Correlations between serum and salivary hormonal concentrations in response to resistance exercise

The aim of present study was to examine the relationships between serum and salivary values of free testosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone, and cortisol before and after a session of resistance exercise. Twenty-eight healthy men (mean age 40 years, s = 4) participated in the present study. Serum and salivary samples were collected at rest and after a multiple-sets resistance exercise protocol, of approximately 25 minutes duration. Concentrations of free testosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone, and cortisol were measured using radioimmunoassay kits. No significant correlation was observed between serum free testosterone and salivary testosterone (r = 0.22 to 0.26, P > 0.05). Serum cortisol was significantly correlated with salivary cortisol before (r = 0.52, P = 0.005) and after (r = 0.62, P = 0.001) the exercise protocol. Serum and salivary concentrations of dehydroepiandrosterone were significantly correlated before (r = 0.68, P < 0.001) and after (r = 0.7, P < 0.001) exercise. The results of the present study suggest that even under exercise conditions, the salivary values of cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone can reflect the behaviour of these hormones in blood. However, further studies are necessary to verify if salivary testosterone reflects the behaviour of serum free testosterone during resistance exercise.     

Connecting Children's Stories to Children's Literature: Meeting Diversity Needs

Combining children's natural storytelling abilities with quality multicultural literature serves to enhance their language skills and students' appreciation of cultural differences. Narrative abilities—particularly stories—are a natural vehicle for building on children's oral language skills and develop literacy with print. If the stories have a multicultural focus, it is only natural that readers and participants will develop an appreciation of both cultural similarities and differences.     

‘Necessary Cessation from Toil and Work’: Young Christian Workers and the Question of Sport on Sundays in Post-War Melbourne

Abstract

The Young Christian Workers (YCW) is an international movement for young Catholics, engaged through a method of education called ‘See, Judge, and Act’. From the 1950s to the 1980s, the Australian YCW became known for running campaigns on a range of social issues and the provision of services – including sporting events and competitions. In this paper, the development of the Australian YCW Football Association during the 1950s is explored, and the history of YCW members’ participation in public debates about the morality of Sunday sport, which culminated in a local referendum in the Melbourne suburb of Camberwell in 1959, is traced. Drawing on archival materials and interviews conducted with former young workers, the paper explores tensions within Christianity around the meaning of ‘leisure’, ‘idleness’, and Sunday as a day of observance and rest. This examination of the Melbourne debate of 1959 will show how religious tensions around Sunday sport were shaped by class, youth, and masculine identities.