Ricoeur's Phenomenoogy of the Ego: A Clinical Emphasis

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Lines in the Sand on the Australian Political Beach

Spatial models of voting behaviour are the dominant paradigm in political science. Consistent with this approach, it will be the case that, ceteris paribus, voters should vote for the party nearest to them on the political spectrum. A key question is how we measure nearness or distance. We investigate this issue by estimating discrete choice models for voting outcomes using the 2001 Australian Election Study survey data. The evidence supports the proposition that it is perceived and not actual distance that performs best. Our findings also suggest that where a voter locates on the political spectrum is almost as good a predictor of their voting outcome as how close they are to the partiesSpatial Competition, Distance Measures, Discrete Choice

Turning on the alarm: the neural mechanisms of the transition from innocuous to painful sensation

The experience of pain occurs when the level of a stimulus is sufficient to elicit a marked affective response, putatively to warn the organism of potential danger and motivate appropriate behavioral responses. Understanding the biological mechanisms of the transition from innocuous to painful levels of sensation is essential to understanding pain perception as well as clinical conditions characterized by abnormal relationships between stimulation and pain response. Thus, the primary objective of this study was to characterize the neural response associated with this transition and the correspondence between that response and subjective reports of pain. Towards this goal, this study examined BOLD response profiles across a range of temperatures spanning the pain threshold. 14 healthy adults underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while a range of thermal stimuli (44-49oC) were applied. BOLD responses showed a sigmoidal profile along the range of temperatures in a network of brain regions including insula and mid- cingulate, as well as a number of regions associated with motor responses including ventral lateral nuclei of the thalamus, globus pallidus and premotor cortex. A sigmoid function fit to the BOLD responses in these regions explained up to 85% of the variance in individual pain ratings, and yielded an estimate of the temperature of steepest transition from non-painful to painful heat that was nearly identical to that generated by subjective ratings. These results demonstrate a precise characterization of the relationship between objective levels of stimulation, resulting neural activation, and subjective experience of pain and provide direct evidence for a neural mechanism supporting the nonlinear transition from innocuous to painful levels along the sensory continuum

Design of Block Transceivers with Decision Feedback Detection

This paper presents a method for jointly designing the transmitter-receiver pair in a block-by-block communication system that employs (intra-block) decision feedback detection. We provide closed-form expressions for transmitter-receiver pairs that simultaneously minimize the arithmetic mean squared error (MSE) at the decision point (assuming perfect feedback), the geometric MSE, and the bit error rate of a uniformly bit-loaded system at moderate-to-high signal-to-noise ratios. Separate expressions apply for the ``zero-forcing'' and ``minimum MSE'' (MMSE) decision feedback structures. In the MMSE case, the proposed design also maximizes the Gaussian mutual information and suggests that one can approach the capacity of the block transmission system using (independent instances of) the same (Gaussian) code for each element of the block. Our simulation studies indicate that the proposed transceivers perform significantly better than standard transceivers, and that they retain their performance advantages in the presence of error propagation.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures, to appear in the IEEE Transactions on Signal Processin

Off with their heads: Terrorism and electoral support for capital punishment in Australia

Recent terrorist attacks such as the attacks on the World Trade Centre in September 2001 have generated new interest in the debate on capital punishment. It has been suggested that support for the death penalty could be higher in the wake of terrorist activity. Using data from the Australian Election Study we investigate voters' attitudes towards capital punishment. Paradoxically, overall support for the death penalty at the 2001 Federal election was lower than at previous elections. In this paper we utilise both simultaneous binary probit and treatment effects models to model the determinants of those attitudes and to investigate the impact of terrorism on support for the death penalty at the 2001 Federal election. In particular, we address the question of whether voters who felt terrorism was an important issue had higher levels of support for the death penalty than voters who did not feel that terrorism was importantsimultaneous binary probit, treatment effects models

Early MRI versus conventional management in the detection of occult scaphoid fractures: what does it really cost? A rural pilot study

INTRODUCTION: To compare the cost-effectiveness and patient impact between acute magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) management and conventional management in the diagnosis of occult scaphoid fractures in a rural setting. METHODS: Consecutive patients presenting to a rural emergency department (ED) with a suspected scaphoid fracture were randomly assigned to either conventional management (6) or acute MRI management (10) (3 patients were excluded from the study analysis). All healthcare costs were compared between the two management groups and potential impacts on the patients\u27 pain, mobility and lifestyle were also measured. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between the two groups at baseline. There was one (10%) scaphoid fracture in the MRI group and none in the conventional group (P = 0.42). A larger proportion of other fractures were diagnosed in the MRI group (20% (2) vs. 16.7% (1), P = 0.87), as well as less clinic attendances (1 (0-2.25) vs. 4 (2.25-5)) and diagnostic services (1 (1-1.25) vs. 2 (1-3)). Median management costs were $485.05 (AUD) (MRI) and$486.90 (AUD) (conventional). The MRI group had better pain and satisfaction scores as well as less time of immobilisation, treatment and time off work. CONCLUSION: MRI dramatically reduces the amount of unnecessary immobilisation, time of treatment and healthcare usage in a rural setting. The two protocols are suggested to be equivalent financially. When potential societal costs, the amount of unnecessary immobilisation, low prevalence of true fractures and patient satisfaction are considered, acute MRI should be the management technique of choice. Further studies are still required to assess the best method for managing bone bruise within the scaphoid

An adult social care compendium of approaches and tools for organisational change

The purpose of this compendium is to support managers working in adult social care to be more knowledgeable about and confident in the application of different approaches and tools relevant to managing change in their organisations. In the compendium an ‘approach to change’ is used to denote an ‘overarching framework that can guide a change process’ and ‘change management tools’ as ‘techniques or templates to understand or support a specific aspect of the change process’. Examples of the latter would be stakeholder mapping exercises, organisational diagnostic methodologies, engagement processes, and direct team based interventions. The compendium does not provide detailed guidance on how to apply each approach and tool, but presents an accessible overview of what each entails, the thinking that lies behind them, and (where available) a reflection on the empirical evidence of their application in practice. Having access to this information will help to demystify the often confusing and intimidating terminology that surrounds change approaches, and in doing so will enable managers to identify the approaches most relevant to a change they are leading and explore in more depth. Understanding the method being followed will also support individuals who access services and their families to engage on a more equal playing field within a change process. This includes people who access services and their families. While potentially relevant to social care managers working at all levels of an organisation, the compendium is specifically designed for those responsible for a single service (e.g. home care team, residential care home) or team (e.g. care management team), and those who directly manage service and team managers

Production of HMF, FDCA and their derived products: a review of life cycle assessment (LCA) and techno-economic analysis (TEA) studies

The chemical industry is increasingly looking to develop bio-based alternatives to petroleum-based platform chemicals, in order to reduce dependence on diminishing fossil resources and to decrease GHG emissions. 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) and 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) are two examples of bio-basedchemicals which could allow for the synthesis of a wide range of chemicals and materials, particularly polymers, from renewable feedstocks. This review paper summarises and critically evaluates results from existinglife cycle assessment (LCA) and technoeconomic analysis (TEA) studies of HMF and FDCA synthesis and, bydoing this, provides several points of advice for future investigations and assessments of synthetic routestowards these bio-based products. Chemical considerations such as choice of solvent system, catalyst andenergy production are reviewed; and methodological issues in LCA, such as treatment of biogenic carbonand allocation methods, are discussed. Overall, results suggest that the production of HMF and FDCA-basedproducts may offer lower impacts from CO2 emissions than their fossil-based counterparts, but this oftencomes with an increase in environmental impacts in other impact categories. Higher operating costs fromexpensive fructose feedstocks and high energy demands also make HMF and FDCA less economicallyviable than current chemicals. Moving forwards, further investigation into different lignocellulosic feedstocks, energy production units and the development of new catalytic systems may help in making HMFand FDCA production more favourable than the production of fossil-based counterparts

User-centred design for civil construction: optimising productivity by reducing safety and health risks associated with the operation and maintenance of on-road vehicles and mobile plant.

A range of productivity implications, injury and health risks are associated with the operation and maintenance of road construction equipment. Potential unwanted events giving rise to these risks include: slip, trips and falls from ground or at height; performance of hazardous manual tasks; exposure to heat, chemicals and whole body vibration; vehicle roll overs; and collisions. It may be possible to remove or reduce the risk of these events through improved design of the equipment and wider organisational systems. Design analysis techniques and a risk assessment tool (Design OMAT and EDEEP) were applied in the review of an asphalt job truck. Findings have led to preliminary design considerations for improvement and there are implications for organisational system change