Effect of physical exercise on telomere length: An umbrella review and meta-analysis

Background: Telomere length (TL) is a marker of cellular health and aging. Physical exercise has been associated with longer telomeres and, therefore, healthier aging. However, results supporting such effects vary across studies. Our aim was to synthesize existing evidence on the effect of different modalities and durations of physical exercise on TL. Objective: The aim of this study was to explore the needs and expectations of individuals with physical disabilities and their interventionists for the use of a virtual reality physical activity platform in a community organization. Methods: We performed an umbrella review and meta-analysis. Data sources included PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and Scopus. We selected systematic reviews and meta-analyses of randomized and nonrandomized controlled clinical trials evaluating the effect of physical exercise on TL. Results: Our literature search retrieved 12 eligible systematic reviews, 5 of which included meta-analyses. We identified 22 distinct primary studies to estimate the overall effect size of physical exercise on TL. The overall effect size was 0.28 (95% CI 0.118-0.439), with a heterogeneity test value Q of 43.08 (P=.003) and I² coefficient of 51%. The number of weeks of intervention explained part of this heterogeneity (Q_B=8.25; P=.004), with higher effect sizes found in studies with an intervention of less than 30 weeks. Exercise modality explained additional heterogeneity within this subgroup (Q_B=10.28, P=.02). The effect sizes were small for aerobic exercise and endurance training, and moderate for high-intensity interval training. Conclusions: Our umbrella review and meta-analysis detected a small-moderate positive effect of physical exercise on TL, which seems to be influenced by the duration and type of physical exercise. High quality studies looking into the impact of standardized, evidence-based physical exercise programs on TL are still warranted

Comparison of mitral valve repair versus replacement for mitral valve regurgitation

Background: Mitral regurgitation (MR) is a prevalent valvular abnormality categorized as primary or secondary based on aetiology. Surgical intervention, particularly mitral valve repair, is often preferred over replacement due to its association with better outcomes. However, the benefits of repair versus replacement, especially in secondary MR, remain debated. Objectives: This study aims to evaluate the long-term survival and reoperation rates in patients undergoing mitral valve repair compared to mitral valve replacement for MR in a cardiothoracic surgery unit in North-West England and in subgroups with degenerative and secondary aetiology. Methods: We analysed 1 724 consecutive patients undergoing first-time mitral valve surgery (repair: n = 1 243; replacement: n = 481) between 2000–2021. Primary outcome was all-cause mortality. Genetic matching and overlap weighting were used to balance baseline characteristics. Results: Median follow-up was 7.1 years. In the matched cohort, mitral valve replacement was associated with higher rates of blood transfusion (29% vs 22%), longer ICU stays, and more strokes (3.7% vs 0.4%). While 90-day mortality did not differ significantly between groups, long-term follow-up showed a survival advantage for repair (HR: 1.32, 95% CI: 1.08–1.63). Although repair had higher reoperation rates (4.3% vs 2.1%), the composite of death or reoperation did not differ significantly. In degenerative MR subgroup, repair showed superior long-term survival, whereas in secondary MR, no significant survival difference was observed between strategies. Conclusions: Among patients suitable for either surgical strategy, mitral valve repair showed better long-term survival compared to replacement, particularly in degenerative MR. However, this advantage was not observed in secondary MR

Dynamics in the Phytophthora capsici effector AVR3a11 confirm the core WY domain fold

Oomycete pathogens cause large economic losses in agriculture through diseases such as late blight (Phytophthora infestans), and stem and root rot of soybean (Phytophthora sojae). The effector protein AVR3a, from P. infestans, and its homologue AVR3a11 from P. capsici, are host-translocated effectors that interact with plant proteins to evade defense mechanisms and enable infection. Both proteins belong to the family of RXLR effectors and contain an N-terminal secretion signal, an RXLR motif for translocation into the host cell, and a C-terminal effector domain. Within this family, many proteins have been predicted to contain one or more WY domains as their effector domain, which is proposed to encompass a conserved minimal core fold containing three helices, further stabilized by additional helices or dimerization. In AVR3a11, a helical N-terminal extension to the core fold forms a four-helix bundle, as determined by X-ray crystallography. For a complete picture of the dynamics of AVR3a11, we have determined the solution structure of AVR3a11, and studied its dynamics in the fast timescale (ns-ps, from NMR relaxation parameters) and in the slow timescale (seconds to minutes, from hydrogen/deuterium exchange experiments). Hydrogen/deuterium exchange showed that the N-terminal helix is less stable than the other three helices, confirming the core fold originally proposed. Relaxation measurements confirm that AVR3a11 undergoes extensive conformational exchange, despite the uniform presence of fast motions in the spectral density function throughout most of its sequence. As functional residues are in the more mobile regions, flexibility in the slow/intermediate timescale may be functionally important

A mixed methods realist evaluation of a Digital Life Story work platform: What works, for whom, under what circumstances and how?

Life Story Work is a fundamental in children’s state care. It is a process of helping children make sense of their experiences to promote their well-being. As society increasingly uses online repositories to store digital artefacts, interest in commissioning Digital Life Story Work platforms grows. However, why, how, when, for whom and in what circumstances such platforms may help support children with experience of living in state care is unknown. Addressing this gap, we report on the first widespread rollout of a Digital Life Story Work platform across one English Local Authority. Utilising a participatory realist evaluation approach, we collected data from 119 participants and involved peer-researchers throughout. This paper presents our final programme theory. This illustrates that Digital Life Story Work is more likely to be optimal when it is: flexible and person-centred; provides future storytelling prompts; starts early; begins in the present; involves children, and constantly offers participation choices; records all aspects of everyday experiences and; when appropriate training and support is available. Findings provide key considerations for commissioners and implementers and begin to build a picture of how Digital Life Story Work platforms may become embedded in supporting children with experience of living in state care

Earl Thorfinn of Orkney and the forgotten battle of 1058

Verses by Arnórr ‘jarls’-poet’, preserved in Orkneyinga saga, describe a battle in which Earl Thorfinn of Orkney fought the English south of the Isle of Man. The thirteenth-century saga-author associated these verses with a campaign supposedly fought in the 1030s or 1040s, but this account is doubtful. Turning to the Norwegian expedition of 1058, this article considers whether the verses might originally have referred to that campaign and later become linked with a different story. New readings of the key stanzas are proposed, and a new sequence, with consequences impacting on the chronology and circumstances of Thorfinn’s life and death. There are ramifications for discussions touching the saga tradition, Arnórr’s career, Malcolm (Máel Coluim) III Canmore’s career, and his marriage to Ingibjorg

Automating the Clock Drawing Test with Deep Learning and Saliency Maps

The Clock Drawing Test (CDT) is an important tool in the diagnosis of Cognitive Decline (CD). Using Deep Learning (DL), this test can be automated with a high degree of accuracy, more so where the medium of recording allows the use of temporal information on how the clock was drawn which may not be accessible to clinicians in traditional screening. The high-risk nature of this field makes understanding the reasoning for automated results imperative. A model’s reasoning can often be described using saliency maps, however, there are a number of different methods for generating such maps. Therefore, we propose a methodology to train a DL classifier for use in the CDT which incorporates temporal information and use saliency maps to explain classification predictions. We find that our classifier achieves scores above 98% with F1 for clocks and over 96% F1 on average across a test set of 18 different classes. Our methodology also shows that Integrated Gradients using SmoothGrad produce the best saliency map results visually and statistically

Working with robots: Trends and future directions

Robots are taking on a prominent role in driving organizational evolution toward industrial revolutions. While research on the role of robots in human resource management (robot-HRM) is proliferating, the literature falls short in providing a state-of-the-art overview of the progress and ways forward for the field. Hence, this study aims to review and consolidate the extant literature on robot-HRM into a unified framework and provide pragmatic ways forward. To do so, this study conducts a framework-based systematic literature review by adopting the SPAR-4-SLR protocol to guide its assembling, arranging, and assessing of theories, contexts, characteristics, and methods (TCCM) of robot-HRM studies identified and retrieved from Scopus and Web of Science. In doing so, this study contributes a seminal overview of the research trends and ways forward for robotHRM, as well as the implications for professionals to manage the embedding of robots and the interaction with employees in the workplace

First stage development of a team as secure base questionnaire using a Delphi study

Teams help mitigate emotional demands in high-stake professions, like social work. Providing a secure base fosters trust, giving individuals confidence to work competently and provide effective care for service users. The Team as Secure Base model (TASB) proposes that team availability, reliability and sensitivity promote reassuring internal mental representations that the team can be supportive in adversity. Creating secure base teams is of interest to organisations as identifying and articulating team issues is challenging. It is unknown whether the TASB framework reflects perceptions of secure base function in wider work teams. Creating a TASB measure could help establish this evidence. The Delphi method was employed developing initial questions for a TASB questionnaire, measuring Availability, Sensitivity, Acceptance, Co-operation and Team Membership. Across three phases, social work experts provided qualitative and quantitative data of items evaluating content validity. The final questionnaire (n207 items) conceptually captured five TASB dimensions for supervisors and co-workers

Algebraic types in Zilber's exponential field

We characterise the model-theoretic algebraic closure in Zilber's exponential field. A key step involves showing that certain algebraic varieties have finite intersections with certain finite-rank subgroups of the graph of exponentiation. Mordell-Lang for algebraic tori (a theorem of Laurent) plays a central role in our proof

"Orienteering is a way of life":Learning from and for lifestyle sports coaching

It has been argued that the embedded subculture of orienteering fosters lifelong participation in the sport. For lifestyle sports such as orienteering, participation leads to identity (re)construction, where individuals learn and identify themselves through specific dispositions, attitudes, and skills which become integrated throughout one’s wider life experiences. However, the notion of identity transferability and subsequent learning within lifestyle sports has tended to focus solely on participants (athletes) as opposed to alternative stakeholders such as sport coaches, who have become more prominent figures following the increased professionalisation of lifestyle sports. Consequently, this chapter explores the biographical learning of orienteering coaches in the United Kingdom (UK) to conceptualise how the process of both learning and doing lifestyle sports coaching is contextually situated and historically bound within an individual’s lifecourse. As part of a collaborative research project with British Orienteering, data were collected via an online qualitative survey involving 84 orienteering coaches in the UK and analysed through a reflexive thematic analysis process. The findings demonstrate how orienteering coaches learned from and for coaching throughout their lives, which helps contribute towards an evolving epistemology of learning as a lifestyle sports coach, with tentative suggestions for coach development within these contexts proposed