Applying Stage-Based Theory to engage female students in university sport

Purpose: University sport is recognized by many as a key area of university business and one of increasing importance, as seen by universities prioritizing sport within their university strategic plans as well as national funding bodies investing in university sport. Whilst sport is rising on the agenda, engaging all students in sport is a key challenge for universities. This paper examines the factors that enable and inhibit female students’ participation in university sport and active recreation using an interpretivist qualitative design. The paper also identified specific behaviour change techniques that could be used within interventions to increase participation rates. Method: Six focus groups were carried out. Data were analysed verbatim using a constant comparative process of analysis. Results: Findings revealed several emergent themes to help inform theory-based interventions to engage more female students in sport. Conclusion: University sport is an important behaviour for students to undertake. The paper identified a number of avenues for universities to pursue in order to achieve this aim

Learning experiences from a season of sport education during Year 10 PE

The purpose of this study was to examine the pupils' and teacher's perceptions and learning experiences from a season of Sport Education that was conducted for the first time at the research school. Two groups of Year 10 (age 14/15) pupils participated in a nine week season (16 & 17 sessions per group) of badminton. Data collection included questionnaire, lesson observation, group and individual interviews before, during and after the season. Nine-month follow-up group interviews were carried out to assess the sustainability of outcomes from Sport Education. All qualitative data were transcribed and analysed using the constant comparison of emerging themes. Quantitative data provided a psychological motivational profile and physical activity levels of pupils before and after the intervention for both a Sport Education group and a non-Sport Education (normative) group. The motivational profile was measured using a validated questionnaire used in the Nike/YST multi-site study (Kirk, Fitzgerald, Wang & Biddle, 2000). Physical activity was measured using a modified form of the Self-Administered Physical Activity Checklist (Sallis, 1996). The results indicated that Sport Education was viewed a success by the pupils and teacher at this school. The pupils preferred this teaching model to their previous PE experiences. The teacher felt the model held much potential to achieve their department aims and continued to use Sport Education with his classes following this first time experience. The emerging themes from the study were the competitions, changing power hierarchies, team affiliation and persistent team membership, changes to the motivational climate, and changes to traditional PE. These themes described the positive perceptions from both pupils and the teacher while also revealing issues that caused difficulties or that would require further attention before any subsequent delivery of Sport Education. Quantitative findings showed no significant (p>0.05) difference between all motivation variables. Physical activity levels increased pre- to post-Sport Education for boys and girls in the activity 'racket sports' where both the number of pupils participating and the number of hours per week increased (P<0.01) following the season of Sport Education, where no change was shown for the normative group. Recommendations are given for future research in Sport Education. Finally, recommendations are given for future use of Sport Education that are particularly relevant for teachers implementing the model for the first time.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Engaging university students in sport and active recreation

Actividad Física y Deport

Oxytocin and Vasopressin Are Dysregulated in Williams Syndrome, a Genetic Disorder Affecting Social Behavior

The molecular and neural mechanisms regulating human social-emotional behaviors are fundamentally important but largely unknown; unraveling these requires a genetic systems neuroscience analysis of human models. Williams Syndrome (WS), a condition caused by deletion of ∼28 genes, is associated with a gregarious personality, strong drive to approach strangers, difficult peer interactions, and attraction to music. WS provides a unique opportunity to identify endogenous human gene-behavior mechanisms. Social neuropeptides including oxytocin (OT) and arginine vasopressin (AVP) regulate reproductive and social behaviors in mammals, and we reasoned that these might mediate the features of WS. Here we established blood levels of OT and AVP in WS and controls at baseline, and at multiple timepoints following a positive emotional intervention (music), and a negative physical stressor (cold). We also related these levels to standardized indices of social behavior. Results revealed significantly higher median levels of OT in WS versus controls at baseline, with a less marked increase in AVP. Further, in WS, OT and AVP increased in response to music and to cold, with greater variability and an amplified peak release compared to controls. In WS, baseline OT but not AVP, was correlated positively with approach, but negatively with adaptive social behaviors. These results indicate that WS deleted genes perturb hypothalamic-pituitary release not only of OT but also of AVP, implicating more complex neuropeptide circuitry for WS features and providing evidence for their roles in endogenous regulation of human social behavior. The data suggest a possible biological basis for amygdalar involvement, for increased anxiety, and for the paradox of increased approach but poor social relationships in WS. They also offer insight for translating genetic and neuroendocrine knowledge into treatments for disorders of social behavior

Use of bacterial whole-genome sequencing to investigate local persistence and spread in bovine tuberculosis

Mycobacterium bovis is the causal agent of bovine tuberculosis, one of the most important diseases currently facing the UK cattle industry. Here, we use high-density whole genome sequencing (WGS) in a defined sub-population of M. bovis in 145 cattle across 66 herd breakdowns to gain insights into local spread and persistence. We show that despite low divergence among isolates, WGS can in principle expose contributions of under-sampled host populations to M. bovis transmission. However, we demonstrate that in our data such a signal is due to molecular type switching, which had been previously undocumented for M. bovis. Isolates from farms with a known history of direct cattle movement between them did not show a statistical signal of higher genetic similarity. Despite an overall signal of genetic isolation by distance, genetic distances also showed no apparent relationship with spatial distance among affected farms over distances &lt;5 km. Using simulations, we find that even over the brief evolutionary timescale covered by our data, Bayesian phylogeographic approaches are feasible. Applying such approaches showed that M. bovis dispersal in this system is heterogeneous but slow overall, averaging 2 km/year. These results confirm that widespread application of WGS to M. bovis will bring novel and important insights into the dynamics of M. bovis spread and persistence, but that the current questions most pertinent to control will be best addressed using approaches that more directly integrate WGS with additional epidemiological data

Off-label psychopharmacologic prescribing for children: History supports close clinical monitoring

The review presents pediatric adverse drug events from a historical perspective and focuses on selected safety issues associated with off-label use of medications for the psychiatric treatment of youth. Clinical monitoring procedures for major psychotropic drug classes are reviewed. Prior studies suggest that systematic treatment monitoring is warranted so as to both minimize risk of unexpected adverse events and exposures to ineffective treatments. Clinical trials to establish the efficacy and safety of drugs currently being used off-label in the pediatric population are needed. In the meantime, clinicians should consider the existing evidence-base for these drugs and institute close clinical monitoring

Convalescent plasma in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 (RECOVERY): a randomised controlled, open-label, platform trial

SummaryBackground Azithromycin has been proposed as a treatment for COVID-19 on the basis of its immunomodulatoryactions. We aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of azithromycin in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19.Methods In this randomised, controlled, open-label, adaptive platform trial (Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19Therapy [RECOVERY]), several possible treatments were compared with usual care in patients admitted to hospitalwith COVID-19 in the UK. The trial is underway at 176 hospitals in the UK. Eligible and consenting patients wererandomly allocated to either usual standard of care alone or usual standard of care plus azithromycin 500 mg once perday by mouth or intravenously for 10 days or until discharge (or allocation to one of the other RECOVERY treatmentgroups). Patients were assigned via web-based simple (unstratified) randomisation with allocation concealment andwere twice as likely to be randomly assigned to usual care than to any of the active treatment groups. Participants andlocal study staff were not masked to the allocated treatment, but all others involved in the trial were masked to theoutcome data during the trial. The primary outcome was 28-day all-cause mortality, assessed in the intention-to-treatpopulation. The trial is registered with ISRCTN, 50189673, and ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04381936.Findings Between April 7 and Nov 27, 2020, of 16 442 patients enrolled in the RECOVERY trial, 9433 (57%) wereeligible and 7763 were included in the assessment of azithromycin. The mean age of these study participants was65·3 years (SD 15·7) and approximately a third were women (2944 [38%] of 7763). 2582 patients were randomlyallocated to receive azithromycin and 5181 patients were randomly allocated to usual care alone. Overall,561 (22%) patients allocated to azithromycin and 1162 (22%) patients allocated to usual care died within 28 days(rate ratio 0·97, 95% CI 0·87–1·07; p=0·50). No significant difference was seen in duration of hospital stay (median10 days [IQR 5 to >28] vs 11 days [5 to >28]) or the proportion of patients discharged from hospital alive within 28 days(rate ratio 1·04, 95% CI 0·98–1·10; p=0·19). Among those not on invasive mechanical ventilation at baseline, nosignificant difference was seen in the proportion meeting the composite endpoint of invasive mechanical ventilationor death (risk ratio 0·95, 95% CI 0·87–1·03; p=0·24).Interpretation In patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19, azithromycin did not improve survival or otherprespecified clinical outcomes. Azithromycin use in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 should be restrictedto patients in whom there is a clear antimicrobial indication

Thigh-length compression stockings and DVT after stroke

Controversy exists as to whether neoadjuvant chemotherapy improves survival in patients with invasive bladder cancer, despite randomised controlled trials of more than 3000 patients. We undertook a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the effect of such treatment on survival in patients with this disease

Methodological issues in piloting a physical activity diary with young people

Objective This study aimed to explore methodological issues in piloting a recently developed physical activity diary for young people. Design Fifty-five participants aged 9-14 years completed the diary four times a day for seven consecutive days, recording the duration and intensity level of all activities in which they engaged. Setting Participants were randomly selected from two primary and two secondary schools in Hull and East Yorkshire. Method Following diary completion, focus group discussions were conducted to ascertain participants' perceptions of the diary. In addition, analysis of diary entries was carried out to investigate the quality of data collected. Results Administration of the diary was a relatively quick and easy process, although meetings with teachers and pupils were occasionally problematic and required thorough organisation as well as constant verbal and written reminders. Meetings with participants were held during break times and were not intrusive to the school timetable. Ninety- one per cent of the diaries were returned, eleven per cent of which were invalid. The quality of data derived from the diaries was very good and extremely detailed. Participants reported that completion of the diary had been relatively straightforward, although it was inconvenient to carry around and difficult to remember to fill in. Conclusion It was concluded that the diary had the potential to assess young people's physical activity habits, and that participants were willing to commit time and effort to complete the diary. The accuracy of data is reliant upon effective strategies for instructing young people how to complete the diary, and might be improved with parental and teacher support