Genetic variation and exercise-induced muscle damage: implications for athletic performance, injury and ageing.

Prolonged unaccustomed exercise involving muscle lengthening (eccentric) actions can result in ultrastructural muscle disruption, impaired excitation-contraction coupling, inflammation and muscle protein degradation. This process is associated with delayed onset muscle soreness and is referred to as exercise-induced muscle damage. Although a certain amount of muscle damage may be necessary for adaptation to occur, excessive damage or inadequate recovery from exercise-induced muscle damage can increase injury risk, particularly in older individuals, who experience more damage and require longer to recover from muscle damaging exercise than younger adults. Furthermore, it is apparent that inter-individual variation exists in the response to exercise-induced muscle damage, and there is evidence that genetic variability may play a key role. Although this area of research is in its infancy, certain gene variations, or polymorphisms have been associated with exercise-induced muscle damage (i.e. individuals with certain genotypes experience greater muscle damage, and require longer recovery, following strenuous exercise). These polymorphisms include ACTN3 (R577X, rs1815739), TNF (-308 G>A, rs1800629), IL6 (-174 G>C, rs1800795), and IGF2 (ApaI, 17200 G>A, rs680). Knowing how someone is likely to respond to a particular type of exercise could help coaches/practitioners individualise the exercise training of their athletes/patients, thus maximising recovery and adaptation, while reducing overload-associated injury risk. The purpose of this review is to provide a critical analysis of the literature concerning gene polymorphisms associated with exercise-induced muscle damage, both in young and older individuals, and to highlight the potential mechanisms underpinning these associations, thus providing a better understanding of exercise-induced muscle damage

Electronic Portfolios Enhanced with Learning Analytics at the Workplace

This chapter shows the development of an ePortfolio environment enhanced with learning analytics, to be used at the workplace in medical, veterinary, and teacher education. Evaluation took place by means of a quasi-experimental design regarding the impact of this environment on trainees’ motivation, their assessment experience, and their use. Data gathered in four institutes for medical, veterinary, and teacher education (n = 217) showed that trainees were highly motivated for their internships and positively evaluated the perceived feedback. The use of learning analytics features varied. In general visual feedback by means of a timeline of trainees’ progress was mostly used, while trainees barely used the features with written feedback. It is concluded that the promise of learning analytics connected to ePortfolios can only be fulfilled when developed and implemented through the eyes of the users

The use of the world wide web in learning and teaching in higher education: reality and rhetoric

This article reports major themes emerging from 41 semi-structured interviews conducted with staff from one 'old' and one 'new' university in England about the use of the web in teaching and learning for campus-based students. The research set out to explore real-life instances of the use of the web in teaching and learning to determine the relationship between this reality and the rhetoric surrounding the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in universities. The focus of this paper is the motivations and/or barriers to adopting the WWW in teaching and learning at the institutional and individual staff level. The paper concludes by stressing that while there may be great potential for the use of ICTs for some aspects of teaching and learning, adoption of these new technologies is not straightforward; and, in the cases studied here, the use of the web in teaching and learning neither appears to be radically transforming teaching and learning within the university, nor to be providing (or even regarded as) a ready solution to the problems the sector currently encounters

Understanding the online information-seeking behaviours of young people: the role of networks of support

Information seeking is one of the most popular online activities for young people and can provide an additional information channel, which may enhance learning. In this study, we propose and test a model that adds to the existing literature by examining the ways in which parents, schools, and friends (what we call networks of support) effect young people's online information behaviours, while at the same time taking into account young people's individual characteristics, confidence, and skills to use the Internet. Using path analysis, we demonstrate the significance of networks of support in understanding the uptake of online information seeking both directly and indirectly (through enhancing self-concept for learning and online skills). Young people who have better networks of support, particularly friends who are engaged in technology, are more likely to engage in online information seeking. While quantitative models of this nature cannot capture the complexity of individual online search practices, these findings may assist in the development of policy and practice to support young people to make the most effective use of the Internet for information seeking. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd