text:
Mercedes ends controversial Kingspan partnership
Following a public outcry, Mercedes has announced that it and Kingspan have mutually agreed to end their partnership.
Announced just a week ago, the new partnership, said to be worth £4m a year, included Kingspan chairing a new Sustainability Working Group for the team, and aimed to deliver carbon reductions through their leading-edge environmentally sustainable solutions for the team's future campus.
However, following a public outcry, both parties have subsequently concluded that it is not appropriate for the partnership to move forward at the current point in time, notwithstanding its intended positive impact, and have therefore agreed that it will be discontinued with immediate effect.
In its own statement, Kingspan said:
Sustainability and sport are two long-standing passions and commitments at Kingspan. When Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team approached us to chair their new Sustainability Working Group, we saw a unique opportunity to bring the two together in a way that would support a sport we love, while bringing sustainability to a world stage.
We are deeply aware of the sensitivities raised in recent days, and so we have jointly agreed that it's not appropriate to move forward at the current point in time.
Much has been written about this over the past few days, and out of consideration for our customers and all the great people who work for us, we believe we must respond.
We had no role in the Grenfell Tower refurbishment. However, our Kingspan Insulation UK business is a core participant in the Grenfell Tower Inquiry and fully supports the Inquiry's important work.
We understand that this is a complex topic, but there are some important facts that we would like to explain:
1. We did not make the exterior cladding on Grenfell Tower. The Inquiry itself has stated that "the principal reason" for rapid fire spread on Grenfell was the polyethylene cored ACM cladding used on the exterior of the building. No facade system using this PE ACM cladding, regardless of the insulation used, would have passed the necessary large-scale system fire test. Our K15 insulation board was misused in this unsafe and non-compliant system.
2. We did not supply or recommend K15 to Grenfell Tower. K15 made up approximately 5% of the insulation layer of the façade system. It was substituted without our knowledge.
3. We have completed new tests which support the previous fire safety claims of the three historical K15 large-scale system tests which came into question during the Inquiry process.
We condemn in the strongest possible terms the wholly unacceptable historical conduct and emails which emerged throughout the course of the Inquiry discovery process. We have sincerely apologised for these actions by a small group of employees at our Kingspan Insulation UK business. This in no way reflects Kingspan's culture or values.
Marko apologises
McLaren to run 'bespoke' livery at season finale
Masi sheds light on 'swap' deal
Driving needs to be assessed, says Wolff
Saudi Arabian GP: Post Race press conference
Verstappen handed further penalty but remains second
Saudi Arabian GP: Race team notes - Mercedes
"He's over the limit," says Hamilton of rival Verstappen
Vertappen, Hamilton, Perez and Leclerc summoned by stewards
Saudi Arabian GP: Post Qualifying press conference
1. Posted by kenji, 09/12/2021 11:03
"Mercedes have bowed to the media pressure and dumped on a firm which by all accounts can not be held responsible for doing anything wrong. The firm did not supply the material [5% ] and were totally unaware of it's use in the Grenfell Tower. So much for the famed British sense of justice and innocent until proved guilty."
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2. Posted by Spindoctor, 08/12/2021 15:57
"@Mad Matt - I understand your point & "Innocent until proven otherwise" is nominally how UK System works. The problem is that UK Media have revealed a lot of what appears to be very dodgy practices all round. Kingspan is central to the inquiry and keeps coming up. Just or not, their Brand is currently toxic in UK.
Certainly, UK Governments are hugely responsible for allowing poor standards and for failing to enforce even those. Hopefully they'll help everyone affected...."
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3. Posted by Mad Matt, 08/12/2021 13:25
"Seems a shame that a firm which appears to have no responsibility for the fire gets targeted like this. It seemed to me the UK government stepping in was more about shifting blame than doing anything helpful."
Rating: Positive (11) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment


An iconic Geelong pub has been resurrected under the leadership of local custodians Kym Robertson and Don Little. Previously trading as The Bended Elbow and then The Yarra Hotel, Bended sits at 69 Yarra Street and owes its name to that of the prior establishment. Although maintaining they aren't associated with the Bended Elbow brand, Kym says "we've called it Bended to emulate the great things that Bended Elbow was famous for".
Meal deal nights, welcoming service and live music are preserved by Bended with Mondays being a steak night and Tuesdays a parma night, both for $13.90. Second Chance Wednesdays allow diners to choose a steak or parma, and the duo has just introduced trivia from 7 p.m. Sundays see a roast dinner for $12.90 and live music from 3 p.m. onwards. In addition to Sunday sessions, Bended host live bands playing every Friday and Saturday nights, as well as acoustic singles and duos. Upstairs opens soon and will showcase bigger acts once a month, as well as corporate events, conferences and functions.
Kym speaks of Bended in a tone that suggests pride and excitement, and this can be attributed to her finally realising a dream in an industry she has dominated. "I always wanted to have a local. You know, where people would come in and we'd know everyone's names. I never thought I'd actually do it though, but the opportunity arose and I love it," says Kym.
During our chat she greets the patrons as they enter and I find myself inspired by her genuine personability and passion. A great relationship amongst staff is evident and Kym tells me they often visit Little Malop Street's Beav's Bar for Wednesday night knock-off drinks and karaoke, which she is considering introducing to a night at Bended.
Vast structural changes are occurring upstairs prior to its reopening, whereas downstairs, with its Japanese oak bar and brass fittings, required only "repainting and freshening up". Despite making minimal alterations to the overall framework, Kym, who has managed Home House, Eureka and The Carlton Hotel, has implemented extensive changes to the food and drinks on offer.
"We are doing pub fare, a little high end. We offer handmade pasta with natural, local produce and have a great pork rib eye on the menu," says Kim. But the favourite is the parma. Served with salad and steakhouse chips, the Aussie favourite took the chefs a month to refine. A decent kid's meal offers more options than most including a little pirate chicken parma and chips, long rope fresh-cut Napoli pasti and peg leg chicken fingers and chips, all for $9. All kids meals come with salad or veggies, and for the under 12s a drink and ice cream is included.
Bended runs 16 rotating craft beers and ciders on tap and aims to look after the smaller Geelong and Melbourne-based breweries. The spacious Geelong landmark has three beer gardens and will showcase some of Australia's top kegs otherwise missing from the Geelong pub scene, including Byron Bay's Stone and Wood. Kym and Don have kept the wine list very local, with appearances from Leura Park and Jack Rabbit vineyards and Bended has found that their clientele appreciate this nod to our impressive region.
Blessedly free of poker machines in a town somewhat addled by them, Bended is a relaxed local that values its blow-ins as much as those that frequent the boozer. Cold, clean, quality beer is aplenty, courtesy of what Kym says is a fantastic dispensing system. Patrons can enjoy affordable meals delivered by friendly wait staff with accents to die for and plasma screens occupy wall space on the bottom level, making the pub a popular spot for footy fans. There is an ATM and a cigarette machine on premises. Bended is open seven days from 11.30 a.m. until late.


text:
Tesla begins shipping its Model Y crossover
By Nick Lavars
Tesla begins shipping its Mode...
Tesla unveiled its Model Y crossover in March of 2019
The Tesla Model Y on stage in LA
Specs of the Model Y variants at launch (though the price has been tweaked since)
Tesla has officially kicked off deliveries of its long-awaited Model Y, one year after its unveiling and well ahead of schedule. The company confirmed today that shipping was underway for its first crossover SUV, which Elon Musk believes may become Tesla's most popular electric vehicle yet.
"I think it will be the mid-sized SUV that you will want," said Tesla CEO Musk during the Model Y reveal last year, where the company flagged a Northern Hemisphere fall 2020 timeframe for the first deliveries. "I think we'll probably do more Ys than S, X and 3s combined."
The Model Y is being built on the same chassis as Tesla's Model 3, which may help explain its comparatively smooth manufacturing journey so far. There are some key differences, however, most notably that it is around 10 percent larger and therefore offers a little less range, despite being powered by the same battery.
Tesla plans to offer four types of Model Y in all, but has two available at this stage. The Performance version tops the list with a 300-mile (480-km) range, a 0-100 km/h (0-63 mph) time of 3.7 seconds, a top speed of 241 km/h (150 mph) and a starting price of US$60,990.
The more affordable Long Range model starts at $52,990 but boasts a range of 505 km (313 mph). It offers a top speed of 217 km/h (134 mph) and completes the 0-100 km/h sprint in 5.1 seconds.
All Model Ys will offer an optional seven-seat configuration, Tesla's glass panoramic roof and the option of Tesla's Autopilot self-driving software.
You can check out the promo video for the Model Y below.
Model Y Deliveries Begin!
Source: Tesla (Twitter)
AutomotiveTeslaModel YNew Atlas Audio
Nick Lavars
Nick has been writing and editing at New Atlas for over six years, where he has covered everything from distant space probes to self-driving cars to oddball animal science. He previously spent time at The Conversation, Mashable and The Santiago Times, earning a Masters degree in communications from Melbourne's RMIT University along the way.
GordonHoffman March 17, 2020 08:55 AM
$53K in more than I can afford, so I'll have to wait for a used one some day.
I'd like to see 7 people step out of that car - that would be a size useful to me.
The heat pump heating option I've read about recently sounds very insightful - I'm proud of Tesla.
Username March 17, 2020 09:08 AM
Rock on, Elon!
ljaques March 17, 2020 09:23 AM
Why the $25k bump over the Model 3 price? Is it 4WD? (then I looked at the pictures and found the pricing chart) // It lost the classic Tesla look, too, but I suppose that's due to the more bulbous shell tail for the SUV tricks. Toadlike rather than sleek like the rest. (other than the Tesla Pickup) // G'luck, Elon!
michael_dowling March 17, 2020 02:29 PM
The base model is $39K,but it is RWD. I refuse to buy a RWD car,as the last one I had would get me stuck in the snow at least once every winter. The next level is the AWD,but that runs about $47K,too rich for my blood. For that reason,I am looking at a base model Chevy Bolt FWD.
Nissan concept van supports digital nomads with open-air office pod
Mercedes stretches door to door with massive Hyperscreen

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


KiSS1-izvedeni peptidni receptor (takođe poznat kao KISS1R, GPR54 ili Kispeptinski receptor) je G protein-spregnuti receptor koji vezuje peptidni hormon kispeptin (metastin). Kispeptin je kodiran genom supresora metastaze KISS1, koji je izražen u raznim endokrinim i gonadnim tkivima. Aktivacija kispeptinskog receptora je vezana sa kaskadom fosfolipaze C i inozitol trisfosfata u ćelija.
Kispeptin učestvuje u regulaciji endokrinih funkcija i početka puberteta. Aktivacija kispeptinskog receptora inicira otpuštanje gonadotropin-oslobađajućeg hormona (GnRH). Otpuštanje samog kispeptina inhibira estradiol, a podstiče GnRH. Snižavanje nivoa kispeptina sa godinama je jedan od mogućih razloga za opadanje nivoa drugih endokrinih hormona, kao što je luteinizirajući hormon.
Svi poznati ligandi su peptidi. Selektivni agonisti i antagonisti su otkriveni 2009.
Kispeptin-10 analozi modifikovani amino supstitucijama.
^ Lee DK, Nguyen T, O'Neill GP, Cheng R, Liu Y, Howard AD, Coulombe N, Tan CP, Tang-Nguyen AT, George SR, O'Dowd BF (1999). "Discovery of a receptor related to the galanin receptors". FEBS Lett. 446 (1): 103—7. PMID 10100623. doi:10.1016/S0014-5793(99)00009-5.
^ Ohtaki T, Shintani Y, Honda S, Matsumoto H, Hori A, Kanehashi K, Terao Y, Kumano S, Takatsu Y, Masuda Y, Ishibashi Y, Watanabe T, Asada M, Yamada T, Suenaga M, Kitada C, Usuki S, Kurokawa T, Onda H, Nishimura O, Fujino M (2001). "Metastasis suppressor gene KiSS-1 encodes peptide ligand of a G-protein-coupled receptor". Nature. 411 (6837): 613—7. PMID 11385580. doi:10.1038/35079135.
^ Muir AI, Chamberlain L, Elshourbagy NA, Michalovich D, Moore DJ, Calamari A, Szekeres PG, Sarau HM, Chambers JK, Murdock P, Steplewski K, Shabon U, Miller JE, Middleton SE, Darker JG, Larminie CG, Wilson S, Bergsma DJ, Emson P, Faull R, Philpott KL, Harrison DC (2001). "AXOR12, a novel human G protein-coupled receptor, activated by the peptide KiSS-1". J. Biol. Chem. 276 (31): 28969—75. PMID 11387329. doi:10.1074/jbc.M102743200.
^ Kotani M, Detheux M, Vandenbogaerde A, Communi D, Vanderwinden JM, Le Poul E, Brézillon S, Tyldesley R, Suarez-Huerta N, Vandeput F, Blanpain C, Schiffmann SN, Vassart G, Parmentier M (2001). "The metastasis suppressor gene KiSS-1 encodes kisspeptins, the natural ligands of the orphan G protein-coupled receptor GPR54". J. Biol. Chem. 276 (37): 34631—6. PMID 11457843. doi:10.1074/jbc.M104847200.
^ Richard N, Corvaisier S, Camacho E, Kottler ML (2009). "KiSS-1 and GPR54 at the pituitary level: overview and recent insights". Peptides. 30 (1): 123—9. PMID 18948153. doi:10.1016/j.peptides.2008.09.015.
^ Liu X, Lee K, Herbison AE (2008). "Kisspeptin excites gonadotropin-releasing hormone neurons through a phospholipase C/calcium-dependent pathway regulating multiple ion channels". Endocrinology. 149 (9): 4605—14. PMID 18483150. doi:10.1210/en.2008-0321.
^ Shahab M, Mastronardi C, Seminara SB, Crowley WF, Ojeda SR, Plant TM (2005). "Increased hypothalamic GPR54 signaling: a potential mechanism for initiation of puberty in primates". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 102 (6): 2129—34. PMC 548549  . PMID 15684075. doi:10.1073/pnas.0409822102.
^ Plant TM, Ramaswamy S, Dipietro MJ (2006). "Repetitive activation of hypothalamic G protein-coupled receptor 54 with intravenous pulses of kisspeptin in the juvenile monkey (Macaca mulatta) elicits a sustained train of gonadotropin-releasing hormone discharges". Endocrinology. 147 (2): 1007—13. PMID 16282350. doi:10.1210/en.2005-1261.
^ Richard N, Galmiche G, Corvaisier S, Caraty A, Kottler ML (2008). "KiSS-1 and GPR54 genes are co-expressed in rat gonadotrophs and differentially regulated in vivo by oestradiol and gonadotrophin-releasing hormone". Journal of Neuroendocrinology. 20 (3): 381—93. PMID 18208554. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2826.2008.01653.x.
^ Neal-Perry G, Lebesgue D, Lederman M, Shu J, Zeevalk GD, Etgen AM (2009). "The excitatory peptide kisspeptin restores the luteinizing hormone surge and modulates amino acid neurotransmission in the medial preoptic area of middle-aged rats". Endocrinology. 150 (8): 3699—708. PMC 2717872  . PMID 19423763. doi:10.1210/en.2008-1667.
^ Mikkelsen JD, Bentsen AH, Ansel L, Simonneaux V, Juul A (2009). "Comparison of the effects of peripherally administered kisspeptins". Regulatory Peptides. 152 (1-3): 95—100. PMID 18940206. doi:10.1016/j.regpep.2008.10.001.
^ Roseweir AK, Kauffman AS, Smith JT, Guerriero KA, Morgan K, Pielecka-Fortuna J, Pineda R, Gottsch ML, Tena-Sempere M, Moenter SM, Terasawa E, Clarke IJ, Steiner RA, Millar RP (2009). "Discovery of potent kisspeptin antagonists delineate physiological mechanisms of gonadotropin regulation". The Journal of Neuroscience : the Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience. 29 (12): 3920—9. PMC 3035813  . PMID 19321788. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5740-08.2009.
Colledge WH (2005). "GPR54 and puberty.". Trends Endocrinol. Metab. 15 (9): 448—53. PMID 15519892. doi:10.1016/j.tem.2004.09.008.
Kaiser UB, Kuohung W (2006). "KiSS-1 and GPR54 as new players in gonadotropin regulation and puberty.". Endocrine. 26 (3): 277—84. PMID 16034182. doi:10.1385/ENDO:26:3:277.
Seminara SB (2006). "Metastin and its G protein-coupled receptor, GPR54: critical pathway modulating GnRH secretion.". Frontiers in neuroendocrinology. 26 (3-4): 131—8. PMID 16309735. doi:10.1016/j.yfrne.2005.10.001.
Tena-Sempere M (2006). "GPR54 and kisspeptin in reproduction.". Hum. Reprod. Update. 12 (5): 631—9. PMID 16731583. doi:10.1093/humupd/dml023.
Cerrato F, Seminara SB (2007). "Human genetics of GPR54.". Reviews in endocrine & metabolic disorders. 8 (1): 47—55. PMID 17334928. doi:10.1007/s11154-007-9027-3.
Ikeguchi M, Hirooka Y, Kaibara N (2003). "Quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction analysis for KiSS-1 and orphan G-protein-coupled receptor (hOT7T175) gene expression in hepatocellular carcinoma.". J. Cancer Res. Clin. Oncol. 129 (9): 531—5. PMID 12898236. doi:10.1007/s00432-003-0469-z.
Ikeguchi M, Yamaguchi K, Kaibara N (2004). "Clinical significance of the loss of KiSS-1 and orphan G-protein-coupled receptor (hOT7T175) gene expression in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.". Clin. Cancer Res. 10 (4): 1379—83. PMID 14977840. doi:10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-1519-02.
"KiSS1-Derived Peptide Receptors". IUPHAR Database of Receptors and Ion Channels. International Union of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology.


I have read them all as well. Really FE? I like Blackwood Farm. Usually we are on the same page.
I thought Blackwood Farm had some good stuff in it, then I thought it had some rather pointless, badly written passages as well. The most disappointing thing to me about the later ones is that I could still see glimpses of what originally drew me to Rice as a writer but that it was buried under very repetitive stories and paper-thin characters. The stuff about the ghost was actually quite interesting though. And I was suprisingly moved by the death of a certain character at the end even though they hadn't been around in the series for long.
I can see that. Lestat's rant about Memnoch the Devil in the beginning nearly doomed the book for me. It seemed very..umm.. unlike him, I guess. Different language, different attitude and what was all that crap about him sounding like a gangster?
Yeah, in later books I felt she sort of lost the characters' voices. Still, overall, I'm not sorry that I read all the books, even though I felt the best of them came early.


British Pathé has an extensive collection charting the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict. If you are interested in licensing any of the material, please contact licensing@britishpathe.com.
If you are unable to find what you are looking for, you can explore the entire archive using the search bar at the top of this page.


This study examines associations between Australia's regulatory ratings of quality in early childhood education and care (ECEC)—the National Quality Standard (NQS)—and two research-based quality rating scales. The analytic sample consisted of 257 ECEC services across three Australian states. Results indicated (1) modest positive associations between NQS ratings and scale scores; (2) some specificity between NQS quality areas (educational programs and practice; relationships with children) and one research scale—the Sustained Shared Thinking and Emotional Wellbeing (SSTEW) scale; (3) variability in quality scales scores within each NQS designation; and (4) mitigation of these associations when the time-gap between ratings exceeded 24 months. Findings suggest NQS and research scales tap some common core of quality, yet capture different aspects of quality, suggesting both could be used to raise standards of quality in Australian preschools, where the research scales potentiate raising quality to even higher levels than NQS.
Evidence supports the importance of high-quality educational experiences in early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings (e.g. OECD 2012). Its benefits include the potential to promote children's short- and long-term development, such as educational success (Melhuish et al. 2015), the possibility of reducing inequalities linked to socio-economic status (Siraj and Mayo 2014), and the potential to foster economic growth in the longer term (Ho et al. 2010).
Despite such benefits being well recognised (Melhuish et al. 2015; Pianta 2012; Sylva et al. 2014; Taylor et al. 2016), there continues to be debate around how high-quality experiences can be ensured and maximised. Defining ECEC pedagogies and practices that demonstrably support and enhance children's learning and development remains a research imperative. However, the term quality itself is a contested concept, due mostly to its subjective nature. Numerous studies have shown that stakeholders (e.g. parents, educators, children and governments) hold different views of quality and value different characteristics of practice (Education Review Office 2010; Penn 1996). For example, parents value the proximity of an ECEC setting to their homes and perceived happiness of children (Plantenga 2011), while many governments (including the Australian government) emphasise impact on children's outcomes (their social, emotional and cognitive development). A comprehensive discussion of the multiple perspectives of quality can be found elsewhere (Kingston 2017; Kingston and Melvin 2012; Mathers et al. 2012; Moss and Dahlberg 2008).
While it is noted that quality is a complex term, the current study considers the Australian government's national measure of quality—the National Quality Standard (NQS) assessment—which, amongst other important roles (informing policy, ensuring public accountability and supporting children's and families' entitlements to high-quality ECEC provision) measures and monitors quality with a focus on the impact ECEC provision can have on children's outcomes (ACECQA 2017a). Given the lack of information on the extent to which NQS results align with those shown to predict child outcomes, we compared the NQS with two quality rating scales [The Sustained Shared thinking and Emotional Well-being (SSTEW) and Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale—Extension (ECERS-E) (Siraj et al. 2015; Sylva et al. 2003)]. Drawing on data from our studies of quality in ECEC and government NQS ratings, we considered how NQS ratings compared these two quality rating scales with known associations with children's outcomes (social, emotional and cognitive development) (Howard et al. 2018; Sylva et al. 2006).
Governments around the world try to ensure that their processes and measures to monitor and improve ECEC services deliver high-quality environments for children and families. For instance, the UK government has scrutinised quality by revamping its inspection systems and curricula for children below age 7 (Parker 2013). New Zealand, having achieved a robust revision for the Te Whariki curriculum with educational outcomes for children and near-universal provision for pre-schoolers (NZ Ministry of Education 2017), government attention has now turned to quality.
Similarly, in 2009, Australian state governments established a National Quality Framework (NQF) for all ECEC. This took effect in 2012 and was designed to support greater consistency across state and territory educational systems, supported also by implementing a national Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF; DEEWR 2009) and a National Quality Standard (NQS) assessment and rating system (ACECQA 2017a). Australia's NQS was developed by a group of early childhood experts, in consultation with government, to establish and maintain the quality of ECEC in Australia via a comprehensive regulatory framework (see Table 1).
In common with government inspection and monitoring processes internationally, NQS is based on judgments of trained field staff (assessors) who evaluate a broad range of elements to assign ratings which conceptually capture overall service quality—including quality associated with learning and quality associated with compliance. Services evaluated include home-based family day care, long-day care (who care for infants, toddlers and preschool-aged children) and dedicated preschool programs (focused on the year before school).
NQS has focussed ECEC educators and providers on service quality. Yet regulatory authorities have understandably placed an early emphasis on child safety and regulatory compliance, as is captured in a number of NQS quality areas. However, NQS quality ratings are often interpreted in the field as interchangeable with research measurements of quality ECEC, which have been shown empirically to correspond with improved child outcomes in learning and development (Howard et al. 2018; O'Connell et al. 2016). Although NQS was informed by research (OECD 2006) and is linked to the EYLF, there remains limited publicly available evidence to evaluate whether it can differentiate between settings that differ in their impact on children's learning and development. The capacity to make this differentiation is particularly significant for children from disadvantaged backgrounds, for whom there is compelling evidence that higher quality ECEC can enhance development in a myriad of domains (Melhuish et al. 2015).
Recent reviews (Melhuish et al. 2015; Siraj and Kingston 2015) and studies (Taylor et al. 2016) have identified characteristics important for enhancing children's learning, development and wellbeing through ECEC, namely.
sharing educational goals with parents/carers, and supporting the home learning environment.
These characteristics show the complexity of promoting stronger cognitive and social–emotional outcomes for children. Indeed, there appears to be an inter-play between aspects of structural quality known to be associated with high-quality ECEC (e.g. group size, child/adult ratios, educator qualifications) (Howes et al. 2008; Slot et al. 2015) and aspects of process quality concerned with a child's everyday lived experiences (e.g. the activities, opportunities and interactions available within a setting, the educators and the other children, and the available and accessible materials) (Howes et al. 2008). This distinction between structural and process quality helps to identify the aspects of overall quality which most influence children's early learning and development (Donabedian 1980; Siraj et al. 2017b).
As structural quality can be measured more objectively and easily, its aspects are most frequently researched and regulated, and now dominate government ECEC inspection and monitoring around the world. The manner in which different aspects of structural quality exert influence is not simple, and many recent studies have suggested an overreliance on structural notions of quality may be misplaced (e.g. Slot et al. 2015). Increasingly, international research shows that the process of adult–child and child–child interactions predicts children's outcomes most powerfully (Melhuish et al. 2015; Siraj and Kingston 2015).
In summarising available research on process quality, the OECD (2012) reported that educators' sensitivity and responsiveness, the quality of their interactions, and their ability to extend and scaffold children's learning and thinking were critical to children's outcomes. These aspects of process quality, while more difficult to capture than structural aspects, have been the focus of sustained empirical investigation using quality rating scales in ECEC contexts. It is, therefore, important to ask how quality defined by regulatory frameworks corresponds with quality measured on such scales.
High-quality interactions, defined as those that support and extend children's thinking, have been increasingly linked to child outcomes i.e. their social–emotional and cognitive development (Pianta 2012; Sylva et al. 2014). These interactions, termed sustained shared thinking (SST) by Siraj-Blatchford et al. (2015), are conceptualised as interactions in which "…two or more individuals 'work together' in an intellectual way to solve a problem, clarify a concept, evaluate an activity, extend a narrative, and so forth. Both parties must contribute to the thinking, and it must develop and extend the understanding" (Siraj-Blatchford et al. 2002, p. 8). While SST's influence is reflected in the Australian EYLF and other curricula internationally (e.g. English Early Years Foundation Stage 2012), practices associated with SST remain poorly understood and observed infrequently (Sylva et al. 2004; Taylor et al. 2016). It should thus be a priority to support the understanding and practice of SST, and measure and monitor it accurately.
These newer understandings about the important adult role in fostering interactions have prompted the development of tools designed to specify and capture pedagogies and practices associated with process aspects of quality. Accordingly, the SSTEW scale (Siraj et al. 2015) was designed to support, increase and improve the identification and practice of high-quality interactions within ECEC settings. Similarly, the ECERS-E aims to capture aspects of curricular quality, such as mathematical, scientific and literacy learning, and diversity. These instruments have an international reputation for (i) measuring important aspects of ECEC quality which relate to key domains of development (e.g. language, numeracy, science, diversity, self-regulation, social–emotional wellbeing) and what constitutes effective practice in each; (ii) the standardisation processes they have undergone; and (iii) their well-established psychometric properties (e.g. predictive validity of child outcomes such as language and numeracy) (Howard et al. 2018; Mathers et al. 2012; Sylva et al. 2004). Quality rating scales are widely used in studies across Europe, Asia Pacific regions and beyond, and have also been used to capture quality, and changes in quality, following professional development in Australia (e.g. Siraj et al. 2018).
In contrast, the NQS is a regulatory tool covering seven quality areas and 18 standards (2–3 in each quality area), which broadly consider important aspects of structural and process quality alongside child safety and regulatory compliance. The statutory NQS assessment and rating of ECEC services in Australia, conducted by government-authorised assessors, result in centres receiving individual ratings for each quality area, and an overall quality rating. There are five possible ratings: significant improvement required, working towards NQS, meets NQS, exceeds NQS and excellent. The lowest and highest ratings are rarely given.
There appear to be important areas of overlap and difference between NQS and the scales. In terms of similarity, elements of NQS quality area 1 (educational program and practice) show the greatest synergy with quality scale indicators which emphasise curricula process quality. For example, NQS quality area 1 requires judgments about curricula and their implementation, the educators' abilities to take a child-centred approach, and promotion of children's agency with a foundation in children's interests, ideas, knowledge and culture. This includes intentional teaching, planning and assessment at an individual level, support for all children to participate and fostering careers' awareness about the planning for, and the progress of, their children. There are also similarities between SSTEW and NQS quality area 5 (relationships with children). Both stress building strong and respectful relationships to support collaborative learning and child independence; and both recognise the importance of partnership with parents and the early home learning environment (Melhuish et al. 2008).
Yet, NQS and quality scales differ in the scope and depth of quality covered. ECERS-E, for example, includes maths, science and literacy, whereas NQS uses these terms infrequently (only three mentions of each) and positions them as optional (e.g. potential examples of practice). In summary, while the quality rating scales focus most highly on aspects of process quality, NQS conceptualises quality much more broadly, with a focus on structural and regulatory compliance (health and safety, educators' qualification levels, adult/child ratios, etc.). As such, while the scales have an evidence base linking better ratings to better child outcomes, the extent to which resultant NQS ratings identify centres that differ in their children's outcomes remains unclear.
This study thus begins a process of empirical evaluation that should accompany any large-scale regulatory system (indeed similar processes have been initiated in the UK and US; Mathers et al. 2012; Sabol et al. 2013). Specifically, this study compared NQS with two quality rating scales: ECERS-E and SSTEW, combining data gathered during large-scale projects in Australia and from published regulatory NQS ratings. These particular scales were selected because they focus on curricular quality (corresponding to NQS quality area 1) and interactional quality (corresponding to NQS quality area 5). Associations were examined between the quality rating scales scores and the overall and specific-quality-area NQS ratings. Consideration was also given to potential effects of service location (i.e. state), the time since NQS assessment (i.e. within 2 years of quality scale observations), and the variability in quality within NQS designations. It was expected that NQS and quality scale ratings would be distinct (i.e. capturing different aspects of quality) yet related (i.e. sharing a common core of quality), given at least some overlap between the indices, while intentionally different in breadth and aims.
Analyses were conducted on NQS and quality rating scale data from 257 ECEC services across three Australian states. Centres were selected for representation, not representativeness, across a range of centre characteristics. Largely consistent with national distributions, there were more centres in metropolitan (n = 156, 60.7%) than non-metropolitan regions (n = 101, 29.3%) and more long-day care centres (n = 221, 86.0%) than preschools (n = 36, 14.0%). The average socio-economic decile of the ECEC services' catchment areas was 3.92 (SD = 2.28) (per the Australian Bureau of Statistics' area-level Socio-economic Index for Areas, or SEIFA; ABS 2008), which indicates a slightly lower socio-economic catchment area than would be expected in the broader population. The average number of places per centre was 65.37 (SD = 28.30). For overall NQS rating categories, most centres achieved meeting (n = 128, 49.8%) or exceeding designations (n = 101, 39.3%). Fewer had working toward ratings (n = 28, 10.9%), which is consistent with the profile of ratings nationally (ACECQA 2018).
As quality scale observations are conducted on individual rooms, this sample yielded 323 rooms (64 centres had two rooms and one had three rooms). However, each centre received only one overall NQS rating. To circumvent this issue of non-independence of observations in centres with multiple rooms, one room was randomly selected for inclusion from centres with multiple room ratings, yielding 257 independent ratings for the quality scales.
Details of the main areas of quality covered by the NQS, ECERS-E and SSTEW can be found on Table 1.
Australia's NQS assessment and rating is undertaken with all ECEC services across Australia. Fully trained, authorised officers visit each centre to assess against 18 standards in the aforementioned seven quality areas (see Table 1). These individual quality area ratings are then combined into one overall NQS rating for each centre. Ratings are published on national registers, from which the current data were drawn, and displayed in services. Data on centre ratings for this study were collected from the national register in March 2017.
ECERS-E (Sylva et al. 2003) measures the quality of curricula, environments and pedagogy in ECEC settings. It comprises 15 items across four subscales. SSTEW (Siraj et al. 2015) considers practice which supports children to develop skills in sustained shared thinking and emotional wellbeing. It contains 14 items across five subscales. Subscale foci are detailed in Table 1.
ECERS-E and SSTEW were scored using on-balance judgements derived from a full-day room observation. Each item was scored from 1 (inadequate quality) to 7 (excellent quality) based on patterns of the presence or absence of each item's indicators. A score of 3 indicates basic/minimal quality and 5 indicates good quality. Both scales have shown good reliability and predictive validity of children's attainment at school entry (Howard et al. 2018; Sylva et al. 2006). Items in the subscales were averaged to generate subscale scores, and subscales were averaged to yield overall quality scores (Table 2).
The scale assessments were conducted by highly trained observers throughout a 1-day room observation in participating centres. Observers were trained intensively for 5 days, including in-field practice ratings with a highly experienced trainer/observer, followed by inter-rater reliability checks that compared independent ratings from a full-day joint observation with a highly experienced trainer/observer. Observers had to meet the following rigorous inter-rater reliability standard prior to data collection in field: (1) an intra-class correlation exceeding .70 (M = .86); (2) a correlation exceeding .70 (M = .86); (3) a mean difference in scores less than .75 (M = .43); and (4) a score agreement (within 1 point) of at least 80% (M = 93%).
Information on centres' geographic region, service type, SEIFA decile and service size were collected at the time of scale observations. From national registers, we also recorded the time elapsed since NQS rating (max = 4.05 years prior to our observations).
While it was not expected that the quality ratings scales would differ by state, preliminary analyses sought to establish this before exclusion of this factor from subsequent analysis (Table 2). Regression analyses showed that the addition of state (coded as dummy variables) to a model of SEIFA, geographic region, service type and maximum number of places predicting ECERS-E scores did not improve model fit, ΔF(2, 249) = .29, p = .752. This was also the case for SSTEW, ΔF(2, 249) = .58, p = .564. As there were no systematic effects of state on ECERS-E or SSTEW scores, state was omitted from further analyses.
To analyse potential associations between ECERS-E and NQS ratings, we ran hierarchical multiple regressions to investigate the extent to which NQS ratings (quality area 1 and overall) predicted ECERS-E scores, controlling for SEIFA, geographic region, service type and number of places (see Table 3). NQS was recoded into dummy variables, with meeting as the reference category. The model at the first step, including only control variables, was significant, F(5, 251) = 3.11, p = .010, although no predictor made a significant independent contribution to ECERS-E quality score. This was identical when considering overall NQS rating or NQS rating for quality area 1.
Of interest for the current investigation, the second step included NQS ratings to investigate whether ECERS-E scores improved with improved NQS rating. This full model was significant for overall NQS ratings, F(7, 249) = 4.16, p < .001, and for NQS quality area 1 ratings, F(7, 249) = 4.00, p < .001. The addition of NQS rating at step 2 improved the model (see Table 4), and confirmed that centres receiving exceeding on NQS overall (or on quality area 1) achieved significantly higher ECERS-E scores than those receiving meeting. There were no statistically significant differences in ECERS-E scores between the centres receiving working toward and meeting NQS ratings. These findings thus indicated an association between NQS designations and quality rating scores, yet this association was broad (not specific to quality area 1) and only for higher quality NQS designations. Indeed, identical regression analyses for the other NQS quality area ratings (quality area 2 through quality area 7) showed similar results, with centres rated exceeding receiving significantly higher ECERS-E scores for every analysis (βs ranged from .17 to .21).
However, the mean ECERS-E scores for exceeding centres were at the basic/minimal level (a score of 3 out of a possible 7) according to ECERS-E ratings (see Table 3). There was also substantial variability within NQS levels (Table 4): for working toward, ECERS-E scores ranged from 1.67 to 4.29 (M = 2.61, SD = .72); for meeting, ECERS-E scores ranged from 1.29 to 4.63 (M = 2.69, SD = .83); and for exceeding, ECERS-E scores ranged from 1.29 to 6.71 (M = 3.14, SD = 1.02).
The same analyses were run to investigate associations between NQS ratings (in quality area 1, quality area 5 and Overall) and SSTEW scores (Table 6). The model at first step was again significant (and identical) for NQS quality area 1, quality area 5 and overall ratings, F(5, 251) = 2.58, p = .027. Only geographic region was significant amongst control factors, such that inner-regional settings had higher SSTEW scores than did centres in metropolitan settings. While this is noteworthy, it was not examined further as these centres were not recruited in a geographically representative manner, and this was not an a priori aim of this study.
The model was significantly improved with the addition of NQS quality area 1 rating, F(7, 249) = 2.86, p = .007, and quality area 5 rating, F(7, 249) = 3.02, p = .005, but not for overall NQS ratings. Inspection of these results indicated that, for NQS quality area 1, centres receiving exceeding on NQS achieved significantly higher scores on SSTEW than those receiving meeting. There was no significant difference in SSTEW ratings between centres receiving meeting and working toward designations. The same pattern was found for NQS quality area 5. This showed that associations of NQS with SSTEW were specific to the anticipated NQS quality areas, yet only between higher quality designations. Repeating these analyses for the other quality areas indicated that only NQS quality area 7 was additionally associated with SSTEW scores, such that centres rated as exceeding received significantly higher SSTEW scores than those rated meeting (β = .18, p = .006). SSTEW scores were thus related to quality area 1 and quality area 5, as predicted, and were also related to quality area 7.
Again, the mean SSTEW scores for exceeding centres were still below good levels (i.e. a score of below 4) according to the SSTEW scale (see Table 5). There was again substantial variability within NQS levels (Table 5): for working toward, SSTEW scores ranged from 1.48 to 5.98 (M = 3.41, SD = 1.07); for meeting, SSTEW scores ranged from 1.05 to 5.88 (M = 3.51, SD = 1.28); and for exceeding, SSTEW scores ranged from 1.17 to 6.70 (M = 3.92, SD = 1.20).
Given the prevalence of staff turnover, ongoing professional learning and other change factors in the ECEC sector, subsequent analyses sought to evaluate whether the associations between NQS and quality rating scales change when quality ratings were within a reasonable time of each other (i.e. within 2 years). Two years was identified because the time between NQS ratings can be lengthy, yet centres continue to claim their ratings (exceeding, good etc.) even following large-scale changes. These analyses revealed that centres rated less than 24 months before quality ratings (n = 184 rooms) conformed to the above pattern of findings, except that centres rated more than 24 months prior (n = 73) showed little association. Subsequent analyses were conducted on this reduced sample, < 24 months, and appear in Tables 4 and 6 for ECERS-E and SSTEW. These results suggest that associations between NQS and quality rating scores were strengthened if they occurred within 24 months of each other.
The current study sought to evaluate the degree of association between Australia's system of NQS assessment and rating with quality scores from research-based quality rating scales. Results suggested that NQS does indeed capture common elements of quality as these rating scales, yet this association predominantly distinguished between high (exceeding) and lower-quality centres (working toward, meeting), and more highly when NQS ratings had occurred within the past 2 years. Despite this association, quality levels of even exceeding services were at basic levels of quality on average, as defined by the quality rating scales. This suggests that NQS may function as an important mechanism to draw attention to quality, and ensure a minimum threshold of quality across the sector, while the scales provide possible tools and direction for centres ready to further extend on this base level of quality. These results echo similar international studies which compare government-authorised monitoring and quality processes with research measures of quality. In England, for example, comparisons between government inspection processes and environmental quality ratings were also modest (Mathers et al. 2012), with similar results found in the US (Sabol et al. 2013).
This study also indicated that there were high levels of variability on scale measures within NQS rating designations, even when considering only centres rated in the previous 24 months. That is, several centres achieving high-quality scores on ECERS-E and SSTEW were rated as not yet meeting the NQS, and the reciprocal pattern was also common. Although the reasons for this are likely multiple and complex, three explanations are proposed. First, there are differences in the quality areas considered. That is, while NQS is necessarily broad in its focus, there is evidence that combining instructional, process and compliance, without highlighting the specific elements linked to child outcomes, can obscure the meaning of ratings generated. As Sabol et al. (2013) reported during a review of monitoring systems in the US, some quality indicators (e.g. adult/child interactions) are related to children's learning, but these associations are mitigated when multiple indicators were added to the quality rating, including structural aspects typically found within the government monitoring and inspectional systems under study. In such cases, assigning high-quality designations does not necessarily denote optimal provision for child development and learning. Rather, Sabol et al. (2013) suggest that, where information about multiple aspects of quality is collected, care should be given to separate their analysis and reporting. Further, given the costs associated with collecting multiple quality indicators, there may be economies for focusing separately on indicators that have established associations with learning and child development outcomes. For instance, in the current results, three NQS quality areas related specifically to dimensions of interactional quality as assessed by the SSTEW scale (although no such differentiation across quality areas was evident for ECERS-E). Separate reporting of these process quality dimensions may draw additional focus to important distinctions between aspects of ECEC quality.
Second, while a common core of quality appears to be captured by both types of measures, their associated training, materials and guidance (including how indicators may be understood and interpreted, and how complex concepts such as SST are described) influence the fidelity of their application. Ambiguous guidelines, such as "educators and co-ordinators…promoting a sense of community in the service" (NQS quality area 5; ACECQA 2017b, p. 24), can be interpreted in multiple ways (e.g. embracing cultural diversity, staff togetherness, parent relationships), which could be interpreted as being satisfied by various types, frequencies and quality of practices. This ambiguity introduces inter-rater reliability concerns, and unclear targets for those educators tasked with ensuring that guidelines are met. The scales provide an alternative model in this regard, with indicators and descriptors designed to be concrete and tangible—they can be seen, heard, read, and require specific, observed, well-defined evidence. Although they require some professional judgments, training on principles underlying environmental and pedagogy rating scales and practice in their use ensures inter-rater reliability (Siraj et al. 2017a). Descriptions of the behaviours to be evidenced within the quality rating scales provide clear guidelines, descriptions and indicators of inadequate, minimal, good or excellent practice, with the indicators building upon each other. From this perspective, non-shared variance between NQS and the scales may be, at least in part, due to differing interpretations between assessors or within assessors as their experiences, reference points and interpretations evolve.
Third, there are by design some fundamental differences in the underlying principles and practices considered by these measures of quality. For instance, whereas ECERS-E has two subscales dedicated to mathematics and science and the adult's supportive role in fostering these through adult-guided and play-based experiences, NQS has little direct reference to either area. This may be related to widespread belief in the sector, and reinforced by the NQS, about how children learn best. Indeed, the research underpinning these scales reinforces the importance of a child-centred approach, where educators follow the child's lead and interests during and through play. However, the scales specifically emphasise the importance of leveraging these interests and play experiences to support learning and development through SST, and in areas such as emergent mathematics, science and exploration. At present, there is sparse mention of these practices and domains in the NQS.
Also complicating associations between these measures is the high rate of turnover of staff in the ECEC sector. Together, these factors may have contributed to the frequent mismatch between NQS rating and scale scores, as well as the low and minimally different mean scale scores across the NQS designations. For instance, settings rated exceeding on NQS scored from 1.29 (inadequate quality) to 6.71 (excellent quality) on ECERS-E, and from 1.17 to 6.70 on SSTEW. While there was a general and overall association between these quality indices, at least when considered within 2 years of each other, there were also cases of disagreement between how centres would be characterised in terms of their quality. This suggests that while NQS ratings may be well suited to ensuring sector-wide quality improvements, quality rating scales may be required in order to discriminate well between the highest levels of quality provision, consequent developmental benefits for children and to inform families of the potential benefits of their child's individual provision.
This study provides useful findings to help understand, interpret and support Australia's NQS program of assessment, across states given that the three states here showed similar patterns of results. First, while structural aspects of quality are important, especially in relation to settings showing lower levels of quality, separating the quality aspects related to children's outcomes may yield useful additional information for continued quality improvement. This, of course, requires evaluating the aspects of NQS most highly associated with children's later outcomes. In relation to the process aspects of quality already incorporated in NQS, it may be prudent to update and include more recent understandings about what is important for child development. It is also important to consider content, competence and confidence in areas like emergent mathematics, science and exploration. As an alternative to updating NQS, and in line with the actions of some US states and UK local authorities, research measurements (including quality rating scales) may be well suited to augmenting inspection and monitoring systems—especially for centres already meeting national minimum standards of quality. If governments are committed to an evidence-based approach to quality, this appears to be a useful step forward.
ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics). (2008). Information Paper: An Introduction to Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) (cat. No. 2039.0). Retrieved August 16, 2016, from http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/2039.0.
Australian Children's Education & Care Quality Authority. (2017a). Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority. Accessed 7 June, 2017, from http://www.acecqa.gov.au/national-quality-framework/the-national-quality-standard.
Australian Children's Education & Care Quality Authority. (2017b). Guide to the National Quality Standard. Accessed 6, 2017, from http://files.acecqa.gov.au/files/National-Quality-Framework-Resources-Kit/NQF-Resource-03-Guide-to-NQS.pdf.
Australian Children's Education & Care Quality Authority (2018) Guide to the National Quality Framework. Accessed October, 2018, from https://www.acecqa.gov.au/sites/default/files/2018-09/Guide-to-the-NQF.pdf.
Kingston, D. (2017) A mixed methods study: Evaluating the impact of a bespoke professional development based on an analysis of existing quality in one local authority. PhD Dissertation. London: UCL. Accessed 26 February, 2018, from http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1551541/.
Melhuish, E., Ereky-Stevens, K., Petrogiannis, K., Ariescu, A., Penderi, E., Rentzou, K., et al. (2015). A review of research on the effects of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) upon child development. CARE Project; Curriculum Quality Analysis and Impact Review of European Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC). Technical Report. European Commission. Accessed 7 June, 2017, from http://ecec-care.org/resources/publications/.
New Zealand Ministry of Education. (2017). More children in early childhood education. New Zealand Ministry of Education. Accessed 5 September, 2017, from https://education.govt.nz/ministry-of-education/government-education-initiatives/better-public-services/more-children-in-early-childhood-education/.
Siraj, I., Kingston, D., Neilsen-Hewett, D., Howard, S., Melhuish, E., de Rosnay, M., et al. (2017b). Fostering Effective Early Learning: A review of the current international evidence considering quality in early childhood education and care programmes—in delivery, pedagogy an6d child outcomes. Sydney: New South Wales Department of Education. Accessed 9 June, 2017, from https://education.nsw.gov.au/media/ecec/pdf-documents/FEEL-Study-Literature-Review-Final.pdf.


I made a promise to get back on track in my bloglife ( what?! hehe), but obviously not able to keep it due to what "Habagat floods" had brought us and personally attending school matters with my child who started his everyday life at Junior Advance Casa pre-school level.
Husband and I never had a hard time teaching letters and numbers recognition that is why B passed his entrance exam that qualifies him to JAC level, skipping the 1st level which is Junior Casa. He can easily catch up school lessons but really needs to improve his writing speed.
As much as I wanted to stretched out and imposed fun in teaching him how to write following lines in his writing pad, I can't help but easily burned out with his willful disobedience and stubborn hands. Ranting was definitely the last thing that would happen, but often times caught myself in the middle of it and was really ashamed of what exactly is happening.
I know some of the parents out there can relate to my story, I sometimes argue with the thought of why to have a child as early as 3 or 4 to attend school and force them to do things which we actually did when we were 6?! whoa! desperate thinking I guess.
Thankfully, I manage to stay far from any ranting issues and began finding new ways to encourage him to pratice more. Even before he attends school, giving him tracing worksheets during our bonding time becomes one of my favorite activity, with no stress and pressure at all.
I guess I am too pushy and impatient in making him speed up on his writing skill? or simply wanted him to excel or just cope up with other kids who is doing a great job with this one?
Yeah. Patience talaga ang pagtuturo sa mga bata. Just keep it up and your kid will learn.


Caring for our Country is an Australian Government initiative that seeks to achieve an environment that is healthy, better protected, well managed and resilient, and provides essential ecosystem services in a changing climate.
The current business plan sets out the targets for investment in 2010-11 and following years. The business plan provides guidance to potential applicants on the types of proposals which the Australian Government is seeking to fund to address these targets.
Have you been involved in, or would you like to be involved in, the planning, approval or implementation of a translocation project for threatened flora? Then this workshop is relevant to you!
• When is it appropriate to use translocation as a tool to conserve threatened species?
• What needs to be done when planning a translocation program?
• How should a translocation program be implemented?
• What ongoing management and evaluation is required?
• Where can I go for more information?
The workshop will include WA case studies of translocation programs, highlighting lessons to be learnt.
The Institute for Applied Ecology is conducting a survey of international professionals, academics, students, etc. about their perspectives on restoration, climate change, and working with and moving organisms. Climate change may be the defining challenge to the field of restoration ecology this century. How does the wider restoration community currently approach the challenges of habitat and species restoration, and how is this approach likely to shift if the climate changes locally and globally? Understanding how people conduct or support restoration is crucial to engaging in discussions that move our field forward in the face of changing environments. We think you will find many of the questions interesting and thought provoking.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/W3BB7HQ The survey takes about 15 minutes and will conclude on 31 January 2010 and the results will be published.
Applications for the Valette Williams Scholarship, an award funded by the North Shore Group of the Australian Plants Society (APS), are welcomed from Honours, Masters or PhD students.
The maximum grant awarded will be $3000. The project must contribute to the knowledge of the ecology, conservation, or propagation of native plants in the Sydney and surrounding regions, must be carried out within this region. The applicant must be attached to an Australian research institute. Application forms are available from http://www.blandfordia.org.au/Scholarship.html and applications close 12 March 2010.
*The ANPC is affiliated with the journal Ecological Management and Restoration. ANPC members can subscribe to EMR at a special discount rate. Please note: this is only available to individual members (not to groups or organisations).


LONDON (Reuters) — Britain's economy risks stalling or contracting as Brexit nears and the global economy slows, with firms in the dominant services sector reporting job cuts for the first time in six years and falling orders, a survey showed on Tuesday.
A closely watched gauge of the world's fifth-biggest economy, the IHS Markit/CIPS UK Services Purchasing Managers' Index, fell to 50.1 in January from 51.2 in December -- its lowest level since July 2016 and barely above the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction.
Overall, the survey suggested Britain's economy is flatlining after losing momentum late last year.
"The latest PMI survey results indicate that the U.K. economy is at risk of stalling or worse as escalating Brexit uncertainty coincides with a wider slowdown in the global economy," said Chris Williamson, chief business economist at survey compiler IHS Markit.
The report adds to other signs that Brexit, scheduled in less than two months' time, is taking its toll on businesses and consumers.
The composite PMI for December, combining the manufacturing, construction and service sectors, fell to 50.3 from 51.5 in November, the lowest level since July 2016.


Hoping for £7500 - at the end of the day, it's worth what someone will pay for it.
It's a genuine clean bike - 2 owners and less than 6k miles with a huge spec.
If you're genuinely interested, price is a topic for discussion.
That would easily sell for £8k at our local Dealer so I reckon you're not too far adrift with your Asking Price, especially as you're prepared to Negotiate.
Wish I had never gotton rid of my GSX, had a PC111 and a Zorstec can had 93f of torque at 3,000 revs and easily the most comfortable bike I have ever owned. Yes Versys peeps even more comfortable than the V! (for me). Suspension was suspect and needed careful set up, but everything else an absolute peach.


text:
What Charlie Hebdo Can Teach Us About the Nature of Satire
Iona Italia
The French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo is once more at the center of a storm of controversy over the cover cartoon they posted in response to the recent Houston floods. Much of the anger and enmity the picture has caused is due to a misunderstanding of the nature of satire and, in particular, of the especially acerbic brand of political and religious satire in which the magazine specializes.
"God exists. He drowned all the Neo-Nazis of Texas."
Many people have been reading the cover caption as a simple statement of editorial opinion. It's not. That's not how satire works. The caption is, in fact, deeply sarcastic, i.e. what it states at face value is the opposite of what its authors really believe. Most of us can detect this type of sarcasm easily in everyday situations. When someone rolls their eyes and says "yeah, right" in response to a remark we don't take this to mean they wholeheartedly endorse what was said. Satire begins there. But it's a little more complicated than that.
Here's some important background to this particular case. As reports of the Houston floodings came in, some commentators on social media expressed the opinion, politely, that there was a "dramatic irony" in Texas being struck by a natural disaster, given that the state voted for Trump, that it is a "red" state or that the Texan legislature refused to vote for additional relief funds after Hurricane Sandy. Some even hinted that perhaps the Houstonians "deserved" it. These opinions, expressed in mealy-mouthed ways, cautiously hedged about with disclaimers, might have sounded speciously correct to an incautious ear. But, in fact, the idea that innocent people "deserve" to suffer a natural disaster is no different, fundamentally, from the rantings of religious maniacs who claim that hurricanes or floods are caused by the legalization of gay marriage or by our "ungodly" liberal lifestyles. This kind of sickening victim-blaming usually comes from the loony religious fringe of the right. It was all the more dismaying to hear it from the mouths of liberals. But it's the same faeces, lightly perfumed with a different scent. The Charlie Hebdo editors merely lifted the lid of the latrine and showed us how much it stank.
What Charlie Hebdo did was translate what these people were really saying into the starkest of statements, one which revealed their despicable hypocrisy. Satire often does this. As Shakespeare famously puts it, it "holds … the mirror up to nature, shows virtue her feature, scorn her own image and the very age and body of the time his form and pressure." It reveals human nature in all its grotesquery, stripping away the veneer of civility, removing the fig leaves of euphemism, showing us reflected in all our grinning, naked ugliness. It reveals us to ourselves, at our worst.
The way this kind of satire does this is through a form of ventriloquism. This is something we find easy to spot when an actor is the one voicing the satire. No one mistakes the things said by Alec Baldwin as he portrays Trump on Saturday Night Live for Baldwin's own opinions. In writing, this trick is a little harder to perceive. People are more inclined to take the written or printed word at face value. They find it harder to detect an ironic tone.
In 1729, satirist Jonathan Swift published a slender treatise called A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People from being a Burthen to their Parents or Country, and for Making them Beneficial to the Publick. Swift impishly suggested that Irish families who were starving under English colonial rule should sell their children as a culinary delicacy for their rulers' tables. Many people believed he was serious and were outraged at the cruelty of this. But Swift's Proposal was, of course, never intended as a serious suggestion. The English occupation of Ireland was a dark period of history. Swift's work parodies the many well-meaning and condescending suggestions as to how the Irish poor might better themselves which, in their hypocrisy, always failed to address the real problem: colonial exploitation. The Charlie Hebdo cover is satire of a similar kind.
This Swiftian form of satire is always liable to misunderstandings. That is a built-in side effect of its main characteristic: its proximity to real people's genuine, earnest opinions. The comic Veedu Vidz provides another striking example of this form of satire. His video "5 Reasons why I Support Blasphemy Laws" is so close to what a conservative Islamic cleric might say and yet so subtly ludicrous that viewers accustomed to satire usually find it quite hilarious. The comments section, however, is almost as darkly funny as the video itself, though unintentionally so. Most commentators take Vidz literally. As a result, responses alternate between "Allah be praised, brother, you are a true believer!" and "you disgusting Muslim scum, go back to Pakistan" — from people who take his words at face value and are correspondingly pleased or disgusted by them. This tendency of political satire to skirt dangerously close to reality is both its weakness and its strength. Its susceptibility to misreadings is a side effect of its power. It lures the reader in with apparent reasonableness and, just as we are nodding along sagely, we realise we have been made fools of and our ideas are preposterous or morally bankrupt. Great satire therefore often teeters on the brink of, as Christopher Ricks puts it, "what it would have been if it hadn't been satire."
Satire is designed to shock us, to jolt us out of our smug complacency, to tease out our, the readers', hypocrisies. This is not a comfortable experience. It's not meant to be. Nor is it necessarily meant to be funny in the sense of provoking laughter. Satire is often a way of transmuting anger, disgust and horror into art. This type of satire tends to address the ugliest subjects: rape, murder, tragedy. That is the point of it. How can Veedu Vidz mock blasphemy laws when people are tortured, executed, beaten to death over blasphemy? That's precisely why he should laugh at them. Hypocrites, fascists, murderers, rapists and thugs: they all deserve our harshest mockery. A cartoon of Catholic priests gleefully gang raping an altar boy may sicken you. But in fact what is really sickening is not the drawing, it's what it represents: the Catholic Church's shameful record of condoning child abuse.
We don't usually feel grateful to satirists for exposing this kind of ugliness. In fact, throughout history, they have generally been hated and feared. There is often something heroic in their willingness to face the opprobrium and sometimes even threats of violence that may come. And few have shown more heroism in this regard than the staff of Charlie Hebdo. Faced with the likelihood of his violent death, Hebdo's now deceased editor, Charb, refused to be silenced. In 2012, before the infamous Charlie Hebdo attacks which claimed his and 11 of his colleague's lives in 2015, he said: "I would rather die standing than live on my knees."
When faced with satire that makes you feel angry and upset, acknowledge those feelings. But then send them in the proper channel. Direct them not at the satirists but at their targets and at the bankrupt morality and the corrupt, hypocritical society that allows evil to thrive.
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Iona Italia, PhD, is a former academic who now works as a writer, editor and general wordsmith. She is Areo's copyeditor and the host of the podcast Two for Tea. A Parsi of mixed Scottish and Indian ancestry, she has lived in five countries and speaks four languages and is a dual citizen of the UK and Argentina. She is the author of Anxious Employment (Routledge, 2003) and the two-part Our Tango World (Milonga Press, 2018). She is currently writing a book on mixed race identities, under the working title The Half Castes. Iona is based in London.
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No, the cover can definitely not be seen in a way that would equate (all) Texans with Nazis. This is not a matter of interpretation or opinion, any such idea is factually incorrect, and partly based on misleading translation (in vs. of). This leads to both the faux outrage on the right and the incorrect assumption in the above article that the cover was meant to criticize the left for saying the flood was well-deserved somehow.
Both views are false, although the right-wing outrage is obviously more problematic. Still the above interpretation doesn't really help, either, since it creates the impression that this may not actually be aimed at Neonazis (and exclusively so), which is what in fact it is.
Jon Harris says:
DF, how can Iona's interpretation be false when it is an interpretation? The cover can be interpreted in various ways, bearing in mind it is satire, and all could apply simultaneously.
Adding to my previous comment, the widespread yet incorrect assumption (on many sides…) that the CH cartoon equates Texans with Nazis is the result of an incorrect translation. The french "tous les Neo-Nazis du Texas" does not translate into "Neonazis of Texas", which would suggest Texans are all Neo-Nazis.The correct translation is "Neo-Nazis in Texas", which separates the Neo-Nazis from the rest of the Texans who are not Neo-Nazis.
To illustrate this, here's another example: "the spanish-speaking people in Texas" as opposed to "the spanish-speaking people of Texas", where the latter would suggest all Texans speak spanish, which of course they don't.
This article, although it is laudable in its intention, replaces one grave misinterpretation of the cartoon with another, although both are based on the same basic misunderstanding. This false assumption is that the cartoon declares all Texans to be Nazis, and then cheers the fact that they have drowned. While the faux outrage in the US takes this as a literal statement of opinion, the above article interprets it as a way of "translat(ing) what these people were really saying into the starkest of statements, one which revealed their despicable hypocrisy."
Both are incorrect in its basic assumption that the cartoon somehow, directly or satirically, states that all Texans are Nazis and therefore deserved to drown. While some then take this misinterpration literally, Iona overinterprets it. And while her interpretation is better than the one that causes outrage, taking into account that it is, after all, satire, she is misguided with regard to the target of the cartoon.
It is not satirically aimed at those who say Texans deserved the flood, it is aimed directly at Neo-Nazis. It says "God exists! He drowned all the Neo-Nazis in Texas". (Note it does not say "all those Neo-Nazis in Texas" or the like. It refers exclusively (!) to those inhabitants of Texas who are actual Neo-Nazis and expresses the wish or hope that they should have all been drowned in the flood, by way of a (hypothetical) newspaper headline. Yes, it says Neo-Nazis should all be drowned. Sarcastically. It does not call for anyone's murder or so, but it directly attacks at Neo-Nazis – and no one else.
The cartoon does not say all of Texas deserved this, but it also does ot criticize those who may have said so. It is simply a nasty joke at the expense of, you guessed it, Neo-Nazis. And it brings in "god" by saying that he could have proved his existence by drowing them all, at least in Texas.
Iona's interpretation is nice and kind of soothing and might make people feel better than the literal one and the subsequent outrage – but it is simply false, and that does not help the cause of understanding french satire, really.
Iona says:
Thank you so much, Philip!
Philip Steele says:
Damn, Iona, you are one of the best writers at Areo or any other contemporary political magazine. I'm really enjoying everything you create.


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Tomas Hult speaks with Jade Sims, International Trade Specialist, in the International Business Center, Michigan State University. The interview focused on core competencies in exporting and international trade.
These knowledge competencies include the areas of Global Business Management, Global Marketing, Supply Chain Management, and Trade Finance. Jade elaborates on why these are the four core areas for a company to have knowledge when conducting global business. There are also five "threads" within these four core areas that are critical, including Documentation, Legal and Regulatory Compliance, Intercultural Awareness, Technology, and Resources. Jade discusses how much effort a company should spend on figuring out these issues before deciding to engage globally.
Tomas Hult speaks with Jim Foley, Director of Operations, of theIllinois SBDC International Trade Center. Jim has received the Governor of Illinois' Export Award. He is also the author of The Global Entrepreneur.
The interview focused on Jim's book, The Global Entrepreneur, and topics covered in the book. Specifically, why a company should consider going global; when a company is ready to go global; and how a company should go about selecting a foreign market to export to.
Tomas Hult speaks with Tunga Kiyak, Managing Director of theAcademy of International Business. The interview focused on CORE™ - a Diagnostic Tool created by the International Business Center, at Michigan State University, to assess "organizational readiness" and "product readiness" in an export scenario. CORE™ is a self-assessment tool that will allow you to determine your company's readiness to expand its operations internationally, and ascertain its ability to export a particular product.
Knowledge Center, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce. The interview focused on ITA's Guide to Exporting, now in its 11th edition, and the long-standing key source for U.S companies on exporting and international trade.


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Up to 11 suspects were killed in five raids between Sept. 25 and Oct. 11 in Yarkand (in Chinese, Shache) county in Xinjiang's Kashgar prefecture, the source said, underscoring a trend of increasing violence in the region, where the Muslim Uyghurs complain of discrimination and religious controls under Beijing's rule.
Yarkand officials and authorities confirmed with RFA that all five raids had taken place during the period and that "separatists" had been both killed and captured during the operations.
Authorities had severely tightened restrictions in the region following the first raid, which the source said took place on the night of Sept. 25 and continued into the following morning in Odanliq township, and during which security forces killed as many as five suspects and captured two others.
"After the Odanliq incident, the police exposed a large scale attack plan and security forces declared a state of emergency for the entire county," the source said.
The two suspects captured in the raid confessed to the plan by a separatist group, which consisted of 20 people who had gathered in Odanliq township in April to plot the bombing attack of local police stations and government buildings in Yarkand on Oct. 1.
Since discovering the plot, the source said, police had undertaken at least two preemptive actions and other operations to disrupt the separatist cell and locate their explosives.
"The police carried out five bloody raids in the course of three weeks—two separate ones in Odanliq, two in Tomosteng and one in Yingwusitang township," he said.
He said that the members of the group were Uyghurs from a variety of different townships and villages in Yarkand and authorities were now combing the county for the remaining suspects and bombs.
"They had planned to make 100 bombs and had already completed 89 as of Sept. 25, but after the [first] Odanliq raid, the police confiscated 62 bombs," the source said.
According to the source, the second raid in Odanliq is likely to have taken place on Sept. 30 and the raid in Yingwusitang township, in which one suspect was killed, occurred on Oct. 11.
The source could not provide the dates of the two Tomosteng raids or information about which raids the other five suspects were killed in by police.
During the Yingwusitang township operation, authorities also shot and killed a father and his three teenage sons whose home the suspect had sought shelter in, the source said, adding that it was unclear whether the family had knowingly harbored the man.
One police officer was accidentally shot by a fellow team member during one of the raids, the source said, but was in stable condition after being moved to a military hospital in Yengisheher (in Chinese, Shufu) county.
Memet Obul, ruling Chinese Communist Party secretary of Hankowruk village, where the first raid took place in Odanliq township, said that he had been stationed about 500 meters (1,600 feet) from the house where the men were hiding during the operation.
"The separatists caused the incident because they were hiding there and wouldn't obey police orders to surrender," he said.
Memet Obul said he was informed that three suspects—instead of five claimed by the source—had been killed and two captured during the raid.
Nur Eli, a police officer in Odanliq, said that he had seen "at least 100" SWAT team members and "many county police" at the site of the first raid after it had been conducted.
Mansur Turdi, Party secretary of No. 2 village in Yingwusitang township, said that the man who owned the home that was raided on Oct. 11 was named Tursun Raziq, and that his sons were aged 12, 15 and 18.
Residents of Yarkand said that the county was crawling with security forces in the aftermath of the raids.
"These days, the situation is totally different than before," she said.
A teacher in Yarkand said that he had also heard about the raids, but added that the tensions between Uyghurs and Han Chinese would not be solved through police action.
"The security forces are more powerful than them [the separatist group]—they can kill all of them and their relatives and friends as well. But their goals and ideas still remain and will continue to spread until justice is served," he said.