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The effect of the 8-week core muscle training in swimming time, swimming force and core muscle activity among swimmers:A randomized controlled trial
No full textThis intervention was conducted to evaluate the effects of 8 weeks of core training on swimming performance, force performance and core muscle activation. An 8-week core training was implemented, 32 swimmers were randomly allocated to experimental group (EG) (age: 14.38-14.88) and control group (CG) (age: 15.33-17.40). The CG maintained regular in-water training, while EG performed two additional core training a week. Swimming time, stroke rate (SR), stroke length (SL) and bilateral core muscle activity were obtained through 50 m front-crawl (FC) time trials and surface electromyography (sEMG). Moreover, the tethered swimming force was measured using the Tethered Swimming Test (TST) as a kinetic parameter. All tests were performed twice (pre- and post-intervention) to examine differences in measured parameters. No between-group differences were found. Male swimmers in EG showed within group decrease in swimming time (- 0.59 s; p < 0.05; ES = 0.827), while female swimmers in both groups showed changes in swimming velocity (EG: + 0.03 m/s; CG: + 0.02 m/s; p < 0.05). EG in male and female swimmers showed more improvement in TST than CG. For the co-contraction index (CCI) of the core muscle, no differences were demonstrated in female and male groups. This study did not indicate significant effects of core training on swimmers, additional research exploring core training is recommended to confirm these findings
After betweenness and “New Women”:Murata Sayaka’s Konbini Ningen as a challenge to Japanese ethics
No full textThe purpose of this article is to show how Murata Sayaka’s symbolisms in her bestselling short story, The Convenience Store Woman, cast a great doubt on the foundation of contemporary Japanese ethics and Japanese feminism. The English translation tends to make it look like a quirky and humorous story about an ordinary Japanese woman in Tokyo, navigating through a psycho-existential complex of patriarchal social expectations. This western reception fails to capture the devastating existential blow that Murata brings to the establishment of modern Japanese philosophy. To show this point, this article will firstly revisit the “structures” of arguments, which Watsuji Tetsurō and Japanese women thinkers as Yosano Akiko and Hiratsuka Raichō provided for theorizing their sense of what it means to be an “authentic” human being or a woman in twentieth-century Japan. Then we will examine how the arc of Murata’s story takes up these conceptual frameworks and ultimately questions if they can indeed produce a reasonable sense of being a human or a woman in the present historical condition of living in the twentieth-first century Japan. The main goal of this dialogue between Japanese philosophy and literature is to show that Murata’s literary work can undermine our confidence in the theoretical framework of philosophical arguments, which seem to sustain Watsuji’s Rinrigaku and the works of Japanese women thinkers
Consolidating the one health content of agricultural guidance documents in West Africa: a scoping review
No full textWest Africa faces numerous challenges to food security, including rising humanpopulations, climate change, (re)emerging infectious diseases, Antimicrobial Resistance(AMR), and biodiversity loss. As such, the URBAne consortium is collaborating acrosswest Africa to re-imagine food production systems that are climate-smart, nature-based,and resilient to contextually specific one health stressors of the region. however, the documentation supporting such progress is broad. it is currently unclear how wellagriculture investment plans are linked to government-produced documents such asnational one health Strategic Plans and national Action Plans on AMR. This study employed a systematic methodology to assess the availability and content of relevantagricultural guidance documents. This analysis 1) identifies 24 key agricultural and onehealth document for Benin, Burkina Faso, ghana, nigeria, Senegal and Morocco. 2) Aninductive approach was used to identify the common terminology used within andbetween one health and agricultural document. 3) demonstrate how one healthterminology differs between documents aimed at food production and those withwider one health narratives. 4) explore how such differences could silo one healthaction within certain sectors, and 5) identify examples of one health synergies acrossdocuments that could pave the way for one health-centred agricultural refor
Footprints of Worldwide Adaptation in Structured Populations of Drosophila melanogaster Through the Expanded DEST 2.0 Genomic Resource
No full textLarge-scale genomic resources can place genetic variation into an ecologically informed context. To advance our understanding of the population genetics of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, we present an expanded release of the community-generated population genomics resource Drosophila Evolution over Space and Time (DEST 2.0; https://dest.bio/). This release includes 530 high-quality pooled libraries from flies collected across six continents over more than a decade (2009 to 2021), most at multiple time points per year; 211 of these libraries are sequenced and shared here for the first time. We used this enhanced resource to elucidate several aspects of the species' demographic history and identify novel signs of adaptation across spatial and temporal dimensions. For example, we showed that the spatial genetic structure of populations is stable over time, but that drift due to seasonal contractions of population size causes populations to diverge over time. We identified signals of adaptation that vary between continents in genomic regions associated with xenobiotic resistance, consistent with independent adaptation to common pesticides. Moreover, by analyzing samples collected during spring and fall across Europe, we provide new evidence for seasonal adaptation related to loci associated with pathogen response. Furthermore, we have also released an updated version of the DEST genome browser. This is a useful tool for studying spatiotemporal patterns of genetic variation in this classic model system
The relationship between expelled eggs, morbidity and age in a Schistosoma mansoni endemic setting in Uganda: Implications for current elimination policies
No full textDirect morbidity assessments are rarely included in monitoring and evaluation of Schistosoma mansoni mass drug administration programmes. This is despite morbidity reduction being the leading objective of control and elimination as a public health problem in the World Health Organization (WHO) targets. Instead, the number of eggs-per-gram (EPG) of faeces are used as a morbidity proxy. Furthermore, current WHO guidelines use infection intensity thresholds to determine where and when MDA is to be implemented. However, recent work has begun to question this assumption of a direct association between infection intensity in intestinal schistosomiasis and host morbidity. Here we aimed to examine the potential association between S. mansoni infection intensity and morbidity from pre-school-aged children (PSAC) through to elderly individuals, living in Bugoto, Uganda. Prevalence and intensities of S. mansoni infection were diagnosed by Kato-Katz and point-of-care circulating cathodic antigen tests (POC-CCAs) in 287 individuals aged 3–74 years, from Bugoto, Uganda. In addition to data on anaemia and self-reported symptoms, abdominal ultrasound examinations were conducted to identify liver parenchyma image pattern (IP), portal vein dilation (PVD) and left parasternal line (PSL) enlargement. Malaria status was determined using rapid diagnostic testing. Generalised additive models estimated associations between morbidity outcomes and infection intensity/presence, diagnostic method, co-infections, age and sex. The prevalence of positive IP scores, dilated PVD, enlarged PSL and anaemia were 9%, 34%, 33% and 13% respectively. Neither S. mansoni infection intensity or status were significantly associated with PVD, PSL, or anaemia. Age was the most consistent predictor of morbidity, with the highest burden of PVD, PSL and anaemia in PSAC. Malaria infection was also positively associated with PVD and anaemia. A positive POC-CCA predicted only self-reported blood in stool. Our findings add to growing evidence that current infection intensity is an inappropriate proxy for schistosomiasis morbidity, urging a revaluation of tools and targets. The observed prevalence of morbidities in PSAC evidence a need to elucidate the impact of less-specific morbidities, past S. mansoni and other parasitic infections on host health, and adds urgency to the on-going roll out of treatment to this age group
The pond dilemma with heterogeneous relative concerns
No full textThis paper explores team formation when workers differ in skills and theirdesire to out-earn co-workers. I cast this question as a two-dimensional assignment problem, characterise the equilibrium sorting and payoffs for three large classes of specifications, and find that heterogeneity in status preferences drastically changes the distributional and organisational consequences of skill-biased technological change (SBTC). Strikingly, the benefits of SBTC trickle down to low-skill workers with weak relative concerns even when there are no complementarities in production. Moreover, SBTC incentivises domestic outsourcing, as firms seek to avoid detrimental social comparisons between high- and low-skill workers, which provides a compelling explanation for the observed long-term increase in domestic outsourcing
Economic Burden of Livestock Diseases: A Vertically Integrated Partial Equilibrium Livestock Model
No full textAnimal health and livestock disease constrain food security, education, and the wealth of households. Assessment of the impacts of animal health and livestock diseases on the well-being of the live animal and value chain actors, as well as consumers, helps to quantify the efficiency of resource allocations in the livestock sector and to improve stakeholder decision-making. In this paper, we aim to illustrate how the impact of improved animal health affects the well-being of economic agents of the livestock sector of an economy. We specify a vertically integrated partial equilibrium livestock model to identify disease free equilibria as a special case of the Kuhn–Tucker conditions. We provide empirical evidence from a case study on the small ruminant meat value chain of Ethiopia. We find that the total surplus increase for a disease free small ruminant sector is USD 780 million under constant consumer demand. If meat demand increases according to the FAO projection, the surplus gain increases to USD 1.2 billion. Overall, our results support that economic agents across the value chain benefit from improved livestock health
Glycaemic control in labour with diabetes: GILD, a scoping study
No full textBACKGROUND: Diabetes in pregnancy is common, affecting 5-10% of pregnant women. Poor glycaemic control in labour is associated with neonatal hypoglycaemia and other adverse outcomes for mother and baby, but tight glucose control is burdensome, intrusive and may not always be necessary. The ideal intrapartum glucose target level is unknown, traditionally 'tight' control (target 4-7 mmol/l) has been recommended; however, this increases the risk of maternal hypoglycaemia.OBJECTIVE: To determine the feasibility of a randomised clinical trial to compare clinical and cost-effectiveness of permissive versus intensive intrapartum glycaemic control in labour in pregnancies complicated by diabetes.DESIGN: A mixed-methods study including audit of clinical guidelines from United Kingdom maternity units, online surveys of women with diabetes and healthcare professionals, service evaluation of intrapartum glycaemic care, Delphi survey and consensus meeting. Data from these work packages led to the design of a clinical trial, and qualitative interviews were held to understand acceptability of the trial.SETTING: National Health Service maternity services and online input from service users.PARTICIPANTS: Healthcare professionals and women with type 1 or type 2 diabetes mellitus or gestational diabetes (currently pregnant or having birthed after active labour in past 3 years).RESULTS: There is significant variation in the recommended frequency of testing for gestational diabetes in labour, technologies used to test glucose levels in labour and administer insulin in type 1 diabetes mellitus, and in how neonatal hypoglycaemia is defined. Of surveyed women, 66% would be willing to participate in a future trial, with 23% unsure without further information. The service evaluation showed that once glucose testing had commenced, it was repeated after 1 hour in 18%, 2 hours in 38% and 4 hours in 45% of women. Neonatal hypoglycaemia was considered the most important neonatal outcome for a future trial, with maternal satisfaction the most important maternal outcome. The incidence of neonatal hypoglycaemia (defined as glucose < 2.6 mmol/l) was 47% in type 1 diabetes mellitus, 45% in type 2 diabetes mellitus and 16% in gestational diabetes mellitus. A non-inferiority trial to compare permissive versus intensive glucose control was designed to include all types of diabetes in an umbrella trial (conduct more than one trial simultaneously). Women and healthcare professionals considered the trial design acceptable and feasible, though noted important considerations in the design and conduct.LIMITATIONS: Glucose levels may be poorly recorded in maternity notes and in practice tested more frequently than the study suggests. Sample sizes in some of the work packages were smaller than our pre-specified target, attrition in the Delphi survey was greater than anticipated and the study was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic impacting results. Willingness to participate in a hypothetical trial might not translate into recruitment to a real trial.CONCLUSIONS: An umbrella trial using a master protocol was designed to compare tight glycaemic control (standard care) with more permissive control in all types of diabetes. Such a trial is feasible and acceptable to women with lived experience of diabetes during pregnancy and by the women and healthcare professionals who took part in qualitative interviews.FUTURE WORK: We recommend that a future randomised trial should include an internal pilot phase to test key aspects of trial conduct and clear progression criteria, given the challenges we have identified during this scoping study.STUDY REGISTRATION: This study is registered as researchregistry6832.FUNDING: This award was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment programme (NIHR award ref: NIHR130175) and is published in full in Health Technology Assessment; Vol. 29, No. 41. See the NIHR Funding and Awards website for further award information. </p
Addressing methodological challenges in Multiple Long- Term Conditions Research:A Stakeholder Workshop using a Nominal Group Technique method
No full textBackgroundMultiple long-term conditions (MLTC) - which refer to the coexistence in an individual of two or more long-term conditions - are a growing global concern, causing significant strain on healthcare systems and increasing care costs. Research into MLTC is a strategic priority for healthcare services, policymakers and research funders.MethodsTo address these complexities, the UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) established the MLTC Cross-NIHR Collaboration (MLTC CNC) programme, to foster interdisciplinary collaboration and address key gaps in MLTC research. As part of this initiative, the Methodologies Workstream organised a two-day stakeholder workshop in March 2024 aimed at identifying current methodological challenges in MLTC research, prioritising key areas for improvement, and developing strategies to enhance research methodologies. The workshop employed a participatory and iterative approach, using structured presentations, facilitated group work, and the Nominal Group Technique (NGT) to promote cross-disciplinary collaboration and achieve consensus on key research priorities for MLTC.ResultsTwenty-three delegates attended the workshop from a range of institutions and sectors, including representatives from data science, epidemiology, clinical trials, quality improvement, social sciences, healthcare management, clinical practice, industry, patient advocacy groups, policymakers, patients, carers, and public representatives. The workshop identified critical knowledge gaps in MLTC research methodologies, including challenges with disease classification, data integration, analytical approaches, and the inclusion of diverse population subgroups.ConclusionBy addressing these methodological gaps and fostering collaboration across disciplines, the MLTC research community can generate more rigorous, inclusive, and impactful evidence, ultimately improving healthcare delivery and patient outcomes.<br/
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