Nutritional Intake and Timing of Marathon Runners: Influence of Athlete’s Characteristics and Fueling Practices on Finishing Time

Background Endurance athletes’ competitions have increased over the decades and marathon races are becoming increasingly popular. Proper nutrition is critical for optimal performance and long-term health in marathon athletes. This study aimed to investigate runners’ nutritional intake, especially fluids, food, and supplements, competing in the Seville Marathon. A descriptive and cross-sectional study was carried out to obtain information on the consumption of liquids, food, and supplements. A total of 160 runners (aged 42.2 ± 7.3 years) who were primarily men (87.5%) who participated in the 2022 Seville marathon took part in the study. Results There was no significant difference (p > 0.050) between marathon finish time (from 2 h 12 min to 5 h) or sports experience and fluid, carbohydrates (CHO), sodium, and caffeine intake pre- and post-competition. However, according to the results obtained, the athletes who met CHO intake recommendations during the competition (60–90 g/h) were more likely to finish the marathon in less than 180 min (p = 0.035). Conclusions The intake of CHO (35 ± 17 g/h), sodium (192 ± 150 mg/h) and caffeine (57 ± 49 mg/h) was low compared to the current recommendations during the competition. The intake of fluids (466 ± 279 mL/h) was at the lower limit of recommendations. Most athletes did not receive nutritional counselling by a sport dietitian, which may explain why athletes failed to meet specific nutrient recommendations. Future investigations with a larger sample size are warranted to assess the relationship between dietary intake and finish time

Identifying innovative approaches to the temporal availability of alcohol in Great Britain – a policy analysis.

Background In Great Britain, local authorities responsible for alcohol premises licensing produce a statement of licensing policy setting out how they intend to exercise their statutory licensing functions including on trading hours. We aimed to describe and compare these policies on alcohol trading hours, including their interpretation and application of laws and guidance. Methods Policies were obtained from the websites of all 366 local licensing authorities and uploaded to NVivo. Using content analysis, relevant text was located through manual searching and coded inductively. Results Many local authorities do not explicitly seek to place controls on trading hours, while others create complex circumstances under which extended hours may be granted. Setting out core or matrix hours is the best example in the findings of local authorities applying their limited discretion to implement the law in ways that suit their needs. Conclusion Although licensing is ostensibly a policy system devolved to local areas, power remains at the centre in national legislation and guidance. Resultantly, local discretion is highly constrained especially in England/Wales. There is a need to attend to the details of statutory instruments to understand how headline principles and objectives can be made workable in practice for local authorities and board

Early-life environmental enrichment promotes positive animal welfare for juvenile Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) in aquaculture research

Early life experiences have long-lasting effects on behaviour and physiology, influencing development of adaptive natural behaviours. Enriching farmed environments encourages expression of natural behaviours in captive fish, promoting positive animal welfare, important for conducting valid and reproducible research and informing better management practices. Using juvenile Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar), we tested whether provision of environmental enrichment in early life improves welfare. Welfare indicators were measured comparing enriched to non-enriched tanks. Morphological (fin damage and body condition), physiological (plasma cortisol) and behavioural traits (activity, group cohesion, and neophobia) were recorded. Molecular expression of brain mRNA transcripts related to stress response, neuroplasticity and serotonergic system was analysed. Environmental enrichment did not affect morphological welfare indicators, activity, or cortisol. Enriched fish were more cohesive than non-enriched fish, less neophobic, with higher serotonergic turnover, suggesting enrichment mitigates against stress, promoting positive emotional states. Genes related to neuronal development and activity (bdnf and ndf1), cellular stress (hsp90 and hsp70), and serotonin synthesis (tph2) increased in enriched fish following stress, enhancing cognitive function. Our findings suggest early life environmental enrichment is advantageous for positive animal welfare by improving emotional states in captive environments, ensuring animals are free of negative experiences and able to access positive ones

Changes and continuities in gambling careers during the COVID-19 pandemic: a longitudinal qualitative study of regular sports bettors in Britain

Background To explore continuities and changes in gambling behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic and the factors that influenced these among a sample of regular sports bettors. Methods A longitudinal qualitative study using in-depth interviews. Sixteen sports bettors living in Britain took part in the first interviews in July-November 2020, and 13 in the follow-up interviews in March-September 2021. Results Individual patterns of gambling were episodic: it was common for gambling to increase during some periods of the pandemic and to decrease during others, reflecting the dynamic and (often) challenging circumstances which people were living through at the time. Changes and continuities in gambling during the pandemic were influenced by a range of factors which we have grouped into two main themes relating to ‘gambling and the sports landscape’ and ‘disruption to day-to-day life’. It was common for a constellation of factors to influence gambling behaviour rather than a single factor. These constellations of factors varied from person to person and at different times during the pandemic. Conclusions Findings of the present study are consistent with earlier literature examining gambling careers before the advent of COVID-19 showing that gambling trajectories are non-linear. Our research suggests that ‘typical’ patterns of gambling behaviour (e.g. being episodic), and the broader known risk and protective factors within individuals, families, communities and societies have been amplified during the pandemic. Findings highlight the adaptability of the gambling industry to continue to reach consumers through product offerings and marketing even in a period of unprecedented restrictions on supply, and show the potential resulting harms of these actions among gamblers at risk of experiencing gambling problems. Taken together, findings from this study provide important new insights relevant to discussions about gambling regulation, and support calls for multifaceted and comprehensive policy, regulatory, and treatment approaches, to minimise gambling-related harms.Good Health and Well-Bein

Making and Unmaking the Cold War in Museums

To introduce “Cold War Museology” and a volume of new essays in this chapter, we develop what we propose to be core themes of the subject. Our aim is to establish the Cold War as a key topic in museum studies, both in its own right, but also in terms of how it speaks to more general themes of contemporary museology. In doing so, we seek to learn from Cold War critical heritage research, bringing some of its analytical rigour to bear on museum work. Focusing primarily on curatorial practices and display analysis, we highlight three key themes for further discussion: the way in which objects reflect broader networks; the relationship between spaces, places and things (and specifically the ways in which objects create meanings when they are removed from their original locations); and the values that attach to collections. We also highlight absences in our discussions, including the question of how to address the global nature of the Cold War in the context of debates about decolonising collections as well as questions of gender and race when they appear to be absent from collections relating to the Cold War. This volume calls for a museology that reflects the ways in which the Cold War was both made and unmade, the spaces and places where this happens and what this means for museum collections, interpretation and engagement.Quality EducationIndustry, Innovation and InfrastructureSustainable Cities and Communitie

Prevalence and treatment of perinatal anxiety: diagnostic interview study

Background Anxiety affects around one in five women during pregnancy and after birth. However, there is no systematic information on the proportion of women with perinatal anxiety disorders who want or receive treatment. Aims To examine (a) the prevalence of anxiety disorders during pregnancy and after birth in a population-based sample, and (b) the proportion of women with anxiety disorders who want treatment and receive treatment. Method This study conducted 403 diagnostic interviews in early pregnancy (n = 102), mid-pregnancy (n = 99), late pregnancy (n = 102) or postpartum (n = 100). Participants also completed self-report measures of previous/current mental health problems and desire for treatment at every time point. Results The prevalence of anxiety disorders over all time points combined was 19.9% (95% CI 16.1–24.1), with greatest prevalence in early pregnancy (25.5%, 95% CI 17.4–35.1). The most prevalent disorders were obsessive–compulsive disorder (8.2%, 95% CI 5.7–11.3) and generalised anxiety disorder (5.7%, 95% CI 3.7–8.4). The majority of women with anxiety disorders did not want professional help or treatment (79.8%). Most women with anxiety disorders who did want treatment (20.2%) were receiving treatment. The majority of participants with anxiety disorders had a history of mental health problems (64.6%). Conclusions Prevalence rates overall are consistent with previous research, lending validity to the findings. However, findings challenge the assumption that everyone with a psychological disorder wants treatment. These findings highlight the importance of relationship-based care, where individual needs and contextual barriers to treatment can be explored

'Remembering Empire': supporting take-up of French through history and culture

One of the most pressing challenges facing languages practitioners in Scotland’s schools is the difficulty of supporting learner motivation to study languages and maintain uptake in the Senior Phase. This article reviews a research-led project, ‘Remembering Empire’, and suggests that Interdisciplinary Learning (IDL) may offer a means to generate increased learner interest in language-learning. As one of the four Contexts of Curriculum for Excellence (CfE), Interdisciplinary Learning (IDL) is central to the curriculum but has proven difficult to deliver. The ‘Remembering Empire’ project produced and delivered free French-language digital materials aimed at supporting language acquisition and historical and cultural knowledge and skills amongst S2-S3 learners about to make Senior Phase subject choices. Evidence from four schools demonstrated an average increase in take-up of languages of 22% among participants when compared with control groups in the same schools. The two strands of the project are now available to schools across Scotland in the form of the Languages Explorers Scotland initiative, co-ordinated by SCILT, and the ‘Remembering Empire’ online resources for teachers: https://pieds-noirs.stir.ac.uk/remembering-empire/

Plasticity of thermal tolerance and associated gill transcriptome in ballan wrasse (Labrus bergylta)

Thermal condition has profound influence on physiology and behaviour of ballan wrasse (Labrus bergylta), a cleaner fish commonly deployed in salmon cages to control sea lice infection. To address knowledge gaps on the species thermal biology, critical thermal limits were determined by acclimating fish (21.5 ± 3.1 g, 10.5 ± 0.4 cm) at a range of temperatures (6, 10, or 14°C) found in its natural habitat on the west coast of Scotland for one week and subjecting them to ramping temperature (~0.3°C/min) until loss of equilibrium. Critical thermal maxima (CT max), minima (CT min), and thermal breadth values increased with acclimation temperature. Thermal tolerance polygon was constructed and showed the intrinsic (7.9 to 16.8°C) and acquired (3.4°C and 22.8°C) thermal tolerance zones, supporting the seasonal differences in behaviour and delousing efficacy of ballan wrasse deployed in salmon farms. Gill transcriptomic profiles of ballan wrasse were performed following thermal acclimation and subsequent exposure to CT max and CT min. Initial acclimation resulted in unique differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and enrichment of GO terms that were almost exclusively found in each acclimation group. Transcriptome response to CT max and CT min also varied between acclimation groups. CT max and CT min shared 0% DEGs at 6°C, 43% at 10°C, and 7% at 14°C, but some overlapping GO terms. This study is the first to investigate the thermal tolerance limits of ballan wrasse and provides new data into the plasticity of thermal tolerance limits and molecular response to thermal stimuli in fish

Transport governance system response during the COVID-19 pandemic: The allure of a ‘new normal’ and its implications for tackling the polycrisis

This paper examines how the UK transport governance system responded to the COVID-19 pandemic and what this reveals about its capacity for transformative change amid broader societal challenges, or the “polycrisis.” Drawing on a unique longitudinal dataset of interviews with senior transport decision-makers across four waves from 2020 to 2021, the study explores the tension between policy stability and change. While the pandemic disrupted travel behaviour—reducing commuting, increasing remote work, and shifting modal preferences—governance responses largely aimed to restore pre-pandemic norms and practices rather than seize the opportunity for systemic transformation. Despite recognition of significant behavioural shifts and the potential for substantial long-term behavioural adaptations, a combination of institutional inertia, rigid funding mechanisms, and entrenched professional norms constrained adaptive policymaking. Instead, a desire to “return to normal” dominated, driven by political, fiscal, and operational pressures, which has left the sector in a worse position than before in terms of its capacity to tackle longstanding policy challenges and achieve the non-incremental shifts required to address the critical problems it faces. The implications of the work are a need to move beyond the false “change versus stability” narrative and recognise that some societal trends are constantly in flux whilst others endure. Policy recognition of the change in the everyday is a pre-cursor to policy change in both more stable and turbulent times, rather than hoping that events will somehow conspire to unlock the more radical responses that are recognised to be necessary to respond to the polycrisis

Do chimpanzees produce context-specific vocal structures in group-specific ways?

Learning how to link a signal to its appropriate behavioural context in a flexible and meaningful way is foundational to human language, but there is little evidence of this capacity in nonhuman primates. We addressed this by studying chimpanzee, Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii, pant hoot contextual use in two communities, Sonso and Kanyawara, from two different wild populations in Uganda. Pant hoots are complex, composite vocal signals, comprising four acoustically distinct phases and produced in different contexts, mostly during travelling and feeding to mediate grouping dynamics. We measured 18 acoustic parameters across phase types and found significant effects of context in all four phases, confirming that pant hoots have the potential to inform others about the caller’s behaviour. We also found two interaction effects between context and community in the final let-down phase: Sonso males produced let-down call elements at higher rates during feeding than travelling and were also more likely to omit the let-down phase entirely during feeding than travelling, than Kanyawara males. We concluded that despite their largely fixed call repertoire, chimpanzees modulate acoustic features according to the behavioural context and, in the case of a few acoustic parameters, do so differently in different populations, with learning potentially involved in this process. Overall, however, the link between most of the acoustic features of chimpanzee calls and context seems to be largely independent of population, which contrasts with human language where different and novel signals are often flexibly attached to different information via social learning