19683 research outputs found
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Rural Stakeholder Perspectives on Engaging People Living With Dementia as Volunteers
No full textThis qualitative study explores enablers and barriers experienced by rural community organisations in engaging people living with dementia as volunteers. Semi structured, qualitative interviews were conducted with 13 individuals responsible for managing volunteers within rural and regional organisations in Victoria, Australia. Participants identified three primary factors associated with ability to engage people living with dementia as volunteers within their organisations: ability to provide suitable volunteer roles for people living with dementia, ability to resource support and ability to manage disclosure and progression. These factors were mediated by characteristics of organisational and volunteer program environments, and the attitudes and capacities of volunteers living with dementia. Findings indicate that while possible, engagement of volunteers living with dementia is potentially not achievable in all rural community settings and is contingent on flexible volunteer programs and experienced volunteer management, provision of resources to support volunteers and changing attitudes toward capacity of people living with dementia.</p
SNP annotations for variants associated with calf health traits in Holstein and Jersey dairy cattle
No full textTable S1. Information about the SNPs in high Linkage Disequilibrium (LD) with each lead SNP for Stillbirth in Holstein, Stillbirth in Jersey and Pre-weaning mortality in Holstein cattle.Table S2. Information about the SNPs bound within the start and end position of Haplotypes for Stillbirth in Holstein, Stillbirth in Jersey and Pre-weaning mortality in Holstein cattle. Variants with a minor allele frequency >=0.05 and of moderate or severe consequence are included.</p
Does Massage Gun or Foam Roller Use During a Warm-Up Improve Performance in Trained Athletes?
No full textSelf-myofascial release tools like foam rollers and massage guns are being integrated into athlete warm-ups with increasing frequency, but evidence on their acute effects is limited. Sixteen healthy, trained athletes (23.2 ± 1.3 years; four female) completed three warm-up conditions in a randomised, crossover design separated by >48 h: dynamic warm-up plus foam rolling (FOAM), dynamic warm-up plus massage gun (GUN), and dynamic warm-up alone (CON). After each intervention, participants completed a countermovement jump (CMJ; height and reactive strength index [RSImod]), a 10/5 repeated jump test (RJT), a 20 m sprint, and a knee-to-wall ankle mobility test. Perceived soreness and fatigue were recorded. Linear mixed models and Cohen’s d were used to assess between-condition differences. Relative to CON, FOAM and GUN were associated with reduced CMJ height (d = −0.29 to −0.36) and RSImod (d = −0.40 to −0.52; p’s </p
Describing posture on the bike: do different methods lead to similar outcomes?
No full textAbstract:- Purpose: Standardising methods to calculate joint angles is essential to enable the reproducibility of movement analysis in cycling. This study compared three methods for determining lower limb posture on the bike across three positions on the saddle. Methods: Fourteen non-cyclists were assessed in two laboratory visits. The first involved determining their maximum aerobic capacity which was used in the second visit to define a sub-maximal cycling exercise intensity. Lower limb kinematics were obtained and angles for the hip, knee, and ankle were calculated using three methods (6 o’clock position, minimum knee angle, and the largest lower limb extension). Two-way analysis of variance with repeated measurements was utilised for the hip, knee, and ankle data to assess the main effects from the method of measuring angles (i.e. 6 o’clock position vs. minimum knee angle vs. largest lower limb extension) and from positions on the saddle (i.e. anterior vs. reference vs posterior), followed by post-hoc analyses. Results: The angles obtained at the 6 o’clock position were larger than those at the minimum knee angle and the largest lower limb extension for the hip, knee, and ankle joints (p Conclusion: All three methods were sensitive to detect changes in saddle position but data should not be interchanged due to differences in angles between methods. These results indicate that body position on the bike should always be described using a consistent method.</p
Social work research culture in Australian university settings
No full textSummary: There has been increased attention on the performance of social work researchers and strategies for strengthening the connection between research and practice. However, little is known about the research culture of social work discipline groups within universities and what contributes to a sustainable high-performance culture. Twenty experienced social work researchers from Australian universities were recruited and participated in qualitative interviews. Informed by a critical realist perspective, participants shared what they perceive as influencing social work research culture in university settings. Findings: Participants reflected on the beliefs, values, and behaviors contributing to a positive research culture in universities and social work discipline groups. Four key themes were developed: research culture is enhanced when there is a cadre of research-qualified staff; collaboration enhances research culture; time for research needs to be protected; and the professional narrative about social work research influences research culture in universities. Precarious employment for research staff, limited focus on research training in social work qualifying degrees and workloads that focus primarily on administration and teaching were seen as inhibitors of research culture. Applications: Attracting and retaining high-performing social work researchers assist in setting benchmarks for research performance, strengthening the quality and purpose of research training, supporting junior colleagues to navigate research systems, and creating opportunities for collaboration. While multidisciplinary collaborations within a particular field can sometimes detract from a focus on research culture in social work, they can also raise performance expectations and strengthen positioning for competitive grants.</p
pH-responsive agarose hydrogel for enhanced gastrointestinal ibuprofen delivery: A novel pressure-sensitive adhesive system
No full textRecent advances in pH-responsive drug delivery systems have demonstrated their promising potential for targeted therapeutic delivery. However, challenges remain in developing platforms that combine precise spatiotemporal control with robust mechanical properties. Herein, we present a novel plant-derived (agarose-polyacrylic acid hybrid) hydrogel pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) system that combines the biocompatibility of agarose with the pH-responsiveness of polyacrylic acid for controlled ibuprofen delivery. Unlike conventional physical encapsulation methods, our covalently tethered design achieved 78.1 ± 3.4 % drug incorporation efficiency with minimal burst release (150 kPa). This scalable platform addresses the critical limitations of conventional NSAID delivery, including gastric toxicity (prevalent in 50–60 % of chronic users) and frequent dosing, by synergizing plant-derived biocompatibility with synthetic flexibility.</p
Building Australia's Future: Industry Perspectives on Hempcrete Panels for Affordable Carbon Housing
No full textThis report explores the transformative potential of hempcrete panels for Australia's construction industry. Hempcrete, a bio-composite material made from hemp hurd, lime, and water, is positioned as a sustainable and innovative solution to address critical challenges, including reducing environmental impact and improving housing affordability.</p
Oral bacteriophages and their potential as adjunctive treatments for periodontitis: a narrative review
No full textBackground: There is no specific cure for periodontitis and treatment is symptomatic, primarily by physical removal of the subgingival plaque biofilm. Current non-surgical periodontal therapy becomes less effective as the periodontal pocket depth increases and as such new adjunctive treatments are required. The development of antibiotic resistance has driven a recent resurgence of interest in bacteriophage therapy. Methods: Here we review the published literature with a focus on the subgingival phageome, key oral pathobionts and the dysbiotic nature of periodontitis leading to the emergence of synergistic, proteolytic and inflammophilic bacterial species in subgingival plaque. We discuss the opportunities available, the barriers and the steps needed to develop bacteriophage therapy as an adjunctive treatment for periodontitis. Results: The oral phageome (or virome) is diverse, featuring abundant bacteriophage, that could target key subgingival bacteria. Yet to date few bacteriophages have been isolated and characterised from oral bacterial species, although many more have been predicted by genomic analyses. Bacteriophage therapy has yet to be tested against chronic diseases that are caused by dysbiosis of the endogenous microbial communities. Conclusion: To be effective as an adjunctive treatment for periodontitis, bacteriophage therapy must cause the collapse of the dysbiotic bacterial community, thereby resolving inflammation and enabling the reestablishment of a health-associated mutualistic subgingival bacterial community. The isolation and characterisation of novel oral bacteriophage is an essential first step in this process.</p
Nitrogen deficiency drives fungal compositional shifts without functional changes in wheat rhizosphere
No full textNitrogen (N) deficiency reduces crop yield, but this effect may be mitigated by symbiotic interactions between crops and fungi. However, the response of wheat-fungal interactions to N deficiency remains unclear. We hypothesised that wheat cultivars with a higher reported nitrogen use efficiency (NUE), would induce shifts in the fungal community composition and functional profiles within the wheat rhizosphere to tolerate N deficiency. A glasshouse experiment was conducted to examine the effects of N deficiency on the rhizosphere fungal communities of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars Gladius (low N-use efficiency) and Mace (high N-use efficiency). Plants were grown until the mid-anthesis stage in a Dermosol soil treated with either 0 (Low-N) or 90 kg N ha⁻1 (High-N). The rhizosphere fungal communities were characterised using quantitative PCR, ITS rRNA metabarcoding, and metagenomics. The abundance and diversity of the rhizosphere fungal community were not significantly influenced by N deficiency in either Mace or Gladius cultivars (P > 0.05). However, the fungal community composition showed significant variation across N treatments in Mace (P 0.05). Differential abundance analysis and fungal trait predictions indicated a reduction in fungal symbionts in both cultivars under N deficiency (P 0.05) but significantly differed between Mace and Gladius (P </p
Deep_Time_Detectives_Radiocarbon_Dating_Reports
No full textThese files are supplemental radiocarbon dating reports that you may choose to provide to your students as part of the Deep Time Detectives program. Full details on how to use these reports, including teaching notes on interpretation, are available in the Teacher Resource Booklet.Deep Time Detectives: Discover, Analyse, Interpret. © 2025 by Stannard, G.L., E. Mein, L. Ahoy, M.W. Moore, R. Patrick and V. Weisbecker 2025 is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/</p