Can fast-twitch muscle fibres be selectively recruited during lengthening contractions? Review and applications to sport movements

Literature examining the recruitment order of motor units during lengthening (eccentric) contractions was reviewed to determine if fast-twitch motor units can be active while lower threshold slow-twitch motor units are not active. Studies utilizing surface electromyogram (EMG) amplitude, single motor unit activity, spike amplitude-frequency analyses, EMG power spectrum, mechanomyographic, and phosphocreatine-to-creatine ratio (PCr/Cr) techniques were reviewed. Only single motor unit and PCr/Cr data were found to be suitable to address the goals of this review. Nine of ten single motor unit studies, examining joint movement velocities up to 225 degrees/s and forces up to 53% of a maximum voluntary contraction, found that the size principle of motor unit recruitment applied during lengthening contractions. Deviation from the size principle was demonstrated by one study examining movements within a small range of low velocities and modest forces, although other studies examining similar low forces and lengthening velocities reported size-ordered recruitment. The PCr/Cr data demonstrated the activation of all fibre types in lengthening maximal contractions. Most evidence indicates that for lengthening contractions of a wide range of efforts and speeds, fast-twitch muscle fibres cannot be selectively recruited without activity of the slow-twitch fibres of the same muscle.     

Retracted publications in pharmacy systematic reviews

Objective:Systematic reviews and other evidence syntheses, the pinnacle of the evidence pyramid, embody comprehensiveness and rigor; however, retracted data are being incorporated into these publications. This study examines the use of retracted publications in the field of pharmacy, describes characteristics of retracted publications cited by systematic reviews, and discusses factors associated with citation likelihood.Methods:Using data from Retraction Watch, we identified retracted publications in the pharmacy field. We identified all articles citing these retracted publications in Web of Science and Scopus and limited results to systematic reviews. We classified the retraction reason, determined whether the citation occurred before or after retraction, and analyzed factors associated with the likelihood of systematic reviews citing a retracted publication.Results:Of 1,396 retracted publications, 283 were cited 1,096 times in systematic reviews. Most (65.0%) (712/1096) citations occurred before retraction. Citations were most often to items retracted due to data falsification or manipulation (39.2%), followed by items retracted due to ethical misconduct including plagiarism (30.4%), or concerns about or errors in data or methods (26.2%). Compared to those not cited in systematic reviews, cited items were significantly more likely to be retracted due to data falsification and manipulation, were published in high impact factor journals, and had longer delays between publication and retraction.Conclusions:Further analysis of systematic reviews citing retracted publications is needed to determine the impact of flawed data. Librarians understand the nuances involved and can advocate for greater transparency around the retraction process and increase awareness of challenges posed by retractions.     

Stop Being So Melodramatic! Or,the Problem with Sexual Harassment Policies

In this article, Caitlin Howlett offers a critical framework for understanding the limits of prohibitive and individually oriented sexual harassment policies in academia through a discussion of melodrama. Howlett draws on the work of Linda Williams, Emma Goldman, and Carole Vance in arguing that such sexual harassment policies participate in melodrama and thus fail to address the structural or institutional conditions that allow for sexual harassment. She then turns to the work of Sara Ahmed to examine what is at stake in this failure, before concluding that this understanding of sexual harassment policies points to their insufficiency and inadequacy within the academy.     

Mission Impossible? What States With Large Percentages of Rural Schools Tell Us About Federal School Improvement Grants

This article summarizes findings and lessons learned about implementing school improvement grant (SIG) initiatives in rural areas of the United States. The study examines state-level survey data based on the proportion of rural schools receiving SIG funds in the fall of 2010 in each state. In addition, the authors summarize related findings from rural-focused state and district case study work. The state survey showed that, regardless of the proportion of rural SIG schools, participating state officials (N = 46) reported providing similar supports to districts, such as technical assistance and increased monitoring and data review. However, fewer states with larger proportions of rural SIG schools believed these supports were important for improving schools. Among states with larger proportions of rural SIG schools, significantly fewer reported that replacing principals through SIG was key to improving student achievement. The case study data confirmed and elaborated on the survey findings.     

Research and a professional development programme on teaching learning strategies as part of course content

Abstract

There is evidence that many students leave university without effective learning strategies and skills that would facilitate their learning in the future. For example, they can complete their university courses without developing information skills or a love of learning, with only a limited repertoire of learning strategies, and with no intention of engaging in further learning. While these findings indicate a need for universities to review the structure of courses and the way that they are taught and assessed, it is not necessary to wait for this to happen. Within existing course structures, universities can help prepare students for lifelong learning by teaching them learning strategies. This is best done if the strategies are taught by university teachers in the context of their regular coursework. We have confirmed in our research and professional development projects that this can be done. In an experimental study, we investigated the effects of explicidy teaching students learning strategies in the context of their regular coursework. This research indicated that students who were taught learning strategies in the context of their regular coursework used them effectively and achieved better results than students who were taught in the conventional way. In a professional development project, we taught university teachers from a variety of subject areas to teach learning strategies to students in their own courses. These teachers were successful in helping students develop a repertoire of effective learning strategies and display greater commitment to their learning.     

Motivational interviewing as a positive response to high‐school bullying

Intervention approaches to bullying are largely preventive in nature, and even these have been shown to be ineffective, if not iatrogenic, with adolescents. Responses to bullying are limited to traditional punitive approaches or “no‐blame” approaches aiming to restore the relationship between the targeted students. Neither of these approaches may effectively engage the perpetrator of bullying at a motivational level, and we propose motivational interviewing (MI) as a means of promoting meaningful behavioral change among youths who bully. We provide a narrative review of MI and map its core features onto the extant literature on self‐reported motivations for bullying, highlighting the ways that MI fits with bullying and could serve as a potent solution that could be deployed by school psychologists and other student support staff members. Qualitative preliminary feedback and initial competency in MI from trained practitioners are presented as preliminary data from a cluster‐randomized control trial, documenting school staff perspectives on the integration of MI into their approach to bullying with recommendations for integrating MI into school settings.