Exploring the impact of a student-centred survival swimming programme for primary school students in Australia: the perceptions of parents, children and teachers

Teaching basic swimming, water safety and rescue skills is recommended by the World Health Organization for all school-aged children. However, there is a lack of evidence on effective pedagogies to develop swimming competency and the success of swimming lessons as a drowning prevention intervention. This study used a self-report questionnaire and practical testing procedures to examine the effectiveness of a 10-week student-centred aquatic programme designed for children aged 10–12 years. The study also determined whether the non-traditional swimming programme was accepted by swim teachers, school teachers and principals, and parents from a range of schools from different geographical regions in Victoria, Australia. A total of 204 students were enrolled in the programme. The pre-programme results indicated a good level of swimming, water safety and aquatic knowledge, but low swimming ability. Swimming ability significantly improved from pre-programme to post-programme, with no significant post-programme ability differences between male and female children or for participants from different programmes. Qualitative feedback collected through questionnaires, interviews and/or focus groups from students ( n = 73) and parents ( n = 69), school teachers and principals ( n = 14), swim teachers and swim school managers ( n = 21) indicated strong support from principals and swim teachers for the student-centred pedagogy, and all stakeholders valued the focus on survival swimming competencies. This research highlights the importance of including stakeholders when designing and implementing aquatics programmes. The study has resulted in a well-founded, effective programme with tailored resources and instructional materials that are available for swim centres and schools that would enable schools globally to adopt and implement this programme.

Selection of resistant bacteria in Mallards exposed to sub-inhibitory concentrations of ciprofloxacin in their water environment

Emergence and selection of antibiotic resistance following exposure to high antibiotic concentrations have been repeatedly shown in clinical and agricultural settings, whereas the role of the weak selective pressures exerted by antibiotic levels below the minimum inhibitory concentration (sub-MIC) in aquatic environments due to anthropogenic contamination remains unclear. Here we have studied how exposure to sub-MIC levels of ciprofloxacin enriches for E. coli with reduced susceptibility to ciprofloxacin using a Mallard colonization model. Mallards were inoculated with two isogenic ESBL-encoding E. coli strains, only differing by a gyrA mutation resulting in increased MIC to ciprofloxacin, and exposed to different levels of ciprofloxacin in their swimming water. Changes in the ratios of mutant to parental strains excreted in feces over time and ESBL-plasmid spread among the gut microbiota from individual birds were investigated. Results show that in vivo selection of gyrA mutants occurred in Mallards during exposure to ciprofloxacin at concentration previously found in aquatic environments. During colonization, resistance plasmids were readily transferred between strains in the intestines of the Mallards but conjugation frequencies were not affected by ciprofloxacin exposure. Our results highlight the potential for enrichment of resistant bacteria in wildlife and underline the importance of reducing antibiotic pollution in the environment.

Single-cell atlas of the first intra-mammalian developmental stage of the human parasite Schistosoma mansoni

Over 250 million people suffer from schistosomiasis, a tropical disease caused by parasitic flatworms known as schistosomes. Humans become infected by free-swimming, water-borne larvae, which penetrate the skin. The earliest intra-mammalian stage, called the schistosomulum, undergoes a series of developmental transitions. These changes are critical for the parasite to adapt to its new environment as it navigates through host tissues to reach its niche, where it will grow to reproductive maturity. Unravelling the mechanisms that drive intra-mammalian development requires knowledge of the spatial organisation and transcriptional dynamics of different cell types that comprise the schistomulum body. To fill these important knowledge gaps, we perform single-cell RNA sequencing on two-day old schistosomula of Schistosoma mansoni. We identify likely gene expression profiles for muscle, nervous system, tegument, oesophageal gland, parenchymal/primordial gut cells, and stem cells. In addition, we validate cell markers for all these clusters by in situ hybridisation in schistosomula and adult parasites. Taken together, this study provides a comprehensive cell-type atlas for the early intra-mammalian stage of this devastating metazoan parasite.

MEDIA WEIGHTED JACKET DAN WEIGHTED BELT UNTUK KEKUATAN TUNGKAI ATLET POLO AIR : STUDI LITERATUR

Water polo is a full body contact sport. It is the combination of swimming, rugby, soccer, and basketball. The basic skills to be mastered in water polo are swimming, water trapping, and ball controlling using hands while floating in the water supported by egg-beater foot movement, where the leg endurance is the main point to perfect this technique. Athletes need leg endurance to float and swim during the game. This study is a literature review aimed at analyzing water polo athletes’ training using weighted jacket and weighted belt in water on their strength and leg endurance. The data were collected from research results published in national and international journals from 1991 to 2019. Therefore, the data were analyzed using content analysis. The review result revealed that the strategy to combine weighted jacket and weighted belt to train water polo athletes’ leg endurance was more effective. Weighted belts were worn around the athlete's waist, and heavy objects that were generally used for scuba diving were placed on belts. On the other hand, weighted jackets must be placed directly below the waist and the weight is suspended between the legs. The jacket with soft, durable, and waterproof material can be adjusted to the athlete's body size. The use of weighted jacket and weighted belt training media in water polo affected the strength and leg endurance of water polo athletes directly.

Single-cell atlas of the first intra-mammalian developmental stage of the human parasite Schistosoma mansoni

Over 250 million people suffer from schistosomiasis, a tropical disease caused by parasitic flatworms known as schistosomes. Humans become infected by free-swimming, water-borne larvae, which penetrate the skin. The earliest intra-mammalian stage, called the schistosomulum, undergoes a series of developmental transitions. These changes are critical for the parasite to adapt to its new environment as it navigates through host tissues to reach its niche, where it will grow to reproductive maturity. Unravelling the mechanisms that drive intra-mammalian development requires knowledge of the spatial organisation and transcriptional dynamics of different cell types that comprise the schistomulum body. To fill these important knowledge gaps, we performed single-cell RNA sequencing on two-day old schistosomula of Schistosoma mansoni. We identified likely gene expression profiles for muscle, nervous system, tegument, parenchymal/primordial gut cells, and stem cells. In addition, we validated cell markers for all these clusters by in situ hybridisation in schistosomula and adult parasites. Taken together, this study provides a comprehensive cell-type atlas for the early intra-mammalian stage of this devastating metazoan parasite.

Use of the energy of the urban Wastewater network for the thermal conditioning of the swimming pool of the Moratalaz Sports Centre. Madrid = Aprovechamiento de la energía de la red urbana de aguas residuales para el acondicionamiento térmico de la piscina del Polideportivo de Moratalaz. Madrid

Underground networks of urban infrastructures channel fluids, water, sewage, air, mechanical and thermal vehicles, store resources of all kinds, and interact with the underground mean, which allows to preserve a moderate rate of intensity and temperature of the thermal energy that they store and transport, all of it very close to the potential users that these resources could serve as primary resources. It is the case of the Municipal Sports Center, CDM, of Moratalaz, an installation that gives sporting services to about 600,000 users per year and has equipment voraciously consumer of energy resources as it is, in our case, the indoor swimming-pool. The heating of the swimming water, the dehumidifying of the air, the heating of the space and the heating of water of the pool are solved with the production of heat by means of gas boilers. The close existence of a municipal waste-water collector, which runs alongside the CDM, has allowed the existing heat production installation to be hybridized with a new one based on a thermal exchanger, directly installed in the collector's gallery. The monitoring of the operation and consumption of the system has allowed to verify a percentage reduction of emissions of 37.5% and a percentage reduction of energy costs of 39.2%, in the first stage of operation. Resumen Las redes subterráneas de las infraestructuras urbanas canalizan fluidos, agua, agua residual, aire, vehículos de todo tipo, almacenan recursos de todo tipo, e interaccionan con el terreno lo que permite preservar una tasa moderada de intensidad y temperatura a la energía térmica que almacenan y transportan , muy cerca de los potenciales usuarios a los que estos recursos podrían servir como recursos primarios. Es el caso del Centro Deportivo Municipal, CDM, de Moratalaz, una instalación que da servicios deportivos a cerca de 600.000 usuarios al año y cuenta con equipamientos vorazmente consumidores de recursos como es, en nuestro caso, la piscina cubierta. El calentamiento del agua de nado, la deshumectación del aire, la calefacción del espacio y el calentamiento de agua caliente sanitaria de la piscina se resuelven con la producción de calor mediante calderas de gas. La existencia de un colector municipal de aguas residuales, que discurre junto al CDM ha permitido hibridar la instalación existente con otra de intercambio instalada en la galería del colector. La monitorización del funcionamiento y consumos del sistema ha permitido verificar una reducción porcentual de las emisiones de un 37,5% y una reducción porcentual de los costes de energía de un 39,2%.

Study on the Degradation of Optical Silicone Exposed to Harsh Environments

Degradation mechanisms of silicone plates under harsh environment conditions are studied in this investigation. Environmental degradation of silicone free form, used as secondary optics in Light Emitting Diode LED lighting lamps and luminaires or any other applications requiring high quality optics being used, has negative implications for the optical performance. Degradation of silicone plates in harsh environment conditions was studied in salt bath and swimming water environments, using different light radiation and temperatures. Samples were exposed to harsh environment conditions for up to 4 months. Optical and chemical characteristics of exposed plates were studied using an Fourier transform infrared- attenuated total reflection FTIR-ATR spectrometer, an integrated sphere, and a Lambda 950 Ultraviolet-Visible UV-VIS spectrophotometer. Results show that 100 °C salt bath exposure had the most severe degrading effect on the optical characteristic of silicone plates. Increasing exposure time in the salt bath at that high temperature is associated with a significant deterioration of both optical (i.e., light transmission and relative radiant power value) and mechanical properties of silicone samples. On the contrary, silicone plates showed a great degree of stability against light exposure (UV at 360 nm and blue light at 450 nm).

Velocidad de crecimiento de deportistas adolescentes tecnificados de natación, waterpolo, saltos y natación sincronizada (Growth rate of technician adolescent athletes of swimming, water polo, diving and synchronized swimming)

El objetivo de este estudio longitudinal fue hacer un análisis de la evolución del crecimiento de deportistas de ambos sexos, de 11 a 18 años de edad, en la especialización de natación, waterpolo, saltos y natación sincronizada, pertenecientes a un Centro de Tecnificación y evaluados en un Centro de Medicina Deportiva. A lo largo de dos años fueron recogidas las medidas antropométricas de estatura (cm) y peso (kg), la respectiva fecha de medición y la fecha de nacimiento de los deportistas. Fueron calculadas en el programa estadístico SPSS 17.0 para análisis estadístico descriptivo las medias de estatura y peso; la velocidad de crecimiento (cm/año) y las edades medias cronológicas que tenían los deportistas entre las recogidas de datos. Los gráficos fueron realizados en el programa de computador OriginPro7. Se utilizó la Evaluación Criterial para evaluar y ubicar los deportistas según las medias presentadas. En general la velocidad de crecimiento de los deportistas estuvo por encima del percentil 50 de las curvas y tablas para la población española general por lo que la variable especialización deportiva influye significativamente en esta diferencia con la población general.Abstract. The aim of this longitudinal study is to analyze the evolution of growth of athletes, boys and girls, 11 to 18 years old, specializing in swimming, water polo, diving and synchronized swimming, belonging to a Technical Center and evaluated in a Medical Sports Center. Over two years were collected anthropometric measurements of height and weight, the respective measurement date and the date of birth of athletes. They were calculated in SPSS 17.0 statistical software for statistical analysis descriptive the means of their height and weight; the rate of increase growth and the chronological middle ages that had athletes between one data collection and other. The graphics were made in the computer program OriginPro7. The “Evaluación Criterial” was used to evaluate and locate the athletes according to averages presented. Overall growth rate of athletes were above the 50th percentile of the curves and tables for the general spanish population.