Are the new starting block facilities beneficial for backstroke start performance?

We aimed to analyse the handgrip positioning and the wedge effects on the backstroke start performance and technique. Ten swimmers completed randomly eight 15 m backstroke starts (four with hands on highest horizontal and four on vertical handgrip) performed with and without wedge. One surface and one underwater camera recorded kinematic data. Standardised mean difference (SMD) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were used. Handgrip positioning did not affect kinematics with and without wedge use. Handgrips horizontally positioned and feet over wedge displayed greater knee angular velocity than without it (SMD = ?0.82; 95% CI: ?1.56, ?0.08). Hands vertically positioned and feet over wedge presented greater take-off angle (SMD = ?0.81; 95% CI: ?1.55, ?0.07), centre of mass (CM) vertical positioning at first water contact (SMD = ?0.97; 95% CI: ?1.87, ?0.07) and CM vertical velocity at CM immersion (SMD = 1.03; 95% CI: 0.08, 1.98) when comparing without wedge use. Swimmers extended the hip previous to the knee and ankle joints, except for the variant with hands vertically positioned without wedge (SMD = 0.75; 95% CI: ?0.03, 1.53). Swimmers should preserve biomechanical advantages achieved during flight with variant with hands vertically positioned and wedge throughout entry and underwater phase.     

Antipsychotics-induced hyperprolactinemia and screening for macroprolactin

IntroductionHigh prolactin (PRL) concentrations are found in laboratory test results of patients on majority of antipsychotic drugs. Prevalence rates and degrees of severity of hyperprolactinemia (HPRL) based on PRL concentration may depend on the presence of macroprolactin in the serum. The aim of the study was to investigate the difference between PRL concentrations before and after precipitation of macroprolactin and to examine if there were any changes in the categorization of HPRL between samples prior and after precipitation.Materials and methodsTotal of 98 female patients (median age 33; range 19-47 years) diagnosed with a psychotic disorder, proscribed antipsychotic drugs, and with HPRL were included. Total PRL concentration and PRL concentration after macroprolactin precipitation with polyethylene glycol (postPEG-PRL) were determined by the chemiluminometric method on the Beckman Coulter Access2 analyser.ResultsTotal PRL concentrations (median 1471; IQC: 1064-2016 mlU/L) and postPEG-PRL concentrations (median 1453; IQC: 979-1955 mlU/L) were significantly correlated using intraclass correlation coefficient for single measurements (mean estimation 0.96; 95%CI 0.93-0.97) and average measurement (mean estimation 0.98; 95%CI 0.96-0.99), and all investigated female patient had HPRL according to PRL and postPEG-PRL concentration. The median PRL recovery following PEG precipitation was 95; IQC: 90-100%. There was substantial agreement (kappa test = 0.859, 95% CI: 0.764-0.953) between the categories of HPRL severity based on total PRL concentrations and postPEG-PRL concentrations.ConclusionThe study demonstrated that HPRL was present in all subjects using the reference interval for total PRL concentration and postPEG-PRL concentration with no significant impact of macroprolactin presence in the serum on the categorization of patients according to severity of HPRL.     

Impact sports and bone fractures among adolescents

The objective of the present study was to investigate the effects of different sports on stress fractures among adolescents during a 9-month follow-up period. The sample was composed of 184 adolescents divided into three groups (impact sports [n = 102]; swimming [n = 35]; non-sports [n = 47]). The occurrence of stress fracture was reported by participants and coaches. As potential confounders we considered age, sex, resistance training, body composition variables and age at peak of height velocity. There were 13 adolescents who reported fractures during the 9-month period. Bone mineral density values were higher in adolescents engaged in impact sports (P-value = 0.002). Independently of confounders, the risk of stress fracture was lower in adolescents engaged in impact sports than in non-active adolescents (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.23 [95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.05 to 0.98]), while swimming practice was not associated to lower risk of fracture (HR = 0.49 [95% CI = 0.09 to 2.55]). In conclusion, the findings from this study indicate the importance of sports participation among adolescents in the reduction of stress fracture risk, especially with impact sports. More importantly, these results could be relevant for recognising adolescents in danger of not reaching their potential for peak bone mass and later an increased risk of fractures.     

Teaching of Energy Issues: A Debate Proposal for a Global Reorientation

The growing awareness of serious difficulties in the learning of energy issues has produced a great deal of research, most of which is focused on specific conceptual aspects. In our opinion, the difficulties pointed out in the literature are interrelated and connected to other aspects (conceptual as well as procedural and axiological), which are not sufficiently taken into account in previous research. This paper aims to carry out a global analysis in order to avoid the more limited approaches that deal only with individual aspects. From this global analysis we have outlined 24 propositions that are put forward for debate to lay the foundations for a profound reorientation of the teaching of energy topics in upper high school courses, in order to facilitate a better scientific understanding of these topics, avoid many students’ misconceptions and enhance awareness of the current situation of planetary emergency. This paper has been conceived as a contribution to the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, established by the UN General Assembly for the period 2005–2014.     

Educational perspectives for elderly migrants: A case of Soviet refugees

Modern human migration is characterized by a large number of elderly immigrants, who are coming to the United States from developing countries as refugees. The emigration from the Soviet Union during the last 20 years presents a unique phenomenon in modern human migration because of (1) the high percentage of the elderly, about 17%; (2) origination from urban areas and rather high level of education; (3) beliefs and attitudes developed under the Soviet political, economic and cultural system; (4) non-minority status in the United States; and (5) strong support from the American Jewish community. The greatest problem in adjustment of the elderly is English fluency, because language determines the utilization of health services and social support which they need and which are available from the agencies. Special education programs for these elderly with bilingual/bicultural instructors must be identified as one of the most important intervention approaches. There is another educational strategy for the immigrant population which must be promoted: training/retraining of bilingual/bicultural professionals in geriatrics. American professionals who deal with the elderly Soviets must also be educated about Soviet culture, system of social welfare, health practices and social behavior.

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Zusammenfassung Moderne Völkerwanderungen sind von einer großen Anzahl älterer Immigranten geprägt, die als Flüchtlinge aus Entwicklungsländern in die Vereinigten Staaten kommen. Die Auswanderung aus der Sowjetunion in den letzten 20 Jahren stellt ein einzigartiges Phänomen in der modernen Völkerwanderung dar. Gründe dafür sind (1) der hohe Prozentsatz an älterer Bevölkerung, ungefähr 17%, (2) Herkunft aus Stadtgebieten und ein ziemlich hoher Bildungsstand, (3) unter dem sowjetischen politischen, ökonomischen und kulturellen System entwickelte Geisteshaltung und Glauben, (4) Nicht-Zugehörigkeit zu Minoritäten in den Vereinigten Staaten, (5) starke Unterstützung durch die amerikanische jüdische Gemeinde. Das größte Anpassungsproblem der Älteren ist die Beherrschung der englischen Sprache, da dies die Inanspruchname der Gesundheitsleistungen und sozialer Unterstützung bestimmt, die benötigt und von den Ämtern angeboten werden. Besondere Bildungsprogramme für Ältere mit zweisprachigen/bi-kulturellen Lehrern müssen als wichtigste Hilfsmaßnahme betrachtet werden. Es gibt eine andere förderungswürdige Komponente der Bildungsstragie für Immigranten: Fortbildungen/Umschulungen von zweisprachigen/bi-kulturellen Betreuern für ältere Menschen. Amerikanische Betreuer, die sich mit den älteren Sowjets befassen, müssen auch über die sowjetische Kultur, das Wohlfahrtssystem, Gesundheitspraktiken und soziales Verhalten unterrichtet sein.

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Résumé La migration humaine se caractérise de nos jours par un grand nombre d'immigrants âgés, qui arrivent de pays en développement aux Etats-Unis en tant que réfugiés. Le mouvement d'émigration venant de l'Union soviétique durant les vingt dernières années présente un phénomène unique dans la migration humaine moderne en raison (1) du pourcentage élevé de personnes âgées, d'environ 17%, (2) de leur origine urbaine et de leur niveau d'instruction élevé, (3) des croyances et attitudes qu'elles ont acquises dans le système politique, économique et culturel soviétique, (4) de leur statut non minoritaire aux Etats-Unis et (5) du soutien puissant qui leur est apporté par la communauté juive américaine. Le plus grand problème d'adaptation de ces personnes âgées est la maîtrise de l'anglais, du fait que la langue détermine l'utilisation des services de santé et sociaux dont elles ont besoin et qui sont offerts par les agences. Les programmes d'éducation spéciaux destinés à ces personnes âgées, avec des instructeurs bilingues et biculturels, doivent être définis comme l'une des approches d'intervention les plus importantes. Il convient également de promouvoir une autre stratégie éducative pour la population immigrante, à savoir la formation et le recyclage des professionnels bilingues et biculturels en gériatrie. Les experts américains qui travaillent avec les émigrés soviétiques âgés doivent aussi s'informer au sujet de la culture, du système de sécurité sociale, des pratiques sanitaires et du comportement social qui étaient en vigueur dans leur pays.

     

Integrating Scaffolding Strategies Into Technology-Enhanced Assessments of English Learners: Task Types and Measurement Models

This article investigates ways to improve the assessment of English learner students' English language proficiency given the current movement of creating next-generation English language proficiency assessments in the Common Core era. In particular, this article discusses the integration of scaffolding strategies, which are prevalently utilized as an instructional strategy for English learner students, into the design of technology-enhanced assessment tasks. The article includes sample tasks and student responses to illustrate the design of scaffolding assessment tasks and their potential to increase the accuracy of measuring students' English language proficiency. We also explore possible scoring and psychometric models for the scaffolding tasks in large-scale standardized assessments.     

Metacognitive strategies and reading comprehension in elementary-school students

The aim of this study was to explore comprehension monitoring and perceived use of reading strategies as factors of reading comprehension. Participants were elementary school students from the fifth to the eighth grade. Error correction and text sensitivity tasks from the Metacomprehension test (Pazzaglia, De Beni, &; Cristante, 1994). and the cloze-task were used as measures of comprehension monitoring during reading. A Strategic reading questionnaire (Koli?-Vehovec &; Baj?anski, 2001b) was applied as a measure of perceived use of strategies during reading. Girls had better results than boys on text comprehension, all measures of comprehension monitoring, as well as on the Strategic reading questionnaire. Significant developmental improvements in comprehension monitoring occurred after the fifth grade and between the sixth and the eighth grade. A similar change was evident in reading comprehension. All measures of comprehension monitoring were significantly related to text comprehension in all age groups. However, perceived use of reading strategies was significantly related to reading comprehension only in eighth-grade students.     

Learning in a game-based virtual environment: a comparative evaluation in higher education

The authors define the requirements and a conceptual model for comparative evaluation research of simulation games and serious games (SGs) in a learning context. A first operationalisation of the model was used to comparatively evaluate a suite of 14 SGs on varying topics played between 2004 and 2009 in 13 institutes of higher education in the Netherlands. The questions in this research were: what is the perceived learning effectiveness of the games and what factors explain it? How can we comparatively evaluate games for learning? Data were gathered through pre- and post-game questionnaires among 1000 students, leading to 500 useful datasets and 230 complete datasets for analysis (factor analysis, scaling, t-test and correlation analysis) to give an explorative, structural model. The findings are discussed and a number of propositions for further research are formulated. The conclusion of the analysis is that the students’ motivation and attitudes towards game-based learning before the game, their actual enjoyment, their efforts during the game and the quality of the facilitator/teacher are most strongly correlated with their learning satisfaction. The degree to which the experiences during the game were translated back into the underlying theories significantly determines the students’ learning satisfaction. The quality of the virtual game environment did not matter so much. The authors reflect upon the general methodology used and offer suggestions for further research and development.