Physical activity and nutrition guidelines to help with the fight against COVID-19

ABSTRACT

As the world is witnessing the epidemic of coronavirus disease 2019, emerging genetics and clinical pieces of evidence suggest a similar immunopathology to those of severe acute respiratory syndrome and Middle East respiratory syndrome. Staying at home to prevent the spread of the virus and consequently being largely inactive is associated with unintended consequences. These can actually enhance the infection risk and exacerbate poor health conditions including impaired immune function. Physical activity is a feasible way of improving health, particularly physical and mental health in a time of social isolation. However, people with certain health conditions in these circumstances may need a special physical activity programme in addition to any exercise they may already be performing via online programmes. This review aims to provide practical guidelines during the COVID-19 quarantine period. We suggest performing aerobic, resistance training, respiratory muscle training and yoga in the healthy, and in those with upper respiratory tract illness, patients with lower respiratory tract illness should be restricted to respiratory muscle training and yoga. In addition, vitamins D and C, omega-3 fatty acids, and regular consumption of fruit and vegetables might be considered as nutritional aids to support the immune system in those affected by COVID-19.     

Using 21st century video prompting technology to facilitate the independence of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities

Barriers in acquiring, maintaining, and generalizing daily living skills are factors that contribute to discrepancies in independent living outcomes among transition age youth and young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Acquisition and generalization of daily living skills empowers transition age youth and young adults with disabilities to meet their own needs with minimal reliance on others. Infusing the use of technology as a self‐prompting device facilitates the acquisition of tasks that may not be otherwise attainable. In this study, self‐directed video prompting on an iPad with the My Pictures Talk application was used to help young adults with IDD in a postsecondary program acquire daily living skills in a single subject, multiple probe across subjects design. The effects of the intervention on generalization to tasks that were one, two, and three components different were also assessed. Results demonstrated a functional relationship between the introduction of the intervention and improvement in skill performance.     

Antirationalist critique or fifth column of scientism? Challenges from Doctor Who to the mad scientist trope

Much of the public understanding of science literature dealing with fictional scientists claims that scientist villains by their nature embody an antiscience critique. I characterize this claim and its founding assumptions as the "mad scientist" trope. I show how scientist villain characters from the science fiction television series Doctor Who undermine the trope via the programme's use of rhetorical strategies similar to Gilbert and Mulkay's empiricist and contingent repertoires, which define and patrol the boundaries between "science" and "non-science." I discuss three such strategies, including the literal framing of scientist villains as "mad." All three strategies exclude the characters from science, relieve science of responsibility for their villainy, and overtly or covertly contribute to the delivery of pro-science messages consistent with rationalist scientism. I focus on scientist villains from the most popular era of Doctor Who, the mid 1970s, when the show embraced the gothic horror genre.     

Facing and managing dilemmas as a clinical educator

Although clinical educators make an important and irreplaceable contribution to the education of students undertaking qualifications that will enable them to practise as health professionals, little is known about the day‐to‐day experiences of clinical educators and the complexities of clinical education that may contribute to the problems or to the successes of clinical educators. This paper reports on one aspect of a study that sought to increase the understanding and appreciation of the roles and responsibilities of being a clinical educator. The lived experiences of clinical educators in speech pathology ¹ 1. Also known as speech‐language pathology in North America and speech‐language therapy in the UK. View all notes were explored in depth, over a sustained period of time, in an attempt to understand what it is like to be a clinical educator. This paper uses narrative data to illustrate dilemmas faced by clinical educators in our study, and discusses implications pertinent to clinical educators in a range of health disciplines in higher education.     

Development of argumentative discourse based on learning demand / Evolución del discurso argumentativo en función de la demanda de aprendizaje

Abstract

This study is part of a larger project focused on the development of argumentative competence and its effect on knowledge construction. It aims to analyse and compare the changes in the evolution of the claims and the quality of the written arguments used by university students in two learning scenarios: a first scenario where students participated in a debate with the aim of convincing; and a second scenario where the debate was aimed at achieving an agreement by consensus. The participants were 77 first-year university students in Education and Speech Therapy. A quasi-experimental design was adopted with repeated measures, in which students from the two groups wrote two argumentative texts (initial and final) for each type of debate. The results indicate that the initial claims evolved towards more moderate positions at the end of the process; and the quality of the arguments that students wrote in their texts varied significantly depending on the type of demand and the time of writing (initial or final).     

Why do students consider dropping out of doctoral degrees? Institutional and personal factors

Despite the increasing popularity of doctoral education, many students do not complete their studies, and very little information is available about them. Understanding why some students consider that they do not want to, or cannot, continue with their studies is essential to reduce dropout rates and to improve the overall quality of doctoral programmes. This study focuses on the motives students give for considering dropping out of their doctoral degree. Participants were 724 social sciences doctoral students from 56 Spanish universities, who responded to a questionnaire containing doctoral degree conditions questions and an open-ended question on motives for dropping out. Results showed that a third of the sample, mainly the youngest, female and part time students, stated that they had intended to drop out. The most frequent motives for considering dropping out were difficulties in achieving a balance between work, personal life and doctoral studies and problems with socialization. Overall, results offer a complex picture that has implications for the design of doctoral programmes, such as the conditions and demands of part-time doctoral studies or the implementation of educational proposals that facilitate students’ academic and personal integration into the scientific community in order to prevent the development of a culture of institutional neglect.