Mental training on the schedule : Does the power of the mind belong in school?

Aim The aim with this study was to acquire knowledge of mental training and if you can use it in the elementary school to increase in a short period of time the performance in a coordination test. Furthermore we wanted to investigate teachers understanding of the possibilities to perform this kind of training in the elementary school, and if there is support for this in the school regulation. Method As method we have used a combination of a literature pre-study, interview and at the end an experiment. Before the experiment and interviews could take place we studied literature about mental training to get a basic knowledge of the subject. The facts we learned from our pre-study and interviews gave us the base for our experiment. The experiment group included 23 pupils in a third class at school situated in Stockholm. The pupils were tested in a coordination test before and after different types of preparations. One group of pupils were prepared by mental training, one group by practising the test and one control group which didn’t get any preparation at all other than ordinary physical education. Two physical education teachers and one regular school teacher in Stockholm, Sweden were interviewed. Furthermore one interview was made with a psychiatrist, also situated in Stockholm. Results and conclusions Our results show that a lack of motivation and concentration often leads to a bad performance. All people have a basic tension naturally in the body to function normally. If the tension is increasing in the body there are a lot of negative effects occurring, for example poor concentration. Stress is one of the reasons to this increased elevation of tension in the body. Mental training can in an efficient way decrease the negative eccentricity in the body and increase the self-esteem in the individual. Our investigation has shown that a short time of mental training can increase the performance in a co-ordination test performed in the regular school. We are of the opinion that this kind of training is possible to involve in the regular school education if you look at what is written in the school regulations.Syfte Syftet med arbetet var att få förståelse för vad mental träning innebär och om man kan använda sig av det i skolan för att höja prestationen på kort sikt i ett koordinationstest i grundskolan. Vidare ville vi undersöka lärares uppfattning om vilka möjligheter det finns att bedriva denna sorts träning i skolan och om det finns stöd för detta i den läroplan som finns i dag. Metod Som metod har vi använt oss av en kombination av förstudie av litteratur, intervjuer och ett experiment. Innan experimentet kunde påbörjas läste vi litteratur om ämnet för att kunna ta till oss den information vi fick av intervjuobjekten. Lärdomen vi fick från vår förstudie och våra intervjuer lade sedan grunden till vårt experiment. Undersökningsgruppen i vårt experiment bestod av 23 elever i åk 3 i en skola i Stockholm vilka fick genomföra ett koordinationstest före och efter olika förberedelseformer; en grupp elever förberedde sig genom att träna mentalt, en andra genom att fysiskt träna på testet och en tredje grupp som var vår kontrollgrupp förberedde sig endast genom att delta på den schemalagda idrottsundervisningen. Intervjuerna genomfördes med tre lärare i grundskolan och en psykiatriker, alla verksamma i Stockholm. Resultat och slutsats Vårt resultat visar att brist på motivation och koncentration medför en sämre prestationsförmåga. Alla människor har en grundspänning i kroppen för att överhuvudtaget kunna fungera men en för stor spänningsnivå i kroppen medför en rad negativa effekter som bl.a. bristande koncentration. En bidragande orsak till en höjd spänningsnivå i kroppen är stress. Mental träning kan minska den negativa överspänningen i kroppen och höja individens självkänsla. Vi har i vår undersökning visat att man med hjälp av mental träning på kort sikt kan höja prestationen i ett koordinationstest i grundskolan och att det enligt den befintliga läroplanen finns utrymme för denna sorts träning i undervisningen

On the interactions between cellulose and xylan, a biomimetic simulation of the hardwood cell wall

The plant cell wall exhibits a hierarchical structure, in which the organization of the constituents on different levels strongly affects the mechanical properties and the performance of the material. In this work, the interactions between cellulose and xylan in a model system consisting of a bacterial cellulose/glucuronoxylan (extracted from aspen, Populus tremula) have been studied and compared to that of a delignified aspen fiber material. The properties of the materials were analyzed using Dynamical Mechanical Analysis (DMA) with moisture scans together with dynamic Infra Red -spectroscopy at dry and humid conditions. The results showed that strong interactions existed between the cellulose and the xylan in the aspen holocellulose. The same kinds of interactions were seen in a water-extracted bacterial cellulose/xylan composite, while unextracted material showed the presence of xylan not interacting with the cellulose. Based on these findings for the model system, it was suggested that there is in hardwood one fraction of xylan that is strongly associated with the cellulose, taking a similar role as glucomannan in softwood.cited By 36</p