University of Wollongong

About: University of Wollongong is a education organization based out in Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Graphene. The organization has 15674 authors who have published 46658 publications receiving 1197471 citations. The organization is also known as: UOW & Wollongong University.

Musculoskeletal disorders associated with obesity: a biomechanical perspective

Abstract: Despite the multifactorial nature of musculoskeletal disease, obesity consistently emerges as a key and potentially modifiable risk factor in the onset and progression of musculoskeletal conditions of the hip, knee, ankle, foot and shoulder. To date, the majority of research has focused on the impact of obesity on bone and joint disorders, such as the risk of fracture and osteoarthritis. However, emerging evidence indicates that obesity may also have a profound effect on soft-tissue structures, such as tendon, fascia and cartilage. Although the mechanism remains unclear, the functional and structural limitations imposed by the additional loading of the locomotor system in obesity have been almost universally accepted to produce aberrant mechanics during locomotor tasks, thereby unduly raising stress within connective-tissue structures and the potential for musculoskeletal injury. While such mechanical theories abound, there is surprisingly little scientific evidence directly linking musculoskeletal injury to altered biomechanics in the obese. For the most part, even the biomechanical effects of obesity on the locomotor system remain unknown. Given the global increase in obesity and the rapid rise in musculoskeletal disorders, there is a need to determine the physical consequences of continued repetitive loading of major structures of the locomotor system in the obese and to establish how obesity may interact with other factors to potentially increase the risk of musculoskeletal disease.

Interval squeeze: altered fire regimes and demographic responses interact to threaten woody species persistence as climate changes

Abstract: Projected effects of climate change across many ecosystems globally include more frequent disturbance by fire and reduced plant growth due to warmer (and especially drier) conditions. Such changes affect species - particularly fire-intolerant woody plants - by simultaneously reducing recruitment, growth, and survival. Collectively, these mechanisms may narrow the fire interval window compatible with population persistence, driving species to extirpation or extinction. We present a conceptual model of these combined effects, based on synthesis of the known impacts of climate change and altered fire regimes on plant demography, and describe a syndrome we term interval squeeze. This model predicts that interval squeeze will increase woody plant extinction risk and change ecosystem structure, composition, and carbon storage, especially in regions projected to become both warmer and drier. These predicted changes demand new approaches to fire management that will maximize the in situ adaptive capacity of species to respond to climate change and fire regime change.