Dissociating verbal and nonverbal audiovisual object processing

This fMRI study investigates how audiovisual integration differs for verbal stimuli that can be matched at a phonological level and nonverbal stimuli that can be matched at a semantic level. Subjects were presented simultaneously with one visual and one auditory stimulus and were instructed to decide whether these stimuli referred to the same object or not. Verbal stimuli were simultaneously presented spoken and written object names, and nonverbal stimuli were photographs of objects simultaneously presented with naturally occurring object sounds. Stimulus differences were controlled by including two further conditions that paired photographs of objects with spoken words and object sounds with written words. Verbal matching, relative to all other conditions, increased activation in a region of the left superior temporal sulcus that has previously been associated with phonological processing. Nonverbal matching, relative to all other conditions, increased activation in a right fusiform region that has previously been associated with structural and conceptual object processing. Thus, we demonstrate how brain activation for audiovisual integration depends on the verbal content of the stimuli, even when stimulus and task processing differences are controlled.

The relationship between N2O, NO, and N2 fluxes from fertilized and irrigated dryland soils of the Aral Sea Basin, Uzbekistan

Microbial respiratory reduction of nitrous oxide (N2O) to dinitrogen (N2) via denitrification plays a key role within the global N-cycle since it is the most important process for converting reactive nitrogen back into inert molecular N2. However, due to methodological constraints, we still lack a comprehensive, quantitative understanding of denitrification rates and controlling factors across various ecosystems. We investigated N2, N2O and NO emissions from irrigated cotton fields within the Aral Sera Basin using the He/O2 atmosphere gas flow soil core technique and an incubation assay. NH4NO3 fertilizer, equivalent to 75 kg ha−1 and irrigation water, adjusting the water holding capacity to 70, 100 and 130% were applied to the incubation vessels to assess its influence on gaseous N emissions. Under soil conditions as they are naturally found after concomitant irrigation and fertilization, denitrification was the dominant process and N2 the main end product of denitrification. The mean ratios of N2/N2O emissions increased with increasing soil moisture content. N2 emissions exceeded N2O emissions by a factor of 5 ± 2 at 70% soil water holding capacity (WHC) and a factor of 55 ± 27 at 130% WHC. The mean ratios of N2O/NO emissions varied between 1.5 ± 0.4 (70% WHC) and 644 ± 108 (130% WHC). The magnitude of N2 emissions for irrigated cotton was estimated to be in the range of 24 ± 9 to 175 ± 65 kg-N ha−1season−1, while emissions of NO were only of minor importance (between 0.1 to 0.7 kg-N ha−1 season−1). The findings demonstrate that for irrigated dryland soils in the Aral Sera Basin, denitrification is a major pathway of N-loss and that substantial amounts of N-fertilizer are lost as N2 to the atmosphere for irrigated dryland soils.

Book Reviews : "Off Limits: a parent’s guide to keeping kids safe from sexual abuse" and "Smart Parenting for Safer Kids"

Two important books on the topic of child sexual abuse prevention were recently published: Off Limits: A Parent’s Guide to Keeping Kids Safe from Sexual Abuse (Wurtele & Berkower, 2010) and Smart Parenting for Safer Kids (Briggs, 2010). The authors of both books are highly credentialed with long experience researching and writing about child sexual abuse prevention. Sandy Wurtele, PhD, is author of landmark child- and parent-focused sexual abuse prevention programs conducted in the USA over the past 30 years. She has published over 80 journal articles and book chapters on this topic. Her co-author, Feather Berkower, MSW, has been conducting workshops for adults on this topic for 25 years. Freda Briggs, PhD, has over 40 years’ experience in child protection in Australia and has also published numerous scholarly works on the topic. She was the inaugural recipient of the Australian Humanitarian Award in 1998, was Senior Australian of the Year in 2000, and was awarded an Order of Australia in 2005.

Do children and adolescents with Down syndrome have deficits in motivation?

There appears to be a general acceptance that individuals with intellectual disability (ID) have deficits in motivation. Yet research with infants and young children has usually identified few differences in motivation for children with ID compared with those of the same mental age who are developing typically. Studies of motivation in children with ID in the middle years of childhood or adolescence are almost non-existent. However, research conducted more than 30 years ago (Harter & Zigler, 1974) continues to be cited as evidence of motivational deficits in those with ID even though the life experiences of people with ID have changed dramatically since that time.

Mediated politics in Australia : towards a qualitative evaluation

The debate about the democratic significance of these trends—a more aggressively inquisitorial media environment, greater public participation in political communication, a more accessible and transparent (at least in appearance) political class—continues, not least in Australia. This essay was written in the first half of 2013, a time of extreme political volatility in Australia, and in the run-up to a general election following three years of minority Labor government. By that stage in the political cycle, Prime Minister Julia Gillard had survived not one but two attempts at leadership “spills”, ministers had resigned or been sacked for disloyalty to the leader, major policy initiatives had been dumped, reversed or quietly dropped, and a Coalition opposition was confidently looking forward to a landslide majority in the election of September that year. Labor’s internal party turmoil, rather than the Coalition’s policy prospectus (which remained sketchy and vague right up to the eve of the election), were widely assumed to be the cause of the former’s poor standing in the opinion polls.

Experimental colonization of the canine urinary tract with the asymptomatic bacteriuria Escherichia coli strain 83972

Establishment of asymptomatic bacteriuria (ABU) with Escherichia coli 83972 is a viable prophylactic alternative to antibiotic therapy for the prevention of recurrent bacterial urinary tract infection in humans. Approximately 2 x 108 viable E. coli 83972 cells were introduced into the bladder of six healthy female dogs via a sterile urinary catheter. The presence of pyuria, depression, stranguria, pollakiuria and haematuria was documented for 6 weeks and urinalysis and aerobic bacterial cultures were performed every 24–72 h. Pyuria was present in all dogs on day 1 post-inoculation and 4/6 dogs (67%) had a positive urine culture on this day. Duration of colonization ranged from 0 to 10 days (median 4 days). Four dogs were re-inoculated on day 20. Duration of colonization following the second inoculation ranged from 1 to 3 days. No dog suffered pyrexia or appeared systemically unwell but all dogs initially exhibited mild pollakiuria and a small number displayed gross haematuria and/or stranguria. By day 3 of each trial all clinical signs had resolved. Persistent bacteriuria was not achieved in any dog but two dogs were colonized for 10 days following a single inoculation. Further research is required to determine whether establishment of ABU in dogs with recurrent urinary tract infection is a viable alternative to repeated doses of antimicrobial agents.

Glutathione transferase Ti and M1 genotype polymorphism in the normal population of Shanghai

Glutathione transferases are known to be important enzymes in the metabolism of xenobiotics. In humans genetic polymorphisms have been reported for the hGSTM1 and hGSTT1 genes leading to individual differences in susceptibility towards toxic effects, such as cancer. This study describes the distribution of the two polymorphisms of hGSTT1 and hGSTM1 in the normal Chinese population of Shanghai. Out of 219 healthy individuals having been genotyped for GSTTI and GSTMI, 108 (49%) were identified to be homozygously deficient for the GSTT1 gene and 107 (49%) for the GSTM1 gene.

The effect of sleep deprivation on BOLD activity elicited by a divided attention task

Sleep loss, widespread in today’s society and associated with a number of clinical conditions, has a detrimental effect on a variety of cognitive domains including attention. This study examined the sequelae of sleep deprivation upon BOLD fMRI activation during divided attention. Twelve healthy males completed two randomized sessions; one after 27 h of sleep deprivation and one after a normal night of sleep. During each session, BOLD fMRI was measured while subjects completed a cross-modal divided attention task (visual and auditory). After normal sleep, increased BOLD activation was observed bilaterally in the superior frontal gyrus and the inferior parietal lobe during divided attention performance. Subjects reported feeling significantly more sleepy in the sleep deprivation session, and there was a trend towards poorer divided attention task performance. Sleep deprivation led to a down regulation of activation in the left superior frontal gyrus, possibly reflecting an attenuation of top-down control mechanisms on the attentional system. These findings have implications for understanding the neural correlates of divided attention and the neurofunctional changes that occur in individuals who are sleep deprived.

Defining entertainment : an approach

Entertainment is a key cultural category. Yet the definition of entertainment can differ depending upon whom one asks. This article maps out understandings of entertainment in three key areas. Within industrial discourses, entertainment is defined by a commercial business model. Within evaluative discourses used by consumers and critics, it is understood through an aesthetic system that privileges emotional engagement, story, speed and vulgarity. Within academia, entertainment has not been a key organizing concept within the humanities, despite the fact that it is one of the central categories used by producers and consumers of culture. It has been important within psychology, where entertainment is understood in a solipsistic sense as being anything that an individual finds entertaining. Synthesizing these approaches, the authors propose a cross-sectoral definition of entertainment as ‘audience-centred commercial culture’.

Dismantling worker categories: the primary duty of care, and worker consultation, participation and representation, in the model Work Health and Safety Bill 2009

Late in 2009, the Australian Workplace Relations Ministers' Council endorsed the model Work Health and Safety Bill 2009, which is to be adopted by all Australian governments (federal, state and territory) from 01 January 2012. This paper describes and analyses two key sets of provisions in this model legislation. The first establishes a 'primary' duty of care imposed not on 'employers' but on persons conducting a business or undertaking, and owed to all kinds of workers engaged, directed or influenced by the person conducting the business or undertaking. The second encompasses broad duties on all persons conducting a business or undertaking to consult with workers who carry out work for the business or undertaking and who are directly affected by a work health and safety issue, and to facilitate the election of health and safety representatives representing all workers who carry out work for the business or undertaking. These provisions arguably make a significant contribution to solving a problem faced by occupational safety and health regulators around the world – modifying regulation to accommodate all forms of precarious work.

Touching Texts : Adaptations of Australian Picture Books for Tablets

In order to explore some of the possibilities and constraints of picture books on tablets, this chapter addresses adaptations of contemporary Australian picture books for tablet devices. It considers how publishing technologies shape form and meaning of picture books, and attends particularly to the impact of interactivity and adaptation on such meaning. After discussing some contextual issues for electronic literature, this chapter explores the print and tablet versions of three picture books: Libby Gleeson and Freya Blackwood’s Look, A Book! (2011), Nick Bland’s The Wrong Book (2009), and Shaun Tan’s Rules of Summer (2013).

The effects of metabolic work rate and ambient environment on physiological tolerance times while wearing explosive and chemical personal protective equipment

This study evaluated the physiological tolerance times when wearing explosive and chemical (>35kg) personal protective equipment (PPE) in simulated environmental extremes across a range of differing work intensities. Twelve healthy males undertook nine trials which involved walking on a treadmill at 2.5, 4 and 5.5 km.h-1 in the following environmental conditions, 21, 30 and 37 °C wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT). Participants exercised for 60 min or until volitional fatigue, core temperature reached 39 °C, or heart rate exceeded 90% of maximum. Tolerance time, core temperature, skin temperature, mean body temperature, heart rate and body mass loss were measured. Exercise time was reduced in the higher WBGT environments (WBGT37

Engaging, persuading, and entertaining citizens : mediatization and the Australian political public sphere

This paper draws upon public sphere theories and the “mediatization of politics” debate to develop a mapping of the Australian political public sphere, with particular reference to television. It discusses the concept of a “political public sphere,” and the contribution of both non-traditional news media genres, such as satirical television and infotainment formats, to an expanded conception of the political public sphere. It considers these questions in the context of two case studies: the Q&A program on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), and its uses of social media and interactive formats to engage citizens, and the comedy program Gruen Nation, also on the ABC, which analyzed the use of political advertising to persuade citizens during the 2013 Australian Federal election.

An unrelated income tax for Australia?

The Australian tax regime for not for profit organisations is notable because of its tolerance of such organisations generating untaxed trading income, unlike the United States and United Kingdom tax regimes. In 2011, the Australian government announced new arrangements for untaxed trading income after a High Court case drew attention to it. This chapter identifies issues experienced on a practical level in the US and the UK, where unrelated business income is taxed, and offers directions for any future Australian attempt to tax this income.