Kinematic Patterns Associated with the Vertical Force Produced during the Eggbeater Kick

The purpose of this study was to determine the kinematic patterns that maximized the vertical force produced during the water polo eggbeater kick. Twelve water polo players were tested executing the eggbeater kick with the trunk aligned vertically and with the upper limbs above water while trying to maintain as high a position as possible out of the water for nine eggbeater kick cycles. Lower limb joint angular kinematics, pitch angles and speed of the feet were calculated. The vertical force produced during the eggbeater kick cycle was calculated using inverse dynamics for the independent lower body segments and combined upper body segments, and a participant-specific second-degree regression equation for the weight and buoyancy contributions. Vertical force normalized to body weight was associated with hip flexion (average, r = 0.691; maximum, r = 0.791; range of motion, r = 0.710), hip abduction (maximum, r = 0.654), knee flexion (average, r = 0.716; minimum, r = 0.653) and knee flexion-extension angular velocity (r = 0.758). Effective orientation of the hips resulted in fast horizontal motion of the feet with positive pitch angles. Vertical motion of the feet was negatively associated with vertical force. A multiple regression model comprising the non-collinear variables of maximum hip abduction, hip flexion range of motion and knee flexion angular velocity accounted for 81% of the variance in normalized vertical force. For high performance in the water polo, eggbeater kick players should execute fast horizontal motion with the feet by having large abduction and flexion of the hips, and fast extension and flexion of the knees.     

High-volume resistance training reduces postprandial lipaemia in postmenopausal women

The aim of this study was to compare the effects of 11 weeks of low-volume resistance training (LVRT) and high-volume resistance training (HVRT) on muscle strength, muscle thickness (MT), and postprandial lipaemia (PPL) in postmenopausal women. Thirty-six healthy and untrained postmenopausal women (age, 58.9 ± 5.8 years; 68.6 ± 10.3 kg; and BMI, 26.9 ± 4.8 kg · m^?2) participated in resistance training 3× per week for 11 weeks (HVRT = 12; LVRT = 13; and control group = 11). Biochemical variables, both pretraining and post-training, were evaluated 16 h after the administration of an oral fat tolerance test (OFTT) and metabolic variable during [energy expenditure (EE)] and after training session [excess postexercise oxygen consumption (EPOC)]. Muscle strength (1 RM) and MT were also calculated, and no significant differences were observed between the groups for PPL (mmol · L^?1 per 5 h) as measured by glucose, high-density lipoprotein, low-density lipoprotein, and total cholesterol. EE total (EE + EPOC; 6.12 ± 1.21 MJ vs. 2.26 ± 0.85 MJ), resting fat oxidation (5.52 ± 1.69 g · h^?1 vs. 4.11 ± 1.12 g · h^?1); MT (vastus medialis, 21.4 ± 1.8 mm vs. 18.4 ± 1.2 mm and vastus lateralis 22.3 ± 1.2 mm vs. 20.8 ± 1.3 mm); triacylglycerol (TAG) 0, 1, 2, 4; and 5 h after OFTT, TAG area under the curve (AUC) (5.79 ± 0.42 vs. 7.78 ± 0.68), and incremental AUC (?46.21 ± 14.42% vs. 7.78 ± 4.68%) were all significantly different post-training for HVRT versus LVRT, respectively (P < 0.05). The results of this investigation suggest that HVRT reduces PPL in postmenopausal women.     

The European Project Semester at ISEP: the challenge of educating global engineers

Current engineering education challenges require approaches that promote scientific, technical, design and complementary skills while fostering autonomy, innovation and responsibility. The European Project Semester (EPS) at Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto (ISEP) (EPS@ISEP) is a one semester project-based learning programme (30 European Credit Transfer Units (ECTU)) for engineering students from diverse scientific backgrounds and nationalities that intends to address these goals. The students, organised in multidisciplinary and multicultural teams, are challenged to solve real multidisciplinary problems during one semester. The EPS package, although on project development (20 ECTU), includes a series of complementary seminars aimed at fostering soft, project-related and engineering transversal skills (10 ECTU). Hence, the students enrolled in this programme improve their transversal skills and learn, together and with the team of supervisors, subjects distinct from their core training. This paper presents the structure, implementation and results of the EPS@ISEP that was created in 2011 to apply the best engineering practices and promote internationalisation and engineering education innovation at ISEP.     

Censorship and Scarcity

This article presents a case study on how goods scarcity, both natural and artificially created, was used along with censorship to control the Portuguese public's access to information during the 1930s and 1940s. Even though the dictatorship that ruled Portugal from 1933 relied on a censorship apparatus that prevented the publication and broadcast of many pieces of national and international news, the research presented in this article demonstrates how the regime took advantage of the Spanish Civil War and World War II to increase restrictions on the circulation of information, justifying this through the artificially created scarcity of paper and radio frequencies. Furthermore, this article also describes how a third type of scarcity—that of electricity—also restricted listeners' access to radio broadcasts, which led many Portuguese to make sacrifices in order to listen to updated news.     

Revisiting Transnational Broadcasting

This article introduces a collection of original papers and research project reports considering the history of the BBC foreign-language services prior to, and during, the Second World War. The communication between the British government and foreign publics by way of mass media constituted a fundamental, if often ignored, aspect of Britain's international relations. From the 1930s onwards, transnational broadcasting, that is, broadcasting across national borders, became a major element in the conduct of Britain's diplomacy, and the BBC was employed by the government to further its diplomatic, strategic and economic interests in times of rising international tension and conflict. A review of the literature on the BBC's foreign-language broadcasts sets the stage for the presentation of the articles that compose this special issue of Media History.     

Effect of biological maturation on maximal oxygen uptake and ventilatory thresholds in soccer players: an allometric approach

In this study, we investigated the effect of biological maturation on maximal oxygen uptake ([Vdot]O(2max)) and ventilatory thresholds (VT(1) and VT(2)) in 110 young soccer players separated into pubescent and post-pubescent groups.. Maximal oxygen uptake and [Vdot]O(2) corresponding to VT(1) and VT(2) were expressed as absolute values, ratio standards, theoretical exponents, and experimentally observed exponents. Absolute [Vdot]O(2) (ml · min(-1)) was different between groups for VT(1), VT(2), and [Vdot]O(2max). Ratio standards (ml · kg(-1) · min(-1)) were not significantly different between groups for VT(1), VT(2), and [Vdot]O(2max). Theoretical exponents (ml · kg(-0.67) · min(-1) and ml · kg(-0.75) · min(-1)) were not properly adjusted for the body mass effects on VT(1), VT(2), and [Vdot]O(2max). When the data were correctly adjusted using experimentally observed exponents, VT(1) (ml · kg(-0.94) · min(-1)) and VT(2) (ml · kg(-0.95) · min(-1)) were not different between groups. The experimentally observed exponent for [Vdot]O(2max) (ml · kg(-0.90) · min(-1)) was different between groups (P = 0.048); however, this difference could not be attributed to biological maturation. In conclusion, biological maturation had no effect on VT(1), VT(2) or [Vdot]O(2max) when the effect of body mass was adjusted by experimentally observed exponents. Thus, when evaluating the physiological performance of young soccer players, allometric scaling needs to be taken into account instead of using theoretical approaches.     

An integrated approach to develop professional and technical skills for informatics engineering students

Many of the current approaches used in teaching and learning in engineering education are not the most appropriate to prepare students for the challenges they will face in their professional careers. The active involvement of students in their learning process facilitates the development of the technical and professional competencies they need as professionals. This article describes the organisation and impact of a mini-conference and project work – the creation of a software product and its introduction in the market – aimed at the development of professional competencies in general and writing skills in particular. The course was evaluated by assessing the students’ perception of the development of a number of professional competencies through a questionnaire completed by 125 students from two consecutive year groups. The results indicate that the project work and the mini-conference had a positive impact on students’ perceptions of the development of professional competencies.     

Environmental argumentation as sociocultural activity

While environmental argumentation has recently received much attention from science educators, little consideration has been given to how personal identities and social relationships can either support or constrain student argumentation. This study attends to this issue by examining environmental argumentation as a sociocultural activity (how students implicitly create identities and relationships through environmental warrants and claims). By integrating rhetorical and sociocultural analysis of oral discourse, we examine argumentation about environmental dilemmas (problematic scenarios involving animals and the environment). Although students set forth a variety of warrants (social, economic, contextual, biocentric, and expertise‐based), the dilemmas led to distinct forms of argumentation. One dilemma involving a pet iguana fostered non‐adversarial argumentation wherein students identified themselves as animal lovers and cooperative discussants. By contrast, the other two dilemmas (the hypothetical encounter with a fawn in the woods and the observation of classroom lights being unnecessarily left on) led to the unexpected emergence of sexual identities, combative disagreement, and conflict resolution on social rather than rational grounds. The main implication of this study is that it highlights the need for educators to pay closer attention to specific textual elements in the design of environmental dilemmas (types of prompts used, decision‐makers' identities, statements of intentionality and outcome, moral complexity, values of nature, and social representation or cultural images of animals) in order to foster an appropriate and productive sociocultural classroom context for rational and reasoned environmental argumentation to take place without the constraints of unexpected social complications. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 49: 869–897, 2012     

Formative assessment of teachers in the context of an online learning environment

This case study looked at how an assessment strategy designed for an online learning environment can support teachers’ professional development. More specifically, we intended to evaluate how a particular online assessment design can help the participating in-service teachers to recognize the added value of formative assessment, and promote their own use of formative assessment in their professional classroom practices. The presented assessment design consists of a combination of different, non-standard assessment methods in an online environment. We analysed data from 494 questionnaires, the participants’ critical reflections about their learning and the participants’ produced artefacts. The findings illustrate the participants’ recognition of the formative character of the proposed assessment design, reflected not only by the high scores reported in seven of the eight themes explored, but also from the qualitative analysis of the participants’ reflections and artefacts. Suggestions are offered for the improvement of the proposed assessment design, so as to better promote the formative character of assessment. In particular, implications for the development of formative assessment in online professional development are discussed taking into account its potential to promote the participants’ self-regulatory learning processes.