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Objective: To examine whether body mass index (BMI), menopausal status, and hormone therapy (HT) use modify the association between physical activity (PA) patterns throughout middle age and the incidence and prevalence of joint symptoms in women in later middle age.Methods: Data were from 6,661 participants (born 1946-1951) in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health. Surveys, with questions on joint pain and stiffness, PA, height and weight, menopausal symptoms, and HT use, were completed every 3 years from 1998 to 2010. PA patterns were defined as none or low, low or meeting guidelines, fluctuating, or meeting guidelines at all times (reference pattern). Logistic regression was used to examine the association between PA patterns and prevalent (in 2010) and cumulative incident (1998-2010) joint symptoms and effect modification by patterns in BMI, menopausal status, and HT.Results: The groups representing fluctuating PA (odds ratio [OR] 1.34 [99% confidence interval (99% CI) 1.04-1.72]) and no or low PA (OR 1.60 [99% CI 1.08-2.35]) had higher odds of incident joint symptoms than those described as meeting guidelines at all times. Stratification by BMI showed that this association was statistically significant in the obese group only. No evidence for effect modification by menopausal status or HT use was found. The findings were similar for prevalent joint symptoms.Conclusion: Maintaining at least low levels of PA throughout middle age was associated with a lower prevalence and incidence of joint symptoms later in life. This apparent protective effect of PA on joint symptoms was stronger in obese women than in under- or normal-weight women, and not related to menopause or HT status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many of the outstanding native title claims across Australia were originally conceptualised in terms of the level at which rights and interests in land were exercised by groupings of claimants at a range of scales, rather than the level at which the body of law and custom legitimating those rights and interests was held and reproduced. Claimants, Native Title Representative Bodies (NTRBs) and respondent parties have continued to struggle with reconciling the various levels at which Aboriginal groups coalesce and become differentiated from one another. Since the Yorta Yorta High Court decision in 2002, Indigenous Australians claiming native title under the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) have had to demonstrate that their current ‘society’ is the same society as that which existed at the time of colonisation. Since the rights and interests in land and waters that can be recognised under the Native Title Act are said to stem from the ‘laws and customs’ of the society that was in existence at sovereignty, much hinges on how ‘society’ is understood. What emerges strongly from the ethnographic record is that traditional Aboriginal societies contracted and expanded in different contexts. In this paper, I argue that defining native title societies in a way that adequately acknowledges this fact does not seem to be precluded by the Native Title Act or by subsequent case law judgments on this question. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Freud argued that what is common to all comic techniques is 'the fact that in each of them something familiar is rediscovered, where we might instead have expected something new. This rediscovery of what is familiar is pleasurable' (1960 [1923], 120). In the analysis offered in his 1905 work, Jokes and their relation to the Unconscious (1963a), the further apart the two conceptual entities that are brought together in an innovative use of words or gestures, the greater is the pleasure in the short-circuit created between them. The joke, then, can be understood as instance of the more general category of the innovative metaphor, that is to say, the transfer of meaning across domains, which, while holding onto the original referent of a symbol, simultaneously creates a new relation that extends the original meaning. The strength of this innovative spark across conceptual poles is correlative to the tension that marks their difference. This short-circuit may produce a revelatory and/or comic effect. In this paper I explore an Australian Aboriginal corroboree of the Ngarinyin people from north-western Australia, in which this kind of innovatory spark is used to make new sense of racial power and violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Health-related, quality of life (HRQoL) is an important outcome in clinical trials of patients with Charcot–Marie–Tooth disease (CMT). In a cross-sectional survey of 295 Australian adults with CMT, HRQoL was measured using the Short Form-36 (SF-36) and predictors of reduced HRQoL were identified with a CMT-specific health status questionnaire. People with CMT demonstrated lower HRQoL scores than the general Australian population in all SF-36 dimensions. The disparity between people with CMT and normative data was greater for physical dimensions than for mental health dimensions. SF-36 scores were generally lower in older vs younger people, but not between men and women, or between CMT types. HRQoL in CMT was predicted strongly by lower limb weakness and to a lessor extent by leg cramps, suggesting clinical trials targeting weakness and cramps may improve HRQoL in patients with CMT. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In the northern Kimberley (WA) Aborigines and Europeans living and working on pastoral leases have improvised means of staving off, incorporating and generally managing the other's demands on their psychophysical resources. Local racial politics configure a hierarchised social field around a few central figures: founding European lease-holders and their male children by non-local, mixed-descent Aboriginal women, mixed descent head-stockmen born of a European leaseholder and a local Aboriginal woman, and then local Ngarinyin people who constitute most of the work-force. In this paper, I analyse the intercultural dynamics of this social field employing R.D. Laing's notion of the 'family phantasy'. The subject-matter also entails theoretical reconsideration of questions concerning the relative openness or otherwise of Indigenous Australian socio-cultural categories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Foot orthoses are frequently used but little is known about which types are used in contemporary practice. This study aimed to explore the types of foot orthoses currently used by podiatrists and the prescription variations in a range of conditions. Methods: A web-based, cross-sectional survey was distributed through professional bodies in the United Kingdom (UK), Australia, and New Zealand. Questions focussed on foot orthosis prescription habits in relation to 26 conditions affecting the back and lower limb. Results: Two hundred and sixty-four podiatrists practising in 19 different countries completed the survey; the majority practised in the UK (47%, n = 124), Australia (30%, n = 79) and New Zealand (12%, n = 32). Respondents qualified between 1968 and 2016, and 147 (56%) were female. Respondents worked in different healthcare sectors and this varied between countries: 42 (34%) respondents in the UK worked solely in the public sector, compared to 3 (4%) in Australia and 2 (6%) in New Zealand. Forty-four (35%) respondents in the UK worked solely in private practice, compared to 64 (81%) in Australia and 14 (44%) in New Zealand. UK respondents prescribed more prefabricated orthoses per week (mean 5.5 pairs) than simple insole-type devices (±2.7) and customised devices (±2.9). Similarly, respondents in New Zealand prescribed more prefabricated orthoses per week (±7.7) than simple (±1.4) and customised (±2.8) devices. In contrast, those in Australia prescribed more customised orthoses per week (±4.4) than simple (±0.8) and prefabricated (±1.9) orthoses. Differences in the types of orthoses prescribed were observed between country of practice, working sector, and the condition targeted. Generally, prefabricated orthoses were commonly prescribed for the 26 highlighted conditions in the UK and New Zealand. Australian podiatrists prescribed far fewer devices overall, but when they did prescribe, they were more likely to prescribe custom devices. Respondents in all three countries were more likely to prescribe customised orthoses for people with diabetes complicated by peripheral neuropathy than for diabetes without this complication. Conclusions: Foot orthosis prescription habits vary between countries. Prefabricated orthoses were frequently prescribed in the UK and New Zealand, and customised orthoses in Australia. Prescriptions for people with diabetes differed depending on the presence of neuropathy, despite a lack of robust evidence supporting these decisions. This study provides new insight into contemporary practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Guidelines recommend foot orthoses for people with both early (< 2 years) and established rheumatoid arthritis (RA). While prefabricated foot orthoses are cheaper and can exhibit comparable effects to customised devices, the available evidence for their effectiveness is inconsistent. Little is known about what types of foot orthoses clinicians prescribe. This study describes the foot orthoses prescription habits of podiatrists for people with rheumatoid arthritis., Methods: One hundred and eighty-three podiatrists from the United Kingdom (UK) ( n  = 88), Australia ( n  = 68) and New Zealand ( n  = 27) completed a self-administered, online survey regarding the types of foot orthoses prescribed in clinical practice for people with RA. This study forms part of a wider international survey exploring foot orthosis prescription habits., Results: UK respondents were more likely to prescribe prefabricated orthoses for early RA ( n  = 47, 53%) and customised orthoses for established RA (n = 47, 53%). Respondents in Australia were more likely to prescribe customised orthoses for both early ( n  = 32, 47%) and established ( n  = 46, 68%) RA, whilst respondents in New Zealand were more likely to prescribe prefabricated orthoses for both early ( n  = 16, 59%) and established ( n  = 10, 37%) disease.Irrespective of disease stage, the use of foam impression boxes was more prevalent in the UK and New Zealand when capturing a model of the feet prior to manufacturing customised orthoses. In contrast, electronic scanning and plaster of Paris were more common in Australia. Computer aided manufacture was utilised more frequently among respondents in Australia than in the UK and New Zealand. Respondents in all three countries specified more flexible shell materials for established RA, compared to early disease. Cushioning top covers (e.g. PORON® or polyurethane) were most frequently specified in all countries for both disease stages., Conclusions: Considerable variation was seen in the self-reported foot orthoses prescription habits of respondents for people with RA. Variation between countries and disease stage was seen in type of orthoses, specific brands, manufacturing methods, and materials prescribed. The results allow podiatrists and broader health service providers to compare their practice against reported national and international patterns., Competing Interests: Ethical approval was received from the School of Medicine Research Ethics Committee, University of Leeds (Ref: MREC15–052). Subsequent approval was also gained from La Trobe University (Ref: MREC15–052) and Auckland University (Ref: 16/133) of Technology.Not applicable.The authors declare that they have no competing interests.Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Study Design: Descriptive correlational investigation., Objectives: To assess the incidence of, and potential risk factors associated with, overuse injury in triathlon., Background: The sport of triathlon is rapidly increasing in popularity with a concomitant rise in the prevalence of injuries sustained by triathletes., Methods and Measures: The training and injury patterns of 131 triathletes were surveyed over a 10-week prospective period during the triathlon competition season. A complementary retrospective 6-month analysis of training history and prior overuse injuries was conducted., Results: Fifty percent of triathletes sustained an injury in the 6-month preseason at an injury exposure rate of 2.5 per 1000 training hours. Thirty-seven percent were injured during the 10-week competition season at an injury exposure rate of 4.6 per 1000 training hours. Overuse accounted for 68% of preseason and 78% of competition season injuries reported. Increased years of triathlon experience, high running mileage, history of previous injury, and inadequate warming-up and cooling-down regimes appeared to have individual associations with injury incidence. When interactions were included in a multiple logistic regression model, increasing years of triathlon experience was the most significant predictor of preseason injury risk and a previous history of injury and high preseason running mileage increased the risk of injury during the competition season., Conclusions: The results indicate that in assessing triathletes, a full training and competition history is required by the sports clinician for a comprehensive assessment of the factors that may contribute to overuse injury.