Communicating Values,Valuing Community through Health-Care Websites: Midwifery's Online Ethos and Public Communication in Ontario

Drawing on the rhetorical concept of ethos, this study explores the professional identities, health-care relationships, and forms of community constructed by two midwifery websites in Ontario. Rather than facilitating communal and dialogic modes of communication with the public, these websites enact primarily a unidirectional consumption model. This design structure both reflects and reinforces the complexities of midwifery's recent shift from being an explicitly alternative form of health care, to becoming part of the dominant health-care framework.     

Effects of Different Exercise Intensities With Isoenergetic Expenditures on C-Reactive Protein and Blood Lipid Levels

We investigated the effects of different exercise intensities on C-reactive protein (CRP), and whether changes in CRP levels correlated with blood lipid levels. Ten men exercised at 25%, 65%, and 85% of their maximum oxygen consumption rates. Participants' blood was analyzed for CRP and blood lipid levels before and after the exercise sessions. Although there was an intensity effect for postexercise high-density lipoprotein levels, there were no significant differences or correlations for postexercise CRP levels or between CRP and lipid levels across the three exercise intensities. In an acute aerobic bout model with isoenergetic expenditures, CRP was not affected by the exercise intensity. Additionally, changes in blood lipid levels might not have been connected to CRP levels for physically fit participants.     

The off-break and “doosra”: Kinematic variations of elite and sub-elite bowlers in creating ball spin in cricket bowling

This study sought to identify kinematic differences in finger-spin bowling actions required to generate variations in ball speed and spin between different playing groups. A 12-camera Vicon system recorded the off-spin bowling actions of six elite and 13 high-performance spin bowlers, and the “doosra” actions of four elite and two high-performance players. Forearm abduction and fixed elbow flexion in the bowling arm were higher for the elite players compared with the high-performance players. The elite bowlers when compared with the high-performance players delivered the off-break at a statistically significant higher velocity (75.1 and 67.1 km/hr respectively) and with a higher level of spin (26.7 and 22.2 rev/s respectively). Large effect sizes were seen between ball rotation, pelvic and shoulder alignment rotations in the transverse plane. Elbow extension was larger for elite bowlers over the period upper arm horizontal to ball release. Compared to the off-break, larger ranges of shoulder horizontal rotation, elbow and wrist extension were evident for the “doosra”. Furthermore, the “doosra” was bowled with a significantly longer stride length and lower ball release height. Although not significantly different, moderate to high effect size differences were recorded for pelvis rotation, elbow extension and elbow rotation ranges of motion.     

The Children Act: A Challenge for All

The Children Act 1989 comes into force next month. Earlier, in the March 1990 issue of the journal, Philippa Russell, director of the Voluntary Council for Handicapped Children, summarised sections of the Act most relevant to children with special educational needs. In this article she looks more closely at issues to do with assessment, independent residential schools and child protection in the light of the guidance which the Department of Health is issuing on the Act.     

A holistic approach towards Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for addressing education challenges in Asia and the Pacific

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) offers opportunities for governments to address key education challenges of quality, equity, and efficiency. While governments and educational institutions in developed countries may have taken up these opportunities, many developing countries in Asia and the Pacific region have often missed them out. This may be due to countries’ socioeconomic settings, approaches towards design and implementation of the ICT in education plan, and investment on research and development of ICT in education. This paper explores the current challenges of education in Asia and the Pacific and explains how these challenges may be overcome by the strategic use of ICTs when a holistic approach towards ICT in education is adopted.     

Relation between Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test and WISC-III scores of children with RD

Concurrent validity of the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test (K-BIT) with the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition (WISC-III) was evaluated, as well as the K-BIT's accuracy as a predictor of WISC-III scores, in a sample of young children with reading disabilities. The two measures were administered to 65 children from Atlanta, Boston, and Toronto who ranged from 6-5 to 7-11 years of age at testing. Correlations between the verbal, nonverbal, and composite scales of the K-BIT and WISC-III were .60, .48, and .63, respectively. Mean K-BIT scores ranged from 1.2 to 5.0 points higher than the corresponding WISC-III scores. Standard errors of estimation ranged from 10.0 to 12.3 points. In individual cases, K-BIT scores can underestimate or overestimate WISC-III scores by as much as 25 points. Results suggest caution against using the K-BIT exclusively for placement and diagnostic purposes with young children with reading disabilities if IQ scores are required.     

Meta-analysis of transformational school leadership effects on school outcomes in Taiwan and the USA

Researchers have suggested that transformational leadership is an important aspect of effective schools; however, whether the effects vary across related studies and the robustness of the overall effect size remain unclear. A meta-analysis technique was used to synthesize the results of 28 independent studies and to investigate the overall relationship between transformational school leadership and three measures of school outcomes. The study found that, in terms of the mean effect sizes, transformational school leadership does have positive effects on teacher job satisfaction, school effectiveness perceived by teachers, and student achievement. Support for this paper was funded in part by the Taiwan’s National Science Council. The author is especially grateful to the two reviewers for their valuable comments and Dr. Jin-Fu Wu for his helps of statistical analysis.     

Vertical vibration of a large diameter pile embedded in inhomogeneous soil based on the Rayleigh-Love rod theory

The vertical vibration of a large diameter pile embedded in inhomogeneous soil with hysteretic type damping is investigated based on the 3D axisymmetric model. Firstly, the pile is assumed to be a Rayleigh-Love rod with the consideration of its transverse inertia effect. Following this assumption, the pile-soil system is divided into several segments according to the stratification of the surrounding soil, and the dynamic interactions of the adjacent soil layers are simulated using the distributed Voigt model. Meanwhile, the surrounding soil is discretized into finite annular vertical zones to consider its radial inhomogeneity, and the force equilibrium and displacement coordination are satisfied at the interfaces of the adjacent soil zones and the interface of the pile-soil. Then, the analytical solution in the frequency domain and the semi-analytical solution in the time domain are obtained by solving the vibration governing equations of pile-soil system. Based on the solutions, a parametric analysis is conducted to investigate the influence of the transverse inertia effect on the dynamic response of the large diameter pile and its relationship with the pile parameters and the radial inhomogeneity of the surrounding soil. Finally, a comparison with the measured result and two other calculated results is presented to verify the effectiveness of the present solution.