The effects of work – rest duration on intermittent exercise and subsequent performance

This study examined the effects of different work?–?rest durations during 40?min intermittent treadmill exercise and subsequent running performance. Eight males (mean?±?s: age 24.3?±?2.0 years, body mass 79.4?±?7.0?kg, height 1.77?±?0.05?m) undertook intermittent exercise involving repeated sprints at 120% of the speed at which maximal oxygen uptake (v-[Vdot]O_2max) was attained with passive recovery between each one. The work?–?rest ratio was constant at 1:1.5 with trials involving short (6:9?s), medium (12:18?s) or long (24:36?s) work?–?rest durations. Each trial was followed by a performance run to volitional exhaustion at 150% v-[Vdot]O_2max. After 40?min, mean exercise intensity was greater during the long (68.4?±?9.3%) than the short work?–?rest trial (54.9?±?8.1% [Vdot]O_2max; P?<?0.05). Blood lactate concentration at 10?min was higher in the long and medium than in the short work?–?rest trial (6.1?±?0.8, 5.2?±?0.9, 4.5?±?1.3?mmol?·?l^?1, respectively; P?<?0.05). The respiratory exchange ratio was consistently higher during the long than during the medium and short work?–?rest trials (P <?0.05). Plasma glucose concentration was higher in the long and medium than in the short work?–?rest trial after 40?min of exercise (5.6?±?0.1, 6.6?±?0.2 and 5.3?±?0.5?mmol?·?l^?1, respectively; P?<?0.05). No differences were observed between trials for performance time (72.7?±?14.9, 63.2?±?13.2, 57.6?±?13.5?s for the short, medium and long work?–?rest trial, respectively; P = 0.17), although a relationship between performance time and 40?min plasma glucose was observed (P?<?0.05). The results show that 40?min of intermittent exercise involving long and medium work?–?rest durations elicits greater physiological strain and carbohydrate utilization than the same amount of intermittent exercise undertaken with a short work?–?rest duration.     

Questioning Styles and Students' Learning: Four case studies

A study of the relationships between students' questioning and learning styles is being conducted on data collected in two university semesters with a sample of 300 students. This report discusses the results of case studies looking in depth at four of the students. These were involved in further data collection through written and oral questions, interviews and classroom observation experiments. The main aim is to unravel the interrogative bases of the students' learning by looking at the quality and quantity of questions they ask. This means that among other characteristics, the nature and the deliberative or spontaneous use of questions by the four students were investigated. It was possible to distinguish question‐askers by tallying their questions. Their learning styles were characterised using Kolb's Learning Styles Inventory. The study also allowed for snapshots of how particular learners shape questions. Looking at the way in which these questioning styles fit with their orientations to learning, and how this drives learning, informs what teaching might best then ensue.     

Not Quite Free? Irish Postcoloniality and the Career of Pat O'Callaghan

This paper explores the career of the Irish Olympian Pat O'Callaghan. He won successive hammer-throwing titles in the 1924 and 1928 Olympics as a representative of the independent Irish state. The paper argues that in these Olympics, O'Callaghan can be considered as representing a postcolonial state, in line with much scholarship on other aspects of Irish culture. However, the Irish later fell into a dispute with the International Amateur Athletics Federation and the International Olympic Committee, which were largely steered by the British in dealing with contentious issues over the Irish border, and the Irish were thus effectively banned from the 1936 games. The paper concludes with a discussion over the nature of postcolonial identities in sport, and the complexities around the issue in relation to the constant mediation over what national identities mean within the context of rule-making by international sporting bodies.     

The Visual in Sport History: Approaches,Methodologies and Sources

Historians of sport now increasingly accept that visual inquiry offers another dimension to social and cultural research into sport and its history. It is complex and its boundaries are rapidly evolving. This overview offers a justification for placing more emphasis on visual approaches and an introduction to the study and interpretation of visual culture in relation to the history of sport. It stresses the importance of adopting a critical approach and the need to be reflective about that critique. An ever-widening range of visual data are now being explored; so, this paper begins with a brief survey of sources that potentially offer rich returns, from film and photographs to posters and paintings or standards and statues. It next provides a critical assessment at an introductory level of some of the more important methodologies now emerging to help interpret these. This can be no more than a personal choice, given their sheer variety and interdisciplinary nature, and the reality that many historians of sport adopt a mixture of methods and approaches. Approaches covered include content analysis, iconography and iconology, semiology, psychoanalysis, discourse analysis, and reception and audience studies. Examples of recent studies of visual studies are used to illustrate the discussion.     

Enabling integrated knowledge acquisition and management in health care teams

Basing treatment, policy and planning decisions on the best available research knowledge remains a central principle in modern health care around the world, yet many health professionals find acquiring and managing published research knowledge challenging. In this paper, we report on a Soft Systems Methodology-based collaborative action research initiative with a specialist mental health service from the United Kingdom's National Health Service. Our objective was to design and implement improvements to their knowledge acquisition and management activities in order to facilitate sustained and effective evidence-based practices. We report on both the factors found to impede effective research knowledge acquisition and management and the development of more integrated knowledge management processes designed to improve the situation.     

Gender and research publishing in India: Uniformly high inequality?

Women’s access to academic careers has been historically limited by discrimination and cultural constraints. Comprehensive information about gender inequality within disciplines is needed to understand the problem and target remedial action. India is the fifth largest research producer but has a low international index of gender inequality and so is an important case. This study assesses gender inequalities in Indian journal article publishing in 2017 for 186 research fields. It also seeks overall gender differences in interests across academia by comparing the terms used in 27,710 articles with an Indian male or female first author. The data show that there are at least 1.5 male first authors per female first author in each of 26 broad fields and 2.8 male first authors per female first author overall. Compared to the USA, India has a much lower share of female first authors but smaller variations in gender differences between broad fields. Dentistry, Economics and Maths are all more female in India, but Veterinary is much less female than in the USA. There is a tendency for males to research thing-oriented topics and for females to research helping people and some life science topics. More initiatives to promote gender equality in science are needed to address the overall imbalance, but care should be taken to avoid creating the larger between-field gender differences found in the USA.