Effect of gear ratio on peak power and time to peak power in BMX cyclists

The aim of this study was to ascertain if gear ratio selection would have an effect on peak power and time to peak power production in elite Bicycle Motocross (BMX) cyclists. Eight male elite BMX riders volunteered for the study. Each rider performed three, 10-s maximal sprints on an Olympic standard indoor BMX track. The riders’ bicycles were fitted with a portable SRM power meter. Each rider performed the three sprints using gear ratios of 41/16, 43/16 and 45/16 tooth. The results from the 41/16 and 45/16 gear ratios were compared to the current standard 43/16 gear ratio. Statistically, significant differences were found between the gear ratios for peak power (F(2,14)?=?6.448; p?=?.010) and peak torque (F(2,14)?=?4.777; p?=?.026), but no significant difference was found for time to peak power (F(2,14)?=?0.200; p?=?.821). When comparing gear ratios, the results showed a 45/16 gear ratio elicited the highest peak power,1658?±?221?W, compared to 1436?±?129?W and 1380?±?56?W, for the 43/16 and 41/16 ratios, respectively. The time to peak power showed a 41/16 tooth gear ratio attained peak power in ?0.01?s and a 45/16 in 0.22?s compared to the 43/16. The findings of this study suggest that gear ratio choice has a significant effect on peak power production, though time to peak power output is not significantly affected. Therefore, selecting a higher gear ratio results in riders attaining higher power outputs without reducing their start time.     

Practical Applications as a Source of Credibility: A Comparison of Three Fields of Dutch Academic Chemistry

In many Western science systems, funding structures increasingly stimulate academic research to contribute to practical applications, but at the same time the rise of bibliometric performance assessments have strengthened the pressure on academics to conduct excellent basic research that can be published in scholarly literature. We analyze the interplay between these two developments in a set of three case studies of fields of chemistry in the Netherlands. First, we describe how the conditions under which academic chemists work have changed since 1975. Second, we investigate whether practical applications have become a source of credibility for individual researchers. Indeed, this turns out to be the case in catalysis, where connecting with industrial applications helps in many steps of the credibility cycle. Practical applications yield much less credibility in environmental chemistry, where application-oriented research agendas help to acquire funding, but not to publish prestigious papers or to earn peer recognition. In biochemistry practical applications hardly help in gaining credibility, as this field is still strongly oriented at fundamental questions. The differences between the fields can be explained by the presence or absence of powerful upstream end-users, who can afford to invest in academic research with promising long term benefits.     

Gifted children and visual-motor development: A comparison of Bender-Gestalt and VMI test performance

A sample of 63 gifted elementary-school students was administered the Bender Visual-Motor Gestalt Test and the Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration for comparative purposes and to test Koppitz hypothesis that gifted students have advanced visual-motor development. Group results revealed no significant differences between the two tests, that they did correlate significantly, and that younger students in particular had advanced visual-motor development when tested using these two tools.     

Attitudes toward mainstreaming: A status report and comparison of regular and special educators in New York and Massachusetts

Four hundred regular and special educators from New York (a categorical labeling state) and Massachusetts (a noncategorical labeling state) were surveyed on their mainstreaming attitudes and perceptions of handicapped exceptional children. Among the topics investigated were educators' attitudes toward the effects on these children of different educational placements, their reactions to integrating these children into regular classrooms, their knowledge of their special education responsibilities, and their inclusions in their building-level special education processes. Results, implications, and future research directions are discussed, so that services to handicapped exceptional children can be improved and implemented.     

CENTRAL AGENCY RENEWAL AND EDUCATIONAL GOAL SETTING

The infrequently used label mishshamshim baKodesh may well capture the essential life-style most needed, and authentic, for bureaus of education; central agencies for Jewish education in communities whose variant demographics and structure mandate a caveat for generalizations.