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Ryan M Weatherwax,1,2 Nigel K Harris,1 Andrew E Kilding,3 Lance C Dalleck2 1Auckland University of Technology, Human Potential Center, Auckland, New Zealand; 2Western State Colorado University, Recreation and Exercise & Sport Science, Gunnison, CO, USA; 3Auckland University of Technology, Sports Performance Research Institute New Zealand, Auckland, New Zealand Background: Even though cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) training elicits numerous health benefits, not all individuals have positive training responses following a structured CRF intervention. It has been suggested that the technical error (TE), a combination of biological variability and measurement error, should be used to establish specific training responsiveness criteria to gain further insight on the effectiveness of the training program. To date, most training interventions use an absolute change or a TE from previous findings, which do not take into consideration the training site and equipment used to establish training outcomes or the specific cohort being evaluated. The purpose of this investigation was to retrospectively analyze training responsive­ness of two CRF training interventions using two common criteria and a site-specific TE.Methods: Sixteen men and women completed two maximal graded exercise tests and verification bouts to identify maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max) and establish a site-specific TE. The TE was then used to retrospectively analyze training responsiveness in comparison to commonly used criteria: percent change of >0% and >+5.6% in VO2max.Results: The TE was found to be 7.7% for relative VO2max. χ2 testing showed significant differences in all training criteria for each intervention and pooled data from both interventions, except between %Δ >0 and %Δ >+7.7% in one of the investigations. Training nonresponsiveness ranged from 11.5% to 34.6%.Conclusion: Findings from the present study support the utility of site-specific TE criterion to quantify training responsiveness. A similar methodology of establishing a site-specific and even cohort specific TE should be considered to establish when true cardiorespiratory training adaptations occur. Keywords: training responders, training nonresponders, cardiorespiratory fitness, exercise training&nbsp

The purpose of this study was to identify the factors that were responsible for the feelings of satisfaction and the behaviours of adherence to an intense exercise intervention recently completed b...

This study investigated the effects of epoch length and cut point selection on adolescent physical activity intensity quantification using vertical axis and vector magnitude (VM) measurement with the ActiGraph GT3X+ accelerometer. Four hundred and nine adolescents (211 males; 198 females) aged 12-16 years of age wore accelerometers during waking hours. The GT3X+ acceleration counts were reintegrated into 1, 5, 15, 30 and 60 s epoch lengths for both vertical axis and VM counts. One cut point was applied to vertical axis counts and three different cut points were applied to VM counts for each epoch length. Significant differences (P 0.01) in mean total counts per day were observed between vertical axis and VM counts, and between epoch lengths for VM only. Differences in physical activity levels were observed between vertical and VM cut points, and between epoch lengths across all activity intensities. Our findings illustrate the magnitude of differences in physical activity outcomes that occur between axis measurement, cut points and epoch length. The magnitude of difference across epoch length must be considered in the interpretation of accelerometer data and seen as a confounding variable when comparing physical activity levels between studies.

The following address by E. Nigel Harris, Vice Chancellor of the University of the West Indies (UWI), was delivered at the launch of the latest books in the Caribbean Reasonings Series, produced by the UWI's Centre for Caribbean Thought: The George Lamming Reader: The Aesthetics of Decolonisation, ed. Anthony Bogues, and M.G. Smith: Social Theory and Anthropology in the Caribbean and Beyond, ed. Brian Meeks. The two books (Kingston: Ian Randle, 2011) were launched at the UWI's Mona campus on 27 April 2012.

This paper describes user testing of a technological system which enables stroke survivors to independently undertake rehabilitation exercises at home. The prototype is based on advanced movement sensors which are worn by the user when performing prescribed exercises. Sensor data are transmitted to a computer which displays the user's movements and progress. The number and type of sensors, methods of attaching them to the user's body in the correct locations, the type of computer screen and the input devices were changed and refined as the project progressed in response to feedback from people with stroke, their carers and physiotherapists. Home-based testing of the system highlighted usability issues concerned with the appropriateness and acceptability of the equipment in domestic settings, the sensors and methods of attachment, and use of, and interpretation of the screen presentation. Users required education as well as support throughout the testing period. Increasing sophistication of the technological aspects of the system over time resolved some usability issues but also created others, as did meeting the aims of improved clinical utility. The interplay between technology development, clinical utility and usability must be taken into account for devices to be successfully developed for practice.

The Eastern Himalayan Syntaxis of Namche Barwa carries critical information for understanding the geodynamics of the Indian-Asian collision. In this syntaxis, the Nyingchi Group is a sequence of medium- to high-grade metasediments, located on the north side of the Indus-Yarlung suture zone. Results from zircon U-Pb ages coupled with their Hf isotope systematics for the Nyingchi Group and a two-mica granite intruding the paragneisses reveal strong contrasts in provenance and depositional age within the sequence. Detrital zircons from a garnet paragneiss of the lower Nyingchi Group display 206Pb/238U ages from 493 Ma to 2466 Ma, with peaks at 506 Ma, 821 Ma, and 1032 Ma. The minimum detrital zircon age of 493 Ma constrains the maximum depositional age of the lower Nyingchi Group. Detrital zircons from a paragneiss of the middle Nyingchi Group yield 206Pb/238U ages ranging from 55 Ma to 1362 Ma, with peaks at 60 Ma, 95 Ma, 138 Ma, and 171 Ma. This indicates that the maximum depositional age is less than 55 M...

Best practice for improving strength and power through resistance strength training has been the subject of much research and subsequent conjecture. Much of the conjecture can be attributed to methodological discrepancies. The type of dynamometry used in testing, the training experience of research participants, the specific technique employed in a lift, and the methods of collection and calculation all impact on the final variables of interest. This review examines contraction force specificity by first addressing the methodological issues surrounding our interpretation of the results. Then we address the kinematics and kinetics associated with single and multiple repetitions in relation to the development of strength, power, and functional performance. This discussion provides the delimitations for analysis of subsequent training studies. Finally, recommendations are formulated with the aim of assisting assessment and training practice as well as providing directions for future research. The results of this review suggest that the enhancements in performance resulting from resistance training are context specific in experienced resistance-trained participants. Thus, specific conditioning could be required to achieve improvements in functional performance in this group.

States, created with the central purpose of defending national independence, resist the process of macro‐economic reform since it appears to limit their power to pursue this aim. The states of the former Centrally Planned Economies were marked out by their extreme subordination to the military drive, so the resistance to reshaping the ‘war‐making state’ into a ‘market‐facilitating state’ is considerable. The transition tends to be halted where the old structures of central control are ended without markets supplying alternative imperatives — a ‘rent‐seeking state’ is created. These themes are examined in relationship to privatisation of state owned enterprises in four countries: Russia, China, Vietnam and the Ukraine.

Although network modelling techniques have been available for a number of years now, in the transport sector they have largely been confined to the planning function, and the analysis of schemes with long lead-times. However, recent analysis by London Underground Ltd has used a Network Model to estimate changes in revenue and passenger time resulting from the possible failure of key parts of their infrastructure. Future engineering strategy will attempt to repair first those sites where the disbenefits of failure are greatest. This paper also introduces a number of algorithmic developments (in terms of a group of choice models) which have underpinned this analysis and have significantly improved the accuracy of the modelling tools available.

This article is a preliminary review of the possible clinical applications of electrical impedance tomography (EIT). The applications to, for example, the central nervous, respiratory, cardiovascular and digestive systems are covered. It is concluded that the area of greatest potential application of EIT is monitoring cardiopulmonary function, but that studies on much larger groups of patients than have been carried out hitherto are required to fully assess the potential of EIT as a clinical tool.

Maquiladoras: Ajuste estructural y desarrollo regional. Edited by Bernardo Gonza‐lez‐Arechiga and Rocio Barajas Escamilla, with Tons H. Hilker (co‐ordinador). Tijuana: El Colegio de la Frontera Norte y Fundacion Friedrich Ebert, 1989. Pp.339. NP. ISBN 968 6075 24 0. Maquiladoras: Annotated Bibliography and Research Guide to Mexico's In‐Bond Industry, 1980–1988. By Leslie Sklair. San Diego: Center for US‐Mexican Studies, University of California, Monograph Series 24, 1988. Pp.217. No ISBN included. Assembling for Development: The Maquila Industry in Mexico and the United States. By Leslie Sklair. Boston, MA: Unwin Hyman, 1989, Pp.256. NP. ISBN 0 04 445278 0. Maquila: Assembly Plantsin Northern Mexico. By Ellwyn R. Stoddard. El Paso: Texas Western Press (University of Texas at El Paso), 1987. NP. ISBN 0 87404 200 3.

The quantification of the load-power relationship is useful to track changes in performance after training and to identify the load to be used. It is recommend that to improve power, athletes should use the load that maximizes power output However, recent researches demonstrated that for some specifc exercises, peak power presented only few variations through a wide range of load, meaning that whatever the load used the athlete produces near maximal power output [1, 3]. According to these results, the load used to maximize power may have less importance than previously claimed. However, performing a squat at 20% of the 1RM or at 80%, despite producing the same power output, results in a very different neuromuscular activity and according to the training specificity theory, working with 20% or 80% should not result in identical training objectives as well as neuromuscular adaptations.

A method based on logit analysis is suggested for predicting the effects on patronage and revenue of relative changes in peak and offpeak fares. The method also permits the ready estimation of consequent changes in service profitability. Data was collected specifically for this study from British Rail's Teesside corridor to achieve model calibration. Results show the extent to which demand in peak and offpeak fare‐periods is complementary when fare restrictions are applied only to the morning peak.

(1989). The role of the inspector as an external agent in supporting school improvement. Irish Educational Studies: Vol. 8, No. 2, pp. 60-72.

Korea: Managing the Industrial Transition, Vol. 1: The Conduct of Industrial Policy. By D.M. Leipziger and others (World Bank Country Study). Washington: World Bank, 1987. Pp.xiv + 182. US$10. ISBN 0 8312 0887 4. Public Intervention and Industrial Restructuring in China, India and the Republic of Korea. By Amiya Kumar Bagchi. New Delhi: International Labour Organization (Asian Employment Programme, ARTEP), 1987. Pp.xii + 162. US$8. ISBN 92 2 105774 7. Policy Options for the Singapore Economy. By Lim Chong Wan and Associates. Singapore: McGraw Hill, 1988. Pp.xv + 499. US$29.95. ISBN 0 07 099133 2. The Political Economy of the New Asian Industrialism. Edited by Frederic C. Deyo. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1987. Pp.252. US$32.95 + $14.25. ISBN 0 8014 9449 4. Financing East Asia's Success: Comparative Financial Development in Eight East Asian Countries. By Michael T. Skully and George J. Viksnins. London: Macmillan Press in association with the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy...