19325 research outputs found
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Milestones in auto/biography: review of Carol Lefevre, The happiness glass and Marion May Campbell, The man on the mantlepiece: a memoir
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How does a delay between temperature running exercise and hot-water immersion alter the acute thermoregulatory response and heat-load?
No full textHot-water immersion following exercise in a temperate environment can elicit heat acclimation in endurance-trained individuals. However, a delay between exercise cessation and immersion is likely a common occurrence in practice. Precisely how such a delay potentially alters hot-water immersion mediated acute physiological responses (e.g. total heat-load) remains unexplored. Such data would aid in optimising prescription of post-exercise hot-water immersion in cool environments, relative to heat acclimation goals. Twelve male recreational runners (mean ± SD; age: 38 ± 13 y, height: 180 ± 7 cm, body mass: 81 ± 13.7 kg, body fat: 13.9 ± 3.5%) completed three separate 40-minute treadmill runs (18°C), followed by either a 10 min (10M), 1 h (1H) or 8 h (8H) delay, prior to a 30-minute hot-water immersion (39°C), with a randomised crossover design. Core and skin temperatures, heart rate, sweat and perceptual responses were measured across the trials. Mean core temperature during immersion was significantly lower in 1H (37.39 ± 0.30°C) compared to 10M (37.83 ± 0.24°C; P = 0.0032) and 8H (37.74 ± 0.19°C; P = 0.0140). Mean skin temperature was significantly higher in 8H (32.70 ± 0.41°C) compared to 10M (31.93 ± 0.60°C; P = 0.0042) at the end of the hot-water immersion. Mean and maximal heart rates were also higher during immersion in 10M compared to 1H and 8H (P \u3c 0.05), despite no significant differences in the sweat or perceptual responses. The shortest delay between exercise and immersion (10M) provoked the greatest heat-load during immersion. However, performing the hot-water immersion in the afternoon (8H), which coincided with peak circadian body temperature, provided a larger heat-load stimulus than the 1 h delay (1H)
Resilience of a harvested gastropod, Turbo militaris, to marine heatwaves
No full textMarine heatwaves (MHW) are predicted to occur with increased frequency, duration and intensity in a changing climate, with pervasive ecological and socioeconomic consequences. While there is a growing understanding of the ecological impacts of warming and marine heatwaves, much less is known about how they influence the underlying physiology and health of species, and the nutritional properties of tissue. We evaluated the effects of different heatwave scenarios and ocean warming on the nutritional properties and immune health of the harvested gastropod Turbo militaris. Neither heatwave scenarios nor elevated temperatures had significant impacts on morphometrics, proximate composition or inorganic content of T. militaris. However, an increased moisture content and non-significant trends, such as elevated amount of lipids, and an increased number of hemocytes in the blood of T. militaris in the heatwave treatments were suggestive of mild stress. Overall, our study suggests that T. militaris is resilient to marine heatwaves and warming, although delayed, additive or synergistic stress responses cannot be ruled out. Understanding the possible effects of ocean warming and heatwaves on fisheries species could improve management actions to avoid species impacts, socioeconomic losses and negative effects to ecosystem service provision in a changing climate
Benchmarking EAP written assessment with the CEFR
No full textIn the Australian higher education sector, there is often debate about the English language proficiency standards of our international students.This paper presents a brief overview of a nation-wide initiative assessing the language standards of Direct Entry and ELICOS pathway programs. The presentation shares learnings from UECA’s Benchmarking Project involving some 60 assessors from 20 Australian University Centres using the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) to externally validate university partners’ writing assessments and international student work samples. The session will explore the advantages and challenges of using the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) as a tool for benchmarking samples of students’ EAP written work. The session will also provide the opportunity for participants to engage in an exercise of assessing written work sample using the CEFR
Airbnb in the Byron Shire, Australia – bane or blessing?
No full textPurpose – Scholarly research into community members’ views on the positive and negative impacts of Airbnb on the local community is sparse, especially in regional Australia. The purpose of this paper is to explore the views of key informants in the Byron Shire of Australia about the impacts of Airbnb on the local community, as well as possible solutions to the problems. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative approach of in-depth interviewing using a semi-structured interview guide was used to capture the views regarding the impacts of Airbnb held by 22 key informants in the Byron Shire community. The interview data were analysed using thematic analysis. Findings – The 22 interviewees identified five main positive impacts of Airbnb on the Byron Shire community and eight main negative impacts of Airbnb. All participants said they wanted more regulation of Airbnb properties to help address the negative impacts of Airbnb in the community. Eight specific recommendations were offered by the interviewees. Research limitations/implications – The negative impacts of Airbnb felt by local community are more extensive and deleterious than have been accounted for in the literature. Research into community stakeholder perspectives is important, in order to gain a fuller view of the costs and benefits of sharing economy, especially with regard to short-term letting or holiday letting in tourism centres, as well as potential for more sustainable solutions to the issues. Practical implications – The findings are being used to inform policy makers’ decisions in managing Airbnb in the Shire. Social implications – The involvement of key informant community members in this study highlights that there is much common ground between different stakeholders. This type of research may help to provide a sense of enfranchisement and empowerment. This is important in fostering a more balanced public debate, as well as more sustainable approaches to managing the issues. Originality/value – This paper is the first to explore the views of a range of different key informants in the regional tourist area of Byron Shire in Australia with regard to the positive and negative impacts of Airbnb on the local community, as well as possible solutions to the issues raised by Airbnb
Building capacity in the healthcare sector: a strengths-based approach for increasing employees\u27 well-being and organisational resilience
No full textThis study uses Appreciative Inquiry (AI) as a lens for informing the process for building on employees\u27 existing wellbeing within one Australian organisation, using the ‘discovery, dreaming, designing, and achieving destiny’ process. Using POSH as a theoretical framework, we worked with a large Not-For-Profit healthcare organisation as part of the ‘discovery’ phase to identify elements of what was positive, flourishing, and life-giving in the practices of their employees. During the ‘dreaming’ process, employees\u27 wellbeing was identified as a strength. During the ‘designing’ phase, a training program was co-designed to build on employees\u27 existing levels of wellbeing. This paper reports outcomes as part of the ‘achieving destiny component’ of the AI process. In particular, the outcomes show that employees\u27 knowledge of, and ability to use positive emotions increased, which is a positive first step for increasing employees\u27 wellbeing and organisational resilience
Support for aged care workers and quality care in Australia: a case of contract failure?
No full textThis paper is guided by Conservation of Resources theory and aims to investigate the impact of personal and organisational support on the quality of clinical care given to aged care residents in for-profit (FP) and not-for-profit(NFP) facilities. Broadly, the paper addresses challenges faced by governments in designing contract specifications that ensure quality outcomes from aged care providers. The argument is that the present accreditation standards that are used to assess the status of aged care providers are too narrow to capture the complexity in delivering social services. Data were collected from 442 aged care work-ers from aged care facilities in NSW, QLD and WA. The results show that carer support (personal and organisational support) explained half of the variance in quality of clinical care in NFP facilities, and a third of the variance in FP facilities. In particular, the findings suggest support for carers is important for carer retention, and ultimately the clinical care of residents. The findings provide supporting evidence to widen the required contract specifications foraged care provider accreditation to include organisational and personal support for carers
Computational data from: Maximising recombination across macadamia populations to generate linkage maps for genome anchoring
No full textComputational files associated with the publication Langdon et al. 2020 Maximising recombination across macadamia populations to generate linkage maps for genome anchoring. Scientific Reports