Interpersonal coordination tendencies shape 1-vs-1 sub-phase performance outcomes in youth soccer

This study investigated the influence of interpersonal coordination tendencies on performance outcomes of 1-vs-1 subphases in youth soccer. Eight male developing soccer players (age: 11.8+0.4 years; training experience: 3.6+1.1 years) performed an in situ simulation of a 1-vs-1 sub-phase of soccer. Data from 82 trials were obtained with motion-analysis techniques, and relative phase used to measure the space-time coordination tendencies of attacker-defender dyads. Approximate entropy (ApEn) was then used to quantify the unpredictability of interpersonal interactions over trials. Results revealed how different modes of interpersonal coordination emerging from attacker-defender dyads influenced the 1-vs-1 performance outcomes. High levels of space-time synchronisation (47%) and unpredictability in interpersonal coordination processes (ApEn: 0.91+0.34) were identified as key features of an attacking player’s success. A lead-lag relation attributed to a defending player (34% around 7308 values) and a more predictable coordination mode (ApEn: 0.65+0.27, P50.001), demonstrated the coordination tendencies underlying the success of defending players in 1-vs-1 sub-phases. These findings revealed how the mutual influence of each player on the behaviour of dyadic systems shaped emergent performance outcomes. More specifically, the findings showed that attacking players should be constrained to exploit the space-time synchrony with defenders in an unpredictable and creative way, while defenders should be encouraged to adopt postures and behaviours that actively constrain the attacker’s actions.

Implementing green business processes : the importance of functional affordances of information systems

An environmentally sustainable and thus green business process is one that delivers organizational value whilst also exerting a minimal impact on the natural environment. Recent works from the field of Information Systems (IS) have argued that information systems can contribute to the design and implementation of sustainable business processes. While prior research has investigated how information systems can be used in order to support sustainable business practices, there is still a void as to the actual changes that business processes have to undergo in order to become environmentally sustainable, and the specific role that information systems play in enabling this change. In this paper, we provide a conceptualization of environmentally sustainable business processes, and discuss the role of functional affordances of information systems in enabling both incremental and radical changes in order to make processes environmentally sustainable. Our conceptualization is based on (a) a fundamental definition of the concept of environmental sustainability, grounded in two basic components:the environmental source and sink functions of any project or activity, and (b) the concept of functional affordances, which describe the potential uses originating in the material properties of information systems in relation to their use context. In order to illustrate the application of our framework and provide a first evaluation, we analyse two examples from prior research where information systems impacted on the sustainability of business processes.

Microbial colonisation of follicular fluid : alterations in cytokine expression and adverse assisted reproductive technology outcomes

Previous studies have measured cytokine expression within follicular fluid collected at the time of trans-vaginal oocyte retrieval and compared the profiles with the aetiology of infertility and/or successful or unsuccessful assisted reproductive technology (ART) outcomes. Seventy-one paired follicular fluid and vaginal swab specimens collected from ART patients were cultured to detect microorganisms and then were tested for the presence of cytokines by multiplex fluorescence bead assays. Specimen selection was based on two criteria: whether the follicular fluid specimen was colonised (with microorganisms prior to oocyte retrieval) or contaminated by lower genital tract microflora at the time of oocyte retrieval and; the aetiology of infertility...

Methane activation on Fe4 cluster : a density functional theory study

We report a comprehensive theoretical study on reaction of methane by Fe4 cluster. This Letter gains insight into the mechanism of the reaction and indicate the Fe4 cluster has strong catalytic effect on the activation reaction of methane. In detail, the results show the cleavage of the first C–H bond is both an energetically and kinetically favourable process and the breaking of the second C–H is the rate-determining step. Moreover, our Letter demonstrates that the different cluster size of iron can not only determine the catalytic activity of methane but also control the product selectivity.

Synthesis of discrete allyl-functional polyethylene glycol for efficient hydrophilization of dihydr (polydimethylsiloxane)

Amphiphilic poly(ethylene glycol)-block-pol (dimethylsiloxane)-block-poly(ethylene glycol)(PEG-block-PDMS block-PEG) triblock copolymers have been successfully prepared via hydrosilylation using discrete and polydisperse PEG of various chain lengths. Facile synthesis of discrete PEG (dPEG) is achieved via systematic tosylation and etherification of lower glycols. Amphiphilicity of the dPEG block-PDMS-block-dPEG triblock copolymer is illustrated by dynamic light scattering (DLS) and measurement of the critical micelle concentration (CMC).

How to achieve maximum charge carrier loading on heteroatom-substituted graphene nanoribbon edges: density functional theory study

The practical number of charge carriers loaded is crucial to the evaluation of the capacity performance of carbon-based electrodes in service, and cannot be easily addressed experimentally. In this paper, we report a density functional theory study of charge carrier adsorption onto zigzag edge-shaped graphene nanoribbons (ZGNRs), both pristine and incorporating edge substitution with boron, nitrogen or oxygen atoms. All edge substitutions are found to be energetically favorable, especially in oxidized environments. The maximal loading of protons onto the substituted ZGNR edges obeys a rule of [8-n-1], where n is the number of valence electrons of the edge-site atom constituting the adsorption site. Hence, a maximum charge loading is achieved with boron substitution. This result correlates in a transparent manner with the electronic structure characteristics of the edge atom. The boron edge atom, characterized by the most empty p band, facilitates more than the other substitutional cases the accommodation of valence electrons transferred from the ribbon, induced by adsorption of protons. This result not only further confirms the possibility of enhancing charge storage performance of carbon-based electrochemical devices through chemical functionalization but also, more importantly, provides the physical rationale for further design strategies.

Charge carrier exchange at chemically modified graphene edges: A density functional theory study

Heteroatom doping on the edge of graphene may serve as an effective way to tune chemical activity of carbon-based electrodes with respect to charge carrier transfer in an aqueous environment. In a step towards developing mechanistic understanding of this phenomenon, we explore herein mechanisms of proton transfer from aqueous solution to pristine and doped graphene edges utilizing density functional theory. Atomic B-, N-, and O- doped edges as well as the native graphene are examined, displaying varying proton affinities and effective interaction ranges with the H3O+ charge carrier. Our study shows that the doped edges characterized by more dispersive orbitals, namely boron and nitrogen, demonstrate more energetically favourable charge carrier exchange compared with oxygen, which features more localized orbitals. Extended calculations are carried out to examine proton transfer from the hydronium ion in the presence of explicit water, with results indicating that the basic mechanistic features of the simpler model are unchanged.

Evaluation in health outcomes research : linking theories, methodologies and practice in health promotion.

Health outcomes research has developed as a means of evaluating the effectiveness of health care interventions and as an approach to informing resource allocation. The use of a health outcomes approach in health promotion has made increasing demands on evaluation methodologies to demonstrate program effectiveness. However, criticism of the contribution of health promotion to outcomes research has made several assumptions about the use of qualitative methodologies and the content of program objectives largely derived from a biomedical approach. In contrast to the measurement of biomedical interventions in clinical health care, health promotion practice involves social phenomena, wide-reaching cultural, psychological, political and ideological problems and issues. The integration of methodologies of health promotion evaluation will inform further conceptualisation of the health outcomes approach with the differentiation of three types of outcomes: health development outcomes; social health outcomes; and biomedical health outcomes. It is concluded that this differentiation moves away from dualist concepts that advocate the replacement of goals and targets with regional and locally based approaches. Rather, the future direction for health promotion evaluation needs to employ a framework that elaborates multiple methodologies and approaches necessary for establishing what relationships exist between morbidity, mortality, health advancement and equity.

Labour, social and health outcomes of immigrants in Australia : effects of language proficiency using the IV approach

Language has been of interest to numerous economists since the late 20th century, with the majority of the studies focusing on its effects on immigrants’ labour market outcomes; earnings in particular. However, language is an endogenous variable, which along with its susceptibility to measurement error causes biases in ordinary-least-squares estimates. The instrumental variables method overcomes the shortcomings of ordinary least squares in modelling endogenous explanatory variables. In this dissertation, age at arrival combined with country of origin form an instrument creating a difference-in-difference scenario, to address the issue of endogeneity and attenuation error in language proficiency. The first half of the study aims to investigate the extent to which English speaking ability of immigrants improves their labour market outcomes and social assimilation in Australia, with the use of the 2006 Census. The findings have provided evidence that support the earlier studies. As expected, immigrants in Australia with better language proficiency are able to earn higher income, attain higher level of education, have higher probability of completing tertiary studies, and have more hours of work per week. Language proficiency also improves social integration, leading to higher probability of marriage to a native and higher probability of obtaining citizenship. The second half of the study further investigates whether language proficiency has similar effects on a migrant’s physical and mental wellbeing, health care access and lifestyle choices, with the use of three National Health Surveys. However, only limited evidence has been found with respect to the hypothesised causal relationship between language and health for Australian immigrants.

Pro-inflammatory growth factors reduce secondary degeneration after traumatic spinal cord injury

The role of inflammatory response after spinal cord injury remains unclear. This thesis was a step forward in studying how promoting the inflammation, by delivery pro-inflammatory growth factors, affects the outcomes of spinal cord injury. A significant functional improvement was observed after treatment and these results suggest an interesting avenue for future clinical treatments and may provide a platform to improve the efficacy of other treatments.

Investigating epidermogenesis in a human skin equivalent model

Skin is the largest, and arguably, the most important organ of the body. It is a complex and multi-dimensional tissue, thus making it essentially impossible to fully model in vitro in conventional 2-dimensional culture systems. In view of this, rodents or pigs are utilised to study wound healing therapeutics or to investigate the biological effects of treatments on skin. However, there are many differences between the wound healing processes in rodents compared to humans (contraction vs. re-epithelialisation) and there are also ethical issues associated with animal testing for scientific research. Therefore, the development of skin equivalent (HSE) models from surgical discard human skin has become an important area of research. The studies in this thesis compare, for the first time, native human skin and the epidermogenesis process in a HSE model. The HSE was reported to be a comparable model for human skin in terms of expression and localisation of key epidermal cell markers. This validated HSE model was utilised to study the potential wound healing therapeutic, hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy. There is a significant body of evidence suggesting that lack of cutaneous oxygen results in and potentiates the chronic, non-healing wound environment. Although the evidence is anecdotal, HBO therapy has displayed positive effects on re-oxygenation of chronic wounds and the clinical outcomes suggest that HBO treatment may be beneficial. Therefore, the HSE was subjected to a daily clinical HBO regime and assessed in terms of keratinocyte migration, proliferation, differentiation and epidermal thickening. HBO treatment was observed to increase epidermal thickness, in particular stratum corneum thickening, but it did not alter the expression or localisation of standard epidermal cell markers. In order to elucidate the mechanistic changes occurring in response to HBO treatment in the HSE model, gene microarrays were performed, followed by qRT-PCR of select genes which were differentially regulated in response to HBO treatment. The biological diversity of the HSEs created from individual skin donors, however, overrode the differences in gene expression between treatment groups. Network analysis of functional changes in the HSE model revealed general trends consistent with normal skin growth and maturation. As a more robust and longer term study of these molecular changes, protein localisation and expression was investigated in sections from the HSEs undergoing epidermogenesis in response to HBO treatment. These proteins were CDCP1, Metallothionein, Kallikrein (KLK) 1 and KLK7 and early growth response 1. While the protein expression within the HSE models exposed to HBO treatment were not consistent in all HSEs derived from all skin donors, this is the first study to detect and compare both KLK1 and CDCP1 protein expression in both a HSE model and native human skin. Furthermore, this is the first study to provide such an in depth analysis of the effect of HBO treatment on a HSE model. The data presented in this thesis, demonstrates high levels of variation between individuals and their response to HBO treatment, consistent with the clinical variation that is currently observed.

Outcomes of an early feeding practices intervention to prevent childhood obesity

Objective Use a randomised controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate outcomes of a universal intervention to promote protective feeding practices, which commenced in infancy and aimed to prevent childhood obesity Subjects and Methods The NOURISH RCT enrolled 698 first-time mothers (mean age 30.1 years, SD=5.3) with healthy term infants (51% female) aged 4.3 (SD=1.0) months at baseline. Mothers were randomly allocated to self-directed access to usual care or to attend two 6-session interactive group education modules that provided anticipatory guidance on early feeding practices. Outcomes were assessed six months after completion of the second information module, 20 months from baseline and when the children were two years old. Maternal feeding practices were self-reported using validated questionnaires and study-developed items. Study-measured child height and weight were used to calculate BMI Z-score. Results Retention at follow-up was 78%. Mothers in the intervention group reported using responsive feeding more frequently on 6/9 subscales and 8/8 items (Ps ≤.03) and overall less ‘controlling feeding practices’ (P<.001). They also more frequently used feeding practices (3/4 items; Ps <.01) likely to enhance food acceptance. No statistically significant differences were noted in anthropometric outcomes (BMI Z-score: P=.11), nor in prevalence of overweight/obesity (control 17.9% vs. intervention 13.8%, P=.23). Conclusions Evaluation of NOURISH at child age two years found that anticipatory guidance on complementary feeding, tailored to developmental stage, increased use by first-time mothers of 'protective' feeding practices that potentially support the development of healthy eating and growth patterns in young children.

Adsorption and dissociation of ammonia borane outside and inside single-walled carbon nanotubes : A density functional theory study

Amonia borane (AB) has been identified as a potential candidate highcapacity hydrogen storage material. This work probes the adsorption and dissociation of AB inside and outside single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) within the framework of density functional theory. The dissociation barriers of AB have been calculated and compared with that of the isolated AB molecule. On the basis of the present calculations, no notable improvement results from SWCNT confinement; on the contrary, the dissociation barrier slightly increases with respect to isolated AB.

A density functional theory study on CO2 capture and activation by graphene-like boron nitride with boron vacancy

First principle calculations for a hexagonal (graphene-like) boron nitride (g-BN) monolayer sheet in the presence of a boron-atom vacancy show promising properties for capture and activation of carbon dioxide. CO2 is found to decompose to produce an oxygen molecule via an intermediate chemisorption state on the defect g-BN sheet. The three stationary states and two transition states in the reaction pathway are confirmed by minimum energy pathway search and frequency analysis. The values computed for the two energy barriers involved in this catalytic reaction after enthalpy correction indicate that the catalytic reaction should proceed readily at room temperature.

A density functional theory study of CO2 and N2 adsorption on aluminium nitride single walled nanotubes

Strong binding of isolated carbon dioxide (CO2) on aluminium nitride (AlN) single walled nanotubes is verified using two different functionals. Two optimized configurations corresponding to physisorption and chemisorption are linked by a low energy barrier, such that the chemisorbed state is accessible and thermodynamically favored at low temperatures. In contrast, N2 is found only to form a physisorbed complex with the AlN nanotube, suggesting the potential application of aluminium nitride based materials for CO2 fixation. The effect of nanotube diameter on gas adsorption properties is also discussed. The diameter is found to have an important effect on the chemisorption of CO2, but has little effect on the physisorption of either CO2 or N2.