Australian Small and Independent Publishing: The Freeth Report

This article provides a summary of and commentary on ‘A Lovely Kind of Madness: Small and Independent Publishing in Australia’, an unpublished report by Kate Freeth, commissioned by the Small Press Underground Networking Community (SPUNC), the representative body for small and independent publishers in Australia, and released in November 2007. Freeth’s 14,000 word report constitutes the most detailed and comprehensive study of Australian small and independent publishing since the second volume of Michael Denholm’s Small Press Publishing in Australia (1991) and provides much primary material for policy makers, scholars, and people working in and around the publishing industry.

Physical and psychomotor performance of Australian football and rugby league officials during a match simulation

The onset of exercise facilitates an improvement in psychomotor performance until the second ventilatory threshold, after which performance is reduced. This inverted-U relationship appears valid for incremental and steady-state exercise, however, not for intermittent exercise. This study examined changes in psychomotor performance of team sport officials during a laboratory-based match simulation. Twelve elite Australian football (n = 5) and rugby league (n = 7) officials (32.5 ± 5.5 years; 180.0 ± 6.8 cm; 78.8 ± 7.6 kg) completed the match simulation on a non-motorised treadmill. Physiological measures were routinely taken, while psychomotor performance was assessed using the Eriksen flanker task (multiple-choice response time). Significant reductions (P < 0.05) were observed in distance covered and high-speed running during the second half when compared to the first. No significant differences (P > 0.05) in psychomotor performance at different time points were observed. Response time was significantly improved when running above 65% of maximal sprinting speed (P < 0.01). This data questions the application of the inverted-U hypothesis for intermittent exercise and suggests that the short high-intensity efforts may not result in the same physiological events that limit psychomotor performance during sustained high-intensity exercise. More so, the high-intensity efforts during the match protocol appeared to promote psychomotor performance during the intermittent exercise.     

Changes in tibiofemoral contact forces during running in response to in-field gait retraining

We evaluated the efficacy of an in-field gait retraining programme using mobile biofeedback to reduce cumulative and peak tibiofemoral loads during running. Thirty runners were randomised to either a retraining group or control group. Retrainers were asked to increase their step rate by 7.5% over preferred in response to real-time feedback provided by a wrist mounted running computer for 8 routine in-field runs. An inverse dynamics driven musculoskeletal model estimated total and medial tibiofemoral joint compartment contact forces. Peak and impulse per step total tibiofemoral contact forces were immediately reduced by 7.6% and 10.6%, respectively (P < 0.001). Similarly, medial tibiofemoral compartment peak and impulse per step tibiofemoral contact forces were reduced by 8.2% and 10.6%, respectively (P < 0.001). Interestingly, no changes were found in knee adduction moment measures. Post gait retraining, reductions in medial tibiofemoral compartment peak and impulse per step tibiofemoral contact force were still present (P < 0.01). At the 1-month post-retraining follow-up, these reductions remained (P < 0.05). With these per stance reductions in tibiofemoral contact forces in mind, cumulative tibiofemoral contact forces did not change due to the estimated increase in number of steps to run 1 km.     

Predicting College Performance of American Indians: A Large‐Sample Examination of the SAT

Extensive research has examined the validity and fairness of standardized tests in academic admissions. However, due to their underrepresentation in higher education, American Indians have gained much less attention in this research. In the present study, we examined for American Indian students (1) group differences on SAT scores, (2) the predictive and incremental validity of SAT over high school grades, (3) the effect of socioeconomic status on SAT validity, (4) differential prediction in the use of SAT scores, and (5) potential omitted variables that could explain differential prediction for American Indian students. Results provided evidence of predictive and incremental validity of SAT scores, and the validity of SAT scores was largely independent of socioeconomic status. Overprediction was found when using SAT scores to predict college performance and it was reduced when including high school grades as an additional predictor. This study provides substantial evidence of the validity and fairness of SAT scores for American Indians.     

The design of a nuclear reactor

The aim of this largely pedagogical article is to employ pre-college physics to arrive at an understanding of a system as complex as a nuclear reactor. We focus on three key issues: the fuel pin, the moderator, and lastly the dimensions of the nuclear reactor.     

Why ‘science for all’ is only an aspiration: staff views of science for learners with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities

Teacher and support staff perceptions of science learning, and specifically engagement with science outreach, by pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) were ascertained through questionnaires. The responses indicated that science is seen as serving distinctive learning purposes when undertaken by learners with SEND. Staff who accompanied SEND pupils to science outreach events expressed more positive views about separate outreach events for SEND pupils than other respondents, in line with current policy expectations of differentiated classroom practice. The desire for different provision for SEND learners also appeared to be associated with the staffs’ pastoral concerns about their pupils and their reluctance to let their pupils ‘fail’. The data suggests that, despite policy and legislative reform in the UK, curriculum science is still viewed primarily as a means to career progression for an able minority, rather than as an educational and cultural entitlement for all.