Introduction: Phenotypically, the severity of tail lesions is associated with poor health and welfare, with increased incidence of respiratory diseases, musculoskeletal abnormalities, and mortality in pigs (Boyle et al., 2022). Most recently, Gorssen et al. (2024) found that there are genetic correlations between tail biting and lameness, ear biting, and mortality in finishing pigs. However, these findings were inconclusive as the genetic correlations were associated with high standard errors, possibly due to the small sample size (n = 1919 pigs). Moreover, the extent of the genetic correlation between tail biting and respiratory diseases has not yet been investigated in pigs. Actinobacillus pleuropneumonia (APP) was selected as an example of a respiratory disease that may have an established phenotypic link to tail biting, presumably due to common risk factors and the possibility for the systemic spread of infection, including pneumonia (Marques et al., 2012, Teixeira et al., 2016). The hypothesis for this study was that there is a positive genetic correlation between tail biting lesions and removal due to lameness, APP, or sudden death. Hence, the selection for lower tail biting incidence could be used to improve pig welfare and health.

For many early childhood student teachers, balancing study, work and placement is a daily reality. Here, researchers of a three-phase study explore what workplace-based professional experience (PEX) means for students, services and the future quality of the sector.

This article shares a postqualitative, new materialist approach to memory work and storytelling, foregrounding the entangled colonial histories embedded in water and landscape. With its life-giving properties, water is a vital matter through which we can rethink histories to connect with the more-than-human and decolonise ourselves. Using new materialism, we create a watery assemblage (images and text) to challenge our thinking around the colonial histories embedded in the waterscapes. We consider situated epistemologies that emerge through thinking with water, waterways, landscapes, humans, and the more-than-human. Vital materialism enables engagement with the shame, violence, and humiliation of colonisation and invasion. We trouble the histories of our childhoods to rewrite memories of the landscape. This post-qualitative convergence, read through childhood memory, enables us to consider the tensions of First Nations, colonial and postcolonial imprints on place and how we, as researchers, are transformed by this encounter. The initial recall of memory often carries a perspective of childhood innocence. Engagement with childhood memories, evoked through visual imagery, memory drawings, objects, and photographs, opens up tangible spaces to critically amplify ethical encounters with human and beyond human connections.

Organisational cultural change driven by demographic shifts is affecting employee perceptions of leadership roles within the Australian Public Service (APS). Despite longstanding diversity challenges, the APS has implemented policies to increase female employees’ representation in senior roles. This study examines the demographic composition and perceptions of Senior Executive Service (SES) leaders in the APS from 2018 to 2024, using APS census data (N = 127,262) and ordinary least squares (OLS) regression to analyse relationships among age, gender, and perceived leadership effectiveness. Our findings show a statistically significant increase in women in SES positions concurrent with the implementation of APS gender-equity strategies, alongside declining millennial (under 40) representation. Regression analysis indicates that female employees and younger staff report significantly more positive perceptions of SES leadership, while older employees view leadership effectiveness more negatively. While gender diversity has improved, generational gaps persist in leadership perceptions. The study highlights the need for cross-culturally responsive leadership addressing demographic diversity, generational differences, and digital transformation in public sector organisations. Aligning with cross-cultural management themes, the research shows how representative leadership must evolve to navigate cultural change, AI adoption, and remote work demands in increasingly diverse globalised workplaces.