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While the analysis of gait and balance can be an important indicator of age- or disease-related changes, it remains unclear if repeated performance of gait and balance tests in healthy adults leads to habituation effects, if short-term gait and balance training can improve gait and balance performance, and whether the placement of wearable sensors influences the measurement accuracy. Healthy adults were assessed before and after performing weekly gait and balance tests over three weeks by using a force plate, motion capturing system and smartphone. The intervention group (n = 25) additionally received a home-based gait and balance training plan. Another sample of healthy adults (n = 32) was assessed once to analyze the impact of sensor placement (lower back vs. lower abdomen) on gait and balance analysis. Both the control and intervention group exhibited improvements in gait/stance. However, the trends over time were similar for both groups, suggesting that targeted training and repeated task performance equally contributed to the improvement of the measured variables. Since no significant differences were found in sensor placement, we suggest that a smartphone used as a wearable sensor could be worn both on the lower abdomen and the lower back in gait and balance analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As commercial fishing activity shifts to target different grounds over time, spatial gaps can be created in catch rate data, leading to biases in derived indices of fish abundance. Imputation has been shown to reduce such biases. In this study, the relative performance of several imputation methods was assessed using simulated catch rate data sets. Simulations were carried out for three fish stocks targeted by a commercial hook-and-line fishery off the southwestern coast of Australia: snapper (Chrysophrys auratus), West Australian dhufish (Glaucosoma hebraicum), and baldchin groper (Choerodon rubescens). For high-growth scenarios, the mean squared errors (MSEs) of geometric and linear imputations were lower, indicating higher accuracy and precision than that for base method (constant value) imputations. For low-growth scenarios, the lowest MSEs were achieved for base method imputations. However, for the final standardized and imputed abundance indices, the base method index consistently demonstrated the largest biases. Our results demonstrate the importance of selecting an appropriate imputation method when standardizing catch rates from a commercial fishery that has changed its spatial pattern of fishing over time. Quand des activites de peche commerciale changent dans le temps pour cibler differents lieux de peche, des lacunes spatiales dans les donnees sur les taux de prises peuvent en resulter et mener a des biais dans les indices d'abondance de poissons en decoulant. Il a ete demontre que l'imputation reduit ce type de biais. Dans la presente etude, la performance relative de plusieurs methodes d'imputation a ete evaluee en utilisant des ensembles de donnees sur les taux de prises simules. Des simulations ont ete realisees pour trois stocks de poissons vises par une peche a la ligne au large de la cote sud -ouest de l'Australie, le vivaneau (Chrysophrys auratus), le merou geant (Glaucosoma hebraicum) et le labre (Choerodon rubescens). Pour les scenarios de forte croissance, les erreurs quadratiques moyennes (EQMs) des imputations geometriques et lineaires etaient plus faibles, indiquant de plus grandes exactitude et precision, que celles des imputations par la methode de base (valeur constante). Pour les scenarios de faible croissance, les EQM les plus faibles ont ete obtenues pour les imputations par la methode de base. Toutefois, pour les indices d'abondance normalisee et imputee finaux, l'indice de la methode de base etait uniformement caracterise par les plus grands biais. Les resultats demontrent l'importance du choix d'une methode d'imputation convenable pour la normalisation des taux de prises d'une peche commerciale dont la repartition spatiale a change au fil du temps. [Traduit par la Redaction], Introduction Conventional statistical methods, including generalized linear models (GLMs), are routinely used to standardize commercial catch per unit effort (CPUE) data into indices of relative fish abundance for stock assessment. [...]

Objectives: It is well known that there are associations between overall health, age, socioeconomic status and rural residency. The objective of this study was to determine the distribution of Australia's aged population by socioeconomic status, as well as remoteness. Methods: The study employed the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (Statistical Area Level 1 and Remoteness Areas). The database of the geographic boundaries was integrated into the ageing population and socioeconomic data using the Geographic Information System. The socioeconomic data was analysed through the Index of Relative Socioeconomic Disadvantage. Results: Over a decade, the older population in Australia has increased noticeably. In 2016, there was a high percentage of older people (≥65 years) in Tasmania (Tas), 19%, while the lowest percentage was recorded in the Northern Territory (NT), 7%. Across the country, Tasmania had the highest percentage of older citizens living in the most disadvantaged areas since 2006, with 48% recorded in 2016. There was an association between the remoteness areas and the education and income levels of the ageing cohort. However, this association differed between the states and territories. This socioeconomic gap becomes more evident in the very remote areas of the country. Conclusions: The ageing population in Australia is increasing rapidly; this was associated with an evolving socioeconomic disparity among this ageing society. Our results demonstrated that socioeconomic inequalities were to be found among the older people based on their distribution over the remoteness areas in Australia. This information should be used to target healthcare and ageing policies that meet the specific needs of older people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]