Wearable inertial sensors in swimming motion analysis: a systematic review

The use of contemporary technology is widely recognised as a key tool for enhancing competitive performance in swimming. Video analysis is traditionally used by coaches to acquire reliable biomechanical data about swimming performance; however, this approach requires a huge computational effort, thus introducing a delay in providing quantitative information. Inertial and magnetic sensors, including accelerometers, gyroscopes and magnetometers, have been recently introduced to assess the biomechanics of swimming performance. Research in this field has attracted a great deal of interest in the last decade due to the gradual improvement of the performance of sensors and the decreasing cost of miniaturised wearable devices. With the aim of describing the state of the art of current developments in this area, a systematic review of the existing methods was performed using the following databases: PubMed, ISI Web of Knowledge, IEEE Xplore, Google Scholar, Scopus and Science Direct. Twenty-seven articles published in indexed journals and conference proceedings, focusing on the biomechanical analysis of swimming by means of inertial sensors were reviewed. The articles were categorised according to sensor’s specification, anatomical sites where the sensors were attached, experimental design and applications for the analysis of swimming performance. Results indicate that inertial sensors are reliable tools for swimming biomechanical analyses.     

Effects of changing speed on knee and ankle joint load during walking and running

Joint moments can be used as an indicator of joint loading and have potential application for sports performance and injury prevention. The effects of changing walking and running speeds on joint moments for the different planes of motion still are debatable. Here, we compared knee and ankle moments during walking and running at different speeds. Data were collected from 11 recreational male runners to determine knee and ankle joint moments during different conditions. Conditions include walking at a comfortable speed (self-selected pacing), fast walking (fastest speed possible), slow running (speed corresponding to 30% slower than running) and running (at 4 m · s^?1 ± 10%). A different joint moment pattern was observed between walking and running. We observed a general increase in joint load for sagittal and frontal planes as speed increased, while the effects of speed were not clear in the transverse plane moments. Although differences tend to be more pronounced when gait changed from walking to running, the peak moments, in general, increased when speed increased from comfortable walking to fast walking and from slow running to running mainly in the sagittal and frontal planes. Knee flexion moment was higher in walking than in running due to larger knee extension. Results suggest caution when recommending walking over running in an attempt to reduce knee joint loading. The different effects of speed increments during walking and running should be considered with regard to the prevention of injuries and for rehabilitation purposes.     

Phonological Processing and Word Reading in Typically Developing and Reading Disabled Children: Severity Matters

In this study word reading (WR) fluency was used to dichotomously classify 1,598 Dutch children at different cutoffs, indicating (very) poor or (very) good reading performance. Analysis of variance and receiver operating characteristics were used to investigate the effects of rapid automatized naming (RAN) and phonemic awareness (PA) in predicting group membership. The highest predictive values were found for the combination of RAN and PA, particularly for the poorest readers. Furthermore, results indicate that with the severity of impairment, WR is more dominated by deficient PA, which is interpreted as an enduring problem with sublexical processing. Another main result is that with the increase of reading skill, the contribution of PA diminishes, whereas the contribution of RAN remains fairly constant for the whole reading fluency continuum. These results warrant the conclusion that whereas PA hallmarks reading disability, RAN appears to be the default predictor for above-average or excellent reading proficiency.     

How many words are enough? Investigating the effect of different configurations of a software scaffold for formulating scientific hypotheses in inquiry-oriented contexts

Instructional Science - We extended research on scaffolds for formulating scientific hypotheses, namely the Hypothesis Scratchpad (HS), in the domain of relative density. The sample comprised of...     

Instructional practices in secondary science: How teachers achieve local and standards-based success

This article reports on analyses of the instructional practices of six middle- and high-school science teachers in the United States who participated in a research-practice partnership that aims to support reform science education goals at scale. All six teachers were well qualified, experienced, and locally successful—respected by students, parents, colleagues, and administrators—but they differed in their success in supporting students' three-dimensional learning. Our goal is to understand how the teachers' instructional practices contributed to their similarities in achieving local success and to differences in enabling students' learning, and to consider the implications of these findings for research-practice partnerships. Data sources included classroom videos supplemented by interviews with teachers and focus students and examples of student work. We also compared students' learning gains by teacher using pre–post assessments that elicited three-dimensional performances. Analyses of classroom videos showed how all six teachers achieved local success—they led effectively managed classrooms, covered the curriculum by teaching almost all unit activities, and assessed students' work in fair and efficient ways. There were important differences, however, in how teachers engaged students in science practices. Teachers in classrooms where students achieved lower learning gains followed a pattern of practice we describe as activity-based teaching, in which students completed investigations and hands-on activities with few opportunities for sensemaking discussions or three-dimensional science performances. Teachers whose students achieved higher learning gains combined the social stability characteristic of local classroom success with more demanding instructional practices associated with scientific sensemaking and cognitive apprenticeship. We conclude with a discussion of implications for research-practice partnerships, highlighting how partnerships need to support all teachers in achieving both local and standards-based success.     

Multinational subsidiary knowledge protection—Do mandates and clusters matter?

International knowledge spillovers, especially through multinational companies (MNCs), have recently been a major topic of academic and management debate. However, most studies treat MNC subsidiaries as relatively passive actors. We challenge this assumption by investigating the drivers of knowledge protection intensity of MNC subsidiaries. We argue that knowledge protection intensity is determined by MNC subsidiary mandates and by opportunities and risks originating from the host region. We hypothesize that not just competence-creating but also competence-exploiting mandates increase knowledge protection intensity. In addition, technological cluster regions in the host country can be expected to provide opportunities for knowledge sourcing and MNC subsidiaries may be willing to protect knowledge less intensively to participate in cluster networks. We test our hypotheses using a dataset of 694 observations of 631 MNC subsidiaries in Germany and develop recommendations for research, managers and policy makers.     

Freelancers and the absorption of external knowledge: practical implications and theoretical contributions

The term absorptive capacity (AC) describes the process of utilising external knowledge. Although firms are becoming increasingly reliant on highly skilled freelancers as a source of external knowledge, the literature on AC has not incorporated this collaboration for freelancers. In this paper, we address this research deficit in two ways: First, we argue that the ability to collaborate effectively and efficiently with freelancers plays a crucial role in the process of absorbing external knowledge. Second, we argue that the example of freelancers challenges researchers to rethink the conceptualisation of organisational boundaries within the concept of AC. Our paper is based upon previous theoretical insights and exploratory empirical data from a research project on German IT freelancers. For the practice of knowledge management, our paper elaborates upon how organisations can enhance their AC by investing in practices and routines that contribute to successful collaboration with freelancers.     

Brazilian soccer: symbolic dimensions of its practice

This essay explores the symbolic dimensions of soccer in Brazilian society from the perspective of sports anthropology. It discusses how the founding of the game was handled, in terms of stylization and standardization of rules. This, as the essay argues, would effect amplified representations in emotional regimes and adhesion to the game, thus making it a singular sports modality for understanding societies such as Brazil.     

Outcomes of a scientific nonformal educational initiative for youth in Rio de Janeiro

The aim of this research is to understand how former students view their professional and academic paths after taking part in a specific scientific nonformal educational initiative during high school. This program is called Vocational Scientific Program (Provoc) and is carried out in the Oswald Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This institution has for over 100 years played a pioneer role in public health research in the country. This institution has many graduate programs and a high school dedicated to training students in health issues. Provoc was originated in this school and has been part of it for the last 25 years. Since its beginning, this program has been characterized by a significant predominance of women which relates to the female predominance of professionals in this institution working in the traditional areas of Fiocruz, which are Biology, Medicine, Public Health, Humanities and Social Sciences. This study was qualitative in nature and involved observations and 34 individual interviews, which followed a semi structured questionnaire, designed for this research. The results indicate that the majority of participants see their program participation experiences as an asset in their academic and professional careers. Many describe feeling empowered by presenting their work in seminars and a few by writing a research article. Many former students also testified to the establishment of social long lasting relationships in the research work environment. And finally, the interviews reveal a few moments and the factors involved in the selection of a profession by youth.