Effect of a randomised 12-week resistance training programme on muscular strength,cross-sectional area and muscle quality in women having undergone Roux-en-Y gastric bypass

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of a 12-week resistance training programme on fat-free mass (FFM), muscle cross-sectional area, muscular strength and muscle quality in women who underwent Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery. Participants were 16 women (mean age = 44.9 ± 10.2 years) from bariatric surgical groups who were randomly assigned into either a control or an intervention group. Air displacement plethysmography measured FFM and magnetic resonance imaging measured quadriceps muscle cross-sectional area and whole thigh muscle cross-sectional area. Muscular strength and quality was assessed using an estimated 1-Repetition Maximum assessment. All measurements were collected twice, at baseline and at a 12-week follow-up. There were significantly greater improvements in leg press strength (mean differences = 55.4%, P < 0.001, Cohen’s d = 2.4), leg extension strength (mean differences = 18.0%, P = 0.014, Cohen’s d = 0.86) and leg press muscle quality (mean differences = 54.5%, P < 0.001, Cohen’s d = 1.9) in the intervention group compared to the control group following the resistance training programme. The resistance training intervention significantly improved muscular strength and quality; however, it did not illicit changes in FFM or muscle cross-sectional area in women who underwent Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery.     

Applying decision tree induction for identification of important attributes in one-versus-one player interactions: A hockey exemplar

Abstract

Decision tree induction is a novel approach to exploring attacker-defender interactions in many sports. In this study hockey was chosen as an example to illustrate the potential use of decision tree inductions for the purpose of identifying and communicating characteristics that drive the outcome. Elite female players performed one-versus-one contests (n = 75) over two sessions. Each contest outcome was classified as either a win or loss. Position data were acquired using radio-tracking devices, and movement-based derivatives were calculated for two time epochs (5 to 2.5 seconds, and 2.5 to zero seconds before the outcome occurred). A decision tree model was trained using these attributes from the first session data, which predicted that when the attacker was moving at ≥ 0.5 m · s^?1 faster than the defender during the early epoch, the probability of an attacker's win was 1.00. Conversely, when the speed difference at that time was below this threshold the probability of a loss was 0.78. Secondary attributes included defender speed in the lateral direction during the early epoch, and angle of attack (i.e., angle between the respective velocity vectors of the attacker and defender) during the late epoch. The model was then used to predict outcomes of one-versus-one contests from the second session (accuracy = 0.643; area under the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve = 0.712). Moreover, decision trees provide an intuitive framework for relating spatial-temporal concepts to coaches, and the suitability of decision trees for analysing the features of one-versus-one exchanges are discussed.     

Rankings in professional men’s tennis: a rich but underutilized source of information

Abstract

Success in professional tennis is measured, at least in part, by rankings. However, there is little quantitative evidence to inform stakeholders regarding what represents the typical ranking progress of top-ranked players. The objective of this study was therefore to compare the ranking trajectories of male players whom achieved peak professional rankings in the Top 250, 175, 100, 50, 20 and 10. The 11,396 birthdates and weekly professional rankings of all players between 27 August 1973 and 31 October 2011 were collated. The peak ranks for each athlete according to their both chronological age and number of years on tour were identified and athletes were categorised into one of six career–peak ranking bands. One-way analysis of variance tests confirmed distinctive ranking trajectories, which were most pronounced among Top 10 players. The rankings of these players were statistically distinguishable following players’ second year on tour or by 17 years of age. The ranking signature of all Top 100 players emerged as significantly different to players that failed to enter the Top 100 by their fourth year on the tour. Indeed, the representation of ranking as a function of years on tour should be considered for use by tennis policy-makers in the future.     

Developing coaching pedagogy: seeking a better integration of theory and practice

Despite evidence that experience within practical coaching contexts serves as the principal knowledge source for coaches, academic (and professional) coach education programmes continue to be heavily taught along didactic lines. Such courses are often considered as fine in theory but divorced from the gritty realities of practice. The aim of this article was to construct and evaluate a pedagogical framework (delivered through an MSc unit) drawn from tenets of both action research and ‘communities of practice’ as a means through which the practice-theory gap can be somewhat addressed. The unit in question involved students being introduced to a particular theoretical position with the expectation that they would integrate that theory into their practice in the upcoming week. The students then shared their experiences in structured discussion groups during the following class. Data on student learning were gathered both through on-going observations, and focus groups interviews with staff and students at the end of the unit. The data were inductively analysed. Findings revealed that the students were generally stimulated by and, hence, generally positive about the pedagogical approach experienced. This was specifically in terms of better ordering the knowledge they had as well as developing new insights about coaching practice. Although not unproblematically, the staff were also positive about the unit; citing better and more continuous student engagement as a result of it.     

The effect of sequence of instruction on students' cognitive preferences and recall in the context of a problem-oriented method of teaching

This experiment investigated two possible sequences in which biochemical theory and the clinical applications of such theory can be presented to pre-clinical medical students. The dependent variables were the students' cognitive preferences and their ability to recall the contents of the instruction. Seventy-two students were randomly allocated to either a Theory-to-application or an Application-to-theory condition. The results indicated that the Application-to-theory sequence of instruction produced a significantly greater preference for being taught the specific facts of pre-clinical medical science, as opposed to being taught about the clinical applications. However, this was achieved at the expense of a significantly reduced ability to actually recall the theory which was taught.     

Importing organizational reform: The case of lay boards in Hungary

Hungary initiated a major higher education reform program inthe early 1990s that included the establishment of boards at boththe national and institutional levels. This article exploresHungarians' engagement of the idea of boards, adaptations of theAmerican model, adoption of their own model and earlyimplementation. Importing an organizational reform like boardsoccurs within existing cultural and political norms. Thetraditional socialist norms, surrounding nature of the socialisteconomy and the concept of a civil society in countries likeHungary loom large in introducing new structures and values.Structurally, boards at both the national and institutionallevels challenge not only the remnants of the Soviet model ofhigher education but also the classic continental model, uponwhich Hungarian universities were built, of a bimodaldistribution of power between the state and the professorate. Boards fall between the state and professorate and challengethese power centers. The decentralization that boards representruns counter to bureaucratic ministry control and threatens thenewly found power of institutional senates. In a larger,societal sense they also occupy that intermediate space betweenthe government and the individual or what many writers refer toas civil society that by most observers' accounts isunderdeveloped in countries like Hungary. Underdevelopment ofcivil society generally raises questions of societal readinessfor institutions like boards.Politically, the introduction of boards demonstrates thecomplex nature of support for and opposition to change as well asthe personalized politics in reform movements in smallercountries. The changes that have occurred in governments alsoreveal how difficult institutionalization of reform can beespecially when combined with strong cultural norms that mitigateagainst change. While it is too early to tell whether boardswill flourish or wither, they have encountered rocky soil at thenational level and neglect at the institutional level in Hungary.     

Hannah Arendt and the ‘freedom’ to think

ABSTRACT

Dissatisfied with the Western tradition of political philosophy, Arendt maintained a tension between the political, which she associates primarily with the freedom to act, and the philosophical, which she associates principally with the activity of thinking, throughout her works. Whilst Arendt's work is underpinned by a focus on political action, her work on the thinking/non-thinking dichotomy is of significant educational value. Taking a broadly phenomenological approach, and reading Arendt through an educational lens, this paper seeks to demonstrate how the thinking/non-thinking dichotomy and the perils of ‘non-thinking’ reveal the wider dangers of instrumentalism and the performative models of education that accompanies it. It is suggested here that Arendt's work exposes ‘non-thinking’ as a form of instrumental thinking, which is not only a threat to the development of the capacity for critical thought but also to the development autonomy and the capacity for moral judgement.