Previous studies indicated that physical education programs in schools were unsuccessful to ameliorate physical activity (PA) behaviors among adolescents. This study investigated PE teachers' ...perceptions of barriers and facilitators to PA and further digital exercise interventions among inactive British adolescents in secondary schools based on the Capability, Opportunity, Motivation, and Behavior (COM-B) model, the Behavior Change Wheel (BCW), and Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF).
A qualitative study was conducted among 156 PE teachers in England. deductive thematic analysis approach was applied to analyze data.
A comprehensive perception of PE teachers revealed 21 barriers to PA among inactive adolescents in secondary schools. The study findings show that barriers exist across all categories of the COM-B model in physical opportunity (7), reflective motivation (5), social opportunity (4), psychological capability (4) and physical capability (1). The majority of these barriers were reported in previous studies as being barriers to PA from the perspective of children and adolescents. This shows that the findings are consistent with the views of children and adolescents that participated in these studies. Particular salient barriers for inactive adolescents were reported and greater insight into their experiences was highlighted. The study reported the main sources of behavior, intervention functions, policy functions, and behavior change tools that can be used for future behavior change interventions to support inactive adolescents.
The study recommends using its findings to design interventions for inactive adolescents to achieve recommended levels of physical activity (PA). The study's comprehensive approach and evidence-based solutions provide extensive reference points for future intervention design, informing policy and contributing to enhancing support for inactive adolescents. Further development of digital exercise interventions, including conversational artificial intelligence (AI), is suggested to engage adolescents at scale and provide personalized support to overcome multiple barriers to PA.
There is some evidence that people from lower socio-economic groups (SEGs) are more likely to be either inactive or less active than those from higher SEGs. Currently, there is little evidence to ...indicate whether this trend is the same for the student population. This study aims to provide this insight to understand the habits and behaviours of university students in sport and physical activity whilst gaining an understanding of barriers to student participation. A mixed methods approach was employed, including an online survey of 729 students from 20 different UK universities, plus qualitative research at one university which included 27 semi-structured interviews with students, four semi-structured interviews with university staff, and a focus group with student sports volunteers. This paper supports previous findings around participation in sport and physical activity amongst different SEGs, finding that students from low SEGs were less active than those from higher SEGs. Key barriers preventing both groups participating in sport and physical activity included time (mainly due to academic commitments), cost and a lack of confidence, alongside some university-specific factors. A greater number of commuter students were in the low SEGs which also influenced behaviour in relation to sport and physical activity participation. Additionally, the research found that students that did not participate in sport and physical activity before university were also less likely to participate once they began university, and this was an important factor regardless of SEG. The paper provides some considerations and implications for both further research in this area and the design of interventions to engage and sustain participation in university students.
Internationally, there is rising interest in measuring the value of sport and physical activity to society. A critical step in valuing the sector is first establishing the relationship between ...engagement in sport and physical activity and the societal outcomes that ensue. This paper summarises the findings of a literature review carried out as part of a larger study on the Social Return on Investment (SROI) of recreational physical activity in Aotearoa New Zealand. The review aimed to synthesise existing evidence on the relationship between recreational physical activity and wellbeing outcomes for all New Zealanders, including tangata whenua (Māori, who are Aotearoa New Zealand's Indigenous population). The methodology took the format of a scoping review and included a series of searches for academic and grey literature, including literature concerning Māori that might have been overlooked in a traditional academic search. The findings are grouped into five outcome areas: physical health; subjective wellbeing; individual development; personal behaviour; and social and community development. The review found some compelling evidence which shows examples of the links between sport and physical activity and outcomes in each of these areas for specific population sub-groups. In particular, for Māori, the findings demonstrate a strong impact on social and community development through building social capital and enhancing cultural identity. However, in all outcome areas, there is mixed quality evidence, a small amount of evidence on which to base definitive conclusions, and limited evidence relating to the monetary value of outcomes. The review concludes that there is a need for further research to strengthen the evidence base for social impact measurement, particularly around the impact of sport and physical activity for indigenous populations.
Sustainability consideration in designing, constructing, and operating civil infrastructure requires substantive action and yet progress is slow. This research examines the impact third-party ...infrastructure sustainability rating tools—specifically CEEQUAL, Envision, Greenroads, and Infrastructure Sustainability—have beyond individual project certification and considers their role in driving wider industry change. In this empirical study, engineering and sustainability professionals (n = 63) assess and describe their experience in using rating tools outside of formal certification and also the impact of tool use on their own practice and the practices of their home organizations. The study found that 77% of experienced users and 59% of infrastructure owners used the tools for purposes other than formal project certification. The research attests that rating tool use and indeed their very existence has a strong influence on sustainability awareness and practice within the infrastructure industry, providing interpretation of sustainability matters in ways that resonate with industry norms. The rating tools impact on individuals and their professional and personal practice, on the policies and practices of infrastructure-related organizations, and more widely on other industry stakeholders. The findings can be used to increase the value gained from sustainability rating tool use and to better understand the role such tools play in creating cultural change within the industry.
This paper analyses the impact of engagement in sport on graduate employability using a triangulation of views from three key stakeholder groups. Primary research was conducted with 5838 graduates, ...112 employers and 13 university senior executives as part of a mixed-methods approach. The research found that engagement in sport was viewed as a sound investment from the perspectives of all three groups, with examples highlighting how sport provided 'added value' beyond subject-specific qualifications. This finding was particularly prominent where graduates demonstrated experience of voluntary roles through the leadership and management of sport and could articulate how this had a positive impact on the development of additional employability attributes. We argue that there are important implications for higher education policy, sports policy, universities, employers and students. For students, employability can be enhanced through participation and volunteering in sport, which is shown to be a good investment in terms of both skill development and future earnings. For employers, when recruiting graduates, a history of sport participation (inclusive of voluntary experience) may be a good indicator of candidates with desirable traits for employment. For universities, meeting their customers' demand for sport with sufficient supply through strategic investment is an important consideration of their offer. (Autor).
The globalisation of crime means there is an increasingly vital need for effective sharing of knowledge by police organisations across international borders. However, identifying the complexities and ...challenges of this aspect of international collaboration has been relatively neglected in previous research. The research reported in this paper therefore set out to identify the major barriers and facilitators of international knowledge sharing. Research teams in ten European countries produced ten case studies of knowledge sharing across borders, either involving direct cooperation between police forces in different countries or through international agencies such as CEPOL or INTERPOL. The integrative findings showed that the major influences on knowledge sharing could be theoretically categorised in terms of organisational factors (e.g., technological and staff capabilities), inter-organisational factors (e.g., quality of relationships, shared visions and systems), inter-country factors (e.g., bilateral conventions, legislation) and knowledge characteristics (e.g., clarity, legal sensitivity). Practical implications include standardising technology systems across countries, improving inter-organisational trust through exchanges and physical co-working, developing police members' knowledge and skills with regards to collaborative working and creating joint agreements and visions. Research implications highlighted the need to test the findings in non-European contexts and to comparatively focus on specific types of collaboration.
The first step in managing herbicide-resistant weeds is to confirm their resistance status. It is, therefore, crucial to have a rapid, reliable and cost-effective technique to assess samples for ...herbicide resistance. We designed and evaluated three derived cleaved amplified polymorphic sequence (dCAPS) markers for detecting glyphosate resistance in Lolium perenne. conferred by non-synonymous mutations at codon-106 in the enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS) gene. The dCAPS markers involve amplification of the target region, digestion of the amplified products with restriction enzymes and gel-based visualisation of the digested products. The results showed that all three dCAPS markers could successfully detect mutations at codon-106 in the target enzyme. The dCAPS markers can also inform us of the zygosity state of the resistance allele and was confirmed by sequencing the target region of the EPSPS gene. The markers described here are effective quick tests for the monitoring and evaluation of the target-enzyme mechanism of glyphosate resistance in Lolium perenne.
Assessment of Minimal Residual Disease in Standard-Risk AML Ivey, Adam; Hills, Robert K; Simpson, Michael A ...
New England journal of medicine/The New England journal of medicine,
2016-Feb-04, Letnik:
374, Številka:
5
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Despite the molecular heterogeneity of standard-risk acute myeloid leukemia (AML), treatment decisions are based on a limited number of molecular genetic markers and morphology-based assessment of ...remission. Sensitive detection of a leukemia-specific marker (e.g., a mutation in the gene encoding nucleophosmin NPM1) could improve prognostication by identifying submicroscopic disease during remission.
We used a reverse-transcriptase quantitative polymerase-chain-reaction assay to detect minimal residual disease in 2569 samples obtained from 346 patients with NPM1-mutated AML who had undergone intensive treatment in the National Cancer Research Institute AML17 trial. We used a custom 51-gene panel to perform targeted sequencing of 223 samples obtained at the time of diagnosis and 49 samples obtained at the time of relapse. Mutations associated with preleukemic clones were tracked by means of digital polymerase chain reaction.
Molecular profiling highlighted the complexity of NPM1-mutated AML, with segregation of patients into more than 150 subgroups, thus precluding reliable outcome prediction. The determination of minimal-residual-disease status was more informative. Persistence of NPM1-mutated transcripts in blood was present in 15% of the patients after the second chemotherapy cycle and was associated with a greater risk of relapse after 3 years of follow-up than was an absence of such transcripts (82% vs. 30%; hazard ratio, 4.80; 95% confidence interval CI, 2.95 to 7.80; P<0.001) and a lower rate of survival (24% vs. 75%; hazard ratio for death, 4.38; 95% CI, 2.57 to 7.47; P<0.001). The presence of minimal residual disease was the only independent prognostic factor for death in multivariate analysis (hazard ratio, 4.84; 95% CI, 2.57 to 9.15; P<0.001). These results were validated in an independent cohort. On sequential monitoring of minimal residual disease, relapse was reliably predicted by a rising level of NPM1-mutated transcripts. Although mutations associated with preleukemic clones remained detectable during ongoing remission after chemotherapy, NPM1 mutations were detected in 69 of 70 patients at the time of relapse and provided a better marker of disease status.
The presence of minimal residual disease, as determined by quantitation of NPM1-mutated transcripts, provided powerful prognostic information independent of other risk factors. (Funded by Bloodwise and the National Institute for Health Research; Current Controlled Trials number, ISRCTN55675535.).
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