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Background/aims Despite evidence that preferential use of balanced/buffered fluids may improve outcomes compared with chloride-rich 0.9% saline, saline remains the most commonly used fluid for children with septic shock. We aim to determine if resuscitation with balanced/buffered fluids as part of usual care will improve outcomes, in part through reduced kidney injury and without an increase in adverse effects, compared to 0.9% saline for children with septic shock. Methods The Pragmatic Pediatric Trial of Balanced versus Normal Saline Fluid in Sepsis (PRoMPT BOLUS) study is an international, open-label pragmatic interventional trial being conducted at > 40 sites in the USA, Canada, and Australia/New Zealand starting on August 25, 2020, and continuing for 5 years. Children > 6 months to Discussion PRoMPT BOLUS will provide high-quality evidence for the comparative effectiveness of buffered/balanced crystalloids versus 0.9% saline for the initial fluid management of children with suspected septic shock in emergency settings. Trial registration PRoMPT BOLUS was first registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT04102371) on September 25, 2019. Enrollment started on August 25, 2020.

There is growing recognition that multiple forms of uncertainty influence policy reform, but we need case studies illustrating how uncertainties influence reform, and strategies used to manage uncertainties in practice. We present a case study of how science was generated and incorporated into national water policy. We estimated turbidity (suspended fine sediment) reference states throughout the river network of New Zealand. A key decision-problem was: how region-specific should reference states be? We developed classifications of the national river network that grouped rivers with similar turbidity regimes into classes at four spatial resolutions. Choosing a classification was complicated by ontological uncertainties. Scientific actors framed these ontological uncertainties in different ways, introducing framing uncertainties (‘ambiguities’) into the decision-making process. Well-established statistical techniques were employed to objectively identify the most parsimonious classification, but those techniques had little impact on decision-making. Reframing ontological uncertainties in terms of risks to management objectives was required to reconcile divergent frames, and showed that the classification with the highest resolution was the most credible option. Nonetheless, local governments highlighted that the most credible classification was not the most relevant or legitimate one in light of implementation constraints. The final decision was made against a backdrop of ambiguities, was partially subjective, and balanced trade-offs among credibility, relevance and legitimacy. Looking ahead, ambiguities could be reduced by framing decision problems in terms of risks to management objectives. A barrier to doing this is the short duration of policy windows, so translational science must take place when such windows are shut.

The Ok Tedi mine discharges waste rock and tailings into the Ok Tedi River in Papua New Guinea. This has resulted in elevated copper concentrations throughout the Ok Tedi/Fly River system, which can potentially impact aquatic biota. Ten years of measured copper and toxicity monitoring data were used to assess the risk of chronic effects from the mine-derived copper. Cumulative probability plots of dissolved and labile copper were compared to a species sensitivity distribution (SSD) of published copper toxicity data for four regions of the river. The Cu-SSD was used to estimate the risk of chronic effects to aquatic organisms in the Ok Tedi/Fly River at a range of potential copper exposure scenarios. The risk to species at the median labile copper concentration for each region showed a gradient effect with distance downstream from the mine and only the most sensitive (0.2–11%) species were at risk. There were copper exceedances of the region-specific guideline values (GV) and default guideline value (DGV) 88% and 74% of the time, respectively, in the Ok Tedi region (closest to the mine) and this is considered a high risk of chronic effects. Measured copper concentrations in the middle Fly River, lower Fly River (farthest downstream of the mine) and the river at Kiunga (reference site) exceeded the region-specific GVs and DGVs less frequently to rarely and present a lower risk of chronic effects from copper. The risk was supported using toxicity tests with the local microalgal species Chlorella sp. Comparison of recent (2010−2020) and historical (1996–2004) copper monitoring data from the Ok Tedi/Fly River indicates a decrease in the labile copper concentrations (30–76%) at key sites from impacted regions and a subsequent decrease in risk. This coincides with improved mining practices aimed at reducing the copper load into the Ok Tedi/Fly River.

“Howzat” is colloquially used by cricketers to ask the umpire “How is that?” when they believe a batter is out. We employ this question here to frame interrogations of young women’s experiences as ...

Australian freshwaters have relatively low water hardness and different calcium (Ca) to magnesium (Mg) ratios compared with those in Europe. The hardness values of a substantial proportion of Australian freshwaters fall below the application boundary of the existing European nickel biotic ligand models (Ni BLMs) of 2 mg Ca/L. Toxicity testing was undertaken using Hydra viridissima to assess the predictive ability of the existing Ni BLM for this species in extremely soft waters. This testing revealed an increased competitive effect of Ca and Mg with Ni for binding to the biotic ligand in soft water (

Background: As with any period of transition, the induction into a university degree in Physical Education and Sport studies can be a daunting encounter for many students. In recognition of...

There is a rich, albeit chequered, history around single-sex schooling providing an educational option for nurturing the particular educational interests and needs of boys. While all-boys’ schools continue to position themselves at the forefront of contemporary masculine endeavour, they are simultaneously forced to fend off accusations that they are proverbial hot beds for the reproduction of gendered hegemony. Whereas some boys’ schools appear content with their ‘masculine’ profile, others appear more eager to present themselves as projecting tolerant and inclusive environments wherein respectful gender relations are actively encouraged. Situated within a wider case study, this paper examines how one all-boys’ school sought to foster gender inclusivity through a strategic initiative to increase the number of female teaching staff and the appointment of a female deputy principal. The data presented here focus on qualitative research interviews undertaken with key members of staff around 5 years after the initiative was introduced to the school. Our interpretation of the data draws largely on selected works of Michel Foucault to explore the discourse-power relations that sustain enduring hypermasculine and heteronormative values within the school. This lens provides a framework to interrogate how gendered constructions of professional identity are framed within such a context, and the spaces that exist for them to be challenged.

A method for objectively estimating reference states for suspended fine sediment (turbidity) is presented. To be fit for water policy development and implementation the method had to satisfy four requirements: (1) the method must not be dependent on data from minimally-disturbed reference sites; (2) the method must facilitate characterization of reference states throughout heterogeneous river networks, given patchy data; (3) the classification of reference states must be relevant and legitimate to end-users; (4) the method should provide several classifications of reference states at different spatial resolutions allowing selection of the resolution yielding the most parsimonious classification of reference states throughout the network. Implementing the method involves two stages: (1) Development of a river classification based on sediment supply and retention regimes (defining ‘turbidity classes’) at multiple spatial resolutions. (2) At each resolution, for each turbidity class, estimation of a reference state based on relationships between turbidity and anthropogenic stressors, then objective selection of the resolution yielding the most parsimonious classification of reference states throughout the network. Implementing the method requires a river network GIS and turbidity data within classes, preferably from monitoring sites spanning the domains of the anthropogenic stressor variables used for model-based estimation of reference states.•A method is presented for estimating reference states for suspended fine sediment (turbidity) throughout spatially heterogeneous river networks.•Development of the method was guided by the requirements of policy analysts during reform of water policy in New Zealand.•The method presented was used to develop fine sediment regulatory thresholds of national water policy., Graphical abstract Image, graphical abstract

INTRODUCTION: Caring for critically ill children with known or suspected severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections requires significant changes to usual pediatric intensive care unit operations related to infection control policies and frequent evolution of clinical care practice We hypothesized that patients with known or suspected SARS-CoV-2 would more often experience delays in timely antibiotic administration METHODS: We performed a retrospective cohort study including all children with suspected sepsis admitted to our tertiary PICU from March 16 through June 18, 2020 Suspected sepsis was defined by an order for a broadspectrum antibiotic and blood culture Children with known or suspected SARS-CoV-2 were defined by admission to the Pediatric Special Treatment Unit (PSTU), an isolation unit within the PICU dedicated to care of SARS-CoV-2 patients The primary outcome of median time to antibiotic administration was compared using the Mann-Whitney-U test Secondary outcomes included the proportion of antibiotics administered within 1 hour of the order and sepsis pathway utilization Fisher's exact test was used for comparison of secondary outcomes RESULTS: A total of 155 sepsis episodes were evaluated, including 14 with known/suspected SARS-CoV-2 and 141 with non-SARS-CoV-2 sepsis Median time to antibiotic administration was 70 5 minutes in known/suspected SARSCoV- 2 versus 103 minutes in non-SARS-CoV-2 sepsis (NS) Secondary outcomes were also not different between groups Known/suspected SARS-CoV-2 patients received 36% of new antibiotics within 60 minutes as compared to 46% of non-SARS-CoV-2 patients Pathway utilization was 29% in known/suspected SARS-CoV-2 and 23% in non-SARSCoV- 2 patients CONCLUSIONS: Despite significant operational changes enacted to care for SARS-CoV-2 patients, time to antibiotic administration and utilization of the sepsis pathway were no different than in non-SARS-CoV-2 patients with suspected sepsis Operational challenges may have been overcome by a staffing model that emphasized attending physicians as well as a higher nurse to patient ratio for this population

Modern Dynamic Nuclear Polarization (DNP) experiments often utilize gyrotron sources for irradiation of electron spins at 140–593 GHz. The total cost of ownership, size, and complexity of gyrotrons, however, limits wider adoption. The introduction of lower-cost and more compact sources can have a significant impact on the DNP community. This contribution describes the development of a 263 GHz EIK, design of transmission line for optimal irradiation of the DNP NMR sample, and detailed performance characterization for DNP experiments.

This chapter reveals the relevance of ‘place-belonging’ for a teacher and student arising around a game of battle-ball in an all-boys’ Physical Education class. Drawing on a narrative vignette, it reveals how belonging is embedded in the politics of institutional policies, pedagogic practices, gender and personal power relations. It also shows how the serendipitous conflation of these conditions can rapidly shift the boundaries and identities of belonging and that belonging or not belonging—being in/out of place—is not always agentically sought or controlled but can be ‘done to you’. In this light, it is argued that belonging and not belonging is best understood not as an encounter of oppositional forces but as a dynamic process involving subjective investments and desires.

Flocculation and sediment capping are two of the tools in the manager’s toolbox for lake restoration. For them to be used effectively requires an understanding of the in-lake processes that control the recycling of nutrients from the legacy stored in the sediments and the interactions with microbial communities and aquatic plants. The form of the nutrient is important, and there are natural in-lake processes that can influence the chemical intervention applied. For example, the chemical control of phosphorus (P) with P-inactivation agents in a lake is only applicable to soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP), i.e. phosphate, and not particulate or organic forms of P. Consequently, particulate forms, including detritus, fine sediment, and algal cells, need to be managed with flocculants which remove them from the water column to the sediments. A range of commercially available flocculation agents as well as passive and active sediment capping agents targeting P are discussed. Future prospects for chemical lake restoration methods are likely to include flocking and locking, i.e. using flocculation to settle the insoluble forms of P then locking that P in the sediments with an active barrier of P-inactivation agent as a sediment cap. Chemical lake restoration methods are not a panacea, but they are an important part of an integrated management plan that includes remedial action in the catchment.

North-eastern Tasmania, Australia has been an area of major production for Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas) for over 25 years. Since the mid-1990s, increased oyster mortality has been observed. The purpose of the present study was to identify the agent causing aquatic toxicity and to investigate whether there is a chemical and/or toxicological link between river foam and monoculture timber plantation forests of exotic eucalypts (Eucalyptus nitens) present in the catchment area. Foam samples from the George River catchment demonstrated high toxicity to a freshwater cladoceran and larvae of a marine blue mussel species. After filtration to remove most particulates, foam samples also demonstrated a marked reduction in toxicity to blue mussels, which suggested that the toxicity is particle associated. Foam and leaf extracts of E. nitens were then fractionated using HPLC and size exclusion chromatography and the resulting fractions were screened for cladoceran and blue mussel toxicity. Toxicity was detected in fractions common to both the foam and the leaf extracts. This study suggests that there may be a chemical and toxicological relationship between foam and E. nitens leaf components.

This paper was developed at the request of the Organising Committee for the 27th Australian Council for Health, Physical Education and Recreation International Conference, in Melbourne, 2013. Its genesis was as a feature forum, wherein a panel of curriculum experts were bought together to discuss the emergence of the Australian Health and Physical Education (HPE) curriculum. The title of the paper emerged as an alliteration of three panellist's first names beginning with the letter ‘D’. As well as this, the respective and collective expertise that Doune, David and Dawn brought to the forum covered the necessary depth, width and breadth to warrant the use of this multidimensional metaphor. While their collective experience with major curriculum reform is truly diverse and international, they had each worked together at various points of their esteemed careers. The presentation of this, somewhat unique, paper provides some rich insights into the opportunities and challenges that await the roll-out of the HP...

Arsenic (As) and mercury (Hg) associated with geothermally influenced lakes and rivers represent a potential health risk to communities where wild-caught food is consumed. The Rotorua Lakes region of New Zealand has extensive natural geothermal activity and a large proportion (35%) of indigenous Māori population, for whom wild food gathering is an important cultural activity. The aim of this study was to measure selected heavy metal and organochlorine (OC) concentrations in important local fish and shellfish species and assess the potential health risk to the local population of consuming these species. Following U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) protocols, consumption limits were calculated based on both excess lifetime cancer risk and noncancer risk. These were compared with local consumption rates, which were determined by questionnaire (n = 19). Median and 95th percentile contaminant concentrations were calculated to approximate random and most extreme contaminant consumption scenarios. Only Hg concentrations exceeded established Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) guideline values of 0.5 mg/kg, namely, for rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss; 62% of the study sites) and koura (freshwater crayfish; Paranephrops planifrons; 25% of sites). The major risk was from consumption of trout, where the local consumption rate (1.5 meals/mo) exceeded the consumption limit of 0.9 meals/mo (median data) and 0.4 meals/mo (95th percentile data). Shellfish--pipi (Paphies australis) and mussel (Perna canaliculus)--collected from the only estuarine site also had local consumption rates (3.5 meals/mo) above calculated consumption limits (2.6 and 2.9 meals/mo, respectively). Our results, while based on a limited sample size and therefore exploratory in nature, nevertheless provide the basis for developing consumption guidelines. This study makes a significant contribution to broadening our understanding of the complexities of managing customary fisheries.

Há um sentimento de promessa não realizada quando se analisa o progresso do projeto crítico da Educação Física desde a virada da segunda década do século XXI. Estudos de qualidade continuam a emergir em torno da pedagogia crítica da Educação Física, evidenciando o prolongado comprometimento com sua promessa de fornecer aos aprendizes recursos pessoais e intelectuais que são necessários na orientação de produtivos futuros sadios num mundo cada mais complexo. Ademais, igualmente importante é a crítica a falta de tradução em qualquer meio que impacte na Educação Física escolar convencional. Neste artigo nós discutimos destacados exemplos de investigações contemporâneas que demonstram as contínuas lutas em contextos práticos e revisita barreiras que continuam a restringir as aspirações dos estudos críticos. Focando na Educação Física como uma prática cultural e curricular nas escolas australianas, nós damos primazia aos modos pelos quais políticas diretivas podem ser melhor mobilizadas para capacitar a agenda crítica., Hay un sentimiento de promesa no cumplida cuando se analiza el progreso del proyecto crítico de la Educación Física desde el giro de la segunda década del siglo XXI. Estudios de calidad continúan a emerger en torno a la pedagogía crítica de la Educación Física, evidenciando el prolongado compromiso con su promesa de ofrecer a los aprendices recursos personales e intelectuales que son necesarios en la orientación de productivos futuros saludables en un mundo cada vez más complejo. Además, igualmente importante es la crítica a la falta de traducción en cualquier medio que impacte en la Educación Física escolar convencional. En ese artículo discutimos destacados ejemplos de investigaciones contemporáneas que demuestran las continuas luchas en contextos prácticos y revisita barreras que continúan restringiendo las aspiraciones de los discursos críticos. Con foco en la Educación Física como una práctica cultural y curricular en las escuelas australianas, priorizamos los modos por los cuales políticas directivas pueden ser mejor movilizadas para capacitar la agenda crítica., There is a sense of unfulfilled promise as one reflects on the progress of the critical project in Physical Education (PE) at the turn of the second decade of the 21st century. Quality scholarship continues to emerge around critical pedagogy in PE, evidencing sustained commitment to its promise to provide learners with personal and intellectual resources needed in navigating productive healthy futures in an increasingly complex world. In this paper we discuss select examples of contemporary research to demonstrate ongoing struggles in practice-based contexts and revisit barriers that continue to restrict the translational aspirations of critical scholars. Focusing on PE as a cultural and curriculum practice in Australian schools, we give primacy to the ways in Critical Pedagogy.

The phosphorus (P)-inactivation agents alum or modified zeolite (Aqual-P™) are used in eutrophic lake remediation. Lake managers must evaluate the benefits of P-removal against potential adverse effects on lake biota. Laboratory mesocosms were used to determine whether a 2 month exposure to alum or Aqual-P had lethal or sublethal effects on native benthic-dwelling macroinvertebrates or fish. The P-inactivation agents were applied while the organisms were present to evaluate both acute- and longer-term effects. A gradient of doses up to 344 g alum m−2 (>7 mm capping layer thickness) and a single 200 g Aqual-P m−2 dose were applied with no detectable acute effects on survival or behaviour. After 2 months, there was no significant effect of alum or Aqual-P on the survival or growth of the crayfish, mussels or fish, but aluminium accumulation was measurable in some treatments. Fingernail clams were held in a sub-mesocosm to prevent predation, which resulted in exposure to intact capping layers. The highest alum dose significantly decreased fingernail clam survival and reburial rates, while 200 g Aqual-P m−2 caused highly variable survival. Our findings can be used by lake managers to assist the selection of site-specific application rates for these P-inactivation agents.

Increasing urbanisation in the future will put mounting stresses on the receiving environments around those urban centres due to increased sedimentation and contaminant runoff. Emerging contaminants (ECs) are an extensive array of chemicals and many are not under regulatory action. Within New Zealand likely future pressures from ECs will be in both urban centres and rural areas due to intensive agriculture, although at present there is a lack of information on the state of the environment in both sectors. This study was initiated to gauge the distribution of ECs in the urban environment by measuring concentrations of flame retardants, plasticisers, alkylphenols, herbicides and pesticides, steroid oestrogens, pharmaceuticals and heavy metals in sediment from 13 estuarine sites around Auckland, New Zealand's biggest city. Total polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) flame retardant concentrations ((7)ΣPBDE) ranged from 0.55 to 573 ng/g (dw). The phthalate plasticiser di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP) was measured at up to 11,500 ng/g from one site. Nonylphenol (NP) was found at up to 32,000 ng/g at one site adjacent to the city's major wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). However, median concentrations of NP were 153 ng/g, suggesting this site was not representative of the region. Nonylphenol mono- and di-ethoxylates (NPEO1,2) had highest concentrations (1600 ng/g) at a marina. Highest glyphosate concentrations (up to 950 ng/g) were observed at residential sites. Steroid oestrogens were detected at extremely low concentrations (maximum 2.2 ng/g), while all other pesticides or herbicides were not detected at any sites. Multi-residue analysis of 46 pharmaceuticals showed presence of 21 compounds at one or more sites, with average concentrations ranging from 0.16 to 7.66 ng/g. Generally, environmental concentrations of ECs were similar to those reported world-wide. However, comparisons for pharmaceuticals were problematic, due to very few studies on pharmaceutical concentrations in estuarine sediments, with most focussed on sewage and stream water phases.

Adult New Zealand freshwater mussel Echyridella menziesii were collected from three locations in the North Island of New Zealand. In a series of tests that followed standard test guidance, glochidia were exposed to either dissolved copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), or total ammonia nitrogen (TAN) for 6, 24, or 48 h (20 °C, pH 7.8, water hardness 30 mg L(-1) as CaCO3, dissolved organic carbon [DOC] 2.0-2.9 mg L(-1)). Of the three contaminants and tests that met control survival criteria, mussel larvae (glochidia) were most sensitive to Cu exposure (48-h EC50 = 1.7-3.4 μg L(-1), 48-h no observed effect concentrations (NOEC) of 1.3-2.6 μg L(-1)). The Zn 48-h EC50 concentrations were 229-337 μg L(-1) and the 48-h NOEC values were 128-240 μg L(-1). Compared with other native New Zealand species, glochidia were also relatively sensitive to TAN exposure (48-h EC50 12-15 mg TAN L(-1) [pH 7.8], 48-h NOEC 8-10 mg TAN L(-1)). Comparison of our data with those of previous studies on North American freshwater mussels indicates that (1) E. menziesii are among those aquatic species most sensitive to acute Cu or TAN exposure; and (2) E. menziesii juveniles would not be adequately protected by current ANZECC water quality guidelines for TAN or Cu. Inclusion of North American juvenile mussel data in a revision of the current ANZECC water-quality guideline (95th percentile) for chronic ammonia exposure results in a decrease from 0.9 mg to 0.2 mg TAN L(-1) (pH 8).

The Australian and New Zealand Guidelines for Fresh and Marine Water Quality are a key document in the Australian National Water Quality Management Strategy. These guidelines released in 2000 are currently being reviewed and updated. The revision is being co-ordinated by the Australian Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, while technical matters are dealt with by a series of Working Groups. The revision will be evolutionary in nature reflecting the latest scientific developments and a range of stakeholder desires. Key changes will be: increasing the types and sources of data that can be used; working collaboratively with industry to permit the use of commercial-in-confidence data; increasing the minimum data requirements; including a measure of the uncertainty of the trigger value; improving the software used to calculate trigger values; increasing the rigour of site-specific trigger values; improving the method for assessing the reliability of the trigger values; and providing guidance of measures of toxicity and toxicological endpoints that may, in the near future, be appropriate for trigger value derivation. These changes will markedly improve the number and quality of the trigger values that can be derived and will increase end-users’ ability to understand and implement the guidelines in a scientifically rigorous manner.

Recently, we showed that increased miR-181a expression was associated with improved outcomes in cytogenetically normal acute myeloid leukemia (CN-AML). Interestingly, miR-181a expression was increased in CN-AML patients harboring CEBPA mutations, which are usually biallelic and associate with better prognosis. CEBPA encodes the C/EBPα transcription factor. We demonstrate here that the presence of N-terminal CEBPA mutations and miR-181a expression are linked. Indeed, the truncated C/EBPα-p30 isoform, which is produced from the N-terminal mutant CEBPA gene or from the differential translation of wild-type CEBPA mRNA and is commonly believed to have no transactivation activity, binds to the miR-181a-1 promoter and up-regulates the microRNA expression. Furthermore, we show that lenalidomide, a drug approved for myelodysplastic syndromes and multiple myeloma, enhances translation of the C/EBPα-p30 isoform, resulting in higher miR-181a levels. In xenograft mouse models, ectopic miR-181a expression inhibits tumor growth. Similarly, lenalidomide exhibits antitumorigenic activity paralleled by increased miR-181a expression. This regulatory pathway may explain an increased sensitivity to apoptosis-inducing chemotherapy in subsets of AML patients. Altogether, our data provide a potential explanation for the improved clinical outcomes observed in CEBPA-mutated CN-AML patients, and suggest that lenalidomide treatment enhancing the C/EBPα-p30 protein levels and in turn miR-181a may sensitize AML blasts to chemotherapy.

International audience; Two experimental setups used to characterise the in-plane and through-thickness permeabilities of reinforcing textiles have been developed and are presented. Both the experimental testing and data processing techniques used have been selected to ensure that the characterisation is completed in an efficient and robust method, increasing the repeatability of tests while minimising user induced errors as well as the time and resources needed. A number of key results and outputs obtained are presented from tests carried out on a plain woven reinforcing textile with a range of number of layers and at different fibre volume fractions.

This is the first of seven papers resulting from a Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) international workshop titled “The Influence of Global Climate Change on the Scientific Foundations and Applications of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry.” The workshop involved 36 scientists from 11 countries and was designed to answer the following question: How will global climate change influence the environmental impacts of chemicals and other stressors and the way we assess and manage them in the environment? While more detail is found in the complete series of articles, some key consensus points are as follows: (1) human actions (including mitigation of and adaptation to impacts of global climate change [GCC]) may have as much influence on the fate and distribution of chemical contaminants as does GCC, and modeled predictions should be interpreted cautiously; (2) climate change can affect the toxicity of chemicals, but chemicals can also affect how organisms acclimate to climate change; (3) effects of GCC may be slow, variable, and difficult to detect, though some populations and communities of high vulnerability may exhibit responses sooner and more dramatically than others; (4) future approaches to human and ecological risk assessments will need to incorporate multiple stressors and cumulative risks considering the wide spectrum of potential impacts stemming from GCC; and (5) baseline/reference conditions for estimating resource injury and restoration/rehabilitation will continually shift due to GCC and represent significant challenges to practitioners. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 2013;32:13–19. © 2012 SETAC

School physical education (PE) and sport are commonly regarded as sites where dominant or hegemonic masculinities cultivate, often at the expense of individuals who embody different gendered identities. In all-boys' PE settings, curriculum content frequently orientates around competitive and traditionally masculine team sports wherein teaching pedagogies draw heavily on ‘masculine’ practices that serve to legitimate and/or reproduce hierarchical and heteronormative masculinities. Embedded in the broader tenets of gender equity, this article draws on Foucault's technologies of the self to examine the experiences of two female physical educators in an all-boys' school as they negotiate their daily work in an environment where embodied masculinities are intensified. In doing so, it looks beyond the PE department to the wider school context (discourse and practice) as integral to the contestation and struggles for the professional identities available and taken up by female PE teachers in all-boy settings. Ou...

Context dependency refers to variation in ecological patterns and processes across environmental or spatiotemporal gradients. Research on context dependency in basic ecology has focused primarily on variation in the relative importance of species interactions (e.g., competition and predation) among communities. In this Focus article, the authors extend this concept to include variation in responses of communities to contaminants and other anthropogenic stressors. Because the structure of communities varies naturally along environmental gradients, their responses to contaminants may also vary. Similar to the way in which aquatic toxicologists assess abiotic factors associated with contaminant bioavailability, observations about context dependency could be used to test hypotheses about ecological mechanisms responsible for differences in sensitivity among communities. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 2012; 31: 1932–1940. © 2012 SETAC

In 2007 the elite Australian Rules footballer Ben Cousins was suspended by the Australian Football League for 12 months for ‘bringing the game into disrepute’. Cousins was the first, and at the time of writing, the only player to be suspended by the AFL for actions and behaviors that were claimed to be damaging to the reputation of the game and the industry. The paper explores how globalized developments in the sports entertainment environment have changed the expectations that competition administrators, clubs, sponsors, fans and the wider public/audiences have about the behaviors of elite performers in these industries. Our focus is on the ways in which the Australian (Rules) Football League scrutinizes and regulates player behaviors in relation to the reputation of the game. Drawing on Foucault's work on the government of the self and of others, and Lash and Lury's work on the global culture industry we raise concerns about the consequences of this surveillance of all aspects of the person as ...

The paper reports on key findings of a research project that examined the roles that community-based sporting clubs in the Australian state of Victoria play in shaping young people's understandings and uses of alcohol. Our research imagined clubs as community hubs that are located in complex networks that impact on the ways that clubs understand their locations in communities, and which have unpredictable influences and consequences on club histories, culture and orientations to issues such as young people and alcohol use. The paper focuses on understanding the key roles played by club leaders in facilitating change and transformation in these contexts, particularly in terms of alcohol-related practices and the potential impact of these on young people's uses and understanding of alcohol. We situate these findings in a framework that draws on the literature of complexity science and complex adaptive systems (CAS) to suggest that these practices and changes need to be understood in ways that allow for comp...

Problematic alcohol consumption is a major public health, health education and health promotion issue in Australia and internationally. In an effort to better understand young people's drinking patterns and motivations we investigated the cultural drivers of drinking in 14–24 year-old Australians. We interviewed 60 young people in the state of Victoria aged 20–24 about their drinking biographies. At the time of interviewing, the draft guidelines on low-risk drinking were released by the National Health and Medical Research Council, Australia, and we asked our participants what they knew about them and if they thought they would affect their drinking patterns. Their responses indicate that pleasure and sociability are central to young people's drinking cultures which is supported by a range of research. However, O’Malley and Valverde claim that pleasure is silenced and/or deployed strategically in neo-liberal governance discourses about drugs and alcohol such as these guidelines which raises questions abou...

Increasing concentrations of anthropogenic contaminants in wild kai (food) of cultural, recreational and economic importance to the indigenous Māori of New Zealand is a potential human health risk. Contaminants that are known to bioaccumulate through the food chain (e.g., organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), PCBs and selected heavy metals) were analysed in important kai species including eel (Anguilla sp.), brown trout (Salmo trutta), black flounder (Rhombosolea retiaria) and watercress (Nasturtium officinale) from important harvesting sites in the region of South Canterbury. Eels contained relatively high wet weight concentrations of p,p′-DDE (8.6–287 ng/g), PCBs (32ΣPCB; 0.53–58.3 ng/g), dieldrin (< 0.05–16.3 ng/g) and Σchlordanes (0.03–10.6 ng/g). Trout and flounder contained lower concentrations of organochlorines than eels, with p,p′-DDE wet weight concentrations ranging from 2.2 to 18.5 ng/g for trout and 6.4 to 27.8 ng/g for flounder. Total arsenic wet weight concentrations were below detection limits for eels but ranged from 0.27 to 0.89 μg/g for trout and 0.12 to 0.56 μg/g for flounder. Mercury concentrations ranged from 0.02 to 0.56 μg/g, 0.11 to 0.50 μg/g and 0.04 to 0.10 μg/g (ww) for eel, trout and flounder respectively. Lifetime excess cancer risk was calculated through established risk assessment procedures, highlighting dieldrin, ΣPCBs and p,p′-DDE in eels and arsenic in trout and flounder as primary contaminants of concern. A second non-cancer chronic health risk assessment indicated that mercury and PCBs were a potential concern in eels and mercury in trout. A cumulative lifetime cancer risk assessment showed potential health risk for consumption of some species, even at low consumption rates and provided the basis for establishing recommended dietary consumption limits for harvest sites within the study region.

Purpose To evaluate the prognostic significance of expression levels of a single microRNA, miR-181a, in the context of established molecular markers in cytogenetically normal acute myeloid leukemia (CN-AML), and to gain insight into the leukemogenic role of miR-181a. Patients and Methods miR-181a expression was measured in pretreatment marrow using Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center version 3.0 arrays in 187 younger (< 60 years) adults with CN-AML. Presence of other molecular prognosticators was assessed centrally. A gene-expression profile associated with miR-181a expression was derived using microarrays and evaluated by Gene-Ontology analysis. Results Higher miR-181a expression associated with a higher complete remission (CR) rate (P = .04), longer overall survival (OS; P = .01) and a trend for longer disease-free survival (DFS; P = .09). The impact of miR-181a was most striking in poor molecular risk patients with FLT3-internal tandem duplication (FLT3-ITD) and/or NPM1 wild-type, where higher miR-181a expression associated with a higher CR rate (P = .009), and longer DFS (P < .001) and OS (P < .001). In multivariable analyses, higher miR-181a expression was significantly associated with better outcome, both in the whole patient cohort and in patients with FLT3-ITD and/or NPM1 wild-type. These results were also validated in an independent set of older (≥ 60 years) patients with CN-AML. A miR-181a-associated gene-expression profile was characterized by enrichment of genes usually involved in innate immunity. Conclusion To our knowledge, we provide the first evidence that the expression of a single microRNA, miR-181a, is associated with clinical outcome of patients with CN-AML and may refine their molecular risk classification. Targeted treatments that increase endogenous levels of miR-181a might represent novel therapeutic strategies.

A novel application of a continuous flow incubation system (CFIS) was used to assess four phosphorus (P) inactivation agents—alum, Phoslock™, a new modified zeolite (Z2G1 or Aqual-P™), and allophone—when used as sediment capping agents to manage internal P loads in lakes. The CFIS technique allowed combined efficacy and sustainability assessment, including: (1) flux measurements during simulation of stratified (anoxic) and mixed (aerobic) conditions on the same sediment through multiple cycles to assess the longevity of a range of product doses; (2) simulation of a summer algal bloom collapse and subsequent burial of the products; and (3) investigation of non-target effects on nitrification and denitrification processes at the sediment–water interface. Minimum P-removal dose rates were found to differ substantially at 80 g m−2 for alum, 190 g m−2 for Z2G1, 220 g m−2 for allophane and 280 g m−2 for Phoslock™, for similar capping layer thickness of about 2 mm, and would be effective for at least 4 years. All products temporarily suppressed nitrification and denitrification under aerobic conditions, and it may be important to minimise product application to any permanently aerobic zones, such as the littoral areas of a lake. While the aluminium (Al)-based products did not enhance Al fluxes in the CFIS, lanthanum (La) was released at a near constant rate of around 2 mg La m−2 day−1 from the Phoslock™ treatments over a period of at least 14 days. Spatial variability of sediment P, bioturbation, and burial are factors that will affect up-scaling these results to a whole lake.

Researchers have raised concerns about the construction of dangerous/problematic masculinities within sporting fratriarchies1. Yet little is known about how male sport enthusiasts—critical of hypermasculine performances—negotiate their involvement in sport. Our aim was to examine how males negotiated sporting tensions and how these negotiations shaped their (masculine) selves. We drew on Foucault (1992) to analyze how interviewees problematized their respective sport culture in relation to the sexualization of females, public drunkenness and excessive training demands. Results illustrated how the interviewees produced selves, via the moral problematization of sport, that rejected the values or moral codes of hypermasculinity in attempts to create ethical masculinities. We suggest that a proliferation of techniques of self that resist hypermasculine forms of subjection could be one form of ethical response to the documented problems surrounding masculinities and sport.

Various behavioural and physiological tests were applied to determine whether an aluminised modified zeolite clay product (Z2G1), used to cap phosphorus release from lake sediments, had sub-lethal effects on adult freshwater crayfish (Paranephrops planifrons). In situ exposures of caged crayfish before and after application of modified zeolite to Lake Okaro, Central North Island, New Zealand, at a nominal application concentration of 350 g m−2, did not impact the survival of freshwater crayfish or produce any significant sub-lethal effects on crayfish mobility or physiology that we could detect. In laboratory sediment tests, crayfish did not show any consistent effect from short-term (10 days) exposure to modified zeolite (at concentrations of 350, 700 or 2,100 g m−2) or to alum. When combined, the field and laboratory data provide strong evidence that applications of 350 g m−2 modified zeolite will have no short-term effect on adult crayfish, with a ‘margin of safety’ for higher application rates. Chronic exposure effects of capping agents and the indirect impacts of lake treatment (e.g. food web responses) are yet to be determined. Quantitative measures of shade- and shelter-seeking behaviour, righting behaviour, and length of escape response, could be improved by the addition of standardised behavioural observations. Physiological measures of ammoniacal-N production and oxygen consumption are less variable than behavioural tests, but comparisons between treatments are best conducted simultaneously. A suite of behavioural and physiological sub-lethal measures using field and laboratory exposures is recommended to provide an integrated assessment of crayfish health.

Among the many changes occurring across Chinese society in the early phase of Y2K is the construction and implementation of a new physical education (PE) curriculum. Not unlike recent changes in Australia, New Zealand and the UK, this process has seen a heightening of the emphasis on health. Presented within a wider framework for making the school curriculum more relevant, PE is more closely aligned with China's emerging population health concerns around lifestyle practices of its youth. Foremost here are burgeoning social anxieties about decreased levels of physical activity, poor dietary practices, risk-taking tendencies, and a general shift in focus from ideology to skills. This paper reports on a study undertaken to explore the perceptions of Chinese PE teachers and their engagement with the new PE & Health curriculum. The data reveals a number of structural, personal and cultural factors that work against PE teachers taking up the opportunities presented in the new curriculum. Prominent here are; low...

In this article we discuss the ways in which the professional identity of Australian Football League (AFL) footballers — in a physical, high body contact sport — is shaped by concerns to develop different aspects of the body, mind and soul of the young men who want to become AFL footballers. Drawing on Michel Foucault’s later work on the care of the self we argue that narratives of identity necessarily involve a struggle for the body, mind and soul of these young men. Foucault’s work enables us to identify and analyse how relations of power, forms of regulation and arts of governing interact in ongoing attempts to develop the professional footballer. The article explores these issues via an analysis of the rationalities and techniques that inform talent identification and player management practices; and risk management in relation to these practices and processes in the AFL.

The release of phosphorus (P) from the sediments of eutrophic lakes is often associated with the proliferation of nuisance algal blooms, especially cyanobacteria. The successful implementation of management actions aimed at reducing such algal blooms requires an integrated approach, including both external and internal nutrient loads. The internal load of P can be a significant source of P for primary production, with greatest inputs occurring when lakes stratify and the hypolimnetic waters become anoxic. We reviewed the nature and characteristics of New Zealand lakes in relation to factors which affect the application of technologies to manage internal P loads within individual lakes. New Zealand's windy maritime climate causes lakes to mix more deeply than lakes in continental areas, which are characterised by relatively hot, calm summers. We assessed a range of management options which may be used to control internal P loads, and considered these in a de cision‐support framework aimed at ident...

The underlying basis of sediment quality guidelines needs to be accepted both by the international scientific community and socially before they can be of use. Increasingly, this means that just saying that a certain number of species will be affected is not sufficient. Instead guidelines need to be related to changes in community composition and predicted changes in biodiversity and ecosystem function. This study derived guidelines for copper, zinc, and lead, from field-based SSDs, that predicted a 50% decrease in abundance of 5% of the taxa, well below present management guidelines. However, a multivariate model of effect demonstrated considerable changes in community composition occur at levels below these derived guidelines. Changes in the degree of rarity also occurred signaling potential changes to meta-community structure and resilience of the region. Furthermore, the most sensitive taxa indicated by the multivariate analysis were frequently of large size and those likely to affect oxygen, carbon, and nutrient exchanges between the water column and the seafloor, leading to ecological effects beyond the obvious change in composition. We suggest that guidelines should preferentially be field derived, backed where possible by experimental work. Community and functional responses should be calculated, from the same field studies, and explicitly mentioned whenever the guidelines are used to allow environmental costs to be more realistically determined.

In an era when games at the elite level are sports entertainment businesses many of the elite performers in different industries have evolved into celebrities: they exist as images, icons and brands whose every thought, action, change of style or partner is commodified and consumed. This article reports on one aspect of a research project that was funded by the Australian Football League (AFL) to explore the emergence and evolution of a `professional identity' for AFL footballers. Drawing on Foucault's later work on the care of the Self we focus on the ways in which player identities are governed by coaches, club officials, and the AFL Commission/Executive; and the manner in which players conduct themselves in ways that can be characterized as professional — or not. The article explores the roles of Player Development Managers (PDMs) in emerging processes of risk and player management that can be seen as intrusive in players' lives. The research we report on produced evidence of tensions between the paternalistic, profiling and reporting elements of various risk management practices at the Club level — in an environment where what it means to be a professional footballer is taking on new forms.

In the commercialised and professionalised world of elite sport, issues associated with career pathways and post sporting career options have a particular resonance. In various football codes, an unexpected knock, twist, bend or break can profoundly impact a player's career. In this high risk and high consequence environment, a number of sports entertainment industries have instituted player development and education programmes to educate and prepare elite level performers for life after football. Drawing on Foucault's later work on governmentality and the care of the self, this paper will discuss findings from a research project funded by the Australian Football League (AFL). The paper presents data that suggests that, elite performers are so focused on establishing and prolonging a career as an elite performer, that other aspects of identity are seen as something to be complied with as a consequence of industry expectations. An industry emphasis on higher education raises issues for the sports industries that promote player enrolment in higher education and for the higher education institutions that must manage this lack of engagement.

The potential for stressors to interact or elicit different responses depending on ecological setting can confound the use of contaminant guidelines or predictions from laboratory-based ecotoxicological studies. However, predicting and identifying multiple stressor effects is challenging because of the wide range of treatment combinations needed for laboratory experiments and the difficulty of conducting field experiments across a range of conditions that may influence stress responses. In this study we analyse density responses apparent in the natural populations of 46 macrofaunal taxa to stressors representing habitat requirements (sediment particle size), food (sediment organic content) and heavy metal contamination (copper, zinc and lead). Simple responses to either a single stressor or stressors acting additively were less apparent in our regression-based models than multiplicative effects. We also investigated whether species that exhibited a unimodal abundance distribution in response to a habitat factor were more likely to exhibit differential responses to contaminants than species that exhibited monotonic responses to habitat factors. This proved to be the case, although not all unimodal abundance distributions were related to differential responses. The results of this study suggest that regression analysis, together with well-designed, large-scale, field surveys, offer a good method for describing and predicting effects of multiple stressors and helping to both target experiments and scale-up their results.

Among widening social anxieties about practices and performances of contemporary masculinity are questions about the place of hyper-masculine (contact) sports, such as games of football. Foremost are concerns about some of the values and attitudes that appear to circulate within such contexts. With their historical leaning towards character attributes aligned to hardness, solidarity and stoicism, there is growing pressure on coaches and teachers to manage and mediate the participation of young males in this arena. Against this backdrop, this paper explores some of the tensions that emerge in schools when the codes and mores frequently associated with a hyper-masculine sporting identity are seen to flourish. Foremost here is the emergence of cultures of entitlement, abuse and exclusion. Following the illumination of such cultures across three research narratives, this paper discusses the sorts of reforms that are needed to promote more educative and responsible engagement with hyper-masculine sports in, and beyond, schools.

The influence of place-based biographies in shaping professional identities and practices can be powerful. This is particularly prevalent in fields like Physical Education (PE) where personal physical and sporting prowess can readily become embodied signifiers of one’s credibility and expertise. In rural and regional communities, identities attached to, and social capital accrued from sports participation are often very strong. In this chapter we reflexively draw on aspects of our own personal biographies as active (and privileged) participants in rural community sport to explore the ways in which they have shaped our professional identities and practices as physical education teacher educators. We juxtapose our biographies alongside the experiences of ‘Rachel,’ a female physical education teacher who, at the time of data collection, had recently commenced teaching in a regionally based Catholic all-boys’ school after two previous posts in rural co-educational schools. Presented as heuristic devices, we look for points of intersection and divergence between Rachel’s experiences and our own biographies to consider the ways in which place shapes professional identities and pedagogical practices in PE. The practical translation of this self-study process is to be ultimately located in our undergraduate teacher education programs and in our identities as teacher educators.

This paper discusses the higher education sector’s role in knowledge-based economy though research training, that is, doctoral education. It also examines how a Faculty of Education supports its doctoral candidates in their endeavours to become ‘knowledge producers’. Two themes are explored: one is Australia’s limited investment in education by international standards; and the other is the research training needs and circumstances of doctoral candidates who are located in professional and workplace contexts. The paper discusses the role of online support and a Doctoral Studies in Education (DSE) online seminar program to support primarily off-campus, part-time mid-career professionals. These are typical of many of Australia’s doctoral candidates. E-learning is examined as part of a comprehensive support and research training strategy for doctoral candidates studying at a distance. We discuss the sorts of opportunities and experiences our candidates receive and the extent to which they are readied to work effectively in a knowledge-based economy.

In contrast to the plethora of literature that suggests that the increasing gulf between teachers and young people is due to the shifting interests and expectations of young people, the focus of this paper is on the roles teachers play in this relationship. Provoking our interest is a concern that some of the assumptions that underpin ‘mainstream’ pedagogic theory and practice might actually contribute, albeit unwittingly, to hardening rather than softening the communication divide. Drawing on an incident that took place between a group of 7–8 year old males in a primary school setting, we reveal the limits of a teaching paradigm that encourages teachers to adopt authoritative positions from which to separate and individualise student behaviour. In theoretical terms, we argue that the application of this paradigm asserts an exaggerated notion of agency to individuals in the construction of identity. In practical terms it promotes processes that individualise behaviour as a way of dealing with miscreance. Together these manifest themselves as a ‘pedagogy of separation’. The process of building more productive pedagogic relationships, we conclude, needs to begin with teachers better recognising and engaging with the collective investments of young people.