Maternal short stature does not predict their children's fatness indicators in a nutritional dual-burden sample of urban Mexican Maya.

The co-existence of very short stature due to poor chronic environment in early life and obesity is becoming a public health concern in rapidly transitioning populations with high levels of poverty. Individuals who have very short stature seem to be at an increased risk of obesity in times of relative caloric abundance. Increasing evidence shows that an individual is influenced by exposures in previous generations. This study assesses whether maternal poor early life environment predicts her child's adiposity using cross sectional design on Maya schoolchildren aged 7-9 and their mothers (n = 57 pairs). We compared maternal chronic early life environment (stature) with her child's adiposity (body mass index [BMI] z-score, waist circumference z-score, and percentage body fat) using multiple linear regression, controlling for the child's own environmental exposures (household sanitation and maternal parity). The research was performed in the south of Merida, Yucatan, Mexico, a low socioeconomic urban area in an upper middle income country. The Maya mothers were very short, with a mean stature of 147 cm. The children had fairly high adiposity levels, with BMI and waist circumference z-scores above the reference median. Maternal stature did not significantly predict any child adiposity indicator. There does not appear to be an intergenerational component of maternal early life chronic under-nutrition on her child's obesity risk within this free living population living in poverty. These results suggest that the co-existence of very short stature and obesity appears to be primarily due to exposures and experiences within a generation rather than across generations

Contractile Rate of Muscle Displacement Estimated from the Slope of the Displacement-Time Curve using Tensiomyography

Tensiomyography (TMG) can estimate the intrinsic contractile potential of a muscle using data between 10 and 90% of the displacement-time curve. However, it is yet to be determined whether this data represents the greatest rate of displacement i.e. the most valid estimate of the maximal shortening velocity of a muscle. The aim of this secondary analysis of data gathered from 10 participants who had maximal displacement (Dm) of the rectus femoris assessed using TMG, was to compare the rate of displacement using data from 0 – 100% of Dm; 10 – 90% of Dm and the most linear phase of the displacement-time curve. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated that rate of displacement increased as data bands narrowed towards the most linear phase of the displacement-time curve (P<0.001). Rate of displacement explained the greatest proportion of variance in total Tc when estimated from the linear phase (R2=0.601; P=0.008). Rate of displacement estimated from data points between 10 – 90% of Dm had a strong association with rate of displacement estimated from the linear phase (r=0.996; P<0.001). The most valid estimate of maximal rate of displacement comes from the linear phase of the displacement-time curve

The Impact of Sleep on Mental Toughness: Evidence From Observational and N-of-1 Manipulation Studies in Athletes

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from American Psychological Association via the DOI in this recordhe purpose of this study was to explore the direction and magnitude of the relationship between sleep and mental toughness and examine the effect of time in bed extension and restriction on mental toughness. Study 1 was an observational study examining the relationship between sleep quality and duration (hours) and mental toughness in 181 participants. Winsorized correlations revealed both longer sleep duration (ρω = .176 [.033, .316], p = .016) and higher quality (ρω = .412 [.270, .541], p ≤ .001) were associated with increased mental toughness. Follow-up regression analyses revealed sleep quality (b = 0.177, [0.117, 0,238], p ≤ .001), but not sleep duration (b = 0.450, [0.3254, 1.22], p = .256), predicted mental toughness score. In Study 2, we utilized a longitudinal N-of-1 influenced methodology with 6 participants to further examine whether manipulated time in bed (i.e., sleep duration) influenced mental toughness. Participants recorded sleep quality, duration, and mental toughness over 5 weekdays during 2 separate 2-week periods of baseline (normal sleeping pattern) followed by manipulated time in bed (counterbalanced 9 hr or 5 hr). Visual analyses (including determination of nonoverlapping data points between baseline and intervention weeks) revealed reduced time in bed negatively impacted the mental toughness of 4 of the participants. Social validation interviews were conducted to further explore participants' perceptions of the sleep manipulation. A cumulative effect of reduced sleep on mental toughness was noted by specific individuals. In addition, participants identified potential buoys of mental toughness in the absence of sleep

An exploratory case study of mental toughness variability and potential influencers over 30 Days

This is the final version. Available from the publisher via the DOI in this record.The purpose of this study was to explore whether mental toughness varies across a 30-day training block and whether such variability is associated with specific antecedents. This exploratory case study research investigated mental toughness variability using the Mental Toughness Index (MTI) with thirteen elite master runners across a series of self-selected training sessions, followed by interviews and follow-up questionnaires, to identify primary influencers of variability. There were significant differences in the MTI scores between baseline (before the training period), and the minimum and the maximum reported score over five self-selected training sessions (p's < 0.004). The proceeding follow-up interviews and questionnaires then provided insights into factors influencing this intra-individual variability. These higher-level themes included foundational wellbeing, specific preparation, and actions utilized in the moment. This study is the first to demonstrate within-person MTI variability across specific training sessions and provides initial insights for both athletes and practitioners into potential influencers of mental toughness

Adjusting teaching loads to recognize the new reality of teaching

Teaching science courses seems to take more time these days. Contributing factors include an explosion of cognitive science and discipline-based education research, an increased awareness of student health and wellness, and lessons learned from pandemic teaching, which increased student support and technology use. Underpinning current and ongoing innovation is a commitment to ensure all students feel they belong in and can learn science. Investing time in teaching science more effectively also contributes to our own sense of belonging in a professional community of post-secondary educators. Evidence-informed teaching typically involves developing and delivering multiple low stakes assignments—including in-class activities—incorporating flexibility to create inclusive classrooms, and more complex course websites. These can require more preparation and administrative time and increased communication with students. Even if available, TA teams require training and often flexibility to accommodate graduate student needs. These responsibilities seem greater than what was expected years ago when a midterm and three lecture hours were sufficient. What seems to have been missed, or perhaps strategically ignored, by administrators is the negative impact on faculty workload and mental health. Here we’ll explore the impact of changing teaching strategies on the time it takes to deliver a course, and collaboratively generate a “how to” guide looking at ways of measuring and monitoring the impact of changes in science teaching on workload, as well as strategies for effectively advocating for updates to teaching workloads. Just as our teaching should create inclusive environments that are sensitive to mental health and wellbeing, so too should our work environments. Please bring an internet enabled device (e.g., smartphone) so that you can participate in polls and share ideas with online participants

A standardised protocol for the assessment of lower limb muscle contractile properties in football players using Tensiomyography

Tensiomyography is used to measure skeletal muscle contractile properties, most notably muscle displacement (Dm) and contraction time (Tc). Professional football medical departments are currently using the equipment to profile the muscle function of their squad and subsequently evaluate change due to injury or intervention. However, at present there are no published standardised operating procedures for identifying probe position for muscle assessment. In this technical report we propose standardised operating procedures for the identification of precise probe position as part of an on-going study in male professional footballers

Velocity map imaging of inelastic and elastic low energy electron scattering in organic nanoparticles.

Electron transport is of fundamental importance and has application in a variety of fields. Different scattering mechanisms affect electron transport in the condensed phase; hence, it is important to comprehensively understand these mechanisms and their scattering cross sections to predict electron transport properties. Whereas electron transport is well understood for high kinetic energy (KE) electrons, there is a discrepancy in the experimental and theoretical values for the Inelastic Mean Free Path (IMFP) in the low KE regime. In this work, velocity map imaging soft X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy is applied to unsupported organic nanoparticles (squalene) to extract experimental values of inelastic and elastic mean free paths (EMFPs). The obtained data are used to calculate corresponding scattering cross sections. The data demonstrate a decrease in the IMFP and increase in the EMFP with increasing electron KE between 10 and 50 eV

Differentiating patterns of violence in the family

The feasibility and prevalence of Reciprocal, Hierarchical and Paternal patterns of family aggression hypothesised by Dixon and Browne (2003) were explored within a sample of maltreating families. The psychological reports of 67 families referred to services for alleged child maltreatment that evidenced concurrent physical intimate partner violence and child maltreatment were investigated. Of these, 29 (43.3%) cases were characterised by hierarchical; 28 (41.8%) Reciprocal and 10 (14.9%) Paternal patterns. Significant differences in the form of child maltreatment perpetrated by mothers and fathers and parent dyads living in different patterns were found. In Hierarchical sub-patterns, fathers were significantly more likely to have been convicted for a violent and/or sexual offence than mothers and were significantly less likely to be biologically related to the child. The findings demonstrate the existence of the different patterns in a sample of families involved in the Child Care Protection process in England and Wales, supporting the utility of a holistic approach to understanding aggression in the family

Excess baggage for birds: inappropriate placement of tags on gannets changes flight patterns.

Published onlineJournal ArticleResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tThis is the final version of the article. Available from Public Library of Science via the DOI in this record.Devices attached to flying birds can hugely enhance our understanding of their behavioural ecology for periods when they cannot be observed directly. For this, scientists routinely attach units to either birds' backs or their tails. However, inappropriate payload distribution is critical in aircraft and, since birds and planes are subject to the same laws of physics during flight, we considered aircraft aerodynamic constraints to explain flight patterns displayed by northern gannets Sula bassana equipped with (small ca. 14 g) tail- and back-mounted accelerometers and (larger ca. 30 g) tail-mounted GPS units. Tail-mounted GPS-fitted birds showed significantly higher cumulative numbers of flap-glide cycles and a higher pitch angle of the tail than accelerometer-equipped birds, indicating problems with balancing inappropriately placed weights with knock-on consequences relating to energy expenditure. These problems can be addressed by carefully choosing where to place tags on birds according to the mass of the tags and the lifestyle of the subject species.This study would have not been carried out without the financial support from the California Department of Fish and Game's Oil Spill Response Trust Fund (through the Oiled Wildlife Care Network at the Wildlife Health Center, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis) and the Royal Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA, Wilberforce Way, Southwater, Horsham, West Sussex, RH13 9RS, United Kingdom). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript