Empirical facts : a rationale for expanding lawyers' methodological expertise

This article examines the importance of the social evidence base in relation to the development of the law. It argues that there is a need for those lawyers who play a part in law reform (legislators and those involved in the law reform process) and for those who play a part in formulating policy-based common law rules (judges and practitioners) to know more about how facts are established in the social sciences. It argues that lawyers need sufficient knowledge and skills in order to be able to critically assess the facts and evidence base when examining new legislation and also when preparing, arguing and determining the outcomes of legal disputes. For this reason the article argues that lawyers need enhanced training in empirical methodologies in order to function effectively in modern legal contexts.

Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation of an elite Australian barley cultivar with virus resistance and reporter genes

Efficient transformation of barley cv. Schooner was achieved using Agrobacterium delivery, hygromycin or bialaphos selection and embryogenic callus. Using this system, transgenic plants were generated that contained either the green fluorescent protein gene, or transgenes derived from barley yellow dwarf (BYDV) and cereal yellow dwarf (CYDV) viruses. Many of these plants contained 1-3 transgene copies that were inherited in a simple Mendelian manner. Some plants containing BYDV and/or CYDV derived transgenes showed reduced virus symptoms and rates of viral replication when challenged with the appropriate virus. The ability to transform Schooner is a significant advance for the Australian barley industry, as this elite malting variety is, and has for the last 15 years been, the most widely grown barley variety in eastern Australia.

The effect of three different (-135°C) whole body cryotherapy exposure durations on elite rugby league players

Background: Whole body cryotherapy (WBC) is the therapeutic application of extreme cold air for a short duration. Minimal evidence is available for determining optimal exposure time. Purpose: To explore whether the length of WBC exposure induces differential changes in inflammatory markers, tissue oxygenation, skin and core temperature, thermal sensation and comfort. Method: This study was a randomised cross over design with participants acting as their own control. Fourteen male professional first team super league rugby players were exposed to 1, 2, and 3 minutes of WBC at -135°C. Testing took place the day after a competitive league fixture, each exposure separated by seven days. Results: No significant changes were found in the inflammatory cytokine interleukin six. Significant reductions (p<0.05) in deoxyhaemoglobin for gastrocnemius and vastus lateralis were found. In vastus lateralis significant reductions (p<0.05) in oxyhaemoglobin and tissue oxygenation index (p<0.05) were demonstrated. Significant reductions (p<0.05) in skin temperature were recorded. No significant changes were recorded in core temperature. Significant reductions (p<0.05) in thermal sensation and comfort were recorded. Conclusion: Three brief exposures to WBC separated by 1 week are not sufficient to induce physiological changes in IL-6 or core temperature. There are however significant changes in tissue oxyhaemoglobin, deoxyhaemoglobin, tissue oxygenation index, skin temperature and thermal sensation. We conclude that a 2 minute WBC exposure was the optimum exposure length at temperatures of -135°C and could be applied as the basis for future studies.

Identity orientation and stakeholder engagement—the corporatisation of elite schools

Identity orientation provides a means to understand the social motivations of organisational relationships and organisational policy and practices. This study uses identity orientation to understand the highly marketised context of independent ‘elite’ schools in Australia and how they relate to stakeholders to straddle their roles as social institutions that are increasingly required to operate in a corporate manner. Interviews with managers in quite new school roles such as marketing communication and business management were conducted in non-government schools to understand the schools' external orientations, coveted internal member traits, and frames of reference. The study shows that, in contrast to existing literature on the rhetoric of schools as focusing on ‘the child’, there was a strong emphasis on individualistic orientations in schools that saw stakeholders in instrumental terms of resources and connections, saw teachers as providing an innovative and leading edge, and used other prestigious schools as their frame of reference. To a lesser extent, schools would also be interested in the relationships with families, teachers, and the community for their own means. There were very few instances where the identity orientation was contributing to society, instead, focusing on university and network outcomes for pupils. Using identity orientation provides a theoretical lens to connect organisational governance to stakeholder engagement by providing insights into an organisation's identity including practices and behaviours, in relation to others.

Psychological predictors of injury among elite athletes

Objectives: To establish injury rates among a population of elite athletes, to provide normative data for psychological variables hypothesised to be predictive of sport injuries, and to establish relations between measures of mood, perceived life stress, and injury characteristics as a precursor to introducing a psychological intervention to ameliorate the injury problem. Methods: As part of annual screening procedures, athletes at the Queensland Academy of Sport report medical and psychological status. Data from 845 screenings (433 female and 412 male athletes) were reviewed. Population specific tables of normative data were established for the Brunel mood scale and the perceived stress scale. Results: About 67% of athletes were injured each year, and about 18% were injured at the time of screening. Fifty percent of variance in stress scores could be predicted from mood scores, especially for vigour, depression, and tension. Mood and stress scores collectively had significant utility in predicting injury characteristics. Injury status (current, healed, no injury) was correctly classified with 39% accuracy, and back pain with 48% accuracy. Among a subset of 233 uninjured athletes (116 female and 117 male), five mood dimensions (anger, confusion, fatigue, tension, depression) were significantly related to orthopaedic incidents over the preceding 12 months, with each mood dimension explaining 6–7% of the variance. No sex differences in these relations were found. Conclusions: The findings support suggestions that psychological measures have utility in predicting athletic injury, although the relatively modest explained variance highlights the need to also include underlying physiological indicators of allostatic load, such as stress hormones, in predictive models.

Psychological screening and injury among elite athletes

The purpose of the present investigation was to evaluate the effectiveness of the psychological component of the Queensland Academy of Sport (QAS) Health Screening Questionnaire in screening for injury/illness characteristics among elite athletes. In total, 793 scholarship athletes (409 females and 384 males) ranging in age from 11 to 41 years (M = 19, SD = 4.4) across 20 sports at the QAS in Brisbane, Australia, completed the QAS Health Screening Questionnaire. Psychological risk factors examined were life stress and mood, as measured by the Perceived Stress Scale - 10 (PSS-10) and the Brunel Mood Scale (BRUMS) respectively, in addition to disordered eating behaviours and history of diagnosed psychological disorders. Medical risk factors examined included asthma and back pain. Single-factor MANOVAs showed multivaritate effects for injury, second injury, back pain, asthma, anxiety disorder diagnosis, and fasting. Discriminant function analyses demonstrated that life stress and mood scores had significant utility in correctly classifying injury and second injury status, asthma, back pain, anxiety, and eating disorder diagnosis, in addition to the use of fasting and vomiting as weight control methods. The present findings suggest that the psychology component of the QAS Health Screening Questionnaire demonstrates significant utility as a screening tool regarding injury/illness characteristics among elite athletes.

Biolistic transformation of elite indica rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivars through semi-solid and liquid medium selection systems

Following microprojectile mediated delivery of a plasmid construct (pAHC-25) encoding bar (bialophos resistance) gene into five-day-old scutellar calli derived from mature embryos, the effectiveness of selection procedure for bar-gene expressing tissue was compared for two indica rice cultivars (IR-64 and Karnal Local). While IR-64 transformants could be selected through the generally used semi-solid selection medium, the same procedure was not effective in the basmati cultivar Karnal Local. In the latter case, while lower concentrations (2–4 mg 1−1) of the selective agent phosphinothricin (PPT) yielded only escapes, higher concentrations (6–8 mg l−1) inhibited proliferation of transformed as well as untransformed sectors. For Karnal Local, a liquid medium based selection system was successfully utilized for recovering transformed sectors and, eventually, regenerants. The study demonstrates the generation of transformants of two elite indica cultivars using the environment-independent system of mature embryos from seeds.

Psychological predictors of injury in elite athletes

The Queensland Academy of Sport (QAS) supports over 600 high-level athletes across 20 sports. Given the high cost of injuries (e.g., time out of sport and consequent detraining, expense of rehabilitation, adverse social and economic effects), comprehensive injury management and prevention has become a priority for the QAS. Considering the potential for developing cost-effective, preventative programs, knowledge gained by examination of psychological screening predictors of injury may also prove beneficial for the broader sports medicine community. Aims were to: Objectively summarise existing injury characteristics, including the creation of population-specific norms for scholarship holders at the QAS. Assess relationships between injuries, specific medical factors (e.g., asthma, back pain) and psychological risk factors including life stress, mood, previous psychological diagnoses and disordered eating behaviour over a three-year period. Evaluate the effectiveness of the psychological component of the QAS Health Screening Questionnaire.

Evaluation of legal capacity by doctors and lawyers : the need for collaborative assessment

• Balancing the interests of individual autonomy and protection is an escalating challenge confronting an ageing Australian society. • One way this is manifested is in the current ad hoc and unsatisfactory way that capacity is assessed in the context of wills, enduring powers of attorney and advance health directives. • The absence of nationally accepted assessment guidelines results in terminological and methodological miscommunication and misunderstanding between legal and medical professionals. • Expectations between legal and medical professionals can be clarified to provide satisfactory capacity assessments based upon the development of a sound assessment paradigm

The effect of previous hamstring strain injuries on the change in eccentric hamstring strength during preseason training in elite Australian footballers

Background Hamstring strain injuries (HSIs) are the most common injury type in Australian football and the rate of recurrence has been consistently high for a number of years. Long lasting neuromuscular inhibition has been noted in previously injured athletes but it is not known if this influences athletes adaptive response to training. Purpose To determine if elite Australian footballers with a prior unilateral HSI (previously injured group) display lesser improvements in eccentric hamstring strength during pre-season training compared to athletes without a history of HSI (control group). Study design Prospective cohort study. Methods Ninety-nine elite Australian footballers participated (17 with a history of unilateral HSI in the previous 12 month period). Eccentric hamstring strength was assessed at the start and end of pre-season training using an instrumented Nordic hamstring device. Change in eccentric strength across preseason was determine in absolute terms and normalised to start of preseason strength. Start of preseason strength was used as a covariate to control for differences in starting strength. Results The left and right limbs in the control group showed no difference in absolute or relative change (left limb absolute change, 60.7±72.9N; relative change, 1.28±0.34; right limb absolute change, 48.6±83.8N; relative change, 1.24±0.43) . Similarly, the injured and uninjured limbs from the previously injured group showed no difference for either absolute or relative measures of change (injured limb absolute change, 13.1±57.7N; relative change, 1.07±0.18; uninjured limb absolute change, 14.7±54.0N; relative change, 1.07±0.22N). The previously injured group displayed a significantly lesser increase in eccentric hamstring strength across the preseason (absolute change, 13.9±55.0; relative change, 1.07±0.20) compared to the control group (absolute change, 54.6±78.5; relative change, 1.26±0.39) for both absolute and relative measures (p < 0.001), even after controlling for differences in start of pre-season eccentric hamstring strength, which had a significant effect on strength improvement. Conclusion Elite Australian footballers with a unilateral HSI history displayed lesser improvements in eccentric hamstring strength across preseason training. The smaller improvements were not restricted to the previously injured limb as the contralateral limb also displayed similarly small improvements in eccentric strength. Whether this is the cause of or the result of injury remains to be seen, but it has the potential to contribute to the risk of hamstring strain re-injury.

Lawyers behaving badly in mediations : lessons for legal educators

This article will discuss some real life case examples of what will be termed “lawyers behaving badly” where it will be argued that legal representatives have not performed as effectively as they could have in mediation settings. These instances of “lawyer misbehaviour” will be grouped under several broad headings: the Process Thwarter, the Zealous Adversarial Advocate, the Misguided Advisor, the Distributive Bargainer, the Passive Advocate, and the Legal Takeover. Reflecting on these situations will provide guidance to legal educators as to the specific areas of dispute resolution knowledge and skills that future lawyers need to learn and develop.

Defining a ‘democratic elite’ : key media in the battle for social responsibility

This paper offers a definition of elite media arguing their content focus will sufficiently meet social responsibility needs of democracy. Its assumptions come from the Finkelstein and Leveson Inquiries and regulatory British Royal Charter (2013). These provide guidelines on how media outlets meet ‘social responsibility’ standards, e.g. press has a ‘responsibility to be fair and accurate’ (Finkelstein); ethical press will feel a responsibility to ‘hold power to account’ (Leveson); news media ‘will be held strictly accountable’ (RC). The paper invokes the British principle of media opting-in to observe standards, and so serve the democracy. It will give examples from existing media, and consider social responsibility of media more generally. Obvious cases of ‘quality’ media: public broadcasters, e.g. BBC, Al-Jazeera, and ‘quality’ press, e.g. NYT, Süddeutscher Zeitung, but also community broadcasters, specialised magazines, news agencies, distinctive web logs, and others. Where providing commentary, these abjure gratuitous opinion -- meeting a standard of reasoned, informational and fair. Funding is almost a definer, many such services supported by the state, private trusts, public institutions or volunteering by staff. Literature supporting discussion on elite media will include their identity as primarily committed to a public good, e.g. the ‘Public Value Test’, Moe and Donders (2011); with reference also to recent literature on developing public service media. Within its limits the paper will treat social media as participants among all media, including elite, and as a parallel dimension of mass communication founded on inter-activity. Elite media will fulfil the need for social responsibility, firstly by providing one space, a ‘plenary’ for debate. Second is the notion of building public recognition of elite media as trustworthy. Third is the fact that elite media together are a large sector with resources to sustain social cohesion and debate; notwithstanding pressure on funds, and impacts of digital transformation undermining employment in media more than in most industries.