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Proceedings of a roundtable event ‘Workplace Diet and Health – priorities for researchers and practitioners’
No full textUnderstanding how the work environment impacts health behaviours is essential to a life course approach in public health nutrition. A roundtable event ‘Workplace Diet and Health – priorities for researchers and practitioners’ was held by the Nutrition Society in October 2022. The overarching aims of the roundtable event were to consider (i) the relevance of nutritional wellbeing for employers and organisations, (ii) the research priorities for workplace diet and health and (iii) how researchers and practitioners can work with stakeholders in the development and testing of workplace diet and health interventions and nutritional education. Participants represented a range of stakeholders including dietetic and nutrition professionals working in workplace health, academics and science communication with an interest in workplace diet and health, non-governmental organisations and providers of workplace nutritional health and wellbeing programmes. All roundtable participants agreed that good nutrition and access to healthy food at work was part of corporate responsibility comparable to that of health and safety provision. It was recognised that nutritional wellbeing was not seen as a priority by many companies due to the complexity and wide range of employee health and wellbeing options available and the perceived lack of clear financial benefit. Three priority areas were identified and agreed upon by roundtable participants: (1) strengthening the evidence base to demonstrate the tangible benefit of nutritional wellbeing interventions in the workplace, (2) creating a knowledge exchange hub to share best practices and experiences of working across sectors and (3) expand stakeholder engagement in workplace nutritional wellbeing
Better together: innovative learning and authentic connections in the online space:Book review: Abegglen, S., Neuhaus, F. and Wilson, K. (eds.) (2022) Voices from the digital classroom: 25 interviews about teaching and learning in the face of a global pandemic. Calgary: University of Calgary Press.
Get PDFA conceptual evaluation of the Data as Partner (DAP) framework
Get PDFThis paper explores the innovative Data As Partner (DAP) philosophy as a transformative approach to organisational data strategy, drawing upon established concepts of information value, technology acceptance, and inclusivity for people with disabilities (PwD) in smart cities. The study conducted a comprehensive systematic review, after meticulous screening, 20 eligible papers were selected, forming the foundation for deriving the key components of the DAP framework. Subsequently, a qualitative focus group study engaged 18 participants from diverse sectors to evaluate the practical applicability of the DAP conceptual framework. Thematic analysis of the focus group sessions revealed five key themes: practical value, pragmatic performance, ethical perspective, clarity of the framework, and enhancement tools. These findings offer valuable insights for refining the DAP framework and optimising its integration into real-world scenarios, in empowering individuals in smart cities, especially those with disabilities. Future research should explore larger and more diverse samples to generalise findings and assess the framework's long-term impact through longitudinal evaluations. By adopting user-centred methodologies, the DAP framework can be further enhanced as a strategic tool, empowering data to actively participate in organisational decision-making processes
Navigating a sighted world: visually impaired runners’ experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic
No full textDuring lockdown in March 2020, daily outdoor exercise was encouraged but little consideration was given to the feasibility of this for visually impaired (VI) people, for whom social distancing measures presented significant challenges. Drawing upon the concepts of ableism and ocularcentrism, this article explores VI peoples’ lived experiences of outdoor running (or not) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Eight VI runners participated in two semi-structured interviews during the pandemic. This longitudinal approach captured the impact of changing restrictions, personal circumstances, and seasons. Their running practices were shaped in complex and varied ways depending on impairment and impairment effects, local running environment, and support networks. Despite some commonalities, each personal story during this time was unique. Participants described empowering moments, juxtaposed with marginalising and oppressive situations. The UK Government’s encouragement of outdoor exercise was laden with ableist assumptions, and VI runners were significantly affected by the ocularcentric world they inhabit
Can we measure effort in cognitive tasks? Examining the application of Additive Conjoint Measurement and the Rasch model
No full text‘Effort’ is a concept of interest in cognitive psychology and neuroscience where many theories include it as a postulate. Despite its intuitiveness it is difficult to define such that its operationalisation follows a logical derivation chain. Recently I have proposed conceptual definitions of both actual effort, and the perception of effort, as the ratio of task demands to capacity to meet task demands, both actual and perceived respectively. Clear conceptual definitions are key for determining whether a given operationalisation meets the necessary and sufficient conditions adequately. For physical tasks valid operationalisation, and indeed measurement, of actual effort is often trivial. But a problem arises for operationalisation of actual effort in cognitive tasks where the underlying capacity that disposes an individual to be able to attempt, and perhaps complete, the task is not directly observable nor is the demand the task presents. However, a solution may lie in applications of Additive Conjoint Measurement to determine conditions where classical measurement may be possible, and the Rasch model as a measurement operation of capacity and demands to derive effort. A key aspect of the Rasch model is that it posits and estimates from data two latent constructs that I accept here as conceptually equivalent to capacity and demands respectively in my definition of effort; first a characteristic of the individual (ability), and second a characteristic of the test or item (difficulty). As such, applications of these methods might provide a measurement operation of actual effort in cognitive tasks to enable more precise formulations and testing of theories that employ the concept. In this work I explore these ideas using simulation and analogical abduction of a task where effort is known and examine an empirical dataset. Finally, I discuss the conditions under which these methods may be suitable and their inherent limitations.
Euripides’ Phoenissae and summoned entrances in Greek tragedy
Get PDFCharacters are directly summoned from an elite house far less frequently than from a humble dwelling; Phoenissae is the exception, and this serves to emphasize its themes and aspects of its characters
The Eccentric:Concentric Strength Ratio of Human Skeletal Muscle In Vivo:Meta-analysis of the Influences of Sex, Age, Joint Action, and Velocity
No full textFor decades, researchers have observed that eccentric (ECC) muscle strength is greater than concentric (CON) muscle strength. However, knowledge of the ECC:CON strength ratio is incomplete and might inform resistance exercise prescriptions. Our purposes were to determine the magnitude of the ECC:CON ratio of human skeletal muscle in vivo and explore if sex, age, joint actions/exercises, and movement velocity impact it. A total of 340 studies were identified through searches. It was possible to analyse 1516 ECC:CON ratios, aggregated from 12,546 individuals who made up 564 groups in 335 of the identified studies. Approximately 98% of measurements occurred on isokinetic machines. Bayesian meta-analyses were performed using log-ratios as response variables then exponentiated back to raw ratios. The overall main model estimate for the ECC:CON ratio was 1.41 (95% credible interval [CI] 1.38-1.44). The ECC:CON ratio was slightly less in men (1.38 [CI 1.34-1.41]) than women (1.47 [CI 1.43-1.51]), and greater in older adults (1.62 [CI 1.57-1.68]) than younger adults (1.39 [CI 1.36-1.42]). The ratio was similar between grouped upper-body (1.42 [CI 1.38-1.46]) and lower-body joint actions/exercises (1.40 [CI 1.37-1.44]). However, heterogeneity in the ratio existed across joint actions/exercises, with point estimates ranging from 1.32 to 2.61. The ECC:CON ratio was most greatly impacted by movement velocity, with a 0.20% increase in the ratio for every 1°/s increase in velocity. The results show that ECC muscle strength is ~ 40% greater than CON muscle strength. However, the ECC:CON ratio is greatly affected by movement velocity and to lesser extents age and sex. Differences between joint actions/exercises likely exist, but more data are needed to provide more precise estimates.</p
Using powerlifting athletes to determine strength adaptations across ages in males and females: a longitudinal growth modelling approach
No full textIntroduction: Several retrospective studies of strength sport athletes have reported strength adaptations over months to years; however, such adaptations are not linear. Methods: We explored changes in strength over time in a large, retrospective sample of powerlifting (PL) athletes. Specifically, we examined the rate and magnitude of strength adaptation based on age category and weight class for PL competition total, and the squat, bench press, and deadlift, respectively. Mixed effects growth modelling was performed for each operationalised performance outcome (squat, bench press, deadlift, and total) as the dependent variables, with outcomes presented on both the raw, untransformed time scale and on the common logarithmic scale. Additionally, the fitted values were rescaled as a percentage. Results: Collectively, the greatest strength gains were in the earliest phase of PL participation (~ 7.5–12.5% increase in the first year, and up to an ~ 20% increase after 10 years). Females tended to display faster progression, possibly because of lower baseline strength. Additionally, female Masters 3 and 4 athletes (> 59 years) still displayed ~ 2.5–5.0% strength improvement, but a slight strength loss was observed in Masters 4 (> 69 years) males (~ 0.35%/year). Conclusion: Although directly applicable to PL, these findings provide population-level support for the role of consistent and continued strength training to improve strength across the age span and, importantly, to mitigate, or at least largely attenuate age-related declines in strength compared to established general population norms. This information should be used to encourage participation in strength sports, resistance training more generally, and to support future public health messaging
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