Sex-specific associations of moderate and vigorous physical activity with physical fitness in adolescents

The present study examined the sex-specific associations of moderate and vigorous physical activity (VPA) with physical fitness in 300 Japanese adolescents aged 12–14 years. Participants were asked to wear an accelerometer to evaluate physical activity (PA) levels of various intensities (i.e. moderate PA (MPA), 3–5.9 metabolic equivalents (METs); VPA, ≥6 METs; moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA), ≥3 METs). Eight fitness items were assessed (grip strength, bent-leg sit-up, sit-and-reach, side step, 50?m sprint, standing long jump, handball throw, and distance running) as part of the Japanese standardised fitness test. A fitness composite score was calculated using Japanese fitness norms, and participants were categorised according to their score from category A (most fit) to category E (least fit), with participants in categories D and E defined as having low fitness. It was found that for boys, accumulating more than 80.7?min/day of MVPA may reduce the probability of low fitness (odds ratio (ORs) [95% confidence interval (CI)]?=?0.17 [0.06–0.47], p?=?.001). For girls, accumulating only 8.4?min of VPA could reduce the likelihood of exhibiting low fitness (ORs [95% CI]?=?0.23 [0.05–0.89], p?=?.032). These results reveal that there are sex-specific differences in the relationship between PA and physical fitness in adolescents, suggesting that sex-specific PA recommendation may be needed to improve physical fitness in adolescents.     

Comparison of three web-scale discovery services for health sciences research

Objective

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relative effectiveness of three web-scale discovery (WSD) tools in answering health sciences search queries.

Methods

Simple keyword searches, based on topics from six health sciences disciplines, were run at multiple real-world implementations of EBSCO Discovery Service (EDS), Ex Libris''s Primo, and ProQuest''s Summon. Each WSD tool was evaluated in its ability to retrieve relevant results and in its coverage of MEDLINE content.

Results

All WSD tools returned between 50%–60% relevant results. Primo returned a higher number of duplicate results than the other 2 WSD products. Summon results were more relevant when search terms were automatically mapped to controlled vocabulary. EDS indexed the largest number of MEDLINE citations, followed closely by Summon. Additionally, keyword searches in all 3 WSD tools retrieved relevant material that was not found with precision (Medical Subject Headings) searches in MEDLINE.

Conclusions

None of the 3 WSD products studied was overwhelmingly more effective in returning relevant results. While difficult to place the figure of 50%–60% relevance in context, it implies a strong likelihood that the average user would be able to find satisfactory sources on the first page of search results using a rudimentary keyword search. The discovery of additional relevant material beyond that retrieved from MEDLINE indicates WSD tools'' value as a supplement to traditional resources for health sciences researchers.     

The impact of collaborative online reading on summarizing skills

The aim of this study was to determine whether, as a result of collaborative-online reading of a chapter from a book of an academic nature, the quality of the collaborative summary that the readers would write would be higher than that written by readers who would both read the same chapter and write a summary in a face-to-face setting. In this study we examined the difference between the summaries written by participants from two groups, each group was divided into subgroups of 3 participants who had read collaboratively a chapter of a book, and collaborated on writing a summary. The participants of the experimental group read the chapter as it appeared in a website for collaborative reading built especially for this study and the participants were asked to summarize the chapter on a shared online digital document. The participants of the control group were asked to read the chapter face-to-face and to collaboratively summarize it in hand writing. The quality of the summaries was evaluated with a tool developed by Rivard (2001). This tool was developed to measure the quality of the summaries. In our study the main and secondary ideas that were supposed to be included in the participants’ summaries were identified by three literature teachers using ten different criteria and the summaries were analyzed by two other judges based on these criteria. The findings indicated that there were significant differences in the majority of the writing indicators being measured with the tool. The findings indicated that collaborative-online reading and writing produce a summary of a higher quality than one read and hand written collaboratively face-to-face.     

Social Work Intervention with White Collared Employees and Their Families

This investigation presents a framework for understanding and also to test the efficacy of Social Work intervention on the well being of the white collared employee (industrial employee) and his/her family. A comprehensive and intensive personal- family exploration was done to uncover the relatedness of seemingly disparate areas of the clients lives. A total of 80 executives (industrial employees) served as subjects. A baseline assessment was done using structured, standardized interview-schedules/questionnaires. The results of the study can be enumerated as follows: After the Social Work intervention, the executives in occupational profile, there were significant changes in Role perception, overload, role conflict, low status and poor peer relations. In coping strategies there was significant improvement in sub-scales like problem solving and unproductive coping. Significant reduction was noticed in their proneness to heart disease, depression, inadequate mental mastery, and perceived ill health. There was significant improvement in their family group support, and in their expressiveness, achievement, orientation, active-recreational and organizational characteristics.     

“I Heard it through the Grapevine”: Doctoral Student Socialization in Chemistry and History

Twenty doctoral students in the disciplines of chemistry and history were interviewed to better understand the socialization processes that influence their success and how these processes differ by year in the degree program and disciplinary culture. Five major themes emerged describing these socialization processes and how they facilitate or impede degree success, including Ambiguity, describing the programmatic guidelines and expectations that surrounded much of the students’ experience; Balance, pointing to the students’ need to balance graduate school responsibilities along with external relationships and demands; Independence, describing the students’ desire to find equilibrium as they transitioned to the role of independent scholar; Development, highlighting the significant cognitive, personal, and professional development that occurs in these students’ graduate experience; and Support, describing the faculty, peer, and financial support needed for the students’ success in their degree programs. Suggestions for policy, practice, and further research are discussed.     

Establishing a Center to Support Faculty Research

This article describes the establishment in fall 2002 of a School of Education Research Center designed to support faculty in increasing productivity and quality in research. Details are provided about center goals, services, staffing, space, resources, and logistics during the first year of operation. In addition, data are shared about faculty usage of the Center, the level of faculty satisfaction with center services in the first year, and initial increases in faculty productivity. The article concludes with plans for continued data collection to monitor the impact of the Center, a discussion of lessons learned at this point in the Center's development, and possibilities for the evolution of the Center. All authors are at the University of Colorado, Denver. Laura Goodwin, Ph.D., University of Colorado at Boulder, is Interim Associate Vice Chancellor for Faculty Affairs and continues to serve as a Faculty Research Associate. Elizabeth Kozleski, Ed.D., University of Northern Colorado, is the Associate Dean for Research in the School of Education. Lynn Rhodes, Ed.D., Indiana University, is the Dean of the School of Education. Rodney Muth, Ph.D., Claremont Graduate School, is a professor of Administrative Leadership and Policy Studies in the school and chaired the Research Center Advisory Board. Kim Kennedy White, M.A., University of Oregon, was the original School of Education Research Center Coordinator and was responsible for collecting most of the data included in this study.     

Synthetic and biological studies on a cyclopolypeptide of plant origin

Objective: A natural cyclic peptide previously isolated from Citrus medica was synthesized by coupling oftetrapep-tide units Boc-Leu-Pro-Trp-Leu-Ome and Boc-Ile-Ala-Ala-Gly-Ome after proper deprotection at carboxyl and amino terminals followed by cyclization of linear octapeptide segment.Methods: Solution phase technique was adopted for the synthesis of cyclooctapeptide--sarcodactylamide.Required tetrapeptide units were prepared by coupling of Boc-protected dipeptides viz.Boc-Leu-Pro-OH and Boc-Ile-Ala-OH with respective dipeptide methyl esters Trp-Leu-Ome and Ala-Gly-Ome.Cyclization of linear octapeptide unit was done by p-nitrophenyl ester method.The structure of synthesized cyclopolypeptide was elucidated by FTIR,1H NMR,13C NMR,FABMS spectral data and elemental analysis.The newly synthesized peptide was evaluated for dif-ferent pharmacological activities including antimicrobial,anthelmintic and cytotoxic activities.Results: Synthesis of sarcodac-tylamide was accomplished with >78% yield utilizing dicyclohexylcarbodiimide (DCC) as coupling agent.Newly synthesized peptide possessed potent cytotoxic activity against Dalton's lymphoma ascites (DLA) and Ehrlich's ascites carcinoma (EAC) cell lines,in addition to moderate anthelmintic activity against earthworms Megascoplex konkanensis,Pontoscotex corethruses and Eudrilus sp.Moreover,cyclopolypeptide displayed good antimicrobial activity against pathogenic fungi Candida albicans and Gram-negative bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa,in comparison to standard drugs griseofulvin and ciprofloxacin.Conclusion: Solution phase technique employing DCC and triethylamine (TEA) as base proved to be effective for the synthesis of natural cyclooctapeptide.N-methyl morpholine (NMM) was found to be a better base for the cyclization of linear octapeptide unit in comparison to TEA and pyridine.     

The role of educators of the deaf in the early identification of hearing loss

About 16,000 babies each year will be identified with hearing loss by age 3 months once universal newborn hearing screening becomes a reality. Identification of hearing loss in infancy, followed by appropriate intervention by age 6 months, can result in normal language development, regardless of degree of hearing loss. As the average age of identification of hearing loss moves downward toward 2 months, children with hearing loss will enter the educational system earlier and with language skills commensurate with those of their hearing peers. In order to provide appropriate services to children with hearing loss and their families, early interventionists will need to forge links to health care providers involved in universal newborn hearing screening programs, to have specialized training in deafness and hearing loss, and to have expertise in providing services to very young children and to children with hearing loss in the broad range from mild to profound.     

A Self-Regulated Learning Approach to Teaching Educational Psychology

In this paper, we describe an undergraduate educational psychology course that utilizes self-regulated learning as the organizing principle. The course aims to facilitate students' development in self-regulated learning and to promote students' understanding of how to embed instruction for self-regulated learning strategies into classroom teaching. In the first section of the paper, we develop the rationale for this position and identify underlying assumptions we believe should guide the development and implementation of such a program. In the second section of the paper, we demonstrate how we have incorporated these assumptions in a basic educational psychology course.