The strength and conditioning practices and perspectives of soccer coaches and players

Strength and conditioning (S&C) is implemented across various sports and levels, but there is limited understanding of the personnel responsible for this, including their S&C practices and perspectives. Whereas recent evidence has shown that coaches and players are often tasked with the responsibility. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate: 1) the personnel responsible for delivering S&C across different levels of soccer, 2) the practices and perspectives of soccer coaches and players, and 3) to ascertain whether the practices employed align with contemporary evidence and guidelines. Forty-two soccer coaches and 30 soccer players completed an online survey with six sections: (a) informed consent, (b) background information, (c) education, qualifications, and prescription, (d) views on S&C, (e) exercise selection and preferences, and (f) issues and improvements. Frequency analysis was used to report responses to fixed-response questions and thematic analysis for open-ended questions. Most respondents reported S&C to be ‘important’ to ‘very important’ for all soccer, physical fitness, and injury parameters, with perspectives being predominantly aligned with S&C guidelines and research in soccer. Although S&C coaches were mostly responsible for delivering S&C sessions, over 60% of respondents disclosed S&C sessions were delivered independently or by support staff. This is problematic given only four coaches held S&C qualifications, and issues and improvements were mostly regarding a lack of S&C expertise and education. This study provides valuable information for S&C and soccer organizations. Particularly regarding the additional support required to ensure those responsible for delivering S&C in soccer have the appropriate knowledge and qualifications.

The myth of the universal millennial: comparing millennials’ perceptions of luxury across six countries

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to challenge the popular belief among luxury practitioners and researchers that millennials are a homogeneous and disruptive generation of consumers which is redefining luxury according to its terms.Design/methodology/approachThis study first presents comparisons of luxury perception among 1,450 actual luxury consumers between the ages of 18 and 34 years in six main luxury markets, eastern and western, mature and emerging (United States, China, Japan, Germany, France and Brazil). Within each country, millennials' perception of luxury is then compared to the perception held by previous generations (Gen X, baby boomers and seniors).FindingsThe results clearly demonstrate that millennials' definition of luxury is not internationally homogeneous; millennials do not hold a global vision that transcends frontiers. Furthermore, comparisons of luxury perceptions among nonmillennials from the same countries reveal that millennials match their national culture more than a cohesive age culture.Research limitations/implicationsThis research has two main limitations linked to the limited number of surveyed countries, along with a limited sample size of millennials per country. Nonetheless, the results give additional support to the glocalization hypothesis. Yet, as millennials represent 44% of personal luxury goods purchases, they catch attention from both luxury sellers and researchers. Evidence indicates the notion of a “millennial luxury consumer” could be still an empty label.Practical implicationsThe extensive use of the “millennial” label across countries implies generational homogeneity across borders, whereas reality is more diverse. Also despite the fact that luxury brands are highly globalized, the perception of what defines luxury – the hierarchy of its most salient attributes – does vary per country, thus needs specific attention.Originality/valueThe current findings reveal that millennials from the six surveyed countries do not share the same perceptions of luxury traits. Moreover, millennials' definition of luxury mirrors the definition held by nonmillennials from their own country, suggesting a strong cultural influence in each country.

University teachers’ digital stories of sustainable development: A method of learning to teach

In order to help teachers teach sustainability more effectively, we need more knowledge about both their understanding of suitable pedagogical methods and their own positioning in regard to sustainable development. This qualitative research focuses on how teachers see themselves as educators of sustainability and how they experience creative methods such as digital storytelling in supporting their learning. Interviews were carried out with nine university teachers during a staff training course on sustainable development and how it is best taught and learnt. Findings indicate that teachers’ positioning in regard to the teaching of sustainable development varied according to their discipline and their understanding of its four dimensions, namely ecological, social, economic and cultural. Digital storytelling thus proved to be a promising method for supporting holistic learning and teachers’ self-positioning in regard to education concerning this complex domain. However, some restrictions exist in relation to resource-taking and teachers’ need for additional support.

Examining Bilingual Teacher Candidates' Use of Digital Media

Digital media has transformed how we interact with each other, how we stay connected, and how we learn about the world around us. Digital media has also changed the teacher's role from knowledge provider to facilitator (Lee, 2006). Teachers however, continue to struggle with technology and curricula integration as a vehicle for engaging young learners with academics (Chen, 2010; Wachira & Keengwe, 2011). This chapter underscores the need to provide bilingual teacher candidates with specific instructional uses for digital media to increase their capacity with technology integration, pedagogy, and content knowledge (Mishra & Koehler, 2006). This chapter explores the use of digital media within an after-school technology project. This research lends additional support for teacher preparation programs to integrate the use of technology if they are to serve teachers who work with a growing culturally and linguistically diverse school-age population.

Literacy Development, Higher Education, and the Achievement Gap

This chapter will explore the challenges of students entering college who have gaps in their literacy development. Historical events within education that have led to some of these skills set gaps will be reviewed. Additionally, causes and current remedies to help students as they try to navigate higher education while needing additional support with their literacy skills will be discussed. Finally, the issue of how colleges are forced to react to students who do not have the skills to compete with the expected academic rigor and steps needed to help both high school educators and professors remedy these instructional challenges will be reviewed.

“What Is It Like to Suddenly Shift From Traditional Face-to-Face to Exclusively Online Training?”

Sars-CoV-2 suddenly spread in late December 2019, forever changing people's lives all over the world. Consistent advancements have been done, especially at the medical level, to face the virus and slow it down. At the same time, schools, universities, and educational institutions have been facing hard times since the beginning of the pandemic. Teachers had to shift from face-to-face to exclusively online classes overcoming daily challenges and helping students with their subjects. This chapter aims to present the results of a study conducted during the first wave of COVID-19 concerning language teachers' perceptions of ERT in secondary schools, high schools, and universities. QUAN and QUAL data were collected and analyzed through descriptive statistics and CAQCAS. The results showed that, despite the difficulties encountered and teachers and students' frequent inability to use digital technologies, instructors at all levels believed virtual classrooms to be useful as additional support to teaching and learning.

Advances in Distant Diplomatics: A Stylometric Approach to Medieval Charters

The quantitative analysis of writing style (stylometry) is becoming an increasingly common research instrument in philology. When it comes to medieval texts, such a methodology might be able to help us disentangle the multiple authorial strata that can often be discerned in them (issuer, dictator, scribe, etc.). To deliver a proof of concept in 'distant diplomatics,' we have turned to a corpus of twelfth-century Latin charters from the Cambrai episcopal chancery. We subjected this collection to an (unsupervised) stylometric modelling procedure, based on lexical frequency extraction and dimension reduction. In the absence of a sizable 'ground truth' for this material, we zoomed in on a specific case study, namely the oeuvre of the previously identified dictator-scribe known as 'RogF/JeanE.' Our results offer additional support for the attribution of a diplomatic oeuvre to this individual and even allow us to enlarge it with additional documents. Our analysis moreover yielded the serendipitous discovery of another, previously unnoticed, oeuvre, which we tentatively attribute to a scribe-dictator 'JeanB.' We conclude that the large-scale stylometric analysis is a promising methodology for digital diplomatics. More efforts, however, will have to be invested in establishing gold standards for this method to realize its full potential.

Psychological Adjustment in Apert Syndrome: Parent and Young Person Perspectives

To date, limited research has been carried out into the psychological impact of having a diagnosis of Apert syndrome (AS) and the life experiences of families living with this condition. The aim of the current study was to explore psychological adjustment to AS from the perspectives of young people, and their parents, with the broader goal of informing care, and support for this population. Four young people (2 male) aged 11 to 15 years and their mothers were interviewed in their homes using a semistructured interview guide and photo-elicitation methods. Transcripts were analyzed using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis. Three superordinate themes were identified from the data: (1) Acceptance and Adjustment: A Cyclical Journey; (2) A Barrier to Adjustment: Navigating Treatment; and (3) Facilitating Adjustment: Social Support. Families described adjustment as a cyclical process, which was sensitive to change, particularly in the context of ongoing medical treatment. Families also utilized many resources, particularly in the form of social support, to adjust to the challenges of AS and build resilience. The findings of this study have important implications for the implementation of patient-centered care within designated craniofacial treatment centers, which should at a minimum include the provision of reliable information throughout the treatment pathway, additional support from health professionals at key times of transition, and the coordination of support across medical teams, and other key organizations in the child's life.

Mentor-Mentee Program with Medical Students: A Successful Program with Ethical Considerations

Background: Mentoring is the relationship of a guide or a teacher with another person/student augmenting his/her carrier growth, knowledge, skills, and experiences implemented by caring, sharing and helping hands. The aim of this paper is to highlight the mentoring, type of mentoring, how important of matching and consideration of ethical issue in mentoring program. Not missing these significant points, mentoring program could be successful in universities including medical faculty. Methods: The SMART principles of specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound are essential to structure the matching between mentor and mentee. The rule of etiquette and ethical issues are crucial and beneficial for mentor mentee relationship. Clinical mentoring programs help to develop students’ clinical skills and can increase interest in under-subscribed specialties. Positive mentoring plays a part in reversing the decline of academic medicine, by sparking interest through early research experiences. Results: There is the short term goal which is to introduce an immediate support network for incoming students and the long term goal is to cultivate a mentoring culture to engage all strata of medical students and every faculty member. Medical students expressed that mentoring program is to provide counselling, develop professionalism, increase students' interest in research, and support them in their personal growth. Conclusion: The goal of mentorship is to provide additional support to student or mentee by steering of the academic needs or social prerequisites to accelerate the personal and professional development of mentee with advice, guide and feed backs from the mentor.

Overcoming a 'forbidden phenotype': The parrot's head supports, propels, and powers tripedal locomotion

No vertebrate, living or extinct, is known to have possessed an odd number of limbs. Despite this ″forbidden phenotype″, gaits that utilize odd numbers of limbs (e.g., tripedalism or pentapedalism) have evolved in both avian and mammalian lineages. Tripedal locomotion is commonly employed by parrots during climbing, who utilize their beaks as an additional support. However, it is unclear whether the beak functions simply as a stabilizing hook, or as a propulsive limb. Here, we present data on kinetics of tripedal climbing in six rosy –faced lovebirds (Agapornis rosiecollis). Our findings demonstrate that parrots utilize cyclical tripedal gaits when climbing and the beak and hindlimbs generate comparable propulsive and tangential substrate reaction forces and power. Propulsive and tangential forces generated by the beak are of equal or greater magnitudes to those forces generated by the forelimbs of humans and non –human primates during vertical climbing. We conclude that the feeding apparatus and neck musculature of parrots has been co–opted to function biomechanically as a third limb during vertical climbing. We hypothesize that this exaptation required substantive alterations to the neuromuscular system including enhanced force–generating capabilities of the neck musculature and modifications to limb central pattern generators.