The Effectiveness of Two Types of Visual Feedback on Performance of Selected Uneven Parallel Bar Skills

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of two types of visual feedback on performance of selected uneven parallel bar skills. The subjects were 30 female college undergraduates enrolled in gymnastics and tumbling courses in the Fitness and Lifetime Activities Program (non-majors) or the Professional Skills Program (HPER majors) at South Dakota State University. Videotape replay feedback and teacher demonstration feedback were assigned to the two experimental groups with the third group serving as the control. Treatment for the experimental subjects consisted of videotape replay of skill performance for one group and teacher demonstration of the skill for the other group. Data analysis included judge objectivity among the raters, reliability and reproducibility assessments, and a one-way analysis of variance to determine whether significant mean changes had occurred between the groups. All statistical tests were conducted at the .05 level. A high level of objectivity was found between the raters. Reliability coefficients and reproducibility of the data were generally high for the ratings. Nonsignificant F-ratios were found between the groups. Therefore, within the constraints of this study it did not appear that the. use of videotape replay had an effect on the performance of uneven parallel bar skills

Are Facebook “Friends” Helpful? Development of a Facebook-Based Measure of Social Support and Examination of Relationships Among Depression, Quality of Life, and Social Support

Greater social support is predictive of lower depression and higher quality of life (QOL). However, the way in which social support is provided has changed greatly with the expanding role of social networking sites (e.g., Facebook). While there are numerous anecdotal accounts of the benefits of Facebook-based social support, little empirical evidence exists to support these assertions, and there are no empirically validated measures designed to assess social support provided via this unique social networking medium. This study sought to develop an empirically sound measure of Facebook-based social support (Facebook Measure of Social Support [FMSS]) and to assess how this new measure relates to previously established measures of support and two outcome variables: depression and QOL. Following exploratory factor analysis, the FMSS was determined to assess four factors of social support on Facebook (Perceived, Emotional, Negative, Received/Instrumental). The Negative Support factor on the FMSS was most strongly related to both depression and QOL with magnitudes (and direction of relationships) comparable to a traditional measure of perceived social support. However, two FMSS factors (Received/Instrumental and Perceived) were unrelated to both mental health outcomes. Contrary to expectations, elevations in one FMSS factor (Emotional) was associated with worse symptoms of depression and poorer psychological QOL. When taken together, only the absence of negative social support on Facebook is significantly predictive of mental health functioning. Consequently, those hoping to use Facebook as a medium for reducing depression or improving QOL are unlikely to realize significant therapeutic benefits.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/140349/1/cyber.2014.0538.pd

Cardiovascular disease risk in the offspring of diabetic women: the impact of the intrauterine environment

The incidence of gestational diabetes is increasing worldwide, exposing large numbers of infants to hyperglycaemia whilst in utero. This exposure may have a long-term negative impact on the cardiovascular health of the offspring. Novel methods to assess cardiovascular status in the neonatal period are now available—including measuring arterial intima-media thickness and retinal photography. These measures will allow researchers to assess the relative impact of intrauterine exposures, distinguishing these from genetic or postnatal environmental factors. Understanding the long-term impact of the intrauterine environment should allow the development of more effective health policy and interventions to decrease the future burden of cardiovascular disease. Initiating disease prevention aimed at the developing fetus during the antenatal period may optimise community health outcomes

The contribution of Teacher education to universities:a case study for international teacher educators

This paper reports on the initial stage of a research project which aims to develop deeper understanding of the contribution teacher education, as a sub-discipline within Education, makes to Higher Education in England. The study is located in the intersection between the domains of teacher education and higher education scholarship, which in England represents a contested and ambiguous professional space. Tensions between competing accountability measures, pulling away from university-based to exclusively school-based teacher education, are exacerbated by proposed policy changes arising from the government's recent market review. Findings drawn from analysis of qualitative data from a national survey are discussed in the context of Elizabeth Povinelli's critique of late liberalism and previous scholarship on the nature of teacher educators’ work. Evidence from the study demonstrates numerous benefits to higher education of hosting teacher education departments, including contributions to standard metrics, regional development and knowledge exchange within a strategic social justice agenda. However, teacher educators themselves may find articulating these benefits difficult, because of marginalisation from the dominant ways of achieving and accounting for excellence in the modern university. These findings offer a cautionary tale to international colleagues whose governments may be embarking on equivalent paths of teacher education reform.<br/

Reconstruction of cell surface densities of ion pumps, exchangers, and channels from mRNA expression, conductance kinetics, whole-cell calcium, and current-clamp voltage recordings, with an application to human uterine smooth muscle cells

Uterine smooth muscle cells remain quiescent throughout most of gestation, only generating spontaneous action potentials immediately prior to, and during, labor. This study presents a method that combines transcriptomics with biophysical recordings to characterise the conductance repertoire of these cells, the ‘conductance repertoire’ being the total complement of ion channels and transporters expressed by an electrically active cell. Transcriptomic analysis provides a set of potential electrogenic entities, of which the conductance repertoire is a subset. Each entity within the conductance repertoire was modeled independently and its gating parameter values were fixed using the available biophysical data. The only remaining free parameters were the surface densities for each entity. We characterise the space of combinations of surface densities (density vectors) consistent with experimentally observed membrane potential and calcium waveforms. This yields insights on the functional redundancy of the system as well as its behavioral versatility. Our approach couples high-throughput transcriptomic data with physiological behaviors in health and disease, and provides a formal method to link genotype to phenotype in excitable systems. We accurately predict current densities and chart functional redundancy. For example, we find that to evoke the observed voltage waveform, the BK channel is functionally redundant whereas hERG is essential. Furthermore, our analysis suggests that activation of calcium-activated chloride conductances by intracellular calcium release is the key factor underlying spontaneous depolarisations

Microfinance and entrepreneurship:An introduction

As microfinance gains increasing attention and application as a financing mechanism for entrepreneurs at the base of the economic pyramid, this Special Issue of International Small Business Journal aims to enhance scholarly understanding of how microfinance fosters entrepreneurial activity. Microfinance brings a range of financial services, including microcredit loans, savings, and insurance, within the reach of millions of poor households not served by traditional banks. This introduction summarizes the articles in this Special Issue of International Small Business Journal on ‘Microfinance’, which address a range of topics in this important domain of research and practice

Considerations for Using Composite Pressure Vessels (CPVs) in Fuel Storage for Automotive Applications

Ongoing initiative to get high energy capacity "green fuel" containers to market quickly and cost effectively. The United States has decided to invest in "green energy" technology, to become energy independent, and to "Innovate Our Way to a Clean Energy Future.

Reinventing College Physics for Biologists: Explicating an epistemological curriculum

The University of Maryland Physics Education Research Group (UMd-PERG) carried out a five-year research project to rethink, observe, and reform introductory algebra-based (college) physics. This class is one of the Maryland Physics Department's large service courses, serving primarily life-science majors. After consultation with biologists, we re-focused the class on helping the students learn to think scientifically -- to build coherence, think in terms of mechanism, and to follow the implications of assumptions. We designed the course to tap into students' productive conceptual and epistemological resources, based on a theoretical framework from research on learning. The reformed class retains its traditional structure in terms of time and instructional personnel, but we modified existing best-practices curricular materials, including Peer Instruction, Interactive Lecture Demonstrations, and Tutorials. We provided class-controlled spaces for student collaboration, which allowed us to observe and record students learning directly. We also scanned all written homework and examinations, and we administered pre-post conceptual and epistemological surveys. The reformed class enhanced the strong gains on pre-post conceptual tests produced by the best-practices materials while obtaining unprecedented pre-post gains on epistemological surveys instead of the traditional losses.Comment: 35 pages including a 15 page appendix of supplementary material