1,720,962 research outputs found
Effects of different physical education programmes on children's skill- and health-related outcomes: a pilot randomised controlled trial
No full textAim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of two different 5-month physical education (PE) interventions conducted by a specialist PE teacher on primary school children’s skill- and health-related outcomes. About 230 children were randomly assigned to one of three intervention groups: experimental_1 group, experimental_2 group or control group (school curriculum given by the generalist teacher). Pre- and post-intervention tests assessed pupils’ fitness (pacer, curl-up, push-up, trunk lift, sit and reach tests) and gross motor coordination (shifting platforms, balance beam, jumping laterally, hopping on one leg over an obstacle tests). Both experimental groups significantly improved some fitness and coordinative tests after the intervention period when compared with control group. However, no differential changes on coordinative development were observed between the 2 experimental groups. Results of this study demonstrated that children benefitted from a well-structured PE intervention conducted and supervised by a specialist PE teacher improving their motor skills and fitness
Effects of open (Racket) and closed (running) skill sports practice on children’s attentional performance
Full text linkAims: The first aim of the study was to examine the attentional performance of children (8–13 years of age) who practiced two different sport disciplines: Open skill sport – racket and closed skill sport – running and also to investigate the acute effects of these two specific training sessions on children’s immediate and delayed attentional performance. The second aim of the present study was to verify gender differences in attentional performance. Eighteen children+ (8 girls and 10 boys; age = 10.6 ± 1.5 yrs; height = 144.3 ± 12.2 cm; weight = 44.2 ± 12.5 kg; BMI = 20.8 ± 2.7 kg/m2) engaged in a racket sports and eighteen children (9 girls and 9 boys; age = 9.9 ± 1.2 yrs; height = 142.4 ± 9.5 cm; weight = 40.0 ± 8.6 kg; BMI = 19.6 ± 2.4 kg/m2) engaged in running were enrolled. Methods: Children’s training and experience with these activities averaged 2.3 (± 1.0) years. Children’s attentional capacity was measured before, immediately after and 50 minutes after each specific training session by the d2 test of attention. This paper-and-pencil letter cancellation test evaluated concentration and sustained attention under stress induced by a fixed executing time. A 2 (Sport: open vs closed skill) x 2 (Gender: boys vs girls) x 3 (Time: pre vs 0’ post vs 50’ post) repeated measures ANOVA for time was used to compare the effect of an open skill session and a closed skill session on the individual attentional variables. Results: Children of open skill sport showed higher attentional scores (higher processing speed-TN, higher concentration performance-CP and lower percentage of errors-E%; p < 0.01), improved CP from pre to 0’ post intervention (p = 0.01) and maintained this improved performance at 50’ post intervention (50’ post vs pre; p < 0.01), and decreased E% from pre to 0’ post intervention (p = 0.01) and maintained this improvement at 50’ post intervention (50’ post vs pre; p < 0.001). Children of closed skill sport significantly decreased their CP from pre to 50’ post intervention (50’ post vs pre; p = 0.001 and 50’ post vs 0’ post; p < 0.0001) and worsened their E% across the time (50’ post vs pre; p = 0.001 and 50’ post vs 0’ post; p < 0.0001). Boys showed significantly higher TN values than girls only in closed skill sport (p = 0.023). Finally, all girls of both open and closed skill sports significantly improved their CP from pre to 0’ post intervention (p = 0.04). Conclusion: Results of the study showed that open skill sport practice and training session positively affects children’s attentional performance
Children’s Attention Performance in Running (Closed) and Racket (Open) Sports
Full text linkPurpose: First, to investigate the influence of different sport training experiences (open skill sport – racket and closed skill sport – running) on attentional performance of preadolescent children (8–13 years of age). Second, to investigate the acute effects of an open or a closed skill training session on children’s immediate and delayed attention. Methods: Thirty-six children divided in two groups of training ses- sion (open skill sport session – racket and closed skill sport session – running) were involved. Children’s attentional capacity before, immediately after and 50 minutes after each own specific training session were measured, using the d2-R test of attention.
Results: Children’s attention scores were higher when engaged in open skill sport training than in closed skill sport training. Children of open skill sport significantly improved their concentration perfor- mance (CP) (143.64 ± 5.89 vs 172.23 ± 8.90 vs 178.71 ± 8.31; p B 0.01) and decreased the percentage of errors (E%) (7.70 ± 1.04 vs 3.65 ± 1.40 vs 3.84 ± 1.29; p B 0.01) across the time, while children of closed skill sport significantly worsened their CP (88.47 ± 5.85 vs 98.35 ± 8.83 vs 64.70 ± 8.25; p B 0.001 vs 50’ post) and E% (14.47 ± 1.03 vs 14.31 ± 1.39 vs 23.67 ± 1.28; p B 0.001 vs 50’ post) across the time. Finally, only boys of open skill sport significantly improved their E% across the time.
Conclusions: Open skill sport experience positively affects children’s attentional performance. Specifically, attentional performance sig- nificantly improved only in children involved open skill training session, when compared to closed skill training session
Psychophysical benefits of rock-climbing activity
No full textThe aim of the study was to compare the psychophysical eff ects
of rock climbing with a supervised fi tness training in adults. Thirty-three healthy
participants ( M age = 32 yr., SD = 7) participated in rock climbing or in fi tness training.
The participants’ functional fi tness, anxiety, and mood states were tested before
and after 3 mo. of training. There was signifi cant improvement of physical fi tness
in both groups after the intervention period. Anxiety signifi cantly decreased after
each single training session at the end of both courses. Diff erential eff ects in the
rock-climbing group, as compared to the fi tness group, emerged only on Vigor.
Specifi cally, the rock-climbing group showed a decreasing trend in Vigor while the
fi tness group showed an increasing trend of Vigor after the intervention
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Impacts of coordinative training on normal weight and overweight/obese children’s attentional performance
No full textThis study investigated the efficacy of a physical activity (PA) program to improve the attention span in normal weight versus overweight/obese children. The study was designed as a cluster-randomized controlled intervention. One hundred fifty-seven normal weight and overweight/obese primary school children were randomly divided in three cohorts: Traditional PA, Coordinative PA and a Control group (not attending any PA). Before and after 5 months of intervention, children were administered the d2-R test of attention. Results showed that participants’ attentional performances were significantly affected by Time (pre vs post; P < 0.01) and by Time x Group interaction (traditional vs coordinative vs control; P < 0.001), revealing significant different effects of intervention/exercise modality on children’s attentional performance, independently of their weight status. These data suggest that a 5-month school-based PA intervention can improve the cognitive performance in children. Further, the Coordinative PA intervention resulted in the most significant improvement in children’s attention
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
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