An Examination Of Tax–Deductible Donations Made By Individual Australian Taxpayers In 2003-04

Each year QUT’s Centre of Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies collects and analyses statistics on the amount and extent of tax-deductible donations made and claimed by Australians in their individual income tax returns to deductible gift recipients (DGRs). The information presented in this working paper is based on the amount and type of tax-deductible donations made and claimed by Australian individual taxpayers to DGRs for the period 1 July 2003 to 30 June 2004. This information has been extracted mainly from the Australian Taxation Office's publication Taxation Statistics 2003-04. The 2004 report is the latest report that has been made publicly available. It represents information in tax returns for the 2003-2004 year processed by the ATO as at 31 October 2005. This year we have also been able to divide tax deductible donations by gender based on the ATO statistics

The influence of fluid ingestion on metabolism and soccer skills following intermittent high intensity shuttle running

The impact of fatigue on the intermittent high intensity exercise undertaken during participation in team sports has not been extensively studied. Team sports are characterised not only by intennittent exercise, but also by the contribution of a wide range of skills. This thesis describes a series of studies conducted in a controlled environment to assess the influence of fluid ingestion and fatigue on selected soccer skills. The aim of the first study was to examine the effect of 90-min of high intensity shuttle running with and without water ingestion on a socc er-dribb ling test. The subjects were allocated to two randomly assigned trials either ingesting or abstaining from fluid intake during a 90 min intennittent exercise protocol (Loughborough Intermittent Shuttle Test: LIST). In the absence of water ingestion soccer skill deteriorated (p < 0.05) by 5% but was maintained when fluid was ingested. The principal aim of the second study was to understand further the mechanisms contributing to the deterioration observed during the LIST. Subjects completed the LIST ingesting a 6.4% carbohydrate electrolyte solution (CHO), placebo (CON) or no fluid (NON). Free fatty acids, cortisol and aldosterone responses were lower (P < 0.01) at the end of exercise during both CHO and CON in comparison to NON. There was no difference in respiratory exchange ratio between trials. Fluid ingestion did not appear to cause a shift in substrate metabolism even though there were differences in plasma FFA concentrations. The consumption of carbohydrate during exercise has been shown to increase physical performance, capacity and cognitive function. The aim of the third study was to assess the influence of a 6.4 % carbohydrate-electrolyte (CHO) placebo (CON) or no fluid (NON) on passing and dribbling soccer skills following the LIST. During the NON trial performance of the dribbling test followed a similar pattern to that in the first study and performance of the passing test decreased (p < 0.05). This reduction in performance was prevented during the CHO and CON trials. The purpose of the final study was to identify whether a rehydration strategy following the LIST would result in a recovery of skill performance. Subjects were allocated to two randomly assigned trials either ingesting a volume of fluid equivalent to 150% (L) or 9% (S) of body mass loss during the LIST, over a2h recovery period. During the recovery period serum sodium and osmolality returned to resting concentrations in the L trial but remained elevated in the S trial (P < 0.05). Despite body mass returning to resting values following the rehydration period, performance of the skills tests remained impaired. Deterioration in skill test performance may have been related to a reduction in neuromuscular control either by a reduction in muscle glycogen or by an increase in muscle damage during the no fluid trials. The mechanism responsible for the deterioration in skill performance remains to be elucidated

Introduction: Social Protection for Social Justice

The articles in this IDS Bulletin are drawn from a conference hosted by the Centre for Social Protection at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), Brighton, UK, in April 2011. The conference brought together academics and practitioners who understand social protection to be more than a palliative agenda for alleviating poverty and vulnerability, believing instead that social protection should be fundamentally interested in realising economic and social rights for all. This alternative agenda is one grounded in social justice, and it opens space for understanding how issues of rights, governance, distribution and access are critical for breaking the production and reproduction of vulnerability over time. The selection of articles in this IDS Bulletin aims to elaborate the linkages between social protection and social justice, to identify opportunities for operationalising the ‘transformative’ aspects of social protection and to strengthen the case for integrating social protection into broader social policy

Evaluating Outside the Box: An Alternative Framework for Analysing Social Protection Programmes

The evidence base on social protection programmes is expanding rapidly, largely pointing towards their positive impacts. Most evaluations rely heavily on quantitative techniques and experimental methods to allow for attribution of impacts. In this paper, we argue that new ways of investigation and analysis are needed to expand and deepen the evidence base in support of improved design and implementation of social protection. Greater emphasis on qualitative research, mixed methods and participatory evaluation is crucial, given current evidence gaps about programme dynamics and impacts. This paper proposes a new evaluation framework that goes beyond conventional approaches, by highlighting relatively neglected aspects related to programme processes, social dynamics and feedback loops in programme evaluations

Onset of Surface-Tension-Driven Benard Convection

Experiments with shadowgraph visualization reveal a subcritical transition to a hexagonal convection pattern in thin liquid layers that have a free upper surface and are heated from below. The measured critical Marangoni number (84) and observation of hysteresis (3%) agree with theory. In some experiments, imperfect bifurcation is observed and is attributed to deterministic forcing caused in part by the lateral boundaries in the experiment.Comment: 4 pages. The RevTeX file has a macro allowing various styles. The appropriate style is "mypprint" which is the defaul

Lower extremity fatigue increases complexity of postural control during a single-legged stance

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Non-linear approaches to assessment of postural control can provide insight that compliment linear approaches. Control entropy (CE) is a recently developed statistical tool from non-linear dynamical systems used to assess the complexity of non-stationary signals. We have previously used CE of high resolution accelerometry in running to show decreased complexity with exhaustive exercise. The purpose of this study was to determine if complexity of postural control decreases following fatiguing exercise using CE.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Ten subjects (5 M/5 F; 25 ± 3 yr; 169.4 ± 11.7 cm; 79.0 ± 16.9 kg) consented to participation approved by Western Oregon University IRB and completed two trials separated by 2-7 days. Trials consisted of two single-legged balance tests separated by two Wingate anaerobic tests (WAnT; PreFat/PostFat), or rest period (PreRest/PostRest). Balance tests consisted of a series of five single-legged stances, separated by 30 s rest, performed while standing on the dominant leg for 15-s with the participant crossing the arms over the chest and flexing the non-dominant knee to 90 degrees. High resolution accelerometers (HRA) were fixed superficial to L3/L4 at the approximate center of mass (COM). Triaxial signals from the HRA were streamed in real time at 625 Hz. COM accelerations were recorded in g's for vertical (VT), medial/lateral (ML), and anterior/posterior (AP) axes. A newly developed statistic (R-test) was applied to group response shapes generated by Karhunen Loeve (KL) transform modes resulting from Control Entropy (CE) analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>R-tests showed a significant mean vector difference (<it>p </it>< .05) within conditions, between axes in all cases, except PostFat, indicating the shape of the complexity response was different in these cases. R-test between conditions, within axis, differences were only present in PostFat for AP vs. PreFat (<it>p </it>< .05). T-tests showed a significantly higher overall CE PostFat in VT and ML compared to PreFat and PostRest (<it>p </it>< .0001). PostFat CE was also higher than PostRest in AP (<it>p </it>< .0001).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These data indicate that fatiguing exercise eliminates the differential complexity response between axes, but increases complexity in all axes compared to the non-fatigued condition. This has implications with regard to the effects of fatigue on strategies of the control system to maintain postural control.</p

High Resolution MEMS Accelerometers to Estimate VO2 and Compare Running Mechanics between Highly Trained Inter-Collegiate and Untrained Runners

BACKGROUND: The purposes of this study were to determine the validity and reliability of high resolution accelerometers (HRA) relative to VO(2) and speed, and compare putative differences in HRA signal between trained (T) and untrained (UT) runners during treadmill locomotion. METHODOLOGY: Runners performed 2 incremental VO(2max) trials while wearing HRA. RMS of high frequency signal from three axes (VT, ML, AP) and the Euclidean resultant (RES) were compared to VO(2) to determine validity and reliability. Additionally, axial rms relative to speed, and ratio of axial accelerations to RES were compared between T and UT to determine if differences in running mechanics could be identified between the two groups. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Regression of RES was strongly related to VO(2), but T was different than UT (r = 0.96 vs 0.92; p<.001) for walking and running. During walking, only the ratio of ML and AP to RES were different between groups. For running, nearly all acceleration parameters were lower for T than UT, the exception being ratio of VT to RES, which was higher in T than UT. All of these differences during running were despite higher VO(2), O(2) cost, and lower RER in T vs UT, which resulted in no significant difference in energy expenditure between groups. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNFICANCE: These results indicate that HRA can accurately and reliably estimate VO(2) during treadmill locomotion, but differences exist between T and UT that should be considered when estimating energy expenditure. Differences in running mechanics between T and UT were identified, yet the importance of these differences remains to be determined