Shaping self through sport:the link between competitive sports and development of self-concept among young athletes

Abstract. The popularity of competitive sports is evident as approximately half of children in the Western worlds participate in some type of competitive sports. Being physically active is one of the key elements in maintaining overall human well-being due to its effects on both physical and mental health. The benefits of regular sport participation are especially important for children as their physical and mental development are in their early stages. In this thesis, I will be focusing on the development of self-concept among children who participate in competitive sports. Competitive environments provide children with different experiences that can affect the self-concept of an individual in either positive or negative way. The responsibility of the adults is also discussed as their role in organizing youth sports is substantial. Being a youth athlete requires constant balancing between sports, school and social life, which can become overwhelming at times. These different stressors have great impact on individual’s mental development. By recognizing the effects that competitive sport participation has on children, we are able to understand and support their journey as a youth athlete

The student-produced electronic portfolio in craft education

The authors studied primary school students’ experiences of using an electronic portfolio in their craft education over four years. A stimulated recall interview was applied to collect user experiences and qualitative content analysis to analyse the collected data. The results indicate that the electronic portfolio was experienced as a multipurpose tool to support learning. It makes the learning process visible and in that way helps focus on and improves the quality of learning. © ISLS.Peer reviewe

A statistical study of the effect of excessive feeding of calcium and phosphorus supplements on the blood calcium and phosphorus of dairy cows

A statistical study of the effects of the feeding of large amounts of calcium and phosphorus supplements on the level of these minerals in the blood of dairy cows was made on the basis of 274 blood samples collected from 15 herds. The effects of four presumably independent variables, the actual amount of either calcium or phosphorus in the ration, milk yield, stage of lactation and the Ca/P ratio of the ration, were investigated simultaneously. When the level of calcium in the blood (x1) was considered as the dependent variable, it showed a possibly significant correlation only to two of the above mentioned independent variables, e.g., to Ca/P ratio (x2) and milk yield (x3). The coefficients of partial correlation obtained were r12,3 = + 0.3766 and r13,2 = + 0.1545 and that of multiple correlation r1(23) = 0.3966. These correlations can be expressed quantitatively with the following equation: x1 = 4.88 + 0.427 · x2 + 0.0373 · x3, where x1 = the amount of calcium in blood in mg. per 100 ml, x2 = the Ca/P ratio of the ration and x3 = kilograms of milk produced per day. When the effect on the level of inorganic phosphorus in mg. per 100 ml. of blood (x1) was investigated similarly, again only two of the variables studied, e.g., the actual amount of phosphorus (g. per day) in the ration (x2) and the milk yield (x3) appeared to be effective. The coefficients of partial and multiple correlations obtained were r12,3 = + 0.4861, r13,2 = - 0.1447 and r1(23) = 0.4892. This effect expressed as a linear function, is given by the following equation: x1 = 3.59 + 0.0142 · x2 - 0.0304 · x3. When the cations Na+, K+,and Ca++, and the anions CL- and HPO4-- were determined separately in the blood, the total amount of cations expressed in chemical equivalents exceeded the total equivalent amount of inorganic anions to an amount that was about twice the equivalent amount of the bicarbonate alkali reserve of the blood. The total cation excess varied independenly of the Ca/P ratio of the ration, but the latter showed a negative correlation to the bicarbonate alkali reserve, probably due to an increasing amount of organic acids in the blood. No effect on the pH of either blood of feces was noticed. It is concluded that an excessive amount of phosphate may be conducive to maintaining a high blood inorganic phosphate level. Similarly, a high Ca/P ratio of the ration or an excessive amount of calcium carbonate in the feed, along with proper rumen fermentation, may be conducive to maintaining a high calcium content in the blood of high producing dairy cows

Stalinin kommunistinen kontrastikuva:Neuvostopropagandan vaikutus Vasily Azajevin Kaukana Moskovasta -teoksen henkilöhahmojen kuvauksessa

Tiivistelmä. Tutkielma käsittelee Neuvostoliiton propagandan ilmenemismuotoja Vasily Azhajevin Kaukana Moskovasta-teoksessa. Kyseessä on sosialistisen realismin, Neuvostoliittolaisen propagandakirjallisuuden, klassikko. Neuvostoliiton kirjallisuus oli todella vahvasti riippuvainen yhteiskunnan politiikasta ja filosofiasta. Tutkimuksessa perehdytään näiden poliittisten instituutioiden vaikutukseen Kaukana Moskovasta -teoksen henkilöhahmojen kuvailussa. Teoksen ensimmäinen tulkinnallinen osio käy läpi Leninin filosofiassa esillä ollutta alkuvoimaisuus-tiedostus-oppositiota ja sen ilmenemistä sosialistisen realismin esimerkkiteoksessa, Dimitri Furmanovin Tsapajevissa. Tämän perusteella jaottelen Kaukana Moskovasta -teokset heidän kirjallisiin tyyppeihinsä. Sen jälkeen läyn läpi Kaukana Moskovasta -teoksen henkilöhahmot ja keskityn heidän luonteensa ja ulkomuotonsa kuvailuun. Käsittelen myös heidän sijoittumistaan suhteessa sosialistisen realismin historiaan. Opinnäytteen neljännessä luvussa käsittelen henkilöhahmoja heidän yhteiskunnallisen luokkansa perusteella ja esitän joukon yksityiskohtia, joista voi erottaa poliittisesti suositut kommunistiset henkilöhahmot poliittisesti negatiivisista eli valkoisista tai vastavallankumouksellisista. Tutkimustuloksina löysin monenlaisia henkilöhahmon kuvailuun ja yhteiskuntaluokkaan liittyviä piirteitä. Teoksen positiiviset henkilöhahmot ovat fyysisesti työn läheisyydessä, kun negatiiviset ovat byrokraattisia ja poissa työmaalta. Fyysisesti kommunistit ovat terveempiä ja suoraselkäisempiä kuin negatiiviset. Negatiivisilla henkilöhahmoilla sen sijaan on toistuvia sairauden merkkejä. Esitin myös teoriani harmaiden hiuksien symbolisesta merkityksestä teoksen henkilöhahmojen sisäisen maailman kuvaajina. Teoksen negatiiviset henkilöhahmot harmaantuvat ennenaikaisesti, kun taas positiiviset henkilöhahmot harmaantuvat hitaasti tai ei ollenkaan. Kun positiivinen sankari harmaantuu hiuksiltaan, se on merkki hänen mielenterveytensä murenemisesta. Koska Kaukana Moskovasta -teos on sosialistisen realismin perinteen mukaan positiivista, tämä hiusten harmaantuminenkin katoaa teoksen lopussa. Kiinnitin myös huomiota siihen, miten sosialistinen realismi ei ole muodoltaan suinkaan realistista, vaan sisältää aineksia vanhemmasta klassismista ja draamasta. Näin on esimerkiksi teoksen henkilöasetelmassa, joka muistuttaa ylösalaisin käännettyä säätyklausuulia

Shorter Cold Ischemia Time in Deceased Donor Kidney Transplantation Reduces the Incidence of Delayed Graft Function Especially Among Highly Sensitized Patients and Kidneys From Older Donors

Background. Long cold ischemia time (CIT) is the most important factor contributing to delayed graft function (DGF) after kidney transplant. Improvements in pretransplant procedures may reduce CIT and improve clinical outcome. Materials and Methods. Pretransplant histocompatibility tests were modernized at our laboratory in 2015, leading to significant decrease of time consumed for these enabling earlier surgery. The effects of this on kidney transplant CIT, DGF, and other clinical outcomes were studied. The study population consisted of 896 consecutive deceased donor kidney recipients, of which 442 patients received a transplant with the old crossmatch and 454 received a transplant with the new crossmatch. Results. CIT shortened from mean 20 hours 6 minutes to 15 hours 52 minutes (P <.001). The incidence of DGF was significantly reduced from 31% to 24% (P = .02). Reduction in the frequency of DGF was more pronounced among the highly sensitized patients (53% to 28%, P = .01) or in patients with pretransplant donor-specific antibodies (50% to 20%, P = .002) and among patients who received kidneys from donors older than 65 years (38% to 27%, P = .04). Conclusions. Process optimization that reduces CIT decreases occurrence of DGF, especially in highly sensitized patients and patients who receive kidneys from older donors.Peer reviewe

”Ope, voiko kuunnella samalla musaa kun tekee tehtäviä?”:taustamusiikin vaikutus keskittymiseen oppimisen aikana

Tiivistelmä. Tässä kandidaatintutkielmassa tarkastellaan taustamusiikin vaikutusta oppimiseen. Aihetta käsitellään tutkielmassa suomalaisen peruskoulun näkökulmasta, jossa oppilailla on mahdollisuus itsenäisesti tai opettajajohtoisesti mahdollisuus vaikuttaa ympäristöönsä luoden paremmat olosuhteet keskittymiselleen. Vaikka aihetta käsitellään suomalaisen peruskoulun näkökulmasta, määritellään tässä tutkielmassa taustamusiikin käsite sekä sen vaikutukset keskittymiseen ja oppimiseen kansainvälisen tutkimustiedon pohjalta. Taustamusiikin hyödyntämisestä oppimisen ja keskittymisen tukena ei ole selkeää konsensusta opettajien kesken, tulisiko musiikkia hyödyntää oppimisen taustalla vai ei. On yhä epäselvää, onko musiikista hyötyä vai haittaa opiskelun taustalla, vaikka se on niin yleisesti käytetty väline oppimisen aikana ja yleisesti uskotaan, että musiikista on ehdottomasti hyötyä keskittymisen tukena. Tutkimuskysymykseni tälle tutkielmalle ovat: ”Mitä taustamusiikki on?” sekä ”Miten taustamusiikki vaikuttaa keskittymiseen ja tunteisiin oppimisen aikana?”. Taustamusiikin hyödyntämisessä keskittymisen ja oppimisen tukijana ei ole tutkimustiedon mukaan merkittävää hyötyä oppimisen aikana verrattuna opiskeluun hiljaisuudessa. Pahimmillaan musiikista opiskelun taustalla voi olla merkittävää haittaa oppimistuloksille. Eniten haittaa oppimistuloksille ja keskittymiselle muodostuu tilanteissa, jossa musiikki oppimisen taustalla sisältää lyriikoita ja vahvoja dynamiikan vaihteluita. Oikein hyödynnettynä ja oikeanlaatuisella taustamusiikilla voidaan kuitenkin tarjota syvälle keskittymiselle suotuisa tunnetila, jolloin musiikin luoma positiivinen tunnetila voi parhaimmillaan laajentaa käytettävissä olevia keskittymisen resursseja. On kuitenkin suositeltavaa, että taustamusiikkia hyödynnettäisiin oppimisen ja keskittymisen tukijana tilanteissa, joissa opiskeltava aines ei ole haastavaa. Tällaisia tilanteita ovat esimerkiksi paljon toistoja vaativat oppimistehtävät

Corticomuscular Coherence Is Tuned to the Spontaneous Rhythmicity of Speech at 2-3 Hz

Human speech features rhythmicity that frames distinctive, fine-grained speech patterns. Speech can thus be counted among rhythmic motor behaviors that generally manifest characteristic spontaneous rates. However, the critical neural evidence for tuning of articulatory control to a spontaneous rate of speech has not been uncovered. The present study examined the spontaneous rhythmicity in speech production and its relationship to cortex–muscle neurocommunication, which is essential for speech control. Our MEG results show that, during articulation, coherent oscillatory coupling between the mouth sensorimotor cortex and the mouth muscles is strongest at the frequency of spontaneous rhythmicity of speech at 2–3 Hz, which is also the typical rate of word production. Corticomuscular coherence, a measure of efficient cortex–muscle neurocommunication, thus reveals behaviorally relevant oscillatory tuning for spoken language.Peer reviewe

Longitudinal Validity and Minimal Important Change for the Modified Lower Extremity Functional Scale (LEFS) in Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Patients

The lower extremity functional scale (LEFS) is a patient-reported outcome measure for lower extremity disorders. Aim of this study was to assess the longitudinal validity including responsiveness and test-retest reliability of the revised 15-item version, and to define the minimal important change (MIC) of the modified LEFS in a generic sample of orthopedic foot and ankle patients who underwent surgery. Responsiveness, effect size, and standardized response mean were measured by determining the score change between the baseline and 6 months administration of the LEFS from 156 patients. There was no significant difference between preoperative (median 78, interquartile range [IQR] 64.2-90.3) and postoperative (median 75.0, IQR 61.7-95.0) scores. Both effect size and standardized response mean were low (0.06 and 0.06, respectively). Test-retest reliability of the LEFS was satisfactory. Intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.85 (95% confidence interval 0.81-0.88). MIC value could not be estimated due to the lack of significant score change. The modified LEFS presented with relatively low longitudinal validity in a cohort of generic orthopedic foot and ankle patients. The findings of this study indicate that the modified LEFS might not be the optimal instrument in assessing the clinical change over time for these patients. (c) 2021 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)Peer reviewe

Structural and Construct Validity of the Foot and Ankle Ability Measure (FAAM) With an Emphasis on Pain and Functionality After Foot Surgery : A Multicenter Study

The Foot and Ankle Ability Measure (FAAM) is a patient-reported outcome measure that is available in several languages. We aim to assess the structural and construct validity of the FAAM with an emphasis on pain and functionality after foot surgery. The activities of daily living (ADL) and Sports subscales of the Finnish version of the FAAM were completed by 182 patients who underwent operative treatment for disorders of the foot. Convergent validity was assessed by principal component analysis using Spearman's correlation coefficient between the FAAM subscales and the principal components (Function-PC and Pain-PC) derived from validated patient-reported outcome measures. Subscales were studied for floor and ceiling effects, internal consistency and unidimensionality. Internal consistency was examined with Cronbach's alpha and the subscale structure with exploratory factor analysis. FAAM-ADL had high correlation with the Function-PC (r = 0.87, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.81-0.91) and the Pain-PC (r = 0.75, 95% CI 0.65-0.83). FAAM-Sports had moderate correlation (r = 0.64, 95% CI 0.50-0.74) with the Function-PC and high correlation (r = 0.74, 95% CI 0.64-0.82) with the Pain-PC. No floor or ceiling effects were observed. Cronbach's alpha was 0.97 (95% CI 0.96-0.98) for the ADL and 0.93 (95% CI 0.91-0.95) for the Sports subscales. The results supported the unidimensionality of the FAAM-Sports. Within the ADL subscale, 3 factors were identified, suggesting a 3-factor model for the FAAM overall. Results highlighted the inter-relationship of pain and physical function. Further research on longitudinal validity is needed. (C) 2021 The Author(s).Peer reviewe