Test-Retest Reliability and Validity of the Plank Exercise

Purpose: The plank exercise is a popular and widely used exercise to increase core strength. We previously established normative values for the plank exercise that may be used for fitness classification to identify gaps in core muscular strength and endurance. Whether the plank exercise can be confidently added to current fitness appraisal protocols will depend on its reliability and validity in the fitness testing environment. This study sought to examine test-retest reliability of the plank exercise and to compare plank performance with established normative values for the curl up test. The role of verbal encouragement cues during plank performance testing was also assessed. Methods: Collegiate male (n=14) and female participants (n=19) performed the plank exercise in two separate sessions separated by a minimum of 72 hr. Participants maintained the plank position until complete fatigue was reached. Verbal cues were given to half of the participants in one of the two sessions. Performance on the curl up exercise was measured in a third, separate session. Results: Intraclass correlation showed that mean time held in the plank position was not significantly different between the two plank testing sessions (108.15 + 49.38 versus 111.39 + 56.87 seconds, p=0.556). Verbal encouragement cues did not improve performance time (between group effect, p=0.940). The curl up test was not significantly correlated with either plank session (r=0.410 and 0.276 for plank session one and two, respectively). Surprisingly, the curl up test was positively correlated with participant height (r=0.578). Conclusion: This study suggests that the plank exercise is a reliable test; plank performance was comparable across testing sessions and not influenced by verbal encouragement. Further testing is needed to confirm validity of the plank exercise as a measure of core muscular endurance. We show here that plank performance was not correlated with the standard curl up test. However, the curl up test may not adequately measure core strength, given that increased body height was associated with higher curl up completion scores

Goodnight Irene

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Adoption Related Curiosity in Emerging Adulthood

Adoption-related curiosity was examined for a group of 169 emerging adults (M= 25.0 years) who were adopted as infants. The Adoption Communication Pathway model guided the research questions about formation of an information gap, which exists when there is a difference between what an adopted person knows and what he or she wants to know, and specific issues about which emerging adults were curious. Differences in these specific issues were examined across sex and contact with birth parents at adolescence. Logistic regression analyses revealed that the formation of an adoption information gap, which contains the content of curiosity, was more likely for those who less satisfied with the amount of contact in at both adolescence and emerging adulthood. Content of the information gap at emerging adulthood will be presented

Unpacking Twaweza\u27s Theory of Social Change: Citizen Agency, Information, Accountability, and Basic Services

The purpose of this paper is to define the key concepts – and links between them – of Twaweza’s Theory of Social Change. These are the notions of citizen-driven change, citizen agency, information, monitoring and accountability, and basic services. The analysis shows ambiguities and, at times, conflicting working definitions in Twaweza’s use of these terms in its major public documents. We then integrate relevant scholarship to elaborate these central ideas and to pose questions that Twaweza may engage with in the spirit of its claims to be a “learning organization.

The Rescue Project

What is the experience of being a rescuer of damaged landscapes and broken creatures, at a time of environmental crisis in Australia? How do individuals and grassroots communities go about small acts of rescue, and how do they maintain the courage to do this work? The Rescue Project is practice-based research. It includes a public digital storytelling site of 51 text-based rescuer story contributions, alongside a podcast of four episodes, plus an exegesis providing critical reflection and analysis of the creative practice and the resultant thematic threads. The digital site was constructed in partnership with the non-government, volunteer-based, land regeneration organisation Landcare Australia. This practice and exegesis contribute new thinking to the scholarship of environmental communication by considering the meaning of rescue, providing insights into the affectual themes of acts of rescue, articulating rescue relations, and introducing and developing several key terms: ecosonics, homeground, and citizen storytelling. The themes which emerge from this project reveal the emotional affects and effects of undertaking rescues, and suggest rescues take place within three related and iterative overarching themes. Firstly, the theme of humility that is required to begin an act of rescue. Secondly, the theme of attunement that builds resonances with both sentient figures and non-sentient features of homegrounds. Finally, the theme of courage to undertake rescue activities, and courage’s iterative outcome, encouragement. Further, this practice and exegesis contribute to environmental communication through foregrounding listening and hearing, the spoken word, community storytelling, and the ecosonics of the more-than-human world. In giving space to the methodological processes of my creative practice, this exegesis offers environmental communication practitioners new ways to go about their work. It also responds to current calls within this scholarship for a listening modality: for too long we have been deaf to the sounds of the more-than-human world. The Rescue Project is a demonstration of how we might humbly hear these worlds speak. To explore the digital space, please visit: https://web.archive.org/web/20210530042604/https://landcareaustralia.org.au/rescue

IMPLICATIONS OF NATIONAL TRENDS IN DIGITAL MEDIA USE FOR ART THERAPY PRACTICE

This paper presents an overview of national trends in visual art-making and art sharing using digital media, and, the authors’ reflections on the implications of these findings for art therapy practice. These findings were based on a secondary analysis of the 2012 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts administered by the National Endowment for the Arts. Survey findings indicated that increasing proportions of people in the United States are using digital media for creating, archiving, and sharing their art. Reflections by the authors on these findings include support for increase in use of digital media by art therapists for their own art and the need for research about, and, education on best practices for use of digital media

Influence of Elm Foliar Chemistry for the Host Suitability of the Japanese Beetle, Popillia japonica, and the Gypsy Moth, Lymantria dispar

The Asian elm trees that are closely associated with the David complex, Ulmus davidana (Planch), U. propinqua (Koidz), U. japonica (Rehd.), and U. wilsoniana (Schneid), show substantial levels of disease resistance and tolerance. Studies have shown that these species suffer moderate levels of injury from the adult Japanese beetle, Popillia japonica (Newman) (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). The research presented here reports the influence of elm leaf chemistry on the feeding activity of two generalist herbivores, the Japanese beetle and gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar (L.) (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae). Elm leaf chemistry was surveyed for 19 species, 5 cultivars, and 2 varieties that are known to vary in susceptibility to Japanese beetle feeding damage. Extracts were analyzed for significant differences in lipid, phenolic, terpene, and alkaloid diversity; those data were then compared with previous findings in Japanese beetle laboratory and field studies, and a gypsy moth no-choice developmental study. Elms that belong to the U. davidiana complex were more suitable for gypsy moth development compared with other elms tested. These elms typically had greater levels of lipid and overall blend complexity in the leaf chemical extracts. Elm leaf lipid extractions were evaluated for deterrent effects on Japanese beetle feeding activity in a greenhouse study and only three (U. propinqua var suberosa, ‘Commendation’ and U. wilsoniana) deterred Japanese beetle feeding. Elm tree susceptibility to gypsy moth and Japanese beetle injury was correlated with the leaf chemistry surveyed in this study; more specifically elm leaf lipids influenced Japanese beetle and gypsy moth preference for the Asian elms tested

Attitudes of High School Ice Hockey Players Toward Mouthguard Usage

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine Michigan High School ice hockey players’ attitudes regarding the use of mouthguards and to determine the effects of mouthguard type, player position, education, and usage time with respect to attitudes. Methods: A questionnaire measuring players’ attitudes toward mouthguards was sent to six member institutions of the Michigan State High School Athletic Association (MSHSAA) located in Southwest Michigan. Out of a total of 128 players listed on the rosters of the MSHSAA, 119 (93%) players returned the surveys, with 117 surveys used in the analyses (91%).Results: Approximately 25.6% of players reported wearing mouthguards 50% of the time or greater during practices and 80.3% wearing mouthguards 50% of the time or greater during games. Seventy-two percent of the subjects had never received educational information regarding mouthguards. A 2x2x3 ANOVA revealed no significant effect between player position, previous mouthguard education, and mouthguard type with respect to mouthguard attitudes. Independent t-tests revealed players wearing mouthguards greater than 50% of the time during practice and games had more positive attitudes toward mouthguards than those who wore mouthguards less than 50% of the time. Conclusion: No one specific factor affecting attitudes of mouthguard use was identified; however, the majority of the players had no previous education on mouthguard usage. Our results show a need for more educational interventional programs by healthcare providers, dentists, and coaches

LinkedIn Blunders: A Mixed Method Study of College Students’ Profiles

Although a significant need exists for college students to market their job skills effectively to potential employers, no prior research systematically analyzed the quality of information included in college students’ LinkedIn profiles. This study used a marketing framework to evaluate the effectiveness of information in LinkedIn profiles posted by current and former community college students. The mixed method study analyzed 340 publicly available LinkedIn profiles for students who reported attending 89 community colleges in the United States. The results suggest many college students may not understand how to use a LinkedIn profile to market their skills to potential employers. Key sections were often left blank and profiles failed to communicate students’ unique value proposition. Content analysis revealed 75% of profiles contained an experience section with poor to below average descriptions. Comparative analysis found profiles for unemployed individuals and those seeking a new position were significantly worse than profiles for their employed counterparts. Additionally, LinkedIn profiles for students from large community colleges had significantly more writing errors than profiles for students attending medium-size community colleges. After discussing implications of the research, recommendations based on the study’s results are suggested for career service staff, educators, and students