Seeing it differently: physical education, teacher education and the possibilities of personal construct theory

The celebrated work of Lortie (1975) alerted teacher educators to the extended period of 'apprenticeship' that student teachers have been through before they arrive at teacher education programmes. The subjective implicit theories (Marland, 1992) developed by prospective teachers are shaped by their lifeworld experiences at school and in the case of physical education teachers, their experiences in sport. The biography of physical education teacher education (PETE) students tends to be characterised by ecto-mesomorphic individuals who have been socialised by the rigours of highly competitive sport (Gore, 1990; Macdonald, 1992; Rossi, 1996). We can add to this, the requirements of teacher preparation in physical education which for the most part are dominated by the traditions and rhetoric of the 'natural' bio-physical sciences; largely a legacy of Henry's (1964) work on physical education as an academic discipline, as well as that of Abernathy and Waltz the same year (Abernathy & Waltz, 1964). In the United Kingdom, Curl (1973) further advanced the argument in an attempt to justify human movement as an independent field of study with its own corpus of knowledge. It is little wonder then, that the dominant pedagogical discourse in physical education is, as Tinning (1991) discusses, one of performance pedagogy (see also Hendry, 1986 for an earlier discussion). The knowledge required to support such a discourse could be described as 'official' (Apple, 1993) and it assumes such status by virtue of the power appropriated by and bestowed upon the scientific community in PETE (Macdonald & Tinning, 1995; Sparkes, 1989, 1993). However, there are social reifiers too, and these tend to relate to the social construction of the body (Kirk, 1993; Kirk & Spiller, 1994; Gilroy, 1994) and what Tinning (1985) has termed the Cult of Slenderness. Furthermore the 'slender image' has become a signifier of 'good health'. This is inextricably linked to what might be considered as a health triplex—'exercise = fitness = health' (see Kirk & Colquhoun, 1989; Tinning & Kirk, 1991) which in Australia, underpins curriculum packages such as Daily Physical Education which teachers (often including physical education primary...

Developing health literacy through school based health education : can reality match rhetoric

Recently in Australia, the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission (2009) and National Preventative Health Taskforce (2009) recommended that one way to strengthen consumer engagement within a health system is to ensure health literacy comprise a core element of the National Curriculum for primary and secondary schooling. However, whilst nationally and internationally schools are mandated to teach health education, there is considerable disjuncture between societies' broad expectations and schools' capacities to deliver programs that promote healthy Jiving (Marks, 2010; Basch, 2010). Given the centrality of literacy education in contemporary schooling (Snyder, 2008), 'health literacy' has been identified as a construct that offers the potential to close this perceived gap (McCuaig, Coore & Hay, 2012; Kickbusch, 2001). To date, there has been limited research asto what a health literacy focused, school based health education curriculum could look like.

Polyacrylic Acid Assisted Synthesis of Cu2ZnSnS4 by Hydrothermal Method

Pure phase Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) nanoparticles were successfully synthesized via polyacrylic acid (PAA) assisted one-pot hydrothermal route. The morphology, crystal structure, composition and optical properties as well as the photoactivity of the as-synthesized CZTS nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectrometer, UV-visible absorption spectroscopy and photoelectrochemical measurement. The influence of various synthetic conditions, such as the reaction temperature, reaction duration and the amount of PAA in the precursor solution on the formation of CZTS compound was systematically investigated. The results have shown that the crystal phase, morphology and particle size of CZTS can be tailored by controlling the reaction conditions. The formation mechanism of CZTS in the hydrothermal reaction has been proposed based on the investigation of time-dependent phase evolution of CZTS which showed that metal sulfides (e.g., Cu2S, SnS2 and ZnS) were formed firstly during the hydrothermal reaction before forming CZTS compound through nucleation. The band gap of the as-synthesized CZTS nanoparticles is 1.49 eV. The thin film electrode based on the synthesized CZTS nanoparticles in a three-electrode photoelectrochemical cell generated pronounced photocurrent under illumination provided by a red light-emitting diode (LED, 627 nm), indicating the photoactivity of the semiconductor material.

Research around practice partnerships: An example of building partnerships to address overweight and obesity in children

Prevention and management of childhood overweight and obesity is a health priority for governments and communities throughout the developed world. A conceptual model, Research around Practice in Childhood Obesity (RAPICO), has been developed to guide capacity building in a coordinated 'bench to fieldwork' initiative to address this public health problem. Translation of research findings into sustainable responses with optimal fit requires consideration of context-specific relevance, cost-effectiveness, feasibility and levels of available support. The RAPICO model uses program theory to describe a framework for progressing practitionercommunityresearch partnerships to address low, medium and high levels of risk for childhood overweight and obesity within community settings. A case study describing the development of a logic model to inform risk-linked responses to childhood overweight and obesity is presented for the Ipswich community in south-east Queensland.

Common variants at the MHC locus and at chromosome 16q24.1 predispose to Barrett's Esophagus

Barrett's esophagus is an increasingly common disease that is strongly associated with reflux of stomach acid and usually a hiatus hernia, and it strongly predisposes to esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC), a tumor with a very poor prognosis. We report the first genome-wide association study on Barrett's esophagus, comprising 1,852 UK cases and 5,172 UK controls in the discovery stage and 5,986 cases and 12,825 controls in the replication stage. Variants at two loci were associated with disease risk: chromosome 6p21, rs9257809 (P combined = 4.09 × 10-9; odds ratio (OR) = 1.21, 95% confidence interval (CI) =1.13-1.28), within the major histocompatibility complex locus, and chromosome 16q24, rs9936833 (P combined = 2.74 × 10-10; OR = 1.14, 95% CI = 1.10-1.19), for which the closest protein-coding gene is FOXF1, which is implicated in esophageal development and structure. We found evidence that many common variants of small effect contribute to genetic susceptibility to Barrett's esophagus and that SNP alleles predisposing to obesity also increase risk for Barrett's esophagus. © 2012 Nature America, Inc. All rights reserved.

With great structure comes great functionality: Understanding and emulating spider silk

The overarching aim of biomimetic approaches to materials synthesis is to mimic simultaneously the structure and function of a natural material, in such a way that these functional properties can be systematically tailored and optimized. In the case of synthetic spider silk fibers, to date functionalities have largely focused on mechanical properties. A rapidly expanding body of literature documents this work, building on the emerging knowledge of structure–function relationships in native spider silks, and the spinning processes used to create them. Here, we describe some of the benchmark achievements reported until now, with a focus on the last five years. Progress in protein synthesis, notably the expression on full-size spidroins, has driven substantial improvements in synthetic spider silk performance. Spinning technology, however, lags behind and is a major limiting factor in biomimetic production. We also discuss applications for synthetic silk that primarily capitalize on its nonmechanical attributes, and that exploit the remarkable range of structures that can be formed from a synthetic silk feedstock.

A Photographic Album's Journey: Donation/Collaboration/Engagement

The poster and three minute presentation shows how the QUT Stories digital collection is being built with special reference to an upcoming exhibition with QUT Old Government House http://digitalcollections.qut.edu.au/view/sub-collections/2057/Dr_Wilton_Wood_Russell_Love_Album.html The poster shows the lifecycle of the 1894 Photographic Album and its cultural heritage significance to QUT. How this album was digitised and the many ways we engaged with other staff throughout the University and the more widespread engagement with Alumni and the wider community is discussed. The poster and presentation was given at the CAUL Research Repositories Community Days 2015 held at the University of Melbourne, November 12-13 2015.

Teachers as health workers: Patterns and imperatives of Australian teachers’ work

With increasing cross-sectoral relationships and partnerships and the blurring of the boundaries of the various service sectors (Westall 2009), the membrane that is assumed separate education and health in terms of young people’s wellbeing looks thinner than ever. In this project we are concerned to know what teachers do in terms of young people’s health, how much time they spend doing it, and to what extent this work might be considered as health work? The paper is informed by a Likert style survey and semi-structured interview data collected from a large cohort of teachers employed in different school sectors across Queensland, Australia and is framed by Bourdieu’s (1977) ideas around field, practice and doxa. The data suggest that teachers, often with a minimum of training undertake work that might be categorised as health work and do so with a high degree of commitment and with a growing sense of urgency but with concerns related to their competence. We consider it important to understand the reasons why and the extent to which teachers engage in work that might be more readily associated with public health and to ask “are teachers health workers?”

Capacity building of early career researchers through cross-institutional mentoring

Most early career researchers in the first five years following doctoral qualification are faced with research challenges and opportunities, which necessitate the ability to navigate and overcome barriers, and to identify and benefit from possibilities. In this chapter, the authors outline an intentional mentoring initiative aimed at building the capacity of early career researchers within the Excellence in Research in Early Years Education Collaborative Research Network (CRN) in Australia. The initiative involved partnering early career researchers with experienced researchers and the inclusion of an early career representative on the network planning committee. The chapter discusses the many benefits for the mentee arising from the initiative including increased publication, momentum and confidence, as well as exposure to new methodologies, theoretical frameworks, and productive collaborative partnerships. It is hoped, however, that the findings will be of relevance to similar and diverse (funded/unfunded) research programs and collaborative networks wherever mentoring is applied as a capacity building strategy to assist researchers.

Prediction of heparin binding sites in bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs)

Heparin is a glycosaminoglycan known to bind bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) and the growth and differentiation factors (GDFs) and has strong and variable effects on BMP osteogenic activity. In this paper we report our predictions of the likely heparin binding sites for BMP-2 and 14. The N-terminal sequences upstream of TGF-β-type cysteine-knot domains in BMP-2, 7 and 14 contain the basic residues arginine and lysine, which are key components of the heparin/HS-binding sites, with these residues being highly non-conserved. Importantly, evolutionary conserved surfaces on the beta sheets are required for interactions with receptors and antagonists. Furthermore, BMP-2 has electropositive surfaces on two sides compared to BMP-7 and BMP-14. Molecular docking simulations suggest the presence of high and low affinity binding sites in dimeric BMP-2. Histidines were found to play a role in the interactions of BMP-2 with heparin; however, a pKa analysis suggests that histidines are likely not protonated. This is indicative that interactions of BMP-2 with heparin do not require acidic pH. Taken together, non-conserved amino acid residues in the N-terminus and residues protruding from the beta sheet (not overlapping with the receptor binding sites and the dimeric interface) and not C-terminal are found to be important for heparin–BMP interactions.