Intra-task variability of trunk coordination during a rate-controlled bipedal dance jump

In this study, we investigated trunk coordination during rate-controlled bipedal vertical dance jumps. The aims of the study were to investigate the pattern of coordination and the magnitude of coordination variability within jump phases and relative to phase-defining events during the jump. Lumbar and thoracic kinematics were collected from seven dancers during a series of jumps at 95 beats per minute. The vector coding technique was used to quantify the pattern and variability of trunk coordination. Coordination was predominantly anti-phase during propulsion and landing. Mean coordination variability peaked just before the landing phase and at the transition from landing to propulsion phases, and was lowest during the propulsion phase just before toe-off. The results indicate that peaks in variability could be explained by task and phase-specific biomechanical demands.     

Cinders in Snow? Indigenous Teacher Identities in Formation

The identity work engaged in by Indigenous teachers1 1. We use the term ‘Indigenous’ here to include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people working in Australian schools, although most of our informants to date are from Victoria, NSW and Queensland, who do not use the term ‘Indigenous’ when identifying themselves and their communities, preferring ‘Aboriginal’, ‘Koori’ or ‘Murri’.. View all notes in school settings is highlighted in a study of Australian Indigenous teachers. The construction of identity in home and community relationships intersects with and can counteract the take up of a preferred identity in the workplace. In this paper we analyse data from interviews with Indigenous teachers, exploring the interplay between culture and identity. We foreground the binary nature of racial assignment in schools, demonstrate how this offers contradictory constructions of identity for Indigenous teachers, and note the effects of history, culture and location in the process of forming a teaching ‘self’.     

Learning about domestic violence: young people's responses to a Healthy Relationships programme

This paper reports on an evaluation of a drama‐based Healthy Relationships programme on domestic violence delivered on a pilot basis to Year 8 pupils. The programme included a play delivered by a local theatre‐in‐education company followed by a series of weekly workshops. Eighty‐five pupils in a secondary school located in an area with high rates of social exclusion participated in the programme and the evaluation. Pupils completed questionnaires immediately before and after the programme and one year after the programme had finished. Thirteen pupils also took part in gendered discussion groups, which considered their views and opinions concerning the play and the workshops. The evaluation indicated that the programme was successful in enhancing pupils' understandings of domestic violence up to one year after delivery. Pupils responded well to the use of drama as a medium for learning, and some young people were able to demonstrate that they had developed positive ideas about healthy relationships. However, there was evidence of uncertainly for some young people with regard to the gendered nature of domestic violence following the programme. The discussion highlights this issue and identifies additional recommendations for both future research and future programmes.     

Connecting to the Good Life through outdoor adventure leadership experiences designed for Indigenous youth

Indigenous voices are largely silent in the outdoor education and adventure therapy literature. The purpose of this research collaboration was to understand how a 10-day outdoor adventure leadership experience (OALE) may promote resilience and well-being for Indigenous youth through their participation in the program. The process was examined through a community-based participatory research project that sought insight from the perspectives of one First Nations community in Canada. The OALE was implemented with six different groups for a total of 43 youth participants (ages 11.9–18.7 years) from Wikwemikong Unceded Indian Reserve in northeastern Ontario. Field data were collected from multiple sources including participant interviews, journals, focus groups, and talking circles. Using a critical ethnographic lens, we analyzed the data inductively to understand how the OALE promoted resilience and well-being. We listened to Indigenous voices, adhered to principles of Indigenous coding for thematic content and respected Indigenous ways of knowing for interpreting results. The process of connecting to the Good Life (Anishinaabe Bimaadziwin) or waking up (nsidwaaswok) to the Good Life emerged as the dominant theme. Connecting to the Good Life may offer a simple yet compelling way to understand the net impact of the OALE.     

Decision Science and Applied Neuroscience: Emerging Possibilities

Recent neuroscientific research describes how the brain and extended nervous system make decisions. This article depicts current theory as it relates to decision‐making strengths, shortcuts, simplifications, biases, and serious data restricting habits of the brain. This information demonstrates that the brain, both individually and collectively, can be a deceptive guide for decision making in emergent situations when information is based on preexisting, subconscious frames of reference. Training is proposed to strengthen conscious information‐processing capacity.     

Stability of switching linear systems with switching signals driven by stochastic processes

This paper presents conditions to assure the exponential stability in probability for autonomous switching linear systems. The switching signal acting on the autonomous system produces intervals that follow independent, identically distributed stochastic processes—the stability then follows by verifying simple-to-check linear matrix inequalities.     

The current state of human performance technology: A citation network analysis of Performance Improvement Quarterly, 1988–2010

This study conducted a citation network analysis (CNA) of human performance technology (HPT) to examine its current state of the field. Previous reviews of the field have used traditional research methods, such as content analysis, survey, Delphi, and citation analysis. The distinctive features of CNA come from using a social network analysis approach to see relational and network patterns in the citation data. This CNA found that the Performance Improvement Quarterly network showed more widely but loosely connected and less centralized structural attributes than the human resource development network; the 10 most influential articles in the field were identified; frequently co‐cited articles were recognized as having a strong relationship by subsequent researchers; and five cohesive subgroups showed key topics in the field (performance, instructional design, performance support, organization/workplace, and transfer of training). Implications from the results of the CNA were elaborated on for future research in HPT.     

A New Student Learning Focus for the Academic Library: From Geographical Proximity of the Learning Commons to Organizational Proximity within the Library

In 2015, student learning programs at the University of Saskatchewan moved organizationally to the university library. While these services resided physically in the library as part of the Learning Commons partnership, this recent change presents the library with a new focus and responsibility for broader student learning support and academic skill development. Highlighting examples of organizational integration of student learning support, this article uses a proximity perspective, suggesting that geographical proximity of services in the learning commons does not go far enough to achieve the deeper collaboration and integration necessary for holistic and integrated learning, and that organizational proximity is needed.     

Cytocompatible cellulose nanofibers from invasive plant species Agave americana L. and Ricinus communis L.: a renewable green source of highly crystalline nanocellulose

In this study, the fibers of invasive species Agave americana L. and Ricinus communis L. were successfully used for the first time as new sources to produce cytocompatible and highly crystalline cellulose nanofibers. Cellulose nanofibers were obtained by two methods, based on either alkaline or acid hydrolysis. The morphology, chemical composition, and crystallinity of the obtained materials were characterized by scanning electron microscopy(SEM) together with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy(EDX), dynamic light scattering(DLS), X-ray diffraction(XRD), and Fourier transform infrared(FTIR)spectroscopy. The crystallinity indexes(CIs) of the cellulose nanofibers extracted from A. americana and R. communis were very high(94.1% and 92.7%, respectively). Biological studies evaluating the cytotoxic effects of the prepared cellulose nanofibers on human embryonic kidney 293 T(HEK293 T) cells were also performed. The nanofibers obtained using the two different extraction methods were all shown to be cytocompatible in the concentration range assayed(i.e., 0-500 μg/mL). Our results showed that the nanocellulose extracted from A. americana and R. communis fibers has high potential as a new renewable green source of highly crystalline cellulose-based cytocompatible nanomaterials for biomedical applications.