It has been suggested that gender differences in running should disappear as distances increase, particularly past the marathon. This suggestion is primarily based on differences in fuel utilization, muscle damage following exercise, relative improvements in performance over the past decades, and on the analysis of marathon vs. ultramarathon performances of men and women. We reasoned that the best comparison of the potential of a human is by the use of world best times, which should be reasonable indicators of the effect of distance on relative performance of women and men. We compared current world best running performances at distances from 100 m to 200 km. Records as of December 2002 were obtained. T-tests analyzed speed differences between genders, and regression analysis tested the percent differences between men and women across distance. Speeds were different, with the average difference being 12.4% faster for men. There was a significant slope to the speed difference across distances in that longer distances were associated with greater differences. These results may be confounded by the reduced number of women in longer distance events. Furthermore, the proposed metabolic advantage for women because of increased fat metabolism may be masked by regular feeding during endurance races.

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A threshold model postulates that prescriptively applying the appropriate cardiorespiratory and strength stimulus at a designated threshold of intensity for a brief time results in the targeted adaptations. A randomized control group design was used with 17 unfit males and females (mean age = 37.1 +/- 6.5 year) assigned to an exercise group (n = 9) who performed a progressive cardiovascular graded exercise protocol and resistance training twice a week for 12 weeks or a nonexercising control group (n = 8). The intervention included a graded exercise protocol involving a 3-min warm-up, exercising 3-4 min at 70-80% of maximum heart rate, and a 3-min cooldown. Progressive resistance exercise consisted of one set of six repetitions on each of six resistance machines. Results showed that the exercise group increased predicted aerobic capacity by 13.4% (p < 0.05), decreased submaximal rate pressure product by 17.2% (p < 0.05), and increased strength by 34% (p < 0.01). The results support a threshold model and show that time for effective exercise can be substantially reduced.

Transcranial routing of signal (TCROS) was accomplished using completely-in-the-canal (CIC) hearing aids in 5 profoundly unilaterally hearing-impaired individuals. The functional gain realized by the participants far exceeded the gain predicted by measuring the acoustic output and real ear aided response of the hearing aids. The difference between predicted and functional gain increased with signal frequency and was attributed at least in part to mechanical vibration of the hearing aid in the external canal. Implications for fitting unilateral hearing loss using TCROS amplifying systems are discussed.

It is deposited under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. Asset Mapping as a Participatory Research ApproachResearchers have been creating maps for centuries as a way to synthesize and spatially represent our knowledge of the complex social and physical world. The notion of the map broadened considerably in the 20th century (Suchan and Brewer, 2000), and researchers outside of the fields of geography or cartography are now using mapping techniques to map all sorts of social and physical phenomena, including communities, neighborhoods, relationships, health, culture, social services and even bodies. Mapping is no longer limited to geographic representations, but can also include non-geographic data visualization, or even mapping that is completely conceptual. Mapping is increasingly common as a research strategy among those engaged in participatory approaches to research, and often is used on its own or in combination with other methods as part of community-based participatory research projects. This chapter introduces participatory asset mapping as a research approach, which can include conceptual or visual maps. The chapter includes a case example of participatory asset mapping, and a step-by-step guide for using participatory asset mapping as a research method. Conceptual Framing of Participatory Asset MappingParticipatory asset mapping as a research tool has its roots both in spatial mapping used by geographers and other researchers, typically in a non-participatory way, and in the growth of various forms of participatory mapping as a practice method in social work, community development, international development and related fields. The use of mapping as a research method has been common in social, physical and biological sciences since the middle of the 20th century (Parker and Asencio, 2009). It became more widespread in the 1990s with the increase in availability of spatial analysis software, such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Using mapping as a research tool allowed researchers to answer a variety of research questions relating to the location, distribution and relationship between various elements, ranging from people to plants. Researchers in the applied social sciences, notably the disciplines of geography, public affairs, urban affairs, and public health, have used mapping to answer questions relating to topics such as population patterns, migration patterns, distribution of government and nonprofit services, community health and transportation routes (Dueker, 1987;Greenberg and Oakley, 1983;Taaffe, 1956). In the 1980s and 1990s a less spatial type of mapping, conceptual mapping, also grew, which involved developing

This chapter introduces participatory asset mapping as a research approach, which can include conceptual or visual maps. The chapter includes a case example of participatory asset mapping, and a step-by-step guide for using participatory asset mapping as a participatory research method.

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