Enlisting the influence of others: Alternative strategies for persuasive media campaigns

This study investigated an Australian antidrug campaign that targeted adolescents directly and indirectly via recruiting parents into drug prevention. Eighty-six parent-child dyads completed surveys measuring campaign evaluations, discussions about drugs, and beliefs about risks to self (own child) and to the average young Australian. Adolescents were optimistic about risks, and media impact was evident only in perceptions of risk to others. Parents were less optimistic, and perceptions of campaign quality predicted perceived risk to own child and discussion about drugs. However, this was moderated by negative affect associated with the campaign. There was some evidence that discussions influenced adolescents' perceptions of personal risk. This demonstrates the importance of individual responses and communication processes in determining the impact of persuasive media messages.

Treating the speech disorder in Parkinson's Disease Online

The Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LSVT) has been shown to be highly effective in treating the speech disorder in Parkinson's Disease (PD). However, patient access to this treatment remains limited in Australia, due to availability of speech pathologists, patient mobility and distance issues. We have investigated the feasibility and effectiveness of an Internet-based telerehabilitation application (eREHAB) for the delivery of the LSVT to persons with PD and disordered speech. Ten participants with PD and dysarthria were treated online with the LSVT for a total of 16 sessions. There were significant improvements in sound pressure levels for vowel prolongation, reading and conversational monologue (P < 0.01), pitch range (P < 0.05) and in perceptual features of pitch and loudness variability, loudness level (P < 0.01) and breathiness (P < 0.05). A participant satisfaction questionnaire indicated that 70% of participants expressed overall satisfaction with the online treatment. Telerehabilitation was feasible and effective in delivering the LSVT to people with PD.

Multiresolution query optimization in an online environment

Multiresolution (or multi-scale) techniques make it possible for Web-based GIS applications to access large dataset. The performance of such systems relies on data transmission over network and multiresolution query processing. In the literature the latter has received little research attention so far, and the existing methods are not capable of processing large dataset. In this paper, we aim to improve multiresolution query processing in an online environment. A cost model for such query is proposed first, followed by three strategies for its optimization. Significant theoretical improvement can be observed when comparing against available methods. Application of these strategies is also discussed, and similar performance enhancement can be expected if implemented in online GIS applications.