Toward a broader appreciation of human motion in education

Motion is a fundamental activity for the healthy functioning human organism. Its importance, however, is increasingly de-valued in Western cultures as they speed toward adopting technologies and virtual experiences as adjuncts to, and even replacements for7 traditional educational structures and processes that involve physical activity. Organised and reflective experience of human motion is becoming increasingly marginalised in teaching methodologies and learning programs in educational institutions at all levels around the globe. This inquiry sets out to gain a greater understanding of why people and human motion become disconnected, particularly during periods of formal education. A central question and two sub-questions form the basis of the inquiry. The central question asks why human motion is not valued and more utilised in education. In particular, why do learning areas that directly represent involvement with human motion, such as physical education, continually struggle in education programs. It directs the investigation to focus on the causes rather than the symptoms of the disuse and devaluation of human motion in Australian education. The two sub-questions split the praxis of the study. The first seeks to understand how the causes of devaluation work in the educational context lo affect the lack of acknowledgement; and the second considers ways to counter the disuse of human movement in education programs. To address these questions, the research focuses on rebutting the notion of a mind-body dualism. Rather, it seeks to better understand how humans learn and function as monists - integrated beings, acquiring self-knowledge in their \u27world of being\u27 in which bodily and emotional experiences, and reasoning are inextricably intertwined. I have approached this qualitative research as an ethnographic sociologist examining the issues from a critical high modernist perspective in order to demonstrate the pervading influence in Australian education of strong beliefs and values from the era of Enlightenment. Narrative analysis of \u27memoir\u27 in the form of self-defining memories was selected to gain a sensibility of the connectedness between human emotion, motion and reasoning in the lived experiences of students in three primary and three secondary schools across Years 2-12. An opportunity for human movement to be more valued and utilised in emerging educational frameworks that have life knowledge, dispositions and capabilities at their core is identified. The inquiry proposes a conceptualisation of human motion in education for new times characterised by the need for people to develop personal resources and strong positive identities in order to cope with a world of rapid change and uncertainty

The global burden of tuberculosis mortality in children: a mathematical modelling study

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) in children is increasingly recognised as an important component of the global TB burden, with an estimated 1 million cases in 2015. Although younger children are vulnerable to severe forms of TB disease, no age-disaggregated estimates of paediatric TB mortality exist, and TB has never appeared in official estimates of under-five child mortality. Methods: We estimated deaths in children aged <5 and 5 to <15 for 217 countries and territories using a case-fatality-based approach. We used paediatric TB notifications data, HIV and antiretroviral treatment estimates to disaggregate the World Health Organization (WHO) paediatric TB incidence estimates by age, HIV and treatment status. Systematic review evidence on corresponding case fatality ratios was then applied. Findings: We estimated that 239,000 (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 194,000 - 298,000) children aged <15 died due to TB globally in 2015; around 80% of these deaths - 191,000 (95%UI: 132,000 - 257,000) - were in children <5 years old. Over 70% of deaths occurred in the WHO South-East Asia and Africa regions. We estimated around 20% of paediatric TB deaths globally were in children with HIV infections, with this proportion nearer 30% in the WHO Africa region. Over 96% of all TB deaths occurred in children not receiving TB treatment. Interpretation: Tuberculosis is a top ten cause of death in children and a key omission from previous analyses of under-5 mortality. Almost all these deaths occur in children not on tuberculosis treatment, implying substantial scope to reduce this burden. Funding: UNITAID, NIH, NIH

Protecting small populations of rare species. Case study on dactylorhiza viridis (orchidaceae) in Fancott Woods and Meadows SSSI, Bedfordshire, UK

Dactylorhiza viridis is a small orchid species, sensitive to competition with dense and tall herbaceous vegetation. Its populations in Europe and in the UK have been declining over the last century. Small, isolated populations have remained in Protected Areas. The population of the species in Fancott Woods and Meadows Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) was studied in 2011–2019. The number of orchid plants varies substantially from year to year, but the areas occupied by the population remain the same. Fruit production is high. The population is under threat from herbivores and from competition with tall vegetation on the meadow. Expansion of the vigorous herb Filipendula ulmaria was recorded on the meadow in 2009 that negatively affected the rare plant community. Additional management of an early hay cut was implemented on the meadow as a trial. A botanical survey of managed and control plots showed a reduction in the vigorous herbs, an increase in species number in the cut plots and a resulting more open sward. The orchid population also benefits from a more open sward. The management of the site is the key to the survival of this small orchid population

Chatbot-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy in adolescents with depression and anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic: Feasibility and acceptability study

BACKGROUND: Symptoms of depression and anxiety, suicidal ideation, and self-harm have escalated among adolescents to crisis levels during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, primary care providers (PCPs) are often called on to provide first-line care for these youth. Digital health interventions can extend mental health specialty care, but few are evidence based. We evaluated the feasibility of delivering an evidence-based mobile health (mHealth) app with an embedded conversational agent to deliver cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to symptomatic adolescents presenting in primary care settings during the pandemic. OBJECTIVE: In this 12-week pilot study, we evaluated the feasibility of delivering the app-based intervention to adolescents aged 13 to 17 years with moderate depressive symptoms who were treated in a practice-based research network (PBRN) of academically affiliated primary care clinics. We also obtained preliminary estimates of app acceptability, effectiveness, and usability. METHODS: This small, pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) evaluated depressive symptom severity in adolescents randomized to the app or to a wait list control condition. The primary end point was depression severity at 4-weeks, measured by the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). Data on acceptability, feasibility, and usability were collected from adolescents and their parent or legal guardian. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 13 PCPs from 11 PBRN clinics to identify facilitators and barriers to incorporating mental health apps in treatment planning for adolescents with depression and anxiety. RESULTS: The pilot randomized 18 participants to the app (n=10, 56%) or to a wait list control condition (n=8, 44%); 17 participants were included in the analysis, and 1 became ineligible upon chart review due to lack of eligibility based on documented diagnosis. The overall sample was predominantly female (15/17, 88%), White (15/17, 88%), and privately insured (15/17, 88%). Mean PHQ-9 scores at 4 weeks decreased by 3.3 points in the active treatment group (representing a shift in mean depression score from moderate to mild symptom severity categories) and 2 points in the wait list control group (no shift in symptom severity category). Teen- and parent-reported usability, feasibility, and acceptability of the app was high. PCPs reported preference for introducing mHealth interventions like the one in this study early in the course of care for individuals presenting with mild or moderate symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: In this small study, we demonstrated the feasibility, acceptability, usability, and safety of using a CBT-based chatbot for adolescents presenting with moderate depressive symptoms in a network of PBRN-based primary care clinics. This pilot study could not establish effectiveness, but our results suggest that further study in a larger pediatric population is warranted. Future study inclusive of rural, socioeconomically disadvantaged, and underrepresented communities is needed to establish generalizability of effectiveness and identify implementation-related adaptations needed to promote broader uptake in pediatric primary care. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04603053; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04603053

A Place for Me? Older people and the future Northampton town centre

Research conducted by the University of Northampton in partnership with Age UK Northamptonshire, which asks for the views of older people and their experience of using Northampton town centre, was published on Friday 31st January 2020

Cell cycle dependent expression of the CCK2 receptor by gastrointestinal myofibroblasts: putative role in determining cell migration.

The well-known action of the gastric hormone gastrin in stimulating gastric acid secretion is mediated by activation of cholecystokinin-2 receptors (CCK2R). The latter are expressed by a variety of cell types suggesting that gastrin is implicated in multiple functions. During wound healing in the stomach CCK2R may be expressed by myofibroblasts. We have now characterized CCK2R expression in cultured myofibroblasts. Immunocytochemistry showed that a relatively small proportion (1-6%) of myofibroblasts expressed the receptor regardless of the region of the gut from which they were derived, or whether from cancer or control tissue. Activation of CCK2R by human heptadecapeptide gastrin (hG17) increased intracellular calcium concentrations in a small subset of myofibroblasts indicating the presence of a functional receptor. Unexpectedly, we found over 80% of cells expressing CCK2R were also labeled with 5-ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine (EdU) which is incorporated into DNA during S-phase of the cell cycle. hG17 did not stimulate EdU incorporation but increased migration of both EdU-labeled and unlabelled myofibroblasts; the migratory response was inhibited by a CCK2R antagonist and by an inhibitor of IGF receptor tyrosine kinase; hG17 also increased IGF-2 transcript abundance. The data suggest myofibroblasts express CCK2R in a restricted period of the cell cycle during S-phase, and that gastrin accelerates migration of these cells; it also stimulates migration of adjacent cells probably through paracrine release of IGF. Together with previous findings, the results raise the prospect that gastrin controls the position of dividing myofibroblasts which may be relevant in wound healing and cancer progression in the gastrointestinal tract

Limitations of squeezing due to collisional decoherence in Bose-Einstein condensates

We study the limitations for entanglement due to collisional decoherence in a Bose-Einstein condensate. Specifically we consider relative number squeezing between photons and atoms coupled out from a homogeneous condensate. We study the decay of excited quasiparticle modes due to collisions, in condensates of atoms with one or two internal degrees of freedom. The time evolution of these modes is determined in the linear response approximation to the deviation from equilibrium. We use Heisenberg-Langevin equations to derive equations of motion for the densities and higher correlation functions which determine the squeezing. In this way we can show that decoherence due to quasiparticle interactions imposes an important limit on the degree of number squeezing which may be achieved. Our results are also relevant for the determination of decoherence times in other experiments based on entanglement, e.g. the slowing and stopping of light in condensed atomic gases using dark states.Comment: 16 pages RevTeX, 3 figure