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Last week the federal government’s Office of Drug Control announced changes to the importation of nicotine-containing electronic cigarette fluids that will seriously affect the estimated 227,000 regular e-cigarette users in Australia. From January 1, 2021, users will no longer be allowed to import nicotine-containing fluids for use in e-cigarettes, even if they have a prescription. The measures, which were initially set to come into force on July 1, 2020, are in addition to the existing domestic ban on sales of these products.

Air quality on Australia’s roads matters. On any given day (when we’re not in lockdown) people meet, commute, exercise, shop and walk with children near busy streets. But to date, air quality monitoring at roadsides has been inadequate. I and my colleagues wanted to change that. Using materials purchased from electronics and hardware stores for around A$150, we built our own air quality monitors. Our newly published research reveals how our devices detected particulate pollution at busy intersections at levels ten times worse than background levels measured at official air monitoring stations.

Urbanisation largely consists of removing native vegetation. Plants that remain interact with air quality in complex ways. Pollutants can be detrimental to plant growth; plants sometimes reduce air quality, yet some species also improve it through phytoremediation. A common pollutant of concern to human health in urban areas is particulate matter (PM), small particles of solid or liquid. Our study compared roadside moss turfs with leaves of a common Australian tree species, Pittosporum undulatum, in their ability to capture PM along an urban gradient. We sampled nine sites, three in each of three levels of urbanisation: low, medium, and high according to road type (freeway, suburban road, quiet peri-urban road). In addition, we deployed a PM monitor over a two-week period in one site of each urban level to provide concentrations of PM2.5. We used chlorophyll fluorescence (Fv/Fm; maximum quantum yield of photosystem II) as a measure of plant stress. We extracted PM in three size fractions using a filtration and washing technique with water and chloroform. Site averages for moss turfs were between 5.60 and 33.00 mg per g dry weight for total PM compared to between 2.15 and 10.24 mg per g dry weight for the tree leaves. We found that moss was more sensitive to increasing urbanisation, both in terms of trapping proportionately more PM than the leaves, and also in terms of photosynthetic stress, with moss Fv/Fm declining by a site average of 40% from low to high urban "class" (0.76 to 0.45). Our study highlights the stressors potentially limiting moss persistence in cities. It also demonstrates its ability to trap PM, a trait that could be useful in urban applications relating to urban greening or air quality.

In February 2014, the non-governmental Swiss Medical Board recommended that mammography programmes in Switzerland may eventually be closed down because they might not deliver more benefits than harms. In the resulting uproar the board was accused of being "unethical." Controversy about mammography has persisted in the UK, US, Canada, and elsewhere, and disputes about overdiagnosis exist in prostate cancer, chronic kidney disease, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and many other conditions. People concerned about overdiagnosis are compelled by evidence of harms outweighing benefits. But not everyone is equally compelled. This may be because of disagreements over the evidence, conflicts of interest, or cognitive biases. Another possible cause of disagreement is that some people may not think that benefits and harms are the most important consideration. This contrast, between people who think outcomes are what matters most and people who disagree, is central to the discipline of ethics. It is a crucial difference between utilitarian ethicists and non-consequentialist ethicists. Broadly, utilitarians think that, given several options, we should choose the one that produces the best overall outcome (the most utility among the whole group of affected people), ensuring that each person counts equally in the calculation. Non-consequentialists don't consider outcomes to be so important: other ethical concerns, such as rights, duties, or respect for people's dignity or autonomy, matter more.

Many organisations invest a considerable amount of capital and resources, implementing new techniques to improve their performance. An effective management of production and maintenance and processes is vital for economic viability and a long-term survival of many industries. In this paper, we present the physical asset management as an area that can support organizations in improving their efficiency and effectiveness. We have identified four key areas, namely policy & strategy, risk management, performance assessment, life cycle management. As such, the findings provided in this study can help managers to recognize the key physical asset management practices. This paper concludes with some managerial implications, and presents directions for future research.

Drainage rejuvenation through headward migration of alluvial knickpoints is common in ephemeral semi-arid streams, but has not yet been described for tropical rivers. In the Australian monsoon tropics (AMT), wet monsoon forests have an important ecological function, and are present along many alluvial valleys and springs within a eucalypt-savanna dominated landscape. Using a combination of LiDAR, remote sensing and field evidence, we observe the ongoing destruction of wet monsoon forest through hydro-geomorphic feedbacks, along with the headward retreat of an alluvial knickpoint at Wangi Creek in Litchfield National Park, Northern Territory. Due to the highly transmissive shallow aquifer along the lower Wangi Creek, this knickpoint retreat leads to a downstream drop in in-channel water level, which in turn drives a decrease in the local groundwater table. The lowered groundwater level causes the shallow anabranches and formerly water saturated peaty floodplain soil to desiccate, which results in a reduction of vegetation density. The resulting dry surface conditions allow annual to bi-annual high frequency low-intensity fires to affect the monsoon forest, while wet rainforest upstream of the knickpoint remains intact. In this paper, we argue that such hydro-geomorphic feedbacks may cause the initial destabilization of the forest, which then provides the necessary conditions for the impact of fire. This scenario thus challenges the prevalent view that fire is a first-order control on the spatial extent of wet monsoonal rainforest in the study area, and provides a new and testable hypothesis for further studies in the AMT.

The aim of this chapter is to argue the case that personality-trait-like individual differences (PTLID) should be considered more than simple error variance by sport and exercise psychologists. PTLID carry their own valuable source of information, and provide added value to our field at the theoretical, methodological, and applied levels. At the theoretical level, PTLID should be incorporated into experimental studies to further test and constrain theoretical predictions. Here, we illustrate how current PTLID theories can inform psychological phenomena in the sport and exercise domain. In particular we elaborate on the example of the Take-the-First heuristic, to illustrate how conceptual models can be expanded using PTLID theories. At the methodological level, PTLID provide an important methodological control for potential confounding factors that might otherwise contribute to a false acceptance or rejection of theoretical predictions. At the applied level, understanding PTLID outcomes can assist psychologists in designing more targeted interventions that better fit the needs of the individual client. Moreover, that some PTLID can be trained is a particularly appealing notion for the developing athlete or beginner exerciser.

Calls to rethink our ethical and political responsibilities with nonhuman others abound recent work in cultural geography. Such work unpacks the more-than-human agencies reshaping and rematerialising our bodies and subjective knowledges. This article uncovers the coproduction of human knowledges and urban spaces by examining the problematic migration of the Australian White Ibis into Australian urban localities. We put forth a storied approach to human-ibis relations, capturing the multiple and situated experiences materialising our urban relations with the species. Drawing on ibis ethology, media narratives, personal and interviewee stories, we explore how ibis take part in the co-constitution of urban spaces and identities. In particular, we examine how the ibis as a pest narrative is mobilised and reproduced in public and media discourses that shape the species identity and influence modes of relating. Both the publics and our own personal intra-actions with ibis shed light on conceptions of nonhuman belonging, death and human desires for living-with. This article forwards a cosmopolitical approach to provoke a reconceptualisation of our ethical and political responsibility with urban ibis. We question the narrative of ibis-as-pest to forward ideas of living-with that provokes new modes of relating, uncomfortable for either party. Within these precarious relations, possibilities open for nonhierarchical modes of cohabitation, challenging our political and ethical responsibilities in living-with uncomfortable others.

There is evidence that facial expressions are perceived holistically and featurally. The composite task is a direct measure of holistic processing (although the absence of a composite effect implies the use of other types of processing). Most composite task studies have used static images, despite the fact that movement is an important aspect of facial expressions and there is some evidence that movement may facilitate recognition. We created static and dynamic composites, in which emotions were reliably identified from each half of the face. The magnitude of the composite effect was similar for static and dynamic expressions identified from the top half (anger, sadness and surprise) but was reduced in dynamic as compared to static expressions identified from the bottom half (fear, disgust and joy). Thus, any advantage in recognising dynamic over static expressions is not likely to stem from enhanced holistic processing, rather motion may emphasise or disambiguate diagnostic featural information.

Amorphous TiO2@C nanospheres were synthesized via a template approach. After being sintered under different conditions, two types of polyphase TiO2 hollow nanospheres were obtained. The electrochemical properties of the amorphous TiO2 nanospheres and the TiO2 hollow nanospheres with different phases were characterized as anodes for the Na-ion batteries. It was found that all the samples demonstrated excellent cyclability, which was sustainable for hundreds of cycles with little capacity fading, although the anatase TiO2 presented a capability that was better than that of the mixed anatase/rutile TiO2 or the amorphous TiO2@C. Through crystallographic analysis, it was revealed that the anatase TiO2 crystal structure supplies two-dimensional diffusion paths for Na-ion intercalation and more accommodation sites. Density functional theory calculations indicated lower energy barriers for the insertion of Na+ into anatase TiO2. Therefore, anatase TiO2 hollow nanospheres show excellent high-rate performance. Through ex situ field emission scanning electron microscopy, it was revealed that the TiO2 hollow nanosphere architecture can be maintained for hundreds of cycles, which is the main reason for its superior cyclability.

Globaliseringen bidrar till en ökad världshandel och medför även ett växande antal gränsöverskridande koncerninterna transaktioner inom multinationella företag. Prissättningen av transaktioner vilka vidtas mellan närstående företag måste ske i enlighet med armlängdsprincipen som om transaktionerna vidtagits mellan två oberoende företag. Skattemyndigheterna kan justera internpriserna i slutet av beskattningsåret i de fall de anser att internprissättningen avviker från armlängdsprincipen och marknadsmässiga villkor. Utöver inkomstbeskattning åläggs företagen att betala tullavgifter i samband med transaktioner vidtagna med närstående företag etablerade utanför EU. I likhet med skattemyndigheterna granskar tullmyndigheterna företagens importpriser i syfte att säkerställa att parternas närståenderelation inte påverkat prissättningen. Båda myndigheterna arbetar således för samma mål, att upprätthålla prissättningens förenlighet med marknadsmässiga villkor. Skatte- och tullmyndigheterna tillämpar dock olika prissättningsmetoder i syfte att uppnå målet. Inkomstskatten baseras på företagens totala inkomster, relaterade till transaktionerna och tullavgiften beräknas baserat på varje specifik transaktion och vara. Det faktum att myndigheterna inkluderar olika tillgångar i de respektive beskattningsunderlagen kan medföra att de bedömer värdet av samma transaktion olika. Varierande bedömningar av samma pris kan vidare medföra krav på olika prisjusteringar i syfte att uppnå marknadsmässig prissättning. Prisjusteringar kan leda till onödiga skattetillägg och liknande straffavgifter. Det föreligger svårigheter för multinationella företag att bestämma transaktionspriser som uppfyller båda myndigheternas i syfte att undvika straffavgifter. Problematiken är ännu relativt ouppmärksammad av företag i världen. I amerikansk praxis framkommer att möjligheterna är små för företag att förlita sig på dokumentation upprättad för internprissättning, i syfte att styrka tullavgifter och tullv, The ‘arm’s length principle’ is fundamental to transfer pricing and cross-border intercompany transactions. The principle states that the prices charged for transactions of goods between related parties must be the same as if the parties were unrelated. Simply, the price needs to equal market values. If the Tax Authority finds the pricing to be inconsistent with the arm’s length principle, the price may be adjusted. In relation to cross-border intercompany transactions outside of the EU, companies have to pay customs duty and regard customs values. The Customs Authorities work to ensure that the price has not been influenced by the intercompany relationship. Thus, the Tax and Customs Authorities share the same goal, which is to ensure that the transaction price is consistent with market values. However, the methods of pursuing the goal differ. The Tax Authorities determine the amount of income tax based on the company’s total revenues deriving from cross-border intragroup transactions. The Customs Authorities on the contrary determine the amount of taxable income based on the value of every specific imported product. The authorities usually consider different values and assets when determining the amount of taxable income. Therefore the same transaction price may be evaluated differently by the Tax and Customs authorities. Price adjustments may be made if the transaction price is considered to differ in relation to market values. Thus, the companies may be obligated to pay tax surcharges or similar monetary penalties. The authorities’ different assessments of the same transaction price may result in difficulties for multinational enterprises in their efforts of meeting both requirements. The problem is regarded in varying degrees in different countries. In American precedent the court has determined the opportunities to be low for companies to depend on transfer pricing documentation when supporting customs value. It is important for companies to keep detailed docum

Delivery quality assurance (DQA) has been performed for each Tomotherapy patient either using ArcCHECK or MatriXX Evolution in our clinic since 2012. ArcCHECK is a quasi-3D dosimeter whereas MatriXX is a 2D detector. A review of DQA results was performed for all patients in the last three years, a total of 221 DQA plans. These DQA plans came from 215 patients with a variety of treatment sites including head-neck, pelvis, and chest wall. The acceptable Gamma pass rate in our clinic is over 95% using 3mm and 3% of maximum planned dose with 10% dose threshold. The mean value and standard deviation of Gamma pass rates were 98.2% +/- 1.98(1SD) for MatriXX and 98.5%+/- 1.88 (1SD) for ArcCHECK. A paired t-test was also performed for the groups of patients whose DQA was performed with both the ArcCHECK and MatriXX. No statistical dependence was found in terms of the Gamma pass rate for ArcCHECK and MatriXX. The considered 3D and 2D dosimeters have achieved similar results in performing routine patient-specific DQA for patients treated on a TomoTherapy unit.

The practices of argumentation have recently been upheld as an important need to develop students' understanding of scientific concepts. However, the present education system in Malaysia is still largely examination-based and teacher-oriented. Thus, this study aims to examine the mastery level of scientific argumentation and its scheme among Malaysian secondary-level science students. A total of 120 students were randomly assigned to answer a Scientific Argumentation Test (SAT), either individually or in a group. Based on the answers, two groups of students, one who have answered with valid scientific concepts and another who have answered with invalid concepts, were identified and interviewed. Quantitative analysis was performed on the SAT results to determine students' mastery of scientific argumentation, and their argumentation schemes were assessed using content analysis performed on the interview transcripts. The results showed that students were weak in the construction of scientific arguments with valid concepts. Moreover, most of the constructed arguments consisted of misconceptions. The results also showed that students who were involved in group argumentation tended to have a more complex argumentation scheme, compared to individual students. As a group, students were able to argue with more scientific elements and showed their understanding of macro and submicro concepts. Hence, science teachers need to emphasize on the construction of scientific argumentation in their teaching, especially at the macro, submicro, and symbolic levels of representations, to ensure students' understanding of the concepts. This will therefore enhance their mastery of scientific argumentation and improve their content knowledge.

Background: Children can spend substantial amounts of leisure time in sedentary activities, dominated by TV/screen time. However, objective real-time measurement of activities after school among young school children is seldom described. Methods: School children (n = 246, 5−7 years old, mean 6.0) and their parents were recruited by random selection from 14 schools across Sydney, Australia. Parents used a real-time objective measure (Experience Sampling Method, ESM) to record children's activities and whether they were indoors or outdoors at 3 random times each day after school. Data were collected across 4 weekdays in 1 week and then, 13 weeks later, another 4 weekdays in 1 week. Results: Results were based on 2940 responses from 214 childparent dyads showed that 25% of behavior involved physical activity, 51% was spent in sedentary activities, and 22% was TV/ screen time. Most instances (81%) occurred indoors. Conclusion: Despite a high proportion of TV/screen time, children were also engaged in a range of other sedentary and physically active pursuits after school. Hence TV/screen time is not a suitable proxy for all sedentary behavior, and it is important to gather information on other non-screen-based sedentary and physically active behaviors. Future research is warranted to further investigate after-school activities in young primary school children.

Objective: Food insecurity is an increasing problem in marginalised groups that affects diet quality. We aimed to examine the extent of food insecurity and the eating patterns of young people accessing support from specialist homelessness services. Methods: A cross-sectional survey with a researcher-administered food frequency and food insecurity questionnaire was undertaken with 50 young people experiencing homelessness, aged 14-26 years. Participants were recruited from 11 specialist homelessness services providing support and accommodation for young people in central and south-western Sydney. Results: Food insecurity was a recent experience for 70% of participants. Eighty-five per cent of participants living independently experienced food insecurity, compared to 66% of young people in supported accommodation. Consumption of core food groups was low, as almost all participants did not meet recommended daily servings of vegetables and breads and cereals. Consumption of sugar-sweetened soft drinks was high. Conclusions: Food insecurity and poor diet quality are salient issues for this group of young people accessing support from specialist homelessness services. Implications: These findings highlight the need for a greater focus on advocacy and policy action to increase social supports and improve food security and nutrition for young people experiencing homelessness.

Symmetry is a ubiquitous feature in the visual environment and can be detected by a variety of species, ranging from insects through to humans. Here we show it can also bias estimates of basic scene properties. Mirror (reflective) symmetry can be detected in as little as 50 ms, in both natural and artificial visual scenes, and even when embedded within cluttered backgrounds. In terms of its biological relevance, symmetry is a key determinant in mate selection; the degree of symmetry in a face is positively associated with perceived healthiness and attractiveness ratings. In short, symmetry processing mechanisms are an important part of the neural machinery of vision. We reveal that the importance of symmetry extends beyond the processing of shape and objects. Mirror symmetry biases our perception of scene content, with symmetrical patterns appearing to have fewer components than their asymmetric counterparts. This demonstrates an interaction between two fundamental dimensions of visual analysis: symmetry and number. We propose that this numerical underestimation results from a processing bias away from the redundant information within mirror symmetrical displays, extending existing theories regarding redundancy in visual analysis.

Christopher Pyne's proposed cuts to the Future Fellowships program will have devastating ripple effects well beyond those researchers who will miss out on research funding. The Australian Research Council's Future Fellowship scheme has succeeded precisely because it has been Australia's most significant systematic investment of funds in people. People are the human resource backbone for the Australian research innovation system, and Future Fellowships underwrite highly performing researchers to pursue research with intensity. Less obviously, but no less significant, the scheme has sparked diverse flow-on benefits. Cutting the scheme will deny researchers funding, immediately threatening jobs and constraining Australia's development of new knowledge, techniques and technologies. But it will also prevent the nation from enjoying a fuller suite of future benefits. What are some of the positive knock-on effects of Future Fellowship funding?

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship of subject areas to teachers' technology integration. Educational technology research has often identified "culture clashes" to explain differences in technology use between subject areas. These clashes are frequently attributed to core features, values and beliefs held in the subject area cultures, but there has been little research analyzing the relationship between subject areas and integration. Using a validated path model as a conceptual framework, this paper presents an analysis of the relationship between three subject areas (English, Mathematics, Science) and known factors of teacher beliefs and readiness to use technology in teaching, which directly impact on secondary-level teachers' technology integration, over three years. Findings show that time and subject areas are both associated with teachers' readiness, but only subject areas are associated with teachers' beliefs. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.

When was the last time you booked a flight? That extra A$1 in the final stages of booking may seem a small price to pay for offsetting the carbon emissions you generate travelling by air. But globally and across consumer companies, offsets are not only green-washing, but can do more harm than good.

In light of increased development pressure in rural landscapes, understanding how amenity migrants understand and experience nature is a vital project for rural studies. This paper investigates how residents living in a rural residential estate (RRE) negotiate more-than-human encounters in domestic settings. RREs are emergent forms of master-planned residential development on the rural-urban fringe, marketed and designed to meet an idyllic rural lifestyle. In the RRE, domestic nonhuman transgressions are both presumed as a part of the amenity migrant experience, and pre-empted by estate design and regulation. Border encounters in gardens were explored via semi-structured walking interviews with 27 residents of an RRE, located on the rural-urban fringe of Sydney, Australia. Nonhuman transgressions were found to both contribute towards, and challenge, homemaking practices. Some residents expressed a vernacular ecology at home entangled with more-than-human company, where nonhumans are 'neighbours'. Gardens were shared, and maintenance practices altered. When domestic expectations of cleanliness and order were challenged, native nonhumans were negotiated in gardens with a 'hoped-for absence' (Ginn, 2014). These stories illustrate that a native politics of belonging foreshadows the homemaking practices of amenity migrants. The paper suggests settlements similar to RRE can be a positive intervention on the rural-urban fringe, encouraging different registers of interaction with nonhuman nature.

Conservation cropping systems with no-till and stubble retention improve soil condition and water conservation. However, tillage is replaced by herbicides for weed control in these systems, increasing the threat of herbicide resistance. In the medium to high rainfall zones of the southern wheatbelt of Australia and under irrigation, wider row spacing is used to enable seeding into heavy stubble loads and to avoid stubble burning. Some evidence suggests that wider rows lead to reduced crop competitive ability and crop yields, greater herbicide dependence, and increased spread of resistance. Our aim was to test the hypothesis that increasing seeding rate compensated for reduced competitive ability at wider row spacings, especially when herbicide performance was suboptimal. We examined the impact of two wheat row spacings (18 and 36cm) and five seeding rates (resulting in a range of densities of 80-700 plants/m2) on control of Lolium rigidum with five rates of post-emergence application of diclofop-methyl (Hoegrass), ranging from label rate to lower rates, over two growing seasons. In the presence of L. rigidum, wheat grain yield was unaffected by row spacing but was significantly reduced at low seeding rates, especially at lower herbicide rates. Lolium rigidum was suppressed at higher crop densities but was also unaffected by row spacing. Grain yield was maximised when post-emergence herbicide was applied at 60-100% of the recommended dose at wheat densities >300 plants/m2. Significant levels of the weed remained in the crop at anthesis in all treatments. Weed dry matter ranged from 525g/m2 at low crop densities and with no herbicide to 150g/m2 with the recommended rate of herbicide and high wheat densities. The implications of manipulating crop competitive ability to improve weed control are discussed, especially in conditions where herbicide performance is unreliable due to weeds developing herbicide resistance or adverse environmental conditions.

Men's sheds and health outcomes - They are seen as a positive approach to men's health and social needs - They are relevant to contemporary health promotion practices as they focus on individual empowerment: + + self-esteem -> + + personal control -> + + health outcomes

Agency theory predicts that the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and the chairman positions should be held by different individuals in order to protect shareholder's interest. Though there are mixed evidences on CEO duality and firm performance, most research have found that there is negative relationship between CEO duality and firm performance. Although, in the last decades of the twentieth century, agency theory became the dominant force in the theoretical understanding of corporate governance, it does not however cover all aspects of corporate governance. This paper aims to explore whether it is better to combine various theories in order to describe effective and good corporate governance or theorizing corporate governance based on one theory only. This will cover corporate governance theories which include agency theory, stakeholder theory, stewardship theory, and institutional theory.

Mass spectrometry is now an indispensable tool for lipid analysis and is arguably the driving force in the renaissance of lipid research. In its various forms, mass spectrometry is uniquely capable of resolving the extensive compositional and structural diversity of lipids in biological systems. Furthermore, it provides the ability to accurately quantify molecular-level changes in lipid populations associated with changes in metabolism and environment; bringing lipid science to the "omics" age. The recent explosion of mass spectrometry-based surface analysis techniques is fuelling further expansion of the lipidomics field. This is evidenced by the numerous papers published on the subject of mass spectrometric imaging of lipids in recent years. While imaging mass spectrometry provides new and exciting possibilities, it is but one of the many opportunities direct surface analysis offers the lipid researcher. In this review we describe the current state-of-the-art in the direct surface analysis of lipids with a focus on tissue sections, intact cells and thin-layer chromatography substrates. The suitability of these different approaches towards analysis of the major lipid classes along with their current and potential applications in the field of lipid analysis are evaluated.

Seasonal influenza and the common cold are common illnesses that can have serious implications for a person's health as well as their ability to carry out work and study. Many university students are among the age groups (18-24) reporting high numbers of notifications of influenza (laboratory confirmed) in Australia (Department of Health and Ageing 2011). Universities host a large number of students and staff daily who use shared facilities and spend time indoors together. As such, it is expected that transmission risks in universities are similar to those in closed communities (such as healthcare settings and schools). This presents a serious public health issue for universities. In 2011, the University of Wollongong (UOW) funded the Centre for Health Initiatives (CHI) to implement the UOW Cold and Flu Campaign; a campus- based social marketing intervention, to reduce the spread of cold and flu among the UOW population.

presented at the 15th Biennial EARLI Conference for Research on Learning and Instruction, 27-31 Aug 2013, Munich, Germany

The project More Than An Overture enabled unversity academics, an established and respected Australian music composer and an emerging artist to teach pre-service generalist primary education and creative arts (performance) students at the University of Wollongong how to create and produce children's operas. The university students, academics and artists then worked with local primary school students and their teachers in creating children's operas that culminated in a performance for the school and their community. This paper explores the creation of the project, the motivations behind its development and the results from the project.

Sport is the leading cause of injury among adolescents and girls incur more non-contact anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) ruptures than boys, with this gender disparity in injury incidence apparent from the onset of puberty. Although the mechanisms for this gender disparity in ACL injuries are relatively unknown, hormonal, anatomical and biomechanical factors have been implicated. Puberty is associated with rapid skeletal growth and hormonal influx, both of which are thought to contribute to alterations in ACL metabolic and mechanical properties, as well as changes in lower limb strength and flexibility, ultimately influencing landing technique. Therefore, the aim of this review is to explain (i) the effects of changes in estrogen levels on the metabolic and mechanical properties of the ACL; (ii) changes in musculoskeletal structure and function that occur during puberty, including changes in knee laxity, and lower limb flexibility and strength; and (iii) how these hormonal and musculoskeletal changes impact upon the landing technique displayed by pubescent girls. Despite evidence confirming estrogen receptors on the ACL, there are still conflicting results as to how estrogen affects the mechanical properties of the ACL, particularly during puberty. However, during this time of rapid growth and hormonal influx, unlike their male counterparts, girls do not display an accelerated muscle strength spurt and the development of their hamstring muscle strength appears to lag behind that of their quadriceps. Throughout puberty, girls also display an increase in knee valgus when landing, which is not evident in boys. Therefore, it is plausible that this lack of a defined strength spurt, particularly of the hamstring muscles, combined with the hormonal effects of estrogen in girls, may contribute to a more 'risky' lower limb alignment during landing, in turn, contributing to a greater risk of ACL injury. There is, however, a paucity of longitudinal studies specifically examini

Electroactive polymer (EAP) actuators have been attracting the attention of researchers due to their muscle-like behaviour and unusual properties. Several modelling methods have been proposed to understand their mechanical, chemical, electrical behaviours or ‘electro-chemo-mechanical’ behaviour. However, estimating the whole shape or configuration of the EAP actuators has always been challenging due to their highly non-linear bending behaviour. This paper reports on an effective method to estimate the whole shape deflection of the EAP actuators by employing a so-called backbone approach. Tri-layer configured polypyrrole (PPy) based EAP actuators were used as a soft and smart structure with more degrees of freedom than its input. After deriving the inverse kinematic model of the actuator, its complete shape is estimated by solving the inverse kinematic model with an angle optimization (AngleOPT) method. The experimental results and numerical results have demonstrated the effectiveness of the method in estimating the highly non-linear bending behaviour of the PPy actuators and applicability of this modelling approach to other EAP actuators.

Background: Undernutrition in the elderly is common and can be associated with adverse medical consequences, contributing to frailty, morbidity, hospitalisation and mortality.Objective: This article provides guidelines for screening for undernutrition in general practice, and suggests strategies to address undernutrition in older patients.Discussion: Screening for undernutrition in general practice helps focus time and resources on people at greatest risk. Early identification and management of people at risk of undernutritionis important because it is difficult to reverse its adverse effects,once established.

PURPOSE. Long-lived proteins are widespread in man, yet little is known about the processes that affect their function over time, or their role in age-related diseases. METHODS. Racemization of two proteins from normal and cataract human lenses were compared with age using tryptic digestion and LC/mass spectrometry. Asp 151 in alpha A crystallin and Asn 76 in gamma S crystallin were studied. RESULTS. Age-dependent profiles for the two proteins from normal lenses were different. In neither protein did the modifications increase linearly with age. For alpha A crystallin, racemization occurred most rapidly during the first 15 years of life, with approximately half of L-Asp 151 converted to D-isoAsp, L-isoAsp, and D-Asp in a ratio of 3:1:0.5. Values then changed little. By contrast, racemization of Asn 76 in gamma S crystallin was slow until age 15, with isoAsp accounting for only 5%. Values remained relatively constant until age 40 when a linear increase (1%/year) took place. When cataract lenses were compared with age-matched normal lenses, there were marked differences in the time courses of the two crystallins. For alpha A crystallin, there was no significant difference in Asp 151 racemization between cataract and normal lenses. By contrast, in gamma S crystallin the degree of conversion of Asn 76 to isoAsp in cataract lenses was approximately double that of normals at every age. CONCLUSIONS. Modification of Asn and Asp over time may contribute to denaturation of proteins in the human lens. An accelerated rate of deamidation/racemization at selected sites in proteins, such as gamma S crystallin, may contribute to cataract formation. (Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2012;53:3554-3561) DOI:10.1167/iovs.11-9085

Poster presented at the Dietitians Association of Australia 16th International Congress of Dietetics, 5-8 September 2012, Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre, Sydney, Australia

Across early childhood, verbal recall provides a more limited account of memory retrieval than behavioural recall (e.g., Simcock & Hayne, 2002). Older childrens physical gestures have also been shown to reveal additional information which has been stored but which children are not yet able to communicate verbally or access explicitly (Goldin-Meadow, 2000). The aim of the present study was to determine whether preschool children spontaneously produce gestures that reflect their memory for an event, and if so, whether their gestures contain any additional information that they do not express verbally. To do this, we re-analysed the verbal recall sessions of 112 participants aged 3-5 years who had previously watched a video demonstration of a unique magic box event. Verbal recall was coded for the presence of iconic representational gestures, which are gestures which refer to a graphical representation of a phenomenon (Arzarello & Robutti, 2004). Thirty-one children produced representational gestures during their verbal recall (M¼2.6 gestures per gesturing child). The production of representational gestures was positively correlated with verbal recall, performance on a verbal comprehension test, and behavioural recall for the target event, irrespective of age. Gestures reflected the content of memory, but also included details that were not reflected in verbal report such as the specific motions of actions, spatial information, and the size and shape of items. These findings suggest that attending to gestures in preschool children can provide unique access to memory details that would otherwise be missed in verbal recall.

Are you bored reading about Malaysian politics on news sites? I am. Stories of party squabbles, mugshots of Anwar, faces from Pakatan Rakyat, PAS and Umno; corruption in the public sector, poor governance, police violence. Same old angles. Same old sources. But two events in the past week shook me out of my boredom. First was an email petition I received from a Malaysian academic in the US with the subject line: ‘Overseas Malaysian Academic Community Demand for the 13th General Election’.