The values and purposes of human movement

Recognizing the role that physical activity has in assisting young children attain desired objectives, early childhood educators should continually be investigating avenues for involving children in movement experiences. Caregivers should be aware that for the child, movement is one of the most utilized vehicles of nonverbal interaction and expression. All children enjoy physical activity. Playing makes a child happy.Wayne Eastman is on the faculty of the Fisher Institute of Applied Arts and Technology (Early Childhood Education), Corner Brook, Newfoundland, Canada.     

A structural mechanics model for sports shoes: the heel strike

For a shod heel-striking runner, classical mechanics was used to predict the stresses and displacements for the shoe’s heel, with and without reinforcement. The shoe’s heel loading was based on a typical runner’s measured plantar pressure distribution fitted to a hemispheric pressure dome. Experiments showed that the shoe’s heel region was approximately linearly elastic, so that classical solutions were appropriate for an elastic half-space heel model. Here, the surface dome heel pressure within the heel area and image point loads beyond the heel boundary were superimposed to predict realistic heel boundary stresses and displacements. Results for two limiting boundary conditions were investigated: a vanishing radial boundary stress with maximum lateral heel bulging, and complete suppression of lateral bulging using radial heel reinforcement. The theoretical results herein can serve as guidelines for the development of a new class of running shoes with optimal heel reinforcement between these two boundary limits. This optimisation would lead to more comfortable and efficient running.     

Computer visualizations: factors that influence spatial anatomy comprehension

Computer visualizations are increasingly common in education across a range of subject disciplines, including anatomy. Despite optimism about their educational potential, students sometime have difficulty learning from these visualizations. The purpose of this study was to explore a range of factors that influence spatial anatomy comprehension before and after instruction with different computer visualizations. Three major factors were considered: (1) visualization ability (VZ) of learners, (2) dynamism of the visual display, and (3) interactivity of the system. Participants (N = 60) of differing VZs (high, low) studied a group of anatomical structures in one of three visual conditions (control, static, dynamic) and one of two interactive conditions (interactive, non-interactive). Before and after the study phase, participants' comprehension of spatial anatomical information was assessed using a multiple-choice spatial anatomy task (SAT) involving the mental rotation of the anatomical structures, identification of the structures in 2D cross-sections, and localization of planes corresponding to given cross-sections. Results indicate that VZ had a positive influence on SAT performance but instruction with different computer visualizations could modulate the effect of VZ on task performance.     

The relationship between subject headings for works of fiction and circulation in an academic library

Subject headings for individual works of fiction have appeared on LC cataloging copy from the inception of the OCLC/LC Fiction Project in 1991. This study seeks to determine whether there is any relationship between the number of subject or genre headings per fiction record and mean circulation per record. Analysis of results indicates that no statistically significant correlation exists. Recommendation for a similar analysis of data from a public library is made.