Stories in distress: Three case studies in Australian media coverage of humanitarian crises

This article reviews three case studies in the Australian media reporting of international humanitarian crises. The case studies cover a six-month period in 1999 and draw on all media over that period. Thethree case studies are: the violence in East TImor at the time of the 1999 independence ballot, the imprisonment in Yugoslavia of Prall and Wallace, two employees of CARE Australia, and the floods in Mozambique. While the three case studies collectively exhibit many of the standard characteristics ofmedia coverage ofhumanitarian issues, individually they differ significantly in the scale and orientation ofcoverage. Wesuggest that a significantfactor in these differences was the relationship between the sources for the stories and the journalists, which in turn depended on other factors. We review the adequacy of the Hall and Ericson positions on the source-journalist relationship in explaining these differences, and suggest that a field analysis derivedfrom Bourdieu is helpful in explaining the involvement ofsources from the political, economic and military fields, which in turn impacted on the relationship ofthe media to the stories

Modelling the effect of sensory dynamics on a driver’s control of a nonlinear vehicle

In previous work a linear model of driver steering control was developed which takes account of human sensory dynamics and limitations. In this paper various approaches to modelling a driver’s control of a nonlinear vehicle are compared. In contrast to research focussed on modelling the optimal driver, the aim of this work is to develop a realistic model of driver steering behaviour. Simulations were run to compare various nonlinear state estimators and controllers. In general a trade-off was found between simulation time, which could also represent mental load, and controller performance. Experiments are planned to compare the results of these simulations against measured steering behaviour from human drivers

Identification and validation of a driver steering control model incorporating human sensory dynamics

Most existing models of driver steering control do not consider the driver's sensory dynamics, despite many aspects of human sensory perception having been researched extensively. The authors recently reported development of a driver model that incorporates sensory transfer functions, noise and delays. The present paper reports the experimental identification and validation of this model. An experiment was carried out with five test subjects in a driving simulator, aiming to replicate a real-world driving scenario with no motion scaling. The results of this experiment are used to identify parameter values for the driver model, and the model is found to describe the results of the experiment well. Predicted steering angles match the linear component of measured results with an average `variance accounted for' of 98% using separate parameter sets for each trial, and 93% with a single fixed parameter set. The identified parameter values are compared with results from the literature and are found to be physically plausible, supporting the hypothesis that driver steering control can be predicted using models of human perception and control mechanisms

Development of a novel model of driver-vehicle steering control incorporating sensory dynamics

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from CRC Press via http://dx.doi.org/10.1201/b21185-8A novel model of driver steering control is proposed, incorporating models of the driver’s sensory dynamics and limitations. The model is based on the hypothesis that the driver’s steering strategy minimises an internal cost function optimally based on the noisy, delayed information received from the sensory systems. Published results from experiments carried out on pilots were used to identify parameter values for the new model, and to assess the validity of the new modelling approach. The new model was found to fit the results very well, with variance accounted for (VAF) values greater than 90% for all but one trial. The model was found to fit the results almost as well with a single fixed set of parameter values as with separate parameter values for each trial, indicating that a fixed-parameter model is able to predict variations in control behaviour under different conditions.EPSR

Measurement and Modeling of the Effect of Sensory Conflicts on Driver Steering Control

In previous work, a new model of driver steering control incorporating sensory dynamics was derived and used to explain the performance of drivers in a simulator with full-scale motion feedback. This paper describes further experiments investigating how drivers steer with conflicts between their visual and vestibular measurements, caused by scaling or filtering the physical motion of the simulator relative to the virtual environment. The predictions of several variations of the new driver model are compared with the measurements to understand how drivers perceive sensory conflicts. Drivers are found to adapt well in general, unless the conflict is large, in which case they ignore the physical motion and rely on visual measurements. Drivers make greater use of physical motion which they rate as being more helpful, achieving a better tracking performance. Sensory measurement noise is shown to be signal-dependent, allowing a single set of parameters to be found to fit the results of all the trials. The model fits measured linear steering behavior with an average “variance accounted for (VAF)” of 86%.EPSRC EP/P505445/

Viral Hepatitis and Rapid Diagnostic Test Based Screening for HBsAg in HIV-infected Patients in Rural Tanzania.

\ud \ud Co-infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV) is highly prevalent in people living with HIV in Sub-Saharan Africa. Screening for HBV surface antigen (HBsAg) before initiation of combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) is recommended. However, it is not part of diagnostic routines in HIV programs in many resource-limited countries although patients could benefit from optimized antiretroviral therapy covering both infections. Screening could be facilitated by rapid diagnostic tests for HBsAg. Operating experience with these point of care devices in HIV-positive patients in Sub-Saharan Africa is largely lacking. We determined the prevalence of HBV and Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection as well as the diagnostic accuracy of the rapid test device Determine HBsAg in an HIV cohort in rural Tanzania. Prospectively collected blood samples from adult, HIV-1 positive and antiretroviral treatment-naïve patients in the Kilombero and Ulanga antiretroviral cohort (KIULARCO) in rural Tanzania were analyzed at the point of care with Determine HBsAg, a reference HBsAg EIA and an anti-HCV EIA. Samples of 272 patients were included. Median age was 38 years (interquartile range [IQR] 32-47), 169/272 (63%) subjects were females and median CD4+ count was 250 cells/µL (IQR 97-439). HBsAg was detected in 25/272 (9.2%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 6.2-13.0%) subjects. Of these, 7/25 (28%) were positive for HBeAg. Sensitivity of Determine HBsAg was rated at 96% (95% CI 82.8-99.6%) and specificity at 100% (95% CI, 98.9-100%). Antibodies to HCV (anti-HCV) were found in 10/272 (3.7%, 95% CI 2.0-6.4%) of patients. This study reports a high prevalence of HBV in HIV-positive patients in a rural Tanzanian setting. The rapid diagnostic test Determine HBsAg is an accurate assay for screening for HBsAg in HIV-1 infected patients at the point of care and may further help to guide cART in Sub-Saharan Africa

Neuromodulation and the role of electrodiagnostic techniques

Electrodiagnostic techniques have been utilized in surgery since the early 1960s. These techniques have been primarily used in neurosurgery; however, with the introduction of neuromodulation for voiding dysfunction, these techniques have now found their way into the field of female pelvic medicine. This article will review techniques applicable to evaluate pelvic floor function as it relates to neuromodulation. It will also review the literature describing how these techniques are used to help determine appropriate candidates as well as improve surgical outcomes. A PubMed search was conducted using the terms neuromodulation, Interstim, electrodiagnosis, electrodiagnostic techniques, electromyography with limits to the pelvic floor, and voiding dysfunction. Eight articles and three abstracts were found that directly related to the use of electrodiagnostic techniques as they apply to neuromodulation. Electrodiagnostic techniques may play a role in helping predict appropriate candidates for neuromodulation as well as improve surgical outcomes