Response to “The Humble Heart”

You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore, be at peace with God, whatever you conceive God to be, and whatever your labors and aspirrations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace with your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy. —Max Ehrmann, Desiderata In my introductory astronomy course for non-science majors, I always have students who take the course because it’s the least abhorrent science class they can find. These students have been convinced by their previous education that they "can’t do" science and math. Though they are bright, articulate and accomplished and have earned their place in a selective liberal arts college, they’re convinced that they lack some special neural connections or chemical transmitters to understand information and arguments that happen to fall under the broad umbrella of science. My course is designed for these students and all but a very few succeed. On the last day, after we have spent the semester working through calculations of the luminosities, temperatures and sizes of stars and the distances to galaxies, I give them Desiderata. I focus on the fact that they are children of the universe and they belong here. Humans are not something artificial plunked down on Earth. We are part of it. We are Earth’s mind and voice. I review how they have come to exist, from the earliest moments of the Big Bang creating the protons and neutrons in every atom in their bodies, through a couple generations of stars fusing primordial hydrogen and helium into the carbon, calcium, nitrogen and oxygen in their skin, bones and breath; the explosive deaths of giant stars creating the iron carrying oxygen to their brains, the iodine regulating their metabolisms and the gold and silver shining in their jewelry; half a billion years of biological evolution giving them arms, legs and brains and ten thousand years of cultural evolution giving them a university

Phenotypic Responses to a Lifestyle Intervention Do Not Account for Inter-Individual Variability in Glucose Tolerance for Individuals at High Risk of Type 2 Diabetes

Background: Lifestyle interventions have been shown to delay or prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes among high risk adults. A better understanding of the variability in physiological responses would support the matching of individuals with the best type of intervention in future prevention programmes, in order to optimize risk reduction. The purpose of this study was to determine if phenotypic characteristics at baseline or following a 12 weeks lifestyle intervention could explain the inter-individual variability in change in glucose tolerance in individuals with high risk for type 2 diabetes.Methods: In total, 285 subjects with normal glucose tolerance (NGT, FINDRISC score > 12), impaired fasting glucose (IFG) and impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) were recruited for a 12 weeks lifestyle intervention. Glucose tolerance, insulin sensitivity, anthropometric characteristics and aerobic fitness were measured. Variability of responses was examined by grouping participants by baseline glycemic status, by cluster analysis based on the change in glucose tolerance and by Principal Component Analysis (PCA).Results: In agreement with other studies, the mean response to the 12 weeks intervention was positive for the majority of parameters. Overall, 89% improved BMI, 80% waist circumference, and 81% body fat while only 64% improved fasting plasma glucose and 60% 2 h glucose. The impact of the intervention by glycaemic group did not show any phenotypic differences in response between NGT, IFG, and IGT. A hierarchical cluster analysis of change in glucose tolerance identified four sub-groups of “responders” (high and moderate) and “non-responders” (no response or deteriorated) but there were few differences in baseline clincal and physiological parameters or in response to the intervention to explain the overall variance. A further PCA analysis of 19 clinical and physiological univariables could explain less than half (48%) of total variability.Conclusion: We found that phenotypic characteristics from standard clinical and physiological parameters were not sufficient to account for the inter-individual variability in glucose tolerance following a 12 weeks lifestyle intervention in inidivuals at high risk for type 2 diabetes. Further work is required to identify biomarkers that complement phenotypic traits and better predict the response to glucose tolerance

Lisää ja enemmän! : Perheiden kokemuksia avoimesta varhaiskasvatustoiminnasta Limingassa

Opinnäytetyön tavoitteena oli kartoittaa, minkälaisia kokemuksia asiakasperheillä on avoimen varhaiskasvatustoiminnan perheryhmistä ja lasten ryhmistä Limingan kunnassa. Tarkoituksena oli myös tutkia, minkälaisia kehittämisehdotuksia perheillä on toiminnalle. Limingan kunta sai tutkimuksen avulla tietoa siitä, onko avoimen varhaiskasvatustoiminnan järjestäminen vastannut sille asetettuihin tavoitteisiin. Tutkimuksen aineisto koottiin lomakekyselyllä kaikilta avoimia varhaiskasvatuspalveluita käyttäneiltä perheiltä. Aineisto analysoitiin sekä määrällisiä menetelmiä käyttäen että luokittelemalla ja teemoittelemalla. Opinnäytetyön tulosten mukaan avoin varhaiskasvatustoiminta on vastannut hyvin sille asetettuihin tavoitteisiin. Vanhemmat arvostavat kovasti omia ja lastensa sosiaalisia suhteita ja ne ovatkin suurin yksittäinen syy avoimeen varhaiskasvatustoimintaan osallistumiselle Limingassa. Vertaisryhmä koetaan tärkeäksi sekä perheryhmässä että lasten leikkitoiminnan ryhmissä. Tutkimustulosten mukaan ryhmässä toimimisen taidot ja kaveritaidot ovat niitä asioita, joiden oppimisen vuoksi liminkalaiset vanhemmat haluavat lastensa osallistuvan avoimeen varhaiskasvatustoimintaan ja näihin taitoihin liittyviin toimintoihin oltiin hyvin tyytyväisiä. Vastaajat olivat tyytyväisiä toimintaan tällaisenaan. Avointa varhaiskasvatustoimintaa toivottiin kuitenkin lisää. Vanhemmat toivovat myös kasvatuskeskusteluja lastentarhanopettajan kanssa sekä kasvatusaiheisia luentoja.The aim of the thesis was to identify what kind of experiences families had of open early childhood education activities for both family groups and children’s groups in the municipality of Liminka. The aim was also to examine what kind of development proposals the families had for the service. With the help of the study the municipality of Liminka received information on how the open early childhood education activities had reached the goals set for them. The research data was collected by using a questionnaire addressed to all the families that had used the open early childhood education services. The data was analysed by using quantitative methods as well as classification and themes. According to the results of the thesis, the open early childhood education services had reached the set targets quite well. The parents highly appreciated their own and their children's social relationships, and this was the biggest single reason for participating in the open early childhood education activities in Liminka. A peer group was considered important both in family groups and in the children's play groups. According to the results, it was because of learning group work and friendship skills that the parents wanted their children to participate in the open early childhood education activities. Moreover, the parents were satisfied with the activities related to these skills. The respondents were satisfied with the services as they were. However, they also wanted more open early childhood education services. The parents also wanted educational discussions with the kindergarten teachers as well as educational lectures

Additional file 2: of An evaluation of the DEXLIFE ‘self-selected’ lifestyle intervention aimed at improving insulin sensitivity in people at risk of developing type 2 diabetes: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

Participant flow through the recruitment process. (PDF 170 kb

Socio-economic determinants of physical activity across the life course: a "dEterminantsof dIet and physical aCtivity" (DEDIPAC) umbrella literature review

Background To date, the scientific literature on socioeconomic correlates and determinants of physical activity behaviours has been dispersed throughout a number of systematic reviews, often focusing on one factor (e.g. education or parental income) in one specific age group (e.g. pre-school children or adults). The aim of this umbrella review is to provide a comprehensive and systematic overview of the scientific literature from previously conducted research by summarising and synthesising the importance and strength of the evidence related to socioeconomic correlates and determinants of PA behaviours across the life course. Methods Medline, Embase, ISI Web of Science, Scopus and SPORTDiscus were searched for systematic literature reviews and meta-analyses of observational studies investigating the association between socioeconomic determinants of PA and PA itself (from January 2004 to September 2017). Data extraction evaluated the importance of determinants, strength of evidence, and methodological quality of the selected papers. The full protocol is available from PROSPERO (PROSPERO2014:CRD42015010616). Results Nineteen reviews were included. Moderate methodological quality emerged. For adults, convincing evidence supports a relationship between PA and socioeconomic status (SES), especially in relation to leisure time (positive relationship) and occupational PA (negative relationship). Conversely, no association between PA and SES or parental SES was found for pre-school, school-aged children and adolescents. Conclusions Available evidence on the socioeconomic determinants of PA behaviour across the life course is probable (shows fairly consistent associations) at best. While some evidence is available for adults, less was available for youth. This is mainly due to a limited quantity of primary studies, weak research designs and lack of accuracy in the PA and SES assessment methods employed. Further PA domain specific studies using longitudinal design and clear measures of SES and PA assessment are required

Characteristics of the included reviews (n = 20).

<p>Characteristics of the included reviews (n = 20).</p

Quality assessment of the included reviews using the AMSTAR checklist.

<p>Quality assessment of the included reviews using the AMSTAR checklist.</p

Search strategy: Key words used for the literature research.

<p>Search strategy: Key words used for the literature research.</p