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Background/Objective Adventure racing is an ultra-endurance activity that imposes a unique multifaceted stress on the human body. The purpose of this field study was to examine the physiological responses to a 5-day adventure race. Methods Eight competitors, two teams (1 female each) in the 2012 GODZone adventure race volunteered. Competitors trekked, cycled and paddled ∼326 km in ∼116 hours. Continuous glucose was measured the day before and throughout. Body mass, urinary solutes, and blood pressure and heart rate during resting, standing, and repeated squat-stand conditions, were assessed pre and post. Results Despite no changes in mean blood glucose levels, there was increased glycemic variability (Standard deviation glucose; Pre: 0.5 ± 0.1 vs Race: 1.0 ± 0.2 mmol/L, p = 0.02) and periods of hypoglycemia (i.e., Min glucose Pre: 4.1 ± 0.3 vs Race: 3.6 ± 0.5 mmol/L, p = 0.05) during the race. After the race, the blood pressure during resting, standing and squat-stand conditions was significantly lower, by 14 ± 14 mmHg, 16 ± 15 mmHg and 18 ± 15 mmHg (all p < 0.05), respectively, with no change in heart rate. During five-days of adventure racing there is increased glycemic variability and more frequent periods of low blood glucose levels. Additionally, following the race pronounced hypotension is observed in competitors. Conclusion We observed more frequent glucose fluctuations, lower glucose levels and significant perturbations in blood pressure control. Further research is warranted to examine the long-term impact of adventure racing on metabolic and cardiovascular function.

This paper aims at analyzing the size-dependent nonlinear dynamical behavior of a geometrically imperfect microbeam made of a functionally graded (FG) material, taking into account the longitudinal, transverse, and rotational motions. The size-dependent property is modeled by means of the modified couple stress theory, the shear deformation and rotary inertia are modeled using the Timoshenko beam theory, and the graded material property in the beam thickness direction is modeled via the Mori-Tanaka homogenization technique. The kinetic and size-dependent potential energies of the system are developed as functions of the longitudinal, transverse, and rotational motions. On the basis of an energy method, the continuous models of the system motion are obtained. Upon application of a weighted-residual method, the reduced-order model is obtained. A continuation method along with an eigenvalue extraction technique is utilized for the nonlinear and linear analyses, respectively. A special attention is paid on the effects of the material gradient index, the imperfection amplitude, and the length-scale parameter on the system dynamical response.

This chapter explains the way justice is being considered by two local governments tasked with the responsibility of facilitating adaptation to sea-level rise. It compares the ways in which the East Gippsland Shire Council and Wellington Shire Council in Victoria have approached adaptation to sea-level rise, how they have engaged their communities on the issue, and the way staff in these two local governments think about the justice dimensions of adaptation.

Background: Healthcare systems are faced with changing community health profiles and ageing populations. Together with economic considerations, these factors have influenced the increase in provision of care in primary rather than other healthcare settings. Many nurses are electing to move from acute care to meet demands for a skilled primary healthcare workforce. However, little is reported about these nurses' experiences of transition. Aim: To describe how role theory provides a theoretical framework to inform the design of a mixed-methods study exploring the transition of acute care nurses to roles in primary health care. Discussion: The paper explores the relevance of role theory and its components as a validated framework for informing the design of the quantitative and qualitative components of the study. The methodology consisted of a national survey of recently transitioned nurses, with questions that explored experiences of nurses in relation to role exit, role entry, role enactment, role ambiguity, role stress, role strain and rites of passage. The qualitative component of the study incorporated semi-structured interviews with selected participants to further explore aspects of the transition.

Background: Healthcare systems are faced with changing community health profiles and ageing populations. Together with economic considerations, these factors have influenced the increase in provision of care in primary rather than other healthcare settings. Many nurses are electing to move from acute care to meet demands for a skilled primary healthcare workforce. However, little is reported about these nurses' experiences of transition. Aim: To describe how role theory provides a theoretical framework to inform the design of a mixed-methods study exploring the transition of acute care nurses to roles in primary health care. Discussion: The paper explores the relevance of role theory and its components as a validated framework for informing the design of the quantitative and qualitative components of the study. The methodology consisted of a national survey of recently transitioned nurses, with questions that explored experiences of nurses in relation to role exit, role entry, role enactment, role ambiguity, role stress, role strain and rites of passage. The qualitative component of the study incorporated semi-structured interviews with selected participants to further explore aspects of the transition.

There is a growing expectation that volunteers will have a greater role in disaster management in the future compared to the past. This is driven largely by a growing focus on building resilience to disasters. At the same time, the wider landscape of volunteering is fundamentally changing in the twenty-first century. This paper considers implications of this changing landscape for the resilience agenda in disaster management, with a focus on Australia. It first reviews major forces and trends impacting on disaster volunteering, highlighting four key developments: the growth of more diverse and episodic volunteering styles, the impact of new communications technology, greater private sector involvement and growing government expectations of and intervention in the voluntary sector. It then examines opportunities in this changing landscape for the Australian emergency management sector across five key strategic areas and provides examples of Australian responses to these opportunities to date. The five areas of focus are: developing more flexible volunteering strategies, harnessing spontaneous volunteering, building capacity to engage digital (and digitally enabled) volunteers, tapping into the growth of employee and skills-based volunteering and co-producing community-based disaster risk reduction. Although there have been considerable steps taken in Australia in some of these areas, overall there is still a long way to go before the sector can take full advantage of emerging opportunities. The paper thus concludes by identifying important research and practice gaps in this area.

Background Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing for prostate cancer is controversial. There are unresolved tensions and disagreements amongst experts, and clinical guidelines conflict. This both reflects and generates significant uncertainty about the appropriateness of screening. Little is known about general practitioners' (GPs') perspectives and experiences in relation to PSA testing of asymptomatic men. In this paper we asked the following questions: (1) What are the primary sources of uncertainty as described by GPs in the context of PSA testing? (2) How do GPs experience and respond to different sources of uncertainty? Methods This was a qualitative study that explored general practitioners' current approaches to, and reasoning about, PSA testing of asymptomatic men. We draw on accounts generated from interviews with 69 general practitioners located in Australia (n = 40) and the United Kingdom (n = 29). The interviews were conducted in 2013-2014. Data were analysed using grounded theory methods. Uncertainty in PSA testing was identified as a core issue. Findings Australian GPs reported experiencing substantially more uncertainty than UK GPs. This seemed partly explainable by notable differences in conditions of practice between the two countries. Using Han et al's taxonomy of uncertainty as an initial framework, we first outline the different sources of uncertainty GPs (mostly Australian) described encountering in relation to prostate cancer screening and what the uncertainty was about. We then suggest an extension to Han et al's taxonomy based on our analysis of data relating to the varied ways that GPs manage uncertainties in the context of PSA testing. We outline three broad strategies: (1) taking charge of uncertainty; (2) engaging others in managing uncertainty; and (3) transferring the responsibility for reducing or managing some uncertainties to other parties. Conclusion Our analysis suggests some GPs experienced uncertainties associated with ambiguo

It is shown that recently discovered haemodynamic waves can form shock-like fronts when driven by stimuli that excite the cortex in a patch that moves faster than the haemodynamic wave velocity. If stimuli are chosen in order to induce shock-like behaviour, the resulting blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) response is enhanced, thereby improving the signal to noise ratio of measurements made with functional magnetic resonance imaging. A spatio-temporal haemodynamic model is extended to calculate the BOLD response and determine the main properties of waves induced by moving stimuli. From this, the optimal conditions for stimulating shock-like responses are determined, and ways of inducing these responses in experiments are demonstrated in a pilot study.

The original motivation for this article was the atypical way that the government, police, media and wider community responded to the tragic death of Thomas Kelly in Kings Cross in July 2012. Kelly was killed as the result of a random, unprovoked and drunken 'one punch' assault. This event had all the hallmarks of the crimes that have often triggered a punitive knee-jerk response, reflecting the 'law and order' paradigm that Russell Hogg and David Brown so powerfully exposed in Rethinking Law and Order (Pluto Press, 1998). However, at least initially, we did not see the familiar calls for harsher retribution, new offences or additional police powers. Rather, as discussed in the article, what unfolded in 2012-2013 was a progressive campaign centred on the need to take meaningful steps to prevent so-called 'alcohol-fuelled violence'. In the article, I employed the work of Ernesto Laclau, Margaret Canovan and Russell Hogg to suggest that these events illustrated that populism is not an inherently punitive force, but can produce constructive, even progressive, outcomes. The campaign that followed Kelly's death was driven by the emotions of sadness, sympathy and grief, but also anger, revulsion and outrage. Often at such moments a polarising and demonising discourse dominates, but in this instance, these emotions operated to unify the people against the common 'enemy' of 'alcohol-fuelled violence'.

Recently a proliferation and intensification of school programmes that are directed towards teaching children and young people about food has been witnessed. Whilst there is much to learn about food, anxieties concerning the obesity epidemic have dramatically shaped how schools address the topic. This article draws on governmentality to consider 'the conditions of possibility' for teaching about food in contemporary times. In particular the form that knowledge about food takes in the midst of an obesity epidemic, the authorities on which it draws for its legitimacy and the learnings made possible are considered. To do this two Australian studies investigating students' engagement with school-health knowledge are considered. It is suggested that the obesity epidemic has potently shaped the ways schools seek to teach about food and the possibilities for how young people come to understand their own, and others', food choices.

Previous research has shown that front-of-pack labels (FoPLs) can assist people to make healthier food choices if they are easy to understand and people are motivated to use them. There is some evidence that FoPLs providing an assessment of a food's health value (evaluative FoPLs) are easier to use than those providing only numerical information on nutrients (reductive FoPLs). Recently, a new evaluative FoPL (the Health Star Rating (HSR)) has been introduced to Australia and New Zealand. The HSR features a summary indicator, differentiating it from many other FoPLs being used around the world. The aim of this study was to understand how consumers of all ages use and make sense of reductive FoPLs and evaluative FoPLs including evaluative FoPLs with and without summary indicators. Ten focus groups were conducted in Perth, Western Australia with adults (n = 50) and children aged 10-17 years (n = 35) to explore reactions to one reductive FoPL (the Daily Intake Guide), an existing evaluative FoPL (multiple traffic lights), and a new evaluative FoPL (the HSR). Participants preferred the evaluative FoPLs over the reductive FoPL, with the strongest preference being for the FoPL with the summary indicator (HSR). Discussions revealed the cognitive strategies used when interpreting each FoPL (e.g., using cut offs, heuristics, and the process of elimination), which differed according to FoPL format. Most participants reported being motivated to use the evaluative FoPLs (particularly the HSR) to make choices about foods consumed as part of regular daily meals, but not for discretionary foods consumed as snacks or deserts. The findings provide further evidence of the potential utility of evaluative FoPLs in supporting healthy food choices and can assist policy makers in selecting between alternative FoPL formats.

This paper presents findings from a gendered analysis of resident responses to the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires (wildfires) in Victoria, Australia. One hundred and seventy-three people lost their lives in the bushfires and more than 2000 houses were destroyed. Previous research on Black Saturday has largely focused on issues of resident preparedness and response, with limited consideration of the role of gender in household decisions and actions. This paper examines the gendered dimensions of risk awareness, preparedness and response among households affected by the bushfires. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with over 600 survivors and a questionnaire of 1314 households in fire-affected areas. Analysis revealed that women more often wanted to leave than men, who more often wanted to stay and defend property against the bushfires. Nevertheless, findings suggest that broad-brush characterisations of staying to defend as a masculine response and leaving as a feminine response are misguided. Although some women expressed a strong desire to leave, others were resolute on staying to defend. Equally, while some men were determined to stay and defend, others had never considered it an option. Despite this, the research identified numerous instances where disagreement had arisen as a result of differing intentions. Conflict most often stemmed from men's reluctance to leave, and was most apparent where households had not adequately planned or discussed their intended responses. The paper concludes by considering the degree to which the findings are consistent with other research on gender and bushfire, and the implications for bushfire safety policy and practice.

We examine how two different underlying mechanisms of behavioral loyalty to a brand - attitudinal loyalty and habit - impact smartphone users' privacy management when they browse personalized vs. non-personalized mobile websites. The online experimental study conducted with Amazon Mechanical Turk workers (N = 73) finds different responses of attitudinal loyalty and habit towards personalization in significant three-way interactions between personalization, attitudinal loyalty, and habit on privacy disclosure and protection behaviors. When interacting with a personalized website, highly habitual consumers without high level of attitudinal loyalty disclosed the most personal information on a personalized mobile site, and displayed the least intention of protecting their privacy on their smartphones, whereas consumers with high levels of both habit and attitudinal loyalty reported the highest tendency of privacy protection behavior. However, habit and personalization do not have a significant effect on disclosure behaviors when users have high attitudinal loyalty to a brand. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Objective To examine the effect of a high-intensity stepwise conditioning programme combined with multiple recovery measures on physical fitness, agility, and knee pain symptoms of an injured player. Design A single case study. Setting University-based conditioning training laboratory. Participants One 26-year-old male world-class badminton player (height, 190.0 cm; weight, 79.3 kg; left dominant hand; playing experience, 16 years; former world champion) with patellar tendinosis and calcification of his left knee. High-conditioning stepwise conditioning programme The player received seven conditioning sessions over three weeks. During the programme, there was a gradual increase in training duration and load across sessions while cold therapy, manual stretches and massage were administered after each session to minimise inflammation. Main outcome measures The training outcome was evaluated with three different testing methods: standard step test, badminton-specific agility test, and tension-pain rating. Results The conditioning programme reduced knee pain symptoms and improved actual performance and cardiopulmonary fitness during the agility task. The player was able to return to sport and compete within a month. Conclusions A high-intensity stepwise conditioning programme improved the physical fitness while sufficient recovery measures minimised any possible undesirable effects and promoted faster return to elite level competition.

Objective To examine the effect of a high-intensity stepwise conditioning programme combined with multiple recovery measures on physical fitness, agility, and knee pain symptoms of an injured player. Design A single case study. Setting University-based conditioning training laboratory. Participants One 26-year-old male world-class badminton player (height, 190.0 cm; weight, 79.3 kg; left dominant hand; playing experience, 16 years; former world champion) with patellar tendinosis and calcification of his left knee. High-conditioning stepwise conditioning programme The player received seven conditioning sessions over three weeks. During the programme, there was a gradual increase in training duration and load across sessions while cold therapy, manual stretches and massage were administered after each session to minimise inflammation. Main outcome measures The training outcome was evaluated with three different testing methods: standard step test, badminton-specific agility test, and tension-pain rating. Results The conditioning programme reduced knee pain symptoms and improved actual performance and cardiopulmonary fitness during the agility task. The player was able to return to sport and compete within a month. Conclusions A high-intensity stepwise conditioning programme improved the physical fitness while sufficient recovery measures minimised any possible undesirable effects and promoted faster return to elite level competition.

Objective To examine the effect of a high-intensity stepwise conditioning programme combined with multiple recovery measures on physical fitness, agility, and knee pain symptoms of an injured player. Design A single case study. Setting University-based conditioning training laboratory. Participants One 26-year-old male world-class badminton player (height, 190.0 cm; weight, 79.3 kg; left dominant hand; playing experience, 16 years; former world champion) with patellar tendinosis and calcification of his left knee. High-conditioning stepwise conditioning programme The player received seven conditioning sessions over three weeks. During the programme, there was a gradual increase in training duration and load across sessions while cold therapy, manual stretches and massage were administered after each session to minimise inflammation. Main outcome measures The training outcome was evaluated with three different testing methods: standard step test, badminton-specific agility test, and tension-pain rating. Results The conditioning programme reduced knee pain symptoms and improved actual performance and cardiopulmonary fitness during the agility task. The player was able to return to sport and compete within a month. Conclusions A high-intensity stepwise conditioning programme improved the physical fitness while sufficient recovery measures minimised any possible undesirable effects and promoted faster return to elite level competition.

Objective To examine the effect of a high-intensity stepwise conditioning programme combined with multiple recovery measures on physical fitness, agility, and knee pain symptoms of an injured player. Design A single case study. Setting University-based conditioning training laboratory. Participants One 26-year-old male world-class badminton player (height, 190.0 cm; weight, 79.3 kg; left dominant hand; playing experience, 16 years; former world champion) with patellar tendinosis and calcification of his left knee. High-conditioning stepwise conditioning programme The player received seven conditioning sessions over three weeks. During the programme, there was a gradual increase in training duration and load across sessions while cold therapy, manual stretches and massage were administered after each session to minimise inflammation. Main outcome measures The training outcome was evaluated with three different testing methods: standard step test, badminton-specific agility test, and tension-pain rating. Results The conditioning programme reduced knee pain symptoms and improved actual performance and cardiopulmonary fitness during the agility task. The player was able to return to sport and compete within a month. Conclusions A high-intensity stepwise conditioning programme improved the physical fitness while sufficient recovery measures minimised any possible undesirable effects and promoted faster return to elite level competition.

This paper investigates the formation of ad-hoc microphone arrays for the purpose of recording multiple sound sources by clustering microphones spatially distributed within a room. A novel codebook-based unsupervised method for cluster formation using features derived from the Room Impulse Responses (RIRs) corresponding to each microphone is proposed and compared with baseline clustering and classification methods. The features correspond to the sequence of arrival time and time delays of echoes as estimated by peaks of the RIRs along with peak amplitudes. Results suggest that the proposed codebook based clustering algorithm can outperform KNN supervised classification method and kmeans unsupervised clustering method applied to microphone segmentation and clustering, in terms of clustering success rate and noise robustness.

Self harm is generally regarded as a modern epidemic, associated especially with young women. But references to self harm are found in the poetry of ancient Rome, the drama of ancient Greece and early Christian texts, including the Bible. Studied by criminologists, doctors, nurses, psychologists, psychiatrists and sociologists, the actions of those who harm themselves are often alienating and bewildering. This book provides a historical and conceptual roadmap for understanding self harm across a range of times and places: in modern high schools and in modern warfare; in traditional religious practices and in avant-garde performance art. Describing the diversity of self harm as well as responses to it, this book challenges the understanding of it as a single behavior associated with a specific age group, gender or cultural identity.

Self harm is generally regarded as a modern epidemic, associated especially with young women. But references to self harm are found in the poetry of ancient Rome, the drama of ancient Greece and early Christian texts, including the Bible. Studied by criminologists, doctors, nurses, psychologists, psychiatrists and sociologists, the actions of those who harm themselves are often alienating and bewildering. This book provides a historical and conceptual roadmap for understanding self harm across a range of times and places: in modern high schools and in modern warfare; in traditional religious practices and in avant-garde performance art. Describing the diversity of self harm as well as responses to it, this book challenges the understanding of it as a single behavior associated with a specific age group, gender or cultural identity.

Objectives: To investigate associations between dementia-attitudes and help-seeking intentions. Method: An online survey of 611 Australian adults (45-60 years) assessed dementia-related attitudes and help-seeking intentions in response to two scenarios of an experience of early dementia: for themselves (Scenario 1); and for a significant other (proxy help-seeking) (Scenario 2). Logistic regression models examined the relationship between four dementia-related attitudes (labelled Personal Avoidance, Fear of Labelling, Fear of Discrimination and Person Centredness) and help-seeking intentions. Results: Most participants indicated they would seek help from a general practitioner (GP) for themselves (82.2%) or for a proxy (78.7%) in response to the scenarios. Whilst only 7.2% indicated they would seek help from no-one, 21.3% would delay seeking help. In response to Scenario 1, Personal Avoidance and Fear of Labelling were associated with intentions to delay help-seeking. Fear of both Labelling and Discrimination were associated with intentions to seek help from no-one. In response to Scenario 2, Personal Avoidance was associated with intentions to delay proxy help-seeking and a reduced likelihood of seeking help by phone or and with Fear of Discrimination, via a GP. Fear of Labelling was also associated with an intention to delay proxy help-seeking. Conclusion: Efforts to improve help-seeking for dementia should address attitudes relating to stigma including negative labelling and a desire for the avoidance of people with dementia. Fears relating to discrimination indicate a need to build public confidence regarding the capacity of the health and workforce sectors to support people with dementia ethically and appropriately.

The Philippines is among the most vulnerable countries in the world to climate change. The 2014 Climate Change Vulnerability Index (CCVI) placed the Philippines, of 193 countries rated, as the ninth most at risk to the physical and economic impacts of climate change. The country's capital, Manila, is considered the second most vulnerable of the world's megacities to the effects of climate change.

The phasic orienting reflex (OR) was investigated using single-trial data collected concurrently from 4 autonomic measures and event-related potentials (ERPs). In an auditory dishabituation paradigm, twelve indifferent tones of two intensities (60 or 80 dB, intensity change on trial 11, counterbalanced between subjects) were presented at very long interstimulus intervals (ISIs). Novelty and intensity based stimulus-response patterns were examined seeking ERP analogues of autonomic measures representing pre-OR and OR processing. Skin conductance response (SCR) represented the phasic OR index. EOG-corrected ERP data for 16 subjects were decomposed by a temporal Principal Components Analysis (PCA). SCR diminished over 10 standard trials, recovered on change trial 11, dishabituated to the re-presentation of the standard tone on trial 12, and showed intensity effects at the change - formal requirements for an OR index. The evoked cardiac response (HR) showed no trial or intensity effects. Respiratory pause (RP) decreased linearly over trials and showed recovery but no dishabituation or intensity effect. Peripheral vasoconstriction (PVC) failed to decrement but exhibited an intensity effect. Ten identifiable ERP components were extracted: Na, P1, N1-1, PN, P2, P3a, P3b, a novelty-sensitive HabP3, an intensity-sensitive IntP3, and the Slow Wave (SW). Pattern 1 showed no trial or intensity effects (HR, P1, PN, P2); Pattern 2 showed no trial effect but an intensity effect (PVC, Na, N1-1, P3a); and Pattern 3 demonstrated habituation and an intensity effect (SCR, RP, P3b, HabP3, IntP3, SW). The observed fractionation of autonomic and central measures is consistent with Preliminary Process Theory (PPT) rather than the notion of a unitary OR.

Background: Huntington's disease (HD) causes progressive motor dysfunction through characteristic atrophy. Changes to neural structure begin in premanifest stages yet individuals are able to maintain a high degree of function, suggesting involvement of supportive processing during motor performance. Electroencephalography (EEG) enables the investigation of subtle impairments at the neuronal level, and possible compensatory strategies, by examining differential activation patterns. We aimed to use EEG to investigate neural motor processing (via the Readiness Potential; RP), premotor processing and sensorimotor integration (Contingent Negative Variation; CNV) during simple motor performance in HD. Methods: We assessed neural activity associated with motor preparation and processing in 20 premanifest (pre-HD), 14 symptomatic HD (symp-HD), and 17 healthy controls. Participants performed sequential tapping within two experimental paradigms (simple tapping; Go/No-Go). RP and CNV potentials were calculated separately for each group. Results: Motor components and behavioural measures did not distinguish pre-HD from controls. Compared to controls and pre-HD, symp-HD demonstrated significantly reduced relative amplitude and latency of the RP, whereas controls and pre-HD did not differ. However, early CNV was found to significantly differ between control and pre-HD groups, due to enhanced early CNV in pre-HD. Conclusions: For the first time, we provide evidence of atypical activation during preparatory processing in pre-HD. The increased activation during this early stage of the disease may reflect ancillary processing in the form of recruitment of additional neural resources for adequate motor preparation, despite atrophic disruption to structure and circuitry. We propose an early adaptive compensation mechanism in pre-HD during motor preparation.

Two descriptive studies set out a new approach for exploring the dynamic features of children’s affective responses (sadness and interest-worry) to another’s distress. In two samples (Nstudy1 = 75; Nstudy2 = 114), Kindergarten children were shown a video-vignette depicting another child in distress and the temporal pattern of spontaneous expressions were examined across the unfolding vignette. Results showed, in both study 1 and 2, that sadness and interest-worry had distinct patterns of elicitation across the events of the vignette narrative and there was little co-occurrence of these affects within a given child. Temporal heart rate changes (study 2) were closely aligned to the events of the vignette and, furthermore, affective responses corresponded to distinctive physiological response profiles. The implications of distinct temporal patterns of elicitation for the meaning of sadness and interest-worry are discussed within the framework of emotion regulation and empathy.

Global exploitation of sharks and sea cucumbers to meet consumer demand in China is motivating a rising conservation concern. In order to analyze trends in resource exploitation and market dynamics, this paper reviews global production and trade data for these taxa. Sea cucumber capture production has plateaued, but overall production is still increasing because of rising aquaculture, limited public conservation concern and insufficient regulation of fishing and trade. Shark capture production has peaked and is declining, suggesting that one or more of these factors are constraining the shark fin trade. The trade networks for both commodities have been resilient to changing conditions (e.g. stock declines, closed fisheries, regulations, public opinion on conservation) and have become more widespread over the last 10. years. System resilience is evident in dynamic market attributes, such as developing new product forms and absorbing alternative target species, and presents substantial challenges for identifying conservation approaches. For shark fin, a government-led backlash against conspicuous consumption in China, combined with global conservation momentum, appears to have had some impact on traded volumes. Sea cucumbers do not enjoy the same level of attention in the global conservation discourse, despite seven species being endangered. For both taxa, the current regulatory environment is insufficient to safeguard resources and strengthened conservation strategies are required. Better resolution of trade data will improve the ability to evaluate trends and guide management and conservation.

Populism is widely regarded in the literature as a negative and inherently punitive influence on criminal justice policy. This article challenges this view and highlights the ways in which populism can produce forms of citizen engagement in the criminal justice context that are new and progressive. These possibilities are illustrated through a close analysis of the responses to a single instance of ‘random’ fatal violence: the killing of Thomas Kelly in King’s Cross, Sydney, in 2012. This case study shows how a populist campaign powerfully realigned political allegiances to call for, and achieve, real and enduring action from the New South Wales Government in addressing alcohol-related violence.

There is growing scientific evidence that humanity faces a number of threats that jeopardize its future. Public perceptions of these threats, both their risks and reactions to them, are important in determining how humanity confronts and addresses the threats. This study investigated the perceived probability of threats to humanity and different responses to them (nihilism, fundamentalism and activism), in four Western nations: the US, UK, Canada and Australia. Overall, a majority (54%) rated the risk of our way of life ending within the next 100 years at 50% or greater, and a quarter (24%) rated the risk of humans being wiped out at 50% or greater. The responses were relatively uniform across countries, age groups, gender and education level, although statistically significant differences exist. Almost 80% agreed "we need to transform our worldview and way of life if we are to create a better future for the world" (activism). About a half agreed that "the world's future looks grim so we have to focus on looking after ourselves and those we love" (nihilism), and over a third that "we are facing a final conflict between good and evil in the world" (fundamentalism). The findings offer insight into the willingness of humanity to respond to the challenges identified by scientists and warrant increased consideration in scientific and political debate.

The Philippines is among the most vulnerable countries in the world to climate change. The 2014 Climate Change Vulnerability Index (CCVI) placed the Philippines, of 193 countries rated, as the ninth most at risk to the physical and economic impacts of climate change. The country's capital, Manila, is considered the second most vulnerable of the world's megacities to the effects of climate change.

Aggressiveness is highly heritable. Recent experimental work has linked individual differences in a functional polymorphism of the monoamine oxidase-A gene (MAOA) to anger-driven aggression. Other work has implicated the dorsal ACC (dACC) in cognitive-emotional control and the amygdala in emotional arousal. The present imaging genetics study investigated dACC and amygdala reactivity to induced anger control as a function of MAOA genotype. A research assistant asked 38 healthy male undergraduates to control their anger in response to an insult by a rude experimenter. Men with the low-expression allele showed increased dACC and amygdala activation after the insult, but men with the high-expression allele did not. Both dACC and amygdala activation independently mediated the relationship between MAOA genotype and self-reported anger control. Moreover, following the insult, men with the high-functioning allele showed functional decoupling between the amygdala and dACC, but men with the low-functioning allele did not. These results suggest that heightened dACC and amygdala activation and their connectivity are neuroaffective mechanisms underlying anger control in participants with the low-functioning allele of the MAOA gene.

There is evidence that easily accessible, comprehensible and consistent nutrient information on the front of packaged foods could assist shoppers to make healthier food choices. This study used an online questionnaire of 4357 grocery shoppers to examine Australian shoppers' ability to use a range of front-of-pack labels to identify healthier food products. Seven different front-of-pack labelling schemes comprising variants of the Traffic Light labelling scheme and the Percentage Daily Intake scheme, and a star rating scheme, were applied to nine pairs of commonly purchased food products. Participants could also access a nutrition information panel for each product. Participants were able to identify the healthier product in each comparison over 80% of the time using any of the five schemes that provided information on multiple nutrients. No individual scheme performed significantly better in terms of shoppers' ability to determine the healthier product, shopper reliance on the 'back-of-pack' nutrition information panel, and speed of use. The scheme that provided information about energy only and a scheme with limited numerical information of nutrient type or content performed poorly, as did the nutrition information panel alone (control). Further consumer testing is necessary to determine the optimal format and content of an interpretive front-of-pack nutrition labelling scheme.

Physiological arousal is purportedly a key determinant in the development and maintenance of gambling behaviors, with problem gambling conceptualized in terms of abnormal autonomic responses. Theoretical conceptualizations of problem gambling are discordant regarding the nature of deficit in this disorder; some accounts posit that problem gamblers are hypersensitive to reward, and others that they are hyposensitive to reward and/or punishment. Previous research examining phasic electrodermal responses in gamblers has been limited to laboratory settings, and reactions to real gaming situations need to be examined. Skin conductance responses (SCRs) to losses, wins, and losses disguised as wins (LDWs) were recorded from 15 problem gamblers (PGs) and 15 nonproblem gamblers (NPGs) while they wagered their own money during electronic gaming machine play. PGs demonstrated significantly reduced SCRs to reward. SCRs to losses and LDWs did not differ for either PGs or NPGs. This hyposensitivity to wins may reflect abnormalities in incentive processing, and may represent a potential biological marker for problem gambling.

Physiological arousal is purportedly a key determinant in the development and maintenance of gambling behaviors, with problem gambling conceptualized in terms of abnormal autonomic responses. Theoretical conceptualizations of problem gambling are discordant regarding the nature of deficit in this disorder; some accounts posit that problem gamblers are hypersensitive to reward, and others that they are hyposensitive to reward and/or punishment. Previous research examining phasic electrodermal responses in gamblers has been limited to laboratory settings, and reactions to real gaming situations need to be examined. Skin conductance responses (SCRs) to losses, wins, and losses disguised as wins (LDWs) were recorded from 15 problem gamblers (PGs) and 15 nonproblem gamblers (NPGs) while they wagered their own money during electronic gaming machine play. PGs demonstrated significantly reduced SCRs to reward. SCRs to losses and LDWs did not differ for either PGs or NPGs. This hyposensitivity to wins may reflect abnormalities in incentive processing, and may represent a potential biological marker for problem gambling.

Single-trial data from autonomic and ERP measures were used to capture the rapidly decreasing initial responses characteristic of the orienting reflex (OR) to repeated stimuli. Stimulus-response patterns were compared to determine central analogues of autonomic indices of processes leading to the OR, and the OR itself. Participants were presented with 12 indifferent tones in an auditory dishabituation paradigm. Temporal principal component analysis (PCA) decomposed EOG-corrected ERP data for 16 subjects. Response patterns of ERPs, cardiac, and respiratory responses were compared to the phasic skin conductance response (SCR). SCR decremented over trials, recovered on the change trial, and dishabituated to the representation of the standard, meeting the formal definition of habituation required of the OR. The evoked cardiac response showed no trial effects. Respiratory pause (RP) decreased linearly over trials, recovering marginally on the change trial. Nine identifiable ERP components were extracted: P1, N1-3, N1-1, processing negativity (PN), P2, P3a, P3b, a novelty-sensitive P3 component (labelled HabP3), and the slow wave (SW). P3b and SW showed decrement over trials, but with no recovery, HabP3 showed decrement and increased response on the change trial, while the P1, N1 subcomponents, P2 and P3a were insensitive to novelty. Stimulus-response patterns of the RP and HabP3 suggest sensitivity to novelty processing, while the P1, N1-3, N-1, PN, P2, P3a and cardiac deceleration appear to mark processing prior to novelty, such as stimulus transient detection (cardiac deceleration) and/or intensity processing. This study supports predictions of preliminary process theory, demonstrating fractionation of 3 autonomic and 9 ERP components to novelty, and disconfirming the unitary nature of the OR.

presented at The Asia-Pacific Conference on Vision (APCV) 2014 19-22 July 2014, Takamatsu, Japan

presented at The 17th World Congress of Psychophysiology (IOP2014) of the International Organization of Psychophysiology (IOP) Hiroshima, Japan, September 23rd to 27th, 2014

Entrainment in physiological systems can be manifest in cases where phase-coupling (synchronization) between slow intrinsic oscillations and periodic motor responses, or vice versa, takes place. To test whether voluntary movement has something in common with entrainment of slow hemodynamic oscillations to motor responses, we studied blood pressure (BP), heart rate beat-to-beat intervals (RRI) and prefrontal (de)oxyhemoglobin (Hb/HbO2) during 5 min of rest, 10 min of self-paced, voluntary movements and 10 min of stimulus-paced movements at 10 s intervals in 9 subjects. Subjects were divided into 2 groups according to the timing of voluntary finger movements. It appeared that these movements occurred at relatively regular intervals of approximately 10 s in 5 subjects (group A); while 4 subjects showed random or very short inter-movement intervals (group B). Two remarkable results were obtained: first, the phase coupling (COH2) between BP and RRI showed a significant (p = 0.0061) interaction between activity (rest vs. movement) and group (A vs. B), with an increased (p = 0.0003) coupling in group A. Second, the COH2 between BP and Hb oscillations showed a significant (p = 0.034) interaction between activity and group, with a decreased (p = 0.079) coupling in group B. These results suggest that subjects able to initiate self-paced, voluntary movements at relatively regular intervals of ∼10 s show an entrainment potential between physiological oscillations and motor responses. This also provides the first evidence that not only physiological oscillations can be entrained to motor responses, but also motor responses (voluntary movements) can be entrained to slow intrinsic oscillations.

There is evidence that easily accessible, comprehensible and consistent nutrient information on the front of packaged foods could assist shoppers to make healthier food choices. This study used an online questionnaire of 4357 grocery shoppers to examine Australian shoppers' ability to use a range of front-of-pack labels to identify healthier food products. Seven different front-of-pack labelling schemes comprising variants of the Traffic Light labelling scheme and the Percentage Daily Intake scheme, and a star rating scheme, were applied to nine pairs of commonly purchased food products. Participants could also access a nutrition information panel for each product. Participants were able to identify the healthier product in each comparison over 80% of the time using any of the five schemes that provided information on multiple nutrients. No individual scheme performed significantly better in terms of shoppers' ability to determine the healthier product, shopper reliance on the 'back-of-pack' nutrition information panel, and speed of use. The scheme that provided information about energy only and a scheme with limited numerical information of nutrient type or content performed poorly, as did the nutrition information panel alone (control). Further consumer testing is necessary to determine the optimal format and content of an interpretive front-of-pack nutrition labelling scheme.

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disorder characterized by broad clinical manifestations including cardiovascular and renal complications with periodic disease flares and significant morbidity and mortality. One of the main contributing factors to the pathology of SLE is the accumulation and impaired clearance of immune complexes of which the principle components are host auto-antigens and antibodies. The contribution of host lipids to the formation of these autoimmune complexes remains poorly defined. The aim of the present study was to identify and analyze candidate lipid autoantigens and their corresponding anti-lipid antibody responses in a well-defined SLE patient cohort using a combination of immunological and biophysical techniques. Disease monitoring in the SLE cohort was undertaken with serial British Isles Lupus Assessment Group (BILAG) scoring. Correlations between specific lipid/anti-lipid responses were investigated as disease activity developed from active flares to quiescent during a follow up period. We report a significant negative correlation between anti-lipid antibodies for 24S-hydroxycholesterol, cardiolipin and phosphatidylserine with SLE disease activity. Taken together, these data suggest that lipid autoantigens represent a new family of biomarkers that can be employed to monitor disease activity plus the efficacy of therapeutic intervention in SLE.

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disorder characterized by broad clinical manifestations including cardiovascular and renal complications with periodic disease flares and significant morbidity and mortality. One of the main contributing factors to the pathology of SLE is the accumulation and impaired clearance of immune complexes of which the principle components are host auto-antigens and antibodies. The contribution of host lipids to the formation of these autoimmune complexes remains poorly defined. The aim of the present study was to identify and analyze candidate lipid autoantigens and their corresponding anti-lipid antibody responses in a well-defined SLE patient cohort using a combination of immunological and biophysical techniques. Disease monitoring in the SLE cohort was undertaken with serial British Isles Lupus Assessment Group (BILAG) scoring. Correlations between specific lipid/anti-lipid responses were investigated as disease activity developed from active flares to quiescent during a follow up period. We report a significant negative correlation between anti-lipid antibodies for 24S-hydroxycholesterol, cardiolipin and phosphatidylserine with SLE disease activity. Taken together, these data suggest that lipid autoantigens represent a new family of biomarkers that can be employed to monitor disease activity plus the efficacy of therapeutic intervention in SLE.

Coastal hazards have long been present and are evolving due to a variety of different drivers: the long-term threat of climate change, including sea-level rise, adds a new dimension to these problems which is explored here. Globally, sea levels could rise in excess of 1 m this century, but the local rate of relative sea-level rise could be much greater than this because of subsidence or other factors which lower the land surface. This is important as the population of these subsiding areas is significant. Relative sea-level rise will result in inundation, flooding, erosion, wetland loss, saltwater intrusion and impeded drainage. This chapter has investigated the impacts of sea-level rise at a global scale on: (1) Sandy environments; (2) Wetlands and low-lying coasts; (3) Built environments; and (4) Energy and transport systems. Results indicate that without appropriate adaptation, environments could be significantly impacted, and those remote or financially less well off could become increasingly vulnerable. Further research and action is required into integrated impact assessments (including non-climatic drivers of change) to help those at risk and develop appropriate adaptation polices over short, medium and long timescales.

Coastal hazards have long been present and are evolving due to a variety of different drivers: the long-term threat of climate change, including sea-level rise, adds a new dimension to these problems which is explored here. Globally, sea levels could rise in excess of 1 m this century, but the local rate of relative sea-level rise could be much greater than this because of subsidence or other factors which lower the land surface. This is important as the population of these subsiding areas is significant. Relative sea-level rise will result in inundation, flooding, erosion, wetland loss, saltwater intrusion and impeded drainage. This chapter has investigated the impacts of sea-level rise at a global scale on: (1) Sandy environments; (2) Wetlands and low-lying coasts; (3) Built environments; and (4) Energy and transport systems. Results indicate that without appropriate adaptation, environments could be significantly impacted, and those remote or financially less well off could become increasingly vulnerable. Further research and action is required into integrated impact assessments (including non-climatic drivers of change) to help those at risk and develop appropriate adaptation polices over short, medium and long timescales.

Intraplate tectonism has produced large-scale folding that steers regional drainage systems, such as the 1600 km-long Cooper Ck, en route to Australia's continental depocentre at Lake Eyre. We apply cosmogenic 10Be exposure dating in bedrock, and luminescence dating in sediment, to quantify the erosional and depositional response of Cooper Ck where it incises the rising Innamincka Dome. The detachment of bedrock joint-blocks during extreme floods governs the minimum rate of incision (17.4±6.5 mm/ky) estimated using a numerical model of episodic erosion calibrated with our 10Be measurements. The last big-flood phase occurred no earlier than ∼112–121 ka. Upstream of the Innamincka Dome long-term rates of alluvial deposition, partly reflecting synclinal-basin subsidence, are estimated from 47 luminescence dates in sediments accumulated since ∼270 ka. Sequestration of sediment in subsiding basins such as these may account for the lack of Quaternary accumulation in Lake Eyre, and moreover suggests that notions of a single primary depocentre at base-level may poorly represent lowland, arid-zone rivers. Over the period ∼75–55 ka Cooper Ck changed from a bedload-dominant, laterally-active meandering river to a muddy anabranching channel network up to 60 km wide. We propose that this shift in river pattern was a product of base-level rise linked with the slowly deforming syncline–anticline structure, coupled with a climate-forced reduction in discharge. The uniform valley slope along this subsiding alluvial and rising bedrock system represents an adjustment between the relative rates of deformation and the ability of greatly enhanced flows at times during the Quaternary to incise the rising anticline. Hence, tectonic and climate controls are balanced in the long term.

This study explores effects of climate change and fuel management on unplanned fire activity in ecosystems representing contrasting extremes of the moisture availability spectrum (mesic and arid). Simulation modelling examined unplanned fire activity (fire incidence and area burned, and the area burned by large fires) for alternate climate scenarios and prescribed burning levels in: (i) a cool, moist temperate forest and wet moorland ecosystem in south-west Tasmania (mesic); and (ii) a spinifex and mulga ecosystem in central Australia (arid). Contemporary fire activity in these case study systems is limited, respectively, by fuel availability and fuel amount. For future climates, unplanned fire incidence and area burned increased in the mesic landscape, but decreased in the arid landscape in accordance with predictions based on these limiting factors. Area burned by large fires (greater than the 95th percentile of historical, unplanned fire size) increased with future climates in the mesic landscape. Simulated prescribed burning was more effective in reducing unplanned fire activity in the mesic landscape. However, the inhibitory effects of prescribed burning are predicted to be outweighed by climate change in the mesic landscape, whereas in the arid landscape prescribed burning reinforced a predicted decline in fire under climate change. The potentially contrasting direction of future changes to fire will have fundamentally different consequences for biodiversity in these contrasting ecosystems, and these will need to be accommodated through contrasting, innovative management solutions.

Purpose: Gene-immune interactions are hypothesised to contribute to schizophrenia disease development. With Neureulin-1 (Nrg1) a candidate vulnerability gene and altered cytokines levels recently reported in human Nrg1 mutants; we investigated the peripheral and central cytokine response of Nrg1 heterozygous mutant (Nrg1-Het) mice following an immune stimulus. Methods: We treated adult Nrg1-Het and wild type littermates (WT) with melanoma cells, established to induce a chronic immune response, for 9 days (n>8 per group). Cytokine levels were measured in the plasma (n>6 per group) and the brain (n>3 per group) using Luminex or Western blot. Gene expression of signalling molecules was measured using RT-qPCR (n>3 per group). Significance accepted at p

Long-lived shade leaves of avocado had extremely low rates of photosynthesis. Gas exchange measurements of photosyn- thesis were of limited use, so we resorted to Chl fluorescence imaging (CFI) and spot measurements to evaluate photosyn- thetic electron transport rates (ETRs) and non-photochem- ical quenching (NPQ). Imaging revealed a remarkable transient heterogeneity of NPQ during photosynthetic in- duction in these hypostomatous, heterobaric leaves, but was adequately integrated by spot measurements, despite long-lasting artifacts from repeated saturating flashes during assays. Major veins (mid-vein, first- and second-order veins) defined areas of more static large-scale heterogeneous NPQ, with more dynamic small-scale heterogeneity most strongly expressed in mesophyll cells between third- and fouth-order veins. Both responded to external CO2 concentration ([CO2]), occlusion of stomata with VaselineTM, leaf dehydra- tion and relative humidity (RH). We interpreted these re- sponses in terms of independent behavior of stomata in adjacent areoles that was largely expressed through CO2-limited photosynthesis. Heterogeneity was most pro- nounced and prolonged in the absence of net CO2 fixation in 100 p.p.m. [CO2] when respiratory and photorespiratory CO2 cycling constrained the inferred ETR to -75% of values in 400 or 700 p.p.m. [CO2]. Likewise, sustained higher NPQ under VaselineTM, after dehydration or at low RH, also re- stricted ETR to -75% of control values. Low NPQ in chloro- plast-containing cells adjacent to major veins but remote from stomata suggested internal sources of high [CO2] in these tissues.

Climate change and ocean acidification will expose marine organisms to synchronous multiple stressors, with early life stages being potentially most vulnerable to changing environmental conditions. We simultaneously exposed encapsulated molluscan embryos to three abiotic stressors—acidified conditions, elevated temperate, and solar UV radiation in large outdoor water tables in a multifactorial design. Solar UV radiation was modified with plastic filters, while levels of the other factors reflected IPCC predictions for near-future change. We quantified mortality and the rate of embryonic development for a mid-shore littorinid, Bembicium nanum, and low-shore opisthobranch, Dolabrifera brazieri. Outcomes were consistent for these model species with embryos faring significantly better at 26uC than 22uC. Mortality sharply increased at the lowest temperature (22uC) and lowest pH (7.6) examined, producing a significant interaction. Under these conditions mortality approached 100% for each species, representing a 2- to 4-fold increase in mortality relative to warm (26uC) non-acidified conditions. Predictably, development was more rapid at the highest temperature but this again interacted with acidified conditions. Development was slowed under acidified conditions at the lowest temperature. The presence of UV radiation had minimal impact on the outcomes, only slowing development for the littorinid and not interacting with the other factors. Our findings suggest that a warming ocean, at least to a threshold, may compensate for the effects of decreasing pH for some species. It also appears that stressors will interact in complex and unpredictable ways in a changing climate.