Engaging ADHD students in tasks with hand gestures: a pedagogical possibility for teachers

This study examines the effects of teachers' speech and hand gestures on the task performances of students with Attention‐Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Forty‐five 7½‐year‐old students clinically diagnosed with ADHD participated in the study. The students were asked to solve three sets of puzzles. The teachers supported the students in the tasks by using three different scaffolding modalities: speech‐only, gesture‐only and speech in conjunction with gestures. The results indicate that when the teachers used the scaffolding that contained gesture components (either speech scaffolding in conjunction with gesture scaffolding or gesture‐only scaffolding), the ADHD students were more responsive, focused longer on the tasks and were more successful in completing the tasks. Moreover, teachers' representational and deictic gestures were found to be the most effective gestures in scaffolding. This study suggests that when teachers' hand gestures are used together with speech, they are a powerful pedagogical means to engage ADHD children in tasks.     

Upper limb joint muscle/tendon injury and anthropometric adaptations in French competitive tennis players

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the upper limb anthropometric dimensions and a history of dominant upper limb injury in tennis players. Dominant and non-dominant wrist, forearm, elbow and arm circumferences, along with a history of dominant upper limb injuries, were assessed in 147 male and female players, assigned to four groups based on location of injury: wrist (n = 9), elbow (n = 25), shoulder (n = 14) and healthy players (n = 99). From anthropometric dimensions, bilateral differences in circumferences and in proportions were calculated. The wrist group presented a significant bilateral difference in arm circumference, and asymmetrical bilateral proportions between wrist and forearm, as well as between elbow and arm, compared to the healthy group (6.6 ± 3.1% vs. 4.9 ± 4.0%, P < 0.01; ?3.6 ± 3.0% vs. ?0.9 ± 2.9%, P < 0.05; and ?2.2 ± 2.2% vs. 0.1 ± 3.4%, P < 0.05, respectively). The elbow group displayed asymmetrical bilateral proportions between forearm and arm compared to the healthy group (?0.4 ± 4.3% vs. 1.5 ± 4.0%, P < 0.01). The shoulder group showed significant bilateral difference in elbow circumference, and asymmetrical bilateral proportions between forearm and elbow when compared to the healthy group (5.8 ± 4.7% vs. 3.1 ± 4.8%, P < 0.05 and ?1.7 ± 4.5% vs. 1.4 ± 4.3%, P < 0.01, respectively). These findings suggest that players with a history of injury at the upper limb joint present altered dominant upper limb proportions in comparison with the non-dominant side, and such asymmetrical proportions would appear to be specific to the location of injury. Further studies are needed to confirm the link between location of tennis injury and asymmetry in upper limb proportions using high-tech measurements in symptomatic tennis players.     

Individual differences in a positional learning task across the adult lifespan

This study aimed at modeling individual and average non-linear trajectories of positional learning using a structured latent growth curve approach. The model is based on an exponential function which encompasses three parameters: Initial performance, learning rate, and asymptotic performance. These learning parameters were compared in a positional learning task administered to a sample comprising the whole adult lifespan (N = 527; age range: 20 years to 89.3 years; M_age = 52.95, SD_age = 17.37). Additionally, three explanatory variables, age, speed of information processing, and educational level were included in the analyses. All three learning parameters showed reliable individual differences. The correlations between the learning parameters indicated that those participants with high learning rates needed more trials to achieve their asymptotic performance and those who recalled more items initially also had a higher asymptotic performance. Older persons showed lower initial performance and lower asymptotic performance, whereas speed of information processing was positively associated only with initial performance. Persons with more years of formal education had a higher initial performance and a higher asymptotic performance. The learning rate, in turn, appeared to be unaffected by all three predictor variables.     

Determination of the centre of mass kinematics in alpine skiing using differential global navigation satellite systems

In the sport of alpine skiing, knowledge about the centre of mass (CoM) kinematics (i.e. position, velocity and acceleration) is essential to better understand both performance and injury. This study proposes a global navigation satellite system (GNSS)-based method to measure CoM kinematics without restriction of capture volume and with reasonable set-up and processing requirements. It combines the GNSS antenna position, terrain data and the accelerations acting on the skier in order to approximate the CoM location, velocity and acceleration. The validity of the method was assessed against a reference system (video-based 3D kinematics) over 12 turn cycles on a giant slalom skiing course. The mean (± s) position, velocity and acceleration differences between the CoM obtained from the GNSS and the reference system were 9 ± 12 cm, 0.08 ± 0.19 m · s^-1 and 0.22 ± 1.28 m · s^-2, respectively. The velocity and acceleration differences obtained were smaller than typical differences between the measures of several skiers on the same course observed in the literature, while the position differences were slightly larger than its discriminative meaningful change. The proposed method can therefore be interpreted to be technically valid and adequate for a variety of biomechanical research questions in the field of alpine skiing with certain limitations regarding position.     

Does endurance training improve red blood cell aging and hemorheology in moderate-trained healthy individuals?

ObjectiveTo examine the impact of a 6-week endurance training on red blood cell (RBC) aging and deformability of healthy participants to detect possible improved hemorheological and performance-related adaptations.MethodsA total of 31 participants (17 females and 14 males) performed a 6-week moderate training protocol (three 1-h running sessions per week at 70% of maximal heart rate). Blood was sampled before and after the training. RBCs from each participant were fractioned according to density and age into 4 RBC subfractions. Subfractions were examined for changes of RBC properties, including aging distribution, RBC deformability, RBC microparticles, and phosphatidylserine concentrations. RBC and plasma nitrite levels were measured as indicators of nitric oxide metabolism.ResultsAerobic performance, peak oxygen consumption, ventilatory thresholds, velocity at the aerobic–anaerobic threshold, and lactate at exhaustion improved after training. The relative amount of both young RBCs and old RBCs increased, and the amount of the main RBC fraction decreased. Phosphatidylserine externalization and RBC-derived microparticles decreased. Overall deformability expressed as shear stress required to achieve half-maximum deformation to theoretical maximal elongation index at infinite shear stress improved in unfractioned RBCs (p < 0.001). Nitrite decreased in total (p = 0.001), young (p < 0.001), main (p < 0.001), and old (p = 0.020) aged RBCs and in plasma (p = 0.002), but not in very old RBCs.ConclusionThese results indicate that non-endurance-trained healthy participants benefit from a regular moderate running training program because performance-related parameters improve and a younger RBC population with improved RBC properties is induced, which might support oxygen supply in the microcirculation.     

On passion and sports fans: a look at football

The purpose of the present research was to test the applicability of the Dualistic Model of Passion (Vallerand et al., 2003) to being a sport (football) fan. Three studies provided support for this dualistic conceptualization of passion. Study 1 showed that harmonious passion was positively associated with adaptive behaviours (e.g. celebrate the team's victory), whereas obsessive passion was positively associated with maladaptive behaviours (e.g. risking losing one's job to go to a game). Study 2 used a short Passion Scale and showed that harmonious passion was positively related to the positive affective life of fans during the 2006 FIFA World Cup, psychological health (self-esteem and life satisfaction), and public displays of adaptive behaviours (e.g. celebrate the team's victory into the streets), whereas obsessive passion was predictive of maladaptive affective life (e.g. hating opposing teams' fans) and behaviours (e.g. mocking opposing teams' fans). Finally, Study 3 examined the role of obsessive passion as a predictor of partner's conflict that in turn undermined partner's relationship satisfaction. Overall, the present results provided support for the Dualistic Model of Passion. The conceptual and applied implications of the findings are discussed.