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In this paper, findings from an investigation into the gender imbalance in swim coaching in Australia, particularly at the higher levels of accreditation, are reported. Stories of the experience of two elite female swim coaches were analysed with reference to the concept of hegemonic masculinity. Analysis found that some male coaches and attendants to the swimming culture use literal and ideological force, including differentiation, direct control, and trivialisation to enact hegemony and to (re)create a gendered order. The findings suggest that without intervention and (re)education, this ideology will remain uncontested, will continue to inform the practice of coaches in the field, and will remain deeply entrenched in the system of values of the sport's organising body and the federal funding organisation for sports in Australia.

In the 2016 International Olympic Committee Consensus Statement on harassment and abuse, it was outlined that psychological abuse in sport research has been heavily focused on the coach--athlete relationship resulting in a lack of research on other members of the athletes' support system such as their 'entourage.' Researchers of abuse have further noted that psychological abuse remains relatively underexplored in comparison to other types of athlete abuses (e.g. sexual abuse). As psychological abuse is one of the most common types of abuse occurring in sporting contexts, it has been flagged as an urgent safeguarding concern. Psychological abuse can be enacted in different ways with many associated behaviours. The present study explored one under-researched issue shown to be entrenched in sport culture -- 'body shaming' -- and how it constitutes psychological abuse. We also focused on the role of the athlete entourage (i.e. people associated with the athlete) in relation to psychological abuse through the body shaming of athletes. Using thematic analysis, three female athletes' stories showed how they were subjected to psychological abuse from members of their entourage when their bodies failed to meet socio-cultural expectations (i.e. too fat, not 'slim to win'). While it was not the central focus of our research, the athletes also explained how they were subjected to physical abuse and physical neglect from entourage members when they were perceived to be overweight or too fat. The athlete entourage members found to be perpetrators of abuse and physical neglect included the coach, the parent, the partner, and the manager. This research provides novel insight into how abuse is circulating through sporting contexts, and in so doing, generates knowledge for prevention and intervention initiatives in sport.

In the present study, post-partum embodied subjectivity of five competitive recreational mother runners of children under 6 years of age, was explored using narrative inquiry from a story analyst and a story teller position. This focus expands understanding of sport, embodiment and good mother ideals using narrative inquiry as a novel theory to centralize body-self stories contextualized in cultural narratives. A central theme of 'reimagining the post-partum self' was identified from a story analyst position whereby stories are the objects of analysis. We shifted to storytellers to present the nuanced intersecting meanings of this central theme in the form of three accessible creative nonfiction stories presented as composite vignettes. The three vignettes were: "listening to, and learning from my post-pregnant body;" "new mum, new athlete;" and "running (re)connects me to myself." These findings expand critical insights into the motherhood, sport and embodiment nexus into the under-studied topic of post-partum recreational sport. Such work opens pedagogical possibilities through telling, and witnessing, stories to highlight constraining and emancipative aspects, of women's physical participation.

In this paper, narrative analysis using a story analyst approach is used to explore how three former athletes (i.e. amateur and elite swimmers) self-managed their abuse experiences post-sport with a focus on the use, and meaning, of 'indirect self-injury' forms. Using the concept of 'emotion work', the swimmers' stories show how they reconfigured the emotions associated with the legacy of abuse by using indirect self-injury (e.g. eating disorder; abuse of prescription medications; excessive alcohol use; promiscuity) as embodied resources, after they were left to fend for themselves post-sport. As acquired resources within their self-stories, indirect forms of self-injury assisted them to reconfigure the trauma of abuse into something that was more manageable (i.e. 'emotion work'). While 'emotion work' was storied as successful for the three swimmers in the short term, the potential long-term health consequences of self-injury (i.e. kidney disease; liver damage; unwanted pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, death) were imminent. These findings highlight the need for sporting stakeholders to extend their duty of care to athletes, particularly abused athletes, post-sport.

Sociological investigations into the athlete-medical practitioner relationship are scarce due to medical bias for positivist epistemologies. The aim of this research was to identify the scope and purpose of medical interventions for four athletes, within the context of social processes that enable medicine to claim athletic bodies as objects of practice and performance. The role and function of power in the athlete-medical doctor transaction and athlete embodiment were also of interest. Using a story-analyst approach grounded in narrative analysis, the ideologies of 'slim to win' and 'performance' were identified as the impetus for the athletes seeking the expertise of doctors. Doctors were positioned as accomplices in 'slim to win' and 'performance' ideologies within the athletes' stories, which influenced medical practices and compromised athlete health. Disciplinary power was enacted when the doctors observed, corrected and manipulated the athletes' bodies through medical practice. Athletes also had agency through renegotiating the meaning of the 'treatment' process by reconfiguring medical doctor's disciplinary power as forms of empowerment knowledge. This research highlights the complex nature of the athlete-medical doctor transaction and how these encounters can be productive and oppressive for athletes.

Sport and physical activity contexts are entrenched with ableist perspectives which view disability as abnormal or negative. Consequently, those who deviate from cultural norms may experience inequity, exclusion, stigmatisation, non-accidental violence and maltreatment. Despite the commitment to ensuring sport and physical activity is safe and inclusive through policies and programmes, more knowledge is needed about the welfare-related experiences of persons with a disability in sport and physical activity to better protect them. This research used collaborative autoethnography and Goffman's theory of stigma to explore two mothers' experiences in a sport and physical activity context, including what they saw, what they felt and what they perceived their children with a disability experienced. This research shows both mothers experienced stigma (e.g. enacted, courtesy, affiliate) due to their immersion and the actions of others in these contexts. Further, both mothers also perceived that their children with a disability experienced the same types of stigma in these contexts as well as the negative consequences related to this stigma (e.g. bullying, social isolation, exclusion, judgement, labelling, anxiety). These acts of stigmatisation positioned both them and their children as outsiders within the stories. This collaborative autoethnography highlights the lack of provisions for disabled children and their families in sport and physical activity contexts, and the persistence of ableist views.

The purpose of this study was to extend understanding of how athletes and coaches in a women's cycling talent development and selection programme negotiate and normalise athlete abuse in the media. A thematic analysis of six online cycling magazine articles and their representations of the Australian women's elite cycling development camp was analysed to explore athletic abuse and the (re)production of coaching practices using Bourdieusian theory. The findings revealed a link between the expression of coaching practice and the maltreatment of athletes. Analysis of these articles also revealed that athletes were complicit in the normalisation of coaching practices through the misrecognition of social power embedded in the coaching intervention. The representations by athletes within the articles contributed narratives related to the reproduction and proliferation of abusive coaching practices. This study extends understanding of how taken for granted and power laden aspects of coaching practices can be presented in the media and highlights the implications for coaches, athletes and the general public that consume online cycling media content.

Given that research outside of sport and exercise has found that stigma may cause severe consequences (e.g. depression), it is important to explore the concept in regard to its connection to socio-cultural issues in the development and persistence of stigmatisation in sporting contexts. Analytic autoethnography and Goffman's theory of stigma was used to explore one female swimmer's experiences of 'enacted' and 'felt' competitive performance stigma occurring in elite swimming and a masters swimming context. Competitive performance stigma has not been conceptualised or explored as a stigma type in sport research, however through the presentation and analysis of two vignettes and the use of Goffman, this is achieved. The social agents that contributed to both 'enacted' and 'felt' competitive performance stigma and the consequences/effects (e.g. withdrawal from sport, feelings of shame) for this swimmer are highlighted. Our analysis further highlights the role of particular cultural insiders (e.g. coaches, team managers and other swimmers) in the reproduction of competitive performance stigma through acts of labelling, discrimination and social isolation. These acts positioned the female swimmer as an 'outsider' because of her competitive performance which in turn led to her withdrawal from these two sporting contexts highlighting the implications for recipients of stigmatisation.

This paper explores three female swimmers' relationships with their male coaches and the body practices they were exposed to within Australian swimming. Particular attention is given to how the relationships and practices might relate to gender. Additionally, the article examines how (if at all) the conduct contributed to the social construction of an accepted female swimmer body. Through narrative accounts, the three adolescent female athletes articulate hierarchical male coach-female athlete relationships and specific body encounters they were exposed to and/or engaged with. Their experiences reveal how a sexually maturing body (growing breasts, female body shape and menstruating) was deemed unsuitable for performance and the swimmers were thus encouraged to transform their bodies and behaviours towards that of the boys. Using a feminist Foucauldian perspective, these accounts points to how the three swimmers came to regulate their diet, training and appearance in order to fulfil expectations. This self-regulation is problematic in two ways: first, no scientific evidence shows that a boy like physique is essential for best performance. Second, the stress from being pressured to achieve a particular body, as well as the shame that resulted from being unable to achieve the idealised physique, eventually caused the swimmers to develop an unhealthy relationship with their developing bodies. We highlight how those immersed in sporting contexts should recognise the serious implications of gender practices and power relations underpinning the male coach-female athlete dynamic in competitive sport.

Background: Research in sport coaching and sport pedagogy including studies published in this special issue bring to the fore the relationship between learning and culture in contexts of high-performance sport. This paper acknowledged that how learning, culture and their relationship are conceptualised is a crucial issue for researchers and professionals in high-performance sport. Purpose and approach: This paper arises from a theoretical analysis of the research studies presented in this special issue. The analysis undertaken focused on the understanding and representation of the concepts of learning and culture and critically examined the methodological application of particular conceptualisations. The intention was to extend insight into both theoretical and methodological issues associated with understanding and researching athlete and coach learning, and high-performance sport settings. Findings and discussion: This paper identifies tendencies for separatist and reductionist thinking about learning and culture in high-performance sport settings. A relational perspective is identified as critical to extending research and professional practice that is directed towards learning and/or culture. Researchers are urged to avoid identifying either athlete or coach learning (only) with specific events or experiences, and similarly avoid positioning culture as something that sits apart from athletes' and coaches' participation and learning in elite sport settings. The dual notions of "learning practices as cultural practice" and "cultural practice as pedagogical practice" are proposed as a basis for holistic thinking about learning and culture in high-performance sport settings. The extent to which such thinking is reflected in the various contributions to the special issue is considered. Attention is then directed to the methodological challenges that researchers face if they are to reflect a conceptualisation of learning as both embedded and embodied in cultural practices. Challenging and extending the underlying vision of learning that researchers, coaches and athletes have is revealed as a critical consideration in regard to research design, data collection and ways in which participants are variously positioned, represented and "involved" in research. Embodied perspectives are identified as particularly worthy of greater attention in contemporary research that seeks to extend understanding of athlete and/or coaches' learning and lived experiences within and amidst elite sporting cultures. Recent scholarship focusing on the body and lived experience is identified as providing theoretical and methodological insights that can extend future research and practice. Conclusions: Foregrounding a relational perspective is fundamental to extending the understanding of learning and culture in high-performance sport. Future research also needs to clearly embrace the methodological challenges presented by new conceptualisations.

This paper centres on one researcher's narrative inquiry of embodied experience. The purpose of this paper is to initiate and extend dialogue which highlights potential possibilities and limitations for those researchers and participants who choose to engage with the narrative inquiry approach. Of special concern are four points or evocations that have been enacted and/or encountered by a researcher (Author 1) as a narrative inquirer over the past seven years. Those being; narrative and the (re)presentation of lived experience; constraints imposed by positivists; the double-edged sword of evocation and verisimilitude, and the potentiality of initiating catharsis. This paper provides personal insights into how one researcher's reactions to tensions, positivist constraints in and through the narrative inquiry process led her to, in some instances to conform to narrative critics' impositions. The narrative inquiry of embodied experience included in this paper is by no means conclusive, finalised or absolute; it does, however, represent a cross section of conformance as well as theoretical and methodological realisations and tensions encountered.

Although sport participation holds potential to facilitate substance use recovery, the role of sport and links to identity transformation are contentious. Using an instrumental and intrinsic case study, we used narrative inquiry to explore autobiographies as cultural sites of analysis in relation to the role that one sport (i.e., triathlon) plays in substance use recovery. We conducted a social constructionist narrative thematic analysis of four public autobiography sources (e.g., one book and three documentary films) chronicling one man's 27-year journey of substance use recovery using recreational triathlon. A central narrative threaded the substance use recovery process: redemption narrative. Redemption narrative meaning(s) unfolded in distinct ways depending on identity themes: (a) athlete to triathlete: (re)creating a non-substance-using identity and (b) generative athlete: claiming a sober identity. The redemption stories and shifting identities were connected to recovery capital resources: human (e.g., mental health and life perspective), social (e.g., community belonging), and cultural (e.g., appreciation of new meanings connected with triathlon). This study extends work in sport psychology focusing on athlete autobiographies as research and pedagogical resources to learn more about the role of sport in substance use recovery. We provide reflections on findings, recommendations for practitioners, and future research directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to sport, sociology and the body literature by exploring the "exposure and effect" of culture, in particular bodily practices placed on three adolescent swimmers immersed in the Australian swimming culture using an ethnographic framework. The research reported is particularly notable as it addresses two distinct time points in the swimmers' lives. The first section explores the adolescent experiences of three female swimmers within the cultural context of Australian swimming by articulating some of the specific body practices and "memes" (ideas, symbols and practices) that they were exposed to and/or engaged within relation to the body. The second section of this paper focuses on the same three swimmers in the "present day", some 10-30 years after being immersed in the Australian swimming culture as adolescents. It excavates their body practices and the relationships they now have with their body, and thus pursues the sustained impact of the body practices and "memes" they were exposed to as adolescents. Analysis employs concepts drawn mainly from Foucault, particularly his thesis in regard to "disciplinary power", "regulation" "classification" and "surveillance". At a club (amateur) and National level, Australian swimming is revealed as an institution, a site and culture where particular techniques of power have become concentrated and have been brought to bear on individuals in systematic ways, with sometimes damaging effects arising for athletes' long-term health and well-being, particularly if the individuals concerned continue to engage with cultural practices in regard to the body post-career. (Contains 3 notes.)

This paper contributes to studies on sociology and the body by exploring my bodily experiences as an Australian elite swimmer in an autoethnographic framework. More specifically, it focuses on the relationship between the regulatory practices of others on my body and my development of self-regulatory practices. The stories in this paper reveal evidence of regulatory practices occurring from four different domains within the Australian elite swimming culture--the coach, the mother, the peers and the "self". I have named the regulatory physiological practices as "ethnophysiological" as they were triggered in the social context of Australian swimming and were legitimated through "values packaged in a scientific wrapping". Autoethnography, an "autobiographical genre of writing" has been utilised as it enables the reader to vicariously share my bodily experiences, bestowing a voice of authority to my body to reveal personal experiences, voices and feelings. Within this paper, I will re-tell my stories of being an elite swimmer. I will detail stories of enaction, coach and peer regulation and self-regulation occurring within the elite culture persisting my career over a nine-year period. I use Sparkes' question in regard to embodiment to reflexively shape my analysis; "what do my memories reveal about the socialisation of my body" and draw on literature relevant to sociology and the body.

Australian Swimming functions on meritocratic principles as athletes are immersed in a culture that focuses on achievement. Meritocratic principles are accompanied by a technocentric ideology where a "swimmer body" is a commodity "viewed as an instrument and object for manipulation" (Baine, 1990, p. 29) in order to achieve success. This paper focuses on swimming as a social practice. My experiences as an Australian Swimming representative reveal how my body was viewed as a malleable object that was trained and manipulated to a perceived ideal for the sake of performance. As a consequence, I began purging (and complying) my body in an attempt to conform to an idealistic shape set by Australian team managers and coaches and other social regulators.

Research on abuse in sport reveals that sporting environments are unique contexts where athlete abuse can occur. An international panel on "safe sport" identified the need to implement strategies to ensure sport is safe for all. One strategy identified as a way of preventing abuse from occurring in sport is to educate the parents of athletes. This study centres on an education intervention implemented with 14 parents from a gymnastics and swimming context where narrative pedagogy (e.g., athletes' stories of abuse) was used. As a result of engaging with narrative pedagogy, parents were able to identify unacceptable coaching practices. However, the extent of several dominant cultural ideologies (e.g., competitive performance ideology) became known through the parents' responses and influenced the way they took up the athletes' abuse stories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within research on retirement due to injury, transitional difficulties (e.g., mental health issues, identity loss) have been identified and linked with a singular athlete identity, early or forced retirement, and difficulty comprehending life beyond sport. More research is needed to learn further about the socio-cultural context of athlete retirement and injury. The present study builds on media research in sport sociology and sport psychology, to explore retirement and injury in a cultural context, using relativist narrative inquiry. In this study, the media was explored as a cultural site circulating stories within narratives that convey meanings (e.g., injury is normal) and values (e.g., playing through pain, playing sport as long as one can) that impact athlete's lives. A thematic narrative analysis was conducted on 60 digital news stories of one incident surrounding a high profile athlete in the National Football League (NFL): Andrew Luck's retirement due to injury. A central narrative identified was "football's toll on athlete health." Three small storylines shaped nuanced meanings of Luck's injury and retirement within the central narrative: "defending the retirement," "from superhero to human," and "athlete communities of pain and injury." The theoretical and applied contributions of the findings are outlined. We conclude with what a narrative approach to media stories affords sport psychology, and suggest future research. Lay Summary: In this study, media stories and narratives that frame them are explored as cultural resources to learn more about athlete retirement due to injury. The findings provide valuable insight into media stories as entry points of awareness, concerning pain and injury linked to mental health, and vulnerability shown through a high profile athlete's stories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents two meta-autoethnographies written by a former elite swimmer. In the first metaautoethnography, the swimmer revealed doubts in relation to details, emotions and inner-thoughts that she had included in her historical autoethnographic work. As a means of sorting and pondering these tensions and uncertainties, the swimmer explored cultural re-immersion as a possible additional element in the metaautoethnographic process. The second meta-autoethnography centers on the swimmer's re-immersion into elite swimming culture. It was revealed how cultural re-immersion enabled the swimmer to better reflect on her historical autoethnographic work by providing a more conscientized, rational and reflexive voice. This research highlights how cultural re-immersion should be considered as an additional element in the metaautoethnographic process as it benefits both the author and also audience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethnodrama combined with Goffman's 'presentation of self' is used to explore three elite swimmers' 'presentation of self' in relation to the dominant ideology of 'slim to win'. The 'presentation of self' of three swimmers is presented and analyzed according to their front stage (e.g., posting of specific images; direct media quotes) and backstage (e.g., an autoethnographic representation) performances. Goffman's concepts of expressions 'given' and 'given off' are used to highlight how the ideology comes to be presented to others and whether the swimmer negotiates and/or contests it. As an analysis and representation, ethnodrama affords the opportunity to reveal the extent an athlete may go to to avoid a failing 'presentation of self' in relation to 'slim to win,' highlighting potential health effects (e.g., physical, emotional). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the focus on motherhood and sport participation in recent years, the motherhood and recreational sport participation nexus is not well understood. Using an instrumental case study, we explored running facilitators for competitive recreational mother runners to advance research using a novel theory (i.e., narrative inquiry). We used a dialogical narrative analysis to identify a key theme of "good mother runners: negotiating freedom and constraint." Findings are presented using a storyteller approach in the form of three portrait characters who each tell a story of facilitators grounded in a "relational narrative" that provided freedom to run in the context of good motherhood. The features of the relational narrative are shown in three nonfiction vignettes: Susan's story, "Running is what we do"; Tracy's story, "Running isn't just for me, it's for them"; and Kay's story, "Just go with it." Interpretive reflections of the stories using narrative theory are offered. We conclude with practical recommendations and future research directions for mothers' competitive running participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although extreme-sport athletes’ experiences have been explored in sport psychology, more research is needed to understand the nuanced identity meanings for these athletes in the context of health and well-being. A case-study approach grounded in narrative inquiry was used to explore identity meanings of 1 elite extreme-sport athlete (i.e., skyrunner Kilian Jornet) in relation to well-being. Data gleaned from 4 documentary films and 10 autobiographical book chapters describing the Summits of My Life project were subjected to a thematic narrative analysis. Two intersecting narratives—discovery and relational—threaded the summits project and were used by Jornet to construct an “ecocentric” identity intertwined with nature in fluid ways, depending on 3 relationships related to well-being: the death of climbing partner Stéphane Brosse, team members’ shared values, and her relationship with partner Emelie Forsberg. An expansion of identity, health, and well-being research on extreme-sport athletes beyond simplistic portrayals of them as pathological risk takers and/or motivated by personality traits was gained from these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within sport psychology, researchers have explored elite athlete mothers' experiences. More work is needed to understand the nuanced psychosocial aspects of their athletic journeys. Studying autobiographical narratives is useful toward understanding the psychosocial nuances of motherhood and athletics in sociocultural context. Within the present study we sought to extend this understanding through studying one elite athlete's—British runner Jo Pavey—journey as an athlete mother within her autobiography This Mum Runs (26 chapters totaling 253 pages). Thematic narrative analysis of key chapters focusing on pregnancy and motherhood in relation to training and competition allowed for the identification of a central theme—discovery narrative–reconfiguring the performance narrative—along with two subthemes: go with the flow and best of both worlds. The subthemes are used to illustrate the navigation of tensions in relation to an athlete mother identity grounded in family relationships to facilitate training and competition goals, within a discovery narrative. Applied sport psychology recommendations are made using narrative theory in relation to key findings. Recommendations focused on athlete stories and narrative resources as concrete entry points to encourage compatible athlete mother identities and sport career engagement. This study adds to sport psychology work that has used autobiography as theoretical, analytical, and applied resources to expand understanding of marginalized and/or hard to access topics in elite sport. This is the first autobiographic study to focus on elite athlete mother identities, furthering understanding of nuanced identity negotiation and experiences over time. Lay Summary: Understanding of elite athlete mother's negotiation of identity and athletic career is expanded through studying published/public autobiographical narratives. A discovery narrative grounded in personal growth and family relationships facilitates strategies that facilitate training and competition goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within sport psychology, little research on fathers has been done, with no research yet exploring the social construction of athlete father identities to learn more about gendered parental identities in sport. Building on media research within sport psychology, the present study sought to extend understanding of athlete father identities in a cultural context by examining how news media constructed one high profile athlete’s (i.e. tennis star Andy Murray) journey into new fatherhood in relation to identity. Ethnographic content analysis was used to explore Murray’s athlete and father identities as socio-cultural creations shaped by media narratives. Sixty stories from UK news media were collected between 1 December 2015 (two months prior to the birth of Murray’s daughter) and 31 December 2016 (the end of the 2016 tennis season), to explore Murray’s journey as a new father in relation to identity and athletic career. Eighty-seven images contextualised the meanings of news narratives. A central cultural narrative of involved fatherhood constructed two identities: the good father and the new and improved athlete father. These identities fed into multiple meanings of involved fatherhood and athletics. The meanings both affirmed and resisted gendered ideals in parenting and sport which had implications for athletic career. These findings extend cultural sport psychology research on the social construction of identity and previous media research on elite athlete mother identities into research on media representations of elite athlete fathers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to analyse and compare athlete development governance in Australia, Finland, Germany, New Zealand, Sweden and Switzerland. We adopt a Foucauldian framework to theorise athlete development governance as shaped by and based on distinct ‘government mentalities’ and ‘modes of governance’. Qualitative procedures were used to collect and analyse 58 documents related to the 6 countries’ athlete development governance and to conduct 14 informal interviews with national elite sport system experts. Our results confirm other scholars’ findings that sport governance is moving towards managerialist government mentalities. Specific modes of governance that are being implemented to systematise athlete development include targeted forms of funding and the modelling of athlete development. However, the results also highlight how athlete development governance is a site of negotiation, arising from (a) historical events, (b) sociopolitical contexts, (c) financial conditions, (d) government mentalities and (e) sport science knowledge. Our examination demonstrates how these factors not only problematise athlete development governance but also allow for distinctive local athlete development government discursivities and/or sport-specific adjustments such as less result-driven and more holistic interpretations of athlete development. We conclude by outlining implications intended to support stakeholders’ (e.g. coaches’, sport directors’) engagement in conceptualising, implementing and/or revising athlete development frameworks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) is an inherited disorder characterized by increased serum low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol concentrations and premature atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. The majority of people with FH are currently undiagnosed. We sought to determine the ability of a community laboratory to screen for individuals with potential FH. Methods: Serum LDL-cholesterol concentrations issued by a private community laboratory in Western Australia were reviewed over a one-year period (1 May 2010 to 31 April 2011). We assessed the prevalence of possible FH based on LDL-cholesterol thresholds employed by the Make Early Diagnosis-Prevent Early Death (MED-PED), the Simon Broome Registry and the Dutch Lipid Clinic Network criteria. Results: During this period, 84,823 people had 99,467 serum LDL-cholesterol measurements, with 91.8% requested by general practitioners. A secondary cause of hypercholesterolaemia was identified in 8.3% of subjects with an LDL-cholesterol ≥5.0 mmol/L. The prevalence of FH based on an LDL-cholesterol ≥6.5 mmol/L, the 99.75th percentile, was 1:398 in this sample population; similarly, the MED-PED LDL-cholesterol criteria gave a prevalence of 1:482. Conclusions: The community laboratory is well placed to screen opportunistically for subjects with potential FH. This may be achieved using either the MED-PED criteria or a serum LDL-cholesterol cut-off point of ≥6.5 mmol/L, irrespective of age. Further investigation is required to determine the most effective method of identifying these individuals and, thereby, ensuring referral to a specialist lipid clinic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the concept of the so-called thin and thick aesthetic formalisms presented in the book "Critique of Aesthetic Judgment," by philosopher Immanuel Kant. The author explains the concept of thin aesthetic formalism, which deals with perceptible features of an object comprised of colour, shape and texture. In the thick formalist theory, Kant reportedly indicated the way aesthetic judgment features are based on his system of the mind. Also elaborated is the term Sensus Communis cited by Kant to pertain to the basis of intersubjectivity.

Information about the fourth International Qualitative Research conference that was held at the Loughborough University in Loughborough, England from September 1-3, 2014, is presented. Topics include the dynamics of professional rugby league players, the cultural positioning of female adolescent swimmers' bodies and the sporting performance of women. It featured several attendees of the event including Kerry McGannon, Andrea Bundon and Michael Atkinson.

The International Committee of the Red Cross investigated an outbreak of beri-beri in a prison in West Africa. Twenty-five prisoners out of a total of 1020 died over a period of 11 weeks--exceeding the crude mortality rate of 1/10,000/day, a threshold for serious concern. Two hundred and eleven prisoners had clinical signs of beri-beri. An immediate response to treatment with thiamine was seen and no further deaths occurred. The triad of a positive squatting test, oedema and a diet consisting exclusively of white rice should lead to the diagnosis of beri-beri. The disease is more common than generally assumed, also in Africa and especially in prisons.