Benefits of achieving vigorous as well as moderate physical activity recommendations: evidence from heart rate complexity and cardiac vagal modulation

The aim of this study was to examine differences in traditional heart rate variability measurements and heart rate complexity (sample entropy) in young adults grouped by objectively measured achievement of either moderate or both moderate and vigorous physical activity recommendations. Of 168 young adults tested (86 females, 82 males; age 20.5 ± 1.2 years), 119 achieved only recommendations for moderate physical activity (moderate group) and 49 achieved recommendations for both moderate and vigorous physical activity (vigorous group). Analysis of covariance controlling for sex, weekly minutes of moderate physical activity, and percentage of body fat was used to assess between-group differences in heart rate variability and heart rate complexity. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine the group characteristics that best predicted high heart rate complexity and vagal indices of heart rate variability. The majority of the autonomic measures were higher (P < 0.05) in the vigorous group, and regression analysis showed that vigorous physical activity was the only multivariate predictor of higher heart rate complexity and higher heart rate variability. Young adults engaged in regular vigorous physical activity were more than twice as likely to have high heart rate complexity than those involved in predominantly moderate exercise. These findings suggest that vigorous physical activity is more closely associated with high heart rate complexity than moderate physical activity in young adults.     

Metabolic impact of a soccer match on female players

The aim of this study was to examine the metabolic effect of a female soccer match in elite and sub-elite teams. Blood samples were taken (24 h before, immediately after and 18 h after official soccer matches) to determine haematological, electrolytic and hormonal variables, as well as the levels of cell damage and oxidative stress in 14 elite and 14 sub-elite players. Our results show increases in white blood cell count (P < 0.001) and the percentage of neutrophils (P < 0.001), and decreases in the percentage of lymphocytes (P < 0.05), eosinophils (P < 0.001), monocytes (P < 0.001) and basophils (P < 0.05) immediately post-match. Increases were also found in lactate dehydrogenase activity (P < 0.001), uric acid (P < 0.001), albumin (P < 0.001), total antioxidant status (P < 0.001) and free testosterone levels (P < 0.01). Creatine kinase activity significantly increased 18 h post-match (P < 0.01) and the concentrations of several ions, glucose and proteins were found to be altered immediately post-match. Overall, our results show that playing a soccer match exerts specific metabolic effects on female players, resulting in muscle damage, oxidative stress and biochemical and hormonal variations. On the basis of some interesting correlations, we also suggest that exercise-induced cell breakdown may enhance antioxidant capacity of the soccer players.     

En Confianza: Co-constructing Professional Strength and Voice With Latina Early Childhood Educators

It is well documented in the literature that early pre-K reading experiences prepare children for the benefits of formal literacy instruction in the later grades. This is particularly true for young children from nonmainstream backgrounds. The objective of this article is to share the findings of a 4-year qualitative study investigating the relationships forged and teaching ideologies constructed by Latino pre-K teachers via critical “storying” within a culturally responsive professional learning community. Findings suggest that as teachers learned to recognize, listen to, and learn from the personal/professional individual and collective life histories of each other, their teaching efficacy was enhanced increasing their ability to develop effective literacy instruction that was culturally and linguistically responsive to the needs of young children.     

Tweeting but not Talking: The Missing Element in Talk Radio's Institutional Use of Twitter

The interplay between Twitter and media organizations has been an increasing area of research. This article examines how talk radio stations have adopted Twitter at an institutional level, based on a comparative study of the official accounts of three prominent talk radio stations in Canada in 2010 and 2011. While talk radio is considered an interpersonal medium, our analysis shows the stations mainly use Twitter as a one-way medium to broadcast news updates, rather than to engage with audiences. Our findings suggest a divergence between institutional and individual social media practices, with official accounts as formal channels of communication.     

DACs: Bringing direct access to variable-length codes

We present a new variable-length encoding scheme for sequences of integers, Directly Addressable Codes (DACs), which enables direct access to any element of the encoded sequence without the need of any sampling method. Our proposal is a kind of implicit data structure that introduces synchronism in the encoded sequence without using asymptotically any extra space. We show some experiments demonstrating that the technique is not only simple, but also competitive in time and space with existing solutions in several applications, such as the representation of LCP arrays or high-order entropy-compressed sequences.     

The implication of formal educational activities in old age and its relation to psychosocial indicators / La implicación en actividades educativas formales en la vejez y su relación con indicadores psicosociales

This study analyses some psychosocial dimensions (level and type of activity, self-perceived health, self-efficacy in relation to ageing and social support) in non-dependent older people. The sample comprises students of a university programme for older people (PUM) as well as older people who did not participate in the educational activity. Results show similarities and differences between both groups; namely, the older people on the PUM programme were more physically active and participated more in formal activities. Three profiles of older people were identified: a less active group, with lower scores in the indicators assessed; a second group who were socially active, particularly at a family level, with intermediate levels in the dimensions analysed; and a third group who were very active at a formal level (principally made up of the PUM students) and with the best self-efficacy indices in relation to ageing and self-perceived health. Involvement in formal educational activities is related to more satisfactory and positive profiles in old age, and is a highly relevant resource for the promotion of well-being at this stage of life.     

Precarious privilege: Indignad@s,daily disidentifications,and cultural (re)production

In this article, I develop the notion of precarious privilege to investigate dialectics of cultural (re)production, in relation to both specific discursive practices and broader discursive formations. Using the Indignad@s social movement as an example, I locate, interpret, and critique a series of disidentification dynamics shaping the movement as a whole, as well as the rhetoric of specific participants. Regarding the rise and development of Indignad@s, precarious privilege illuminates a conflicted social position enabled by disidentification from the current crisis of neoliberalism in Western Europe—a conjuncture that the movement strives to both expose and exploit. As for the views expressed by specific activists, precarious privilege helps explain the discursively enacted disidentification from the imagined aspects of their and others’ (supra)national cultural identities. Grounded in this analysis, I emphasize the potentiality but also the limitations of this generalized tension between residual and emergent dynamics shaping Indignad@s’ political practices.     

Mathematics learning and practice in and out of school: A framework for connecting these experiences

A variety of researchers in the last fifteen years have described how people learn and use mathematics in out-of-school situations. These researchers have found that mathematics learning and practice in and out of school differ in a number of ways. In this paper we examine and discuss these differences while maintaining the position that while some differences may be inherent, many differences can be narrowed so that mathematics learning and practice in school and out of school can build on each other and be connected. Before discussing a framework that we think sheds some light on connecting these experiences, we present some research from several of our studies that illustrates some of the differences between in-school and out-of-school mathematics practice and lays the groundwork for the discussion of the framework.We then discuss Saxe's (1991) research framework for gaining insight into the interplay between sociocultural and cognitive development processes through the analysis of practice participation (p. 13). Although Saxe's framework is a method for studying the interplay between sociocultural and cognitive development processes, we propose that it may be helpful in working towards connecting in-school and out-of-school mathematics learning and practice. Thus, we discuss the framework with illustrations from our own research, and then elaborate on ways to make this interplay between in-school and out-of-school contexts more deliberate.     

Family Predictors of Maternal and paternal Involvement in Programs for Young Children with Disabilities

The study of family variables has become increasingly critical in understanding outcomes typically considered program driven. Research linking family variables to parental involvement in early intervention programs for young children with disabilities is generally lacking. The purpose of this study was to determine the combined influence and predictive ability of family characteristics on maternal and paternal involvement in early intervention programs. Service providers rated mothers' and fathers' involvement in early intervention programs Mother and fathers completed a battery of self-report questionnaires related to a variety of constructs, such as family functioning, marital adjustment, social supports, stress, coping, and parental involvement. Structural equating modeling was used to test the predictive ability of family variables. Two different models were developed for mothers and fathers. Results indicated significant outcomes for both group, largely supporting the proposed model. The coping variable emerged as a significant predictor of maternal and paternal involvement as well as a mediator variable between family functioning and parental involvement.