Start and turn performances of elite sprinters at the 2016 European Championships in swimming

The aim of this study was to examine the performance characteristics of male and female finalists in the 100-m distance at the 2016 European Championships in swimming (long-course-metre). The performances of all 64 (32-males and 32-females) were analysed (8 swimmers per event; Freestyle, Backstroke, Breaststroke and Butterfly). A set of start and turn parameters were analysed. In the start main outcome, male swimmers were faster in Butterfly (5.71 ± 0.14s) and females in Freestyle (6.68 ± 0.28s). In the turn main outcome, male and female swimmers were faster in Freestyle (males: 9.55 ± 0.13s; females: 10.78 ± 0.28s). A significant and strong stroke effect was noted in the start and turn main outcome, in both sexes. In the start plus the turn combined, males and females were faster in Freestyle (males: 15.40 ± 0.20s; females: 17.45 ± 0.54s). The start and the turn combined accounted almost one-third of the total race time in all events, and non-significant differences (p > 0.05) were noted across the four swim strokes. Once this research made evident the high relevance of start and turns, it is suggested that coaches and swimmers should dedicate an expressive portion of the training perfecting these actions.     

Motor fitness and preschooler children obesity status

The aim of this study was to examine the association between motor fitness (MF) and obesity status in preschool children.

The sample comprised 467 children aged 3–6 years. Preschool children body mass index was classi?ed according to International Obesity Task Force and categorised into three levels, normal, overweight and obesity. Total physical activity was assessed by accelerometer and MF test was assessed through two MF tests 10 × 5m shuttle run test (SRT) and a 7 m jumping distance on 2 feet test (J2F). Low MF was considered for MF if SD above 1. A single variable with three categories was created: low MF medium MF and high MF.

The prevalence of normal weight, overweight and obesity was 67.6%, 22.7% and 9.7%, respectively. The prevalence of SD > 1 for SRT was 13.7% and 14.4% for J2F, for single variable was 19.2%. Multinomial logistic regression analysis showed that obese preschoolers were more likely six times classified as having low MF level than their non-overweight counterparts (OR: 6.4; IC: 1.3–36.6).

This study showed a considerable prevalence of overweight and obesity among preschoolers. Obesity has already been associated with lower MF. Further longitudinal studies are needed to con?rm this data.     

Music and Identity in a Postcolonial World: Radio Airplay of Lusophone Music in Public Service Broadcasting in the Portuguese- Speaking World

With music being one of the key elements of radio, and plurality one of the most important principles of public service, this article’s central argument is that one of the missions of public radio is to foster musical elements produced in the country’s national language. Focusing on traditional musical genres of the Portuguese-speaking countries, we will analyze the role of music in public radio by selecting specific musical shows focused on the Lusophone world. In order to determine the presence and impact of Lusophony in national stations, music will be the common thread for a reflection on how multicultural their programming strategies are able to be.     

Overcompliance and reluctance to make decisions: Exploring warning systems in support of public managers

Post-scandal effects in public management point to the occurrence of overcompliance in the work of public managers, leading to reluctance and paralysis in decision-making. This article discusses the proposition of an artifact in the form of a warning system to aid the analysis process and issuing of opinions (APIO) by public managers, providing more information and, consequently, less risk and fear. The Design Science Research method was used to exapt a scientific artifact to the context of public management. The textual structure of 178 opinions issued by public agencies was analyzed, as was the perception of 17 public managers of the characteristics of the APIO. Exaptating the artifact from a technological perspective is simple and feasible, as it involves processes with strong functional similarities. The greatest challenges to operationalize the artifact broadly and without restrictions, as occurs in scientific academia, are associated with informational behaviors.     

Gender‐Based Differential Prediction by Curriculum Samples for College Admissions

A longstanding concern about admissions to higher education is the underprediction of female academic performance by admission test scores. One explanation for these findings is selection system bias, that is, not all relevant KSAOs that are related to academic performance and gender are included in the prediction model. One solution to this problem is to include these omitted KSAOs in the prediction model, many of these KSAOs are 'noncognitive' and “hard‐to‐measure” skills in a high‐stakes context. An alternative approach to capture relevant KSAOs is using representative performance samples. We examined differential prediction of first year‐ and third year academic performance by gender based on a curriculum‐sampling test that was designed as a small‐scale simulation of later college performance. In addition, we examined differential prediction using both frequentist and Bayesian analyses. Our results showed no differential prediction or small female underprediction when using the curriculum‐sampling tests to predict first year GPA, and no differential prediction for predicting third year GPA. In addition, our results suggest that more comprehensive curriculum samples may show less differential prediction. We conclude that curriculum sampling may offer a practically feasible method that yields minimal differential prediction by gender in high‐stakes operational selection settings.     

Metaphors in mathematics classrooms: analyzing the dynamic process of teaching and learning of graph functions

This article presents an analysis of a phenomenon that was observed within the dynamic processes of teaching and learning to read and elaborate Cartesian graphs for functions at high-school level. Two questions were considered during this investigation: What types of metaphors does the teacher use to explain the graphic representation of functions at high-school level? Is the teacher aware of the use he/she has made of metaphors in his/her speech, and to what extent does he/she monitor them? The theoretical framework was based on embodied cognition theory. Our findings include teachers’ expressions that suggest, among other ideas: (1) orientation metaphors, such as “the abscissa axis is horizontal”; (2) fictive motion, such as “the graph of a function can be considered as the trace of a point that moves over the graph”; (3) ontological metaphors; and (4) interaction of metaphors. We also show that teachers were not aware of using metaphors.     

Research collaboration and productivity: is there correlation?

The incidence of extramural collaboration in academic research activities is increasing as a result of various factors. These factors include policy measures aimed at fostering partnership and networking among the various components of the research system, policies which are in turn justified by the idea that knowledge sharing could increase the effectiveness of the system. Over the last two decades, the scientific community has also stepped up activities to assess the actual impact of collaboration intensity on the performance of research systems. This study draws on a number of empirical analyses, with the intention of measuring the effects of extramural collaboration on research performance and, indirectly, verifying the legitimacy of policies that support this type of collaboration. The analysis focuses on the Italian academic research system. The aim of the work is to assess the level of correlation, at institutional level, between scientific productivity and collaboration intensity as a whole, both internationally and with private organizations. This will be carried out using a bibliometric type of approach, which equates collaboration with the co-authorship of scientific publications.

The Contribution of Ethnobiology to the Construction of a Dialogue Between Ways of Knowing: A Case Study in a Brazilian Public High School

This paper reports results obtained in pedagogical interventions in a Brazilian public high school which aimed at promoting a dialogue between scientific and traditional knowledge in the context of biology teaching. The interventions were based on the use of a didactic material and teaching sequence elaborated on the grounds of school knowledge about botany, as presented in biology textbooks, and interviews with students who were also farmers, so as to gather data about their ethnobiological knowledge. Our goal was to develop and test resources that can offer support for teachers who wish to build a dialogue between different ways of knowing in multicultural settings. Our results indicate that the use of the didactic material and teaching sequence indeed created possibilities for a dialogue between the students’ ethnobiological knowledge and biology school knowledge. We observed some shortcomings in classroom practice, partly reflecting our very choice of subject matter to develop the teaching sequence. But the interventions also revealed important limitations that we regard as representative of problems that may generally make multicultural science teaching a hard goal to achieve. It was clear that important shortcomings were related to teachers’ difficulties to conduct a dialogue between ways of knowing in a science classroom, and, thus, called attention to the importance of introducing a multicultural dimension into teacher education. We also observed that the fact that students did not show much sensitivity towards dealing with cultural diversity was a factor constraining the success of the interventions. These results highlight the importance of proposing and testing teacher education initiatives aiming at preparing them to teach science in a culturally sensitive manner, and also managing classroom tensions and conflicts so as to make it possible an effective dialogue between different ways of knowing in a multicultural setting.     

Appraising research policy instrument mixes: a multicriteria mapping study in six European countries of diagnostic innovation to manage antimicrobial resistance

This article provides prospective appraisal of key policy instruments intended to stimulate innovation to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR). AMR refers to the ability of microbes to evolve resistance to those treatments designed to kill them, and is associated with the overuse or misuse of medicines such as antibiotics. AMR is an emerging global challenge with major implications for healthcare and society as a whole. Diagnostic tests for infectious diseases can guide decision making when prescribing medicines, so reducing inappropriate drug use. In the context of growing international interest in policies to stimulate innovation in AMR diagnostics, this study uses multicriteria mapping (MCM) to appraise a range of policy instruments in order to understand their potential performance while also highlighting the uncertainties that stakeholders hold about such interventions in complex contexts. A contribution of the article is the demonstration of a novel method to analyse and visualise MCM data in order to reveal stakeholder inclinations towards particular options while exploring interviewees’ uncertainties about the effectiveness of each instrument's design or implementation. The article reports results from six European countries (Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK). The findings reveal which policy instruments are deemed most likely to perform well, and why, across stakeholder groups and national settings, with areas of common ground and difference being identified. Importantly, the conclusions presented here differ from prominent policy discourse, with international implications for the design of mixes of policy instruments to combat AMR. Strategic and practical methodological implications also emerge for general appraisal of innovation policy instrument mixes.