The impact of new oral fluid drug driving detection methods in Queensland: are motorists deterred?

Queensland Police Services have commenced random roadside drug testing of motorists to collectively apprehend as well as deter potential offenders. The present study aimed to examine a sample of Queensland drivers’ (N = 462) level of awareness of the new testing method as well as determine the impact of the countermeasure and other non-legal sanctions on intentions to drug drive. The findings revealed that respondents were generally unaware of the new testing method and a similar proportion remained uncertain regarding the effectiveness of detecting drivers who are driving under the influence of illicit drugs. An examination of the factors associated with intentions to drug drive again in the future revealed that perceptions of apprehension certainty was a significant predictor, as those who reported a lower certainty of apprehension were more likely to report intending to offend. Additionally, self-reported recent drug driving activity and frequent drug consumption were also identified as significant predictors, which indicates that in the current context past behaviour is a prominent predictor of future behaviour. The findings of the study confirm the popular deterrence-based assumption that increasing perceptions of apprehension certainty, such as through random road-side testing, may yet still prove to be an effective method of reducing the burden of drug driving on road safety

Australian forensic psychologists' perspectives on the merits and limits of actuarial instruments in predicting recidivism among violent offenders and sex offenders

Actuarial approaches are regarded as more accurate than both unstructured and structured clinical approaches in assessing risk of recidivism among sex offenders. While there has been a plethora of research on evaluating the effectiveness of actuarial instruments, there has been a paucity of research investigating their actual level of use in forensic settings. In addition, little is known about the practical difficulties associated with administering actuarial instruments. This paper reports on a survey completed by forensic psychologists in Australia about the risk assessment tools they prefer and the benefits and difficulties associated with their use. In addition, the paper explores the extent to which forensic psychologists use clinical information to adjust the level of risk identified through the actuarial approach. The findings are discussed in light of the utility of particular approaches to assessing risk of recidivism among violent offenders and sex offenders

Work-related road safety risk assessment: utilisation of self-report surveys to predict organisational risk

Work-related driving safety is an emerging concern for Australian and overseas organisations. Research has shown that road crashes are the most common cause of work-related fatalities, injuries and absences from work. This study's objectives were to identify driver characteristics which pose potential risks to work-related driving safety within the organisation, as well as determining the value of such self-reported data to predict crash involvement and general aberrant driving behaviours. This paper reports on a study examining the predictive utility of predominant self-report questionnaires to identify individuals involved in work-related crashes within an Australian organisational fleet setting (N = 4195). Survey questionnaires included the Manchester Driver Behaviour Questionnaire (DBQ), Driver Attitude Questionnaire (DAQ), Safety Climate Questionnaire – Modified for Drivers (SCQ-MD) and Risk Taking. The tools were distributed through the company’s internal mail system to employees who volunteered to participate in the study. An important finding to emerge was that a potential fleet "speeding culture" was identified from univariate analyses. For example, drivers were most likely to report engaging in speeding behaviours and also believed that speeding was more acceptable compared to drink driving, following too closely or engaging in risky overtaking manoeuvres. However, multivariate analysis determining factors associated with self-reported crash involvement revealed that increased work pressure and driving errors were predictive of crash risk, even after controlling for exposure on the road. This paper highlights the major findings of the study and discusses the implications and difficulties associated with utilising driver behaviour measurement tools within contemporary organisational fleet settings

Perceptions of Work-Related Road Safety - Safety Versus Savings

In Douglas Adam’s "The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy", published in the 1970s, a computer is confronted with the intriguing question: "What is the meaning of life?" After elaborate and tedious number crunching, the computer returns: "The answer to your question is 42". It is obvious, that the monetary valuation of road safety is not an easy task either. In fact, it implies answering an equally difficult and intriguing question – What is the statistical value of a human life? Although various methods and approaches have been put forward to estimate the statistical cost of a road fatality, some scholars argue that valuing fatal injuries and hence human life is virtually impossible. They maintain that people do not nearly have sufficiently accurate preferences to make a sensible trade-off between road safety and money. The (perceptions of) changes in risk levels are so small that making the trade-off is very difficult, if not impossible (Hauer, 1994). However, other road safety costs can be statistically determined and initiatives developed to reduce the burden to both organisations and individuals. Therefore, the topic of this paper is to determine what factors contribute to work-related road incidents and how economic costs to industry organisations could be reduced

The Influence of Occupational Driver Stress on Work-related Road Safety: An Exploratory Review

Research has identified a number of stressors that could impact on the occupational driver by increasing stress levels and, for some individuals, causing adverse behaviour and effects, for example, aggressive behaviour, fatigue, inattention/distraction, and substance abuse. For safety professionals and employers, one way to reduce the effects of occupational driver stress is to change perceptions so that management and drivers recognise that work-related driving is as important as other work-related tasks. This article explores relevant literature in relation to driver stress and suggests additions to risk management processes and safety procedures/policies, including assigning sufficient basic resources to target occupational stress (particularly occupational driver stress)

The Theory of the Copy: Henry Fox Talbot and The Pencil of Nature

This paper explores how Henry Fox Talbot's enigmatic mid-nineteenth-century "book" The Pencil of Nature staged a key moment in media history. By working through some of the key themes that framed Talbot's concep­tion of the copying process, it is possible to examine a vital moment in the historical drama of mechanical reproduction. In this paper I argue that, de­parting from Walter Benjamin's formulation of the copy, Talbot's emotional investment in the copying process effectively imbricates the modern image in an affective field of historical memory, securing the meaning of the copy for futurity. The Pencil of Nature demonstrates in its relation to images, and to the copying process, a particular mode of collecting, constructing, cultivating, and transferring meaning. Reading The Pencil of Nature as a manifestation of lyrical, etymological, and antiquarian modes of nine­teenth-century thought, this essay negotiates how Talbot nostalgically and sentimentally positions the reproducible modern image, prefiguring image production systems in modernity and postmodernity

To Tag or Not To Tag: The Interplay of the Twitch Tag System and LGBTQIA+ Visibility in Live Streaming

Video Game Live Streaming (VGLS) has become increasingly popular in recent years. Twitch, one of the largest streaming sites, has implemented measures to protect and promote marginalized groups, including the LGBTQIA+ community. One example is the "LGBTQIA+" tag - a tag a streamer can attach to their steam. However, little is known regarding how the Twitch VGLS community actually reacts to this design feature and how such a feature affects LGBTQIA+ streamers’ online presence and experiences of visibility. By qualitatively analyzing 381 threads and comments from the Twitch subreddit (r/Twitch), in this paper we identify the impacts of the Twitch Tag system on the VGLS community’s perceptions of gender and sexuality in streaming, the streaming community’s ability to find LGBTQIA+ streamers, and harassment towards LGBTQIA+ streamers. We not only expand existing knowledge of LGBTQIA+ gamers’ unique experiences of online presence and visibility in streaming but also provide potential design recommendations for future live streaming platforms to better support LGBTQIA+ streamers and viewers

Technologies for imaging neural activity in large volumes

Neural circuitry has evolved to form distributed networks that act dynamically across large volumes. Collecting data from individual planes, conventional microscopy cannot sample circuitry across large volumes at the temporal resolution relevant to neural circuit function and behaviors. Here, we review emerging technologies for rapid volume imaging of neural circuitry. We focus on two critical challenges: the inertia of optical systems, which limits image speed, and aberrations, which restrict the image volume. Optical sampling time must be long enough to ensure high-fidelity measurements, but optimized sampling strategies and point spread function engineering can facilitate rapid volume imaging of neural activity within this constraint. We also discuss new computational strategies for the processing and analysis of volume imaging data of increasing size and complexity. Together, optical and computational advances are providing a broader view of neural circuit dynamics, and help elucidate how brain regions work in concert to support behavior

Monumentalizing a Political Candidacy: Robert Lowell and Eugene McCarthy’s History

History (1973) remains Robert Lowell’s most criticized collection of poetry. This was largely because of the critical consensus that Lowell, the most well-known confessional poet, had moved too far away from the elements of the genre in his later works. This reception, coupled with his public mental health episodes, highly publicized divorce from Elizabeth Hardwick in 1972, and personal politics, had a negative impact on the legacy of the author. In revisiting this work, I argue that Lowell’s History is just as confessional as his earlier collections but presents the confessional mode in a different way. In doing so, Lowell challenges both the reader and the author as he attempts to convey the personal “I” through new poetic forms. Lowell also monumentalizes himself and his contemporaries by creating a space of legacy for them, allowing for multiple avenues of interpretations through his confession and his relationships. In doing so, History becomes both a revision and reflection of Lowell’s life and interpretation of important events. The massive volume of poetry offers an expansive look at history through the confessional lens and at the aging poet himself. My examination focuses particularly on forms of confession revealed through the political poems written during the 1968 anti-war campaign against Vietnam, Lowell’s friendship with Presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy, and his involvement in the political sphere. Lowell’s anti-war position, personal involvement, and intention in creating the collection are best read alongside the larger social context. This context allows us to better understand the relationships between Lowell and McCarthy, which will be defined in chapter 3, as well as understand how they functioned for one another and why Lowell chose to write about the campaign in the way that he did. Robert Lowell’s biographer, Ian Hamilton, notes that Lowell spoke for McCarthy at several fundraising events in New York in 1968. Eugene McCarthy, who was also friends with Lowell’s contemporaries, Allen Tate and J. F. Powers, stated that Lowell “sort of showed up” (McCarthy 116). Their friendship grew out of mutual respect and admiration for one another. Lowell was struck by McCarthy’s wit and McCarthy “enjoyed both the weight of Lowell’s prestige and the relief of his company (I. Hamilton 66). Their relationship would not only influence Lowell’s political poems in History but also McCarthy’s own poetry, which he published decades later. I also argue that the critical disregard for History has not allowed the collection to be interpreted for its cultural work.2 Reading this collection alongside the historical context allows us to understand the societal influence on the text as well view the text as a reflection of the time in which it was composed. History should be regarded with the same level of literary importance as Life Studies (1959) in terms of understanding the genre and Lowell himself. In doing so, we can examine this collection as representative of the political atmosphere of the late 1960s. Lowell carves a place for himself, his contemporaries, and those from whom he drew inspiration from or found conflict with in History. He monumentalizes his subjects by elevating them, confessing through them, and allowing the reader to interpret these moments as emblematic of both the author and as records of historical permanence. In revisiting Lowell’s History, I attempt to renew interest in Lowell’s late poetry by offering a rereading of his least positively received collection