Previous high-intensity activity affects lower limb strength ratios

Lower limb strength ratios are important in assessing muscular imbalances. Typically, these ratios are derived from assessment of explosive, maximum effort activities. Such assessment can be functional or isokinetic. The single-effort nature of these assessments does not provide information on imbalance changes after muscular contractions. Any such change could indicate an increased risk of injury after a period of activity, thus raising questions as to the correct procedure of muscle imbalance assessment. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to assess muscle imbalances over maximum effort repeated cycling sprints. Seventeen healthy, physically active young adults (females: n=4, height 1.62±0.03 m, body mass 68.0±6.5 kg; males: n=13, height 1.80±0.06 m, body mass 80.5±13.8 kg) performed five 6-s sprints with 24-s rest interval on a Lode Excalibur bike with torque and power data recorded for each leg. Average, average maximum (average of maximum from each sprint) and peak torque (TAv, TAvM and TP respectively) and power (PAv, PAvM and PP respectively) were obtained for each leg. Ratios of these variables were calculated as . Wilcoxon's test revealed a significantly stronger leg (p<0.05) for all torque and power variables. Friedman's test indicated a significant ratio increase between TAv (11.7±6.8%) and TAvM (4.6±3.0%, p=0.001) and TP (4.1±3.5%, p=0.001), as well as between PAv (8.8±5.0%) and PAvM (4.5±2.9%, p=0.003) and PP (4.2±2.6, p=0.003%) but not between TAvM and TP (p=0.421) or PAvM and PP (p=0.981). The results indicate that high-intensity activity increases lower limb strength imbalance, resulting in different ratios. The authors posit that muscle imbalance assessment activities conducted at rested state may not accurately reflect the true strength difference between limbs, leading to inaccurate training or rehabilitation advice

A comprehensive review of the current and future role of the microbiome in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is expected to become the second most common cause of cancer death in the USA by 2030, yet progress continues to lag behind that of other cancers, with only 9% of patients surviving beyond 5 years. Long-term survivorship of PDAC and improving survival has, until recently, escaped our understanding. One recent frontier in the cancer field is the microbiome. The microbiome collectively refers to the extensive community of bacteria and fungi that colonise us. It is estimated that there is one to ten prokaryotic cells for each human somatic cell, yet, the significance of this community in health and disease has, until recently, been overlooked. This review examines the role of the microbiome in PDAC and how it may alter survival outcomes. We evaluate the possibility of employing microbiomic signatures as biomarkers of PDAC. Ultimately this review analyses whether the microbiome may be amenable to targeting and consequently altering the natural history of PDAC

Telepresence and the Role of the Senses

The telepresence experience can be evoked in a number of ways. A well-known example is a player of videogames who reports about a telepresence experience, a subjective experience of being in one place or environment, even when physically situated in another place. In this paper we set the phenomenon of telepresence into a theoretical framework. As people react subjectively to stimuli from telepresence, empirical studies can give more evidence about the phenomenon. Thus, our contribution is to bridge the theoretical with the empirical. We discuss theories of perception with an emphasis on Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty and Gibson, the role of the senses and the Spinozian belief procedure. The aim is to contribute to our understanding of this phenomenon. A telepresence-study that included the affordance concept is used to empirically study how players report sense-reactions to virtual sightseeing in two cities. We investigate and explore the interplay of the philosophical and the empirical. The findings indicate that it is not only the visual sense that plays a role in this experience, but all senses

'The world is full of big bad wolves': investigating the experimental therapeutic spaces of R.D. Laing and Aaron Esterson

In conjunction with the recent critical assessments of the life and work of R.D. Laing, this paper seeks to demonstrate what is revealed when Laing’s work on families and created spaces of mental health care are examined through a geographical lens. The paper begins with an exploration of Laing’s time at the Tavistock Clinic in London during the 1960s, and of the co-authored text with Aaron Esterson entitled, Sanity, Madness and the Family (1964). The study then seeks to demonstrate the importance Laing and his colleague placed on the time-space situatedness of patients and their worlds. Finally, an account is provided of Laing’s and Esterson’s spatial thinking in relation to their creation of both real and imagined spaces of therapeutic care

More than sense of place? Exploring the emotional dimension of rural tourism experiences

It is widely suggested that participation in rural tourism is underpinned by a sense of rural place or “rurality”. However, although nature and the countryside have long been recognised as a source of spiritual or emotional fulfilment, few have explored the extent to which tourism, itself often claimed to be a sacred experience, offers an emotional/spiritual dimension in the rural context. This paper addresses that literature gap. Using in-depth interviews with rural tourists in the English Lake District, it explores the extent to which, within respondents’ individual understanding of spirituality, a relationship exists between sense of place and deeper, emotional experiences and, especially, whether participation in rural tourism may induce spiritual or emotional responses. The research revealed that all respondents felt a strong attachment to the Lake District; similarly, and irrespective of their openness to spirituality, engaging in rural tourism activities resulted in highly emotive experiences for all respondents, the description/interpretation of such experiences being determined by individual “beliefs”. However, sense of place was not a prerequisite to emotional or spiritual experiences. Being in and engaging with the landscape � effectively becoming part of it � especially through physical activity is fundamental to emotional responses

The Tourist Experience of Heritage Urban Spaces: Valletta as a Case Study

This article provides an understanding of how tourists experience heritage urban spaces by investigating features that influence tourist experiences most. It is framed within urban design literature which refers to three elements of urban space namely physical setting (or form), activity, and meaning. These elements are used to explore how urban spaces are experienced by tourists. Its findings are derived from an in-depth qualitative analysis of interviews with tourists to Valletta, Malta. The research suggests that the intrinsic qualities of the space are relevant to the tourist experience but what is even more relevant are the interactions of the tourist with different elements within that space, namely interactions with surroundings, interactions with others, and interactions with self/meaning. Within this broad conceptual model, the research identifies important sub-themes. Some of these reinforce the findings of existing work on tourist experiences, but others are often under-estimated or neglected

Maternity services in the UK during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic: a national survey of modifications to standard care

Objective To explore the modifications to maternity services across the UK, in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic, in the context of the pandemic guidance issued by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG), Royal College of Midwives (RCM) and NHS England. Design National survey. Setting UK maternity services during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Population or sample Healthcare professionals working within maternity services. Methods A national electronic survey was developed to investigate local modifications to general and specialist maternity care during the COVID‐19 pandemic, in the context of the contemporaneous national pandemic guidance. After a pilot phase, the survey was distributed through professional networks by the RCOG and co‐authors. The survey results were presented descriptively in tabular and graphic formats, with proportions compared using chi‐square tests. Main outcome measures Service modifications made during the pandemic. Results A total of 81 respondent sites, 42% of the 194 obstetric units in the UK, were included. They reported substantial and heterogeneous maternity service modifications. Seventy percent of units reported a reduction in antenatal appointments and 56% reported a reduction in postnatal appointments; 89% reported using remote consultation methods. A change to screening pathways for gestational diabetes mellitus was reported by 70%, and 59% had temporarily removed the offer of births at home or in a midwife‐led unit. A reduction in emergency antenatal presentations was experienced by 86% of units. Conclusions This national survey documents the extensive impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on maternity services in the UK. More research is needed to understand the impact on maternity outcomes and experience

Consumer mobility and well-being among changing places and shifting ethnicities

International audience(Market)places are spatial entities which individuals and groups might experience as meaningful. By highlighting the role of place in ethnic consumer research, this article argues that increased mobility and changing places render relatively stable notions of ethnicity outdated. We identify three main trajectories to revitalize future research on ethnicity. First, we demonstrate the need for research on ethnic identity to be underpinned by a better understanding of the role of place in identity processes. Second, we contend that the established migration/acculturation paradigm should be replaced by the mobility/adaptiveness paradigm. Third, we consider the profound effects of interethnic contact among mobile and immobile populations within shared places on individual and societal well-being

Approaching location-based services from a place-based perspective: from data to services?

Despite the seemingly obvious importance of a link between notions of place and the provision of context in location-based services (LBS), truly place-based LBS remain rare. Place is attractive as a concept for designing services as it focuses on ways in which people, rather than machines, represent and talk about places. We review papers which have extracted place-relevant information from a variety of sources, examining their rationales, the data sources used, the characteristics of the data under study and the ways in which place is represented. Although the data sources used are subject to a wide range of biases, we find that existing methods and data sources are capable of extracting a wide range of place-related information. We suggest categories of LBS which could profit from such information, for example, by using place-related natural language (e.g. vernacular placenames) in tracking and routing services and moving the focus from geometry to place semantics in location-based retrieval. A key future challenge will be to integrate data derived from multiple sources if we are to advance from individual case studies focusing on a single aspect of place to services which can deal with multiple aspects of place