scholarly journals Characteristics of Competitive Baton Twirling Athletes

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Andrew Hatchett ◽  
Alexis Dicks ◽  
Miranda Proctor ◽  
Amanda Trujillo

Competitive baton twirling is a sport that combines elements of gymnastics, dance and ballet while necessitating cardiovascular endurance, muscular endurance and power, hand-eye coordination, spatial awareness, kinesthetic awareness, timing and choreography. Approximately one million baton twirlers participating in the sport in the United States. Despite considerable participation in competitive baton twirling, little is known about the characteristics of the athletes. This work documents demographic and behavioral characteristics of competitive baton twirlers. Questionnaires were completed by 169 female twirlers from across the Unites States and Canada. Respondents reported a mean (± SD) age of 18.07 yrs. (±6.08) and height of 63.89 in (±6.24), weight 133.56 lbs. (±32.49), BMI (22.92), GPA 3.73 (±0.31), years of competing 8.02 yrs. (±1.81). All (100%) qualified respondents reported experiencing injury due to competing in or training for baton. The extent of the injuries reported varied greatly. A diversity of training, recovery, hydration, and nutrition habits were also reported. These findings indicate that the competitive baton twirlers that participated in this research are adolescent females, diverse in physical profile, of normal BMI, high academic achievers, dedicated athletes, consistently overcome injuries and train by diverse means. Future research may consider the long-term physical effects and an association with mental health competitive baton twirling has on the athletes.

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S935-S935
Author(s):  
Patricia M Morton ◽  
Blakelee Kemp ◽  
Frass Ahmed

Abstract Numerous studies have demonstrated that child abuse is associated with poor adult mental health, but few have investigated the extent to which the frequency of different types of abuse increase mental health conditions, especially at the nexus of gender. The present study examines whether parental abuse frequency and abuse perpetrator have distinct effects for men and women on three mental health outcomes—depressive symptoms, generalized anxiety, and global self-reported mental health. Data came from three waves of the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS), comprising a baseline sample of 3,032 adults aged 25-74. Estimating a series of mixed effects models revealed that maternal abuse and frequent abuse during childhood were associated with poorer adult mental health during our 20-year observation period, net of childhood and adult risk factors. Specifically, maternal emotional abuse raised the risk of depression, anxiety, and lower self-rated mental health, and was more strongly associated with depression and anxiety for women than men. Compared to adults who did not experience parental abuse during childhood, adults who experienced frequent emotional and physical abuse by either parent were more likely to experience depression and anxiety and report lower ratings of mental health in adulthood. Frequent child abuse was more strongly associated with anxiety for women than men. These results demonstrate that gender differences in adult mental health have early-life antecedents. Future research investigating the long-term mental health consequences of child abuse should consider the type and magnitude of abuse as well as the perpetrator.


2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 329-347 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alfredo J. Artiles

AbstractThis article advances an intersectional perspective in the analysis of racial inequities in special education so that theoretical refinement of this problem will strengthen educational equity research and theory. Racial disproportionality in some disability categories continues to affect a sizable number of students in the United States, with dire long-term consequences for the educational trajectories of these learners. After more than four decades, the problem continues to be debated in research, practice, and policy circles. There is consensus among researchers that the racialization of disability embodies complexities that defy linear explanations. But this debate has overlooked the potential of intersectionality to document complexity and to transcend the individual-structure binary that tends to permeate previous scholarship. Indeed, intersectionality's explicit attention to how the complexity of people's everyday experiences is connected to larger historical processes could offer key insights. I analyze how disproportionality research has addressed the intersections of race and disability (along with other markers of oppression) through a contrapuntal reading of works framed with medical, social, and cultural disability models. I conclude with reflections for future research on racial disparities in special education that is mindful of intersectional complexity.


2017 ◽  
Vol 737 ◽  
pp. 554-559
Author(s):  
Pavel Coufalik ◽  
Ondrej Dasek ◽  
Petr Hyzl ◽  
Iva Krcmova

This paper compares the different approaches to assessing asphalt binders used in Europe and the Unites States. A series of pavement bitumens is assessed using European standards and also by the Performance Graded Asphalt Binder Specification based on AASHTO MP 1, which was developed as part of the Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP) in the United States of America. The results show that the European approach places high requirements on the pavement bitumens in relation to their behavior at low-temperatures, while in case of the American approach, the key parameter is fatigue behavior after short-term and long-term aging. It is evident that it is necessary to evaluate properties of pavement bitumens after long-term aging in Europe, too.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (45) ◽  
pp. eabd4049 ◽  
Author(s):  
X. Wu ◽  
R. C. Nethery ◽  
M. B. Sabath ◽  
D. Braun ◽  
F. Dominici

Assessing whether long-term exposure to air pollution increases the severity of COVID-19 health outcomes, including death, is an important public health objective. Limitations in COVID-19 data availability and quality remain obstacles to conducting conclusive studies on this topic. At present, publicly available COVID-19 outcome data for representative populations are available only as area-level counts. Therefore, studies of long-term exposure to air pollution and COVID-19 outcomes using these data must use an ecological regression analysis, which precludes controlling for individual-level COVID-19 risk factors. We describe these challenges in the context of one of the first preliminary investigations of this question in the United States, where we found that higher historical PM2.5 exposures are positively associated with higher county-level COVID-19 mortality rates after accounting for many area-level confounders. Motivated by this study, we lay the groundwork for future research on this important topic, describe the challenges, and outline promising directions and opportunities.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S934-S934
Author(s):  
Patricia M Morton ◽  
Blakelee Kemp ◽  
Frass Ahmed

Abstract Numerous studies have demonstrated that child abuse is associated with poor adult mental health, but few have investigated the extent to which the frequency of different types of abuse increase mental health conditions, especially at the nexus of gender. The present study examines whether parental abuse frequency and abuse perpetrator have distinct effects for men and women on three mental health outcomes—depressive symptoms, generalized anxiety, and global self-reported mental health. Data came from three waves of the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS), comprising a baseline sample of 3,032 adults aged 25-74. Estimating a series of mixed effects models revealed that maternal abuse and frequent abuse during childhood were associated with poorer adult mental health during our 20-year observation period, net of childhood and adult risk factors. Specifically, maternal emotional abuse raised the risk of depression, anxiety, and lower self-rated mental health, and was more strongly associated with depression and anxiety for women than men. Compared to adults who did not experience parental abuse during childhood, adults who experienced frequent emotional and physical abuse by either parent were more likely to experience depression and anxiety and report lower ratings of mental health in adulthood. Frequent child abuse was more strongly associated with anxiety for women than men. These results demonstrate that gender differences in adult mental health have early-life antecedents. Future research investigating the long-term mental health consequences of child abuse should consider the type and magnitude of abuse as well as the perpetrator.


Author(s):  
Nguyen Thu Trang

Since 2001, Vietnam has gradually built and implemented strategic and comprehensive partnerships with some of the World’s great powers. The behaviors of Vietnam have brought skepticism from international community. Besides, the differences in the nature of “Strategic Partnership”, “Comprehensive Partnership” and “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership” in Vietnam's foreign policy are paid much attention to by scholars and scientific researchers. Because of the long-term strategic national interests, Vietnam-US relations strongly elevated from the normalization of bilateral relations to the level of comprehensive partners in 2013. Since 2017, the two countries have planned to upgrade their relations from comprehensive partnership level to strategic partnership level. In this context, the paper focuses on the application of systemic approaches in Vietnam's foreign policy making, with the content “The Process of Making Vietnam’s Foreign Policy with the United States based on David Easton’s Model”. The paper will analyze the process of making Vietnam’s foreign policy with Unites States based on David Easton’s Model. In addition, the paper also provide forecasts of the possibility of adjusting Vietnam's foreign policy towards the United States, especially upgrading the relations to strategic partnerships.


Author(s):  
Jun Li ◽  
Edward C. Norton

Pay-for-performance programs have become a prominent supply-side intervention to improve quality and decrease spending in health care, touching upon long-term care, acute care, and outpatient care. Pay-for-performance directly targets long-term care, with programs in nursing homes and home health. Indirectly, pay-for-performance programs targeting acute care settings affect clinical practice for long-term care providers through incentives for collaboration across settings. As a whole, pay-for-performance programs entail the identification of problems it seeks to solve, measurement of the dimensions it seeks to incentivize, methods to combine and translate performance to incentives, and application of the incentives to reward performance. For the long-term care population, pay-for-performance programs must also heed the unique challenges specific to the sector, such as patients with complex health needs and distinct health trajectories, and be structured to recognize the challenges of incentivizing performance improvement when there are multiple providers and payers involved in the care delivery. Although empirical results indicate modest effectiveness of pay-for-performance in long-term care on improving targeted measures, some research has provided more clarity on the role of pay-for-performance design on the output of the programs, highlighting room for future research. Further, because health care is interconnected, the indirect effects of pay-for-performance programs on long-term care is an underexplored topic. As the scope of pay-for-performance in long-term care expands, both within the United States and internationally, pay-for-performance offers ample opportunities for future research.


2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 776-778
Author(s):  
Josh R. Weaver ◽  
Philip J. Brown ◽  
Lambert B. McCarty ◽  
Nathaniel Gambrell

AbstractJapanese stiltgrass is regarded as one of the most troublesome invasive species in the United States. It is commonly found invading forested areas; however, more recently it has been noted to be invading golf course roughs and out-of-play areas. The purpose of this study was to evaluate POST herbicide control of Japanese stiltgrass in golf course and highly maintained turfgrass facilities. None of the treatments provided >80% Japanese stiltgrass control 2 wk after treatment (WAT). At 4 WAT >80% Japanese stiltgrass control was observed with MSMA, MSMA + metribuzin, amicarbazone, and sethoxydim, whereas metsulfuron, pinoxaden, and imazapic provided minimum control. By 8 WAT, MSMA, MSMA + metribuzin, amicarbazone, and sethoxydim provided >98% control, whereas quinclorac, metsulfuron, pinoxaden, and imazapic provided no visible control. Thiencarbazone-methyl + foramsulfuron + halosulfuron-methyl, and sulfentrazone provided limited (≤60%) control. This study indicates that POST control of Japanese stiltgrass can be achieved with MSMA, MSMA + metribuzin, amicarbazone, and sethoxydim. Future research should include long-term control over multiple growing seasons, repeat applications of herbicides, and evaluation of herbicides in combination for increased and longer-term Japanese stiltgrass control.


2013 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 424-453 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chengli Tien ◽  
Chien-Nan Chen ◽  
Cheng-Min Chuang

AbstractThis study has extended existing research on CEO power, pay structure, and firm performance, offering models based mainly on agency theory and managerial power theory, and testing hypotheses using data from 112 companies across a five-year span (2001–2005) in computer-related industry groups in the United States. The results indicated that power from executive directorship positively impacts a firm's return on assets and return on equity, and that CEO power from duality negatively impacts CEO long-term pay and total pay, while CEO power from tenure positively impacts CEO long-term pay and pay leverage, and composite power negatively impacts short-term pay. Evidence for CEO pay as a mediator between CEO power and firm performance revealed that CEO short-term pay positively impacts a firm's return on assets and international performance but negatively impacts its market value, regardless of which source of power is being controlled. CEO total pay positively impacts a firm's return on assets and international performance, with power from CEO duality, directorship, or composite power being controlled. Hence, and in general, CEO pay fails to significantly mediate the relationships between CEO power and firm performance. The contributions include a multiple-perspective study of CEO power, compensation, and firm performance to comprehensively discover each of their respective relationships. This study has further extended the debate over agency perspectives with stewardship perspectives to fill knowledge and theoretical gaps. Thus, evidence-based findings provide boards of directors with practical knowledge for sound governance with another avenue for future research in corporate governance.


Polar Record ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 133-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer L. Benning ◽  
David L. Barnes ◽  
Joanna Burger ◽  
John J. Kelley

ABSTRACTAmchitka Island, Alaska, is a historical underground nuclear test site. Three underground tests were conducted there by the United States Atomic Energy Commission, now US Department of Energy (USDOE), between 1965 and 1971. These were Long Shot, an 80 kiloton detonation; Milrow, a 1 megaton detonation; and Cannikin, a 5 megaton detonation. Subsequent to these tests, several scientific assessments have been conducted regarding the impacts of the tests on the terrestrial and marine environments surrounding the island. However, many citizens and groups still voice concerns over the potential for detrimental effects on human and ecological health. In its responsibility for the long term protection of human and ecological health consequent to its nuclear programme, USDOE has recently prepared a plan for the long term surveillance and monitoring of the site. The purpose of this paper is to summarise the history of the island, specifically with regards to its use as a nuclear test site, to summarise the results of investigative activities following testing, to summarise USDOE's plan for surveillance and monitoring, and to offer the authors' viewpoints on the long term stewardship of the island. The authors deemed the stewardship plan to be essentially protective of human and ecological health; however, they recommend a stronger commitment to site oversight and review, as well as to future research, for addressing uncertainties remaining at the island.


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