Analysis of foot strike pattern,rearfoot dynamic and foot rotation over childhood. A cross-sectional study

The purpose of this study was to determine the foot strike patterns (FSP), rearfoot position at initial contact (RPic, i.e., No INV/EVE) and foot rotation in children in relation to age. A total of 932 children aged 3 to 16 years participated in this study. A sagittal and frontal-plane video was recorded using a high-speed camcorder to analyse these variables. There is a significant increase (p < 0.001) of rearfoot strike patterns (RFS) prevalence in relation to age; e.g. preschool children (3–6 years old) displayed an RFS prevalence 46.65% and the adolescent population(15–16 years old) an RFS prevalence 92.20%. The total RFS prevalence in all samples was 69.25%. There was a significant reduction (p < 0.001) of prevalence of RPic in relation to age groups; preschool children displayed a prevalence of RPic 60.37% and the adolescent population 10%. There was a significant reduction (p < 0.001) of prevalence of no foot rotation in relation to age groups; preschool children displayed a prevalence of no foot rotation 48.95% and the adolescent population 13.55%. In conclusion, FSP in children are influenced by age. It is noteworthy that the RFS prevalence of children is lower in comparison to the adult population.     

Understanding and Enhancing the Re-training Transition Process

This paper examines re-training transition processes as a basis for understanding adult learning and career change. The paper distinguishes between frame breaking and incremental change, describes learning methods associated with these levels of change, outlines phases of the transition process, and considers the relationships between degrees of change and likely coping styles during the transition phases. Variables reflecting career motivation and situational support are predicted to affect the transition process under different degrees of change. The concepts discussed here can be used as a basis for diagnosing situational conditions and individual characteristics to design more effective learning methods in organizations.     

Microclimate monitoring by multivariate statistical control: The renaissance frescoes of the Cathedral of Valencia (Spain)

The renaissance frescoes of the metropolitan cathedral of Valencia, located at the vault of the apse, were restored in 2006. We describe a microclimate monitoring system that was implemented for the preventive conservation of the paintings. It is comprised by a set of temperature and relative humidity sensors positioned at different points of the vault. This system is rather unique because some of these sensors were inserted inside the paintings during the restoration process. A principal components analysis was applied to the data of relative humidity recorded in February 2007. The analysis was repeated in three additional months of 2007. The resulting loading plots highlight the most relevant similarities and dissimilarities among sensors. These plots can be considered as some sort of control maps that could be used to detect abnormal conditions in the future. Actually, moisture problems at certain zones of the frescoes are causing the formation of efflorescence, and the sensors located close to these zones are the ones recording the highest values of relative humidity.     

Abilities and skill acquisition: A latent growth curve approach

The relationship between abilities and skill acquisition has been the subject of numerous controversies in psychology. However, while most researchers implicitly or explicitly accept the idea that abilities and skill acquisition should be related, empirical research has failed to provide evidence for a consistently strong correlation between the two constructs. Based on the reanalysis of a study on skill acquisition using the air traffic controller task TRACON [Ackerman, P. L., Kanfer, R., and Goff, M. (1995). Cognitive and Noncognitive Determinants and Consequences of Complex Skill Acquisition. Journal of Experimental Psychology. Applied, 1(4), 270–304], it will be shown how latent growth curve modeling can help to gain a better understanding of the relationship between human abilities and skill acquisition. A brief introduction into the basic concepts of latent growth curve modeling will be given, particularly with regard to the advantages for the analysis of skill acquisition and its determinants. The goal is thereby to provide evidence for a much closer association than commonly assumed and to offer a new, differential, perspective formerly obscured by traditional between-subject analyses.     

Development of Pre-Service Mathematics Teachers' Professional Knowledge and Identity in Working with Information and Communication Technology

This paper describes the workundertaken in a course in communication andinformation technology in a pre-service programfor secondary school mathematics teachers. Thiscourse aimed to help pre-service teachersdevelop a positive attitude regarding ICT anduse it confidently. It focused on theexploration of educational software and of theInternet's potential as a means of research andproduction of web sites. We discuss how thepre-service mathematics teachers evaluate theirwork concerning their commitment, difficultiesthey found, learning they identified, andpersonal relationship. We also analyse theeffects of the course on the development oftheir professional knowledge and identity.     

Children’s and adolescents’ thoughts on pollution: cognitive abilities required to understand environmental systems

Pollution phenomena are complex systems in which different parts are integrated by means of causal and temporal relationships. To understand pollution, children must develop some cognitive abilities related to system thinking and temporal and causal inferential reasoning. These cognitive abilities constrain and guide how children understand pollution processes. Hence, ascertaining whether changes among children’s ideas of pollution are related to system thinking and inferential reasoning abilities could be useful in improving environmental education. Eighty participants between 9 and 16 years old were interviewed to evaluate how children explain different aspects of pollution-related systems. From the explanations found in these interviews, three progressive epistemic structures were reconstructed. The three epistemic structures differ in the type of causal and temporal relationship established by the participants and in the mechanisms that the participants used to relate the pollutant to its effects.     

Addressing inequal risk exposure in the development of automated vehicles

Ethics and Information Technology - Automated vehicles (AVs) are expected to operate on public roads, together with non-automated vehicles and other road users such as pedestrians or bicycles....