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The Effects of the LiiNK Intervention on Physical Activity and Obesity Rates among Children
No full textBackground: Obesity and inactivity among children are at an all-time high and have been steadily increasing in prevalence over the last thirty years. The school environment provides the ideal setting for reaching a large number of children across diverse populations in order to reverse these trends. However, there are many inconsistent results yielded by school-based physical activity interventions due to implementation length, time for activities, and the use of structured physical activities. The LiiNK Project� is a whole-child intervention addressing these gaps by providing children 45�60 min of recess (unstructured, outdoor play) in their schools daily, while the control children are allowed to engage in recess for 30 min daily. The purpose of this study was to compare the physical activity intensity and obesity rates of third- and fourth-grade children participating in the LiiNK intervention, which provides 60 min of recess for third graders and 45 min for fourth graders, to those in a control group allowed 30 min of daily recess. Methods: The children were 8�10 years old (M = 9.2; 52% females and 48% males). The intervention children comprised 90 third graders and 100 fourth graders, and the control children comprised 101 third graders and 92 fourth graders. Physical activity levels were monitored using accelerometers to assess sedentary, light, and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Obesity rates were evaluated using bio-electrical impedance analysis (BIA), in which body fat percentage is calculated based on normative values using age and sex in the equation. Results: The third-grade intervention children engaged in 13 more MVPA minutes and took 900 more steps daily than their control counterparts, and also presented a greater proportion of overweight children transitioning to a healthy weight status from the fall to the spring semester. Conversely, the fourth-grade control children increased their activity by 500 steps and 15 more MVPA minutes daily. Despite this, the intervention children overall demonstrated a reduction in body fat percentage, while the control children demonstrated an increase in body fat percentage. Conclusions: Ultimately, 60 min of unstructured, outdoor play in schools provides children the best opportunity to engage in MVPA, which may positively impact body fat percentages, offering a potential strategy for combatting childhood obesity in school settings
Refiguring Digital Landscapes
No full textEducational literature has long invisibilized Indigenous Latinx youth in favor of a monolithic discourse of Latinidad. For example, being grouped by nationalities (i.e. Mexican or Guatemalan) or as pan-ethnic identities (i.e. Hispanic or Latinx ) does not fully express Indigenous peoples’ cultural breadth, experiences, and languages throughout Latin America. As such, many Indigenous Latinx migrants bring with them traditions, epistemologies, and family histories that they embrace and sustain through multiple avenues. In this paper, we focus on educational spaces created on Instagram, where Indigenous Latinx youth actively engage in discourses and cultural production of indigeneity, borderlands, and colonialism. We situate the emergence of Instagram as a site of pedagogical depth that Indigenous Latinx youth deploy as co-curricular building projects. Finally, we deploy Critical Latinx Indigeneities to make sense of a post shared by a Quechua-Aymara account titled “Detribalized, Reconnecting, Indigenous: Further Debunking Attacks to ‘Latinx’ Reindigenization” and the various user responses to the post who actively participated in refiguring the conversation by nuancing, situating, and contemplating the overall premise of the post, which was mestizo/Latinx “reindigenization” through reclamation of an Indigenous identity. Users crafted responses to specifically address components of the post creating a “hub” whereby others could engage in this type of public pedagogy. Our purpose is not to center any particular narrative but more so create an opportunity to witness how Instagram has and is a generative site of pedagogical co-creation, by, in this case, the various user responses to the post who actively participated in refiguring the conversation by nuancing, situating, and contemplating the overall premise of the post, which was mestizo/Latinx “reindigenization” through reclamation of an Indigenous identity. Instagram is therefore a generative site of pedagogical co-creation, a move we call refiguring digital landscapes. We define refiguring digital landscapes as spaces of dialogue, where Indigeneity is in motion and actively being articulated and re-articulated and contested. This paper suggests three key components: 1) how youth from differing Indigenous territories can provide nuances on Latinidad and indigeneity based on their own experiences 2) complicate the way in which settler colonialism (as an ongoing process) is interpreted within multiple geographic contexts 3) map the way that CLI is enacted via online interfaces. Through refiguring digital landscapes, Indigenous youth are actively establishing robust digital worlds that, although they can be in contestation, do foster a depth of epistemological and ontological importance
The Impact of Rising Interest Rates on Multifamily Lending Patterns
No full textThis study examines how interest rate increases from 2018 to 2023 influenced multifamily commercial real estate lending patterns in the United States. Through regression analyses of loan origination data across various lender categories and interest rate metrics, the research suggests inverse lending behaviors between government and investor-driven institutions. While government lenders appear to decrease origination quantity and increase average loan size amidst rising interest rates, investor-driven lenders exhibit increased origination quantity and decreased average loan size. The findings suggest a complementary lending environment that maintains debt availability across interest rate environments, which can inform future scholarly examination
Lower Limb Cross-Over Effects on Postural Control: Impact of Proximal and Distal Muscle Fatigue
No full textThe purpose of this study was to examine the cross-over influence of lower limb fatigue on postural control. Using two experiments, cross-over fatigue was investigated using a proximal (Experiment 1—single-leg squat) and distal (Experiment 2—calf raise) muscle group. In Experiment 1, 15 healthy young participants underwent a single-leg standing task on both the right and left leg, with variations of having eyes open or closed and on stable or unstable surfaces, performing each task for 30 s. For Experiment 2, 20 individuals performed single-leg balance testing for the right and left leg and stable and unstable surfaces. Center-of-pressure data were collected during the balance tasks and were analyzed with linear (standard deviation) and nonlinear (detrended fluctuation analysis) metrics. The results lacked significant differences (p > 0.05) for cross-over fatigue effects on the non-exercised limb, which exhibited similar levels of postural sway between the pre- and post-fatigue balance tests. These tasks may have lacked an appropriate level of duration or intensity to cause a significant effect of central fatigue on the nervous system. The findings underscore the need to better understand how a specific fatiguing task during unilateral rehabilitation may alter postural control
Spectral properties of 4-methylumbelliferone in PVA films; long-lived room temperature phosphorescence.
No full textWe studied absorption and fluorescence as well as room temperature phosphorescence (RTP) of 4-methylumbelliferone (4MU) in poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) films. We focused our study on the long-wavelength basic form of 4MU with absorption centered at 375 nm. The strong fluorescence with a quantum yield of above 70% appears at ~ 430 nm. The fluorescence anisotropy of 4MU-doped PVA film is high, reaching a value of about 0.3. The emission with gated detection shows a broad phosphorescence spectrum with a peak at ~ 510 nm and a residual delayed fluorescence at 430 nm. The excitation spectra for fluorescence and phosphorescence roughly follows 4MU absorption. The phosphorescence lifetime of 4MU is remarkably long, almost 3 s. 4MU excitation and emission phosphorescence anisotropies are low, very close to zero
Helping Students Connect to Animals through Experiential Assignments
No full textHumanity is often a very lonely species. Thinking that our big brains and technological advancements set us above all other beings (hu-man exceptionalism andspeciesism), we often feel a profound dis-connection from the other living creatures with whom we share the Earth. Yet evolutionarily speaking, we are hard-wired to want to love and connect with animals and, when we prevent ourselves from doing so,we naturally suffer from ills such as anxiety and depression.1In this article, I will discuss two experiential assignments that I have developed for my undergraduate anthropology course on Animals, Religion, and Culture (ARC) at Texas Christian Universityto help students learn to pay closer attention to ani-mals and human-animal relationships, with the ultimate goal of the stu-dents feeling more closely connected to and compassionate toward other than human animals
Word learning in children who are deaf or hard of hearing
No full textChildren who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) and learning spoken language struggle with crucial communication skills (e.g., Lund, 2016). This study investigated the impact of syntax, word density, and timed recall on overall word learning.
Participants had either typical hearing (TH), hearing aids (HA), or a cochlear implant (CI). Participants were asked to participate in the reading of two, pre-recorded storybooks with high-density and low-density words respectively prior to demonstrating immediate and delayed expressive recall. Children recalled fewer words after a 5-minute delay. Children learned more words in complex syntax than in simple syntax. Children with CI learned more high than low density words, whereas children with TH learned more low than high density words. Children with HA learned roughly equal numbers of words across both types. This research presents clinically relevant information regarding how professionals may approach teaching new words to children who are DHH
Kinematics and Controlling Factors of Slow-Moving Landslides in Central Texas: A Multisource Data Fusion Approach
No full textThe Austin metropolitan area has experienced unprecedented economic and population growth over the past two decades. This rapid growth is leading communities to settle in areas susceptible to landslides, necessitating a comprehensive analysis of landslide risks and the development of early warning systems. This could be accomplished with better confidence for slow-moving landslides, whose occurrences could be forecasted by monitoring precursory ground displacement. This study employed a combination of ground- and satellite-based observations and techniques to assess the kinematics of slow-moving landslides and identify the controlling and triggering factors that contribute to their occurrence. By closely examining landslide events in the Shoal Creek area, potential failure modes across the study area were inferred. The findings revealed that landslide-prone areas are undergoing creep deformation at an extremely slow rate (up to -4.29 mm/yr). These areas lie on moderate to steep slopes (>22 degrees) and are predominantly composed of clay-rich units belonging to the Del Rio and Eagle Ford formations. Based on the incidents at Shoal Creek, episodes of intense rainfall acting on the landslide-prone areas are determined to be the main trigger for landslide processes in the region
Believe it or not: A network analysis investigating how individuals embrace false and true statements during COVID-19
No full textAs individuals make belief decisions on truths and falsehoods, a systematic organization of (mis)information emerges. In this study, we employ a network approach to illustrate how a sample of Americans share a cognitive network of false and true statements related to COVID-19. Moreover, we examine what factors are associated with the formation of misbeliefs. Findings from our US-based rolling cross-sectional survey data indicate that conservative groups exhibit a greater tendency to mix up false and true information than liberal groups. This tendency is preserved across different time points, revealing more homogenously structured information networks of conservative groups compared to liberal groups. The benefits of a cognitive network framework that integrates structural perspectives into theories are discussed
Derivational Morphology in First Grade Children who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing
No full textDerivational morphological knowledge is critical to the acquisition of language and literacy, specifically expressive vocabulary. Current literature suggests that children who are deaf and hard of hearing have deficits in grammatical morphology, but there has not been significant study on derivational morphology in this population. This study aimed to understand derivational morphology in first grade children who are deaf and hard of hearing and how they compare to their peers with typical hearing.
The first-grade children in this study fell into three groups based on hearing status: children with cochlear implants, hearing aids, and children with typical hearing. Participants completed the Test of Morphological Structure to assess their derivational morphological knowledge (Carlisle, 2000).
Based on each group's performance, researchers found that children who are deaf and hard of hearing, specifically those who wear cochlear implants, have significant deficits in derivational morphology. Performance was influenced by audibility of morphemes, shift versus transparent word productions, and age of acquisition of the root word. The present data provides a starting point to examining derivational morphology in children who are deaf and hard of hearing during school aged years