The cognitive demands of second order manual control: Applications of the event related brain potential

Three experiments are described in which tracking difficulty is varied in the presence of a covert tone discrimination task. Event related brain potentials (ERPs) elicited by the tones are employed as an index of the resource demands of tracking. The ERP measure reflected the control order variation, and this variable was thereby assumed to compete for perceptual/central processing resources. A fine-grained analysis of the results suggested that the primary demands of second order tracking involve the central processing operations of maintaining a more complex internal model of the dynamic system, rather than the perceptual demands of higher derivative perception. Experiment 3 varied tracking bandwidth in random input tracking, and the ERP was unaffected. Bandwidth was then inferred to compete for response-related processing resources that are independent of the ERP

Civil Procedure-Judgements-Mutuauty as Requirement for Assertion of Collateral Estoppel Against Claimant Who Was Claimee in Prior Action

Plaintiff corporations, the sole shareholder of which was their president, sued defendant insurers to recover for the alleged theft of the corporations\u27 furs. In an earlier criminal action, the president (conceded by the corporations to be their mere alter ego for purposes of res judicata) had been convicted of attempted grand theft, conspiracy to commit grand theft, and the filing of fraudulent insurance claims for loss of the same furs; it was there determined that the president had staged the theft of the furs. In plaintiffs\u27 civil action, the superior court rejected defendants\u27 plea of collateral estoppel as to the non-occurrence of an actual theft, but, after verdict for plaintiffs, granted defendants a new trial. On appeal, held, reversed and entry of judgment for defendants directed. Even in the absence of mutuality of estoppel, a claimant which was claimee in a prior action may be collaterally estopped to assert the existence of a fact vital to its cause of action in a second suit if the non-existence of that fact was adjudicated in the prior action. Teitelbaum Furs, Inc. v. Dominion Ins. Co., 58 Cal. 2d 601, 375 P.2d 439 (1962)

Social Constructs of Online Feminine Identities in Social Media: A Thematic Analysis

It has been argued that femininity is a form of control over women’s identity, and that femininity is predominantly performative. This research examines the performative nature of femininity in Instagram posts, based on the idea that social media is a means through which young women negotiate and perform their feminine identity. Self-presentation theories suggest that female social media users perform aspects of self-presentation as influenced by the audience, the situation, and implicit social constructs of gender. This study used Reflexive Thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with ten women Instagram users aged between 18 – 27, who post regularly to Instagram. The focus was on exploring the participant's detailed accounts of how they manage their online identity and self-presentation of femininity on Instagram. Emerging themes emphasised the performative aspects of self-presentation, such as self-surveillance and self-monitoring and impression management in relation to online social situations. Findings highlight the significant, influential aspect the audience plays in performative femininity as well as the importance of Goffman’s (1959) dramaturgical theory of self-presentation and Walkerdine’s (1989) concept of femininity as a performance. The study raises important questions about the presentation and performative elements of femininity on Instagram and how femininity is still a form of hegemonic control over women

Stock assessment of Queensland east coast burrowing blackfish (Actinopyga spinea), with data to June 2023

Burrowing blackfish are species of sea cucumber from the family Holothuriidae that is found in northeastern Australia, New Caledonia, and possibly other Melanesian countries. In Australia, burrowing blackfish distributions extend along the entire Great Barrier Reef (GBR). They often occur in shallow to deeper depths from 1–25 m. This is the first stock assessment conducted on Queensland east coast burrowing blackfish by Fisheries Queensland. This stock assessment considered burrowing blackfish as three distinct populations, one associated with Gould Reef (Gould), one associated with the Capricorn Bunker Group (Bunker), and one associated with Lizard Island (Lizard). No stock assessment result is provided for Lizard. All assessment inputs and outputs are referenced on a financial year basis (that is, ‘2023’ means July 2022–June 2023). This assessment used a one-sex age-structured population model and a delay-difference model which led to similar results. The outputs of the age-structured model are presented as the main results for all three species in this assessment. The assessment incorporated commercial catch and effort data spanning 1995 to 2023 as well as length composition data and estimates of absolute abundance from recent surveys undertaken in 2023. No recreational or Indigenous catch data were available and catches from these sectors are considered negligible. There are no discards due to the highly selective nature of the fishery. Several Stock Synthesis scenarios were run to examine the implications of different fixed model parameters such as steepness (h) and natural mortality (M) on model outcomes. All scenarios were optimised using Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) to better explore the robustness of the models. From these exploratory scenarios a final base case was chosen for each species. The base case Stock Synthesis results indicated that the biomass ratio of Gould at the beginning of 2024 financial year was between 51% and 101% of unfished levels. The base case Stock Synthesis results indicated that the biomass ratio of Bunker at the beginning of 2024 financial year was between 78% and 109% of unfished levels. The Lizard stock assessment modelling process failed to reconcile fishing pressure with the biomass decline observed through survey estimates of absolute biomass

Management strategy evaluation of the Queensland east coast sea cucumber fishery, with data to June 2023

The Queensland Sea Cucumber Fishery is a recreational and commercial fishery comprised of twenty-one sea cucumber species. The fishery has a dynamic history of species catch composition whereby the main target species were black teatfish (Holothuria whitmaei), then white teatfish (Holothuria fuscogilva) and presently burrowing blackfish (Actinopyga spinea) with opportunistic harvest of herrmanni curryfish (Stichopus herrmanni) and prickly redfish (Thelonata ananas). This is the second management strategy evaluation conducted on the Queensland sea cucumber fishery but the first by Fisheries Queensland. A management strategy evaluation of the Queensland sea cucumber fishery conducted by CSIRO in 2014 evaluated the benefits of the rotational harvest strategy (Skewes et al. 2014). While some specific results differ between the previous and current management strategy evaluation are difficult to compare as fishery reference points have been updated between reports, consistent conclusions were reached. Management strategy evaluation is a simulation tool for comparing the effectiveness of different management procedures against fishery objectives. The simulations capture the growth, reproduction, movement and mortality of a fish population and potential management procedures which dictate the fishery operating on the population. Uncertainty in these processes is characterised by running many simulations with slightly different biological specifications. The management procedures prescribe a mode of operation rather than a specific catch-limit or effort control. The performance of each management procedure is quantified to answer important management questions. Management procedures that perform well over a range of simulations are more likely to achieve the desired management goals. Well-performing management procedures become recommendations for the fishery. This management strategy evaluation was undertaken using the openMSE package developed by Blue Matter Science. The evaluation considered commercial catch and effort data spanning 1995 to 2023, biological data provided by Fishwell Consulting and Macquarie University and results from co-produced stock assessments. The biology of many sea cucumber species is unknown or uncertain and often places this taxon in a data-limited space. This applies to many species in the Queensland sea cucumber fishery and the data-limited nature of the fishery has been captured in this management strategy evaluation through an increased level of uncertainty for species biology. This management strategy evaluation found that the settings contained in the harvest strategy and other legislated and enforceable management arrangements are likely sufficient to meet the fishery’ objective of attaining maximum economic yield (defined in the harvest strategy as target biomass level of 60% of unfished biomass for stocks harvested in the fishery). The current management containing the rotational harvest strategy, catch limits and size limits management arrangements suggests the risk of depletion for most species was low

Aerobic Palladium-Catalyzed Dioxygenation of Alkenes Enabled by Catalytic Nitrite

Catalytic nitrite was found to enable carbon–oxygen bond-forming reductive elimination from unstable alkyl palladium intermediates, providing dioxygenated products from alkenes. A variety of functional groups were tolerated, and high yields (up to 94 %) were observed with many substrates, also for a multigram-scale reaction. Nitrogen dioxide, which could form from nitrite under the reaction conditions, was demonstrated to be a potential intermediate in the catalytic cycle. Furthermore, the reductive elimination event was probed with ^(18)O-labeling experiments, which demonstrated that both oxygen atoms in the difunctionalized products were derived from one molecule of acetic acid

Perfect simulation from unbiased simulation

We show that any application of the technique of unbiased simulation becomes perfect simulation when coalescence of the two coupled Markov chains can be practically assured in advance. This happens when a fixed number of iterations is high enough that the probability of needing any more to achieve coalescence is negligible; we suggest a value of $10^{-20}$. This finding enormously increases the range of problems for which perfect simulation, which exactly follows the target distribution, can be implemented. We design a new algorithm to make practical use of the high number of iterations by producing extra perfect sample points with little extra computational effort, at a cost of a small, controllable amount of serial correlation within sample sets of about 20 points. Different sample sets remain completely independent. The algorithm includes maximal coupling for continuous processes, to bring together chains that are already close. We illustrate the methodology on a simple, two-state Markov chain and on standard normal distributions up to 20 dimensions. Our technical formulation involves a nonzero probability, which can be made arbitrarily small, that a single perfect sample point may have its place taken by a "string" of many points which are assigned weights, each equal to $\pm 1$, that sum to~$1$. A point with a weight of $-1$ is a "hole", which is an object that can be cancelled by an equivalent point that has the same value but opposite weight $+1$.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures; for associated R scripts, see https://github.com/George-Leigh/PerfectSimulatio

An exploratory study of stakeholders' perspectives of a mega event in Barbados : the Golf World Cup 2006

Although much has been written on the benefits of hosting 'mega events' including the Olympic Games and the Football World Cup, smaller but still significant sport events of global significance such as the Golf World Cup have received hardly any attention by researchers. This dearth in knowledge has inspired the direction of this study, that is, to explore the stakeholder perspective of the Golf World Cup which was hosted in Barbados in 2006. This event was part of a national development strategy aimed at diversifying the tourism product in the light of the increasing competitiveness of the tourism industry. Consequently the research methodology adopted for this study was eclectic in nature as it sought to obtain a holistic understanding of the issues associated with hosting mega events on a small island microstate. An approach to data collection and analysis was therefore utilised including semi-structured interviews, participant observation and the examination of documents and promotional materials in order to understand the expectations and perceptions that specific stakeholder groups (including local tourism officials, international tourists and local residents) have of the Golf World Cup. The 85 participants in this study highlighted a diversity of views. From the tourism authorities' perspective, the reasons for staging the Golf World Cup were rather cliched. These included using the Golf World Cup as a tool to promote the island as an upmarket golfing destination. The authorities also expected that the Golf World Cup would stimulate tourism demand during a traditionally slow period and provide the island with much needed publicity in overseas tourism markets. However, the fieldwork revealed that the event was unsuccessful due to the poor attendance by both international tourists and local residents. From an international perspective many participants felt that the event was poorly attended due to a lack of awareness in overseas markets and the 'lack of atmosphere' and auxiliary attractions at the golf course. From the local perspective many participants felt that the event lacked appeal and cultural relevance to the host society. Locally, a significant finding is that the event projected an image of catering to an elitist clientele. This image created the perception among local residents that the event was socially exclusive and only served to perpetuate social divisions in society rather than to ameliorate them. Furthermore, many felt that the failure of the event authorities to solicit local participation was because local residents were not part of the decision-making process. This finding further augments the argument that events cannot be successful without local support and participation. The findings in this study can make a worthwhile contribution to the marketing, management and design of future events and the direction of policy formulation for sport events on the island of Barbados. It has illuminated many issues that direct the perceptions, expectations and subsequent purchase behaviour of international tourists and local visitors regarding a mega event on the island of Barbados.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Attention and automation: New perspectives on mental underload and performance

There is considerable evidence in the ergonomics literature that automation can significantly reduce operator mental workload. Furthermore, reducing mental workload is not necessarily a good thing, particularly in cases where the level is already manageable. This raises the issue of mental underload, which can be at least as detrimental to performance as overload. However, although it is widely recognized that mental underload is detrimental to performance, there are very few attempts to explain why this may be the case. It is argued in this paper that, until the need for a human operator is completely eliminated, automation has psychological implications relevant in both theoretical and applied domains. The present paper reviews theories of attention, as well as the literature on mental workload and automation, to synthesize a new explanation for the effects of mental underload on performance. Malleable attentional resources theory proposes that attentional capacity shrinks to accommodate reductions in mental workload, and that this shrinkage is responsible for the underload effect. The theory is discussed with respect to the applied implications for ergonomics research

Innovative Piloting Technique for a Semi-Autonomous UAV Lighter-Than-Air Platform Simulator

UAS design has in these years reached a point in which trends and objectives are well beyond the actual test capabilities. The tendency of the past to build and test has clearly been overridden by new design concepts for many reasons, one of these being the scarce or null possibility of testing safety-critical systems such as UAV systems. This is the context in which the Elettra-Twin-Flyer (ETF) Simulator is constantly upgraded and rearranged to incorporate new features and more advanced capabilities. In this paper it is shown how the piloting modes have been differentiated, to improve the airship autonomy and allow path following operations. Innovative piloting tools have been introduced and a new Human-Machine-Interface has been proposed along