26 research outputs found
A communal catalogue reveals Earth's multiscale microbial diversity
Our growing awareness of the microbial world's importance and diversity contrasts starkly with our limited understanding of its fundamental structure. Despite recent advances in DNA sequencing, a lack of standardized protocols and common analytical frameworks impedes comparisons among studies, hindering the development of global inferences about microbial life on Earth. Here we present a meta-analysis of microbial community samples collected by hundreds of researchers for the Earth Microbiome Project. Coordinated protocols and new analytical methods, particularly the use of exact sequences instead of clustered operational taxonomic units, enable bacterial and archaeal ribosomal RNA gene sequences to be followed across multiple studies and allow us to explore patterns of diversity at an unprecedented scale. The result is both a reference database giving global context to DNA sequence data and a framework for incorporating data from future studies, fostering increasingly complete characterization of Earth's microbial diversity.Peer reviewe
A communal catalogue reveals Earthâs multiscale microbial diversity
Our growing awareness of the microbial worldâs importance and diversity contrasts starkly with our limited understanding of its fundamental structure. Despite recent advances in DNA sequencing, a lack of standardized protocols and common analytical frameworks impedes comparisons among studies, hindering the development of global inferences about microbial life on Earth. Here we present a meta-analysis of microbial community samples collected by hundreds of researchers for the Earth Microbiome Project. Coordinated protocols and new analytical methods, particularly the use of exact sequences instead of clustered operational taxonomic units, enable bacterial and archaeal ribosomal RNA gene sequences to be followed across multiple studies and allow us to explore patterns of diversity at an unprecedented scale. The result is both a reference database giving global context to DNA sequence data and a framework for incorporating data from future studies, fostering increasingly complete characterization of Earthâs microbial diversity
Sports Participation and Juvenile Delinquency: A Meta-Analytic Review
Participation in sports activities is very popular among adolescents, and is frequently encouraged among youth. Many psychosocial health benefits in youth are attributed to sports participation, but to what extent this positive influence holds for juvenile delinquency is still not clear on both the theoretical and empirical level. There is much controversy on whether sports participation should be perceived as a protective or a risk factor for the development of juvenile delinquency. A multilevel meta-analysis of 51 published and unpublished studies, with 48 independent samples containing 431 effect sizes and N = 132,366 adolescents, was conducted to examine the relationship between sports participation and juvenile delinquency and possible moderating factors of this association. The results showed that there is no overall significant association between sports participation and juvenile delinquency, indicating that adolescent athletes are neither more nor less delinquent than non-athletes. Some study, sample and sports characteristics significantly moderated the relationship between sports participation and juvenile delinquency. However, this moderating influence was modest. Implications for theory and practice concerning the use of sports to prevent juvenile delinquency are discussed. Keywords Sports participation Juvenile delinquency Multilevel meta-analysis Revie
How the menstrual cycle and menstruation affect sporting performance: experiences and perceptions of elite female rugby players
Objectives To explore athletesâ past and current
experiences and perceptions of the menstrual cycle in
relation to its impact on sporting performance.
Methods 15 international female rugby players
participated in individual semi-structured
interviews
(age: 24.5±6.2 years). All interviews were recorded and
transcribed verbatim, resulting in 37 376 words of text
for descriptive and thematic analysis. Inter-rater
reliability
checks resulted in a concordance of agreement of 83%.
Results Almost all athletes (93%) reported menstrual
cycle-related
symptoms. Thirty-three
per cent perceived
heavy menstrual bleeding and 67% considered these
symptoms impaired their performances. Two-thirds
of
athletes self-medicated
to alleviate symptoms. Thematic
analysis generated 262 meaning units, 38 themes, 10
categories and 4 general dimensions. The four general
dimensions were: (1) symptoms: physiological and
psychological menstrual cycle-related
symptoms such as
dysmenorrhoea, flooding, reduced energy levels, worry,
distraction, fluctuating emotions and reduced motivation;
(2) impact: perceived impact of menstruation on different
aspects of daily lives and performance including negative
and neutral responses; (3) resolution: the methods/
approaches in dealing with menstruation-related
concerns including accepting, or adapting and managing
symptoms with self-medication
or expert treatment;
(4) support: available support and comfortability in
discussing menstrual cycle-related
issues.
Conclusions This study provides the first in-depth
insight into athleteâs experiences of the menstrual cycle
and perceived impact on training and competition. It
highlights individual responses to menstrual âissuesâ
and emphasises the need for clinicians and support staff
to undertake menstrual cycle profiling, monitoring and
continue to develop awareness, openness, knowledge
and understanding of the menstrual cycle