The effects of work:rest duration on physiological and perceptual responses during intermittent exercise and performance

In this study, we examined the effects of different work:rest durations during 20 min intermittent treadmill running and subsequent performance. Nine males (mean age 25.8 years, s = 6.8; body mass 73.9 kg, s = 8.8; stature 1.75 m, s = 0.05; VO(2max) 55.5 ml x kg(-1) x min(-1), s = 5.8) undertook repeated sprints at 120% of the speed at which VO(2max) was attained interspersed with passive recovery. The work:rest ratio was constant (1:1.5) with trials involving either short (6:9 s) or long (24:36 s) work:rest exercise protocols (total exercise time 8 min). Each trial was followed by a performance run to volitional exhaustion at the same running speed. Testing order was randomized and counterbalanced. Heart rate, oxygen consumption, respiratory exchange ratio, and blood glucose were similar between trials (P > 0.05). Blood lactate concentration was greater during the long than the short exercise protocol (P < 0.05), whereas blood pH was lower during the long than the short exercise protocol (7.28, s = 0.11 and 7.30, s = 0.03 at 20 min, respectively; P < 0.05). Perceptions of effort were greater throughout exercise for the long than the short exercise protocol (16.6, s = 1.4 and 15.1, s = 1.6 at 20 min, respectively; P < 0.05) and correlated with blood lactate (r = 0.43) and bicarbonate concentrations (r = 0.59; P < 0.05). Although blood lactate concentration at 20 min was related to performance time (r = - 0.56; P < 0.05), no differences were observed between trials for time to exhaustion (short exercise protocol: 95.8 s, s = 30.0; long exercise protocol: 92.0 s, s = 37.1) or physiological responses at exhaustion (P > 0.05). Our results demonstrate that 20 min of intermittent exercise involving a long work:rest duration elicits greater metabolic and perceptual strain than intermittent exercise undertaken with a short work:rest duration but does not affect subsequent run time to exhaustion.     

The effects of arm crank strategy on physiological responses and mechanical efficiency during submaximal exercise

The purpose of this study was to compare submaximal physiological responses and indices of mechanical efficiency between asynchronous and synchronous arm ergometry. Thirteen wheelchair-dependent trained athletes performed eight steady-state incremental bouts of exercise (0 to 140 W), each lasting 4 min, using synchronous and asynchronous arm-cranking strategies. Physiological measures included oxygen uptake (VO2), heart rate, and blood lactate concentration. The power outputs corresponding to fixed whole blood lactate concentrations of 2.0 to 4.0 mmol x l(-1) were calculated using linear interpolation. Mechanical efficiency indices - gross efficiency, net efficiency, and work efficiency - were also calculated. An analysis of variance with repeated measures was applied to determine the effect of crank mode on the physiological parameters. Oxygen uptake was on average 10% lower (P < 0.01), and both net efficiency (P < 0.01) and gross efficiency (P < 0.01) were higher, during the asynchronous strategy at both 60 and 80 W (gross efficiency: 16.9 +/- 2.0% vs. 14.7 +/- 2.4% and 17.5 +/- 1.8% vs. 15.9 +/- 2.6% at 60 and 80 W respectively). There were no differences in heart rate, blood lactate concentration or power output at either of the blood lactate reference points between the asynchronous and synchronous strategies (P > 0.05). In conclusion, test specificity is an important consideration. If a synchronous strategy is to be adopted, it is likely to result in lower efficiency than an asynchronous strategy. The exercise testing scenario may help dictate which method is ultimately chosen.     

How accurate are gender detection tools in predicting the gender for Chinese names? A study with 20,000 given names in Pinyin format

Objective:We recently showed that the gender detection tools NamSor, Gender API, and Wiki-Gendersort accurately predicted the gender of individuals with Western given names. Here, we aimed to evaluate the performance of these tools with Chinese given names in Pinyin format.Methods:We constructed two datasets for the purpose of the study. File #1 was created by randomly drawing 20,000 names from a gender-labeled database of 52,414 Chinese given names in Pinyin format. File #2, which contained 9,077 names, was created by removing from File #1 all unisex names that we were able to identify (i.e., those that were listed in the database as both male and female names). We recorded for both files the number of correct classifications (correct gender assigned to a name), misclassifications (wrong gender assigned to a name), and nonclassifications (no gender assigned). We then calculated the proportion of misclassifications and nonclassifications (errorCoded).Results:For File #1, errorCoded was 53% for NamSor, 65% for Gender API, and 90% for Wiki-Gendersort. For File #2, errorCoded was 43% for NamSor, 66% for Gender API, and 94% for Wiki-Gendersort.Conclusion:We found that all three gender detection tools inaccurately predicted the gender of individuals with Chinese given names in Pinyin format and therefore should not be used in this population.     

Student performances on the science processes of recording data,analyzing data,drawing conclusions,and providing evidence

The National Committee on Science Education Standards and Assessment (1994 draft) viewed several science processes as important to an understanding of science as inquiry: formulating usable questions, planning experiments, conducting systematic observations, interpreting and analyzing data, drawing conclusions, communicating, and coordinating and implementing a full investigation. This study is one of three undertaken to develop research rubrics for a performance assessment of science processes and to evaluate seventh-grade science students' ability to perform them. Specifically, this article focuses on the processes of recording data, analyzing data, drawing conclusions, and providing evidence. A total of 364 students field tested the Alternative Assessment of Science Process Skills. Their responses were used to develop a research rubric, and then this rubric was used to determine response patterns that could inform both instruction and assessment of science process skills. Only 61% of students performed the activity and recorded data successfully. Sixty-nine percent of students did not attend to the hypothesis in drawing their conclusions. Eighty-one percent did not provide specific evidence for their conclusions. These results were discussed in light of relevant theories and models as well as their implications for instruction and assessment. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Business Giving,the Tsunami and Corporates as Rock Stars: Some Implications for Arts Funding?

Financial and cultural aspects of corporate giving by UK and non-UK companies in response to the December 2004 South Asia Tsunami disaster are explored in this article. Literatures on corporate giving rationales, concepts of disaster and donor activity in disasters provide an underpinning. The article seeks to make connections between this high profile if short-lived business giving and the funding of the arts that is sought from business; and to draw tentative lessons for arts funding when seeking business support. The giving accounts in the wake of the Tsunami from a non-probability sample1 1. A probability sample is one in which each person (or company in this case) in the population has an equal chance (probability) of being selected. In a non-probability sample some people (in this case, companies) have a greater chance than others of being selected. For this study the availability of public information on the companies was the deciding factor on being selected. View all notes of 56 UK companies and 16 non-UK companies were examined. Reported online to the UK charity Business in the Community, these accounts were accessed in February 2005 and scrutinized thematically. Concurrently, company financial profiles to accompany giving figures were constructed. Although linkages between donation levels and financial performance were lacking, emerging themes included the role of employees, influencing company giving and creating a climate of expectation of firms' contributions. These developments may have important implications for business funding for the arts, where leading philanthropists are prominent as individuals in the giving landscapes; but employees' collective involvement is not marked. Alternatively, cultivation of employees as would-be donors, indirectly via their firms, may be a more secure, if lower level route to funding for some arts organizations than dependence on high profile business leaders. The article considers alternative scenarios for company giving in disaster contexts, including as a sustained and lasting giving theme or as company support as a ‘one-off’ event, rock-star style. The likely development of employee power as a key element in company giving is explored; and its wider meanings for funding in arts settings, (where the giver as rock star heroine/hero is also prominent) are considered.