Student Academic Support: A Validity Test

Given the significant support system changes that students often experience at the university level, college students often view fellow students as their primary source of academic support. This study offers validity evidence for the Student Academic Support Scale (SASS), a 15-item, multidimensional measure that assesses informational, esteem, motivational, and venting support. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of the SASS revealed close model fit, replicated prior CFA tests (Thompson & Mazer, 2009 Thompson , B. , & Mazer , J. P. ( 2009 ). College student ratings of student academic support: Frequency, importance, and modes of communication . Communication Education , 58 , 433 – 458 .[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), and ultimately provided additional evidence for content validity. More important, correlations between student academic support, student motivation, affective learning, and engagement suggest that the SASS construct is related to other theoretically similar constructs, providing initial evidence for construct validity. Pedagogical implications and recommendations for future research are discussed.     

The influence of a 6.5% carbohydrate-electrolyte solution on performance of prolonged intermittent high-intensity running at 30 degrees C

Nine male student games players consumed either flavoured water (0.1 g carbohydrate, Na+ 6 mmol x l(-1)), a solution containing 6.5% carbohydrate-electrolytes (6.5 g carbohydrate, Na+ 21 mmol x l(-1)) or a taste placebo (Na+ 2 mmol x l(-1)) during an intermittent shuttle test performed on three separate occasions at an ambient temperature of 30 degrees C (dry bulb). The test involved five 15-min sets of repeated cycles of walking and variable speed running, each separated by a 4-min rest (part A of the test), followed by 60 s run/60 s rest until exhaustion (part B of the test). The participants drank 6.5 ml x kg(-1) of fluid as a bolus just before exercise and thereafter 4.5 ml x kg(-1) during every exercise set and rest period (19 min). There was a trial order effect. The total distance completed by the participants was greater in trial 3 (8441 +/- 873 m) than in trial 1 (6839 +/- 512, P < 0.05). This represented a 19% improvement in exercise capacity. However, the trials were performed in a random counterbalanced order and the participants completed 8634 +/- 653 m, 7786 +/- 741 m and 7099 +/- 647 m in the flavoured water (FW), placebo (P) and carbohydrate-electrolyte (CE) trials, respectively (P = 0.08). Sprint performance was not different between the trials but was impaired over time (FW vs P vs CE: set 1, 2.41 +/- 0.02 vs 2.39 +/- 0.03 vs 2.39 +/- 0.03 s; end set, 2.46 +/- 0.03 vs 2.47 +/- 0.03 vs 2.47 +/- 0.02 s; main effect time, P < 0.01). The rate of rise in rectal temperature was greater in the carbohydrate-electrolyte trial (rise in rectal temperature/duration of trial, degrees C x h(-1); FW vs CE, P < 0.05; P vs CE, N.S.). Blood glucose concentrations were higher in the carbohydrate-electrolyte than in the other two trials (FW vs P vs CE:rest, 4.4 +/- 0.1 vs 4.3 +/- 0.1 vs 4.2 +/- 0.1 mmol x l(-1); end of exercise, 5.4 +/- 0.3 vs 6.4 +/- 0.6 vs 7.2 +/- 0.5 mmol x l(-1); main effect trial, P < 0.05; main effect time, P < 0.01). Plasma free fatty acid concentrations at the end of exercise were lower in the carbohydrate-electrolyte trial than in the other two trials (FW vs P vs CE: 0.57 +/- 0.08 vs 0.53 +/- 0.11 vs 0.29 +/- 0.04 mmol x l(-1); interaction, P < 0.01). The correlation between the rate of rise in rectal temperature (degrees C x h(-1)) and the distance completed was -0.91, -0.92 and -0.96 in the flavoured water, placebo and carbohydrate-electrolyte conditions, respectively (P < 0.01). Heart rate, blood pressure, plasma ammonia, blood lactate, plasma volume and rate of perceived exertion were not different between the three fluid trials. Although drinking the carbohydrate-electrolyte solution induced greater metabolic changes than the flavoured water and placebo solutions, it is unlikely that in these unacclimated males carbohydrate availability was a limiting factor in the performance of intermittent running in hot environmental conditions.     

Concurrent Validity of LibQUAL+™ Scores: What Do LibQUAL+™ Scores Measure?

The present study investigated the validity of LibQUAL+™ scores, and specifically how total and subscale LibQUAL+™ scores are associated with self-reported, library-related satisfaction and outcomes scores. Participants included 88,664 students and faculty who completed the American English (n_AE = 69,494) or the British English (n_BE = 19,170) LibQUAL+™ language versions in the 2004 data collection cycle. Results suggest that LibQUAL+™ scores primarily measure satisfaction rather than outcomes.     

Potential benefits of dietary nitrate ingestion in healthy and clinical populations: A brief review

Abstract

This article provides an overview of the current literature relating to the efficacy of dietary nitrate (NO₃^?) ingestion in altering aspects of cardiovascular and metabolic health and exercise capacity in healthy and diseased individuals. The consumption of NO₃^?-rich vegetables, such as spinach and beetroot, have been variously shown to promote nitric oxide bioavailability, reduce systemic blood pressure, enhance tissue blood flow, modulate muscle O₂ utilisation and improve exercise tolerance both in normoxia and in hypoxia, as is commonly observed in a number of disease states. NO₃^? ingestion may, therefore, act as a natural means for augmenting performance and attenuating complications associated with limited O₂ availability or transport, hypertension and the metabolic syndrome. Recent studies indicate that dietary NO₃^? might also augment intrinsic skeletal muscle contractility and improve the speed and power of muscle contraction. Moreover, several investigations suggest that NO₃^? supplementation may improve aspects of cognitive performance both at rest and during exercise. Collectively, these observations position NO₃^? as more than a putative ergogenic aid and suggest that increasing natural dietary NO₃^? intake may act as a prophylactic in countering the predations of senescence and certain cardiovascular-metabolic diseases.     

残疾人奥林匹克运动中的运动科学研究

The vision of the International Paralympic Committee(IPC) is "To Enable Paralympic Athletes to Achieve Sport-ing Excellence and Inspire and Excite the World" .This ambi-tious vision remains the keystone to the success of the Para-lympic Games and IPC sanc…     

The cost and value of marketing analysis

Product-market planning is an inherently difficult practice. It aims at a match between consumer preference and institutional behavior. Unfortunately, consumer reactions to changes in institutional behavior are more often than not highly uncertain. This paper assumes that institutional planners should neither ignore uncertainty nor seek to avoid all actions with uncertain outcomes. This means that institutional researchers need conceptual tools that will help them deal with situations where data are sparse and time is short—where the key question that must be faced is: how much uncertainty is too much (or, how much information is enough)? This paper describes some simple, easily understood and easily used concepts that can increase the likelihood of getting good answers to this question.