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1

Shaughnessy, Michael F., Kris Spray, Jack Moore, and Carole Siegel. "Prediction of Success in College Calculus: Personality, Scholastic Aptitude Test, and Screening Scores." Psychological Reports 77, no. 3_suppl (December 1995): 1360–62. http://dx.doi.org/10.2466/pr0.1995.77.3f.1360.

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This study explored the relationship between Scholastic Aptitude Test scores, personality scores as measured by the 16 PF, Fifth Edition, and screening test scores of 87 students to predict success in college calculus. The results are discussed and implications reviewed.
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Meeker, Frank, Daniel Fox, and Bernard E. Whitley. "Predictors of Academic Success in the Undergraduate Psychology Major." Teaching of Psychology 21, no. 4 (December 1994): 238–41. http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/s15328023top2104_9.

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Transcript data were compiled on 288 recent college graduates majoring in psychology to determine the variables that correlated best with grade point average in psychology (PSYGPA). The graduates were a highly diverse group in terms of high school academic backgrounds, grades in high school, and Scholastic Aptitude Test scores. Factor analysis of 26 predictor variables revealed three clusters of variables: high school grades/verbal, general studies, and mathematics. Multiple regression analyses revealed PSYGPA to be predicted by the grade in Introductory Psychology, general studies coursework, and mathematics factors, which together accounted for 67% of the variance. The prediction equation differed somewhat from that obtained for students at another university; consequently, prediction equations used to screen majors should be based only on students at a particular institution.
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Choi, Seongjin, Hwasoo Yeo, and Jiwon Kim. "Network-Wide Vehicle Trajectory Prediction in Urban Traffic Networks using Deep Learning." Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board 2672, no. 45 (September 7, 2018): 173–84. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0361198118794735.

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This paper proposes a deep learning approach to learning and predicting network-wide vehicle movement patterns in urban networks. Inspired by recent success in predicting sequence data using recurrent neural networks (RNN), specifically in language modeling that predicts the next words in a sentence given previous words, this research aims to apply RNN to predict the next locations in a vehicle’s trajectory, given previous locations, by viewing a vehicle trajectory as a sentence and a set of locations in a network as vocabulary in human language. To extract a finite set of “locations,” this study partitions the network into “cells,” which represent subregions, and expresses each vehicle trajectory as a sequence of cells. Using large amounts of Bluetooth vehicle trajectory data collected in Brisbane, Australia, this study trains an RNN model to predict cell sequences. It tests the model’s performance by computing the probability of correctly predicting the next [Formula: see text] consecutive cells. Compared with a base-case model that relies on a simple transition matrix, the proposed RNN model shows substantially better prediction results. Network-level aggregate measures such as total cell visit count and intercell flow are also tested, and the RNN model is observed to be capable of replicating real-world traffic patterns.
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4

Davis, GP. "Genetic parameters for tropical beef cattle in northern Australia: a review." Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 44, no. 2 (1993): 179. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/ar9930179.

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This paper reviews published estimates of genetic parameters for traits of growth, reproduction and resistance to environmental stresses for Bos indicus and Zebu derived breeds in northern Australia. Most published estimates of heritabilities for growth and reproduction traits were higher for tropically adapted breeds in northern Australia than for Bos taurus breeds in temperate Australia. Weighted mean estimates of heritabilities for the direct component of weaning weight were 39% for the Brahman breed and 30% for Zebu-derived breeds in northern Australia compared with 13% for Bos taurus breeds in temperate areas of Australia. Mean estimates for the maternal component of weaning weight were 5, 24 and 13% respectively. Mean heritabilities for yearling and 550 day weights for Zebu derived breeds in northern Australia (24 and 25%) were similar to those for Bos taurus breeds in temperate areas, though estimates for Brahmans were higher (39 and 39%). Published estimates of heritabilities of later weights (700 and 900 days), which are most relevant to northern Australian production systems, were rare but averaged between 32 and 45% for Zebu-derived breeds and Brahmans. Weighted mean heritability for female calving success was 14% and for realised bull fertility was 5%. Published estimates of heritabilities of scrota1 circumference averaged 31%, and testosterone response to GNRH stimulation was 52%. Heritabilities of resistance to various environmental stresses were all moderate with weighted means between 20 and 34%. Genetic correlations between growth, reproduction and resistance to environmental stresses are also reviewed. There appears to be predictable variation in estimates of parameters between breeds in different environments which is related to level of resistance to environmental stresses, and this is likely to affect the prediction of breeding values for cattle in northern Australia.
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Borazjani, Sara, David Kulikowski, Khalid Amrouch, and Pavel Bedrikovetsky. "Composition Changes of Hydrocarbons during Secondary Petroleum Migration (Case Study in Cooper Basin, Australia)." Geosciences 9, no. 2 (February 3, 2019): 78. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/geosciences9020078.

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The reliable mathematical modelling of secondary petroleum migration that incorporates structural geology and mature source rocks in the basin model, allows for prediction of the reservoir location, yielding the significant enhancement of the probability of exploration success. We investigate secondary petroleum migration with a significant composition difference between the source and oil pools. In our case study, the secondary migration period is significantly shorter than the time of the hydrocarbon pulse generation. Therefore, neither adsorption nor dispersion of components can explain the concentration difference between the source rock and the reservoir. For the first time, the present paper proposes deep bed filtration of hydrocarbons with component kinetics retention by the rock as a physics mechanism explaining compositional grading. Introduction of the component capture rate into mass balance transport equation facilitates matching the concentration difference for heavy hydrocarbons, and the tuned filtration coefficients vary in their common range. The obtained values of filtration coefficients monotonically increase with molecular weight and consequently affects the size of the oleic component, as predicted by the analytical model of deep bed filtration. The modelling shows a negligible effect of component dispersion on the compositional grading.
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SHAFAPOURTEHRANY, Mahyat. "Exploring the Risky Areas Due to Landslide Using Decision Tree Analysis: Case Study Tasmania, Australia." Eurasia Proceedings of Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics 18 (October 20, 2022): 86–101. http://dx.doi.org/10.55549/epstem.1192352.

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Landslide is one of the natural hazards that considers a serious threat to both humans’ lives and properties. Tasmania, Australia is one of those regions where landslides caused considerable damage to people and the State. Landslide damages can be reduced, even stopped, if proper land condition and planning assessment has been done. The main influencing parameters in landslide occurrences are topography, precipitation, and geological formation. Those parameters along with other influencing parameters have been used in landslide susceptibility mapping. In order to have a reliable analysis, a robust method of Decision Tree (DT) has been used to perform susceptibility mapping. According to the hierarchy structure of DT, geology and slope have been selected as the most influential parameters in landslide susceptibility. In order to evaluate the reliability of the outcomes, Area Under the Curve (AUC) has been utilized. Success and prediction rates were 87.64% and 84% respectively. Subsequently, risky features such as buildings, schools, hotels, etc. have been used in overlay analysis in a GIS environment with “very high” and “high” susceptibility classes. The outcome of this research can assist planning parties to secure vulnerable regions and consider those areas in their future decision-making strategies.
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7

Pazhwak, Hashimi M. "The Impact of Homeschooling on Students’ Social Skills and Psychological wellbeing: Perspective from Afghanistan." Journal of Education 5, no. 4 (October 10, 2022): 16–26. http://dx.doi.org/10.53819/81018102t4083.

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There is strong evidence that homeschooling has made noteworthy gains in absolute numbers as well as percent of the school-age population in countries as diverse as Australia, Brazil, Canada, England, Japan, Mexico, South Africa, South Korea, Scotland, and also Russia. Home education's rejuvenation after regarding a century of calm has surprised lots of teachers, sociologists, political scientists, chroniclers, and also theologians, and also has actually captured the creative imagination and also interaction of numerous countless households. One of one of the most typical and extensively approved methods to evaluate the knowing of pupils as well as the performance of their instructional environments is through scholastic achievement as measured by standardized examinations. With literary works evaluation, via scholarly write-ups, meetings, as well as a study, research reveals that homeschooling will certainly continue to get on the increase. Therefore, homeschooled youngsters often tend to rack up higher or similar contrasted to normal children attending public institutions. Kids become much more in charge of themselves, and also have control of their education. Homeschooling is an alternative to education and learning for youngsters that do not readjust well. While homeschooling allows trainees to concentrate just on what is necessary to them, it makes finding out more delightful, given that they are learning at their very own rate, as well as at the same time impacts their scholastic success in many ways. There were an approximated 4.5 to 5.0 million homeschool pupils in grades K-12 in the AFGHANISTAN throughout March of 2021 (approximately 8% to 9% of school-age children). There were about 2.5 million homeschool pupils in spring 2019 (or 3% to 4% of school-age children). The homeschool population had actually been growing at an approximated 2% to 8% per year over the past several years, yet it grew dramatically from 2019-2020 to 2020-2021. There is boosting proof on the beauty sleep needed in teen years, yet the conventional institution system often calls for pupils to keep up late finishing research and also stand up early to rush to their morning classes. Homeschool supplies some wonderful advantages when it comes to organizing: much less entering the early morning sets youngsters up for much less stress overall in their day, longer sleep ins are very important for psychological as well as physical wellness in addition to better focus and work ethic throughout the day as well as homeschooled kids can take breaks throughout the day as needed and also are much less likely to fatigue and also kind unfavorable associations with school as well as discovering. Homeschoolers are coming to be popular for college. Several institution of higher learnings have started to customize their admission practices to not only allow for, but to motivate, homeschoolers to request admission. Keywords: Homeschooling, Learners’, Academic, Achievement, Afghanistan.
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Korn, B. E., R. P. Teakle, D. M. Maughan, and P. B. Siffleet. "THE GERYON, ORTHRUS, MAENAD AND URANIA GAS FIELDS, CARNARVON BASIN, WESTERN AUSTRALIA." APPEA Journal 43, no. 1 (2003): 285. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/aj02015.

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The Geryon, Orthrus, Maenad and Urania Gas Fields are located in permit WA-267-P in approximately 1,200 m of water, and between 35 km northwest and 70 km north of the Gorgon Gas Field in the offshore Carnarvon Basin of Western Australia. Five wells were drilled in these fields between August 1999 and February 2001 as part of a six-well, three-year obligatory drilling program. The primary objectives were late Triassic sandstones of the upper Mungaroo Formation. The Geryon and Urania Fields are three-way footwall structures, while the Orthrus and Maenad Fields comprise four-way horst structures where progressively older units subcrop against the Callovian Unconformity. All objective reservoirs were amplitude associated and had strong AVO signatures, which was instrumental in the high exploration success rate and excellent exploration prediction of OGIP from seismic data.This paper will briefly discuss the description of late Triassic and early Jurassic reservoirs and the transition of the AA sand of the Mungaroo Formation from fluvial to marginal marine facies in the Greater Gorgon Area, the recent drilling results of the Triassic Prospects in WA-267-P, and the geophysical attributes of the AA sand Mungaroo Formation reservoirs.The WA-267-P Triassic Gas Fields are estimated to contain approximately 210 billion m3 (7.4 TCF) recoverable sales gas. The close proximity of these Triassic gas fields to each other, the clean gas composition and size of resource base suggests these fields are excellent candidates for a future gas development in Western Australia.
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Jenkins, Meaghan E., Michael Bedward, Owen Price, and Ross A. Bradstock. "Modelling Bushfire Fuel Hazard Using Biophysical Parameters." Forests 11, no. 9 (August 24, 2020): 925. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/f11090925.

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Environmental gradients or biophysical parameters such as climate, topography and geology drive landscape-scale vegetation structure, species distribution and productivity. These gradients have the potential to provide detailed, fine-scale spatial prediction of the accumulation of bushfire fuels and hence fire hazard by elucidating patterns in field information in a consistent and repeatable way. Rapid visual assessment of bushfire fuel hazard via ratings provides fire and land management agencies with a measure of the probability of first attack success and general suppression difficulty of bushfires at a location. This study used generalised additive modelling to examine how measures of fuel hazard, recorded for locations in New South Wales, Australia, varied in response to environmental gradients and whether these gradients could be used to predict fuel hazard at a landscape scale. We found that time since last fire, temperature and precipitation were strong predictors of fuel hazard. Our model predictions for fuel hazard outperformed current operational methods; however, both methods tended to overestimate lower fuel hazard and underestimate higher fuel hazard. Biophysical modelling of fuel hazard provides significant advancement for predicting fuel hazard. These models have the capability to be improved and developed as additional fuel hazard data, fire history mapping and remote sensing of environmental variables advance both spatially and temporally.
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10

binti Abd Razak, Janatul Aziera, Shuib bin Rambat, Faizah binti Che Ros, Zhongchao Shi, and Saiful Amri bin Mazlan. "Seismic Vulnerability Assessment in Ranau, Sabah, Using Two Different Models." ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information 10, no. 5 (April 23, 2021): 271. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijgi10050271.

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Sabah is prone to seismic activities due to its location, being geographically located near the boundaries of three major active tectonic plates; the Eurasian, India-Australia, and Philippine-Pacific plates. The 6.0 Mw earthquake that occurred in Ranau, Sabah, on 15 June 2015 which caused 18 casualties, all of them climbers of Mount Kinabalu, raised many issues, primarily the requirements for seismic vulnerability assessment for this region. This study employed frequency ratio (FR)–index of entropy (IoE) and a combination of (FR-IoE) with an analytical hierarchy process (AHP) to map seismic vulnerability for Ranau, Sabah. The results showed that the success rate and prediction rate for the areas under the relative operating characteristic (ROC) curves were 0.853; 0.856 for the FR-IoE model and 0.863; 0.906 for (FR-IoE) AHP, respectively, with the highest performance achieved using the (FR-IoE) AHP model. The vulnerability maps produced were classified into five classes; very low, low, moderate, high, and very high seismic vulnerability. Seismic activities density ratio analysis performed on the final seismic vulnerability maps showed that high seismic activity density ratios were observed for high vulnerability zones with the values of 9.119 and 8.687 for FR-IoE and (FR-IoE) AHP models, respectively.
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11

Chataway, R. G., R. G. Walker, and M. N. Callow. "Development of profitable milk production systems for northern Australia: a field assessment of the productivity of five potential farming systems using farmlets." Animal Production Science 50, no. 4 (2010): 246. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/an09124.

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Farmlets, each of 20 cows, were established to field test five milk production systems and provide a learning platform for farmers and researchers in a subtropical environment. The systems were developed through desktop modelling and industry consultation in response to the need for substantial increases in farm milk production following deregulation of the industry. Four of the systems were based on grazing and the continued use of existing farmland resource bases, whereas the fifth comprised a feedlot and associated forage base developed as a greenfield site. The field evaluation was conducted over 4 years under more adverse environmental conditions than anticipated with below average rainfall and restrictions on irrigation. For the grazed systems, mean annual milk yield per cow ranged from 6330 kg/year (1.9 cows/ha) for a herd based on rain-grown tropical pastures to 7617 kg/year (3.0 cows/ha) where animals were based on temperate and tropical irrigated forages. For the feedlot herd, production of 9460 kg/cow.year (4.3 cows/ha of forage base) was achieved. For all herds, the level of production achieved required annual inputs of concentrates of ~3 t DM/animal and purchased conserved fodder from 0.3 to 1.5 t DM/animal. This level of supplementary feeding made a major contribution to total farm nutrient inputs, contributing 50% or more of the nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium entering the farming system, and presents challenges to the management of manure and urine that results from the higher stocking rates enabled. Mean annual milk production for the five systems ranged from 88 to 105% of that predicted by the desktop modelling. This level of agreement for the grazed systems was achieved with minimal overall change in predicted feed inputs; however, the feedlot system required a substantial increase in inputs over those predicted. Reproductive performance for all systems was poorer than anticipated, particularly over the summer mating period. We conclude that the desktop model, developed as a rapid response to assist farmers modify their current farming systems, provided a reasonable prediction of inputs required and milk production. Further model development would need to consider more closely climate variability, the limitations summer temperatures place on reproductive success and the feed requirements of feedlot herds.
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12

Ditty, Nicole, and Dennis Cooke. "Geomechanic models using finite element methods show how Cooper Basin structure and sand body geometry impacts stress variation and hydraulic fracturing results." APPEA Journal 55, no. 2 (2015): 439. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/aj14074.

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Unconventional reservoirs such as tight sands and shales require hydraulic fracture stimulation to improve productivity. The success of reservoir stimulation is controlled by the local stress field but decisions are often made knowing only the average stress field. This study uses geomechanical modelling to help explain lateral stress variability using structural geology, lithology contrast and boundary conditions. Changes in vertical and horizontal stresses are related to depth, lithology and structural position, yet these effects are not always accounted for. This is evident in the Cooper Basin, Australia, where, for example, unexpected changes in minifrac pressure are commonly observed in adjacent wells in a field. This study presents results from conceptual geomechanical models to help explain such variations in stress. Model scenarios are constructed using finite element package to investigate the impact of structural position, rock mechanical properties and stress regime on the patterns of horizontal and vertical stress magnitudes in a layered antiform sequence. Key findings suggest that: stress magnitude is affected by structural positioning; different patterns of stress exist across different lithologies; and, stress regime impacts on patterns of stress, especially in combination with curvature of structures. These challenge traditional methods of one-dimensional mechanical earth models and show that, rather than employing methods developed for simple layer-cake geology in extensional basins, geomechanical models should be constructed in two- or even three-dimensions. Results of this study highlight part of the solution to the unconventional resource potential of the Cooper Basin. Improved prediction of field-scale stress variations should enable further optimisation of hydraulic fracture stimulation treatments.
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13

Choct, M., and R. J. Hughes. "Chemical and physical characteristics of grains related to variability in energy and amino acid availability in poultry." Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 50, no. 5 (1999): 689. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/ar98161.

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Grains such as wheat and barley, combined with legumes and oilseed meals, provide not only the bulk of essential nutrients for commercial poultry production and reproduction, but are also the prime source of anti-nutritive components, which are likely to have significant bearing on how effectively all dietary components are utilised by poultry. Sources of variation in the physical and chemical characteristics of grains used in poultry diets include variety, seasonal effects, and growth sites, crop treatment and grain fumigants, and post-harvest storage conditions and period of storage. The available energy and protein contents of grains fed to poultry, which best represent nutritive value, are extremely wide and in consequence there is an urgent need to develop rapid and objective tests for the assessment of nutritive value prior to including grains in poultry diets. Variation in the available energy and protein content of grains can be attributed to a wide range of anti-nutritive factors such as non-starch polysaccharides (NSP), enzyme activity, tannins, alkyl resorcinols, protease inhibitors, α-amylase inhibitors, phytohaemagglutinins, alkaloids, saponins, and lathyrogens. The relative importance of such factors will also differ according to the type of grain in question. However, NSP seem to be the predominant factor in Australia over the past few years given the volume of published literature on this topic. This argument is strongly supported by the fact that NSP-degrading enzymes are routinely used in monogastric diets with great success throughout the world. Numerous attempts over a long period have failed to provide unequivocal evidence that nutritive value in grains for poultry can be predicted with sufficient accuracy and precision by simple, low-cost physico-chemical measurements used singly or in combination. Nevertheless, it is highly desirable to continue to explore these simple measurements in the expectation that useful statistical relationships with more complex measurements will emerge, or that simple measurements can be used to fine-tune prediction equations based on more powerful techniques such as near infrared spectrophotometry. Finally, the nutritive value of grains for poultry will be determined not only by the chemical and physical properties of grains but also by the way that these interact with the processes of ingestion, digestion, absorption, and metabolism in birds. For this reason it is imperative that plant and animal scientists join forces to improve the nutritive value of plant material as feed for animals for the benefit of grain growers and producers of livestock.
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Beresford, Rob. "New Zealand Plant Protection Medal 2016." New Zealand Plant Protection 71 (July 26, 2018): 360–61. http://dx.doi.org/10.30843/nzpp.2018.71.225.

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This medal is awarded by the New Zealand Plant Protection Society to honour those who have made exceptional contributions to plantprotection in New Zealand in the widest sense. The medal is awarded for outstanding services to plant protection, whether through research,education, implementation or leadership. In 2016, the New Zealand Plant Protection Medal was awarded to Dr Rob Beresford who is one of New Zealand’s most experienced and versatile plant pathologists. Rob started his career in science with an MSc Hons, 1st class, in Auckland in 1978 and was appointed to DSIR Plant Diseases Division at Lincoln in 1979. He was awarded a National Research Advisory Council Postgraduate Research Fellowship to undertake PhD studies at Long Ashton Research Station in the UK from1982 to 1985, returning to Lincoln in 1986. Those studies kicked off a long career in epidemiology and today Rob is New Zealand’s pre-eminent plant disease epidemiologist. For 30 years, Rob has been New Zealand’s strongest advocate for the use of weather-based disease prediction for developing practicaldisease control strategies, particularly to reduce the economic, environmental and market residue impacts of fungicide use. By understanding and modelling relationships between pathogen biology and ecology and weather, Rob has translated complex correlations between biological and physical factorsinto simple practical tools for growers to use for disease control. To date, these have included decision support tools for apple scab, downy mildew in onions, botrytis in grapes and more recently Psa in kiwifruit. He has also developed prediction models for climatic risk of invasive pathogens (potato wart disease and myrtle rust) and for the impacts of climate change on crop diseases. Recognising the importance of climate and weather in affecting plant diseases, Rob has, for many years, championed a network of weather stations in the key horticultural districts throughout New Zealand to generate data for the decision-support tools. It has been a struggle to keep the network running against shortages of funding and the frequent need to re-assert the value of the network to New Zealand horticulture. Rob has built a team of equally committed colleagues who share this understanding and, through tenacity and persistence, have recently achieved an upgrade of the entire network to internet-based communication systems. It is through his close collaborations over many years with the software company HortPlus that his decision support tools have been delivered to the commercial arena. Rob was a member of the New Zealand team that argued the case at the World Trade Organisation for the easing of restrictions on New Zealand apples entering Australia. Rob’s superior skills in interpreting climate data, in this case Australian data, in terms of pathogen survival, establishment and spread, and his clarity in presenting the results were instrumental in the success of that case in 2010. In parallel with Rob’s epidemiological strategy to reduce fungicide use is his interest in the threat of pathogens developing resistance to fungicides. Rob leads research to identify resistance threats to fungicides and also provides liaison between grower associations and agrochemical companies to design and implement robust resistance-management strategies. His focus on resistance started in 2005 when he published updated management strategies for all nine of the then available fungicide groups for the New Zealand Plant Protection Society (NZPPS). In 2007, he re-established the New Zealand Committee on Pesticide Resistance (NZCPR) (which had been in abeyance for 10 years) and chaired the committee’s work on fungicides, insecticides and herbicides from 2007 to 2012. He stepped aside to become NZCPR Science Advisor in 2012 so he could focus on resistance research. Following devastating disease outbreaks of apple scab (Venturia ineaqualis) in the pipfruit industry in 2009, Rob initiated a research programme with Pipfruit New Zealand that showed the cause of the outbreaks to be resistance to two groups of fungicides in use at the time. He has recently coordinated resistance strategy updates for botrytis affecting the wine industry, for summer fruit diseases and is currently leading a programme to monitor resistance of grape powdery mildew to key groups of fungicides. Rob was awarded the 2014 Plant & Food Research Chairman’s Award for his work on fungicide resistance. Rob is an effective communicator at all levels from heavy science to grower forums and is always willing to share his time, skills and knowledge. He has been involved with undergraduate lecturing for many years and has successfully supervised several PhDs. NZPP Medal recipients for the previous five years:2015: Gary Barker2014: -2013: Andrew Hodson2012: Margaret Dick2011: Jim Walker
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Saunders, John. "Editorial." International Sports Studies 42, no. 1 (June 22, 2020): 1–5. http://dx.doi.org/10.30819/iss.42-1.01.

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Covid 19 – living the experience As I sit at my desk at home in suburban Brisbane, following the dictates on self-isolation shared with so many around the world, I am forced to contemplate the limits of human prediction. I look out on a world which few could have predicted six months ago. My thoughts at that time were all about 2020 as a metaphor for perfect vision and a plea for it to herald a new period of clarity which would arm us in resolving the whole host of false divisions that surrounded us. False, because so many appear to be generated by the use of polarised labelling strategies which sought to categorise humans by a whole range of identities, while losing the essential humanity and individuality which we all share. This was a troublesome trend and one which seemed reminiscent of the biblical tale concerning the tower of Babel, when a single unified language was what we needed to create harmony in a globalising world. However, yesterday’s concerns have, at least for the moment, been overshadowed by a more urgent and unifying concern with humanity’s health and wellbeing. For now, this concern has created a world which we would not have recognised in 2019. We rely more than ever on our various forms of electronic media to beam instant shots of the streets of London, New York, Berlin, Paris, Hong Kong etc. These centres of our worldly activity normally characterised by hustle and bustle, are now serenely peaceful and ordered. Their magnificent buildings have become foregrounded, assuming a dignity and presence that is more commonly overshadowed by the mad ceaseless scramble of humanity all around them. From there however the cameras can jump to some of the less fortunate areas of the globe. These streets are still teeming with people in close confined areas. There is little hope here of following frequent extended hand washing practices, let alone achieving the social distance prescribed to those of us in the global North. From this desk top perspective, it has been interesting to chart the mood as the crisis has unfolded. It has moved from a slightly distant sense of superiority as the news slowly unfolded about events in remote Wuhan. The explanation that the origins were from a live market, where customs unfamiliar to our hygienic pre-packaged approach to food consumption were practised, added to this sense of separateness and exoticism surrounding the source and initial development of the virus. However, this changed to a growing sense of concern as its growth and transmission slowly began to reveal the vulnerability of all cultures to its spread. At this early stage, countries who took steps to limit travel from infected areas seemed to gain some advantage. Australia, as just one example banned flights from China and required all Chinese students coming to study in Australia to self-isolate for two weeks in a third intermediate port. It was a step that had considerable economic costs associated with it. One that was vociferously resisted at the time by the university sector increasingly dependent on the revenue generated by servicing Chinese students. But it was when the epicentre moved to northern Italy, that the entire messaging around the event began to change internationally. At this time the tone became increasingly fearful, anxious and urgent as reports of overwhelmed hospitals and mass burials began to dominate the news. Consequently, governments attracted little criticism but were rather widely supported in the action of radically closing down their countries in order to limit human interaction. The debate had become one around the choice between health and economic wellbeing. The fact that the decision has been overwhelmingly for health, has been encouraging. It has not however stopped the pressure from those who believe that economic well-being is a determinant of human well-being, questioning the decisions of politicians and the advice of public health scientists that have dominated the responses to date. At this stage, the lives versus livelihoods debate has a long way still to run. Of some particular interest has been the musings of the opinion writers who have predicted that the events of these last months will change our world forever. Some of these predictions have included the idea that rather than piling into common office spaces working remotely from home and other advantageous locations will be here to stay. Schools and universities will become centres of learning more conveniently accessed on-line rather than face to face. Many shopping centres will become redundant and goods will increasingly be delivered via collection centres or couriers direct to the home. Social distancing will impact our consumption of entertainment at common venues and lifestyle events such as dining out. At the macro level, it has been predicted that globalisation in its present form will be reversed. The pandemic has led to actions being taken at national levels and movement being controlled by the strengthening and increased control of physical borders. Tourism has ground to a halt and may not resume on its current scale or in its present form as unnecessary travel, at least across borders, will become permanently reduced. Advocates of change have pointed to some of the unpredicted benefits that have been occurring. These include a drop in air pollution: increased interaction within families; more reading undertaken by younger adults; more systematic incorporation of exercise into daily life, and; a rediscovered sense of community with many initiatives paying tribute to the health and essential services workers who have been placed at the forefront of this latest struggle with nature. Of course, for all those who point to benefits in the forced lifestyle changes we have been experiencing, there are those who would tell a contrary tale. Demonstrations in the US have led the push by those who just want things to get back to normal as quickly as possible. For this group, confinement at home creates more problems. These may be a function of the proximity of modern cramped living quarters, today’s crowded city life, dysfunctional relationships, the boredom of self-entertainment or simply the anxiety that comes with an insecure livelihood and an unclear future. Personally however, I am left with two significant questions about our future stimulated by the events that have been ushered in by 2020. The first is how is it that the world has been caught so unprepared by this pandemic? The second is to what extent do we have the ability to recalibrate our current practices and view an alternative future? In considering the first, it has been enlightening to observe the extent to which politicians have turned to scientific expertise in order to determine their actions. Terms like ‘flattening the curve’, ‘community transmission rates’, have become part of our daily lexicon as the statistical modellers advance their predictions as to how the disease will spread and impact on our health systems. The fact that scientists are presented as the acceptable and credible authority and the basis for our actions reflects a growing dependency on data and modelling that has infused our society generally. This acceptance has been used to strengthen the actions on behalf of the human lives first and foremost position. For those who pursue the livelihoods argument even bigger figures are available to be thrown about. These relate to concepts such as numbers of jobless, increase in national debt, growth in domestic violence, rise in mental illness etc. However, given that they are more clearly estimates and based on less certain assumptions and variables, they do not at this stage seem to carry the impact of the data produced by public health experts. This is not surprising but perhaps not justifiable when we consider the failure of the public health lobby to adequately prepare or forewarn us of the current crisis in the first place. Statistical predictive models are built around historical data, yet their accuracy depends upon the quality of those data. Their robustness for extrapolation to new settings for example will differ as these differ in a multitude of subtle ways from the contexts in which they were initially gathered. Our often uncritical dependence upon ‘scientific’ processes has become worrying, given that as humans, even when guided by such useful tools, we still tend to repeat mistakes or ignore warnings. At such a time it is an opportunity for us to return to the reservoir of human wisdom to be found in places such as our great literature. Works such as The Plague by Albert Camus make fascinating and educative reading for us at this time. As the writer observes Everybody knows that pestilences have a way of recurring in the world, yet somehow, we find it hard to believe in ones that crash down on our heads from a blue sky. There have been as many plagues as wars in history, yet always plagues and wars take people equally by surprise. So it is that we constantly fail to study let alone learn the lessons of history. Yet 2020 mirrors 1919, as at that time the world was reeling with the impact of the Spanish ‘Flu, which infected 500 million people and killed an estimated 50 million. This was more than the 40 million casualties of the four years of the preceding Great War. There have of course been other pestilences since then and much more recently. Is our stubborn failure to learn because we fail to value history and the knowledge of our forebears? Yet we can accept with so little question the accuracy of predictions based on numbers, even with varying and unquestioned levels of validity and reliability. As to the second question, many writers have been observing some beneficial changes in our behaviour and our environment, which have emerged in association with this sudden break in our normal patterns of activity. It has given us the excuse to reevaluate some of our practices and identify some clear benefits that have been occurring. As Australian newspaper columnist Bernard Salt observes in an article titled “the end of narcissism?” I think we’ve been re-evaluating the entire contribution/reward equation since the summer bushfires and now, with the added experience of the pandemic, we can see the shallowness of the so-called glamour professions – the celebrities, the influencers. We appreciate the selflessness of volunteer firefighters, of healthcare workers and supermarket staff. From the pandemic’s earliest days, glib forays into social media by celebrities seeking attention and yet further adulation have been met with stony disapproval. Perhaps it is best that they stay offline while our real heroes do the heavy lifting. To this sad unquestioning adherence to both scientism and narcissism, we can add and stir the framing of the climate rebellion and a myriad of familiar ‘first world’ problems which have caused dissension and disharmony in our communities. Now with an external threat on which to focus our attention, there has been a short lull in the endless bickering and petty point scoring that has characterised our western liberal democracies in the last decade. As Camus observed: The one way of making people hang together is to give ‘em a spell of the plague. So, the ceaseless din of the topics that have driven us apart has miraculously paused for at least a moment. Does this then provide a unique opportunity for us together to review our habitual postures and adopt a more conciliatory and harmonious communication style, take stock, critically evaluate and retune our approach to life – as individuals, as nations, as a species? It is not too difficult to hypothesise futures driven by the major issues that have driven us apart. Now, in our attempts to resist the virus, we have given ourselves a glimpse of some of the very things the climate change activists have wished to happen. With few planes in the air and the majority of cars off the roads, we have already witnessed clearer and cleaner air. Working at home has freed up the commuter driven traffic and left many people with more time to spend with their family. Freed from the continuing throng of tourists, cities like Venice are regenerating and cleansing themselves. This small preview of what a less travelled world might start to look like surely has some attraction. But of course, it does not come without cost. With the lack of tourism and the need to work at home, jobs and livelihoods have started to change. As with any revolution there are both winners and losers. The lockdown has distinguished starkly between essential and non-essential workers. That represents a useful starting point from which to assess what is truly of value in our way of life and what is peripheral as Salt made clear. This is a question that I would encourage readers to explore and to take forward with them through the resolution of the current situation. However, on the basis that educators are seen as providing essential services, now is the time to turn to the content of our current volume. Once again, I direct you to the truly international range of our contributors. They come from five different continents yet share a common focus on one of the most popular of shared cultural experiences – sport. Unsurprisingly three of our reviewed papers bring different insights to the world’s most widely shared sport of all – football, or as it would be more easily recognised in some parts of the globe - soccer. Leading these offerings is a comparison of fandom in Australia and China. The story presented by Knijnk highlights the rise of the fanatical supporters known as the ultras. The origin of the movement is traced to Italy, but it is one that claims allegiances now around the world. Kniijnk identifies the movement’s progression into Australia and China and, in pointing to its stance against the commercialisation of their sport by the scions of big business, argues for its deeper political significance and its commitment to the democratic ownership of sport. Reflecting the increasing availability and use of data in our modern societies, Karadog, Parim and Cene apply some of the immense data collected on and around the FIFA World Cup to the task of selecting the best team from the 2018 tournament held in Russia, a task more usually undertaken by panels of experts. Mindful of the value of using data in ways that can assist future decision making, rather than just in terms of summarising past events, they also use the statistics available to undertake a second task. The second task was the selection of the team with the greatest future potential by limiting eligibility to those at an early stage in their careers, namely younger than 28 and who arguably had still to attain their prime as well as having a longer career still ahead of them. The results for both selections confirm how membership of the wealthy European based teams holds the path to success and recognition at the global level no matter what the national origins of players might be. Thirdly, taking links between the sport and the world of finance a step further, Gomez-Martinez, Marques-Bogliani and Paule-Vianez report on an interesting study designed to test the hypothesis that sporting success within a community is reflected in positive economic outcomes for members of that community. They make a bold attempt to test their hypothesis by examining the relationship of the performance of three world leading clubs in Europe - Bayern Munich, Juventus and Paris Saint Germain and the performance of their local stock markets. Their findings make for some interesting thoughts about the significance of sport in the global economy and beyond into the political landscape of our interconnected world. Our final paper comes from Africa but for its subject matter looks to a different sport, one that rules the subcontinent of India - cricket. Norrbhai questions the traditional coaching of batting in cricket by examining the backlift techniques of the top players in the Indian Premier league. His findings suggest that even in this most traditional of sports, technique will develop and change in response to the changing context provided by the game itself. In this case the context is the short form of the game, introduced to provide faster paced entertainment in an easily consumable time span. It provides a useful reminder how in sport, techniques will not be static but will continue to evolve as the game that provides the context for the skilled performance also evolves. To conclude our pages, I must apologise that our usual book review has fallen prey to the current world disruption. In its place I would like to draw your attention to the announcement of a new publication which would make a worthy addition to the bookshelf of any international sports scholar. “Softpower, Soccer, Supremacy – The Chinese Dream” represents a unique and timely analysis of the movement of the most popular and influential game in the world – Association Football, commonly abbreviated to soccer - into the mainstream of Chinese national policy. The editorial team led by one of sports histories most recognised scholars, Professor J A Mangan, has assembled a who’s who of current scholars in sport in Asia. Together they provide a perspective that takes in, not just the Chinese view of these important current developments but also, the view of others in the geographical region. From Japan, Korea and Australia, they bring with them significant experience to not just the beautiful game, but sport in general in that dynamic and fast-growing part of the world. Particularly in the light of the European dominance identified in the Karog, Parim and Cene paper this work raises the question as to whether we can expect to see a change in the world order sooner rather than later. It remains for me to make one important acknowledgement. In my last editorial I alerted you to the sorts of decisions we as an editorial and publication team were facing with regard to ensuring the future of the journal. Debates as to how best to proceed while staying true to our vision and goals are still proceeding. However, I am pleased to acknowledge the sponsorship provided by The University of Macao for volume 42 and recognise the invaluable contribution made by ISCPES former president Walter Ho to this process. Sponsorship can provide an important input to the ongoing existence and strength of this journal and we would be interested in talking to other institutions or groups who might also be interested in supporting our work, particularly where their goals align closely with ours. May I therefore commend to you the works of our international scholars and encourage your future involvement in sharing your interest in and expertise with others in the world of comparative and international sport studies, John Saunders, Brisbane, May 2020
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van West, H., B. Hodgson, E. Parent, S. Samuel, B. Hodgson, C. Ferland, A. Soroceanu, et al. "Combined Spine Conference of the Canadian Spine Society New Zealand Orthopaedic Spine Society, Spine Society of Australia: Fairmont Château Lake Louise, Lake, Louise, Alberta, Tuesday, Feb. 25 to Saturday, Mar. 1, 20141.1.01 The use of suspension radiographs to predict LIV tilt.1.1.02 Surgical correction of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis without fusion: an animal model.1.1.03 Are full torso surface topography postural measurements more sensitive to change than back only parameters in adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis and a main thoracic curve?1.2.04 Restoration of thoracic kyphosis in adolescent idiopathic kyphosis: comparative radiographic analysis of round versus rail rods.1.2.05 Scoliosis surgery in spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy: Is fusion to the pelvis always necessary? A 4–18-year follow-up study.1.2.06 Identification and validation of pain-related biomarkers surrounding spinal surgery in adolescents.1.3.07 Cervical sagittal deformity develops after PJK in adult throacolumbar deformity correction: radiographic analysis using a novel global sagittal angular parameter, the CTPA.1.3.08 Impact of obesity on complications and patient-reported outcomes in adult spinal deformity surgery.1.3.09 The T1 pelvic angle, a novel radiographic measure of sagittal deformity, accounts for both pelvic retroversion and truncal inclination and correlates strongly with HRQOL.1.4.10 Determining cervical sagittal deformity when it is concurrent with thoracolumbar deformity.1.4.11 The influence of sagittal balance and pelvic parameters on the outcome of surgically treated patients with degenerative spondylolisthesis.1.4.12 Predictors of degenerative spondylolisthesis and loading translation in surgical lumbar spinal stenosis patients.2.1.13 Mechanical allodynia following disc herniation requires intraneural macrophage infiltration and can be blocked by systemic selenium delivery or attenuation of BDNF activity.2.1.14 The effect of alanyl-glutamine on epidural fibrosis in a rat laminectomy model.2.1.15 Anterior lumbar interbody fusion using recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2: a prospective study of complications.2.2.16 2-year results of a Canadian, multicentre, blinded, pilot study of a novel peptide in promoting lumbar spine fusion.2.2.17 Comparative outcomes and cost-utility following surgical treatment of focal lumbar spinal stenosis compared with osteoarthritis of the hip or knee: long-term change in health-related quality of life.2.2.18 Changes in objectively measured walking performance, function, and pain following surgery for spondylolisthesis and lumbar spinal stenosis.2.3.19 A prospective multicentre observational data-monitored study of minimally invasive fusion to treat degenerative lumbar disorders: complications and outcomes at 1-year follow-up.2.3.20 Assessment and classification of subsidence in lateral interbody fusion using serial computed tomography.2.3.21 Predictors of willingness to undergo spinal and orthopaedic surgery after surgical consultation.2.4.22 Indirect foraminal decompression is independent of facet arthropathy in extreme lateral interbody fusion.2.4.23 Cervical artificial disc replacement with ProDisc-C: clinical and radiographic outcomes with long-term follow-up.2.4.24 Tantalum trabecular metal implants in anterior cervical corpectomy and fusion.3.1.25 Hemangiomas of the spine: results of surgical management and prognostic variables for local recurrence and mortality in a multicentre study.3.1.26 Chondrosarcomas of the spine: prognostic variables for local recurrence and mortality in a multicentre study.3.1.27 Risk factors for recurrence of surgically treated spine schwannomas: analysis of 169 patients from a multicentre international database.3.2.28 Survival pattern and the effect of surgery on health related quality of life and functional outcome in patients with metastatic epidural spinal cord compression from lung cancer — the AOSpine North America prospective multicentre study.3.2.29 A biomechanical assessment of kyphoplasty as a stand-alone treatment in a human cadaveric burst fracture model.3.2.30 What is safer in incompetent vertebrae with posterior wall defects, kyphoplasty or vertebroplasty: a study in vertebral analogs.3.3.31 Feasibility of recruiting subjects for acute spinal cord injury (SCI) clinical trials in Canada.3.3.32 Prospective analysis of adverse events in elderly patients with traumatic spinal cord injury.3.3.33 Does traction before surgery influence time to neural decompression in patients with spinal cord injury?3.4.34 Current treatment of individuals with traumatic spinal cord injury: Do we need age-specific guidelines?3.4.35 Current surgical practice for traumatic spinal cord injury in Canada.3.4.36 The importance of “time to surgery” for traumatic spinal cord injured patients: results from an ambispective Canadian cohort of 949 patients.3.5.37 Assessment of a novel coil-shaped radiofrequency probe in the porcine spine.3.5.38 The effect of norepinephrine and dopamine on cerebrospinal fluid pressure after acute spinal cord injury.3.5.39 The learning curve of pedicle screw placement: How many screws are enough?4.1.40 Preliminary report from the Ontario Inter-professional Spine Assessment and Education Clinics (ISAEC).4.1.41 A surrogate model of the spinal cord complex for simulating bony impingement.4.1.42 Clinical and surgical predictors of specific complications following surgery for the treatment of degenerative cervical myelopathy: results from the multicentre, prospective AOSpine international study on 479 patients.4.2.43 Outcomes of surgical management of cervical spondylotic myelopathy: results of the prospective, multicentre, AOSpine international study in 479 patients.4.2.44 A clinical prediction rule for clinical outcomes in patients undergoing surgery for degenerative cervical myelopathy: analysis of an international AOSpine prospective multicentre data set of 757 subjects.4.2.45 The prevalence and impact of low back and leg pain among aging Canadians: a cross-sectional survey.4.3.46 Adjacent segment pathology: Progressive disease course or a product of iatrogenic fusion?4.3.47 Natural history of degenerative lumbar spondylolisthesis in patients with spinal stenosis.4.3.48 Changes in self-reported clinical status and health care utilization during wait time for surgical spine consultation: a prospective observational study.4.3.49 The Canadian surgical wait list for lumbar degenerative spinal stenosis has a detrimental effect on patient outcomes.4.3.50 Segmental lordosis is independent of interbody cage position in XLIF.4.3.51 Elevated patient BMI does not negatively affect self-reported outcomes of thoracolumbar surgery.1.5.52 The Spinal Stenosis Pedometer and Nutrition Lifestyle Intervention (SSPANLI): development and pilot.1.5.53 Study evaluating the variability of surgical strategy planning for patients with adult spinal deformity.1.5.54 Atlantoaxial instability in acute odontoid fractures is associated with nonunion and mortality.1.5.55 Peripheral hypersensitivity to subthreshold stimuli persists after resolution of acute experimental disc-herniation neuropathy.1.5.56 Radiation induced lumbar spinal osteonecrosis: case report and literature review.1.5.57 Comparative outcomes and cost-utility following surgical treatment of focal lumbar spinal stenosis compared with osteoarthritis of the hip or knee: Part 2 — estimated lifetime incremental cost-utility ratios.1.5.58 A predictive model of progression for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis based on 3D spine parameters at first visit.1.5.59 Development of a clinical prediction model for surgical decision making in patients with degenerative lumbar spine disease.2.5.60 Canadian spine surgery fellowship education: evaluating opportunity in developing a nationally based training curriculum.2.5.61 Pedicle subtraction osteotomy for severe proximal thoracic junctional kyphosis.2.5.62 A comparison of spine surgery referrals triaged through a multidisciplinary care pathway versus conventional referrals.2.5.63 Results and complications of posterior-based 3 column osteotomies in patients with previously fused spinal deformities.2.5.64 Orthopaedic Surgical AdVerse Event Severity (Ortho-SAVES) system: identifying opportunities for improved patient safety and resource utilization.2.5.65 Spontaneous spinal extra-axial haematomas — surgical experience in Otago and Southland 2011–2013.2.5.66 Obesity and spinal epidural lipomatosis in cauda equina syndrome.2.5.67 Factors affecting restoration of lumbar lordosis in adult degenerative scoliosis patients treated with lateral trans-psoas interbody fusion.3.6.68 Systematic review of complications in spinal surgery: a comparison of retrospective and prospective study design.3.6.69 Postsurgical rehabilitation patients have similar fear avoidance behaviour levels as those in nonoperative care.3.6.70 Outcomes of surgical treatment of adolescent spondyloptosis: a case series.3.6.71 Surgical success in primary versus revision thoracolumbar spine surgery.3.6.72 The effect of smoking on subjective patient outcomes in thoracolumbar surgery.3.6.73 Modelling patient recovery to predict outcomes following elective thoracolumbar surgery for degenerative pathologies.3.6.74 Outcomes from trans-psoas versus open approaches in the treatment of adult degenerative scoliosis.3.6.75 Lumbar spinal stenosis and presurgical assessment: the impact of walking induced strain on a performance-based outcome measure." Canadian Journal of Surgery 57, no. 3 Suppl 2 (June 2014): S18—S46. http://dx.doi.org/10.1503/cjs.005614.

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Lincoln, Tania M., Björn Schlier, Felix Strakeljahn, Brandon A. Gaudiano, Suzanne H. So, Jessica Kingston, Eric M. J. Morris, and Lyn Ellett. "Taking a machine learning approach to optimize prediction of vaccine hesitancy in high income countries." Scientific Reports 12, no. 1 (February 8, 2022). http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-05915-3.

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AbstractUnderstanding factors driving vaccine hesitancy is crucial to vaccination success. We surveyed adults (N = 2510) from February to March 2021 across five sites (Australia = 502, Germany = 516, Hong Kong = 445, UK = 512, USA = 535) using a cross-sectional design and stratified quota sampling for age, sex, and education. We assessed willingness to take a vaccine and a comprehensive set of putative predictors. Predictive power was analysed with a machine learning algorithm. Only 57.4% of the participants indicated that they would definitely or probably get vaccinated. A parsimonious machine learning model could identify vaccine hesitancy with high accuracy (i.e. 82% sensitivity and 79–82% specificity) using 12 variables only. The most relevant predictors were vaccination conspiracy beliefs, various paranoid concerns related to the pandemic, a general conspiracy mentality, COVID anxiety, high perceived risk of infection, low perceived social rank, lower age, lower income, and higher population density. Campaigns seeking to increase vaccine uptake need to take mistrust as the main driver of vaccine hesitancy into account.
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Eivazi, Sima, and Jahangir Karami. "Prediction of Self-care Behaviors in COVID-19 Prevention Based on Persuasion Techniques." Journal of Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences In Press, In Press (December 20, 2021). http://dx.doi.org/10.5812/jkums.119556.

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Background: Persuasion is a method used to correct and modify the attitude and behaviors of community members to protect collective benefits, especially during crises. Objectives: The present study aimed to predict COVID-19 preventive behaviors based on persuasion techniques in five countries. Methods: This descriptive, correlational study was conducted on the population aged more than 18 years in Iran, Australia, the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Canada. The sample size determined by Morgan’s table was 498 individuals who were selected via convenience sampling in the spring of 2020. Data were collected online using a Demographic Questionnaire, a Persuasion Scale (2020), and the Questionnaire of Healthy Preventive Behaviors for COVID-19 (2020). The inclusion criteria were the age of more than 18 years and basic literacy, and the exclusion criterion was incomplete questionnaires. Data analysis was performed in SPSS version 21 using Pearson’s correlation-coefficient and multiple regression analysis. Results: A positive significant correlation was observed between persuasion techniques and healthy preventive behaviors for COVID-19 (P < 0.001). Among the components of persuasion, fear, interest in the messenger, frequency of the message, and reliability of the messenger could most significantly predict healthy behaviors (P < 0.001). Conclusions: According to the results, the mass media and authorities could enhance the effectiveness of their agenda by identifying the influential factors in the success of persuasion techniques. These findings could be beneficial to social psychiatrists, authorities, and the mass media.
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Burns, Alex. "Oblique Strategies for Ambient Journalism." M/C Journal 13, no. 2 (April 15, 2010). http://dx.doi.org/10.5204/mcj.230.

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Alfred Hermida recently posited ‘ambient journalism’ as a new framework for para- and professional journalists, who use social networks like Twitter for story sources, and as a news delivery platform. Beginning with this framework, this article explores the following questions: How does Hermida define ‘ambient journalism’ and what is its significance? Are there alternative definitions? What lessons do current platforms provide for the design of future, real-time platforms that ‘ambient journalists’ might use? What lessons does the work of Brian Eno provide–the musician and producer who coined the term ‘ambient music’ over three decades ago? My aim here is to formulate an alternative definition of ambient journalism that emphasises craft, skills acquisition, and the mental models of professional journalists, which are the foundations more generally for journalism practices. Rather than Hermida’s participatory media context I emphasise ‘institutional adaptiveness’: how journalists and newsrooms in media institutions rely on craft and skills, and how emerging platforms can augment these foundations, rather than replace them. Hermida’s Ambient Journalism and the Role of Journalists Hermida describes ambient journalism as: “broad, asynchronous, lightweight and always-on communication systems [that] are creating new kinds of interactions around the news, and are enabling citizens to maintain a mental model of news and events around them” (Hermida 2). His ideas appear to have two related aspects. He conceives ambient journalism as an “awareness system” between individuals that functions as a collective intelligence or kind of ‘distributed cognition’ at a group level (Hermida 2, 4-6). Facebook, Twitter and other online social networks are examples. Hermida also suggests that such networks enable non-professionals to engage in ‘communication’ and ‘conversation’ about news and media events (Hermida 2, 7). In a helpful clarification, Hermida observes that ‘para-journalists’ are like the paralegals or non-lawyers who provide administrative support in the legal profession and, in academic debates about journalism, are more commonly known as ‘citizen journalists’. Thus, Hermida’s ambient journalism appears to be: (1) an information systems model of new platforms and networks, and (2) a normative argument that these tools empower ‘para-journalists’ to engage in journalism and real-time commentary. Hermida’s thesis is intriguing and worthy of further discussion and debate. As currently formulated however it risks sharing the blind-spots and contradictions of the academic literature that Hermida cites, which suffers from poor theory-building (Burns). A major reason is that the participatory media context on which Hermida often builds his work has different mental models and normative theories than the journalists or media institutions that are the target of critique. Ambient journalism would be a stronger and more convincing framework if these incorrect assumptions were jettisoned. Others may also potentially misunderstand what Hermida proposes, because the academic debate is often polarised between para-journalists and professional journalists, due to different views about institutions, the politics of knowledge, decision heuristics, journalist training, and normative theoretical traditions (Christians et al. 126; Cole and Harcup 166-176). In the academic debate, para-journalists or ‘citizen journalists’ may be said to have a communitarian ethic and desire more autonomous solutions to journalists who are framed as uncritical and reliant on official sources, and to media institutions who are portrayed as surveillance-like ‘monitors’ of society (Christians et al. 124-127). This is however only one of a range of possible relationships. Sole reliance on para-journalists could be a premature solution to a more complex media ecology. Journalism craft, which does not rely just on official sources, also has a range of practices that already provides the “more complex ways of understanding and reporting on the subtleties of public communication” sought (Hermida 2). Citizen- and para-journalist accounts may overlook micro-studies in how newsrooms adopt technological innovations and integrate them into newsgathering routines (Hemmingway 196). Thus, an examination of the realities of professional journalism will help to cast a better light on how ambient journalism can shape the mental models of para-journalists, and provide more rigorous analysis of news and similar events. Professional journalism has several core dimensions that para-journalists may overlook. Journalism’s foundation as an experiential craft includes guidance and norms that orient the journalist to information, and that includes practitioner ethics. This craft is experiential; the basis for journalism’s claim to “social expertise” as a discipline; and more like the original Linux and Open Source movements which evolved through creative conflict (Sennett 9, 25-27, 125-127, 249-251). There are learnable, transmissible skills to contextually evaluate, filter, select and distil the essential insights. This craft-based foundation and skills informs and structures the journalist’s cognitive witnessing of an event, either directly or via reconstructed, cultivated sources. The journalist publishes through a recognised media institution or online platform, which provides communal validation and verification. There is far more here than the academic portrayal of journalists as ‘gate-watchers’ for a ‘corporatist’ media elite. Craft and skills distinguish the professional journalist from Hermida’s para-journalist. Increasingly, media institutions hire journalists who are trained in other craft-based research methods (Burns and Saunders). Bethany McLean who ‘broke’ the Enron scandal was an investment banker; documentary filmmaker Errol Morris first interviewed serial killers for an early project; and Neil Chenoweth used ‘forensic accounting’ techniques to investigate Rupert Murdoch and Kerry Packer. Such expertise allows the journalist to filter information, and to mediate any influences in the external environment, in order to develop an individualised, ‘embodied’ perspective (Hofstadter 234; Thompson; Garfinkel and Rawls). Para-journalists and social network platforms cannot replace this expertise, which is often unique to individual journalists and their research teams. Ambient Journalism and Twitter Current academic debates about how citizen- and para-journalists may augment or even replace professional journalists can often turn into legitimation battles whether the ‘de facto’ solution is a social media network rather than a media institution. For example, Hermida discusses Twitter, a micro-blogging platform that allows users to post 140-character messages that are small, discrete information chunks, for short-term and episodic memory. Twitter enables users to monitor other users, to group other messages, and to search for terms specified by a hashtag. Twitter thus illustrates how social media platforms can make data more transparent and explicit to non-specialists like para-journalists. In fact, Twitter is suitable for five different categories of real-time information: news, pre-news, rumours, the formation of social media and subject-based networks, and “molecular search” using granular data-mining tools (Leinweber 204-205). In this model, the para-journalist acts as a navigator and “way-finder” to new information (Morville, Findability). Jaron Lanier, an early designer of ‘virtual reality’ systems, is perhaps the most vocal critic of relying on groups of non-experts and tools like Twitter, instead of individuals who have professional expertise. For Lanier, what underlies debates about citizen- and para-journalists is a philosophy of “cybernetic totalism” and “digital Maoism” which exalts the Internet collective at the expense of truly individual views. He is deeply critical of Hermida’s chosen platform, Twitter: “A design that shares Twitter’s feature of providing ambient continuous contact between people could perhaps drop Twitter’s adoration of fragments. We don’t really know, because it is an unexplored design space” [emphasis added] (Lanier 24). In part, Lanier’s objection is traceable back to an unresolved debate on human factors and design in information science. Influenced by the post-war research into cybernetics, J.C.R. Licklider proposed a cyborg-like model of “man-machine symbiosis” between computers and humans (Licklider). In turn, Licklider’s framework influenced Douglas Engelbart, who shaped the growth of human-computer interaction, and the design of computer interfaces, the mouse, and other tools (Engelbart). In taking a system-level view of platforms Hermida builds on the strength of Licklider and Engelbart’s work. Yet because he focuses on para-journalists, and does not appear to include the craft and skills-based expertise of professional journalists, it is unclear how he would answer Lanier’s fears about how reliance on groups for news and other information is superior to individual expertise and judgment. Hermida’s two case studies point to this unresolved problem. Both cases appear to show how Twitter provides quicker and better forms of news and information, thereby increasing the effectiveness of para-journalists to engage in journalism and real-time commentary. However, alternative explanations may exist that raise questions about Twitter as a new platform, and thus these cases might actually reveal circumstances in which ambient journalism may fail. Hermida alludes to how para-journalists now fulfil the earlier role of ‘first responders’ and stringers, in providing the “immediate dissemination” of non-official information about disasters and emergencies (Hermida 1-2; Haddow and Haddow 117-118). Whilst important, this is really a specific role. In fact, disaster and emergency reporting occurs within well-established practices, professional ethics, and institutional routines that may involve journalists, government officials, and professional communication experts (Moeller). Officials and emergency management planners are concerned that citizen- or para-journalism is equated with the craft and skills of professional journalism. The experience of these officials and planners in 2005’s Hurricane Katrina in the United States, and in 2009’s Black Saturday bushfires in Australia, suggests that whilst para-journalists might be ‘first responders’ in a decentralised, complex crisis, they are perceived to spread rumours and potential social unrest when people need reliable information (Haddow and Haddow 39). These terms of engagement between officials, planners and para-journalists are still to be resolved. Hermida readily acknowledges that Twitter and other social network platforms are vulnerable to rumours (Hermida 3-4; Sunstein). However, his other case study, Iran’s 2009 election crisis, further complicates the vision of ambient journalism, and always-on communication systems in particular. Hermida discusses several events during the crisis: the US State Department request to halt a server upgrade, how the Basij’s shooting of bystander Neda Soltan was captured on a mobile phone camera, the spread across social network platforms, and the high-velocity number of ‘tweets’ or messages during the first two weeks of Iran’s electoral uncertainty (Hermida 1). The US State Department was interested in how Twitter could be used for non-official sources, and to inform people who were monitoring the election events. Twitter’s perceived ‘success’ during Iran’s 2009 election now looks rather different when other factors are considered such as: the dynamics and patterns of Tehran street protests; Iran’s clerics who used Soltan’s death as propaganda; claims that Iran’s intelligence services used Twitter to track down and to kill protestors; the ‘black box’ case of what the US State Department and others actually did during the crisis; the history of neo-conservative interest in a Twitter-like platform for strategic information operations; and the Iranian diaspora’s incitement of Tehran student protests via satellite broadcasts. Iran’s 2009 election crisis has important lessons for ambient journalism: always-on communication systems may create noise and spread rumours; ‘mirror-imaging’ of mental models may occur, when other participants have very different worldviews and ‘contexts of use’ for social network platforms; and the new kinds of interaction may not lead to effective intervention in crisis events. Hermida’s combination of news and non-news fragments is the perfect environment for psychological operations and strategic information warfare (Burns and Eltham). Lessons of Current Platforms for Ambient Journalism We have discussed some unresolved problems for ambient journalism as a framework for journalists, and as mental models for news and similar events. Hermida’s goal of an “awareness system” faces a further challenge: the phenomenological limitations of human consciousness to deal with information complexity and ambiguous situations, whether by becoming ‘entangled’ in abstract information or by developing new, unexpected uses for emergent technologies (Thackara; Thompson; Hofstadter 101-102, 186; Morville, Findability, 55, 57, 158). The recursive and reflective capacities of human consciousness imposes its own epistemological frames. It’s still unclear how Licklider’s human-computer interaction will shape consciousness, but Douglas Hofstadter’s experiments with art and video-based group experiments may be suggestive. Hofstadter observes: “the interpenetration of our worlds becomes so great that our worldviews start to fuse” (266). Current research into user experience and information design provides some validation of Hofstadter’s experience, such as how Google is now the ‘default’ search engine, and how its interface design shapes the user’s subjective experience of online search (Morville, Findability; Morville, Search Patterns). Several models of Hermida’s awareness system already exist that build on Hofstadter’s insight. Within the information systems field, on-going research into artificial intelligence–‘expert systems’ that can model expertise as algorithms and decision rules, genetic algorithms, and evolutionary computation–has attempted to achieve Hermida’s goal. What these systems share are mental models of cognition, learning and adaptiveness to new information, often with forecasting and prediction capabilities. Such systems work in journalism areas such as finance and sports that involve analytics, data-mining and statistics, and in related fields such as health informatics where there are clear, explicit guidelines on information and international standards. After a mid-1980s investment bubble (Leinweber 183-184) these systems now underpin the technology platforms of global finance and news intermediaries. Bloomberg LP’s ubiquitous dual-screen computers, proprietary network and data analytics (www.bloomberg.com), and its competitors such as Thomson Reuters (www.thomsonreuters.com and www.reuters.com), illustrate how financial analysts and traders rely on an “awareness system” to navigate global stock-markets (Clifford and Creswell). For example, a Bloomberg subscriber can access real-time analytics from exchanges, markets, and from data vendors such as Dow Jones, NYSE Euronext and Thomson Reuters. They can use portfolio management tools to evaluate market information, to make allocation and trading decisions, to monitor ‘breaking’ news, and to integrate this information. Twitter is perhaps the para-journalist equivalent to how professional journalists and finance analysts rely on Bloomberg’s platform for real-time market and business information. Already, hedge funds like PhaseCapital are data-mining Twitter’s ‘tweets’ or messages for rumours, shifts in stock-market sentiment, and to analyse potential trading patterns (Pritchett and Palmer). The US-based Securities and Exchange Commission, and researchers like David Gelernter and Paul Tetlock, have also shown the benefits of applied data-mining for regulatory market supervision, in particular to uncover analysts who provide ‘whisper numbers’ to online message boards, and who have access to material, non-public information (Leinweber 60, 136, 144-145, 208, 219, 241-246). Hermida’s framework might be developed further for such regulatory supervision. Hermida’s awareness system may also benefit from the algorithms found in high-frequency trading (HFT) systems that Citadel Group, Goldman Sachs, Renaissance Technologies, and other quantitative financial institutions use. Rather than human traders, HFT uses co-located servers and complex algorithms, to make high-volume trades on stock-markets that take advantage of microsecond changes in prices (Duhigg). HFT capabilities are shrouded in secrecy, and became the focus of regulatory attention after several high-profile investigations of traders alleged to have stolen the software code (Bray and Bunge). One public example is Streambase (www.streambase.com), a ‘complex event processing’ (CEP) platform that can be used in HFT, and commercialised from the Project Aurora research collaboration between Brandeis University, Brown University, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. CEP and HFT may be the ‘killer apps’ of Hermida’s awareness system. Alternatively, they may confirm Jaron Lanier’s worst fears: your data-stream and user-generated content can be harvested by others–for their gain, and your loss! Conclusion: Brian Eno and Redefining ‘Ambient Journalism’ On the basis of the above discussion, I suggest a modified definition of Hermida’s thesis: ‘Ambient journalism’ is an emerging analytical framework for journalists, informed by cognitive, cybernetic, and information systems research. It ‘sensitises’ the individual journalist, whether professional or ‘para-professional’, to observe and to evaluate their immediate context. In doing so, ‘ambient journalism’, like journalism generally, emphasises ‘novel’ information. It can also inform the design of real-time platforms for journalistic sources and news delivery. Individual ‘ambient journalists’ can learn much from the career of musician and producer Brian Eno. His personal definition of ‘ambient’ is “an atmosphere, or a surrounding influence: a tint,” that relies on the co-evolution of the musician, creative horizons, and studio technology as a tool, just as para-journalists use Twitter as a platform (Sheppard 278; Eno 293-297). Like para-journalists, Eno claims to be a “self-educated but largely untrained” musician and yet also a craft-based producer (McFadzean; Tamm 177; 44-50). Perhaps Eno would frame the distinction between para-journalist and professional journalist as “axis thinking” (Eno 298, 302) which is needlessly polarised due to different normative theories, stances, and practices. Furthermore, I would argue that Eno’s worldview was shaped by similar influences to Licklider and Engelbart, who appear to have informed Hermida’s assumptions. These influences include the mathematician and game theorist John von Neumann and biologist Richard Dawkins (Eno 162); musicians Eric Satie, John Cage and his book Silence (Eno 19-22, 162; Sheppard 22, 36, 378-379); and the field of self-organising systems, in particular cyberneticist Stafford Beer (Eno 245; Tamm 86; Sheppard 224). Eno summed up the central lesson of this theoretical corpus during his collaborations with New York’s ‘No Wave’ scene in 1978, of “people experimenting with their lives” (Eno 253; Reynolds 146-147; Sheppard 290-295). Importantly, he developed a personal view of normative theories through practice-based research, on a range of projects, and with different creative and collaborative teams. Rather than a technological solution, Eno settled on a way to encode his craft and skills into a quasi-experimental, transmittable method—an aim of practitioner development in professional journalism. Even if only a “founding myth,” the story of Eno’s 1975 street accident with a taxi, and how he conceived ‘ambient music’ during his hospital stay, illustrates how ambient journalists might perceive something new in specific circumstances (Tamm 131; Sheppard 186-188). More tellingly, this background informed his collaboration with the late painter Peter Schmidt, to co-create the Oblique Strategies deck of aphorisms: aleatory, oracular messages that appeared dependent on chance, luck, and randomness, but that in fact were based on Eno and Schmidt’s creative philosophy and work guidelines (Tamm 77-78; Sheppard 178-179; Reynolds 170). In short, Eno was engaging with the kind of reflective practices that underpin exemplary professional journalism. He was able to encode this craft and skills into a quasi-experimental method, rather than a technological solution. Journalists and practitioners who adopt Hermida’s framework could learn much from the published accounts of Eno’s practice-based research, in the context of creative projects and collaborative teams. In particular, these detail the contexts and choices of Eno’s early ambient music recordings (Sheppard 199-200); Eno’s duels with David Bowie during ‘Sense of Doubt’ for the Heroes album (Tamm 158; Sheppard 254-255); troubled collaborations with Talking Heads and David Byrne (Reynolds 165-170; Sheppard; 338-347, 353); a curatorial, mentor role on U2’s The Unforgettable Fire (Sheppard 368-369); the ‘grand, stadium scale’ experiments of U2’s 1991-93 ZooTV tour (Sheppard 404); the Zorn-like games of Bowie’s Outside album (Eno 382-389); and the ‘generative’ artwork 77 Million Paintings (Eno 330-332; Tamm 133-135; Sheppard 278-279; Eno 435). Eno is clearly a highly flexible maker and producer. Developing such flexibility would ensure ambient journalism remains open to novelty as an analytical framework that may enhance the practitioner development and work of professional journalists and para-journalists alike.Acknowledgments The author thanks editor Luke Jaaniste, Alfred Hermida, and the two blind peer reviewers for their constructive feedback and reflective insights. References Bray, Chad, and Jacob Bunge. “Ex-Goldman Programmer Indicted for Trade Secrets Theft.” The Wall Street Journal 12 Feb. 2010. 17 March 2010 ‹http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703382904575059660427173510.html›. Burns, Alex. “Select Issues with New Media Theories of Citizen Journalism.” M/C Journal 11.1 (2008). 17 March 2010 ‹http://journal.media-culture.org.au/index.php/mcjournal/article/view/30›.———, and Barry Saunders. “Journalists as Investigators and ‘Quality Media’ Reputation.” Record of the Communications Policy and Research Forum 2009. Eds. Franco Papandrea and Mark Armstrong. Sydney: Network Insight Institute, 281-297. 17 March 2010 ‹http://eprints.vu.edu.au/15229/1/CPRF09BurnsSaunders.pdf›.———, and Ben Eltham. “Twitter Free Iran: An Evaluation of Twitter’s Role in Public Diplomacy and Information Operations in Iran’s 2009 Election Crisis.” Record of the Communications Policy and Research Forum 2009. Eds. Franco Papandrea and Mark Armstrong. Sydney: Network Insight Institute, 298-310. 17 March 2010 ‹http://eprints.vu.edu.au/15230/1/CPRF09BurnsEltham.pdf›. Christians, Clifford G., Theodore Glasser, Denis McQuail, Kaarle Nordenstreng, and Robert A. White. Normative Theories of the Media: Journalism in Democratic Societies. Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2009. Clifford, Stephanie, and Julie Creswell. “At Bloomberg, Modest Strategy to Rule the World.” The New York Times 14 Nov. 2009. 17 March 2010 ‹http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/15/business/media/15bloom.html?ref=businessandpagewanted=all›.Cole, Peter, and Tony Harcup. Newspaper Journalism. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2010. Duhigg, Charles. “Stock Traders Find Speed Pays, in Milliseconds.” The New York Times 23 July 2009. 17 March 2010 ‹http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/24/business/24trading.html?_r=2andref=business›. Engelbart, Douglas. “Augmenting Human Intellect: A Conceptual Framework, 1962.” Ed. Neil Spiller. Cyber Reader: Critical Writings for the Digital Era. London: Phaidon Press, 2002. 60-67. Eno, Brian. A Year with Swollen Appendices. London: Faber and Faber, 1996. Garfinkel, Harold, and Anne Warfield Rawls. Toward a Sociological Theory of Information. Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishers, 2008. Hadlow, George D., and Kim S. Haddow. Disaster Communications in a Changing Media World, Butterworth-Heinemann, Burlington MA, 2009. Hemmingway, Emma. Into the Newsroom: Exploring the Digital Production of Regional Television News. Milton Park: Routledge, 2008. Hermida, Alfred. “Twittering the News: The Emergence of Ambient Journalism.” Journalism Practice 4.3 (2010): 1-12. Hofstadter, Douglas. I Am a Strange Loop. New York: Perseus Books, 2007. Lanier, Jaron. You Are Not a Gadget: A Manifesto. London: Allen Lane, 2010. Leinweber, David. Nerds on Wall Street: Math, Machines and Wired Markets. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons, 2009. Licklider, J.C.R. “Man-Machine Symbiosis, 1960.” Ed. Neil Spiller. Cyber Reader: Critical Writings for the Digital Era, London: Phaidon Press, 2002. 52-59. McFadzean, Elspeth. “What Can We Learn from Creative People? The Story of Brian Eno.” Management Decision 38.1 (2000): 51-56. Moeller, Susan. Compassion Fatigue: How the Media Sell Disease, Famine, War and Death. New York: Routledge, 1998. Morville, Peter. Ambient Findability. Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly Press, 2005. ———. Search Patterns. Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly Press, 2010.Pritchett, Eric, and Mark Palmer. ‘Following the Tweet Trail.’ CNBC 11 July 2009. 17 March 2010 ‹http://www.casttv.com/ext/ug0p08›. Reynolds, Simon. Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984. London: Penguin Books, 2006. Sennett, Richard. The Craftsman. London: Penguin Books, 2008. Sheppard, David. On Some Faraway Beach: The Life and Times of Brian Eno. London: Orion Books, 2008. Sunstein, Cass. On Rumours: How Falsehoods Spread, Why We Believe Them, What Can Be Done. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2009. Tamm, Eric. Brian Eno: His Music and the Vertical Colour of Sound. New York: Da Capo Press, 1995. Thackara, John. In the Bubble: Designing in a Complex World. Boston, MA: The MIT Press, 1995. Thompson, Evan. Mind in Life: Biology, Phenomenology, and the Science of Mind. Boston, MA: Belknap Press, 2007.
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