Assessment of symptoms in adult survivors of incest: a factor analytic study of the Responses to Childhood Incest Questionnaire

Although research has established the long-term damaging effects of incest, these efforts have suffered from the lack of valid, standardized assessment instruments. The present study reports on the construction and factor validation of the Response to Childhood Incest Questionnaire (RCIQ), a self-report instrument that assesses a range of commonly reported symptoms experienced by adult survivors of incest. A clinical population of 104 adult women who had experienced childhood or adolescent incest completed the RCIQ. A factor analysis of the RCIQ items revealed seven factors which corresponded to hypothesized stress response themes experienced by survivors of traumatic events. These factors include vulnerability and isolation, fear and anxiety, anger and betrayal, reaction to the abuser, sadness and loss, and powerlessness. In addition, four factors corresponded to the diagnostic criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder: intrusive thoughts, avoidance and intrusive emotions, detachment, and emotional control and numbness. The usefulness of the RCIQ as a pre- and post-treatment measure and the need for further research is discussed.     

Peer review: still king in the digital age

The article presents one of the main findings of an international study of 4,000 academic researchers that examined how trustworthiness is determined in the digital environment when it comes to scholarly reading, citing, and publishing. The study shows that peer review is still the most trustworthy characteristic of all. There is, though, a common perception that open access journals are not peer reviewed or do not have proper peer‐review systems. Researchers appear to have moved inexorably from a print‐based system to a digital system, but it has not significantly changed the way they decide what to trust. They do not trust social media. Only a minority – although significantly mostly young and early career researchers – thought that social media are anything other than more appropriate to personal interactions and peripheral to their professional/academic lives. There are other significant differences, according to the age of the researcher. Thus, in regard to choosing an outlet for publication of their work, young researchers are much less concerned with the fact that it is peer reviewed.     

Reliability and validity of a talent identification test battery for seated and standing Paralympic throws

Paralympic throwing events for athletes with physical impairments comprise seated and standing javelin, shot put, discus and seated club throwing. Identification of talented throwers would enable prediction of future success and promote participation; however, a valid and reliable talent identification battery for Paralympic throwing has not been reported. This study evaluates the reliability and validity of a talent identification battery for Paralympic throws. Participants were non-disabled so that impairment would not confound analyses, and results would provide an indication of normative performance. Twenty-eight non-disabled participants (13 M; 15 F) aged 23.6 years (±5.44) performed five kinematically distinct criterion throws (three seated, two standing) and nine talent identification tests (three anthropometric, six motor); 23 were tested a second time to evaluate test–retest reliability. Talent identification test–retest reliability was evaluated using Intra-class Correlation Coefficient (ICC) and Bland–Altman plots (Limits of Agreement). Spearman’s correlation assessed strength of association between criterion throws and talent identification tests. Reliability was generally acceptable (mean ICC = 0.89), but two seated talent identification tests require more extensive familiarisation. Correlation strength (mean r_s = 0.76) indicated that the talent identification tests can be used to validly identify individuals with competitively advantageous attributes for each of the five kinematically distinct throwing activities. Results facilitate further research in this understudied area.     

Cytotoxicity and effect of extraction methods on the chemical composition of essential oils of Moringa oleifera seeds

Renewed interest in natural materials as food flavors and preservatives has led to the search for suitable essential oils. Moringa oleifera seed essential oil was extracted by solvent-free microwave and hydrodistillation. This study assessed its chemical constituents. Cytotoxicity of the oils was investigated using hatchability and lethality tests on brine shrimps. A total of 16 and 26 compounds were isolated from the hydrodistillation extraction (HDE) and solvent-free microwave extraction (SME) oils, respectively, which accounted for 97.515% and 97.816% of total identifiable constituents, respectively. At 24 h when the most eggs had hatched, values of the SME (56.7%) and HDE (60.0%) oils were significantly different (P<0.05) from those of sea water (63.3%) and chloramphenicol (15.0%). Larva lethality was different significantly (P<0.05) between HDE and SME oils at different concentrations and incubation periods. The median lethal concentration (LC₅₀) of the oils was >1000 mg/ml recommended as an index for non-toxicity, which gives the oil advantage over some antioxidant, antimicrobial, therapeutic, and preservative chemicals.     

Thai pre-service science teachers engaging action research during their fifth year internship

As a key element in teacher education programmes, action research is a learning process in which pre-service teachers inquire, reflect on and improve their teaching practices. This qualitative study sought to understand what enhanced or hindered Thai pre-service teachers' action research projects during their student teaching. This study drew upon written reflections, focus-group interviews and observations of seminar sessions. Data analysis was inductive, involving categorical aggregation followed by a search for correspondence and patterns. The results indicated that the pre-service teachers misunderstood action research, and also held a negative attitude toward it, both of which led them to superficial analyses of practice. They struggled with time limitations, data gathering and interpretation strategies. In spite of the struggles they experienced, these pre-service science teachers did learn more about the action research through collaboratively working with cooperating teachers and university supervisors and on-campus seminar discussions held concurrently with the fifth year internship. Recognizing and understanding the reasons and thinking patterns at the root of these teachers' difficulties with learning about action research can form the basis for reflecting on and rethinking the components of science teacher preparation programmes in Thailand.