¡Si,se puede! Achieving academic excellence online

Twenty-first century learners in post-secondary educational environments find themselves involved in online learning. Acquiring graduate degrees, especially for working professionals, has precipitated the need for effective, rigorous, relevant, and timely coursework online. Utilizing the qualitative research method of auto-ethnographic reporting, we explored one individual’s experience acquiring an online doctor of education degree from a research university in the state of Texas. The results indicated three major components: (1) personal: including but not limited to family, work, and cultural responsibilities; (2) coursework: including but not limited to rigor, relevance, requirements, collaboration, and personal contact with instructors; (3) writing of the record of study (ROS): including but not limited to the selection of the dissertation committee, formulation of the research topic, approval of topic, researching, writing, defending, and submitting the ROS. The implications on future program development are discussed, as well as an exploration of normative boundaries associated with online learning.     

The role of trust in e-Government effectiveness,operational effectiveness and user satisfaction: Lessons from Saudi Arabia in e-G2B

Electronic government (e-Government) systems are becoming an essential strategic tool in the delivery of e-Government-to-Business services (e-G2B). The purpose of this research is to explore direct and indirect effects of trust in online services on the satisfaction of the e-Government service users and other perceptions such as e-G2B system effectiveness and the operational effectiveness of organizations. Based on a sample of e-G2B service users from Saudi Arabia, our preliminary findings suggest that the effects of trust on user satisfaction are mediated by e-G2B system effectiveness measures (e.g., System Quality, Service Quality, and Information Quality) and by operational effectiveness. In addition, we find that operational effectiveness and information quality are the most important drivers of user satisfaction. In contrast to previous research, our results show a negative relationship between trust in online services and service quality and suggest that this finding may have important implications for theory and practice.     

Pilot study for the fidelity,acceptability, and effectiveness of a PBIS program plus mental health supports in under‐resourced urban schools

This paper describes implementation (fidelity, perceived acceptability) and tier 1 and Tier 2 outcomes of school‐wide positive behavior interventions and supports approach including mental health supports at Tier 2 in two K‐8 urban schools. Interventions for Tier 2 consisted of three manualized group cognitive behavioral therapy (GCBT) protocols for externalizing behavior problems, depression, and anxiety. Tier 1 and Tier 2 interventions were implemented with fidelity but program feasibility for Tier 2 was in question because school personnel needed a great deal of external support to implement the interventions. Tier 1 interventions were associated with a decrease in office discipline referrals. Students participating in GCBT showed a significant decrease in mental health diagnostic severity at posttreatment. A discussion of perceived and actual implementation barriers and how they were addressed is provided. Implications for practice in low‐income urban schools are discussed.     

From the periodic table to photochemistry with fluorescent jellies: A food science celebration of the International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements

It began in 1869, and today we have 118 elements listed in the Periodic table, thanks to Mendeleev's work. Carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen are elements presented in many organic compounds. Some of them can exhibit photophysical and photochemical properties. Herein, we proposed an easy to make an experiment in chemistry classes to connect both subjects, periodic table and photochemistry, through periodic tables made of fluorescent jellies. A sheet of PET‐G was heated and put over the periodic table mold made in a 3D‐printing to produce the form used in this work. Quinine and vitamin B2, from tonic water and vitamin supplement, respectively, were the fluorescent compounds selected to be in the gelification process to give the jelly fluorescence. The light source was a black light lamp. This work allowed for the discussion of photophysics and photochemistry concepts, 3D‐printing process, gelification, and the International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements—IYPT2019—with undergraduate students without the use of expensive reagents or equipment.     

Induced beliefs about a fictive energy drink influences 200-m sprint performance†

Placebo and nocebo effects occur in response to subjective expectations and their subsequent neural actions. Research shows that information shapes expectations that, consequently, influence people’s behaviour. In this study, we examined the effects of a fictive and inert green colour energy drink provided for three groups (n?=?20/group) with different information. The first group was led to expect that the drink augments running performance (positive information), the second group was led to expect that the drink may or may not improve performance (partial-positive information), while the third group was told that earlier research could not demonstrate that the drink improves performance (neutral/control). At baseline, the three groups did not differ in their 200-m sprint performance (p?>?.05). One week later, 20-min immediately after ingesting the drink, all participants again ran 200?m. The positive information group increased its performance by 2.41?s, which was statistically significant (p?<?.001) and also perceived its sprint-time shorter (p?<?.05) than the other two groups. A better performance (0.97?s) that approached but did not reach statistical significance was also noted in the partial-positive information group, and a lesser change (0.72?s) that was statistically not significant was noted in the neutral information control group. These results reveal that drinking an inert liquid, primed with positive information, changes both the actual and the self-perceived time on a 200-m sprint. The current findings also suggest that the level of certainty of the information might be linked to the magnitude of change in performance.     

Analysis of the distances covered and technical actions performed by professional tennis players during official matches

The purpose of this study was to analyse the physical and technical performances of professional tennis players during official matches. The trajectories of eight players were obtained during matches, using an automatic tracking method. The distances covered and technical performances were analysed for the first and second sets. The athletes covered (mean ± standard deviation) a total of 1702.4 ± 448.2 m in the first set, 1457.6 ± 678.1 m in the second set and 3160.0 ± 880.1 in the entire match. No differences were found between the sets for the physical variables (lateral and forward displacements, distance covered per rally, per game and per set, and the percentage of time spent in each range of velocity). However, the distances covered by the athletes during the rallies in which they were serving (median = 5.2; interquartile range (IQR) = 6.7 m) were statistically smaller than when they were returning (median = 6.2; IQR = 7.7 m). Forehand ground stroke proficiency decreased from the first (mean ± standard deviation: 75.2 ± 4.11%) to the second set (mean ± standard deviation = 65.5 ± 14.3%). In conclusion, tennis players did not present reduced physical performance from the first to the second set.     

Metabolic time-course response after resistance exercise: A metabolomics approach

This study analysed the time course of the global metabolic acute response after resistance exercise (RE), with the use of proton nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H NMR) spectroscopy. Ten young healthy males performed 4 sets of 10 repetitions at 70% of one-repetition maximum in the leg press and knee extension exercises and had the serum metabolome assessed at 5, 15, 30 and 60 min post-RE. Measurements were also performed 1 h earlier and immediately before the exercises, as an attempt to characterise each participant’s serum metabolome at rest. One-way ANOVA was applied and the significance level was set at P ≤ 0.05. RE promoted an increase in 2-hydroxybutyrate, 2-oxoisocaproate, 3-hydroxyisobutyrate, alanine, hypoxanthine, lactate, pyruvate and succinate concentrations. However, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, ornithine and valine had their concentrations decreased post-RE compared with at rest. This is the first study to show significant changes in serum concentration of metabolites such as 2-oxoisocaproate, 2-hydroxybutyrate, 3-hydroxyisobutyrate, lysine, hypoxanthine and pyruvate post-RE, attesting metabolomics as an interesting approach to advance in the understanding of global RE-induced metabolic changes. Moreover, the present data could influence the time point of blood collection in the future studies that aims to investigate metabolism and exercise.     

Educational expansion,economic growth and antisocial behaviour: evidence from England

This paper investigates the impact of the increase in post‐compulsory schooling and economic growth on conviction rates for antisocial behaviour in England. I hypothesise that both educational and employment opportunities should lead to greater reductions in antisocial behaviour when they are combined than when they exist in isolation. I test this hypothesis empirically using three unique sources of area‐level data over time in England. Results show that expansion of post‐compulsory education is important for reductions in antisocial behaviour regardless of the additional impact of economic growth. Additionally, economic growth itself is found not to be associated with reductions in antisocial behaviour. Two possible explanations for these results are the diploma disease and the negative consequences of inequality.     

Quantitative analysis of Brazilian football players' organisation on the pitch

The purpose of this study was to characterise Brazilian teams' coverage area and spread on the pitch while attacking and defending and to analyse the teams' organisation in tackle and shot on goal situations. We obtained the trajectories of 223 players in eight games with a tracking method. Team area was defined as the area of the convex hull formed by players' positions. Team spread was defined as the Frobenius norm of the distance-between-player matrix. We calculated teams' area and spread over time and in situations of shots on goal (n = 233) and tackles (n = 1897). While the players attacked, spread and area (median +/- confidence interval) ranged from 322.9 +/- 0.8 to 387.8 +/- 1.0 m and from 905.4 +/- 4.4 to 1407.6 +/- 5.5 m2, respectively. On defence, the values were smaller (p < 0.05) and ranged from 283.4 +/- 0.9 to 325.8 +/- 0.9 m and from 773.8 +/- 4.6 to 1158.4 +/- 5.5 m2 for the spread and the area. In defending circumstances, the teams presented a greater area and spread when they suffered shots on goal than when the teams performed tackles. In attacking situations, the teams presented a greater area and spread when they suffered tackles than when they performed shots on goal. The results allowed showing the attacking-defending interaction between Brazilian teams.