Identification of temporal factors related to shot performance for indoor recurve archery

The purpose of this study was to investigate the temporal phases of the archery shot cycle that distinguish the arrows distance from centre, in an attempt to understand critical factors that affect performance. Fifteen archers of varying ability each performed 30 shots at 18 m. Fourteen potential predictor variables were measured for statistical modelling by stepwise multiple linear regression. The results show that pre-shot time (pre-performance routine), follow-through time (post-performance routine), aiming time, speed of the arrow and the %variation in clicker-release time, account for 7.7% of the variation in predicting shot performance. The results have implications for practice demonstrating factors that coaches should focus on to develop their athletes. Further work on pre-, but more importantly, post-performance routines are needed generally within sport research as they are lacking and have been shown to be important contributing factors in a number of sports.     

Isolation and enrichment of low abundant particles with insulator-based dielectrophoresis

Isolation and enrichment of low-abundant particles are essential steps in many bio-analytical and clinical applications. In this work, the capability of an insulator-based dielectrophoresis (iDEP) device for the detection and stable capture of low abundant polystyrene particles and yeast cells was evaluated. Binary and tertiary mixtures of particles and cells were tested, where the low-abundant particles had concentration ratios on the order of 1:10 000 000 compared to the other particles present in the mixture. The results demonstrated successful and stable capture and enrichment of rare particles and cells (trapping efficiencies over 99%), where particles remained trapped in a stable manner for up to 4 min. A device with four reservoirs was employed for the separation and enrichment of rare particles, where the particles of interest were first selectively concentrated and then effectively directed to a side port for future collection and analysis. The present study demonstrates that simple iDEP devices have appropriate screening capacity and can be used for handling samples containing rare particles; achieving both enrichment and isolation of low-abundant particles and cells.     

An Optometry Librarian’s Vision: Improved Student Scholarly Communication

Health profession students benefit academically, clinically, and professionally when they acquire the writing skills necessary for scholarly communication. The purpose of this article is to discuss how a solo, embedded health science librarian spearheaded collaborative efforts and contributed to the creation of a scaffolded writing program within the existing optometry curriculum. The article includes a discussion of the opportunities, challenges, and outcomes of this writing endeavor.     

Playful and mindful interactions in the recursive adaptations of the zone of proximal development: a critical complexity science approach

We discuss Konstantinos Alexakos, Jayson Jones and Victor Rodriguez’s hermeneutic study of formation and function of kinship-like relationships among inner city male students of color in a college physics classroom. From our Critical Complexity Science framework we first discuss the reading erlebnisse of students laughing at and with each other as something that immediately captured our attention in being transformative of the classroom. We continue by exploring their classroom and research experience as an emergent structure modifying their collective as well as their individual experiences. As we analyze both the classroom and the research space as a complex system, we reflect on the instructor/students interactions characterized by an asymmetrical “power” relationship. From our analysis we propose to consider the zone of proximal development as the constantly emerging and transforming person experience (erlebnisse and erfahrung).     

Harmonization of pre-analytical quality indicators

Quality indicators (QIs) measure the extent to which set targets are attained and provide a quantitative basis for achieving improvement in care and, in particular, laboratory services. A body of evidence collected in recent years has demonstrated that most errors fall outside the analytical phase, while the pre- and post-analytical steps have been found to be more vulnerable to the risk of error. However, the current lack of attention to extra-laboratory factors and related QIs prevent clinical laboratories from effectively improving total quality and reducing errors. Errors in the pre-analytical phase, which account for 50% to 75% of all laboratory errors, have long been included in the ‘identification and sample problems’ category. However, according to the International Standard for medical laboratory accreditation and a patient-centered view, some additional QIs are needed. In particular, there is a need to measure the appropriateness of all test request and request forms, as well as the quality of sample transportation. The QIs model developed by a working group of the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (IFCC) is a valuable starting point for promoting the harmonization of available QIs, but further efforts should be made to achieve a consensus on the road map for harmonization.     

Leveraging critical literacies for social change: questioning the culture of compliance at an ‘F’ school

This article traces the experiences of two veteran elementary school teachers in the urban Southwest, who are positioned by district and state policy ‘texts’ as insubordinate and failing, and who employ critical literacy practices to reconstruct and redesign these texts as they seek to create more equitable and humane conditions in schools. Stemming from a larger phenomenological study, this article explores how teachers in a ‘failing’ elementary school in the Southwestern US understand and negotiate district, state, and federal policies and examines how these policies shape and inform their identities as professionals. This research has important implications concerning the potential of critical literacy as a mode of resistance, the promise inherent in school/university partnerships for promoting change, and the ways in which the practice of deconstructing/reconstructing dehumanizing texts can foster a re-professionalization of teaching.