‘Now that I am connected this isn't social isolation, this is engaging with people’: Staying connected during the COVID‐19 pandemic

BackgroundThe COVID-19 global pandemic has put adults with intellectual/developmental disabilities at greater risk of being socially excluded due to physical distancing. Technology has been looked at as a tool for adults with intellectual/developmental disabilities to stay connected, however, little is known about this topic. The purpose of this study was to explore how a grassroots disability organisation used technology to help adults with intellectual/developmental disabilities feel socially connected during the pandemic.MethodsData were collected through questionnaires, attendance records, and field notes; and analysed through trend and thematic analysis.FindingsFour main themes emerged from the data: active leadership, mental wellbeing, technology/digital inclusion, and safety.ConclusionThese findings suggest that when participants overcome technological barriers they found it easy to socially connect online during lockdown

ISBS 2018 AUCKLAND CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS PROGRAMME

FORCEDECKS WORKSHOP - COMMERCIALISATION & FUNDING by Philip Graham Smith This workshop aims to improve your ability to attract and create commercialisation and funding opportunities. This workshop will challenge delegates to identify their real areas of expertise and consider ways in which they can attract and create funding opportunities. The aim is to help academics of all ages to focus their expertise, to manage their time more effectively and to explore new avenues to make their careers more rewarding, fulfilling and hopefully less stressful. Having been a former Head of Department and Associate Head of School (Business & Engagement), Dr Graham-Smith has been in the trenches and acknowledges the increasing demands and pressures of working in academia. The workshop will help delegates to strip back the various aspects of their roles, and to examine ways in which their teaching, research, consultancy and funding expectations can be managed successfully. Phil will be reflective on his own career and share experiences of working in academia, professional sport and private industry. SPRINZ WORKSHOP - ORAL PRESENTATION FEEDBACK by Joshua McGeown, Gillian Weir, Professor Mike McGuigan and SPRINZ PhD students This workshop aims to help you engaging your audience during your ISBS presentation. This workshop aims to provide delegates with tips and feedback as to how best present their research for the ISBS 2018 congress. This interactive workshop will help delegates to learn how to distill and communicate complex ideas, structure your narrative and how to best visualize your data. Participants are encouraged to bring their ISBS presentations to practice and receive constructive feedback. NZ HERALD WORKSHOP - HOW TO WORK WITH THE MEDIA TO AMPLIFY YOUR WORK by Dylan Cleaver, Editor at large with the New Zealand Herald This workshop will help delegates be able to interact with media to be able to amplify their work. Never before has there been so much attention given to the injury toll in elite sport, with the spotlight firmly centered on head injuries and the potential for long-term cognitive damage to those afflicted. With so much important research being done in the field of sports injury, it is important to know how to work with the media to highlight it. This workshop aims to give a brief overview of the fast-changing modern media landscape. It will offer advice as to how to establish contacts in the media and how to use those contacts wisely. It will demonstrate how to get your key messages across using simple language, without dumbing down the issue. It will traverse ethical issues and, finally, what to do when the message goes wrong. Attendees will use the lessons learnt from the examples, to workshop during the session how they can work with media to amplify their work. WORKSHOP - JAPAN COLLABORATION by Sayumi Iwamoto, Erika Ikeda, Ryu Nagahara, and Aaron Uthoff Do you want to share your experience with other researchers who are keen to conduct international research collaboration? The workshop will share experiences and key tips to enable successfully working together. “There are many positives with working with Japanese researchers, but the one that stands out the most to me is their willingness to share knowledge and lend a helping hand.” (Aaron Uthoff) AUT ENGINEERING WORKSHOP - AI CHALLENGES by Boris Bacic & Russell Pears from Auckland University of Technology Engineering School This workshop will help you to consider pushing your boundaries of biomechanics and sport science by embracing artificial intelligence (Dr Boris Bačić and Assoc. Prof Russel Pears, Auckland University of Technology, NZ). Pushing the boundaries of biomechanics and sport science also means embracing artificial intelligence (AI) to advance and augment ways in which sport is coached, played, promoted, broadcasted and commercialised. Technologies capable of capturing human motion enable the advancement of research and can create strategic differences in elite sport, which is reflected by their increasing presence in the growing market of sport gadgets, exergames and rehabilitation technologies. Data-driven machine-learning AI approaches have the potential to provide insights from data, find patterns in specific contexts, generate knowledge, validate expert’s common-sense rules, and offload support decisions and automate cognitive activities. The workshop will provide a theoretical introduction and a set of analytical and model-designing visual tools for getting started. For those interested in Matlab or other languages, code samples will be provided. The participants will be able to use free open source software alternatives as part of hands-on exercises in a supervised lab. SPRINGER WORKSHOP - WHAT MAKES A SUCCESSFUL PAPER – AN EDITOR’S PERSPECTIVE by Steve McMillan from Springer’s Sports Medicine journal This workshop will help delegates increase their likelihood of success in publishing in journals such as Sports Medicine. From a compelling cover letter to a concise conclusion, Sports Medicine’s Co-Editor in Chief, Steve McMillan, will provide an editor’s perspective on what makes a successful paper. Sports Medicine receives over 600 submissions a year and can publish only a quarter of these … How do the editors decide which manuscripts to send to peer review? Which manuscripts survive peer review? What details are essential to enable readers to best understand your research and allow for potential replication? What information is required from an ethical perspective? Why do word counts matter anyway?! This interactive workshop will guide you on how to produce an impressive manuscript and increase your chances of getting published in a reputable journal. NORAXON WORKSHOP - ELECTROMYOGRAPHY IN SPORTS PERFORMANCE by Coleman Bessert and Erin Feser from NORAXON. Noraxon USA (www.noraxon.com) will be hosting a workshop on electromyography (EMG) use in sports performance settings. “You will be able to develop a better understanding of how EMG fits into an athlete monitoring program or research investigation by learning what can, and cannot, be determined with EMG data and reporting. Participants will see hands-on use of precision EMG systems and biomechanics analysis software with practical, sport-specific examples.” Erin Feser , Director of Education for Noraxon USA

Hume on education

Hume claims that education is ‘disclaimed by philosophy, as a fallacious ground of assent to any opinion’ (T 1.3.10.1) and that it is ‘never . . . recogniz’d by philosophers’ (T 1.3.9.19). He is usually taken to be referring here to indoctrination. I argue, however, that his main concern is with association and those philosophers who emphasize the epistemic dangers of the imagination. These include Locke, Hutcheson and Descartes, but not Hume himself. Hume praises education, highlighting its role in the formation of general rules, and in fostering social conditions that encourage the growth of knowledge and moral virtue

The fables of pity: Rousseau, Mandeville and the animal-fable

Copyright @ 2012 Edinburgh University PressPrompted by Derrida’s work on the animal-fable in eighteenth-century debates about political power, this article examines the role played by the fiction of the animal in thinking of pity as either a natural virtue (in Rousseau’s Second Discourse) or as a natural passion (in Mandeville’s The Fable of the Bees). The war of fables between Rousseau and Mandeville – and their hostile reception by Samuel Johnson and Adam Smith – reinforce that the animal-fable illustrates not so much the proper of man as the possibilities and limitations of a moral philosophy that is unable to address the political realities of the state

Fibulin-3 is necessary to prevent cardiac rupture following myocardial infarction

Despite the high prevalence of heart failure in the western world, there are few effective treatments. Fibulin-3 is a protein involved in extracellular matrix (ECM) structural integrity, however its role in the heart is unknown. We have demonstrated, using single cell RNA-seq, that fibulin-3 was highly expressed in quiescent murine cardiac fibroblasts, with expression highest prior to injury and late post-infarct (from ~ day-28 to week-8). In humans, fibulin-3 was upregulated in left ventricular tissue and plasma of heart failure patients. Fibulin-3 knockout (Efemp1−/−) and wildtype mice were subjected to experimental myocardial infarction. Fibulin-3 deletion resulted in significantly higher rate of cardiac rupture days 3–6 post-infarct, indicating a weak and poorly formed scar, with severe ventricular remodelling in surviving mice at day-28 post-infarct. Fibulin-3 knockout mice demonstrated less collagen deposition at day-3 post-infarct, with abnormal collagen fibre-alignment. RNA-seq on day-3 infarct tissue revealed upregulation of ECM degradation and inflammatory genes, but downregulation of ECM assembly/structure/organisation genes in fibulin-3 knockout mice. GSEA pathway analysis showed enrichment of inflammatory pathways and a depletion of ECM organisation pathways. Fibulin-3 originates from cardiac fibroblasts, is upregulated in human heart failure, and is necessary for correct ECM organisation/structural integrity of fibrotic tissue to prevent cardiac rupture post-infarct

ISBS 2018 AUCKLAND CONFERENCE SPRINZ-HPSNZ-AUT MILLENNIUM APPLIED PROGRAMME

An interactive afternoon of sessions delivered by High Performance Sport New Zealand (HPSNZ) and AUT SPRINZ Biomechanists, Performance Analysts and other biomechanics relevant sport facing practitioners. The 11 sessions are at AUT Millennium (AUTM), which is a satellite site of AUT University and the Auckland training hub for many HPSNZ supported sports such as athletics, sailing, and swimming. These sports and others (cycling, rowing, snow sports etc.) will be represented in the line-up. The applied sessions involve practical demonstrations of aspects of analysis and/or tools used to deliver in the field to directly positively impact athletes performances on the world stage. Following these engaging sessions there will be tasting of New Zealand wine, allowing for further discussion and networking. Sir Graeme Avery will be acknowledged for his contribution to sport science. Mike Stanley is AUT Millennium Chief Executive & NZ Olympic Committee President will explain the partners in the facility. AUT Millennium is a charitable trust established to help New Zealanders live longer and healthier lives, and to enjoy and excel in sport through the provision of world-class facilities, services, research and education. Founded in 2002 as Millennium Institute of Sport and Health (MISH) by Sir Stephen Tindall and Sir Graeme Avery as a premium health and fitness facility for both athletes and the public alike. Partnered with AUT University in 2009, forming AUT Millennium, to expand research and education in the sporting sector. Professor Barry Wilson is an Adjunct Professor with SPRINZ at Auckland University of Technology and will be outlining the research and student opportunities. Martin Dowson is the General Manager Athlete Performance Support at High Performance Sport New Zealand and has overall responsibility for the programme. Simon Briscoe, AUT Millennium Applied Session Coordinator, is the head of the Performance and Technique Analysis discipline within HPSNZ. Simon is coordinating the applied sessions along with technical support from Dr Allan Carman, Research Fellow, AUT SPRINZ. Jodi Cossor and Matt Ingram will provide a demonstration of a multidisciplinary approach driven by biomechanical analysis for Paralympic swimmers. Justin Evans and Sarah-Kate Millar will provide a practical session assessing the athletes rowing stroke to assist the coach on technical changes. This session will demonstrate various rowing traits and how the biomechanist and coach can work together to optimise boat speed. Mike Schofield and Kim Hébert-Losier will provide a session looking at shotput and the evidence based approach to coaching. Dr Craig Harrison and Professor John Cronin will provide examples from the AUTM Athlete Development programme. Kim Simperingham and Jamie Douglas who work with high performance rugby athletes will outline sprinting mechanics in practice. Dr Bruce Hamilton, Fiona Mather, Justin Ralph and Rone Thompson will demonstrate the approach of HPSNZ and Cycling NZ performance health teams in the use of some specific tools for prevention of injury and optimisation of performance. Kelly Sheerin, Denny Wells and Associate Professor Thor Besier will provide examples of using IMU and motion capture methods for running and basketball biomechanics research, education and service. Dr Rodrigo Bini and Associate Professor Andrew Kilding will show how linking of biomechanics and physiology improves injury prevention and performance enhancement. Robert Tang, Andre de Jong and Farhan Tinwala discuss select projects developed by Goldmine, HPSNZ’s in-house engineering team, and how these innovations have enabled unprecedented levels of biomechanics feedback. Cameron Ross and Paul McAlpine demonstrate the technology being used at the Snow Sports NZ training centre in Cadrona to enhance load monitoring of athletes. This application allows greater insight into training performances and biomechanical loads than has been previously possible in the training environment. AUT Millennium tour guides are coordinated by Josh McGeown and include Enora Le Flao, Dustin Oranchuk, Erika Ikeda, Jono Neville, Aaron Uthoff, Andrew Pichardo, Farhan Tinwala, Shelley Diewald, Renata Bastos Gottgtroy, Jessica Yeoman, Casey Watkins, Eric Harbour, Anja Zoellner, Alyssa Joy Spence, Victor Lopez Jr, and Albert Chang

Malaria parasitemia among blood donors in Uganda

Background: Malaria remains a leading transfusion associated infectious risk in endemic areas. However, the prevalence of malaria parasitemia has not been well characterized in blood donor populations. This study sought to determine the prevalence of Plasmodium in red blood cell (RBC) and whole blood (WB) units after the rainy season in Uganda. Methods and materials: Between May and July 2018, blood was collected from the sample diversion pouch of 1000 WB donors in Kampala and Jinja, Uganda. The RBC pellet from ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) anticoagulated blood was stored at -80°C until testing. DNA was extracted and nested PCR was used to screen samples at the genus level for Plasmodium, with positive samples further tested for species identification. Results: Malaria parasitemia among asymptomatic, eligible blood donors in two regions of Uganda was 15.4%; 87.7% (135/154) of infections were with P. falciparum, while P. malariae and P. ovale were also detected. There were 4.3% of blood donors who had mixed infection with multiple species. Older donors (>30 years vs. 17-19 years; aPR = 0.31 [95% CI = 0.17-0.58]), females (aPR = 0.60 [95% CI = 0.42-0.87]), repeat donors (aPR = 0.44 [95% CI = 0.27-0.72]) and those donating near the capital city of Kampala versus rural Jinja region (aPR = 0.49 [95% CI = 0.34-0.69]) had a lower prevalence of malaria parasitemia. Conclusions: A high proportion of asymptomatic blood donors residing in a malaria endemic region demonstrate evidence of parasitemia at time of donation. Further research is needed to quantify the risk and associated burden of transfusion-transmitted malaria (TTM) in order to inform strategies to prevent TTM

Strange reading: Keith Windschuttle on race, Asia and White Australia

In his recently published book, The White Australia Policy, Keith Windschuttle accuses academic historians of errors of fact and judgement in their accounts of white Australia. This article examines these claims of exaggeration and distortion with particular reference to the nature and meaning of race, racism and representations of Asia in Australian history. The article rejects Winschuttle\u27s sweeping claim that academic historians have sought to make Australia appear a much more racist society than the historical record would suggest.<br /