Earth resources activities on Crown land: guidelines and procedures for land managers

The purposes of this document are to:
• outline some processes in relation to the administration and/or handling of earth resources activities (particularly exploration and mining for minerals) on Crown land;
• provide Crown land managers with guidelines and procedures to assist in administration of exploration and mining cases;
• provide a broad framework within which regional or localised guidelines and procedures can be developed or utilised;
• provide guidance to proponents wishing to undertake exploration or mining for minerals on Crown land.

The potential for measuring ethnicity and health in a multicultural milieu - the case of type 2 diabetes in Australia

Objective
Ethnicity influences health in many ways. For example, type 2 diabetes (T2DM) is disproportionately prevalent among certain ethnic groups. Assessing ethnicity is difficult, and numerous proxy measures are used to capture its various components. Australian guidelines specify a set of variables for measuring ethnicity, and how such parameters should be categorised. Using T2DM data collections as an illustrative example, this study sought to examine how ethnicity is measured in Australian health databases and, by comparing current practice with Australia’s existing benchmark recommendations, to identify potential areas for improvement of the health data landscape.

Concordance with phase-one cardiac rehabilitation guidelines in the inpatient setting

The aim of the paper was to examine concordance with phase-one cardiac rehabilitation (CR) guidelines, undertake an intervention that might optimise adherence to the guidelines, and establish a benchmark for practice in the coronary care unit (CCU) setting.

Evidence based guidelines to improve engagement and participation for people experiencing depression

Background:
Depression can have a strongly negative impact on a person’s ability to engage with and participate in activities of daily living. Clinicians currently seeking guidance on best practice in this area currently need to access and critique a wide range of evidence from a number of disciplines. While some clinical practice guidelines are available, this form of evidence presentation presents several barriers to implementation.

Procedures:
This article proposes a new procedure for developing guidance for clinicians, known as evidence based guidelines. The purpose of the guidelines presented here is to provide guidance on appropriate assessment and intervention strategies with people experiencing depression, who wish to improve their engagement and participation in daily activities. They were constructed using a multiple methods procedure, with five phases.

Results:
Evidence based guidelines for the general population, older adults and people with co-morbid physical conditions are presented at the conclusion of this article.

Conclusion:
The procedure described here produces evidence based guidelines with built in measures to promote implementation into practice. The resulting guidelines for depression will enable clinicians from all disciplines to engage in best practice, and assist people with depression participate more fully in their lives.

Progress on obesity prevention over 20 years in Australia and New Zealand

The lessons learned from over 20 years of obesity prevention efforts in Australia and New Zealand are presented. The obesity epidemic started in the 1980s but poor monitoring systems meant the rise in obesity prevalence initially went undetected. In the 1990s, experts started advocating for government action; however, it was the rapid increase in media reports on obesity in the early 2000s which created the pressure for action. Several, comprehensive reports produced some programme investment but no regulatory policies were implemented. The powerful food industry lobby ensured this lack of policies on front-of-pack food labelling, restrictions on unhealthy food marketing to children, or taxes on unhealthy foods. The New Zealand government even backpedalled by rescinding healthy school food guidelines and withdrawing funding for the comprehensive national obesity strategy. In 2007, Australian Governments started a major long term-investment in preventive health in order to improve economic productivity. Other positive initiatives, especially in Australia, were: the establishment of several advocacy organizations; successful, long-term, whole-of-community projects reducing childhood obesity; a national knowledge exchange system for practitioners; and some innovative programmes and social marketing. However, despite multiple reports and strong advocacy, key recommended regulatory policies remain unimplemented, largely due to the private sector interests dominating public policy development.

Common variants of the resistance mechanism in the Smith Machine: analysis of mechanical loading characteristics and application to strength-oriented and hypertrophy-oriented training

The Smith machine is a pervasive weight-training apparatus, used extensively by a wide population of weight trainers, from novices to high-level athletes. The advantages of using a Smith machine over free-weight resistance are disputed, with conflicting findings reported in the literature. In this study, we are interested in practical differences between 3 types of loading mechanisms found in modern Smith machines. In addition to the basic design comprising a constrained weighted barbell, alterations with a counterweight and a viscous resistance component are examined. The approach taken is that of employing a recently proposed representation of force characteristics that may be exhibited by a trainee and a predictive model of thus effected adaptation. A computer simulation is used to predict the effects of the 3 linear Smith machine designs in the framework of different exercise protocols. Our results demonstrate that each resistance component, vertically constrained load, counterweight, and viscous, can be matched with a particular training context, in which it should be preferred. Thus, a number of practical guidelines for weight-training practitioners are recommended. In summary, (a) at low intensities (55–75% of 1 repetition maximum [1RM]) used in strength-endurance training, a viscous resistance containing the Smith machine was found to offer advantages over both a constrained load only and counterweighted designs; (b) at medium intensities (75–85% of 1RM) typically employed in hypertrophy-specific training, the counterweighted Smith machine design was found to offer the best choice in terms of high-force development and total external work performed; finally, (c) at high training intensity (90–100% of 1RM), the optimal prescription was found to be more dependent on the specific athlete’s weaknesses, highlighting the need for continual monitoring of the athlete’s force production capabilities. To ensure that appropriate adjustments are made to the athlete’s training regimen, the practitioner should consider the full set of findings of this article and the accompanying discussion.