Developing Policy for HIV/AIDS in Sport: Separating Fact From Fiction

In recent years, HIV-positive athletes hove increasingly made the headlines. leading to questions and concerns regarding HIV transmission through sport. Based on limited understanding and irrational fear. athletes have been excluded from sport competitions or encouraged to retire prematurely. In other cases. they have been subjected to random, mandatory HIV testing prior to sport competition. Because HIV/AIDS is a medical and social problem, information from health-related sources is included in this analysis, including the modes of HIV transmission. This analysis focuses on further issues related to rights, obligations, risks, privacy, and policy. The growing dilemma for the sport professionals to weigh an athlete's right to privacy against their own duty to warn in the decision-making process is examined, with a discussion on mandatory HIV testing for athletes. Guidelines based on principles of medical ethics are offered to aid sport practitioners in providing all athletes with the best possible service.     

The Effects of Computer Training and Internet Usage on the Use of Everyday Technology by Older Adults: A Randomized Controlled Study

According to the skill transfer concept, people may use general technological skills to solve new problems. To test this concept, a technological transfer test was included in a randomized controlled-intervention study aimed at the causal relationship between computer use and autonomy of older adults. Older adults with and without exposure to computer training and Internet use and participants without interest in computers were administered this test. On two occasions, participants performed four daily tasks with everyday technological devices. Exposure to a novel technological challenge did not affect the efficiency of, and involvement in, other technological activities.     

The Repetitive Name Game

Because of the Common Core State Standards there is a renewed emphasis on the importance of visual literacies in today's classrooms. Students need prior knowledge before approaching these types of texts. This article describes the results of one 6th-grade language arts class's engagement in pre-reading prior to viewing a theatrical performance. The study examined whether obtaining background knowledge through print can be used effectively to increase the knowledge of drama, visual literacy, and nonprint text. The study utilized an experimental control-group design; t-test results revealed that using pre-reading as a comprehension strategy is more effective than just viewing drama. In addition, factorial ANOVA results showed that the treatment did not signficantly interact with reading ability or gender. Overall, this 6th-grade class's comprehension skills were enhanced with the help of pre-reading. This study indicates that pre-reading is a powerful strategy that can build background knowledge and ultimately increase comprehension of visual literacy for all students, and it and offers insight for a larger study.     

On the Performance of Likelihood-Based Difference Tests in Nonlinear Structural Equation Models

This article investigates likelihood-based difference statistics for testing nonlinear effects in structural equation modeling using the latent moderated structural equations (LMS) approach. In addition to the standard difference statistic T_D, 2 robust statistics have been developed in the literature to ensure valid results under the conditions of nonnormality or small sample sizes: the robust T_DR and the “strictly positive” T_DRP. These robust statistics have not been examined in combination with LMS yet. In 2 Monte Carlo studies we investigate the performance of these methods for testing quadratic or interaction effects subject to different sources of nonnormality, nonnormality due to the nonlinear terms, and nonnormality due to the distribution of the predictor variables. The results indicate that T_D is preferable to both T_DR and T_DRP. Under the condition of strong nonlinear effects and nonnormal predictors, T_DR often produced negative differences and T_DRP showed no desirable power.     

Double Dissociation Between Reading and Spelling Deficits

In two studies dissociations between reading and spelling skills were examined. Study 1 reports equally high prevalence rates for isolated deficits in reading (7%) or spelling (6%) in a representative sample (N = 2,029) of German-speaking elementary school children. In Study 2, children with isolated deficits were presented with the same words to read and spell. The double dissociation was replicated. Good readers/poor spellers named pseudohomophones as quickly as their corresponding words, and their phonological awareness skills were adequate, suggesting that their reading might be based on highly efficient decoding procedures. Poor readers/good spellers showed slow word naming and a clear slowing when reading pseudohomophones suggesting a reliance on intact orthographic representations in word reading. A deficit in rapid automatized naming in this group suggests problems in fast visual–verbal access. The profile of poor readers/poor spellers fits the double-deficit group in Wolf and Bowers's (1999) Wolf, M. and Bowers, P. G. 1999. The double-deficit hypothesis for the developmental dyslexias. Journal of Educational Psychology, 91: 415–438. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] dyslexia theory.     

Analysis of performance in orienteering with treadmill tests and physiological field tests using a differential global positioning system

The aim of this study was to determine the physiological responses to orienteering by examining the interrelationships between the information provided by a differential global positioning system (dGPS) about an orienteer's route, speed and orienteering mistakes, portable metabolic gas analyser data during orienteering and data from incremental treadmill tests. Ten male orienteers completed a treadmill threshold test and a field test; the latter was performed on a 4.3 km course on mixed terrain with nine checkpoints. The anaerobic threshold, threshold of decompensate . dmetabolic acidosis, respiratory exchange ratio, onset of blood lactate accumulation and peak oxygen uptake (V O2peak ) were determined from the treadmill test. Time to complete the course, total distance covered, mean speed, distance and timing of orienteering mistakes, mean oxygen uptake, mean relative heart rate, mean respiratory exchange ratio and mean running economy were computed from the dGPS data and metabolic gas analyser data. Correlation analyses showed a relationship between a high anaerobic threshold a . nd few orienteering mistakes ( r = - 0.64, P ? 0.05). A high threshold of decompensated metabolic acidosis and V O2peak were related to a fast overall time ( r = - 0.70 to- 0.72, P ? 0.05) and high running speed ( r = 0.64 to 0.79, P ? 0.05 and P ? 0.01, respectively), and were thus the best predictors of performance.     

Relationship of Social Physique Anxiety to Indicators of Physique

ABSTRACT

Purpose: Maximal heart rate (MHR) is an important physiologic tool for prescribing and monitoring exercise in both clinical and athletic settings. However, prediction equations developed in adults may have limited accuracy in youth. The purpose of this study was to systematically review and analyze the available evidence regarding the validity of commonly used age-based MHR prediction equations among children and adolescents. Methods: Included articles were peer-reviewed, published in English, and compared measured to predicted MHR in male and female participants <18 years old. The standardized mean difference effect size (ES) was used to quantify the accuracy of age-predicted MHR values and a priori moderators were examined to identify potential sources of variability. Results: The cumulative results of 20 effects obtained from seven articles revealed that prediction equations did not accurately estimate MHR (ES= 0.44, p < .05) by 6.3 bpm (bpm). Subgroup analyses indicated that the Fox equation (MHR = 220–age) overestimated MHR by 12.4 bpm (ES = 0.95, p < .05), whereas the Tanaka equation (MHR = 208–0.7*age) underestimated MHR by 2.7 bpm (ES = ?0.34, p < .05). Conclusions: Age-based MHR equations derived from adult populations are not applicable to children. However, if the use of age-based equations cannot be avoided, we recommend using the Tanaka equation, keeping in mind the range of error reported in this study. Future research should control for potential pubertal influences on sympathetic modulation during exercise to facilitate the development of more age-appropriate methods for prescribing exercise intensity.     

A Field-Based Testing Protocol for Assessing Gross Motor Skills in Preschool Children: The Children's Activity and Movement in Preschool Study Motor Skills Protocol

The purpose of this study was to develop a valid and reliable tool for use in assessing motor skills in preschool children in field-based settings. The development of the Children's Activity and Movement in Preschool Study Motor Skills Protocol included evidence of its reliability and validity for use in field-based environments as part of large epidemiological studies. Following pilot work, 297 children (3–5 years old) from 22 preschools were tested using the final version of the Children's Activity and Movement in Preschool Study Motor Skills Protocol and the Test of Gross Motor Development (2nd Edition). Reliability of the Children's Activity and Movement in Preschool Study Motor Skills Protocol and interobserver reliability were determined using intraclass correlation procedures (intraclass correlation coefficients; ANOVA). Concurrent validity was assessed using Pearson correlation coefficients to compare the Children's Activity and Movement in Preschool Study Motor Skills Protocol to the original Test of Gross Motor Development (2nd Edition). Results indicated that test reliability, interobserver reliability, and validity coefficients were all high, generally above R/r = .90. Significant age differences were found. Outcomes indicate that the Children's Activity and Movement in Preschool Study Motor Skills Protocol is an appropriate tool for assessing motor development of 3-, 4-, and 5-year-old children in field-based settings that are consistent with large-scale trials.     

OPINION RESEARCH IN EAST GERMANY A Challenge to Professional Standards

The paper discusses some of the issues complicating opinionresearch in the GDR and considers the effectiveness of a numberof techniques as well as the degree to which they can yieldreliable results. One of the main problem areas is the previouslyinstitutionalized character of public attitude studies duringSED–rule and their role in the sociopolitical advancementof socialist society. Given the enormous shift in voting intentionbefore the first gerneral election in 58 years on 18 March 1990,a comparison of trend data taken from a number of polls conductedbetween the end of November 1989 to 17 March 1990 clearly indicatesthe unstable situation at the outset and subsequent shift inattitudes toward political alternatives. It is argued that overall,poll results were successful in presenting a snapshot of viewsas they were at the time of the interview, and that as the electiondrew nearer, the trend gave a clear indication of the likelyoutcome.     

Municipal Intentions to Promote Preschool Children’s Capabilities and Health: A Descriptive Study of 25 Swedish Municipalities

Preschools are environments where children are given opportunities to develop emotional, social and intellectual capabilities, characteristics that by recent research have been revealed as health protecting. The objectives of this study were to examine the intentions of 25 Swedish municipalities to develop such capabilities through activities in preschool and to relate these intentions to municipal socio-economic conditions. Indicators on municipal intentions to promote preschool children’s emotional, social and intellectual capabilities were rather frequently utilised by the 25 municipalities in this study. However, promotion of physical activity, parent support, and children’s influence in preschool were not prioritised. The extent of intended preschool activities was not determined by municipal wealth, which might be due to a national system for equalizing municipal resources.