Active video games in fully immersive virtual reality elicit moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and improve cognitive performance in sedentary college students

Background:Active video games are a new method for increasing physical activity(PA).Fully immersive virtual reality(VR)is a hardware device on which an active video game can run.Active(video games in)VR(AVR),might increase immersion,game engagement,and moderate-to-vigorous PA(MVPA),thereby yielding greater exercise-related benefits,e.g.,cognitive performance.Methods:We examined the induction of MVPA via an AVR and a sedentary VR(SVR)as well as the effects of VR play on cognitive performance,which was monitored using 2 different methods.Each of 29 sedentary college students attended three 20-min laboratory sessions(AVR,SVR,or control)in a randomized order;during the control session,they sat quietly doing nothing.A fully immersive headset was used for the 2 video game sessions.We monitored and computed participants’PA using hip-wom accelerometers(wGT3 x-bt;ActiGraph,Pensacola,FL,USA)and a heart rate band(Polar H7;Polar,Kempele,Finland).After each session,the participants completed a mnemonic similarity test(MST)to measure recognition memory.They also filled out a motion sickness questionnaire and an abbreviated game experience questionnaire.Results:The AVR session induced a significantly greater heart rate and more time spent in MVPA than did either of the other 2 sessions regardless of the PA monitoring method.AVR elicited greater game experience questionnaire-assessed sensory and imaginative immersion,challenge,and positive affect than did SVR.The mnemonic similarity test recognition score was marginally higher post-AVR session than it was post-SVR session.Conclusion:AVR elicited MVPA without a significant increase in motion sickness and induced a better game experience and better borderline cognitive performance than did SVR.     

The path to information in the public domain: Official publications in Spain

Official publications are aimed towards editing and spreading the messages created by governments and other bodies of the public domain. At the beginning, the aim of this activity is twofold: on the one hand, fulfilling the principle of publicity of the norms, as it constitutes a basis for the efficiency of those, and, on the other hand, fulfilling a general function of information about the activities of public authorities. As the action of government generalises, this function of communication between those governing and those governed has extended to other fields of activity, thus, free and pay materials, both printed and electronic, are published.     

Labor force experience and earnings: Women with children

Married women with children are observed to earn less than men, and less also than women without children. Differences in the hourly wage rates of individuals of the same age and with the same educational attainment may reflect, in part, differences in labor force experience. While interruption in the work experience of women is recognized as an important cause of lower current wage rates, less attention has been directed to the impact of child-related reductions in hours worked when women are in the labor force. This paper examines the impact of hours worked in all past periods on the current wage rate. Our model, in which the ‘intensity’ of an individual's work experience in any period can vary from 0 (no work) to 100% (full-time work), is contrasted with the standard human capital earnings function, in which intensity is assumed to be 100% in every period subsequent to the completion of school. Using a new data set, both models are estimated for a sample of working mothers. Contrasting the wages of the women in this sample with the wages of their husbands, we find that differences in the intensity of prior work experience account for approximately half of the observed sex-related wage gap.     

Junior high school science teacher preparation,teaching behavior,and student achievement

The findings challenge both practices and prejudices in junior high school science teacher preparation.     

Universal museums, museum objects and repatriation: The tangled stories of things

This paper discusses the contribution of the 2003 ‘Declaration on the Importance and Value of Universal Museums’ to the debate on repatriation. The ‘Universalist’ approach taken by the Declaration is first considered, noting the implications of its emphasis on art, the heritage of museums and objects, along with its focus on the sculpture of ancient Greece and the enlightenment origin of museums such as the British Museum. It is argued that it reveals an essentialist approach that derives from a particular Western perspective, rather than being truly ‘universal’, and then considers whether a similar problem underlies many of the arguments advocating repatriation. The second part of the paper explores the opportunities offered by an approach which emphasises the ‘biography of objects’. This demonstrates how the tangled histories of objects and their many meanings can be considered. Repatriation is shown to be able to result in an increase in knowledge and understanding, rather than its destruction, and so meets the declared aim of the Declaration to ‘foster knowledge by a continuous process of reinterpretation’.     

Experiential learning or exploitation? Volunteering for work experience in the UK museums sector

Aspiring museums professionals often have to volunteer outside of formal study programmes in order to gain paid work in the UK museums sector. Volunteering for work experience however, has been largely ignored by previous studies of museum volunteers. This paper aims to provide an insight into the extent of volunteering for work experience and the experiences of these would-be museum workers. The paper presents the result of a postal questionnaire and interviews with both volunteers and managers. A key problem for museums is the resources needed to provide meaningful work experience. For volunteers, a worthwhile work experience placement appears to be almost entirely due to luck and finding a mentor. Voluntary experience therefore seems to be more about developing contacts than learning museum-specific skills. Recommendations are made for improving the volunteers’ experience.     

The looming crisis in federal records management

Federal records management faces many challenges today. Too few records, both in the traditional formats and the newer electronic ones, are being appraised or transferred to the National Archives when required. Although the National Archives and Records Administration has several major initiatives underway to remedy the problem, additonal actions must be taken as well.     

Do expenditures other than instructional expenditures affect graduation and persistence rates in American higher education?

During the last two decades, median instructional spending per full-time equivalent (FTE) student at American 4-year colleges and universities has grown at a slower rate than median spending per FTE student in a number of other expenditure categories, including academic support, student services and research. Our paper uses institutional level panel data and a variety of econometric approaches, including unconditional quantile regression methods, to analyze whether these non-instructional expenditure categories influence graduation and first-year persistence rates of undergraduate students.