Assessment of energy expenditure in children using the RT3 accelerometer

The aim of this study was to evaluate the utility of the RT3 accelerometer in young children, compare its accuracy with heart rate monitoring, and develop an equation to predict energy expenditure from RT3 output. Forty-two volunteers (mean age 12.2 years, s = 1.1) exercised at two horizontal and graded walking speeds (4 and 6 km.h(-1), 0% grade and 6% grade), and one horizontal running speed (8 km.h(-1), 0% grade), on a treadmill. Energy expenditure and oxygen consumption (VO2) served as the criterion measures. Comparison of RT3 estimates (counts and energy expenditure) demonstrated significant differences at 4, 6, and 8 km.h(-1) on level ground (P < 0.01), while no significant differences were noted between horizontal and graded walking at 4 and 6 km.h(-1). Correlation and regression analyses indicated no advantage of vector magnitude over the vertical plane (X) alone. A strong relationship between RT3 estimates and indirect calorimetry across all speeds was obtained (r = 0.633-0.850, P < 0.01). A child-specific prediction equation (adjusted R2 = 0.753) was derived and cross-validated that offered a valid energy expenditure estimate for walking/running activities. Despite recognized limitations, the RT3 may be a useful tool for the assessment of children's physical activity during walking and running.     

Reading and Spelling Development Across Languages Varying in Orthographic Consistency: Do Their Paths Cross?

We examined the cross-lagged relations between reading and spelling in five alphabetic orthographies varying in consistency (English, French, Dutch, German, and Greek). Nine hundred and forty-one children were followed from Grade 1 to Grade 2 and were tested on word and pseudoword reading fluency and on spelling to dictation. Results indicated that the relations across languages were unidirectional: Earlier reading predicted subsequent spelling. However, we also found significant differences between languages in the strength of the effects of earlier reading on subsequent spelling. These findings suggest that, once children master decoding, the observed differences between languages are not related to the direction of the effects but to the strength of the effects from reading to spelling. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Football fan culture and politics in modern Greece: the process of fandom radicalization during the austerity era

The article explores the intersection between politics and football focusing on political activism in football fandom starting from its origin in late 1970s to the contemporary mass protests against austerity policies. The analysis focused on ideological conflicts between fascist and anti-fascist fans within football lifeworlds and the ways organized fans use current political circumstances to negotiate and re-interpret their identities. In the context of the Greek economic crisis, the intersection between fandom and political activism as well the newly emerged political formations that come from football elites and big business signify an important turn towards the ‘footballization’ of Greek politics. This trend reflects the growing disillusionment of Greeks towards a discredited political system and their anxious seeking of some savours come from outside the politics, as a magical solution to the social pressures and deadlocks of a society in crisis.     

Rapid naming speed and Chinese character recognition

We examined the relationship between rapid naming speed (RAN) and Chinese character recognition accuracy and fluency. Sixty-three grade 2 and 54 grade 4 Taiwanese children were administered four RAN tasks (colors, digits, Zhu-Yin-Fu-Hao, characters), and two character recognition tasks. RAN tasks accounted for more reading variance in grade 4 than in grade 2, and graphological RAN tasks accounted for more reading variance than RAN Colors. After controlling for age, nonverbal intelligence, phonological sensitivity, short-term memory, and orthographic processing, RAN tasks were significant predictors of character recognition fluency in grade 2, and of both accuracy and fluency in grade 4.     

Cognitive processing skills and developmental dyslexia in Chinese

The purpose of the present study was twofold: (a) to examine the extent to which Chinese dyslexic children experience deficits in phonological and orthographic processing skills and (b) to examine if Chinese dyslexia is associated with deficits in Planning, Attention, Simultaneous, and Successive (PASS) processing. A total of 27 Grade 4 children with dyslexia (DYS), 27 Grade 4 chronological age (CA) controls, and 27 Grade 2 reading age (RA) controls were tested on measures of phonological awareness, rapid naming, phonological memory, PASS, reading accuracy, and reading fluency. The results indicated that the DYS group performed significantly poorer than the CA and RA groups on both measures of phonological awareness and on a measure of orthographic processing but comparably to the RA group on a measure of rapid naming and both measures of phonological memory. In regard to the PASS processing skills, the DYS group performed worse than the CA controls on Successive and Simultaneous processing but comparably to the RA group on all PASS processing skills. Implications of these findings for early identification and intervention of reading difficulties are discussed.     

A Learning Experience in Inquiry-Based Physics with Immersive Virtual Reality: Student Perceptions and an Interaction Effect Between Conceptual Gains and Attitudinal Profiles

Journal of Science Education and Technology - The integration of immersive virtual reality (VR) in authentic science classrooms can result in a totally new learning experience for the students....