Interdisciplinary team education promotes innovations in the home care of older people

This article describes a new type of team training that involves undergraduate students of medicine, students from the Aalto University (industrial engineering and management, architecture, information networks, collaborative and industrial design and bioinformation technology) and specialized home care nurses. During the course, the students learned interdisciplinary teamwork and created innovations in the care of older people. The 18 participants formed six microteams (three persons in each team: one specialized nurse, one medical student and one from Aalto University). The course consisted of two seminars and 3 full days of home visits to older people’s homes. Participants were encouraged to make one innovation in each home visit that would improve the older person’s well-being or streamline the processes of home care. During the course, the participants promptly formed tight teams. They valued the know-how of the other team members and learned openly from each other. They also created a number of practical innovations in home care which they presented to executives of older people’s care in a final seminar. The course received very good feedback from the students.

This course is an encouraging example of how gerontological interdisciplinary team training may be successfully applied. The article describes both the learning outcomes and the innovations the students produced during their home visits. It also discusses the learning theories behind effective interdisciplinary team learning.     

We are not alone: A sample of international policy challenges and issues

Abstract

International trade in information technology involves political, economic, and military factors that are highly interrelated, making U.S. policy formulation a complex process which requires extensive data on foreign and domestic policies and technological capabilities. An analysis of U.S. policy for controlling the reexport of high‐technology goods provides an example of this interdependence. Four primary points are emphasized throughout the paper: (1) there seems to be only limited appreciation of how different issues get entangled in the international arena; (2) the data on which to base policy decisions regarding information technology do not exist in a readily available and usable form; (3) there is little understanding of the technological status and policy support for information technology in other countries; and (4) the people needed to analyze international developments and policies in the information technologies are not being trained.     

Energy system contribution to 400-metre and 800-metre track running

As a wide range of values has been reported for the relative energetics of 400-m and 800-m track running events, this study aimed to quantify the respective aerobic and anaerobic energy contributions to these events during track running. Sixteen trained 400-m (11 males, 5 females) and 11 trained 800-m (9 males, 2 females) athletes participated in this study. The participants performed (on separate days) a laboratory graded exercsie test and multiple race time-trials. The relative energy system contribution was calculated by multiple methods based upon measures of race [Vdot]O₂, accumulated oxygen deficit (AOD), blood lactate and estimated phosphocreatine degradation (lactate/PCr). The aerobic/anaerobic energy system contribution (AOD method) to the 400-m event was calculated as 41/59% (male) and 45/55% (female). For the 800-m event, an increased aerobic involvement was noted with a 60/40% (male) and 70/30% (female) respective contribution. Significant (P <?0.05) negative correlations were noted between race performance and anaerobic energy system involvement (lactate/PCr) for the male 800-m and female 400-m events (r = ? 0.77 and ??0.87 respectively). These track running data compare well with previous estimates of the relative energy system contributions to the 400-m and 800-m events. Additionally, the relative importance and speed of interaction of the respective metabolic pathways has implications to training for these events.     

Energy system contribution to 1500- and 3000-metre track running

The aim of the present study was to quantify the contributions of the aerobic and anaerobic energy systems to 1500- and 3000-m track running events during all-out time-trials performed individually on a synthetic athletic track. Ten 3000-m (8 males, 2 females) and fourteen 1500-m (10 males, 4 females) trained track athletes volunteered to participate in the study. The athletes performed a graded exercise test in the laboratory and two time-trials over 1500 or 3000?m. The contributions of the energy systems were calculated by measures of race oxygen uptake, accumulated oxygen deficit (AOD), race blood lactate concentration, estimated phosphocreatine degradation and some individual muscle metabolite data. The relative aerobic energy system contribution (based on AOD measures) for the 3000?m was 86% (male) and 94% (female), while for the 1500?m it was 77% (male) and 86% (female). Estimates of anaerobic energy expenditure based on blood lactate concentrations, while not significantly different (P?>?0.05), were generally lower compared with the AOD measures. In conclusion, the results of the present study conform with some recent laboratory-based measures of energy system contributions to these events.     

Effects of rest interval during high-repetition resistance training on strength,aerobic fitness,and repeated-sprint ability

Abstract

The effect of altering the rest period on adaptations to high-repetition resistance training is not well known. Eighteen active females were matched according to leg strength and repeated-sprint ability and randomly allocated to one of two groups. One group performed resistance training with 20-s rest intervals between sets, while the other group employed 80-s rest intervals between sets. Both groups performed the same total training volume and load. Each group trained 3 days a week for 5 weeks [15- to 20-repetition maximum (RM), 2 – 5 sets]. Repeated-sprint ability (5×6-s maximal cycle sprints), 3-RM leg press strength, and anthropometry were determined before and after each training programme. There was a greater improvement in repeated-sprint ability after training with 20-s rest intervals (12.5%) than after training with 80-s rest intervals (5.4%) (P = 0.030). In contrast, there were greater improvements in strength after training with 80-s rest intervals (45.9%) than after training with 20-s rest intervals (19.6%) (P = 0.010). There were no changes in anthropometry for either group following training. These results suggest that when training volume and load are matched, despite a smaller increase in strength, 5 weeks of training with short rest periods results in greater improvements in repeated-sprint ability than the same training with long rest periods.     

Saccadic Eye Movement Speed and Motor Response Execution

Abstract

This study investigated the hypothesis that systematic changes in efficiency (speed) of saccadic eye movement speed (SEMS) are accompanied by parallel improvements in associated motor responses or vice versa. Seventy-two individuals were classified according to SEMS and randomly assigned to batting practice, SEMS training, or control groups. Each of the two experimental groups practiced a total of ten hours under their respective training conditions. All individuals were pre- and posttested on batting performance. Results indicated that prior to training, individuals with faster SEMS were significantly better batters than those with slower SEMS. Training through actual batting produced significant increases in both SEMS and batting performance. Training through a SEMS program resulted primarily in significant improvements in SEMS. However, some evidence was found to indicate that observable (although less dramatic) changes also occurred in batting performance for this group.     

British adolescents' and young adults' understanding and reasoning about the religious and nonreligious rights of asylum-seeker youth

This study examined British young people's understanding of the rights of asylum-seeking young people. Two hundred sixty participants (11-24 years) were read vignettes involving asylum-seeking young people's religious and nonreligious self-determination and nurturance rights. Religious rights were more likely to be endorsed than nonreligious rights. In general, younger participants were more likely than older participants to endorse the rights of asylum-seeking young people. Supporting a social cognitive domain approach, patterns of reasoning varied with the type of right and whether scenarios involved religious or nonreligious issues. Few developmental differences were found regarding participants' reasoning about asylum-seeking young people's religious or nonreligious rights. The findings are discussed with reference to available theory and research on young people's conceptions of rights.     

Tracking the mind during writing: immediacy, delayed, and anticipatory effects on pauses and writing rate

This study examines the dynamics of cognitive processes during writing. Participants were 5th, 7th and 9th graders ranging in age from 10 to 15?years. They were shown a short silent video composed of clips illustrating conflictual situations between people in school, and were invited to produce a narrative text. Three chronometric measures of word n were analyzed using a Linear Mixed-Effects Model regression procedure: pause duration before word n, pause duration within word n, and writing rate of word n. The predictors were sublexical and lexical properties of word n, i.e., immediacy effects, word n ? 1, i.e., delayed effects, and of word n?+?1, i.e., anticipatory effects. The writing-rate and the intra-word-pause measures show both immediacy and anticipatory effects. However, the between-word-pause durations show only delayed effects, which has not been reported in previous studies. As far as we know, our study is the first investigation which reveals the occurrence of parallel and serial effects in written text production: preprocessing of word n?+?1 occurs when word n is being written, and properties of word n ? 1 still exert their influences while the pen has already moved to the next word.     

Building Scientific Literacy in HIV/AIDS Education: A case study of Uganda

The term scientific literacy is defined differently in different contexts. The term literacy simply refers to the ability for one to read and write, but recent studies in language literacy have extended this definition. New literacy research seeks a redefinition in terms of how skills are used rather than how they are learned. Contemporary perspectives on literacy as a transfer of learned skills into daily life practises capture the understanding of what it means to be scientifically literate. Scientific literacy requires students to be able to use their scientific knowledge independently in the everyday world. Some models for teaching towards scientific literacy have been suggested including inquiry‐based learning embedded in constructivist epistemologies. The inquiry‐based model is posited to be effective at bringing about in‐depth understanding of scientific concepts through engaging students’ preconceptions. In order to establish whether directly engaging students’ preconceptions can lead to in‐depth understanding of the science of HIV/AIDS, a case study was designed to elucidate students’ prior knowledge. From questionnaires and classroom observations, Ugandan Grade 11 students’ persistent preconceptions were explored in follow‐up focus group discussions. The inquiry process was used to engage students with their own perceptions of HIV/AIDS during the focus group discussions. Findings suggest that students need to dialogue with each other as they reflect on their beliefs about HIV/AIDS. Dialogue enabled students to challenge their beliefs while making connections between ‘school’ and ‘home’ knowledge.     

Classroom management: A model for the identification,development, and assessment of competencies

This article looks across effective collaborations involving schools and colleges of education and other organizations to identify most commonly voiced reasons for collaboration and factors perceived as being most important to collaboration. Partnerships are often founded as means for a school or college of education to better fulfill its own mission through working with other departments on campus, community organizations, and schools. Those involved with effective collaboration report that willingness to listen, mutual respect, long-term commitment, frequent communication, flexibility, and careful selection of partners were key factors in the success of their collaboratives.