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The effects of testing procedure on critical fall height determination for third-generation synthetic turf

- Twomey, Dara, Otago, Leonie, Saunders, Natalie

  • Authors: Twomey, Dara , Otago, Leonie , Saunders, Natalie
  • Date: 2011
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Sports Engineering Vol. 13, no. 3 (2011), p. 145-151
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  • Description: Test procedures and their accuracy in determining critical fall height (CFH) on sporting grounds are paramount to player safety. The procedure currently adopted for synthetic turf in Australian football [1] consists of four consecutive drops at various drop heights at three test locations on the sample. The quantity and packing of the infill in third-generation turf and the pooling effect of the rubber particles with consecutive drops suggests that the current standard protocol may need re-assessment. Therefore, the purpose of this pilot study was to investigate whether current methods of testing for CFH are appropriate for third-generation synthetic turf or whether an alternative or adapted method needs to be developed. CFH was measured, using a HISUN Uniaxe-II Impact Tester, on 12 combinations of synthetic turf samples (four different products with three shock pad options). Three conditions were investigated on each sample; the existing protocol; an alternative 12 single-drop protocol and four single drops from the CFH determined from the existing protocol. A significant difference was found for both absolute and percentage difference between the existing and 12 single-drop protocol, with p = 0. 001 and t = 4. 33 and p < 0. 001 and t = 6. 03, respectively. There was also a significant difference between the CFH reached with and without a shock pad for both the existing protocol and the 12 single-drop protocol. The results of this pilot study demonstrate that differences do occur with alterations to the existing protocol and highlight the need for a more detailed characterisation of testing methods on third-generation synthetic turf and the response of surfaces to them. © 2011 International Sports Engineering Association.

Monitoring core body temperature in infantry soldiers and airfield defence guards

- Ham, Daniel, Lee, C., Payne, Warren, Harvey, Jack

  • Authors: Ham, Daniel , Lee, C. , Payne, Warren , Harvey, Jack
  • Date: 2005
  • Type: Text , Conference paper
  • Relation: Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport Vol. 8, no. 4 Supplement (2005), p. 58
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  • Description: During strenuous and/or extended exercise in hot environments, considerable body heat can be produced. If the heat produced is above the body's thermoregulatory capacities, or if these capacities are impeded, a rise in core body temperature (Tc) will occur. Infantry soldiers and Airfield Defence Guards within the Australian Defence Force (ADF) are often based in areas which expose them to high levels of thermal stress. Furthermore, they must perform physically demanding training and operations, often in full camouflage, and on occasions with a range of equipment including body armour, which further increases the risk of developing a heat illness during training tasks. The ADF is addressing this issue as part of the Defence Physical Employment Standards (DPES) project, which aims at developing new employment standards using tests that reflect job requirements, and in which soldiers and airmen will be required to complete a number of strenuous and/or extended physical tasks. Two high risk tasks involve marching for either 10 or 20 km at an average velocity of 6km/hr, wearing full camouflage and carrying a 45kg pack. A third high risk task, which simulates movement in urban terrain, is shorter in duration but higher in intensity, and involves wearing ballistic vest, helmet, and webbing. In order to enhance safety by decreasing the risk of heat injury associated with completing these three tasks, Tc is being monitored using telemetric pills. A subject who reaches a Tc of 39.5oC will be withdrawn from the task. Preliminary testing in reasonably mild environmental conditions (15-20oC WBGTO), resulted in steady increases in Tc throughout each task, though no subject's core temperature reached 39.5 in any of the tasks.
  • Description: 2003005936

Development and validation of the Pre-school Educational and Psychological Screen (PrEPS)

- Heeney, Simone

  • Authors: Heeney, Simone
  • Date: 2004
  • Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
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  • Description: Children with behavioural, social, and emotional problems in preschool are often at risk for school maladjustment and the development of psychological disorders when they enter the school system. This study sought to develop and validate a preschool screening instrument that could identify the precursors and symptoms of mental health problems and provide targeted intervention processes. Measures included on the screen were 20 items identified by 126 Victorian Prep teachers as most important for school success. When administered by teachers of 143 (68 boys, 75 girls) preschoolaged children, these items demonstrated an internal reliability of .97. Factor analysis resulted in a 3-factor solution, with 'Learning Skills", 'Social Skills', and 'Good Start Skills' emerging as factors. This 'Preschool Educational and Psychological Screen' (PrEPS) demonstrated significant concurrent, predictive, and construct validity. Factor scores were associated with family income, fathers' education, parents' marital status, and child's age, hours of sleep, and gender. Results indicate that the PrEPS is a reliable and valid instrument in the identification of early indicators of psychological problems in preschoolers.
  • Description: Professional Doctorate of Psychology (Clinical)
  • Description: This research thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of D. Psych (Clinical), School of Behavioural & Social Science & Humanities.

Agile ageing – A modifiable vital sign to mitigate the risk of falls in older adults?

- Ogilvie, Madeleine, Wallen, Matthew, Talpey, Scott

  • Authors: Ogilvie, Madeleine , Wallen, Matthew , Talpey, Scott
  • Date: 2021
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Medical Hypotheses Vol. 148, no. (2021), p.
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  • Description: Falls prevention in older adults is a targeted priority because a fall can lead to disability, institutionalisation and presents a signficant financial burden. Falls are multifactoral in nature however, impairments in both physical and cognitive functioning have been linked to their occurrence. Currently, testing and exercise training for falls prevention focuses on physical qualities such as balance and strength. Agility is a unique physical quality that couples an individuals perceptual cognitive ability with the ability to produce a quick and accurate movement. Agility is relatively well understood in a sporting context however, its application to falls prevention has been minimal. Because a fall may occur while an individual is perceiving information from the dynamic environment around them while attempting to execute a rapid and accurate movement it is hypothesised that concepts and methods used to assess and train agility in athlete populations can be use to improve practices related to the screening and training to mitigate the risk of a fall in an older adult. © 2021

The use of sprint tests for assessment of speed qualities of elite Australian rules footballers

- Young, Warren, Russell, Andrew, Burge, Peter, Clarke, Alex, Cormack, Stuart, Stewart, Glenn

  • Authors: Young, Warren , Russell, Andrew , Burge, Peter , Clarke, Alex , Cormack, Stuart , Stewart, Glenn
  • Date: 2008
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance Vol. 3, no. 2 (2008), p. 199-206
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  • Description: Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the relationships between split times within sprint tests over 30 m and 40 m in elite Australian Rules footballers. Methods: Data were analyzed from two Australian Football League (AFL) clubs. The first club (n = 35) conducted a 40-m sprint test and recorded split times at 10 m and 20 m. The second club (n = 30) conducted a 30-m sprint test and recorded splits at 10 m and 20 m. Analyses included calculation of Pearson correlations and common variances between all the split times as well as "flying" times (20-40 m for the first club and 20 to 30 m for the second club). Results: There was a high correlation (r = 0.94) between 10-m time and 20-m time within each club, indicating these measures assessed very similar speed qualities. The correlations between 10-m time and times to 30 m and 40 m decreased, but still produced common variances of 79% and 66% respectively. However when the "flying" times (20-40 m and 20-30 m) were correlated to 10-m time, the common variances decreased substantially to 25% and 42% respectively, indicating uniqueness. Conclusions: It was concluded that 10-m time is a good reflection, of acceleration, capabilities and either 20 to 40 m in a 40-m sprint test or 20 to 30 m in a 30-m sprint test can be used to estimate maximum speed capabilities. It was suggested that sprint tests over 30 m or 40 m can be conducted indoors to provide useful information about independent speed qualities in athletes. © 2008 Human Kinetics, Inc.
  • Description: C1

Employment testing online, offline, and over the phone: Implications for e-assessment

- Grieve, Rachel, Hayes, Jordana

  • Authors: Grieve, Rachel , Hayes, Jordana
  • Date: 2016
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Revista de Psicología del Trabajo y de las Organizaciones Vol. 32, no. 2 (2016), p. 95-101
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  • Description: This research investigated faking across test administration modes in an employment testing scenario. For the first time, phone administration was included. Participants (N=91) were randomly allocated to testing mode (telephone, Internet, or pen-and-paper). Participants completed a personality measure under standard instructions and then under instructions to fake as an ideal police applicant. No significant difference in any faked personality domains as a function of administration mode was found. Effect sizes indicated that the influence of administration mode was small. Limitations and future directions are considered. Overall, results indicate that if an individual intends to fake on a self-report test in a vocational assessment scenario, the electronic administration mode in which the test is delivered may be unimportant. Este trabajo investiga el falseamiento en los diferentes modos de aplicación de tests en el contexto de las pruebas para conseguir empleo. Por primera vez se incluyó la aplicación telefónica. Se distribuyó a los participantes (N=91) aleatoriamente en las modalidades de prueba (telefónica, Internet o papel y lápiz). Los sujetos realizaron una prueba de personalidad con instrucciones estándar y después con instrucciones de que falsearan la prueba como si fuesen aspirantes ideales a la policía. No resultaron diferencias significativas en ninguno de los dominios de personalidad en función del modo de administración. La magnitud del efecto indicaba que la influencia del modo de aplicación era escasa. Se abordan las limitaciones y directrices con vistas al futuro. En general, los resultados indican que si una persona trata de falsear una prueba de autoinforme en el contexto de la evaluación profesional el modo de administración electrónica de la prueba puede carecer de importancia.

Effect of instructions on selected jump squat variables

- Talpey, Scott, Young, Warren, Beseler, Bradley

  • Authors: Talpey, Scott , Young, Warren , Beseler, Bradley
  • Date: 2016
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research Vol. 30, no. 9 (2016), p. 2508-2513
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  • Description: Talpey, SW, Young, WB, and Beseler, B. Effect of instructions on selected jump squat variables. J Strength Cond Res 30(9): 2508-2513, 2016-The purpose of this study was to compare 2 instructions on the performance of selected variables in a jump squat (JS) exercise. The second purpose was to determine the relationships between JS variables and sprint performance. Eighteen male subjects with resistance training experience performed 2 sets of 4 JS with no extra load with the instructions to concentrate on (a) jumping for maximum height and (b) extending the legs as fast as possible to maximize explosive force. Sprint performance was assessed at 0- to 10-m and 10- to 20-m distances. From the JS jump height, peak power, relative peak power, peak force, peak velocity, and countermovement distance were measured from a force platform and position transducer system. The JS variables under the 2 instructions were compared with paired t-tests, and the relationships between these variables and sprint performance were determined with Pearson's correlations. The jump height instruction produced greater mean jump height and peak velocity (p < 0.05), but the fast leg extension instruction produced greater (p < 0.05) peak force (3.7%). There was a trivial difference between the instructions for peak power output (p > 0.05). Jump height was the variable that correlated most strongly with 10-m time and 10- to 20-m time under both instructions. The height instruction produced a stronger correlation with 10-m time (r = -0.455), but the fast leg extension JS produced a greater correlation with 10-20 time (r = -0.545). The results indicate that instructions have a meaningful influence on JS variables and therefore need to be taken into consideration when assessing or training athletes.

Action recognition using spatio-temporal distance classifier correlation filter

- Anwaar-Ul Haq, Gondal, Iqbal, Murshed, Manzur

  • Authors: Anwaar-Ul Haq , Gondal, Iqbal , Murshed, Manzur
  • Date: 2011
  • Type: Text , Conference proceedings
  • Relation: 2011 International Conference on Digital Image Computing Techniques and Applications (DICTA), Noosa, QLD, 6th-8th Dec, 2011
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  • Description: The problem of recognizing human actions is characterized by complex dynamics and strong variations in their executions. Despite this inconvenience, space-time correlations provide valuable clues for their discrimination. Therefore, space-time correlators like emph{Maximum Average Correlation Height} (MACH) filters have successfully been used for action recognition with encouraging results. However, their utility is challenged due to number of factors: (i) these filters are trained only for one class at a time and separate filters are required for each class increasing computational overhead, (ii) these filters simply take average of similar action instances and behave no better than average filters and (iii) misaligned action datasets create problems for these filters as they are not shift-invariant. In this paper, we address these issues by posing action recognition as a multi-class discrimination problem and propose a emph{single} 3D frequency domain filter, named Action ST-DCCF for multiple action classes that mitigates inherent discrepancies of correlation filters. It presents a different interpretation of correlation filters as a method of applying spatio-temporal transformation to the data rather than simply minimizing correlation energy across all possible shifts. Experiments on a variety of action datasets are performed to evaluate our approach. Experimental results are comparable to the existing action recognition approaches.
  • Description: The problem of recognizing human actions is characterized by complex dynamics and strong variations in their executions. Despite this inconvenience, space-time correlations provide valuable clues for their discrimination. Therefore, space-time correlators like \emph{Maximum Average Correlation Height} (MACH) filters have successfully been used for action recognition with encouraging results. However, their utility is challenged due to number of factors: (i) these filters are trained only for one class at a time and separate filters are required for each class increasing computational overhead, (ii) these filters simply take average of similar action instances and behave no better than average filters and (iii) misaligned action datasets create problems for these filters as they are not shift-invariant. In this paper, we address these issues by posing action recognition as a multi-class discrimination problem and propose a \emph{single} 3D frequency domain filter, named Action ST-DCCF for multiple action classes that mitigates inherent discrepancies of correlation filters. It presents a different interpretation of correlation filters as a method of applying spatio-temporal transformation to the data rather than simply minimizing correlation energy across all possible shifts. Experiments on a variety of action datasets are performed to evaluate our approach. Experimental results are comparable to the existing action recognition approaches.

A novel hamstring strain injury prevention system: post-match strength testing for secondary prevention in football

- Wollin, Martin, Thorborg, Kristian, Drew, Michael, Pizzari, Tania

Severity invariant feature selection for machine health monitoring

- Yaqub, Muhammad, Gondal, Iqbal, Kamruzzaman, Joarder

  • Authors: Yaqub, Muhammad , Gondal, Iqbal , Kamruzzaman, Joarder
  • Date: 2011
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: International Review of Electrical Engineering Vol. 6, no. 1 (2011), p. 238-248
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  • Description: Vibration signals used for abnormality detection in machine health monitoring (MHM) suffer from significant variation in the patterns with fault severity. This variation results in overlap among the features extracted against different fault types and causes severe degradation in fault detection accuracy. This paper identifies a newfangled problem originated by severity variant features and mitigates this impact by using appropriate feature selection based on Fisher linear discriminant (FLD) and Bhattacharyya distance (BCD) to enhance fault classification accuracy. In order to validate the performance of the proposed scheme, training and testing data are obtained from different severity levels. To capture the non-stationary behavior of vibration signal, robust tools such as wavelet transform (WT) for time-frequency analysis is employed. Simulation studies show that the proposed scheme ensures good fault diagnostic accuracy even if training and testing data belong to different severity levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pack Hike Test finishing time for Australian firefighters : Pass rates and correlates of performance

- Phillips, Matthew, Petersen, Aaron, Abbiss, Chris, Netto, Kevin, Payne, Warren, Nichols, David, Aisbett, Brad

  • Authors: Phillips, Matthew , Petersen, Aaron , Abbiss, Chris , Netto, Kevin , Payne, Warren , Nichols, David , Aisbett, Brad
  • Date: 2011
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Applied Ergonomics Vol. 42, no. 3 (2011), p. 411-418
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  • Description: The pack hike test (PHT, 4.83 km hike wearing a 20.4-kg load) was devised to determine the job readiness of USA wildland firefighters. This study measured PHT performance in a sample of Australian firefighters who currently perform the PHT (career land management firefighters, LMFF) and those who do not (suburban/regional volunteer firefighters, VFF). The study also investigated the relationships between firefighters' PHT performance and their performance across a range of fitness tests for both groups. Twenty LMFF and eighteen age-, body mass-, and height-matched VFF attempted the PHT, and a series of muscular endurance, power, strength and cardiorespiratory fitness tests. Bivariate correlations between the participants' PHT finishing time and their performance in a suite of different fitness tests were determined using Pearson's product moment correlation coefficient. The mean PHT finishing time for LMFF (42.2 ± 2.8 min) was 9 ± 14% faster (p = 0.001) than for VFF (46.1 ± 3.6 min). The pass rate (the percentage of participants who completed the PHT in under 45 min) for LMFF (90%) was greater than that of VFF (39%, p = 0.001). For LMFF, VO2peak in L min-1(r = -0.66, p = 0.001) and the duration they could sustain a grip 'force' of 25 kg (r = -0.69, p = 0.001) were strongly correlated with PHT finishing time. For VFF, VO2peak in mL kg-1 min-1(r = -0.75, p = 0.002) and the duration they could hold a 1.2-m bar attached to 45.5 kg in a 'hose spray position' (r = -0.69, p = 0.004) were strongly correlated with PHT finishing time. This study shows that PHT fitness-screening could severely limit the number of VFF eligible for duty, compromising workforce numbers and highlights the need for specific and valid firefighter fitness standards. The results also demonstrate the strong relationships between PHT performance and firefighters' cardiorespiratory fitness and local muscular endurance. Those preparing for the PHT should focus their training on these fitness components in the weeks and months prior to undertaking the PHT. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society.

An efficient pose estimation for limited-resourced MAVs using sufficient statistics

- Senthooran, Ilankaikone, Barca, Jan, Kamruzzaman, Joarder, Murhsed, Manzur, Chung, Hoam

  • Authors: Senthooran, Ilankaikone , Barca, Jan , Kamruzzaman, Joarder , Murhsed, Manzur , Chung, Hoam
  • Date: 2015
  • Type: Text , Conference paper
  • Relation: IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, IROS 2015; Hamburg; Germany; 28th September-2nd October 2015 Vol. 2015, p. 3735-3740
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  • Description: We present a computationally efficient RGB-D based pose estimation solution for less computationally resourced MAVs, which are ideally suited as members in a swarm. Our approach applies the sufficient statistics derived for a least-squares problem to our problem context. RANSAC-based outlier detection in aligning corresponding feature points is a time consuming operation in visual pose estimation. The additive nature of the used sufficient statistics significantly reduces the computation time of the RANSAC procedure since the pose estimation in each test loop can be computed by reusing previously computed sufficient statistics. This eliminates the need for recomputing estimates from scratch each time. A simpler hypotheses testing method gave similar performance in terms of speed but less accurate than our proposed method. We further increase the efficiency by reducing the problem size to four dimensions using attitude data from an Attitude and Heading Reference System (AHRS). Using a real-world dataset, we show that our algorithm saves up to 94% of computation time for the RANSAC-based procedure in pose estimation while improving the accuracy.

A Realistic and efficient real-time plant environment simulator

- Seo, Jeongwon, Gong, Mingwei, Naha, Ranesh Kumar, Mahanti, Aniket

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