FEPSAC International Congress: Sport Psychology – Theories and Applications for Performance, Health and Humanity: A doctoral student’s reflection

Recently there has been renewed interest in basing teachers’ professional learning on medically derived models. This interest has included clinical practice models and evidencebased teaching as well as the use of various forms of ‘Rounds’ which claim to derive from medical rounds. However, many arguing for these approaches may not have a detailed knowledge of the actuality of professional learning in medicine but may be basing their ideas on idealised models drawn from popular conceptions. In addition, the model used by some calling for medically derived teacher learning is biomedicine, an area in which parallels with Education are difficult. This paper argues that mental health and public health provide a better analogue for Education than biomedicine. It considers some of the lessons that can be drawn from research on evidence-based practice in these areas. The paper concludes that a way forward is neither uncritically to assume the superiority of medical models of professional learning nor to rely only on empirical evidence from Education but to enter into dialogue with colleagues in mental and public health about shared concerns and experiences in professional learning

Climate change and water-related infectious diseases

Background: Water-related, including waterborne, diseases remain important sources of morbidity and mortality worldwide, but particularly in developing countries. The potential for changes in disease associated with predicted anthropogenic climate changes make water-related diseases a target for prevention. Methods: We provide an overview of evidence on potential future changes in water-related disease associated with climate change. Results: A number of pathogens are likely to present risks to public health, including cholera, typhoid, dysentery, leptospirosis, diarrhoeal diseases and harmful algal blooms (HABS). The risks are greatest where the climate effects drive population movements, conflict and disruption, and where drinking water supply infrastructure is poor. The quality of evidence for water-related disease has been documented. Conclusions: We highlight the need to maintain and develop timely surveillance and rapid epidemiological responses to outbreaks and emergence of new waterborne pathogens in all countries. While the main burden of waterborne diseases is in developing countries, there needs to be both technical and financial mechanisms to ensure adequate quantities of good quality water, sewage disposal and hygiene for all. This will be essential in preventing excess morbidity and mortality in areas that will suffer from substantial changes in climate in the future

Comparative assessment of the effects of climate change on heat- and cold-related mortality in the United Kingdom and Australia.

BACKGROUND: High and low ambient temperatures are associated with increased mortality in temperate and subtropical climates. Temperature-related mortality patterns are expected to change throughout this century because of climate change. OBJECTIVES: We compared mortality associated with heat and cold in UK regions and Australian cities for current and projected climates and populations. METHODS: Time-series regression analyses were carried out on daily mortality in relation to ambient temperatures for UK regions and Australian cities to estimate relative risk functions for heat and cold and variations in risk parameters by age. Excess deaths due to heat and cold were estimated for future climates. RESULTS: In UK regions, cold-related mortality currently accounts for more than one order of magnitude more deaths than heat-related mortality (around 61 and 3 deaths per 100,000 population per year, respectively). In Australian cities, approximately 33 and 2 deaths per 100,000 population are associated every year with cold and heat, respectively. Although cold-related mortality is projected to decrease due to climate change to approximately 42 and 19 deaths per 100,000 population per year in UK regions and Australian cities, heat-related mortality is projected to increase to around 9 and 8 deaths per 100,000 population per year, respectively, by the 2080s, assuming no changes in susceptibility and structure of the population. CONCLUSIONS: Projected changes in climate are likely to lead to an increase in heat-related mortality in the United Kingdom and Australia over this century, but also to a decrease in cold-related deaths. Future temperature-related mortality will be amplified by aging populations. Health protection from hot weather will become increasingly necessary in both countries, while protection from cold weather will be still needed

Climate change effects on human health: projections of temperature-related mortality for the UK during the 2020s, 2050s and 2080s

Background The most direct way in which climate change is expected to affect public health relates to changes in mortality rates associated with exposure to ambient temperature. Many countries worldwide experience annual heat-related and cold-related deaths associated with current weather patterns. Future changes in climate may alter such risks. Estimates of the likely future health impacts of such changes are needed to inform public health policy on climate change in the UK and elsewhere. Methods Time-series regression analysis was used to characterise current temperature-mortality relationships by region and age group. These were then applied to the local climate and population projections to estimate temperature-related deaths for the UK by the 2020s, 2050s and 2080s. Greater variability in future temperatures as well as changes in mean levels was modelled. Results A significantly raised risk of heat-related and cold-related mortality was observed in all regions. The elderly were most at risk. In the absence of any adaptation of the population, heat-related deaths would be expected to rise by around 257% by the 2050s from a current annual baseline of around 2000 deaths, and cold-related mortality would decline by 2% from a baseline of around 41 000 deaths. The cold burden remained higher than the heat burden in all periods. The increased number of future temperature-related deaths was partly driven by projected population growth and ageing. Conclusions Health protection from hot weather will become increasingly necessary, and measures to reduce cold impacts will also remain important in the UK. The demographic changes expected this century mean that the health protection of the elderly will be vital

Changes in population susceptibility to heat and cold over time: assessing adaptation to climate change.

BACKGROUND: In the context of a warming climate and increasing urbanisation (with the associated urban heat island effect), interest in understanding temperature related health effects is growing. Previous reviews have examined how the temperature-mortality relationship varies by geographical location. There have been no reviews examining the empirical evidence for changes in population susceptibility to the effects of heat and/or cold over time. The objective of this paper is to review studies which have specifically examined variations in temperature related mortality risks over the 20(th) and 21(st) centuries and determine whether population adaptation to heat and/or cold has occurred. METHODS: We searched five electronic databases combining search terms for three main concepts: temperature, health outcomes and changes in vulnerability or adaptation. Studies included were those which quantified the risk of heat related mortality with changing ambient temperature in a specific location over time, or those which compared mortality outcomes between two different extreme temperature events (heatwaves) in one location. RESULTS: The electronic searches returned 9183 titles and abstracts, of which eleven studies examining the effects of ambient temperature over time were included and six studies comparing the effect of different heatwaves at discrete time points were included. Of the eleven papers that quantified the risk of, or absolute heat related mortality over time, ten found a decrease in susceptibility over time of which five found the decrease to be significant. The magnitude of the decrease varied by location. Only two studies attempted to quantitatively attribute changes in susceptibility to specific adaptive measures and found no significant association between the risk of heat related mortality and air conditioning prevalence within or between cities over time. Four of the six papers examining effects of heatwaves found a decrease in expected mortality in later years. Five studies examined the risk of cold. In contrast to the changes in heat related mortality observed, only one found a significant decrease in cold related mortality in later time periods. CONCLUSIONS: There is evidence that across a number of different settings, population susceptibility to heat and heatwaves has been decreasing. These changes in heat related susceptibility have important implications for health impact assessments of future heat related risk. A similar decrease in cold related mortality was not shown. Adaptation to heat has implications for future planning, particularly in urban areas, with anticipated increases in temperature due to climate change

Non-Relativistic Limit of Dirac Equations in Gravitational Field and Quantum Effects of Gravity

Based on unified theory of electromagnetic interactions and gravitational interactions, the non-relativistic limit of the equation of motion of a charged Dirac particle in gravitational field is studied. From the Schrodinger equation obtained from this non-relativistic limit, we could see that the classical Newtonian gravitational potential appears as a part of the potential in the Schrodinger equation, which can explain the gravitational phase effects found in COW experiments. And because of this Newtonian gravitational potential, a quantum particle in earth's gravitational field may form a gravitationally bound quantized state, which had already been detected in experiments. Three different kinds of phase effects related to gravitational interactions are discussed in this paper, and these phase effects should be observable in some astrophysical processes. Besides, there exists direct coupling between gravitomagnetic field and quantum spin, radiation caused by this coupling can be used to directly determine the gravitomagnetic field on the surface of a star.Comment: 12 pages, no figur

Vacuum Cherenkov radiation

Within the classical Maxwell-Chern-Simons limit of the Standard-Model Extension (SME), the emission of light by uniformly moving charges is studied confirming the possibility of a Cherenkov-type effect. In this context, the exact radiation rate for charged magnetic point dipoles is determined and found in agreement with a phase-space estimate under certain assumptions.Comment: 4 pages, REVTeX

On Tamm's problem in the Vavilov-Cherenkov radiation theory

We analyse the well-known Tamm problem treating the charge motion on a finite space interval with the velocity exceeding light velocity in medium. By comparing Tamm's formulae with the exact ones we prove that former do not properly describe Cherenkov radiation terms. We also investigate Tamm's formula cos(theta)=1/(beta n) defining the position of maximum of the field strengths Fourier components for the infinite uniform motion of a charge. Numerical analysis of the Fourier components of field strengths shows that they have a pronounced maximum at cos(theta)=1/(beta n) only for the charge motion on the infinitely small interval. As the latter grows, many maxima appear. For the charge motion on an infinite interval there is infinite number of maxima of the same amplitude. The quantum analysis of Tamm's formula leads to the same results.Comment: 28 pages, 8 figures, to be published in J.Phys.D:Appl.Phy

Angular momentum effects in weak gravitational fields

It is shown that, contrary to what is normally expected, it is possible to have angular momentum effects on the geometry of space time at the laboratory scale, much bigger than the purely Newtonian effects. This is due to the fact that the ratio between the angular momentum of a body and its mass, expressed as a length, is easily greater than the mass itself, again expressed as a length.Comment: LATEX, 8 page