Validating the multimedia activity recall for children and adolescents in a large New Zealand sample

Abstract

The aim of the study was to validate the self-report Multimedia Activity Recall for Children and Adolescents (MARCA) against accelerometry for the assessment of physical activity in New Zealand children. Participants (n = 716, 10–18 years) recalled 3–4 days of activity using the MARCA and underwent a partially overlapping 7-day accelerometry protocol during a national survey. Spearman correlation coefficients (ρ) assessed the association between accelerometer-derived counts per minute and MARCA-derived physical activity level and time in locomotion. Both data sources estimated time spent in light and moderate–vigorous physical activity. Association and agreement between methods for light physical activity and moderate–vigorous physical activity was assessed using correlations and Bland–Altman plots respectively, and paired t-tests conducted. Accelerometer-derived activity counts were moderately correlated with both MARCA-derived physical activity level and locomotion (ρ = 0.38, P < 0.0001). The correlation between methods was –0.14 for light physical activity and 0.28 for moderate–vigorous physical activity (P < 0.0001). The MARCA overestimated moderate–vigorous physical activity compared with accelerometry (120 min, P < 0.0001), which increased as moderate–vigorous physical activity time increased. Some sex and ethnicity (Māori [indigenous] versus non-Māori) differences were observed. Overall, the MARCA indicated moderate validity for assessment of physical activity level, locomotion and moderate–vigorous physical activity and poor validity for assessment of light physical activity. This was comparable to other self-report tools. The MARCA has utility for future large-scale research.     

The accuracy and precision of DXA for assessing body composition in team sport athletes

Abstract

This study determined the precision of pencil and fan beam dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) devices for assessing body composition in professional Australian Football players. Thirty-six professional Australian Football players, in two groups (fan DXA, N = 22; pencil DXA, N = 25), underwent two consecutive DXA scans. A whole body phantom with known values for fat mass, bone mineral content and fat-free soft tissue mass was also used to validate each DXA device. Additionally, the criterion phantom was scanned 20 times by each DXA to assess reliability. Test–retest reliability of DXA anthropometric measures were derived from repeated fan and pencil DXA scans. Fat-free soft tissue mass and bone mineral content from both DXA units showed strong correlations with, and trivial differences to, the criterion phantom values. Fat mass from both DXA showed moderate correlations with criterion measures (pencil: r = 0.64; fan: r = 0.67) and moderate differences with the criterion value. The limits of agreement were similar for both fan beam DXA and pencil beam DXA (fan: fat-free soft tissue mass = ?1650 ± 179 g, fat mass = ?357 ± 316 g, bone mineral content = 289 ± 122 g; pencil: fat-free soft tissue mass = ?1701 ± 257 g, fat mass = ?359 ± 326 g, bone mineral content = 177 ± 117 g). DXA also showed excellent precision for bone mineral content (coefficient of variation (%CV) fan = 0.6%; pencil = 1.5%) and fat-free soft tissue mass (%CV fan = 0.3%; pencil = 0.5%) and acceptable reliability for fat measures (%CV fan: fat mass = 2.5%, percent body fat = 2.5%; pencil: fat mass = 5.9%, percent body fat = 5.7%). Both DXA provide precise measures of fat-free soft tissue mass and bone mineral content in lean Australian Football players. DXA-derived fat-free soft tissue mass and bone mineral content are suitable for assessing body composition in lean team sport athletes.     

Eight-Week Traditional Mat Pilates Training-Program Effects on Adult Fitness Characteristics

We investigated responses of adult, novice practitioners (n = 9) to an 8-week traditional mat Pilates program (P) that met 1 hr/day three times/week. Classes consisted primarily of beginner and intermediate level exercises. Compared to an active control group (C; n = 13) that showed no improvements, those in P significantly (p < .05) improved relative body fat (-1.2%BF), sit-and-reach (+7.5 cm), shoulder reach (+6.9 cm), curl-up (+14 reps), and low back extension (+7 reps) scores, as well as circumferences at the waist (-2.7 cm), chest (-1.7 cm), and arm (-0.5 cm). Baseline differences were noted only for curl-ups and low back extensions, with P being lower than C. Body composition, muscular endurance, and flexibility significantly improved after 8 weeks of traditional mat Pilates.     

A repeated-measures examination of organizational stressors,perceived psychological and physical health,and perceived performance in semi-elite athletes

ABSTRACT

Organizational stressors can undermine the psychological well-being and performance of athletes. Less is known, however, about how these relationships unfold over time and whether organizational stressors can impact upon perceived physical health. The current study, therefore, used a repeated-measures design to examine relationships between organizational stressors with components of perceived psychological (anxiety and depression) and physical (illness symptoms and missed training days via illness) ill-health, and perceived performance at the within-person level. Twenty-three semi-elite female rowers completed monthly measures of study variables for six-months. Multilevel models indicated that selection-related stressors positively predicted symptoms of perceived psychological and physical ill-health, and negatively predicted perceived performance. Conversely, coaching stressors negatively predicted symptoms of perceived psychological ill-health. Logistics and operations stressors positively predicted perceived performance, whereas goals and development stressors negatively predicted perceived performance. These findings demonstrate for the first time that, with a repeated-measures design, organizational stressors can predict components of perceived physical and psychological ill-health, and perceived performance at the within-person level in athletes. From a practical perspective, practitioners should incorporate these findings when diagnosing the need for, developing, and optimally implementing primary and secondary stress management interventions.     

“Doing things differently” and “striking while the iron was hot”: The entrepreneurial successes of the media magnate George Newnes, 1881–1910

George Newnes became one of the most influential popular publishers of the age of New Journalism, and was probably Britian’s first media magnate. He published a vast number and variety of journals in the period from 1881 until his death in 1910, editing some of these, but leaving an impression upon all of them. Newnes’s periodicals included Tit-Bits (1881), Strand Magazine (1891), The Million (1892), Westminster Gazette (1893), Country Life (1897), The Ladies Field (1898), Wide World Magazine (1898), The Captain (1899), and C.B. Fry’s Magazine (1904). Newnes was an innovator, and a publishing entrepreneur. This paper will focus on the entrepreneurial aspects of Newnes’s publishing ventures and the novel technological and promotional techniques pioneered by him. The analysis will focus upon such techniques as promotional schenesm advertising, production and illustration, the employment and promotion of popular authors, editors and illustrators, publicity, market segmentation, and financing. The concluding section consists of an investigation into some of the rhetoric that has been applied to Newnes’s publishing career, and the way in which, as publishing entrepreneur and media magnate, Newnes’s successes have been cast within a continuing debate over popular literature, New Journalism and the commercialization of the popular press in the late-nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Kate Jackson is currently completing a Ph.D. in History on “George Newnes, New Journalism and the Reading Publics, 1881–1910.”     

Diverse Expectations and Access to Opportunities: is there a Graduate Labour Market?

Restructuring of the labour market has led to changing demand for skills and concern about potential mismatch between needs of employers and competences developed in higher education courses. This paper extends analysis of the Great Expectations survey of UK final-year undergraduates in 1996 to explore the development of skills and competences in different disciplinary areas and the anticipated career trajectories of students. A detailed assessment is undertaken of the extent to which respondents appear prepared, both in terms of the employment-related skills they consider they have developed as undergraduates and in their expectations, for the changes which have taken place in the labour market in the latter part of the twentieth century. While findings from transitional early careers need to be interpreted cautiously, it does appear that expectations varied less than emerging outcomes for this cohort in the vanguard of mass higher education. Subject and gender differences in expectations and outcomes were significant and 'non-traditional' graduates were more likely than others to report that they were experiencing difficulties in the transition from education to employment. The graduates themselves had a flexible approach to the labour market but it seems that employers may have more inflexible recruitment graduate practices. Further research is required but there is clearly a danger that wider access may not lead to correspondingly wider career opportunities.     

Deriving word meanings from context: does explanation facilitate contextual analysis?

The ability to derive the meanings of words from supportive story contexts was studied in 45 7‐ to 8‐year‐olds. Children read short stories each containing a different novel word and defined the word at the end of each story. There were three intervention sessions. One group was asked to justify their definition and subsequently received feedback on its accuracy. A second group was given feedback first and asked to explain how the experimenter knew the correct answer. A third (control) received feedback only. In general, practice led to improved performance, with an increased number of children in all groups using the story context to derive meanings for the novel words in a post‐intervention test. Children in the two explanation groups made the greatest gains in definition accuracy. The implications for teaching vocabulary learning skills are discussed.