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The Dangerous Prisoners (Sexual Offenders) Act 2003 (Qld) provides for the preventive detention of a prisoner if there is "acceptable, cogent evidence" to a "high degree of probability" that the prisoner is a "serious danger to the community" because of an "unacceptable risk" that the prisoner will commit a "serious sexual offence". In preventive detention cases courts rely on the expert opinion of psychiatrists and psychologists who often use actuarial risk assessment instruments. In Black v Attorney-General (Qld) [2022] QCA 253 the Queensland Court of Appeal considered a decision to detain an offender who had a history of possessing and trading child sexual exploitation material but who had not previously been proved to have committed a contact offence against a child. This article analyses the reasoning of the Court of Appeal and critically examines the reliability of probabilistic risk assessment tools and the validity of expert evidence about risk in the preventive detention context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: To ensure a minimal chance of injury, it is important for fitness facilities to provide users with a safe environment. The aim of this study was to pilot an observational audit tool (OAT) developed specifically for fitness facilities across Australia. Methods: An OAT was designed, trialled and amended to ensure objective components. Audits were conducted at 11 regional and metropolitan fitness facilities across four Australian states. Face and content validity of the tool was assessed. Results: The OAT was found to have high face and content validity. The median recorded temperature in each activity area was above the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommended level; however, the median illuminance of each area was below these levels. The median distance behind treadmills was found to be less than the minimum distance recommended by manufacturers. In the majority of facilities, walkways were clear of obstacles (eight facilities) and most floor surfaces were in good condition (ten facilities). Only five facilities were supervised at all times, and only six clearly displayed their rules and etiquette. Free weights equipment was observed laying on floors (not in dedicated storage areas) in seven facilities. Conclusions: Fitness facility operators are advised to conduct regular risk assessments to ensure that rules and behaviour policies are easily seen and followed. It is desirable to have a systematic risk management program that is standardised throughout Australia to ensure the risk of injuries associated with poor risk management, as well as the likelihood of consequent legal liability, are reduced. Practical applications: Observational safety audits that are regularly conducted in fitness facilities are an important tool that can help to identify potential injury-causing hazards so that they may be controlled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is based on a case that highlights the dearth of cogent and pertinent risk assessment information in the reports and testimonies of many involved in assessing risks to children in real life problematic circumstances. In the case, the decision to exclude an intrafamilial sexual offender from the family home was made in large measure on the basis that the offender's wife accepted the offender's "denial of guilt" to accusations previously made against him. Keeping families apart should not be entertained without reliable and valid evidence pointing to that decision. However, as will be seen, the evidence often relied upon by child protection workers, albeit in good faith, is neither. The assessment processes described in the case point directly to what appears to be a wider lack of knowledge specific to assessment of recidivism, to misrepresentation of risk assessment information, and to overarching epistemological issues that appear to be widely ignored and/or misunderstood within the overall field of risk assessment and threat management. The purpose of this article is to describe how the information used to decide upon exclusion in the case cannot be considered probative and to iterate the methodological processes that must be considered in such cases if miscarriages of justice are to be avoided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Fitness facilities provide an avenue for people to engage in physical activity; however, it is important that these facilities have effective strategies to reduce the risk of injuries to their customers. The attitudes of fitness industry employees with respect to safety can influence the implementation of risk management practices that can then impact on the success of such strategies. The aim of this study was to identify views of nationwide fitness industry employees about safety hazards associated with equipment, training practices and the physical environments within fitness facilities. Methods: A 6-week nationwide online cross-sectional self-report survey consisting of 13 basic demographic questions and 10 questions relating to equipment, training practices and physical environment of fitness facilities, extracted from a 45 item questionnaire, answered on a 6-point Likert scale. Results: The majority of the 1178 respondents believed their premises were safe (94.9%). Major factors compromising safety identified by respondents were lack of ventilation (68.9%) and customers frequently observed to leave equipment lying around (43.8%). Over 90% of respondents believed that both the layout of the equipment in their facility and its design was good. There was frequent observation of equipment misuse and customers using weights that were too heavy for them (41.9% and 47.8% respectively). Conclusions: Fitness facilities should implement preventative maintenance of their physical environment and equipment as standard practice. Only qualified fitness professionals should be hired and provided with extensive risk management training to support their role of overseeing customer safety and improving customer training practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a young manager, two years removed from graduate school, I found my interest attracted by Theodore Robert's October 2005 PM letter to the editor. He seemed to touch on [...]

The Drosophila larval neuromuscular junction (NMJ) consists of a presynaptic motor neuron terminal and a postsynaptic muscle cell that offer an accessible and popular model system for the analysis of synaptic growth and function. I describe techniques for visualizing fluorescently labeled proteins within dissected, formaldehyde-fixed second to third instar larval NMJs. In addition, I present two strategies using confocal microscopy to solve a particular problem in NMJ analysis: distinguishing fluorescence in the presynaptic nerve terminal from that in the adjacent postsynaptic muscle cell. This problem arises from the fact that the membrane of the muscle cell envelops the motor neuron terminal with a convoluted process called the subsynaptic reticulum, obscuring the boundary between muscle and nerve. A first strategy entails taking thin optical sections through synaptic boutons to capture a cross section of the nerve terminal, and a second strategy involves visualizing epitope-tagged isoforms of particular proteins that have been transgenically expressed in either the nerve or the muscle.