Good definitions: embodying autism through film poetry

Naomi Foyle explores how her late autism assessment in 2020 provoked the revelation that performance has paradoxically enabled her to ‘unmask’: to bodily express her hidden autistic self. Discussing traits including gender fluidity, frank sexuality, hyperempathy, hypersensitivity, Foyle reflects on spoken word and audio visual work including the filmpoems 'Good Definition' (2008) and 'Ways of Seeing Trees' (2025), and the music video 'Boas and Blindfolds', produced with various collaborators. A blog post published in the Online Gallery of Poetry Off the Page, Around the Globe (University of Vienna and Literaturhaus Wien)

Examining the use of verbal teacher feedback in physical education lessons

This study analysed the frequency and nature of verbal feedback given by physical education (PE) teachers in a secondary school, focusing on the influence of teacher gender, experience, and student learning stage. Eight PE teachers (four male, four female) were observed across 24 lessons, with each teacher observed three times. Feedback was systematically coded using a structured framework for evaluating coaching practises. The results revealed variations in feedback patterns based on teacher experience, gender, and student age. Female teachers provided more specific positive feedback (28%) compared to male teachers (23%). Younger, less experienced students received more corrective feedback (years 7 and 8: 18.7%; years 9 and 10: 12.7%), highlighting the importance of targeted instruction in early learning stages. Additionally, less experienced teachers used less corrective feedback (15%) than their more experienced counterparts (25.6%), suggesting a need for professional development in feedback strategies. These findings emphasise the role of tailored feedback in PE to optimise student learning and engagement

New Zealand blackcurrant extract has no effect on physiological and cardiovascular responses during low-intensity sustained intermittent isometric contractions in men

Purpose: Intake of anthocyanin-rich supplements such as New Zealand blackcurrant (NZBC) extract for 7 days showed beneficial effects on cardiovascular function at rest and during moderate and high-intensity exercise. The effects of 4- and 7-day intake of 600 mg of NZBC extract on cardiovascular function, femoral artery diameter, muscle force, muscle activity and muscle fatigue during low-intensity sustained intermittent isometric contractions were examined. Methods: Fifteen healthy males (age: 25±6 years, height: 180±7 cm, body mass: 82±8 kg) visited the laboratory on five occasions (familiarisation, days 4 and 7 of placebo (PLA) or NZBC extract intake). Each visit required the participants to hold the isometric contraction of the m.quadriceps femoris at 10% of their isometric maximal voluntary contraction (iMVC) for 5 bouts of 2-min. At the end of each 2-min, an iMVC was performed with subsequent 20 s rest before starting a subsequent bout. Electromyography, isometric muscle force, hemodynamic and ultrasound data were recorded. Results: At days 4 and 7, there were no effects for NZBC extract on systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, heart rate, cardiac output, stroke volume, total peripheral resistance and femoral artery diameter. Although the isometric contraction protocol resulted in fatigue, there were no differences between PLA and NZBC extract conditions for isometric muscle force and muscle activity at days 4 and 7 (P>0.05). Conclusion: NZBC extract had no effect on cardiovascular function and exercise-induced fatigue during repeated bouts of low-intensity sustained intermittent isometric contractions of the m.quadriceps femoris, maybe due to the low demand of the exercise model

The psychology of esports: Trends, challenges, and future directions

This rapid review examines how sport and exercise psychology (SEP) research has engaged with esports over the last five years, highlighting the academic acceptance of esports in SEP journals and on the psychological factors that influence esports performance and well-being. In addition to searching for recent empirical studies, we identified systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and scoping reviews to capture the breadth of existing syntheses. Following rapid review guidelines (Sabiston et al., 2022) and adapting the PRISMA framework (Page et al., 2021), two systematic searches were conducted in the Web of Science Core Collection and EBSCO host (SPORTDiscus) databases. First, we identified 13 syntheses of the esports literature highlighting the main topics of interest across scholars in relation to SEP. Then, we identified 125 relevant peer-reviewed empirical publications on esports in SEP context, of which 18 appeared in SEP-specific journals. Findings reveal increasing academic attention in affective, cognitive-motor processes, team dynamics, training structures, and health behaviors (e.g., mental health, physical activity, sleep, nutrition) unique to esports while revealing the need for theoretical and methodological attention. Overall, we highlighted how esports and SEP appear to benefit one another in a reciprocal way. Esports offer a controlled, data-rich performance environment for testing and refining SEP theories. Meanwhile, SEP principles enhance professionalism in esports by informing evidence-based training methods and well-being initiatives. Future research should consider longitudinal designs, open science practices, and interdisciplinary collaboration such as data science, sleep medicine, and nutrition to address the nuanced psychological demands in this rapidly evolving performance domain

“You don't have to be a survivor of abuse to be worried about smears”: cervical screening experience of forensic inpatients.

Purpose: Childhood trauma, especially sexual abuse is linked to higher health risks including cervical cancer. Forensic inpatients often have complex trauma histories placing them at increased risk of cervical cancer. The uptake of screening in patient forensic inpatient services is sub-optimal, although little is known about their experiences. This study focuses on the cervical screening experiences of people nursed in forensic service inpatients. This group present with unique health challenges and are an under-researched and vulnerable population with a higher risk of cervical cancer Method: A qualitative study used purposive sampling to recruit eight participants from two NHS secure forensic services. All participants were inpatients detained under the Mental Health Act (1983, revised 2007) in Women’s pathways. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and was analysed using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis. Results: Two superordinate themes were developed: (1) Internal Conflict linked past experiences to screening beliefs, and (2) Manufacturing Control showed how individuals employed strategies to feel psychological ready for screening. Conclusion: This study aimed to understand the facilitators and barriers to cervical screening among forensic in-patients and identify ways to improve their experiences to increase engagement in screening. The results identify how participants experiences prior to and within forensic services impact cervical screening uptake. Forensic inpatients require psychological readiness and feelings of control and safety to engage in cervical screening to minimise examinations reminding or re-enacting their trauma history. Systemic factors can enhance safety perceptions and encourage screening in this group

Anthocyanin-rich blackcurrant supplementation as a nutraceutical ergogenic aid for exercise performance and recovery: A narrative review

Athletes and physically active individuals consume sports nutrition supplements to enhance competitive sport performance and exercise recovery. Polyphenols have emerged as a promising area of research with application for sport and exercise nutrition due to affecting physiological mechanisms for exercise performance and recovery. The anthocyanin is a polyphenol that can be abundantly present in dark-colored fruits, berries and vegetables. Anthocyanins and anthocyanin-induced metabolites will provide antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. The focus in this narrative review is on the observations with intake of anthocyanin-rich blackcurrant supplements on whole-body exercise performance and exercise recovery. This review included a total number of 17 studies with a randomized placebo-controlled cross-over design (10 studies on performance and 8 on recovery effects) and 1 with a randomized placebo-controlled parallel group design (recovery effects). Among the performance studies, 6 studies (60%) reported positive effects, 3 studies (30%) reported no significant effects and 1 study (10%) reported a mixed outcome. Among the recovery studies, 7 studies (78%) reported positive effects, 1 study (11%) reported no significant effects and 1 study (11%) reported a negative effect. Studies with intake of supplements made from New Zealand blackcurrants (dose: 1.8 to 3.2 mg·kg-1 and 105 to 315 mg of anthocyanins, acute to 7-day intake) have provided meaningful (but not always consistent) effects on continuous and intermittent exercise performance tasks (i.e. rowing, cycling and running) and markers for exercise recovery. A mechanistic understanding for the beneficial exercise effects of anthocyanins for athletes and physically active individuals is still limited. Future work requires a better understanding of the specific types of anthocyanins and anthocyanin-induced metabolites and their effects on altering cell function that can enhance exercise performance and recovery

Machine learning-based position detection using hall-effect sensor arrays on resource-constrained microcontroller

This paper presents an electromagnetic levitation system that stabilizes a magnetic body using an array of electromagnets controlled by a Hall-effect sensor array and TinyML-based position detection. Departing from conventional optical tracking methods, the proposed design combines finite-element-optimized electromagnets with a microcontroller-optimized neural network that processes sensor data to predict the levitated object’s position with 0.0263–0.0381 mm mean absolute error. The system employs both quantized and full-precision implementations of a supervised multi-output regression model trained on spatially sampled data (40 × 40 × 15 mm volume at 5 mm intervals). Comprehensive benchmarking demonstrates stable operation at 850–1000 Hz control frequencies, matching optical systems’ performance while eliminating their cost and complexity. The integrated solution performs real-time position detection and current calculation entirely on-board, requiring no external tracking devices or high-performance computing. By achieving sub 30 μm accuracy with standard microcontrollers and minimal hardware, this work validates machine learning as a viable alternative to optical position detection in magnetic levitation systems, reducing implementation barriers for research and industrial applications. The complete system design, including electromagnetic array characterization, neural network architecture selection, and real-time implementation challenges, is presented alongside performance comparisons with conventional approaches

The effectiveness of early weight bearing and mobilisation in post-operative ankle open reduction internal fixation patients: a systematic literature review

Purpose: Whilst stable ankle fractures can be managed conservatively, unstable fractures are often treated with surgical intervention with Open Reduction Internal Fixation (ORIF). Traditional post-operative management strategies includes immobilisation and non-weight bearing, new research may indicate this is associated with poor outcomes. This systematic review aims to identify if different weight-bearing and mobilisation post-surgery protocols have positive outcomes on post-ORIF patients with secondary aims to review rates of infection. Methods: A systematic literature review was completed of randomised controlled trials identified through search strategies from of SPORTDiscuss, CINAHL, Gale OneFile: Health and Medicine, MEDLINE and OpenAIRE databases with the final search completed on the 16th of Feburary 2024. Inclusion criteria were as follows, published in 2000 or sooner, peer-reviewed journal articles and the study protocol is a randomised control trial, Furthermore all patients must have received an ankle ORIF procedure. . Quality appraisal was then completed on all included controlled trials using the PEDro scale. Data extraction was then manually performed by the author. Results: Four randomised controlled trials were included in this study. Amongst the four studies, two found statistically significant differences in favour of early weight bearing at six weeks for functional outcomes (P = 0.0007 and P = <0.001 respectively). Additionally one of the two studies that found effectiveness in early stage EWB also found significant differences in eight weeks (P = 0.002), 12 weeks (P = 0.004) and 12 months (P = 0.02) in the per-protocol analysis all in favour of EWB against NWB. The mean difference between the two groups was 4.4 (95% CI, 0.8-8.1) at the 12-month follow-up. The other included studies found no significant differences regarding functional outcomes at any time frame postoperatively. Conclusion(s): Based on the findings of the included literature there is some evidence to suggest that early weight-bearing post-ORIF has some effect in increasing functional outcome scores within the first six weeks. However long-term effects of early weight bearing appear to be minimal. Evidence suggests that early weight bearing does not have a significant effect on complications or rates of infection. Impact: With current evidence, it can be recommended that early weight bearing would result in better short-term outcome measures in those that underwent an ORIF operation with little complication

Task difficulty promotes tactical learning but supresses the positive learning effects of autonomy and cognitive effort

Learning conditions that provide task-relevant autonomy, and those that encourage cognitive effort through manipulations of difficulty, have been reported to enhance skill development. However, research is yet to directly compare these two manipulations to establish their relative contribution to enhancing motor learning. This study used an on-screen target interception task to compare an autonomous group (self-selection of racquet size), a Challenge Point group (performance-contingent racquet size), a yoked group, and a fixed racquet size control group. Task accuracy and self-report measures of intrinsic motivation and cognitive effort were recorded at multiple time points across acquisition and at immediate, 24-h, seven-day, and 30-day retention and transfer tests. Results showed that task accuracy improved over acquisition, and remained robust across all retention tests, but no between group differences were seen. Intrinsic motivation levels decreased over acquisition, but with no between group differences observed. Participants (83, mean age 40(±12) years, 50 % male) within all groups reported consistently high cognitive effort scores, and made tactical learning choices, suggesting that high task difficulty may have suppressed the more subtle effects of autonomy and performance contingent practice. Conclusions are made regarding the variability of individual approaches to a novel task and the need to build experiments that can detect these idiosyncrasies