Southern Cross University

The management of corals over the next 50 years in the face of climate change will be crucial to the long-term survival of many coral reef ecosystems. Global emission reductions remain the primary strategy to sustain coral reefs; however, active intervention methods to protect corals from the impact of marine heatwaves are increasingly being considered as part of coral reef management plans. One method of coral bleaching mitigation involves aerosolising seawater, creating a fog layer that can reduce irradiance-driven stress. Here, the efficacy of seawater fogging for reducing coral bleaching stress was tested for the first time in an aquaria-based bleaching experiment using Pocillopora meandrina. The experiment had two orthogonal factors: (a) temperature (2 levels - heat-stressed and control, (b) fog (2 levels - 20 - 25% light reduction by fog for 6h daily and non-fogged). A mean fog level of 21.5% improved symbiont density and lowered per cent whiteness but also decreased photosynthetic efficiency. Overall, fogging was effective in reducing irradiance; however, the mixed responses observed for Pocillopora meandrina highlight the need for further research on the effects of low and variable-shading techniques, such as fogging, for mitigating coral bleaching.

Athlete burnout is increasingly reported as impacting esports players' wellbeing and performance. This study examined the psychometric properties of the Athlete Burnout Scale (ABO-S) in esports. The ABO-S assesses three burnout dimensions: physical exhaustion, reduced sense of accomplishment, and negative feelings toward sport. The study focused on item discrimination and difficulty parameters to establish optimal raw cut-off scores indicating levels of burnout risk. Participants were 453 adult esports players proficient in English, ranked in the top 40% of one of seven major esports. The sample included 372 males, 74 females, and seven nonbinary participants from 66 countries. Item Response Theory was used to assess the ABO-S's psychometric properties. The GRM provided a superior fit, with all but one item showing sufficient discrimination and difficulty levels. Items reflecting weariness, lacking energy, and physical exhaustion demonstrated high levels of information and reliability across a range of burnout levels. A provisional diagnostic cut-off score of ≥ 63 (+2 SD) was established, identifying 2% of participants at high burnout risk. Additional raw score thresholds of ≥ 47 (+0.5 SD) and 52 (+1 SD) were also identified. The ABO-S is a robust instrument for assessing burnout in esports players, with specific items effectively identifying varying levels of burnout. The establishment of cut-off scores aids in identifying players at high risk of burnout, contributing to better support and intervention strategies in the esports community. These findings further the understanding of burnout in esports, highlighting the scale's utility in monitoring and addressing player wellbeing.

Abstract. The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is increasingly threatened by mass thermal coral bleaching events under climate change. Marine cloud brightening (MCB) has been proposed as a potential adaptation strategy to reduce thermal stress by enhancing cloud reflectivity through aerosol injection. This study evaluates the sensitivity of cloud–aerosol interactions to aerosol emission intensity and spatial configuration over the GBR using convection-permitting Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model simulations. A control simulation representing a non- to weakly-precipitating shallow trade-cumulus regime is compared with three MCB sensitivity experiments: a densely distributed (20 km apart), moderate-intensity emission scenario (EXP20), a sparsely distributed (100 km spacing), high-intensity scenario (EXP100), and an intermediate configuration (EXP40). Results show that enhanced aerosol emissions substantially increase near-surface aerosol concentrations, with dispersion strongly governed by source spacing and prevailing trade winds. The EXP20 configuration produces more homogeneous and widespread aerosol enhancements, whereas EXP100 generates localized peaks that are rapidly scavenged, resulting in smaller domain-mean increases despite identical total emissions. Over a 24-hour period, domain-averaged cloud droplet number concentration (CDNC), optical depth, and cloud albedo exhibit strong sensitivity to aerosol loading, while cloud water path (CWP) and cloud fraction show limited responses. These findings indicate a dominant Twomey effect in this cloud regime, with only weak evidence of the Albrecht effect. Nonlinear CWP responses are noted under varying conditions of mid-level humidity, wind shear, and lower-tropospheric stability. Overall, the results highlight the importance of aerosol source configuration and background atmospheric state in shaping MCB effectiveness over the GBR.

Covering 40–50% of the Earth’s surface drylands make an important contribution to the terrestrial carbon sink and the global carbon cycle. However, in addition to extended dry periods, drylands also experience extreme flood events. We will present carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from Kati-Thanda-Lake-Eyre basin in central Australia during flooding in 2019. The low basin slope resulted in a large wet of inundation (up to 33,547 km2), that remained wet for an extended period (89 to 325 days). Up-scaling the daily measured fluxes for the changing wet surface area, for the period it was wet, has the potential to result in around 115 Tg of CO2 and 21 Gg of CH4 emitted, and 2 Gg of N2O consumed (Total= 117 Tg CO2e). The low gradient and associated low volume of water transported and large wet area also resulted in the vertical flux of carbon being up to about 800 times the river transported carbon. This first-order estimate of GHG emissions from the Kati-Thanda-Lake-Eyre basin suggests that when flooded, dryland systems globally have the potential to make a significant but currently unaccounted for, contribution to global GHG emissions.

Instrumented mouthguards (iMGs) enable in vivo monitoring of head-impact exposure by reporting event-level peak linear acceleration (PLA) and peak angular acceleration (PAA) in contact sports. This case study describes head impacts in a world-class Muay Thai fighter during routine sparring sessions over a two-week period leading into a competitive bout. Seven sparring sessions were monitored using an iMG (PROTeQT, HitIQ), and only manufacturer (in-mouth)-flagged events above the device's 8 g trigger threshold were analyzed. Event-level data were exported from the manufacturer portal; raw time-series signals and proprietary signal-processing parameters were not accessible, and no independent video verification was performed. Across the camp, 590 impacts were recorded. Mean PLA values were modest across sessions (7.6 to 19.5 g), with one event exceeding 106 g (max PLA 162.2 g). In contrast, PAA exhibited greater variability, with multiple device-flagged events exceeding 7900 rad/s2, particularly in Sessions 4, 6, and 7, where maximum PAA values reached 19,862 to 26,850 rad/s2. Overall, these data indicate that sparring was predominantly low in translational loading, while occasionally producing high recorded rotational peaks. Because outputs are device- and processing-pipeline-specific and were not independently verified, threshold-based severity banding and extreme peaks should be interpreted cautiously. This case demonstrates the potential utility of iMG monitoring to characterize session-to-session variability in sparring exposure and to inform practical sparring load management strategies aimed at reducing cumulative head-impact burden.

While retouched photos on social media have been argued to be at best inauthentic and at worst fake, this study employs a negotiated authenticity lens in combination with aesthetics theory to investigate how social media audiences perceive the authenticity, including antecedents and consequences, of retouched travel photos, using an online survey. Findings show that in the context of retouched travel photos, perceived constructive authenticity, perceived existential authenticity ascribed by social media audiences, and perceived creative authenticity derived from tourists’ rationale for posting are significantly associated with social media audiences’ perceptions of the authenticity of these photos. This positively associates with perceived aesthetics and in turn, predicts impulse travel intention. Notably, this study demonstrates that social media audiences actively and critically engage in the attribution of authenticity. These findings offer valuable theoretical contributions and provide useful practical implications for tourism providers to plan and design tourism products and marketing collateral.

With greater diversity in student cohorts globally, higher education institutions are seeking innovative curriculum delivery forms which better serve students’ learning needs and improve their learning experiences. Immersive block models are one such innovation that can make a sustained, positive difference to student outcomes, yet their impact across disciplines is underexplored. This study examined student achievement (N = 92,461) and satisfaction (N = 26,298) across nine discipline groups at a public Australian university that has moved all coursework units into a 6-week immersive block model. Inferential statistical tests were used to compare results between the traditional semester and immersive block delivery over four years, as well as with results from control groups that stayed in the traditional model. Results demonstrate that the immersive block model was effective for delivering learning across all discipline groups with a statistically significant, positive impact on the academic success of students across seven of the nine discipline groups analysed. Strong improvements in student success were observed in a broad array of subject areas, including Natural and Physical Sciences, Society and Culture, Information Technology, Creative Arts, and Management and Commerce. Satisfaction results statistically improved when compared with the traditional semester model in the discipline areas of Information Technology and Management and Commerce. While such findings are encouraging, further investigation is required into causes of lower satisfaction in other disciplines.

Despite recent advances in women’s sport in Portugal, coaching remains a highly gendered domain in which women continue to be underrepresented in leadership positions. Understanding the barriers that constrain women’s coaching careers is therefore essential for advancing gender equality in sport. This study aimed to validate the Barriers to Sports Coaching Questionnaire for Women (BSCQW) for the Portuguese sport context. Following a translation and cultural adaptation process, data were collected from a sample of 660 Portuguese women coaches representing a wide range of sports and competitive levels. A formative measurement approach was adopted and assessed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling. The results demonstrated acceptable collinearity among indicators and meaningful contributions of organizational, sociocultural, intrapersonal, and interpersonal barriers to their respective constructs. The sociocultural barriers construct was refined by removing one item due to limited relevance in the Portuguese context, resulting in a more parsimonious model while preserving theoretical coverage. Overall, the findings supported the validity and contextual adequacy of the BSCQW Portuguese version. This instrument provides a robust and practical tool for researchers, sport organizations, coach education programs, and policymakers to identify the barriers faced by women coaches, thereby informing initiatives to support women’s coaching careers in Portugal.