Functional hamstrings: quadriceps ratios in elite women's soccer players

Abstract

We compared starters and non-starters for various isokinetic strength variables in elite women’s soccer players. A convenience sample of 10 starters (mean ± s; age = 20 ± 2 years; height = 170 ± 4 cm; body mass = 65 ± 5 kg) and 7 non-starters (age = 20 ± 1 years; height = 164 ± 3 cm; body mass = 63 ± 4 kg) performed maximal voluntary muscle actions of the leg extensors (concentric) and flexors (eccentric) on an isokinetic dynamometer in order to measure concentric peak torque for the leg extensors, eccentric peak torque for the leg flexors, and the functional hamstrings:quadriceps (H:Q) ratio at 1.047 rad · s^-1 and 4.189 rad · s^-1 concentric peak torque for the leg extensors was not different between starters and non-starters. However, it was greater at 1.047 rad · s^-1 than at 4.189 rad · s^-1 in both groups. Eccentric peak torque for the leg flexors was greater for the starters versus non-starters at 4.189 rad · s^-1. Eccentric strength of the leg flexors at fast movement velocities may be used as an effective physiological profile and may discriminate between playing status in elite women’s soccer players.     

Anthropometric-based selection and sprint kayak training in children

A 12 week kayak training programme was evaluated in children who either had or did not have the anthropometric characteristics identified as being unique to senior elite sprint kayakers. Altogether, 234 male and female school children were screened to select 10 children with and 10 children without the identified key anthropometric characteristics. Before and after training, the children completed an all-out 2min kayak ergometer simulation test; measures of oxygen consumption, plasma lactate and total work accomplished were recorded. In addition, a 500m time trial was performed at weeks 3 and 12. The coaches were unaware which 20 children possessed those anthropometric characteristics deemed to favour development of kayak ability. All children improved in both the 2min ergometer simulation test and 500m time trial. However, boys who were selected according to favourable anthropometric characteristics showed greater improvement than those without such characteristics in the 2 min ergometer test only. In summary, in a small group of children selected according to anthropometric data unique to elite adult kayakers, 12 weeks of intensive kayak training did not influence the rate of improvement of on-water sprint kayak performance.     

Are there positive effects of having a sibling with special needs? Empathy and prosociality of twins of children with non-typical development

This study examined whether typically developing (TD) twins of non-TD children demonstrate enhanced empathy and prosociality. Of 778 Hebrew-speaking Israeli families who participated in a twin study, 63 were identified to have a non-TD child with a TD twin, and 404 as having both twins TD. TD twins of non-TD children (27% males) were compared to the rest of the cohort of TD children (46% males) on measures of empathy and prosociality. Participants were 11 years old. TD twins of non-TD children scored significantly higher than TD twins of TD children in a measure of cognitive empathy (d = .43). No differences were found in emotional empathy and prosociality. The specificity of the positive effect on cognitive empathy is discussed.     

Understanding Heterogeneity in the Impact of Public Preschool Programs

We examine the North Carolina Pre-K (NC Pre-K) program to test the hypothesis that observed variation in effects resulting from exposure to the program can be attributed to interactions with other environmental factors that occur before, during, or after the pre-k year. We examine student outcomes in 5th grade and test interaction effects between NC's level of investment in public pre-k and moderating factors. Our main sample includes the population of children born in North Carolina between 1987 and 2005 who later attended a public school in that state, had valid achievement data in 5th grade, and could be matched by administrative record review (n = 1,207,576; 58% White non-Hispanic, 29% Black non-Hispanic, 7% Hispanic, 6% multiracial and Other race/ethnicity). Analyses were based on a natural experiment leveraging variation in county-level funding for NC Pre-K across NC counties during each of the years the state scaled up the program. Exposure to NC Pre-K funding was defined as the per-4-year-old-child state allocation of funds to a county in a year. Regression models included child-level and county-level covariates and county and year fixed effects. Estimates indicate that a child's exposure to higher NC Pre-K funding was positively associated with that child's academic achievement 6 years later. We found no effect on special education placement or grade retention. NC Pre-K funding effects on achievement were positive for all subgroups tested, and statistically significant for most. However, they were larger for children exposed to more disadvantaged environments either before or after the pre-k experience, consistent with a compensatory model where pre-k provides a buffer against the adverse effects of prior negative environmental experiences and protection against the effects of future adverse experiences. In addition, the effect of NC Pre-K funding on achievement remained positive across most environments, supporting an additive effects model. In contrast, few findings supported a dynamic complementarity model. Instrumental variables analyses incorporating a child's NC Pre-K enrollment status indicate that program attendance increased average 5th grade achievement by approximately 20% of a standard deviation, and impacts were largest for children who were Hispanic or whose mothers had less than a high school education. Implications for the future of pre-k scale-up and developmental theory are discussed.     

Cultural homelessness, multiminority status, ethnic identity development, and self esteem

This study presents a measure of “cultural homelessness” (Vivero & Jenkins, 1999), a construct developed to explain the experiences of some individuals having early-life immersion in more than one culture. Culturally homeless individuals report pervasive experiences of “being different”: mixed racial, ethnic, and/or cultural heritages within their families of origin and/or between their families and the surrounding sociocultural context, resulting in structural marginality; repeated subjection to contradictory cultural demands; and the acquisition of conflicting frames of reference for their behavior. Ambiguous physical presentation and the complexity of codeswitching across multiple cultural frames of reference at a young age may lead to confused or inappropriate social behavior, resulting in rejection and discrimination by both minority and majority groups, chronic feelings of “not belonging,” self-blame and shame, social and emotional isolation, cultural identity confusion, and the desire to find a “cultural home.” Empirical findings operationalizing this construct show associations of cultural homelessness criteria with gender; risk factors related to multiracial, multiethnic, and multicultural status; ethnic identity; and self esteem.     

The Affections of the American Pickers: Commodity Fetishism in Control Society

This article examines the widespread popularity and criticism of American Pickers, a show that transforms commodity fetishism into televisual fare. The show presents the pickers as model consumers through three types of images-of-affection: action-images where exchange is presented as reality, affection-images that portray positive affection as spiritual possibility, and impulse-images that naturalize production as a source of value. Such representations have generated significant criticism for exploitation. I argue that these criticisms, although instructive about resistance in control society, remain limited because they consider Pickers a representation of reality rather than an active engineering of it. Instead, Pickers should be envisioned as an expression of control society, a business strategy that circulates images in order to generate feedback that can then be tracked, targeted, and channeled. Such strategies enable Pickers to control markets by transforming products and directing access. Focusing criticism on the representations misses these mechanisms and thus lacks efficacy. Instead, Pickers’ representations, despite exposing rather than concealing commodity fetishism, serve to create a second fetish, one that masks strategies for controlling markets and creating unequal access.     

Serial selection and deselection: policies and decision–making

Describes experience of serials selection and deselection in the academic library sector, the policy issues cunently being faced, and some of the steps being taking in confronting those issues.