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Tactile disgust
No full textEmpirical thesis.Bibliography: pages 63-79.1. Introduction -- 2. Method -- 3. Data analysis approach -- 4. Results -- 5. Discussion -- References -- Appendices.Tactile objects are reported to be important elicitors of disgust. However, only two studies have assessed what makes objects disgusting to touch. The first found that softness and wetness were disgust eliciting, and the second that oily and sticky textures could also elicit disgust (Oum et al., 2011; Skolnick, 2013). As these studies manipulated only a few tactile qualities, the ability of other qualities to elicit disgust remains untested. Further, it is unclear if one’s belief about what the object is (and the disease-risk it poses) influences disgust. Thus, two questions remain unanswered about tactile disgust. First, what is the full range of tactile qualities which elicit disgust, and second, is tactile disgust influenced by belief of what the elicitor is, and the disease risk it poses? To answer these questions, 120 participants aged 17 to 42 were asked to feel a range of objects, which represented the major tactile qualities (i.e., sticky, hard, soft, oily, lumpy, viscous, wet, grainy, cold, warm), and rate how the objects felt (i.e., how sticky, hard, etc., it was), how the objects made them feel (i.e., disgust, fear and other emotions), and their disease risk belief (primarily how sick they thought the objects would make them). There were four groups, one could see the objects and the other three could not. To assess if participants’ belief about what they were touching influenced disgust, labelling was used on participants who could not see the objects. Objects were either disgust labelled, truly labelled or not labelled and participants reported what they thought they were touching. The results show sticky and wet textures are highly disgust eliciting, and viscosity, cold and lumpy also elicit disgust (but to a lesser extent). This suggests the adherence-quality of objects predicts disgust. Further, labelling had a significant impact, with the Disgust-Label group having the highest disgust and fear ratings, and belief the objects would make them sick. Fear and sickness belief were powerful predictors of tactile disgust and explained the increased disgust in the Disgust-Label group. The results argue for a comprehensive model oftactile disgust, which takes into account sensory-level features and disease-risk beliefs.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (vii, 83 pages) graphs, table
China-Pakistan economic corridor: strategic implications for Pakistan
No full textTheoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 56-75.Chapter 1. Introduction -- Chapter 2. CPEC : objectives, projects and regional context -- Chapter 3. China and CPEC -- Chapter 4. Pakistan and CPEC -- Chapter 5. CPEC : an analysis -- Conclusion and recommendations -- Reference list.China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a conglomeration of infrastructural development and energy projects, is aimed at connecting China’s landlocked autonomous region of Xinjiang with Pakistan’s Gwadar Port in the Indian Ocean. The projects aim to transform Pakistan’s economy through a network of highways, railways and pipelines. Although, both Pakistan and China view CPEC purely through economic lens, it also has regional strategic implications. This view has complicated the policy and scholarly discourse on the mega project, which on the one hand stands to transform Pakistan’s economy and infrastructure, and on the other hand generates apprehensions about efficacy of the CPEC and relations with regional countries.Against this backdrop, this thesis provides a brief background of Pakistan-US relations, a comprehensive analysis of the CPEC project, China policy to connect with energy rich regions by building an economic corridor with Pakistan, and Pakistan’s economic and strategic orientation in the evolving regional dynamics.Using Structural Realist lens, the study highlights that although the CPEC project is in its inception stage but there are several positive landmarks that include successful execution of several infrastructure and power projects. However, the project also faces several challenges both at the domestic as well as at the regional level. However, given the predicament in which Pakistan was placed, CPEC has enhanced its economy as well as strategic position.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (vi, 75 pages
At the frontier: gender diverse professionals in corporate workplaces and LGBT+ support mechanisms in Sydney, Australia
No full textTheoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 95-101.Chapter 1. Introduction -- Chapter 2. Literature review -- Chapter 3. Research methods -- Chapter 4. Analysis and findings, interviews with gender diverse skilled professionals -- Chapter 5. Analysis and findings, interviews with representatives of LGBT+ workplace support mechanisms -- Chapter 6. Conclusion -- Appendices -- References.With focus on highly skilled professionals, this thesis seeks to contribute to the growing literature on the experiences of gender diverse employees, who collectively face some of the most severe forms of workplace discrimination. Using semi-structured interviews, this research examines the lived experiences of individual employees, as well as the role lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT+) workplace support mechanisms play in their advocacy and representation. Additionally, this thesis extends on previous research in the area by exploring how workplace experiences may overlap or diverge between the transgender and gender non-binary employees interviewed.My analysis reveals the centrality of the workplace to the on-going process of identity formation, a site where employees’ gender and professional identities were connected and moulded simultaneously. The employees interviewed navigated the challenges of having a stigmatised gender identity creatively and resiliently, but in isolation from LGBT+ support mechanisms. Interviews with representatives from an LGBT+ intrafirm employee network and a non-profit LGBT+ workplace inclusion program showed they were eager to advocate for gender diverse employees. However, the homonormative and cisnormative nature underpinning past LGBT+ workplace activism and the leadership structures meant they lacked the know-how. Moreover, these mechanisms more readily reached professionals at large and well-resourced corporations, indicating unequal distribution of support. I argue that gender diverse employees are at the frontier of not only workplace diversity and inclusion reform, but also of the evolving LGBT+ rights movement as it grapples with its corporatisation, and intersectional inequalities within.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (v, 101 pages
“The people will kill, destroy, and if possible, exterminate every black in the island”: a case study of massacre inTasmania’s Black War, 1826-1828
No full textTheoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 80-89.Introduction -- Chapter One. The governmentality of violence -- Chapter Two. Violence of the everyday : settler discourses -- Chapter Three. Violence is everywhere : massacre in the Settled Districts -- Conclusion -- Appendix -- Bibliography.Violence has long been an explanatory framework for the Tasmanian Black War. Over the last decade the focus has been violence over the long duree or violence in relation to the question of genocide. However, more recently Lyndall Ryan has begun to map the relationship between massacres and the population decline of Tasmanian Aborigines. Using French historical sociologist, Jacques Semelin’s typology of massacre, Ryan’s seminal case study of the Meander River region in 2008 found that the second phase of the war experienced the highest number of massacres and Aboriginal deaths. She drew the important conclusion that Governor Arthur established an infrastructure whereby settler massacres could be carried out and called for more work to be done on this phase of the war. While Ryan emphasises official discourses as an important component of this infrastructure there is room for further investigation.Utilising Semelin’s theorisation of massacre for the period 1826-1828, this thesis traces the development of official and unofficial discourses of violence to demonstrate why there was a turn to massacre within the settler population of Van Diemen’s Land. Encompassing both the legal and social dynamics of the settler colony, the study seeks to map out the pathways that enabled military personnel, police magistrates and stock-keepers to take part in the indiscriminate killing of Aborigines. Finally, I will apply Semelin’s five-point typology to examine two instances of settler massacres on the Oyster Bay tribe. Situated within a distinct geographical and social context, I will investigate the motivations and methods of these violent episodes to further our understanding of massacre in its Vandemonian context.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (ii, 89 pages) map
Conceptualisation difficulties in stroke-induced and primary progressive aphasia
No full textThesis by publication."The work presented in this thesis was carried out as part of the Erasmus Mundus joint International Doctorate for Experimental Approaches to Language and Brain (IDEALAB), Macquarie University (Australia), Newcastle University (United Kingdom), Rijksuniversiteit Groningen (the Netherlands), Università degli studi di Trento (Italy), Universität Potsdam (Germany)" -- page v of thesis.Includes bibliographical references.Chapter 1. General introduction -- Chapter 2. The cat in the tree : using picture descriptions to inform our understanding of conceptualisation in aphasia -- Chapter 3. "I wonder why it's leaking" : what cookie theft pivture descriptions tell us about conceptualisation processes in primary progressive aphasia -- Chapter 4. The influence of impaired word availability on the macrostructural organisation of speakers with and without language impairments -- Chapter 5. Seeing beyond language : what eye movements can tell us about language conceptualisation and production -- Chapter 6. General discussion -- Appendices.In order to speak we have to transform our thinking into a form that can be verbally expressed– so called conceptualisation. Conceptualisation processes, including the selection and ordering of important information, perspective taking and topic maintenance, can be particularly difficult for individuals with acquired language impairments.This thesis aimed to identify symptoms of conceptualisation deficits in people with neurological language impairments (stroke aphasia, Primary Progressive Aphasia [PPA]) using a speech production task that is commonly used in clinical assessment (i.e., picture description)This research applied a modification of an established connected speech analysis -concept analysis - to investigate the number, quality and order of the information produced in picture description.The results showed that some individuals with stroke-aphasia (Chapter 2) and PPA (Chapter 3) omitted essential information and/or showed difficulties producing it in an appropriate temporal order. These impairments were hypothesised to be associated with either linguistic or cognitive impairments (e.g., working memory, attention).Chapter 4 investigated how far discourse macrostructure was influenced by impaired word availability. The ‘Taboo paradigm’ was used to induce lexical access difficulties in unimpaired speakers and their performance compared to speakers with aphasia. The results suggested that impaired word availability can account for a reduced amount of essential information. However, omissions of the most central concepts and temporal order violations, observed in some speakers with aphasia, cannot be explained by linguistic impairment alone.Chapter 5 reports a pilot investigation of the eye movements made during complex picture description. This pioneering study revealed clearly different gaze patterns (e.g., timing of fixations to critical areas) between a man with aphasia and unimpaired controls. This motivates the use of eye tracking for further research on conceptualisation difficulties.In summary, the results of this thesis provide evidence for the possible symptoms of conceptualisation difficulties in individuals with stroke-induced and primary progressive aphasia and have clinical application for enhancing the effectiveness of aphasia diagnosis and treatment.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (xii, 241 pages) illustration
Effect of short-term suboptimal temperature storage to assist large-scale production of two dipterans: Exorista larvarum (L.) and Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt)
No full textTheoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 162-164.1. Introduction -- 2. Effects of storage at suboptimal temperatures on the in vitro-reared parasitoid Exorista larvarum (Diptera: Tachinidae) -- 3. Storage at suboptimal temperature of Exorista larvarum (Diptera: Tachinidae) puparia for mass rearing programs -- 4. Effects of storage at suboptimal temperatures of Queensland fruit fly eggs -- 5. Suboptimal temperature storage of Queensland fruit fly pupae for mass rearing programs -- 6. General conclusions.Efficient rearing techniques providing high-quality insects are essential for pest control strategies entailing mass rearing and release in field, such as augmentative biological control and Sterile Insect Technique (SIT). Storage at suboptimal temperatures is a valuable procedure for prolonging the developmental time of insects and thus increasing the efficiency of insect rearing. The advantages that this procedure offers include a more flexible rearing schedule, the possibility to overcome periods of low production and the synchronization of field releases during pest outbreaks. Methods for storage of two model fly species, Exorista larvarum (L.) (Diptera: Tachinidae) and Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt) (Diptera: Tephritidae), were studied in the present thesis by investigating the best conditions for an efficient storage and the consequences for fly quality. Native to the Palearctic region, E. larvarum is a parasitoid introduced, and now established, in the USA as a biological control agent of Lymantria dispar (L.). The possibility to store the tachinid eggs at suboptimal temperatures once placed on artificial medium was first evaluated. Results showed that storage of the tachinid fly is possible to create a useful reserve of immatures, but the quality of the resulting females can be compromised. In addition, a study was performed with the aim of creating a useful stockpile of E. larvarum 1-day old puparia for use in small- or large-scale rearing programs. Pupal stage was efficiently prolonged by the storage treatments but female flies displayed a fitness reduction in some cases. Bactrocera tryoni (Queensland fruit fly, Q-fly) is an endemic phytophagous species that represents a serious biosecurity challenge for Australia, attacking many commercial fruit and vegetable crops. The possibility to create a useful reserve of Q-fly eggs by placing them on a gel-based diet and by storing them at different suboptimal temperatures was investigated. The preimaginal development was efficiently prolonged, but detrimental effects on biological parameters were observed. The following study evaluated the effects of suboptimal temperature storage on 1-day old Q-fly pupae for use in SIT programs. Survival and quality of the resulting adults were assessed and negative effects, of various intensity, were shown on standard and non-standard quality control parameters.1 online resource (v, 164 pages
Man made: nationalism, military service & masculinity in Istanbul & Tel Aviv
No full textTheoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 204-221.Prologue -- Episode 1. The three sabras -- Episode 2. The reluctant sons -- Episode 3. The soldier & the Swede -- Episode 4. The pink certificate -- Epilogue & concluding remarks -- Bibliography.Through the methodology of ethnographic film production, this thesis studies the relationship between nationalism, conscription and masculinity in the lives of young men in Istanbul and Tel Aviv.As the creative component of this written dissertation, the film Man Made examines the symbols, culture and institutions of Turkish and Israeli nationalism, specifically focussing on the practise of mandatory military service. The film also analyses how conscription shapes masculine cultural expectations in both states, and how this phenomenon impacts the lives of a handful of young men. By means of filmed biographical ethnography, Man Made explores the vexed relationship between national identity, manhood and conscription in the lives of select male participants in two contrasting cities.The qualitative research in Man Made suggests that in both field sites the relationship between the participants and their military service is cultivated by institutionalised state nationalism, which is detectable in the lives of the participants from their early childhood. In both nations, a consequence of this relationship is a homogeneous cultural mode of masculinity, which is enmeshed with the militarisation of society. This militarized masculinity positions conscription as a personal milestone for men, one of many ethno-nationalist attributes and gendered rites of passage that must be attained if they wish to experience full citizenship rights in their respective nation states.This written dissertation is a companion to the film, further exploring the themes and historical context of military service in Turkey and Israel, the methodological and technical production of the film itself, as well as the ethnographic research conducted in the creation of Man Made.This thesis is atypically structured, eschewing numbered chapters for a scene-by-scene deconstruction of the film. Mirroring the film's serialized structure, four episodes substitute for traditional chapters. Each episode comprises a written response, framed around events that occur within the specific vignette's duration. Alongside conventional footnotes, in text time-coded references guide the reader to specific moments in the film, which are then analysed.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (221, 2 pages) colour illustrations, colour portraits, 1 colour ma
Electronic cigarettes in the perioperative period of cardiothoracic surgery: views of Australian clinicians and patients
No full textThesis by publication.Bibliography: pages 102-124.Chapter 1. Introduction -- Chapter 2. Study I: Smoking cessation care in cardiothoracic surgery : a qualitative study exploring the views of Australian clinicians -- Chapter 3. Study II: Electronic cigarettes and smoking cessation in the perioperative period of cardiothoracic surgery : views of Australian clinicians -- Chapter 4. Study III: Use of electronic cigarettes in the perioperative period : a mixed method study exploring perceptions of cardiothoracic patients in Australia -- Chapter 5. Discussion and conclusion -- References -- Appendices.Smoking cessation has health benefits, particularly before surgery. Diagnosis, hospitalisation and surgery for tobacco-related illnesses such as coronary artery disease or lung cancer are 'teachable moments' in health promotion, an opportunity to promote smoking cessation among patients. However, many smokers find it difficult to quit. Electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), commonly referred to as electronic cigarettes or e-cigarettes, may reduce harm in the perioperative period and offer an alternative method of tobacco reduction or cessation in the short and longer term for patients undergoing surgery. However, they are controversial, due to the unknown health effects of long-term use, their efficacy as a cessation aid, and views that electronic cigarettes will either renormalise smoking or be a gateway to tobacco use in younger people. Compared to other developed countries, such as Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, Australia has taken a more precautionary approach to the regulation of electronic cigarettes, thus there is limited research in clinical settings.The thesis examines the awareness and opinions of cardiothoracic clinicians about current clinical smoking cessation guidelines and the impact of smoking and of cessation in the perioperative period. It also examines their views on electronic cigarettes, and the potential role to reduce postoperative complications caused by tobacco smoking and create a sustained quit attempt. Furthermore, the thesis examines the awareness, use and beliefs about electronic cigarettes of patients diagnosed with coronary artery disease or lung cancer awaiting cardiothoracic surgery and the potential role of electronic cigarettes as a smoking cessation aid in the perioperative period.The thesis contains three studies based on empirical research in six hospitals in Sydney, New South Wales, consisting of surveys and interviews with 62 patients awaiting cardiothoracic surgery, and indepth interviews with 52 cardiothoracic clinicians - surgeons, anaesthetists, nurses and physiotherapists. Study I explores the knowledge and reported delivery of Australian clinical guidelines for smoking cessation care in the perioperative period of surgery by cardiothoracic clinicians. It reveals inconsistent implementation of clinical guidelines due to the diversity of clinicians' views in delivering smoking cessation, and institutional inadequacies in cessation training, resources and engagement, as categorised using the Behaviour Change Wheel "Capabilities, Opportunity, Motivation and Behaviour" (COM-B) analysis framework.Two studies explore the opinions of cardiothoracic clinicians and patients towards electronic cigarettes as a potential alternative to tobacco use in the perioperative period. Study II demonstrates a lack of clinician knowledge about electronic cigarettes yet reveals an overall view that, compared to continued tobacco smoking in the perioperative period, electronic cigarette use is regarded as the "lesser of two evils", and a potential bridge to quit for patients who are unable to stop smoking before cardiothoracic surgery. Similar views are expressed by patients awaiting cardiothoracic surgery who smoke or had recently ceased (Study III), particularly those who have previously been unsuccessful with other cessation attempts or are struggling with urges to smoke.The studies reveal the views and needs of patients awaiting surgery who continue to smoke, and are using, or are interested in using, electronic cigarettes to reduce or quit smoking. Both clinicians and patients alike have a similar pragmatic view that, compared to ongoing smoking, electronic cigarette use could reduce tobacco harm around the time of surgery when other smoking cessation methods have been unsuccessful. The studies also highlight the actions needed by local health authorities, hospitals and clinicians to provide more consistent evidence-based smoking cessation care for patients awaiting cardiothoracic surgery. Importantly, findings from this thesis support a review of current Australian perioperative clinical smoking cessation guidelines to encourage clinicians to provide consistent, tangible cessation support, and be prepared to have an informed discussion with patients on using electronic cigarettes to stop smoking and on the benefits and risks of electronic cigarette use in the perioperative period.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (xii, 152 pages) illustrations, table
Understanding what makes a lizard invasive: the role of behaviour and cognition
No full textThesis by publication.Bibliography: pages 121-133.Introduction -- Aims of the study -- Chapter I. Is invasive potential linked to cognitive ability in a lizard? -- Chapter II. Learning from others : an invasive lizard uses social information from both conspecifics and heterospecifics -- Chapter III. Can behaviour explain invasion success? A comparison between sympatric invasive and native lizards -- Chapter IV. Getting ahead : exploitative competition by an invasive lizard -- General discussion -- Bibliography -- Appendices.The world has been changing at an unprecedented rate due to the 'progress' of human society. Globalization has changed our way of living, and it translates into severe negative effects on our ecosystems. Additionally, globalization also demands more connections and transport, creating frequent and dynamic networks worldwide, of both people and cargo. This can lead to the movement of thousands of species outside their native range, and biological invasions are now a contemporary global problem. While most invasions end in failure, some manage to successfully take hold and adapt to new locations. What determines a species' invasive success is of great interest and importance for conservation efforts. Behaviour is believed to play a key role in the success of invasive species, although the mechanisms are still unclear, especially for unintentional invasions. Members of the lizard genus Podarcis show high variability in their invasive potential and are thus a well-suited model for studying the role of behaviour during biological invasions. The Italian wall lizard, Podarcis sicula, is a globally invasive species that hitchhikes on transportation of people or cargo, and does well in novel environments. In addition to behaviour, there is mounting evidence that cognition may also be a determining factor for invasion success. The aim of my thesis is to understand the role of behaviour and cognition in determining what makes P. sicula such a good invader. I used animals from an introduced population in Lisbon (Portugal) to examine behavioural traits that might be linked to a species' invasive success.My original contribution to knowledge is uncovering the potential role of behavioural flexibility, social learning ability, behavioural traits, and competition in the invasion process. Although I focused on the invasive lizard P. sicula, my study highlights the potential role of behaviour and cognition in invasions more broadly. My thesis has thus 4 chapters written as stand-alone publications that deal with different behavioural components. I predicted that P. sicula would have greater levels of behavioural flexibility than congeneric non-invasive species - P. bocagei and P. carbonelli. The ability to reverse a previously learnt discrimination can be indicative of behavioural flexibility. I used a discrimination task and a reversal and quantified the number of errors and overall learning ability of all three species (chapter I). The invasive species had relatively less difficulty than the non-invasive species to reverse the task. Also, I found different cognitive ability between the invasive species and the two non-invasive species (P. bocagei and P. carbonelli had a more similar learning pattern between them). Chapter II dealt with the ability of P. sicula to obtain relevant social information to solve a task, from other P. sicula, or from a different species they had never encountered in nature (P. bocagei). The role of heterospecific learning in biological invasions has never been studied before. Remarkably, this invasive species learnt equally well from individuals of the same or different species. In chapter III, I used a sympatric congeneric species, P. virescens, native to the study site, to compare personality traits likely related to invasive success. I measured exploratory behaviour of lizards in a novel arena (activity and shelters visited); boldness (latency to emerge from a suboptimal shelter, after being scared into it); and neophobia (minimum distance between a lizard and a novel object placed in the arena). I found the invasive P. sicula to be more exploratory, neophilic, and bolder than the sympatric native species. Additionally, while the native species showed high repeatability in its behaviours and had all traits correlated, the invasive species was much less consistent and showed no correlation between traits. Finally, since the sympatric P. virescens has likely been displaced from gardens where P. sicula is found, interspecific competition could be an important factor governing their success as an invader. I thus assessed the mechanisms P. sicula might use to outcompete the sympatric P. virescens in this location (chapter IV). I established mixed groups of both species and scored several behaviours linked to competitive ability. Although I predicted competitive interference (e.g. the invasive species with more aggressive behaviours), I actually found evidence for competitive exploitation (e.g. the invasive species being more efficient at exploiting resources).Collectively, my thesis shows differences in cognitive skills between invasive and non-invasive Podarcis, and that the invasive P. sicula is able to socially learn from the same and different species. Also, P. sicula has behavioural traits (e.g. boldness and foraging efficiency) that can be linked to its invasive success. The results from these chapters highlight the potential importance of behaviour in biological invasions, and give insight into why this lizard species is such a successful invader, and into what impact it might have on native species. This work will hopefully contribute to a better understanding of the behavioural basis of invasions, and ultimately assist conservation efforts.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (ix, 139 pages) colour illustration
Physical performance of children and adolescents with longitudinal fibular deficiency
No full textEmpirical thesis.Bibliography: pages 106-114.Chapter One. Longitudinal fibular deficiency -- Chapter Two. Management and outcomes of individuals with longitudinal fibular deficiency -- Chapter Three. Physical performance of children and adolescents with longitudinal fibular deficiency : a cross-sectional study -- Chapter Four. Discussion -- References -- Appendices.This thesis builds on the current available literature concerning the physical performance of children and adolescents with Longitudinal Fibular Deficiency (LFD).Currently, the understanding of physical performance in LFD is predominantly limited to small studies of low methodological quality that have used non-validated or subjective-report measures. The only examples of physical performance being assessed with objective measures and compared to norms are limited to the adult population of LFD, which demonstrated adults with LFD perform at a much lower level than their unaffected peers. It is unknown if this is also true in children with LFD.Therefore, a cross-sectional study was conducted to compare the physical performance of 3 children and adolescents with LFD, to 284 unaffected peers of the same age, using validated objective measures. Children and adolescents with LFD performed significantly worse than their peers in strength, walking performance, performance on stairs, and balance. The difference between the physical performance of children and adolescents with LFD and those without was smallest in younger children and greatest in the older adolescents.These findings suggest close monitoring of children with LFD may assist in the timing of interventions to potentially improve such performance. Further research is recommended,both of a longitudinal nature to understand how the physical performance of children with LFD changes with age, in addition to research assessing the efficacy of interventions aiming to improve physical performance in these children and adolescents.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (150 pages) graphs, table