932 research outputs found
Sort by
Effects of Functional Electrical Stimulation Cycling of Different Duration on Viscoelastic and Electromyographic Properties of the Knee in Patients with Spinal Cord Injury
Get PDFThe benefits of functional electrical stimulation during cycling (FES-cycling) have been ascertained following spinal cord injury. The instrumented pendulum test was applied to chronic paraplegic patients to investigate the effects of FES-cycling of different duration (20-min vs. 40-min) on biomechanical and electromyographic characterization of knee mobility. Seven adults with post-traumatic paraplegia attended two FES-cycling sessions, a 20-min and a 40-min one, in a random order. Knee angular excursion, stiffness and viscosity were measured using the pendulum test before and after each session. Surface electromyographic activity was recorded from the rectus femoris (RF) and biceps femoris (BF) muscles. FES-cycling led to reduced excursion (p < 0.001) and increased stiffness (p = 0.005) of the knee, which was more evident after the 20-min than 40-min session. Noteworthy, biomechanical changes were associated with an increase of muscle activity and changes in latency of muscle activity only for 20-min, with anticipated response times for RF (p < 0.001) and delayed responses for BF (p = 0.033). These results indicate that significant functional changes in knee mobility can be achieved by FES-cycling for 20 min, as evaluated by the pendulum test in patients with chronic paraplegia. The observed muscle behaviour suggests modulatory effects of exercise on spinal network aimed to partially restore automatic neuronal processes
Ecological exploration of knowledge and attitudes towards tobacco and e-cigarettes among primary school children, teachers and parents in Wales: A qualitative study
Get PDFExperimentation with e-cigarettes has grown rapidly among UK adolescents. To date, this topic has been primarily researched in secondary schools, with less understanding of development of attitudes and behaviours at an earlier age. This research reports qualitative data from interviews with pupils, parents and teachers at four case-study schools in Wales (N=42). It draws on Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory to consider how the intersection of systems surrounding primary school-age children and their interaction with these systems, shape knowledge and attitudes towards e-cigarettes and tobacco. Findings indicate that consistent messaging on smoking from school and family was reflected in strong disapproval among pupils and clear understanding of harms. This was less evident for e-cigarettes, where messages were mixed and inconsistent between home and school, with concerns over what to tell children about e-cigarettes in light of mixed messages and absence of official guidance. Implications of findings for policy and teaching are discussed
Private Schools and Tax Advantage in England — the longue durée
Get PDFState financing of schools invariably provokes questions regarding educational and social inequalities and the redistributive justice potential. Austerity policies have adversely impacted state school funding in England since 2010, resulting in much public disquiet and debate. However, the state funding that takes a more circuitous route, involving sizeable tax concessions for the English and Welsh private (fee-paying) schools that have charitable status, and which are frequently very resource-rich, has received significantly less detailed and direct attention from researchers (e.g. Lowe, 2020); much of that research is now dated (e.g. Walford, 1987;1988). In contrast, there has been, in the last ten years at least, a relatively significant and contentious popular debate about the status and privileges of these schools. This paper begins with the premise that appropriate historical studies are necessary to challenge 'the parochialism of the present' (Harris, 1983, 332) and to unmask the power relations inherent to these long-standing tax concessions. We chart how these tax arrangements arose over an extended time period through the tight entanglement of tax law, charity law and the interventions of legal, political and educational elites. Adopting a socio-legal historical perspective, we unravel the principal strands of this entanglement to explicate the current situation
Young people’s use of e-cigarettes in Wales, England and Scotland before and after introduction of EU Tobacco Products Directive regulations: a mixed-method natural experimental evaluation
Get PDFBackground
Young people’s experimentation with e-cigarettes has increased in recent years, although regular use remains limited. EU Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) regulations introduced packet warnings, advertising restrictions, and regulated nicotine strength from 2016, in part due to concerns regarding use by young people. This paper examines e-cigarette use trajectories before and after TPD.
Methods
E-cigarette use data were obtained from School Health Research Network/Health Behaviour in School-aged Children surveys in Wales and Smoking Drinking and Drug Use surveys in England. Data from Wales were analysed using segmented logistic regression, with before and after regression analyses of English data. Semi-structured group interviews included young people aged 14-16 years in Wales, England and Scotland in 2017 and 2018.
Results
In Wales, ever use of e-cigarettes increased over time, but under a range of assumptions, growth did not appear to continue post-TPD. A small and non-significant change in trend was observed post-implementation (OR=0.96; 95%CI=0.91 to 1.01), which increased in size and significance after adjusting for ever smoking (OR=0.93; 95%CI=0.88 to 0.98). There was little increase in regular e-cigarette use from 2015 to 2017 in Wales. However, ever and regular use increased from 2014 to 2016 in England. Young people in all nations described limited interactions with components of TPD, while describing e-cigarette use as a ‘fad’, which had begun to run its course.
Conclusions
This study provides preliminary evidence that young people’s e-cigarette experimentation may be plateauing in UK nations. The extent to which this arises from regulatory changes, or due to a fad having begun to lose its appeal among young people in the UK countries, remains unclear. These trends contrast to those observed in North America, where newer products whose EU market entry and marketing been impacted by TPD, have gained traction among young people. Long-term monitoring of e-cigarette use trends and perceptions among young people remain vital
“I felt like I was missing out on something”: An evaluation of using remote technology in the classroom
Get PDFAs technology develops in Higher Education (HE), distance learning has adopted many different guises and supports many different needs (Keane 2013). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of Double Robotics on a Doctoral (level 8) postgraduate course at a HE institution. The aim of this project was to generate an understanding of student and tutor experiences more generally, while examining the feasibility and impact of Double Robotics within a doctoral programme more specifically. Data were collected through a series of focus group interviews with the student and tutors over the course of a single semester (10-weeks). The data were subject to an inductive thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke 2006, 2013). The findings of the study shed light on the interactive pitfalls of the technology and contribute to understanding the experiences of distance learners’ engagement. Four key themes were identified: quality of technology, classroom familiarity, tutor facilitation and user isolation. The significance of this study lies not only in assessing the feasibility of Double Robotics but, specifically, shedding light on the nuanced understanding tutors require to enrol and engage distance learners remotely. Most notable, the ‘isolation’ of the learner points to a heightened awareness of context that can help tutors develop robust and durable environments, which embrace both traditional classroom settings and facilitate the addition of distance learners. Building upon Tucker (2013), technological advancements in the classroom must be carefully designed to appreciate the context of the learning environment, the teacher, and the pedagogic experiences of the learners
The influence of biological maturity on dynamic force-time variables and vaulting performance in young female gymnasts
Get PDFJumping and rebounding are important prerequisites that underpin the high impact loading gymnastics skills (e.g. acrobatic series, tumbling etc.) (Suchomel et al. 2016). Further, three of the four artistic disciplines that female gymnasts compete in (vault, beam and floor exercise) are heavily reliant on explosive lower-limb rebounding and jumping activities, which all utilize various expressions of the stretch-shortening cycle (SSC) (Moeskops et al. 2019). Consequently, rebounding and jumping performance of artistic gymnasts are commonly assessed to identify key determinants of the sport (Dallas G et al. 2013; Marina et al. 2013; Marina M. and F.A. 2013; Suchomel et al. 2016), determine physical profiles (Pion et al. 2015; Vandorpe et al. 2012) and evaluate the efficacy of training interventions (Colclough et al. 2018; Hall et al. 2016; Marina and Jemni 2014; Moeskops et al. 2018b)
Appetitive aggression in offending youths: Contributions of callous unemotional traits and violent cognitive patterns
Get PDFAppetitive aggression, marked by the derivation of positive affect from harming others has been observed mostly among youths in societies experiencing extreme violence. Perpetrators report craving violence, and find the process and actual infliction of harm relishing. Because this dimension of aggression is relatively new, studies have barely examined likely psychological correlates of this phenomenon. In this study, we considered the associations between callous-unemotional (CU) traits as well as violent cognition, with appetitive aggression in young offenders. Male youth offenders (n = 188) from 2 detention facilities in Northern and the Niger Delta regions of Nigeria completed measures of appetitive aggression, CU traits, and violent-supportive cognition. Demographic information regarding their offences were collected from official records and corroborated with self-reports. CU traits were related to the perpetration of appetitive aggression. Offenders who endorsed machismo beliefs that portrays aggression as a masculine characteristic and a fitting response to threats were more likely to report the enjoyment of aggression. There was a mediation effect of machismo thinking on the relationship between CU traits and appetitive aggression. The study finds that, like other known types of aggression, CU traits and machismo thinking are associated with appetitive aggression, and invites future studies to investigate other correlates of this pattern of aggression
Gender, diversity management perceptions, workplace happiness and organizational citizenship behaviour
Get PDFPurpose/ Aim: The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether females have different perceptions of diversity management and workplace happiness compared to their male colleagues. Furthermore, the paper explores whether diversity management perceptions mediates the relationship between workplace happiness and organisational citizenship behaviour.
Design/Methodology/Approach: A total of 260 questionnaire from a number of public hospitals in Egypt were analysed using both t-test and Structural Equation Modelling.
Findings/ Results: We found that female physicians perceive diversity management policies/protocols more positively than their male colleagues. Moreover, gender has no or little effect on physicians’ perceptions of workplace happiness. We also found that workplace happiness positively affects physicians’ organisational citizenship behaviour, and finally, diversity management practices can mediate the relationship between workplace happiness and physicians’ organisational citizenship behaviour.
Social and practical implications: We believe that managers can raise the feeling of workplace happiness among their staff if they maintain some personal relationships with physicians, care about the physicians’ work/life balance, promote after work gatherings, initiate coffee time talks, encourage open communication practices and more.
Originality: The paper is based on the argument that although employees might be happy in the workplace through (engagement, job satisfaction, affective commitment), however their happiness will be unlikely reflected into a positive organizational citizenship behaviour towards their organisation, except (social exchange theory) they feel or perceive (equity theory) the overall practices of diversity management in that organization positively. Thus, studying the mediating effect of perceptions towards diversity management is mainly our contribution
Exercise Programming for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Recommendations for Strength and Conditioning Specialists
Get PDFThe purpose of this article is to introduce strength and conditioning specialists to autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and to identify the many benefits of delivering exercise programs to children with ASD. Additionally, the manuscript aims to inform strength and conditioning specialists on how to minimize some of the inherent challenges associated with the delivery of such programs by highlighting critical issues for practitioners to consider when designing and implementing exercise programs for children with ASD
A framework of single-session problem solving in elite sport: A longitudinal multi-study investigation
Get PDFIn this six-year, multi-study paper we summarize a new and effective framework of single-session problem-solving developed in an elite sport context at a world leading national institute of sport science and medicine (English Institute of Sport: EIS). In Study 1, we used ethnography (3.5 years) to observe how single-session problem-solving methods were being considered, explored, introduced and developed within the EIS. In Study 2, we used case-study methods split into two parts. A multiple case-study design (10 cases) was employed in Part one to evaluate how the approach was refined into an effective framework of practice. An individual case-study is then illustrated to detail the framework in-action. Collectively, findings realized a framework of single-session problem-solving for use both inside and outside of elite sport that focused on ways to reframe clients’ problems into more ‘solvable’ descriptions. Guidance for psychologists wishing to integrate these problem-solving techniques into their practice are offered