Conserving contemporary artworks: perspectives of artists and curators at the National Art Gallery of Zimbabwe

In fine arts, contemporary artists seek to showcase their artistic skills and concepts. There is very little awareness by most artists on the quality of materials they use in art production and the conservation needs of contemporary artworks which pose conservation challenges as materials used and the physical quality of artworks produced are secondary to what the artists seek to express. Of prime interest to them is the expression of concepts through various genres of art creation. However, the quality of material used by most artists is largely affected by their financial situation and inadequate knowledge on the durability of such materials. Artworks created using recycled materials such as found objects and cheap materials like poor quality paint on paintings, low grade paper in artworks, or poor quality wood present conservation challenges to professionals in galleries. The end product are artworks made from composite materials, some stable and unstable. Thus professionals are faced with a dilemma to reconcile the conservation needs of these artworks and the artists’ expression of their concepts. Moreover, in the absence of remedial conservation measures, artworks are prone to deterioration. This is worsened by dwindling donor and government funding which negatively impacts on the gallery's capacity to conserve the art. Additionally, conceptual expression, artistic creativity, and commercialisation of the art are of priority over conservation. Therefore there is need to maintain a balance between the need to express concepts and commercialise the art on one hand and to conserve the contemporary artworks on the other hand.     

A model for personal and professional support for nurture group staff: to what extent can group process consultation be used as a resource to meet the challenges of running a nurture group?

This article details a mixed methods study designed to examine the impact of a group process consultation model in helping staff manage challenging behaviour in the nurture group setting. It relates to two geographical clusters of staff, including teachers and teaching assistants, running 11 nurture groups in a major metropolitan area in the UK, facilitated by an educational psychologist (EP). For 32 consultation referrals, teacher-rated levels of concern were compared before and after each session revealing a consistent drop, which was maintained throughout the intervention (p < 0.001). Measures of self-confidence and self-efficacy collected at the beginning of the group process consultation programme, and at the end of the first year of operation, revealed that teacher and teaching assistant self-confidence had improved significantly (p < 0.001) along with aspects of teacher self-efficacy (p = 0.023). A focus group, comprising eight teachers and teaching assistants, identified several themes and provided further elaboration on the outcomes of involvement.     

Modeling Configural Patterns in Latent Variable Profiles: Association With an Endogenous Variable

A model is proposed for identifying latent predictor score patterns associated with a latent outcome variable. The model employs 2 new devices: (a) a path coefficient vector of contrast coefficients to describe a configural pattern in a structural model, and (b) a new type of latent variable with values that quantify the match of the person's latent predictor variable profile pattern to a theoretical pattern associated with the factor. The model is illustrated using data on perceptions and evaluations of political candidates during a debate. Findings suggest a pattern of scores on the perceptual variables associated with perceived debate success for female observers but not for male observers.     

Coming to know within ‘healthy uncertainty’: an autoethnography of engagement and transformation in undergraduate education

This article is an autoenthnographic account of the yearlong journey of two undergraduates and their instructor when the traditional classroom structures associated with the banking concept of education were altered in an upper division class and follow-on research experiences. These changes focused on foregrounding students' experiences of the uncertainties inherent in the process of coming to know. Scaffolding this process within a context of ‘healthy uncertainty’ is described. Within this context, student engagement deepened allowing for generalization of knowledge and transformative personal experiences as the links between school and everyday life became more transparent.     

Heart rate responses of male orienteers aged 21-67 years during competition

Abstract

Orienteering is a sport in which it is common for most participants to be aged over 40 years, but research into the demands of the sport has focused almost exclusively on elite participants aged 21–35 years. The aim of the present study was to examine the heart rate responses of older male orienteers. Thirty-nine competitive male orienteers were divided into three groups: group 1 (international competitive standard, n=11, age 21–67 years), group 2 (national competitive standard, n=15, age 24–66 years) and group 3 (club competitive standard, n=13, age 23–60 years). Each participant had his heart rate monitored during two orienteering races of contrasting technical difficulty. The results were analysed using analysis of covariance, with age as a covariate, and Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients to determine whether age was related to the observed heart rate responses. The groups did not differ in their peak (175±12 beats · min^?1, P=0.643) or mean (159±13 beats · min^?1, P=0.171) heart rates during the races. There was a decline of 6 beats · min^?1 · decade^?1 (P=0.001) for peak heart rate and 5 beats · min ^?1·decade^?1 (P<0.001) for mean heart rate. Mean heart rates were 86±6% of the participants' maximal heart rates and were not associated with age. The orienteers in group 1 displayed a lower (P<0.005) within-race standard deviation in heart rate (6±2 beats · min^?1) than those in groups 2 and 3 (10±3 and 10±4 beats · min^?1, respectively). In conclusion, the mean heart rates indicated that all three groups of orienteers ran at a relative high intensity and the international competitive standard orienteers displayed a less variable heart rate, which may have been related to fewer instances of slowing down to relocate and being able to navigate while running at relatively high speeds.     

Caffeine lowers perceptual response and increases power output during high-intensity cycling

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of caffeine ingestion on a 'preloaded' protocol that involved cycling for 2 min at a constant rate of 100% maximal power output immediately followed by a 1-min 'all-out' effort. Eleven male cyclists completed a ramp test to measure maximal power output. On two other occasions, the participants ingested caffeine (5 mg. kg(-1)) or placebo in a randomized, double-blind procedure. All tests were conducted on the participants' own bicycles using a Kingcycle test rig. Ratings of perceived exertion (RPE; 6-20 Borg scale) were lower in the caffeine trial by approximately 1 RPE point at 30, 60 and 120 s during the constant rate phase of the preloaded test (P <0.05). The mean power output during the all-out effort was increased following caffeine ingestion compared with placebo (794+/-164 vs 750+/-163 W; P=0.05). Blood lactate concentration 4, 5 and 6 min after exercise was also significantly higher by approximately 1 mmol. l(-1) in the caffeine trial (P <0.05). These results suggest that high-intensity cycling performance can be increased following moderate caffeine ingestion and that this improvement may be related to a reduction in RPE and an elevation in blood lactate concentration.