Observed and Perceived Benefits of Providing Physical Activity Opportunities in Elementary Schools: A Qualitative Study

INTRODUCTION: Schools play an important role in promoting physical activity for youth. However, school-based physical activity opportunities often compete with other academic priorities, limiting their implementation. The purpose of this study was to qualitatively explore elementary school teacher and staff perspectives on providing physical activity opportunities and how they impact students and learning. METHODS: We partnered with a school district in Texas to conduct semi-structured individual interviews. We used a purposeful sampling approach to recruit elementary teachers and staff knowledgeable about the physical activity opportunities provided at their school. Interviews included questions about participant opinions of providing physical activity opportunities and the types of opportunities provided. We analyzed data using a directed content analysis and iterative categorization approach. RESULTS: Fifteen participants (4 teachers, 4 physical education teachers, 3 assistant principals, and 4 principals) completed interviews from 10 elementary schools. Participants discussed observed and perceived benefits when providing physical activity opportunities, which emerged into four themes and subthemes: (1) academic benefits (learning readiness, learning engagement, and academic performance); (2) social-emotional benefits (behavior, interpersonal and social skills, and classroom culture); (3) physical benefits (brain health, skill development, physical health); and (4) instructional benefits (quality teaching time, helpful teaching tools, and teacher-student relationships). CONCLUSIONS: Teachers and staff observed numerous benefits when students had opportunities to be physically active, including the positive impact on academic and social-emotional outcomes. Our findings highlight the alignment of physical activity with other school priorities. Physical activity programming can be used in ways to support academics, learning, behavior, and other important outcomes

Pricing Python Parallelism: A Dynamic Language Cost Model for Heterogeneous Platforms

Execution times may be reduced by offloading parallel loop nests to a GPU. Auto-parallelizing compilers are common for static languages, often using a cost model to determine when the GPU execution speed will outweigh the offload overheads. Nowadays scientific software is increasingly written in dynamic languages and would benefit from compute accelerators. The ALPyNA framework analyses moderately complex Python loop nests and automatically JIT compiles code for heterogeneous CPU and GPU architectures. We present the first analytical cost model for auto-parallelizing loop nests in a dynamic language on heterogeneous architectures. Predicting execution time in a language like Python is extremely challenging, since aspects like the element types, size of the iteration space, and amenability to parallelization can only be determined at runtime. Hence the cost model must be both staged, to combine compile and run-time information, and lightweight to minimize runtime overhead. GPU execution time prediction must account for factors like data transfer, block-structured execution, and starvation. We show that a comparatively simple, staged analytical model can accurately determine during execution when it is profitable to offload a loop nest. We evaluate our model on three heterogeneous platforms across 360 experiments with 12 loop-intensive Python benchmark programs. The results show small misprediction intervals and a mean slowdown of just 13.6%, relative to the optimal (oracular) offload strategy

Brief Assessment of Schizotypal Traits: A Multinational Study

The Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire-Brief (SPQ-B) was developed with the aim of examining variations in healthy trait schizotypy, as well as latent vulnerability to psychotic-spectrum disorders. No previous study has studied the cross-cultural validity of the SPQ-B in a large cross-national sample. The main goal of the present study was to analyze the reliability and the internal structure of SPQ-B scores in a multinational sample of 28,426 participants recruited from 14 countries. The mean age was 22.63 years (SD = 7.08; range 16-68 years), 37.7% (n = 10,711) were men. The omega coefficients were high, ranging from 0.86 to 0.92 for the total sample. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that SPQ-B items were grouped either in a theoretical structure of three first-order factors (Cognitive-Perceptual, Interpersonal, and Disorganized) or in a bifactor model (three first-order factors plus a general factor of schizotypal personality). In addition, the results supported configural but not strong measurement invariance of SPQ-B scores across samples. These findings provide new information about the factor structure of schizotypal personality, and support the validity and utility of the SPQ-B, a brief and easy tool for assessing self-reported schizotypal traits, in cross-national research. Theoretical and clinical implications for diagnostic systems, psychosis models, and cross-national mental health strategies are derived from these results

Tratamientos Psicológicos Empíricamente Apoyados Para Adultos: Una Revisión Selectiva [Evidence-Based Psychological Treatments for Adults: A Selective Review]

Antecedentes: los tratamientos psicológicos han mostrado su efi cacia, efectividad y efi ciencia para el abordaje de los trastornos mentales; no obstante, considerando el conocimiento científi co generado en los últimos años, no se dispone de trabajos de actualización en español sobre cuáles son los tratamientos psicológicos con respaldo empírico. El objetivo fue realizar una revisión selectiva de los principales tratamientos psicológicos empíricamente apoyados para el abordaje de trastornos mentales en personas adultas. Método: se recogen niveles de evidencia y grados de recomendación en función de los criterios propuestos por el Sistema Nacional de Salud de España (en las Guías de Práctica Clínica) para diferentes trastornos psicológicos. Resultados: los resultados sugieren que los tratamientos psicológicos disponen de apoyo empírico para el abordaje de un amplio elenco de trastornos psicológicos. El grado de apoyo empírico oscila de bajo a alto en función del trastorno psicológico analizado. La revisión sugiere que ciertos campos de intervención necesitan una mayor investigación. Conclusiones: a partir de esta revisión selectiva, los profesionales de la psicología podrán disponer de información rigurosa y actualizada que les permita tomar decisiones informadas a la hora de implementar aquellos procedimientos psicoterapéuticos empíricamente fundamentados en función de las características de las personas que demandan ayuda. // Evidence-Based Psychological Treatments for Adults: A Selective Review. Background: Psychological treatments have shown their effi cacy, effectiveness, and effi ciency in dealing with mental disorders. However, considering the scientifi c knowledge generated in recent years, in the Spanish context, there are no updating studies about empirically supported psychological treatments. The main goal was to carry out a selective review of the main empirically supported psychological treatments for mental disorders in adults. Method: Levels of evidence and degrees of recommendation were collected based on the criteria proposed by the Spanish National Health System (Clinical Practice Guidelines) for different psychological disorders. Results: The results indicate that psychological treatments have empirical support for the approach to a wide range of psychological disorders. These levels of empirical evidence gathered range from low to high depending on the psychological disorder analysed. The review indicates the existence of certain fi elds of intervention that need further investigation. Conclusions: Based on this selective review, psychology professionals will be able to have rigorous, up-to-date information that allows them to make informed decisions when implementing empirically based psychotherapeutic procedures based on the characteristics of the people who require help

Innovación en las enseñanzas universitarias: experiencias presentadas en las III Jornadas de Innovación Educativa de la ULL

En este libro se recoge un conjunto de experiencias de innovación educativa desarrolladas en la ULL en el curso 2011-12. Se abordan distintos ámbitos y ramas del conocimiento, y ocupan temáticas variadas que han sido desarrolladas con rigor, y con un claro potencial para su extrapolación a efectos de la mejora educativa en el ámbito universitario. Esta publicación constituye una primera edición de una serie que irá recogiendo las experiencias de innovación educativa de la ULL. Este es un paso relevante para su impulso en nuestra institución, como lo es el de su vinculación con la investigación educativa, para potenciar su publicación en las revistas científicas en este ámbito cada vez más pujante y relevante para las universidades. Sobre todo representan el deseo y el compromiso del profesorado de la ULL para la mejora del proceso educativo mediante la investigación, la evaluación y la reflexión compartida de nuestras prácticas y planteamientos docentes

Integrating fiscal issues in global distribution network design

Global distribution network design (GDND) is currently facing a phase of substantial changes, since logistics decisions need to consider also fiscal and legal aspects. Although the adoption of an integrated approach may create new opportunities for GDND, logistics and fiscal domains are based on different principles and frictions may arise, creating distortions in the optimal logistics configuration and eventually involving cross-country flows. This issue is still under-represented in the academic literature, despite the rising debate in the practitioners’ community. The purpose of this paper is to fill this gap by investigating the available configurations in GDND, focusing on a location problem for a single distribution layer. A multinational corporation (MNC) may consider shifting the optimal logistics location of a central warehouse (CW) in a close low-tax jurisdiction, although additional cross-border transports may occur. A three-phase methodology was adopted. First, available cross-country logistics configurations were formalised and modelled by means of interviews with MNCs. Then, a cost-based model was developed, combining logistics and fiscal cost functions, with the aim of maximising after-taxes bottom-line results. The model was applied to a MNC willing to distribute in the European market from a Swiss warehouse. A sensitivity analysis was performed, varying annual demand, product value, operating expenses, exchange rate and Swiss corporate tax rate. Results confirmed the impact of taxation on GDND, and highlighted the importance of including fiscal issues when designing global distribution networks. A cross-country logistics configuration may turn out as the most suitable, if the reduction in corporate income taxes overcomes the increase in logistics cost, and corporate tax rate emerges as the main element driving network design