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Service-learning courses provide students with practical opportunities to enhance their learning and development in the field, along with getting students engaged in different communities and settings. However, there are still many challenges to designing and offering effective service-learning courses, such as requiring all students to participate in the service-learning component and creating a larger workload for teachers. The purpose of this article is to provide a detailed description of a service-learning course in the sport-based youth development field that addresses these concerns. By partnering with a community-based organization, students enrolled in this service-learning course were able to participate in two ways: (1) serving as a student leader in the 10-week program or (2) serving as a formative evaluator by watching the videotaped sessions each week and providing constructive feedback to their peers. Through an independent study option, some students could also serve as summative evaluators of the program. This article describes the service-learning course and sport-based youth development program, with in-depth reflections from three graduate students detailing their experiences serving in different roles. The article also provides practical implications for teachers and practitioners, serving as one example of a successful service-learning course that maximizes student engagement, learning and development.

In August 2008, U.S. Republican presidential candidate John McCain chose Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to be the vice presidential candidate. Palin’s selection evoked a range of passionate responses. Many people were shocked: some were shocked and elated, some were shocked and appalled, and some were shocked and emotionally torn. In addition to evoking passionate responses, Palin’s selection foregrounded a wide range of issues relating to gender: the historical gender disparity in candidates, the nature of sexism in the campaign, childcare roles, and the implications of a McCain-Palin administration for women. Among these currents of gender issues, I explore one specific stream: in a rhetorical move filled with contradictions and ironies, conservatives, including Palin, have made new claims to represent feminism. I suggest these claims signify the emergence of what I call a “neoconservative feminist standpoint.” In this exploration, I revisit the idea of a feminist standpoint, with particular attention to Chela Sandoval’s theory of a differential oppositional consciousness. I suggest a theory of what I call an “oppressive consciousness” as a complement to Sandoval’s theory. Applying this framework, I suggest that the neoconservative feminist standpoint can be interpreted as an adaptive strategy of an oppressive consciousness. Furthermore, in its practice, this standpoint is primarily an antifeminism in its invitation to fear, anger, and divisiveness, and its refusal to support women’s issues. Finally, I suggest that an examination of this emerging standpoint may result in additional possibilities for effective responses.

Cognitive deficits are common, although often mild, in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients. Prevalence and severity of cognitive deficits on discharge from acute hospital, however, are not systematically assessed in clinical practice, and not frequently reported in scientific literature, potentially hindering the development of appropriate follow-up care pathways for these patients. We hereby present data from a consecutive case series of 75 out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients discharged from our hospital over a period of 16 months; for 46 of them we were able to obtain a cognitive profile around the time of discharge from hospital, with 37 of them experiencing cognitive deficits, ranging from mild to severe. Memory, verbal fluency and cognitive flexibility were the areas more frequently impaired. The patients we were able to assess did not differ for age, cerebral performance category score and time to return of spontaneous circulation from those we were unable to assess. Cognitive deficits were not associated with duration of "no/low blood flow" during cardiac arrest or with age. Our results suggest that cognitive deficits in the immediate aftermath of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest are common; however, these may be missed due to lack of systematic assessment and use of poorly sensitive cognitive tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Declining enrollment in the physical sciences at university is causing concern among higher education institutions, governments and industry. In response, renewed attention is being paid to the tertiary science background of school teachers, given their key role in both preparing and enthusing students for tertiary science study. A recent study, "Who's Teaching Science?," has provided the first national picture of both the supply and tertiary qualifications of Australia's secondary school science teachers. While there is no shortage of teachers with strong grounding in the life sciences, schools are struggling to adequately staff senior science classes in Physics and Chemistry. This is a growing problem: large numbers of science teachers are set to retire, and many younger and early career teachers are expressing dissatisfaction with their careers. This paper highlights the findings most relevant for the university sector, and examines the policy implications, including those for the curriculum design of both science and teacher education programs. (Contains 4 tables and 3 figures.)

Background: The posture of the foot has been implicated as a factor in the development of running-related injuries. A static measure of foot posture, such as the longitudinal arch angle (LAA), that can be easily performed and is predictive of the posture of the foot at midsupport while running could provide valuable information to enhance the clinician's overall evaluation of the runner. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine if the LAA, assessed in relaxed standing, could predict the posture of the foot at midsupport while running on a treadmill. Study Design: Cross-sectional Study Methods: Forty experienced runners (mean age 26.6 years) voluntarily consented to participate. Inclusion criteria included running at least 18 miles per week, previous experience running on a treadmill, no history of lower extremity congenital or traumatic deformity, or acute injury three months prior to the start of the study. Each runner had markers placed on the medial malleolus, navicular tuberosity, and medial aspect 1st metatarsal head of both feet. A high speed camera (240 Hz) was used to film both feet of each runner in standing and while running on a treadmill at their preferred speed. The LAA in standing and at mid-support while running was determined by angle formed by two lines drawn between the three markers with the navicular tuberosity serving as the apex. The LAA in midsupport was determined using the mean of the middle five running trials. Results: The levels of intra-rater and inter-rater reliability for the dynamic LAA were excellent. The results of the t-tests indicated that mean values between the left and right foot were not significantly different for the standing or running LAA. The results of the t-tests between male and female runners were also not significantly different for standing or running LAA. The Pearson correlation between standing and running LAA for all 80 feet was r = 0.95 (r² = 0.90). Conclusions: The standing LAA was found to be highly predictive of the running LAA at midsupport while running. Approximately 90% of the variance associated with foot posture at midsupport in running could be explained by the standing LAA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The early stages of left ventricular (LV) dysfunction account for a much larger proportion of the population with heart disease than that with clinical heart failure. However, LV dysfunction is more difficult to diagnose than established heart failure, and because of this it is not usually treated. Research on LV dysfunction is commonly conducted in small animal models in which the cardiac pathophysiology is dissimilar to that in humans, thereby restricting translation. This study aimed to use a novel pig model of mild to moderate early ischemic LV dysfunction to assess the effects of such dysfunction in the myocardium. Methods: Multiple areas of controlled microinfarcts were created via microembolization using embolization beads, with invasive hemodynamic and transthoracic echocardiographic assessment of LV function. Four weeks after intervention, the hearts were explanted for determination of the infarcted surface area and analysis of calcium regulatory proteins. Results: In vivo hemodynamic measurements confirmed a >25% decrease in LV dP/dt (maximum and minimum) with creation of microinfarcts compared with baseline, whilst echocardiography showed mild to moderate LV dysfunction. Perioperative mortality was 10%-15%. In surviving pigs, morphometry at 4 weeks confirmed that up to 20% of the total LV surface area contained microinfarcts. Western blot analysis showed alterations in levels of the calcium regulatory proteins, sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ ATPase and sodium-calcium exchange, in infarcted areas, compared with normal LV tissue from the same animals. Conclusion: These results demonstrate the usefulness of this model for investigation of the precise molecular and cellular changes associated with early mild to moderate LV dysfunction from ischemic injury, and its potential use for modulating these changes with the aim of achieving functional reversibility or regeneration of the myocardium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As community efforts to reduce the overpopulation and euthanasia of unwanted and unowned cats and dogs have increased, many veterinarians have increasingly focused their clinical efforts on the provision of spay-neuter services. Because of the wide range of geographic and demographic needs, a wide variety of spay-neuter programs have been developed to increase delivery of services to targeted populations of animals, including stationary and mobile clinics, MASH-style operations, shelter services, community cat programs, and services provided through private practitioners. In an effort to promote consistent, high-quality care across the broad range of these programs, the Association of Shelter Veterinarians convened a task force of veterinarians to develop veterinary medical care guidelines for spay-neuter programs. These guidelines consist of recommendations for general patient care and clinical procedures, preoperative care, anesthetic management, surgical procedures, postoperative care, and operations management. They were based on current principles of anesthesiology, critical care medicine, infection control, and surgical practice, as determined from published evidence and expert opinion. They represent acceptable practices that are attainable in spay-neuter programs regardless of location, facility, or type of program. The Association of Shelter Veterinarians envisions that these guidelines will be used by the profession to maintain consistent veterinary medical care in all settings where spay-neuter services are provided and to promote these services as a means of reducing sheltering and euthanasia of cats and dogs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]