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A pilot study of the impact of brief exposure to images of breastfeeding mothers on attitudes towards mother’s breastfeeding in public
Get PDFThe wider societal attitudes held towards mothers’ breastfeeding in public seem to impact infant feeding choices. The present study employed an online (N = 396) experimental pre-test post-test design set to examine whether a mere exposure effect of briefly viewing and rating the valence of four different images of public breastfeeding (i.e., mother and baby alone, females in background, males in background, and females and males in background) would impact on participants’ attitudes towards a mother breastfeeding in public. There was a marginal increase in the positive attitudes towards public breastfeeding at Time 2 when compared with Time 1 following exposure to the four images. These findings support a potential positive mere exposure effect in enhancing attitudes towards breastfeeding in public. This suggests a greater use of promotional material using visual stimuli may improve societal acceptance of breastfeeding in public
Bystander responses to cyberbullying: The role of perceived severity, publicity, anonymity, type of cyberbullying, and victim response
Get PDFCyberbullying often occurs in group-based situations; therefore, how young people respond when they witness
cyberbullying is important in the process of combating the issue. This study examined how young people
perceive the severity of cyberbullying incidents and how they respond as a bystander according to different
factors associated with cyberbullying (i.e., publicity, anonymity, type, and victim response). The final sample
was 990 (545 female, 403 male, 42 non-disclosed) students aged between 11 and 20 years (M age = 13.16, SD age =
2.14) from two schools and one college in England. Participants responded to 24 hypothetical vignettes which
were manipulated to measure publicity, anonymity, type of cyberbullying, and victim response. Participants
responded to items assessing a. perceived severity, and b. bystander responses. The bystander responses examined were: ignore the incident, encourage the bully, seek adult help, seek friend help, provide emotional support
to the victim, and challenge the bully. Perceived severity was higher in public scenarios, when the bully was
anonymous, and when the victim was upset. Victim response was the most influential factor across all response
strategies on how young people react to cyberbullying, followed by the publicity of the incident, the anonymity
of the bully, and to a limited extent, the type of cyberbullying. The results suggest that bystanders do respond
differently to cyberbullying according to the publicity, anonymity, type of cyberbullying, and victim response
Rapid Spike in Hip Adduction Strength in Early Adolescent Footballers: A Study of 125 Elite Male Players From Youth to Senior
No full textTo investigate the differences in hip adductor and abductor muscle strength in elite male footballers from youth to senior level. We tested 125 players from the under-13-years (U'13) to senior squads of a Danish male professional football club in this cross-sectional design study. Hip adductor and abductor force (in newtons), torque (in newton meters), normalized torque (in newton meters per body mass), and adduction-to-abduction ratio were measured using handheld dynamometry. Between U'13 and senior level, adductor force increased by 104%, torque by 127%, and normalized torque by 21%. Abductor force increased by 78%, torque by 126%, and normalized torque by 17%. For incremental differences between age groups, significant increases were observed between the ages of U'13 to U'14 (18%-39%) and U'14 to U'15 (19%-33%) for all strength measures (P ≤ .021). No incremental difference was observed for adductor-to-abductor ratio. The large increases in hip adductor and abductor strength occurring between the ages of U'13 and U'15 offer insight into the strength capabilities and stress demands in these players, which may relate to injury vulnerability, and facilitate clinicians in selecting best-suited exercise interventions
The effect of sex, menstrual cycle phase and oral contraceptive use on intestinal permeability and ex-vivo monocyte TNFα release following treatment with lipopolysaccharide and hyperthermia
Get PDFInvestigate the impact of sex, menstrual cycle phase and oral contraceptive use on intestinal permeability and ex-vivo tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) release following treatment with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and hyperthermia. Twenty-seven participants (9 men, 9 eumenorrheic women (MC) and 9 women taking an oral contraceptive pill (OC)) completed three trials. Men were tested on 3 occasions over 6 weeks; MC during early-follicular, ovulation, and mid-luteal phases; OC during the pill and pill-free phase. Intestinal permeability was assessed following a 4-hour dual sugar absorption test (lactulose: rhamnose). Venous blood was collected each trial and stimulated with 100 μg·mL LPS before incubation at 37 °C and 40 °C and analysed for TNFα via ELISA. L:R ratio was higher in OC than MC (+0.003, p = 0.061) and men (+0.005, p = 0.007). Men had higher TNFα responses than both MC (+53 %, p = 0.004) and OC (+61 %, p = 0.003). TNFα release was greater at 40 °C than 37 °C (+23 %, p < 0.001). Men present with lower resting intestinal barrier permeability relative to women regardless of OC use and displayed greater monocyte TNFα release following whole blood treatment with LPS and hyperthermia. Oral contraceptive users had highest intestinal permeability however, neither permeability or TNFα release were impacted by the pill cycle. Although no statistical effect was seen in the menstrual cycle, intestinal permeability and TNFα release were more variable across the phases
Improved mood following a single immersion in cold water
Get PDFBackground
An increasing volume of anecdotal and scientific evidence suggests that mood may be enhanced following swimming in cold water. The exact mechanisms responsible are largely unknown, but may include the effects of exercise from swimming and the effects of cold. This study examined the effect on mood following immersion in cold water, where swimming was not the primary activity.
Methods
The Profile of Mood States (POMS) questionnaire was completed by 64 undergraduate students. The following week, 42 participants completed up to 20-min immersion (18ʹ36ʺ ± 1ʹ48ʺ) in cold sea water (13.6°C). Twenty-two participants acted as controls. The POMS was completed immediately following the cold-water immersion by both groups.
Results
The cold-water immersion group showed a significant decrease, with a large effect size, of 15 points from 51 to 36, compared to 2 points in the control group, 42 to 40. Positive sub-scales increased significantly in the cold-water immersion group (Vigour by 1.1, and Esteem-Related Affect by 2.2 points) and negative sub-scales showed significant reductions (Tension by 2.5, Anger 1.25, Depression 2.1, Fatigue 2.2, and Confusion 2.8 points). The control showed no significant change except for depression, which was significantly higher after the period by 1.6 points.
Conclusion
Cold-water immersion is a well-tolerated therapy that is capable of significantly improving mood in young, fit, and healthy individuals. A key aim of this study was to control for the effects of swimming as a mechanism responsible for the improvement in mood which has been shown in previous studies. Thus, the change in mood evidenced in this study was not due to physical activity per se. Consequently, the hypothesis that cold in and of itself can improve mood is supported
Defining movement strategies in soccer instep kicking using the relationship between pelvis and kick leg rotations
No full textGrowing evidence suggests skilled ball kickers use distinct pelvis and kick leg strategies to achieve successful performance. However, since the interaction between different strategies remains unexplored, the aims of this study were to a) examine relationships between pelvis and kick leg rotations in male players performing soccer instep kicks and b) classify different 'types' of kickers based on the observed movement strategies. Twenty semi-professional players performed kicks for maximal speed and accuracy, and kick leg and pelvis kinematics were analysed using 3D motion capture (1000 Hz). A strong relationship was found between change in pelvis transverse angular velocity and thigh-knee angular velocity ratio upon ball contact (r = 0.76, p < 0.001), and participants were categorised by their location on kick leg (thigh-knee) and pelvis (maintainer-reverser) continuums. Knowledge of a player's preferred strategy can inform departure from 'one size fits all' technical and conditioning training practices towards more individualised approaches. For example, pelvis maintainer-thigh dominant kickers might benefit from focus towards the concentric capabilities of the hip flexors, whereas reverser-knee dominant kickers might benefit from developing the ability to decelerate the pelvis and thigh to induce motion-dependent angular acceleration of the lower leg towards the ball
'The Masses Make History’: On Jameson’s Allegory and Ideology
Get PDFThis essay responds to Frederic Jameson’s Allegory and Ideology by arguing that this book is centrally concerned with the masses. By developing Jameson’s own model of allegorical reading the pressure of the masses on the text is explored. This is demonstrated through a reading of Albert Camus’s The Plague, Jameson’s central example of ‘bad’ allegory. While this novel is ‘bad’ for implying a one-to-one allegory between the plague infection and the occupation of France during World War Two or to the human condition, a reading of the text as biopolitical allegory reveals the complex presence of the masses. Finally, this response considers the ‘immortality’ of the masses as the utopian moment traced within Allegory and Ideology
The World Tree
No full textThis essay develops a mythopoetic critique of materialism. Proposing the ancient symbol of the World Tree as a metaphor for a post-pandemic new world order worth constructing, I trace the roots of the symbol in world religions and propose it as an image of emergent political and economic systems. I also consider scientific data concerning the consciousness of trees, and what that might suggest for a post-materialist worldview
Co-constructions, co-performances and co-reflections in early years qualitative research
Get PDFThis study investigates our role as early years researchers in qualitative data analysis. We draw on our doctoral studies to address how the co-construction, co-performance and co-reflection of narratives elicit deeper and new understandings of early years workers in England, and how our life stories are co-produced through narrative inquiry. Employing a constructionist approach and building on Buitelaar theorisation of I-positions and the multi-vocal ‘self’, we explore how narratives are co-constructed and co-performed between the researched and researcher in relation to the ‘self’ and master narratives of culture, time and place. Data were collected using focus groups and semi-structured interviews involving 50 early years workers and 17 nurseries situated in the South East of England. By ‘co-reflecting’ on how the data was analysed, we discussed the ways in which we and our participants are simultaneously positioned within social categories of intersectionality, such as gender, social class, mother and worker. Our reflections offer a broader understanding of how qualitative research can enrich existing knowledge of how early years workers and their practice are constructed in England
Community engagement, extending higher education student learning and raising aspirations of primary school children: initial reflections
No full textThis innovative practice paper reflects on how a university community engagement (CE) project, run at a higher education (HE) institution in the south of England and established in 2014 as a series of community sport type initiatives, has had two elements related to widening participation emerge. Firstly, the CE has played a role in extending the learning of over 100 students enrolled on sports coaching degrees. This is demonstrated through some of them explicitly stating that their experience of the CE has informed their decisions to continue their education and enter Initial Teacher Training (ITT) programmes. The second element relates to the specific experiences of a local primary school that visits the HE to participate in the CE programme. Here, by linking community needs and resources, some of the key personnel from the school have explained how the visits have contributed to the schoolchildren’s educational aspirations. Whilst this element is not necessarily certain in its eventual outcome, given the young age of the participants, this innovative practice paper does extol the benefits of community collaborations and uniting efforts; it shares some of the key principles necessary for others to replicate the CE programme in order to support widening participation and lifelong learnin