A cross-sectional and prospective analyse of reallocating sedentary time to physical activity on children’s cardiorespiratory fitness

Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) is associated with health benefits in children, improving cardiac morphology, cardiovascular disease risk factors, and biological outcomes. This study aimed to examine the substitution effects of displaying a fixed duration of sedentary time with a fixed duration of physical activity (PA) at different intensities on children’s CRF. A total of 315 children (136 boys) were assessed (age: 10.6 ± 0.6 years old). Outcomes at baseline and follow-up (16-months) were CRF determined using a maximal cycle test and sedentary time and PA measured with accelerometers. Data were analysed by isotemporal substitution analyses estimating the effect of reallocating 30 min/day of sedentary time by light (LPA), moderate (MPA) and vigorous physical activity (VPA) on CRF. VPA was positively and significantly associated with CRF cross-sectional (β = 0.026, p < 0.001) and prospectively (β = 0.010, p < 0.001). Reallocating 30 min/day of sedentary time into VPA was positively cross-sectionally (β = 0.780, p < 0.001) and prospectively (β = 0.303, p < 0.05) associated with CRF. Conversely, relocating 30-minutes of sedentary time into 30 minutes of LPA and MPA was not associated with CRF. These results suggest that reallocating an equal amount of time from sedentary into VPA is cross-sectional and prospectively associated with a favourable CRF.     

A model for the effective engagement of all stakeholders in engineering education and its pilot implementation

Methodologies for engineering learning and teaching (MELT) approach aims to enhance the attractiveness of education through science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) among young people, while promoting awareness of future careers in these areas. To this end, students’ expectations are considered within university programmes, aiming to an increased engagement in STEM careers. To accomplish these goals, a new and integrated approach (MELT) is presented, involving the main stakeholders in both scientific education and society. An education framework is presented, providing guidelines for an improved collaborative approach to STEM education in the future. Results from the pilot implementation of MELT are presented, from a small-scale education parliament prototype. From these initial stage and results, it is seen that there is a need for a proper alignment of expectations from all involved stakeholders, concerning the engineering education towards society’s demands.     

POSTCOLLEGE EARNINGS OF FORMER STUDENTS OF CALIFORNIA COMMUNITY COLLEGES: Methods, Analysis, and Implications

In the wake of new federal and state mandates,community colleges are faced with demands to provideaccountability reports on student outcomes. With the useof the Employment Development Department Unemployment Insurance (EDD-UI) wage record data, along withthe California Community Colleges Chancellor's OfficeManagement Information System administrative database,this study sought to investigate the extent to which completing an associate degree andvocational certificate impacts the postcollege earningsof students. Based on information from 700,564 studentsfrom California community colleges during the 1992-93 academic year, the findings suggest thatstudents' gains from first year out of college to thirdyear out will differ by age group. Among economicallydisadvantaged students, a strong positive relationship exists between educational attainment andpostcollege gains. An important finding among vocationalstudents is that as women complete more education, theearnings gap closes between men and women. Finally, this study raises several policy implicationsand presents suggestions for future research.     

The fatigue effect of a simulated futsal match protocol on sprint performance and kinematics of the lower limbs

This study aimed to investigate the fatigue effects induced by a futsal-specific protocol (FIRP) on sprint performance and the kinematics of the lower limbs. Twenty-one futsal players participated in this study and performed a protocol to simulate the futsal demands. At pre-protocol, half-time and post-protocol, the athletes performed 10-m sprints that were recorded for kinematic analysis. Continuous relative phase (CRP) was calculated to assess the inter-segmental coordination. In addition, vertical (K_VERT) and leg (K_LEG) stiffness were calculated. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) for repeated measures was used (P < 0.05). The main results showed that sprint time increased (P < 0.01) post-protocol when compared to pre- and half-time conditions. Lower values of the step rate (P = 0.01) and higher values of the leg angular velocity (P = 0.02) were verified at the end of the FIRP. The CRP of thigh–leg and leg–foot and the stiffness did not change over the protocol. In addition, the high correlation of CRP between the conditions revealed no changes in coordination pattern. We concluded that futsal related-fatigue induced a decrement on sprint time, changing the kinematics of the lower limbs (decreasing step rate and increasing leg angular velocity). However, neither stiffness nor intersegment coordination during sprints was affected by fatigue.     

Playing outdoor and practising sport: A study of physical activity levels in Portuguese children

In outdoor activities, it seems reasonable that the longer children spend in spontaneous physical activity (PA), the higher the probability of being active. Indeed, the time spent outdoor has been identified as a variable consistently associated with the children’s PA. Outdoor playing, such as the organized sports practice, appears associated with healthier lifestyle standards. All the recommendations mention the importance of increasing daily PA practice in children and teenagers, but few studies highlight the relationship between outdoor play and the recommended PA levels. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships between the frequency of outdoor play, the frequency of the organized sports practice, and the compliance of the recommendations for PA practice in children in the inner city area of Porto. The sample of this study is composed of 422 individuals (mean age of 11.6 years). Two hundred and twenty-five of them were girls and 197 were boys from the sixth grade (elementary schools located in the inner city area of Porto). PA was objectively evaluated using accelerometers. Participants reported frequency of participation in different PA contexts, such as sports practice and outdoor play. The results show a predictor effect of participating in sports three or more times per week on compliance of PA guidelines.

In conclusion, organized sports practice seems more effective than outdoor play to reach the recommended levels of PA in children.     

Horizontal ground reaction forces to stationary running performed in the water and on dry land at different physiological intensities

The aim of the present study was to compare the peak anterior–posterior (Fy) and medio–lateral (Fx) ground reaction forces (GRFs) of women performing stationary running at different intensities in aquatic and dry land environments. Fourteen young women performed the stationary running exercise at three cadences (first ventilatory threshold, second ventilatory threshold and maximum effort, as determined during exercise in water) in aquatic and dry land environments. Two-way repeated measures ANOVA was used to analyse the data (α?=?.05). As a result, significantly lower peak Fy anterior, Fy posterior, Fx medial and Fx lateral values were observed for the aquatic environment, except for the Fy posterior at the first ventilatory threshold. Significant differences were observed between cadences in the peak Fy anterior, Fy posterior, Fx medial and Fx lateral values, with higher values for the cadence corresponding to maximum effort compared to the first ventilatory threshold, except for the Fy posterior and Fx medial in the aquatic environment. The results indicate that the horizontal GRFs are reduced in the aquatic environment and depend on the intensity of stationary running exercise performance.     

Anaphoric reference strategies used in written language productions of deaf teenagers

There are few researchers who analyze written productions by deaf individuals; there are also few researchers who discuss the knowledge these people have about written text comprehension and production. For the present study, the investigators analyzed 16 written productions by four deaf individuals based on the anaphoric reference concept as recently proposed in textual linguistics (see, e.g., I. V. Koch & L. A. Marcuschi, 2002). It is important to show that referential progression is one of the textual aspects capable of giving stability and continuity to written productions; referential progression is also relevant to discursive coherence. The results of the writing analysis in the present study show that deaf individuals can learn to use expressive resources that are available in the Portuguese language and can use reference strategies, as long as these individuals can interact with a partner who knows Portuguese.