Physical activity,physiological, and psychomotor performance: a study of variously active older adult men

This research examined varying levels of physical activity and psychomotor and physiological function in variously active older men. Very active moderately active, and low active participants were tested on simple (SRT) and choice reaction time (CRT), coincidence-anticipation timing (CAT), and VO2max. No significant differences for age or height were found, although percentage of fat, and weight were statistically different. Active groups were leaner and lighter. VO2max was significantly different between groups, as physically active groups yielded geater values. SRT and CAT also yielded significantly different results with more active participants showing better performance. No between-groups significant differences resulted for CRT. Generally, increased levels of physical activity were related to superior physiological outcomes and improved psychomotor peformance.     

A TO ZOO

Abstract

In response to the University of Calgary librarians' concerns regarding access policies for atypical items, the relevant literature was examined and Canadian universities surveyed. Operating within the specific university context and the general principle of maximization of access and availability, guiding principles and specific criteria were developed for four categories of atypical items (controversial and desirable; items that need special handling; costly items; and collections of special significance). Recommendations are made for controlled access for each category.     

Language and reading impairments are associated with increased prevalence of non-right-handedness

Handedness has been studied for association with language-related disorders because of its link with language hemispheric dominance. No clear pattern has emerged, possibly because of small samples, publication bias, and heterogeneous criteria across studies. Non-right-handedness (NRH) frequency was assessed in N = 2503 cases with reading and/or language impairment and N = 4316 sex-matched controls identified from 10 distinct cohorts (age range 6–19 years old; European ethnicity) using a priori set criteria. A meta-analysis (N_cases = 1994) showed elevated NRH % in individuals with language/reading impairment compared with controls (OR = 1.21, CI = 1.06–1.39, p = .01). The association between reading/language impairments and NRH could result from shared pathways underlying brain lateralization, handedness, and cognitive functions.     

Touch your toes! Developing a direct measure of behavioral regulation in early childhood

Behavioral aspects of self-regulation, including controlling and directing actions, paying attention, and remembering instructions, are critical for successful functioning in preschool and elementary school. In recent years, several direct assessments of these skills have appeared, but few studies provide complete psychometric data and many are not easy to administer. We developed a direct measure of children's behavioral regulation, the Head-to-Toes Task, and report performance of participants aged 36–78 months, including a group of Spanish-speaking children, from two different sites (N = 353; N = 92). We examined construct validity, examiner reliability, sources of variation, and associations between task scores and background characteristics. Results showed that the task was valid, reliable, and demonstrated variability in children's scores. A cross-classified hierarchical growth curve analysis indicated that girls, participants assessed in English, and higher-socioeconomic status (SES) children achieved slightly higher average scores than did boys, Spanish-speaking and lower-SES children, but effect sizes were small. Older participants achieved higher scores than did younger children, and there were no effects for site. Results suggest that the Head-to-Toes Task is an informative and easy-to-administer direct assessment of children's behavioral regulation. We discuss implications for its use in early childhood settings.     

The somatic marker as a “short cut” to verbal immediacy

This study examined the relationships between the somatic‐marker hypothesis, developed by Damasio (1994) as it relates to homophily and verbal immediacy in the classroom. Damasio has hypothesized that when particular events occur in one's life, there is a “memory” of that event in the brain. As a result, when a similar event occurs, the somatic marker recreates that first event. Students were provided three different scenarios about the first day of a communication class. In the scenarios, the instructor presented information about himself. One instructor provided only autobiographical, demographic data (the control). Another provided information hozu he had had difficulty with public speaking (the selfish marker). The third provided information about how the instructor had helped someone else who had difficulty in public speaking (the altruistic marker). The results indicated that while homophily differences were not significant, there was a significant difference between the control group and the altruistic marker.     

All About Demand-Driven Acquisition

This article reports on a talk delivered at the Mississippi State University Libraries eResource & Emerging Technologies Summit. The author introduces the concept of Demand-Driven Acquisition (DDA) for e-books and explains how it works. The author discusses predicting and controlling costs, as well as other implementation decisions. Finally, the author discusses the possibility of removing books from a DDA program and speculates on some of the effects of DDA on libraries and scholarly publishing.