‘Fast track’ and ‘traditional path’ coaches: affordances, agency and social capital

A recent development in large-scale coach accreditation (certification) structures has been the ‘fast tracking’ of former elite athletes. Former elite athletes are often exempted from entry-level qualifications and are generally granted access to fast track courses that are shortened versions of the accreditation courses undertaken by ‘traditional path’ coaches. While formal coach accreditation is not the focus of this research note, it does provide the context for the two coaching case studies. The aim of this article is to consider and contrast the experiences of a former elite athlete and a traditional pathway coach with respect to their development and their trajectory towards employment in high performance coaching settings. The notion of relational interdependence (Billett, 2006) is used to consider the characteristics that particular coaches may bring to their work. In examining the social nature of coaching work and coaching appointments further, it is possible to connect with the notion of social capital (Field, 2006). Informed by accreditation course information (coaching history, aspirations and educational achievements) and three days of in-course observations by the author, the interpretivist case study design incorporated a semi-structured interview with one former elite athlete and one traditional pathway coach during the top level coach accreditation course of one of Australia's most popular team sports. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and coded via a hierarchical content analysis. From this study it was possible to identify a range of affordances that are available to former elite athletes that are not readily accessible for traditional pathway coaches and vice versa. Regarding social capital, former athletes appear to possess greater amounts and are better able to leverage that capital for development and employment. Recommendations are offered and implications discussed for coaches and those individuals and organisations charged with employing high performance coaches

The New Hampshire, Vol. 106, No. 22 (Nov. 17, 2016)

An independent student produced newspaper from the University of New Hampshire

A Bifactor Model of the Polish Version of the Hare Self-Report Psychopathy Scale

The 64-item Hare Self-Report Psychopathy Scale was translated into Polish with the aim to test construct validity and dimensionality, incremental validity, and composite reliability of the measure in a sample of working adults (N = 319). Confirmatory factor analyses revealed that the best fitting model was the bifactor conceptualization containing six latent factors; two general factors of psychopathy and four grouping factors represented by interpersonal, affective, antisocial, and lifestyle latent variables (compared to a 2-factor, 4-factor, and 4-factor with 2 hierarchical factors). The scores of the Polish version of Hare SRP evidenced good composite reliability and incremental validity in terms of predicting scores on aggression scale. Implications for theory and future research are discussed

Exposure to criminal environment and criminal social identity in a sample of adult prisoners: The moderating role of psychopathic traits

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of period of incarceration, criminal friend index (a retrospective measure intended to quantify criminal associations before first incarceration), and four psychopathy factors (interpersonal manipulation, callous affect, erratic lifestyle, and antisocial behavior) in criminal social identity (CSI) while controlling for age and gender. Participants were a sample of 501 incarcerated offenders (males n = 293; females n = 208) from three prisons located in Pennsylvania Sate. Moderated regression analyses indicated no significant direct association between period of incarceration and CSI or between criminal friend index and CSI. However, a significant moderating effect of interpersonal manipulation on the relationship between period of incarceration and CSI was observed. Period of incarceration was significantly positively correlated with CSI (particularly with in-group ties subscale) only for those offenders who scored high (1 SD above the mean) on interpersonal manipulation and significantly negatively correlated for those who scored low (1 SD below the mean) on interpersonal manipulation. Also, criminal friend index was positively significantly associated with in-group ties for high levels (1 SD above the mean) of callous affect. The main findings provide evidence for the claim that prisoners are likely to simulate changes in identity through the formation of bonds with other offenders and that this can be achieved using interpersonal manipulation skills

Mental toughness: progress and prospects

Mental toughness (MT) has become a popular area of investigation and practice within sport and exercise psychology over the past two decades. Since the turn of the twenty first century, there have been hundreds of studies published on mental toughness, yet concerns remain about the conceptualisation and measurement of mental toughness. In this paper, I take stock of past work with the goal of clarifying and elaborating the most fundamental and common aspects of MT. I also look to the future and outline key substantive and methodological issues that may offer the greatest potential for refining the conceptualisation of MT and contributing to theory building on this concept. My hope is that this information will provide a platform from which to foster coherent and systematic scholarly work on MT

Bacterial outer membrane vesicles and vaccine applications

Vaccines based on outer membrane vesicles (OMV) were developed more than 20 years ago against Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B. These nano-sized structures exhibit remarkable potential for immunomodulation of immune responses and delivery of “self” meningococcal antigens or unrelated antigens incorporated into the vesicle structure. This paper reviews different applications in OMV Research and Development (R&D) and provides examples of OMV developed and evaluated at the Finlay Institute in Cuba. A Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) process was developed at the Finlay Institute to produce OMV from N. meningitidis serogroup B (dOMVB) using detergent extraction. Subsequently, OMV from N. meningitidis, serogroup A (dOMVA), serogroup W (dOMVW) and serogroup X (dOMVX) were obtained using this process. More recently, the extraction process has also been applied effectively for obtaining OMV on a research scale from Vibrio cholerae (dOMVC), Bordetella pertussis (dOMVBP), Mycobacterium smegmatis (dOMVSM) and BCG (dOMVBCG). The immunogenicity of the OMV have been evaluated for specific antibody induction, and together with functional bactericidal and challenge assays in mice have shown their protective potential. dOMVB has been evaluated with non-self neisserial antigens, including with a herpes virus type 2 glycoprotein, ovalbumin and allergens. In conclusion, OMV are proving to be more versatile than first conceived and remain an important technology for development of vaccine candidates. - See more at: http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fimmu.2014.00121/abstract#sthash.MwqUyZQ1.dpu

The Story of an Old New England Town: History of Lee, Maine

The Story of an Old New England Town: History of Lee, Maine Compiled and Edited by Vinal A. Houghton, Belgrade, Maine (Formerly of Lee, Maine). Nelson Print, Wilton, Maine 1926 Contents: Descriptive / Historical / Reminscences / The Religious History / The Schools / Lee Academy / The Industrial History / The Fraternal Organizations / The Military History / The Civil Roster / The Census of 1860 / Odds and Ends of History / First Things / Lee in Poetry / Early Settlers / Miscellaneous Items / Angling on the Passadumkeag / The Mattakeunk Cabin Colony / Conclusionshttps://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/me_collection/1127/thumbnail.jp

The Civil War Career of Daniel L. Russell, Jr.: Myth vs. Reality

A thesis presented to the Chancellor's Scholars Council in partial fulfillment of the requirement for completion of the Chancellor's Scholars Program