Body composition differences by age and playing standard in male rugby union and rugby league: A systematic review and meta-analysis

ABSTRACT

This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to determine differences in body compositionn between playing standard and age in male rugby union and rugby league athletes. The MOOSE (Meta-analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology) guidelines for design, implementation, and reporting were followed. Studies were required to be in male rugby union or league and have body composition as the primary or secondary outcome. Data was required to be presented separately for positional groups and body composition presented as whole-body. A systematic search was performed in PubMed, Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, SPORTDiscus, and CINHAHL via EBSCOhost. 57 studies were included for meta-analysis. Results highlighted significantly higher fat-free mass in senior elite than senior sub-elite or junior elite athletes for all RU and RL forwards. Small and non-significant differences were found in fat mass between rugby union playing standards and age categories. Rugby league senior elite forwards had less fat mass than junior elite forwards. Practitioners should prioritise training and nutritional strategies that maximise fat-free mass development, especially in junior elite cohorts.     

Relational efficacy beliefs in athlete dyads: an investigation using actor-partner interdependence models

The first purpose of this study was to examine the interrelationships among three forms of relational efficacy within performing dyads, namely, self-efficacy, other-efficacy, and relation-inferred self-efficacy. The second objective was to examine the relationships between these efficacy beliefs and athletes' perceptions of their commitment to and satisfaction with their current partnership. Participants were 120 junior tennis players (age, M = 14.30 years, SD = 1.21) performing within 60 intact pairs (i.e., doubles). Results revealed that self-efficacy and other-efficacy were predictive of athlete commitment and satisfaction, respectively. In addition, by utilizing actor-partner interdependence models, partner as well as actor effects were evident. The findings illustrate that relational efficacy beliefs may not only have implications for the individual holding such beliefs, but also for his or her relational partner. Implications for the future study of efficacy beliefs within dyadic contexts are discussed.     

性格与交际法教学

交际法自80年代以来已发展成为世界规模的外语教学理论和方法。学习者的性格对交际法的成功实施有着很大的影响。因此,对于不同性格的学习者,我们在实施交际法时应注意采取相应的对策。     

Keeping plagiarism at bay—A salutary tale

This editorial examines the question of whether plagiarism may be on the increase in the social sciences and, if so, what needs to be done to keep the problem in check. It was prompted by the discovery of an alert reader in June 2007 that a 1993 paper in Research Policy appeared to have plagiarised a 1980 article in the Journal of Business. The allegation was investigated, and it was agreed by the Editors that the 1993 paper constituted a clear and serious case of plagiarism. However, the author concerned has published over 100 articles and books. Already, two other publications have been judged by the editors of the journals concerned to have plagiarised previous publications. Two more are under investigation, but the great majority of the remainder still remain to be checked. The fact that academic misconduct on this scale has gone unchecked over such a prolonged period raises serious issues about the efficacy of the processes used to police the conduct of researchers. Furthermore, the unexpected discovery that a paper by the author under investigation appears itself to have been plagiarised poses a fundamental question as to whether plagiarism may be far more common than previously assumed. The editorial concludes that a measured degree of vigilance and a greater willingness to pursue any well-founded suspicions of research misconduct are required by editors, referees, publishers and the wider academic community if the scourge of plagiarism is to be kept at bay.     

博白地佬话词汇特点

事物的特点,因分析的角度不同而不同。方言的词汇特点也一样,从不同的角度可以分析出不同的特点。从词源和词的构成分析博白地佬话词汇,其特点主要有:保留了诸多的古语词;有一批与广东粤语共通的词汇;有一批与少数民族语言音近义同的词语;有许多生动形象的方言词;有丰富的带缀词;有丰富的连绵词。     

网络环境对图书馆人才的新要求

论述了２１世纪图书馆在信息网络环境下运行成为必然，并从六个方面概述了网络环境下图书馆人才应具备的素质与知识结构。     

西方司法公正现实化的历史考察

司法公正现实化经历了一个从告知真理到发现真理的演进过程 ,其目标从实体公正与程序公正的统一、分化到并重 ;其模式由国家职权主义与当事人主义各自独立发展到二战以来的相互渗透。西方司法公正现实化源于人民对公正理念的执着追求和法官精英队伍的形成     

Affordances of teacher professional learning in secondary schools

It is commonly understood that teachers in secondary school should develop throughout their career in order to stay as an essential factor in student learning. Schools can offer opportunities to link teachers’ professional learning to their school practice with a positive impact on teachers’ motivation to learn and the effectiveness of their learning. In this field study, teachers, school leaders, policy-makers, educational consultants and educational scholars were asked for their perceptions of conditions for teacher learning in school and of interventions in school to enhance teacher professional learning. These conditions and interventions were understood as affordances in schools that enable and support teacher professional learning. The main affordance in school these stakeholders mentioned was an open, but critical way in which teachers share their practices, collaborate and reflect upon their teaching practice. Collaborative practices seem to stimulate many interventions of teacher professional learning in school. Two implications of this finding are discussed. First, we suggest that the maximum teaching time should be reduced, team teaching should be more implemented or classes should be scheduled in such a way that teachers can meet. Second, distributed leadership approaches match with our findings about the role of school leaders in teacher professional learning.     

Incompatibility between pregnancy and educational projects,from the perspective of socially vulnerable adolescent women and men in Mexico

Research focused on adolescent pregnancy reports that this event acquires significance and has different consequences according to the context and social subjects who experience it. In this study, by means of a sample formed by adolescent women and men who are socially vulnerable in Mexico, with and without a history of pregnancy, we can see how this reproductive event turns into a factor of educational vulnerability and how their possibilities and expectations with respect to continuing in school are determined in a differentiated manner, according to gender. The findings show that adolescent pregnancy in vulnerable sectors is scarcely compatible with educational projects and that possibilities and expectations to continue in or re-enter the school system are determined by gender differences; these usually lead to fewer opportunities for adolescent women to return to school during or after pregnancy.