Southern-European signposts for critical popular adult education: Italy,Portugal and Spain

This paper focuses on three Southern European countries, Italy, Portugal and Spain, to explore examples of projects that provide signposts for a critical popular education that contributes to an ongoing democratic process – one whereby citizens are developed as social actors and members of a collectivity rather than simply passive producers/consumers. This approach would serve as an alternative to the traditional ‘top-down’ and current hegemonic economy-oriented discourses. In so doing, the paper seeks to redress an imbalance in the English language adult education and learning literature that often overlooks alternative discourses to the mainstream on and from this part of the world.     

Influence of physical fitness on cognitive and academic performance in adolescents: A systematic review from 2005–2015

Background: The aim of this systematic review was to investigate the association of different components of physical fitness on cognitive performance (CP) and academic performance (AP) in adolescents, taking into account potential confounders. Method: Studies were identified in four databases (Pubmed, SportDiscus, Web of Science, and ProQuest) from January 2005 through to January 2015. A total of 21 articles met the inclusion criteria. Results: 8 studies showed association between physical fitness and CP, and 11 studies with AP. Cardiorespiratory fitness, speed-agility, motor coordination, and perceptual-motor skill are the highest measures associated with CP and AP. However, the findings on strength and flexibility are unclear. Finally, 62% of the 21 studies used confounders. The most controlled confounder were socioeconomic status, fatness, pubertal status, sex, and age. Conclusion: Fitness is associated with higher CP and AP. More research is needed in order to understand the causes of the differential effect of physical fitness components on CP and AP.     

The Development of a Scarcity Bias

Adults’ attraction to rare objects has been variously attributed to fundamental biases related to resource availability, self-related needs, or beliefs about social and market forces. The current three studies investigated the scarcity bias in 11- and 14-month-old infants, and 3- to 6-year-old children (N = 129). With slight methodological modifications, participants had to choose between one of 10 same-kind-items (abundant resource), or the only one of a different kind (scarce resource). It was found that a robust preference for the scarce resource appeared only at age 5 years. Thus, although a scarcity bias is not present in infancy, it emerges prior to comprehension of market forces. Possible accounts of this developmental finding are discussed.     

The Analytic Representation of Band-Pass Signals

The analytic representation of band-pass signals, which is extremely useful in information transmission and radar, is usually obtained by first introducing the Hilbert transform of a signal. We consider this procedure artificial, and propose here to follow the opposite path, which leads, in a natural way, to a motivated definition of the Hilbert transform. The key to this procedure is to show how, as a simple application of the Fourier integral, every band-pass signal can be expressed as the real part of a low frequency signal which modulates an exponential. Such a representation, called the analytic signal, is then used to define the Hilbert transform in a natural manner. Finally, we show that the term analytic signal is motivated by the fact that this signal is the restriction to the real axis of a function defined and analytic (holomorphic) in the upper half of the complex plane.     

Polycentric organizing and performance: A contingency model and evidence from megaproject planning in the UK

This study sheds light on polycentric forms of organizing and corresponding performance implications. Organizations with a polycentric architecture supplement their internal hierarchical decision-making structures with egalitarian, local structures in order to encourage collaboration with legally independent stakeholders. We ground our study on the planning stage for four capital-intensive infrastructure development projects (megaprojects) in the UK. We first establish that megaproject planning is carried on by polycentric organizations. We show that in this form of organizing the promoter has decision-making authority over the high-order choices, but shares the authority over the local choices with groups of autonomous stakeholders. We also show how this organizational architecture addresses local disputes and pressures to relax performance targets. Our main contribution is a contingency model that proposes four conditions linking performance to polycentric organizing, whether or not: i) the institutional environment empowers an ‘umpire’ to referee disputes; and ii) the system leader can mobilize substantial slack resources to reconcile conflicting interests. We argue that the four conditions reveal very different classes of managerial problems, and draw implications for practice and policy including but not limited to megaprojects.     

Does the detection of misunderstanding lead to its revision?

When dealing with complex conceptual systems, low-prior- knowledge learners develop fragmentary and incorrect understanding. To learn complex topics deeply, these learners have to (a) monitor understanding to detect flaws and (b) generate explanations to revise and repair the flaws. In this research we explored if the detection of a flaw in understanding does lead to the generation of a revising explanation or, alternatively, if there is some independence between the two processes. In two studies participants with low prior domain knowledge learned about plate tectonics from a multimedia presentation. In Study 1 participants in two conditions received support for detection and their performance was compared to that of participants in two control conditions, one receiving no support and another one receiving support for both detection and revision. Performance on retention, transfer, and distortions revealed that the conditions with support for detection were not different from that with no support. The condition with support for both detection and revision was significantly better than all others. In Study 2 participants thought aloud while studying from the presentation. Self-generated detections were not correlated with revising explanations or with performance on retention or transfer measures. Overall, the results indicate that the detection of flaws in understanding does not necessarily lead to the generation of explanations to repair the flaws, meaning that this latter process is very difficult to execute and calls for instructional support.     

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.     

Project risk management and design flexibility: Analysing a case and conditions of complementarity

We explore how risk management and design flexibility interplay in major (infrastructure) projects, using the £4.2bn Terminal 5 project to expand London's Heathrow airport. By juxtaposing these two conceptual frames, we unearth the conditions under which they can be complements for managing the tension between efficiency and effectiveness central to these projects. Building design flexibility - through modular or safeguarded integral architectures - increases adaptability to accommodate evolving requirements which is necessary to attain effectiveness. Efficiency, in turn, demands risk management to deliver the project ‘on time, within budget’. We explain variation in the interplay between the two approaches, highlighting the moderating role of the developer's relationship with the customer. Strong co-operation, particularly in a stable environment, encourages investments in design flexibility. Risk management practices prevail when co-operation breaks down. Another insight is that co-location and continuity of key project staff are themselves inadequate conditions to sustain co-operation.     

The contribution of knowledge about anaphors,organisational signals and refutations to reading comprehension

Expository texts contain rhetorical devices that help readers to connect text ideas (within a text and with prior knowledge) and to monitor reading. Rhetorical competence addresses readers' skill in detecting, understanding and using these devices. We examined the contribution of rhetorical competence to reading comprehension on two groups of 11‐ to 13‐year‐old students: low‐level (Study 1) and high‐level (Study 2) reading skills. The measures of rhetorical competence assessed students' knowledge about anaphors, organisational signals and refutations. In both studies, each measure of rhetorical competence contributed significantly to reading comprehension once prior knowledge, working memory and decoding skills were controlled for. This contribution was higher in Study 2. Furthermore, whereas in Study 1, each measure of rhetorical competence had a unique contribution to reading comprehension when controlling for the other measures of rhetorical competence, in Study 2, only the knowledge about organisational signals and refutations had this unique contribution.