Maintaining the reversibility of foldings: Making the ethics (politics) of information technology visible

This paper will address the question of the morality of technology. I believe this is an important question for our contemporary society in which technology, especially information technology, is increasingly becoming the default mode of social ordering. I want to suggest that the conventional manner of conceptualising the morality of technology is inadequate – even dangerous. The conventional view of technology is that technology represents technical means to achieve social ends. Thus, the moral problem of technology, from this perspective, is the way in which the given technical means are applied to particular (good or bad) social ends. In opposition to this I want to suggest that the assumed separation, of this approach, between technical means and social ends are inappropriate. It only serves to hide the most important political and ethical dimensions of technology. I want to suggest that the morality of technology is much more embedded and implicit than such a view would suggest. In order to critique this approach I will draw on phenomenology and the more recent work of Bruno Latour. With these intellectual resources in mind I will propose disclosive ethics as a way to make the morality of technology visible. I will give a brief account of this approach and show how it might guide our␣understanding of the ethics and politics of technology by considering two examples of contemporary information technology: search engines and plagiarism detection systems.     

Improving Academic Performance of Sport and Exercise Science Undergraduate Students in Gross Anatomy Using a Near-Peer Teaching Program

Peer and near-peer teaching programs are common in medical undergraduate courses. However, there are no studies that have investigated the effectiveness of a near-peer teaching program on the academic performance of undergraduate students pursuing sport and exercise science coursework. This study was conducted to analyze the effectiveness of such a program for students who participated in a course on the functional anatomy of the locomotor apparatus. A total of 39 student participants were divided into two groups: students in one group voluntarily attended at least one session of a near-peer teaching program, and students in the other group attended no sessions. The final grade (range 0–100%) was recorded and used as an indicator of academic performance. The final grade of students who attended the near-peer teaching program (69.5 ± 16.0%) was 38.7% higher (P = 0.002, d = 1.06) than those who did not (50.1 ± 20.4%). When the academic performance of the same students was evaluated in another course (exercise physiology) that did not offer a near-peer teaching program, there were no significant differences between the groups (students who attended or did not attend the near-peer teaching program). A significant positive association was found between near-peer teaching program frequency and the number of students approved and not approved in the course (P = 0.041). A significant difference (P = 0.001) was found in the attendance at regular classes between the group who participated in the near-peer teaching program (median: 62 hours; IQR [interquartile ranges]: 4.0 hours) and those who did not (median: 58 hours; IQR: 4.0 hours). Gender was not a moderating factor on academic performance or near-peer teaching program attendance. These results highlight the effectiveness of a near-peer teaching program on the academic performance of students from a sport and exercise science degree program while enrolled in an anatomy course. Anat Sci Educ. © 2018 American Association of Anatomists.     

Understanding divergent domestication traits from the whole-genome sequencing of swamp- and river-buffalo populations

Domesticated buffaloes have been integral to rice-paddy agro-ecosystems for millennia, yet relatively little is known about the buffalo genomics. Here, we sequenced and assembled reference genomes for both swamp and river buffaloes and we re-sequenced 230 individuals (132 swamp buffaloes and 98 river buffaloes) sampled from across Asia and Europe. Beyond the many actionable insights that our study revealed about the domestication, basic physiology and breeding of buffalo, we made the striking discovery that the divergent domestication traits between swamp and river buffaloes can be explained with recent selections of genes on social behavior, digestion metabolism, strengths and milk production.     

Effects of blood flow restriction without additional exercise on strength reductions and muscular atrophy following immobilization:A systematic review

Purpose:To investigate whether blood flow restriction(BFR) without concomitant exercise mitigated strength reduction and atrophy of thigh muscles in subjects under immobilization for lower limbs.Methods:The following databases were searched:PubMed,CINAHL,PEDro,Web of Science,Central,and Scopus.Results:The search identified 3 eligible studies,and the total sample in the identified studies consisted of 38 participants.Isokinetic and isometric torque of the knee flexors and extensors was examined in 2 studies.Cross-sectional area of thigh muscles was evaluated in 1 study,and thigh girth was measured in 2 studies.The BFR protocol was 5 sets of 5 min of occlusion and 3 min of free flow,twice daily for approximately 2 weeks.As a whole,the included studies indicate that BFR without exercise is able to minimize strength reduction and muscular atrophy after immobilization.It is crucial to emphasize,however,that the included studies showed a high risk of bias,especially regarding allocation concealment,blinding of outcome assessment,intention-to-treat analyses,and group similarity at baseline.Conclusion:Although potentially useful,the high risk of bias presented by original stodies limits the indication of BFR without concomitant exercise as an effective countermeasure against strength reduction and atrophy mediated by immobilization.     

Aerobic fitness and physical activity are inversely associated with body fat,dyslipidemia and inflammatory mediators in children and adolescents living with HIV

This study aimed to investigate if moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and aerobic fitness are associated with cardiovascular risk factors in HIV+ children and adolescents. Sixty-five children and adolescents (8 to 15 years) provided minutes of MVPA measured by accelerometers and peak oxygen uptake (peak VO₂) by breath-by-breath respiratory exchange. Cardiovascular risk factors were characterized by body fat, blood pressure, total cholesterol, HDL-c, LDL-c, triglycerides, glucose, insulin, C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin (IL)-6, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and carotid intima-media thickness. Results indicated that higher MVPA was associated with lower values of total (β = ?3.566) and trunk body fat (β = ?3.495), total cholesterol (β = ?0.112) and LDL-c (β = ?0.830). Likewise, higher peak VO₂ was associated with lower total (β = ?0.629) and trunk body fat values (β = ?0.592) and levels of CRP (β = ?0.059). The physically active participants had lower total cholesterol (?24.4 mg.dL^?1) and LDL-c (?20.1 mg.dL^?1) compared to participants judged to be insufficiently active. Moreover, participants with satisfactory peak VO? showed lower total (?4.1%) and trunk (?4.3%) body fat, CRP (?2.3 mg.L^?1), IL-6 (?2.4 pg.mL^?1) and TNF-α (?1.0 pg.mL^?1) compared to low peak VO₂ peers. High levels of MVPA and aerobic fitness may prevent developing of cardiovascular risk factors in children and adolescents HIV+.     

Cardiorespiratory and perceptual responses of two interval training and a continuous training protocol in healthy young men

High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) can be performed with different effort to rest time-configurations, and this can largely influence training responses. The purpose of the study was to compare the acute physiological responses of two HIIT and one moderate intensity continuous training (MICT) protocol in young men. A randomised cross-over study with 10 men [age, 28.3?±?5.5years; weight, 77.3?±?9.3?kg; height, 1.8?±?0.1?m; peak oxygen consumption (VO₂peak), 44?±?11?mL.kg^?1.min^?1]. Participants performed a cardiorespiratory test on a treadmill to assess VO₂peak, velocity associated with VO₂peak (vVO₂peak), peak heart rate (HRpeak) and perceived exertion (RPE). Then participants performed three protocols equated by distance: Short HIIT (29 bouts of 30s at vVO₂peak, interspersed by 30s of passive recovery, 29?min in total), Long HIIT (3 bouts of 4?min at 90% of vVO₂peak, interspersed by 3?min of recovery at 60% of vVO₂peak, 21?min in total) and MICT (21?min at 70% of vVO₂peak). The protocols were performed in a randomised order with ≥48 h between them. VO₂, HRpeak and RPE were compared. VO₂peak in Long HIIT was significantly higher than Short HIIT and MICT (43?±?11 vs 32?±?8 and 37?±?8?mL.kg^?1.min^?1, respectively, P?P?P?2, HR and RPE than Short HIIT and MICT, suggesting a higher demand on the cardiorespiratory system. Short HIIT and MICT presented similar physiologic and perceptual responses, despite Short HIIT being performed at higher velocities.