Analyzing Food Science Research for Publishing Characteristics as a Model for Understanding the Needs of Researchers

Abstract

This paper provides a methodology to study the characteristics of the research output from a university department. The faculty publications and their cited references over a 10-year period were used as the basis for this study to identify their publishing patterns and the types of material they are publishing; a core set of journals and other resources they are publishing in and citing over this period; the characteristics of the journals in which they publish and cite; the degree of openness of their publications and their citation advantage; and the age of resources that are referenced.     

RESEARCH SECTION: The self‐esteem of pupils in schools for pupils with social,emotional and behavioural difficulties: myth and reality

The self‐esteem of pupils has long been regarded as a key variable affecting both pupils' learning and behaviour, although the relationship between the two may not be as strong as many in education have always assumed. In this article, Jeremy Swinson, an educational psychologist and honorary lecturer in educational psychology at Liverpool John Moores University, reports the findings from a study in two parts. Firstly, an examination was made of 35 Statements written by officers from seven different education authorities in the north‐west of England for pupils attending two independent schools that specialise in working with pupils with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD). It was found that, of the 35 Statements examined, 34 included self‐esteem as one area of special need. The second phase of the study examined the self‐esteem of 60 pupils in four specialist schools for pupils with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties. The results showed that the average scores for self‐esteem for both the primary and secondary sample were very similar to the scores obtained by previous researchers in mainstream schools. However, it was apparent that more pupils than expected appeared to have either very low or very high self‐esteem. In terms of locus of control, it was found that a large number of secondary pupils had a high score although this was not found to be the case for the primary pupils in the sample. Jeremy Swinson discusses these results and presents his analysis of their implications for teachers, educational psychologists and education officers.     

Influence of sex and specialty on the prediction of middle-distance running performances using the Mercier et al.’s nomogram

The aim was to test the influence of sex and specialty (3000, 5000 and 10000 m) on the validity of middle-distance running performance predictions obtained from the Mercier et al.’s nomogram. Consequently, we examined all official French track running rankings for the 3000-, 5000- and 10000-m events (men and women) from 2006 to 2012. A scoring table was used to determine the runners’ specialties. Only runners who performed in the three distance events within the same year were included (75 women and 400 men). The Mercier et al.’s nomogram was used to predict one running performance from the other two. The results showed no significant difference between actual and predicted running performances (P = 0.77). Female runners had significantly lower performances than male runners (P < 0.001). Specialty did not influence performances (P = 0.11). Very high correlations were found between actual and predicted performances (0.91 < r < 0.99), with the exception of women (r = 0.85) in 5000 m. Moreover, low limits of agreement were obtained for male and female runners, whatever the specialty. These results support the validity of the nomogram to predict running performance in the 3000-, 5000- and 10000-m events for male and female runners, whatever the specialty. The predicted running performances may be used in training programmes (e.g., to prescribe tempo runs) and competitions (e.g., to establish split times).     

Fostering Instructor Knowledge of Student Thinking Using The Flipped Classroom

Abstract

In this article, we share a model of flipped instruction that allowed us to gain a window into our students’ mathematical thinking. We depict how that increased awareness of student thinking shaped our mathematics instruction in productive ways. Drawing on our experiences with students in our own classrooms, we show how flipped instruction can be used to design experiences that help students make sense of mathematics during class sessions.     

The 2010 Benjamin Franklin medal in Computer and Cognitive Science presented to Shafrira Goldwasser,Ph.D.

The Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, awards the 2010 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Computer and Cognitive Science to Professor Shafrira Goldwasser for fundamental work contributing to the theoretical foundation of modern cryptography and leading to techniques that mathematically guarantee secure access to the internet. More precisely, she is recognized for key contributions in provable security and in particular for interactive and zero-knowledge proofs and their application to cryptography and complexity theory.     

The oxygen-conserving potential of the diving response: A kinetic-based analysis

We investigated the oxygen-conserving potential of the human diving response by comparing trained breath-hold divers (BHDs) to non-divers (NDs) during simulated dynamic breath-holding (BH). Changes in haemodynamics [heart rate (HR), stroke volume (SV), cardiac output (CO)] and peripheral muscle oxygenation [oxyhaemoglobin ([HbO₂]), deoxyhaemoglobin ([HHb]), total haemoglobin ([tHb]), tissue saturation index (TSI)] and peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO₂) were continuously recorded during simulated dynamic BH. BHDs showed a breaking point in HR kinetics at mid-BH immediately preceding a more pronounced drop in HR (?0.86 bpm.%^?1) while HR kinetics in NDs steadily decreased throughout BH (?0.47 bpm.%^?1). By contrast, SV remained unchanged during BH in both groups (all P > 0.05). Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) results (mean ± SD) expressed as percentage changes from the initial values showed a lower [HHb] increase for BHDs than for NDs at the cessation of BH (+24.0 ± 10.1 vs. +39.2 ± 9.6%, respectively; P < 0.05). As a result, BHDs showed a [tHb] drop that NDs did not at the end of BH (?7.3 ± 3.2 vs. ?3.0 ± 4.7%, respectively; P < 0.05). The most striking finding of the present study was that BHDs presented an increase in oxygen-conserving efficiency due to substantial shifts in both cardiac and peripheral haemodynamics during simulated BH. In addition, the kinetic-based approach we used provides further credence to the concept of an “oxygen-conserving breaking point” in the human diving response.