Effects of a minimalist shoe on running economy and 5-km running performance

The purpose of this study was to determine if minimalist shoes improve time trial performance of trained distance runners and if changes in running economy, shoe mass, stride length, stride rate and footfall pattern were related to any difference in performance. Twenty-six trained runners performed three 6-min sub-maximal treadmill runs at 11, 13 and 15 km·h^?1 in minimalist and conventional shoes while running economy, stride length, stride rate and footfall pattern were assessed. They then performed a 5-km time trial. In the minimalist shoe, runners completed the trial in less time (effect size 0.20 ± 0.12), were more economical during sub-maximal running (effect size 0.33 ± 0.14) and decreased stride length (effect size 0.22 ± 0.10) and increased stride rate (effect size 0.22 ± 0.11). All but one runner ran with a rearfoot footfall in the minimalist shoe. Improvements in time trial performance were associated with improvements in running economy at 15 km·h^?1 (r = 0.58), with 79% of the improved economy accounted for by reduced shoe mass (P < 0.05). The results suggest that running in minimalist shoes improves running economy and 5-km running performance.     

Echocardiographic dimensions in trained and untrained 12-year-old boys and girls

The purpose of this study was to compare echocardiographically measured left ventricular (LV) dimensions of 85 trained 11-12-year-old athletes with 106 untrained children matched for skeletal age and fat-free mass. Training status for each group applied to the 3 years prior to the measurements. It was found that 12 min and 100 m runs demonstrated the superior athletic ability of the trained children, but there were no significant differences in LV internal diameters at diastole and systole, in LV posterior wall thickness, or in LV end-diastolic volume and LV mass. These data indicate that little difference occurs in LV size between moderately trained and untrained 11-12-year olds or between boys and girls matched for fat-free mass and skeletal age. It is also evident that consistent but moderate training during late pre-adolescence has little effect on LV development.     

Six Billion Characters in Search of an Author

An introduction to searching the Internet isfollowed by some examples relating to humanpopulation issues.     

Supporting Personalized Learning through Individualized Learning Plans

Individualized Learning Plans (ILPs), an effective strategy to promote students’ college and career readiness, are increasingly used in US school systems as a mechanism to encourage students’ career exploration and identification of career goals. After describing features of ILPs, we provide an example of the ILP process developed and implemented in the junior high schools in McLean County (Illinois) Unit District No. 5. Based upon this experience, we share important factors for school leaders that can affect successful implementation in their schools.     

Exploring Authority: A Case Study of a Composition and a Professional Writing Classroom

This article reports on classroom research designed to answer questions about authority—how institutions and disciplines, broadly conceived, influence teachers' ability to abnegate authority and how students' experiences influence their perceptions of authority in a business writing and a first-year composition class. The theoretical framework is derived from research about institutional and disciplinary influences on these two areas of study. This framework and our results lead us to speculate about the ways in which our students' experience of the institution and expectations of the classes and their intentions for using the material taught in the classes may have thwarted our attempt to share authority in our classrooms.     

Quality and equity in early childhood care in Peru

The present study examines educational policy documents and programs on early childhood development and education in Peru. The author provides an evaluation of early childhood learning programs and their outcomes in different education centers in Peru. Health, nutrition, development, and participation are identified as key areas of concern. The study concludes with a reference to the importance of monitoring quality and equity in early childhood care.     

The paradox of trust in online collaborative groups

Open and sustained discussions in heterogeneous collaborative online groups should provide opportunities for adults to reshape their thinking, deeply understand the subject content, and have their voices heard and respected. These opportunities turn on trust. The ability to trust thoughts that are different from their own is influenced by the learners’ ability to be open about their beliefs and to develop healthy self–other relationships within their small groups. These issues are examined through a qualitative phenomenographic perspective of the stories of the students enrolled in two online adult learning classes utilizing a problem‐based and collaborative pedagogy. The findings indicate that group members import trust issues into the group, which then become issues for the group‐as‐a‐whole. To resolve these issues, the groups engage in several evading behaviors to avoid the types of discussion necessary to fully deal with the difference and resolve the trust issues.     

Negative correlation between tone (S−) and water increases target biting during S− in rats

Eighteen Long-Evans rats were exposed to a MULT VT 30-sec EXT schedule of water presentations. The EXT schedule was signaled by a 2500-Hz, 70-dB tone. Mean number of bites of a plastic target during atone (S?) increased across sessions, whereas the mean number of target bites during the VT component signaled byno tone (S+) decreased across sessions. Changing the multiple schedule to MULT EXT EXT produced a decrease in target bites during the tone. Reinstating the original MULT VT 30-sec EXT schedule produced an increase in number of target bites during the tone (S?). Changing the multiple schedule to VT 30-sec VT 30-sec produced a decrease in target bites during the tone. The results indicate that target biting in rats increases in the presence of the exteroceptive tone (S?) of the MULT VT 30-sec EXT schedule, and that target biting during the tone varies directly with the negative correlation between tone and water presentations.