Effects of concurrent training on interleukin-6, tumour necrosis factor-alpha and C-reactive protein in middle-aged men

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of moderate- to high-intensity resistance and concurrent training on inflammatory biomarkers and functional capacity in sedentary middle-aged healthy men. Participants were selected on a random basis for resistance training (n = 12), concurrent training (n = 11) and a control group (n = 13). They performed three weekly sessions for 16 weeks (resistance training: 10 exercises with 3 × 8-10 repetition maximum; concurrent training: 6 exercises with 3 × 8-10 repetition maximum, followed by 30 minutes of walking or running at 55-85% [Vdot]O(2peak)). Maximal strength was tested in bench press and leg press. The peak oxygen uptake ([Vdot]O(2peak)) was measured by an incremental exercise test. Tumour necrosis factor-α, interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein were determined. The upper- and lower-body maximal strength increase for both resistance (+42.52%; +20.9%, respectively) and concurrent training (+28.35%; +21.5%, respectively) groups (P = 0.0001).[Vdot]O(2peak) increased in concurrent training when comparing pre- and post-training (P = 0.0001; +15.6%). No differences were found in tumour necrosis factor-α and interleukin-6 for both groups after the exercise. C-reactive protein increased in resistance training (P = 0.004). These findings demonstrated that 16 weeks of moderate- to high-intensity training could improve functional capacity, but did not decrease inflammatory biomarkers in middle-aged men.     

Are patents signals for the IPO market? An EU–US comparison for the software industry

This study investigates empirically whether patents can be signals to financial markets, thus reducing problems of asymmetric information. In particular we study how patenting behaviour impacts on the way investors perceive software firms’ growth potential through an increase in the amount invested at the initial public offering (IPO) of firms in the US and Europe. This study performs regressions on the relationship of patent applications before IPO and the amount of money collected at the IPO, while controlling other factors that may influence IPO performance. We also attempt to account for a potential source of endogeneity problems that can arise for self-selection bias and simultaneity between the number of patent applications prior to going public and the amount of money collected at IPO. We find significant and robust positive correlations between patent applications and IPO performance. The signalling power of patenting is significantly different for US and European companies, and is related to the difficulty in obtaining a signal and its scarcity. An additional patent application prior to IPO increases IPO proceeds by about 0.507% and 1.13% for US and European companies, respectively. Results suggest that a less ‘applicant friendly’ patenting system increases the credibility of patents as signals and their value for IPO investors.     

Participatory strategies,facilitators and community development in Mexico

During the 80s and 90s in Mexico there was a boost in participatory strategies developed, in order to solve serious deficiencies in community development programmes and projects. The mere existence of such methodologies, per se, does not guarantee the conscious and voluntary participation of rural inhabitants. The social energy mobilisation of the rural communities poses a great demand on those who monitor or implement participatory strategies: they have to take into consideration, among others, the preservation of the existing information about the community; the historical and subjective construction of the communities; respect for the existing structure and organisational forms; the specificity of the proposed objectives and their close relationship with specific operational strategies; and, respect for the time and pace of the communities, as well as the time, pace and movement of the organisational processes within these communities.     

Aplicación de la terapia de modelado en la prevención del inicio al consumo de la droga

Resumen

La presente investigación ha consistido en desarrollar un método preventivo del inicio al consumo de droga, por medio del aprendizaje observacional, destinado a adolescentes. Se pretendía modificar la actitud hacia la droga, así como dotar de habilidades comportamentales suficientes a los sujetos, con el fin de que pudieran hacer frente a determinadas situaciones, causa, en muchos casos, del inicio de la drogadicción.

La hipótesis principal era que un programa educativo, más modelado y la técnica de rol-playing, cambiará la actitud hacia la droga y facilitará el aprendizaje de comportamientos que ayuden a la prevención.

Los resultados indican un cambio de actitud hacia determinadas drogas y una actitud más favorable a la realización de determinados comportamientos que favorecerán la posibilidad de resistirse a la iniciación al consumo de la droga.     

Filipino Arts Among Elders in Institutionalized Care Settings

The use of traditional art in recreational therapies is unexplored. This paper, thus, attempts to surface the unique power of traditional Filipino arts (TFA) as synergizing lens in capturing the individual and the collective experiences of a select group of Filipino elderly in an institutionalized care setting relative to their feelings of depression and self-esteem. Three Filipino elderly housed in an institutionalized care setting were chosen for this phenomenological study, a robotfoto and a series of semistructured interviews constitute the main data gathering tool. Field texts were subjected to phenomenological reduction via the repertory grid analysis. Emerged themes were subjected to a series of member checking procedures to ensure the trustworthiness of the reported data. Depression and self-esteem were interpreted via two emerged themes. The themes were Me, Myself, and Melancholy and Will Not Let My Worth Wither. Through recreational therapies in the form of traditional Filipino arts, participants found novel psychological crutches that overcame the challenges of depression and give them hope toward more positive views of themselves and life.     

Higher screen time is associated with overweight,poor dietary habits and physical inactivity in Brazilian adolescents,mainly among girls

Objectives: To analyse the associations between high screen time and overweight, poor dietary habits and physical activity in adolescents according to sex. Methods: The study comprised 515 boys and 716 girls aged 14–17 years from Londrina, Brazil. Nutritional status (normal weight or overweight/obese) was assessed by calculating the body mass index. Eating habits and time spent in physical activity were reported using a questionnaire. The measurement of screen time considered the time spent watching television, using a computer and playing video games during a normal week. Associations between high screen time and dependent variables (nutritional status, eating habits and physical activity levels) were assessed by binary logistic regression, adjusted for sociodemographic and lifestyle variables. Results: Most adolescents (93.8% of boys and 87.2% of girls) spent more than 2 hours per day in screen-time activities. After adjustments, an increasing trend in the prevalence of overweight and physical inactivity with increasing time spent on screen activities was observed for both sexes. Screen times of >4 hours/day compared with <2 hours/day were associated with physical inactivity, low consumption of vegetables and high consumption of sweets only in girls and the consumption of soft drinks in both sexes. Conclusions: The frequency of overweight and physical inactivity increased with increasing screen time in a trending manner and independently of the main confounders. The relationship between high screen time and poor eating habits was particularly relevant for adolescent girls.     

The ‘Nature of Science’ and the Perils of Epistemic Relativism

Research in Science Education - There is an increasing demand in the field of science education for the incorporation of philosophical and sociological aspects that are related to the scientific...     

Reading for meaning: The foundational knowledge every teacher of science should have

Reading is fundamental to science and not an adjunct to its practice. In other words, understanding the meaning of the various forms of written discourse employed in the creation, discussion, and communication of scientific knowledge is inherent to how science works. The language used in science, however, sets up a barrier, that in order to be overcome requires all students to have a clear understanding of the features of the multimodal informational texts employed in science and the strategies they can use to decode the scientific concepts communicated in informational texts. We argue that all teachers of science must develop a functional understanding of reading comprehension as part of their professional knowledge and skill. After describing our rationale for including knowledge about reading as a professional knowledge base every teacher of science should have, we outline the knowledge about language teachers must develop, the knowledge about the challenges that reading comprehension of science texts poses for students, and the knowledge about instructional strategies science teachers should know to support their students’ reading comprehension of science texts. Implications regarding the essential role that knowledge about reading should play in the preparation of science teachers are also discussed here.