Search

AimThe aim of the study was to identify sociodemographic, disease-related, physical and mental health-related determinants of fatigue at 2-year follow-up in individuals with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis (OA).MethodsA longitudinal analysis of participants with symptomatic knee OA from the Multicenter Osteoarthritis Study (MOST) was conducted to identify predictors of fatigue at 2-year follow-up. Participants self-reported fatigue at baseline for the first time in the MOST cohort and at follow-up using a 0-10 visual analog scale. At baseline, questionnaires on sociodemographics, disease-related symptoms, physical and mental health factors were completed. Data were analyzed using linear regressions with a backwards elimination approach.ResultsOf the 2330 individuals in the MOST cohort at baseline, 576 had symptomatic knee OA and of these, 449 with complete fatigue values at baseline and follow-up were included in this analysis. Minimally important fatigue change (ie, worsening [≥1.13], no change [

The purpose of this research was twofold: to explore students' thoughts of diversity in the U.S. and to determine how participation in a mathematics multicultural education activity affects student metacognition. The specific research questions for this study were: (1) How does participation in a multicultural education activity change middle students' metacognition and their view of diversity? (2) How do middle school students' conceptual understandings of diversity differ by gender, race/ethnicity, and socio-economic class following their participation in multicultural education activity? A sample population of 81 students drawn from five 6th to 8th grade mathematics classes (total population of approximately 150 students) in a rural middle school in Indiana participated in this study. The study provides support for the inclusion of a multicultural activity in middle school mathematics and promotes culturally-responsive pedagogies. The work shows that students involved in a mathematics based multicultural activity were able to develop metacognition and diversity awareness, and through the activity, students developed a greater appreciation for working with others from a different background. From this data, the authors conclude that the use of mathematics multicultural activities enhances the confidence of the student, while developing greater cultural awareness. (Contains 4 tables and 3 figures.)

BackgroundFoot pain is very common in the general population and has been shown to have a detrimental impact on health-related quality of life. This is of particular concern in older people as it may affect activities of daily living and exacerbate problems with balance and gait. The objective of this study is to evaluate the independent relationships between foot pain and mobility limitation in a population of community-dwelling older adults.MethodsPopulation-based cross-sectional study. Participants (n = 1,544) from the Framingham Foot Study (2002-2008) were assessed for physical performance. Foot pain was documented using the question "On most days, do you have pain, aching, or stiffness in either foot?" Mobility limitation was assessed using the Short Physical Performance Battery, dichotomized using 1-9 as an indicator of mobility limitation and 10-12 as no mobility limitation.ResultsFoot pain was reported by 19% of men and 25% of women. After adjusting for age, obesity, smoking status, and depression, foot pain was significantly associated with mobility limitation in both men (odds ratio = 2.00, 95% confidence interval 1.14 - 3.50; p = .016) and women (odds ratio = 1.59, 95% confidence interval 1.03 - 2.46; p = .037).ConclusionIn our study of older adults from the Framingham Foot Study, foot pain was associated with an increased odds of having mobility limitation in both men and women. Clinicians should consider assessment of foot pain in general examinations of older adults who are at risk of mobility limitation.

Statistics is the art and science of gathering, analyzing, and making conclusions from data. However, many people do not fully understand how to interpret statistical results and conclusions. Placing students in a collaborative environment involving project-based learning may enable them to overcome misconceptions of probability and enhance the learning of statistics concepts. This type of structure may also encourage debate and discussion, which can promote student engagement and new thinking while cultivating social development. This article discusses "Our School as 100 Students," a project the authors completed in five of their sixth- to eighth-grade math classes. The cooperative-learning-group model allowed students to work together to learn and apply the statistics concepts of survey populations, survey questioning, and survey methods. Promoting cultural awareness was another goal. The project explores how the world would look with only 100 people, if proportionally scaled. The idea is based on work from the 100 People Village (100 People Foundation), which uses world statistics to "educate, entertain and inspire participants to learn more about world geography, culture, language, religion, music and resources." The "Our School as 100 Students" project replicated this work by exploring school statistics and showing how the school would look with only 100 students, maintaining proportions. It culminated with a video showcasing the school as 100 students, which displayed the results of a survey that the students designed and conducted. The project objectives involved both statistical understanding and social awareness. The primary goal was to enhance students' understanding of statistics by providing an engaging project that explored their world. The underlying goal was to illustrate to students how their world, in the form of middle school, encompassed students from different backgrounds. (Contains 1 table and 2 figures.)

Stretching before competition has traditionally been thought to benefit performance; however, recent evidence demonstrating reduced muscle force and power immediately after stretching suggests otherwise. We hypothesized that knee joint position sense would be diminished immediately after proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) stretching to the hamstrings and quadriceps. Eighteen subjects (aged 1830 years) were seated with their dominant foot attached to a motorized arm with the knee flexed at 135[degrees]. To block external cues, the subjects wore a blindfold, earplugs, and headphones providing white noise. The knee was displaced in either the flexion or the extension direction at a velocity of 0.4[degrees] x [s.sup.-1], and subjects pressed a button when they sensed motion. The knee was returned to 135[degrees], and the test was repeated for a total of 10 trials. The PNF group received PNF stretching to the hamstrings and quadriceps of the dominant leg. The SHAM group had the dominant leg passively moved within each subject's functional range of motion. The ability to detect knee movement was retested in the PNF and SHAM groups. Pre-and posttest latencies between movement onset and subject response were analyzed. Results indicated that the PNF group had significantly increased latencies after stretching (from 2.56 [+ or -] 0.83 to 3.46 [+ or -] 1.90 seconds) compared with the SHAM group (3.93 [+ or -] 2.40 to 3.72 [+ or -] 2.15 seconds). It is concluded that PNF stretching of the hamstrings and quadriceps may acutely diminish sensitivity to knee movement. For coaches and trainers, these findings are consistent with previous reports of loss in muscle force and power immediately after stretching, suggesting that stretching just before competition may diminish performance. KEY WORDS PNF stretching, position sense; flexibility

Introduction Multicultural education connects social change and transformation to the classroom (Banks, 2004; Sleeter, 2001). Within the field of multicultural education exists the prospect of transformative learning, defined as the [...]

Engineering education has historically been given little attention in the USK-12 classrooms even though engineering incorporates scientific and mathematical concepts into meaningful, everyday applications. Including engineering and design projects in K-12 science and mathematics classes may improve student interest and comprehension, while also reaching a broader range of students than traditional lecture-based classes. For this study, the authors implemented an engineering design project focusing on water resources in 8th grade science classes. Students were exposed to either an engineering project (treatment) or a more traditional format (control) and their knowledge of water resource issues was evaluated using a pre-post assessment tool. Overall, students in the treatment classes showed statistically significant improvement in two areas--they displayed higher levels of thinking on open-ended questions and greater content knowledge. This research indicates the effectiveness of engineering in enhancing student learning and supports its inclusion in the middle school science curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]