Accelerometer and GPS Data to Analyze Built Environments and Physical Activity

ABSTRACT

Purpose: Most built environment studies have quantified characteristics of the areas around participants’ homes. However, the environmental exposures for physical activity (PA) are spatially dynamic rather than static. Thus, merged accelerometer and global positioning system (GPS) data were utilized to estimate associations between the built environment and PA among adults. Methods: Participants (N = 142) were recruited on trails in Massachusetts and wore an accelerometer and GPS unit for 1–4 days. Two binary outcomes were created: moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA vs. light PA-to-sedentary); and light-to-vigorous PA (LVPA vs. sedentary). Five built environment variables were created within 50-meter buffers around GPS points: population density, street density, land use mix (LUM), greenness, and walkability index. Generalized linear mixed models were fit to examine associations between environmental variables and both outcomes, adjusting for demographic covariates. Results: Overall, in the fully adjusted models, greenness was positively associated with MVPA and LVPA (odds ratios [ORs] = 1.15, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.03, 1.30 and 1.25, 95% CI = 1.12, 1.41, respectively). In contrast, street density and LUM were negatively associated with MVPA (ORs = 0.69, 95% CI = 0.67, 0.71 and 0.87, 95% CI = 0.78, 0.97, respectively) and LVPA (ORs = 0.79, 95% CI = 0.77, 0.81 and 0.81, 95% CI = 0.74, 0.90, respectively). Negative associations of population density and walkability with both outcomes reached statistical significance, yet the effect sizes were small. Conclusions: Concurrent monitoring of activity with accelerometers and GPS units allowed us to investigate relationships between objectively measured built environment around GPS points and minute-by-minute PA. Negative relationships between street density and LUM and PA contrast evidence from most built environment studies in adults. However, direct comparisons should be made with caution since most previous studies have focused on spatially fixed buffers around home locations, rather than the precise locations where PA occurs.     

The Relation of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury to Chronic Lapses of Attention

We assessed the extent to which failures in sustained attention were associated with chronic mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) deficits in cognitive control among college-age young adults with and without a history of sport-related concussion. Participants completed the ImPACT computer-based assessment and a modified flanker task. Results indicated that a history of mTBI, relative to healthy controls, was associated with inferior overall flanker task performance with a greater number of omission errors and more frequent sequentially occurring omission errors. Accordingly, these findings suggest that failures in the ability to maintain attentional vigilance may, in part, underlie mTBI-related cognition deficits.     

在体育学校中青少年道德素质形成的研究

实证证明,在青少年体育运动学校中,道德品质的形成并不是像理论上证实那样有条不紊地进行的.在训练过程中,青少年存在着道德和体育的不平衡,因此,在体育活动中,不能孤立地进行教育工作.研究结果表明:为了确定在专门性青少年体育运动学校中,道德品质形成的方法和形式,通过强加他们的道德观点、社会规范和道德原则来完善青少年道德水平是不可能的.首先,唤起他们良好的善意,揭示出积极的道德品质是非常重要的.其次,要有意识地影响他们确定正确的心灵自我完善和解脱.所有这些都为青少年自我教育的实现、获取心灵体验来完善自我奠定了基础.学生在不同类型的社会活动中的创造性参与体验是非常重要的,在这个过程中,他们通过意识和自我意识来转变社会价值,掌握个人品质.     

The natural provenance: ecoliteracy in higher education in Mississippi

Researchers suggest there is an increasing apathy in the study of natural history in academic settings and in the scientific community. However, most studies of environmental knowledge do not address knowledge of local flora and fauna; they are concerned with the knowledge of environmental issues or broad ecological knowledge. Ecoliteracy established local natural history as fundamental to environmental knowledge and seeks to determine the knowledge of local environments and factors associated with that knowledge. This study investigated ecoliteracy in Mississippi, determining knowledge of local flora and fauna of undergraduate and graduate students at the largest universities. Ecoliteracy levels in Mississippi were low. Students had a rudimentary knowledge of local flora and fauna, despite coursework in natural history. Students majoring in wildlife and fisheries and biology had more advanced knowledge of local flora and fauna than non-biology majors. Students were most knowledgeable of reptiles and amphibians, and least of fish and endangered species. The number of environmental courses taken and environmental sensitivity were positively correlated with ecoliteracy, and were strong predictors of ecoliteracy. Ecoliteracy was influenced by coursework and experience with degree programs including fieldwork. Natural history knowledge was deficient at Mississippi universities. Researchers suggest reintroducing coursework focused on ecoliteracy.     

Positive Effects of Converting a Food and Bioprocessing Analysis Course to an Inquiry‐Guided Approach

Abstract: Food science laboratory courses are traditionally taught as a series of preplanned laboratories with known endpoints. In contrast, inquiry‐guided (IG) laboratories allow students to ask questions, think through problems, design experiments, then adapt and learn in response to unexpected results. This study examined the effects of converting the course, “Analytical Techniques in Food and Bioprocessing Sciences” from a traditional approach (2008 to 2010 data) to an IG approach (2011 data) by assigning teams of 2–3 students a food and a set of 5 analyses to conduct over the course of the semester. Students were required to choose and justify the use of specific methods for each analysis, as well as to develop a supply list and a budget for the semester‐long project. During the semester, students were required to post and discuss their weekly progress with the instructor, teaching assistants, and the rest of the class using an online discussion forum. At the end of the semester, students were required to present the results of their analysis in both oral and written formats. Overall course grades were significantly higher (P≤ 0.05) using IG in 2011 compared to 2010 and 2009, but not to 2008 grades. Numerical course evaluations for the instructor, overall course, and lab, as well as written course evaluations all significantly (P≤ 0.05) improved. This suggests that an IG approach may measurably improve student performance in terms of course grades and the ability to complete semester long projects. It may also increase student satisfaction with the course, as measured by numerical and written end of semester surveys.     

Information--movement coupling: implications for the organization of research and practice during acquisition of self-paced extrinsic timing skills

Information--movement coupling is a fundamental concept, integral to theorizing on the coordination of goal-directed activity in ecological psychology. In this paper, we examine the implications of this concept for the design of experimental research and the organization of practice during the acquisition of movement coordination in sport tasks. The task vehicle for our analysis is interceptive actions, in particular self-paced extrinsic timing tasks exemplified by serving in sports such as volleyball. Recent research highlighting the relevance of information--movement coupling for the process of practice in sport is discussed. We conclude that information--movement coupling represents an important principle for the structural organization of research and practice in self-paced extrinsic timing tasks and that further work is required to verify its significance across a range of sport movements.     

Impact forces and neck muscle activity in heading by collegiate female soccer players

Three soccer header types (shooting, clearing and passing) and two heading approaches (standing and jumping) were manipulated to quantify impact forces and neck muscle activity in elite female soccer players. The 15 participants were Division I intercollegiate soccer players. Impact forces were measured by a 15-sensor pressure array secured on the forehead. The electromyographic (EMG) activity of the left and right sternocleidomastoid and trapezius muscles was recorded using surface electrodes. Maximum impact forces and impulses as well as the EMG data were analysed with separate repeated-measures analyses of variance. Impact forces and impulses did not differ among the header types or approaches. Higher values were found for jumping versus standing headers in the mean normalized EMG for the right sternocleidomastoid. In addition, the integrated EMG was greater for the right sternocleidomastoid and right and left trapezius (P < 0.05). The sternocleidomastoid became active earlier than the trapezius and showed greater activity before ball contact. The trapezius became active just before ball contact and showed greater activity after ball contact. The increased muscle activity observed in the neck during the jumping approach appears to stabilize the connection between the head and body, thereby increasing the stability of the head-neck complex.