Optimising myth correction during a global pandemic

COVID-19 was accompanied by an unprecedented amount of misinformation. This information’s ability to spread was aided by several social and political phenomenon (e.g., science denialism). Humans are not good at making truth judgements and their judgements can be led astray by phenomenon such as the illusory truth effect whereby repetition makes things appear more truthful. Misinformation is problematic for Public Health as it can foster unhelpful behaviours (e.g., not following social distancing guidance). It has also been demonstrated to continue to influence decisions following correction (i.e., debunking). Recommendations for debunking have evolved over the years, for example the shift from the recommendation that misinformation should always be excluded from corrections to the acknowledgement that it can be shown in some contexts. However, the contexts in which misinformation can be shown is unclear and many recommendations have not been tested within the context of public health. In this thesis, I aimed to test debunking recommendations within a Public Health context to examine how we can optimise the way in which public health campaigns decrease myth agreement (and increase behaviour intentions). I tested four types of correction formats throughout this thesis: myth-fact, fact-only, fact-myth, and question-answer. Previous research has experimentally tested three of these correction formats (Swire-Thompson et al., 2021). The comparison of the question-answer format to other corrections was novel. I found that the myth-fact and fact-myth were effective at lowering myth agreement. The fact-only format was also effective at lowering agreement, but it was not as effective when participants had high baseline vaccine concerns, or their baseline myth agreement was high. The question-answer format was also more effective than fact-only, and I found some evidence that question-answer was more effective than fact-myth in the longer term. These findings have implications for debunking recommendations and public health campaigns countering misinformation

The Behavioral Ecology of the Tibetan Macaque

This open access book summarizes the multi-disciplinary results of one of China’s main primatological research projects on the endemic Tibetan macaque (Macaca thibetana), which had continued for over 30 years, but which had never been reported on systematically. Dedicated to this exceptional Old World monkey, this book makes the work of Chinese primatologists on the social behavior, cooperation, culture, cognition, group dynamics, and emerging technologies in primate research accessible to the international scientific community

The Behavioral Ecology of the Tibetan Macaque

This open access book summarizes the multi-disciplinary results of one of China’s main primatological research projects on the endemic Tibetan macaque (Macaca thibetana), which had continued for over 30 years, but which had never been reported on systematically. Dedicated to this exceptional Old World monkey, this book makes the work of Chinese primatologists on the social behavior, cooperation, culture, cognition, group dynamics, and emerging technologies in primate research accessible to the international scientific community. One of the most impressive Asian monkeys, and the largest member of its genus, the Tibetan macaque deserves to be better known. This volume goes a long way towards bringing this species into the spotlight with many excellent behavioral analyses from the field. - Frans de Waal, Professor of Psychology, Emory University, USA. Macaques matter. To understand primate patterns and trends, and to gain important insight into humanity, we need to augment and expand our engagement with the most successful and widespread primate genus aside from Homo. This volume focuses on the Tibetan macaque, a fascinating species with much to tell us about social behavior, physiology, complexity and the macaque knack for interfacing with humans. This book is doubly important for primatology in that beyond containing core information on this macaque species, it also reflects an effective integrated collaboration between Chinese scholars and a range of international colleagues—exactly the type of collaborative engagement primatology needs. This volume is a critical contribution to a global primatology. - Agustín Fuentes, Professor of Anthropology, University of Notre Dame, USA. I have many fond memories of my association with Mt. Huangshan research beginning in 1983, when together with Professor Qishan Wang we established this site. It is such a beautiful place and I miss it. It is gratifying to see how far research has progressed since we began work there, becoming more internationalized and very much a collaborative endeavor under the long-term direction of Professor Jin-Hua Li and colleagues. This book highlights the increased interest in this species, representing a variety of disciplines ranging from macro aspects of behavior, cognition and sociality, to micro aspects of microbes, parasites and disease, authored by a group of renowned Chinese and international primatologists. I applaud their efforts and expect more interesting work to come from this site in the years ahead. - Kazuo Wada, Professor Emeritus, Kyoto University, Japan

Financial budget manual 2012

The Financial Budget Manual 2012 is an invaluable reference book for farmers and growers, consultants and students. It contains a wealth of up to date information on farm and orchard costs and prices, the profitability of different enterprises, and income taxation. Following its successful introduction in 1999, the manual is in the process of moving to the web. However, many users find having the information in a book is the most convenient and efficient format, and this manual is the result of the Universities commitment to the wide readership. Unless stated otherwise, data contained in the Manual are current mid-2012 and are exclusive of GST. Prices do not remain stationary so the Manual should be used as a guide only. Market movements and exchange rate changes are just two of the factors which can rapidly alter costs and prices. The availability of discounts for bulk purchases, and deferred payment arrangements, may also affect final costs for budgeting purposes. In addition, some commodity price information is becoming increasingly sensitive and remains confidential between the client and the supplier and/or buyer. It is therefore unavailable for publication in this Manual

An exploration of the experiences of social workers and nurses treating HIV/TB patients during the COVID-19 pandemic at King Dinuzulu Hospital in Durban.

Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.The outbreak of COVID-19, a global health pandemic, created a tsunami of problems resulting in lockdowns as the world grappled to understand and contain its spread and save lives. For King Dinuzulu Hospital, a specialised healthcare centre for the treatment of TB, its designation as a COVID-19 health facility in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, turned it into a facility managing three epidemics, COVID-19, TB and HIV. The main aim of this study was to explore the experiences of public social workers and nurses caring for and treating TB/HIV patients during the COVID-19 pandemic at King Dinuzulu Hospital. This study utilised a qualitative research methodology. Data were collected from 15 HCWs (seven public social workers and eight nurses) selected using a purposive sampling methodology. One-on-one in-depth interviews were conducted. These were guided by an interview guide with open-ended questions, and the collected data were analysed using thematic content analysis. The study revealed that COVID-19 negatively affected the delivery of social work and nursing services at King Dinuzulu Hospital, and HCWs experienced psychological distress due to fear of being infected, infecting their family members and seeing some of their colleagues and patients at KDH die from COVID-19 pandemic. The mitigation measures that were put in place to blunt the full impact of COVID-19 on HCWs providing services to TB/HIV patients, went some way in preventing a total disaster from happening. KDH needs to resolve the shortage of HCWs, provide sufficient PPEs, repair and provide access to telephones/ mobile phones, and provide adequate and conducive offices

USCID fourth international conference

Presented at the Role of irrigation and drainage in a sustainable future: USCID fourth international conference on irrigation and drainage on October 3-6, 2007 in Sacramento, California.Includes bibliographical references.A In order to promote irrigation sustainability through reporting by irrigation water managers around Australia, we have developed an adaptive framework and methodology for improved triple-bottom-line reporting. The Irrigation Sustainability Assessment Framework (ISAF) was developed to provide a comprehensive framework for irrigation sustainability assessment and integrated triple-bottom-line reporting, and is structured to promote voluntary application of this framework across the irrigation industry, with monitoring, assessment and feedback into future planning, in a continual learning process. Used in this manner the framework serves not only as a "reporting tool", but also as a "planning tool" for introducing innovative technology and as a "processes implementation tool" for enhanced adoption of new scientific research findings across the irrigation industry. The ISAF was applied in case studies to selected rural irrigation sector organisations, with modifications to meet their specific interests and future planning

USCID fourth international conference

Presented at the Role of irrigation and drainage in a sustainable future: USCID fourth international conference on irrigation and drainage on October 3-6, 2007 in Sacramento, California.Includes bibliographical references.The two-layer model of Shuttlerworth and Wallace (SW) was evaluated to estimate actual evapotranspiration (ETa) above a drip-irrigated Merlot vineyard, located in the Talca Valley, Region del Maule, Chile (35° 25' LS; 71° 32' LW ; 136m above the sea level). An automatic weather system was installed in the center of the vineyard to measure climatic variables (air temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed) and energy balance components (solar radiation, net radiation, latent heat flux, sensible heat flux, and soil heat flux) during November and December 2006. Values of ETa estimated by the SW model were tested with latent heat flux measurements obtained from an eddy-covariance system on a 30 minute time interval. Results indicated that SW model was able to predict ETa with a root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.44 mm d-1 and mean absolute error (MAE) of 0.36 mm d-1. Furthermore, SW model predicted latent heat flux with RMSE and MAE of 32 W m-2 and 19W m-1, respectively