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities, it could be directly transferred to developing countries to establish a sustainable, in-country capacity for vaccine manufacture. One major outcome of this technology transfer would be for self-sufficiency in public health care needs of poor populations, thereby expanding the global capacity for health promotion

Friday 24th October 2003, 12.30-1.30pm Associate Professor Seong Seng Tan is Head of the Brain Development Laboratory at the Howard Florey Institute (Melbourne). He is an NHMRC Principal Research Fellow.

Abstract: Many insects produce loud songs in which either mechanical or acoustical resonators are involved. The nature and properties of resonators, and how they are excited for insect sound production, will be discussed. The excitation of crickets' wings by a file and scraper and the buckling of the tymbal of cicadas are described as contrasting resonant systems that determine the song frequency. The problem of efficient sound radiation from small sound sources has led to the evolution of various types of baffle or secondary resonator, such as the cicada abdomen or different types of cricket burrows, all of which improve the coupling between the vibrating regions of the insects' body and the surrounding air, and thus greatly increase the loudness of the insects' song while maintaining its tonal purity.

The Perth Undergraduate Choral Society Inc. presents:

BLISS

A Choral Journey from the Clasical to the Romantic Era.

Conductor: Sarah Penn

Organist: Dominic Perisnotti

Accompanist: Alistair Smith

Tickets $15/$10 call 9389 6469, email [email protected] or at the door

Program:

Laudate Dominum - W.A. Mozart (1780) from Vespers

Ave Verum - W.A. Mozart (1791)

Ave Maria - Franz Schubert (1825)

Ave Maria - Felix Mendelssohn (1830)

Lift Thine Eyes - Felix Mendelssohn (1845) from Elijah

Cantique de Jean Rancine - Gabrielle Faure (1865)

Missa Choralis - Franz Liszt (1865)

PUCS is presenting some of the finest choral pieces from the classical and romantic eras. We are especially pleased to be delivering a rare performance of the Missa Choralis by Franz Liszt.

In presenting works by the two great child prodigies of their eras, Mozart and Liszt it is a little known fact that both the Mozart Vespers and the Missa Choralis by Liszt were also much-favoured works of the composers. After a stella performing career as one of the great pianists, Liszt wrote the Missa Choralis in Rome where he had become intensly religious. It is said he wrote the Missa Choralis - heavily influenced by Palestrina's plainchant themes - in order to "restore mystical depths to church music and rescue it from the 'operatic style into which it had degenerated'" - Humphrey Smith

Internationally acclaimed physicist, writer and broadcaster, Professor Paul Davies will reveal how it can be done in a mind-blowing presentation that will take the audience on an unforgettable ride into the far reaches of the Universe.

What to do you need to build a time machine? How do you build one?

A prolific and influential populariser of physics, Professor Davies was nominated by The Bulletin as one of Australia’s ten most creative people in 1996, and has been described by Washington Times as “the best science writer on either side of the Atlantic”. He has written over 25 books, both popular and specialist works, and these have been translated into more than 20 languages. Professor Davies also lectures to religious organisations around the world, and has had meetings with the Pope and the Dalai Lama.

Professor Davies will provide deep insights into the nature of reality and the nature of the physical Universe. Many paradoxes would arise if a time machine was actually built. Professor Davies explores the seriousness of these issues in an inventive and witty manner. He even addresses the ticklish question of why, if time travel is indeed possible, are we not swamped with tourists from the future?

HOW TO BUILD A TIME MACHINE?

This fascinating seminar is the ultimate time-traveller’s amazing journey into intergalactic space. It is suitable for anyone interested in modern developments in science – regardless of level of background in science.

FREE SEMINAR. ALL WELCOME.

Today is going to be a fantastic warm summer’s day and is a great opportunity to enjoy a fabulous lunch in the sunshine at the UWA Boatshed.

Why not organise a few friends and enjoy the beautiful scenery of Matilda Bay, or Members drop in for post-work drinks and nibblies?

Open every Thursday from 12 noon till late

JOIN US IN THE UWA PRESS CARPARK THIS WEEKEND FOR OUR LEGENDARY BIENNIAL CARPARK SALE.

Generous discounts will be on offer across the entire range of UWA Press titles, old and new.

This year you will have the chance to win a $500 book hamper and there will be two free sessions for kids in the gardens of Tuart House with award winning children's authors Mark Greenwood and Liliana Stafford.

Take the opportunity to browse through the hundreds of books on offer while the kids are entertained or come along early for your pick of the bargains.

Many books will be under $10.00 including award-winning local history titles, Australiana, children's books, short fiction, women's studies, literary studies, natural history and biography.

Don't miss this great chance to get your Christmas presents organised early or just to stock up your own shelves with some fine West Australian books.

Dates: Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th November 2003 Times:10am-4pm each day Place:The UWA Press Carpark, Tuart House, cnr Mounts Bay Road and Crawley Avenue, Crawley

Children's Session Times: Mark Greenwood’s session on 'The Legend of Lasseter’s Reef' will run 2-3pm, Saturday 8 November and Liliana Stafford’s session on her new picture book, 'Grandpa’s Gate' and her horse and pony series will run 11am-12noon, Sunday 9 November.

ALL WELCOME.

PLEASE FORWARD THIS EMAIL TO COLLEAGUES, FAMILY AND FRIENDS WHO LOVE GREAT BOOKS AT GREAT PRICES.

Colin Raston is a recent appointee within the School of Biomedical and Chemical Sciences. He completed a PhD under the guidance of Professor Allan White, and after postdoctoral studies at the University of Sussex, was appointed Lecturer at UWA (1981), then to Chairs of Chemistry at Griffith University (1988), being awarded a DSc there in 1993, Monash University (1995), as an ARC Senior Research Fellow and ARC Special Investigator, and the University of Leeds (2001). He is the 2002 recipient of the Green Chemistry Challenge Award (RACI), and is the Northwest Pacific Lecturer for 2003. Research interests cover nano-chemistry/supramolecular chemistry, and green chemistry, having helped to establish the Centre for Green Chemistry at Monash University in 2000.

The School Symposium will focus around the following major themes:

POPULATION MENTAL HEALTH - Australians living with mental illness: a national survey. Pregnancy and birth complications in women with psychotic disorders: a record linkage study. Development of culturally applicable diagnostic tools for the assessment of Aboriginal mental health problems.

NEUROBIOLOGY OF MENTAL DISORDERS - From linkage to genes: DNA sequence variants in candidate genes on chromosome 6p associated with schizophrenia. Genetics and Alzheimer's disease: role of ApoE4 and other genetic risk factors. Proteolytic cleavage of Alzheimer's amyloid precursor protein to generate beta amyloid.

COGNITION AND MENTAL HEALTH - Relationship between cognitive and memory function in older adults from English and non-English speaking backgrounds. Cognitive mechanisms underlying auditory hallucinations.

TREATMENT, PREVENTION AND MENTAL HEALTH PROMOTION - Very Low Dose (VLD) nortriptyline augmentation of standard antidepressants in unremitted depression. Research at the Unit for Research and Education in Drugs and Alcohol.

Poster presentations prepared by the School's postgraduate students will be held at various intervals throughout the day.

Due to strict number size, RSVP is ESSENTIAL.

When a pest species is identified, management is often focused on control or removal of the pest from local or regional areas where it occurs. However, the effects of control may not be predictable if the pest interacts indirectly with other species in the community. In this seminar, I will give examples of indirect interactions and the difficulties that they can pose for pest management, and suggest a preliminary framework that allows prediction of when such interactions are likely to occur.