Could knee joint mechanics during the golf swing be contributing to chronic knee injuries in professional golfers?

ABSTRACT

Full three-dimensional movements and external moments in golfers’ knees and the possible involvement in injuries have not been evaluated using motion capture at high sample frequencies. This study measured joint angles and external moments around the three anatomical axes in both knees of 10 professional golfers performing golf drives whilst standing on two force plates in a motion capture laboratory. Significant differences were found in the knee joint moments between the lead and trail limbs for the peak values and throughout all stages during the swing phase. A significantly higher net abduction moment impulse was seen in the trail limb compared with the lead limb (?0.518 vs. ?0.135 Nms.kg^?1), indicating greater loading over the whole swing, which could contribute to knee lateral compartment or anterior cruciate ligament injuries. A significant correlation (r = ?0.85) between clubhead speed at ball contact and maximum joint moment was found, with the largest correlations being found for joint moments at the top of the backswing event and at the end of the follow-through. Therefore, although knee moments can contribute to high clubhead speeds, the large moments and impulses suggest that they may also contribute to chronic knee injuries or exacerbate existing conditions.     

Masculinity(s), the agrarian frontier myth, and cooperative ways of organizing: contradictions and tensions in the experience and enactment of democracy

This study explores how members of the Nebraska Cooperative Council and its constituent producer-owned cooperatives understand and enact democratic ideologies, drawing particular attention to how emergent contradictions and tensions are experienced and managed. The Council serves as a particularly rich context in which to explore traditionally feminine ways of organizing (i.e., cooperative enactment) in a historically male-dominated arena (i.e., agriculture). The dialectic of independence and solidarity became a revealing prism through which to make sense of how members enact cooperative life. This dialectic manifests itself in the discourse of cooperative life as members struggle to manage tensions between efficiency and participation, equality and equity, and the paradox of agency. Communication theorizing about gendered organizing and the history of American agrarianism is used to explore intersections between the social construction of masculinity(s), the agrarian frontier myth, and tensions embedded in the discourse of cooperative organizing.     

The Motivations of Book Publishers in Germany and Australia: An Empirical Comparison

Our study compares the motivations of Australian and German book publishers. The results demonstrate remarkable similarities, but also a significant difference regarding the effects of the publishers’ self-concept. In the German case the publishers with a dominant economic orientation are more proactive than the publishers with a dominant cultural orientation. In the Australian case, this correlation does not exist. The same difference holds for the relationship between the economic orientation and extrinsic motivation. We discuss these results and examine empirical evidence and theoretical suggestions to explain the differing findings. The data stem from surveys conducted in the two countries with responses of 196 (Germany) and 54 publishers (Australia).     

Juggling competing activities: academic staff as doctoral candidates

ABSTRACT

This article explores the experiences of a group of established academic staff in New Zealand and the UK, as they undertake a doctorate in their home institutions. Our interest is in how individuals negotiate this dual status from a cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) stance that explores how rules, tools, community and divisions of labour, and interacting activity systems, shape doctoral experiences. The focus in this article, having analysed their detailed narrative accounts, is on how academics experience three interdependent activity systems: those surrounding the thesis, the institutional context, and the home-life spheres. Issues related to time, workload and supervision issues, variability in collegial support and impact on personal priorities and time emerged. There is a range of particularities – from easy access to resources/supervisors to inflexible institutional regulations – applicable to this group of doctoral candidates. Negotiating life as an academic with concurrent doctoral candidature provides positive outcomes in terms of teaching, research confidence and general personal and professional development. However, a range of difficulties can also be encountered, particularly in relation to personal and professional relationships, and workload management.     

EHCP Implementation in the Early Years: constrictions and possibilities

In England, Education and Health Care Plans (EHCPs) created changes for SENCOs, including those working in private, voluntary and independent (PVI) early years settings. Such SENCOs hold, as a minimum, a relevant Level-3 qualification, with subsequent training and support being optional, varied and sometimes difficult to access. This situation has implications for EHCP implementation and for the roles and responsibilities of SENCOs because effective realisation of the joint working, early identification and intervention prioritised in EHCPS require power, knowledge and skills. SENCOs from one Local Authority in England participated in this mixed-methods research. Identity theory and Bronfenbrenner's bio-ecological theory were applied to analyse the macro through to micro level influences. This revealed seven key influences: information and resources; ethos and support; quality of evidence; relationships; knowledge and skills; purpose and outcomes. This paper presents the manifestation of these in the experience of eight Early Years SENCOs working PVI settings.     

Distance education copyright,intellectual property,and antitrust concerns

Abstract

An empirical examination of accredited American higher education institutions was conducted to obtain baseline data regarding distance education copyright, intellectual property, and antitrust concerns. Additionally, a multiple‐case study involving ten of the top thirty accredited distance education institutions in America was conducted. Policy approaches were examined for all institutions, and differences were discussed between public and private institutions as well as between the following Carnegie Classification institutions: Research I and II, Doctorate I and II, and Master's I and II. Data indicated that, out of the schools surveyed, 22% of the institutions in these Carnegie Classification categories published copyright and intellectual property policies on their institution's Web site. In the case study, it was found that 90% of the institutions centrally controlled their distance education program administration as well as the copyright and intellectual property policies related to it.