Are parenting practices associated with the same child outcomes in Sub-Saharan African countries as in high income countries? A review and synthesis

Introduction: There is increasing interest in the transferability of parenting interventions from high-income countries (HICs) to low-income countries (LICs) in order to improve child development and health outcomes. This is based on the premise that associations between parenting practices and child outcomes are similar in both settings. Many parenting interventions in HICs are evidence-based, but less evidence exists on associations of parenting practices with child outcomes in LICs, in particular, sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. This review synthesises evidence on the association of parenting practices with child outcomes in SSA in order to compare findings with those from HICs. Methods: We searched electronic databases—Web of Science, ASSIA, Embase, IBSS and PsycINFO—to identify studies from SSA that reported quantitative associations between parenting practices and child health or psychosocial outcomes (eg, sexual and reproductive health (SRH), mental health, conduct disorders). Due to inconsistent conceptual framing of parenting across studies, we used a modified version of the international WHO classification of parenting dimensions to guide synthesis of the results. Results: Forty-four studies met our inclusion criteria. They were conducted in 13 SSA countries and included cross-sectional and longitudinal studies, and were predominantly descriptive studies rather than intervention research. Synthesis of results showed that associations between patterns of parenting (‘positive’/‘harsh’) and child outcomes (including SRH, mental health and conduct disorders) in studies from SSA were broadly similar to those found in HICs. Conclusions: These findings suggest that the impacts of parenting practices on child outcomes are similar across contrasting global regions and, therefore, parenting interventions from HICs might be successfully transferred to SSA, subject to appropriate adaptation. However, this review also highlights the paucity of evidence in this area and the urgent need for higher quality studies to confirm these findings to help develop effective parenting interventions in SSA

Empowering youth sport environments: Implications for daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and adiposity

AbstractBackgroundEvidence suggests involvement in youth sport does not guarantee daily guidelines for moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) are met, and participation may not mitigate the risks associated with physical inactivity. The need to promote higher habitual MVPA engagement amongst children active in the youth sport context has therefore been underlined. Framed by self-determination theory, the aim of the present study was to examine the implications of the motivational climate created in youth sport, for children's daily engagement in MVPA and associated adiposity. Specifically, we sought to test a motivational sequence in which children's perceptions of an empowering coach-created motivational climate were related to autonomous and controlled motivation, which in turn predicted sport-related enjoyment. Finally, enjoyment is assumed to predict accelerometer assessed daily MVPA and, following this, adiposity.MethodsMale and female youth sport participants aged 9–16 years (n = 112) completed multi-section questionnaires assessing their perceptions of the motivational climate created in youth sport (i.e., autonomy supportive, task involving, socially supportive), autonomous and controlled motivation, and sport-related enjoyment. Daily MVPA engagement was determined via 7 days of accelerometry. Percent body fat (BF%) was estimated using bio-electrical impedance analysis.ResultsPath analysis revealed perceptions of an empowering motivational climate positively predicted players' autonomous motivation, and in turn, sport-related enjoyment. Enjoyment was also significantly negatively related to players' BF%, via a positive association with daily MVPA.ConclusionFostering more empowering youth sport environments may hold implications for the prevention of excess adiposity, through encouraging higher habitual MVPA engagement. Findings may inform the optimal design of youth sport settings for MVPA promotion, and contribute towards associated healthy weight maintenance amongst youth active in this context. Longitudinal and intervention studies are required to confirm these results

Scroll waves in isotropic excitable media : linear instabilities, bifurcations and restabilized states

Scroll waves are three-dimensional analogs of spiral waves. The linear stability spectrum of untwisted and twisted scroll waves is computed for a two-variable reaction-diffusion model of an excitable medium. Different bands of modes are seen to be unstable in different regions of parameter space. The corresponding bifurcations and bifurcated states are characterized by performing direct numerical simulations. In addition, computations of the adjoint linear stability operator eigenmodes are also performed and serve to obtain a number of matrix elements characterizing the long-wavelength deformations of scroll waves.Comment: 30 pages 16 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Mental health and psychological wellbeing in rheumatoid arthritis during COVID-19 - can physical activity help?

© 2020 The Authors. Published by the Mediterranean Journal of Rheumatology. This is an open access article available under a Creative Commons licence. The published version can be accessed at the following link on the publisher’s website: http://mjrheum.org/assets/files/792/file249_1200.pdfIn response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries have adopted community containment to manage COVID-19. These measures to reduce human contact, such as social distancing, are deemed necessary to contain the spread of the virus and protect those at increased risk of developing complications following infection with COVID-19. People with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are advised to adhere to even more stringent restrictions compared to the general population, and avoid any social contact with people outside their household. This social isolation combined with the anxiety and stress associated with the pandemic, is likely to particularly have an impact on mental health and psychological wellbeing in people with RA. Increasing physical activity and reducing sedentary behaviour can improve mental health and psychological wellbeing in RA. However, COVID-19 restrictions make it more difficult for people with RA to be physically active and facilitate a more sedentary lifestyle. Therefore, guidance is necessary for people with RA to adopt a healthy lifestyle within the constraints of COVID-19 restrictions to support their mental health and psychological wellbeing during and after the COVID-19 pandemic

Correlates of sedentary behaviour and light physical activity in people living with rheumatoid arthritis: protocol for a longitudinal study

Background: Sedentary behaviour (SB) is associated with adverse health outcomes in the general population. Replacing sedentary time with light intensity physical activity (LPA) has been linked with improvements in all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality in adults. People with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) typically spend long periods of time sedentary, but the health consequences of ‘too much sitting’, and possible benefits of LPA, have not been fully explored in this population. Moreover, little is known regarding the determinants of these behaviours among people living with RA, and such knowledge is required for the development of effective behavioural interventions. Aims: To examine longitudinal relationships between:1) objectively-assessed SB/LPA with health outcomes in RA, 2) hypothesised determinants of SB/LPA with objectively-assessed SB/LPA in RA. Methods: This longitudinal study will secure assessments at baseline (Time 1) and 6-month follow-up (Time 2) from RA patients. At both time points, physical assessments will be undertaken, and questionnaires administered to measure physical (e.g., percentage body fat, disease activity, physical function, pain) and psychological (e.g., depression, anxiety, vitality) health outcomes. Additional questionnaires will be administered to establish hypothesised determinants (i.e., psychosocial, individual differences, and physical environmental). Participants will wear the ActiGraph GT3X accelerometer and activPAL3 for 7 days to objectively measure SB and LPA. Discussion: Findings will elucidate the health correlates of SB in RA, as well as the relevance of interventions targeting reductions in SB by promoting LPA. Results will also assist in identifying intervention targets (i.e., determinants), with the potential to encourage SB change in RA

NMR Self Diffusion and Relaxation Time Measurements for Poly (vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) Based Polymer Gel Electrolytes Containing LiBF4 and Propylene Carbonate

Polymer gel electrolytes (PGEs) have been prepared using lithium tetrafluoroborate (LiBF4), propylene carbonate (PC) and poly (vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF). Self diffusion coefficients have been measured using pulse field gradient nuclear magnetic resonance (PFG-NMR) for the lithium cation, BF4 anion and solvent molecules using 7Li, 19F and 1H nuclei, respectively. It was found that lithium ion diffusion was slow compared to the much larger fluorinated BF4 anion, which is attributed to a large solvation shell around the lithium ions. The 7Li and 1H diffusion measurements also exhibited two unique environments for the diffusive species. The measurement of NMR transverse relaxation times has confirmed the presence of lithium ions in multiple phases as shown by the diffusion measurements

The interrater and test–retest reliability of 3 modalities of quantitative sensory testing in healthy adults and people with chronic low back pain or rheumatoid arthritis

Introduction: Quantitative Sensory Testing (QST) modalities used to assess central pain mechanisms require different protocols in people with different musculoskeletal conditions.Objectives: We aimed to explore the possible effects of musculoskeletal diagnosis and test site on QST interrater and test–retest reliability.Methods: The study included participants with rheumatoid arthritis (RA, n = 18; QST conducted on lower leg) and low back pain (LBP, n = 25; QST conducted on forearm), plus 45 healthy control participants (n = 20 QST on lower leg and n = 25 QST on forearm). Test–retest reliability was assessed from QST conducted 1 to 3 weeks apart. Quantitative sensory testing modalities used were pressure pain detection threshold (PPT) at a site distant to tissue pathology, temporal summation (TS), and conditioned pain modulation (CPM). Temporal summation was calculated as difference or ratio of single and repeated punctate stimuli and unconditioned thresholds for CPM used single or mean of multiple PPTs. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were compared between different subgroups.Results: High to very high reliability was found for all assessments of PPT and TS across anatomical sites (lower leg and forearm) and participants (healthy, RA, and LBP) (ICC ≥ 0.77 for PPT and ICC ≥ 0.76 for TS). Reliability was higher when TS was calculated as a difference rather than a ratio. Conditioned pain modulation showed no to moderate reliability (ICC = 0.01–0.64) that was similar between leg or forearm, and between healthy people and those with RA or LBP.Conclusion: PPT and TS are transferable tools to quantify pain sensitivity at different testing sites in different musculoskeletal diagnoses. Low apparent reliability of CPM protocols might indicate minute-to-minute dynamic pain modulation

Can forest management based on natural disturbances maintain ecological resilience?

Given the increasingly global stresses on forests, many ecologists argue that managers must maintain ecological resilience: the capacity of ecosystems to absorb disturbances without undergoing fundamental change. In this review we ask: Can the emerging paradigm of natural-disturbance-based management (NDBM) maintain ecological resilience in managed forests? Applying resilience theory requires careful articulation of the ecosystem state under consideration, the disturbances and stresses that affect the persistence of possible alternative states, and the spatial and temporal scales of management relevance. Implementing NDBM while maintaining resilience means recognizing that (i) biodiversity is important for long-term ecosystem persistence, (ii) natural disturbances play a critical role as a generator of structural and compositional heterogeneity at multiple scales, and (iii) traditional management tends to produce forests more homogeneous than those disturbed naturally and increases the likelihood of unexpected catastrophic change by constraining variation of key environmental processes. NDBM may maintain resilience if silvicultural strategies retain the structures and processes that perpetuate desired states while reducing those that enhance resilience of undesirable states. Such strategies require an understanding of harvesting impacts on slow ecosystem processes, such as seed-bank or nutrient dynamics, which in the long term can lead to ecological surprises by altering the forest's capacity to reorganize after disturbance