Corticospinal activity during a single-leg stance in people with chronic ankle instability

Purpose:The aim of the study was to determine whether corticospinal excitability and inhibition of the tibialis anterior during single-leg standing differs among individuals with chronic ankle instability(CAI),lateral ankle sprain copers,and healthy controls.Methods:Twenty-three participants with CAI,23 lateral ankle sprain copers,and 24 healthy control participants volunteered.Active motor threshold(AMT),normalized motor-evoked potential(MEP),and cortical silent period(CSP)were evaluated by transcranial magnetic stimulation while participants performed a single-leg standing task.Results:Participants with CAI had significantly longer CSP at 100%of AMT and lower normalized MEP at 120%of AMT compared to lateral ankle sprain copers(CSP100%:p=0.003;MEP120%:p=0.044)and controls(CSP100%:p=0.041;MEP120%:p=0.006).Conclusion:This investigation demonstrate altered corticospinal excitability and inhibition of the tibialis anterior during single-leg standing in participants with CAI.Further research is needed to examine the effects of corticospinal maladaptations to motor control of the tibial anterior on postural control performance in those with CAI.     

Playing on the periphery: troubling sport policy,systemic exclusion and the role of sport in rural Canada

Abstract

In policy contexts, social exclusion can be experienced through the systematic marginalization of groups by inhibiting their ability to access resources and support. In this article, we consider the context of community sport development in rural Canada to discuss the implications of rationalized policy systems for rural citizens. We discuss instances where engagement with the sport system was constrained as well as the way that rural people responded in order to continue engagement in sport both within and outside of policy frameworks. A more inclusive sport policy system requires the acknowledgement of diverse social outcomes which may be realized through sport. But, in order for this to take place, policy makers and practitioners must acknowledge that these outcomes can exist outside of athlete development and must re-consider the ways that resources and support can be allocated.     

Still as divided as ever? Northern Ireland,football and identity 20 years after the Good Friday Agreement

ABSTRACT

The signing of the Belfast-Good Friday Agreement in 1998 was widely welcomed by those that interpreted it as offering Northern Ireland the prospect of a fresh start, free from inter-ethnic violence that had blighted the country for almost 80 years. Soon it began to be seen by some observers as the genesis too of a ‘Northern Irish’ identity, as the community at large came to reconcile themselves to their common lives in Northern Ireland. Sport was also viewed as offering the prospect of adding weight to this sense of a shared journey and governing bodies of sport unquestionably played their parts in supporting a settled political environment where division had previously existed. This article examines the still contested concept of a ‘Northern Irish’ identity and critically reviews its real currency in a divided society, even if sport and, specifically, association football offers renewed hope for something better in the time ahead.     

A Wikipedia powered state-based approach to automatic search query enhancement

This paper describes the development and testing of a novel Automatic Search Query Enhancement (ASQE) algorithm, the Wikipedia N Sub-state Algorithm (WNSSA), which utilises Wikipedia as the sole data source for prior knowledge. This algorithm is built upon the concept of iterative states and sub-states, harnessing the power of Wikipedia’s data set and link information to identify and utilise reoccurring terms to aid term selection and weighting during enhancement. This algorithm is designed to prevent query drift by making callbacks to the user’s original search intent by persisting the original query between internal states with additional selected enhancement terms. The developed algorithm has shown to improve both short and long queries by providing a better understanding of the query and available data. The proposed algorithm was compared against five existing ASQE algorithms that utilise Wikipedia as the sole data source, showing an average Mean Average Precision (MAP) improvement of 0.273 over the tested existing ASQE algorithms.     

Identifying the Best Buys in U.S. Higher Education

Which U.S. institutions of higher education offer the best value to consumers? To answer this question, we evaluate U.S. institutions relative to a data envelopment analysis (DEA) multi-factor frontier based on 2000?C2001 data for 1,179 4-year institutions. The resulting DEA ??best buy?? scores allow the ranking of institutions by a weighted sum of institutional characteristics per dollar of average net price. The net price is calculated as tuition, fees, room, and board less per student financial aid. Institutional characteristics include SAT score, athletic expenditures, instructional expenditures, value of buildings, dorm capacity, and student body characteristics. The DEA scores indicate the distance of each institution from the ??best buy?? frontier for the chosen characteristics, providing an objective means of ranking institutions as the best values in higher education.     

Group Projects: Student Perceptions of the Relationship Between Social Tasks and a Sense of Community in Online Group Work

Abstract

This study explored the relationship between specific social tasks and student perceptions of a sense of community during online group work. A survey instrument was developed, piloted, and deployed to 125 students in six different online classes. Results revealed few significant relationships between each of the five social tasks examined and student perceptions of a sense of community during online group work; however, students reported that some social tasks were important. Students seemed to focus more on completing a task for a grade than seeing group projects as part of developing community to enhance learning. This might reflect a lack of understanding by the students of the importance of social tasks to successful group project completion.     

Student-Generated Content: Enhancing learning through sharing multiple-choice questions

The relationship between students' use of PeerWise, an online tool that facilitates peer learning through student-generated content in the form of multiple-choice questions (MCQs), and achievement, as measured by their performance in the end-of-module examinations, was investigated in 5 large early-years science modules (in physics, chemistry and biology) across 3 research-intensive UK universities. A complex pattern was observed in terms of which type of activity (writing, answering or commenting on questions) was most beneficial for students; however, there was some evidence that students of lower intermediate ability may have gained particular benefit. In all modules, a modest but statistically significant positive correlation was found between students' PeerWise activity and their examination performance, after taking prior ability into account. This suggests that engaging with the production and discussion of student-generated content in the form of MCQs can support student learning in a way that is not critically dependent on course, institution, instructor or student.     

Transnational Children in Mexico: Context of Migration and Adaptation

Transnational migration increasingly impacts economically disadvantaged and culturally marginalized students. Over the last decade, an unprecedented number of Mexican nationals living in the United States have returned to Mexico. Their children may face cultural and linguistic barriers in their ancestral country. This group of students is particularly important to American educators since they may eventually return to the United States. This article reports on the results of a qualitative study of experiences of 12 U.S.-born children of Mexican nationals who are currently living in Mexico. Through a series of semistructured interviews and activities, we learned about the children’s varied experiences. Included are recommendations for greater collaboration between U.S. and Mexican educators.     

Bridging the Digital and the Physical User Experience: Analysis of Academic Library Floor Plans

Abstract

In library user experience (UX) literature, physical and digital spaces are often studied separately. In academic libraries, different stakeholders often control and operate the logistics of each set of spaces. Additionally, library UX studies seldom consider the physical experiences of users beyond the borders of library websites or buildings. Our survey of 37?U.S. academic library websites found that 97% had some kind of digital representations of physical spaces – predominantly floor plans. A content analysis of those floor plans found that many were poorly designed, and identified two specific themes: non-accessible content and a lack of comprehensive information to facilitate the user journey. This paper offers several recommendations for building more accessible digital representations of physical spaces for the library website. These trends and recommendations are intended to be instructive for managers of library websites and elucidate larger themes about academic libraries.