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Gestational Diabetes Mellitus Prevention: A Commentary
No full textGestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) poses a significant global health challenge, with a prevalence ranging from 10-25%, making it one of the most prevalent complications of pregnancy. The rates vary across countries, ethnicities, and diagnostic thresholds. In the UK alone, GDM affects approximately 35,000 pregnancies annually, reflecting an escalating trend. Elevated blood glucose levels in pregnancy exhibit a linear correlation with adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes, contributing to complications such as large for gestational age babies, increased caesarean section rates, shoulder dystocia, neonatal hypoglycaemia, intensive care admissions, and stillbirth. While any woman can develop GDM, well-established risk factors include a body mass index (BMI) above 30, maternal age over 40, previous GDM instances, a history of delivering babies weighing over 4.5kg, and specific ethnic backgrounds. This commentary discusses the Cochrane umbrella review by Griffith et al. (2020), which evaluates the effectiveness of various lifestyle-focused interventions commonly employed for GDM prevention. Given the multitude of risk factors, early interventions before or during pregnancy hold promise in mitigating the likelihood of GDM development
Wearable cuffless blood pressure monitoring devices: a commentary
Get PDFHypertension is the leading preventable risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and all-cause mortality. To address this growing public challenge, focus on reducing overall cardiovascular risk through early screening, initiation of treatment and ongoing monitoring remains a priority in comprehensive management of hypertension and its related burden.
Several wearable cuffless devices have been developed with potential for continuous remote monitoring of blood pressure. However, there is a dearth of literature that has synthesised the validity and usability of wearable cuffless bp devices to be recommended in clinical practice.
This commentary critically appraises a systematic review which sought to assess the validity, features, and clinical usability of wearable cuffless devices and expand upon the findings with regards to clinical future research
Initial Professional Education for Youth and Community Workers: Exploring Academic’s Experiences
Get PDFThis paper reflects on a small-scale piece of research into the experience of academics involved in the initial professional education of youth and community workers in England during the period 2015–2016, when multiple factors were affecting degree-qualifying youth and community worker education. Interviews with six academics identify the influences of funding issues, changing contexts for fieldwork settings, varied perceptions of professional youth work to ongoing pressures within higher education which inform their experience. This research draws on Bourdieu’s thinking tools of habitus and illusio as a theoretical lens to explore academics’ ongoing commitment to professional youth and community worker education. The actions and messages from the research participants offer an insight into the varied situations academics are navigating at this point in time, and resonate with a contemporary, post-pandemic context. The paper concludes with areas for further research into the ongoing development of initial professional youth and community worker education
Children As Evaluators: Understanding Emotion Language Acquisition
Get PDFThis paper introduces a novel approach in the Child-Computer Interaction (CCI) field that examines how children’s feedback on experimental stimuli can enhance research design, using emotion research as a case study. Our study utilizes interactive vignettes where children act as ’emotion detectives’, providing insights into their emotional articulation, followed by elicited feedback on the stimuli and research process. This method refines emotional vocabulary elicitation techniques and empowers children by incorporating their perspectives into the experimental design. The core of this research lies in establishing a participatory framework for involving children as evaluators, thereby proposing changes within the realm of experimental methodologies. We hope that this could serve as a tool to researchers studying children using an experimental setup
Maternal immune activation affects female offspring whisker movements during object exploration in a rat model of neurodevelopmental disorders
Get PDFPoly I:C rat offspring are used to investigate the effects of in utero exposure to maternal immune activation (MIA) and have been suggested as a model of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD). The behavioural symptoms of this model are diverse and can vary with external factors, including the choice of background strain and husbandry practices. Measuring whisker movements provides quantitative, robust measurements of sensory, motor and cognitive behaviours in rodents. In this study, whisker movements were investigated in 50-day-old male and female offspring of MIA-exposed rat dams and compared to age-matched offspring of control (vehicle) dams. Rat offspring were filmed using high-speed videography in a sequential object exploration task with smooth and textured objects. Poly I:C treatment effects were found in female offspring that did not increase whisker mean angular position during object exploration, especially for the smooth object, indicating an attentional deficit. Whisker tracking during object exploration is demonstrated here, for the first time, as a useful, quick and non-invasive tool to identify both treatment effects and sex differences in a model of MIA-induced NDDs
The periodicals that puzzled Dickens: The weekly balance sheets of the Preston lock-out, 1853-54
Get PDFCharles Dickens was puzzled and intrigued by a type of print publication which was central to the Preston strike and lock-out of 1853-54 and hundreds of other industrial disputes in the nineteenth century, the strike balance sheet. This first academic study of the periodical genre summarises its structure and contents (a stirring opening address, long lists of donations sent in support of the locked-out workers featuring meaningful and allusive nicknames, snatches of verse, and threats against those who refused to contribute) and examines how it was produced, received and interpreted. Strike balance sheets demonstrated the collective and financial power of the unions, while their creation of an independent, worker-controlled public sphere of print reduced the imbalance of cultural power between workers and masters. They are also significant for what they tell us about the size, spread and consistency of the financial and moral support for the Preston workers, and as snapshots of broader trade union activity across the nation. They reveal intra-class debates and conflicts, and the rhetoric and values of the union leadership and lower-tier district delegates. Most intriguing of all, they make up a large body of print material in which nineteenth-century working-class voices are heard
Effect of Chinese outward FDI on youth unemployment in sub-Saharan Africa
Get PDFThis paper investigates the effect of Chinese outward foreign direct investment (FDI) on youth unemployment in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) by using a modified labour demand model to identify the investment sources that are helpful for reducing youth unemployment in the region. The model is applied to a panel of 42 countries for the period 2003–2021 using random-effect, and generalized method of moment (GMM) estimators for robustness check. Our results suggest that Chinese FDI has direct short-term reducing effect on youth unemployment in SSA. The direction of China’s capital investment to infrastructure development and other labour-intensive activities leads to immediate reduction in youth unemployment. However, overtime, due to absence of linkages with domestic firms, and thus lack of demand effects, Chinese FDI becomes insignificant for employment creation. Our results also indicate that Other FDI does not lead to significant reduction in youth unemployment both currently and overtime. Our analysis gives partial support to the argument that the impact of Chinese FDI may differ from those of developed countries. Finally, we could not find evidence that the effect of FDI on employment depends on host country human capital and institutional quality. Several specifications of the empirical model are tested, and explanations are provided for the results. Policy implications are highlighted, especially the need to attract more job absorbing FDI and improve domestic absorptive capacity
Effect of Beta-Alanine Supplementation on Maximal Intensity Exercise in Trained Young Male Individuals: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Get PDFBeta-alanine is a nonessential amino acid that is commonly used to improve exercise performance. It could influence the buffering of hydrogen ions produced during intense exercise and delay fatigue, providing a substrate for increased synthesis of intramuscular carnosine. This systematic review evaluates the effects of beta-alanine supplementation on maximal intensity exercise in trained, young, male individuals. Six databases were searched on August 10, 2023, to identify randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trials investigating the effect of chronic beta-alanine supplementation in trained male individuals with an age range of 18–40 years. Studies evaluating exercise performance through maximal or supramaximal intensity efforts falling within the 0.5–10 min duration were included. A total of 18 individual studies were analyzed, employing 18 exercise test protocols and 15 outcome measures in 331 participants. A significant (p = .01) result was observed with an overall effect size of 0.39 (95% confidence interval [CI] [0.09, 0.69]), in favor of beta-alanine supplementation versus placebo. Results indicate significant effects at 4 weeks of supplementation, effect size 0.34 (95% CI [0.02, 0.67], p = .04); 4–10 min of maximal effort, effect size 0.55 (95% CI [0.07, 1.04], p = .03); and a high beta-alanine dosage of 5.6–6.4 g per day, effect size 0.35 (95% CI [0.09, 0.62], p = .009). The results provide insights into which exercise modality will benefit the most, and which dosage protocols and durations stand to provide the greatest ergogenic effects. This may be used to inform further research, and professional or recreational training design, and optimization of supplementation strategies
Exploring the landscape of bariatric surgery in Africa: Current provisions, challenges and future prospects
No full textThis review explores the landscape of bariatric surgery provision in Africa, focusing on the current status, recent innovations, challenges, and future prospects. Despite the global acceptance of bariatric surgery, its integration in Low and Middle-Income Countries, particularly in Africa, remains underexplored. The editorial aims to bridge this gap by analysing the current provision, exploring challenges, and proposing interventions. While only 13 out of 54 African countries are members of the International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity and Metabolic Disorders (IFSO), active interest and innovation in bariatric surgery are evident, especially in North African nations like Egypt and South Africa. Economic evaluations in Tunisia highlight the cost-effectiveness of bariatric surgery, while research in Cameroon explores its feasibility in resource-limited settings. Studies in Egypt and South Africa address the short-term safety and efficacy of surgical procedures. Challenges include inadequate healthcare infrastructure, a shortage of trained professionals, economic constraints, and public misconceptions. Future prospects involve collaborative efforts for infrastructure development, targeted training programs, increased research funding, strategic awareness campaigns, research collaboration, and advocacy for clear guidelines. The paper aims to contribute to the understanding of bariatric surgery in Africa, emphasising the need for context-specific interventions to address the growing concern of obesity in the region
Specialist referrals and diagnostic delays in motor neurone disease: mapping patients' journey through Hoops and Hurdles in healthcare.
Get PDFMotor neuron disease (MND) is an uncommon but invariably fatal condition, with a median survival of 24-48 months from symptom onset. Although there is no cure at the moment, early diagnosis is crucial to enable timely access to multidisciplinary care, and enrolment in clinical trials utilising investigational therapies. Unfortunately, diagnostic delays remain common, and the average delay between symptom onset and diagnosis is 12-months. Large numbers of specialist referrals have been suggested as a key contributor to diagnostic delays. We conducted a retrospective review of the medical records of patients diagnosed with MND in Lancashire and South Cumbria, to investigate whether large numbers of specialty referrals are a common occurrence in MND. Our review identified that 35% of patients with MND were seen by two or more specialties before being referred to neurology. This rose to 49% when patients with bulbar onset disease were considered. 9% of cases saw three or more specialists. There was a statistically significant correlation between the number of specialist referrals and delays in neurology referral. We hope our findings will increase awareness of the importance of early diagnosis of MND and promote the use of the MND Red Flag tool as a means of identifying patients in need of prompt neurological referral