Deleterious effects of obesity on physical fitness in pre-pubertal children

The prevalence of obesity in children has increased dramatically during the past decades in Europe and understanding physical fitness and its components in children is critical to design and implement effective interventions. The objective of the present study was to analyse the association between physical fitness (aerobic, speed, agility, power, flexibility and balance) and body mass index (BMI) in pre-pubertal children. A total of 2411 healthy schoolchildren (7–11 years) participated in this study. Anthropometric characteristics and body composition were assessed by skinfold thickness. Physical fitness was measured by nine physical fitness tests: endurance running, 20 m running speed, agility, handgrip strength, standing long jump and squat jump, sit and reach, medicine ball forward throw and static balance. No relevant differences were observed between boys and girls regarding anthropometric characteristics, body composition and physical fitness. However, overweight and obese children showed significantly lower physical fitness levels in endurance running, speed and agility (mean: +18.8, +5.5 and +14.5% of time to complete tasks, respectively), lower limb power normalised to body mass (?23.3%) and balance tests (number of falls: +165.5%) than their normal weight counterparts. On the other hand, obesity did not affect handgrip, throwing and flexibility. In conclusion, increased BMI was associated with lower performance capabilities limiting proper motor skill development, which directly affects the ability of children to take on sports skills. Actions undertaken to promote children's wellness and fitness should be prioritised and introduced early in life with the aim of enhancing physical fitness as well as preventing overweight and obesity.     

Study of the deterioration products,gilding, and polychromy of the stones of the Scuola Grande Di San Marco's façade in Venice

The Scuola Grande di San Marco is one of the most outstanding Renaissance buildings in Venice. Destroyed by fire in 1485, the Scuola was reconstructed between 1487 and 1495 by Pietro Lombardi (and sons), together with Giovanni Buora and Mauro Codussi. The façade is considered one of the finest and most original exteriors of Venetian buildings and in particular features refined sculptural and painted decorations and a remarkable pictorial effect created by the extensive use of polychrome marbles and the false perspective view between the pilasters of the lower order. Most of the stone materials (Istrian and Verona red limestones, nero di Roveré, pavonazzetto toscano, Carrara marble and various reused antique marbles) present evident decay phenomena such as scaling, exfoliation, powdering, fissuring, salt efflorescence, black crusts, and artificial patinas of various kinds. The present study reports the results of petrographic and chemical laboratory analyses carried out in preparation for the conservation treatment of the building, in order to characterize the main micro- and macro-morphologies of decay and to identify the causes and mechanisms of deterioration as well as the nature and application technique of the polychromy, gilding, and patinas present on parts of the monumental Renaissance façade.     

The new institutional governance of Italian state universities: what role for the new governing bodies?

Tertiary Education and Management - In 2010, a comprehensive reform required Italian state universities to restructure their institutional governance by revising their statutes. This interpretative...     

Racial Microaggressions: a Primer with Implications for Counseling Practice

Given their societal toll and ubiquitous nature, counselors and other mental health professionals inevitably will encounter clients who have experienced racial microaggressions in their practice. In this primer, we examine key issues relative to racial microaggressions and their impact on the lives of members of racial and ethnic minority groups. Drawing on burgeoning research, we also address likely coping strategies. Finally, we offer implications for mental health training and counseling practice. Throughout, we highlight the evident resilience of racial and ethnic minority individuals in the context of racial microaggressions.     

Retrospective cytological evaluation of indeterminate thyroid nodules according to the British Thyroid Association 2014 classification and comparison of clinical evaluation and outcomes

The cytology of 130 indeterminate nodules (Thy 3) was retrospectively reviewed according to the British Thyroid Association 2014 classification. Nodules were divided into Thy 3a (atypical features) and Thy 3f (follicular lesion) categories. Histology was available as a reference for 97 nodules. Pre-surgical evaluations comprised biochemical tests, color-Doppler ultrasonography (US), semi-quantitative elastography-US (USE), contrast-enhanced US (CEUS), and mutation analysis from cytological slides. Thyroid malignancy was the final diagnosis for 19% of surgically-treated nodules. No statistically significant difference in the risk of malignancy was found between Thy 3a (26%) and Thy 3f (14%) nodules. Histology of the Thy 3a and Thy 3f nodules showed a higher incidence of Hurtle cell adenomas in Thy 3f (29%) than in Thy 3a (3%) nodules (P=0.01). The only pre-surgical difference concerned the BRAF V600E mutation, which was positive in some Thy 3a but not in any Thy 3f nodules (P=0.04). Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to obtain cut-off values from US (score), USE (ELX 2/1 strain index), and CEUS (time-topeak index and peak index) data. The cut-off values were similar for Thy 3a and Thy 3f nodules. Data showed that malignancy can be suspected if the US score is >2, ELX 1/2 strain index >1, time-to-peak index >1, and peak index <1. In a sub-group of 24 revised nodules (12 Thy 3a and 12 Thy 3f) with histology as a reference, the diagnostic power of cumulative pre-surgical analysis by means of US, USE, and CEUS showed high positive and negative predictive values (83% and 100%, respectively) for the presence of malignancy in Thy 3a and Thy 3f nodules. In conclusion, in our series of revised Thy 3 nodules, malignancy was low and displayed no significant differences between Thy 3a and Thy 3f categories. The use of cut-offs based on histology as a reference could reduce surgery. Our data support the conviction that, in mutation-negative Thy 3a and Thy 3f nodules, observation should be the first choice when not all instrumental results are suspect.     

Validity of criteria-based content analysis (CBCA) at trial in free-narrative interviews

Objective

The reliability of child witness testimony in sexual abuse cases is often controversial, and few tools are available. Criteria-Based Content Analysis (CBCA) is a widely used instrument for evaluating psychological credibility in cases of suspected child sexual abuse. Only few studies have evaluated CBCA scores in children suspected of being sexually abused. We designed this study to investigate the reliability of CBCA in discriminating allegations of child sexual abuse during court hearings, by comparing CBCA results with the court's final, unappealable sentence. We then investigated whether CBCA scores correlated with age, and whether some criteria were better than others in distinguishing cases of confirmed and unconfirmed abuse.

Methods

From a pool of 487 child sexual abuse cases, confirmed and unconfirmed cases were selected using various criteria including child IQ ≥ 70, agreement between the final trial outcome and the opinion of 3 experts, presence of at least 1 independent validating informative component in cases of confirmed abuse, and absence of suggestive questions during the child's testimonies. This screening yielded a study sample of 60 confirmed and 49 unconfirmed cases. The 14 item version of CBCA was applied to child witness testimony by 2 expert raters.

Results

Of the 14 criteria tested, 12 achieved satisfactory inter-rater agreement (Maxwell's Random Error). Analyses of covariance, with case group (confirmed vs. unconfirmed) and gender as independent variables and age as a covariate, showed no main effect of gender. Analyses of the interaction showed that the simple effects of abuse were significant in both sex. Nine CBCA criteria were satisfied more often among confirmed than unconfirmed cases; seven criteria increased with age.

Conclusion

CBCA scores distinguish between confirmed and unconfirmed cases. The criteria that distinguish best between the 2 groups are Quantity of Details, Interactions, and Subjective Experience. CBCA scores correlate positively with age, and independently from abuse; all the criteria test except 2 (Unusual Details and Misunderstood Details) increase with age. The agreement rate could be increased by merging criteria Unusual and Superfluous details that achieve a low inter-rater agreement when investigated separately.

Practice implication

Given its ability to distinguish between confirmed and unconfirmed cases of suspected child abuse, the CBCA could be a useful tool for expert opinion. Because our strict selection criteria make it difficult to generalize our results, further studies should investigate whether the CBCA is equally useful in the cases we excluded from our study (for example mental retardation).     

Metabolic optimisation of the basketball free throw

The free throw (FT) is a fundamental basketball skill used frequently during a match. Most of actual play occurs at about 85% of maximum heart rate (HR). Metabolic intensity, through fatigue, may influence a technically skilled move as the FT is. Twenty-eight under 17 basketball players were studied while shooting FTs on a regular indoor basketball court. We investigated FT accuracy in young male basketball players shooting at three different HRs: at rest, at 50% and at 80% of maximum experimentally obtained HR value. We found no significant FT percentage difference between rest and 50% of the maximum HR (FT percentage about 80%; P > 0.05). Differently, at 80% of the maximum HR the FT percentage decreased significantly by more than 20% (P < 0.001) down to about 60%. No preliminary warm-up is needed before entering game for the FT accuracy. Furthermore, we speculate that time-consuming, cooling-off routines usually performed by shooters before each FT may be functional to improve its accuracy.     

Using crowdsourcing for TREC relevance assessment

Crowdsourcing has recently gained a lot of attention as a tool for conducting different kinds of relevance evaluations. At a very high level, crowdsourcing describes outsourcing of tasks to a large group of people instead of assigning such tasks to an in-house employee. This crowdsourcing approach makes possible to conduct information retrieval experiments extremely fast, with good results at a low cost.     

The effects of two different correction strategies on the snatch technique in weightlifting

Improving motor skills represents one of the major issues in motor control and motor learning literature. The aim of this study was to investigate which of two strategies, method of amplification of error (MAE) or direct instruction (DI), would be more beneficial for error correction of the snatch technique. Thirty well-trained male weightlifters were randomly assigned to one of three training conditions (MAE, DI and Control). The experiment took place in only one practice session in which each lifter performed 3 pretraining trials, 8 training intervention trials, and 3 post-training trials, and a retention test session after 1 week. An optoelectronic motion capture system was used to measure the kinematic parameters of the weightlifting performance. After the training intervention, data showed that the MAE group revealed a greater improvement in several kinematic parameters when compared to the DI and Control groups, and the benefits derived from its application were still present 1 week later in the retention test. Nevertheless, the findings of the present study should be interpreted with caution due to the relatively small sample size; further research will also be necessary to evaluate the effects of MAE with different ability levels and other sport skills. The present findings could have practical implications for sport psychology and physical education because while practice is obviously necessary for improving learning, the efficacy of the learning process is essential in enhancing learners’ motivation and sport enjoyment.     

Mechanical properties of adobe walls in a Roman Republican domus at Suasa

Adobe is a construction technique that uses raw earth mixed and moulded to form sun-dried blocks to realize a bearing wall. The recent discovery of adobe walls belonging to a Republican domus sited in Suasa (Ancona, Italy) was the starting point of the present work. The research was developed through an experimental approach, in order to characterize the mechanical behavior of this type of walls: firstly some adobe blocks similar to the original ones were reproduced by using the soil directly came from the archaeological site near the adobe walls and adding straw to reduce hygrometric shrinkage and coarse sand, taken from a local quarry, as a stabilizer, as Romans were used to do. Then, after a seasoning period of 4 months, four adobe walls were produced to be tested by compression and shear. From compression tests, maximum strength, first cracking compression stress, Young modulus and breaking manner were evaluated. As well, compression results show a possible two-storey structure of the earthen Republican domus. In fact, it appears that the stress from the two-storey load analysis is lower than the first cracking compression stress. From the shear tests, a proportional law seems to regulate the relation between the maximum value of the mean tangential tensions and the vertical compression the sample is subjected to. This could be the starting point for a future seismic analysis.