Working out intimacy: young people and friendship in an age of reflexivity

Drawing upon a longitudinal, interview-based study of Australian secondary school students, this article explores young people's friendship experiences and attitudes to intimacy and the interpersonal. The discussion develops in relation to the work of Anthony Giddens on detraditionalisation and reflexivity, and Nikolas Rose on modernity and the self. First, I argue that feminism and psychotherapeutic ways of constituting and knowing the self are reconfiguring the cultural meanings of intimacy. Second, I suggest that this reworking of intimacy has differential and uneven effects and has particular consequences for the production of gendered subjectivities. Third, I raise some critical questions about the extent to which either Giddens's or Rose's account can properly capture the gendered and situated experiences of intimacy. I offer examples in which gender is being rearticulated in new yet familiar ways and note some persistent tensions in desires for connection and community versus autonomy and freedom. Carol Gilligan's work on gender differences in orientations to autonomy and connection is briefly revisited. Overall, it is argued that we need to take more account of how class, location and schooling differences influence dispositions to friendship and the interpersonal, and this is elaborated through a discussion of the 'relationship orientations' of two white Australian young men.

Lifetime sport and leisure activity participation is associated with greater bone size, quality and strength in older men

Introduction: It remains uncertain whether long-term participation in regular weight-bearing exercise confers an advantage to bone structure and strength in old age. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between lifetime sport and leisure activity participation on bone material and structural properties at the axial and appendicular skeleton in older men (>50 years).

Methods: We used dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) to assess hip, spine and ultradistal (UD) radius areal bone mineral density (aBMD) (n=161), quantitative ultrasound (QUS) to measure heel bone quality (n=161), and quantitative computed tomography (QCT) to assess volumetric BMD, bone geometry and strength at the spine (L₁–L₃) and mid-femur (n=111). Current (>50+ years) and past hours of sport and leisure activity participation during adolescence (13–18 years) and adulthood (19–50 years) were assessed by questionnaire. This information was used to calculate the total time (min) spent participating in sport and leisure activities and an osteogenic index (OI) score for each participant, which provides a measure of participation in weight-bearing activities.

Results: Regression analysis revealed that a greater lifetime (13–50+ years) and mid-adulthood (19–50 years) OI, but not total time (min), was associated with a greater mid-femur total and cortical area, cortical bone mineral content (BMC), and the polar moment of inertia (I _p) and heel VOS (p ranging from <0.05 to <0.01). These results were independent of age, height (or femoral length) and weight (or muscle cross-sectional area). Adolescent OI scores were not found to be significant predictors of bone structure or strength. Furthermore, no significant relationships were detected with areal or volumetric BMD at any site. Subjects were then categorized into either a high (H) or low/non-impact (L) group during adolescence (13–18 years) and adulthood (19–50+ years) according to their OI scores during each of these periods. Three groups were subsequently formed to reflect weight-bearing impact categories during adolescence and then adulthood: LL, HL and HH. Compared to the LL group, mid-femur total and cortical area, cortical BMC and I _p were 6.5–14.2% higher in the HH group. No differences were detected between the LL and HL groups.

Conclusions: In conclusion, these findings indicate that long-term regular participation in sport and leisure activities categorized according to an osteogenic index [but not the total time (min) spent participating in all sport and leisure activities] was an important determinant of bone size, quality and strength, but not BMD, at loaded sites in older men. Furthermore, continued participation in weight-bearing exercise in early to mid-adulthood appears to be important for reducing the risk of low bone strength in old age.

Voices of dissent in the age of emperor Kennett

Celebrates the company's artistic achievements and successes over the last two decades through interviews, essays and high quality images of key productions, and recounts its history, its evolving relationship with the embattled trade union movement, and its on-going engagement with working class, indigenous and migrant communities.

Better journalism or better profits? A key convergence issue in an age of concentrated ownership

Convergence has become an accepted form of journalism at media organisations around the world. These organisations are adopting a range of business models to find ways to pay for these innovations. The main drivers behind this radical change in media production are consumers' changing media habits, cheaper digital technology, and the disruptive forces that these two drivers generate. Technology also makes possible new forms of storytelling, which potentially allows journalists the chance to do better journalism through convergence. This article focuses on the key issue of whether editorial managers and journalists are embracing convergence to save money, or to do better journalism. It begins by defining convergence (while accepting the wide variety of definitions) and describing two main models of implementation. It then considers the factors that lead to easy introduction of convergence followed by the factors that hinder its introduction. Examples are provided of converged media around the world. This article ends with a warning about the dangers for democracy of misapplied convergence in an era of increasing concentration of ownership.