School readiness losses during the COVID-19 outbreak. A comparison of two cohorts of young children

The COVID-19 context has created the most severe disruption to education systems in recent history. Its impact on child development was estimated comparing two cohorts of 4- to 6-year-old Uruguayan children: control (n = 34,355, 48.87% girls) and COVID cohort (n = 30,158, 48.95% girls) assessed between 2018 and 2020 in three waves, by a routinely administered school readiness instrument in public preschools. Ethnicity information is not available. For the COVID cohort, losses were observed in Motor and Cognitive development, Attitudes towards learning, and Internalizing behavior (range 0.13 – 0.27 SD). Losses were less pronounced among children from higher socioeconomic schools. These results extend the literature on the consequences of the pandemic on learning and early child development.     

Blocking in human causal learning is affected by outcome assumptions manipulated through causal structure

Additivity-related assumptions have been proven to modulate blocking in human causal learning. Typically, these assumptions are manipulated by means of pretraining phases (including exposure to different outcome magnitudes), or through explicit instructions. In two experiments, we used a different approach that involved neither pretraining nor instructional manipulations. Instead, we manipulated the causal structure in which the cues were embedded, thereby appealing directly to the participants’ prior knowledge about causal relations and how causes would add up to yield stronger outcomes. Specifically, in our “different-system” condition, the participants should assume that the outcomes would add up, whereas in our “same-system” condition, a ceiling effect would prevent such an assumption. Consistent with our predictions, Experiment 1 showed that, when two cues from separate causal systems were combined, the participants did expect a stronger outcome on compound trials, and blocking was found, whereas when the cues belonged to the same causal system, the participants did not expect a stronger outcome on compound trials, and blocking was not observed. The results were partially replicated in Experiment 2, in which this pattern was found when the cues were tested for the second time. This evidence supports the claim that prior knowledge about the nature of causal relations can affect human causal learning. In addition, the fact that we did not manipulate causal assumptions through pretraining renders the results hard to account for with associative theories of learning.     

Biomechanical approaches to identify and quantify injury mechanisms and risk factors in women's artistic gymnastics

Targeted injury prevention strategies, based on biomechanical analyses, have the potential to help reduce the incidence and severity of gymnastics injuries. This review outlines the potential benefits of biomechanics research to contribute to injury prevention strategies for women's artistic gymnastics by identification of mechanisms of injury and quantification of the effects of injury risk factors. One hundred and twenty-three articles were retained for review after searching electronic databases using key words, including ‘gymnastic’, ‘biomech*’, and ‘inj*’, and delimiting by language and relevance to the paper aim. Impact load can be measured biomechanically by the use of instrumented equipment (e.g. beatboard), instrumentation on the gymnast (accelerometers), or by landings on force plates. We need further information on injury mechanisms and risk factors in gymnastics and practical methods of monitoring training loads. We have not yet shown, beyond a theoretical approach, how biomechanical analysis of gymnastics can help reduce injury risk through injury prevention interventions. Given the high magnitude of impact load, both acute and accumulative, coaches should monitor impact loads per training session, taking into consideration training quality and quantity such as the control of rotation and the height from which the landings are executed.     

Exercise training and impaired glucose tolerance in obese humans

Abstract

Individuals with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) are at greater risk of developing diabetes than in normoglycaemia. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of 12-weeks exercise training in obese humans with IGT. Eleven participants (6 males and 5 females; 49±9 years; mean Body Mass Index (BMI) 32.4 kg · m^?2), completed a 12-week brisk walking intervention (30 min per day, five days a week (d · wk^?1), at 65% of age-predicted maximal heart rate (HR_max). Anthropometric measurements, dietary intake, pulse wave velocity (PWV, to determine arterial stiffness) and blood pressure (BP) were examined at baseline and post intervention. Fasting blood glucose, glycosylated haemoglobin, insulin, blood lipids, indices of oxidative stress and inflammation (lipid hydroperoxides; superoxide dismutase; multimeric adiponectin concentration and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein) were also determined. Post intervention, PWV (9.08±1.27 m · s^?1 vs. 8.39±1.21 m · s^?1), systolic BP (145.4±14.5 vs. 135.8±14.9 mmHg), triglycerides (1.52±0.53 mmol ^. L^?1 vs. 1.31±0.54 mmol ^. L^?1), lipid hydroperoxides (1.20±0.47 μM · L^?1 vs. 0.79±0.32 μM · L^?1) and anthropometric measures decreased significantly (P < 0.05). Moderate intensity exercise training improves upper limb vascular function in obese humans with IGT, possibly by improving triglyceride metabolism, which may subsequently reduce oxidative stress. These changes were independent of multimeric adiponectin modification and alterations in other blood biomarkers.