Barriers to professional education of NSW correctional officers: A case of distance learning

This study aimed to determine whether NSW prison officers who attempt tertiary education are confronted with any unique cultural and contextual impediments during their studies and, if so, the effects of these impediments. Semi‐structured interviews were carried out, face‐to‐facc with 16 prison officers. The study also contrasts the experiences of commissioned and non‐commissioned correctional officers.

Three major thematic strands emerged from the data. The first clear theme involves the general barriers to learning encountered by prison officers engaged in tertiary studies. These barriers include time constraints and time management, family commitments and access to support mechanisms. The second major theme concerns the influence on the education process of the powerful occupational culture that has developed in the prison workplace. The third theme highlights the difficulties the occupation of prison officer presents for those individuals pursuing tertiary studies in the distance education mode. Geographically isolated work locations, a changing shift roster and high levels of job‐related stress all conspire against the success of prison officers as ‘distance learners’.     

Biodeterioration of Incralac used for the protection of bronze monuments

Outdoor bronze sculptures are highly susceptible to corrosion in many environments and organic coatings are widely used for their protection. The purpose of this study was to determine the susceptibility of the commonly used coating Incralac to biodeterioration by microorganisms. A yeast was isolated from a bronze statue treated with Incralac and its ability to degrade Incralac was determined using growth curves, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The organism grew slowly on Incralac in liquid culture, but SEM images demonstrated its ability to adhere to Incralac coated metal. Additionally, the yeast caused a rapid drop in the low frequency impedance of Incralac coated metal that was not observed under sterile conditions, indicating that the organism accelerated deterioration of the coating. The potential for microbial growth to accelerate deterioration of Incralac should be considered when developing a maintenance strategy for the protection of outdoor metal monuments.     

Relationships between highly skilled golfers’ clubhead velocity and force producing capabilities during vertical jumps and an isometric mid-thigh pull

Whilst previous research has highlighted significant relationships between golfers’ clubhead velocity (CHV) and their vertical jump height and maximum strength, these field-based protocols were unable to measure the actual vertical ground reaction force (vGRF) variables that may correlate to performance. The aim of this study was to investigate relationships between isometric mid-thigh pull (IMTP), countermovement jump (CMJ), squat jump (SJ) and drop jump (DJ) vGRF variables and CHV in highly skilled golfers. Twenty-seven male category 1 golfers performed IMTP, CMJ, SJ and DJ on a dual force platform. The vertical jumps were used to measure positive impulse during different stretch-shortening cycle velocities, with the IMTP assessing peak force (PF) and rate of force development (RFD). Clubhead velocity was measured using a TrackMan launch monitor at a golf driving range. Pearsons correlation coefficient analyses revealed significant relationships between peak CHV and CMJ positive impulse (r = 0.788, p < 0.001), SJ positive impulse (r = 0.692; p < 0.001), DJ positive impulse (r = 0.561, p < 0.01), PF (r = 0.482, p < 0.01), RFD from 0–150 ms (r = 0.343, p < 0.05) and RFD from 0–200 ms (r = 0.398, p < 0.05). The findings from this investigation indicate strong relationships between vertical ground reaction force variables and clubhead velocity.     

Children's ability to impute inferentially based knowledge

Do young children appreciate the importance of access to premises when judging what another person knows? In Experiment 1, 5-year-olds (N=31) were sensitive to another person's access to premises when predicting that person's ability to point to a target after eliminating alternatives in a set of 3 cartoon characters. Experiment 2 replicated the finding when 5- to 6-year-olds (N=102) judged who the other person thought the target was, and whether the other person knew who the target was. Experiment 3 demonstrated that children aged 5-7 years (N=107) more successfully imputed inference by elimination than syllogistical inferential knowledge. Findings suggest that an early understanding of inference by elimination offers a route into understanding that people can sometimes gain knowledge without direct perceptual access.     

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.     

Evaluating the Efficacy of a Short Aging Simulation Workshop for an Interdisciplinary Group of Health-care Employees at a Veterans Affairs Medical Center

Several interventions aimed at increasing positive attitudes towards older adults among health-care professionals have been introduced. These interventions tend to focus on a small subset of clinical employees, ignoring other clinical and nonclinical hospital staff. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a short aging simulation workshop toward increasing positive attitudes towards older adults among a multidisciplinary group of workshop participants using a pre/post quasiexperimental design. Four hundred seventy six new employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs completed the Kogan's Attitudes Toward Old People Scale (KOP) immediately before and after participating in a short aging simulation workshop. Significant pre- to-posttest increases in KOP scores were identified for nurses, physicians, psychologists, other clinical employees, and nonclinical employees, but not among medical support assistants, nurse assistants, and social workers. There existed no significant differences between each group's pretest scores; however, staff of higher educational achievement had significantly higher posttest scores as compared to persons of lower educational status. This short aging simulation workshop was successful in increasing positive attitudes towards older adults among staff who had higher educational achievement.     

Examination of the role of transient receptor potential vanilloid type 4 in endothelial responses to shear forces

Shear stress is the major mechanical force applied on vascular endothelial cells by blood flow, and is a crucial factor in normal vascular physiology and in the development of some vascular pathologies. The exact mechanisms of cellular mechano-transduction in mammalian cells and tissues have not yet been elucidated, but it is known that mechanically sensitive receptors and ion channels play a crucial role. This paper describes the use of a novel and efficient microfluidic device to study mechanically-sensitive receptors and ion channels in vitro, which has three independent channels from which recordings can be made and has a small surface area such that fewer cells are required than for conventional flow chambers. The contoured channels of the device enabled examination of a range of shear stresses in one field of view, which is not possible with parallel plate flow chambers and other previously used devices, where one level of flow-induced shear stress is produced per fixed flow-rate. We exposed bovine aortic endothelial cells to different levels of shear stress, and measured the resulting change in intracellular calcium levels ([Ca²⁺]_i) using the fluorescent calcium sensitive dye Fluo-4AM. Shear stress caused an elevation of [Ca²⁺]_i that was proportional to the level of shear experienced. The response was temperature dependant such that at lower temperatures more shear stress was required to elicit a given level of calcium signal and the magnitude of influx was reduced. We demonstrated that shear stress-induced elevations in [Ca²⁺]_i are largely due to calcium influx through the transient receptor potential vanilloid type 4 ion channel.