Associations between physical fitness, physical activity, sedentary behavior and executive function in preschoolers
Related Articles
Causal effects of sedentary breaks on affective and cognitive parameters in daily life: a within-person encouragement design
Understanding the complex relationship between sedentary breaks, affective well-being and cognition in daily life is critical as modern lifestyles are increasingly characterized by sedentary behavior. Consequently, the World Health Organization, with its slogan “every move counts”, emphasizes a central public health goal: reducing daily time spent in sedentary behavior. Previous studies have provided evidence that short sedentary breaks are feasible to integrate into daily life and can improve affective and cognitive parameters. However, observational studies do not allow for causal interpretation. To overcome this limitation, we conducted the first empirical study that integrated the within-person encouragement approach to test the causal effects of short 3-min sedentary breaks on affective and cognitive parameters in daily life. The results suggest that brief sedentary breaks may have a beneficial impact on valence and energetic arousal. Moreover, our methodological approach powerfully demonstrated the possibility of moving towards causal effects in everyday life.
Weekend sedentary behaviour and cognition three months after stroke based on the exploratory analysis of the CANVAS study
Stroke survivors experience high levels of sedentary behaviour. However, less is known about the variability in weekday-weekend patterns of sedentary behaviour and whether it is linked to cognitive performance. We examined whether there was a difference in weekend and weekday amount of time spent in sedentary and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) at three months post-stroke and whether there was an association between these patterns and cognitive performance at three months. We included ischaemic stroke survivors from the Cognition And Neocortical Volume After Stroke (CANVAS) cohort, with objective physical activity data estimated using the SenseWear® Armband. We compared physical activity levels between 97 stroke survivors (minor severity) and 37 control participants on weekends and weekdays in sedentary and MVPA zones. We then linked these outcomes to cognitive functioning at three months. While both stroke and control groups had a comparable decrease in MVPA on weekends compared to weekdays, we observed a significant increase in sedentary activity [55 min on average (95% Confidence Interval 77 − 33) with a small effect size – partial eta squared = 0.036)] on weekends in the stroke group but not in controls. When we compared two groups of stroke participants ‘more sedentary’ vs. ‘less sedentary’—based on weekend activity, we observed a higher proportion of stroke survivors classified as cognitively impaired vs. cognitively normal in the ‘more sedentary’ group. Further analysis showed the groups differed significantly on their cognitive performance, especially in the memory domain. There is a significant difference in the amount of sedentary behaviour, but not MVPA, on weekends vs. weekdays in the stroke group. Furthermore, we demonstrate that a higher amount of sedentary activity on the weekend is associated with worse cognitive performance at three months, especially on memory tasks. These results are exploratory but suggest that decreasing sedentary behaviour, especially on the weekend, could be specifically investigated as a therapeutic target to maintain better cognition after stroke.
Mutualism reduces the severity of gene disruptions in predictable ways across microbial communities
Predicting evolution in microbial communities is critical for problems from human health to global nutrient cycling. Understanding how species interactions impact the distribution of fitness effects for a focal population would enhance our ability to predict evolution. Specifically, does the type of ecological interaction, such as mutualism or competition, change the average effect of a mutation (i.e., the mean of the distribution of fitness effects)? Furthermore, how often does increasing community complexity alter the impact of species interactions on mutant fitness? To address these questions, we created a transposon mutant library in Salmonella enterica and measured the fitness of loss of function mutations in 3,550 genes when grown alone versus competitive co-culture or mutualistic co-culture with Escherichia coli and Methylorubrum extorquens. We found that mutualism reduces the average impact of mutations, while competition had no effect. Additionally, mutant fitness in the 3-species communities can be predicted by averaging the fitness in each 2-species community. Finally, we discovered that in the mutualism S. enterica obtained vitamins and more amino acids than previously known. Our results suggest that species interactions can predictably impact fitness effect distributions, in turn suggesting that evolution may ultimately be predictable in multi-species communities.
Categorizing robots by performance fitness into the tree of robots
Robots are typically classified based on specific morphological features, like their kinematic structure. However, a complex interplay between morphology and intelligence shapes how well a robot performs processes. Just as delicate surgical procedures demand high dexterity and tactile precision, manual warehouse or construction work requires strength and endurance. These process requirements necessitate robot systems that provide a level of performance fitting the process. In this work, we introduce the tree of robots as a taxonomy to bridge the gap between morphological classification and process-based performance. It classifies robots based on their fitness to perform, for example, physical interaction processes. Using 11 industrial manipulators, we constructed the first part of the tree of robots based on a carefully deduced set of metrics reflecting fundamental robot capabilities for various industrial physical interaction processes. Through significance analysis, we identified substantial differences between the systems, grouping them via an expectation-maximization algorithm to create a fitness-based robot classification that is open for contributions and accessible.
Early resistance rehabilitation improves functional regeneration following segmental bone defect injury
Many studies have explored different loading and rehabilitation strategies, yet rehabilitation intensity and its impact on the local strain environment and bone healing have largely not been investigated. This study combined implantable strain sensors and subject-specific finite element models in a 2 mm rodent segmental bone defect model. After injury animals were underwent high or low intensity rehabilitation. High intensity rehabilitation increased local strains within the regenerative niche by an average of 44% compared to the low intensity rehabilitation. Finite element modeling demonstrated that resistance rehabilitation significantly increased compressive strain by a factor of 2.0 at week 2 and 4.45 after 4 weeks of rehabilitation. Animals that underwent resistance running had the greatest bone volume and improved functional recovery with regenerated femurs that matched intact failure torque and torsional stiffness values. These results demonstrate the potential for early resistance rehabilitation to improve bone healing.
Responses