13027 research outputs found
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Conductive biological materials for in vitro models: properties and sustainability implications
No full textThe integration of conductive biological materials into in vitro models represents a transformative approach to advancing biomedical research while addressing critical sustainability challenges. Traditional materials used in tissue engineering and disease modeling are often environmentally detrimental, derived from non-renewable resources, and limited in their ability to replicate the dynamic properties of native tissues. Conductive biological materials bridge this gap by offering a unique combination of biodegradability, sustainability, and functional properties, such as bioelectricity and biocompatibility, that are essential for mimicking physiological environments. Herein, the development and current applications of biodegradable conductive materials, including advanced polymers such as polyaniline and polypyrrole, carbon-based nanocomposites, and renewable biopolymers derived from lignin and cellulose, are overviewed. These materials not only reduce the ecological footprint of biomedical research but also enable the precise simulation of electrical signaling in tissues, such as cardiac, neural, and muscular systems, thereby enhancing the physiological relevance of in vitro models. Their integration into three dimensional (3D) tissue constructs, organ-on-chip platforms, and bioprinting technologies facilitates the development of patient-specific models, paving the way for personalized therapeutic and diagnostic applications. In addition to advancing biomedical precision, these materials align with global efforts to implement circular economy principles in research, promoting resource efficiency and waste reduction. By combining environmental responsibility with state-of-the-art functionality, conductive biological materials are redefining the future of in vitro 3D models and research, accelerating innovation in regenerative medicine, drug development, and disease modeling while fostering a sustainable framework for scientific discover</p
Becoming activist teacher educators: The learning journeys of two physical education cooperating teachers in a school–university partnership
No full textSince the late 20th century, school–university partnerships have been promoted as collaborative efforts in teacher education. Traditionally, in such partnerships, university teacher educators oversaw cooperating teachers who supervised pre-service teachers (PSTs) in a hierarchical structure. In parallel with a growing movement for teacher educators to adopt activist roles challenging societal oppressions, recent shifts have recognised cooperating teachers as co-educators who collaborate and share knowledge. This paper explores this school–university partnership by questioning: (a) What were the learning journeys experienced by the cooperating teachers in a school–university partnership and (b) To what extent did their learning journeys align with the concept of activist teacher educators?Designed as participatory action research (PAR), this project was established between public schools and one university engaged in the Institutional Programme of Teaching Initiation (PIBID) in Brazil. Participants included a university lecturer and two cooperating teachers. Throughout the 18- month duration of the project, data were collected from various sources, including weekly meetings, participants’ diaries, final interviews, and artefacts produced by the group. Through thematic analysis, three themes were developed: (a) creating democratic spaces with PSTs, (b) practitioner inquiry as a means to transform teaching practice, and (c) micro-social changes to improve the profession, demonstrated through activism in new PIBID projects or initiatives with education administration. This study underscores the role of cooperating teachers as activist educators in fostering collaborative and social justice-oriented teacher education processes, contributing to ongoing discourse on reflective practice and collaborative partnerships</p
Understanding the development of physical education professionals’ policy capacity
No full textThe United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and others have emphasized the need for all physical education (PE) professionals to prioritize attention to, and action on, PE policy to improve quality provision. Yet, policy neglect remains arguably normative in PE due, in part, to a lack of preparation for policy in higher education and professional learning programmes. Furthermore, research on what such preparation should entail has not been conducted. Therefore, in this research we asked: What are the key facilitators, barriers, and content in the development of PE professionals’ policy capacity (i.e. policy interest, understanding, and involvement/action/ initiative)? A two-round interview and survey Delphi investigation with 16 international PE professionals with experience in policy research and/or practical initiatives was conducted. Participants were asked about key barriers, facilitators, and content in the development of their own and others’ policy capacity. Reflexive thematic analysis revealed that while participants acknowledged the barriers of lacking time, professional learning, confidence, and accessible language, the barrier they identified as most consequential was misunderstanding the nature of policy as only fixed documents developed in a top-down and linear process. In contrast, participants identified their shifts to understanding policy as more than static texts and as happening in complex processes to be a key facilitator, with reflexive interactions and relationships with others being critical to facilitating that perspective shift. Other facilitators identified included the issuing of moral imperatives to ‘use’ policy to generate change, policy learning in higher education, and the interrogation of policy. When considered alongside the existing literature, these findings highlight that: (a) dispelling unrealistic traditional policy myths and fostering complex policy perspectives is central to policy capacity development; (b) particular configurations of policy-focused learning communities are a key way to do that; and (c) one must determine their personal policy purpose to engage in such work.</p
Manipulation checks in focus of attention research: a methodological systematic review
No full textManipulation checks are an essential component of quality experimental design in motor learning. Guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses framework, this methodological systematic review examined the utilization of manipulation checks in focus of attention research. Seventy-eight protocols from four scientific databases from September 2021—September 2023 were evaluated. A secondary analysis was conducted on 10 data sets where manipulation check failures had not been explicitly considered. No manipulation check was used in 53% of protocols, where a manipulation check was used: 19% used a single rating question, 11.5% used multiple questions, 11.5% used open questions, and 5% used other forms. When manipulation checks were utilized in studies, 68% of experiments did not report if any participants failed the manipula-tion check or not; the remaining reports either analyzed the failures (11%), excluded the failures (8%), ran multiple analyses (8%), or stated that no participants failed (5%). In the secondary analysis of data, when participants who failed manipulation checks were excluded, the interpretation of results changed in two of the 10 reanalyzed sources when compared with the original analysis. We conclude with recommendations on how researchers can optimize their use of manipulation checks within focus of attention research in both the collection and analysis of data.</p
Optimising Psychosocial interventions for people with severe and enduring eating disorders (SEED) perspectives of healthcare professionals in Ireland: A Qualitative study
No full textTo date, no studies have explored healthcare professionals' perceptions on the acceptability and effectiveness of psychosocial interventions for patients with severe and enduring eating disorders in Ireland. The aims of this study were to explore how health-care professionals view the use of psychosocial interventions for patients with severe and enduring eating disorders and how these approaches can be improved. A qualitative study design was utilised to explore perceptions and opinions. Semi-structured, one-to-one interviews were used to collect data from healthcare professionals (n=16) in mental health settings. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim before being analysed using thematic analysis. Four themes were identified: (1) therapeutic relationship, (2) patient-centred approaches, (3) co-morbidities and (4) pathway of care and services. Findings strongly suggest the need for patients with severe and enduring eating disorders to set their own goals to improve treatment outcomes and quality of life. Furthermore, findings also suggest a strong correlation between a history of trauma and the diagnosis of severe and enduring eating disorders. Therefore, training for healthcare professionals to provide trauma-informed care is needed.</p
Electroconductive gelatin/hyaluronic acid/hydroxyapatite scaffolds for enhanced cell proliferation and osteogenic differentiation in bone tissue engineering
No full textAddressing the challenge of bone tissue regeneration requires creating an optimal microenvironment that promotes both osteogenesis and angiogenesis. Electroconductive scaffolds have emerged as promising solutions for bone regeneration; however, existing conductive polymers often lack biofunctionality and biocompatibility. In this study, we synthesized poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) nanoparticles (PEDOT NPs) using chemical oxidation polymerization and incorporated them into gelatin/hyaluronic acid/hydroxyapatite (Gel:HA:HAp) scaffolds to develop Gel:HA:HAp:PEDOT-NP scaffolds. Morphological analysis by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed a honeycomb-like structure with pores of 228–250 μm in diameter. The addition of the synthesized PEDOT NPs increased the conductive capabilities of the scaffolds to 1 × 10− 6 ± 1.3 × 10− 7 S/cm. Biological assessment of PEDOT NP scaffolds using human foetal osteoblastic 1.19 cells (hFOB), and human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hBMSCs) revealed enhanced cell proliferation and viability compared to control scaffold without NPs, along with increased osteogenic differentiation, evidenced by higher levels of alkaline phosphatase activity, osteopontin (OPN), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and osteocalcin (OCN) expression, as observed through immunofluorescence, and enhanced expression of osteogenic-related genes. The conductive scaffold shows interesting mineralization capacity, as shown by Alizarin red and Osteoimage staining. Furthermore, PEDOT-NP scaffolds promoted angiogenesis, as indicated by improved tube formation abilities of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs), especially at the higher concentrations of NPs. Overall, our findings demonstrate that the integration of PEDOT NPs scaffold enhances their conductive properties and promotes cell proliferation, osteogenic differentiation, and angiogenesis. Gel:HA:HAp:PEDOT-NP scaffolds exhibit promising potential as efficient biomaterials for bone tissue regeneration, offering a potential engineered platform for clinical applications</p
How are we allocating physicians to deal with breast cancer in men and women in Brazil?
No full textBackground Female breast cancer (FBC) is a well-known public health issue worldwide. However, male breast cancer (MBC), though rare, may be overlooked by both public health authorities and clinicians. Both diseases exhibit similarities, and understanding their behavior over time is crucial to grasping their annual impact on many citizens. Furthermore, analyzing if medical personnel are well allocated and influence disease outcomes in a limited setting such as the Public Health System (PHS) is of utmost importance. Methods This ecological study utilized secondary data from 2008 to 2020 to explore the relationship between the number of doctors per 100,000 inhabitants and mortality from FBC and MBC in Brazil. All data were sourced from Brazil’s PHS. Mortality rates were analyzed by age and standardized according to the World Health Organization’s population figures. The number of physicians was calculated per 100,000 inhabitants. A linear regression analysis was performed using a stepwise selection/backward elimination approach. Results Between 2008 and 2020, Brazil recorded 195,969 breast cancer-related deaths among adults, including 2,220 male victims. The majority of these deaths occurred in the Southeast region among patients older than 50 years. Although both MBC and FBC demonstrated increasing trends over the study period, no correlation was found between the number of physicians and mortality rates for MBC. Conversely, an increase in primary care physicians over the years was positively correlated with mortality rates for FBC (p<0.05). In addition, the number of physicians in the PHS (β = -0.163; 95% CI: -0.240 to -0.085; p=0.002), oncologists (β = -0.507; 95% CI: -0.881 to -0.134; p=0.015), and radiotherapists (β = -6.402; 95% CI: -12.357 to -0.446; p=0.039) all showed an inverse association with FBC mortality. Conclusions The increasing trends in FBC and MBC underscore the need for urgent monitoring. Lower FBC mortality correlates with higher numbers of physicians and specialized care, highlighting the critical role of healthcare workforce capacity and the strategic allocation of specialized personnel in enhancing patient outcomes.</p
The Evolution of the Irish 12.5 percent corporate tax rate: An oral history
No full textThe sources formally documenting how tax policy evolves fail to capture many of the complexities inherent in such processes. Insights into such approaches would guide other tax administrations in navigating tax policy change in an international domain. This paper examines the historical background to the introduction of the Irish 12.5 percent corporate tax rate in 2003 in the face of the European Union’s (EU) dissatisfaction with the existing regime. A low corporate tax rate has long been seen as a critical element of the country’s industrial development strategy. Employing an oral history method to identify the perspectives and objectives of those involved in the policymaking process, we provide a case study of how one tax administration resolved what was seen as a particularly significant public policy dilemma.</p
Climate change and gendered vulnerability: A systematic review of women’s health
No full textBackground: Climate change is an urgent global threat, with women in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) disproportionately facing adverse health outcomes. Gendered roles, combined with socioeconomic, cultural, and environmental factors, exacerbate women’s vulnerabilities, increasing the burden of mental health issues, water insecurity, sanitation challenges, and caregiving responsibilities.Objectives: This review seeks to systematically examine the intersection between climate change and gendered health vulnerabilities, with a particular focus on women. It explores how climate change intensifies gender-specific risks and identifies pathways for integrating gender-responsive policies to mitigate both short- and long-term health impacts.Design: Following Arksey and O’Malley’s methodological framework, this systematic review mapped key concepts and evidence from studies conducted between January 2011 and January 2024. The review focuses on identifying the multifaceted health impacts of climate change on women, particularly in LMICs and marginalized communities.Data Sources and Methods: A systematic search was conducted in Web of Science and Scopus databases using key terms and Medical Subject Headings related to climate change, women’s health, gender inequality, mental health, water security, sanitation, and caregiving burdens. Studies were screened and selected based on relevance to the predefined criteria, with data extracted on study design, key findings, and limitations.Results: From 2163 citations screened, 61 studies were included in the final analysis. The review highlights that climate change disproportionately affects women, exacerbating pre-existing gender inequalities. Specific impacts include heightened mental health challenges, adverse maternal and newborn health outcomes, increased water insecurity, and an intensified caregiving burden. Women in LMICs are particularly vulnerable due to reduced access to resources, healthcare, and decision-making platforms, further limiting their adaptive capacities.Conclusion: The findings underscore the critical need for gender-responsive climate policies that address both immediate health impacts and the broader socioeconomic and environmental determinants affecting women. Effective climate adaptation strategies must integrate gender perspectives, ensuring that women’s specific vulnerabilities are accounted for in policy frameworks. This review advocates for the empowerment of women through increased access to resources and decision-making, thus enhancing their resilience and adaptive capacity in the face of climate change.</p
Editorial: Multisystem inflammatory syndrome observed post-COVID-19: the role of natural products, medicinal plants and nutrients and the use of prediction tools supporting traditional forms of diagnosis
No full textEditorial on the Research TopicMultisystem inflammatory syndrome observed post-COVID-19: the role of natural products, medicinal plants and nutrients and the use of prediction tools supporting traditional forms of diagnosis.</p