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Making a good start: Differential Impacts of Teaching Methods for Promoting Motor Performance and Understanding Among 6–7 Year Old Children
No full textBackground: A good start and early success with motor skills is an important feature of primary education when promoting lifelong physical activity. Notably, however, empirical guidance on optimal teaching methods is limited, especially when considering between genders. To address this paucity, we compared across several teaching methods that were informed by different skill acquisition approaches (i.e., cognitive and ecological) in children when practicing an age-appropriate interception task. We also tested for gender differences.
Methods: Five groups of 14 Kuwaiti children (N = 70) practiced a bowling task under different teaching conditions, namely: Solo; Social learning; Demonstrations; Questioning, and; Verbal instructions. Performance outcome scores, participants’ understanding and teacher observations were used to evaluate the conditions’ impact.
Results: ANOVA showed significant effects for teaching method on performance outcome scores. Post-hoc analyses found verbal instruction was significantly better than solo and social learning. Analyses of near misses found significant differences for gender, with males outperforming females. Assessment of participants’ understanding revealed a higher level for males and those receiving verbal instruction compared with social and solo practice.
Conclusion: Different teaching methods generate different practice outcomes and levels of understanding in children. Offering more direct guidance can support necessary early success
Parameter mapping sonification of biological data
No full textAlgorithmic parameter mapping (PM) sonification is an innovative approach to scientific data representation using sound, with task-specific projects showing promise across a range of biological data for a range of purposes. This work develops a range of novel task-specific PM sonification algorithms for the representation of biological data. In Chapter 1, a sonification concert is presented, hosted in collaboration with other sonification researchers, showcasing works created using PM sonification of biological sequence data (nucleotides and amino acids) as a method of public engagement with molecular evolution. In Chapter 2, an approach to inspire action on biodiversity loss is presented, featuring a PM sonification method representing global biodiversity index data (Living Planet Index) by the soundwave-level deletion of data from familiar/recognisable audio. In Chapter 3, a proposed zoo installation engaging visitors with genomic research into the stewardship of endangered species through the example of the Mauritian pink pigeon (Nesoenas mayeri) in presented, featuring a PM sonification method of genomic analysis data representing the risk of deleterious mutations in potential offspring. In Chapter 4, an approach to digital biological education is presented, using a method integrating narrative scaffolding techniques, podcasting sound design, and the PM sonification of biological concepts. Overall, the work uses a range of innovations in sonification methods to create sound outputs of a high quality, borrowing techniques from music/radio production and sound design, including the editing of existing recordings, narrative scaffolding techniques, use of the MIDI protocol, and mixing and mastering via Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs). Design processes focus on the listening experience of end-users, centring the task-specific nature of PM sonification and emphasising intended use-cases and context at all stages in design. Varied ways of understanding sound and features of human psychoacoustics are used in the design of these approaches. To emphasise the shareability and longevity of the work, which is adaptable for future applications with both biological and non-biological data sets, the works utilises open-source software, publicly available code sharing repositories, and a modular implementation approach facilitating post hoc sound design. The evaluation of these methods is end-user-focussed, using a suite of techniques from social research methods to provide evidence of success and insight into the subjective experiences of listeners. These include positivist experiments to measure the success of users in task-completion, alongside asking experts and end-users to affirm or deny the success of the methods, and interpretivist investigations into listener experience through interviews, focus groups, and questionnaires, which are also compared to design intentions. Overall, the works shows that centring the purpose of the approach and the experience of listeners in data processing, mapping, sound design, and evaluation methods helps create successful PM sonification projects.The file readme.txt within the collection contains all relevant data descriptio
Neocortex contributes to sex-specific, energy-saving adaptations in response to food restriction
No full textMammals have evolved sex-specific adaptations to reduce energy usage in times of food scarcity. These adaptations are well described for peripheral tissue, though much less is known about how the energy-expensive brain adapts to food restriction, and how such adaptations differ across the sexes. Here, we examined how food restriction impacts energy usage and function in the primary visual cortex (V1) of adult male and female mice. Molecular analysis and RNA sequencing in V1 revealed that in males, but not in females, food restriction significantly modulated canonical, energy-regulating pathways, including pathways associated with AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARα), mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), and oxidative phosphorylation. Moreover, we found that in contrast to males, food restriction in females did not significantly affect V1 ATP usage or visual coding precision (assessed by orientation selectivity). Decreased serum leptin is known to be necessary for triggering energy-saving changes in V1 during food restriction. Consistent with this, we found significantly decreased serum leptin in food-restricted males but no significant change in food-restricted females. Collectively, our findings demonstrate that cortical function and energy usage in female mice are more resilient to food restriction than in males. The neocortex, therefore, contributes to sex-specific, energy-saving adaptations in response to metabolic challenge
Collection of procedurally generated MiniGrid environments datasets
No full textThis dataset contains procedurally generated MiniGrid environments (two dimensional gridworlds) to benchmark and train Reinforcement Learning agents. These datasets can also be used to train generative models of MiniGrid environments. For more information on how to make use of these datasets refer to the README of our dred code repository at https://github.com/uoe-agents/dred
Defect rocksalt structures in the La-Na-N system
No full textRaw powder X-ray diffraction datasets for the profiles shown in Fig. 1 of the publication Yao Yuan, Simon D. Kloß, and J. Paul Attfield (in submission). "Defect rocksalt structures in the La-Na-N system." Philosophical Transactions A., 10.1098/rsta.2022.0329 . Sodium azide (NaN3) is a versatile nitrogen source that can be used for the synthesis of new nitrides under high pressure and temperature conditions. Reactions between lanthanum nitride (LaN) and sodium azide (NaN3) at 800 °C under 8 GPa pressure have led to the discovery of two defect rocksalt phases which are the first reported ternaries in the La-Na-N system. Preliminary structure assignments have been made based on fits to powder X-ray diffraction profiles. One phase is La1-xNa3xN with vacancies at octahedral La sites and interstitial tetrahedral Na cations. This phase has a tetragonally distorted rocksalt structure (space group I4/mmm, a = 3.8704(2) and c = 5.2098(3) Å for nominal x = 0.10) and the distortion decreases with increasing Na content (space group I4/mmm, a = 3.8060(2) Å, c = 5.2470(3) Å for nominal x = 0.14), further giving a cubic Fm3̅m phase (a = 5.3055(2) Å) for nominal x = 0.25. This coexists with another cubic Fm3̅m phase (a = 5.1561 (5) Å), tentatively identified as rocksalt ‘NaN1/3’ stabilised by a small amount of La; NaLayN(1+3y)/3 with y ≈ 1%. These initial investigations reveal that the high pressure La-Na-N phase diagram may be rich in defect rocksalt type materials although further work using neutron diffraction will be needed to confirm the structures
Running away from Malakal, by Yoannes Amum Nyiker
No full textAt the center of this item is an audio recording (wav file) in Shilluk of a narative by Yoannes Amum Nyiker, who tells about an experience he had as a child. The audio recording is accompanied by a detailed time-aligned annotation, which includes the Shilluk orthography; English translation; phonological transcription; morpheme glosses; and comments. Yoannes was a child when he ran away from Malakal Town, leaving his mother behind. He did not know what was happening, but he heard the gunshots and he saw people running. He was very frightened, and left his mother in the market. He had to run away with his stepmother who happened to be in the house. But when they reached the forest, his stepmother wanted to run to the south, and he said no, because the sound of the guns was coming from that side. So, he ran to the north alone. Luckily, he caught up with a woman who happened to know him, and they ran together. The woman was going to Dingjol, a Dinka village. They went together. A thorn pierced his foot, but it was not a serious thing to him at the time. Then they turned to the Shilluk villages before dark. They found many people who had run away from Malakal. Among the women, they found a woman from Panyikango. She knew him, and then he joined her, leaving the one going to Dingjol. They spend the night at Waw, on the Eastern Bank of the Nile, and in the morning they crossed the Nile. They spend another night in Waw West, where they learned that Malakal is good. When they reached Bokyeny, he ran back to Malakal. There he was reunited with his mother and also with his father, who had come from the village. The annotation of this narrative took place with the financial support of the Leverhulme Trust, through the grant "Suprasegmentals in three West Nilotic languages" (RPG-20202-040) to Bert Remijsen (PI). Further details can be found in the metadata file, and the excel sheet.This item consists of a recorded Shilluk narrative (wav file, 48 kHz 16 bit), accompanied with annotation (in Praat TextGrid) and associated information: metadata, permissions and speaker questionnaire. The associated information is also summarized, in a spreadsheet. The TextGrid annotation includes Shilluk orthography, translation, phonological transcription, morpheme glosses and comments
Dataset: Deletion of Hsd11b1 suppresses caloric-restriction-induced bone marrow adiposity in male but not female mice_v2024_05_07
No full textThese are the source data underlying the figures presented in a manuscript entitled "Deletion of Hsd11b1 suppresses caloric-restriction-induced bone marrow adiposity in male but not female mice", which has been provisionally accepted for publication in Journal of Endocrinology. Once published, the metadata for this dataset will be updated with the DOI of the published paper. For further details please see the file named readme_Hsd11b1_KO_CR_dataset_v2024_05_07.txtThe dataset consists of two Excel files (File 1 and File 2) and one readme text file (File 3.
File 1 contains the source data for the figures presented in the manuscript submitted to Journal of Endocrinology. It contains 11 worksheets, each of which consists of unformatted data in tabular format that can be read as a csv file.
File 2 has the same worksheet structure as File 1, but some of the worksheets have been updated to provide the raw data and calculations used to generate the final data contained within File 1; these calculations are included as Excel formulae, which therefore explain the origin of the final data presented in File 1. In File 2, calculations are included in the following worksheets: "Figures 1A, S1", "Figures 2G, 3A-B, S6A-E", "Figures 3C-E, 8A, 8C", "Figures 3F-G, 8B, 8D", "Figures 7A-C, S5", and "Figures S2A-B, S3B-C, S4C-G". The other sheets contain directly recorded data, or data derived from primary measurements (but without showing these calculations).
File 3 is the readme that contains further details
Georeferenced KH-9 Imagery - Quang Tri
No full textThis dataset contains georeferenced KH-9 images used in the manuscript "Detecting Vietnam War bomb craters in declassified KH-9 satellite imagery" (in submission). It contains the following images, provided as .tif files at a resolution of one meter per pixel (1mpp), as used in the analysis, and eight meters per pixel (8mpp): D3C1205-100113A009, D3C1205-100113A010, D3C1205-100113A011, D3C1205-100113A012.
The quang-tri-aft-1mpp.tif file is a mosaic of the georeferenced images (1mpp), cropped at the extents of Quang Tri province.
The KH-9 images were acquired on the 20. March 1973 by a HEXAGON KH-9 reconnaissance satellite and cover parts of Viet Nam and Lao PDR.
The original images (not georeferenced) were provided as part of the Declassified Satellite Imagery - 3 collection (https://doi.org/10.5066/F7WD3Z10) courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey
Temporal coupling of axonal calcium responses and filopodia formation
No full textThe combination of synaptic structural stability and functional plasticity is a recognized feature of the nervous system. This dichotomy is possible because the processes involved in neuronal information processing, such as receiving and transducing stimuli and generating synaptic responses, are predominantly biochemical. Here, we reveal a presynaptic response to neuronal activity that is physical in nature. We show that dynamic filopodia emerge and transiently deform synaptic boutons to enhance connectivity during action potential discharge. Filopodia extension increases presynaptic membrane tension, which is crucial for preserving synchronous neurotransmitter release during repeated synaptic vesicle fusion. However, during excessive action potential discharge, this mechanism becomes maladaptive, contributing to epileptogenesis. Therefore, we provide the first direct evidence that mechanical forces determine the extent and timescale of synaptic signals
Corpus metadata
No full textThis spreadsheet contains details of every media outlet we included. It also includes where their content was sourced from; which country and continent they were based in; and their 'reach' (e.g. national or international). In addition, it includes the kind of media sampled (e.g. print, broadcast, online); and the media type (e.g. newspaper, website). These codes were checked by two coders on all occasions. Details of the codes used can be found in the file marked 'codebook'.This item should be cross-referenced to the codebook (codebook.docx), so that readers understand the codes used