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Disinformation and the tyranny of officialdom
Get PDFIn a recent article, I argued there is a historical rule that the Coalition wins government when it scores more than 41 per cent of the primary vote and scores more primary votes than Labor plus the Greens. For conservative voters intent on electing the Coalition, I therefore opined that they should not rely on their preference votes to oust the current Labor government. Some disagreed with my analysis, expressing their views on X (formerly Twitter). This is entirely their right in a liberal democracy, but to disagree with my opinion does not mean that what I wrote amounts to ‘disinformation’
Are there sensitive periods for physical activity to influence the development of executive function in children?
Get PDFExecutive functions emerge throughout childhood and shape multiple cognitive and behavioral outcomes across the lifespan. Given the importance of these functions, there is considerable interest in understanding the role of environmental enrichment to support their development. The past 20 years have seen the emergence of a body of evidence around the beneficial effects of engaging in physical activity for executive functioning in children. Despite this, there are still unanswered questions, particularly about the confounding effects of the timing and dose of exercise-based interventions. During development, sensitive periods with heightened neural plasticity and sensitivity to environmental influences can offer an optimal time to introduce enrichment interventions. As such, sensitive periods for executive function could indicate an ideal time to introduce physical activity or be a potential confounder to study results if not considered. This narrative review discusses the potential presence of sensitive periods in preadolescent development where physical activity has greater benefits for executive function. Initially, we briefly review the largely parallel fields investigating the presence of sensitive periods for executive function and the effects of physical activity on executive function outcomes. We then bring together these 2 concepts to discuss the theoretical basis for developmentally sensitive periods during which children may be particularly amenable to physical activity-based interventions and offer potential ways forward to investigate this phenomenon. We hope this review will attract researchers to collaborate in the area and extend our current understanding of the development of executive functions as well as interventions like physical activity.</p
SSRI use is not associated with the intensity of romantic love, obsessive thinking about a loved one, commitment, or sexual frequency in a sample of young adults experiencing romantic love
No full textFor >15 years, researchers have speculated that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) use is associated with negative romantic love outcomes. No one has empirically investigated this, however. Drawing on 810 participants from the Romantic Love Survey 2022, we used binary logistic regression to identify differences between young adults experiencing romantic love who were and were not taking SSRIs. Predictor variables were biological sex, mental health problems, intensity of romantic love, obsessive thinking about a loved one, commitment, and frequency of sex. Only biological sex and mental health problems were associated with SSRI use. None of our romantic love variables were associated with SSRI use. This is the first evidence to demonstrate that SSRI use is not associated with some features of romantic love in a sample of young adults experiencing romantic love. The findings have implications for clinical practice and can be used to allay some concerns among individuals considering commencing SSRIs for common mental health problems.</p
A two-stage architecture for identifying and locating the source of pain using novel multi-domain binary patterns of EDA
No full textPain, an extremely unpleasant sensory experience, lacks an objective diagnostic test for accurate measurement. When individuals are unable to communicate, identifying and locating pain becomes crucial for improving treatment outcomes. Despite numerous studies on pain identification, a reliable consensus has yet to be reached. This study, utilising the AI4Pain dataset, aims to establish a strong correlation between Electrodermal Activity (EDA) signal features and the presence of acute pain, as well as clarify the relationship between classified signals and the pain's location. To this end, EDA signals were recorded from 61 subjects while inducing electrical pain in either of two anatomical locations (hand and forearm) for each subject. The EDA data underwent preprocessing to eliminate irrelevant information using a Butterworth IIR bandpass filter and a median filter. A novel feature descriptor called Multi-Domain Binary Patterns (MDBP) was proposed for this research. These MDBPs were combined with time domain features, and a reduced feature vector was obtained using Minimum Redundancy Maximum Relevance (MRMR). The resulting vector then formed the input of ensemble classification algorithms. The proposed method consists of two stages: The first stage focuses on pain detection, while the second stage focuses on pain localisation. Using leave-one-subject-out cross-validation, the proposed method achieved an accuracy of 77.9% in pain detection (Stage I), while the pain localisation experiment (Stage II) resulted in an accuracy of 69.67%. The efficacy of the proposed method was also validated through the publicly available BioVid database.</p
Providing social support in technology-based service encounters: Activating intrinsic motivations to create better outcomes
No full textThis study explores how customers’ attitudes and preferences influence their interactions with virtual agents and human support across varying task complexities. Customers with a Positive Attitude towards Technology (PAT) demonstrate a clear preference for virtual agents that prioritize efficiency and minimal intrusion, aligning with their technological affinity and expectations for streamlined service. Conversely, individuals with a high Need for Human Interaction (NHI) derive significant benefits from social support, particularly in the context of simple tasks. Interestingly, for such straightforward interactions, the source of support—whether human or virtual—is less critical to satisfaction, provided the interaction meets the social needs of the customer. However, the dynamic shifts when tasks become more complex. In these scenarios, human support becomes indispensable for NHI customers, as virtual agents frequently fall short of delivering the interactional depth and nuanced understanding required for more challenging service exchanges. These findings highlight the importance of tailoring support systems to the affective and interactional preferences of customers. Businesses and designers of support systems should consider these distinctions when implementing virtual agent solutions, ensuring that such systems can accommodate the diverse needs of their users. By doing so, organizations can enhance user satisfaction, optimize support effectiveness, and foster stronger relationships with their customers. This research contributes to the broader understanding of human-technology interaction, offering practical insights for improving customer support strategies in an increasingly digital world
Towards evidence-based breast protective equipment in contact, combat and pseudo-contact sport
No full textAuction on stupidity:The Uniparty vows to double down on Medicare spending spree
Get PDFIn a bid to ensure Labor remains in power at the next election, the Coalition has doubled down on Labor’s Medicare spending spree. The Uniparty is in full swing and nobody can tell the difference between the major parties. While the Greens will help Labor get over the line, the plethora of conservative parties that are reacting to the Coalition’s apparent willingness to join the Uniparty is undoing Menzies’ legacy before our eyes. The recent non-debate over Medicare reform is a case in point
The impacts of alien species on river bioassessment
Get PDFThe extent of alien taxa impacts on river ecosystem health is unclear, but their frequency continues to rise. We investigated 1) the prevalence of including alien taxa in common bioindicators used in river bioassessment, 2) the effect of alien taxa on the richness and abundance of natives, and 3) whether including alien taxa in bioassessment tools increased their sensitivity to river degradation. In the 17 countries analyzed fish represented the greatest number of alien species (1726), followed by macrophytes (925), macroinvertebrates (556), and diatoms (7). Yet, alien species are only distinguished from natives in some fish and macrophyte indices. In addition, the analyses of 8 databases with fish, macroinvertebrate, or macrophyte data showed that abundance of alien taxa was associated with different stressors and pressures resulting in river degradation, and had a significant effect on native community composition. When alien species were accounted for, there was a strong negative correlation between the values of a fish index with alien richness and abundance while when alien taxa was not or only partially considered the results varied. Thus, we recommend: 1) Include specific metrics for alien species in biological quality indices. 2) Increase the investigation of alien taxa of small organisms (e.g. diatoms, small benthic invertebrates). 3) Eliminate sites with confirmed biological invasions for use as reference sites. 4) Remove alien from calculations of total richness and diversity. 5) Identify to the species level in biomonitoring programs. 6) Avoid legislation and management that protect alien species. 7) Encourage behaviors that prevent alien invasions of aquatic biota.</p
Dispossession cycles and resistance: Historical continuums in the deportation of First Nations peoples
Get PDFThis article surveys the historical and contemporary context of Indigenous peoples’ entanglement in systems of criminal justice and migration control. Government attempts to remove First Nations peoples from Australia under visa cancellation provisions present a striking contemporary development in border control. Despite the High Court of Australia’s ruling that ‘Aboriginal Australians’ cannot be ‘aliens’ and therefore subject to visa cancellation provisions, Indigenous peoples continue to be targeted for exclusion and subject to the gaze of border control authorities. We use documentary research and draw on two case studies to explore the historical use of deportation to target First Nations peoples. We identify previous attempts to achieve law reform to rectify past injustices and prevent Indigenous peoples from being caught up in migration laws aimed at excluding non-citizens. We review the extensive literature on Love v Commonwealthand analyse the expanded visa cancellation provisions that have resulted in increased numbers of people being targeted for removal, and removed, from Australia. When analysed against the long shadow of colonisation, we argue that these applications of criminal and migration law represent a continuation of attempted exclusion and dispossession that has been, and continues to be, actively resisted by Indigenous peoples. In analysing the cyclical nature of dispossession and its resistance, the complex interaction of criminal and migration law can be seen to have created novel impacts for First Nations peoples in Australia