Quality of life perception of basketball master athletes: association with physical activity level and sports injuries

This study aimed to verify the prevalence and characteristics of sports injuries (SI) and determine the association between the physical activity level (PA) and SI with perception of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in Brazilian basketball master athletes. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 410 male master athletes, between 35 and 85 years of age (mean 52.26, SD ±11.83). The HRQoL was assessed using the Medical Outcomes Study – Short Form-36. The PA was evaluated using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Information regarding SI was collected using the Reported Morbidity Survey. Poisson regression, as estimated by the prevalence ratio (PR), was used as a measure of the association of PA and SI with HRQoL. The majority of athletes showed a high SI prevalence (58.3%) and reported one injury (67.8%) that occurred during training (61.1%) and primarily affected a lower limb (74.6%). The adjusted regression models showed a positive association of PA with the Functional Capacity (PR = 1.46, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.12–1.90) and Physical Component (PR = 1.32, 95% CI = 1.03–1.70) of HRQoL. Furthermore, the SI were negatively associated with HRQoL in Functional Capacity (PR = 1.85, 95% CI = 1.51–2.27), Physical Aspects (PR = 3.99, 95% CI = 3.08–5.18), Pain (PR = 1.65, 95% CI = 1.26–2.16), Social Functioning (PR = 1.79, 95% CI = 1.41–2.27), Emotional Aspects (PR = 4.40, 95% CI = 3.35–5.78), Mental Health domains (PR = 1.37, 95% CI = 1.06–1.68), Physical Component (PR = 2.35, 95% CI = 1.90–2.90) and Mental Component (PR = 2.65, 95% CI = 2.14–3.29). These results highlighted that master athletes showed a high SI prevalence, primarily in the lower limbs. PA positively correlates with the physical HRQoL domain, whereas SI may decrease the HRQoL levels of both physical and mental domains.     

Lower limb alignment characteristics are not associated with running injuries in runners: Prospective cohort study

There is conflicting evidence on the association between lower limb alignment characteristics and the incidence of running-related injury (RRI). Therefore, the primary aim of this study was to investigate the association between lower limb alignment characteristics and the incidence proportion of RRI in a convenience sample of recreational runners. A total of 89 recreational runners were included in this prospective cohort study. These participants had been running for at least six months and were injury-free at baseline. Lower limb alignment measurements were conducted in order to calculate lower limb discrepancy, Q-angle, subtalar angle and plantar index. All participants also answered a baseline and biweekly online surveys about their running routine, history of RRI and newly developed RRI over a period of 12 weeks. The prevalence of previous RRI and the 12-week incidence proportion of new RRI were calculated. Logistic regression analysis was performed to estimate the association between lower limb length discrepancy, Q-angle, subtalar angle and plantar ach index with the incidence proportion of RRI. The prevalence of previous RRI was 55.1% (n?=?49). The 12-week incidence proportion of new RRI was 27.0% (n?=?24). Muscle injuries and tendinopathies were the main types of RRI identified. The lower leg and the knee were the main anatomical regions affected. We did not find significant associations between lower limb length discrepancy, Q-angle, subtalar angle and plantar arch index and injury occurrence.     

Relations of Children's Effortful Control and Teacher-Child Relationship Quality to School Attitudes in a Low-Income Sample

RESEARCH FINDINGS: The purpose of this study was to examine the relations of children's effortful control and quality of relationships with teachers to school attitudes longitudinally in an ethnically diverse and economically disadvantaged sample. Data were collected as part of a larger intervention project during mid-fall, winter, and late spring (ns = 823, 722, and 758, respectively) for 2 cohorts of 3- to 5-year-olds (collected during 2 different school years). Children's effortful control was assessed in the fall with parents' and teachers' reports and 2 behavioral measures. Teacher-child relationship quality was assessed mid-year with teachers' reports of closeness and conflict. Attitudes toward school were assessed in late spring using teachers' and students' reports of school avoidance and liking. Effortful control, in general, was positively correlated with teacher-child closeness and school liking and negatively correlated with conflict and school avoidance. Using structural equation modeling and controlling for sex and ethnicity, we found that effortful control was positively related to teacher-child relationship quality, which in turn was positively related to school attitudes. Furthermore, the relation of effortful control to school attitudes was mediated by teacher-child relationship quality. PRACTICE OR POLICY: Results provide evidence for the importance of relational processes that take place within the classroom context and have implications for teachers and clinicians working to increase school success in ethnic minority and low-income children.     

Locomotor experience: a facilitator of spatial cognitive development

2 studies were designed to test the prediction that spatial search strategies (i.e., "object permanence") may be influenced by locomotor experience. Infants were assigned to 3 groups based on locomotor history: prelocomotor, prelocomotor with walker-assisted experience, and hands-and-knees creeping. Infants in all groups were 8.5 months of age. Results showed that hands-and-knees and walker-assisted locomotor experience facilitated spatial search performance. The longer that infants had been moving, the higher their scores. Furthermore, there were no differences between the hands-and-knees and prelocomotor/walker-assisted groups, suggesting that the relation between locomotor experience and spatial search performance was not merely a function of the maturation of prone progression. A third study found that the quality of locomotion affected object permanence performance: Belly crawlers performed differently than infants with hands-and-knees or walker experience, insofar as they performed at prelocomotor levels regardless of weeks of locomotor experience. Taken together, the pattern of findings suggests that infants with more efficient modes of locomotion are more likely to profit from the experiences generated by locomotion.     

Edulabs AGIRE project – evaluation of ICT integration in teaching strategies

The AGIRE project, under the Edulab concept, aims to promote the adoption of innovative teaching practices. This paper reports the support strategies used to evaluate the teacher practices at the end of a teacher training course (TTC) and analyse its impact on teacher technology integration, using a design-based methodology. Teachers’ initial perception was gathered using an online questionnaire comprising ICT personal and professional competencies. The questionnaire results and the classroom observations showed that the majority of teachers were at the level of ICT adoption, before attending the TTC, reaching the adaptation level of integration of ICT, after the TTC. A variety of teaching strategies (flipped classroom, collaborative work, …) and technologies (interactive white boards, tablets, videos, …) were explored. The results sustain the thesis that, with proper support, ICT can be integrated in educational contexts in an innovative way and contribute to the development of teachers’ digital literacy.     

A specific benefit of retrieval-based concept mapping to enhance learning from texts

Instructional Science - Research has shown that retrieval activities, that is, actively recalling previously studied information, may substantially contribute to learning from complex educational...     

Improving Academic Performance of Sport and Exercise Science Undergraduate Students in Gross Anatomy Using a Near-Peer Teaching Program

Peer and near-peer teaching programs are common in medical undergraduate courses. However, there are no studies that have investigated the effectiveness of a near-peer teaching program on the academic performance of undergraduate students pursuing sport and exercise science coursework. This study was conducted to analyze the effectiveness of such a program for students who participated in a course on the functional anatomy of the locomotor apparatus. A total of 39 student participants were divided into two groups: students in one group voluntarily attended at least one session of a near-peer teaching program, and students in the other group attended no sessions. The final grade (range 0–100%) was recorded and used as an indicator of academic performance. The final grade of students who attended the near-peer teaching program (69.5 ± 16.0%) was 38.7% higher (P = 0.002, d = 1.06) than those who did not (50.1 ± 20.4%). When the academic performance of the same students was evaluated in another course (exercise physiology) that did not offer a near-peer teaching program, there were no significant differences between the groups (students who attended or did not attend the near-peer teaching program). A significant positive association was found between near-peer teaching program frequency and the number of students approved and not approved in the course (P = 0.041). A significant difference (P = 0.001) was found in the attendance at regular classes between the group who participated in the near-peer teaching program (median: 62 hours; IQR [interquartile ranges]: 4.0 hours) and those who did not (median: 58 hours; IQR: 4.0 hours). Gender was not a moderating factor on academic performance or near-peer teaching program attendance. These results highlight the effectiveness of a near-peer teaching program on the academic performance of students from a sport and exercise science degree program while enrolled in an anatomy course. Anat Sci Educ. © 2018 American Association of Anatomists.     

The institution of institutionalism: difference,universalism and the legacies of Institutional Critique

This text analyses the relationship between institutionalism, context and cultural criticism. Its main objective is to identify how universalism has permeated the different waves of Institutional Critique, conditioning the subversive potential conferred to creative practices and locating radical, alternative institutionalism within the narrow geo-cultural landscape of mainstream biennials. Taking as point of departure Cildo Meireles’s participatory public intervention in documenta 11, I consider how representational concerns are privileged vis-à-vis visual practices related to coloniality and difference. From that position, the article argues that only by challenging the assumed universality of the debates on cultural institutionalism will we be able to stress the relevance of critique in addressing cultural policies and non-representational practices. This implies confronting the troublesome relationship between Institutional Critique and modernity from a ‘geographically-informed’ position capable of recognising institutionalism as a heterogeneous body of practices that are being globally transformed.     

The load-velocity profile differs more between men and women than between individuals with different strength levels

This study aimed to determine the suitability of the load-velocity relationship to prescribe the relative load (%1RM) in women, as well as to compare the load-velocity profile between sexes and participants with different strength levels. The load-velocity relationship of 14 men (1RM: 1.17 ± 0.19) and 14 women (1RM: 0.66 ± 0.13) were evaluated in the bench press exercise. The main findings revealed that: (I) the load-velocity relationship was always strong and linear (R² range: 0.987–0.993), (II) a steeper load-velocity profile was observed in men compared to women (Effect size [ES]: 1.09), with men showing higher velocities for light loads (ES: ? 0.81 and ? 0.40 for the y-intercept and 30%1RM, respectively), but women reporting higher velocities for the heavy loads (ES: 1.14 and 1.50 at 90%1RM and 100%1RM, respectively); and (III) while the slope of the load-velocity profile was moderately steeper for weak men compared to their strong counterpart (ES: 1.02), small differences were observed between strong and weak women (ES: ? 0.39). While these results support the use of the individual load-velocity relationship to prescribe the %1RM in the bench press exercise for women, they also highlight the large disparities in their load-velocity profile compared to men.