Cultural values and attitudes toward immigrants and multiculturalism: The case of the Eurobarometer survey on racism and xenophobia

The current paper uses archival data to examine variations in Schwartz's and Hofstede's cultural value orientations and their relationship to attitudes toward immigration and multiculturalism reported in the Eurobarometer Survey [Attitudes towards minority groups in the European Union: a special analysis of the Eurobarometer 2000 opinion poll on behalf of the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia. Eurobarometer Opinion Poll. Retrieved September 1, 2003, from http://europa.eu.int/comm/public_opinion/index_en.htm] on racism and xenophobia. The results demonstrated that mastery, masculinity, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, and collectivism were associated with weaker support for policies that promote social co-existence. Masculinity and mastery were also linked to more pessimistic attitudes towards multiculturalism, and increased harmony was correlated with less desire for cultural assimilation. The results largely converge with research undertaken at the individual-level of analysis, and the data suggest four clusters of cultural values related to immigration attitudes: humanitarianism-egalitarianism, conservation, collectivism, and instrumentality.     

The influence of water depth on kinematic and spatiotemporal gait parameters during aquatic treadmill walking

The purpose of this study was to investigate kinematic and spatiotemporal variables of aquatic treadmill walking at three different water depths. A total of 15 healthy individuals completed three two-minute walking trials at three different water depths. The aquatic treadmill walking was conducted at waist-depth, chest-depth and neck-depth, while a customised 3-D underwater motion analysis system captured their walking. Each participant’s self-selected walking speed at the waist level was used as a reference speed, which was applied to the remaining two test conditions. A repeated measures ANOVA showed statistically significant differences among the three walking conditions in stride length, cadence, peak hip extension, hip range of motion (ROM), peak ankle plantar flexion and ankle ROM (All p values < 0.05). The participants walked with increased stride length and decreased cadence during neck level as compared to waist and chest level. They also showed increased ankle ROM and decreased hip ROM as the water depth rose from waist and chest to the neck level. However, our study found no significant difference between waist and chest level water in all variables. Hydrodynamics, such as buoyancy and drag force, in response to changes in water depths, can affect gait patterns during aquatic treadmill walking.     

Kicking modality during erratic-dynamic and static condition effects the muscular co-activation of attacker

The purpose of the study was to investigate the effect of different kicking modality, i.e., erratic-dynamic target (EDT) versus static target (ST) on the performance of the roundhouse kick in two groups of taekwondo athletes of different skill level. Three-dimensional analysis and surface electromyography (SEMG) analysis were performed on 12 (Group A: six sub-elite, Group B: six elite) athletes to investigate muscle co-activation pattern under two conditions, i.e., EDT versus ST. In the results, the muscle recruitment ratio of the agonistic muscles was higher for Group A, whereas Group B had higher recruitment ratio for antagonist muscles. Overall, the co-activation index (CI) of hip joints appeared higher in the extensors for Group A, whereas higher CI was observed in flexor muscles for Group B with comparatively higher CI during EDT condition than ST condition. Higher value of CI was observed in flexor muscles of the knee joints among Group A during EDT conditions, in contrast, higher CI in the extensor muscles was observed among Group B during ST conditions. In conclusion, the study confirmed that erratic-dynamic movements of target could change the movement coordination pattern to maintain the joint stability of participants.     

The History of Modern Organized Badminton and the Men’s Team Thomas Cup Tournaments, 1948–1979

Modern organized international badminton began with the founding of the International Badminton Federation (IBF) in 1934, consisting of nine founding member associations. The inaugural men’s Thomas Cup tournament began in 1948 when 10 countries took part. Malaya won the Cup four times in 1949, 1952, 1955, and 1967. When Indonesia took part in the tournament for the first time in 1957, there were 19 competing teams. Indonesia won the triannual tournament seven times from 1957 to 1979. Throughout the 11 Thomas Cup tournaments, only two Asian countries have won the Cup. The only European country, Denmark, qualified to play in the finals five times without a single win. Malaya (later known as Malaysia), Indonesia, and Denmark became leading Thomas Cup teams because they produced singles and doubles players that won many All-England Badminton Championship titles. The winners of these titles were generally considered the world champions. The key sources of information for this research consisted of the IBF annual statutes for listing of participating nations, tournament programmes, and rare specialized books on badminton and the Thomas Cup competition. English language newspapers such as the Singapore Free Press and the Straits Times published historical match results for checking the secondary data collected.     

The Role of the Tutor in Asynchronous Discussion Boards: A Case Study of a Pre-Service Teacher Course

Based on a study conducted in a core module of the Postgraduate Diploma in Education programme at the National Institute of Education (Singapore), this paper provides an account of the perceptions and experiences of pre-service teachers on the roles of their tutors in the online discussion board. The research methods included a questionnaire survey, two focus group interviews and an analysis of the discussion records. The findings suggest that there are gaps between the experiences and perceptions of the pre-service teachers on the roles of their tutors. These identified gaps have various implications for the role of the online tutor in practice: setting meaningful tasks; guiding participants in the 'technicalities' of online discussion; participating actively in discussions by answering queries, providing feedback and posing conflicting views to elicit thinking/reflection; keeping the discussion focused; drawing conclusions and providing content expertise; and recommending resources for extension of learning.     

Comparing the pre- and post-impact ball and racquet kinematics of elite tennis players' first and second serves: a preliminary study

The aim of this study was to compare the pre- and post-impact three-dimensional kinematics of the ball and racquet during first and second serves performed by elite tennis players. Data were collected from four male and four female right-handed professional players during competition using two high-speed cameras (200 Hz). For each player, one first serve and one second serve from the 'deuce' or right service court that landed within the specified target area were analysed. To test for significant differences between the first and second serves, Wilcoxon tests (P < or = 0.05) were performed on selected parameters. The results indicate that the ball travelled forward and to the left during the flight phase of the toss in all but one trial. The average pre-impact ball forward location for the first serve was significantly more in front and had a higher associated forward ball velocity than the corresponding values for the second serve. On average, the decrease in post-impact ball speed from the first to the second serve was 24.1%. No significant differences between the first and second serves were found in the pre-impact racquet head speed and orientation, which was represented as a unit vector perpendicular to the racquet face. The major adjustments made by the players when going from the first to second serve were a decrease in pre-impact ball forward location (P < or = 0.01) and an increase in the pre-impact racquet vertical and lateral velocities (both P < or = 0.05). This implies that the players tossed the ball closer to the body and imparted topspin and sidespin on the ball by changing the racquet vertical and lateral velocities when going from the first to the second serve.     

Electroosmotic flow hysteresis for dissimilar ionic solutions

Electroosmotic flow (EOF) with two or more fluids is commonly encountered in various microfluidics applications. However, no investigation has hitherto been conducted to investigate the hysteretic or flow direction-dependent behavior during the displacement flow of solutions with dissimilar ionic species. In this investigation, electroosmotic displacement flow involving dissimilar ionic solutions was studied experimentally through a current monitoring method and numerically through finite element simulations. The flow hysteresis can be characterized by the turning and displacement times; turning time refers to the abrupt gradient change of current-time curve while displacement time is the time for one solution to completely displace the other solution. Both experimental and simulation results illustrate that the turning and displacement times for a particular solution pair can be directional-dependent, indicating that the flow conditions in the microchannel are not the same in the two different flow directions. The mechanics of EOF hysteresis was elucidated through the theoretical model which includes the ionic mobility of each species, a major governing parameter. Two distinct mechanics have been identified as the causes for the EOF hysteresis involving dissimilar ionic solutions: the widening/sharpening effect of interfacial region between the two solutions and the difference in ion concentration distributions (and thus average zeta potentials) in different flow directions. The outcome of this investigation contributes to the fundamental understanding of flow behavior in microfluidic systems involving solution pair with dissimilar ionic species.