Aerobic exercise did not have compensatory effects on physical activity levels in type 2 diabetes patients

Although exercise promotes beneficial effects in diabetic patients, some studies have questioned the degree of their importance in terms of the increase in total energy expenditure. In these studies, the decrease of physical activity levels (PAL) was referred as “compensatory effect of exercise”. However, our aim was to investigate whether aerobic exercise has compensatory effects on PAL in type 2 diabetes patients. Eight volunteers (51.1 ± 8.2 years) were enrolled in a supervised exercise programme for 8 weeks (3 d · wk^?1, 50–60% of VO₂ peak for 30–60 min). PAL was measured using tri-axial accelerometers in the 1st, 8th and 12th weeks. Biochemical tests, cardiorespiratory fitness, anthropometric assessment and body composition were measured in the 2nd and 11th weeks. Statistical analysis was performed using non-parametric tests (Friedman and Wilcoxon, P < 0.05). We found no significant differences in PAL between intervention periods, and participants spent the majority of their awake time in sedentary activities. However, the exercise programme generated a significant 14.8% increase in VO₂ peak and a 15% reduction in fructosamine. The exercise programme had no compensatory effects on PAL in type 2 diabetes patients, but improved their cardiorespiratory fitness and glycaemic control.     

Writing at university: are we on the same page? / Escribir en la universidad: ¿nos entendemos?

Abstract

This study seeks to analyse the characteristics and functions that students and faculty attribute to written genres in Spanish universities, to what extent these representations are shared by both groups, and how they contribute to the construction of disciplinary knowledge in Spanish higher education. Accordingly, we classified students’ and teachers’ responses into 12 genre families grouped into five functions: Disciplinary Knowledge (DK), Critical Analysis (AC), Personal Reflection (PR), Research (R) and Professional Practice (PP). In terms of functions, demonstration of disciplinary knowledge appeared as the most frequently mentioned goal for both groups, whereas the genres targeted at research were the least frequent ones, along with the genres used for personal reflection. The most common genre family for both groups was Explanation, which was linked to demonstration of knowledge acquired in the discipline.     

Theorising teaching and learning: pre-service teachers’ theoretical awareness of learning

We examine pre-service teachers’ theoretical learning during one five-week training module, and their educators’ learning about better lecture design to foster student learning. The study is iterative: interventions (one per group) were implemented sequentially in student groups A–C, the results of the previous intervention serving as the baseline for the design developed for the next. These learning study participants, 79 students from year three of a teacher training programme, studied the variation theory (VT) of learning. Three lesson cycles were completed, each comprising four steps: (1) a pre-test, (2) a 15-min intervention discussing VT, (3) a post-test and (4) a delayed post-test conducted eight weeks later. The results indicated learning differences between groups; qualitative analysis identified three categories of student answers, i.e. emergent, premature and unaware, regarding their theoretical understanding. Group C had more students with emergent knowledge (36%) than did groups A (20%) or B (17%) at post-testing.     

Predicting the Q of junior researchers using data from the first years of publication

A researcher's Q denotes their ability in scientific research as a real number. Due to their short presence in the academic environment, junior researchers have unstable Q values. This article aims to present a model that uses data from junior researchers’ first years of publication to predict their stable Q values. We tested the deep model and the linear regression model and compared their accuracies. We have obtained reliable results showing that the predicted values estimated with both models are better than the estimated Q values computed with the Q model itself when using only data from the first five years of publication. Lastly, we note that both approaches are robust approaches to deal with the inflation of citation bias.     

In Sickness and in Health

Science & Education - In the context of the current COVID-19 pandemic, we deem of importance the identification of what content is privileged in secondary schools around health and disease....     

The development of children’s sensitivity to bigram frequencies when spelling in Spanish,a transparent writing system

The aim of this study was to collect data concerning the sensitivity of 2nd–6th grade Spanish-speaking children towards orthographic regularities. In a first experiment, children were asked to spell words that begin with /b/, a sound that is inconsistently spelled b or v, depending on the lexeme. Low frequency words were used to reduce the use of lexical information in spelling. In Spanish, the frequency of graphemes b and v depends on the following vowel; for example, in initial position, the bigram vi is more frequent than bi while vu is less frequent than bu. Evidence concerning the use of sublexical regularities in English and French—opaque orthographic systems—is already available. The question was whether such knowledge also applies in a more transparent system like Spanish, in which a phonologically based strategy is quite efficient. The main finding was that participants’ spelling strongly depended on the relative frequency of bigrams. This was already evident in second graders’ spelling and increased with schooling. In Experiment 2 these results were confirmed using pseudo-words. The results exclude a functional view of spelling, which supposes that orthographic resources are not used to spell in consistent orthographic systems, since phonologically based mechanisms are sufficient to override any others.     

One speaker,two languages: Learning opportunities in the mathematics classroom

The data reported in this article come from a large project whose goal was to explore how Latin American students in Catalonia, Spain use their two languages—Spanish and Catalan—to support their learning of mathematics in small groups with other students who are Spanish- or Catalan-dominant. For 5 years, lessons from bilingual mathematics classrooms in three public secondary schools were video-recorded and transcribed. In the presentation of findings, I discuss three language practices that emerged from the analyses of several classroom instances as follows: (1) caution with mathematical vocabulary, (2) invention of terms, and (3) word-for-word translation. One example is chosen to represent each practice and some of its situated effects. The first two examples support the view that the experience of language difficulties, either real or presumed, contributes to generating opportunities that may be beneficial to mathematics learning. The third example, where the focus on the mathematics is hindered, points to a contrasting finding. Unlike other studies in the field, which have reported the difficulties and obstacles that arise in learning and teaching due to bilingualism in the classroom, I propose a change of focus through the conceptualization of language as a potential for thinking and doing, and particularly for learning and teaching mathematics.     

Student perceptions of peer assessment: an interdisciplinary study

Peer assessment provides students with multiple benefits during their learning process. The aim of our study is to examine students’ perception of peer assessment. Questionnaires were administered before and after the peer-assessment process to 416 students studying 11 different subjects in four different fields taught at the University of Girona. Results suggest that students have a positive predisposition towards this methodology, both before and after its implementation. Students perceive it as a both motivating and recommended methodology that facilitates the acquisition of learning at different levels. As for its limitations, students highlight the responsibility that comes with it and a certain amount of distrust in fellow students’ abilities to peer-assess.     

Spatial abilities during the circalunar cycle in both sexes

Spatial abilities vary during the menstrual cycle. The effects of a similar rhythm in men are unknown. Mental rotation and spatial visualization of young healthy volunteers (29 females and 31 males) were tested during the menstrual and periovulatory phase of the menstrual cycle in women, and during the low-testosterone and high-testosterone phases of the circatrigintan rhythm in men in random order. Men outperformed women in both tests. In women, higher scores were achieved during the periovulatory phase, in men during the low-testosterone phase. The correlation between actual salivary testosterone levels and spatial abilities were positive in women and negative in men. According to our knowledge, this is the first study showing effects of a male infradian rhythm on cognitive abilities.     

A peer-mentoring scheme for immigrant students in English secondary schools: a support mechanism for promoting inclusion?

Immigration in Europe has increased rapidly over the last years. As a result, schools are accepting students arriving from other countries at various stages of the school year. This can be a challenging process both for students and for schools. This paper describes the introduction of a peer-mentoring scheme to support immigrant students in three English schools, which took part in a European Union funded project that involved five countries. Data from semi-structured interviews with mentors, mentees and facilitators were analysed and highlighted a number of positive impacts, such as getting support from mentors, making new friends and increased confidence both for mentors and mentees. However, it seems that the way that the programme was implemented in the English schools, focused only on the individual students, rather than having an impact on the whole school. The implications of such an approach in relation to inclusion are discussed.