The Role of Choice in Weight Loss Strategies: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Effective strategies to achieve weight loss and long-term weight loss maintenance have proved to be elusive. This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to explore whether the choice of weight loss strategy is associated with greater weight loss. An electronic search was conducted using the MEDLINE (Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online, or MEDLARS Online), EMBASE (Excerpta Medica database), CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature), and PsycINFO (Database of Abstracts of Literature in the Field of Psychology, produced by the American Psychological Association and distributed on the association’s APA PsycNET) databases for clinical trials and randomized controlled trials, investigating the role of choice in weight loss strategies. A total of nine studies were identified as meeting the pre-specified criteria. All of the studies included a ‘Choice’ or preference arm and a ‘No Choice’ arm or group who did not receive their preference as a control. A total of 1804 subjects were enrolled in these studies, with weight loss observed in both experimental and control groups of all studies, irrespective of dietary intervention, study duration, or follow-up length. Twelve interventions in nine trials were used for the meta-analysis, with results indicating a greater weight loss in the control groups, 1.09 ± 0.28 (overall mean difference in weight loss between groups ± standard error; p = 0). There was no significant effect of duration or attrition. In this meta-analysis, the choice of weight loss strategy did not confer a weight loss benefit. © 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland

‘It stays with you’: multiple evocative representations of dance and future possibilities for studies in sport and physical cultures

This article considers the integration of arts-based representations via poetic narratives together with artistic representation on dancing embodiment so as to continue an engagement with debates regarding multiple forms/representations. Like poetry, visual images are unique and can evoke particular kinds of emotional and visceral responses, meaning that alternative representational forms can resonate in different and powerful ways. In the article, we draw on grandparent-grandchild interactions, narrative poetry, and artistic representations of dance in order to illustrate how arts-based methods might synergise to offer new ways of ‘knowing’ and ‘seeing’. The expansion of the visual arts into interdisciplinary methodological innovations is a relatively new, and sometimes contentious approach, in studies of sport and exercise. We raise concerns regarding the future for more arts-based research in the light of an ever-changing landscape of a neoliberal university culture that demands high productivity in reductionist terms of what counts as ‘output’, often within very restricted time-frames. Heeding feminist calls for ‘slow academies’ that attempt to ‘change’ time collectively, and challenge the demands of a fast-paced audit culture, we consider why it is worth enabling creative and arts-based methods to continue to develop and flourish in studies of sport, exercise and health, despite the mounting pressures to ‘perform’

Luces y sombras

La reciente pandemia de COVID-19 trastocó fuertemente la vida social en todo el país. Este artículo documenta y analiza las tensiones, obstáculos y desafíos que afrontaron las escuelas en contextos de interculturalidad durante la “continuidad educativa” escolar propuesta en 2020 y el posterior retorno a la presencialidad. A partir de investigaciones etnográficas realizadas con comunidades mapuche de Neuquén y ava-guaraní, wichí y chorote de Salta, y también con docentes y directivos no indígenas, se busca visibilizar las maneras particulares en que las instituciones educativas, y en especial sus directorxs y docentes indígenas y no indígenas llevaron adelante el acompañamiento de las fami­lias y de las trayectorias educativas de lxs niñxs indígenas. La profundidad temporal del trabajo antropológico con estas comunidades posibilitó registrar los impactos de la pandemia, sopesando continuidades y transformaciones, así como reflexionar sobre el rol de las escuelas en estos contextos. La educación intercultural se reveló una vez más como un campo en disputa en el cual las relaciones interétnicas, en ese difícil momento, vieron recrudecido su carácter históricamente asimétrico.The recent COVID-19 pandemic has severely disrupted social life across the country. This article documents and analyzes the tensions, obstacles and challenges faced by schools in contexts of interculturality during the school education continuity” propo­sed in 2020 and the subsequent return to in person schooling. Based on ethnographic research carried out with Mapuche communities from Neuquén and Ava-Guaraní, Wichí and Chorote communities from Salta, and also with non-indigenous teachers and principals, the aim is to discuss the particular ways in which educational institu­tions, and especially their principals and indigenous and non-indigenous teachers, pro­vided continuity for the schooling of the indigenous children and their families. The temporal depth of the anthropological research conducted with these communities made it possible to record the impact of the pandemic, weighing continuities and transformations, as well as reflecting on the role of schools in these contexts. Intercultural education once again revealed itself as a disputed field in which the asymmetrical histo­rical aspect of inter-ethnic relations was intensified.La reciente pandemia de COVID-19 trastocó fuertemente la vida social en todo el país. Este artículo documenta y analiza las tensiones, obstáculos y desafíos que afrontaron las escuelas en contextos de interculturalidad durante la “continuidad educativa” escolar propuesta en 2020 y el posterior retorno a la presencialidad. A partir de investigaciones etnográficas realizadas con comunidades mapuche de Neuquén y ava-guaraní, wichí y chorote de Salta, y también con docentes y directivos no indígenas, se busca visibilizar las maneras particulares en que las instituciones educativas, y en especial sus directorxs y docentes indígenas y no indígenas llevaron adelante el acompañamiento de las fami­lias y de las trayectorias educativas de lxs niñxs indígenas. La profundidad temporal del trabajo antropológico con estas comunidades posibilitó registrar los impactos de la pandemia, sopesando continuidades y transformaciones, así como reflexionar sobre el rol de las escuelas en estos contextos. La educación intercultural se reveló una vez más como un campo en disputa en el cual las relaciones interétnicas, en ese difícil momento, vieron recrudecido su carácter históricamente asimétrico

Exploring network structure and the role of key stakeholders to understand the obesity prevention system in an Australian metropolitan health service: Study protocol

Introduction: Little progress has been made to address the increasing obesity prevalence over the past few decades, and there is growing concern about the far-reaching consequences for health and well-being related to obesity on a global scale. Systems thinking is emerging as a suitable approach for obesity prevention, as it allows health researchers, practitioners and policy-makers to systematically synthesise existing data, expose gaps, inform priority setting and identify leverage points in the system. The aim of this study is to trial a systems thinking approach to better understand the local obesity prevention system, and identify gaps and viable opportunities for health promotion activities to strengthen obesity prevention efforts in an Australian metropolitan health service. Methods and analysis: A mixed methods design will be undertaken in a metropolitan health service area in Perth, Western Australia in 2019-2020. A systems inventory audit will be used to identify physical activity, nutrition and overweight/obesity prevention activities taking place in the study area. An organisational network survey will be administered, and a social network analysis undertaken to examine relationships between organisations in the network. The relationships and interactions will compare the level and type of interactions each organisation has within the network. Parameters including density, centrality and betweenness will be computed using UCINET and Netdraw. Ethics and dissemination: Ethics approval has been obtained from the Curtin University Human Research Ethics Committee (approval number HRE2017-0862). Results will be reviewed with members of the advisory group, submitted to relevant journals and presented at relevant conferences to health promotion practitioners and policy-makers. The area health service, as co-producers of the research, will use findings to inform policy and strategy across the study area

‘Throughness’: A Story About Songwriting as Auto/ethnography

A recent special issue of Qualitative Inquiry (December 2016) throws a welcome spotlight on the place of songs within qualitative research. In this essay, I share a story that contributes to the gathering conversation around music and songs as a (perhaps unique) form of qualitative inquiry. My contribution focuses specifically on songwriting as a form of research, which has received limited attention to date within the qualitative inquiry literature. The story is inspired by recent explorations of songwriting as reflexive practice, and I share it with the aim of expanding understanding and inviting further dialogue on the processes of writing (songs as) qualitative research

Challenging Perceptions of Disability through Performance Poetry Methods: The "Seen but Seldom Heard" Project.

This paper considers performance poetry as a method to explore lived experiences of disability. We discuss how poetic inquiry used within a participatory arts-based research framework can enable young people to collectively question society’s attitudes and actions towards disability. Poetry will be considered as a means to develop a more accessible and effective arena in which young people with direct experience of disability can be empowered to develop new skills that enable them to tell their own stories. Discussion of how this can challenge audiences to critically reflect upon their own perceptions of disability will also be developed

The DNA methylome of cervical cells can predict the presence of ovarian cancer

The vast majority of epithelial ovarian cancer arises from tissues that are embryologically derived from the Müllerian Duct. Here, we demonstrate that a DNA methylation signature in easy-to-access Müllerian Duct-derived cervical cells from women with and without ovarian cancer (i.e. referred to as the Women’s risk IDentification for Ovarian Cancer index or WID-OC-index) is capable of identifying women with an ovarian cancer in the absence of tumour DNA with an AUC of 0.76 and women with an endometrial cancer with an AUC of 0.81. This and the observation that the cervical cell WID-OC-index mimics the epigenetic program of those cells at risk of becoming cancerous in BRCA1/2 germline mutation carriers (i.e. mammary epithelium, fallopian tube fimbriae, prostate) further suggest that the epigenetic misprogramming of cervical cells is an indicator for cancer predisposition. This concept has the potential to advance the field of risk-stratified cancer screening and prevention

Community-based arts research for people with learning disabilities: challenging misconceptions about learning disabilities

This article presents some of the community-based artwork of a group of men with learning disabilities, who aimed to challenge some of the misconceptions associated with learning disabilities. People with learning disabilities regularly face many forms of direct and indirect stigma. The consequences of such negative perceptions may affect individuals’ social relationships and ensure that barriers are strengthened which prevent their full inclusion. The men in this project used a series of visual and creative methods to challenge some of these misconceptions by telling stories through art, demonstrating skill through photography, using poetry to talk about sexual identity and improvising drama and filmmaking to challenge stigma, and through sculpture expressed their voices. Thus, by doing so, they were able to challenge some of the stigma associated with learning disabilities, indicating that community-based arts research is a valuable way in which to promote the voices of people with learning disabilities

Improving nursing care in a children’s hospital in rural India

Background: Nursing care quality in developing countries is an ongoing challenge leading to poor patient outcomes. The objective of this study is to evaluate changes in nursing performance providing routine cares following a training program in children’s hospital in Mota Fofalia, Gujarat, India. Methods: The main outcome measure was the proportion of newborns with vital signs and weights obtained by nursing staff before and after a training program. The training program consisted of an in-service reinforced by hands-on management of patient care for 2 weeks. Following the training, the nurses were observed for 2 months. Results: Observation of 138 newborn encounters demonstrated a 29.7% improvement in vital sign monitoring and 88.4% in weight monitoring from the 0% baseline. Conclusion: We observed a moderate improvement in measuring vital signs and a substantial improvement in measuring weights in newborns with the training intervention. For further improvement, continued training, and follow-up is indicated