Exergames experience in physical education : a review

Exergames are consoles that require a higher physical effort to play when compared to traditional video games. Active video games, active gaming, interactive games, movement-controlled video games, exertion games, and exergaming are terms used to define the kinds of video games in which the exertion interface enables a new experience. Exergames have added a component of physical activity to the otherwise motionless video game environment and have the potential to contribute to physical education classes by supplementing the current activity options and increasing student enjoyment. The use of exergames in schools has already shown positive results in the past through their potential to fight obesity. As for the pedagogical aspects of exergames, they have attracted educators’ attention due to the large number of games and activities that can be incorporated into the curriculum. In this way, the school must consider the development of a new physical education curriculum in which the key to promoting healthy physical activity in children and youth is enjoyment, using video games as a tool. In this context, the aim is to conduct a brief review of the use of exergames in physical education curriculum, exploring school curriculum, digital culture, and motivation and enjoyment for the learning processes in the video game environmen

Self-perceived normality in defecation habits

Background: Available information on normal bowel habits was mainly gathered by means of telephone interviews or mailed questionnaires. Aims: We undertook a prospective study to evaluate the defecatory habits in subjects perceiving themselves as normal concerning this function. Subjects and Methods: A questionnaire (4-week diary with "yes-no" daily answers to six questions concerning bowel habits) was distributed to 204 subjects perceiving their defecation behaviour as normal. Results: The completed questionnaire was returned by 140 subjects. No significant differences were found between sexes or age groups for any variable, even though straining at stool and feeling of incomplete and/or difficult evacuation showed a trend to increase with age. No subject had less than three bowel movements per week or more than three per day. The percentage of symptoms linked to an abnormal defecatory behaviour was well below 10%. Fifty-five percent of subjects reported at least one parameter of abnormal functioning; the most frequent was straining at stool and the rarer was the manual manoeuvres to help defecation. Conclusions: In normal subjects the prevalence of symptoms considered in Rome II criteria as part of an abnormal defecatory behaviour (in more than 25% of defecations) is well below 10%, manual manoeuvres are almost never used to help defecation, and the frequency of defecations is at least three per week. © 2005 Editrice Gastroenterologica Italiana S.r.l

Effect of remote ischaemic conditioning on clinical outcomes in patients with acute myocardial infarction (CONDI-2/ERIC-PPCI): a single-blind randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Remote ischaemic conditioning with transient ischaemia and reperfusion applied to the arm has been shown to reduce myocardial infarct size in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI). We investigated whether remote ischaemic conditioning could reduce the incidence of cardiac death and hospitalisation for heart failure at 12 months. METHODS: We did an international investigator-initiated, prospective, single-blind, randomised controlled trial (CONDI-2/ERIC-PPCI) at 33 centres across the UK, Denmark, Spain, and Serbia. Patients (age >18 years) with suspected STEMI and who were eligible for PPCI were randomly allocated (1:1, stratified by centre with a permuted block method) to receive standard treatment (including a sham simulated remote ischaemic conditioning intervention at UK sites only) or remote ischaemic conditioning treatment (intermittent ischaemia and reperfusion applied to the arm through four cycles of 5-min inflation and 5-min deflation of an automated cuff device) before PPCI. Investigators responsible for data collection and outcome assessment were masked to treatment allocation. The primary combined endpoint was cardiac death or hospitalisation for heart failure at 12 months in the intention-to-treat population. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02342522) and is completed. FINDINGS: Between Nov 6, 2013, and March 31, 2018, 5401 patients were randomly allocated to either the control group (n=2701) or the remote ischaemic conditioning group (n=2700). After exclusion of patients upon hospital arrival or loss to follow-up, 2569 patients in the control group and 2546 in the intervention group were included in the intention-to-treat analysis. At 12 months post-PPCI, the Kaplan-Meier-estimated frequencies of cardiac death or hospitalisation for heart failure (the primary endpoint) were 220 (8·6%) patients in the control group and 239 (9·4%) in the remote ischaemic conditioning group (hazard ratio 1·10 [95% CI 0·91-1·32], p=0·32 for intervention versus control). No important unexpected adverse events or side effects of remote ischaemic conditioning were observed. INTERPRETATION: Remote ischaemic conditioning does not improve clinical outcomes (cardiac death or hospitalisation for heart failure) at 12 months in patients with STEMI undergoing PPCI. FUNDING: British Heart Foundation, University College London Hospitals/University College London Biomedical Research Centre, Danish Innovation Foundation, Novo Nordisk Foundation, TrygFonden

La saprolegniosi in trote di allevamento: trattamento sperimentale con sali minerali disciolti in vasca di medicazione

RIASSUNTO Il Cloruro di sodio (NaCl) a diversi tempi di trattamento ed a concentrazioni variabili è utilizzato nella terapia di infezioni cutanee in genere e di Saprolegniosi in particolare, in pesci di acqua dolce. Nella nostra sperimentazione, nella prima fase sono stati utilizzati NaCl e CASO (NaCl 67% e CaCl2 33%) a diverse concentrazioni su trote adulte sane in vasche di stabulario allo scopo di rilevare, comparativamente, tollerabilità, assenza di tossicità e durata dei trattamenti; nella seconda è stato utilizzato CASO alla concentrazione di 1,5%, in apposita vasca di medicazione su riproduttori di trota fario (Salmo trutta) ed iridea (Salmo gairdnerii) colpite da Saprolegniosi. Le trote, dopo sette giorni di permanenza in vasca di medicazione sono state catturate e sottoposte a controlli clinici, esami micologici e batteriologici. Le lesioni cutanee hanno evidenziato il distacco delle pseudomembrane, la progressiva riduzione delle aree ulcerose e l’inizio del processo di cicatrizzazione. Gli esami micologici e batteriologici hanno evidenziato l’assenza di miceti e batteri sulle ulcere cutanee. I riproduttori, successivamente tenuti in osservazione per tre settimane in vasca post medicazione, hanno mostrato riadattamento all’acqua dolce, assenza di sintomi generali ed ulteriore progresso dei processi riparativi cutanei. SUMMARY In the therapy of skin infection, and in particular in the therapy of Saprolegniosis in the freshwater fish, the Sodium Chloride is utilized at various times of treatment and at variable concentrations. In our study, in a first step, we have used NaCl and CASO (NaCl 67% and CaCl2 33%) on healthy mature trout at various concentrations, to estab- lish tolerability, toxicity and times of treatment. In a second step we have used in a medicated fish pond, on mature trout with saprolegniosis, CASO at the concentration of 1.5%. Clinical controls were done at six, twelve and twenty-four hours, and at 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 days. After 7 days of treatment some trout were captured for clinical, mycological and bacteriological controls. In the skin lesions, we saw the detaching of the pseudomembranes, the progressive reduction of ulcerous areas and the start of the healing process. Mycological and bacteriological exams have shown the absence of fungus and bacteria on skin ulcer. Then, the trout were transferred in a no medicated fish pond and observed for other tree week. In this period we looked at the readaptation at the freshwater, the absence of general symptoms and the progress of healing process of the skin

Coping with Extreme Events : Effect of Different Reservoir Operation Strategies on Flood Inundation Maps

The need of addressing residual flood risk associated with structural protection measures, such as levee systems and flood-control reservoirs, has fostered actions aimed at increasing flood risk awareness. Structural measures have lowered risk perception by inducing a false sense of safety. As a result, these structures contribute to an underestimation of the residual risk. We analyze the effect of different reservoir operations, such as coping with drought versus coping with flood events, on flood inundation patterns. First, a hydrological model simulates different scenarios, which represent the dam regulation strategies. Each regulation strategy is the combination of an opening of the outlet gate and of the initial water level in the reservoir. Second, the corresponding outputs of the dam in terms of maximum discharge values are estimated. Then, in turn, each output of the dam is used as an upstream boundary condition of a hydraulic model used to simulate the flood propagation and the inundation processes in the river reach. The hydraulic model is thus used to determine the effect, in terms of inundated areas, of each dam regulation scenario. Finally, the ensemble of all flood inundation maps is built to define the areas more prone to be flooded. The test site is the Casanuova dam (Umbria, central Italy) which aims at: (i) mitigating floods occurring at the Chiascio River, one of the main tributaries of Tiber River, while (ii) providing water supply for irrigation. Because of these two competitive interests, the understanding of different scenarios generated by the dam operations offers an unique support to flood mitigation strategies. Results can lead to draw interesting remarks for a wide number of case studies