Plasma irisin is increased following 12 weeks of Nordic walking and associates with glucose homoeostasis in overweight/obese men with impaired glucose regulation

Irisin is a myokine that is thought to be secreted in response to exercise that may help to prevent obesity and maintain normal glucose metabolism. In this study we investigated the associations between irisin and glucose homeostasis in middle-aged, overweight and obese men (n?= 144) with impaired glucose regulation, and the impact of exercise training on these relationships. The participants underwent 12 weeks of resistance or aerobic (Nordic walking) exercise training three times per week, 60 minutes per session. Venous blood (n?=?105) and skeletal muscle samples (n?=?45) were obtained at baseline and post-intervention. Compared to controls, Nordic walking, but not resistance training, increased irisin levels in plasma (9.6?±?4.2%, P?=?0.014; 8.7?± 4.9%, P?=?0.087; respectively) compared to controls. When considering all subjects, baseline irisin correlated positively with atherogenic index of plasma (r?=?0.244, P?=?0.013) and 2-hour insulin levels (r?=?0.214, P?=?0.028), and negatively with age (r?=??0.262, P?=?0.007), adiponectin (r?=??0.240, P?=?0.014) and McAuley index (r?=??0.259, P?=?0.008). Training-induced FNDC5 mRNA changes were negatively correlated with HbA1c (r?=??0.527, P?=?0.030) in the resistance training group and with chemerin in the Nordic walking group (r?=??0.615, P?=?0.033). In conclusion, 12-weeks of Nordic walking was more effective than resistance training in elevating plasma irisin, in middle-aged men with impaired glucose tolerance. Thus, the change in irisin in response to exercise training varied by the type of exercise but showed limited association with improvements in glucose homeostasis.     

日本万步行计划

计步器最早是由意大利的伦纳德·达芬奇酝酿的,但目前现存的最早的计步器是在达芬奇之后150年,即1667年制作的（照片1）。日本最早的计步器是由Gen—naiHiraga在1755年制作的（照片2）。在中世纪和近代,计步器并未被广泛使用,因为人们并不清楚它的用途。这说明机器的发明（硬件）不及找到它对人类的用途（软件）重要。     

The emancipatory potential of transformative mixed methods designs: informing youth participatory action research and restorative practices within a district-wide school transformation project

ABSTRACT

This paper considers the emancipatory potential of incorporating youth participatory action research (YPAR) and restorative practices (RP) implementation into a transformative mixed methods study design as a means to create equitable and caring school systems for marginalized youth. The utilization of transformative mixed methods research offers a methodological orientation to legitimize, illuminate, and prioritize perspectives from marginalized youth that may be undervalued, decontextualized, and oversimplified in traditional quantitative and qualitative research methodologies. Furthermore, the authors suggest that YPAR and RP align with Critical Theory and Quantitative Criticalism, which are theoretical and methodological frameworks consistent with the transformative paradigm. The integration of these various theoretical, methodological and applied frameworks provides researchers opportunities to flatten hierarchies and actively engage marginalized youth to address the structural and programmatic inequities they experience in schools. Informed by the authors’ multi-year university-school district action research partnership, this paper explores how the alignment of YPAR, RP, and transformative mixed methods may promote critical consciousness amongst students, families, staff, and administration in schools. Finally, we also demonstrate how social science researchers can blend YPAR, RP, and transformative mixed methods design to partner with school districts to address structural societal problems, such as racism and inequity.     

Exposing the Challenges and Coping Strategies of Field-Ecology Graduate Students

In this paper, we expose the unique challenges confronting graduate field-ecology students and the coping strategies they adopt to overcome such challenges. To do so, we used a qualitative (in vivo) research method that combines interviews, observations and open questionnaires with a group of five Israeli graduate students. The two major challenges that the students faced were the uncontrolled nature of field research (or complexity), and the nature of field setting, which isolated the students from authoritative guidance. In response to these challenges, the students developed a set of research skills which were expressed in this study by a series of three (metacognitive) strategies which we designated as ‘protocol-dominated’, ‘intermediate’ or ‘field-dominated’. In order to develop such research skills, our subjects rely upon declarative and procedural knowledge. In contrast to declarative knowledge, learned in coursework, procedural knowledge is learned and activated via the situated experience of implementing research in authentic field environments. We also found that fieldwork complexity imposes itself the minute the students step into the field; potentially, this can negatively impact students' motivation. However, as the students accumulate field experience and acquire the knowledge and skills needed to overcome the field's complexity, their motivation improves. Recognizing the unique learning components connected to field research will help novice students better cope with fieldwork challenges, as well as help their advisers in guiding them. This work also has implications for designing inquiry curricula in field sciences for university and high-school students.     

Unstable footwear as a speed-dependent noise-based training gear to exercise inverted pendulum motion during walking

ABSTRACT

Previous research on unstable footwear has suggested that it may induce mechanical noise during walking. The purpose of this study was to explore whether unstable footwear could be considered as a noise-based training gear to exercise body center of mass (CoM) motion during walking. Ground reaction forces were collected among 24 healthy young women walking at speeds between 3 and 6 km h^?1 with control running shoes and unstable rocker-bottom shoes. The external mechanical work, the recovery of mechanical energy of the CoM during and within the step cycles, and the phase shift between potential and kinetic energy curves of the CoM were computed. Our findings support the idea that unstable rocker-bottom footwear could serve as a speed-dependent noise-based training gear to exercise CoM motion during walking. At slow speed, it acts as a stochastic resonance or facilitator that reduces external mechanical work; whereas at brisk speed it acts as a constraint that increases external mechanical work and could mimic a downhill slope.     

Construction of mathematical knowledge through whole-class discussion

A word problem that requires addition of fractions with different denominators was presented to 11 classes of 4th- or 5th-graders, 10 years of age. It had three answer alternatives: adding the denominators and numerators separately, transforming fractions into decimals before adding them, and the standard, most appropriate solution. Students in each class were required to choose an alternative themselves, state their reason for the choice, and discuss which alternative would be right. After whole-class discussion, they were asked to choose an alternative again and nominate the student who had offered the most plausible idea. Then students in six classes were informed which alternative was the most appropriate, whereas those in five classes were not. Finally, the students, irrespective of the presence/absence of feedback, were required to solve the initial problem without the alternatives as the post-test, and two new problems as the transfer test.The results showed that (a) the students could offer more or less plausible arguments for or against each alternative, which in most classes included the correct explanation; (b) both vocal and silent students could write a mathematical expression for the post-test problem and manipulated it correctly, incorporating other students' ideas presented during the discussion, with or without the teacher's feedback, though their generalization was rather limited; and (c) the students could recognize and memorize reasonable explanations offered by other students in the discussion.     

Portfolio Development in a Secondary Teaching Credential Art Programme

This paper describes portfolio development by pre-service art teachers in a secondary teaching programme at California State University, Los Angeles, USA. A portfolio reflects knowledge, skills, and beliefs about teaching in general and teaching art specifically. It displays one’s learning experiences as they are collected, organized, and refined to provide a critical framework and rich portrayal of one’s best work. The article addresses the questions of what a portfolio in art education is, what its goals are, how one creates a portfolio, how one assesses portfolios once they are developed, what the issues and challenges surrounding the use of portfolios as assessment tools are, and finally, some likely future developments of portfolio assessment in teacher education.     

A study of migrant mothers: Return home and role change

For migrant groups moving from one place to another usually means dealing with contradictions between home and host countries and with different cultural norms. Taking into consideration migrant women's previous status in the village and their new one in the host country, it can be said that migration is a turning point in women's lives. Research findings show that increased employability of women in the host country increases their independence and leads to sex role changes and changes within the family.Return migration is the last stage in the migration cycle and it is a rather neglected and little researched topic as yet. The purpose of this paper is to report on research on role changes within the family.Three groups of migrant mothers (two groups living in West Germany and one group repatriated) were compared with a control group in the District of Drama, Macedonia, on work employment and types of responsibilities concerning their children's upbringing.Results showed that mothers who live in West Germany are equally responsible with fathers for the child's social behavior, school performance and expenses and were significantly different from the control group. Return mothers were as much as fathers responsible for the child's school performance in contrast to the control group. More mothers than fathers, however, were responsible for the child's relationships and fewer mothers than fathers were responsible for the child's expenses; in this respect both parents resembled those of the control group. It seems therefore, that migrant mothers take over different roles in the host country than those of the controls, whereas return mothers adopt to a large extent the stereotyped role of control mothers.