My baby body : a qualitative insight into women's body-related experiences and mood during pregnancy and the postpartum

An inductive qualitative approach was employed to explore women's experiences of their body and mood during pregnancy and the postpartum. In-depth interviews were conducted with 20 perinatal women (n at late pregnancy=10; n in the early postpartum period=10). While most of the sample reported adapting positively to body changes experienced during pregnancy, the postpartum period was often associated with body dissatisfaction. Women reported several events unique to pregnancy which helped them cope positively with bodily changes (e.g. increased perceived body functionality, new sense of meaning in life thus placing well-being of developing foetus above body aesthetics, perceptual experiences such as feeling baby kick, increased sense of social connectedness due to pregnancy body shape, and positive social commentary); however, these events no longer protected against body dissatisfaction post-birth. While women reported mood lability throughout the perinatal period, the postpartum was also a time of increased positive affect for most women, and overall most women did not associate body changes with their mood. Clinical implications of these findings included the need for education about normal postpartum body changes and their timing, and the development of more accurate measures of perinatal body image.

Measuring audience response on-line : an evaluation of the portable audience response facility (pARF)

If it is the case that artists and art explore organization of the brain (Zeki & Lamb, 1994), then the investigation of response to artistic performance holds promise as a window to perceptual and cognitive processes. The portable Audience Response Facility (pARF) is an instrument for recording real‐time audience response (Stevens et al. 2009). Twenty, handheld, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) collect responses on customizable skin interfaces. The pARF server transmits the customizable options, synchronizes devices and collects data for export. In this paper we report ratings of the usability of the pARF that were collected after 37 participants had used it to continuously rate engagement along a single dimension while a female dance artist gave two performances of a short solo contemporary dance work. The motion of the dancer was also captured as she performed the piece but only usability rating data are reported here. Ratings indicate that the cognitive load imposed by continuously rating engagement while watching a dance performance was manageable and the pARF was easy to use. An extended familiarization phase may further reduce dual task demand.

Regional branding : perspectives of tourists in Australia

This paper aims to explore the overlap and gap between the communication efforts of destination marketing organisations (DMO)’s and consumer perspectives of tourism destination within Australia. This paper applies qualitative and quantitative methodologies. Three stages of analysis are discussed. The web site content of state tourism authorities are analysed using Leximancer. The results show that states are using differing perceptual dimensions to portray characteristics of state tourism destinations. It is also found that consumers can recall the slogans and positioning of some states to a much greater extent than others. Finally it was shown that there was little correspondence and consistency between state positioning slogans and the destination promise and actual content on the web site.

Dissociations between implicit and explicit memory in children : the role of strategic processing and the knowledge base

A review of the literature shows that explicit memory develops substantially from three years of age to adulthood, while implicit memory remains stable across this age range. Previously, this developmental dissociation has been attributed to different memory systems, or to confounds with perceptual vs. conceptual processing. Prompted by an alternative developmental framework, the experiments reported here provide evidence against both interpretations. Instead, it will be argued that (a) the implicit - explicit developmental dissociation reflects differences in strategic processing (strategy use and metamemory) across childhood and (b) that implicit memory can show development if a child's knowledge base in the tested domain is developing with age.

Does the flicker frequency of fluorescent lighting affect the welfare of captive European starlings?

It is common practice for captive birds to be kept under fluorescent lighting, which typically flickers at either 100Hz (UK) or 120 Hz (USA). Such lighting was developed for human vision and it is thought that birds may be able to detect higher frequencies of flicker than humans. For humans, 100Hz fluorescent lighting has been linked to eyestrain, headaches and migraine, even though this rate of flicker is above the human perceptual flicker-fusion frequency of around 60 Hz. Keeping birds under 100 Hz lighting is therefore potentially detrimental to their welfare. We studied the preferences of wild-caught European starlings, Sturnus vulgaris, for high-frequency (HF, >30 kHz) fluorescent lighting versus conventional low-frequency (LF, 100 Hz) fluorescent lighting. The flicker frequency of the HF lighting would be undetectable to the nervous system of any animal. We also exposed starlings to either HF or LF light for 2 weeks, and investigated the degree of stress caused by each environment by monitoring their behaviour and plasma corticosterone levels. Groups of starlings showed a preference for HF lighting over LF lighting (P < 0.001), which indicates that they can detect a difference between the two lighting conditions and find the HF lighting preferable. However, there were no measurable differences in behaviour or plasma corticosterone levels when the birds were housed under either HF or LF for 2 weeks, thus providing initial evidence that housing starlings under 100Hz lighting may not be detrimental to the welfare of starlings during early captivity. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Strategic significance of the island state of Sri Lanka

The study is focused on an analysis of the major diplomatic documents from the mid eighteenth century to the present as regards Sri Lanka, or Ceylon as it was known till 1972. The objectives of the study are to identify the issues underlying these diplomatic documents. These include the political and strategic factors and other subsidiary issues like trade and commerce relevant at the time these treaties, agreements, and proposed treaties were formulated. It is also a geopolitical study as it relates to Sri Lanka's geographical position in the Indian Ocean, and her possession of the Trincomalee Harbour on its east coast, which is one of the great natural harbours of the world. Over the centuries this harbour has had significant strategic value for naval deployments. The case study of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries studies the diplomatic documents against the political and strategic background for the French Revolution and actions of Napoleon, and the Anglo/French rivalry, spreading from Europe to North America and Asia. In the twentieth century the environment for studying the place of Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean was created by the Russian Revolution, the failure to keep the peace of Versailles after World War I, the conflict and horrors of World War II which led to the disintegration of European colonial empires in Asia and Africa, and the tensions generated by the Cold War. A study of the documents would reveal that in international relations what matters is the ability of a party to promote its interests, and this depends on its power. This realist approach contrasts to the idealist approach where policies are based on moral and ethical principles. For the realist the states should follow to protect their interests and to survive. To achieve this is to strive for a ‘balance of power’. To do so is to form a favourable alliance system. As the documents examined cover a period from the mid-eighteenth century to the later part of the twentieth century, they reflect the changing technologies that have had an influence on naval and military matters. For example, this period witnessed great changes in technology of energy utilized to propel warships, from wind, to steam, to fuel and finally to nuclear power. These changes had an influence in determining strategic policies involving weapon systems and communications within a global and regional setting. The period covered was the beginning of the process described a ‘globalisation’. Its idea is not unique to this century; there were many attempts, in various times of history, to integrate societies within a global context. Viewed in this light, the Anglo-French rivalry of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries was the indication of a global naval strategy, in which Sri Lanka was a major factor in the Indian Ocean region. This process was associated with the phenomena called the ‘expansion of Europe’. It covered all the oceans of the world and in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries led to the founding of the largest maritime empire the world has ever seen: The British Empire. After World War I, the British naval strength (the basis of the British Empire) and her consequent position as a great power, was challenged by other powers like the United States of America and Japan. After World War II, the US Navy was supreme: and there was a close alliance between Britain and the USA. The strength of the US/British alliance was based on the navy and its bases, which were spread throughout the globe; to project power, and act as deterrence and balancing force. Sri Lanka, due to her strategic position, was a part of this evolving process, and was tied to a global strategy (with its regional connotations) from the eighteenth century to the present.

Toward a broader appreciation of human motion in education

Motion is a fundamental activity for the healthy functioning human organism. Its importance, however, is increasingly de-valued in Western cultures as they speed toward adopting technologies and virtual experiences as adjuncts to, and even replacements for7 traditional educational structures and processes that involve physical activity. Organised and reflective experience of human motion is becoming increasingly marginalised in teaching methodologies and learning programs in educational institutions at all levels around the globe. This inquiry sets out to gain a greater understanding of why people and human motion become disconnected, particularly during periods of formal education. A central question and two sub-questions form the basis of the inquiry. The central question asks why human motion is not valued and more utilised in education. In particular, why do learning areas that directly represent involvement with human motion, such as physical education, continually struggle in education programs. It directs the investigation to focus on the causes rather than the symptoms of the disuse and devaluation of human motion in Australian education. The two sub-questions split the praxis of the study. The first seeks to understand how the causes of devaluation work in the educational context lo affect the lack of acknowledgement; and the second considers ways to counter the disuse of human movement in education programs. To address these questions, the research focuses on rebutting the notion of a mind-body dualism. Rather, it seeks to better understand how humans learn and function as monists - integrated beings, acquiring self-knowledge in their 'world of being' in which bodily and emotional experiences, and reasoning are inextricably intertwined. I have approached this qualitative research as an ethnographic sociologist examining the issues from a critical high modernist perspective in order to demonstrate the pervading influence in Australian education of strong beliefs and values from the era of Enlightenment. Narrative analysis of 'memoir' in the form of self-defining memories was selected to gain a sensibility of the connectedness between human emotion, motion and reasoning in the lived experiences of students in three primary and three secondary schools across Years 2-12. An opportunity for human movement to be more valued and utilised in emerging educational frameworks that have life knowledge, dispositions and capabilities at their core is identified. The inquiry proposes a conceptualisation of human motion in education for new times characterised by the need for people to develop personal resources and strong positive identities in order to cope with a world of rapid change and uncertainty.

Conventions of pictorialism (iconic imagery, perceived space and the picture plane) deconstructed and reconstructed as alternative models of perception, embodied in paintings and drawings

This thesis is concerned with conventions of pictorialism, viz. the surface of an artwork or the plane of denotation (in my case paper, canvas or wood); and iconic imagery and the depiction of perceptual space that is connotated by marks, colours and forms upon that surface. Most importantly this thesis is concerned with the relationship between these elements and the deconstruction of them. That the reconstruction of the deconstructed language can create expressive iconic structures that perhaps contain conflicting information and elements, but are simultaneously single and self-contained perceptual models of seeing the world, and the things in it, in another way; is a major focus. The thesis is embodied in the paintings and drawings which are documented in the exegesis that follows.

Public libraries in Ballarat : 1851-1900

This thesis analyses the development of the Ballarat East Free Library (1859), the Ballarat Mechanics’ Institute Library (1859) and the City of Ballaarat Free Library (1878) within the broader context of public librarianship in Victoria between 1851-1900. Mechanics’ Institute libraries and free libraries represent the major derivatives of a nineteenth-century library model that emphasised the pursuit of lifelong learning, private reading and the enjoyment of genteel recreational facilities. The circumstances that led to the formation of an Institute and a free library in Ballarat in, 1,859 provide a unique opportunity to analyse the public library model for two reasons. These libraries were established in a remarkable goldfield city that enjoyed a number of economic and cultural advantages and secondly, the Ballarat Mechanics’ Institute Library and the Ballarat East Free Library experienced such spectacular growth that by 1880 they were two of the largest public libraries in Australia. However, it is argued that this growth cycle could not be sustained due to a combination of factors including low membership levels, limited funding for recurrent expenditure purposes, and heightened dissatisfaction with the book collections. Libraries began to stagnate in the late-1880s and the magnitude of this collapse in Ballarat, and throughout the colony, was subsequently confirmed with the publication of a national survey of Australian libraries in 1935. The ‘Munn-Pitt’ report found that public libraries had provided a better service in 1880 than at any other time in the next six decades. Four conclusions are drawn in this comparative analysis of the Ballarat Mechanics’ Institute Library, the Ballarat East Free Library, and to a lesser extent, the City of Ballaarat Free Library, between 1851-1900. Firstly, is it shown that the literature places considerable emphasis on the formation of public libraries but is far less critical of the long-term viability of the public library model as it evolved in Ballarat and throughout the colony in the nineteenth century. Secondly, whilst Ballarat and its library committees benefited from the city's prosperity and the entrepreneurial zeal of its pioneers, these same library committees were unable to overcome the structural flaws in the public library model or to dispel the widespread belief that libraries were elitist organisations. As a consequence, membership of the major libraries in Ballarat never exceeded 4% of the total population. Thirdly, it is acknowledged that an absence of records relating to book borrowing habits by individuals limits is a limiting factor, but this problem has been addressed, in part, by undertaking a comparative analysis of collection development policies, invoices, lists of popular authors and books, public comment and the book borrowing patterns of a number of comparable libraries in central Victoria. These resources provide a number of insights into the reading habits of library patrons in Ballarat in the late-nineteenth century. Finally, this thesis focuses on the management policies and practices of each library committee in Ballarat in order to move beyond the traditional explanation for the demise of nineteenth-century libraries and to propose an alternative explanation for the stagnation of public libraries in Ballarat in the mid-1880s. The traditional explanation for the demise of colonial libraries was the sudden reduction in government funding in the 1890s, whereas this thesis argues that a combination of factors, including the unresolved tensions with regard to libraries collection development policies, committee and municipal rivalry, and increasing conservatism, had already damaged the credibility of Ballarat’s libraries by the mid-1880s. It is argued that the intense rivalry between library committees resulted in an unnecessary duplication of services and an inadequate membership base. It is also argued that the increasingly conservative, un-cooperative and uninviting attitudes of these library committees discouraged patronage and as a direct consequence, membership and daily visitor rates of the free and Institute libraries in Ballarat plummeted by 80% between 1880-1900.

Consistency of sensory testing with 4- and 5-year-old children

Rank-order and paired comparison tests are widely used methods to assess previous termsensorynext term perception of young children. Small age differences could, however, influence the ability of children to carry out such tasks. This study compared rank-order and paired comparison tests for previous termconsistencynext term in previous term4next term- and 5-year-old children. During previous termfournext term sessions, 22 young adults, 21 previous term4next term-year-old and 47 5-year-old children carried out rank-order and paired comparison tests to measure discriminatory ability (0.22 M, 0.25 M, 0.29 M, 0.34 M, 0.39 M sucrose in orangeade) and preference (0.14 M, 0.20 M, 0.29 M, 0.42 M, 0.61 M sucrose in orangeade). Young adults and 5-year-old children were able to discriminate between all solutions and showed a high previous termconsistencynext term between the rank-order and pair-wise tests for discriminatory ability (>76% previous termconsistency)next term and preference (>71% previous termconsistency)next term. In contrast, previous term4next term-year-olds detected differences in sweetness during the preference tests, but failed to distinguish sweetness intensities during the discriminatory ability tests. It is concluded that the dissimilarity between previous term4next term-and 5-year-olds in performing previous termsensorynext term tests was due to a difference in their cognitive skills rather than their previous termsensorynext term perceptual differences.

The phenomenology of being-meditative

This thesis addresses the experience of being-meditative using a philosophical perspective. It discloses the ontological dynamics of meditative-Dasein and reveals the meditative modes of being-at-rest, a cultural and social mode of being, whose perceptual intentionality is unified by the authentic Care for Being, thereby enabling a Homecoming.

Post global financial crisis international business strategies

International business strategies are affected by economic conditions, although the resource-based view would suggest that company resources are a more significant factor. This paper identifies differences in the international strategy behaviours of companies located in countries which, as a result of the GFC, entered either a deep recession, a shallow recession or no recession at all. Empirical evidence is provided for companies with home country markets with each of these conditions. The ability of international strategy theories to explain these behaviours is considered. Based on observations of international businesses with home country markets in each of these categories, it is suggested that determinants of international strategy during financial crises (and immediately after) are influenced by the strength of the home country market, foreign market government protectionist behaviour, international exchange rate variations and local levels of rivalry.

Oleocanthal, a natural anti-Inflammatory compound in extra virgin olive oil

Recent research on the olive oil phenolic, oleo canthal has led to speculation that it may confer some of the health benefits associated with a traditional Mediterranean diet. Oleocanthal produces a peppery, stinging sensation at the back of the throat similar to that of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), ibuprofen. This led to the hypothesis that the perceptual similarity between oleocanthal and ibuprofen may indicate similar pharmacological properties. Subsequent studies have proved the hypothesis and oleocanthal was shown not only to inhibit inflammation in the same way as ibuprofen does, but it was found to be substantially more potent than this NSAID. It is important to note that inflammation has been demonstrated to playa significant role in the development of a number of chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease (CVD) and certain types of cancers. Therefore, as a result of dietary feeding with olive oil as a part of the traditional Mediterranean diet, a reduction in inflammation produced by oleocanthal is speculated to be the potential mechanism that is partially responsible for the health benefits associated with this dietary pattern. This review summarizes the current knowledge on oleocanthal, in tenns of its physiological and sensory properties, as well as a discussion on the factors that have the ability to affect oleocanthal concentrations in extra virgin olive oils (EVOOs).

A novel bipolar time-spread echo hiding based watermarking method for stereo audio signals

In this paper, a novel bipolar time-spread (TS) echo hiding based watermarking method is proposed for stereo audio signals, to overcome the low robustness problem in the traditional TS echo hiding method. At the embedding, echo signals with opposite polarities are added to both channels of the host audio signal. This improves the imperceptibility of the watermarking scheme, since added watermarks have similar effects in both channels. Then decoding part is developed, in order to improve the robustness of the watermarking scheme against common attacks. Since these novel embedding and decoding methods utilize the advantage of two channels in stereo audio signals, it significantly reduces the interference of host signal at watermark extraction which is the main reason for error detection in the traditional TS echo hiding based watermarking under closed-loop attack. The effectiveness of the proposed watermarking scheme is theoretically analyzed and verified by simulations under common attacks. The proposed echo hiding method outperforms conventional TS echo hiding based watermarking when their perceptual qualities are similar.

Effective pseudonoise sequence and decoding function for imperceptibility and robustness enhancement in time-spread echo-based audio watermarking

This paper proposes an effective pseudonoise (PN) sequence and the corresponding decoding function for time-spread echo-based audio watermarking. Different from the traditional PN sequence used in time-spread echo hiding, the proposed PN sequence has two features. Firstly, the echo kernel resulting from the new PN sequence has frequency characteristics with smaller magnitudes in perceptually significant region. This leads to higher perceptual quality. Secondly, the correlation function of the new PN sequence has three times more large peaks than that of the existing PN sequence. Based on this feature, we propose a new decoding function to improve the robustness of time-spread echo-based audio watermarking. The effectiveness of the proposed PN sequence and decoding function is illustrated by theoretical analysis, simulation examples, and listening test.