Embodied Reflection – Exploring creative routes to teaching reflective practice within dance training

This paper draws from a collaboration between Rambert School of Dance, University of Kent, and University College London Institute of Education and an anthropological filmmaker. Together we took a creative and embodied approach to teaching reflective practice within a conservatoire to second year dance students. In this paper we explore where this somatically inspired pedagogy sits within dance training. We discuss the nature of reflection for dance training, and in particular consider embodied reflective practice. Finally we offer effective methodologies for drawing out and capturing embodied practice

Evaluating the effects of lymphoedema management strategies on functional status and health-related quality of life following treatment for head and neck cancer: Protocol for a systematic review

Introduction/Background: Patients living with and after head and neck cancer often experience treatment-related consequences. Head and neck lymphoedema can be described as a common chronic side effect of head and neck cancer and recognised as a contributing factor to impairment of functional status, symptom burden and health-related quality of life. The effects of head and neck lymphoedema can limit patients’ involvement in daily activities and alter their appearance, increasing symptom burden and negatively affecting health-related quality of life. Objective: The protocol outlines the rationale and aims for the systematic review. The main aim of the systematic review is to identify and systematically synthesise the literature on the effectiveness of head and neck lymphoedema management strategies, on both function status and health-related quality of life for head and neck cancer patients. Methods and analysis: This protocol will be conducted according to the PRISMA-P guidelines. Electronic databases will be systematically searched using MEDLINE via Ovid and PubMed, CINAHL, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and Scopus. Inclusion criteria will involve intervention studies for head and neck lymphoedema management, English language, and adult human participants following head and neck cancer. The software Covidence will be used to export, manage, and screen results. Risk of bias and quality will be assessed in included studies using the Cochrane Handbook of Systematic Reviews of Intervention risk of bias and GRADE tools. A meta-analysis will be performed if there are sufficient homogenous studies. Alternatively, a narrative synthesis will be completed on study findings. Ethics and dissemination: No ethical approval is required as the study does not involve patient and public involvement. The findings of the review will be disseminated in conferences and submitted for approval to be published in a peer-reviewed journal. Prospero registration number: CRD42022378417. (S1 Appendix)

Interventions promoting active transport to school in children: A systematic review and meta-analysis

The systematic review investigated the effectiveness of active travel (AT) interventions on physical activity and fitness in primary school children. The review assessed intervention effectiveness, design, complexity, and study quality. Searches were conducted in five databases on 30/08/2018. Studies with an AT intervention compared to an inactive control, in 4 to 11 year olds, measuring AT or fitness outcomes were included. Two-stage screening identified relevant studies. Relevant data were extracted using Cochrane Extraction Form, Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies, Active Living by Design model, and intervention Complexity Assessment Tool for Systematic Reviews. Meta-analysis and Cohen's D effect size assessed effectiveness. Seventeen eligible studies were included. Effectiveness assessment found a statistically significant standardised mean difference (SMD) in AT outcomes in favour of the intervention (continuous AT - SMD 0.78 (CI 0.11–1.46); frequency AT - SMD 1.87 (CI 0.88–2.86)). Cohen's D calculation concurred with this finding. Fifteen studies had SMD favouring the intervention – two studies had SMD favouring the control. Sixteen studies received a weak quality rating - one study rated moderate. Active travel shows promise in increasing physical activity in primary school children. The review found walking school buses and educational strategies most effective for increasing relevant outcomes, although overall study quality was weak. Effect size did not associate with the complexity of an intervention, therefore supporting efforts to promote active travel through interventions may be easier to scale. Further intervention studies of greater methodological quality are necessary to confirm these findings due to the limited evidence available

Discovery of Novel Nonactive Site Inhibitors of the Prothrombinase Enzyme Complex

© 2016 American Chemical Society. The risk of serious bleeding is a major liability of anticoagulant drugs that are active-site competitive inhibitors targeting the Factor Xa (FXa) prothrombin (PT) binding site. The present work identifies several new classes of small molecule anticoagulants that can act as nonactive site inhibitors of the prothrombinase (PTase) complex composed of FXa and Factor Va (FVa). These new classes of anticoagulants were identified, using a novel agnostic computational approach to identify previously unrecognized binding pockets at the FXa-FVa interface. From about three million docking calculations of 281 128 compounds in a conformational ensemble of FXa heavy chains identified by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, 97 compounds and their structural analogues were selected for experimental validation, through a series of inhibition assays. The compound selection was based on their predicted binding affinities to FXa and their ability to successfully bind to multiple protein conformations while showing selectivity for particular binding sites at the FXa/FVa interface. From these, thirty-one (31) compounds were experimentally identified as nonactive site inhibitors. Concentration-based assays further identified 10 compounds represented by four small-molecule families of inhibitors that achieve dose-independent partial inhibition of PTase activity in a nonactive site-dependent and self-limiting mechanism. Several compounds were identified for their ability to bind to protein conformations only seen during MD, highlighting the importance of accounting for protein flexibility in structure-based drug discovery approaches

The Effectiveness of School-Based Interventions on Obesity-Related Behaviours in Primary School Children: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomised Controlled Trials

School-based interventions are promising for targeting a change in obesity-related behaviours in children. However, the efficacy of school-based interventions to prevent obesity remains unclear. This review examined the effectiveness of school-based interventions at changing obesity-related behaviours (increased physical activity, decreased sedentary behaviour and improved nutrition behaviour) and/or a change in BMI/BMI z-score. Following PRISMA guidelines, seven databases were systematically searched from 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2020. Two review authors independently screened studies for eligibility, completed data extraction and assessed the risk of bias of each of the included studies. Forty-eight studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in a narrative synthesis. Thirty-eight studies were eligible for inclusion in a meta-analysis. The findings demonstrate that interventions in children when compared to controls resulted in a small positive treatment effect in the control group (2.14; 95% CI = 0.77, 3.50). There was no significant effect on sedentary behaviour, energy intake and fruit and vegetable intake. Significant reductions were found between groups in BMI kg/m2 (−0.39; 95% CI = −0.47, −0.30) and BMI z-score (−0.05; 95% CI = −0.08, −0.02) in favour of the intervention. The findings have important implications for future intervention research in terms of the effectiveness of intervention components and characteristics

Is Sedentary Behavior or Physical Activity Associated With Loneliness in Older Adults? Results of the European-Wide SITLESS Study

Research has found that social relationships are central to the health and well-being of an aging population. Evidence exploring the association between physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB) with social isolation and loneliness is limited. This study uses objectively measured PA and SB (ActiGraph®) and self-reported measures of loneliness (the De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale) and social engagement (the Lubben Social Network Scale) from the SITLESS study, a European-wide study of community-dwelling older adults. Social isolation was associated with SB where higher levels of SB were associated with an increase in the level of social isolation, controlling for age, sex, living arrangements, employment status, body mass index, educational background, marital status, and self-reported general health. In contrast, PA was not associated with social isolation, and neither SB nor PA was a statistically significant predictor of loneliness. SB may be linked to social isolation in older adults, but PA and SB are not necessarily linked to loneliness in older community-dwelling adults

Creative and embodied methods to teach reflections and support students’ learning

Dance education in the 21st Century within UK conservatoire environments generally lives under the umbrella of Higher Education Dance, but its roots lie in more vocational or professional training-based approaches. In this paper we discuss the rationale behind, and an initial critical evaluation of an innovative embodied and creative approach to teaching reflective and reflexive practice to dancers. Skill acquisition, discipline, professionalism and creativity are at the core of vocational dance training. The acquisition of practice-based knowledge is not new. The idea of “learning through doing” in dance goes back centuries. This notion has traditionally been based on mimesis and repetition, frequently entrenched in traditional (and inherited) pedagogic practices based on a master-pupil hierarchical model. However, the focus of dance pedagogy in the 21st Century has started to shift. Higher Education provision in dance has moved towards a more student-centred model, whereby the learner dancer’s ownership of the training process is encouraged. In this paper we will first consider how dance education has evolved, the importance of reflective practice, the philosophy behind bringing a creative and reflective approach to dance education before considering critically how this approach worked in one specific context – Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance. The evolution of contemporary dance techniques and the introduction of more holistic somatic practices into dance training has altered the landscape for dance educators. There is an implicit practice that embraces the notion of knowing existing within the doing, and therefore embodied practice is at the core of the conservatoire environment. Significant shifts in the philosophy of dance pedagogy are now represented within dance conservatoires. According to Jones & Ryan the idea of developing “professional self-sufficiency” (Jones & Ryan, 2014, p.51) is at the heart of the learning experience for young dancers in vocational higher education. But does this pedagogy actively promote “professional self- sufficiency” (ibid.) or is the hierarchical relationship of master-pupil contributing towards “filling a perceived gap” (ibid.)? Are we assuming that our young dancers are equipped (alongside their evident technical/creative talent) to evaluate their own decisions and engage with their own learning, or are we relying on the perceived notion of an “…implicit, self-evident and “natural” process of improving practice”? (Jones & Ryan, 2015, p.51). Can this “natural process” be re-contextualised or cross-fertilised with other disciplines in order to provide more empowerment through the doing? We believe that in response to these shifts there is a need for a renewed focus on theoretical approaches and academic engagement; a focus reminiscent of and aligned with the conceptual frameworks commonly associated with social sciences and education, in which the process of arriving at “professional self-sufficiency” is inextricably linked to reflective practice