Physical activity recommendations for early childhood: an international analysis of ten different countries’ current national physical activity policies and practices for those under the age of 5

During the last two decades there have been growing interests on recommendations for children’s physical activity. The World Health Organization (WHO) launched the first global international recommendations for children in 2010, focusing on children and youth aged 5-17 year olds. The recommendations were based on the dose-response relationship between the frequency, duration, intensity, type and amount of physical activity needed for prevention of non-communicable diseases. There remains however, at time of writing, (2019) a gap in the recommendations, as the WHO did not offer global recommendations for those children under the age of 5 (early years). An international policy and practice analysis, (not previously undertaken), of ten sample countries, was completed of current national physical activity practices. Also an international comparison of early years’ education settings were examined, specifically for those under the age of 5, to investigate current curricula, as well as the qualifications, knowledge and understanding of those supporting children’s learning in different cultural contexts. The sample of ten countries (Belgium, China, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, United Kingdom and United States of America) questioned whether the global daily physical activity recommendations (WHO, 2010) are costumed and used for to the early years’ age group on a national level or if they need to be adjusted. The analysis revealed that eight countries have developed their own national recommendations for children below the age of 5, while only two countries do not have any early years’ specific physical activity recommendations. National authorities seem to be the most common executive sources behind the recommendations. The content of physical activity for children under the age of 5, mostly included the total amount and intensity of physical activity. The total daily amount of physical activity in these ten countries varies between 60 minutes moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity up to 180 min total light to moderate intensity physical activity and for some countries the daily recommendations are only from age 1 year, not between birth and 1 year, this age range remains unsupported. The conclusions from the analysis of national recommendations, underlined the need to see the global recommendations be developed for the younger age group, to support all countries. It is proposed a need for universally new recommendations to go beyond just physical activity intensity levels and to consider how young children’s development can be supported in a versatile way by physically active play. Also age specific recommendations are offered for appropriate and purposeful physical activity to support early years and school aged children’s overall development. The findings also suggest educational recommendations for staff members of early childhood education and care settings to know appropriate and age specific recommendations to ensure they are able to support young children to reach the national and global recommendations. Research recommendations are also proposed

Energy Access Scenarios to 2030 for the Power Sector in Sub-Saharan Africa

In order to reach a goal of universal access to modern energy services in Africa by 2030, consideration of various electricity sector pathways is required to help inform policy-makers and investors, and help guide power system design. To that end, and building on existing tools and analysis, we present several ‘high-level’, transparent, and economy-wide scenarios for the sub-Saharan African power sector to 2030. We construct these simple scenarios against the backdrop of historical trends and various interpretations of universal access. They are designed to provide the international community with an indication of the overall scale of the effort required. We find that most existing projections, using typical long-term forecasting methods for power planning, show roughly a threefold increase in installed generation capacity occurring by 2030, but more than a tenfold increase would likely be required to provide for full access – even at relatively modest levels of electricity consumption. This equates to approximately a 13% average annual growth rate, compared to a historical one (in the last two decades) of 1.7%.Energy Access, Power System Planning, Sub-Saharan Africa

Is telephone health coaching a useful population health strategy for supporting older people with multimorbidity? : An evaluation of reach, effectiveness and cost-effectiveness using a 'trial within a cohort'

BACKGROUND: Innovative ways of delivering care are needed to improve outcomes for older people with multimorbidity. Health coaching involves 'a regular series of phone calls between patient and health professional to provide support and encouragement to promote healthy behaviours'. This intervention is promising, but evidence is insufficient to support a wider role in multimorbidity care. We evaluated health coaching in older people with multimorbidity. METHODS: We used the innovative 'Trials within Cohorts' design. A cohort was recruited, and a trial was conducted using a 'patient-centred' consent model. A randomly selected group within the cohort were offered the intervention and were analysed as the intervention group whether they accepted the offer or not. The intervention sought to improve the skills of patients with multimorbidity to deal with a range of long-term conditions, through health coaching, social prescribing and low-intensity support for low mood. RESULTS: We recruited 4377 older people, and 1306 met the eligibility criteria (two or more long-term conditions and moderate 'patient activation'). We selected 504 for health coaching, and 41% consented. More than 80% of consenters received the defined 'dose' of 4+ sessions. In an intention-to-treat analysis, those selected for health coaching did not improve on any outcome (patient activation, quality of life, depression or self-care) compared to usual care. We examined health care utilisation using hospital administrative and self-report data. Patients selected for health coaching demonstrated lower levels of emergency care use, but an increase in the use of planned services and higher overall costs, as well as a quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gain. The incremental cost per QALY was £8049, with a 70-79% probability of being cost-effective at conventional levels of willingness to pay. CONCLUSIONS: Health coaching did not lead to significant benefits on the primary measures of patient-reported outcome. This is likely related to relatively low levels of uptake amongst those selected for the intervention. Demonstrating effectiveness in this design is challenging, as it estimates the effect of being selected for treatment, regardless of whether treatment is adopted. We argue that the treatment effect estimated is appropriate for health coaching, a proactive model relevant to many patients in the community, not just those seeking care. TRIAL REGISTRATION: International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number ( ISRCTN12286422 )

Performing Both Sides of the Glass: Videogame Affordances and Live Streaming on Twitch

This thesis examines the performative dimensions videogame affordances assume within online, live streaming environments. This approach considers how streamers configure their videogame play in terms of a potential audience, drawing on five semi-structured, in-depth interviews with Australian-based Twitch streamers to analyse how streamers leverage videogame affordances to produce “meaningful moments”. Guiding this thesis is the question of how the player-videogame relationship is maintained, fractured or altered within live-streaming environments such as Twitch

The water-land-food-energy-climate nexus for a resource efficient Europe.

Α novel methodology for addressing policy inconsistencies and knowledge gaps that hinder the transition to a greater resource efficiency Europe is proposed. We focus on the integration of all different sectors that interact and influence each other, namely the “water- energy- food- land use- climate nexus” and we develop tools for identifying and quantifying their complex interlinkages under the influence of climate change. In order to achieve this, we employ a series of sophisticated models (referred to as “thematic models”), each of which addresses a different nexus dimension, or a combination of a few, while none addresses all nexus dimensions in an integrative manner. We use dynamic systems modeling and other complexity science techniques in order to “merge” different thematic model outputs in a single coherent result, which is presented to the user in an easyto-comprehend Serious Game environment. This way, the effect of policies that are designed to affect one field (nexus dimension) on others can be quantified and simulated, thus informing policy-makers for the unintended consequences of their policies, reducing uncertainties, covering knowledge gaps and leading to a resource efficient Europe faste

Curcumin mediates oxaliplatin-acquired resistance reversion in colorectal cancer cell lines through modulation of CXC-Chemokine/NF-κB signalling pathway

This study was funded by the ISCIII grant, project n° PI1202228 and Departament d'Innovació, Universitats i Empresa, Generalitat de Catalunya. SGR-PREDIVHICO. This work was done under the framework of the doctorate in Medicine from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. We thank Dr. Lucía Sanjurjo (Innate Immunity Group, IGTP, Badalona, Spain) for her technical assistance and support and Dr. Verónica Guirao (Biobank research support unit, IGTP, Badalona, Spain) for her comments and editorial assistance.Resistance to oxaliplatin (OXA) is a complex process affecting the outcomes of metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) patients treated with this drug. De-regulation of the NF-κB signalling pathway has been proposed as an important mechanism involved in this phenomenon. Here, we show that NF-κB was hyperactivated in in vitro models of OXA-acquired resistance but was attenuated by the addition of Curcumin, a non-toxic NF-κB inhibitor. The concomitant combination of Curcumin + OXA was more effective and synergistic in cell lines with acquired resistance to OXA, leading to the reversion of their resistant phenotype, through the inhibition of the NF-κB signalling cascade. Transcriptomic profiling revealed the up-regulation of three NF-κB-regulated CXC-chemokines, CXCL8, CXCL1 and CXCL2, in the resistant cells that were more efficiently down-regulated after OXA + Curcumin treatment as compared to the sensitive cells. Moreover, CXCL8 and CXCL1 gene silencing made resistant cells more sensitive to OXA through the inhibition of the Akt/NF-κB pathway. High expression of CXCL1 in FFPE samples from explant cultures of CRC patients-derived liver metastases was associated with response to OXA + Curcumin. In conclusion, we suggest that combination of OXA + Curcumin could be an effective treatment, for which CXCL1 could be used as a predictive marker, in CRC patients

Manacled to Identity: Cosmopolitanism, Class, and ‘The Culture Concept’ in Stephen Crane

This article begins with a close reading of Stephen Crane’s short story ‘Manacled’ from 1900, which situates this rarely considered short work within the context of contemporary debates about realism. I then proceed to argue that many of the debates raised by the tale have an afterlife in our own era of American literary studies, which has frequently focused on questions of ‘identity’ and ‘culture’ in its reading of realism and naturalism to the exclusion of the importance of cosmopolitan discourses of diffusion and exchange across national borders. I then offer a brief reading of Crane’s novel George’s Mother, which follows Walter Benn Michaels in suggesting that the recent critical attention paid to particularities of cultural difference in American studies have come to conflate ideas of class and social position with ideas of culture in ways that have ultimately obscured the presence of genuine historical inequalities in US society. In order to challenge this critical commonplace, I situate Crane’s work within a history of transatlantic cosmopolitanism associated with the ideas of Franz Boas and Matthew Arnold to demonstrate the ways in which Crane’s narratives sought out an experience of the universal within their treatments of the particular

A selective assessment of business opportunities in South Africa under the Clean Development Mechanism

This report first summarizes matters related to the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) in the South African context, considering its current position and its position after 2012. It then discusses South Africa in comparison with Brazil and India, summarized in terms of selected key indicators. CDM projects in Brazil and India, which are further along in terms of project development, are then outlined. Finally the report estimates the costs and benefits of CDM potential in industry through the deployment of energy efficiency measures as well as renewable electricity generation

Powering production. The case of the sisal fibre production in the Tanga region, Tanzania

Energy plays a crucial role in economic development. The article presents a framework for the analysis of alternative energy technology mixes in agricultural production and applies it in the context of sisal production in the Tanga region, Tanzania. Through scenario analysis, the paper presents both case-specific and generalizable insights. Case-specific insights show the key role that modern uses of energy and modern agricultural technologies could play in increasing productivity and revenues, in minimizing environmental degradation, and in promoting local development. Generalizable insights demonstrate the value of using sector-specific micro-structural frameworks and scenario analysis for assessing different technologies mixes in the energy and agriculture planning process