Full spectrum defence: re-thinking the fundamentals of Australian defence strategy

This report argues that successive Australian governments have failed to define an effective national defence strategy. Executive summary Australia’s inability to clearly and succinctly define its defence strategy is a perennial failing that will have serious policy and operational consequences if not addressed. Australia’s recent defence white papers are part of the problem: they lack coherence, their messaging is poor, and many of their underlying assumptions and planning practices are questionable. The forthcoming defence white paper provides the first real opportunity for the Abbott government to carry out a much-needed reset of Australia’s defence and military strategies. In place of a maritime strategy, Australia needs to adopt a “full spectrum” approach to defence that can provide protection against military threats from outer space and cyber space, as well as the conventional domains of land, sea and air. Full spectrum defence must be underpinned by deeper and broader regional defence partnerships and by a risk assessment process that encourages critical thinking about strategy and the future capabilities of the Australian Defence Force

The Kopassus dilemma: should Australia re-engage?

Australian governments of both political persuasions have been embroiled in controversies over military cooperation with Indonesia since bilateral defence relations first began to gather steam under the Keating Labor government in the early 1990s. Prime Minister Paul Keating and Foreign Minister Gareth Evans were enthusiastic proponents of building strong ties with Indonesia, a policy which was extended to the military sphere with the establishment of two high level committees to coordinate and develop defence cooperation in 1994 (Ball and Kerr, 1996:70). These committees were later incorporated into an expanded defence agreement by the newly elected Howard Government in 1996, leading to the establishment of five working groups covering logistics, science and technology, communications, interoperability, education, training and exchanges (Walters, 1996:3)

The 5th International Conference on Food Digestion . Introduction

Unravelling the fate of food in the gastrointestinal tract is essential to better understand the health effects of the food and to fight against diet-related pathologies such as cardiovascular diseases and type-2 diabetes. Digestion is the process that transforms food into nutrients. The first step of digestion occurs in the mouth, where mastication transforms solid and semi-solid foods into particles while mixing with saliva allows bolus formation and initiates digestion of carbohydrates.Then the bolus is transferred into the stomach, where acid conditions and specific enzymes (pepsin, gastric lipase) start hydrolyzing macronutrients like proteins and triglycerides. The next step occurs in the small intestine, where other digestive enzymes further degrade macronutrients allowing their absorption. In the small intestine, proteins are hydrolyzed by trypsin, chymotrypsin, elastase, carboxypeptidase etc, lipids by pancreatic lipases, and carbohydrates by pancreaticamylase. Small intestinal digestion is completed by the enzymes of the brush border membrane that release macronutrients, which can be absorbed by enterocytes to reach the bloodstream. Undigested material,fiber for example, reaches the large intestine where it is further metabolized by the intestinal microbiota.Investigating food digestion requires the use of models and a myriad of in vitro (static and dynamic), animal and human models have been described in the literature with the objectives of understanding the fateof food in the gastrointestinal tract. In particular, static in vitro digestion simulations are extremely popular because they are very easy to use and do not require sophisticated equipment. They have been shown to beadapted for screening large series of similar samples in identical conditions or to understand interactions at the molecular scale (Bohn et al.,2017). However, they are too simple to study more complex phenomenaand the kinetics of food digestion for which dynamic in vitro models are more appropriate (Dupont et al., 2018).There was a high heterogeneity between the different static in vitro digestion models that were used by the research groups all around the world. Models were differing in the pH used in the different phases(gastric and intestinal), their duration, the digestive enzyme/substrate ratio, etc For that reason, comparing results obtained from one study to another was impossible and there was a crucial need for a harmonizedmethod that could be used by everyone allowing comparison between studies. This was one of the main objectives of the INFOGEST COST Action

The impact of in-season national team soccer play on injury and player availability in a professional club

This study investigated the impact of in-season national team duty on injury rates and player availability in a professional soccer club. Time-loss injuries and exposure time during club and national team duties were recorded prospectively over 5 seasons (2009–2014). A time-loss injury was sustained by 37.7% of squad members participating in national duty, all injuries occurring in match-play. The incidence (per 1000 h exposure) for national team player match-play injuries did not differ (P = 0.608) to that for all players in club competitions: 48.0 (95% CI 20.9–75.5) vs. 41.9 (95% CI 36.5–47.4), incidence rate ratio = 1.2 (CI: 0.8–2.4). The majority (58%) of national team injuries resulted in a layoff ≤1 week. Of all working days lost to injury generally, 5.2% were lost through injury on national duty. Injury incidence in the week following national duty was comparable (P = 0.818) in players participating or not: 7.8 (95% CI 3.6–12.0) vs. 7.1 (95% CI: 4.6–9.6), incidence rate ratio = 1.1 (CI: 0.7–2.7). While approximately 40% of participating players incurred a time-loss injury on national duty, no training injuries were sustained and injuries made up a negligible part of overall club working days lost to injury. Following duty, players had a similar injury risk to peers without national obligations

Australia's threat perceptions: a search for security

A nation's perception of the likely origin, nature and level of potential external threats is fundamental to its sense of security and well-being, and reveals much about its character and value system and degree of anxiety and apprehension about external threats which appears inconsistent with its relatively benign geostrategic environment. This monograph traces the evolution of Australia's threat perceptions from early colonial times to the present, exploring the philosophical and rhetorical differences which have characterised the attitudes of the major Australian political parties towards national threats. In doing so it seeks to provide some explanation of the causes of Australia's sense of vulnerability, comparing and contrasting popular perceptions with the official threat assessments of Australia's military and intelligence community. The monograph also makes some judgements about the accuracy and perspicacity of the official forecasts

The 4th International Conference on Food Digestion

Food Digestion is the process that lies between the foodwe consume and any health benefits that it may impart. In a world where food related disease is already a significant and increasing burden on health services,it is important to understand the link between food and health. This requires a range of approaches including the use of in vitro simulations of the digestive process. However, if experimental data is to be comparable and useful it needs to make use of harmonised and physiologically relevant methods. The Infogest static model [9] offers such amethod and has been cited in more than 100 times.The success of this article confirms the interest in understanding the links between food structure and health

Injury risk factors, screening tests and preventative strategies: A systematic review of the evidence that underpins the perceptions and practices of 44 football (soccer) teams from various premier leagues

Purpose: To systematically review the scientific level of evidence for the ‘Top 3’ risk factors, screening tests and preventative exercises identified by a previously published survey of 44 premier league football (soccer) teams. Also, to provide an overall scientific level of evidence and graded recommendation based on the current research literature. Methods: A systematic literature search (Pubmed [MEDLINE], SportDiscus, PEDRO and Cochrane databases). The quality of the articles was assessed and a level of evidence (1++ to 4) was assigned. Level 1++ corresponded to the highest level of evidence available and 4, the lowest. A graded recommendation (A: strong, B: moderate, C: weak, D: insufficient evidence to assign a specific recommendation) for use in the practical setting was given. Results: Fourteen studies were analysed. The overall level of evidence for the risk factors previous injury, fatigue and muscle imbalance were 2++, 4 and ‘inconclusive’, respectively. The graded recommendation for functional movement screen, psychological questionnaire and isokinetic muscle testing were all ‘D’. Hamstring eccentric had a weak graded ‘C’ recommendation, and eccentric exercise for other body parts was ‘D’. Balance/proprioception exercise to reduce ankle and knee sprain injury was assigned a graded recommendation ‘D’. Conclusions: The majority of perceptions and practices of premier league teams have a low level of evidence and low graded recommendation. This does not imply that these perceptions and practices are not important or not valid, as it may simply be that they are yet to be sufficiently validated or refuted by research

The impact of short periods of match congestion on injury risk and patterns in an elite football club

Background: The effect of fixture congestion on injury rates and patterns has received scarce attention in elite football and existing investigations have not accounted for player rotation or examined the temporal distribution and potential cause of injuries. Aim: To prospectively investigate the epidemiology of injury during short periods of fixture congestion in a professional football club. Methods: Over a 6-season period, exposure time and injury data were compared in the same players (n=25 [14 individuals]) when participating in two frequently occurring short congested fixture cycles in comparison to match-play outside these cycles. 1) two successive matches separated by an interval totalling ≤3days calculated immediately from the end of play in match 1 to the beginning of play in match 2; 2) three successive matches separated by ≤4-day intervals commencing the day immediately after each match. Results: In 2-match congestion cycles, incidence rate ratios (IRR) showed there was a higher risk of injury in the final 15-minutes of play in the second match in comparison to match-play outside the cycles (IRR: 3.1 [95% CI 1.1 to 9.3], p=0.0400). A greater risk of injury overall (IRR: 2.0 [95% CI 1.1 to 3.8], p=0.0345) and in the 1st-half of play (2.6 [1.1 to 6,5], p=0.0386), and risk of ankle sprains (10.4 [95% CI 1.9 to 57.9], p=0.0068) and non-contact injuries due to a ‘change in direction’ (IRR: 7.8 [1.3 to 46.8], p=0.0243) was observed in the final match of 3-match congestion cycles in comparison to match-play outside the cycles. Conclusion: Injury rates and patterns were affected in the same elite football players when competing in short congested fixture cycles in comparison to match-play outside the cycles