Managing Stress and Feelings of Mastery among Swedish Comprehensive School Teachers

The purpose of this study was to create guidelines for stress management intervention by investigating the relationship of 12 factors with stress reactions (emotional exhaustion and irritation) and feelings of mastery among Swedish comprehensive school teachers. Data were collected via a questionnaire distributed to 928 teachers in 27 schools. The response rate was 89%. Multiple regressions were conducted on colleague support, cooperation, coordination problems, goal clarity, learning orientation, manager support, negative feedback, positive feedback, pupil misbehaviour, teacher age, work control and perceived work demands, all as independent variables. Perceived work demands was treated as a dependent variable in an additional regression analysis. Teacher stress reactions were best predicted by perceived work demands, pupil misbehaviour and negative feedback. Feelings of mastery were best predicted by learning orientation, positive feedback and goal clarity. In the additional analysis perceived work demands was best predicted by pupil misbehaviour, coordination problems and (low) work control. Practical implications are discussed.     

Learning Through Case Comparisons: A Meta-Analytic Review

Over the past 20 years, there has been much research on how people learn from case comparisons. This work has implemented comparison activities in a variety of different ways across a wide range of laboratory and classroom contexts. In an effort to assess the overall effectiveness of case comparisons across this diversity of implementation and contexts and to explore what variables might moderate learning outcomes, we conducted a meta-analysis of 57 experiments with 336 tests. Random effects analyses of the 336 tests revealed that case comparison activities commonly led to greater learning outcomes than other forms of case study including sequential, single case, and nonanalogous, as well as traditional instruction and control (d = .50), 95% CI [.44, .56]. Of 15 potential moderators, four variables were found to reliably moderate the effectiveness of case comparisons: the objective of the comparison, the presentation of a principle, the content, and the lag between the comparison and testing. Asking learners to find similarities between cases, providing principles after the comparisons, using perceptual content, and testing learners immediately are all associated with greater learning. We conclude with a discussion of the theoretical and practical implications of these results for cognitive theory and classroom practice.     

Circadian rhythms in Neurospora crassa on a polydimethylsiloxane microfluidic device for real-time gas perturbations

Racetubes, a conventional system employing hollow glass tubes, are typically used for monitoring circadian rhythms from the model filamentous fungus, Neurospora crassa. However, a major technical limitation in using a conventional system is that racetubes are not amenable for real-time gas perturbations. In this work, we demonstrate a simple microfluidic device combined with real-time gas perturbations for monitoring circadian rhythms in Neurospora crassa using bioluminescence assays. The developed platform is a useful toolbox for investigating molecular responses under various gas conditions for Neurospora and can also be applied to other microorganisms.     

Inhalte und Strukturen prototypischer Merkmale in Fußballmannschaften

Members of a social group possess a shared social identity, which is individually represented as the group prototype. The prototype is the individual cognitive representation of all attributes, which best describes the group from the group members’ point of view. The aim of the study was to gather those attributes provided by group members of a soccer team and subsequently to describe and categorize them by means of a content analysis. Using one single open question, a total of 1581 attributes were assessed through n?=?278 soccer players (67?% male; M?=?23.5 years, SD?=?5.0 years) from 20 soccer teams. The data analysis was based on the qualitative content analysis described by Mayring (2010). Results show that the attributes mentioned by the team members can be divided into four distinct categories (social, psychological, sport specific, ecological). These categories result from intragroup synchronisations. Future research should examine which categories and subcategories seem to best represent the prototype in soccer teams.     

Effect of postural changes on 3D joint angular velocity during starting block phase

Abstract

Few studies have focused on the effect of posture during sprint start. The aim of this study was to measure the effect of the modification of horizontal distance between the blocks during sprint start on three dimensional (3D) joint angular velocity. Nine trained sprinters started using three different starting positions (bunched, medium and elongated). They were equipped with 63 passive reflective markers, and an opto-electronic Motion Analysis® system was used to collect the 3D marker trajectories. During the pushing phase on the blocks, norm of the joint angular velocity (NJAV), 3D Euler angular velocity (EAV) and pushing time on the blocks were calculated. The results demonstrated that the decrease of the block spacing induces an opposite effect on the angular velocity of joints of the lower and the upper limbs. The NJAV of the upper limbs is greater in the bunched start, whereas the NJAV of the lower limbs is smaller. The modifications of NJAV were due to a combination of the movement of the joints in the different degrees of freedom. The medium start seems to be the best compromise because it leads, in a short pushing time, to a combination of optimal joint velocities for upper and lower segments.     

The effect of individualised sprint training in elite female team sport athletes: A pilot study

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to evaluate whether an individualised sprint-training program was more effective in improving sprint performance in elite team-sport players compared to a generalised sprint-training program. Seventeen elite female handball players (23 ± 3 y, 177 ± 7 cm, 73 ± 6 kg) performed two weekly sprint training sessions over eight weeks in addition to their regular handball practice. An individualised training group (ITG, n = 9) performed a targeted sprint-training program based on their horizontal force-velocity profile from the pre-training test. Within ITG, players displaying the lowest, highest and mid-level force-velocity slope values relative to body mass were assigned to a resisted, an assisted or a mixed sprint-training program (resisted sprinting in the first half and assisted sprinting in the second half of the intervention period), respectively. A control group (CG, n = 8) performed a generalised sprint-training program. Both groups improved 30-m sprint performance by ~1% (small effect) and maximal velocity sprinting by ~2% (moderate effect). Trivial or small effect magnitudes were observed for mechanical outputs related to horizontal force- or power production. All between-group differences were trivial. In conclusion, individualised sprint-training was no more effective in improving sprint performance than a generalised sprint-training program.     

Optimal Convert Strategies in Football

Abstract

A frequently occurring situation in college and professional football is that of a team catching up through two touchdowns after trailing by 14 points, with the game outcome being determined by the extra-point plays. For leagues allowing two-point converts, an optimal point-after strategy exists under quite reasonable assumptions, and depends upon the relative utility to the team of a win, tie, or loss and the probability of success with a (one-point) kick as opposed to a (two-point) run/pass. We illustrate with reference to the January 1984 Orange Bowl game, where the favored team followed a possibly suboptimal strategy, losing the game and the national championship.     

Ranking economists on the basis of many indicators: An alternative approach using RePEc data

In economics the Research Papers in Economics (RePEc) network has become an essential source for the gathering and the spread of both existing and new economic research. Furthermore, it is currently the largest bibliometric database in economic sciences containing 33 different indicators for more than 30,000 economists. Based on this bibliographic information RePEc calculates well-known rankings for authors and academic institutions. We provide some cautionary remarks concerning the interpretation of some provided bibliometric measures in RePEc. Moreover, we show how individual and aggregated rankings can be biased due to the employed ranking methodology. In order to select key indicators describing and assessing research performance of scientist, we propose to apply principal component analysis in this data-rich environment. This approach allows us to assign weights to each indicator prior to aggregation. We illustrate the approach by providing a new overall ranking of economists based on RePEc data.     

Anthropometric, physiological, performance, and nutritional profile of the Brazil National Canoe Polo Team

The purpose of this study was to determine the physiological, anthropometric, performance, and nutritional characteristics of the Brazil Canoe Polo National Team. Ten male canoe polo athletes (age 26.7 ± 4.1 years) performed a battery of tests including assessments of anthropometric parameters, upper-body anaerobic power (Wingate), muscular strength, aerobic power, and nutritional profile. In addition, we characterized heart rate and plasma lactate responses and the temporal pattern of the effort/recovery during a simulated canoe polo match. The main results are as follows: body fat, 12.3 ± 4.0%; upper-body peak and mean power, 6.8 ± 0.5 and 4.7 ± 0.4 W · kg(-1), respectively; 1-RM bench press, 99.1 ± 11.7 kg; peak oxygen uptake, 44.3 ± 5.8 mL · kg(-1) · min(-1); total energy intake, 42.8 ± 8.6 kcal · kg(-1); protein, carbohydrate, and fat intakes, 1.9 ± 0.1, 5.0 ± 1.5, and 1.7 ± 0.4 g · kg(-1), respectively; mean heart rate, 146 ± 11 beats · min(-1); plasma lactate, 5.7 ± 3.8 mmol · L(-1) at half-time and 4.6 ± 2.2 mmol · L(-1) at the end of the match; effort time (relative to total match time), 93.1 ± 3.0%; number of sprints, 9.6 ± 4.4. The results of this study will assist coaches, trainers, and nutritionists in developing more adequate training programmes and dietary interventions for canoe polo athletes.     

Expertise of Team Leaders in Analysing Team Conflicts

Team leaders are expected to adequately analyse team conflicts. Both content and analytical depth of cognitive processes determine team leaders’ performance and are assumed to differ with level of expertise. A study is reported in which team leaders at four different levels of expertise (novices, semi-experts, experts, mediators) were compared in their analysis of a team conflict presented in a computer-based simulation. Few differences were found between novices and semi-experts, whereas team leaders and mediators differed both in content and in analytical depth of cognitive processes. It is not the amount of practice time itself, which substantially impacts the content and depth of team leaders’ analyses of conflicts. Rather the quality of experience is crucial for developing the ability to conduct an elaborated analysis of team conflicts.