Evaluation of a lower-body compression garment

The aims of this study were to determine how custom-fit compression shorts affect athletic performance and to examine the mechanical properties of the shorts. Ten male and 10 female track athletes on a university's nationally competitive track team, specializing in sprint or jump events, participated in the study. Testing utilized the compression shorts with loose-fitting gym shorts as the control garment. Several significant effects were revealed for the custom-fit compressive garment. Although 60 m sprint time was not affected, hip flexion angle was reduced. Skin temperature increased more and at a faster rate during a warm-up protocol. Muscle oscillation was decreased during vertical jump landing. Countermovement vertical jump height increased when the participants were wearing the custom-fit compression garment. In materials testing, the elasticity of the compressive garment provides increased flexion and extension torque at the end range of extension and flexion, respectively, and may assist the hamstrings in controlling the leg at the end of the swing phase in sprinting. The compressive garment significantly reduced impact force by 27% compared with American football pants alone. Through various mechanisms, these findings may translate into an effect on athletic performance and a reduction in injuries.     

The useful archive

Archives have historically been remote and inaccessible, but the Internet wrests the archive from a passive role for custodians into an active role for publishers and readers. This paper examines the implications of a networked archive on archiving, reading, publishing, and access.     

Mapping the margins and searching for higher ground: examining the marginalisation of black female graduate students at PWIs

The number of Black females enrolled in colleges and universities has grown in recent years, particularly at predominately white institutions (PWIs). Currently, research on the rise of Black females at PWIs is limited and fails to adequately address the emotional, social, and mental well-being of these students. Recent studies also largely ignore the critical roles that natural and formal Black female faculty play in serving as a buffer between Black female graduate students (BFGS) and PWIs more broadly. From a critical perspective using counter-narrative, we address the limitations of the scholarly literature on BFGS and other challenges faced by BFGS. We come to the disappointing – albeit unsurprising – conclusion that PWIs should do more to make the academy a welcoming place for BFGS, however, the ways in which PWIs function make support for BFGS unlikely. We conclude with a discussion about the implications of continued marginalisation of BFGS at PWIs for individuals, families, communities, disciplines, and for PWIs across the nation.     

CONFIGURING HISTORICAL FACTS THROUGH HISTORICAL FICTION: AGENCY, ART-IN-FACT, AND IMAGINATION AS STEPPING STONES BETWEEN THEN AND NOW

Abstract The historical fiction novel straddles the factual and the fictive recreation of past motivations that animate historical events. Through reading a work of historical fiction, Ursula Hegi’s novel Stones from the River, Kent den Heyer and Alexandra Fidyk offer a theoretical consideration of the following questions and their classroom implications: What is the role of historical fiction in enabling the imaginative grappling with historical fact? Or, in what ways does historical fiction enable us to come to terms with the ethical imperatives of learning from the past? What role does agency play in historical imagination? These are questions of ethics. They are, therefore, also questions of education.     

Toward a Social Care Program of Research: A Population-Level Study of Neighborhood Effects on Child Development

The article reports results from a Human Early Learning Partnership initiative that aims to address limitations within the literature concerning neighborhood effects on child development. Problems include the tendency for studies to (a) rely on small samples of children, (b) focus on high-risk populations, (c) define neighborhood by Census boundaries, (d) attend only to 1 or 2 developmental domains, and (e) adhere to a narrow understanding of socioeconomic status. By collecting data from a near-census of kindergarten children in British Columbia, Canada, using the Early Development Instrument, our research addresses all 5 problems. Findings reported in this article lay the groundwork for the Human Early Learning Partnership's much more ambitious program of social care research that aims to measure directly the processes by which physical and social settings influence human development in the formative early years, rather than to infer them from data routinely collected for other purposes. The article concludes by inviting international colleagues to critically evaluate our program of research in its early days of implementation.     

An Initial Exploration of Students’ Mindsets,Attitudes, and Beliefs About Public Speaking

This study investigated how students’ implicit theory that public speaking abilities can be developed and improved (i.e., growth mindset) was related to their apprehension, perceived competence, and beliefs regarding public speaking. Growth mindset was associated with lower apprehension and higher self-perceived competence. Growth mindset was also associated with the belief that public speaking involves reflection, revision, and adapting to one’s audience rather than merely transmitting information. Correlations were consistent with hypotheses.     

Examining interest throughout multiple text use

Reading and Writing - Prior work has examined the role of interest in students’ single text processing and comprehension, but interest has been under-examined within the context of multiple...