Specificity and context in post-exercise recovery:it is not a one-size-fits-all approach

The concept of specificity of exercise prescription and training is a longstanding and widely accepted foundation of the exercise sciences. Simply, the principle holds that training adaptations are achieved relative to the stimulus applied. That is, the manipulation of training variables (e.g. intensity or loading, mode, volume and frequency) directly influences the acute training stimulus, and so the long-term adaptive response (Young et al., 2001; Bird et al., 2005). Translating this concept to practice then recommends that exercise be prescribed specific to the desired outcomes, and the more closely this is achieved, the greater the performance gain is likely to be. However, the cardiovascular and metabolic adaptations traditionally associated with long, slow distance training types, similarly achieved using high-intensity training methods (for a review see Gibala et al., 2012), highlights understanding of underlying physiology as paramount for effective training program design. Various other factors including illness, sleep and psychology also impact on the training stimulus (Halson, 2014) and must be managed collectively with appropriate post-exercise recovery to continue performance improvements and reduce overtraining and injury risks (Kenttä and Hassmén, 1998)

Microbeads Effect on the Reproduction and Mortality Rate of Daphnia

Is the ingestion of microplastics affecting the reproduction and mortality rate of daphnia? If so, does the microbead diameter matter? To test these questions, daphnia were split into 2 cohorts. The first cohort was exposed to microbeads for 24 hours, and the second was exposed for 10 days. Having two exposure periods allows microbead retention within the digestive tracts to be tracked. When daphnia are exposed to beads for an extended period of time, they’re likely to ingest more beads and clog their digestive tract. Each cohort were then separated into 3 groups of 20 daphnia. The first group were a control group and were not exposed to microbeads. The second group were exposed to 1mg of microbeads per 100mL of water, a moderate level of microbeads. The final group were exposed to a very high level of microbeads in their water, 10mg of beads per 100mL of water. This experiment is running multiple times over with various sizes of microbeads ranging from 1-100 micrometers (μm). The experiment is currently on-going, however the trial experiment showed evidence that daphnia within the highest exposure group had a much larger mortality rate. The experiment is also being run with different species of daphnia. This is to test and see if larger daphnia are less sensitive to microbead exposure. The different sizes of daphnia also shows how different sizes of microbeads affect different sizes of daphnia, whether or not bead size and density affect reproduction and mortality rates

A qualitative study investigating the sources of teacher efficacy beliefs

A teacher’s efficacy beliefs have been found to influence their professional commitment (Coladarci, 1992; Ware and Kitsantas, 2007, 2011; Klassen et al., 2013), their job satisfaction (Caprara et al., 2006, Hoigaard et al., 2012) and how resilient they are in difficult situations (Ashton and Webb, 1986), as well as influencing student achievement and teaching performance (Armor et al., 1976; Caprara et al, 2006; Klassen and Tze, 2014). Bandura (1997) has suggested that self-efficacy beliefs are formed from four sources: enactive mastery experiences, vicarious experiences, verbal persuasion and physiological and affective states. Considering the potential importance of developing positive teacher efficacy cognitions, there has been a lack of research investigating the sources of teacher efficacy beliefs (Henson, 2002; Klassen et al, 2011). This study used a constructivist grounded theory method to investigate the sources of teachers’ efficacy beliefs, a method that has not been employed by other researchers in this area. The use of a social constructivist framework (Charmaz, 2006), with its focus on processes and the creation of knowledge through interaction, reflected my belief that my own experiences as a teacher may influence the interpretation of the data. In this study, 18 interviews were conducted with teachers in a secondary school in Essex. Teachers appeared to use a variety of sources to validate their efficacy beliefs. In contrast to Bandura’s (1997) theory about the sources of self-efficacy beliefs suggesting mastery experiences as the most important, verbal persuasion in the form of lesson observation feedback appeared to be a particularly salient source for teachers in this study. The study suggests that this may be due to the increasing accountability culture in English schools. The study contributes to our understanding of how teacher efficacy beliefs are influenced by contextual factors, in particular the influence of government agendas, and suggests some implications for school leaders and areas for future research

Brown trout in the Falkland Islands: invasion ecology, population structure and genetic diversity

Biological invasions are important causes of biodiversity loss, particularly in remote islands. Non-native salmonids, such as brown trout (Salmo trutta), have been widely introduced throughout the Southern Hemisphere, impacting endangered native fauna, particularly galaxiid fishes, through predation and competition. However, due to their importance for sport fishing and aquaculture, they are often protected, and any attempts to curtail their impacts are generally met with limited support, which poses a conservation conundrum. The best prospect of protecting native galaxiids is to predict where and how salmonids might disperse. This thesis aims to answer three main questions about brown trout in the Falkland Islands in order to provide resource managers with information to facilitate conservation planning to minimize the impacts of brown trout on native galaxiids. (1) determine the distribution of invasive brown trout and native zebra trout, Aplochiton zebra and Aplochiton taeniatus. (2) estimate patterns of movement and (3) assess the population structuring and estimate levels of gene flow between different rivers and populations of brown trout in the Falklands. To meet these aims, I used state-of-the-art methods, including SNP genotyping, stable isotope analysis, acoustic tagging, and environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis. The results of this thesis suggest that establishment success (calculated as the proportion of historical introductions where brown trout became established) was ~88% and that brown trout are continuing to spread from their original sites of introduction. The native Aplochiton species have disappeared from most rivers invaded by brown trout. Four genetically distinct clusters of brown trout were identified, with high levels of gene flow indicating widespread dispersal of brown trout across the Falkland Islands. Without strong containment, brown trout are predicted to invaded nearly all suitable freshwater habitats in the Falklands within the next ~70 years, which might put native galaxiids at a high risk of extinction

The Effect of Sport Participation on Bone

Mechanical loading – or physical activity – is essential in the bone remodeling process as well as optimizing the densitometric and geometric properties of bone throughout the lifespan. Participation in sports is a common mode of physical activity that can enhance bone mass accrual at younger ages and facilitate bone mass maintenance at older ages. Research suggests that sport participation continued from adolescence into high school and college provides added benefits on aBMD and cortical bone measures and these benefits remain 10-15 years after retirement from sport. However, in most studies, the higher rates of bone loss after sport cessation in the athlete population leads to similar aBMD measures as non-athletes by fifty to sixty years of age. The following chapters introduce research studies that use DXA and pQCT measures during collegiate sport participation and after sport cessation to evaluate the short- and long-term effects on aBMD, cortical and trabecular bone parameters. The topics of the influence of a training season on bone and body composition of female collegiate soccer players, the response of aBMD to a range of years of retirement from collegiate soccer and football, and the comparison of DXA and pQCT measures between groups with various sport-seasons of high school and college sport participation multiple years after sport cessation are reported. Overall, participation in sport provides short-term benefits on bone; however, this benefit does not persist beyond the mid-fifties

Prototyping a fleet of solar electric vehicles: A case study of 11,895 kilometers in Kenya.

Even though more people around the world have access to energy than ever before, the number of people without energy in Sub-Saharan Africa has increased. To address this issue, electrification through decentralized renewable-based solutions is gaining traction. There are very limited public transportation systems that rely primarily on diesel-powered vehicles, some of which are significant polluters, requiring a thoughtful approach that considers the tradeoff between economic growth and sustainable development. As a result, electromobility is high on the list of alternatives critical to Africa's long-term prosperity, especially for the continent's rural population, where transportation and energy infrastructure are typically unsustainable. In response to this dilemma, evidence is shown in this article that presents a feasible economic  solution based on solar electric vehicles as part of a large-scale response to the continent’s growing demands

The Fabry disease-associated lipid Lyso-Gb3 enhances voltage-gated calcium currents in sensory neurons and causes pain

Fabry disease is an X-linked lysosomal storage disorder characterised by accumulation of glycosphingolipids, and accompanied by clinical manifestations, such as cardiac disorders, renal failure, pain and peripheral neuropathy. Globotriaosylsphingosine (lyso-Gb3), a deacylated form of globotriaosylceramide (Gb3), has emerged as a marker of Fabry disease. We investigated the link between Gb3, lyso-Gb3 and pain. Plantar administration of lyso-Gb3 or Gb3 caused mechanical allodynia in healthy mice. In vitro application of 100nM lyso-Gb3 caused uptake of extracellular calcium in 10% of sensory neurons expressing nociceptor markers, rising to 40% of neurons at 1μM, a concentration that may occur in Fabry disease patients. Peak current densities of voltage-dependent Ca(2+) channels were substantially enhanced by application of 1μM lyso-Gb3. These studies suggest a direct role for lyso-Gb3 in the sensitisation of peripheral nociceptive neurons that may provide an opportunity for therapeutic intervention in the treatment of Fabry disease-associated pain

Injuries, load, mood, stress, and compliance with monitoring within semesters of a tertiary dance program: a longitudinal cohort study

Purpose: This investigation aims to analyse the weekly pattern of injuries, monitor load, mood, and stress, and assess compliance with training monitoring in a three–year tertiary dance cohort to guide injury reduction strategies. Methods: A retrospective and prospective cohort study design was followed, with consenting tertiary dance students included. Access was granted to onsite physiotherapy notes for injury data, in addition to academic timetables, and enrolment information to determine exposure data. Injury was defined as requiring medical attention. Rate ratios of injury were calculated for each week compared with other weeks for the six semesters of the program. Participants entered daily ratings of perceived exertion, collected weekly, and completed mood and stress questionnaires at time points across one semester. Mean and standard deviations for training load, mood and stress were observed across one semester. The University Human Research Ethics Committee approved this study. Results and Discussion: Fourteen students (six first years, two second years, six third years) consented to participate. Injury rates were significantly increased for Weeks 5, and 2 of Semesters 1, and 2, and Week 1 in Semesters 3 and 4. Participants involved in an international tour had mean fatigue scores of 4+1.83 out of a possible 16 at semester 6 commencement, increasing to 6.5+2.08 post-tour, and further to 11.5+0.71 in week 10 of 14. Participants not involved in the tour were observed to have an increase in anger from 3.75+1.67 at semester commencement, to 7.33+0.58 in week 12. Compliance with completing monitoring questionnaires decreased from 89% to 0% across the semester. Conclusion: Certain weeks in proximity to returning to technique classes were observed to have increased injuries across a tertiary dance training program. Increases in fatigue, and anger can be seen in separate subgroups across the semester, spikes in training load seen in parallel with injury, and increases in stress during rehearsal weeks were seen. Compliance with monitoring strategies was poor within this cohort. Providing education, giving feedback, and introducing monitoring early in careers may promote compliance with training monitoring. Further research should consider the perceptions of training load practices in dance populations