Exercise cardiac power and the risk of heart failure in men: A population-based follow-up study

Background:Little is known about exercise cardiac power(ECP),defined as the ratio of directly measured maximal oxygen uptake with peak systolic blood pressure during exercise,on heart failure(HF)risk.We examined the association of ECP and the risk of HF.Methods:This was a population-based cohort study of 2351 men from eastern Finland.The average time to follow-up was 25 years.Participants participated at baseline in an exercise stress test.A total of 313 cases of HF occurred.Results:Men with low ECP(<9.84 mL/mmHg,the lowest quartile)had a 2.37-fold(95%confidence interval(95%CI):1.68-3.35,p<0.0001)hazards ratio of HF as compared with men with high ECP(>13.92 mL/mmHg,the highest quartile),after adjusting for age.Low ECP was associated with a 1.96-fold risk(95%CI:1.38-2.78,p<0.001)of HF after additional adjustment for conventional risk factors.After further adjustment for left ventricular hypertrophy,the results hardly changed(hazards ratio=1.87,95%CI:1.31-2.66,p<0.001).One SD increase in ECP(3.16 mL/mmHg)was associated with a decreased risk of HF by 28%(95%CI:17%-37%).Conclusion:ECP provides a noninvasive and easily available measure from cardiopulmonary exercise tests in predicting HF.However,ECP did not provide additional value over maximal oxygen uptake.     

Problematizing the absent girl: sport as a means of emancipation and social inclusion

Abstract

Absence from sport participation among girls from ethno-cultural minorities is often highlighted as an inclusion policy challenge. Based on 35 interviews with community sports coaches, managers and partners, we explore how the absence of girls is problematized in four Swedish sports-based interventions, focusing on how problems, as well as the means and the ends of social inclusion, are articulated. The girls are assessed as being in need of social change due to their alleged social exclusion. Absence is explained by &ldquo;patriarchal norms&rdquo; as well as by the introvert conduct of the girls themselves. Girls-only sports activities performed by female coaches as role models are described as a way for girls to gain social inclusion and to become emancipated from subjugating norms. In conclusion, participation in community sport is highlighted in discourse as crucial for adopting powers of emancipation. A similar discourse could be recognized elsewhere, inside and outside the realm of sport.     

When the child gets in the news? A case study on the national written media in Turkey

The main purpose of this study is to analyze news stories regarding children in the national print media in the last five years using top eight newspapers in terms of circulation and evaluate these news stories based on the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which was issued by the UN and signed by Turkey. The research was undertaken as a case study. The study data were collected from top eight newspapers in terms of circulation between 2010 and 2014 in order to reveal when and how newspapers at national level represent children and the scientific content of impressions in the national media. Results show that children appear in the national media in mostly negative cases. In conclusion, it was observed in this study, children’s rights to life, development, protection, and participation were violated at both national and international levels. In this sense, news reflects the truth about “children’s rights violations”. However, the way that children appear in news and reflection in media constitute a secondary children’s rights violation.     

Effects of axial conduction in laminar tube flow with convective boundaries

Heat transfer in laminar tube flow with convective boundary conditions and axial heat conduction in the fluid is solved exactly. The effects of the external Biot numbers and the axial conduction in fluid on the temperature distribution and the local Nusselt number are determined for both the upstream and the downstream regions. In order to illustrate the effects of velocity profile, the results for the slug flow and the parabolic velocity profiles are plotted simultaneously. The heat transfer characteristics of the flow are found to be rather sensitive to the Péclét number, the external Biot numbers and the velocity profile in the thermal entrance region.     

The Vertex Project: Children Creating and Populating 3D Virtual Worlds

This paper outlines early investigations and initial outcomes of The Vertex Project, a school‐based action research project currently underway at Middlesex University. The project aims to explore the potential of Shared 3D Virtual Environments as creative learning tools for children, and looks into the challenges facing their practical integration into the primary classroom. Working in partnership with three primary schools, the project sets out to investigate the teaching and learning possibilities offered by Internet based 3D virtual environments, placing particular emphasis on the opportunities provided by the active participation of children in the design and construction of their own virtual worlds, and in the creation of avatars with which to represent themselves within these spaces.     

Training for Service in Developing Countries

In June 1979, the Swedish Government appointed a Commission of Inquiry to look into the total training requirements for Swedish personnel in contact with the developing countries. This action was taken against a background of increased Swedish involvement in the development countries, in aid, industry and a large number of voluntary organisations, and in the light of the demands made on Swedes serving in developing countries due to living and working in an alien environment.

The Commission commenced its work in September 1979* and worked closely with a reference group consisting of representatives drawn from the Swedish administration, the business world, the missionary societies and the trade union movement. This article summarises those parts of the Commission's report which are relevant to the theme of this issue.     

Unpaving the Road to Hell: Disrupting Good Intentions and Bad Science About Islam and the Middle East

Teachers across all subject areas engage students, in some way, in the study of otherness—other societies, other cultures, other practices. Often teachers and teacher educators attend to teaching about others with strong desires toward social justice as they seek to make a difference and do good. However, with insufficient tools to interrogate their practices and beliefs to think critically what good actually entails, they can unwittingly pave the road to hell. When good intentions are additionally coupled with the bad science of incomplete knowledge, misinformation, and weak arguments, the road can get treacherous. In this article, we examine the road to hell as it winds through teaching about a specific other, Muslims. We examine how good intentions and bad science about Muslims and Islam have worked to cement stereotypes, promote intolerance, shut down learning, and in doing so thwart education for social justice. Peering closely, we examine commonly voiced student conceptions of Muslims/Islam/The East and highlight the good intentions and bad science behind many of the popular discourses that students advance. We then offer strategies for building a different path, by problematizing good intentions and repairing bad science.     

The development of the nature of science view scale (NOSvs) at university level

Background: Determining individuals’ views of the nature of science is quite important for researchers since it is both a component of scientific literacy and a fundamental aim of science education.

Purpose: This study aims to develop a NOSvs for assessing prospective teachers’ views of the nature of science and to analyse their psychometric properties.

Sample: A total of 565 prospective teachers participated in the study.

Design and methods: The Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin (KMO) Index and Bartlett’s Sphericity Test were used in this study. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed to determine the construct validity of the scale. Cronbach’s Alpha (α) coefficient was calculated for the reliability of the study.

Results: It was consequently found that the KMO was larger than .50. That Bartlett’s Sphericity Test was also statistically significant. The items with item-total correlations smaller than .30 were removed from the scale. Cronbach’s α values calculated for each sub-scale were above .70. In consequence of the first CFA performed, fit indices were found to be below the expected level. For this reason, three more items with the least item-total correlations were removed from the scale. Following the CFA, the final form of the scale included 36 items and five sub-scales.     

Gender and Management in HEIs: Changing organisational and management structures

This paper reports on the second phase of a multi-country study examining cross cultural perspectives of gender and management in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). It examines the broader labour market context and legislative frameworks for higher education in each country and then analyses the literature on women in university management. The paper presents the findings of research with male and female senior managers about their perceptions of women as HEI managers within changing organisational and management structures. It concludes that although HEI’s are now largely aware of barriers to women getting into and on in senior management, they have not addressed the organisational structures and cultures that perpetuate this inequity.