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Towards robust multimodal land use classification: A convolutional embedded transformer
Get PDFMultisource remote sensing data has gained significant attention in land use classification. However, effectively extracting both local and global features from various modalities and fusing them to leverage their complementary information remains a substantial challenge. In this paper, we address this by exploring the use of transformers for simultaneous local and global feature extraction while enabling cross-modality learning to improve the integration of complementary information from HSI and LiDAR data modalities. We propose a spatial feature enhancer module (SFEM) that efficiently captures features across spectral bands while preserving spatial integrity for downstream learning tasks. Building on this, we introduce a cross-modal convolutional transformer, which extracts both local and global features using a multi-scale convolutional embedded encoder (MSCE). The convolutional layers embedded in the encoder facilitate the blending of local and global features. Additionally, cross-modal learning is incorporated to effectively capture complementary information from HSI and LiDAR modalities. Evaluation on the Trento dataset highlights the effectiveness of the proposed approach, achieving an average accuracy of 99.04% and surpassing comparable methods
Masculinism, institutional violence and #metoo: Understanding Australian university responses to the COVID-19 pandemic
Get PDFThis article offers an analysis of data from the project Sexism, Higher Education, and Covid-19: The Australian Perspective. The authors argue that the gendered impact of the pandemic in Higher Education Institutions constitutes a form of institutionally perpetrated sexist harassment, and that raising awareness of the ways in which institutions themselves enable and perpetrate such harassment is consistent with the aims of the #MeToo movement. This article is intended to act as testament to the ways in which Australian universities function as masculinist institutions that, during this time of crisis, deployed tactics that were experienced by women and minority-identifying research participants as sexist and violent. The article illustrates how the COVID-19 pandemic, and university responses to it, are evidence of the everyday sexual violence that women and gender-diverse academics experience due to inherent norms about the labour that ‘counts’ in the masculinist, neoliberal academy
Offenders’ perspectives on acquisitive crime targets and stolen goods disposal methods
Get PDFThis paper examines offenders’ perspectives about acquisitive crime targets and stolen goods markets in Australia that have not been comprehensively reviewed since 2005. Over the last 18 years there have been significant changes in the rates of property crime, reductions in cash usage, and rapid movements to online markets as a disposal outlet, that motivate this updated analysis. In late 2022, n = 107 detainees in a Western Australian police watchhouse were interviewed about their property offending frequency, offence preferences, target selection, disposal methods, and estimated financial return for targeted goods. Results demonstrated (a) meaningful shifts towards shoplifting and away from the other stealing offences, (b) increases in stealing for personal consumption rather than selling on, (c) declines in preferences for small electronic items, (d) ongoing dependence on drug dealers as a preferred outlet for off-loading stolen goods, (e) disposal of stolen goods is still quick, easy, and typically offenders receive about one-third of the original purchase price for items, and (f) growth in the use of online markets to dispose of stolen goods. The theoretical and applied implications of these findings are discussed, emphasising the importance of opportunity-focused interventions to prevent crime
Mothers, social capital and children’s physical literacy journeys in rural Australia
Get PDFIn rural communities in Australia, the provision of sport and physical activities for children almost exclusively relies upon parents and their ability to access and contribute to facilities, funding, volunteers, and administration. This paper brings Putnam’s social capital framework to Whitehead’s conceptualisation of physical literacy as a journey to offer original insight into children’s sport participation and the opportunities arising for physical literacy development in rural communities in Australia. Changes in sport participation in Australia and directions in sport policy set an important context for the project, which is located in a small rural community in Western Australia. It was recognised that access to and engagement with both formal and informal sport environments were important to examine, particularly given participation trends and the need to consider issues of equity and inclusivity concerning the physical literacy opportunities for children in diverse rural communities. Narrative inquiry methodology enabled in-depth exploration of issues of access and opportunity created through rural mothers’ social resources and identity. Participants provided rich insights into the realities and complexities of the rural social landscape and how this impacts their children’s participation. Data illustrates the importance of conceptual links between social capital and physical literacy development. The paper provides new perspectives for policymakers and the local community to consider in seeking more significant equity in children’s sport participation and physical literacy development in rural communities
Exercise and sports science Australia updated position statement on exercise for preventing falls in older people living in the community
Get PDFBackgrounds: Falls affect a significant number of older Australians and present a major challenge to health care providers and health systems with over 380 older Australians hospitalised for a fall each day.
Objectives: This statement seeks to inform and guide exercise practitioners and health professionals in safe and effective prescription of exercise to prevent falls amongst community-dwelling older people.
Exercise prescription to prevent falls: Exercise is crucial for preventing falls in older age. Research evidence has identified that programmes which include functional balance and muscle strength training are the most effective in preventing falls. It is also important for exercise to be progressively challenging, ongoing and of sufficient dose to maximise its benefits in reducing falls. Additional (non-exercise) interventions are necessary for people with complex medical conditions, recent hospitalisation and/or particular risk factors not improved by exercise. People at a higher risk of falls may need greater support to undertake safe and effective fall prevention exercise.
Summary: Global guidelines for fall prevention and management recommend that all older adults should receive advice about exercise to prevent falls. Qualified exercise professionals are well placed to prescribe and supervise functional balance and muscle strength training to older people with varied functional abilities, including those with co-morbidities
EmbSCU
No full textThis dataset was created for the evaluation of the EmbSCU method, suitable for solving the Scene Change Understanding (SCU) task. The SCU task involves predicting a changed location, describing a change, and generating language instructions for the robotic agent to revert a change. Current datasets, related to scene change understanding, can be divided into scene change detection (SCD) and image difference captioning (IDC) datasets. Unlike existing approaches, EmbSCU facilitates simultaneous change detection, description and language-based rearrangement instruction generation for the agent to revert changes. Although the EmbSCU dataset is simulated, it is highly complex, incorporating 104 unique indoor Ai2Thor rooms. EmbSCU encompasses 54 interactable indoor object categories
Exposure to preference-matched alcohol advertisements from national sports broadcasts increases short-term alcohol consumption inclinations in risky drinkers
Get PDFBackground: In Australia, sports broadcasting is afforded special alcohol advertising rights during daytime hours, which raises public health concerns, including short-term increases in alcohol consumption among the broad viewership of national sporting codes. Methods: We conducted a content analysis across a sample of nationally televised finals matches (N = 16) from the Australian Football League (AFL) and the National Rugby League (NRL) to determine the prevalence of alcohol advertising video clips during these broadcasts. We also conducted an online experiment exposing participants (N = 345) to a randomly selected alcohol advertisement and measured the immediate effects on self-reported alcohol craving and drinking intentions. Results: The prevalence of alcohol advertising video clips during AFL broadcasts was 3.9% and 1.8% for NRL. While, overall, alcohol advertisement video clip exposure did not impact craving or drinking intentions, a modest increase in craving was found for a subsample of risky drinking participants (N = 107) who also reported a preference for the specific alcoholic beverage being advertised. Conclusions: Video alcohol advertisements occurred less than 1 in 20 advertisements on average and exposure to alcohol advertising elicited a low, yet measurable, short-term increase in alcohol inclinations, among vulnerable adult drinkers when a desirable alcoholic beverage advertisement is viewed. So What?: Given that alcohol advertisements are most likely to increase consumption among risky drinkers, health messaging during sports broadcasts needs to specifically target these individuals
The anatomy of body shaming in sports coaching
Get PDFStories of body shaming in sports coaching are becoming widespread, and can intentionally, unintentionally, or inadvertently be used in different sports coaching practices. These practices do not necessarily intend to harm athletes. The aim of this paper is to explore body critical and body sensitive sport coaching practices that have the potential to be shaming, or as we call it in the title, the ‘anatomy’ of body shaming. The study used photo elicitation interviews including vignettes for data generation with 12 coaches from nine different sports. The results demonstrate that body criticality and body sensitivity function in different subtle ways and that coaches were well-aware of the potentially damaging influence that they can have on athletes. The article concludes with recommendations for further research exploring how athletes experience the most subtle and invisible ways of body critical and body sensitive practices, and how they internalize this well-intended but still potentially shaming advice
Effects of pregnancy and lactation prebiotics supplementation on infant allergic disease: A randomized controlled trial
Get PDFBackground: Ingestion of prebiotics during pregnancy and lactation may have immunomodulatory benefits for the developing fetal and infant immune system and provide a potential dietary strategy to reduce the risk of allergic diseases. Objective: We sought to determine whether maternal supplementation with dietary prebiotics reduces the risk of allergic outcomes in infants with hereditary risk. Methods: We undertook a double-blind randomized controlled trial in which pregnant women were allocated to consume prebiotics (14.2 g daily of galacto-oligosaccharides and fructo-oligosaccharides in the ratio 9:1) or placebo (8.7 g daily of maltodextrin) powder from less than 21 weeks’ gestation until 6 months postnatal during lactation. Eligible women had infants with a first-degree relative with a history of medically diagnosed allergic disease. The primary outcome was medically diagnosed infant eczema by age 1 year, and secondary outcomes included allergen sensitization, food allergy, and recurrent wheeze by age 1 year. Results: A total of 652 women were randomized between June 2016 and November 2021 (329 in the prebiotics group and 323 in the placebo group). There was no significant difference between groups in the percentage of infants with medically diagnosed eczema by age 1 year (prebiotics 31.5% [103 of 327 infants] vs placebo 32.6% [105 of 322 infants]; adjusted relative risk, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.77-1.23; P = .84). Secondary outcomes and safety measures also did not significantly differ between groups. Conclusions: We found little evidence that maternal prebiotics supplementation during pregnancy and lactation reduces the risk of medically diagnosed infant eczema by age 1 year in infants who are at hereditary risk of allergic disease
Enhancing nutrition information utilisation, confidence, and role legitimacy and adequacy among early childhood education professionals through evidence-based online training
Get PDFThis study evaluated the effectiveness of an online short course based on the Health Promoting Schools Framework and specifically designed for Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) professionals. The short course aimed to enhance ECEC professionals’ nutrition knowledge, confidence, role legitimacy and adequacy to model healthy behaviours, teach healthy food habits and create health-promoting environments. Participants (n = 116) working at Australian ECEC services were assigned to control (n = 62) or intervention (n = 54) groups. Both groups completed a pre-intervention survey. The intervention group accessed the four-week course and completed the post-intervention survey. The control group completed a second survey after four weeks but before accessing the course. Statistical analyses revealed significant positive changes in confidence, nutrition information utilisation and role perception for the intervention group. This study’s findings suggest that evidence-based online nutrition training could be used improve ECEC professionals’ practice to foster better nutrition outcomes for young children