Research carried outrecently by a team ofMurdoch-led chiropractorsat The World Games inKaosiung, Taiwan, may helpcoaches and elite athletesof alternative sports tofine-tune their training andreduce injuries.
The Games, held every our years, are secondin size only to the Olympics and eature morethan 30 sports such as korball, ultimate Frisbee,liesaving, rugby, handball, casting sport,stball and ying disc.Murdoch University’s Dean o Chiropracticand Sports Science, Dr Brian Nook, ledan international team o more than 30chiropractors who provided treatment or morethan 5000 athletes, as well as carrying outresearch on their conditions.The Australian chiropractic team had veMurdoch representatives including SeniorLecturer o human anatomy Dr Deb Nook,second-year chiropractic student Kirsten Lewis,rst-year sports science student Inga Gassow,Murdoch chiropractic alumnus Jonathan Tan andMurdoch’s School Course Advisor David Lourie.More than 1000 athletes were examined andtreated during the 11 days o competition.“The data is currently being processed andit should be published early next year,” Dr DebNook said.“Any discovered trends will be extremelyuseul or coaches, athletes and healthpractitioners in understanding how injuries occurand the best way to prevent and treat them.”Dr Nook said the experience was antastic,despite the 12 to 14 hour days.Australian athletes competed at the games,coming ninth overall and winning ve gold, 10silver and ve bronze medals.The next World Games will be held in Cali,Colombia in 2013.
Veterinary students fromMurdoch University spent ahair-raising night capturinglions in Kruger NationalPark recently, as part ofan annual South Africa fieldtrip.
Working with Dr Kris Warren and Dr LeiselWion, rom Murdoch’s School o Veterinary andBiomedical Science’s Conservation MedicineProgram, 10 Veterinary students worked tovaccinate the lions against rabies ater the pridekilled a rabies-positive dog.Using radio-tracking, a dead wildebeest andthe recorded sounds o lions eating, the teamattracted a pride o 17 adults and cubs, dartingand anaesthetising several o the adults.The operation was a joint mission with SouthArica’s State Veterinary Service and Wildlievets.com.The student teams assisted with vaccinatingand giving health checks to the anaesthetisedanimals, while keeping watch or other lions andsigns o their lion patient waking up.Dr Wion, Lecturer in Conservation andWildlie Medicine at Murdoch University, saidthe team greatly appreciated the opportunity toobserve a pride o lions in their natural setting.“Our students also visited local villages tohelp the Mpumalanga State Veterinary Servicesvaccinate dogs and cats and talk with thecommunity about rabies – one o the mostserious inectious diseases in southern Arica,”Dr Wion said.“The disease is endemic in many wildlieand domestic species, and interactions betweeninected animals, other animals and humanscan lead to human atalities, the loss o villagelivestock and endangered wildlie.“It is critical that this disease is controlledat the interace between domestic and wildpopulations.”A key management ocus will be vaccinationcampaigns o domestic animals and educationo local people.Program Chair o Postgraduate Studiesin Conservation Medicine, Dr Warren, saidghting the rabies battle on multiple rontshelped illustrate the ‘one-health’ concept oconservation medicine.“Endangered wildlie health is oteninterconnected with public health, the healtho domestic and other wild animals, and issuessuch as community development,” Dr Warrensaid.“The students developed an appreciation othe links between poverty, socio-economic issuesand biodiversity conservation.“Key aims o these eld trips are to givestudents an immersion experience and exploreissues related to conservation at the grassrootslevel”.Dr Warren said she hoped the students’experiences in Arica would inspire themto continue engaging with local and globalbiodiversity conservation initiatives.
Tackling lions in ght against rabies
Murdoch vet students in South Arica with an anaesthetised lion, ready or its rabies inoculations.
Treating world champions
Dr Brian Nook, Mr David Lourie and ellowchiropractor rom Denmark, Thomas Jepsen,enjoying the World Games.
Guides blown away by Science Week
Sam Boeddinghaus helps visiting guides assemble their anemometers.
Hundreds of Girl Guidesmeasured the state’s windsfrom Kununurra to Albanyunder the watchful eye ofMurdoch scientists as part of National Science Week.
The 24-hour project saw guides usingwindspeed testing equipment, which thegirls built and calibrated with guidance romMurdoch’s team, to take measurements every30 minutes and log the results online.Murdoch’s Institute or Resources TechnologyDirector, Proessor David Doepel, said theproject aimed to introduce the guides to hands-on science and to be able to show the size othe renewable energy wind resource in WesternAustralia.“The project was based on the idea thatthere’s always wind blowing somewhere in thestate and this makes it a signicant alternativeenergy source to tap into,” Proessor Doepelsaid.“We ofered our expertise in wind energytechnologies to assist the guides with thisproject, as wind is a reliable resource.“The guides really demonstrated an aptitudeor science, successully building 10 complexscientic instruments that were deployed aroundWA on August 22 and 23.”Sharon O’Brien, Youth Program Adviser orGirl Guides WA, said the National Science Weekproject gave guides and their leaders morecondence in tackling science-based activities.The Girl Guide wind measurements wererecorded live on the weekend o August 22 and23, on the
Harnessing the Wind
website:
www.dse.murdoch.edu.au/events/HarnessingWind
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