The Roles of Engagement at The Ohio State University Libraries: Thoughts from an Early Adopter

Changes in information and technology continue to test how librarians interact with and support patrons. Now, engaged librarians have the opportunity to immerse themselves in their user’s workflows and become partners in the research enterprise. Engagement represents a model of librarianship in which librarians are challenged to move from the traditional collection-centered model to an engaged-focused one. It requires new roles and tasks, as well as a deeper understanding of the academic setting. This article discusses working in a large research institution and articulates the engagement model.     

Expert Judgment Versus Public Opinion – Evidence from the Eurovision Song Contest

For centuries, there have been discussions as to whether only experts can judge the quality of cultural output, or whether the taste of the public also has merit. This paper tries to answer that question empirically, using national finals of the Eurovision Song Contest. We show that experts are better judges of quality in the sense that the outcome of finals judged by experts is less sensitive to factors unrelated to quality than the outcome of finals judged by public opinion. Yet, experts are not perfect; their judgment does still depend on such factors. This is also the case in the European finals of the contest.     

Feasibility and concurrent validity of a cardiorespiratory fitness test based on the adaptation of the original 20 m shuttle run: The 20 m shuttle run with music

ABSTRACT

The purpose was to examine the feasibility of the 20m shuttle run test with music and to test its concurrent validity with the original 20m shuttle run test. A total of 386 adolescents (14.5±1.6 years old, 48.9% boys) participated in our study. A self-reported questionnaire was used to assess student’s perception about the 20m shuttle run test with music and the original and to assess perceived exertion. Participants performed randomly the 20m shuttle run test with music and original two weeks apart. Average and maximum heart rate were monitored with heart rate monitors. The 20m shuttle run with music was a feasible test for measuring cardiorespiratory fitness in adolescents. The concurrent validity showed mean differences of 5.1±14.6 for shuttles, 0.3±0.8 km/h for speed, 0.5±4.1 for stages, and 1.5±4.1 for VO2max (all p<0.001) in favour of the 20m shuttle run with music vs. the original 20m shuttle run test. Mean difference for the rating of perceived exertion was 0.4±2.5 points (p=0.003). No significant difference was found between boys and girls. In conclusion, the 20mSRT-music is feasible and presents a good concurrent validity in adolescents, independently of the sex and it will be an alternative and good approach to assess cardiorespiratory fitness.     

Surface tension effects on submerged electrosprays

Electrosprays are a powerful technique to generate charged micro/nanodroplets. In the last century, the technique has been extensively studied, developed, and recognized with a shared Nobel price in Chemistry in 2002 for its wide spread application in mass spectrometry. However, nowadays techniques based on microfluidic devices are competing to be the next generation in atomization techniques. Therefore, an interesting development would be to integrate the electrospray technique into a microfluidic liquid-liquid device. Several works in the literature have attempted to build a microfluidic electrospray with disputable results. The main problem for its integration is the lack of knowledge of the working parameters of the liquid-liquid electrospray. The “submerged electrosprays” share similar properties as their counterparts in air. However, in the microfluidic generation of micro/nanodroplets, the liquid-liquid interfaces are normally stabilized with surface active agents, which might have critical effects on the electrospray behavior. In this work, we review the main properties of the submerged electrosprays in liquid baths with no surfactant, and we methodically study the behavior of the system for increasing surfactant concentrations. The different regimes found are then analyzed and compared with both classical and more recent experimental, theoretical and numerical studies. A very rich phenomenology is found when the surface tension is allowed to vary in the system. More concretely, the lower states of electrification achieved with the reduced surface tension regimes might be of interest in biological or biomedical applications in which excessive electrification can be hazardous for the encapsulated entities.     

Anthropometric profiles of elite older triathletes in the Ironman Brazil compared with those of young Portuguese triathletes and older Brazilians

The objective of this study was to describe the anthropometric profiles of elite older triathletes participating in the 2009 Ironman Brazil and to compare their somatotype, anthropometric and body composition characteristics with those of elite young triathletes and older non-athletes. The sample consisted of 64 males, divided into three groups: (1) older triathletes (n = 17), (2) young triathletes (n = 24), and (3) older non-athletes (n = 23). Somatotype was analysed according to the Carter and Heath ( 1990 ) method. Body mass index, sum of four skinfolds, percentage body fat, body fat mass, and fat-free mass were also estimated. Older non-athletes had higher endomorphy, sum of four skinfolds, fat percentage, and body fat mass than the athletes. Older athletes who participated in the Ironman and elite young triathletes had higher fat-free mass than older non-athletes. Older triathletes and older non-athletes were considered mainly endomorphic mesomorphs and young triathletes mainly ectomorphic mesomorphs. The findings that characterize the anthropometric profile of athletes in this sports modality could be used as a reference.     

A comparison of time-motion performance between age groups in judo matches

The aim of this study was to compare time-motion indicators during judo matches performed by athletes from different age groups. The following age groups were analysed: Pre-Juvenile (13-14 years, n = 522), Juvenile (15-16 years, n = 353); Junior (19 years, n = 349) and Senior (>20 years, n = 587). The time-motion indicators included: Total Combat Time, Standing Combat Time, Displacement Without Contact, Gripping Time, Groundwork Combat Time and Pause Time. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) one-way and the Tukey test, as well as the Kruskal-Wallis test and Mann-Whitney (for non-parametric data), were conducted, using P < 0.05 as significance level. The results showed that all analysed groups obtained a median of 7 (first quantile - 3, third quantile - 12) sequences of combat/pause cycles. In total time of combat, the result was: for Total Combat Time, Standing Combat Time and Gripping Time: Pre-Juvenile and Senior were significantly longer than Juvenile and Junior. Considering Displacement Without Contact, Junior was significantly longer than all other age groups. For Groundwork Combat Time, Senior was significantly longer than all other age groups and Pre-Juvenile was longer than Junior. These results can be used to improve the physiological performance in intermittent practices, as well as technical-tactical training during judo sessions.     

Incidence and risk for traumatic and overuse injuries in top-level road cyclists

All traumatic and overuse injuries occurring during an average period of 4 years (2002/09) in a group of 51 currently active road top-level cyclists were retrospectively registered through clinical interviews. Average age was 25.8 years. Average training and competition period was 28.3 ± 2.4 h a week. Only 8 cyclists (15.6%) were completely free from lesions during the period of study. The remaining 43 cyclists suffered a total of 112 lesions; however, 9 out of these were unrelated to their cycling practice. These 103 cycling-related injuries include 50 (48.5%) traumatic and 53 (51.5%) overuse injuries. Twenty-eight fractures were reported, the clavicle being the most frequently affected bone (11 cases). The 68.5% of overuse injuries were located in the lower limbs. Most overuse injuries (89.6%) occurred during the training period. According to the injury abbreviated scale (AIS), severe lesions were only found in 4 cases (8% of traumatic injuries). Overall injury rates were 0.50 per racer/year, 2.02 per studied racer, and 0.007 per 1000 km of training and competition. Active professional top-level cyclists are exposed to a high injury risk. According to the scarce previously published data the current study provides relevant information on the injury occurrence of still active top-level road cycling.