Embodied transfer of knowledge using dynamic systems concepts in high school: A preliminary study.

The transfer of knowledge among academic subjects and linking different phenomena are crucial education competencies in Bloom's taxonomy of learning goals. From another side, modern cognitive science defines cognition and learning as embodied. The Synthetic Understanding through Movement Analogies (SUMA) educational framework proposes embodied learning of general scientific principles and concepts and knowledge transfer among academic disciplines encompassing sciences, humanities and arts. Accordingly, this research aimed to evaluate the educational potential of teaching a set of Dynamic Systems Theory (DST) concepts through body movement experiences in first-grade high school students. Five classes of high school students (n = 71; 23 girls, 46 boys and 2 non-binaries, aged 12-13 y.) followed a four-week intervention addressed to teaching five DST concepts (order parameter, stability, control parameter, instability and phase transition) and transfer them to biological and social phenomena. Students followed four teaching phases: a) embodied experience, b) reflective observation of the experience, c) abstract conceptualization of the experience using the five general concepts, d) transfer of knowledge through the concepts to different phenomena from biological and social science academic subjects. Students' integration and transfer of knowledge abilities were evaluated pre- and post-intervention through a questionnaire and three open-ended questions. Results were compared using non-parametric Wilcoxon matched-pairs test and effect sizes were calculated through PS dep measures. Students' abilities to integrate and transfer knowledge increased post-intervention (Z = 7.322, p < 0.0001, PSdep = 1). The effect of the intervention points to the potential of teaching general DST concepts through body movement experiences in high school students for achieving the goals of an embodied and unificatory transdisciplinary education.

Cardiorespiratory coordination reveals training-specific physiological adaptations.

PURPOSE: To compare the effects of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and moderate-intensity training (CONT), matched for total work, on cardiorespiratory coordination and aerobic fitness. METHODS: This is a two-arm parallel group single-blind randomised study. Twenty adults were assigned to 6 weeks of HIIT or volume-matched CONT. Participants completed a progressive maximal cycling test before and after the training period. Principal component (PC) analysis was performed on the series of cardiorespiratory variables to evaluate dimensionality of cardiorespiratory coordination, before and after lactate turnpoint. PC1 eigenvalues were compared. RESULTS: Both HIIT and CONT improved aerobic fitness (main effects of time, p < 0.001, [Formula: see text] ≥ 0.580), with no differences between groups. CONT decreased the number of PCs from two to one at intensities both below and above the lactate turnpoint; PC1 eigenvalues increased after CONT both below (Z = 2.08; p = 0.04; d = 0.94) and above the lactate turnpoint (Z = 2.10; p = 0.04; d = 1.37). HIIT decreased the number of PCs from two to one after the lactate turnpoint only; PC1 eigenvalues increased after HIIT above the lactate turnpoint (Z = 2.31; p = 0.02; d = 0.42). CONCLUSIONS: Although CONT and HIIT improved aerobic fitness to a similar extent, there were different patterns of change for cardiorespiratory coordination. These changes appear training-intensity specific and could be sensitive to investigate the individual response to endurance training.

Unipolar ulnar head replacement for treatment of post-Darrach procedure instability.

The aim of this study was to assess distal radioulnar joint stability after unipolar ulnar head replacement for post-Darrach instability. All the patients who underwent ulnar head replacement between1999 and 2015 for post-Darrach procedure instability at our clinic were reviewed. Seven Hebert-type and two uHead (SBI/Stryker) prostheses were implanted. None of the implants were cemented. We assessed stability, pain, range of motion and strength pre- and postoperatively. The changes in the radiographic appearance between immediate postoperative and the last follow-up were determined. All patients (8 patients and 9 joint replacements) had a stable distal ulnar stump at the mean follow-up of 69 months. No complications occurred and no revisions were needed. Pain on a visual analog scale (VAS) was 0 at rest and 6 during maximum effort at the last follow-up; it was 1.5 at rest and 8.5 during effort preoperatively. Wrist flexion and extension, supination and grip strength were unchanged. Pronation increased from 45° to 70°. An area of bone resorption proximal to the ulnar head implant was found in 5 cases but no secondary displacement of the implant or increased pain was reported. Ulnar head replacement stabilizes the ulnar stump. The implant acts as a spacer to place the soft tissues under tension. Distal ulnar stump instability after the Darrach procedure can be solved by a unipolar ulnar head replacement procedure.

Sport science integration: An evolutionary synthesis.

The aim of the paper is to point out one way of integrating the supposedly incommensurate disciplines investigated in sports science. General, common principles can be found among apparently unrelated disciplines when the focus is put on the dynamics of sports-related phenomena. Dynamical systems approaches that have recently changed research in biological and social sciences among others, offer key concepts to create a common pluricontextual language in sport science. This common language, far from being homogenising, offers key synthesis between diverse fields, respecting and enabling the theoretical and experimental pluralism. It forms a softly integrated sports science characterised by a basic dynamic explanatory backbone as well as context-dependent theoretical flexibility. After defining the dynamic integration in living systems, unable to be captured by structural static approaches, we show the commonalities between the diversity of processes existing on different levels and time scales in biological and social entities. We justify our interpretation by drawing on some recent scientific contributions that use the same general principles and concepts, and diverse methods and techniques of data analysis, to study different types of phenomena in diverse disciplines. We show how the introduction of the dynamic framework in sport science has started to blur the boundaries between physiology, biomechanics, psychology, phenomenology and sociology. The advantages and difficulties of sport science integration and its consequences in research are also discussed.

Non-tuberculous mycobacterial infections of the hand.

UNLABELLED: Non-tuberculous mycobacterial infections of the hand are difficult to treat and require a long time before remission. But how long should we wait to see an improvement? To answer this question, the published scientific literature was reviewed in English, French and German. Tuberculosis, arthritis and osteomyelitis cases were excluded. A total of 241 non-tuberculous mycobacterial hand infections in 38 scientific publications were retrieved. Most were case reports or series. The median age of the patients was 58years and one third was female. Patients were immunocompromised in 17 episodes. The most common species were Mycobacterium marinum in 198 episodes (82%), followed by M. chelonae in 13 cases (5%). There were no cases of mixed infection. Most infections were aquatic in origin and community-acquired, and were treated with a combination of surgical debridement and long-duration systemic combination antibiotic therapy (14 different regimens; no local antibiotics) for a median duration of 6months. The median number of surgical procedures was 2.5 (range 1-5). Clinical success was not immediate: a median period of 3months (range 2-6) was necessary before the first signs of improvement were observed. The majority (173 cases; 76%) remained entirely cured after a median follow-up time of 1.7years (range, 1-6). Only two microbiological recurrences occurred (1%). However, 49 patients (21%) had long-term sequelae such as pain, stiffness and swelling. The approach of long-duration antibiotic treatment in combination with repeated surgery for mycobacterial soft tissue infections of the hand leads to few recurrences. However, clinical success is not immediate and may take up to 3months. TYPE OF STUDY: Therapeutic study: systematic review of level III studies. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: III.

CD34+ circulating progenitor cells after different training programs.

Circulating progenitor cells (CPC) are bone marrow-derived cells that are mobilized into the circulation. While exercise is a powerful mediator of hematopoiesis, CPC levels increase, and reports of their activation after different types of exercise are contradictory. Moreover, few studies have compared the possible effects of different training programs on CPC concentrations. 43 physically active healthy male subjects (age 22±2.4 years) were assigned to 4 different training groups: aerobic, resistance, mixed and control. Except for the control group, all participants trained for 6 weeks. Peripheral blood samples were collected through an antecubital vein, and CPC CD34(+) was analyzed on different days: pre-training, post-training, and 3 weeks after finishing the training period. While no significant differences in CPC were observed either within or between the different training groups, there was a tendency towards higher values post-training and large intra- and intergroup dispersion. We detected an inverse linear relationship between pre-training values and % of CPC changes post-training (p<0.001). In the CPC values 3 weeks after training this inverse relationship was maintained, though to a lower extent (p<0.001). No changes in CPC CD34(+) were detected after 6 weeks of different training groups, or after 3 weeks of follow-up.

Plastic surgery after gastric bypass improves long-term quality of life.

BACKGROUND: Excess skin after massive weight loss impairs patient's health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Therefore, body-contouring surgeries can be proposed. However, few data exist concerning the effect of body contouring after bariatric surgery on HRQoL, including control group with a long-term follow-up. METHODS: In a prospective study, 98 consecutive patients who had body contouring after gastric bypass for obesity (BMI > 40) were included (group A). A matched control-group containing 102 patients who had only gastric bypass was selected (group B). HRQoL was measured by Moorehead-Ardelt questionnaire before (group A1) and after (A2) body contouring, and at different time points for group B until 8 years post-gastric bypass. To evaluate the effect of body contouring by two parallel methods, HRQoL was compared between groups A1 and A2, and between A2 and B. RESULTS: We found that body contouring procedures improved significantly patients' HRQoL, in comparison to those who had only gastric bypass. Of the patients who had body contouring (group A2), 57 % evaluated their HRQoL "much better" in comparison to only 22 % of patients before body contouring (group A1) or those who never had body contouring (group B) (p < 0.001). The improvement was significant in all sub-domains of HRQoL: self-esteem, social life, work ability, sexual activity and physical activity (p < 0.001), and remained stable over time. CONCLUSIONS: Our study confirms the important role of plastic surgery in treatment of patients after massive weight loss. We demonstrated that body contouring, despite important scars, significantly improves satisfaction and HRQoL of patients after gastric bypass. Therefore, the treatment of morbid obesity should not be deemed achieved unless plastic surgery has been considered.