Short-term effects of cycle and treadmill training on exercise tolerance in peripheral arterial disease

Background. To explore the efficacy of cycle training in the treatment of intermittent claudication, the present study compared performance and physiologic effects of cycle training with more conventional treadmill walking training in a group of patients with claudication. Method: Forty-two individuals with peripheral arterial disease and intermittent claudication (24 men, 18 women) were stratified by gender and the presence or absence of type 2 diabetes mellitus and then randomized to a treadmill (n = 13), cycle (n = 15), or control group (n = 14). Treadmill and cycle groups trained three times a week for 6 weeks, whereas the control group did not train during this period. Maximal and pain-free exercise times were measured on graded treadmill and cycle tests before and after training. Results. Treadmill training significantly improved maximal and pain-free treadmill walking times but did not improve cycle performance. Cycle training significantly improved maximal cycle time but did not improve treadmill performance. However, there was evidence of a stronger cross-transfer effect between the training modes for patients who reported a common limiting symptom during cycling and walking at baseline. There was also considerable variation in the training response to cycling, and a subgroup of responsive patients in the cycle group improved their walking performance by more than the average response observed in the treadmill group. Conclusion: These findings suggest that cycle exercise is not effective in improving walking performance in all claudication patients but might be an effective alternative to walking in those who exhibit similar limiting symptoms during both types of exercise.

'Looking good, feeling better': Consumption, Control and the Aesthetics of Exclusivity in the Service Encounter

The majority of ‘service’ literature has focused on the production side of service work (i.e. employees and management), while treating the role of the customer and/or consumer as secondary (Korczynski and Ott, 2004). Those authors who have addressed the role consumption plays in shaping and maintaining individuals' self- identity have tended to overemphasize the dominance of consumer culture in shaping ‘our consciousness’ (Ritzer, 1999), with little in the way of empirical evidence to support these assertions. This paper develops the conceptualization of service work and consumer culture literature, by placing more emphasis on the customer in the service encounter. Using an ethnographic study of a ‘high class’ department store, this paper addresses employee and customer identity and the nature of managerial, employee and customer control within this ‘exclusive’ context. Of particular interest is how employees and customer’s ‘embody’ this control. Using Bourdieu’s (1986) conception of class and habitus, the concept of exclusivity goes beyond the management /service worker dyad by providing a means of investigating identity control by the organization over both customers and service workers. However, an organization’s exclusivity is not a closed normative pursuit of control, and shows this enterprise is part of a contested terrain, while revealing the ambiguity and ‘openness’ of control practices and pursuits. In order to uphold the ideal of exclusivity, management, service workers and customers must all engage in a precarious quest for establishing and maintaining a sense of control and/or identity. This paper demonstrates the continuing contradiction between bureaucratic practices of control and consumer culture, and highlights the need for research that investigates the context -dependent nature of control in service-related and consumer studies.

Middle Schooling Teacher Education: Where are we at in Australia?

Commonwealth and State bodies have made substantial investments into curriculum initiatives, research, and reform with a focus on middle schooling. To a considerable degree, the success of middle schooling is dependent upon teachers' preparedness to enact and embrace initiatives and research. Research has shown that the success of school improvement and reform initiatives hinges, in large part, on the qualifications and effectiveness of teachers (Killion, 1999; Garet, Porter, Desimone, Birman, & Yoon, 2001). While some research and professional development in Australia has targeted the school site, pre-service teacher education is clearly a vital yet under-researched area due to its relatively recent introduction. Recent research that includes middle years teacher education (MYTE) (Killion, 1999; Mertens & Flowers, 2004; NCES 2001; NMSA, 2003) and reports from a system that has been working with middle schooling for some time indicates that teachers need specific teacher preparation before they enter the middle level classroom and continuous professional development as they pursue their careers. In Turning Points 2000, one of the seven recommendations is to staff middle grades schools with teachers who are expert at teaching young people in their middle years, and engage teachers in ongoing, targeted professional development opportunities (Jackson & Davis, 2000). Given there are now two dedicated programs towards MYTE (Edith Cowan University and The University of Queensland), other institutions containing elements of MYTE, and others considering MYTE this symposium will summarise current initiatives and research in MYTE, critique the state and place of MYTE in Australia and begin discussions towards teacher education programs that improve the efficacy of middle schooling.