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Developing Coach Developers in Finnish Ice Hockey Context: The Case of Coach Developer Academy
Get PDFRecognising the important role that coach developers (CDs) can play in supporting sport coaches, national governing bodies are increasingly seeking to engage them in professional development pathways and programmes. In this article, we introduce the Coach Developer Academy (CDA), a season-long intervention that is situated in the Finnish cultural context. It is an initiative between Finnish Ice Hockey Association and Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences. CDA is designed for CDs who are employed by the junior ice hockey organisations in Finland. Specifically, this article explores the three modules that are central to CDA: (a) Communities of Practice in Sports, (b) Developing Coach Developer Skills, and (c) Planning and Implementing Learning Process. As part of this, the learning tasks and assessment methods that were a part of each of the modules are discussed. We offer reflections from the CDA facilitators that highlight strengths, lessons learned, areas of improvement, and the opportunities for CDA growth. Our intention with this Practical Advances article is to share a case-based example that will contribute to the visibility and discussion of CD development efforts in the peer-reviewed literature
Concordance of Molecular Microbiology and Conventional Culture Techniques for Infected Diabetic Foot Ulcer Management
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The management of infected diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) requires balancing the need for timely interventions against the desire for targeted antibiotic therapy, which relies on laboratory results. This study aimed to evaluate concordance between molecular and conventional culture and sensitivity (C&S) methods in identifying bacteria from infected DFUs.
Methods
This study was conducted alongside CODIFI2, a Phase III randomised controlled trial comparing tissue sampling with wound swabbing. It assessed C&S and metagenomic 16S rRNA gene sequencing (M16s) in DFUs with suspected mild or moderate infections using both tissue and swab samples.
Results
In 145 participants, C&S identified 248 microorganisms across 25 genera including eight anaerobic genera. M16s identified a greater number and diversity of microorganisms, detecting 455 across 40 genera, including 173 anaerobes from 15 distinct genera. No bacterial growth was reported in 25.5% (95% CI:18.0%-32.3%) of C&S samples whereas M16s identified at least one organism in all samples. While observed agreement between methods was high (75%), Cohen’s Kappa revealed low concordance overall, except for Pseudomonas spp. and Streptococcus spp. (Kappa ≥0.5).
Conclusions
M16s detected a broader microbial spectrum, including fastidious anaerobes, but its low concordance with C&S and lack of antibiotic sensitivity data, challenge its suitability as a replacement for C&S in mild or moderate DFU infections. It may offer advantages in infections where increased sensitivity is beneficial, particularly where extended culture approaches are recommended to detect fastidious or low-abundance organisms. For mild to moderate diabetic foot ulcer infections, our findings support continued reliance on conventional C&S testing
Democratising learning spaces: challenging hierarchical power
Get PDFHierarchical structures are inherent in education. They uphold the bases of power upon which the roles of teachers and lecturers, and the pedagogical tools they deploy rest. These power bases are rooted in and routed through practices which underpin colonialist thinking and ideology. Drawing on understandings and critiques of hierarchy and power, this paper proposes frameworks for thinking around their application and impact on the learning environment and actuation of anti-racist praxis. Through reflection on work in two practical teaching settings - university and conservatoire, suggestions are made toward the implication(s) of such praxis in both settings. The additional gains made through these approaches are delineated to give impetus to strive toward more democratic learning environments, therefore laying the foundation(s) for enactable and sustainable anti-racist practice
An interpretable machine learning model to predict hospitalizations
Get PDFHospital management plays a pivotal role in ensuring the efficient delivery of medical services, especially in the face of challenges posed by pandemics such as COVID-19. This paper explores the application of machine learning techniques in addressing the challenge of hospitalization during pandemics. Leveraging a comprehensive dataset sourced from the Mexican government, various supervised learning algorithms including Random Forest, Gradient Boosting, Support Vector Machine, K-Nearest Neighbors, and Multilayer Perceptron are trained and evaluated to discern factors contributing to hospitalizations. Feature importance analysis and dimensionality reduction techniques are employed to enhance models predictive performance. The best model was Gradient Boosting algorithm with an accuracy of 85.63% and AUC score of 0.8696. The interpretability plots showed that pneumonia had a positive impact on the hospitalization prediction of the model. Our analysis indicates that women aged over 45 with pneumonia and concurrent COVID-19 exhibit the highest likelihood of hospitalization. This study underscores the potential of interpretable machine learning in aiding hospital managers to optimize resource allocation, hospitalization cases, and make data-driven decisions during pandemics
The Distinction Between Constitutional Values and Constitutional Principles
No full textThis chapter explores the distinction between constitutional values and principles by deploying axiological, legal, moral, ethical, and semantic arguments. It compares constitutional law perspectives and examples from Europe and from around the world. The chapter examines the essence of values and principles in modern constitutional law discourses and their significance in constitutional legal practice. While lawyers may use the two terms interchangeably, it is argued that they are different concepts and should not necessarily be used synonymously. The chapter proposes that constitutional values, in all their abstraction, may be further recognised and crystallised through constitutional principles and constitutional rights in a given constitutional order. Conversely, principles tend to operate beneath values but are actually supportive of values. The chapter argues that from the analytical and the practical point of view, a more hierarchical and, indeed, a more rational ordering of concepts, ought to be adopted in the modern subject of constitutional law, as this would benefit both the subject and practitioners. The chapter thus contends that constitutional values, where they are recognised in a constitutional law order, ought to represent and act as the highest axioms therein, followed by principles and, interestingly, by rights, which tend to be less abstract
Urban Grit: Probing the Urban Commons With Residents of Oliver Bond Housing Complex in Dublin, Ireland
Get PDFUrban Grit is a collaborative project, focusing on greening deficits in inner city Dublin, Ireland. A particular case study – the Oliver Bond House, in the south west inner city, is explored. The aim of the research was to develop “nature probes” – to make visible the role of the urban commons in this everyday environment. The paper traces how we reached the point of greenspace deficit in this part of Dublin and how we can operationalise and conceptualise practices of urban commoning pertaining to greening. Writing as academics and practitioners, this collaborative approach of “commoning our knowledge” supports communities who are undergoing rapid urban change. In doing so, it contributes to more nuanced conceptions of commons in marginalised urban communities
Platformization, cultural practices, and patterns of (dis)continuity: the case of the Women’s World Cup
No full textThis article examines processes related to platformization in the case of 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. By focusing specifically on how this World Cup edition was produced and consumed on TikTok, we primarily are concerned with how World Cup-related content was engaged with by users who, in this case, are assumed also to be fans, or followers of football. By drawing together insights from digital sociology, the sociology of football, and the cultural production of platforms, this study argues that patterns identified on TikTok reveal how the (dis)continuity in the production and consumption of the World Cup affords multiple and distinct peaks of interests that does not necessarily align with the World Cup’s natural flow. Importantly, this showcases (i) the ways in which the World Cup is characterized by processes of platformization in modern societies and (ii) that this platform offers a culturally and socially important space for narratives, ideas and images to develop, relating to the World Cup
Increases in skin perfusion and blood oxygen in the non-exercising human limbs during exercise in the heat: implications for control of circulation
No full textBlood flow in the inactive limb tissues and skin is widely thought to decline during incremental exercise to exhaustion due to augmented sympathoadrenal vasoconstrictor activity, but direct evidence to support this view is lacking. Here, we investigated the inactive-forearm haemodynamic (Q̇forearm) and oxygenation responses to a range of two-leg exercise intensities and durations in the heat. Blood oxygen and flow were measured in the forearm tissue and skin of endurance-trained males during three incremental cycling exercise tests, with tests 1 and 2 separated by a 2 h-bout of moderate constant load cycling exercise, all performed in the heat (35 °C, 50% rH, with fan cooling). In incremental exercise tests 1 and 3, Q̇forearm was stable from rest to ~40% Wpeak, before increasing by ~118% at 80% Wpeak (P < 0.001). Correspondingly, forearm skin arterio-venous oxygen difference (a-vO2 diff) decreased by ~62% at 80% Wpeak (P = 0.043), remaining reduced through to Wpeak. Concomitantly, forearm skin blood flow more than doubled, while forearm tissue O2 saturation decreased. When incremental exercise started shortly after constant load exercise (test 2), Q̇forearm was 2-3-fold higher than during tests 1 and 3, whereas skin a-vO2 diff was suppressed to a low level. Similar changes were observed during constant load exercise. In conclusion, skin perfusion increases during incremental exercise in the heat, concomitant to proportional reductions in oxygen extraction from the cutaneous circulation. Hence, contrary to the generally held view, skin perfusion remains elevated during maximal exercise and heat stress despite profound increases in sympathoadrenal activity
‘How low can you go?’ Developers' perspectives on involving young children in the development of patient reported outcome measures
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Recommendations suggest that children need to be ≥8 years-old to participate in concept elicitation (CE) and cognitive interviewing (CI) when developing patient reported outcome measures (PROMs). However, these recommendations have not been subject to thorough scrutiny and recent evidence suggests that younger children may be enabled to participate. This study audited current opinions of PROM developers regarding the feasibility of conducting CE and CI research with children.
Methodology
An online survey was developed to capture PROM developers’ perspectives, recruited from existing networks (UK PROMs, International Society for Quality of Life Research) and outcomes research groups from English-speaking countries between August-November 2024. Survey questions explored the ages from which developers considered it feasible to include children in CE and CI research, their previous experiences conducting CE/CI research with children, and respondents’ background experiences with children. Results were analysed descriptively, and exploratory comparisons were made based on developers’ characteristics.
Results
Fifty-eight responses were analysed. The mean youngest ages considered feasible to include children in CE and CI research were 6.66 years and 7.36 years, respectively. The mean youngest ages respondents reported involving children in CE and CI research in practice were 7.67 years and 8.13 years, respectively. Concern that children would have insufficient cognitive and/or linguistic skills was the most often endorsed reason for considering the involvement of younger children to be infeasible. Respondents who had recent parental experience with younger children tended to consider it feasible to include children from younger ages. Those who had conducted CI with children considered it feasible to include children in CI from younger ages. Opposingly, those who had conducted CE with children considered it less feasible to include younger children in CE research.
Conclusions
In-line with established precedent, PROM developers included children from ~8 years-old in CE and CI research, while in principle considering it feasible to include younger ages. Reasons for including (or not including) certain age groups in CE and CI research need critical evaluation and PROM developers may wish to consider ways in which more inclusive opportunities for younger children can be provided
Inter-individual differences in the blood pressure lowering effects of dietary nitrate: a randomised double-blind placebo-controlled replicate crossover trial
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Dietary nitrate supplementation increases nitric oxide (NO) bioavailability and reduces blood pressure (BP). Inter-individual differences in these responses are suspected but have not been investigated using robust designs, e.g., replicate crossover, and appropriate statistical models. We examined the within-individual consistency of the effects of dietary nitrate supplementation on NO biomarkers and BP, and quantified inter-individual response differences.
Methods
Fifteen healthy males visited the laboratory four times. On two visits, participants consumed 140 ml nitrate-rich beetroot juice (~ 14.0mmol nitrate) and, on the other two visits, they consumed 140 ml nitrate-depleted beetroot juice (~ 0.03mmol nitrate). Plasma nitrate and nitrite concentrations were measured 2.5 h post-supplementation. BP was measured pre- and 2.5 h post-supplementation. Between-replicate correlations were quantified for the placebo-adjusted post-supplementation plasma nitrate and nitrite concentrations and pre-to-post changes in BP. Within-participant linear mixed models and a meta-analytic approach estimated participant-by-condition treatment response variability.
Results
Nitrate-rich beetroot juice supplementation elevated plasma nitrate and nitrite concentrations and reduced systolic (mean:-7mmHg, 95%CI: -3 to -11mmHg) and diastolic (mean:-6mmHg, 95%CI: -2 to -9mmHg) BP versus placebo. The participant-by-condition interaction response variability from the mixed model was ± 7mmHg (95%CI: 3 to 9mmHg) for systolic BP and consistent with the treatment effect heterogeneity t = ± 7mmHg (95%CI: 5 to 12mmHg) derived from the meta-analytic approach. The between-replicate correlations were moderate-to-large for plasma nitrate, nitrite and systolic BP (r = 0.55 to 0.91).
Conclusions
The effects of dietary nitrate supplementation on NO biomarkers and systolic BP varied significantly from participant to participant. The causes of this inter-individual variation deserve further investigation. Trial registration: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05514821
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