Practice uncertainty: Changing perceptions

Practice uncertainty occurs when health care providers feel uncomfortable in response to unfamiliar or challenging patient care situations. Practice uncertainty is inevitable in health care, and there are many contextual factors that can lead to either good or bad outcomes for patients and health care providers. Practice uncertainty is not a well-established concept in the literature, perhaps because of the predominant empirical paradigm and the high value placed on certainty within current health care culture. This study was conducted to explore practice uncertainty and bring this topic into the foreground as a first step toward practice evolution. A shift in the perception of practice uncertainty may change the way in which practitioners experience this phenomenon. This process must start with nursing educators recognizing and acknowledging this phenomenon when it occurs.

Habitus realisation: Negotiating identities through Chinese looks and Chinese language

The increasing linguistic and cultural diversity of our contemporary world points to the salience of maintaining and developing Heritage Language of ethnic minority groups. The mutually constitutive effect between Heritage Language learning and ethnic identity construction has been well documented in the literature. Classical social psychological work often quantitatively structures this phenomenon in a predictable linear relationship. In contrast, poststructural scholarship draws on qualitative approaches to claim the malleable and multiple dynamics behind the phenomenon. The two schools oppose but complement each other. Nevertheless, both schools struggle to capture the detailed and nuanced construction of ethnic identity through Heritage Language learning. Different from the extant research, we make an attempt to ethno-methodologically unearth the nuisances and predicaments embedded in the reflexive, subtle, and multi-layered identity constructions through nuanced, inter-nested language practices. Drawing on data from the qualitative phase of a large project, we highlight some small but powerful moments abstracted from the interview accounts of five Chinese Australian young people. Firstly, we zoom in on the life politics behind the ‘seen but unnoticed’ stereotype that looking Chinese means being able to speak Chinese. Secondly, we speculate the power relations between the speaker and the listener through the momentary and inadvertent breaches of the taken-for-granted stereotype. Next, we unveil how learning Chinese has become an accountably rational priority for these young Chinese Australians. Finally, we argue that the normalised stereotype becomes visible and hence stable when it is breached – a practical accomplishment that we term ‘habitus realisation’.

The empire of cancer: Gene patents and cancer voices

In his book, The Emperor of All Maladies, Siddhartha Mukherjee writes a history of cancer — "It is a chronicle of an ancient disease — once a clandestine, 'whispered-about' illness — that has metamorphosed into a lethal shape-shifting entity imbued with such penetrating metaphorical, medical, scientific, and political potency that cancer is often described as the defining plague of our generation." Increasingly, an important theme in the history of cancer is the role of law, particularly in the field of intellectual property law. It is striking that a number of contemporary policy debates over intellectual property and public health have concerned cancer research, diagnosis, and treatment. In the area of access to essential medicines, there has been much debate over Novartis’ patent application in respect of Glivec, a treatment for leukaemia. India’s Supreme Court held that the Swiss company’s patent application violated a safeguard provision in India’s patent law designed to stop evergreening. In the field of tobacco control, the Australian Government introduced plain packaging for tobacco products in order to address the health burdens associated with the tobacco epidemic. This regime was successfully defended in the High Court of Australia. In the area of intellectual property and biotechnology, there have been significant disputes over the Utah biotechnology company Myriad Genetics and its patents in respect of genetic testing for BRCA1 and BRCA2, which are related to breast cancer and ovarian cancer. The Federal Court of Australia handed down a decision on the validity of Myriad Genetics’ patent in respect of genetic testing for BRCA1 in February 2013. The Supreme Court of the United States heard a challenge to the validity of Myriad Genetics’ patents in this area in April 2013, and handed down a judgment in July 2013. Such disputes have involved tensions between intellectual property rights, and public health. This article focuses upon one of these important test cases involving intellectual property, public health, and cancer research. In June 2010, Cancer Voices Australia and Yvonne D’Arcy brought an action in the Federal Court of Australia against the validity of a BRCA1 patent — held by Myriad Genetics Inc, the Centre de Recherche du Chul, the Cancer Institute of Japan and Genetic Technologies Limited. Yvonne D’Arcy — a Brisbane woman who has had treatment for breast cancer — maintained: "I believe that what they are doing is morally and ethically corrupt and that big companies should not control any parts of the human body." She observed: "For my daughter, I've had her have [sic] mammograms, etc, because of me but I would still like her to be able to have the test to see if the mutation gene is in there from me." The applicants made the following arguments: "Genes and the information represented by human gene sequences are products of nature universally present in each individual, and the information content of a human gene sequence is fixed. Genetic variations or mutations are products of nature. The isolation of the BRCA1 gene mutation from the human body constitutes no more than a medical or scientific discovery of a naturally occurring phenomenon and does not give rise to a patentable invention." The applicants also argued that "the alleged invention is not a patentable invention in that, so far as claimed in claims 1–3, it is not a manner of manufacture within the meaning of s 6 of the Statute of Monopolies". The applicants suggested that "the alleged invention is a mere discovery". Moreover, the applicants contended that "the alleged invention of each of claims 1-3 is not a patentable invention because they are claims for biological processes for the generation of human beings". The applicants, though, later dropped the argument that the patent claims related to biological processes for the generation of human beings. In February 2013, Nicholas J of the Federal Court of Australia considered the case brought by Cancer Voices Australia and Yvonne D’Arcy against Myriad Genetics. The judge presented the issues in the case, as follows: "The issue that arises in this case is of considerable importance. It relates to the patentability of genes, or gene sequences, and the practice of 'gene patenting'. Briefly stated, the issue to be decided is whether under the Patents Act 1990 (Cth) a valid patent may be granted for a claim that covers naturally occurring nucleic acid — either deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) or ribonucleic acid (RNA) — that has been 'isolated'". In this context, the word "isolated" implies that naturally occurring nucleic acid found in the cells of the human body, whether it be DNA or RNA, has been removed from the cellular environment in which it naturally exists and separated from other cellular components also found there. The genes found in the human body are made of nucleic acid. The particular gene with which the patent in suit is concerned (BRCA1) is a human breast and ovarian cancer disposing gene. Various mutations that may be present in this gene have been linked to various forms of cancer including breast cancer and ovarian cancer.' The judge held in this particular case that Myriad Genetics’ patent claims were a "manner of manufacture" under s 6 of the Statute of Monopolies and s 18(1)(a) of the Patents Act 1990 (Cth). The matter is currently under appeal in the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia. This article interprets the dispute over Myriad Genetics in light of the scholarly work of Nobel Laureate Professor Joseph Stiglitz on inequality. Such work has significant explanatory power in the context of intellectual property and biotechnology. First, Stiglitz has contended that "societal inequality was a result not just of the laws of economics, but also of how we shape the economy — through politics, including through almost every aspect of our legal system". Stiglitz is concerned that "our intellectual property regime … contributes needlessly to the gravest form of inequality." He maintains: "The right to life should not be contingent on the ability to pay." Second, Stiglitz worries that "some of the most iniquitous aspects of inequality creation within our economic system are a result of 'rent-seeking': profits, and inequality, generated by manipulating social or political conditions to get a larger share of the economic pie, rather than increasing the size of that pie". He observes that "the most iniquitous aspect of this wealth appropriation arises when the wealth that goes to the top comes at the expense of the bottom." Third, Stiglitz comments: "When the legal regime governing intellectual property rights is designed poorly, it facilitates rent-seeking" and "the result is that there is actually less innovation and more inequality." He is concerned that intellectual property regimes "create monopoly rents that impede access to health both create inequality and hamper growth more generally." Finally, Stiglitz has recommended: "Government-financed research, foundations, and the prize system … are alternatives, with major advantages, and without the inequality-increasing disadvantages of the current intellectual property rights system.’" This article provides a critical analysis of the Australian litigation and debate surrounding Myriad Genetics’ patents in respect of genetic testing for BRCA1. First, it considers the ruling of Nicholas J in the Federal Court of Australia that Myriad Genetics’ patent was a manner of manufacture as it related to an artificially created state of affairs, and not mere products of nature. Second, it examines the policy debate over gene patents in Australia, and its relevance to the litigation involving Myriad Genetics. Third, it examines comparative law, and contrasts the ruling by Nicholas J in the Federal Court of Australia with developments in the United States, Canada, and the European Union. Fourth, this piece considers the reaction to the decision of Nicholas at first instance in Australia. Fifth, the article assesses the prospects of an appeal to the Full Federal Court of Australia over the Myriad Genetics’ patents. Finally, this article observes that, whatever happens in respect of litigation against Myriad Genetics, there remains controversy over Genetic Technologies Limited. The Melbourne firm has been aggressively licensing and enforcing its related patents on non-coding DNA and genomic mapping.

Information encountering on social media and tacit knowledge sharing

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how social media may support information encountering (i.e., where individuals encounter useful and interesting information while seeking or browsing for some other information) and how this may lead to facilitation of tacit knowledge creation and sharing. The study employed a qualitative survey design that interviewed twenty-four physicians who were active users of social media to better understand the phenomenon of information encountering on social media. The data was analysed using the thematic analysis approach. The study found six main ways through which social media supports information encountering. Furthermore, drawing upon knowledge creation theories, the study concluded that information encountering on social media facilitates tacit knowledge creation and sharing among individuals. The study provides new directions for further empirical investigations to examine whether information encountering on social media actually leads to tacit knowledge creation and sharing. The findings of the study may also provide opportunities for users to adopt social media effectively or gain greater value from social media use.

Classic identity negative priming involves accessing semantic representations in the left anterior temporal cortex

Classic identity negative priming (NP) refers to the finding that when an object is ignored, subsequent naming responses to it are slower than when it has not been previously ignored (Tipper, S.P., 1985. The negative priming effect: inhibitory priming by ignored objects. Q. J. Exp. Psychol. 37A, 571-590). It is unclear whether this phenomenon arises due to the involvement of abstract semantic representations that the ignored object accesses automatically. Contemporary connectionist models propose a key role for the anterior temporal cortex in the representation of abstract semantic knowledge (e.g., McClelland, J.L., Rogers, T.T., 2003. The parallel distributed processing approach to semantic cognition. Nat. Rev. Neurosci. 4, 310-322), suggesting that this region should be involved during performance of the classic identity NP task if it involves semantic access. Using high-field (4 T) event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging, we observed increased BOLD responses in the left anterolateral temporal cortex including the temporal pole that was directly related to the magnitude of each individual's NP effect, supporting a semantic locus. Additional signal increases were observed in the supplementary eye fields (SEF) and left inferior parietal lobule (IPL).

Negative priming in naming of categorically related objects: An fMRI study

Ignoring an object slows subsequent naming responses to it, a phenomenon known as negative priming (NP). A central issue in NP research concerns the level of representation at which the effect occurs. As object naming is typically considered to involve access to abstract semantic representations, Tipper 1985 proposed that the NP effect occurred at this level of processing, and other researchers supported this proposal by demonstrating a similar result with categorically related objects (e.g., Allport et al., 1985; Murray, 1995), an effect referred to as semantic NP. However, objects within categories share more physical or structural features than objects from different categories. Consequently, the NP effect observed with categorically related objects might occur at a structural rather than semantic level of representation. We used event related fMRI interleaving overt object naming and image acquisition to demonstrate for the first time that the semantic NP effect activates the left posterior-mid fusiform and insular-opercular cortices. Moreover, both naming latencies and left posterior-mid fusiform cortex responses were influenced by the structural similarity of prime-probe object pairings in the categorically related condition, increasing with the number of shared features. None of the cerebral regions activated in a previous fMRI study of the identity NP effect (de Zubicaray et al., 2006) showed similar activation during semantic NP, including the left anterolateral temporal cortex, a region considered critical for semantic processing. The results suggest that the identity and semantic NP effects differ with respect to their neural mechanisms, and the label "semantic NP" might be a misnomer. We conclude that the effect is most likely the result of competition between structurally similar category exemplars that determines the efficiency of object name retrieval.

Development of the 'rich club' in brain connectivity networks from 438 adolescents & adults aged 12 to 30

The 'rich club' coefficient describes a phenomenon where a network's hubs (high-degree nodes) are on average more intensely interconnected than lower-degree nodes. Networks with rich clubs often have an efficient, higher-order organization, but we do not yet know how the rich club emerges in the living brain, or how it changes as our brain networks develop. Here we chart the developmental trajectory of the rich club in anatomical brain networks from 438 subjects aged 12-30. Cortical networks were constructed from 68×68 connectivity matrices of fiber density, using whole-brain tractography in 4-Tesla 105-gradient high angular resolution diffusion images (HARDI). The adult and younger cohorts had rich clubs that included different nodes; the rich club effect intensified with age. Rich-club organization is a sign of a network's efficiency and robustness. These concepts and findings may be advantageous for studying brain maturation and abnormal brain development.

Common genetic variants influence human subcortical brain structures

The highly complex structure of the human brain is strongly shaped by genetic influences. Subcortical brain regions form circuits with cortical areas to coordinate movement, learning, memory and motivation, and altered circuits can lead to abnormal behaviour and disease. To investigate how common genetic variants affect the structure of these brain regions, here we conduct genome-wide association studies of the volumes of seven subcortical regions and the intracranial volume derived from magnetic resonance images of 30,717 individuals from 50 cohorts. We identify five novel genetic variants influencing the volumes of the putamen and caudate nucleus. We also find stronger evidence for three loci with previously established influences on hippocampal volume and intracranial volume. These variants show specific volumetric effects on brain structures rather than global effects across structures. The strongest effects were found for the putamen, where a novel intergenic locus with replicable influence on volume (rs945270; P = 1.08×10 -33; 0.52% variance explained) showed evidence of altering the expression of the KTN1 gene in both brain and blood tissue. Variants influencing putamen volume clustered near developmental genes that regulate apoptosis, axon guidance and vesicle transport. Identification of these genetic variants provides insight into the causes of variability in human brain development, and may help to determine mechanisms of neuropsychiatric dysfunction.

Interference from object part relations in spoken word production: Behavioural and fMRI evidence

Objects presented in categorically related contexts are typically named slower than objects presented in unrelated contexts, a phenomenon termed semantic interference. However, not all semantic relationships induce interference. In the present study, we investigated the influence of object part-relations in the blocked cyclic naming paradigm. In Experiment 1 we established that an object's parts do induce a semantic interference effect when named in context compared to unrelated parts (e.g., leaf, root, nut, bark; for tree). In Experiment 2) we replicated the effect during perfusion functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to identify the cerebral regions involved. The interference effect was associated with significant perfusion signal increases in the hippocampal formation and decreases in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. We failed to observe significant perfusion signal changes in the left lateral temporal lobe, a region that shows reliable activity for interference effects induced by categorical relations in the same paradigm and is proposed to mediate lexical-semantic processing. We interpret these results as supporting recent explanations of semantic interference in blocked cyclic naming that implicate working memory mechanisms. However, given the failure to observe significant perfusion signal changes in the left temporal lobe, the results provide only partial support for accounts that assume semantic interference in this paradigm arises solely due to lexical-level processes.

Emotionally intense science activities

Science activities that evoke positive emotional responses make a difference to students’ emotional experience of science. In this study, we explored 8th Grade students’ discrete emotions expressed during science activities in a unit on Energy. Multiple data sources including classroom videos, interviews and emotion diaries completed at the end of each lesson were analysed to identify individual student's emotions. Results from two representative students are presented as case studies. Using a theoretical perspective drawn from theories of emotions founded in sociology, two assertions emerged. First, during the demonstration activity, students experienced the emotions of wonder and surprise; second, during a laboratory activity, students experienced the intense positive emotions of happiness/joy. Characteristics of these activities that contributed to students’ positive experiences are highlighted. The study found that choosing activities that evoked strong positive emotional experiences, focused students’ attention on the phenomenon they were learning, and the activities were recalled positively. Furthermore, such positive experiences may contribute to students’ interest and engagement in science and longer term memorability. Finally, implications for science teachers and pre-service teacher education are suggested.

Utility of web content blocks in content extraction

Currently we are facing an overburdening growth of the number of reliable information sources on the Internet. The quantity of information available to everyone via Internet is dramatically growing each year [15]. At the same time, temporal and cognitive resources of human users are not changing, therefore causing a phenomenon of information overload. World Wide Web is one of the main sources of information for decision makers (reference to my research). However our studies show that, at least in Poland, the decision makers see some important problems when turning to Internet as a source of decision information. One of the most common obstacles raised is distribution of relevant information among many sources, and therefore need to visit different Web sources in order to collect all important content and analyze it. A few research groups have recently turned to the problem of information extraction from the Web [13]. The most effort so far has been directed toward collecting data from dispersed databases accessible via web pages (related to as data extraction or information extraction from the Web) and towards understanding natural language texts by means of fact, entity, and association recognition (related to as information extraction). Data extraction efforts show some interesting results, however proper integration of web databases is still beyond us. Information extraction field has been recently very successful in retrieving information from natural language texts, however it is still lacking abilities to understand more complex information, requiring use of common sense knowledge, discourse analysis and disambiguation techniques.

Connected Viewing: Selling, Streaming and Sharing Media in the Digital Era

As patterns of media use become more integrated with mobile technologies and multiple screens, a new mode of viewer engagement has emerged in the form of connected viewing, which allows for an array of new relationships between audiences and media texts in the digital space. This exciting new collection brings together twelve original essays that critically engage with the socially-networked, multi-platform, and cloud-based world of today, examining the connected viewing phenomenon across television, film, video games, and social media. The result is a wide-ranging analysis of shifting business models, policy matters, technological infrastructure, new forms of user engagement, and other key trends affecting screen media in the digital era. Connected Viewing contextualizes the dramatic transformations taking place across both media industries and national contexts, and offers students and scholars alike a diverse set of methods and perspectives for studying this critical moment in media culture.

The life of data: Evolving national testing

To this point, the collection has provided research-based, empirical accounts of the various and multiple effects of the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) in Australian schooling as a specific example of the global phenomenon of national testing. In this chapter, we want to develop a more theoretical analysis of national testing systems, globalising education policy and the promise of national testing as adaptive, online tests. These future moves claim to provide faster feedback and more useful diagnostic help for teachers. There is a utopian testing dream that one day adaptive, online tests will be responsive in real time providing an integrated personalised testing, pedagogy and intervention for each student. The moves towards these next generation assessments are well advanced, including the work of Pearson’s NextGen Learning and Assessment research group, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) move into assessing affective skills and the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority’s (ACARA) decision to phase in NAPLAN as an online, adaptive test from 2017...

National testing from an Australian perspective

Introduction This book examines a pressing educational issue: the global phenomenon of national testing in schooling and its vernacular development in Australia. The Australian National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN), introduced in 2008, involves annual census testing of students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 in nearly all Australian schools. In a variety of ways, NAPLAN affects the lives of Australia’s 3.5 million school students and their families, as well as more than 350,000 school staff and many other stakeholders in education. This book is organised in relation to a simple question: What are the effects of national testing for systems, schools and individuals? Of course, this simple question requires complex answers. The chapters in this edited collection consider issues relating to national testing policy, the construction of the test, usages of the testing data and various effects of testing in systems, schools and classrooms. Each chapter examines an aspect of national testing in Australia using evidence drawn from research. The final chapter by the editors of this collection provides a broader reflection on this phenomenon and situates developments in testing globally...

Beyond Bingo: A phenomenographic exploration of leisure in aged care

How do older adults living in residential aged care experience leisure activities? What restricts and facilitates participation? These two research questions guided this semi-longitudinal qualitative research, tracking the lived experience of aged care from the perspective of twenty new aged care residents over 18 months (average age, 80 years) through repeated in-depth semi-structured interviews. Interview data were analyzed using phenomenography, an under-utilized qualitative analysis technique that identifies the variations in how people experience, understand, or conceive of a phenomenon. Phenomenography revealed three qualitatively different ways of understanding residents’ leisure experience: - (1) as a structure for living, - (2) creating social connections, and; - (3) maintaining ability. By illustrating the variation and similarities in how these older Australian residents conceptualise and experience leisure in aged care, the findings may help facilitate a more thoughtful understanding that informs theory, policy and practice.