Effect of repeat-sprint training in hypoxia on post-exercise interleukin-6 and F2-isoprostanes

This investigation examined the oxidative stress (F₂-Isoprostane; F₂-IsoP) and inflammatory (interleukin-6; IL-6) responses to repeat-sprint training in hypoxia (RSH). Ten trained male team sport athletes performed 3(sets)*9(repetitions)*5?s cycling sprints in simulated altitude (3000?m) and sea-level conditions. Mean and peak sprint power output (MPO and PPO) were recorded, and blood samples were collected pre-exercise, and again at 8 and 60?min post-exercise. Both MPO and PPO were significantly reduced in hypoxia (compared to sea-level) in the second (MPO: 855?±?89 vs. 739?±?95?W, p?=?.006; PPO: 1024?±?114 vs. 895?±?112?W, p?=?.010) and third (MPO: 819?±?105 vs. 686?±?83?W, p?=?.008; PPO: 985?±?125 vs. 834?±?99?W, p?=?.008) sets, respectively. IL-6 was significantly increased from pre- to 1?h post-exercise in both hypoxia (0.7?±?0.2 vs. 2.4?±?1.4?pg/mL, p?=?.004) and sea-level conditions (0.7?±?0.2 vs. 1.6?±?0.3?pg/mL, p?d?=?0.80) suggesting higher IL-6 levels of post-hypoxia. F₂-IsoP was significantly lower 1?h post-exercise in both the hypoxic (p?=?.005) and sea-level (p?=?.002) conditions, with no differences between trials. While hypoxia can impact on exercise intensity and may result in greater post-exercise inflammation, it appears to have little effect on oxidative stress. These results indicate that team sport organisations with ready access to hypoxic training facilities could confidently administer RSH without significantly increasing the post-exercise inflammatory or oxidative stress response.     

Steps Toward Transformation: One College’s Achieving The Dream Story

Tarrant County College’s Achieving the Dream transformation has not only changed the college but all who engaged in the initiative. In four years, through ATD TCC became a college with one purpose, one goal, and one focus—student success through data informed decision making. From TCC Chancellor Dr. Erma Johnson Hadley to campus administrators, faculty, and staff, the college embraced the call for systemic change and fully engaged in the step by step process. Personnel throughout the college reported widespread satisfaction with senior leadership and viewed collaborations with colleagues across the district as beneficial and personally rewarding. Tireless endeavors to wholly engage stakeholders, build a culture of evidence, and employ effective student success interventions through ATD not only transformed TCC but ushered the college onto the national stage with Leader College recognition. The college’s next steps include keeping that momentum going and building on what it has accomplished.     

Recognition of facial emotions among maltreated children with high rates of post-traumatic stress disorder

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to examine processing of facial emotions in a sample of maltreated children showing high rates of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Maltreatment during childhood has been associated independently with both atypical processing of emotion and the development of PTSD. However, research has provided little evidence indicating how high rates of PTSD might relate to maltreated children's processing of emotions. METHOD: Participants' reaction time and labeling of emotions were measured using a morphed facial emotion identification task. Participants included a diverse sample of maltreated children with and without PTSD and controls ranging in age from 8 to 15 years. Maltreated children had been removed from their homes and placed in state custody following experiences of maltreatment. Diagnoses of PTSD and other disorders were determined through combination of parent, child, and teacher reports. RESULTS: Maltreated children displayed faster reaction times than controls when labeling emotional facial expressions, and this result was most pronounced for fearful faces. Relative to children who were not maltreated, maltreated children both with and without PTSD showed enhanced response times when identifying fearful faces. There was no group difference in labeling of emotions when identifying different facial emotions. CONCLUSIONS: Maltreated children show heightened ability to identify fearful faces, evidenced by faster reaction times relative to controls. This association between maltreatment and atypical processing of emotion is independent of PTSD diagnosis.     

Latent Profiles of Reading and Language and Their Association With Standardized Reading Outcomes in Kindergarten Through Tenth Grade

The objective of this study was to determine the latent profiles of reading and language skills that characterized 7,752 students in kindergarten through tenth grade and to relate the profiles to norm-referenced reading outcomes. Reading and language skills were assessed with a computer-adaptive assessment administered in the middle of the year and reading outcome measures were administered at the end of the year. Three measures of reading comprehension were administered in third through tenth grades to create a latent variable. Latent profile analysis (LPA) was conducted on the reading and language measures and related to reading outcomes in multiple regression analyses. Within-grade multiple regressions were subjected to a linear step-up correction to guard against false-discovery rate. LPA results revealed five to six profiles in the elementary grades and three in the secondary grades that were strongly related to standardized reading outcomes, with average absolute between-profile effect sizes ranging from 1.10 to 2.53. The profiles in the secondary grades followed a high, medium, and low pattern. Profiles in the elementary grades revealed more heterogeneity, suggestive of strategies for differentiating instruction.     

A review of ‘psychology and the study of education: critical perspectives on developing theories’

This review examines Psychology and the Study of Education: Critical Perspectives on Developing Theories, a collection of academic articles edited by Cathal Ó Siochrú. The collection comprehensively considers wide-ranging topics pertinent to the psychology of education, with a target audience of educators and students wishing to learn more about psychology. The review evaluates the collection as an integrated work of entries and analyses each component chapter; recognising the success of the collection with respect to its aim of challenging readers to critically reflect upon and consider the value of psychology in both understanding and influencing education. The book transcends the common formula of academic article collections in this area by being presented in a somewhat conversational manner, making it both interesting and accessible. The book is recommended for anyone interested in the psychology of education and for anyone who values the advancement of learning and teaching.     

Classifications of college students’ protean and boundaryless orientation to work

Increasingly, individuals navigate their own careers in self-directed (protean) and boundaryless contexts. These concepts have been applied to adult employees but have seen limited application with young adults. Therefore, 205 college students were assessed on the Protean and Boundaryless Career Attitudes scales (Briscoe, Hall, and DeMuth, 2006); i.e., self-directed career management, values-driven, boundaryless mindset, and organizational mobility preferences. Scale items were reworded to focus on college experience. Cluster analysis organized respondents into five distinct protean-boundaryless career types. Three types were similar to those hypothesized for adults, while two types were unique to our sample.     

Optimal Design for Two-Level Random Assignment and Regression Discontinuity Studies

An important concern when planning research studies is to obtain maximum precision of an estimate of a treatment effect given a budget constraint. When research designs have a multilevel or hierarchical structure changes in sample size at different levels of the design will impact precision differently. Furthermore, there will typically be differential costs of enrolling additional units at different levels of the hierarchy. The optimal design problem in multilevel research studies involves determining the optimal sample size at each level of the design given specified design parameters and a specified marginal cost of recruitment at each level. The current work extends existing results by considering optimal design for (a) unbalanced random assignment designs and (b) regression discontinuity designs.