Plymouth Marjon University Repository
Not a member yet
930 research outputs found
Sort by
Lipidomics reveals diurnal lipid oscillations in human skeletal muscle persisting in cellular myotubes cultured in vitro
No full textCircadian clocks play an important role in lipid homeostasis, with impact on various metabolic diseases. Due to the central role of skeletal muscle in whole-body metabolism, we aimed at studying muscle lipid profiles in a temporal manner. Moreover, it has not been shown whether lipid oscillations in peripheral tissues are driven by diurnal cycles of rest–activity and food intake or are able to persist in vitro in a cell-autonomous manner. To address this, we investigated lipid profiles over 24 h in human skeletal muscle in vivo and in primary human myotubes cultured in vitro. Glycerolipids, glycerophospholipids, and sphingolipids exhibited diurnal oscillations, suggesting a widespread circadian impact on muscle lipid metabolism. Notably, peak levels of lipid accumulation were in phase coherence with core clock gene expression in vivo and in vitro. The percentage of oscillating lipid metabolites was comparable between muscle tissue and cultured myotubes, and temporal lipid profiles correlated with transcript profiles of genes implicated in their biosynthesis. Lipids enriched in the outer leaflet of the plasma membrane oscillated in a highly coordinated manner in vivo and in vitro. Lipid metabolite oscillations were strongly attenuated upon siRNA-mediated clock disruption in human primary myotubes. Taken together, our data suggest an essential role for endogenous cell-autonomous human skeletal muscle oscillators in regulating lipid metabolism independent of external synchronizers, such as physical activity or food intake
Understanding Applied Learning: Developing Effective Practice to Support All Learners
No full textUnderstanding Applied Learning enables teachers, lecturers and educators to facilitate applied learning effectively with learners in schools, colleges and universities. It introduces teachers to the concept of applied learning in practice, cutting across any vocational and academic divide to show how this approach supports high-quality and effective outcomes for learners. Applied learning prepares and equips learners for life in the twenty-first century and lifelong learning. Offering practical guidance on why and how to adopt applied learning in all post-primary settings, this practical resource introduces and explores the core concepts, practices and benefits of using this approach. Illustrated with real-life scenarios, it examines why applied learning is relevant today, how it enables learners to connect knowledge with new situations, how to navigate and solve intellectual and skills-based problems and how to work collaboratively and develop higher-level thinking skills
Sustainable surfing
No full textWhilst being an ambiguous and contested concept, sustainability has become one of the twenty-first century’s most pervasive ideas, as humanity’s increasing impact on the environment, as well as increasing social and economic inequalities, have local and global consequences. Surfing is a globally recognised cultural phenomenon whose unique connection with nature and rapid expansion into a multibillion pound industry offers exciting synergies for exploring various dimensions of sustainability.
This book is the first to bring together the world’s foremost experts on the themes of sustainability and surfing. Drawing upon cutting edge theory and research, this book offers multidisciplinary perspectives and methodological approaches on the social, environmental and economic components of sustainable surfing. Contributions provide unique discussions that bridge the gap between theory and practice, exploring topics such as sustainable surf tourism, surf-econometrics, surf activism, surfing governance, the surfing industry, and technological advancements. Each chapter produces in-depth insights to provide foundational insights of the relationship between sustainability and surfing.
This book will appeal to multiple audiences in different disciplines and sectors. Practitioners will benefit from the insights presented in this volume, while both undergraduate and postgraduate students will find this volume an invaluable companion, including those working in geography, environmental studies, sport sciences, and leisure and tourism studies
Are severe asthmatics still smoking?
No full textIntroduction: Smoking worsens all aspects of asthma and smoking cessation improves them. We assessed the percentage of severe asthmatics who smoke and correlation of smoking with their perception of dyspnoea and quality of life.
Methods: Data were collected in 1333 patients [adult (>18 yrs) and children (6–17 yrs, through caregivers)] with severe persistent asthma in 9 countries via an online survey by GfK on behalf of Novartis in 2016.
Results: Of the total adult population 20% were smokers, 24% ex-smokers and 2% vapist. In the caregivers population, 19% were smokers, 16% ex-smokers and 7% vapists. 63% of adults and 68% of caregivers avoided smoky premises, suggesting awareness on impact of passive exposure on asthma; however, 19% and 13% were active smokers respectively. Smokers used OCS for an average 21 days; non-smokers for 19 days (Table). Positive correlation was seen between days that severe asthmatics used OCS according to both GINA (Spearman’s ρ=0.23) and perceived control (Spearman’s ρ=0.11). Current smokers were significantly more often diagnosed with anxiety (47%) and depression (41%) than non-smokers (40% and 27% respectively) and ex-smokers (42% and 28% respectively)[z-test,α=0.05]
Conclusion: Smoking is common in severe asthmatics across different countries and is positively associated with asthma severity, depression and anxiety. There is need to implement smoking cessation strategies in severe asthmatics that should also address anxiety and depressio
Supporting the retention of non-traditional students in Higher Education using a resilience framework
Get PDFStudent drop-out in higher education is an increasingly important issue across Europe, but there are substantial disparities between countries and institutions which suggest that variations in policies and practices may influence student retention and success. Numerous schemes have been devised to increase student retention, frequently focusing on non-traditional groups. Retention efforts include scholarships and bursaries, enhanced monitoring and support measures, and specialist teams of staff or peer mentors. Theoretical understanding of the withdrawal of non-traditional students typically draws on social and cultural capital concepts (Bourdieu, 1986), which may have led to a rather deterministic approach to student success. Research with non-traditional students on two distinct but related projects at a UK university led us to consider the concept of resilience in helping to understand student retention and success. This paper discusses the concept of resilience and – drawing on our experiences of using a resilience framework for analysis of risk and protective factors in these two projects – considers how it might be of use in supporting student retention in the wider European context
Looking beyond tasks to develop flexible leadership
Get PDFThere is a determination within health and social care to make leaders and leadership better and more able to face the challenges presented by an ever-changing social, political and organisational landscape. However, this determination is not without difficulties, especially the challenge of changing existing work place culture and climate. This paper reports on the findings of an evaluation of a leadership development programme delivered to senior leaders in health and social care. It uses qualitative data to demonstrate that even in a safe and risk-free environment health and social care leaders approached a hypothetical scenario in a defensive, hierarchical and expert-led manner and only after they were given ‘expert’ permission to change leadership style did they act collectively and seek to adopt a transformational style of leadership
Contemporary Childhood
No full textThis brand new textbook brings you up to date with all the latest developments and keys issues from around the globe, and helps you understand how these changes are impacting on practice in early years and primary classrooms.
Key issues in contemporary childhood are explored through three sections on The Child, The Family, and Emerging Trends, with topics including:
•the ‘Digital Child’ and the rise of new technologies
•children’s security and the impact of poverty, austerity and conflict
•children’s happiness, mental-health and wellbeing
•the changing nature of families including LGBT homes, refugees, and asylum seekers
•the challenges of multi-agency working
The pace of change in early childhood can be daunting, but this book helps students and practitioners understand the huge variety of issues affecting children in the UK and all over the world
The quiet eye supports error recovery in golf putting
Get PDFObjectives
The aim of this study was to further examine the relationship between the Quiet eye (QE, Vickers, 1996) and performance. We aimed to scrutinise the relationship between QE and shot outcome and replicate the robust relationship between QE and expertise. Based on recent findings (Cooke et al., 2015) showing that motor planning is dependent upon the outcome of a previous attempt, we wanted to examine the influence of prior performance on the functionality of the QE. Design: We performed a 2 (expertise) x 2 (outcome) mixed design study. Participants performed golf putts until they had achieved 5 successful (hits) and 5 unsuccessful (misses) attempts.
Methods
18 experienced and 21 novice golfers participated in the study. Putts were taken from ten feet while wearing a mobile eye tracker.
Results
Experienced golfers had consistently longer QE durations than novices but there was no difference in QE between randomly chosen hits and misses. However, QE durations were significantly longer on hits directly following a miss, but significantly shorter on misses following a miss.
Conclusions
This is the first study to have examined QE duration as a consequence of prior performance. Our findings highlight the important role of QE in recovering from an error and improving performance. The findings add further support for the response programming function of the QE, as additional ‘programming’ was needed to recover from an error. Findings also highlight the potential for a link between QE and the allocation of attentional resources to the task (effort)
A test of the adaptive network explanation of functional disorders using a machine learning analysis of symptoms
Get PDFThe classification and etiology of functional disorders is controversial. Evidence supports both psychological and biological (disease) models that show, respectively, that functional disorders should be classified as one (bodily distress syndrome) and many (e.g., irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS), and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)). Two network models (symptom network and adaptive network) can explain the specificity and covariation of symptomatology, but only the adaptive network model can explain the covariation of the somatic symptoms of functional disorders. The adaptive network model is based on the premise that a network of biological mechanisms has emergent properties and can exhibit adaptation. The purpose of this study was to test the predictions that symptom similarity increases with pathology and that network connection strengths vary with pathology, as this would be consistent with the notion that functional disorder pathology arises from network adaptation. We conducted a symptom internet survey followed by machine learning analysis. Participants were 1751 people reporting IBS, FMS or CFS diagnosis who completed a 61-item symptom questionnaire. Eleven symptom clusters were identified. Differences in symptom clusters between IBS, FMS and CFS groups decreased as overall symptom frequency increased. The strength of outgoing connections between clusters varied as a function of symptom frequency and single versus multiple diagnoses. The findings suggest that the pathology of functional disorders involves an increase in the activity and causal connections between several symptom causing mechanisms. The data provide support for the proposal that the body is capable of complex adaptation and that functional disorders result when rules that normally improve adaptation create maladaptive change