title: YouTube: a new space for birth?

authors: Longhurst, Robyn

subjects: YouTube

abstract: Birth, in many societies, is considered to be a private affair. Although health and medical professionals usually assist, the only other people who share the birth process with mothers are their nearest and dearest. With the rise of information communication technologies, however, birth is no longer an exclusively private event. Some women are now sharing their birthing experiences with millions of viewers who are part of the online video ‘community’ YouTube Broadcast Yourself. Searching the word ‘birth’ on YouTube results in close to one million ‘hits’. This article is based on a small-scale, qualitative research project, which involved viewing and making notes on several hundred online videos of birth on YouTube and the accompanying posts and commentaries about the videos. These data were analysed through a feminist, poststructuralist and geographical lens. Throughout the article the term ‘cyber/space’ is used to highlight the mutually constituted nature of ‘real’ and virtual spaces. The article concludes that although YouTube has the potential to open up new windows on birth, this potential is not yet being realized. YouTube does not overcome or render insignificant material expressions of power, instead it typically privileges US experiences of birth, reiterates discourses of ‘good’ mothering and censors particular (mainly vaginal) representations of birth.

text: YouTube: a new space for birth? Birth, in many societies, is considered to be a private affair. Although health and medical professionals usually assist, the only other people who share the birth process with mothers are their nearest and dearest. With the rise of information communication technologies, however, birth is no longer an exclusively private event. Some women are now sharing their birthing experiences with millions of viewers who are part of the online video ‘community’ YouTube Broadcast Yourself. Searching the word ‘birth’ on YouTube results in close to one million ‘hits’. This article is based on a small-scale, qualitative research project, which involved viewing and making notes on several hundred online videos of birth on YouTube and the accompanying posts and commentaries about the videos. These data were analysed through a feminist, poststructuralist and geographical lens. Throughout the article the term ‘cyber/space’ is used to highlight the mutually constituted nature of ‘real’ and virtual spaces. The article concludes that although YouTube has the potential to open up new windows on birth, this potential is not yet being realized. YouTube does not overcome or render insignificant material expressions of power, instead it typically privileges US experiences of birth, reiterates discourses of ‘good’ mothering and censors particular (mainly vaginal) representations of birth.

year: 2009

title: The effect of santicipatory behaviours, generated by Pavlovian conditioning, on the development of play in early and normally weaned rats.

authors: Guadarrama-Maillot, Veronica

subjects: Rattus norvegicus

abstract: Since the classic studies of Pavlov, a wide variety of researchers have investigated the
process of classical conditioning and used it to investigate animal behaviour.
Recently, researchers in animal behaviour have discovered important new benefits
associated with classical conditioning, now being applied as a way of enhancing
 well-being . Pavlovian conditioning occurs when an association between two
stimuli, a neutral stimulus and a biologically relevant stimulus, is created by repeated
paired presentations of both stimuli. When the presentation of the neutral stimulus is
followed by a delay, before the biological stimulus is presented,  expectation  or
 anticipatory behaviour  is generated. Anticipatory behaviour is known to elicit the
release of dopamine. As play behaviour is also known to result in the release of
dopamine, and correlates with positive welfare state, studies of the relationship
between anticipatory behaviour and play may generate important new insights for
animal welfare.
In this study I assessed if (i) early weaning influenced the development of playful
attacks and  pinning  behaviour in rats and (ii) the effects of a Pavlovian conditioning
paradigm on the occurrence of play in both early - and normally - weaned rats. Male
pups were assigned to one of the following treatment groups: (1) an early weaned
(EW) group without exposure to conditioning, (2) a normally weaned (NW) group
without exposure to conditioning, (3) an EW group with a conditional stimulus (CS)
paired to an unconditional stimulus (US) to generate anticipatory behaviour (CS-US),
(4) an EW group with CS-US unpaired, (5) an EW group with US only and (6) a NW
group with US only. Animals in each group were observed for one hour each week
from 4 to 7 weeks of life to record the frequency of playful attacks and pinning
behaviour. EW pups that were not exposed to any form of conditioning had a
significant reduction in the frequency of playful attacks relative to the NW pups
without conditioning; pinning frequencies were low, but the effect was not
statistically significant. The difference in frequencies of playful attacks between the
NW group without exposure to conditioning and all the EW groups was statistically
significant, with the NW groups displaying the highest frequencies of playful
behaviour; pinning changes across those same treatment groups were not significant.
Interestingly, the EW group under Pavlovian conditioning had a higher mean
frequency of playful attacks and pinning behaviour relative to the EW control groups
(i.e. EW with CS-US unpaired and EW with US only). Eliciting anticipatory
behaviour may explain the increased levels of play behaviour in the EW conditioned
group. Weight increases were similar across all EW and NW groups.
The results of this study are discussed in relation to the effects that early weaning has
on behavioural development, the potential benefits of using anticipatory behaviour to
reduce the impacts of stressful events, and its positive effects in the development of
play behaviour in rats. The findings support the idea that a Pavlovian conditioning
paradigm can be used to enhance the welfare of animals and that the expectation for
the reward has a greater effect than the reward itself.

text: The effect of santicipatory behaviours, generated by Pavlovian conditioning, on the development of play in early and normally weaned rats. Since the classic studies of Pavlov, a wide variety of researchers have investigated the
process of classical conditioning and used it to investigate animal behaviour.
Recently, researchers in animal behaviour have discovered important new benefits
associated with classical conditioning, now being applied as a way of enhancing
 well-being . Pavlovian conditioning occurs when an association between two
stimuli, a neutral stimulus and a biologically relevant stimulus, is created by repeated
paired presentations of both stimuli. When the presentation of the neutral stimulus is
followed by a delay, before the biological stimulus is presented,  expectation  or
 anticipatory behaviour  is generated. Anticipatory behaviour is known to elicit the
release of dopamine. As play behaviour is also known to result in the release of
dopamine, and correlates with positive welfare state, studies of the relationship
between anticipatory behaviour and play may generate important new insights for
animal welfare.
In this study I assessed if (i) early weaning influenced the development of playful
attacks and  pinning  behaviour in rats and (ii) the effects of a Pavlovian conditioning
paradigm on the occurrence of play in both early - and normally - weaned rats. Male
pups were assigned to one of the following treatment groups: (1) an early weaned
(EW) group without exposure to conditioning, (2) a normally weaned (NW) group
without exposure to conditioning, (3) an EW group with a conditional stimulus (CS)
paired to an unconditional stimulus (US) to generate anticipatory behaviour (CS-US),
(4) an EW group with CS-US unpaired, (5) an EW group with US only and (6) a NW
group with US only. Animals in each group were observed for one hour each week
from 4 to 7 weeks of life to record the frequency of playful attacks and pinning
behaviour. EW pups that were not exposed to any form of conditioning had a
significant reduction in the frequency of playful attacks relative to the NW pups
without conditioning; pinning frequencies were low, but the effect was not
statistically significant. The difference in frequencies of playful attacks between the
NW group without exposure to conditioning and all the EW groups was statistically
significant, with the NW groups displaying the highest frequencies of playful
behaviour; pinning changes across those same treatment groups were not significant.
Interestingly, the EW group under Pavlovian conditioning had a higher mean
frequency of playful attacks and pinning behaviour relative to the EW control groups
(i.e. EW with CS-US unpaired and EW with US only). Eliciting anticipatory
behaviour may explain the increased levels of play behaviour in the EW conditioned
group. Weight increases were similar across all EW and NW groups.
The results of this study are discussed in relation to the effects that early weaning has
on behavioural development, the potential benefits of using anticipatory behaviour to
reduce the impacts of stressful events, and its positive effects in the development of
play behaviour in rats. The findings support the idea that a Pavlovian conditioning
paradigm can be used to enhance the welfare of animals and that the expectation for
the reward has a greater effect than the reward itself.

year: 2009

title: Intellectual Property, Mātauranga Māori

authors: Sterling, Rogena

abstract: This literature review has been conducted to consider the various national legislation and international agreements that comprise New Zealand’s Intellectual Property Rights (IP) regime. It will evaluate if and how such legislation and agreements protect and enable Māori IP rights and interests with respect to Māori data, genomic data and mātauranga Māori. The review also identifies some mechanisms that might also enhance Māori control of these types of data. The Westminster approach of legislation in New Zealand and its approach to IP protection based on Copyrights, Patents and Trade Marks are juxtaposed against traditional Maori approaches of communally held ancestral knowledge (mātauranga) passed down through generations (whanaungatanga) based on guardianship and protection (kaitiakitanga) and the self-determination of use of such knowledge (rangatiratanga). Attempting to align tikanga concepts to the Westmionster model of law is challenging as the two share completely different notions of ownership and responsibility. Expectations of protection, to prevent misappropriation and commercialisation by non- Māori of mātauranga Māori and Māori data, extend beyond the parameters of existing IP law, creates a similar disjunct. Genomic Research generates data, some of which can be protected by IP, however researchers working with genetic/genomic data from taonga species have often failed to acknowledge the non-IP interests of Maori. As a result, Maori have taken it upon themselves to advocate for their rights to data through Māori data sovereignty discourse as well as create guidelines for culturally appropriate genomic research with explicit references to data security and management (e.g. Te Mata Ira, Te Nohonga Kaitiaki). Other extra-legal options, such as Biocultural Labelling to alert users where particular data has Māori rights and/or interests, are emerging to maintain create durable provenance data and connect next users of data with the responsible Indigenous communities. Though the intellectual property regime in New Zealand may provide some protections, there are still significant areas where the legal system does not provide sufficient protections for Māori data, taonga species and mātauranga. The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples provides a framework of international support for Indigenous rights, but local government and other home-grown mechanisms are important to enable Māori governance of data. Local approaches Māori Data Sovereignty and Māori Data Governance afford Maori the opportunity to be directly involved as kaitiaki of their mātauranga and assert rangatiratanga over data and its use.

text: Intellectual Property, Mātauranga Māori This literature review has been conducted to consider the various national legislation and international agreements that comprise New Zealand’s Intellectual Property Rights (IP) regime. It will evaluate if and how such legislation and agreements protect and enable Māori IP rights and interests with respect to Māori data, genomic data and mātauranga Māori. The review also identifies some mechanisms that might also enhance Māori control of these types of data. The Westminster approach of legislation in New Zealand and its approach to IP protection based on Copyrights, Patents and Trade Marks are juxtaposed against traditional Maori approaches of communally held ancestral knowledge (mātauranga) passed down through generations (whanaungatanga) based on guardianship and protection (kaitiakitanga) and the self-determination of use of such knowledge (rangatiratanga). Attempting to align tikanga concepts to the Westmionster model of law is challenging as the two share completely different notions of ownership and responsibility. Expectations of protection, to prevent misappropriation and commercialisation by non- Māori of mātauranga Māori and Māori data, extend beyond the parameters of existing IP law, creates a similar disjunct. Genomic Research generates data, some of which can be protected by IP, however researchers working with genetic/genomic data from taonga species have often failed to acknowledge the non-IP interests of Maori. As a result, Maori have taken it upon themselves to advocate for their rights to data through Māori data sovereignty discourse as well as create guidelines for culturally appropriate genomic research with explicit references to data security and management (e.g. Te Mata Ira, Te Nohonga Kaitiaki). Other extra-legal options, such as Biocultural Labelling to alert users where particular data has Māori rights and/or interests, are emerging to maintain create durable provenance data and connect next users of data with the responsible Indigenous communities. Though the intellectual property regime in New Zealand may provide some protections, there are still significant areas where the legal system does not provide sufficient protections for Māori data, taonga species and mātauranga. The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples provides a framework of international support for Indigenous rights, but local government and other home-grown mechanisms are important to enable Māori governance of data. Local approaches Māori Data Sovereignty and Māori Data Governance afford Maori the opportunity to be directly involved as kaitiaki of their mātauranga and assert rangatiratanga over data and its use.

year: 2021