Acute injuries in track and field athletes: A 3-year observational study at the Penn Relays Carnival with epidemiology and medical coverage implications

Background Few studies have examined acute injuries in track and field in both elite and sub-elite athletes. Purpose To observe the absolute and relative rates of injury in track and field athletes across a wide range of competition levels and ages during three years of the Penn Relays Carnival to assist with future medical coverage planning and injury prevention strategies. Study design: Descriptive epidemiology study. Methods Over a 3-year period all injuries treated by the medical staff were recorded on a standardised injury report form. Absolute injury rates (absolute number of injuries) and relative injury rates (number of injuries per 1000 participants) were determined and odds ratios (OR) of injury rates were calculated between sexes, competition levels and events. Injuries were also broken down into major or minor medical or orthopedic injuries. Results Throughout the study period 48,473 competing athletes participated in the Penn Relays Carnival, and 436 injuries were sustained. For medical coverage purposes, the relative rate of injury subtypes was greatest for minor orthopedic injuries (5.71 injuries per 1000 participants), followed by minor medical injuries (3.42 injuries per 1000 participants), major medical injuries (0.69 injuries per 1000 participants) and major orthopedic injuries (0.18 injuries per 1000 participants). College/elite level athletes displayed the lowest relative injury rate (7.99 injuries per 1000 participants), which was significantly less than high school (9.87 injuries per 1000 participants) and masters level athletes (16.33 injuries per 1000 participants). Males displayed a greater likelihood of suffering a minor orthopedic injury compared to females (OR = 1.36, 95% CI = 1.06 to 1.75; χ2 = 5.73, p = 0.017) but were less likely to sustain a major medical injury (OR = 0.33, 95% CI = 0.15 to 0.75; χ2 = 7.75, p = 0.005). Of the three most heavily participated in events, the 4 x 400m relay displayed the greatest relative injury rate (13.6 injuries per 1000 participants) compared to the 4 x 100 and 4 x 200m relay. Conclusions Medical coverage teams for future large scale track and field events need to plan for at least two major orthopedic and seven major medical injuries per 1000 participants. Male track and field athletes, particularly masters level male athletes, are at greater risk of injury compared to other genders and competition levels.

"The red dress or the blue?" How do staff perceive that they support decision making for people with dementia living in residential aged care facilities?

Respect for a person's right to make choices and participate in decision making is generally seen as central to quality of life and well-being. When a person moves into a residential aged care facility (RACF), however, decision making becomes more complicated, particularly if the person has a diagnosis of dementia. Little is known about how staff in RACFs perceive that they support decision making for people with dementia within their everyday practice, and this article seeks to address this knowledge gap. The article reports on the findings of a qualitative study conducted in the states of Victoria and Queensland, Australia with 80 direct care staff members. Findings revealed that the participants utilized a number of strategies in their intention to support decision making for people with dementia, and had an overall perception that "a little effort goes a long way."

Suicide, statistics and the coroner: A comparative study of death investigations

Australia has a significantly higher suicide rate than England. Rather than accepting that this ‘statistical fact’ is a direct reflection of some positivist truth, this paper begins with the premise that how suicide is counted depends upon what counts as suicide. This study involves semi-structured interviews with coroners both in Australia and England, as well as observations at inquests. Important differences between the two coronial systems include: first, quite different logics of operation; second, the burden of proof for reaching a finding of suicide is significantly higher in England; and third, the presence of family members at English inquests results in far greater pressure being brought to bear upon coroners. These combined factors result in a reduced likelihood of English coroners reaching a finding of suicide. The conclusions are twofold. First, this research supports existing criticisms of comparative suicide statistics. Second, this research adds theoretical weight to criticisms of positivist analyses of social phenomena.

A simple nutrition screening tool for paediatric inpatients

Background: Pediatric nutrition risk screening tools are not routinely implemented throughout many hospitals, despite prevalence studies demonstrating malnutrition is common in hospitalized children. Existing tools lack the simplicity of those used to assess nutrition risk in the adult population. This study reports the accuracy of a new, quick, and simple pediatric nutrition screening tool (PNST) designed to be used for pediatric inpatients. Materials and Methods: The pediatric Subjective Global Nutrition Assessment (SGNA) and anthropometric measures were used to develop and assess the validity of 4 simple nutrition screening questions comprising the PNST. Participants were pediatric inpatients in 2 tertiary pediatric hospitals and 1 regional hospital. Results: Two affirmative answers to the PNST questions were found to maximize the specificity and sensitivity to the pediatric SGNA and body mass index (BMI) z scores for malnutrition in 295 patients. The PNST identified 37.6% of patients as being at nutrition risk, whereas the pediatric SGNA identified 34.2%. The sensitivity and specificity of the PNST compared with the pediatric SGNA were 77.8% and 82.1%, respectively. The sensitivity of the PNST at detecting patients with a BMI z score of less than -2 was 89.3%, and the specificity was 66.2%. Both the PNST and pediatric SGNA were relatively poor at detecting patients who were stunted or overweight, with the sensitivity and specificity being less than 69%. Conclusion: The PNST provides a sensitive, valid, and simpler alternative to existing pediatric nutrition screening tools such as Screening Tool for the Assessment of Malnutrition in Pediatrics (STAMP), Screening Tool Risk on Nutritional status and Growth (STRONGkids), and Paediatric Yorkhill Malnutrition Score (PYMS) to ensure the early detection of hospitalized children at nutrition risk.

Corporate governance and bankruptcy risk

We examine how firm characteristics, particularly the degree of firm complexity and the firm’s need for specialty knowledge, affect the relationship between corporate governance and the risk of bankruptcy. We find that having larger boards reduces the risk of bankruptcy only for complex firms. Our results also suggest that the proportion of inside directors on the board is inversely associated with the risk of bankruptcy in firms that require more specialist knowledge, and that the reverse is true in technically unsophisticated firms. The results further reveal that the additional explanatory power from corporate governance variables becomes stronger as the time to bankruptcy is increased, implying that although corporate governance variables are important predictors, governance changes are likely to be too late to save a firm on the verge of bankruptcy.

Longing band play at beautiful hope

This article enquires into the contextual dimensions of Indonesian consumerism by presenting the rise to national fame of provincial boy band, Kangen (Longing) Band. The case of Kangen Band suggests that Indonesian consumerism entails new ways of heralding the masses that rely on and play with old generic terms, kampungan (hick-ish) and ‘Melayu’ (Malay). It also reveals some of the specificities of the Indonesian consumerist environment, in which ring back tones, pirate recordings and corporatized fandom are important resources in the formation of consumer subjectivities.

Introduction : studying Indonesian media worlds at the intersections of area and cultural studies

When preparing this special issue,1 our discussions with the editorial board of the International Journal of Cultural Studies (IJCS) included a moment of simultaneous surprise and reflection, which we would like to use as a starting point for our introduction to the articles appearing here. This occurred during communications about the number and length of the articles required for a special issue. The board’s representative stipulated that a specific number of articles were to be written by Indonesian scholars. The request surprised us. We had neither discussed nor anticipated ethnic or national quotas for authorial participation. But although the request caught us off guard it also stimulated us to think about the two disciplinary terrains traversed in the articles to follow.

Special Issue : Media/Politics in Indonesia [Editors]

Emma Baulch and Julian Millie are editors of this special issue.

On mind, mediation and meaning-making

This paper takes inspiration from the integrative model of human mind proposed by Brinkmann (2011, 2012) and argues that the kind of integration that he seeks to attain can only be achieved if the model focuses on the processes that underlie the functioning of the human mind and not on the entities that these processes produce or function by. An alternative integrative model is thus proposed. In the first part of the paper the process of meaning-making will be explored. It will be argued that an integrative conceptualisation of human mind needs to take into account pre-reflective and unmediated as well as reflective and mediated states through which meanings become constructed. In the second part of the paper the idea of semiotic mediation will be explored. It will be argued that an integrative model of human mind needs to focus not only on different kinds of mediators, but also explain how these are used reflectively and non-reflectively by individuals themselves and visibly or invisibly by others in our everyday interactions.

Identity in dialogue : identity as hyper-generalized personal sense

In this paper I propose that identity is momentary, fluid, and multiple while simultaneously providing us with a sense of sameness and continuity. Building on Valsiner’s ideas about human sense-making I suggest that we can reasonably deal with the multiplicity/unity paradox if we conceive of this process as resulting in the construction of a fuzzy field of hyper-generalized personal sense, which ordinarily functions as an implicit and unspeakable background of our everyday functioning, while being constantly re-created through momentary instances of foregrounded and explicit identity-dialogues. I illustrate the ideas put forward in the paper by analysing a case of a young woman experiencing a change in her being. Finally, in an attempt to illustrate and further develop the case I introduce a metaphor of carpet-weaving as an apposite image for thinking about identity as a process of a multiple and fragmented, yet also a united and constant being.

Commentary: Making sense of identity dialogues

In this commentary an alternative conceptual model of identity construction is proposed. In this model, identity construction is seen as part of a person’s ongoing sense-making. Identity is perceived as a subjective sense of continuity and sameness that renders one’s being in the world meaningful. Drawing on empirical examples provided in the target articles, it is shown how this model, which is built around the notions of rupture, identity dialogues and striving towards meaningfulness, can be utilized to analyse identity dynamics in different space and time contexts. The importance of examining links between an individual’s sense-making and collective meaning field, in which sense-making is embedded, is also highlighted.

Understanding the new context of the male sex work industry

The article reviews past and recent research on male sex work to offer a context to understand violence in the industry. It provides a critical review of research to show, first, the assumptions made about male sex workers and violence and, second, how such discourses have shaped thinking on the topic. The article presents a case study and original findings from two studies conducted by the authors in Australia and Argentina on violence in the male sex industry. Finally, the article reviews examples of legislative reforms to show how the sex industry is being regulated.

Recruiting, Sampling and Data Collection with Difficult Populations: Clients of Male Sex Workers.

Although there are many potential new insights to be gained through advancing research on the clients of male sex workers, significant social, ethical and methodological challenges to accessing this population exist. This research project case explores our attempts to recruit a population that does not typically form a cohesive or coherent 'community' and often avoids self-identifying to mitigate the stigma attached to buying sex. We used an arms-length recruitment campaign that focussed on directing potential participants to our study website, which could in turn lead them to participate in an anonymous telephone interview. Barriers to reaching male sex-work clients, however, demanded the evolution of our recruitment strategy. New technologies are part of the solution to accessing a hard-to-reach population, but they only work if researchers engage responsively. We also show how we conducted an in-depth interview with a client and discuss the value of using secondary data.

Key Concepts in Crime and Society

This book is an introduction to key issues in the area of crime as it connects to society. The book is divided into three parts: Understanding Crime and Criminality: introduces topics such as the social construction of crime and deviance, social control, the fear of crime, poverty and exclusion, white collar crime, victims of crime, race/gender and crime. Types of Crime and Criminality: explores examples including human trafficking, sex work, drug crime, environmental crime, cyber crime, war crime, terrorism, and interpersonal violence. Responses to Crime: looks at areas such as crime and the media, policing, moral panics, deterrence, prisons and rehabilitation.