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Body confident coaching: A pilot randomized controlled trial evaluating the acceptability of a web-based body image intervention for coaches of adolescent girls
Get PDFCoaches influence athletes’ body image, but often feel ill-equipped to address body image concerns and inadvertently perpetuate harmful body ideals. No evidence-based, empirically-tested body image intervention for coaches exists. This study evaluated the acceptability and preliminary efficacy of a novel web-based intervention (body confident coaching [BCC]), comprising five self-led 20-min modules. A pilot randomized controlled trial was conducted with 97 coaches of adolescent girls (M age = 36.6yrs, SD = 10.4; 70% women). Coaches were randomized into the intervention (n = 52) or waitlist control condition (n = 45). Intervention condition participants completed baseline self-assessments (demographics, target outcomes), took part in BCC over two weeks, and completed post-intervention self-assessments (target outcomes, acceptability, adherence). Waitlist control participants completed baseline (demographics, target outcomes) and post-intervention self-assessments (target outcomes), after which they received unmonitored access to the intervention. Intervention condition participants who completed post-intervention assessments (n = 16) finished all five modules and 75% reported engaging with the additional resources. Coaches found the intervention easy to follow, appropriate, useful, and enjoyable. Preliminary efficacy analyses indicated that the intervention condition reported higher levels of self-efficacy toward body image (η p2 =.19), and lower levels of fat phobia (η p2 =.39) and gender essentialist beliefs (η p2 =.20) at post-intervention, compared to the waitlist condition. A limitation of this study is the small sample size and high attrition rate (51%), which may bias results. Following modifications to the intervention and trial protocol, BCC will be evaluated in a large-scale randomized controlled effectiveness trial. Lay summary: Body dissatisfaction is common among girls in sport, but coaches are unprepared and unskilled to address these concerns, and few resources for coaches exist. A new education program was found to be appropriate, useful, and enjoyable for coaches and improved their ability to recognize and address athletes’ body image concerns. Implications for practice It is important for sport organizations to understand and recognize the relationship between athletes’ body image and their broader mental health and sport performance, as well as coaches’ influence on, and responsibility to address, body image concerns among their athletes and to promote body positive sport environments. BCC can increase coaches’ self-efficacy to identify and address athletes’ body image concerns, as well as reduce coaches’ fat phobia and gender essentialist beliefs. BCC: a pilot randomized controlled trial evaluating the acceptability of a web-based body image intervention for coaches of adolescent girls Trial Registration: This trial has been registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, a database of privately and publicly funded studies conducted around the world. Registration date: 7 April 2022; Registration ID: NCT05316558. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05316558
Did stopping ultrasound surveillance during COVID-19 result in an increase of the dialysis access thrombosis rate?
Get PDFPurpose: The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in cessation and subsequent reduction of routine care including the outpatient ultrasound surveillance of AVF. This un-planned service disruption allowed evaluation of effectiveness of US surveillance in reducing AVF/AVG thrombosis. Methods: This study was a secondary data analysis of monthly access patency for all in-centre patients receiving haemodialysis using an AVF or AVG over a 2-year period (April 2019-March 2021). The study included 298 patients with age, access type, patency and COVID status measured as variables. Thrombosis rates for the 12 months prior to COVID-19 and then during the first 12 months of the pandemic were also measured. Statistical analysis to assess mean and standard deviation for relevant variables was used. A p-value of <0.05 was deemed significant. Results: At the end of the study an increase in thrombosis rate (%) in the non-surveillance year was observed ((1.20) thrombosis/patient/year in the surveillance group vs (1.68) thrombosis/patient/year in the non-surveillance group). Monthly mean of thrombosed access during surveillance (M = 3.58, 95% CI 2.19–4.98, SD = 2.193) and non-surveillance (M = 4.92, 95% CI 3.52–6.31, SD = 2.19); t(7148) = 2.051, p = 0.038. Conclusion: Reduction in routine Ultrasound surveillance following the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with a significant increase in access thrombosis rate. Further research is needed to unpick whether the associations seen were directly due to service changes, associated with COVID-19 or other factors during the pandemic. This association was independent of SARS-CoV-2 infection status. Clinical teams should consider alternative service delivery options including out-reach, bedside surveillance to balance risks of access thrombosis versus reducing the risk of nosocomial infection with hospital visits
Critical perspectives on art on prescription
Get PDFThe positive outcomes of engaging in the arts are increasingly reported in the research literature, supporting the use of the arts to enhance individual and community health and wellbeing. However, little attention is given to the less positive aspects of arts engagement. In some countries, healthcare practitioners and link workers can refer service-users experiencing mental health issues to social interventions such as Arts on Prescription (AoP) programmes. This critical review identifies problematic issues across such social prescriptions and AoP, including failures in arts and health projects, participants’ negative experiences, and an absence of ethical guidelines for arts and health practice. Furthermore, it is evident that there is a lack of awareness and knowledge within healthcare systems, leading to inappropriate referrals, failure to take account of individual preferences, and a lack of communication between the third sector and healthcare services. Significantly, it is also unclear who holds the health responsibility for AoP participants.This article raises more questions than it answers, but for AoP to be effectively embedded in healthcare practice, the issues highlighted need to be addressed in order to safeguard participants and support the effective implementation of programmes more widely
Artificial Intelligence perceptions and life satisfaction
No full textThe paper estimates whether there is any relationship between life satisfaction and people’s perceptions towards artificial intelligence. Using data from 39 European countries collected in 2021, it is consistently found that people with negative perceptions report lower life satisfaction. This finding is robust across a number of robustness checks. This provides further evidence that people may fear some new technologies, in this case artificial intelligence, which adds weight to governments needing to establish moratoriums to openly discuss what the objectives of new science, technologies and innovations are and how best to manage and steer policy and regulation to achieve these objectives
Nationwide tracing of two top freshwater fish invaders in Greece using environmental DNA sampling
Get PDFAlien fish invasions are causing devastating impacts on native freshwater fauna; thus, rigorous, non-invasive and cost-effective biomonitoring of lotic and lentic freshwaters to design and implement appropriate prevention and control measures is now a priority. In this study, we used a species-specific qPCR eDNA assay to monitor two of the most invasive fish species (Gambusia holbrooki and Pseudorasbora parva) in 15 river basins of Greece and validated these results with conventional fish sampling as well as existing field sampling data. Our monitoring provided new records of invasive species indicating basins for rigorous future monitoring and possible eradication attempts. The eDNA proved more sensitive as a detection tool (56% detection rate) compared to conventional electrofishing (50% detection rate) for G. holbrooki. In contrast, it proved less sensitive for detecting P. parva (38% accuracy) compared to electrofishing (44% accuracy), as evident by the two locations where the eDNA failed to detect the target species. Our study illustrates the potential of the eDNA method for regular, standardised monitoring of riverine habitats for invasive fish species by local managers for early detection. Finally, we discuss the application of eDNA in management interventions for identifying invasive species’ hotspots for management prioritisation, for early detection of invaders and for the monitoring of eradication/control actions
Association of the AAV-PRO questionnaire with established outcome measures in AAV
Get PDFOBJECTIVES: The ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) patient-reported outcome (AAV-PRO) questionnaire was developed to capture the impact of AAV and its treatment. We investigated the association of specific AAV-PRO domains with disease activity and extent, damage, depression, health-related quality of life, and treatment. METHODS: In a prospective longitudinal study, AAV-PRO, Beck's depression inventory (BDI), Short Form 36 (SF-36), BVAS and Vasculitis Damage Index (VDI) were completed at baseline (t1) and after 3-6 months (t2). In addition, patient data (including diagnosis, therapies, relapses, and organ manifestations) were recorded. Data were analysed by t-tests and correlation-based regression analyses. RESULTS: A total of 156 patients with AAV participated. The mean BVAS at the time of enrolment was 1.4 ± 3.74. The median AAV-PRO domain scores were higher in patients reporting 'active disease' compared with those reporting 'in remission' (P < 0.001). In the correlation analyses, all AAV-PRO domain scores correlated strongly with the BDI (all r ≥ 0.319, all P ≤ 0.001) as well as with all eight SF-36 subdomains (all |r|≥0.267, all P ≤ 0.001). The regression analyses showed that AAV-PRO domains were strongly predicted by the BDI and SF-36 domains (|β| ≥ 0.240 for the strongest predictor of each domain). In the longitudinal comparison (t1/t2), there were no significant changes in the overall results. CONCLUSION: Our data show convergent validity for all AAV-PRO subdomains, using the established questionnaires BDI and SF-36. The AAV-PRO domains scores were not correlated with clinician-derived instruments (including the BVAS and the VDI). Thus, we regard the AAV-PRO questionnaire as a valuable measure of outcomes that might complement traditional end-points in clinical trials
Vulnerability in the global tropics? An ethnography of the experiences of international managers in Venezuela and Mexico
Get PDFThe Latin American tropics have been considered spaces where the taken-for-granted vulnerability of the international assignment experience is exacerbated because of poor working conditions. In classical approaches to international management studies, the complexity attributed to the role of global managers resides in the ‘fact’ that they live under conditions of permanent confrontation, adjustment, change and adaptation. The literature typically portrays the international manager as perpetually experiencing an ‘out-of-place’ existence, as their supposed ‘national culture’ of origin is by definition different from the ‘national culture’ of the destination country. The stereotyped exoticism of the tropics – constructed as spaces for tourism and adventure, but also characterised as precarious in terms of their health infrastructures, uncomfortable climates, and socio-economic and political instability – contributes to the framing of international management in these regions as highly challenging. In this article, these stereotypical conceptions are challenged. Evidence is provided indicating that managers’ narratives about ‘the experience of working and living in the tropics’ have more to do with their negative experiences of organisational power and the creation of a singular organisational culture of control and commitment than with the experience of the tropical context per se. The analysis is based on 6 years of intermittent longitudinal ethnographic fieldwork (2005–2009; 2020–2022) with international and nomadic Latin American professionals working in two factories located in the tropics owned by an industrial corporation
Exploring civil partnership from the perspective of those in mixed-sex relationships: Embracing a clean slate of equality
Get PDFCivil partnerships first became available to mixed-sex couples in England and Wales in December 2019. To date, there has been no research exploring the perspectives of mixed-sex couples who choose to become civil partners. We interviewed 21 people, as individuals or in couples, who were considering, planning, or had already entered into a civil partnership. Our thematic analysis resulted in two themes. In Free from the patriarchal baggage of marriage: Civil partnership as a clean slate of equality, we discuss how participants portrayed marriage as imbued with problematic traditions. In contrast, civil partnerships were portrayed as a contemporary form of relationship recognition that was in fitting for them and their relationships. In the second theme, Doing thing differently? Rejecting or reimagining weddings we discuss how participants critiqued traditions to navigate whether and how to reject them entirely, or attempt to creatively reimagine them. We consider the implications of our results
Exploration of the impact of junction characteristics on pedestrian red light violation
Get PDFThe design of the geometry and traffic controls at signalised junctions is often focused on the level of service offered to motor vehicles and rarely considers the level of service offered to pedestrians. This results in pedestrian adopting illegal and unsafe behaviours – e.g. red light violation. This study aimed to identify the elements of signalised junction design that are critical in pedestrian safety by analysing how they affect pedestrian behaviour. Both traffic engineering design and associated traffic conditions were investigated. Over 6500 observations had been made at 10 signalised junctions in Montreal, Canada. The 10 junctions were selected to cover a variety of environments, road users and junction designs. Results show that the presence of a countdown display has the most significant and positive impact on pedestrian behaviour. Results also suggest that pedestrians cross on the red light when they feel confident about their ability to judge whether they can use the available traffic gaps to cross safely the street. This study concludes that an adequate junction design is likely to limit risky pedestrian behaviours. Therefore, designers need to consider the factors affecting the behaviour of pedestrians to design junctions that are safe convenient and safe for them
Computation implemented by the interaction of chemical reaction, clustering, and de-clustering of molecules
Get PDFA chemical reaction and its reaction environment are intrinsically linked, especially within the confines of narrow cellular spaces. Traditional models of chemical reactions often use differential equations with concentration as the primary variable, neglecting the density heterogeneity in the solution and the interaction between the reaction and its environment. We model the interaction between a chemical reaction and its environment within a geometrically confined space, such as inside a cell, by representing the environment through the size of molecular clusters. In the absence of fluctuations, the interplay between cluster size changes and the activation and inactivation of molecules induces oscillations. However, in unstable environments, the system reaches a fluctuating steady state. When an enzyme is introduced to this steady state, oscillations akin to action potential spike trains emerge. We examine the behaviour of these spike trains and demonstrate that they can be used to implement logic gates. We discuss the oscillations and computations that arise from the interaction between a chemical reaction and its environment, exploring their potential for contributing to chemical intelligence