School-based physical activity in children: An evaluation of the Daily Physical Activity program in Ontario elementary schools.

Ontarioimplemented the Daily Physical Activity program in all elementary schools to counteract the recent decline in children’s physical activity levels. The program mandates that all students in kindergarten to grade 8 are provided with 20 minutes of physical activity every day. The purpose of this thesis was to evaluate the delivery of Daily Physical Activity as well as identify any supports or barriers to program delivery. Study 1 consisted of a questionnaire investigating the perspectives of the teachers involved in the Daily Physical Activity program. Teachers were questioned about how they implement the DPA program, the supports and barriers to program delivery. Teachers admitted that they do not implement the DPA program as mandated on all days without physical education. They report that time is the single most important barrier to program delivery. Many teachers felt that DPA takes valuable time away from other more important subjects. Study 2 consisted of a questionnaire investigating the perspectives of the students involved in the DPA program. Students confirmed that teachers do not implement the DPA program on all days that it is mandated. They also indicated that there is a lack of intensity in the activities used during DPA. Students however looked very favorably on the DPA program and did not feel that time was a barrier to program delivery. Study 3 consisted of objectively measuring the school-day physical activity of students participating in the DPA program. Students wore accelerometers for 4 days. Results indicate that there is very little meaningful physical activity during the DPA class. Students averaged just over 3 minutes MVPA within the allotted 20 minutes of DPA. The inclusion of DPA in the school day had no effect on the total school-day physical activity of students. In general the DPA program is not being run as intended in regards to time, intensity or frequency. DPA has shown to have very little effect on the physical activity levels of the students. In order to properly address the decreasing levels of physical activity in Canadian children, the Daily Physical Activity program needs significant changes in order to be effective

Book Review: The Rhetoric of Remediation: Negotiating Entitlement and Access to Higher Education

For the past 140 years, remedial students have existed in one way or another. In her book The Rhetoric of Remediation: Negotiating Entitlement and Access to Higher Education, Stanley contends that the remedial student has been an important character in U. C. Berkeley\u27s importance in the eyes of the state of California as well as other universities across the nation. Amid many recent political decision affecting higher education and access, Stanley\u27s work is rooted in the history of the remedial student and what that student means to higher education and politics as a whole

Whose Fault is it, Anyway?: Who is to Blame for Limited College Access in the United States? [Special Section]

Access to higher education has been limited for many underrepresented racial minorities (URMs) in the United States. Part of the reason for this has been because of weaknesses in the K-16 pipeline. This article takes a collective impact approach to understanding what K-16 personnel can do to assist URMs through proper curriculum development and implementation. Overall, this article will focus on the proficiency model, how it has been used in the mainstream, and why the proficiency model is important when working together within the K-16 continuum

Inter-sensory Judgments of Signal Duration

Intersensory discrimination of signal duration using visual and auditory signal

Synthesis of perfluorinated polyethers

A series of highly fluorinated acetylenes was prepared and their cyclization reactions were studied. A series of perfluoropolytriazines with -CF2I pendent groups were prepared. These materials can be cured thermally or photochemically to an elastomeric gum. Perfluoropolytriazines with -CN pendent groups were prepared. These materials can be crosslinked by reaction with terephthalonitrile oxide

Palatable Meal Anticipation in Mice

The ability to sense time and anticipate events is a critical skill in nature. Most efforts to understand the neural and molecular mechanisms of anticipatory behavior in rodents rely on daily restricted food access, which induces a robust increase of locomotor activity in anticipation of daily meal time. Interestingly, rats also show increased activity in anticipation of a daily palatable meal even when they have an ample food supply, suggesting a role for brain reward systems in anticipatory behavior, and providing an alternate model by which to study the neurobiology of anticipation in species, such as mice, that are less well adapted to "stuff and starve" feeding schedules. To extend this model to mice, and exploit molecular genetic resources available for that species, we tested the ability of wild-type mice to anticipate a daily palatable meal. We observed that mice with free access to regular chow and limited access to highly palatable snacks of chocolate or “Fruit Crunchies” avidly consumed the snack but did not show anticipatory locomotor activity as measured by running wheels or video-based behavioral analysis. However, male mice receiving a snack of high fat chow did show increased food bin entry prior to access time and a modest increase in activity in the two hours preceding the scheduled meal. Interestingly, female mice did not show anticipation of a daily high fat meal but did show increased activity at scheduled mealtime when that meal was withdrawn. These results indicate that anticipation of a scheduled food reward in mice is behavior, diet, and gender specific