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Understanding dis/ableism in sport coaching
(Edward Elgar Publishing, 2026-05-07) Townsend, Robert C.; Randrup, Kelsey; Clare, Olivia; Roberts, William M.
This chapter provides an overview of the rapidly evolving field of coaching in disability and para sport. In adopting a critical position, we argue that coaching in disability sport is more than adapting practice—it requires a critical understanding of the social and cultural factors shaping disabled athletes’ experiences in sport and the role coaching plays in either resisting or reinforcing dominant narratives of disability. We provide readers with the theoretical language to interrogate the intersections of disability, sport, and coaching, drawing from Critical Disability Studies (CDS) to introduce the concepts of disablism and ableism, and how these are implicated in coaching discourse, practice, and coach education. In providing researchers and practitioners with a sensitising framework drawn from critical disability studies, we argue for more participatory and inclusive approaches to coaching research—ensuring that the field collectively moves beyond accommodation and towards transformation.
Simple lambda lifting: Formalisation in Lean and a new efficient algorithm
(ACM, 2026) Levy, Tom; Reeves, Steve
Lambda lifting is a technique used in compilers to convert nested function definitions to top-level function definitions. A series of papers has led to an 𝑂(𝑛2) algorithm, however it is complex. We present a simple 𝑂(𝑛2) algorithm for lambda lifting and prove its correctness. We also formalise a lambda lifting specification from the literature in Lean 4, and use that to prove some of the properties and test our algorithm on generated test cases. One of our contributions is to formalise the notion of a “complete” and “minimal” lifting, addressing a small issue with the handling of unused functions that to our knowledge affects all previous algorithms.
Tracing taonga trajectories: A methodological framework for indigenous heritage mapping
(Royal Society Te Apārangi, 2026-02-01) Ferrari de Aquino Klemm, Marina; Milne, Charlotte; Brown, Isaac; Ringham, Sandi; Nelson, Wendy A.
Rangitāhua is a tupuna to Ngāti Kuri and represents the iwi's geographic and ancestral connection to the Pacific. Despite this millennium-long ancestral tie, Ngāti Kuri's access to Rangitāhua has been severed for two centuries. Meanwhile, many European expeditions visited the islands, extracting and distributing natural history taonga across institutions, mostly in the Northern Hemisphere. In this context of disconnection, Ngāti Kuri engaged partners to reclaim research leadership over Rangitāhua, leading to the Indigenous-led Te Mana o Rangitāhua program, embedding Māori values and tikanga within the environmental wellbeing research project. This study is part of the program and documents our collaborative approach to identifying expeditions to Rangitāhua, mapping where their taonga and data are held worldwide, and examining institutional responses to our data requests. We identified 127 expeditions that distributed 1.73 million objects across 88 institutions. Our provenance mapping successfully cross-linked specimens to the expeditions that collected them and the institutions that house them today. However, our research also revealed ongoing institutional barriers to data access, emphasizing colonial gatekeeping practices embedded in contemporary museology systems. We stress the urgent need for accessible and reciprocal data request systems if museum practitioners hope to advance the ultimate goal of Indigenous data sovereignty.
Improving glycaemic control in primary care for Tongan adults with type 2 diabetes through the use of continuous glucose monitoring and holistic support: a pilot study
(CSIRO Publishing, 2026-04-27) Galewski-Tangataevaha, Janina’ofa; Crocket, Hamish; Aporosa, S Apo’; Vaka, Sione; Yoon, Seong Hoon; Chepulis, Lynne; Stokes, Tim
Introduction In Aotearoa New Zealand, Pacific peoples, including Tongans, experience disproportionately higher rates of type 2 diabetes and related complications. There is an urgent need for innovative, culturally appropriate interventions to improve outcomes. Aim This study aimed to determine the impact of continuous glucose monitoring devices with cultural wrap-around support on medium-term glycaemic control and other type 2 diabetes biomarkers in Tongan adults with high-risk type 2 diabetes. Methods Twenty-two Tongan adults with HbA1c 60 mmol/mol were invited to participate in a 6-month pilot intervention study involving 4 weeks of continuous glucose monitoring wear at baseline and 2 weeks at 3-months, alongside wrap-around care delivered by a Tongan kaiāwhina (support health worker). The primary endpoint was 3-month HbA1c. Clinical (glycated haemoglobin, lipids, estimated glomerular filtration rate, urinary albumin to creatinine ratio) and psychosocial (Diabetes Self-Management Questionnaire, measured at baseline and 3 months) outcomes were measured at baseline, 3, and 6 months. Results Nineteen participants completed the study through to 6 months. Mean HbA1c significantly decreased from 80.2 ± 19.4 mmol/mol at baseline to 68.6 ± 14.2 mmol/mol at 3 months, with reductions maintained at 6 months. No significant changes in lipids or renal function were observed. Diabetes Self-Management Questionnaire scores increased from 4.9 ± 0.8 to 6.0 ± 1.0 (P < 0.001). Discussion Culturally tailored continuous glucose monitoring-based interventions have the potential to support Tongan adults with understanding, optimising, and managing type 2 diabetes.
The macroeconomic factors and political environment: Analysis of balance of payments, foreign exchange reserves and economic growth
(The University of Waikato, 2026-05) Iqbal, Ayesha; Bai, Martin; Mukherjee, Abhishek
This is a global study comprising three analyses of macroeconomic dynamics in world economies, focusing on key areas that influence the macroeconomic cycle and financial stability, taking into account institutional and governance factors. The first study examines the policy impact of tariffs, interest rates, and political stability on the balance of payments among three income groups classified by the World Bank. The global panel data, sourced from the World Bank, covers the period from 2002 to 2022 and is divided into three groups based on per capita income: High Income, Upper Middle Income, and Lower Middle-Income countries. This study investigates how these variables influence the balance of payments across different economic conditions and whether their effects vary. The analysis employs Panel Least Squares, Fixed Effects Regression, GMM, and Dumitrescu panel Granger causality tests. The findings confirm that these variables exert different impacts in the selected groups, highlighting that the importance of tariffs and interest rates as policy tools cannot be overlooked. This research contributes to a deeper understanding of the complex relationship between macroeconomic variables within each income group and underscores the significance of political stability for economic outlook. The second study investigates the influence of various macroeconomic variables and governance quality on foreign exchange reserve accumulation across high-income, upper middle-income, and lower middle-income countries from 2002 to 2023. A governance quality index is created using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) from six governance indicators from the World Governance Indicators. The data is divided into different sub-periods to explore effects during various economic phases such as the global financial crisis (2002-2008), the recovery period (2009-2019), and the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2023). Panel data regression models (POLS, fixed effects, and random effects) and a Panel Vector Auto-Regression (PVAR) model are employed to examine the effects of these variables and analyse shocks in the reserves. The findings reveal diverse results across income groups and time periods. For high-income countries (HICs), governance quality and institutional stability emerge as key drivers of economic resilience, especially following crises. Upper middle-income countries (UMICs) show a strong link between governance quality, inflation stabilisation, and monetary credit effectiveness, whereas lower middle-income countries (LMICs) are more vulnerable to external shocks, particularly through exchange rate volatility and external debt burdens. The overall analysis also highlights the significance of the digitisation era as a major contributor to reserve accumulation across all income groups and opens numerous avenues for future research. The PVAR analysis further supports these conclusions, indicating that governance quality has a substantial impact on macroeconomic variables across all income groups. The third study analyses top remittance-receiving lower middle-income countries, divided into two groups based on their level of democracy. The aim is to examine the differential impact of remittance, the democracy index, their interaction, and the militarisation index on economic growth. The study employs Panel Regression (POLS), Fixed Effects (FE), and Random Effects (RE). To ensure the robustness of the results, an additional analysis using Two Stage Least Squares (2SLS) is also conducted. The results reveal a negative relationship between both democracy and remittances with growth in countries with stable democracies, whereas a positive relationship is observed in countries with less democratic institutions. The study also introduces a novel variable, the Gross Militarisation Index (GMI), and applies slope homogeneity and cointegration tests, which also yield favourable results. These outcomes highlight the importance of political context in modelling the economic impact of remittances and democratic institutions. The research recommends that tailored policy frameworks be implemented in each nation’s institutional structure, focusing on effectiveness to promote inclusive and sustainable development.