We are failing to improve the evidence base for “Exercise Referral”: How a Physical Activity Referral Scheme Taxonomy can help

Abstract not available

A practical experiment to teach students continuous flow and physico-chemical methods: acetylation of ethylene diamine in liquid bi-phase

Despite growing applications being reported both in academia and industry, continuous flow chemistry remains a relatively untaught field across most chemistry undergraduate courses. This is particularly true in laboratory practical classes, where it is often deemed simpler to carry out synthetic reactions in traditional batch mode using round-bottomed flasks. Herein, we report the development of an undergraduate project that utilises cheap and readily available materials to construct continuous flow reactors. The students compare the performance of different types of reactors and conditions in a biphasic selective acetylation of a symmetrical diamine. Throughout the investigation, the students can vary multiple parameters as they optimise the reaction, thus actively learning and readjusting them based on their improved understanding. The experiments give the students an appreciation of continuous flow techniques in comparison to batch

Suppression of AGN-driven Turbulence by Magnetic Fields in a Magnetohydrodynamic Model of the Intracluster Medium

We investigate the role of AGN feedback in turbulent heating of galaxy clusters. Specifically, we analyze the production of turbulence by g-modes generated by the supersonic expansion and buoyant rise of AGN-driven bubbles. Previous work which neglects magnetic fields has shown that this process is inefficient, with less than 1% of the injected energy ending up in turbulence. This inefficiency is primarily due to the fact that the bubbles are shredded apart by hydrodynamic instabilities before they can excite sufficiently strong g-modes. Using a plane-parallel model of the ICM and 3D ideal MHD simulations, we examine the role of a large-scale magnetic field which is able to drape around these rising bubbles, preserving them from hydrodynamic instabilities. We find that, while magnetic draping appears better able to preserve AGN-driven bubbles, the driving of g-modes and the resulting production of turbulence is still inefficient. The magnetic tension force prevents g-modes from tran- sitioning into the nonlinear regime, suppressing turbulence in our model ICM. Our work highlights the ways in which ideal MHD is an insufficient description for the cluster feedback process, and we discuss future work such as the inclusion of anisotropic viscosity as a means of simulating high β plasma kinetic effects. These results suggest the hypothesis that other mechanisms of heating the ICM plasma such as sound waves or cosmic rays may be responsible for observed feedback in galaxy clusters

AGN feedback in the Phoenix cluster

Active galactic nuclei (AGN) release a huge amount of energy into the intracluster medium (ICM) with the consequence of offsetting cooling and star formation (AGN feedback) in the centers of cool core clusters. The Phoenix cluster is among the most massive clusters of galaxies known in the Universe. It hosts a powerful starburst of several hundreds of Solar masses per year and a large amount of molecular gas in the center. In this work we use the high-resolution Reflection Grating Spectrometer (RGS) on board XMM-Newton to study the X-ray emitting cool gas in the Phoenix cluster and heating-cooling balance. We detect for the first time evidence of O VIII and Fe XXI-XXII emission lines, the latter demonstrating the presence of gas below 2 keV. We find a cooling rate of 350 (-200,+250) Msun/year below 2 keV (at the 90% confidence level), which is consistent with the star formation rate in this object. This cooling rate is high enough to produce the molecular gas found in the filaments via instabilities during the buoyant rising time. The line broadening indicates that the turbulence (~ 300 km/s or less) is below the level required to produce and propagate the heat throughout the cool core. This provides a natural explanation to the coexistence of large amounts of cool gas, star formation and a powerful AGN in the core. The AGN activity may be either at a young stage or in a different feedback mode, due to a high accretion rate

Bioluminescent Reporting of In Vivo IFN-γ Immune Responses during Infection and Autoimmunity

IFN-γ is a key cytokine of innate and adaptive immunity. It is important to understand temporal changes in IFN-γ production and how these changes relate to the role of IFN-γ in diverse models of infectious and autoimmune disease, making the ability to monitor and track IFN-γ production in vivo of a substantial benefit. IFN-γ ELISPOTs have been a central methodology to measure T cell immunity for many years. In this study, we add the capacity to analyze IFN-γ responses with high sensitivity and specificity, longitudinally, in vitro and in vivo. This allows the refinement of experimental protocols because immunity can be tracked in real-time through a longitudinal approach. We have generated a novel murine IFN-γ reporter transgenic model that allows IFN-γ production to be visualized and quantified in vitro and in vivo as bioluminescence using an imaging system. At baseline, in the absence of an inflammatory stimulus, IFN-γ signal from lymphoid tissue is detectable in vivo. Reporter transgenics are used in this study to track the IFN-γ response to Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection in the lung over time in vivo. The longitudinal development of the adaptive T cell immunity following immunization with Ag is identified from day 7 in vivo. Finally, we show that we are able to use this reporter transgenic to follow the onset of autoimmune T cell activation after regulatory T cell depletion in an established model of systemic autoimmunity. This IFN-γ reporter transgenic, termed “Gammaglow,” offers a valuable new modality for tracking IFN-γ immunity, noninvasively and longitudinally over time

Physical activity for general health benefits in disabled children and disabled young people: rapid evidence review<strong> </strong>

Executive summary: Disabled children and disabled young people are at increased risk of being typically inactive, particularly as they become older. These issues have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. This public health-focused report provides a review of the scientific evidence of the health benefits from physical activity, specifically for disabled children and disabled young people in non-clinical settings (aged 2 to 17 years). The research responds to a gap identified in the review of evidence for the 2019 UK Chief Medical Officers’ (CMOs’) physical activity guidelines. This important adjunct report enhances the comprehensiveness of the UK’s physical activity guidelines provision. It also provides future research recommendations. Furthermore, the report will also inform the first evidence-based infographic co-produced with disabled children and disabled young people, their parents and carers, health and social care professionals, and key disability and sport organisations to communicate meaningful messages about these physical activity recommendations, especially in relation to the frequency and duration of activity.There is evidence that shows a likely relationship between engaging in physical activity and positive health outcomes for disabled children and disabled young people. This report also provides suggestions about the amount (that is, frequency, duration and intensity) of physical activity that is likely to be important for disabled children and disabled young people to undertake to benefit their health. Some physical activity is better than nothing, as small amounts can bring health benefits. For likely substantial health gains, it is important for disabled children and disabled young people to do 120 to 180 minutes of mostly aerobic physical activity per week, at a moderate-to-vigorous intensity. The evidence suggests that this may be achieved in different ways (for example, 20 minutes per day or 40 minutes 3 times per week). It is also important for disabled children and disabled young people to do challenging strength and balance-focused activities on average 3 times per week. No evidence was found to show that physical activity is unsafe for disabled children and disabled young people when it is performed at an appropriate level for their current levels of physical development, fitness, physical and mental functioning (accounting for disability classification and severity), health and physical activity.This report provides evidence that aligns in part with the 2019 UK Chief Medical Officers’ physical activity guidelines for non-disabled children and disabled young people, as well as the 2020 guidelines published by the World Health Organization (WHO) for disabled children and disabled young people. However, there are also important differences in terms of recommended frequency and time. These are made based on the available evidence to provide recommendations specific to disabled children and disabled young people. The report also aids the communication and implementation of the guidelines by providing an evidence-base for disability groups, health and social care professionals, and sport and physical activity organisations to encourage physical activity to disabled children and disabled young people.The guidelines are the first to have included a review of evidence solely focused on disabled children and disabled young people’s physical activity, and thus represent the most comprehensive guidance globally

Limits on turbulent propagation of energy in cool-core clusters of galaxies

We place constraints on the propagation velocity of bulk turbulence within the intracluster medium of three clusters and an elliptical galaxy. Using Reflection Grating Spectrometer measurements of turbulent line broadening, we show that for these clusters, the 90% upper limit on turbulent velocities when accounting for instrumental broadening is too low to propagate energy radially to the cooling radius of the clusters within the required cooling time. In this way, we extend previous Hitomi-based analysis on the Perseus cluster to more clusters, with the intention of applying these results to a future, more extensive catalog. These results constrain models of turbulent heating in AGN feedback by requiring a mechanism which can not only provide sufficient energy to offset radiative cooling, but resupply that energy rapidly enough to balance cooling at each cluster radius

Evaluating a transfer gradient assumption in a fomite-mediated microbial transmission model using an experimental and Bayesian approach

Current microbial exposure models assume that microbial exchange follows a concentration gradient during hand-to-surface contacts. Our objectives were to evaluate this assumption using transfer efficiency experiments and to evaluate a model's ability to explain concentration changes using approximate Bayesian computation (ABC) on these experimental data. Experiments were conducted with two phages (MS2, ΦX174) simultaneously to study bidirectional transfer. Concentrations on the fingertip and surface were quantified before and after fingertip-to-surface contacts. Prior distributions for surface and fingertip swabbing efficiencies and transfer efficiency were used to estimate concentrations on the fingertip and surface post contact. To inform posterior distributions, Euclidean distances were calculated for predicted detectable concentrations (log10 PFU cm−2) on the fingertip and surface post contact in comparison with experimental values. To demonstrate the usefulness of posterior distributions in calibrated model applications, posterior transfer efficiencies were used to estimate rotavirus infection risks for a fingertip-to-surface and subsequent fingertip-to-mouth contact. Experimental findings supported the transfer gradient assumption. Through ABC, the model explained concentration changes more consistently when concentrations on the fingertip and surface were similar. Future studies evaluating microbial transfer should consider accounting for differing fingertip-to-surface and surface-to-fingertip transfer efficiencies and extend this work for other microbial types