Smith publishes two reports

September 12, 2016

Thomas Smith, Ph.D., teaching specialist in the School of Kinesiology, has authored the following two reports published during 2016. “Occupancy and patient care quality benefits of private room relative to multi-bed patient room designs for five different children’s hospital intensive and intermediate care units,” was published in WORK: A Journal of Prevention, Assessment & Rehabilitation, a special issue devoted to Environmental Design.

“Evolution of Design – Models and Modes” was published in the Proceedings of the 60th Annual Meeting of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. The paper also will be presented during the Society’s annual meeting, convening in Washington, DC later this month.

Kihl, Schull, and Shaw publish text on U of M athletic departments merger

September 12, 2016

Lisa A. Kihl, Ph.D., associate professor in the School of Kinesiology and Tucker Center affiliated scholar, along with TC-affiliated scholars Vicki Schull, Ph.D. (MSU-Mankato), and Sally Shaw, Ph.D. (University of Otago, New Zealand), are authors of the recently published book, Gender Politics in US College Athletic Departments: The Case of the University of Minnesota Merger (Palgrave). Using the context of the merger of the men’s and women’s athletic departments at the U of M, the book provides an in-depth analysis of the gendered political processes involved in organizational change in the world of collegiate athletics.

The book can be used as a course text, academic/practitioner resource, or for lay readers interested in the history of the U of M athletic departments.

Co-author Schull is a 2014 alumni of the School of Kinesiology’s doctoral program and was advised by Kihl.

Gao receives NIH grant to study exergaming among preschool children

September 9, 2016

Zan Gao, Ph.D., associate professor in the School of Kinesiology and Director of the Physical Activity Epidemiology Lab, has received a one-year, $370,000 research grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to study exergaming play among preschool children.

The project is entitled “Trial of Exergaming Activities on Cognition and Health in Preschoolers – Project TEACH”. It is designed to examine the impact of a child-led and instructor-supervised exergaming intervention in promoting preschool children’s physical activity levels, fitness, movement skills and cognition, compared to a traditional usual care control program at four schools in Minnesota. Gao and his research team will initiate the research project in fall of 2016.

Konczak receives grant to advance robotic rehabilitation technology

September 1, 2016

Juergen Konczak, Ph.D., professor in the School of Kinesiology and director of the Human Sensorimotor Control Lab (HSC), is the principal investigator for a grant from MN-REACH, a joint initiative between the National Institutes for Health (NIH) and the University of Minnesota. REACH, or the Research Evaluation and Commercialization Hub, is an NIH-administered, national program seeking to facilitate and accelerate the translation of biomedical innovations into commercial products that improve patient care and enhance health.

Konczak’s grant aims to advance the commercialization of the Wristbot, a robotic system for the diagnosis and physical rehabilitation of sensory and motor dysfunction of the wrist and hand. It was developed in cooperation with international partners at the Italian Institute of Technology and Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. The grant will enable the lab to perform two clinical studies that seeks to document the efficacy of the Wristbot system as a diagnostic and rehabilitation tool for people with Parkinson’s disease or for stroke survivors.

Read more about the Wristbot here, or watch this video to see it in action.

Kim presents at 28th International Sport Science Congress

September 1, 2016

Young Ho Kim, a doctoral student in the field of sport management advised by Dr. Lisa Kihl, gave a presentation at the 28th International Sport Science Congress in commemoration of the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games. His presentation, “We are All Innocent, but Socialized into Being an Offender: Why Do We Believe School Violence Occurring in the Sport-Related Departments is a Form of Discipline?” consisted of preliminary data findings from his research on violence in schools. The purpose of the study was to examine how innocent freshmen may become offenders as time goes by, and how the practices of school violence are transferred with each grade. To analyze the collected data, multiple theoretical frames were applied, such as the Stanford prison experiment, obedience to authority theory, social learning theory, and differential association theory.

Parkinson’s disease study with HSCL link is featured in Star Tribune

August 30, 2016

A School of Nursing study with a connection to the Human Sensorimotor Control Laboratory (HSCL) in the School of Kinesiology was featured in the Star Tribune today. Om Power: Minnesota study looking at yoga’s ability to offset Parkinson’s symptoms highlights a study being conducted by Corjena Cheung, Ph.D., assistant professor in the School of Nursing. Twenty subjects with Parkinson’s disease are participating in an experimental yoga class twice weekly to determine if the practice could be a successful therapy in dealing with symptoms of the disease.

The HSCL, directed by Juergen Konczak, Ph.D. performs the necessary movement assessments on all participants before the study began, and again at six weeks after completion of the yoga program. To understand if yoga is beneficial for patients with Parkinson’s disease, the participants are tested for joint range of motion and for postural stability when standing and walking. See this information sheet for more details.

PAEL researchers Zeng and Gao publish article, book chapter

August 23, 2016

Doctoral student Nan Zeng and Zan Gao, Ph.D., School of Kinesiology associate professor and director of the Physical Activity Epidemiology Lab (PAEL), recently published an article entitled “Exergaming and obesity in youth: current perspectives.” in the International Journal of General Medicine. The study found exergaming, or playing video games that are also a form of exercise, has the potential to attenuate weight gain and shows promise when used for physical activity and physical fitness promotion.

Read the full study here.

Under the direction of Dr. Gao, Mr. Zeng also published a chapter titled “Effects of exergaming on fundamental movement skills among children and young adults: A systematic review” in the book Gaming: Trends, Perspectives and Impact on Health. This chapter systematically synthesized and critiqued literature on exergaming in light of the tenets of motor skill development, and went on to elaborate the potentials of exergaming that could contribute to improving the motor skill competence of children and young adults.

Wiese-Bjornstal will present at Inaugural Global Congress on Sports and Christianity in York, England

August 22, 2016

Diane Wiese-Bjornstal, Ph.D., professor in the School of Kinesiology, will be attending the Inaugural Global Congress on Sports and Christianity in York, England, August 24 – 28. She is one of the organizers of the thematic area, Sport, Psychology, and Christianity, and will be giving a presentation entitled “Sports Medicine Psychology and Christianity.” Her talk will represent Kinesiology’s Sports Medicine Psychology Lab (SMPL) research completed in collaboration with Kinesiology students Kristin Wood (PhD) , Andrew White (PhD), and Amanda Wambach (BS), and visiting Fulbright Scholar Professor Victor Rubio of the University of Autonoma Madrid. Details about the congress can be found here.

Wade has article accepted by Human Movement Science

August 22, 2016

Michael Wade, Ph.D., professor in the School of Kinesiology, has had an article accepted by Human Movement Science (HMS). “Developmental Coordination Disorder and its cause: The road less traveled,” will appear as a target article in a special edition of HMS , which will include invited commentary.

Holst-Wolf, Yeh, Konczak to publish paper in Frontiers of Human Neuroscience

August 18, 2016

The research paper “Development of proprioceptive acuity in typically developing children: normative data on forearm position sense” has been accepted for publication in the Frontiers of Human Neuroscience journal. This study was done by graduate students Jessica Holst-Wolf and I-Ling Yeh, members of the Human Sensorimotor Control Lab (HSC), along with Juergen Konczak, Ph.D., professor in the School of Kinesiology and director of the lab.

The study mapped the development of proprioception in healthy, typically developing children by objectively measuring forearm position sense acuity.

Stoffregen quoted in Vice article on Virtual Reality

August 16, 2016

Thomas Stoffregen, Ph.D., School of Kinesiology professor and director of the Affordance Perception-Action Laboratory (APAL), was interviewed for an article by Motherboard, a news channel of Vice. His research has found that women are more susceptible to motion sickness, affecting the design of virtual reality sets for women.

“VR companies need to stop looking at this as an issue of technology design,” Stoffregen states in the article. “It’s an issue of how the user and the technology interact.” He adds: “First off, companies need to recognize that their products are sexist. Not sexist by intent; rather, sexist in their effects.”

Motherboard is an online magazine and video channel dedicated to the intersection of technology, science and humans.

Read the full article here.

Barr-Anderson, Biltz present at NASPEM conference

August 15, 2016

Daheia Barr-Anderson, Ph.D., assistant professor in the School of Kinesiology, presented a poster entitled “Teachers’ influence on weight-related behaviors of African American preschoolers” at the 2016 North American Society of Pediatric Exercise Medicine (NASPEM) in Knoxville, TN, on August 11. George Biltz, M.D., lecturer in the School, also presented a poster, “Initial Submaximal RER and Tidal Volume Variability Appear Inversely Related to Direction of Response to Marathon Training.” The conference was held from August 10-13.

Formed in 1985, NASPEM’s membership is comprised of medical doctors, researchers, educators, and students interested in pediatric exercise. Their mission is to promote exercise science, physical activity and fitness in the health and medical care of children and adolescents.

Buysse gives invited presentation at McKnight Foundation to soccer coaches from Haiti

August 9, 2016

Jo Ann Buysse, Ph.D., senior lecturer in Kinesiology, gave a presentation July 29 at the McKnight Foundation to soccer coaches from Haiti on “Physical Activity and Sport Initiatives to Improve the Lives of Girls and Women.”

Dr. Buysse was invited to present by the Sanneh Foundation. The Foundation is part of the Haitian Initiative, a collaboration of partners working together to bring sustainable programs to Haiti using soccer to combat the cycle of poverty. Dr. Buysse is currently planning a Study Abroad course in Haiti.

Stoffregen’s research featured on “Stuff You Should Know”

August 9, 2016

On a recent podcast on the site, “Stuff You Should Know,” Thomas Stoffregen, Ph.D., and his research were referenced extensively in How Motion Sickness Works starting at about 20.00. Stoffregen is a professor in the School of Kinesiology and director of the Affordance Perception-Action Laboratory.

Kinesiology Ph.D. candidate Justin Munafo accepts two-year position at Google

August 8, 2016

Justin Munafo, Ph.D. candidate in Kinesiology advised by Thomas Stoffregen, Ph.D., professor and director of the Affordance Perception-Action Laboratory (APAL), has accepted a two-year position working at Google in Mountain View, CA. His title is Researcher III, and he will be conducting experiments with a driving simulator to inform design decisions for Google Maps and related applications. The position begins August 15. He will be working at Google through Adecco, a hiring agency.

Konczak publishes with colleagues from Singapore and Italy in PLOS ONE

August 4, 2016

A new publication entitled “Robot-aided Mapping of Wrist Proprioceptive Acuity Across a 3D Workspace” was published by the scientific journal PLOS One (published by the Public Library of Science). Jürgen Konczak, Ph.D., professor in the School of Kinesiology and director of the Human Sensorimotor Control Lab (HSC) is coauthor, together with colleagues from Nanyang Technological University of Singapore and the Italian Institute of Technology.

This study performed an extensive and systematic investigation of the human wrist position sense with the aim to systematically map wrist proprioceptive acuity of the wrist/hand complex using a robotic exoskeleton called Wristbot.

Wade gives invited talk at DCD – UK conference at Leeds University

August 2, 2016

Michael G. Wade, Ph.D., professor in the School of Kinesiology, gave an invited talk at the 6th Biennial Academic and Practitioner Conference, Developmental Coordination Disorder – UK at Leeds University, UK, July 21-22. His talk was entitled, “The influence of theory on therapeutic interventions for children diagnosed with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD).”

Konczak travels to Europe for HSCL projects

August 1, 2016

Jürgen Konczak, Ph.D., professor in the School of Kinesiology, traveled to Essen, Germany, last month to attend a one-day project meeting for a Human Sensorimotor Control Lab (HSC) study on patients with spinocerebellar ataxia. The study investigates whether patients with spinocerebellar ataxia may benefit from sensorimotor training early in their disease. The project is conducted jointly with the University Medical Center in Essen and is funded by the German Science Foundation.

Konczak also traveled to Bad Aibling, Bavaria, to visit a large neurorehabilitation clinic that treats over 500 cases of cortical stroke per year. Clinical researchers there are interested in HSC’s wristbot technology for stroke rehabilitation and discussed ways of using this experimental technology in their clinic. The wristbot is robotic device that can move a person’s wrist in a controlled way providing assistance to those who cannot move the hand/wrist due to injury.

Sport Management senior Jayson Watkins to present research at McNair Scholars Poster Presentation & Reception Aug. 4

August 1, 2016

Jayson Watkins, a senior pursuing a dual major in Sport Management and Psychology, will be presenting his research and poster this Thursday, August 4, at the 25th Annual McNair Scholars Poster Presentation & Reception. Jayson is one of seven CEHD students who are conducting research this summer under the direction of distinguished faculty research mentors as part of the TRIO/McNair Scholars Program.

The gathering provides an excellent forum to display the research efforts of these exceptional McNair Scholars along with their faculty mentors.

Jayson has been working with faculty mentor Douglas Hartmann, Ph.D., to present data from his project, “Parent Understanding of and Involvement in Organized, Out-of-School Activities.” The project is part of the Kids Involvement and Diversity Study (KIDS) in the Department of Sociology. Jason is advised by School of Kinesiology adviser Alyssa Maples and CEHD advisers Tracey Hammell and Chinh Truong.

All are invited to attend the event from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. in Coffman Memorial Union – Mississippi Room. Refreshments will be served.

Buysse interviewed on gender equity, media representation on CW23-Twin Cities

July 26, 2016

Jo Ann Buysse, Ph.D., senior lecturer in the School of Kinesiology, was featured on local cable channel The CW23 in Rana Kamal’s program, “Our Issues Twin Cities: Breaking Barriers in Women’s Sports.” In the interview, Dr. Buysse shared her expertise on sport media and gender equity in sports.

When discussing media coverage of male and female athletes, Dr. Buysse stated, “Difference is not a bad thing, but the important thing we need to do is respect female athletes. We need to continue to talk to the media and continue to ask for greater representation.”

Our Issues Twin Cities is a 30-minute program featuring Minnesotans who are improving their communities and the state.

CEHD News Kinesiology

CEHD News Kinesiology