Postural stability,clicker reaction time and bow draw force predict performance in elite recurve archery

Recurve archery is an Olympic sport that requires extreme precision, upper body strength and endurance. The purpose of this research was to quantify how postural stability variables both pre- and post-arrow release, draw force, flight time, arrow length and clicker reaction time, collectively, impacted on the performance or scoring outcomes in elite recurve archery athletes. Thirty-nine elite-level recurve archers (23 male and 16 female; mean age?=?24.7?±?7.3 years) from four different countries volunteered to participate in this study prior to competing at a World Cup event. An AMTI force platform (1000Hz) was used to obtain centre of pressure (COP) measurements 1s prior to arrow release and 0.5s post-arrow release. High-speed footage (200Hz) allowed for calculation of arrow flight time and score. Results identified clicker reaction time, draw force and maximum sway speed as the variables that best predicted shot performance. Specifically, reduced clicker reaction time, greater bow draw force and reduced postural sway speed post-arrow release were predictors of higher scoring shots. It is suggested that future research should focus on investigating shoulder muscle tremors at full draw in relation to clicker reaction time, and the effect of upper body strength interventions (specifically targeting the musculature around the shoulder girdle) on performance in recurve archers.     

Indigenization and University Governance: Reflections from the Transition to Yukon University

Tertiary Education and Management - While literature on university governance in Canada has identified key challenges that need to be addressed, it largely overlooks calls for change towards...     

‘Just turn to us’: the persuasive features of contract cheating websites

Academic integrity is important to universities and students must abide by codes of academic conduct around assessment. Students are, however, subject to multiple pressures around assessment, some of which can push them to cheat. Modern contract cheating websites are the fronts for sophisticated, commercial operations that offer individually written assessment items for a fee; to combat their use we need a better understanding of the tools they use to persuade students to become customers. In this study we examined the persuasive features of 11 highly-visible contract cheating websites and mapped these features to a previously used persuasiveness framework. We find that contract-cheating websites use a variety of credibility, interactive and informative features designed to persuade students to use their services. In addition, the sites offer low-cost, customisable products available in very short timeframes. We suggest ways in which educators can encourage academic integrity by talking with their students about how the websites promulgate their ‘just turn to us’ message.     

Vacuum interrupter, high reliability component of distribution switches, circuit breakers and contactors

The use of vacuum interrupters(VIs)as the current interruption component for switches,circuit breakers,reclosers and contactors operating at distribution voltages has escalated since their introduction in the mid-1950’s.This electrical product has developed a dominating position for switching and protecting distribution circuits.VIs are even being introduced into switching products operating at transmission voltages.Among the reasons for the VI’s popularity are its compactness,its range of application,its low cost,its superb electrical and mechanical life and its ease of application.Its major advantage is its well-established reliability.In this paper we show how this reliability has been achieved by design,by mechanical life testing and by electrical performance testing.We introduce the“sealed for life”concept for the VI’s integrity.We discuss this in terms of what is meant by a practical leak rate for VIs with a life of over 30 years.We show that a simple high voltage withstand test is an easy and effective method for monitoring the long-term vacuum integrity.Finally we evaluate the need for routine inspection of this electrical product when it is used in adverse ambient environments.     

General Mass Communications

Harold A. Innis' Empire and Communications (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1972---$12.50/2.75)

The Bias of Communication (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1964---$8.50/3.50)

John Gordon Burke (ed.) Print, Image and Sound: Essays on Media (Chicago: American Library Association, 1972---$6.95)

Mark Slade, Language of Change: Moving Triages of Man (Toronto: Holt, Rinehart & Winston of Canada Ltd, 1970 (available in this country.from Winston Press, 25 Groveland Terrace, Minneapolis 55403)---price not known, paper)     

Emotional pedagogy and the gendering of social and emotional learning

Social and emotional learning (SEL) has predominantly been conceptualised as a neurological process, which has precluded understanding of how social, cultural and material discourses inform the expression of emotional experiences. Gender remains a notable omission. This article explores the micro-practices through which gender structures the development of young people’s emotional subjectivities within the context of a school-based SEL intervention. Particular emphasis is placed on the gendering strategies utilised by educational professionals during the course of their emotional pedagogy. Three strategies are considered: the overt coercion of girls to demonstrate their learning; the permission of boys’ passivity, with their docile bodies being indicated as a signifier of participation; and the restricting of occasions for emotional expression in accordance with perceived gender norms. Efforts to inculcate students with a gendered emotional subjectivity mean that differential learning opportunities are on offer, raising concerns about the introduction of new forms of gendered educational inequalities.     

Once More into the Breach: Examining the Human Capital Impact of a University Consolidation over Time

Little research examines the sociocultural aspects of consolidating two post-secondary educational institutions. In a previous study we collected baseline data and reported on the initial impact of consolidation of a research-oriented, health sciences university with a teaching-oriented, comprehensive university. In the study we report here we compared our baseline data with data collected two years after consolidation in order to explore the organization’s evolving culture and the effect of that evolution on faculty members, with a focus on faculty retention. We draw lessons about the impact of consolidation for policy makers considering this avenue for reorganization within public higher education.     

Public Value Mapping of Equity in Emerging Nanomedicine

Public values failure occurs when the market and the public sector fail to provide goods and services required to achieve the core values of society such as equity (Bozeman 2007). That public policy for emerging health technologies should address intrinsic societal values such as equity is not a novel concept. However, the ways that the public values discourse of stakeholders is structured is less clear and rarely studied through the lens of public interests. This is especially true in the health sciences discourse. Using the public value mapping (PVM) model I present a case study of the intrinsic value of equity in nanomedicine for cancer and the imperatives for translational research, an instrumental value to achieve equity. After reviewing and coding nearly 700 value statements from several hundred public documents, I find that that the discourse on values varies between documents that address basic research and documents that address the application of the knowledge produced in basic research, with some especially notable disconnections. This paper demonstrates the importance of further refinement of methods for testing the PVM framework if the societal goal is to improve consistency of the public value discussion by those involved in developing and applying new technologies. The paper also demonstrates the value of a PVM approach for complex science policy analysis, especially for emerging technologies like nanomedicine.