Modelling and analysing track cycling Omnium performances using statistical and machine learning techniques

Abstract

This article describes the utilisation of an unsupervised machine learning technique and statistical approaches (e.g., the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test) that assist cycling experts in the crucial decision-making processes for athlete selection, training, and strategic planning in the track cycling Omnium. The Omnium is a multi-event competition that will be included in the summer Olympic Games for the first time in 2012. Presently, selectors and cycling coaches make decisions based on experience and intuition. They rarely have access to objective data. We analysed both the old five-event (first raced internationally in 2007) and new six-event (first raced internationally in 2011) Omniums and found that the addition of the elimination race component to the Omnium has, contrary to expectations, not favoured track endurance riders. We analysed the Omnium data and also determined the inter-relationships between different individual events as well as between those events and the final standings of riders. In further analysis, we found that there is no maximum ranking (poorest performance) in each individual event that riders can afford whilst still winning a medal. We also found the required times for riders to finish the timed components that are necessary for medal winning. The results of this study consider the scoring system of the Omnium and inform decision-making toward successful participation in future major Omnium competitions.     

The physiology of deep-water running

Deep-water running is performed in the deep end of a swimming pool, normally with the aid of a flotation vest. The method is used for purposes of preventing injury and promoting recovery from strenuous exercise and as a form of supplementary training for cardiovascular fitness. Both stroke volume and cardiac output increase during water immersion: an increase in blood volume largely offsets the cardiac decelerating reflex at rest. At submaximal exercise intensities, blood lactate responses to exercise during deep-water running are elevated in comparison to treadmill running at a given oxygen uptake (VO2). While VO2, minute ventilation and heart rate are decreased under maximal exercise conditions in the water, deep-water running nevertheless can be justified as providing an adequate stimulus for cardiovascular training. Responses to training programmes have confirmed the efficacy of deep-water running, although positive responses are most evident when measured in a water-based test. Aerobic performance is maintained with deep-water running for up to 6 weeks in trained endurance athletes; sedentary individuals benefit more than athletes in improving maximal oxygen uptake. There is some limited evidence of improvement in anaerobic measures and in upper body strength in individuals engaging in deep-water running. A reduction in spinal loading constitutes a role for deep-water running in the prevention of injury, while an alleviation of muscle soreness confirms its value in recovery training. Further research into the applications of deep-water running to exercise therapy and athletes' training is recommended.     

Decolonising the reading of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writing: reflection as transformative practice

ABSTRACT

First Nations writing within English literary studies risks contemporary colonisation if encountered as a literary object for close reading without context or reflection on the role of the reader. This article will explore the processes involved in constructing an innovative reading practice amongst tertiary students to counter the potential for intentional or unintentional colonial readings. Dr Sandra Phillips, First Nations academic and researcher, initiated and applied the reading practice (which overtly incorporates student/reader standpoint and then reflection on the impact of that standpoint among other considerations) from her PhD scholarship then applied it to her curriculum design of ‘Reading Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Writing’, which forms the basis of this research. Dr Clare Archer-Lean continued the coordination and teaching of the curriculum at the University of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland after Sandra moved tertiary institutions. The two academics continue to collaborate on the curriculum review and reflect on the processes of teaching and crafting this form of reading practice and assessment. Their aim has been to create a reading practice that accounts for the position and influence of the reader in the cross-cultural, or co-cultural, reading process. This is primarily achieved by acknowledging the role and influence of standpoint in the reading process as well as deepening reading through an understanding of the cultural, social and political discourses affecting the production, distribution and reception of First Nations writing in the Australian context.     

The Impact of Terrorist Attack News on Moral Intuitions and Outgroup Prejudice

Using logic suggested by the model of intuitive morality and exemplars, we examined the impact of exposure to terrorist attack news coverage on the salience of moral intuitions and prosocial behavioral intentions toward outgroup members. In an experiment, participants were randomly assigned to watch news of the 2015 Paris terrorist attacks or a control news story. Afterward, we measured the salience of five moral intuitions (sensitivity to care, fairness, loyalty, authority, and purity) and the participants’ prejudice (i.e., the lack of intentions to help outgroup members). Results showed that exposure to terrorist attack news (a) increased the salience of respect for authority and subsequently (b) reduced prosocial behavioral intentions toward outgroup members. Closer inspection revealed that authority salience mediated the effect of terrorist news exposure on these behavioral intentions toward outgroup members. In a second study using the same design as in the first study, we ensured that the ingroup and the outgroup addressed in the first study were indeed perceived differently on dimensions of ingroup membership.     

TRANSFRONTIER REGIONAL UNIVERSITY COOPERATION (TRUC)

Academic mobility is up and running in the European Community. Beyond its borders, there are sign3 that non‐EC countries also do not want to be left out of what seems to be an important development. Hand on the heels of the Joint Study Programmes (1976‐1986), ERASMUS and COMETT have been launched albeit with limited budgets. Will their resources be sufficient to meet growing demand? What are the prospects for non‐Community countries that want to participate?.

This article assumes that the momentum for mobility will be greater than the resources available or predicted to meet it and that complementary strategies will have to be sought for and found if a great wave of enthusiasm for cooperation across borders is not to be frustrated. It describes the Council of Europe's recent initiatives in promoting transfrontier regional university cooperation, in various forms, and sees in them possible models for developing exchanges between regions on a modest flexible ad‐hoc basis.     

加拿大华人儿童的母语传承

本文旨在调查与记录生活在加拿大的华人移民家庭对于使用中文的态度、影响华人子女中文能力的因素以及华人父母为此所采用的方法.这项研究在加拿大一座华人移民总数约为300人的城区完成.研究显示,在华人移民稀少的地区,中国语言与文化的教育主要是在家庭内部或小规模华人团体的努力下得以维持.在这种情况下,华人父母对于母语传承的认识与观念显得至为重要.     

Beginning readers' use of ‘talking books’ software can affect their reading strategies

This paper reports on a small‐scale study that considered whether a phonic‐based ‘talking book’ could outperform one‐to‐one reading tuition with an adult with respect to improving beginning readers' phonological awareness over a short period. It also examined whether the children's reading strategies were affected by their use of the software. Two groups of children, one aged five years and one aged six years, used three phonic‐based talking books over six 15‐minute sessions and were assessed on their phonological awareness and reading strategies both before and after this intervention. Their performance was compared to that of matched comparison groups who were given one‐to‐one adult tutoring with the paper versions of the same books. There were no significant differences between the two groups in their phonological awareness attainment, with both groups showing equivalent gains from pre‐ to post‐test. Use of specific features of the software was associated with gains in rhyme detection ability and with changes in the children's reading strategies.     

The role and effects of teaching assistants in English primary schools (Years 4 to 6) 2000–2003. Results from the Class Size and Pupil—Adult Ratios (CSPAR) KS2 Project

It is widely assumed that increasing the number of teaching assistants (TAs) in the classroom will be beneficial to children, and this is one important aim of the recently implemented Workforce Agreement. But there are still significant gaps in knowledge about many aspects of their deployment and impact. The Class Size and Pupil—Adult Ratios (CSPAR) KS2 study built on earlier findings when the pupils were in reception and Key Stage (KS) 1, and investigated: (1) the deployment of TAs in classrooms and how key parties involved perceived this; and (2) the effect of TAs on interactions involving pupils and teachers in the same classrooms, and on pupil attainments. The study had a longitudinal, mixed method and multi‐informant design. Methods of data collection included: (for the whole sample) questionnaires completed by TAs, teachers and head teachers, assessments of pupil attainments in mathematics, English and science, data on pupil background, and (for a sub‐sample) case studies and a systematic observation study. This study found that the TA's role in KS2 is predominantly a direct one, in the sense of face‐to‐face interactions supporting certain pupils. There was no evidence that the presence of TAs, or any characteristic of TAs, had a measurable effect on pupil attainment. However, results were clear in showing that TAs had an indirect effect on teaching, e.g. pupils had a more active form of interaction with the teacher and there was more individualised teacher attention. This supported teachers' views that TAs are effective in supporting them in this way. The authors conclude that more attention needs to be paid to what they call the pedagogical role of TAs so that they can be used effectively to help teachers and pupils, particularly in the context of the enhanced roles for TAs being introduced as part of the Government's remodelling agenda.