Effects of roller massager on muscle recovery after exercise-induced muscle damage

Two experiments (n = 10) were conducted to determine the effects of roller massager (RM) on ankle plantar flexor muscle recovery after exercise-induced muscle damage (EIMD). Experiment 1 examined both functional [i.e., ankle plantar flexion maximal isometric contraction and submaximal (30%) sustained force; ankle dorsiflexion maximal range of motion and resistance to stretch; and medial gastrocnemius pain pressure threshold] and morphological [cross-sectional area, thickness, fascicle length, and fascicle angle] variables, before and immediately, 1, 24, 48, and 72 h after an EIMD stimulus. Experiment 2 examined medial gastrocnemius deoxyhaemoglobin concentration kinetics before and 48 h after EIMD. Participants performed both experiments twice: with (RM) and without (no-roller massager; NRM) the application of a RM (6 × 45 s; 20-s rest between sets). RM intervention did not alter the functional impairment after EIMD, as well as the medial gastrocnemius morphology and oxygenation kinetics (P > 0.05). Although, an acute increase of ipsilateral (RM = + 19%, NRM = ?5%, P = 0.032) and a strong tendency for contralateral (P = 0.095) medial gastrocnemius pain pressure threshold were observed. The present results suggest that a RM has no effect on plantar flexors performance, morphology, and oxygenation recovery after EIMD, except for muscle pain pressure threshold (i.e., a soreness).     

Clustering performances in the NBA according to players’ anthropometric attributes and playing experience

The aim of this study was: (i) to group basketball players into similar clusters based on a combination of anthropometric characteristics and playing experience; and (ii) explore the distribution of players (included starters and non-starters) from different levels of teams within the obtained clusters. The game-related statistics from 699 regular season balanced games were analyzed using a two-step cluster model and a discriminant analysis. The clustering process allowed identifying five different player profiles: Top height and weight (HW) with low experience, TopHW-LowE; Middle HW with middle experience, MiddleHW-MiddleE; Middle HW with top experience, MiddleHW-TopE; Low HW with low experience, LowHW-LowE; Low HW with middle experience, LowHW-MiddleE. Discriminant analysis showed that TopHW-LowE group was highlighted by two-point field goals made and missed, offensive and defensive rebounds, blocks, and personal fouls; whereas the LowHW-LowE group made fewest passes and touches. The players from weaker teams were mostly distributed in LowHW-LowE group, whereas players from stronger teams were mainly grouped in LowHW-MiddleE group; and players that participated in the finals were allocated in the MiddleHW-MiddleE group. These results provide alternative references for basketball staff concerning the process of evaluating performance.     

Government Grants to Private Cultural Institutions–The Effects of a Change in the Italian Legislation

In Italy, the Regular Grant is the most important subsidy to private cultural institutions. Since 1996, law 534/96 has regulated its provision. This law greatly improves on the previous legislation, as it redefines the prerequisites to become a recipient and specifies performance indicators to which the size of the grant must be tied. This paper examines the effects of the introduction of the new law, the characteristics of the government choice process and the redistribution profile of these grants using a variety of estimating techniques on official data gathered for the purpose.     

Archival science facing the information society

It is only a few decades ago that archivists befan to redefine theirdiscipline in terms of a science. This redefinition of archives and records management was the consequence of a growing need for an adequate expression referring to a comprehensive new body of knowledge on records and archives. Consensus on how to adequately define archival sciencehas not been achieved yet, however. As information society evolves,records and archives are changing in nature and status. It is anemerging discipline that has to be defined, which is still bearsthe impress of the mindset and practices of the industrial society.Bruno Delmas shows the archivist some clues to find a way out of thisambiguity and keep communicating human heritage to unknown generations.     

State Support and Creativity in the Arts: Some New Considerations

Neglected aspects of state support for the arts are discussed through posing two questions. First, “What kind of state is providing that support?” The extent and type of public support and its effects on the arts crucially depends on whether the state is centralised or decentralised, and on whether it is authoritarian or democratic. Second, “How is artistic creativity fostered?” ”Institutional creativity” is best supported by attributing a large role to the market and market-like institutions. “Personal creativity” hinges on intrinsic motivation, which may be crowded out by different types of public support. Important consequences for the public support of the arts follow.     

The Relationship Between Tutoring Mode and Learners’ use of Help Tools in Distance Education

This article presents an experimental study demonstrating how 120 learners use help tools in a virtual learning set-up. More specifically, several types of tutoring are investigated to find out the extent of the use of help tools in each. The effects of two independent variables which may have an impact on the behaviour of learners are studied: (1) whether or not they have access to a human tutor (HT) and (2) the tutor’s means of intervention (reactive or proactive). One of the goals of the study is to determine whether these modes of tutoring can influence positively or negatively distance learners’ use of lexical, conceptual, metacognitive and navigational help tools. The results of analysis of variance show that it is useless to prompt (effect of proactivity) learners to use the help that is available to them but that prompting is sometimes more subtle than initially foreseen. It appears that the presence of an HT pushes learners to use help tools, but this effect (of the presence of the HT) is still relatively weak and therefore may not justify the cost of employing a human tutor. It is also important to show the necessary intrinsic quality of the tools made available in order for a given mode of tutoring to have an effect on their use.     

Use of the K‐ABC with Children in Zaire,Africa: An Evaluation of the Sequential‐Simultaneous Processing Distinction within an Intercultural Context

There is a continuing need for formalised assessment procedures that can be adapted for group comparisons across diverse cultures to facilitate school and occupational placement, as well as to evaluate the effectiveness of nutritional, education, and medical intervention programs. This study used a direct translation of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K‐ABC) to evaluate 130 Zairian primary school children. The distinction between Sequential Processing and Simultaneous Processing abilities on the K‐ABC was generally found to be valid in this sample. The K‐ABC also discriminated effectively among grade levels, differences in health and family environment indicators, and tribal membership. Reasonable test‐retest correlations for the K‐ABC global scales were also found with a subsample of the children. The Zairian children's K‐ABC scores, particularly for the Simultaneous subtests, were markedly lower than the American normative sample. Education and experiential factors inherent in the sub‐Sahara environment may put these children at a significant cultural disadvantage in terms of the skills required for successful completion of K‐ABC items.