The ABCs of family mealtimes: observational lessons for promoting healthy outcomes for children with persistent asthma

Family mealtimes have the potential to promote healthy child development. This observational study of 200 family mealtimes examined the relation between child health in a group of children (ages 5 to 12) with persistent asthma and 3 dimensions of mealtime interaction: Action, Behavior Control, and Communication. Percent time spent in Action and Positive Communication varied by asthma severity, child quality of life, and sociodemographic variables. Positive communication during mealtimes predicted child quality of life. Significant interactions between demographic variables and behavior control suggested that higher levels of behavior control affected child quality of life in the context of lower maternal education. Guidance is offered for practitioners and policy makers toward promoting healthy family mealtimes as a public health priority.     

Child adaptational development in contexts of interparental conflict over time

This multi-method study sought to identify parameters of developmental change and stability of child reaction patterns to interparental conflict in the context of family relations in a sample of 223 6-year-old children and their parents followed over the course of one year. Consistent with the sensitization hypothesis, interparental withdrawal and hostility each consistently and uniquely predicted child distress reactions to conflict even after analytically controlling for parental warmth. Associations were found across multiple domains of child responding (i.e., overt negative affect, subjective negative affect, internal representations) and both concurrent and prospective, autoregressive analyses. Results of the autoregressive path analyses indicated moderate stability in each of the domains of conflict reactivity over the 1-year longitudinal period.     

Cognitive development, culture, and conversation: comments on Harris and Koenig's "truth in testimony: how children learn about science and religion"

Harris and Koenig make a compelling case for the importance of adult "testimony" and its influence on children's developing conceptions of topics in science and religion. This commentary considers how their analysis relates to constructivist and sociocultural theories and discusses several ways in which Harris and Koenig's arguments help to debunk some prevalent assumptions about research on the social context of cognitive development. Finally, a number of additional issues are raised for debate and discussion, and some critiques and suggestions for future research are discussed. The issues discussed by Harris and Koenig are crucial if we are to take seriously the importance of culture in cognitive development.     

Color vision in the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca)

Hue discrimination abilities of giant pandas were tested, controlling for brightness. Subjects were 2 adult giant pandas (1 male and 1 female). A simultaneous discrimination procedure without correction was used. In five tasks, white, black, and five saturations each of green, blue, and red served as positive stimuli that were paired with one or two comparison stimuli consisting of 16 saturations of gray. To demonstrate discrimination, the subjects were required to choose the positive stimulus in 16 of 20 trials (80% correct) for three consecutive sessions. Both subjects reached criterion for green and red. The female subject also reached criterion for blue. The male was not tested for blue. This study is a systematic replication of Bacon and Burghardt’s (1976) color discrimination experiment on black bears. The results suggest that color vision in the giant panda is comparable to that of black bears and other carnivores that are not strictly nocturnal.     

Bread wheat varieties as influenced by different nitrogen levels

INTRODUCTION Dera Ismail Khan lies in Pakistan’s arid zone (71.07° longitude, 31.57° latitude and 500 m above sea level). This zone is in the extreme south of (NWFP) Pakistan at the bank of the River Indus. Dera Ismail Khan is bounded by Sulaiman Range to the West, the Indus River on the East, Marwat and Bhit- tani Ranges on the North and Vehowa Nala (Punjab) on the South. Besides certain local variability the area is comprised of four basic divisions viz mountains, a series …     

Exercise intensity and metabolic response in singles tennis

The aim of this study was to determine exercise intensity and metabolic response during singles tennis play. Techniques for assessment of exercise intensity were studied on-court and in the laboratory. The on-court study required eight State-level tennis players to complete a competitive singles tennis match. During the laboratory study, a separate group of seven male subjects performed an intermittent and a continuous treadmill run. During tennis play, heart rate (HR) and relative exercise intensity (72 +/- 1.9% VO2max; estimated from measurement of heart rate) remained constant (83.4 +/- 0.9% HRmax; mean +/- s(x)) after the second change of end. The peak value for estimated play intensity (1.25 +/- 0.11 steps x s(-1); from video analysis) occurred after the fourth change of end (P< 0.005). Plasma lactate concentration, measured at rest and at the change of ends, increased 175% from 2.13 +/- 0.32 mmol x l(-1) at rest to a peak 5.86 +/- 1.33 mmol x l(-1) after the sixth change of end (P < 0.001). A linear regression model, which included significant terms for %HRmax (P< 0.001), estimated play intensity (P < 0.001) and subject (P < 0.00), as well as a %HRmax subject interaction (P < 0.05), accounted for 82% of the variation in plasma lactate concentration. During intermittent laboratory treadmill running, % VO2peak estimated from heart rate was 17% higher than the value derived from the measured VO2 (79.7 +/- 2.2% and 69.0 +/- 2.5% VO2peak respectively; P< 0.001). The %VO2peak was estimated with reasonable accuracy during continuous treadmill running (5% error). We conclude that changes in exercise intensity based on measurements of heart rate and a time-motion analysis of court movement patterns explain the variation in lactate concentration observed during singles tennis, and that measuring heart rate during play, in association with preliminary fitness tests to estimate VO2, will overestimate the aerobic response.     

我国体育院校哲学社会科学研究能力初探——基于CSSCI (2001 -2005) 的数据

根据中国社会科学引文索引（CSSCI）,对我国体育院校2001--2005年间哲学社会科学学术论文的发表与被引用情况进行了统计和分析。“十五”期间,我国体育院校的发文总量共2596篇,约占全国高校的1．13％;按学科统计,体育学的发文量占全国各类高校体育学发文总量的31．93％;从论文的学术影响力看,被引总次数达1144,篇均被引次数为0．4405;被引论文645篇,论文被引率为24．84％;基金项目资助的论文699篇,占全部论文的26．92％,其被引率达30．19％。从研究效率看,体育院校人均年产出论文数为0．1077篇,每万元科研经费产出的论文数为0．2024篇,均位居全国各类高校的第5位。     

Mechanical and EMG responses of the vastus lateralis and changes in biochemical variables to isokinetic exercise in endurance and power athletes

Twelve endurance athletes and six power athletes performed fatiguing isokinetic knee flexions/extensions. Isokinetic torque was recorded during the exercise. Isometric torque, cortisol and lactate responses, electromyographic (EMG) mean power frequency, average rectified value, and conduction velocity were analysed before and after the isokinetic exercise to determine correlations between electrophysiological variables and mechanical performances and/or blood concentrations of biomarkers in the two groups of athletes. The EMG variables were estimated from signals recorded from the vastus lateralis in both voluntary and electrically elicited isometric contractions. Power athletes recorded higher values than endurance athletes for the following variables: pre-exercise isometric maximal voluntary contraction (MVC), isokinetic MVC, rate of mechanical fatigue during isokinetic contractions, pre - post exercise variations and recovery times of conduction velocity and mean power frequency, and lactate concentrations. Moreover, conduction velocity overshooting was observed in endurance athletes during the recovery phase after exercise. The correlation analyses showed that the higher the rate of mechanical fatigue, the higher the lactate production and the reduction in conduction velocity due to the exercise.     

The performance environment of the England youth soccer teams: a quantitative investigation

We examined the performance environment of the England youth soccer teams. Using a conceptually grounded questionnaire developed from the themes identified by Pain and Harwood (2007), 82 players and 23 national coaches and support staff were surveyed directly following international tournaments regarding the factors that positively and negatively influenced performance. The survey enabled data to be captured regarding both the extent and magnitude of the impact of the factors comprising the performance environment. Overall, team and social factors were generally perceived to have the greatest positive impact, with players and staff showing high levels of consensus in their evaluations. Team leadership and strong team cohesion were identified by both groups as having the greatest positive impact. Overall, far fewer variables were perceived to have a negative impact on performance, especially for players. The main negatives common to both groups were players losing composure during games, player boredom, and a lack of available activities in the hotel. The major findings support those of Pain and Harwood (2007) and in using a larger sample helped to corroborate and strengthen the generalizability of the findings.