Physical education health related topics in the middle grades

It is our goal to create a curriculum where students have the opportunity to learn and promote competency in the area of health and fitness. Additionally, to be able to reason critically and integrate the information learned through healthy choices and understand the importance of physical fitness and exercise

The effect of patch size and competitor number on aggression among foraging house sparrows

To test between the contradictory predictions of resource defence theory and a modified hawk-dove model, I examined the effect of patch size and competitor number on aggression among foraging house sparrows, Passer domesticus . The birds were observed at feeding tables of seven different sizes, each table doubling in surface area from 0.014 m 2 to 0.922 m 2 , allowing for a broader quantitative description of changes in aggression with patch size than previously examined. Resource defence theory predicts that small patches will be more defendable than large patches and that aggression will peak at intermediate competitor numbers at defendable patches. In contrast, a modified hawk-dove model predicts an increase in aggressiveness with competitor number; the model makes no predictions about patch size. Contrary to resource defence theory, birds did not defend an entire patch, even when it was as small as 0.014 m 2 . As a result, aggression among the birds decreased more gradually with increasing patch size than expected by an all-or-none threshold model of resource defence. Moreover, birds fought more frequently and intensely at high competitor numbers, a result that is more consistent with the predictions of a modified hawk-dove model than the dome-shaped relationship predicted by models of resource defence. Interestingly, females were more aggressive and foraged faster than males. Because females were able to compete more effectively when individuals were aggressive, the proportion of females increased as patch size decreased. My results have implications for the truncated phenotype ideal free distributions

A Pilot Study of Neuroplasticity Based Cognitive Remediation in Early Onset Psychosis

Introduction – Neuroplasticity based auditory and visual training programs appear to improve neurocognitive function in adults with schizophrenia, but use in younger individuals has not been determined. We hypothesized that adolescents might play more often and respond better than adults to training using a game-like laptop in their home environment. Methods -- Youth 10-19 years with Early Onset Psychosis (EOP) were provided a laptop and randomly assigned to play games to enhance basic auditory, visual and social processing neuroplasticity games (NPG) or assigned to control games with cognitive components, such as Sudoku or hangman or (CG). All received neurocognitive assessments at baseline, intervention completion and 4 months post treatment. Results — 12 youth (15.5 +3.2 yrs) were assigned to NPG and 10 participants (16.2 +2.1 years) were assigned to CG. More NPG than CG participants completed the prescribed hours of game play (block 1 - 92% vs. 70% over the first 40 hours), with both groups engaged less over time. Although most neurocognitive functions did not change, the NPG group did show improvements in WRAML Visual Learning, WISC Digit Span Forward, Spatial Span Backwards and CPT omission errors. Surprisingly, satisfaction was lower for NPG than CG. Conclusions — Groups were well matched for baseline illness characteristics. On the global measures of cognition, both EOP groups showed improvement over time but those improvements were generally greater in the CG than in the NPG group, with potentially significant differences favoring the CG evident in the neurocognitive composite score (p=0.072) and BRIEF metacognition (p=.117). Youth did not play as frequently or as long as requested despite providing a laptop for their home use and stipends for playing

HIV self-testing services for female sex workers, Malawi and Zimbabwe

OBJECTIVE: To present findings from implementation and scale-up of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) self-testing programmes for female sex workers in Malawi and Zimbabwe, 2013-2018. METHODS: In Zimbabwe, we carried out formative research to assess the acceptability and accuracy of HIV self-testing. During implementation we evaluated sex workers' preferences for, and feasibility of, distribution of test kits before the programme was scaled-up. In Malawi, we conducted a rapid ethnographic assessment to explore the context and needs of female sex workers and resources available, leading to a workshop to define the distribution approach for test kits. Once distribution was implemented, we conducted a process evaluation and established a system for monitoring social harm. FINDINGS: In Zimbabwe, female sex workers were able to accurately self-test. The preference study helped to refine systems for national scale-up through existing services for female sex workers. The qualitative data helped to identify additional distribution strategies and mediate potential social harm to women. In Malawi, peer distribution of test kits was the preferred strategy. We identified some incidents of social harm among peer distributors and female sex workers, as well as supply-side barriers to implementation which hindered uptake of testing. CONCLUSION: Involving female sex workers in planning and ongoing implementation of HIV self-testing is essential, along with strategies to mitigate potential harm. Optimal strategies for distribution and post-test support are context-specific and need to consider existing support for female sex workers and levels of trust and cohesion within their communities

Rain-on-Snow and Ice Layer Formation Detection Using Passive Microwave Radiometry: An Arctic Perspective

No abstract availabl

A Broadly Implementable Research Course in Phage Discovery and Genomics for First-Year Undergraduate Students

Engaging large numbers of undergraduates in authentic scientific discovery is desirable but difficult to achieve. We have developed a general model in which faculty and teaching assistants from diverse academic institutions are trained to teach a research course for first-year undergraduate students focused on bacteriophage discovery and genomics. The course is situated within a broader scientific context aimed at understanding viral diversity, such that faculty and students are collaborators with established researchers in the field. The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Science Education Alliance Phage Hunters Advancing Genomics and Evolutionary Science (SEA-PHAGES) course has been widely implemented and has been taken by over 4,800 students at 73 institutions. We show here that this alliance-sourced model not only substantially advances the field of phage genomics but also stimulates students’ interest in science, positively influences academic achievement, and enhances persistence in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. Broad application of this model by integrating other research areas with large numbers of early-career undergraduate students has the potential to be transformative in science education and research training

Lessons learned from the first European project on the integration of infectious diseases in testing services, data collection and country responses.

Despite the progress in effective treatments for HIV, viral hepatitis, tuberculosis and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), these infections remain major public health concerns across Europe. Recurring challenges of late presentation and unprioritized prevention programmes need to be effectively addressed in order to control and prevent transmission and ensure that people are diagnosed early and rapidly enter the care system. The prevalence of co-infections is high due to the social context of key populations and the shared modes of transmission, varying with local epidemiology, which underlines the need to combine efforts throughout the continuum of care

Symptomatic vaginal discharge is a poor predictor of sexually transmitted infections and genital tract inflammation in high-risk women in South Africa.

Background. Diagnosis and treatment of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) is a public health priority, particularly in regions where the incidence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is high. In most developing countries, STIs are managed syndromically. We assessed the adequacy of syndromic diagnosis of STIs, compared with laboratory diagnosis of STIs, and evaluated the association between STI diagnosis and the risk of HIV acquisition in a cohort of high-risk women. Methods. HIV-uninfected high-risk women (n = 242) were followed for 24 months. Symptoms of STIs were recorded, and laboratory diagnosis of common STI pathogens was conducted every 6 months. Forty-two cytokines were measured by Luminex in cervicovaginal lavage specimens at enrollment. Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection was evaluated monthly. Results. Only 12.3% of women (25 of 204) who had a laboratory-diagnosed, discharge-causing STI had clinically evident discharge. Vaginal discharge was thus a poor predictor of laboratory-diagnosed STIs (sensitivity, 12.3%; specificity, 93.8%). Cervicovaginal cytokine concentrations did not differ between women with asymptomatic STIs and those with symptomatic STIs and were elevated in women with asymptomatic STIs, compared with women with no STIs or bacterial vaginosis. Although laboratory-diagnosed STIs were associated with increased risk of HIV infection (hazard ratio, 3.3 [95% confidence interval, 1.5–7.2)], clinical symptoms were not. Conclusions. Syndromic STI diagnosis dependent on vaginal discharge was poorly predictive of laboratory-diagnosed STI. Laboratory-diagnosed STIs were associated with increased susceptibility to HIV acquisition, while vaginal discharge was not

Prevalence and architecture of de novo mutations in developmental disorders.

The genomes of individuals with severe, undiagnosed developmental disorders are enriched in damaging de novo mutations (DNMs) in developmentally important genes. Here we have sequenced the exomes of 4,293 families containing individuals with developmental disorders, and meta-analysed these data with data from another 3,287 individuals with similar disorders. We show that the most important factors influencing the diagnostic yield of DNMs are the sex of the affected individual, the relatedness of their parents, whether close relatives are affected and the parental ages. We identified 94 genes enriched in damaging DNMs, including 14 that previously lacked compelling evidence of involvement in developmental disorders. We have also characterized the phenotypic diversity among these disorders. We estimate that 42% of our cohort carry pathogenic DNMs in coding sequences; approximately half of these DNMs disrupt gene function and the remainder result in altered protein function. We estimate that developmental disorders caused by DNMs have an average prevalence of 1 in 213 to 1 in 448 births, depending on parental age. Given current global demographics, this equates to almost 400,000 children born per year

A many-analysts approach to the relation between religiosity and well-being

The relation between religiosity and well-being is one of the most researched topics in the psychology of religion, yet the directionality and robustness of the effect remains debated. Here, we adopted a many-analysts approach to assess the robustness of this relation based on a new cross-cultural dataset (N=10,535 participants from 24 countries). We recruited 120 analysis teams to investigate (1) whether religious people self-report higher well-being, and (2) whether the relation between religiosity and self-reported well-being depends on perceived cultural norms of religion (i.e., whether it is considered normal and desirable to be religious in a given country). In a two-stage procedure, the teams first created an analysis plan and then executed their planned analysis on the data. For the first research question, all but 3 teams reported positive effect sizes with credible/confidence intervals excluding zero (median reported β=0.120). For the second research question, this was the case for 65% of the teams (median reported β=0.039). While most teams applied (multilevel) linear regression models, there was considerable variability in the choice of items used to construct the independent variables, the dependent variable, and the included covariates