The embryo assembles itself

WE ARE ANARCHISTS FROM THE GIT GO

New mathematical framework sheds light on how cells communicate to form an embryo

INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AUSTRIA

 

IMAGE: 

NOMIS-ISTA FELLOW DAVID BRÜCKNER AT THE INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AUSTRIA (ISTA)

view more 

CREDIT: © ISTA

Biological processes depend on puzzle pieces coming together and interacting. Under specific conditions, these interactions can create something new without external input. This is called self-organization, as seen in a school of fish or a flock of birds. Interestingly, the mammalian embryo develops similarly. In PNAS, David Brückner and Gašper Tkačik from the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) introduce a mathematical framework that analyzes self-organization from a single cell to a multicellular organism.

When an embryo develops, many types of cells with different functions need to be generated. For example, some cells will become part of the eye and record visual stimuli, while others will be part of the gut and help digest food. To determine their roles, cells are constantly communicating with each other using chemical signals.

Thanks to this communication, during development, everything is well synchronized and coordinated, and yet there is no central control responsible for this. The cell collective is self-organized and orchestrated by the interactions between the individuals. Each cell reacts to signals of its neighbors. Based on such self-organization, the mammalian embryo develops from a single fertilized egg cell into a multicellular organism.

David Brückner and Gašper Tkačik from the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) have now established a mathematical framework that helps analyze this process and predict its optimal parameters. Published in PNAS, this approach represents a unifying mathematical language to describe biological self-organization in embryonic development and beyond.

The self-assembling embryo
In nature, self-organization is all around us: we can observe it in fish schools, bird flocks, or insect collectives, and even in microscopic processes regulated by cells. NOMIS fellow and ISTA postdoc David Brückner is interested in getting a better understanding of these processes from a theoretical standpoint. His focus lies on embryonic development—a complex process governed by genetics and cells communicating with each other.

During embryonic development, a single fertilized cell turns into a multicellular embryo containing organs with lots of different features. “For many steps in this developmental process, the system has no extrinsic signal that directs it what to do. There is an intrinsic property of the system that allows it to establish patterns and structures,” says Brückner. “The intrinsic property is what is known as self-organization.” Even with unpredictable factors—which physicists call “noise”—the embryonic patterns are formed reliably and consistently. In recent years, scientists have gained a deeper understanding of the molecular details that drive this complex process. A mathematical framework to analyze and quantify its performance, however, was lacking. The language of information theory provides answers.

Bridging expertise
“Information theory is a universal language to quantify structure and regularity in statistical ensembles, which are a collection of replicates of the same process. Embryonic development can be seen as such a process that reproducibly generates functional organisms that are very similar but not identical,” says Gašper Tkačik, professor at ISTA and expert in this field. For a long time, Tkačik has been studying how information gets processed in biological systems, for instance in the fly embryo. “In the early fly embryo, patterns are not self-organized,” he continues. “The mother fly puts chemicals into the egg that instruct the cells on what actions to take.” As the Tkačik group had already developed a framework for this system, Brückner reached out to develop one for the mammalian embryo as well. “With Gašper’s expertise in information theory, we were able to put it together,” Brückner adds excitedly.

Beyond embryo development?
During embryonic development, cells exchange signals and are constantly subject to random, unpredictable fluctuations (noise). Therefore, cellular interactions must be robust. The new framework measures how these interactions are possibly optimized to withstand noise. Using computer simulations of interacting cells, the scientists explored the conditions under which a system can still have a stable final result despite introducing fluctuations.

Although the framework has proven to be successful on three different developmental models that all rely on chemical and mechanical signaling, additional work will be required to apply it to experimental recordings of developmental systems. “In the future, we want to study more complex models with more parameters and dimensions,” Tkačik says. “By quantifying more complex models, we could also apply our framework to experimentally measured patterns of chemical signals in developing embryos,” adds Brückner. For this purpose, the two theoretical scientists will team up with experimentalists.

 

---

JOURNAL

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

DOI

10.1073/pnas.2322326121 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Computational simulation/modeling

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Information content and optimization of self-organized developmental systems

 

New study sheds light on the effects of humor in medical practices

A light joke doesn’t hurt anybody

MARTIN-LUTHER-UNIVERSITÄT HALLE-WITTENBERG

A humorous remark at just the right time can go a long way. Benevolent humour helps medical assistants (MAs) cope positively with their stressful working day, according to a new study by the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) and the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB). The researchers surveyed more than 600 MAs to find out how they experience their work and what style of humour they use in their daily working lives. They found that if the respondents preferred light, well-intended humour, they were more satisfied with their work and received more positive feedback. Dark humour, such as sarcasm, was more likely to have disadvantages. The study was recently published in the journal BMC Primary Care.

Medical assistants mostly work in primary health care, especially medical practices. In Germany, working as an MA requires a three-year vocational training. The daily work routine of MAs can be very demanding. They are responsible for administrative work and, for example, taking blood samples and applying wound dressings. "Medical assistants are in very close contact with patients for most of the day. They have a lot of responsibility and experience a lot of stress," says Julia Raecke from BIBB, who is doing her doctorate at MLU. It has long been known that humour can help healthcare workers cope with stress. "However, little is known about the consequences of different humour styles. We set out to investigate those, as it should make a big difference, whether MAs use puns or sarcasm when dealing with patients. Talking to people that are potentially sick requires a lot of empathy and verbal dexterity," explains Professor René Proyer, a psychologist at MLU. 

The two researchers conducted an online survey of more than 600 MAs. The aim was to understand better the relationship between job satisfaction and different humour styles. In addition to the kind of humour they prefer, respondents also provided information about their well-being in the workplace and how competent they feel at work. 

If the respondents preferred positive and benevolent humour, they were in general also more satisfied with their work. But not only that: "MAs with a preference for light humour stated that they received more positive feedback and were more likely to feel that they were making a difference at work," says Julia Raecke. Surprisingly, presumably negative or dark humour did not score worse across the board. "Even though satire and irony are considered dark humour, we found no negative correlation with the respondents’ well-being," adds Raecke. In contrast, cynicism and especially sarcasm had negative effects. Yet, this does not mean that sarcasm should be condemned completely. "A short sarcastic remark among colleagues might help to release frustration," says René Proyer. 

According to the researchers, humour is one of several factors that influence well-being at work. "Knowing about the effects of humour and different styles can help to make conversations with patients more pleasant. That said, waiting rooms are not supposed to become comedy clubs. It’s more about using humour consciously and appropriately," concludes Proyer.

The results of the study could help to develop new training programmes. For example, Raecke is investigating whether the social and emotional skills of MAs can be improved with the help of online training.

The study was funded by the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training.

Study: Raecke J. & Proyer R.T. Medical assistants’ comic styles and their potential for positive functioning at work: a cross-sectional study including a subgroup analysis. BMC Primary Care (2024). doi: 10.1186/s12875-024-02363-y

---

JOURNAL

BMC Primary Care

DOI

10.1186/s12875-024-02363-y 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Survey

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Medical assistants’ comic styles and their potentia

 

Wire snare removal in protected areas is labor-intensive but effective – and essential to solving the Southeast Asian snaring crisis

LEIBNIZ INSTITUTE FOR ZOO AND WILDLIFE RESEARCH (IZW)

 

IMAGE: 

DESTROYED WIRE SNARES COLLECTED AT THUA THIEN HUE SAOLA NATURE RESERVE

view more 

CREDIT: PHOTO: PHẠM VIỆT NƯỚC/WWF-VIET NAM

Snaring – a non-selective method of poaching using wire traps – is widespread in tropical forests in Southeast Asia. Snaring decimates wildlife populations and has pushed many larger mammals to local or even global extinction. Eleven years of data from ranger patrols in the Thua Thien Hue and Quang Nam Saola Nature Reserves in Viet Nam show that intensive removal efforts are labour-intensive and costly but brought snaring down by almost 40 percent and therefore reduced imminent threats to wildlife. Further reductions were difficult to achieve despite continued removal efforts. Snare removal is therefore necessary but by itself not sufficient to save the threatened wildlife diversity in tropical forests, scientists conclude in the journal Conservation Letters.

From 2011 to 2021, WWF-Viet Nam and local authorities removed close to 120,000 snares from the contiguous Thua Thien Hue and Quang Nam Saola Nature Reserves in Central Viet Nam. The reserves are home to several endemic, rare, and threatened species, including Annamite Striped Rabbit (Nesolagus timminsi) and Annamite Crested Argus (Rheinardia ocellata). Snare removal is labour-intensive and costly, since rangers need to cover large areas on foot in rugged and inaccessible terrain. Snare removal is an often-employed strategy because it is straightforward and non-controversial compared to other responses such as arrests and prosecutions. To date, few studies have assessed the impact of snare removal on snaring levels over long time periods.

An international team of scientists from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW), WWF-Viet Nam and WWF Asia Pacific as well as the Universities of Exeter and Montpellier analysed 11 years of patrol data and concluded that intensive snare removal significantly reduced this threat: Over the 11-year time frame, the presence of snares in the two reserves declined by 37 percent. The effect was more pronounced in easily accessible locations, presumably because patrolling was more frequent in these areas. “What we also found is that, when patrolled, an area is less likely to have many snares afterwards”, says Jürgen Niedballa, a data scientist from the Leibniz-IZW. “Patrolling acts as a deterrent to future snaring, and therefore is an important measure to counteract the snaring crisis in Southeast Asia.” On the other hand, snaring levels remained relatively high in more remote parts of the forest. “The spatial analysis of the patrol data is of great importance for our daily management”, adds Hung Luong Viet, project manager of WWF-Viet Nam. “The maps showing the distribution of snares within the protected areas help us to target our patrolling activities to those parts of the reserves that need the most attention.”

The scientists also found that the decrease in snaring levels was mainly achieved within the first 6 years of patrolling. After that, despite continuous efforts, snare presence remained stable. “Our results show snare removal alone is unlikely to protect wildlife in Southeast Asian protected areas”, says Andrew Tilker, scientist at the Leibniz-IZW and Species Conservation Coordinator at Re:wild. “This is especially true for rare or snaring-sensitive species, many of which are now on the brink of extinction in Viet Nam.”

The findings show that it is important to view snare removal as part of a wider, multi-faceted conservation response that addresses the underlying drivers, the authors conclude in the paper. “Relying solely on snare removal will not be sufficient to address the threat at scale”, says Tin Nguyen Van Tri, Wildlife Practice Lead of WWF-Viet Nam. “In collaboration with other conservation partners, we are now engaged in larger multi-disciplinary conservation initiatives such as cross-border cooperation in tackling illegal wildlife trade; livelihood improvement, awareness raising and behaviour change programmes to complement snare removal to prevent snares being set in the first place. With these additional efforts, we can address the root cause of the problem and make the forests of the Central Annamite Mountains in Viet Nam safe again for wildlife.” One of these initiatives is the CarBi II project, which is implemented over a 5-year period (2019 – 2024) by WWF-Viet Nam and Laos through the German Development Bank (KfW), and part of the International Climate Initiative (IKI).

Although the wildlife of Southeast Asia is facing an unprecedented threat from snaring, there is hope that, when intensive snare removal is combined with more holistic approaches, the threat can be addressed at the scale needed for large-scale wildlife recovery, the authors conclude. Reducing snaring across Southeast Asia’s protected areas will take substantial resources and an as-yet unrealized level of political commitment from the region’s governments – but it is a future that is within reach.

Snaring in the Annamite Mountains

One of the major causes of wildlife declines in tropical forests is the use of nonselective wire snares. Snares are cheap, easy to set in large numbers, and highly effective at capturing terrestrial vertebrate species. They are nonselective, because every ground-dwelling animal may step into a wire snare and get caught, whether targeted or not. Wire snares can remain active for months. Snaring is particularly severe in Southeast Asia, where it has depressed wildlife populations in many protected and unprotected areas, and remains a significant and ongoing threat. A recent scientific investigation showed that snaring is a more immediate and severe threat to Southeast Asian wildlife communities than forest degradation in some areas, and can empty forests of wildlife. In the Annamites, a mountain chain straddling the Viet Nam and Laos border, snaring has driven many endemic ground-dwelling species to the brink of extinction; the Saola (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis), Large-antlered muntjac (Muntiacus vuquangensis), Annamite striped rabbit (Nesolagus timminsi), and Silver-backed chevrotain (Tragulus versicolor) are all highly threatened from industrial-scale snaring across the region.

The Carbon and Biodiversity Project Phase II (CarBi II)

CarBi II is set to contribute to the protection, restoration, and sustainable use of ecosystems and the conservation of biological diversity in the Central Annamites Landscape. One of the project’s approaches is the establishment of several Village Development Funds, facilitating a borrowing mechanism for the local community to generate more income from alternative livelihood and decrease incentives for illegal exploitation of natural resources. Community-level conservation groups will also be supported to play a more active role in increasing awareness, and stimulating some positive changes in attitudes and behaviour towards wildlife poaching. For more information, visit https://vietnam.panda.org/en/our_work/cross_cutting_projects/carbi_ii/

---

JOURNAL

Conservation Letters

DOI

10.1111/conl.13021 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Data/statistical analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

Addressing the Southeast Asian snaring crisis: impact of 11 years of snare removal in a biodiversity hotspot

 

Body of a woman is discovered among the remains of 25 warrior monks of the Order of Calatrava in Guadalajara

Research led by the Universitat Rovira i Virgili and the Max Planck Institute determines the diet, lifestyle and causes of death of these medieval religious knights

UNIVERSITAT ROVIRA I VIRGILI

 

IMAGE: 

SKULL FOUND IN THE ARCHEOLOGICAL SITE OF ZORITA DE LOS CANES.

view more 

CREDIT: CARME RISSECH, URV.

A research project led by the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV) and the Max Planck Institute has studied the remains of 25 individuals buried between the 12th and 15th centuries in the castle at Zorita de los Canes, Guadalajara. After exhuming the remains from the castle’s cemetery, the research team was able to determine the diet, lifestyle and causes of death of the warrior monks, who were members of the Order of Calatrava. The results, published in the journal Scientific Reports, have determined that 23 of the individuals died in battle and that the knights of the order followed a diet typical of medieval high society, with a considerable intake of animal protein and marine fish, in an area far from the coast. Unexpectedly, Carme Rissech, a researcher at the URV, identified the remains of a woman among the warrior monks.

Situated on one of the turns in the Tagus River as it flows through the province of Guadalajara, the remains of the castle of Zorita de los Canes are still standing on the same hill where the emir Mohammed I of Cordova ordered it to be built in 852. The fortress, built to defend the emirate from Christian attacks, changed hands twice until it was definitively conquered by the knights of the Order of the Temple in 1124. Fifty years later, Alfonso VIII of Castile ceded the fortress to the recently founded Order of Calatrava, a Cistercian military and religious order, who were tasked with defending the border, at that time delimited by the Tagus, from Almohad incursions.

When Carme Rissech, a researcher at the URV's Department of Basic Medical Sciences, was told that they were sending her the remains of the Calatrava knights, she couldn't quite believe that they were actually knights. As part of the MONBONES project, which studies diet and lifestyle in monasteries during the Middle Ages, her project partners analysed the presence of carbon isotopes 14 and nitrogen 15 in the bones of the 25 individuals. They also studied animal remains, found around the castle, which complemented the information provided by the isotopes and helped them to work out the habits of the people who lived in the castle between the 12th and 15th centuries. Once she got the remains in the laboratory, Rissech studied them to determine the age, sex, morphology and health of the individuals and to determine their lifestyle and causes of death.

Of the 25 skeletons studied, 23 showed marks compatible with violent death. These were mainly penetrating puncture wounds and blunt force injuries and were found on the parts of the body that were most vulnerable to and unprotected from the weapons of the time. “We observed many lesions on the upper part of the skull, the cheeks and the inner part of the pelvis, which is consistent with the hypothesis that we are dealing with warriors," explains Rissech. It was by studying the bone proportions that she realised that among the warriors there was a woman.

Typically, the skeletons of men and women have specific characteristics that differentiate them. "The morphology of the facial bones and the pelvis, are the most obvious examples," explains Rissech. In some individuals, these characteristics may not be decisive when it comes to determining sex, but in the case of these remains there was little room for error. Who was this woman? Was she part of the order? Did she have the same status as the other knights?

On the one hand, the woman’s injuries led the research team to believe that she participated and died in battle, as there was no sign of bone regrowth in her injuries. "She may have died in a manner very similar to that of male knights, and it is likely that she was wearing some kind of armour or chain mail," says Rissech. On the other hand, she did not have the same dietary indicators as some of the individuals analysed: "We observed a lower level of protein consumption in the case of this woman, which could indicate lower status in the social group," he says. Some researchers have hypothesised that she was a servant who would have been called upon to join the knights in defending the castle if the need arose, but the URV researcher does not think so: "Her work as a servant would have left signs on her bones, indicators of certain types of physical activity that we could now identify".

In contrast, her skeleton did show attributes similar to those of the other warrior monks, whose job required them to train in the use of the sword, an activity that leaves verifiable marks which were also observed on the woman’s bones. "I believe that these remains belong to a female warrior, but further analysis is needed to determine to what extent this woman is contemporary with the other knights", says Rissech. According to the researcher, we should picture her as a warrior of about forty years of age, just under five feet tall, neither stocky nor slender and skilful with a sword.

The research also involved researchers from the University of Barcelona and the archaeologists who lead the excavations. It is part of the MONBONES project, which takes a multidisciplinary approach involving zooarchaeology, anthropology, documentary research and molecular analysis to offer a new historical perspective on the way of life, diet, health, economy and society in monasteries from the 14th to the 19th centuries.

 

The remains were exhumed from the cemetery of the castle of Zorita de los Canes, in Guadalajara

CAPTION

Part of the site from which the remains were recovered

CREDIT

Carme Rissech, URV.

JOURNAL

Scientific Reports

DOI

10.1038/s41598-024-61792-y 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Unravelling social status in the first medieval military order of the Iberian Peninsula using isotope analysis

OMD JOAN OF ARC

 

Peers crucial in shaping boys’ confidence in math skills

UNIVERSITY OF ZURICH

Boys are good at math, girls not so much? A study from the University of Zurich has analyzed the social mechanisms that contribute to the gender gap in math confidence. While peer comparisons seem to play a crucial role for boys, girls’ subjective evaluations are more likely to be based on objective performance.

Research has shown that in Western societies, the average secondary school girl has less confidence in her mathematical abilities than the average boy of the same age. At the same time, no significant difference has been found between girls’ and boys’ performance in mathematics. This phenomenon is often framed as girls not being confident enough in their abilities, or that boys might in fact be overconfident.

This math confidence gap has far-reaching consequences: self-perceived competence influences educational and occupational choices and young people choose university subjects and careers that they believe they are talented in. As a result, women are underrepresented in STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) subjects at university level and in high-paying STEM careers.

Peer processes provide nuanced insights into varying self-perceptions

A study from the University of Zurich (UZH) focuses on a previously neglected aspect of the math confidence gap: the role of peer relationships. “Especially in adolescence, peers are the primary social reference for individual development. Peer processes that operate through friendship networks determine a wide range of individual outcomes,” said the study’s lead author Isabel Raabe from the Department of Sociology at UZH. The study analyzed data from 8,812 individuals in 358 classrooms in a longitudinal social network analysis.

As expected, the main predictor of math confidence is individual math grades. While girls translated their grades – more or less directly – into self-assessment, boys with below-average grades nevertheless believed they were good at math.

Boys tend to be overconfident and sensitive to social processes

“In general, boys seem to be more sensitive to social processes in their self-perception – they compare themselves more with others for validation and then adjust their confidence accordingly,” Raabe explains. “When they were confronted with girls’ self-assessments in cross-gender friendships, their math confidence tended to be lower.” Peers’ self-assessment was less relevant to girls’ math confidence. Their subjective evaluation seemed to be driven more by objective performance.

Gender stereotypes did not appear to have negative social consequences for either boys or girls. “We found that confidence in mathematics is often associated with better social integration, both in same-sex and cross-sex friendships,” said Raabe. Thus, there was no evidence of harmful peer norms pressuring girls to underestimate their math skills.

The results of the study suggest that math skills are more important to boys, who adjust their self-assessment in peer processes, while math confidence does not seem to be socially relevant for girls.

---

JOURNAL

European Societies

DOI

10.1080/14616696.2024.2349217 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Data/statistical analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

The gendered maths confidence gap, social influence, and social integration

 AUSTRALIA

WA’s marketers still facing discrimination and exclusion

EDITH COWAN UNIVERSITY

WA’s marketers still facing discrimination and exclusion

 

 

Western Australia’s marketing sector is still faced with issues of sexism, harassment, and marginalisation, with a new report by Edith Cowan University (ECU) finding that as many as one-in-four marketers have experienced discrimination in the workplace.

 

The report, undertaken on behalf of the Western Australian Marketing Association, surveyed 573 workers in the Western Australian marketing sector and found that three-in-ten agency workers feel they are not treated with respect in their workplace.

 

Formal reporting on discrimination remains low, with only 42 percent of participants formally reporting their discrimination experiences.

 

The report also dealt with the issue of exclusion, finding that 61 percent of male respondents felt excluded, compare with 38 percent of female respondents. Some groups, such as heterosexuals and those without disabilities, expressed lower levels of inclusion, while Anglo and English-speaking respondents reported the highest levels of feeling excluded.

 

ECU Lecturer Ms Melissa Fong-Emmerson and Senior Lecturer Dr Ashlee Morgan found that gender plays a significant role in shaping attitudes towards diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). 83 percent of female respondents said a diverse and inclusive workplace is important, compared to only 68 percent of males who share the same sentiment.

 

While non-binary/gender diverse respondents represent less than 1 percent of the sample population, they unanimously agree on the significance of DEI.

 

Age is another factor influencing perceptions, findings show88 percent of under 35s agreeing that DEI at work as crucial, this figure reduces to 67 percent among 35- to 44-year-olds. Encouragingly, 92 percent of respondents over 45 years affirm the importance of DEI; however, it is important to note that they make up roughly 1 in 10 of the sample population.

 

“The study's findings uncovered sobering statistics and firsthand experiences around discrimination and lack of inclusion, providing a data-driven foundation for the industry to take meaningful action,” said Ms Fong-Emmerson.

 

“By amplifying the voices of the participants on these critical issues, the study provides a platform for the marketing community to prioritise commitment to diversity and inclusion. This can drive tangible improvements and actions, moving towards a genuine, long-term authentic commitment to inclusive workplaces. We hope this will ignite meaningful lasting change in the marketing industry.”

 

Improving diversity and inclusion in the workplace

 

The report makes seven key recommendations for organisations to improve diversity and inclusion in their workplace, they are:

•  improved experience in agencies,
•  strengthening social connections,
• improving transparency in career opportunities
• adopting inclusive recruitment strategies.

 

Dr Morgan noted that the recommendations made in the report were intended to facilitate meaningful action across the WA marketing sector.

 

“A diverse workplace does not equate to an inclusive workplace. It is well overdue for the industry to reflect our diverse society and ensure that everyone feels included at work."

 

Read a copy of the WAMA report here.

 

- ends -    

 

Study: Physical activity in the evening lowers blood sugar levels

THE OBESITY SOCIETY

ROCKVILLE, Md.— New research reveals that moderate to vigorous physical activity in the evening for sedentary adults with overweight and obesity is most beneficial in lowering daily blood sugar levels, according to a study published in Obesity, The Obesity Society’s (TOS) flagship journal.

Experts explain that it has been well established that moderate to vigorous physical activity enhances glucose homeostasis in adults with overweight and obesity who are at higher risk of developing insulin resistance. However, little is known about the optimal timing of moderate to vigorous physical activity to improve daily blood glucose control.

“Our results highlight the importance of the field of precision exercise prescription. In clinical practice, certified sports and medical personnel should consider the optimal timing of the day to enhance the effectiveness of the exercise and physical activity programs they prescribe,” said Jonatan R. Ruiz, PhD, professor of physical activity and health, Department of Physical and Sports Education, Faculty of Sport Sciences-Sport and Health University Research Institute (iMUDS), University of Granada, ibs.Granada and CIBEROBN, Spain. Ruiz is one of two corresponding authors of the study with predoctoral researcher Antonio Clavero-Jimeno from the same research center.

Data for the study was used from baseline examinations from a multi-center randomized controlled trial conducted in Granada and Pamplona, Spain. The aim of the trial was to study the efficacy and feasibility of time-restricted eating on visceral adipose tissue (primary outcome), body composition and cardiometabolic risk factors in adults with overweight and obesity.

A total of 186 adults with an average age of 46 years and a body mass index of 32.9 kg/m2 with overweight or obesity participated in the cross-sectional study. The physical activity and glucose patterns of participants were simultaneously monitored over a 14-day period using a triaxial accelerometer worn on the non-dominant wrist and a continuous glucose-monitoring device.

The study’s researchers classified the volume of moderate to vigorous physical activity accumulated for each day. Categories included inactive (if no activity was accumulated), and as ‘morning,’ ‘afternoon’ or ‘evening’ if more than 50% of the moderate to vigorous physical activity minutes for that day were accumulated between 6 a.m. to noon, noon to 6 p.m., 6 p.m. to 12 p.m., or as ‘mixed’ if none of the defined time windows accounted for greater than 50% of the moderate to vigorous physical activity for that day.

Results showed that accumulating greater than 50% of moderate to vigorous physical activity in the evening was associated with lowering day, night and overall blood glucose levels compared with being inactive. This association was stronger in those participants with impaired glucose regulation. The pattern of these associations was similar in both men and women.

“As the field moves towards individualized exercise prescriptions for different chronic conditions, this study now provides additional insights beyond just telling patients to ‘move more,’ but instead to move as often as possible and to prioritize afternoon-to-evening movement when feasible for glucose regulation,” said Renee J. Rogers, PhD, FACSM, senior scientist, Division of Physical Activity and Weight Management, University of Kansas Medical Center. Rogers was not associated with the research.

Other authors of the study include Manuel Dote-Montero, Jairo H. Migueles, Alba Camacho-Cardenosa, Department of Physical Education and Sports, Faculty of Sport Sciences, Sport and Health University Research Institute (iMUDS), University of Granada, Spain; Maddi Oses, Jon Echarte Medina, Juan M.A. Alcantara, Idoia Labayen, Department of Health Sciences, Institute of Sustainability & Food Chain Innovation, Public University of Navarre, Pamplona, Spain. Oses, Medina, Alcantara and Labayen are also with the Navarra Institute for Health Research (ldiSNA), Pamplona, Spain. Alcantara and Labayen are also with the Center for Biomedical Research Network Pathophysiology of Obesity and Nutrition (CIBEROBN), Carlos III Health Institute, Madrid, Spain. Manuel Muñoz-Torres is with ibs.GRANADA Biosanitary Research Institute, Granada, Spain; Endocrinology and Nutrition Unit, University Hospital San Cecilio Clinic, Granada, Spain; Department of Medicine, University of Granada, Spain; and CIBER on Frailty and Healthy Aging (CIBERFES) and Carlos III Health Institute, Madrid, Spain.

The authors declared no conflicts of interest.

The study, titled “Impact of Lifestyle Moderate-to-Vigorous Physical Activity Timing on Glycemic Control in Sedentary Adults with Overweight/Obesity and Metabolic Impairments” will be published later this year in the journal Obesity.

#  #  #

The Obesity Society (TOS) is the leading organization of scientists and health professionals devoted to understanding and reversing the epidemic of obesity and its adverse health, economic and societal effects. Combining the perspective of researchers, clinicians, policymakers and patients, TOS promotes innovative research, education and evidence-based clinical care to improve the health and well-being of all people with obesity. For more information, visit www.obesity.org.

---

JOURNAL

Obesity

 

Screen-based simulation supporting problem-based learning to improve football tactics

This article by Dr. Jirarat Sitthiworachart and colleagues is published in the journal, The Open Sports Sciences Journal

\

BENTHAM SCIENCE PUBLISHERS

This study examined how Problem-Based Learning (PBL) combined with Screen-Based Simulation (SBS) affects undergraduate football players' tactical decision-making, tactical skills, and engagement. The Screen-Based Simulation presented real game tactical scenarios to the learners, helping them identify and analyze tactical problems. Problem-Based Learning allowed learners to gain a deeper understanding of these problems and discuss them more effectively.

Two simulation tools were used in this study. The first, the "football match basic offensive and defensive tactical simulation experiment platform," supports football tactics teaching by allowing students to identify tactical problems and learn tactics. The second tool, TacticUP, is a screen-based simulation for testing football tactical decision-making. We conducted the study with second-year physical education students at a Chinese university. Seventy-nine students were divided into an experimental group using PBL-SBS and a group taught using traditional methods. Both groups took a pretest to assess their tactical decision-making before the experiment and were tested again after the six-week experiment. They also completed a questionnaire on their tactical skills and engagement.

There was no significant difference in the pretest scores for tactical decision-making between the two groups (independent-sample t-test, sig = 0.997 > 0.05). However, after the experiment, the experimental group showed significantly better improvement in tactical decision-making. Their pretest mean score (59) was significantly lower than their post-test score (67) on a scale of 100 (paired sample t-test, sig < 0.01). ANOVA results indicated that the experimental group outperformed the traditional group in all areas—tactical decision-making, tactical skills, and student engagement—with all sig values less than 0.01.

Compared to traditional teaching, students using PBL-SBS performed better in tactical decision-making, tactical skills, and engagement.

Read this article here; https://bit.ly/4bRUmsr

For publishing scholarly article in Bentham journals, please visit: https://bentham.manuscriptpoint.com/?utm_source=eurekanews&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=callforpapers

---

JOURNAL

The Open Sports Sciences Journal

DOI

10.2174/011875399X311682240419063944 

ARTICLE TITLE

Screen-based Simulation Supporting Problem-based Learning to Improve Football Tactics