Conversations on day care programming

This article presents segments of a number of conversations between Georgia McMurray (above, right), former Commissioner of the Agency for Child Development of the Human Resources Administration of the City of New York, currently serving as Chairperson of the Alliance for Children, and Deborah Diamond (above, left), formerly of Teachers College, Columbia University, and the Teaching Resource Center of the City University of New York's Graduate Center, currently Director of CHROMA/SPECTRUM Instructional Products, Ltd. The highlights presented here are from their initial discussions concerning the need for a position paper on day care...the state of the art, and actual directions in the field at the grass roots level.     

EFLM Position Statement: Our profession now has a European name: Specialist in Laboratory Medicine

We need a common name to have a clear identity which best describes the scope of the work we carry out for the patients.A clear and easily understood name which reflects the level of education and training of a specialist in the medical laboratory, and hence eligibility to be on the EC4 Register, is therefore needed, whatever academic background and whether polyvalent or sub-specialised.     

The case for frequency sensitivity in orthographic learning

This paper positions the importance of frequency sensitivity in the development of orthographic knowledge throughout childhood and promotes learning to spell as a vehicle which may be used effectively to develop this sensitivity. It is suggested that orthographic knowledge is advanced via a process of ‘frequency sensitivity’ to ‘patterns and sequences’ and ‘rules and regularities’ particular to English orthography and that the process of sensitivity to these coarse grain orthographic patterns is influenced by consistency in sound and by morphological knowledge (knowledge of morphemes; words or word parts that form the smallest unit of meaning in language). A model highlighting the increasing importance of orthography and morphology as reading and spelling development progresses is presented. Discussion of the importance of considering phonology, orthography and morphology throughout literacy development and the relative importance of each is discussed. Distinctions are drawn between the processes involved in children who are good readers and good spellers, children who are good readers and poor spellers, and children who are poor readers and poor spellers. This paper outlines how considering these interrelated and developmentally sensitive contributors to literacy development can contribute to the practice of educational professionals in promoting the development of literacy skills throughout childhood.     

College Major and the Gender Earnings Gap: A Multi-country Examination of Postgraduate Labour Market Outcomes

This paper explores the effects of degree choice on the distribution of occupational benefits in terms of income, and their contribution to the gender earnings gap, among young European higher education graduates. The results reveal that the field of study, which is the result of a personal choice, appears to influence the distribution of work-related benefits among graduates even after controlling for unobservable heterogeneity and observable individual/job specific characteristics. Analysis of the gender earnings gap shows that the earning disparities among female/male graduates in Education, Humanities and Mathematics are smaller.     

Gender Earnings Gap among Young European Higher Education Graduates

This paper examines the composition of the gender earnings gap among young European higher education graduates, with a particular focus on competencies controlling for individual background and job characteristics. The results show that much of the female worker’s earnings advantage can be explained by job characteristics. With respect to the competencies required at current jobs, we find that foreign language proficiency and computer skills play a large role in explaining part of the female earnings advantage. Additionally, estimation results by each one of the countries included in the analysis show that gender earning gaps are disparate in size as well as in composition.     

Influence of aerobic versus anaerobic exercise on the relationship between reproductive hormones in men

This study examined the effects of equal anaerobic and aerobic total work outputs on the relationship between reproductive hormones in men. Nine subjects performed three randomized trials on separate days: (1) 1 h period of rest (control), (2) 1 h continuous aerobic exercise (65% VO₂ max), and (3) 1 h intermittent anaerobic exercise (which included 2 min exercise periods at 110% FO₂ max). The total work output of the aerobic and anaerobic trials were equated. For the 8 h after each experimental trial, blood samples were collected hourly and analysed for testosterone, luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle‐stimulating hormone (FSH), prolactin and cortisol. Diet, physical activity and circadian influences were all controlled. Compared with the control, the aerobic and anaerobic trials significantly (P < 0.05) elevated testosterone, prolactin and cortisol; however, these changes were transient and returned to control levels within 1–2 h of recovery. Neither exercise produced significant (P > 0.05) changes from control for LH and FSH. The area under the hormonal response curves (AUC) was calculated for the 8‐h recovery period. The testosterone and LH AUC results did not differ (P > 0.05) among the trials (the FSH AUC was not calculated). The prolactin AUC for the aerobic and anaerobic trials were greater (P < 0.01) than the control trial. The cortisol AUC for the anaerobic trial was greater than both the control and aerobic trials (P < 0.05), but the aerobic and control trials did not differ from one another. Correlation analysis among the AUC results within each trial showed testosterone and LH to be significantly related during the control (r = 0.723, P < 0.05) and aerobic (r = 0.801, P < 0.01) trials, but not so during the anaerobic trial (r = 0.430, P > 0.05). No other significant correlations were found. The present findings suggest the relationship between testosterone and LH is affected by anaerobic exercise but not aerobic exercise. However, the effect of anaerobic exercise upon the testosterone‐LH relationship did not seem related to the concurrently induced prolactin or cortisol changes. Anaerobic exercise may produce some degree of temporary alteration within the testosterone‐LH component of the hypothalamic‐pituitary‐gonadal axis; however, the mechanism for this phenomenon remains unclear.     

Index for Volume 51 (1980)

Abstract

Eight college swimmers were tested on a swimming ergometer to investigate the effects of body position on land and immersion in the water on the heart rate recovery after swimming exercise. The subjects swam at a predetermined work load for 5 min. and then assumed one of the four conditions for recovery (erect and supine on the deck, motionless and swimming in the water). Heart rates were recorded for the 3 min. of recovery. After the allowance for recovery, the subject was timed for a 200-yd. swim. No statistically significant differences were noted when comparing the recovery heart rates for the four conditions. The same was found true when comparing the 200-yd. swim times. It was noted that the swim was felt to be harder when recovery was completed in an erect or supine position than after light exercise in the water.