Inter-rater reliability and validity of the Australian Football League\u27s kicking and handball tests

Talent identification tests used at the Australian Football League’s National Draft Combine assess the capacities of athletes to compete at a professional level. Tests created for the National Draft Combine are also commonly used for talent identification and athlete development in development pathways. The skills tests created by the Australian Football League required players to either handball (striking the ball with the hand) or kick to a series of 6 randomly generated targets. Assessors subjectively rate each skill execution giving a 0-5 score for each disposal. This study aimed to investigate the inter-rater reliability and validity of the skills tests at an adolescent sub-elite level. Male Australian footballers were recruited from sub-elite adolescent teams (n=121, age=15.7 ± 0.3 years, height=1.77 ± 0.07 m, mass=69.17 ± 8.08 kg). The coaches (n=7) of each team were also recruited. Inter-rater reliability was assessed using Inter-class correlations (ICC) and Limits of Agreement analysis. Both the kicking (ICC=0.96, P\u3c0.01) and handball tests (ICC=0.89, P\u3c0.01) demonstrated strong reliability and acceptable levels of absolute agreement. Content validity was determined by examining test scores sensitivity to laterality and distance. Concurrent validity was assessed by comparing coaches’ perceptions of skill to actual test outcomes. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) examined the main effect of laterality, with scores on the dominant hand (P=0.04) and foot (P\u3c0.01) significantly higher compared to the non-dominant side. Follow-up univariate analysis showing significant differences at every distance in the kicking test. A poor correlation was found between coaches’ perceptions of skill and testing outcomes. The results of this study demonstrate both skill tests demonstrate acceptable inter-rater reliable. Partial content validity was confirmed for the kicking test, however further research is required to confirm validity of the handball test

The regulation that comes from combination : the effects of combining multiple policy areas within a single environmental protection agency in the states

Abstract from short.pdf file.Dissertation supervisor: Dr. Lael Keiser.Includes vita.In twenty American states, regulatory environmental programs are combined with either public health or natural resource conservation programs. Natural resource conservation and public health agencies have historically embraced regulatory styles that rely less heavily on enforcement, while the Environmental Protection Agency cites enforcement actions, such as monetary penalties, as being pivotal to protecting the environment and public health. In this dissertation, I ask the following question: what regulatory style emerges from the combination of these differing preferences for the use of enforcement. Through in-depth case studies, interviews with environmental agency workers, and time-series analyses on enforcement actions, I find that the choice to nest regulatory environmental programs within preexisting natural resource conservation and public health agencies helps to maintain an anti-enforcement agency culture that is inherent within natural resource and public health agencies. This anti-enforcement culture continually affects how agency workers think about enforcement actions. As a result, combined agencies categorize less violations as severe and penalize violators less than independent pollution control agencies. This is especially the case for those agencies where natural resource conservation and environmental protection are combined. In these agencies, the effect of the combined structure persists, even when other traditional predictors of regulatory behavior are considered, including the states' environmental ideology and the partisanship of state legislatures and governors.Includes bibliographical references (pages 130-139)

Co-ordinating retinal histogenesis: early cell cycle exit enhances early cell fate determination in the Xenopus retina

The laminar arrays of distinct cell types in the vertebrate retina are built by a histogenic process in which cell fate is correlated with birth order. To explore this co-ordination mechanistically, we altered the relative timing of cell cycle exit in the developing Xenopus retina and asked whether this affected the activity of neural determinants. We found that Xath5, a bHLH proneural gene that promotes retinal ganglion cell (RGC) fate, ( Kanekar, S., Perron, M., Dorsky, R., Harris, W. A., Jan, L. Y., Jan, Y. N. and Vetter, M. L. (1997) Neuron 19, 981-994), does not cause these cells to be born prematurely. To drive cells out of the cell cycle early, therefore, we misexpressed the cyclin kinase inhibitor, p27Xic1. We found that early cell cycle exit potentiates the ability of Xath5 to promote RGC fate. Conversely, the cell cycle activator, cyclin E1, which inhibits cell cycle exit, biases Xath5-expressing cells toward later neuronal fates. We found that Notch activation in this system caused cells to exit the cell cycle prematuely, and when it is misexpressed with Xath5, it also potentiates the induction of RGCs. The potentiation is counteracted by co-expression of cyclin E1. These results suggest a model of histogenesis in which the activity of factors that promote early cell cycle exit enhances the activity of factors that promote early cellular fates

Predicting return to work from health related welfare following low intensity cognitive behaviour therapy

The aim of this study was to identify predictors of return to work in the short and long term following condition management cognitive-behavioural therapy (CM-CBT). All participants (N = 3794) were disability welfare claimants, unemployed due to the presence of a physical or mental health condition. CM-CBT consisted of a seven session group cognitive-behavioural psychoeducational programme, with participants followed-up at 3 and 12-30 months. The primary employment outcome measure was a categorical measure of either returned to work, made progress towards work or remained on welfare. Results index an incremental progress and return to work rate, increasing from 34.41 % at short-term follow-up to 53.07 % at long-term follow-up. Clinically, 17.40 % were classed as recovered following CM-CBT. Reliable psychological change during CM-CBT predicted successful return to work and remaining on welfare was associated with psychological regression over time. The results are discussed in terms of identified methodological weaknesses and the potential of CBT in enabling return to work for the health related unemployed

Lorenz gauge gravitational self-force calculations of eccentric binaries using a frequency domain procedure

We present an algorithm for calculating the metric perturbations and gravitational self-force for extreme-mass-ratio inspirals (EMRIs) with eccentric orbits. The massive black hole is taken to be Schwarzschild and metric perturbations are computed in Lorenz gauge. The perturbation equations are solved as coupled systems of ordinary differential equations in the frequency domain. Accurate local behavior of the metric is attained through use of the method of extended homogeneous solutions and mode-sum regularization is used to find the self-force. We focus on calculating the self-force with sufficient accuracy to ensure its error contributions to the phase in a long term orbital evolution will be $\delta\Phi \lesssim 10^{-2}$ radians. This requires the orbit-averaged force to have fractional errors $\lesssim 10^{-8}$ and the oscillatory part of the self-force to have errors $\lesssim 10^{-3}$ (a level frequently easily exceeded). Our code meets this error requirement in the oscillatory part, extending the reach to EMRIs with eccentricities of $e \lesssim 0.8$, if augmented by use of fluxes for the orbit-averaged force, or to eccentricities of $e \lesssim 0.5$ when used as a stand-alone code. Further, we demonstrate accurate calculations up to orbital separations of $a \simeq 100 M$, beyond that required for EMRI models and useful for comparison with post-Newtonian theory. Our principal developments include (1) use of fully constrained field equations, (2) discovery of analytic solutions for even-parity static modes, (3) finding a pre-conditioning technique for outer homogeneous solutions, (4) adaptive use of quad-precision and (5) jump conditions to handle near-static modes, and (6) a hybrid scheme for high eccentricities

Engineering model 8-cm thruster subsystem

An Engineering Model (EM) 8 cm Ion Thruster Propulsion Subsystem was developed for operation at a thrust level 5 mN (1.1 mlb) at a specific impulse 1 sub sp = 2667 sec with a total system input power P sub in = 165 W. The system dry mass is 15 kg with a mercury-propellant-reservoir capacity of 8.75 kg permitting uninterrupted operation for about 12,500 hr. The subsystem can be started from a dormant condition in a time less than or equal to 15 min. The thruster has a design lifetime of 20,000 hr with 10,000 startup cycles. A gimbal unit is included to provide a thrust vector deflection capability of + or - 10 degrees in any direction from the zero position. The EM subsystem development program included thruster optimization, power-supply circuit optimization and flight packaging, subsystem integration, and subsystem acceptance testing including a cyclic test of the total propulsion package

Participant recruitment to FiCTION, a primary dental care trial – survey of facilitators and barriers

Objective To identify reasons behind a lower than expected participant recruitment rate within the FiCTION trial, a multi-centre paediatric primary dental care randomised controlled trial (RCT). Subjects (materials) and methods An online survey, based on a previously published tool, consisting of both quantitative and qualitative responses, completed by staff in dental practices recruiting to FiCTION. Ratings from quantitative responses were aggregated to give overall scores for factors related to participant recruitment. Qualitative responses were independently grouped into themes. Results Thirty-nine anonymous responses were received. Main facilitators related to the support received from the central research team and importance of the research question. The main barriers related to low child eligibility rates and the integration of trial processes within routine workloads. Conclusions These findings have directed strategies for enhancing participant recruitment at existing practices and informed recruitment of further practices. The results help provide a profile of the features required of practices to successfully screen and recruit participants. Future trials in this setting should consider the level of interest in the research question within practices, and ensure trial processes are as streamlined as possible. Research teams should actively support practices with participant recruitment and maintain enthusiasm among the entire practice team

Bioinspired low-frequency material characterisation

New-coded signals, transmitted by high-sensitivity broadband transducers in the 40–200 kHz range, allow subwavelength material discrimination and thickness determination of polypropylene, polyvinylchloride, and brass samples. Frequency domain spectra enable simultaneous measurement of material properties including longitudinal sound velocity and the attenuation constant as well as thickness measurements. Laboratory test measurements agree well with model results, with sound velocity prediction errors of less than 1%, and thickness discrimination of at least wavelength/15. The resolution of these measurements has only been matched in the past through methods that utilise higher frequencies. The ability to obtain the same resolution using low frequencies has many advantages, particularly when dealing with highly attenuating materials. This approach differs significantly from past biomimetic approaches where actual or simulated animal signals have been used and consequently has the potential for application in a range of fields where both improved penetration and high resolution are required, such as nondestructive testing and evaluation, geophysics, and medical physics

Process feasibility study in support of silicon material task 1

Results for process system properties, chemical engineering and economic analyses of the new technologies and processes being developed for the production of lower cost silicon for solar cells are presented. Analyses of process system properties are important for chemical materials involved in the several processes under consideration for semiconductor and solar cell grade silicon production. Major physical, thermodynamic and transport property data are reported for silicon source and processing chemical materials

Public sector reforms, privatisation and regimes of control in a Chinese enterprise

The Chinese economic reform has recently become a major focus of attention around the world. The underlying rationale for the Chinese government's privatisation and public sector reforms is the view that reformed state enterprises and privately managed firms will demonstrate superior management control and better performance, and hence encourage economic growth and employment. There are very few intensive case studies published in English journals studying whether firms privatised in China have reversed previous losses and introduced better management controls, leading to increased investment, productivity, and overall organizational effectiveness and efficiency. The researchers do not seek to deny the control problems of Chinese SOEs, but question the consequences of the new controls installed during the post-privatisation period. The paper also reveals a declining tendency in employment; altered distributions of wealth ? especially to the state ? and labour, and a lack of improvements in the accountability of privatised companies. Overall, the paper argues, the aims of reform policies in China, including better control, increased profitability and an improved working life for Chinese people, have not materialized. The paper calls for more research on the above issues in the Chinese context