The concerns and interests of expectant and new parents: assessing learning needs

Antenatal education is an important component of antenatal care in the developed world, but research indicates that it may not be meeting consumer needs. This article provides an overview of a needs assessment that aimed to determine the concerns and interests of expectant and new parents and how they prefer to learn during the periods of pregnancy and the early weeks of parenthood. The findings could be used to develop an innovative approach to antenatal education in order to prepare expectant and new parents for the birth experience and the early weeks of parenthood. The current study's results identified that expectant and new parents' concerns and interests during pregnancy, childbirth, and new parenting fall within five interrelated conceptual areas: 1) perceiving achievement or failure; 2) taking on "risk"; 3) riding an emotional "roller coaster" of joy, anxiety, and uncertainty; 4) needing to "know...what is normal"; and 5) needing help to "perform well."     

The effects of monopsony in higher education

The paper examines the results of a study of strategic plans in community colleges in Ontario, Canada between 1995 and 2005. The system was very similar to centralized systems in many jurisdictions including China. The study found that (1) the strategies of those colleges were more alike than different; (2) the strategic content of the plans as texts was relatively weak; and (3) attention to organizational field was limited. The paper uses institutional theory and the concept of monopsony to explain these findings. Individual institutions and organizational fields evolve because of the interaction of social–political forces that govern their sector and set the standards for legitimacy in the field. The colleges studied are subject to the monopsonistic power of a provincial government to the point that monopsony trumps strategy. Colleges could overcome monopsony by adopting a network model whereby they would redefine the nature of the exchange among colleges and between colleges and government.

Kinematic and postural characteristics of sprint running on sloping surfaces

The aim of this study was to identify the kinematic and postural characteristics associated with sprint running on uphill and downhill slopes of 3 degrees and on a horizontal surface. Eight male physical education students were filmed while sprinting maximally on an uphill-downhill platform under each of three conditions: (a) uphill at 3 degrees, (b) downhill at 3 degrees and (c) horizontal. Running speed, step rate, step length, step time, contact time, flight time and selected postural characteristics of the step cycle were analysed. Running speed was 9.2% faster (P < 0.05) during downhill and 3.0% slower (P < 0.05) during uphill compared with horizontal sprint running. During downhill and uphill sprint running, step length was the main contributor to the observed changes in running speed. It increased by 7.1% (P < 0.05) for downhill sprint running and was associated with significant changes in posture at touchdown and take-off. During uphill sprint running, step length decreased by 5.2% (P < 0.05), which was associated with significant changes in posture and reduced flight distance. Given the interaction between the acute changes in step length and posture when sprinting on a sloping surface, our findings suggest that such changes in posture may detract from the specificity of training on such surfaces. The chronic effects of training on such slopes on the kinematics and posture of horizontal sprint running are currently unclear.     

Tennis ball diameter: the effect on performance and the concurrent physiological responses

The aim of this study was to examine the influence of a pressurized tennis ball 6% greater in diameter (Type 3) than a standard sized (Type 2) ball on performance and the physiological responses to the Loughborough Intermittent Tennis Test (LITT) (Davey et al., 2002). Eight competitive tennis players (males, n = 4, age 24.8+/-3.5 years, body mass 81.3+/-3.1 kg, height 1.74+/-0.02 m, estimated VO2max 54.4+/-2.6 ml x kg(-1) min(-1); females, n = 4, age 26.3+/-3.1 years, body mass 67.0+/-6.7 kg, height 1.68 + 0.02 m, estimated VO2max 49.9+/-3.3 ml kg(-1) min(-1); mean+/-s(x)) completed two main trials of the LITT with either the Type 2 or Type 3 tennis balls to the point of volitional fatigue. The mean time to volitional fatigue was 29.5% greater during the Type 3 trials than during the Type 2 trials (56.9+/-6.4 min vs 40.1+/-3.7 min; P < 0.05). The mean percentage accuracy and mean percentage consistency recorded for the entire LITT were greater for the Type 3 than the Type 2 trials (9.2+/-1.5 vs 4.0+/-0.3% and 61.1+/-0.6 vs 51.3+/-0.6%, respectively; P < 0.01). A significantly lower mean heart rate and blood lactate concentration were observed during the Type 3 than during the Type 2 trials. There was a clear effect of ball diameter on tennis performance and certain physiological responses.