The Application of an Implementation Science Framework to Comprehensive School Physical Activity Programs: Be a Champion!

Comprehensive school physical activity programs (CSPAPs) have been endorsed as a promising strategy to increase youth physical activity (PA) in school settings. A CSPAP is a five-component approach, which includes opportunities before, during, and after school for PA. Extensive resources are available to public health practitioners and school officials regarding what should be implemented, but little guidance and few resources are available regarding how to effectively implement a CSPAP. Implementation science provides a number of conceptual frameworks that can guide implementation of a CSPAP, but few published studies have employed an implementation science framework to a CSPAP. Therefore, we developed Be a Champion! (BAC), which represents a synthesis of implementation science strategies, modified for application to CSPAPs implementation in schools while allowing for local tailoring of the approach. This article describes BAC while providing examples from the implementation of a CSPAP in three rural elementary schools

The Application of an Implementation Science Framework to Comprehensive School Physical Activity Programs: Be a Champion!

Comprehensive school physical activity programs (CSPAPs) have been endorsed as a promising strategy to increase youth physical activity (PA) in school settings. A CSPAP is a five-component approach, which includes opportunities before, during, and after school for PA. Extensive resources are available to public health practitioners and school officials regarding what should be implemented, but little guidance and few resources are available regarding how to effectively implement a CSPAP. Implementation science provides a number of conceptual frameworks that can guide implementation of a CSPAP, but few published studies have employed an implementation science framework to a CSPAP. Therefore, we developed Be a Champion! (BAC), which represents a synthesis of implementation science strategies, modified for application to CSPAPs implementation in schools while allowing for local tailoring of the approach. This article describes BAC while providing examples from the implementation of a CSPAP in three rural elementary schools

Bacterial Cyclic Diguanylate Signaling Networks Sense Temperature

Many bacteria use the second messenger cyclic diguanylate (c-di-GMP) to control motility, biofilm production and virulence. Here, we identify a thermosensory diguanylate cyclase (TdcA) that modulates temperature-dependent motility, biofilm development and virulence in the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa. TdcA synthesizes c-di-GMP with catalytic rates that increase more than a hundred-fold over a ten-degree Celsius change. Analyses using protein chimeras indicate that heat-sensing is mediated by a thermosensitive Per-Arnt-SIM (PAS) domain. TdcA homologs are widespread in sequence databases, and a distantly related, heterologously expressed homolog from the Betaproteobacteria order Gallionellales also displayed thermosensitive diguanylate cyclase activity. We propose, therefore, that thermotransduction is a conserved function of c-di-GMP signaling networks, and that thermosensitive catalysis of a second messenger constitutes a mechanism for thermal sensing in bacteria

The Perceptive Workbench: Towards Spontaneous and Natural Interaction in Semi-Immersive Virtual Environments

The Perceptive Workbench enables a spontaneous, natural, and unimpeded interface between the physical and virtual world. It is built on vision-based methods for interaction that remove the need for wired input devices and wired tracking. Objects are recognized and tracked when placed on the display surface. Through the use of multiple light sources, the objectUs 3D shape can be captured and inserted into the virtual interface. This ability permits spontaneity as either preloaded objects or those selected on the spot by the user can become physical icons. Integrated into the same vision- based interface is the ability to identify 3D hand position, pointing direction, and sweeping arm gestures. Such gestures can support selection, manipulation, and navigation tasks. In this paper the Perceptive Workbench is used for augmented reality gaming and terrain navigation applications, which demonstrate the utility and capability of the interface

The Application of an Implementation Science Framework to Comprehensive School Physical Activity Programs: Be a Champion!

Comprehensive school physical activity programs (CSPAPs) have been endorsed as a promising strategy to increase youth physical activity (PA) in school settings. A CSPAP is a five-component approach, which includes opportunities before, during, and after school for PA. Extensive resources are available to public health practitioners and school officials regarding what should be implemented, but little guidance and few resources are available regarding how to effectively implement a CSPAP. Implementation science provides a number of conceptual frameworks that can guide implementation of a CSPAP, but few published studies have employed an implementation science framework to a CSPAP. Therefore, we developed Be a Champion! (BAC), which represents a synthesis of implementation science strategies, modified for application to CSPAPs implementation in schools while allowing for local tailoring of the approach. This article describes BAC while providing examples from the implementation of a CSPAP in three rural elementary schools

Reciprocal control of motility and biofilm formation by the PdhS2 two-component sensor kinase of Agrobacterium tumefaciens.

A core regulatory pathway that directs developmental transitions and cellular asymmetries in Agrobacterium tumefaciens involves two overlapping, integrated phosphorelays. One of these phosphorelays putatively includes four histidine sensor kinase homologues, DivJ, PleC, PdhS1 and PdhS2, and two response regulators, DivK and PleD. In several different alphaproteobacteria, this pathway influences a conserved downstream phosphorelay that ultimately controls the phosphorylation state of the CtrA master response regulator. The PdhS2 sensor kinase reciprocally regulates biofilm formation and swimming motility. In the current study, the mechanisms by which the A. tumefaciens sensor kinase PdhS2 directs this regulation are delineated. PdhS2 lacking a key residue implicated in phosphatase activity is markedly deficient in proper control of attachment and motility phenotypes, whereas a kinase-deficient PdhS2 mutant is only modestly affected. A genetic interaction between DivK and PdhS2 is revealed, unmasking one of several connections between PdhS2-dependent phenotypes and transcriptional control by CtrA. Epistasis experiments suggest that PdhS2 may function independently of the CckA sensor kinase, the cognate sensor kinase for CtrA, which is inhibited by DivK. Global expression analysis of the pdhS2 mutant reveals a restricted regulon, most likely functioning through CtrA to separately control motility and regulate the levels of the intracellular signal cyclic diguanylate monophosphate (cdGMP), thereby affecting the production of adhesive polysaccharides and attachment. We hypothesize that in A. tumefaciens the CtrA regulatory circuit has expanded to include additional inputs through the addition of PdhS-type sensor kinases, likely fine-tuning the response of this organism to the soil microenvironment

Biogenic corrosion caused by bats in Drotsky's Cave (the Gcwihaba Hills, NW Botswana)

International audienceLocated in north-west Botswana, Drotsky's Cave is a vast cavity hosted within dolomite known for the discovery of archaeological strata dating back to the Late Stone Age. It is home to a colony of bats comprising several ten thousands of individuals who are responsible for the accumulation of a thick deposit of guano, on which we have conducted research in some of the deeper parts of the cavity. A detailed study of the morphologies of the dolomite walls and roofs demonstrates that part of the cave's speleogenesis is probably due to biogenic corrosion. This type of weathering and corrosion process is still poorly described in underground environments. However, it is now accepted that the role played by bats and their droppings on the condition of walls, their weathering, and the enlargement of galleries and chambers by condensation-corrosion processes, should be taken into account when considering the way deep networks evolve. In this article, we discuss the mechanisms of this biogenic corrosion in Drotsky's Cave, as well as their morphogenic impacts (the dissolution and recession of walls, the formation of lateral notches, arches, bell holes, and ceiling spherical cupolas), and the consequences for the wall retreat of conduits. Finally, we propose a new typological classification. The consequences of this biogenic corrosion are important for archaeological questions related to the taphonomy of archaeological remains in the buried deposits and the conservation of cave art. Because of the important impacts of guano on buried biological archaeological remains, such a population would have encouraged accelerated weathering, corrosion and dissolution of the walls, potentially contributing to the total, or partial, disappearance of any trace of human activity on the surrounding rocks