Influence of average pedalling rate upon the magnitude of the mechanical and biochemical changes arising from high-intensity exercise

The process of fatigue during 30 s of high-intensity exercise results in rapid and substantial mechanical, electrical and biochemical changes in muscle fibres. This thesis describes a series of experiments, performed upon a friction-loaded cycle ergometer, which investigated whether the magnitude of the mechanical and biochemical changes is affected by changes in average pedalling rate. The ability to generate peak power in a subsequent sprint of 6 s duration was used to assess the magnitude of the mechanical changes. Changes in the concentrations of blood and muscle metabolites pre- and post-exercise permitted some of the biochemical changes to be measured. [Continues.

The Law Review Games

A Parody in which The Hunger Games meet the law review submission process

Sparking Courageous Conversations: Exploring the Racial-justice Curriculum Development and Instructional Processes of Teachers for Predominantly White Middle-school Students

Drawing on practitioner-research and case study methods, including interview protocols, this study aimed to explore the insights and experiences, as described by four teachers, of developing and teaching racial-justice curriculum for predominantly White 6th, 7th, and 8th graders in their course: Sparking Courageous Conversations: Discussing Race and Racism. This study was framed in critical literacy theories that are grounded in the work of Freire (2000) but draw on the work of contemporary critical scholars and practitioners with the knowledge that critical literacy pedagogy can provide a powerful means for interrogating how larger structures, texts, individuals, and groups are constructed. Data collection took place in four phases across three months. Primary data sources included analysis of: curriculum and emerging curricular artifacts, in-depth interviews, surveys, teacher journals, researcher journal, and memos. The findings of this study emerged from the curriculum development that occurred the summer prior to the 2017-2018 academic school year as well as the teaching that occurred that year. The reflections of each of the teachers about their development and teaching of the racial-justice curriculum demonstrated the breakthroughs and boundaries of teaching about race and racism with predominantly White middle-school students. Further, their reflections illustrated the ongoing, internal work required to facilitate conversations about race with students more effectively. Such work included monitoring for how race affected their lives as well as the lives of others, and how race as one of their identities affected the ways in which they developed and taught curriculum. Finally, the teachers discovered that facilitating courses on race required moving from a content-based approach to a consciousness-based approach where they each, alongside of their students, assumed a researching-the-world stance to learn about race and confront and challenge racism

Cherenkov luminescence measurements with digital silicon photomultipliers: a feasibility study.

BackgroundA feasibility study was done to assess the capability of digital silicon photomultipliers to measure the Cherenkov luminescence emitted by a β source. Cherenkov luminescence imaging (CLI) is possible with a charge coupled device (CCD) based technology, but a stand-alone technique for quantitative activity measurements based on Cherenkov luminescence has not yet been developed. Silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) are photon counting devices with a fast impulse response and can potentially be used to quantify β-emitting radiotracer distributions by CLI.MethodsIn this study, a Philips digital photon counting (PDPC) silicon photomultiplier detector was evaluated for measuring Cherenkov luminescence. The PDPC detector is a matrix of avalanche photodiodes, which were read one at a time in a dark count map (DCM) measurement mode (much like a CCD). This reduces the device active area but allows the information from a single avalanche photodiode to be preserved, which is not possible with analog SiPMs. An algorithm to reject the noisiest photodiodes and to correct the measured count rate for the dark current was developed.ResultsThe results show that, in DCM mode and at (10-13) °C, the PDPC has a dynamic response to different levels of Cherenkov luminescence emitted by a β source and transmitted through an opaque medium. This suggests the potential for this approach to provide quantitative activity measurements. Interestingly, the potential use of the PDPC in DCM mode for direct imaging of Cherenkov luminescence, as a opposed to a scalar measurement device, was also apparent.ConclusionsWe showed that a PDPC tile in DCM mode is able to detect and image a β source through its Cherenkov radiation emission. The detector's dynamic response to different levels of radiation suggests its potential quantitative capabilities, and the DCM mode allows imaging with a better spatial resolution than the conventional event-triggered mode. Finally, the same acquisition procedure and data processing could be employed also for other low light levels applications, such as bioluminescence

Relationship Between Health Risk Behaviors and Obesity Among American High School Students

Adolescent obesity is a serious health condition that affects more than 55% of students aged 12 to 19 years in the United States. Recent statistical data have noted that the rate of adolescent obesity has more than quadrupled during the past few decades. Genetics and factors such as tobacco use, alcohol use, and marijuana use have contributed to this critical public health issue. Although uniqueness of prevalence has often been linked to gender and race, associations related to these health risk behaviors and increased body mass index remain relatively unexplored among today’s U.S. youth. Adolescence has been described as a pivotal period in which adolescents begin to engage in risky health behaviors. Guided by the social cognitive theory, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between obesity and health risk behaviors among American high school students who participated in the 2015 Youth Risk Behavior Survey. A cross sectional quantitative design was used to analyze secondary data from the completed survey data of 1,624 high school students. Descriptive statistics, bivariate and multivariate logistic regression tests were used to analyze the data. Multivariate logistic regression results from this study detail that there were significant associations between adolescent tobacco use and obesity (OR = 1.164, 95% CI = (1.046, 1.296). Findings of this study suggest adolescent health risk behaviors associated with tobacco and alcohol use co -occur uniquely within the African American, White, and Hispanic high-school youth, in particularly those of OV/OB categorization. Initiation of culturally sensitive prevention programs are of urgency to counteract this epidemic that is affecting our vulnerable high-school aged population both within the United States and globally

Charge-coupled devices with fast timing for astrophysics and space physics research

A charge coupled device is under development with fast timing capability (15 millisecond full frame readout, 30 microsecond resolution for measuring the time of individual pixel hits). The fast timing CCD will be used in conjunction with a CsI microfiber array or segmented scintillator matrix detector to detect x rays and gamma rays with submillimeter position resolution. The initial application will be in conjunction with a coded aperture hard x ray/gamma ray astronomy instrument. We describe the concept and the readout architecture of the device

Production thesis : A funny thing happened on the way to the forum by Burt Shevelove, Larry Gelbart and Stephen Sondheim

According to the authors, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is based on the plays of Plautus. The director, upon choosing this musical as his production thesis, made a study of the comedies upon which the musical was based. The study begins with the influences on Plautine writing and considers the indigenous drama of Rome prior to and including 240 B.C. as described by Livy. The director analyzed the influence of Greek New Comedy on Roman drama as well as the influence of the Roman stage on Plautus and his writing. The personality and personal life of Plautus were also analyzed in considering the influences on Plautine style. From these stylistic considerations, the director related the significant influences of Plautus on the modern musical in the areas of dialogue, plot structure, staging, and music

A realist synthesis of educational interventions to improve nutrition care competencies and delivery by doctors and other healthcare professionals

Objective: To determine what, how, for whom, why, and in what circumstances educational interventions improve the delivery of nutrition care by doctors and other healthcare professionals work. Design: Realist synthesis following a published protocol and reported following Realist and Meta-narrative Evidence Synthesis: Evolving Standards (RAMESES) guidelines. A multidisciplinary team searched MEDLINE, CINAHL, ERIC, EMBASE, PsyINFO, Sociological Abstracts, Web of Science, Google Scholar and Science Direct for published and unpublished (grey) literature. The team identified studies with varied designs; appraised their ability to answer the review question; identified relationships between contexts, mechanisms and outcomes (CMOs); and entered them into a spreadsheet configured for the purpose. The final synthesis identified commonalities across CMO configurations. Results: Over half of the 46 studies from which we extracted data originated from the USA. Interventions that improved the delivery of nutrition care improved skills and attitudes rather than just knowledge; provided opportunities for superiors to model nutrition care; removed barriers to nutrition care in health systems; provided participants with local, practically relevant tools and messages; and incorporated non-traditional, innovative teaching strategies. Operating in contexts where student and qualified healthcare professionals provided nutrition care in developed and developing countries, these interventions yielded health outcomes by triggering a range of mechanisms, which included feeling competent, feeling confident and comfortable, having greater self-efficacy, being less inhibited by barriers in healthcare systems and feeling that nutrition care was accepted and recognised. Conclusions: These findings show how important it is to move education for nutrition care beyond the simple acquisition of knowledge. They show how educational interventions embedded within systems of healthcare can improve patients’ health by helping health students and professionals to appreciate the importance of delivering nutrition care and feel competent to deliver it