Linking secondary school physical education with community sport and recreation for girls: a process evaluation

Background: The purpose of this study was to undertake a process evaluation to examine the reach, adoption and implementation of a school-community linked physical activity (PA) program for girls aged 12 - 15 years (School Years 7 - 9) using the RE-AIM framework.Methods. Various approaches were used to assess 'reach', 'adoption' and implementation: (a) a school environment survey of intervention schools (n = 6); (b) teacher feedback regarding the professional development component (91.1% response rate) and lesson implementation (60.8% response rate); and (c) post-intervention focus group interviews with physical education (PE) teachers (n = 29), students (n = 125), coaches (n = 13) and instructors (n = 8) regarding program experiences. However, there was a lack of individual and organisational readiness to adopt program principles. For some deliverers there were deeply embedded ideologies that were not aligned with the Game Sense teaching approach upon which the program was based. Further, cognitive components of the program such as self-management were not widely adopted as other components of the program tended to be prioritised. Conclusion: The program design and resources supported the success of the program, however, some aspects were not implemented as intended, which may have affected the likelihood of achieving further positive outcomes. Barriers to program implementation were identified and should be considered when designing school-community linked interventions. In particular, future programs should seek to assess and adjust for organizational readiness within the study design. For example, shared commitment and abilities of program deliverers to implement the program needs to be determined to support program implementation

Terrestrial mammals of a sheep-grazing property on Bruny Island, Tasmania

Land-based mammals were surveyed in a mosaic of dry sclerophyll forests and pasture on a sheep-grazing property on Bruny Island, Tasmania, using a range of methods in August 2010. 'This is the first mammal survey of a sheep-grazing property in Tasmania and the first large-scale survey of mammals on Bruny Island. Ten species were recorded comprising seven native and three introduced species. The Little Forest Bat, Vespadelus vulturnus, and the Black Rat, Rattus rattus, were recorded for the first time on Bruny Island, although both are probably long-term residents. No mammal species listed as rare or threatened under Tasmanian or Australian legislation were found on the property. Large numbers of Eastern Quolls, Dasyurus viverrinus, Brushtail Possums, Trichosurus vulpecula, Tasmanian Pademelons, Thylogale billardierii, and Bennetts Wallabies, Macropus rufogriseus, were recorded in a range of dry sclerophyll forests and in pasture. Longnosed Potoroos, Potorous tridactylus, were recorded widely on the property in native vegetation with relatively thick ground cover. Eastern Quoll capture rates were highest in pasture areas and in Eucalyptus ovata forest. Brushtail Possums, Long-nosed Potoroos, Tasmanian Pademelons and Bennetts Wallabies were virtually unrecorded from E. tenuiramis forest and woodlands. Given the level of survey effort and their potential to occur on the property it was remarkable that no Tasmanian Bettong, Bettongia gaimardi, Eastern Barred Bandicoot, Perameles gunnii, Southern Brown Bandicoot, lsoodon obesulus, or introduced House Mouse, Mus musculus, were recorded. We found that camera trapping was more cost-efficient than cage trapping for detecting the presence of mammals on "Murrayfield". Recommendations for ongoing management and monitoring of mammals are provided

The association between socioeconomic disadvantage and children’s working memory abilities: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background and objective: Working memory is an essential cognitive skill for storing and processing limited amounts of information over short time periods. Researchers disagree about the extent to which socioeconomic position affects children’s working memory, yet no study has systematically synthesised the literature regarding this topic. The current review therefore aimed to investigate the relationship between socioeconomic position and working memory in children, regarding both the magnitude and the variability of the association. Methods: The review protocol was registered on PROSPERO and the PRISMA checklist was followed. Embase, Psycinfo and MEDLINE were comprehensively searched via Ovid from database inception until 3rd June 2021. Studies were screened by two reviewers at all stages. Studies were eligible if they included typically developing children aged 0–18 years old, with a quantitative association reported between any indicator of socioeconomic position and children’s working memory task performance. Studies were synthesised using two data-synthesis methods: random effects meta-analyses and a Harvest plot. Key findings: The systematic review included 64 eligible studies with 37,737 individual children (aged 2 months to 18 years). Meta-analyses of 36 of these studies indicated that socioeconomic disadvantage was associated with significantly lower scores working memory measures; a finding that held across different working memory tasks, including those that predominantly tap into storage (d = 0.45; 95% CI 0.27 to 0.62) as well as those that require processing of information (d = 0.52; 0.31 to 0.72). A Harvest plot of 28 studies ineligible for meta-analyses further confirmed these findings. Finally, meta-regression analyses revealed that the association between socioeconomic position and working memory was not moderated by task modality, risk of bias, socioeconomic indicator, mean age in years, or the type of effect size. Conclusion: This is the first systematic review to investigate the association between socioeconomic position and working memory in children. Socioeconomic disadvantage was associated with lower working memory ability in children, and that this association was similar across different working memory tasks. Given the strong association between working memory, learning, and academic attainment, there is a clear need to share these findings with practitioners working with children, and investigate ways to support children with difficulties in working memory

Lipids and nutrition of the southern rock lobster, Jasus edwardsii, from hatch to puerulus

We examined the lipid class and fatty-acid composition of the southern rock lobster, Jasus edwardsii, phyllosomas larvae and puerulus stage to improve understanding of their nutrition in relation to aquaculture. Lipid is critical in the nutrition of larval crustaceans, including lobsters. Specimens were from Tasmanian waters, Australia, and North Island, New Zealand, waters. Analyses were by TLC-FID and capillary GC and GC-MS. Phyllosomas larvae and nektonic pueruli were low in storage lipid (triacylglycerol), and phospholipid was the major lipid class. Sterol, mainly cholesterol, was the next most abundant class. The ratio of the essential omega-3 fatty acid eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) to the omega-6 fatty acid arachidonic acid (AA) was lower in newly hatched phyllosomas (1.2-1.3) than in other phyllosomas (stages III-XI; 2.8-6.7) and pueruli (3.8). Ratios of the omega-3 fatty acid DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) to EPA were also lower in newly hatched phyllosomas (0.5) than in later-stage phyllosomas (1.5-2.1) and pueruli (1.2). We have followed up these compositional data by successfully enriching the live diet (Artemia) of early phyllosomas with AA, EPA and DHA. This dietary manipulation has achieved ratios of these key polyunsaturated fatty acids similar to those of wild phyllosomas. These findings will be of significance to the future of rock-lobster aquaculture

Knockout studies reveal an important role of <i>plasmodium</i> lipoic acid protein ligase a1 for asexual blood stage parasite survival

Lipoic acid (LA) is a dithiol-containing cofactor that is essential for the function of a-keto acid dehydrogenase complexes. LA acts as a reversible acyl group acceptor and 'swinging arm' during acyl-coenzyme A formation. The cofactor is post-translationally attached to the acyl-transferase subunits of the multienzyme complexes through the action of octanoyl (lipoyl): &lt;i&gt;N&lt;/i&gt;-octanoyl (lipoyl) transferase (LipB) or lipoic acid protein ligases (LplA). Remarkably, apicomplexan parasites possess LA biosynthesis as well as scavenging pathways and the two pathways are distributed between mitochondrion and a vestigial organelle, the apicoplast. The apicoplast-specific LipB is dispensable for parasite growth due to functional redundancy of the parasite's lipoic acid/octanoic acid ligases/transferases. In this study, we show that &lt;i&gt;LplA1&lt;/i&gt; plays a pivotal role during the development of the erythrocytic stages of the malaria parasite. Gene disruptions in the human malaria parasite &lt;i&gt;P.falciparum&lt;/i&gt; consistently were unsuccessful while in the rodent malaria model parasite &lt;i&gt;P. berghei&lt;/i&gt; the &lt;i&gt;LplA1&lt;/i&gt; gene locus was targeted by knock-in and knockout constructs. However, the &lt;i&gt;LplA1&lt;/i&gt; &lt;sup&gt;(-)&lt;/sup&gt; mutant could not be cloned suggesting a critical role of LplA1 for asexual parasite growth &lt;i&gt;in vitro&lt;/i&gt; and &lt;i&gt;in vivo&lt;/i&gt;. These experimental genetics data suggest that lipoylation during expansion in red blood cells largely occurs through salvage from the host erythrocytes and subsequent ligation of LA to the target proteins of the malaria parasite

Support for a synaptic chain model of neuronal sequence generation

In songbirds, the remarkable temporal precision of song is generated by a sparse sequence of bursts in the premotor nucleus HVC. To distinguish between two possible classes of models of neural sequence generation, we carried out intracellular recordings of HVC neurons in singing zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata). We found that the subthreshold membrane potential is characterized by a large, rapid depolarization 5–10 ms before burst onset, consistent with a synaptically connected chain of neurons in HVC. We found no evidence for the slow membrane potential modulation predicted by models in which burst timing is controlled by subthreshold dynamics. Furthermore, bursts ride on an underlying depolarization of ~10-ms duration, probably the result of a regenerative calcium spike within HVC neurons that could facilitate the propagation of activity through a chain network with high temporal precision. Our results provide insight into the fundamental mechanisms by which neural circuits can generate complex sequential behaviours.National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant MH067105)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant DC009280)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (IOS-0827731)Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (Research Fellowship

Slip and hall current effects on Jeffrey fluid suspension flow in a peristaltic hydromagnetic blood micropump

The magnetic properties of blood allow it to be manipulated with an electromagnetic field. Electromagnetic blood flow pumps are a robust technology which provide more elegant and sustainable performance compared with conventional medical pumps. Blood is a complex multi-phase suspension with non-Newtonian characteristics which are significant in micro-scale transport. Motivated by such applications, in the present article a mathematical model is developed for magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) pumping of blood in a deformable channel with peristaltic waves. A Jeffery’s viscoelastic formulation is employed for the rheology of blood. A twophase fluid-particle (“dusty”) model is utilized to better simulate suspension characteristics (plasma and erythrocytes). Hall current and wall slip effects are incorporated to achieve more realistic representation of actual systems. A two-dimensional asymmetric channel with dissimilar peristaltic wave trains propagating along the walls is considered. The governing conservation equations for mass, fluid and particle momentum are formulated with appropriate boundary conditions. The model is simplified using of long wavelength and creeping flow approximations. The model is also transformed from the fixed frame to the wave frame and rendered non-dimensional. Analytical solutions are derived. The resulting boundary value problem is solved analytically and exact expressions are derived for the fluid velocity, particulate velocity, fluid/particle fluid and particulate volumetric flow rates, axial pressure gradient, pressure rise and skin friction distributions are evaluated in detail. Increasing Hall current parameter reduces bolus growth in the channel, particle phase velocity and pressure difference in the augmented pumping region whereas it increases fluid phase velocity, axial pressure gradient and pressure difference in the pumping region. Increasing the hydrodynamic slip parameter accelerates both particulate and fluid phase flow at and close to the channel walls, enhances wall skin friction, boosts pressure difference in the augmented pumping region and increases bolus magnitudes. Increasing viscoelastic parameter (stress relaxation time to retardation time ratio) decelerates the fluid phase flow, accelerates the particle phase flow, decreases axial pressure gradient, elevates pressure difference in the augmented pumping region and reduces pressure difference in the pumping region. Increasing drag particulate suspension parameter decelerates the particle phase velocity, accelerates the fluid phase velocity, strongly elevates axial pressure gradient and reduces pressure difference (across one wavelength) in the augmented pumping region. Increasing particulate volume fraction density enhances bolus magnitudes in both the upper and lower zones of the channel and elevates pressure rise in the augmented pumping region

Primary staging and follow-up in melanoma patients – monocenter evaluation of methods, costs and patient survival

In a German cohort of 661 melanoma patients the performance, costs and survival benefits of staging methods (history and physical examination; chest X-ray; ultrasonography of the abdomen; high resolution sonography of the peripheral lymph nodes) were assessed at initial staging and during follow-up of stage I/II+III disease. At initial staging, 74% (23 out of 31) of synchronous metastases were first detected by physical examination followed by sonography of the lymph nodes revealing 16% (5 out of 31). Other imaging methods were less efficient (Chest X-ray: one out of 31; sonography of abdomen: two out of 31). Nearly 24% of all 127 first recurrences and 18% of 73 second recurrences developed in patients not participating in the follow-up programme. In follow-up patients detection of first or second recurrence were attributed to history and physical examination on a routine visit in 47 and 52% recurrences, respectively, and to routine imaging procedures in 21 and 17% of cases, respectively. Lymph node sonography was the most successful technical staging procedure indicating 13% of first relapses, but comprised 24% of total costs of follow-up in stage I/II. Routine imaging comprised nearly 50% of total costs for follow-up in stage I/II and in stage III. The mode of detecting a relapse (‘patient vs. doctor-diagnosed’ or ‘symptomatic vs asymptomatic’) did not significantly influence patients overall survival. Taken together, imaging procedures for routine follow-up in stage I/II and stage III melanoma patients were inefficient and not cost-efficient