Teaching Sport Psychology to the XBox Generation: Further evidence for game-based learning

Objective: To extend recent research examining the impact of game-based activities on the learning experience of undergraduate psychology students. Design: A counterbalanced repeated measures design was employed to evaluate students’ learning experiences following their involvement in active game-based learning activities. Method: Students on a Level 5 sport psychology module (N=134) were asked to participate in four practical classes demonstrating the impact of psychological factors (e.g. anxiety) on sports performance. Two sessions were designed for each practical: one included the use of active video games (e.g. Kinect Sports); the other included a traditional active game-based activity (e.g. Reaction Time Game). Students were randomly assigned to one of two groups in order to facilitate counterbalancing and to ensure that all students completed two active video game (AVG) and two non-AVG tasks. Following each practical, students provided ratings of perceived usefulness, interest/engagement, and enjoyment using a seven-point Likert scale. These data will be analysed via one way repeated measures analyses of covariance (ANCOVA), with students’ experience of AVGs being the covariate. The impact of sessions on students’ academic motivation and performance were also assessed and analysed via one-way ANOVAs. Results: Data is currently being collected alongside a semester one module. Results will be reported during the presentation. Conclusions: It is anticipated that the findings will provide further evidence to support the use of AVGs in the teaching of undergraduate psychology, and that the increased sophistication of AVG technology may be harnessed to provide multiple benefits for students in higher education

Symposium on Intracellular pH, PCO₂ and PO₂: Introductory Remarks

It is a pleasure to welcome the three authorities who will carry the major load of presentations in our symposium today. They are Dr. Frans Jöbsis of Duke University School of Medicine, Dr. Eugene Robin of The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and Dr. Norman Carter of The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. We are also grateful for the presence of Dr. Lutz Kiesow of the Naval Medical Research Institute, Bethesda, Maryland. Dr. Kiesow will assist in the discussions to be held after each major presentation. Each of these men is an international authority in his field, and we are more than fortunate to have this group with us today

The influence of non-neuronal cells on catecholamine and acetylcholine synthesis and accumulation in cultures of dissociated sympathetic neurons

The effects of several non-neuronal cell types on neurotransmitter synthesis in cultures of dissociated sympathetic neurons from the new-born rat were studied. Acetylcholine synthesis from radioactive choline was increased 100- to 1000-fold in the presence of non-neuronal cells from sympathetic ganglia. This increase was roughly dependent on the number of ganglionic non-neuronal cells present. The effect did not appear to be due to an increased plating efficiency of neurons, since the non-neuronal cells were capable of increasing acetylcholine synthesis after only 48-hr contact with neurons that had been previously grown without non-neuronal cells for 2 weeks. C6 rat glioma cells were also able to stimulate acetylcholine synthesis, but 3T3 mouse fibroblast cells had little or no effect. None of the non-neuronal cell types synthesized detectable acetylcholine in the absence of the neurons. The ganglionic non-neuronal cells had no significant effect on catecholamine synthesis (which occurs in the absence of non-neuronal cells)

Balancing reliability and cost to choose the best power subsystem

A mathematical model is presented for computing total (spacecraft) subsystem cost including both the basic subsystem cost and the expected cost due to the failure of the subsystem. This model is then used to determine power subsystem cost as a function of reliability and redundancy. Minimum cost and maximum reliability and/or redundancy are not generally equivalent. Two example cases are presented. One is a small satellite, and the other is an interplanetary spacecraft

HEALTH, FOOD SAFETY AND MEAT DEMAND

For nearly two decades, the U.S. beef industry has faced a long term structural change, which has resulted in consumers shifting from beef to chicken. This shift has occurred due to consumer concerns on cholesterol consumption. More recently, this industry has confronted new challenges on the safety of beef, due to the potential presence of biological contaminants. This study incorporates a measure on food safety with a measure on health information in a meat demand system. Beef safety information is found to have a modest impact on beef demand, but is dominated by health information.meat demand, health, food safety, LA/AIDS, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Livestock Production/Industries,

How much redundancy: Some cost considerations, including examples for spacecraft systems

How much redundancy should be built into a subsystem such as a space power subsystem. How does a reliability or design engineer choose between a power subsystem with 0.990 reliability and a more costly subsystem with 0.995 reliability. How does the engineer designing a power subsystem for a satellite decide between one power subsystem and a more reliable but heavier power subsystem. High reliability is not necessarily an end in itself. High reliability may be desirable in order to reduce the statistically expected loss due to a subsystem failure. However, this may not be the wisest use of funds since the expected loss due to subsystem failure is not the only cost involved. The subsystem itself may be very costly. The cost of the subsystem or the expected loss due to subsystem failure may not be considered separately. Therefore, the total of the two costs is minimized, i.e., the total of the cost of the subsystem plus the expected loss due to subsystem failure. A specific type of redundant system is considered, called a k-out-of-n: G subsystem. Such a subsystem has n modules, of which k are required to be good for the subsystem to be good. Five models are discussed which can be applied in the design of a power subsystem to select the unique redundancy method which will minimize the total of the cost of the power subsystem plus the expected loss due to the power subsystem failure. A BASIC computer program is available