Skeletal maturation,fundamental motor skills and motor coordination in children 7–10 years

Relationships between skeletal maturation and fundamental motor skills and gross motor coordination were evaluated in 429 children (213 boys and 216 girls) 7–10 years. Skeletal age was assessed (Tanner-Whitehouse 2 method), and stature, body mass, motor coordination (Körperkoordinations Test für Kinder, KTK) and fundamental motor skills (Test of Gross Motor Development, TGMD-2) were measured. Relationships among chronological age, skeletal age (expressed as the standardised residual of skeletal age on chronological age) and body size and fundamental motor skills and motor coordination were analysed with hierarchical multiple regression. Standardised residual of skeletal age on chronological age interacting with stature and body mass explained a maximum of 7.0% of the variance in fundamental motor skills and motor coordination over that attributed to body size per se. Standardised residual of skeletal age on chronological age alone accounted for a maximum of 9.0% of variance in fundamental motor skills, and motor coordination over that attributed to body size per se and interactions between standardised residual of skeletal age on chronological age and body size. In conclusion, skeletal age alone or interacting with body size has a negligible influence on fundamental motor skills and motor coordination in children 7–10 years.     

Biomedical and health informatics in Peru: significance for public health

Introduction

This issue of the feature column reports on developments in Peru on the use of information and communication technologies to improve public health. The authors describe how cell phones and hand‐held devices are being deployed to monitor diseases. Recent concerns about the spread of swine flu highlight the importance of robust public health systems in developing countries. 1 Jeannete Murphy

Reference

1 Swine flu could be a disaster for weak public health systems in developing countries . British Journal of Healthcare Computing and Information Management , 30 April 2009. http://www.bjhcim.co.uk/news/2009/n904046.htm (accessed 18/05/09).     

Chemical Engineering and Environmental Engineering Education in Hungary

Engineering education has more than 200 years of tradition in Hungary. Chemical engineers are trained at the Technical University of Budapest (TUB) and at the University of Veszprém. The curriculum of the TUB chemical engineering education is given. Undergraduate environmental engineering education is offered at the University of Miskolc, at the Janus Pannonius University in Pécs and at the University of Veszprém. Curricula of the latter two are given. The TUB has several environmental specialization opportunities for engineering students, but at present no separate undergraduate environmental engineering education is offered. Such a curriculum is now under preparation and will be introduced in 1998. Several technical colleges also offer environmental engineering education, where the duration of the training is 3 years. Postgraduate education is a very suitable form to add environmental knowledge to the existing engineering knowledge of graduate engineers. The TUB and the universities in Miskolc and Veszprém are all very active in this field.     

Fluid intelligence and discriminative operant learning of reinforcement contingencies in a fixed ratio 3 schedule

Although intelligence has traditionally been identified as the ability to learn (Peterson, 1925), this relationship has been questioned in simple operant learning tasks (Spielberger, 1962). Nevertheless, recent pieces of research have demonstrated a strong and significant correlation between associative learning measures and intelligence ( [Kaufman et al., 2009] and [Williams et al., 2008] ). The present paper aims to examine the relationship between intelligence and learning, complying with the experimental conditions of discriminative conditioning in a relatively complex free operant task. To that end, a sample of 1600 subjects applying for an ab initio Air Traffic Control training course was tested. The task is expected to allow identifying the specific influence of intelligence on the discrimination between stimulus dimensions. The results show how the relation among learning and intelligence strengthen on those trials which are critical in terms of discrimination.     

The Development and Psychometric Evaluation of a Multidimensional Measurement Instrument of Professional Expertise

The aim of the present study was to determine the nature of the knowledge and skills related to professional expertise, and to develop means by which such expertise may be individually measured. An instrument was developed consisting of five different scales (with contents ranging from 12 to 19 items each), each reflecting one of five dimensions: knowledge, meta-cognitive knowledge, skills, social recognition, growth and flexibility. Participants were two different, but relevant, groups of raters: individual employees (N = 558) and their immediate supervisors (N = 454). The item-sets for both groups are nominally identical, except that the wording was adapted when necessary to suit one group or the other. The reliabilities of the developed scales were high with Cronbach's alpha ranging from 0.83 to 0.94, for both the self-ratings and the supervisor ratings. All five scales are homogeneous and distinctive as corroborated by Multitrait-Multimethod and LISREL analyses. Background and construction of the instrument are discussed at length and the instrument is appended in two versions: the original Dutch questionnaire and an English version.     

Effectiveness of school‐based universal social,emotional, and behavioral programs: Do they enhance students’ development in the area of skill,behavior, and adjustment?

To answer the question of whether teaching social and emotional skills to foster social–emotional development can help schools extend their role beyond the transfer of knowledge, the authors conducted a meta‐analytical review of 75 recently published studies that reported the effects of universal, school‐based social, emotional, and/or behavioral (SEB) programs. The analyzed interventions had a variety of intended outcomes, but the increase in social skills and decrease in antisocial behavior were most often reported. Although considerable differences in efficacy exist, the analysis demonstrated that overall beneficial effects on all seven major categories of outcomes occurred: social skills, antisocial behavior, substance abuse, positive self‐image, academic achievement, mental health, and prosocial behavior. Generally, immediate effects were stronger than delayed effects, with the exception of substance abuse, which showed a sleeper effect. Limitations of the analysis and moderators of the effectiveness of SEB programs in schools are discussed in the final section of the article.     

PART III: KINANTHROPOMETRY

Whole-body bone mineral density and bone mineral mass in young adult rugby union players.     

Dual Degrees: Double Diploma between Paris and Madrid

This is the history of four years of common work between two of the oldest educational institutions in civil engineering in Europe. This collaboration has concluded in the first Double Diploma in Engineering created in Europe which will be attained by some French and Spanish students in the near future. Ecole des Fonts et Ckausees of Paris and the Escuela de Ingenieros de Caminos of Madrid have a long history of cooperation which has assisted conclusion of this agreement. The text traces some details about the agreement and finishes with some considerations about the way to allow the free movement of engineers in Europe, and the general attempts to get a Directive for Engineers.