Olympic weightlifting and plyometric training with children provides similar or greater performance improvements than traditional resistance training

A number of organizations recommend that advanced resistance training (RT) techniques can be implemented with children. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of Olympic-style weightlifting (OWL), plyometrics, and traditional RT programs with children. Sixty-three children (10-12 years) were randomly allocated to a 12-week control OWL, plyometric, or traditional RT program. Pre- and post-training tests included body mass index (BMI), sum of skinfolds, countermovement jump (CMJ), horizontal jump, balance, 5- and 20-m sprint times, isokinetic force and power at 60 and 300° · s(-1). Magnitude-based inferences were used to analyze the likelihood of an effect having a standardized (Cohen's) effect size exceeding 0.20. All interventions were generally superior to the control group. Olympic weightlifting was >80% likely to provide substantially better improvements than plyometric training for CMJ, horizontal jump, and 5- and 20-m sprint times, whereas >75% likely to substantially exceed traditional RT for balance and isokinetic power at 300° · s(-1). Plyometric training was >78% likely to elicit substantially better training adaptations than traditional RT for balance, isokinetic force at 60 and 300° · s(-1), isokinetic power at 300° · s(-1), and 5- and 20-m sprints. Traditional RT only exceeded plyometric training for BMI and isokinetic power at 60° · s(-1). Hence, OWL and plyometrics can provide similar or greater performance adaptations for children. It is recommended that any of the 3 training modalities can be implemented under professional supervision with proper training progressions to enhance training adaptations in children.

Automatic generation of traditional style painting by using density-based color clustering

In this paper, a novel approach is proposed to automatically generate both watercolor painting and pencil sketch drawing, or binary image of contour, from realism-style photo by using DBSCAN color clustering based on HSV color space. While the color clusters produced by proposed methods help to create watercolor painting, the noise pixels are useful to generate the pencil sketch drawing. Moreover, noise pixels are reassigned to color clusters by a novel algorithm to refine the contour in the watercolor painting. The main goal of this paper is to inspire non-professional artists' imagination to produce traditional style painting easily by only adjusting a few parameters. Also, another contribution of this paper is to propose an easy method to produce the binary image of contour, which is a vice product when mining image data by DBSCAN clustering. Thus the binary image is useful in resource limited system to reduce data but keep enough information of images. © 2007 IEEE.

How has alcohol advertising in traditional and online media in Australia changed? Trends in advertising expenditure 1997-2011

Introduction and Aims The aim of this study was to determine changes in advertising expenditures across eight media channels for the four main alcohol beverage types and alcohol retailers in Australia. Design and Methods Yearly advertising expenditures between January 1997 and December 2011 obtained from a leading media-monitoring company. Media channels assessed were: free-to-air television, newspapers, magazines, radio, outdoors (billboards), cinema, direct mail (from 2005) and online (from 2008). Data were categorised into alcohol retailers (e.g. supermarkets, off-licences) or four alcoholic beverage types (beer, wine, spirits, premixed spirits/cider). Regression analyses examined associations between year and expenditure. Results Total alcohol advertising expenditure peaked in 2007, then declined to 2011 (P = 0.02). Television advertising expenditure declined between 2000 and 2011 (P < 0.001), while outdoor advertising expenditure increased between 1997 and 2007. Alcohol retailers' advertising expenditure increased over time (P < 0.001), and from the mid-2000s exceeded expenditure for any single beverage category. For both beer and spirits, television advertising expenditure declined over time (beer: P < 0.001; spirits: P < 0.001) while outdoor advertising expenditure increased (beer: P < 0.001; spirits: P = 0.02). However, the number of advertised beer (P < 0.001), spirits (P < 0.001) and wine (P = 0.01) products increased over time. Discussion and Conclusions Retailers are playing an increasing role in advertising alcohol. As our study excluded non-traditional advertising media (e.g. sponsorships, in-store) we cannot determine whether declines in television advertising have been offset by increases in advertising in newer media channels. However, our findings that media channels used for alcohol advertising have changed over time highlights the need for adequate controls on alcohol advertising in all media channels.

Bali Aga cultural landscape challenges: conserving the Balinese traditional landscape for future Balinese indigenous villages (Bali Aga) and communities

The research investigated Balinese harmony to landscape in Indigenous villages (Bali Aga) and communities through case study, on-site evaluation, observation, and interviews. The research concluded three points: influences of Majapahit Era; traditional regulation roles; and obligated to maintain and conserve of sacred, middle and impure areas in cultural landscape practices.

Mechanical ageing performance of minimalist and traditional footwear foams

The aim of this study was to obtain a fundamental understanding of how running shoe midsole foam thickness contributes to footwear degradation using the heel and forefoot regions of traditional (TS) and minimalist (MS) running shoes. We hypothesized that ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) foam midsole material properties and footwear degradation performance under a biofidelic mechanical ageing protocol would differ as a function of shoe type and thickness. Attenuated totalreflectance Fourier transform infrared spectra indicated that the foam chemical compositions were similar and confirmed that all midsoles were composed of EVA copolymer. Differences in density and cell size were detected between shoes and thicknesses. MS foam was uniformly high density (rMS D 240 kg/m3), while TS foam consisted of two co-molded layers with forefoot density (rTS-FF D 250 kg/m3) greater than heel (rTS-H D 160 kg/m3). Relative density and cell size values were generally proportional and inversely proportional to density, respectively. Degradation from mechanical ageing was greatest in the first 2 km of ageing, with the full ageing (21 km) resulting in an average 54% loss of energy absorption. Regardless of shoe type or foam microstructure, thicker and softer heel foams absorbed 83% more energy but degraded ata 49% faster rate. The fact that the heel degraded more rapidly than forefoot caused the drop to decrease at an equivalent rate for both shoe types. Overall, thickness was a greater predictor of average performance than microstructure variables for the present footwear conditions. However, the apparent drawback of thicker foam was exemplified by heel samples, which underwent a 1.4 mm greater loss of thickness and lost 550 mJ more energy absorption than forefoot samples.

The return of the traditional birth attendant

The World Health Organization has noted much progress towards the realisation of Millennium Development Goals related to maternal and child health. Eighty percent of women in many developing economies now receive at least one visit during pregnancy by a skilled birth attendant (although only 52% had the recommended four visits), and 68% of women across developing regions receive skilled health attendant care (up from 56% in 1990). However, disparities follow regional and urban-rural gaps. Sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia lag behind other regions in the provision of antenatal care and skilled attendance at birth (although typically attended by a family member or villager) and over 32 million of the 40 million births not attended by skilled health personnel in 2012 occurred in rural areas. Overall, one-quarter of women in developing nations still birth alone or with a relative to assist them. While increased numbers of medically-trained midwives and health workers or midwife assistants would increase coverage by up to 40%, these are longer-term solutions. In the short term, gross disparities in services in some resource-poor areas have been alleviated by recruiting Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) re-trained in emergency obstetric skills to deal with emergency situations and to refer women onto health facilities when necessary. Samoa and Bangladesh are examples. For many women for a range of reasons TBAs are preferable to hospital care. It therefore makes sense to recognise their place within maternity care, to offer basic and ongoing training and to set up registration procedures thus better ensuring the monitoring of outcomes. Incorporating TBAs into the formal healthcare system would meet both physiological and relational components of birth. In terms of the latter, TBAs would act as cultural brokers between Western and traditional cosmologies and provide women with continuity of care from a known carer; in the West a demonstrably simple but effective intervention promoting physiological safety and reducing the need for higher level medical interventions.

Re-positioning traditional craft: knowledge affect and social identity

Craft Making and craft objects play different roles in western and traditional cultures and hence craft cannot be understood outside of the cultural conditions on which it is made. In the West, industrial manufacturing and mass production that took hold in the 19th century overshadowed traditional artisans and the value given to the objects they produced. However a resurgence of craft soon emerged as an attempt to re-structure creative labour and regain a romanticised pre-industrial past.

‘Much more than a basic education’: supporting self-determination and cultural integrity in a non-traditional school for Indigenous girls

This paper presents data from an interview-based case study of a secondary school located in a suburban area of Queensland (Australia). The school is a non-traditional education site designed to support disadvantaged girls, many of whom are Indigenous, and is highly regarded for its holistic approach to gender and cultural inclusion and equity. Through lenses that align Nancy Fraser's theories of redistributive and recognitive justice, with Indigenous feminists' equity priorities, the paper identifies and analyses the structures and practices at the school that support the girls' capacities for self-determination and their sense of cultural integrity. The paper is an important counterpoint within the context of mainstream gender equity and schooling discourses that continue to homogenise gender categories, sideline the multiple axes of differentiation that interplay to compound gender (dis)advantage and deflect attention away from marginalised girls. In particular, it provides significant insight into how schools can begin to reconcile the double bind of racism and sexism that continues to stymie the schooling and post-school outcomes of Indigenous girls.