Evaluation of the Physical Activity and Public Health Course for Practitioners

Purpose: From 1996 to 2013, a 6-day Physical Activity and Public Health Course for Practitioners has been offered yearly in the United States. An evaluation was conducted to assess the impact of the course on building public health capacity for physical activity and on shaping the physical activity and public health careers of fellows since taking the courses. Method: An evaluation quantified time that fellows spent in different course offerings and surveyed fellows. Results: From 1996 to 2012, 410 fellows attended the course, and in 2013, 186 participated in the Web-based survey (56% response rate). The number of fellows attending the course ranged from 15 to 33 yearly. From 1996 to 2012, the course averaged 38 hr of instructional time that included topics on interventions and environment/policy work to increase physical activity, program evaluation, public health research, and health disparities. The course included consultations, collaborative work, and field-based experiences. Fellows who participated in the survey agreed that the course had a positive impact on the physical activity research or practice work they did (98%), met their expectations (96%), helped them with research/practice collaborations with other physical activity professionals (96%), assisted them in conducting higher-quality interventions/programs (95%), helped increase their professional networking in the field (93%), and had a positive impact on other work they did (91%). Following the course, 66% and 56% had further contact with faculty and other fellows, respectively. Conclusion: The Physical Activity and Public Health Course for Practitioners made important contributions toward building the capacity of physical activity and public health practitioners.     

Stabilization and passification of distributed-order fractional linear systems using methods of preservation

This paper studies the stabilization and passification of a class of distributed-order linear time-invariant systems, by using methods of preservation in the frequency domain. Results about preservation of stability and passivity of classical linear time-invariant systems are extended to one more general family of matrix functions. Based on these results, a new approach to the problems of stabilization and passification of distributed-order linear time-invariant systems is presented. Also a result that extends the known techniques for pole placement of classical linear time-invariant systems to the new class of distributed-order linear time-invariant systems is given. Examples are given to show the validity of theoretical results.     

Knowledge sharing in open source software project teams: A transactive memory system perspective

The extant studies have not empirically examined the possible team cognitive mechanisms that facilitate knowledge sharing in OSS teams, even though knowledge sharing is a cognitive task and an OSS team is a complex cognitive system. To fill this research gap, we adopt the perspective of transactive memory system (TMS) to explore the relationships among TMS, knowledge sharing, communication quality, and technical achievement of OSS teams. By analyzing data from 95 OSS projects with the partial least squares (PLS) method, our study demonstrates that several TMS dimensions have positive impacts on knowledge sharing behaviors and communication quality. Moreover, communication quality positively influences technical achievement of OSS teams. These findings provide useful implications for literature and practice.     

Ethics,politics and bio-pedagogy in physical education teacher education: easing the tension between the self and the group

In this paper, we argue that reflecting upon our personal experiences and the origins of our ethical and political beliefs can be useful to see that, as much as society has a strong influence on us, each of us has the capacity to influence society. Also we suggest that there exist intimate links between personhood and pedagogy. As such, through the use of bio-pedagogical passages, we examine the process of coming to the realisation of the need to develop ethical principles that enable us to contribute to society in universally beneficial ways through our teaching. Moreover, we explain that, as they try to help prospective educators understand their future role in society, physical education teacher educators (PETEs) ought to start with clear ethical principles, not just merely technical (or even scientific) ones. These principles, in turn, can serve as a guide for all pedagogical (read political) actions, both inside and outside the classroom. We close this paper offering viable guidelines as to how this can be done.     

‘Governmentality’ in the origins of European female PE and sport: the Spanish case study (1883–1936)

The purpose of the paper is twofold: (1) to contribute to the analysis of the origins of modern European female PE and sports from a power perspective, inspired by Foucault's work; and (2) to present a detailed analysis of female PE and sport in Spain (1883–1936) as a specific European case study. It is argued that these physical activities could be conceived in the Spanish case as part of a specific kind of ‘governmentality’ with a dual nature. On the one hand they represented disciplinary ‘technologies of power’ over the female body. Selected physical activities—dictated mainly from the hygienic-moral position of the Regeneracionistas (‘Regenerationists’)—were exerted as a kind of ‘bio-power’ for the control of the female population. On the other hand, such kind of activities (especially sports) represented certain ‘technologies of the self’ for middle and upper class women. Through participation in sports, women gained a more active and public role in the Spanish society of the era, obtaining some degree of autonomy in self-governance over their bodies and their lives.     

Is passive drag dependent on the interaction of kayak design and paddler weight in flat-water kayaking?

Abstract

Drag is one of the major factors that influences kayaking performance. To focus on the drag of the kayak’s hull shape and the paddlers’ weight per se, the passive drag (D_p) was measured on a flat-water sprint course for one paddler with added weights. D_p was measured by an electromechanical towing device using a load cell, at incremental and constant velocities from 2.78 to 5.56 m/s. Three kayaks of different sizes and shapes (Nelo® K1 Quattro-M, ML, and L) were used and the paddlers’ body weight was adjusted with weights so the total paddler weight in the kayak was 65, 75, and 85 kg. The mean D_p increased by the power function of D = kvⁿ (mean R² = .990; SD .006). The D_p went from 21.37?±?1.29 N at 2.78 m/s to 89.32?±?6.43 N at 5.56 m/s. For the two lighter weighted kayaks (65 and 75 kg), the lowest D_p was observed with different kayak sizes (M, ML, or L) depending on the target velocity. The manufacturers suggest that paddlers should select a kayak size according to their body weight to minimise drag; however, the results of this study suggest that target velocities, and thus competition distance should also be factored into kayak selection.     

Massive preexposure and preexposure in multiple contexts attenuate the context specificity of latent inhibition

Latent inhibition, which refers to attenuated responding to a conditioned stimulus (CS) after CS-unconditioned stimulus (CS-US) pairings as a result of CS-alone presentations prior to the pairings, is often attenuated if preexposure and conditioning occur in different contexts (i.e., it is context specific). Here we report two conditioned lick suppression experiments, using rat subjects, that examined whether manipulations known to attenuate the context specificity of extinction could also eliminate the context specificity of latent inhibition. Context specificity of latent inhibition was eliminated when the CS was preexposed in multiple contexts (Experiment 1) and when the CS was massively pre-exposed in the training context alone (Experiment 2). These results and their practical implications are discussed in the framework of contemporary theories of latent inhibition.