Understanding key performance indicators for breast support: An analysis of breast support effects on biomechanical,physiological and subjective measures during running

To assess the effectiveness of breast support previous studies monitored breast kinematics and kinetics, subjective feedback, muscle activity (EMG), ground reaction forces (GRFs) and physiological measures in isolation. Comparing these variables within one study will establish the key performance variables that distinguish between breast supports during activities such as running. This study investigates the effects of changes in breast support on biomechanical, physiological and subjective measures during running. Ten females (34D) ran for 10 min in high and low breast supports, and for 2 min bare breasted (2.8 m·s^?1). Breast and body kinematics, EMG, expired air and heart rate were recorded. GRFs were recorded during 10 m overground runs (2.8 m·s^?1) and subjective feedback obtained after each condition. Of the 62 variables measured, 22 kinematic and subjective variables were influenced by changes in breast support. Willingness to exercise, time lag and superio-inferior breast velocity were most affected. GRFs, EMG and physiological variables were unaffected by breast support changes during running. Breast displacement reduction, although previously advocated, was not the most sensitive variable to breast support changes during running. Instead breast support products should be assessed using a battery of performance indicators, including the key kinematic and subjective variables identified here.     

‘The life of crime does not pay; stop and think!’: the process of co-constructing a prototype pedagogical model of sport for working with youth from socially vulnerable backgrounds

Purpose: This study discusses the process of co-constructing a prototype pedagogical model for working with youth from socially vulnerable backgrounds.

Participants and settings: This six-month activist research project was conducted in a soccer program in a socially vulnerable area of Brazil in 2013. The study included 17 youths, 4 coaches, a pedagogic coordinator and a social worker. An expert in student-centered pedagogy and inquiry-based activism assisted as a debriefer helping in the progressive data analysis and the planning of the work sessions.

Data collection/analysis: Multiple sources of data were collected, including 38 field journal/observation and audio records of: 18 youth work sessions, 16 coaches’ work sessions, 3 combined coaches and youth work sessions, and 37 meetings between the researcher and the expert.

Findings: The process of co-construction of this prototype pedagogical model was divided into three phases. The first phase involved the youth and coaches identifying barriers to sport opportunities in their community. In the second phase, the youth, coaches and researchers imagined alternative possibilities to the barriers identified. In the final phase, we worked collaboratively to create realistic opportunities for the youth to begin to negotiate some of the barriers they identified. In this phase, the coaches and youth designed an action plan to implement (involving a Leadership Program) aimed at addressing the youths’ needs in the sport program. Five critical elements of a prototype pedagogical model were co-created through the first two processes and four learning aspirations emerged in the last phase of the project.

Implications: We suggest an activist approach of co-creating a pedagogical model of sport for working with youth from socially vulnerable backgrounds is beneficial. That is, creating opportunities for youth to learn to name, critique and negotiate barriers to their engagement in sport in order to create empowering possibilities.     

Developmental dyslexia,cerebellar/vestibular brain function and possible links to exercise-based interventions: a review

The Phonological Processing Deficit (PPD) hypothesis remains the most influential theory to explain why some children fail to acquire appropriate reading skills. However, current research suggests that there may be other deficits operating, and that the phonological processing deficit may be just one manifestation of a deeper underlying anatomical syndrome that originates in the cerebellar or vestibular areas of the brain. Claims that exercise regimes or programmes of vestibular stimulation may provide a ‘cure’ for developmental dyslexia (specific reading difficulties) prompt scepticism among the scientific community and raise concerns about the exploitation of vulnerable parents. The paper provides a review of research into the causes of specific reading difficulties at the behavioural, cognitive and biological level of explanation, and considers whether or not there is any theoretical basis for the use of exercise-based intervention programmes. Following consideration of recent findings from a range of scientific disciplines, it is concluded that such ‘unconventional’ methods of intervention may draw some theoretical support from the scientific literature, although researchers are cautioned to be wary of comorbidity issues. It is also concluded that more rigorous and independent evaluations of the success (or otherwise) of exercise-based interventions are needed.     

Curriculum on the move: the role of English in a Year 7 Cultural Studies programme

This paper describes a curriculum experiment to integrate the English and humanities teaching to a year 7 (age 11) cohort through a pedagogy based on Dorothy Heathcote's work on drama in education. An integrated Cultural Studies programme was devised in order to help students engage with meaningful issues in what Heathcote (1980) terms ‘real and felt’ contexts. As part of the national Creative Partnerships programme, Debbie Kidd, a drama specialist from an Arts organisation, worked with teachers to develop curriculum and pedagogy. The paper describes the project from the perspective of the two outsiders closely involved with the work. Debbie Kidd sets the context and discusses some of the outcomes to date. In an Afterword, Elaine Millard discusses some of the barriers to curriculum integration and argues for greater flexibility in English teaching and it s modes of assessment to make room for more creative engagements.     

#MeToo,sexual harassment: an article,a forum,and a dream for the future

#MeToo has breathed new life into the women’s movement and especially into understanding and rectifying sexual harassment, abuse and assault. It has galvanized activists around the globe. And it has placed thousands of stories of the harassed in full view of the public. Sexual harassment, abuse and assault may occur within the organizational context or beyond; but sexual harassment, in particular has been legally labeled an organizational phenomenon. With this in mind, Robin Clair frames the early part of this article around the most recent organizational communication theories (see the appendix for an overview of these theories). Following the essay is a forum, in which invited scholars address questions related to the #MeToo movement.