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Developing a death literacy index
No full textPerforming end-of-life care can be a catalyst for developing a capacity called death literacy. This study aimed to develop a comprehensive and useable measure of death literacy that has the potential to assess interventions with individuals, communities, and societies. Using a mixed methods approach, a Death Literacy Index was developed from personal narratives and input from practitioners and experts. Refined on a sample of 1330 Australians using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling, a 29-item Death Literacy Index was found to be reliable and demonstrated construct validity. Further studies are needed to test predictive validity
Burdening the Implied Freedom of Political Communication: Method, Ideas, and Disagreement
No full textThis article explores what is driving the many divided decisions reached over recent years by the High Court in implied freedom of political communication cases. Key to that divergence is the remarkable range of approaches taken to the assessment of not only the extent of a particular statutory burden on constitutionally protected political speech but also concerning what types of legislative restriction constitute any such burden in the first place. This article argues that competing ideas on the High Court Bench about the core function of the doctrine are producing starkly different interpretive approaches and outcomes in implied freedom challenges. Further, having first located the doctrine's roots within a framework of Australian constitutional 'legalism' that reflects the primacy of political checks on government power, this article endorses an interpretive model that takes a maximalist view of the impact and importance of strands of political speech on electoral choice
Introduction
No full textThis introductory chapter introduces the themes of the volume Cartoon Conflicts: Contemporary Controversies and Historical Precedents and places them in the broader context of contemporary debates over freedom of speech and respectful communication practice. It advances the simple case for cartoons’ importance, especially as historical sources providing a window into the past. Cartoons shape and reflect national(ist) and other identities; as such they often become focal points for debates on democracy, censorship, offense, and legislation; and technological changes have not only transformed the methods of cartoon production but also influenced the distribution and consumption of cartoons, leading to shifts in the cartoon’s form and function over time. As expressions of opinion, commentary on events as they happen, cartoons will inevitably take sides and cause offense to one or other “side” in a debate. That in the twenty-first century this offense is more often associated with the manner in which targets of caricature are depicted, rather than the political or ideological message being advanced, says much about the “identity” politics of the 2000s, 2010s, and 2020s. But does this new need to be fair and careful, eschew the tried-and-true method of stereotype, and take steps to avoid causing offense (however this is constructed) undermine the very purpose and effectiveness of cartooning? Is this the “end of history” for the cartoon as a striking weapon of political discourse
King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard quit Spotify in protest, only for an AI doppelgänger to step in
No full textImagine this: a band removes its entire music catalogue off Spotify in protest, only to discover an AI-generated impersonator has replaced it. The impersonator offers songs that sound much like the band's originals. The imposter tops Spotify search results for the band's music – attracting significant streams – and goes undetected for months. As incredible as it sounds, this is what has happened to Australian prog-rock band King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizar
Digital Publishing of Poetry and its Detractors
No full textDigital publishing has stimulated responses of both denigration and delight. Digital publishing of poetry acutely encounters these conflicting responses, perhaps because of poetry’s cultural position as an elite artform. Poetry published online is criticized by those such as Rebecca Watts, who argues, “If we are to foster the kind of intelligent critical culture required to combat the effects of populism in politics, we must stop celebrating amateurism and ignorance in our poetry” (2018, 17). Similarly, Andrew Lloyd faked an Instagram account titled @RavenStaresPoetry to test how popular he could become writing unexceptional poetry on Instagram. He explains, “I had amassed 646 followers in just four weeks [. . .] Not bad for zero talent, hollow words and surface-level sentiments” (2019, n.p.). These detractors hint at underlying tensions in ideas of poetry’s value, digital culture communities, and the contemporary publishing industry. Researchers and critics have grappled with the breakdown of artistic elitism through digital media platforms (see Bolter 2019). While it is clear that much poetry published online is not of finest literary standard, digital mediums have filled a gap in the publishing industry. Unlike print poetry published by established, reputable companies, digital publishing largely bypasses gatekeepers and is freely available to readers via targeted websites and social media. Disparagements of digitally published poetry resemble much of the criticism of self-publishing by print culture stalwarts. This article discusses the arguments against digital publication of poetry within the wider context of a changing publishing landscape
Resilience and adaptive cycles in water-dependent ecosystems: Can panarchy explain trajectories of change among floodplain trees?
No full textRiverine floodplains are complex dynamic environments with pronounced spatial heterogeneity. They are ideal landscapes to test components of resilience thinking. These adaptive ecosystems are disturbed, naturally, through periodic hydrological connections that respond via complex and variable trajectories. The concept of adaptive cycles (panarchy) portray the dynamic response of ecosystems as a cyclic process with four phases: exploitation, conservation, release and reorganisation. We test this concept as an appropriate framework to extend our understanding of dynamic changes in floodplain vegetation in response to flooding history. We use a remotely sensed >30-year NDVI time series for Eucalyptus camaldulensis and E. largiflorens and relate it to flooding frequency within two large floodplain complexes within the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia. Multiple thresholds were identified in all NDVI data sets; the timing of each period between thresholds varies among flooding classes. This reflects a complex response and substantial changes in the duration of floodplain vegetation within each phase of the adaptive cycle. Thus, the character of the adaptive cycle for floodplain vegetation NDVI differs in time and space. This change in the adaptive cycle is suggested as an indicator of a potential flip to another less productive regime state.30-year NDVI time series for Eucalyptus camaldulensis and E. largiflorens and relate it to flooding frequency within two large floodplain complexes within the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia. Multiple thresholds were identified in all NDVI data sets; the timing of each period between thresholds varies among flooding classes. This reflects a complex response and substantial changes in the duration of floodplain vegetation within each phase of the adaptive cycle. Thus, the character of the adaptive cycle for floodplain vegetation NDVI differs in time and space. This change in the adaptive cycle is suggested as an indicator of a potential flip to another less productive regime state
Estimated frequencies of myostatin mutations (double muscling) in Australian tropically adapted beef breeds
No full textMyostatin mutations have been identified in many beef breeds and have been associated with increased carcase yields, reduced fat, increased calving difficulty, delayed puberty and reduced female fertility. This study aimed to estimate the allele frequencies of myostatin mutations in Australian tropically adapted beef breeds. Nine myostatin variants (viz. C313Y, D182N, E226X, E291X, F94L, NT419, NT821, Q204X and S105C) were assessed in Brahman (n=2,554), Droughtmaster (n=2,188), and Santa Gertrudis (n=904) cattle that were part of the Repronomics research project. Results showed the myostatin variants NT821 and F94L were segregating in the Droughtmaster and Santa Gertrudis breeds but not in the Brahman. In total, 17.4% and 26% of Droughtmaster and Santa Gertrudis animals carried at least one copy of a myostatin allele for either variant. The frequency of the NT821 allele was 0.08 and 0.12, and the F94L allele was 0.01 and 0.02, respectively, for Droughtmaster and Santa Gertrudis animals. Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium was observed for both NT821 and F94L in both breeds. However, there were fewer than expected two copy NT821 animals for both breeds. With no variants detected in Brahman, the myostatin variants likely originated from the Bos Taurus influence of the Droughtmaster and Santa Gertrudis breeds. The allele frequencies of NT821 in the Droughtmaster and Santa Gertrudis breeds, along with the literature reports of increased calving difficulties associated with NT821, indicate that breeders should monitor and manage the presence of the NT821 myostatin variant. Further research should be undertaken to quantify the size of the effect that having one and two copies of the mutation has across all economically important traits
Horse-Human Experience Through Memoir Writing: A Phenomenological Approach to Understanding Ethical Considerations with Working, Equestrian, and Horseracing Contexts, Focusing on Equine Agency, Interspecies Intersubjectivity, and “Invisible Worker Identity”
No full textThis practice-led research thesis consists of a memoir about my lifetime experiences of working with horses and an exegesis espousing an underlying phenomenological ontology. In this thesis I aim to problematise utilitarian instrumental valuing of horses, with its underlying positivist-Cartesian ontology, in relation to equine welfare—due to its relationship with ‘learned helplessness’— and worker occlusion within the horseracing industries of Australia and New Zealand. In the creative work, Something Else, vignettes detailing lived experience are combined with theoretical inclusions, hybridising the memoir form to provide myriad external perspectives of ethical considerations pertinent to horse-human relationships within working, equestrian, and racing contexts. More particularly, the memoir, through its inherent requirement for subjectivity, both reflects and supports situated and tacit knowledges further explored in its exegetical counterpart. Methodologically, I draw on practice-led research and the intersectionality of feminist theory and animal studies to facilitate a contestation of the horseracing industry’s backstage hierarchal structure, which marginalises horses and humans as commodities. Life phenomenology informs both the memoir and exegesis to support a more nuanced understanding of interspecies intersubjectivity and equine agency
Towards a modular theory of trophic interactions
No full text1. Species traits and environmental conditions determine the occurrence and strength of trophic interactions. If we understand the relationship between these factors and trophic interactions, we can make more accurate predictions and build better trophic-interaction models.2. We can compare traits and conditions by considering their effect on different parts (steps) of a trophic interaction, such as the steps search and pursuit. By linking traits to relevant steps, we can use these relationships to build trophic-interaction models. Currently, this is done ad hoc, defining steps based on the species and traits of interest. This makes it difficult to compare across traits and species and gain an overarching understanding of how traits and the environment drive trophic interactions.3. We present a comprehensive approach for the explicit choice of interaction steps and species traits or environmental conditions, which is readily integrated into existing models. The core of this framework is that it is modular; we present eight steps that occur in all trophic interactions and use them to build a modular, general dynamic model. When applying the framework, one explicitly selects only the most relevant steps and uses those to build a specific model.4. To build our modular framework, we revisit and expand the functional and numerical response functions, dividing the trophic interaction into eight steps: (1) search, (2) prey detection, (3) attack decision, (4) pursuit, (5) subjugation, (6) ingestion, (7) digestion and (8) nutrient allocation. Together these steps form a general dynamical model where trophic interactions can be explicitly parameterized for multiple traits and environmental factors. We then concretize this approach by outlining how a specific community can be modelled by selecting key modules (steps) and parameterizing them for relevant factors. This we exemplify for a community of terrestrial arthropods using empirical data on body size and temperature responses.5. With species interactions at the core of community dynamics, our modular approach allows for quantification and comparisons of the importance of different steps, traits, and abiotic factors across ecosystems and trophic-interaction types, and provides a powerful tool for trait-based prediction of food-web structure and dynamics
Longitudinal Relationship Between Hearing Aid Use and Cognitive Function in Older Americans
No full textOBJECTIVES: To test whether hearing aid use alters cognitive trajectories in older adults. DESIGN: US population-based longitudinal cohort study SETTING: Data were drawn from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), which measured cognitive performance repeatedly every 2 years over 18 years (1996–2014). PARTICIPANTS: Adults aged 50 and older who who took part in a minimum of 3 waves of the HRS and used hearing aids for the first time between Waves 4 and 11 (N52,040). MEASUREMENTS: Cognitive outcomes were based on episodic memory scores determined according to the sum of immediate and delayed recall of 10 words. RESULTS: Hearing aid use was positively associated with episodic memory scores (β=1.53, pβ=–0.02, pβ=–0.1, p CONCLUSIONS: Hearing aids may have a mitigating effect on trajectories of cognitive decline in later life. Providing hearing aids or other rehabilitative services for hearing impairment much earlier in the course of hearing impairment may stem the worldwide rise of dementia