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Full-match equivalents and ball-in-play demands in women's rugby union:A Bayesian multilevel regression model
No full textGiven the varying minutes of playing time among players, new analytical approaches are required to quantify full-match (rather than partial match) and ball-in-play (BiP) demands in rugby union. A two-year prospective, longitudinal study was conducted on a single Australian Super Rugby Women's rugby union team (n = 41 players, 10 matches). GPS-derived metrics (total distance, acceleration load, high-speed running, high-metabolic load distance, acceleration count) and video-coded contact events (tackles, ball-carries, attackers/latches, collisions), total breakdown involvements, scrums, and mauls were modelled using Bayesian multilevel regression modelling. Bayesian models explained 90-98% of data variance (Bayesian R 2 : 0.904-0.988) for continuous metrics and 73-92% for count-based metrics (Bayesian R 2 : 0.732-0.923). The models demonstrated excellent predictive performance for continuous metrics (Pearson r 2 : 0.923-0.990) and good-to-excellent performance for count-based metrics (Pearson r 2 : 0.766-0.943). Resulting position-specific full-match reference values for running and contact demands were similar to, or higher than, previous domestic reports. Overall, Bayesian multilevel regression modelling provided robust estimates of full match-play demands and a practical tool to derive position-specific reference values, address data incompleteness, impute missing GPS or contact data, and manage small sample sizes. </p
Health and Physical Education Workplace Research and Development:An Australian Perspective
No full textOur chapter is concerned with the Australian context. In Part 1, we consider the nature and positioning of Health and Physical Education (HPE), the title of our learning area in most jurisdictions, and explore its development and professional workforce. In Part 2, we respond to the Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy (PESP) workforce development agenda. Specifically, we name and address the obstacles, challenges and opportunities for HPE workforce development in Australia and within the context of COVID-19. Finally, in Part 3, we turn to the accountability demands of HPE teacher education and identify trends and the future needs that must be met for school HPE to flourish.</p
Environmental Flows Rapidly Increase Zooplankton Abundance in a Regulated Lowland River
No full textZooplankton are important parts of the food web that support the survival of larval fish in floodplain rivers. Zooplankton abundance and community structure are sensitive to flow-driven changes in the environment, which have been heavily impacted by river regulation with dams. Environmental flows (e-flows) are managed dam releases designed to restore a degree of natural ecological functioning to regulated rivers. Native fish spawning can be triggered by e-flows, but it is not well understood whether these flows can stimulate instream zooplankton production in an appropriate timeframe to support feeding by fish larvae in their first weeks of life. This study aimed to investigate the immediate and longer-term impacts of a planned dam release during the drought of 2018 in the Macquarie–Wambuul River of New South Wales, Australia, on the abundance of zooplankton and associated environmental variables. Dissolved organic carbon, nitrogen oxides (NOx) and chlorophyll a increased significantly at the onset of the e-flow. The zooplankton community was dominated by Cladocera (also named Diplostraca). The significant drivers of zooplankton community structure were NOx, temperature and river level. The start of the e-flow coincided with a significant increase in cladoceran densities, which resulted in up to 36.2 × 109 ± 1.5 × 109 Cladocera d−1 being exported through the study sites. Increased zooplankton exports were maintained for at least 6 weeks after the onset of the e-flow. These findings demonstrate that e-flows during drought can stimulate increased zooplankton abundance within appropriate timeframes to support the survival of native fish larvae.</p
Changing patterns of referrals in response to a multicomponent rehabilitation program for people with dementia and their care partners
No full textOBJECTIVES: This article examines referral types and patterns over the first 30 months of a new multicomponent rehabilitation program for people with dementia and care partners, the Sustainable Personalised Intervention for Cognition Care and Engagement (SPICE) program.METHODS: Administrative referral records were analysed from July 2022 to December 2024.RESULTS: The most common referral sources (n = 239) were private geriatricians (n = 84), self-referral (n = 54), public geriatricians (n = 46) and community organisations (n = 30), with fewer referrals from general practitioners (n = 2) and community care providers (n = 2). Referrals from geriatricians increased over time, while those from community organisations and self-referrals remained stable.CONCLUSIONS: The changes in referral pathways suggest evolving awareness of the SPICE program. As multidisciplinary dementia care services expand under the Australian National Dementia Action Plan, further research is needed to understand referral pathways by health professionals across different sectors to enhance awareness and accessibility.</p
Reconsidering the dignity torts in Australia: A rethinking of the gendered privacy in the digital era
No full textBy How Much Is ‘Women's Work’ Undervalued in the Economy?
No full textThis paper investigates the extent to which ‘women's work’ – that is, work that societal norms assign to women – is systematically undervalued in the economy. Analysis of 2021 data for Australia detects that average hourly wage rates are 9.9 per cent lower in female-concentrated occupations compared with male-concentrated occupations, and 3.8 per cent lower in female-concentrated industries compared with male-concentrated industries. Looking at unpaid work that is invisible in national accounts, analysis of time use data finds that 55 per cent of women's labour contribution to the economy is in the form of unpaid work and care, compared with 31 per cent of men's. Adding unpaid work and care to paid work, and adjusting for the undervaluation of female-concentrated jobs and the male wage premium, sees women's share of total labour input expand from 36.8 per cent to 50.5 per cent. These findings are informative across a range of practical applications, including equitable wage settings, the division of household assets, and measurements of productivity. The relegation of this topic of inquiry as a specialist ‘feminist issue’ constitutes a structural gender bias within the economics discipline: ‘women's work’ needs to be fully recognised and valued as a core component of the economy
Psychometric properties, and cultural appropriateness, of patient reported outcome measures for use in primary healthcare: a scoping review
No full textPurpose: To critically appraise the psychometric properties and cultural appropriateness of self-reported generic patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) applicable for use in the primary healthcare setting using the Consensus Based Standards for the Selection of Health Measurement Instruments (COSMIN) guidelines.Methods: PROMs were identified via a published systematic review and searches of relevant websites. PROMs were included if they were generic (i.e., outcome measures that assessed general aspects of health); had a maximum of 30 items; were applicable for use by all adult primary care patients; and were validated in English. Data was extracted regarding the characteristics of each PROM and the characteristics of included validation studies. The COSMIN risk of bias checklist was used to assess methodological quality and the revised COSMIN criteria was used to assess measurement properties. An evidence synthesis was conducted across studies using the guidelines from the modified Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach for systematic reviews of clinical trials.Results: 399 PROMs were identified and 19 met inclusion criteria. The included PROMs measured general health related quality of life (n = 8), outcomes or impact of care (n = 3), patient enablement, activation, and empowerment (n = 3), quality of care (n = 3), health and disability (n = 1), and functional status (n = 1). Six PROMs met the recommended COSMIN threshold for implementation.Conclusion: Although six PROMs can be recommended for use in primary care, further psychometric testing is still required to strengthen evidence related to internal consistency, responsiveness and cross-cultural validity/measurement invariance. Selection of a PROM for routine clinical use in primary care also needs to be guided by the patient population
Motivation to write in the digital age: examining early primary students’ attitudes towards paper and computer-based text composing
No full textDigital tools are now an integral part of most communities across the globe. In this context, preparing beginning writers to produce paper- and computer-generated texts with similar levels of proficiency is paramount. In the current study, we examined general attitudes toward writing and specific attitudes toward writing paper- and computer-based texts of 544 Grade 2 students (295 female). We investigated the unique contributions of children’s general and specific writing attitudes in predicting their writing performance (i.e., compositional quality and productivity) across modalities after controlling for students’ inscription skills (i.e., handwriting automaticity and keyboarding automaticity), gender, and nesting due to classroom and schools. Results from hierarchical-linear modelling showed that general attitude toward writing made a statistically unique contribution to predicting the quality of students’ paper- and computer-based texts. Specific attitudes towards writing paper-based texts made statistically unique contributions in explaining paper-based compositional quality and productivity. Contrastingly, specific attitudes towards writing computer-based texts did not make a unique and statistically significant contribution in predicting computer based compositional quality and productivity. Following a multi-methods design, we further examined children’s motivational beliefs, namely value and utility, attitudes and interest, and competence in writing paper- and computer-based texts (subsample of n = 54 students). Findings from deductive content analysis suggested that children found writing and learning how to write paper- and computer-based texts equally important but showed more negative attitudes towards writing paper-based texts. Results were also indicative that children believed they were more capable of writing paper-based texts
