Exploring the Hardwired for News Hypothesis: How Threat Proximity Affects the Cognitive and Emotional Processing of Health-Related Print News

This study explored how the proximity of threatening health news affects cognition and emotion through a 2 (Proximity: High/Low) × 4 (Topic) fractional experiment. Fifty-one participants read four news stories about either local or distant health threats, with their heart rate, skin conductance, and corrugator electromyography recorded. Results showed that high-proximity health threats elicited greater heart rate deceleration than did low-proximity health threats, indicating greater allocation of automatic resources to encoding high-proximity threats. Recognition data demonstrated that details from high-proximity health threats were recognized more accurately than details from low-proximity health threats. There were no significant effects of proximity on either skin conductance levels or corrugator activation. These results are discussed in terms of Shoemaker's (1996 Shoemaker , P. J. ( 1996 ). Hardwired for news: Using biological and cultural evolution to explain the surveillance function . Journal of Communication , 46 ( 3 ), 32 – 47 .[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) hardwired for news hypothesis and A. Lang's (2000 Lang , A. ( 2000 ). The limited capacity model of mediated message processing . Journal of Communication , 50 , 46 – 70 .[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], 2006 Lang , A. ( 2006 ). Using the limited capacity model of motivated mediated message processing to design effective cancer communication messages . Journal of Communication , 56 , S57 – S80 .[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) limited capacity model.     

The Second Year with iPads. What Have We Learned?

Technology initiatives bring fear and excitement for students and educators, waning over time as devices lose their novelty, yet research related to long-term 1:1 adoption is lacking. The purpose of this research was to follow up with one Midwestern elementary school during its second year of iPad adoption. A Qualtrics survey was used to gather K-5 teacher perceptions. Quantitative and qualitative analyses were used to compare Year One to Year Two. Challenges during Year One included lack of professional development, technology management issues, administrative timing decisions, and poor planning. Success was found with the ability to differentiate instruction, participate in collaborative activities, and improved teacher confidence in classroom device integration. During Year Two, lack of professional development and management and technical issues remain as teachers continue to find the right balance of iPad use in the classroom.     

Studienabbruch und -wechsel in den neuen Bachelorstudiengängen

The article gives an overview of current state of research concerning study drop-out. Then, on basis of successfully validated scales from literature, a new instrument for measuring personal reasons for abandoning bachelor study programs is developed and tested for reliability and validity. A study drop-out, based on study conditions and study demands, will be tested by a path model.     

Bully/victim problems among Greek pupils with special educational needs: associations with loneliness and self‐efficacy for peer interactions

This study explores the prevalence of different types of bullying and victimisation among Greek pupils receiving special education support provision. Associations of these types with feelings of loneliness and perceived social efficacy for peer interactions are also examined. The sample consisted of 178 students of fifth and sixth primary school grades who participated in pull‐out special education delivery programmes. Participants were found to be actively involved in both bullying and victimisation, with higher rates in victimisation. Statistically significant gender and disability differences in bullying and loneliness were identified. Both bullying and victimisation were associated with loneliness/social dissatisfaction, and self‐efficacy for peer interactions. Moreover, our data provided evidence that bully/victims may be a distinct group in terms of their increased levels of loneliness. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for promoting children with special educational needs and disabilities social inclusion.     

Entwurf und Implementierung eines SQL-normkonformen Datenbankkatalogs für ein relationales Datenbankmanagementsystem

Zusammenfassung.   Bei relationalen Datenbanksystemen haben sich de-jure-Normen für SQL stetig weiterentwickelt; mit diesen Normen wird es einfacher, portable Datenbankanwendungen zu entwickeln. Die SQL-Norm ruht auf zwei S?ulen, zum einen auf der Datenbanksprache SQL, zum anderen auf einer Vorgabe eines Datenbankkatalogs, welcher die gespeicherten Daten beschreiben soll. Im vorliegenden Beitrag wird derjenige Teilbereich des Datenbankkatalogs der aktuellen SQL99-Norm dargestellt, der bereits in der SQL92-Norm (ISO/IEC 9075:1992 bzw. DIN 66315) definiert ist und die klassischen (nicht objektrelationalen) Elemente einer relationalen Datenbank beschreibt. In dieser Darstellung nimmt der zweischichtige Spezifikationsansatz (Informationsschema, Definitionsschema) einigen Raum ein; mit seiner Hilfe weist SQL einen eleganten Weg, auf dem existierende Datenbanksysteme normkonforme Datenbankkataloge bereitstellen k?nnen. Anhand des Datenbankmanagementsystems DB2 wird anschlie?end untersucht, wie ein normkonformer Datenbankkatalog (das sogenannte Informationsschema) „oberhalb” des verfügbaren DB2-Katalogs realisiert werden kann, d. h. wie die vom Informationsschema geforderten Sichten auf DB2-Katalogtabellen abgebildet werden k?nnen. Auf generelle Schwierigkeiten und M?glichkeiten einer solchen Abbildung (ein- oder zweistufig) wird ebenso eingegangen wie auf Probleme, die sich speziell bei DB2 ergeben. In einer prototypischen Realisierung konnte das Informationsschema bis auf wenige Einschr?nkungen komplett umgesetzt werden. Damit wurde die Machbarkeit normkonformer Kataloge nachgewiesen. In heute verfügbaren DBMS-Produkten sind Datenbankkataloge in dieser konsequent normkonformen Gestalt leider immer noch nicht anzutreffen. Eingegangen am 5. M?rz 1999 / Angenommen am 1. Mai 2000     

Short-term slackline training improves task-specific but not general balance in female handball players

Slackline training has been shown to improve balance and neuromuscular performance. However, recent studies suggested that balance is task-specific, implying that transferability of balance skills is limited and might depend on the similarity of the tasks. This study therefore investigated if short-term slackline training could improve performance in balance tasks that are either more or less similar to the trained slackline task. Furthermore, we assessed potential transfer effects to other neuromuscular performance tests.

25 female handball players (23.7?±?3.9 years) participated in our study and were matched to either a slackline training (SLT; n?=?14) or a control group (CON; n?=?11). The intervention comprised 12 sessions with overall 120 minutes of slackline training using single and double slacklines. Slackline standing time and measures of dynamic and static balance were assessed before and after the intervention, as well as power and sprint-related performance parameters.

Two-way repeated-measures ANOVA found a significant group?×?time interaction for slackline standing time, indicating larger training effects for SLT. For the remaining dynamic and static balance tests, no significant interactions were found. With regard to neuromuscular performance, there was a significant group?×?time interaction only in change of direction.

In essence, the study showed that slackline training induced task-specific balance improvements without affecting general balance. This adds further evidence to the task-specificity principle of balance, although the specificity of the sample as well as the briefness of the intervention should be taken into account when generalizing our findings. Nonetheless, this study contains practical implications for team sports interventions and future balance training studies, highlighting the importance of selecting appropriate balance exercises to yield rapid and the desired training outcomes.     

A multi-sensor system for automatic analysis of classical cross-country skiing techniques

Commercial systems utilizing data from inertial measurement units (IMUs) to analyse movement patterns have not yet been adapted to monitor daily training in cross-country (XC) skiing. The main purposes of this study are to investigate: (1) the feasibility and potential of a multi-sensor system consisting of a heart rate sensor, global navigation satellite systems (GNSSs) data and seven IMUs placed at multiple locations on the body for outdoor XC skiing, and (2) the validity of employing hard decision rules based on the correlation between arms and legs for detecting sub-techniques in classical XC skiing. All sensor data were synchronously sampled and synchronized with GNSS data from a commercially available sports watch while XC skiing on varying tracks, from amateur skiers and world-class athletes. An algorithm based on the correlation of the angular velocity of arms and legs was developed to detect the three main classic sub-techniques, diagonal, double poling with a kick and double poling. Other sub-techniques were classified as miscellaneous (0–20%). The system is shown to work well outdoors on snow during different conditions, and the implemented algorithm was validated by video analyses to detect the three sub-techniques with a sensitivity of 99–100%. This study is the first to detect and link sub-techniques in XC skiing to GNSS data, thereby associating the detection and distribution of sub-techniques to different terrains. Such information gives insight into the technical and tactical aspects of skiers’ daily training and competitions, thereby providing a tool for coaches and athletes.     

Adaptation and Motivation of Greek Gifted Pupils: Exploring some influences of primary schooling

The main purpose of this study, on the theoretical framework proposed by Renzulli (1986) and by Van Boxtel and Monks (1992) and Monks, Van Boxtel, Roelefs and Saunders (1986), was to explore pupils' motivation and adaptation to school life in relation to the identification of giftedness. A pool of 1765 primary school pupils were initially tested for Visual-Motor Integration and Creative Thinking. Their teachers nominated 90 of them as gifted, who in turn were assessed in regard to their level of school adaptation and motivation by questionnaires based on Power and Cotterell (1979) and on Entwistle (1968). The comparison groups were five nominated pupils, verified as gifted, seven more nonnominated, but gifted (all 12 identified through psychometric and statistical criteria), and ten non-gifted but nominated pupils. The results indicated that the gifted pupils, depending on whether or not they are identified by their teachers, feel partially motivated and exhibit lower than the expected adaptation at school. The findings are discussed in the light of the current Greek school system.