Children's movement skills when playing active video games

Active video games (AVGs) may be useful for movement skill practice. This study examined children's skill execution while playing Xbox Kinect™ and during movement skill assessment. Nineteen children (10 boys, 9 girls; M age = 7.9 yr., SD = 1.4) had their skills assessed before AVG play and then were observed once a week for 6 wk. while playing AVGs for 50 min. While AVG play showed evidence of correct skill performance (at least 30-50% of the time when playing table tennis, tennis, and baseball), nearly all skills were more correctly performed during skill assessment (generally more than 50% of the time). This study may help researchers to better understand the role AVGs could play in enhancing real life movement skills.

Adolescents' ratings of features of parks that encourage park visitation and physical activity

BACKGROUND: The neighbourhood environment such as the availability of parks are a key, but under-researched, influence on adolescents' physical activity. In addition to overall physical activity levels, park-based physical activity and park visitation is low in this age group. Thus, it is critical to identify park features that may encourage or discourage adolescents from visiting parks. This study used a novel methodology to identify key physical characteristics of parks that are perceived to be important for park visitation and park-based physical activity among adolescents.

METHODS: Four secondary schools located in low, mid and high socio-economic status areas of Victoria, Australia were recruited. Using a purpose-built computer application, students in years 8-10 were presented with 44 original photographic images of park features. Participants rated each image (range 1-10) on how likely the feature would be to encourage them to visit a park and to engage in park-based physical activity, and placed symbols ('thumbs up'/'thumbs down') on aspects of the image that had a positive or negative influence on their ratings.

RESULTS: Participants (n = 99) had a mean age of 13.3 years (SD = 0.87) and 53% were female. Overall, the top three rated images prompting park visitation by adolescents were: a long steep slide, a flying fox and a table tennis table. These first two features were also reported as being likely to promote physical activity in the park. Differences in ratings were observed for boys and girls. The images that received the greatest number of "thumbs-up" symbols included large swings and slides, table tennis tables, no-smoking signs, flying foxes and BMX tracks. The images that received the greatest number of "thumbs-down" symbols included signage about rules, graffiti, toilets, concrete steps, and skate bowls.

CONCLUSION: Physically challenging play equipment is likely to encourage adolescents to visit and be active in parks. Rules, graffiti, toilets and skate bowls may discourage visitation. It is important for park designers, planners and policy makers to consider adolescents' views of what park design features are important so that parks are created that support and encourage visitation and optimise levels of physical activity when in the park.

The effect of mechanical loading on the size and shape of bone in pre-, peri-, and postpubertal girls: a study in tennis players

Exercise during growth results in biologically important increases in bone mineral content (BMC). The aim of this study was to determine whether the effects of loading were site specific and depended on the maturational stage of the region. BMC and humeral dimensions were determined using DXA and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the loaded and nonloaded arms in 47 competitive female tennis players aged 8-17 years. Periosteal (external) cross-sectional area (CSA), cortical area, medullary area, and the polar second moments of area (I_p, mm⁴) were calculated at the mid and distal sites in the loaded and nonloaded arms. BMC and I _p of the humerus were 11-14% greater in the loaded arm than in the nonloaded arm in prepubertal players and did not increase further in peri- or postpubertal players despite longer duration of loading (both, _p < 0.01). The higher BMC was the result of a 7-11% greater cortical area in the prepubertal players due to greater periosteal than medullary expansion at the midhumerus and a greater periosteal expansion alone at the distal humerus. Loading late in puberty resulted in medullary contraction. Growth and the effects of loading are region and surface specific, with periosteal apposition before puberty accounting for the increase in the bone's resistance to torsion and endocortical contraction contributing late in puberty conferring little increase in resistance to torsion. Increasing the bone's rt.osistance to torsion is achieved hy modifying bone shape and mass, not necessarily bone density.

Do you really want to ask an underwriter how much money you should leave on the table?

This paper analyses whether the owners of companies seeking to list will leave less money on the table if underwriters are employed to price and market the issue. Our findings indicate that limited liability and Industrial company initial public offerings (IPOs) that have used underwriters have left
more money on the table than those not employing underwriters. Not only is there a direct cost in employing an underwriter but this study suggests there might also be an indirect cost. We also find that a positive forecast earnings per share yield may be useful in reducing the amount of money left on the table.

Factors influencing money left on the table by property trust IPO issuers

While previous listed property trust (LPT) initial public offering (IPO) studies have identified low under pricing returns, this study specifically examines the amount of money left on the table by the pre-IPO owners in this category of IPO. This study investigates 58 property trust IPOs in Australia from 1994 to 2004 and finds that the amount of money left by LPT IPOs is considerably less than industrial company IPOs, implying considerably less uncertainty about the valuation of such IPOs compared to industrials. We also find that more recent (post 2000) LPT IPOs in Australia appear to be significantly different to previous LPT IPOs in both money left and under pricing terms.

An input-output table perspective on measuring construction productivity

In the field of construction economics, input-output analysis based studies' have attracted a lot of interest from the academics and researchers. The wide efforts are to carry out analyses and comparisons of economic indicators in construction sectors across countries and years. There has been little research modelling the construction productivity using input-output tables. This research takes advantage of the input-output analysis to develop a perspective for determining the productivity of an industrial sector. The developed quantitative formulas are fully based on the economic indicators generated from an input-output table. Using the newly published OECD input-output database, historical analyses and comparisons are carried out to indicate the differences of prod uctivi ties of the construction sectors in Australia and Japan.

MMP2 and MMP9 plasma levels as markers of bone remodeling : a study on young male tennis players

Introduction
Our goal is to study the effects of tennis practice in pre-pubescent boys on bone remodeling, by means of enzyme activity involved in balance of matrix remodeling (MMP2 and MMP9).
Results
Mineral bone density has been found higher in the dominant arm (P < 0.0001) as well as MMP2 and MMP9 levels in plasma (P < 0.05).
Conclusion
Tennis practice in children increases bone remodeling, which can be assessed by MMP dosage, in addition of densitometry technique.