Improving sexual health for young people: making sexuality education a priority

How well do young people understand their developing sexuality and what this means? This paper reports on findings from the Our Lives: Culture, Context and Risk project, which investigated sexual behaviour and decision-making in the context of the everyday life experience and aspirations of Indigenous and non-Indigenous young people (16–25 years) in the Northern Territory, Western Australia and in South Australia. Using qualitative data, this paper focuses on what participating young people thought was necessary to improve the quality of sexuality education. Participants suggest that current forms of sexuality education are too clinical, didactic and unengaging, and are missing in relevant content. Young people requested more information on relationships, first sexual experiences and negotiating condom use. These requests indicate that young people realise that they need more knowledge in order to have healthy relationships, which conflicts with the popular belief that providing young people with open, honest information around sex will encourage them to have sex or increase sexual risk taking. Making sexuality education more of a priority and listening to the needs of young people could be a positive step towards improving sexual health and well-being.     

Vocabulary Is Important for Some,but Not All Reading Skills

Although there is evidence for a close link between the development of oral vocabulary and reading comprehension, less clear is whether oral vocabulary skills relate to the development of word-level reading skills. This study investigated vocabulary and literacy in 81 children aged 8 to 10 years. In regression analyses, vocabulary accounted for unique variance in exception word reading and reading comprehension, but not text reading accuracy, decoding, or regular word reading. Consistent with these data, children with poor reading comprehension exhibited oral vocabulary weaknesses and read fewer exception words correctly. These findings demonstrate that oral vocabulary is associated with some, but not all, reading skills. Results are discussed in terms of current models of reading development.     

Understanding Variability in Reading Comprehension in Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorders: Interactions With Language Status and Decoding Skill

Although it is well recognized that reading skills vary in people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), reasons for this variability are not well understood. We used the simple view of reading model to investigate both word decoding and text comprehension processes in two well-established subtypes within the autism spectrum, those with age-appropriate structural language skills and those structural language impairments. Generally, participants with language impairments performed less well than those with age-appropriate language skills. Word-level reading was a relative strength for both groups, although it showed declines with age. Comprehension weaknesses were especially marked among those with poor structural language skills. Reading outcomes in ASD are related to variations both in decoding and comprehension and in the oral language skills that support the development of these processes.     

Continuous walking and time- and intensity-matched interval walking: Cardiometabolic demand and post-exercise enjoyment in insufficiently active,healthy adults

ABSTRACT

We compared cardiometabolic demand and post-exercise enjoyment between continuous walking (CW) and time- and intensity-matched interval walking (IW) in insufficiently active adults. Sixteen individuals (13 females and three males, age 25.3 ± 11.1 years) completed one CW and one IW session lasting 30 min in a randomised-counterbalanced design. For CW, participants walked at a mean intensity of 65–70% predicted maximum heart rate (HR_max). For IW, participants alternated between 3 min at 80% HR_max and 2 min at 50% HR_max. Expired gas was measured throughout each protocol. Participants rated post-exercise enjoyment following each protocol. Mean HR and V˙O₂ showed small positive differences in IW vs. CW (2, 95%CL 0, 4 beat.min^?1; d = 0.23, 95%CL 0.06, 0.41 and 1.4, 95%CL 1.2 ml.kg^?1.min^?1, d = 0.36, 95%CL 0.05, 0.65, respectively). There was a medium positive difference in overall kcal expenditure in IW vs. CW (25, 95%CL 7 kcal, d = 0.58, 95%CL 0.33, 0.82). Post-exercise enjoyment was moderately greater following IW vs. CW (9.1, 95%CL 1.4, 16.8 AU, d = 0.62, 95%CL 0.06, 0.90), with 75% of participants reporting IW as more enjoyable. Interval walking elicits meaningfully greater energy expenditure and is more enjoyable than CW in insufficiently active, healthy adults.     

Indigenous knowledge and the knowledge commons

This paper studies the frameworks used to understand the commons, the knowledge commons, and indigenous knowledge. Discussion of enclosure, participation, rivalrous and non-rivalrous commons reveals that information and knowledge are resources that increase in value through use. The author examines current IK practices, focusing on documentation strategies and the role of the librarian. Studying IK practices in relation to the commons allows shared language to emerge. Challenging the frameworks, discourse and practices of both IK and the commons exposes and strengthens their connections to one another. This provides a platform for stronger advocacy for IK projects and the commons in general.     

Textbook access and affordability through academic library services: A department develops strategies to meet the needs of students

In the spring of 2015, the University of Minnesota Libraries formed the Content Services department, which is comprised of Interlibrary Loan, Publishing Services, and the Copyright Permissions Service. These three service points, as well as additional Library units, work together with campus partners to save students money on their course materials through a variety of programs and pilot projects. By employing multiple avenues to help faculty and students put affordable content into their existing workflows for providing and accessing required readings, the University of Minnesota Libraries are ensuring that there are many options available that support coursework and ultimately student success.     

乐极生悲

马拉德夫人患有心脏病。对她丈夫的死讯,个个都小心翼翼, 生怕她受到刺激。她妹妹约瑟芬嗫嗫嚅儒、半遮半掩地告诉了她这一噩耗。她丈夫的朋友理查德斯当时也在她身旁。铁路上发生惨案的消息传来时,理查德斯恰好在报社,看到布伦特利·马拉德的名字在“罹难者”中位居首位。他还发去一封电报确认情况属实,便匆忙赶了过来,防止哪个朋友考虑不周,冒冒失失就把噩耗告诉她。