Physiological responses in different intensities of resistance exercise – Critical load and the effects of aging process

Aim was to identify critical load (CL) in young and elderly apparently healthy male cohorts. To contrast the metabolic, cardiovascular and perceptual responses on CL according to age. We evaluated 12 young (23 ± 3 years) and 10 elderly (70 ± 2 years) apparently healthy active males, who underwent: (1) 1 repetition maximum (1RM) test on a 45° Leg Press; (2) on different days, three high-intensity resistance exercise constant load tests (60%, 75% and 90% 1RM) until fatigue (Tlim). Absolute values of both the CL asymptote and curvature constant (kg) were significantly lower in elderly subjects (P < 0.05). In contrast, elderly subjects demonstrated a significantly higher number of repetitions at CL when compared with young subjects (P < 0.05). As expected, oxygen uptake (VO₂) and heart rate (HR) during maximal aerobic exercise testing were significantly reduced in older subjects. However, percent-predicted aerobic capacity were higher in older subjects (P < 0.05). In addition, blood lactate ([La^?]) corrected to Tlim and rating of perceived exertion values were greater in younger subjects at all intensities (P < 0.05). These findings, despite reduced force production in older subjects, endurance-related parameters are well preserved according to age-adjusted percent-predicted values in apparently healthy males.     

In defence of white privilege: physical education teachers’ understandings of their work in culturally diverse schools

Research suggests that physical education (PE) in Western countries is not providing equitable experiences for non-white students. Responsibility for shortcomings has often been ascribed to white PE teachers. Scholars have claimed that teachers lack cultural competence and know little about how physical cultures or health are understood by the young people with whom they work. The objective of this investigation was to investigate this claim and generate an understanding of how white PE teachers in a culturally diverse high school make sense of their work with non-white students. Data with three Swedish teachers of varying experience were produced using semi-structured interviewing. A series of school visits provided a complementary line of data. Four themes emerged from the data. These related to: (1) differences between white and non-white values; (2) the knowledge and dispositions necessary for success in PE; (3) the broad purpose of PE, and; (4) the differences between boys’ and girls’ experiences of PE. Data were interpreted using a Critical Race Theory (CRT) perspective, with the notion of ‘whiteness’ providing a specific analytic concept. The general thesis developed in the second part of the paper is that problems result not from insensitivity or incompetence but from discourses of whiteness in which many teachers live and work. By building on critical research both in general education and physical education literature and by utilizing whiteness as an analytical concept, the investigation shows how three PE teachers draw extensively on the racial discourse of whiteness and how this disadvantages non-white students. The paper is concluded with a consideration of how racial disadvantage could be challenged or disrupted.     

Influence of upright versus time trial cycling position on determination of critical power and W′ in trained cyclists

Body position is known to alter power production and affect cycling performance. The aim of this study was to compare mechanical power output in two riding positions, and to calculate the effects on critical power (CP) and W′ estimates. Seven trained cyclists completed three peak power output efforts and three fixed-duration trial (3-, 5- and 12-min) riding with their hands on the brake lever hoods (BLH), or in a time trial position (TTP). A repeated-measures analysis of variance showed that mean power output during the 5-min trial was significantly different between BLH and TTP positions, resulting in a significantly lower estimate of CP, but not W′, for the TTP trial. In addition, TTP decreased the performance during each trial and increased the percentage difference between BLH and TTP with greater trial duration. There were no differences in pedal cadence or heart rate during the 3-min trial; however, TTP results for the 12-min trial showed a significant fall in pedal cadence and a significant rise in heart rate. The findings suggest that cycling position affects power output and influences consequent CP values. Therefore, cyclists and coaches should consider the cycling position used when calculating CP.     

华北山前平原农田关键带观测研究平台（栾城关键带观测平台）

中国科学院栾城农业生态系统试验站(以下简称"栾城站")位于华北太行山前冲洪积平原的中段,是地下水灌区高产农业生态类型的典型代表。由于近几十年来大规模、高强度的农业生产,区域地下水超采严重,地下水污染风险加剧。然而,人类活动影响下的地表生态系统与地下含水层被厚包气带隔开,地表农业生产活动对地下水水量和水质的影响机理尚不明确。目前,开展贯穿整个包气带的原位监测试验,是揭示这一过程机理的唯一途径。因此,建立大型农田关键带观测平台,是开展农业与地下水关系研究的重要需求。在中国科学院野外站网络重点科技基础设施建设项目的支持下,栾城站建设的"栾城关键带观测平台",通过对作物根系层—深层包气带—饱和带的土壤水、热、溶质等关键要素和变量的监测,可开展水分、溶质和污染物在厚包气带内的运移、转化规律研究,揭示饱和—非饱和过渡带水文过程及其与地下水补给关系,阐明农田生产活动的水肥迁移、转化及其对地下水量质变化的影响机制,为回答地表过程对地下水量质演化影响机理提供实验平台支持。     

从批评话语分析角度看大学英语教师话语权

作为批评话语分析的代表人物福柯认为教室是最好的权力运作场所,所以教师话语也是批评话语分析关心的主题之一。因此本文的目的就在于用批评性话语分析的视角来细致分析大学英语课堂话语,试图揭示隐藏在教师话语中的权力关系,并希望能使人意识到语言是如何帮助教师获取这种主宰地位的。同时本文提倡教师应该在极度权力和完全无权力之间找到一个平衡点,从而真正有效地促进语言学习。     

Accessions: researching,designing higher education

This brief viewpoint piece depicts educational (dis)engagements apparent in researching and (re)designing higher education in and through Accessions. Accessions, a collaborative research-design project, probed at how cultures, climates and conditions of higher education may be reproducing or reshaping social inequalities and divisions. Here, questions are asked about how these might be challenged within and potentially beyond the specific locale of one university campus. This research-design project hopes to enable a critical perspective on issues of ‘participation’, ‘impact’, ‘engagement’ and ‘internationalisation’, where regulations and measures may be resisted and disrupted.     

运用测功仪测试赛艇运动员下肢SEMG特征之研究

通过观察赛艇运动员在测功仪上的运动情况,记录其胫骨前肌、腓肠肌及股四头肌的肌电变化,对不同运动时期的表面肌电图、积分肌电（IEMG）和平均频谱进行了定量分析,结果表明：不同运动时期不同肌肉的神经肌电活动变化不完全一致,这为进一步了解赛艇运动特点、科学训练提供了参考。     

Editorial statement

Grounded in the interdisciplinary educational work of Cultural Studies, this paper examines the pedagogical potentials of narrative and performance for the teaching of writing as a mode of public discourse. Guided to address a wide readership, students engage in critical communication aimed at linking self inquiry and narrative discourse to the contextual analysis of the social. Drawing on research findings derived from the undergraduate teaching of cultural criticism as a genre of public writing at Lingnan University, Hong Kong, we look at how educational drama mediates the work of narrative and performative acts involving the young learner-writers and contributes to the shaping of a dialogic mode of address and communication, thus articulating the process and impact of writing to the public-oriented discourse in Cultural Studies education. In light of such acts in critical discourse and imagination targeted at the potential reader, we show how the young writers' own engagement with critical thinking and communication are opened up by drama-in-education adopted in the class, and argue how, in this sense, both writing and its learning process become effective stages in the making of the kind of cultural criticism we want to help students to learn.     

Cloning the Blairs: New Labour's programme for the re-socialization of working-class parents

In his speech to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) in July 1999, the UK Secretary of State for Education, David Blunkett, set out New Labour's vision for a system of education in which there is ‘excellence for the many not just the few’. He outlined what is essentially a bi-focal strategy for achieving this vision. The first focus is on the education system itself, the structures and practices that New Labour believes need to be in place if schools and services are going to meet the needs of all children and not just a privileged minority. The second focus is on the need to promote ‘a culture of achievement’, as, according to Blunkett, the vision ‘depends on changing attitudes as well as the system itself’. This paper focuses on this second strategy, more specifically the government's attempts to change the attitudes of parents. It is argued that this strategy aims to eradicate class differences by reconstructing and transforming working-class parents into middle-class ones, that it represents possibly the most important and far-reaching aspect of New Labour's policy agenda, and that it has not so far received the attention it deserves. The paper is in two parts. The first part sets out what is involved in New Labour's programme of re-socialization and explores the mechanisms by which New Labour is attempting to universalize the values, attitudes and behaviour of a certain fraction of middle-class parents. The second part develops a critique of this programme.