Physical Education, teachers and training: understanding the voice of teachers and their training needs for engaging in truly nonlinear teaching practice

Background The potential gap between the academically considered notion of Physical Education and Physical Education in practice has implications across the entire education spectrum but it is arguably compounded at primary age where teachers are prepared more generally across the whole curriculum for teaching rather than specialising. Non-traditional methods can provide students with a holistic education, encompassing social, physical and cognitive learning outcomes (Dyson et al., 2004) but limitations have been placed on Physical Education through the inability to break away from physical training separated from cognition (Pill, 2014). Pedagogic knowledge and skills are vital for a primary teacher (Smith, 2007) but despite their understood requirement, teachers are often not prepared by the education they receive prior to teaching, leading to the teacher resorting back to traditional approaches. Methodology The thesis took an interpretivist, qualitative approach to the research using semi-structured interviews to collect the data. There were 15 participants who had completed their primary education training in the last 10 years, including those currently studying. The transcripts were analysed using inductive content analysis, coded through an unconstrained matrix and categorised into Low and High-order themes from the derived data. Results The six High-order themes were Teachers’ Philosophy, Apprenticeship, Confidence, Student Experience, Physical Education Context and Bridging the Gap. Conclusion There is a requirement for a newly qualified teacher to establish and understand a chosen philosophy to make choices towards developing their teaching style and maintaining their beliefs throughout their teaching journey throughout the challenges faced. Although there is a recognised move toward non-traditional methods and a greater acceptance of Whitehead’s (2013a; p26) definition of physical literacy academically, the gap between academic literature and Physical Education in practice is evident. The lack of applicable practical knowledge for teachers demonstrated in academic literature, in addition to the range of terminology and complex approaches has led towards a lack of clarity in both discourse and the application of non-traditional approaches in Physical Education

Draft Genome Sequence of Fructophilic Lactobacillus florum.

Herein we report the first genome sequence for Lactobacillus florum. L. florum 2F was isolated from Valencia orange leaves and is fructophilic, like other strains of this species. The draft genome of L. florum 2F contains 1,261,842 bp with a G+C content of 41.5% in 46 contigs (≥500 bp)

Effects of Exogenous Yeast and Bacteria on the Microbial Population Dynamics and Outcomes of Olive Fermentations.

In this study, we examined Sicilian-style green olive fermentations upon the addition of Saccharomyces cerevisiae UCDFST 09-448 and/or Pichia kudriazevii UCDFST09-427 or the lactic acid bacteria (LAB) Lactobacillus plantarum AJ11R and Leuconostoc pseudomesenteroides BGM3R. Olives containing S. cerevisiae UCDFST 09-448, a strain able to hydrolyze pectin, but not P. kudriazevii UCDFST 09-427, a nonpectinolytic strain, exhibited excessive tissue damage within 4 weeks. DNA sequencing of fungal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions and comparisons to a yeast-specific ITS sequence database remarkably showed that neither S. cerevisiae UCDFST 09-448 nor P. kudriazevii UCDFST 09-427 resulted in significant changes to yeast species diversity. Instead, Candida boidinii constituted the majority (>90%) of the total yeast present, independent of whether S. cerevisiae or P. kudriazevii was added. By comparison, Lactobacillus species were enriched in olives inoculated with potential starter LAB L. plantarum AJ11R and L. pseudomesenteroides BGM3R according to community 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. The bacterial diversity of those olives was significantly reduced and resembled control fermentations incubated for a longer period of time. Importantly, microbial populations were highly dynamic at the strain level, as indicated by the large variations in AJ11R and BGM3R cell numbers over time and reductions in the numbers of yeast isolates expressing polygalacturonase activity. These findings show the distinct effects of exogenous spoilage and starter microbes on indigenous communities in plant-based food fermentations that result in very different impacts on product quality. IMPORTANCE Food fermentations are subject to tremendous selective pressures resulting in the growth and persistence of a limited number of bacterial and fungal taxa. Although these foods are vulnerable to spoilage by unintended contamination of certain microorganisms, or alternatively, can be improved by the deliberate addition of starter culture microbes that accelerate or beneficially modify product outcomes, the impact of either of those microbial additions on community dynamics within the fermentations is not well understood at strain-specific or global scales. Herein, we show how exogenous spoilage yeast or starter lactic acid bacteria confer very different effects on microbial numbers and diversity in olive fermentations. Introduced microbes have long-lasting consequences and result in changes that are apparent even when levels of those inoculants and their major enzymatic activities decline. This work has direct implications for understanding bacterial and fungal invasions of microbial habitats resulting in pivotal changes to community structure and function

Myogenic Progenitor Cells Control Extracellular Matrix Production by Fibroblasts during Skeletal Muscle Hypertrophy

Satellite cells, the predominant stem cell population in adult skeletal muscle, are activated in response to hypertrophic stimuli and give rise to myogenic progenitor cells (MPCs) within the extracellular matrix (ECM) that surrounds myofibers. This ECM is composed largely of collagens secreted by interstitial fibrogenic cells, which influence satellite cell activity and muscle repair during hypertrophy and aging. Here we show that MPCs interact with interstitial fibrogenic cells to ensure proper ECM deposition and optimal muscle remodeling in response to hypertrophic stimuli. MPC-dependent ECM remodeling during the first week of a growth stimulus is sufficient to ensure long-term myofiber hypertrophy. MPCs secrete exosomes containing miR-206, which represses Rrbp1, a master regulator of collagen biosynthesis, in fibrogenic cells to prevent excessive ECM deposition. These findings provide insights into how skeletal stem and progenitor cells interact with other cell types to actively regulate their extracellular environments for tissue maintenance and adaptation

Associations of suffering with facets of health and well-being among working adults : longitudinal evidence from two samples

Bibliografia na końcu artykułuSuffering is an experiential state that every person encounters at one time or another, yet little is known about suffering and its consequences for the health and well‑being of nonclinical adult populations. In a pair of longitudinal studies, we used two waves of data from garment factory workers (Study 1 [T1: 2017, T2: 2019]: n = 344) and flight attendants (Study 2 [T1: 2017/2018, T2: 2020]: n = 1402) to examine the prospective associations of suffering with 16 outcomes across different domains of health and well‑being: physical health, health behavior, mental health, psychological well‑ being, character strengths, and social well‑being. The primary analysis involved a series of regression analyses in which each T2 outcome was regressed on overall suffering assessed at T1, adjusting for relevant sociodemographic characteristics and the baseline value (or close proxy) of the outcome assessed at T1. In Study 1, associations of overall suffering with worse subsequent health and well‑ being were limited to a single outcome on each of the domains of physical health and mental health. Overall suffering was more consistently related to worse subsequent health and well‑being in Study 2, with associations emerging for all but two outcomes. The pattern of findings for each study was largely similar when aspects of suffering were modeled individually, although associations for some aspects of suffering differed from those that emerged for overall suffering. Our findings suggest that suffering may have important implications for the health and well‑being of worker populations

Myonuclear Transcription is Responsive to Mechanical Load and DNA Content but Uncoupled from Cell Size During Hypertrophy

Myofibers increase size and DNA content in response to a hypertrophic stimulus, thus providing a physiological model with which to study how these factors affect global transcription. Using 5-ethynyl uridine (EU) to metabolically label nascent RNA, we measured a sevenfold increase in myofiber transcription during early hypertrophy before a change in cell size and DNA content. The typical increase in myofiber DNA content observed at the later stage of hypertrophy was associated with a significant decrease in the percentage of EU-positive myonuclei; however, when DNA content was held constant by preventing myonuclear accretion via satellite cell depletion, both the number of transcriptionally active myonuclei and the amount of RNA generated by each myonucleus increased. During late hypertrophy, transcription did not scale with cell size, as smaller myofibers (\u3c 1000 μm2) demonstrated the highest transcriptional activity. Finally, transcription was primarily responsible for changes in the expression of genes known to regulate myofiber size. These findings show that resident myonuclei possess a significant reserve capacity to up-regulate transcription during hypertrophy and that myofiber transcription is responsive to DNA content but uncoupled from cell size during hypertrophy

Expressions of climate perturbations in western ugandan crater lake sediment records during the last 1000 years

Equatorial East Africa has a complex regional patchwork of climate regimes, sensitive to climate fluctuations over a variety of temporal and spatial scales during the late Holocene. Understanding how these changes are recorded in and interpreted from biological and geochemical proxies in lake sedimentary records remains a key challenge to answering fundamental questions regarding the nature, spatial extent and synchroneity of climatic changes seen in East African palaeo-records. Using a paired lake approach, where neighbouring lakes share the same geology, climate and landscape, it might be expected that the systems will respond similarly to external climate forcing. Sediment cores from two crater lakes in western Uganda spanning the last ∼1000 years were examined to assess diatom community responses to late Holocene climate and environmental changes, and to test responses to multiple drivers using redundancy analysis (RDA). These archives provide annual to sub-decadal records of environmental chang

Reduced Voluntary Running Performance is Associated with Impaired Coordination as a Result of Muscle Satellite Cell Depletion in Adult Mice

BACKGROUND: Satellite cells, or muscle stem cells, have been thought to be responsible for all muscle plasticity, but recent studies using genetically modified mouse models that allow for the conditional ablation of satellite cells have challenged this dogma. Results have confirmed the absolute requirement of satellite cells for muscle regeneration but surprisingly also showed that they are not required for adult muscle growth. While the function of satellite cells in muscle growth and regeneration is becoming better defined, their role in the response to aerobic activity remains largely unexplored. The purpose of the current study was to assess the involvement of satellite cells in response to aerobic exercise by evaluating the effect of satellite cell depletion on wheel running performance. RESULTS: Four-month-old female Pax7/DTA mice (n = 8-12 per group) were satellite cell depleted via tamoxifen administration; at 6 months of age, mice either remained sedentary or were provided with running wheels for 8 weeks. Plantaris muscles were significantly depleted of Pax7+cells (≥90 % depleted), and 8 weeks of wheel running did not result in an increase in Pax7+ cells, or in myonuclear accretion. Interestingly, satellite cell-depleted animals ran ~27 % less distance and were 23 % slower than non-depleted animals. Wheel running was associated with elevated succinate dehydrogenase activity, muscle vascularization, lipid accumulation, and a significant shift toward more oxidative myosin heavy chain isoforms, as well as an increase in voltage dependent anion channel abundance, a marker of mitochondrial density. Importantly, these changes were independent of satellite cell content. Interestingly, depletion of Pax7+ cells from intra- as well as extrafusal muscle fibers resulted in atrophy of intrafusal fibers, thickening of muscle spindle-associated extracellular matrix, and a marked reduction of functional outcomes including grip strength, gait fluidity, and balance, which likely contributed to the impaired running performance. CONCLUSIONS: Depletion of Pax7-expressing cells in muscle resulted in reduced voluntary wheel running performance, without affecting markers of aerobic adaptation; however, their absence may perturb proprioception via disruption of muscle spindle fibers resulting in loss of gross motor coordination, indicating that satellite cells have a yet unexplored role in muscle function

Mental health economics: a prospective study on psychological flourishing and associations with healthcare costs and sickness benefit transfers in Denmark

Background: Escalating healthcare expenditures highlight the need to identify modifiable predictors of the use and costs of healthcare and sickness benefit transfers. We conducted a prospective analysis on Danish data to determine the costs associated with flourishing as compared to the below threshold level of flourishing. Methods: We used data from a 2016 Danish survey of 3508 adults, which was linked to Danish register data. Flourishing was assessed with a validated psychological well-being scale. A two-part regression model was used to predict 2017 costs while adjusting for 2016 costs, demographic variables, and health status, including psychiatric morbidity and health behaviours. Costs are expressed in USD PPP. Results: Applying criteria from prior literature, the prevalence of flourishing in Denmark (measured in 2016) was 34.7%. Flourishing was associated with significantly lower healthcare costs ($-687.7, 95$-1295.0, $-80.4) and sickness benefit transfers ($-297.8, 95% CI = $-551.5,$-44.0) per person in 2017, as compared to the below threshold level of flourishing. Extrapolated to the Danish population (4.1 M people aged 16+ years), flourishing was associated with lower healthcare costs and sickness benefit transfers amounting to $-1.2bn (95$-2.3 bn, $-149.0 M). Conclusions: Flourishing is associated with considerably lower health-related government expenditure. Substantial reductions could potentially be achieved by increasing the number of people who are flourishing in the population