Utility and Reliability of an App for the System for Observing Play and Recreation in Communities (iSOPARC®)

The app for the System for Observing Play and Recreation in Communities (iSOPARC®) was developed to enhance System for Observing Play and Recreation in Communities data collection and management. The study aim was to examine the usability and inter-rater reliability of iSOPARC®. Trained observers collected data in 16 park areas in two Latin America cities (Curitiba, Brazil; Bogotá, Colombia) using both the original System for Observing Play and Recreation in Communities (mechanical counter) and new iSOPARC® (electronic counter) methods. A total of 8,707 park users (3,958 females and 4,749 males) were observed. Reliabilities among observers were determined using the intraclass correlation coefficient and relative overall agreement (%) in three ways: (a) mechanical versus mechanical, (b) mechanical versus electronic, and (c) electronic versus electronic. When both used mechanical counters comparisons overall agreement was over 78% (intraclass correlation coefficient = .982; p < .001) for variables in all analysis. When one used a mechanical counter and the other used electronic (iSOPARC®) comparisons overall agreement was higher for age (84%; p < .001) than for physical activity (83%; p < .001) variables and average intraclass correlation coefficient was .965. Using both used iSOPARC® comparisons overall agreement was 81% to physical activity and 83% to age group. Results suggest iSOPARC® can be used reliably for examining variables previously validated in System for Observing Play and Recreation in Communities.     

Interdisciplinary therapy changes superoxide dismutase activity and adiponectin in obese adolescents: a randomised controlled trial

The objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of interdisciplinary therapy in the parameters of the oxidative stress and the anti-inflammatory responses of obese adolescents. We selected 57 participants, who were randomly divided into 2 groups: interdisciplinary therapy group and a control group. After 6 months of intervention, 17 participants of the interdisciplinary therapy group and 8 of the control group returned for re-evaluation. The interdisciplinary therapy group participated in a treatment with 4 weekly sessions of exercise, a weekly group therapy session and a weekly nutritional education session. Blood parameters of oxidative stress and anti-inflammatory response were evaluated. The results demonstrated that there were significant increases in the interdisciplinary therapy group for superoxide dismutase activity (6.56 ± 3.22 to 11.40 ± 7.49) and ferric-reducing antioxidant potential concentration (532.91 ± 106.48 to 573.25 ± 112.57), although adiponectin levels did not reduce (40.9 ± 29.34 to 49.05 ± 41.22). A significant decrease in nitrite levels was also found (14.23 ± 8.48 to 11.45 ± 6.05). In the control group, significant reduction was found in adiponectin (31.56 ± 18.88 to 18.01 ± 11.66). This study suggests that interdisciplinary therapy for 6 months was effective in improving the anti-inflammatory responses and the antioxidant defences in obese adolescents.     

E-learning commodity or community: Disciplinary differences between online courses

Differences in curriculum and teaching styles across disciplines in higher education courses are also evident in online courses. This study used two widely available sources of data, CMS tool usage logs and course evaluations, to analyze differences between online courses in disciplinary quadrants (hard-pure, hard-applied, soft-pure, soft-applied) at a large metropolitan university, over five years (2002 and 2007). For 2007, results revealed significant differences in tool usage between disciplines, particularly for assessment tools. Hard-pure courses used Tests and Pool tools more often than did soft-pure courses. The Document tool was used most extensively in applied courses. Data from course evaluations, for spring 2007 online courses, suggested that applied disciplines had a shorter learner–instructor transactional distance than did pure disciplines. Results suggest that over five years, e-learning in pure disciplines has become more commoditized, while e-learning in applied disciplines has become more diversified and more oriented to community practice.     

Does intensity really matter regarding aerobic exercise reductions in wave reflection and central hemodynamics? Commentary on "The effect of acute aerobic exercise on central arterial stiffness,wave reflections,and hemodynamics in adults with diabetes: A randomized cross-over design"by Way et al.

We read with great interest the study by Way et al.1 pub-lished in this journal, which described and compared the acute changes in central arterial stiffness (A...     

Specific Learning Disabilities and the Portuguese Educational System

Although the Portuguese educational system advocates the accommodation of all students in regular schools, it has not adopted a coherent discourse that would contribute to meeting effectively the needs of students with specific learning disabilities (SLD). As such, the successive reorganizations of special education have resulted in uninformed decisions that have caused the education of students with SLD in Portugal to be, in many instances, detrimental to their academic and social growth. We describe the reality of SLD in Portugal, considering four main topics: (1) the establishment of the SLD concept, (2) the birth of a Portuguese definition of SLD, (3) the context of educational policy, and (4) the provision for students with SLD.     

Ecological dynamics of continuous and categorical decision-making: The regatta start in sailing

Abstract

Ecological dynamics of decision-making in the sport of sailing exemplifies emergent, conditionally coupled, co-adaptive behaviours. In this study, observation of the coupling dynamics of paired boats during competitive sailing showed that decision-making can be modelled as a self-sustained, co-adapting system of informationally coupled oscillators (boats). Bytracing the spatial–temporal displacements of the boats, time series analyses (autocorrelations, periodograms and running correlations) revealed that trajectories of match racing boats are coupled more than 88% of the time during a pre-start race, via continuous, competing co-adaptions between boats. Results showed that both the continuously selected trajectories of the sailors (12 years of age) and their categorical starting point locations were examples of emergent decisions. In this dynamical conception of decision-making behaviours, strategic positioning (categorical) and continuous displacement of a boat over the course in match-race sailing emerged as a function of interacting task, personal and environmental constraints. Results suggest how key interacting constraints could be manipulated in practice to enhance sailors' perceptual attunement to them in competition.     

Mothers' use of cognitive state verbs in picture-book reading and the development of children's understanding of mind: a longitudinal study

Mothers read stories to their children (N=41) aged between 3.3 years and 5.11 years old, and children then completed two false-belief tasks. One year later, mothers read a story to 37 of those children who were also given four tasks to assess their advanced understanding of mental states. Mothers' early use of cognitive verbs in picture-book reading correlated with their children's later understanding of mental states. Some pragmatic aspects of maternal input correlated with children's later outcomes. Two different factors in mothers' cognitive discourse were identified, suggesting a zone of proximal development in children's understanding of mental states.     

Gender Differences in Mathematics Self-concept Across the World: an Exploration of Student and Parent Data of TIMSS 2015

International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education - Using data from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2015 assessment of fourth-grade students in 32...