Motivations and barriers to prosthesis users participation in physical activity, exercise and sport : a review of the literature

The UK will host the Paralympics in 2012 and the Commonwealth Games in 2014 showcasing the talents of elite athletes and aiming to inspire the population to become involved. However, low levels of physical activity (PA) are prevalent: only 40% of men and 28% of women meet the minimum UK recommendations. The limb absent population is no exception. To determine if people with limb amputations are participating in physical activity and sport; whether post-amputation activity levels match pre-amputation levels; and if there are motivations and barriers to participation. Study design: Literature review Five reviewers systematically search of peer reviewed and gray literature in seven bibliographic databases and the Cochrane Library. Results: Following rigorous elimination, 12 articles were finally included in the review and critically appraised. Four themes were identified: components, rehabilitation outcomes, body image and motivations and barriers to participation. People with limb absence are not participating in PA conducive to health benefits, and only a minority participate in exercise and sports. Participation following amputation does not mirror that of pre-amputation levels, and more barriers than motivations exist to adopting and maintaining a physically active lifestyle. This literature review aims to inform those involved in rehabilitation and ongoing care of those with limb absence about what motivates or precludes their participation in physical activity, exercise and sport. Such knowledge could be applied to improving health and well being in this population

Human Young Children as well as Adults Demonstrate ‘Superior’ Rapid Snake Detection When Typical Striking Posture Is Displayed by the Snake

Humans as well as some nonhuman primates have an evolved predisposition to associate snakes with fear by detecting their presence as fear-relevant stimuli more rapidly than fear-irrelevant ones. In the present experiment, a total of 74 of 3- to 4-year-old children and adults were asked to find a single target black-and-white photo of a snake among an array of eight black-and-white photos of flowers as distracters. As target stimuli, we prepared two groups of snake photos, one in which a typical striking posture was displayed by a snake and the other in which a resting snake was shown. When reaction time to find the snake photo was compared between these two types of the stimuli, its mean value was found to be significantly smaller for the photos of snakes displaying striking posture than for the photos of resting snakes in both the adults and children. These findings suggest the possibility that the human perceptual bias for snakes per se could be differentiated according to the difference of the degree to which their presence acts as a fear-relevant stimulus

The bashful and the boastful : prestigious leaders and social change in Mesolithic Societies

The creation and maintenance of influential leaders and authorities is one of the key themes of archaeological and historical enquiry. However the social dynamics of authorities and leaders in the Mesolithic remains a largely unexplored area of study. The role and influence of authorities can be remarkably different in different situations yet they exist in all societies and in almost all social contexts from playgrounds to parliaments. Here we explore the literature on the dynamics of authority creation, maintenance and contestation in egalitarian societies, and discuss the implications for our interpretation and understanding of the formation of authorities and leaders and changing social relationships within the Mesolithic

A nice surprise? Predictive processing and the active pursuit of novelty

Recent work in cognitive and computational neuroscience depicts human brains as devices that minimize prediction error signals: signals that encode the difference between actual and expected sensory stimulations. This raises a series of puzzles whose common theme concerns a potential misfit between this bedrock informationtheoretic vision and familiar facts about the attractions of the unexpected. We humans often seem to actively seek out surprising events, deliberately harvesting novel and exciting streams of sensory stimulation. Conversely, we often experience some wellexpected sensations as unpleasant and to-be-avoided. In this paper, I explore several core and variant forms of this puzzle, using them to display multiple interacting elements that together deliver a satisfying solution. That solution requires us to go beyond the discussion of simple information-theoretic imperatives (such as 'minimize long-term prediction error') and to recognize the essential role of species-specific prestructuring, epistemic foraging, and cultural practices in shaping the restless, curious, novelty-seeking human mind

Teacher quality in the twenty first century: new lives, old truths

This chapter is based upon a keynote address to the first global teacher education summit, organised by Beijing Normal University in 2011, in which research across the world about influences which affect teachers' sense of professional identity, capacity for compassion, commitment, resilience and effectiveness long after they have graduated from their pre-service education and training programmes in universities and colleges were shared. The findings suggest that teaching pre-service students about how the conditions in which they work may enhance or diminish their capacity to teach to their best and how they might act to mediate these is a key part of the work of all teacher educators and an important focus for the work of educational researchers

Ethical and Scientific Considerations Regarding Animal Testing and Research

In 1959, William Russell and Rex Burch published the seminal book, The Principles of Humane Experimental Technique, which emphasized reduction, refinement, and replacement of animal use, principles which have since been referred to as the ‘‘3 Rs’’. These principles encouraged researchers to work to reduce the number of animals used in experiments to the minimum considered necessary, refine or limit the pain and distress to which animals are exposed, and replace the use of animals with non-animal alternatives when possible. Despite the attention brought to this issue by Russell and Burch and since, the number of animals used in research and testing has continued to increase, raising serious ethical and scientific issues. Further, while the ‘‘3 Rs’’ capture crucially important concepts, they do not adequately reflect the substantial developments in our new knowledge about the cognitive and emotional capabilities of animals, the individual interests of animals, or an updated understanding of potential harms associated with animal research. This Overview provides a brief summary of the ethical and scientific considerations regarding the use of animals in research and testing, and accompanies a Collection entitled Animals, Research, and Alternatives: Measuring Progress 50 Years Later, which aims to spur ethical and scientific advancement

Path analysis of the relationship between optimism, humor, affectivity, and marital satisfaction among infertile couples

Marital satisfaction is an important factor for establishing a family relationship, feeling satisfied, and living happily together. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between optimism, humor, positive and negative affect, and marital satisfaction among infertile couples. The sample comprised 80 infertile Iranian couples (n = 160) who visited infertility clinics. Participants completed a series of Persian versions of psychometric scales related to optimism (Attributional Style Questionnaire), humor (Humor Styles Questionnaire), marital satisfaction (Enrich Marital Satisfaction Questionnaire), positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA) (Positive and Negative Affect Schedule). The obtained result of Smart PLS statistical analysis confirmed the significant positive correlation between optimism and humor with marital satisfaction and high PA and low NA. Moreover, the findings also provided an adequate fit of the model. The findings demonstrated that infertile couples high in optimism and humor have higher levels of marital satisfaction and high PA and low PA. Based on the study’s findings, interventions for facilitating optimism and humor among infertile couples are discussed

Identifying sources of strength: resilience from the perspective of older people receiving long-term community care

This study seeks to explore the sources of strength giving rise to resilience among older people. Twenty-nine in-depth interviews were conducted with older people who receive long-term community care. The interviews were subjected to a thematic content analysis. The findings suggest that the main sources of strength identified among older people were constituted on three domains of analysis; the individual-, interactional and contextual domain. The individual domain refers to the qualities within older people and comprises of three sub-domains, namely beliefs about one’s competence, efforts to exert control and the capacity to analyse and understand ones situation. Within these subdomains a variety of sources of strength were found like pride about ones personality, acceptance and openness about ones vulnerability, the anticipation on future losses, mastery by practising skills, the acceptance of help and support, having a balanced vision on life, not adapting the role of a victim and carpe-diem. The interactional domain is defined as the way older people cooperate and interact with others to achieve their personal goals. Sources of strength on this domain were empowering (in)formal relationships and the power of giving. Lastly, the contextual domain refers to a broader political-societal level and includes sources of strength like the accessibility of care, the availability of material resources and social policy. The three domains were found to be inherently linked to each other. The results can be used for the development of positive, proactive interventions aimed at helping older people build on the positive aspects of their lives

Disrupted habenula function in major depression.

The habenula is a small, evolutionarily conserved brain structure that plays a central role in aversive processing and is hypothesised to be hyperactive in depression, contributing to the generation of symptoms such as anhedonia. However, habenula responses during aversive processing have yet to be reported in individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD). Unmedicated and currently depressed MDD patients (N=25, aged 18-52 years) and healthy volunteers (N=25, aged 19-52 years) completed a passive (Pavlovian) conditioning task with appetitive (monetary gain) and aversive (monetary loss and electric shock) outcomes during high-resolution functional magnetic resonance imaging; data were analysed using computational modelling. Arterial spin labelling was used to index resting-state perfusion and high-resolution anatomical images were used to assess habenula volume. In healthy volunteers, habenula activation increased as conditioned stimuli (CSs) became more strongly associated with electric shocks. This pattern was significantly different in MDD subjects, for whom habenula activation decreased significantly with increasing association between CSs and electric shocks. Individual differences in habenula volume were negatively associated with symptoms of anhedonia across both groups. MDD subjects exhibited abnormal negative task-related (phasic) habenula responses during primary aversive conditioning. The direction of this effect is opposite to that predicted by contemporary theoretical accounts of depression based on findings in animal models. We speculate that the negative habenula responses we observed may result in the loss of the capacity to actively avoid negative cues in MDD, which could lead to excessive negative focus