Amid Progress and Wilderness: Early Reception of Georges Hébert’s Naturist Ideas in Brazil During the First Half of the Twentieth Century

Abstract

This paper aims at analyzing how Hébert’s naturist ideas were received and assimilated in Brazil based on the perusal of sources such as Azevedo (1915, 1920, 1931), Miranda (1945) as well as some broadsheets and periodicals, for example Correio da Manhã, O Paiz, Gazeta de Noticias, and Fon-Fon! (1913–1928). Furthermore, it investigates by what means Hébert’s conception of nature integrated the mindset of Brazilian sanitarians in the first half of the twentieth century. Evidence suggests that there must have been some intertwinement of points of view that brought together Hebert’s Natural Method and the French Naturist Perspective at the time of the arrival of the latter in Brazil. Hébert’s thoughts on the concept of Nature reached Brazil early in the 1910s, and were incorporated in the shaping of a new approach to therapeutic treatments focused on preserving the patient’s welfare. As a result, this study has enabled us to properly understand the reception of Hébert’s works in Brazil, and come to terms with the historical connection between French gymnastic practices based on the Natural Method and their subsequent acclimatized Brazilian variants.     

The improvement in walking speed induced by resistance training is associated with increased muscular strength but not skeletal muscle mass in older women

Objective: The purpose of the present study was to analyze whether improvements in fast walking speed induced by resistance training (RT) are associated with changes in body composition, muscle quality, and muscular strength in older women. Methods: Twenty-three healthy older women (69.6?±?6.4 years, 64.95?±?12.9?kg, 1.55?±?0.07?m, 27.06?±?4.6?kg/m²) performed a RT program for 8 weeks consisting of 8 exercises for the whole body, 3 sets of 10–15 repetitions maximum, 3 times a week. Anthropometric, body composition (fat-free mass [FFM], skeletal muscle mass [SMM], legs lean soft tissue [LLST], fat mass), knee extension muscular strength (KE1RM), muscle quality index (MQI [KE1RM/LLST]), and 10-meter walking test (10-MWT) were performed before and after the intervention. Results: Significant (P?<?.05) changes were observed from pre- to post-training for FFM (+1.6%), MQI (+7.2%), SMM (+2.4%), LLST (+1.8%), KE1RM (+8.6%), fat mass (?1.4%), and time to perform 10-MWT (?3.7%). The percentage change in 10-MWT was significantly associated with percentage change in MQI (r?=??0.46, P?=?.04) and KE1RM (r?=??0.45, P?=?.04), however not associated percentage of changes in SMM (r?=?0.01, P?=?.97), LLST (r?=??0.22, P?=?.33), and body fat (r?=?0.10, P?=?.66). Conclusion: We conclude that the improvement in the 10-MWT after an 8-week RT program is associated with increases in lower limb muscular strength and muscle quality, but not with muscle mass or body fat changes in older women.     

Covid-19: U3A students’ report on the impacts of social isolation on physical and mental health and access to information about the virus during the pandemic

ABSTRACT

Covid-19 is a global public health crisis, which in addition to making victims is changing the living habits of the population. The objective of this study was to investigate the impacts of social isolation on the physical and mental health of older adults and to learn how they are informing themselves about the pandemic. It is a qualitative study with a phenomenological basis, composed by telephone interviews with 35 older adults (70,5 ± 4,7 years) of both genders, members of a Brazilian University of Third Age, during the period of the pandemic. The testimonies revealed a considerable degree of concern about the possibility of being infected by the virus, increased anxiety due to tragic news, the growing number of deaths, the collapse of the Brazilian economy and the rising unemployment rate. The group reported sleep disorders, joint pain, loss of appetite, weight loss, and reduced functional capacity. Everyone felt sufficiently informed about Covid-19. The main means of gaining information about the pandemic was radio, followed by TV, dialogue with family and friends, and WhatsApp. Only 30% of the participants used WhatsApp, praised because of its multiple functions and the ability to re-read the news.     

Intra-active entanglements: What posthuman and new materialist frameworks can offer the learning sciences

This paper examines what new materialist and posthumanist frameworks can offer learning science research in diverse maker learning environments. We explore what is gained by grappling with the entanglements between humans, non-humans and more-than-humans. To do this, we draw on Karen Barad's ethico-onto-epistemology and agential realism where she redefines connections to the shared world by attuning to the entangled matter that is created within intra-actions. We use this framework across four international cases: digital media camps, a university-level classroom-based makerspace, a Saturday outdoor makerspace workshop and a classroom-based museum makerspace. Each case study attends to how intra-actions enact agential forces in maker education research—forces that posthuman and new materialist frameworks help us see. In so doing, these case studies challenge many of the assumptions prevalent in the learning sciences about mattering and its implications in research sites.     

Motivational Factors and Predictors for Attending a Continuing Education Program for Older Adults

The objectives were to describe the stated motives of participants who enrolled in a program at the Open University for the Elderly (UnATI, in Portuguese), identify correlations between the stated motives and sociodemographic data, and find a set of predictors related to the listed motives. A total of 306 middle-aged and elderly adults aged 50 or older were surveyed through a sociodemographic questionnaire and a five-item scale to check their motives to enroll in the program. The following motivational factors were identified, in order of importance: enhancing general knowledge, investing in personal development, increasing social interaction, learning more in order to help others, and employing one's free time profitably. Age and years of schooling combined were strong predictors of participants seeking new knowledge. Being single and not retired was correlated with the motive Investing in Personal Development. Having attended elementary school only and being married was closely correlated to the motive Increasing Social Interaction. Employing One's Free Time Profitably was associated with single or widowed individuals with family income between 3.1 and 4.0 times the minimum wage. As for Learning More in Order to Help Others, no predictors were found for this motive. It was found that participants seek to satisfy a desire to learn/ know more, to be up-to-date, to exercise their rights as citizens, and to play an active role in society. Our data suggest that these are the assumptions that drive middle-aged and elderly adults to look for various types of educational programs.     

Correction to: Epistemic and Political Confrontations Around the Public Policies to Fight COVID-19 Pandemic

Science & Education -     

Not Only Why but Also How to Trust Science: Reshaping Science Education Based on Science Studies for a Better Post-pandemic World

Science & Education - Many authors blame postmodernism and studies on Sociology and Anthropology of Science (Science Studies) for the rise of relativism and anti-science movements. Despite such...