title: Self-organising map analysis of rugby placekicking biomechanics

authors: Hébert-Losier, Kim

subjects: artificial neural network

abstract: Our aim was to use a self-organising map (SOM) to examine key biomechanical variables previously identified to discriminate best from worst placekicking attempts. Placekicker and ball 3D biomechanics were acquired from three competitive placekickers who performed 10 kicks outdoors, 35-m from the posts. Seven key variables were extracted for SOM analysis and kicks were categorised into "best", "typical", and "worst" for each placekicker based on kick outcomes and player and coach ratings. SOM output indicated that three clusters best explained intra-cluster similarities and inter-cluster differences. The three clusters highlighted differences between the biomechanical variables of the three placekickers rather than the best, typical, and worst kicks. Within-clusters, however, the best and worst kicks tended to be represented by nodes in separate map regions.

text: Self-organising map analysis of rugby placekicking biomechanics Our aim was to use a self-organising map (SOM) to examine key biomechanical variables previously identified to discriminate best from worst placekicking attempts. Placekicker and ball 3D biomechanics were acquired from three competitive placekickers who performed 10 kicks outdoors, 35-m from the posts. Seven key variables were extracted for SOM analysis and kicks were categorised into "best", "typical", and "worst" for each placekicker based on kick outcomes and player and coach ratings. SOM output indicated that three clusters best explained intra-cluster similarities and inter-cluster differences. The three clusters highlighted differences between the biomechanical variables of the three placekickers rather than the best, typical, and worst kicks. Within-clusters, however, the best and worst kicks tended to be represented by nodes in separate map regions.

year: 2018

title: Abandonment and rapid infilling of a tide-dominated distributary channel at 0.7 ka in the Mekong River Delta

authors: Gugliotta, Marcello

abstract: The Ba Lai distributary channel of the Mekong River Delta was abandoned and infilled with sediment during the Late Holocene, providing a unique opportunity to investigate the sediment fill, timing and mechanisms of channel abandonment in tide-dominated deltaic systems. Based on analysis and age dating of four sediment cores, we show that the channel was active since 2.6 ka and was abandoned at 0.7 ka as marked by the abrupt disappearance of the sand fraction and increase in organic matter and sediment accumulation rate. We estimate that the channel might have been filled in a time range of 45–263 years after detachment from the deltaic network, with sediment accumulation rates of centimetres to decimetres per year, rapidly storing approximately 600 Mt of organic-rich mud. We suggest that the channel was abandoned due to a sediment buildup favoured by an increase in regional sediment supply to the delta. This study highlights that mechanisms for abandonment and infilling of tide-dominated deltaic channels do not entirely fit widely used models developed for fluvial-dominated environments. Their abandonment might be driven by autogenic factors related to the river-tidal and deltaic dynamics and favoured by allogenic factors (e.g., human impact and/or climate change).</jats:p>

text: Abandonment and rapid infilling of a tide-dominated distributary channel at 0.7 ka in the Mekong River Delta The Ba Lai distributary channel of the Mekong River Delta was abandoned and infilled with sediment during the Late Holocene, providing a unique opportunity to investigate the sediment fill, timing and mechanisms of channel abandonment in tide-dominated deltaic systems. Based on analysis and age dating of four sediment cores, we show that the channel was active since 2.6 ka and was abandoned at 0.7 ka as marked by the abrupt disappearance of the sand fraction and increase in organic matter and sediment accumulation rate. We estimate that the channel might have been filled in a time range of 45–263 years after detachment from the deltaic network, with sediment accumulation rates of centimetres to decimetres per year, rapidly storing approximately 600 Mt of organic-rich mud. We suggest that the channel was abandoned due to a sediment buildup favoured by an increase in regional sediment supply to the delta. This study highlights that mechanisms for abandonment and infilling of tide-dominated deltaic channels do not entirely fit widely used models developed for fluvial-dominated environments. Their abandonment might be driven by autogenic factors related to the river-tidal and deltaic dynamics and favoured by allogenic factors (e.g., human impact and/or climate change).</jats:p>

year: 2021

title: Restoring Indigneous Law and Justice Traditions

authors: Cook, Michelle Lynn

subjects: Indigenous peoples

abstract: Restoring indigenous people's law and their ability to practice their justice traditions is a fundamental aspect of non-discrimination, decolonization, self-governance, self-determination, and social justice. The critical application and interpretation of indigenous people's law has revolutionary potentiality to transform, confront, and heal multiple forms of oppression such as environmental destruction, patriarchy, and the prison/criminal justice system. The sovereign jurisgenerative (law making) power of indigenous peoples is a site of profound hope for the revitalization of indigenous law and justice traditions restores legal principles and values of sacredness, harmony, balance, and interconnectivity within human relationships and with the natural world. Revitalizing indigenous law is a way to re-construct the self and society while also finding and re-connecting to new/old ways of being human. This thesis focuses on both Navajo and Māori practices and visions of law and justice; the challenges and, successes they have faced and the hopes they have of living by their law. Indigenous peoples, their ways of being, their wisdom, laws, and philosophies, must be respected, protected, and preserved not only because they contribute to humanity's richness and cultural diversity but also because they are living examples of  a more just, dignified, and ecologically sustainable society, which can serve all humanity.

text: Restoring Indigneous Law and Justice Traditions Restoring indigenous people's law and their ability to practice their justice traditions is a fundamental aspect of non-discrimination, decolonization, self-governance, self-determination, and social justice. The critical application and interpretation of indigenous people's law has revolutionary potentiality to transform, confront, and heal multiple forms of oppression such as environmental destruction, patriarchy, and the prison/criminal justice system. The sovereign jurisgenerative (law making) power of indigenous peoples is a site of profound hope for the revitalization of indigenous law and justice traditions restores legal principles and values of sacredness, harmony, balance, and interconnectivity within human relationships and with the natural world. Revitalizing indigenous law is a way to re-construct the self and society while also finding and re-connecting to new/old ways of being human. This thesis focuses on both Navajo and Māori practices and visions of law and justice; the challenges and, successes they have faced and the hopes they have of living by their law. Indigenous peoples, their ways of being, their wisdom, laws, and philosophies, must be respected, protected, and preserved not only because they contribute to humanity's richness and cultural diversity but also because they are living examples of  a more just, dignified, and ecologically sustainable society, which can serve all humanity.

year: 2010