Acute Impact of the Use of a Standing Desk on Appetite Sensations and Energy Intake

Background: Sedentariness has been shown to increase energy intake and is associated with increased obesity prevalence. Active workstations are used to implement physical activity interventions in workplaces, but it is unclear if they can lead to reductions in body weight. This study aims to observe the acute impact of a standing desk on energy intake and appetite sensations. Methods: Participants came to the laboratory, where they were randomly assigned to a seated or a standing desk. They completed a work session (∼75 min) during which they performed cognitive tasks and reported their levels of stress. Following this, they had a 15-minute break during which buffet-type snacks were served. Subjects were asked to rate their appetite sensations on visual analog scales. Results: Thirty-six normal-weight men and women aged 24.3 (4.3) years participated in this study. Energy intake from snacks was similar (P = .472) between participants who sat (427.8 [286.9] kcal) and the ones who stood (461.2 [272.8] kcal) during the work session. There was no difference in satiety quotients around the snack and no significant interaction time × condition for appetite sensations. Conclusion: The use of a standing desk for 75 minutes did not increase food consumption following a meal.

Stress-Related Responses to Alternations between Repetitive Physical Work and Cognitive Tasks of Different Difficulties

Alternating between physical and cognitive tasks has been proposed as an alternative in job rotation, allowing workers to recover from the physical work while still being productive. However, effects of such alternations on stress have not been investigated. This controlled experiment aimed at determining the extent to which stress-related responses develop during alternating physical and cognitive work, and to determine the extent to which cognitive task (CT) difficulty influences these responses. Fifteen women performed three sessions of 10 consecutive work bouts each including a seven-minute repetitive physical task (pipetting) and a three-minute CT (n-back) at one of three difficulty levels. Stress was assessed in terms of changes in heart rate variability, blood pressure, salivary alpha-amylase, salivary cortisol, perceived stress, and cognitive performance. The work session did not result in any marked stress response, and CT difficulty did not significantly influence stress, apart from alpha-amylase being higher at the easiest CT (F = 5.34, p = 0.02). Thus, according to our results, alternating between repetitive physical tasks and cognitive tasks may be a feasible alternative to classic job rotation between physical tasks only, even if the cognitive task is quite difficult. Future studies should address possible effects of the temporal pattern of alternations, and combine even other occupationally relevant tasks, preferably for extended periods of time.

Methods of the 11-grade Students’ Teaching for Passing the National Exam on the Russian Language in the Distance Learning Condition: from Work Experience

The aim of the article is to describe the methods of the 11-grade students’ teaching for passing the National Exam on the Russian Language in the distance learning condition. The rules of communicative, reflective and system-activity approaches, distance-learning concept on the basis of the computer technologies in Russia of E. S. Polat are used in the work. The author depicts his own developed and time-tested algorithms of the group and individual forms of work with school children at social networks, at “VKontakte” to be exact, on the sites such as “I’ll pass the National Exam”, e. i. “Reshu EGE”, in the system of the web service “Google Classroom” and using the platform for the online conferences Zoom. The article shows the efficiency of such work in the distance learning condition. Scientific value of the research includes the complex description of the method which was used by the author in the distance learning condition, which took place in March-June, 2020 during the pandemic (COVID-19). The article gives detailed description of the group-work and pair-work (session halls), use of personal and social chats for interviews, screen demonstrations and online textbooks, creation of the guides to the course topics, using the posts to motivate the schoolchildren, to control their actions and to give them information. In the result of the survey the author proves that the use of the method is not only aimed and gives high results, allows to make teaching interesting and qualified but also performs goals.

The CoViBE: An Innovating Self-Paced Elearning to Teach Virtually Bench-Top Practice

COVID-19 pandemic is a disaster and prolonged crisis that has disrupted the education of millions of students with the closure of schools and universities in world-wide. This hard situation rises the necessity to develop a new teaching method to solve the problem of the massive disruption specially to practice work access. The goal of this paper is to set-up an innovative teaching approach for practical work. The comic as a new self-paced e-learning product to teach bench-top practice: the “CoViBE’’ which means Comic Virtual Bench-top Elearning. For using comics to transform practical work sessions by distance you should at first list all the steps that you need to perform your experiment. Then, you choose the actors and material images. For the third step, you have to decide how many frames you need to your comic trip to develop the following instructions: How to do, What to do, What not to do and What to ask. Moreover, you need to provide flashbacks to remind students what kind of knowledges they need to carry on their experiment; the final step is to include humor. Using online survey, positive feedbacks of 179 students on the CoViBE impact about their learning of practical work allowed us to determine around 80% of satisfaction. Finally, during any other situations for the training period, the CoViBE concept could be used in the future to complete practical work session for revisions, for the internationalization of this education system through distance work and for a hybrid education system.

Poor Subjective Sleep Quality Is Associated with Poor Occupational Outcomes in Elite Soldiers

We aimed to assess the relationship between subjective sleep quality and occupationally-relevant outcomes in military personnel. Participants were from an elite unit of US Army soldiers who worked extended (~30 h) shifts (with minimal recovery time between shifts) during 3-week work sessions. Questionnaires assessing subjective sleep quality during the month prior (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index [PSQI]) were administered at the beginning of the session. Occupational outcomes (emotional exhaustion, functional impairment, role overload, daytime sleepiness) were assessed on the final day of the session. Regression analyses were conducted to link sleep quality and occupational outcomes. The study sample participants had relatively poor sleep prior to the exercise (PSQI Global score average = 6.3 ± 3.1). Higher PSQI Global Scores prior to the work session longitudinally predicted daytime sleepiness (f2: 0.56) after the work session. PSQI component 7, which queries daytime dysfunction attributed to poor sleep quality, longitudinally predicted emotional exhaustion, functional impairment, and role overload (f2 range: 0.19–0.70). In conclusion, poor sleep quality—in aggregation with occupationally-mandated sleep loss—is predictive of poorer subsequent occupational outcomes. Future work should aim to increase sleep opportunities prior to occupationally-mandated sleep loss in order to build resilience when sleep loss is unavoidable.

EXAMINING THE NEEDS OF PEOPLE WITH DEMENTIA AND FAMILY CARERS DIRECTLY AFTER THE DIAGNOSIS

Most often the diagnosis dementia gives people clarification, but at the same time it raises questions and causes a range of emotions. According to professionals, support for people with dementia and family carers (dyads) nowadays is mainly focused on later-stage-dementia instead on early-stage. Besides, this support is mostly about practical/medical topics and less about emotional/psychological or social topics. Studies show that it is a complex process dyads to cope with the diagnosis in their daily life directly after diagnosis. The aim of the present study was to examine the specific needs of dyads in order to support them in the early-stages after diagnosis. Focus groups, interviews and a literature-review were performed to determine these needs. Together with professionals, the findings were translated into a conversation guide, which helps professionals to have a structured dialogue on practical/medical, emotional/psychological and social topics to support dyads in an early-stage after diagnosis. An evaluation is conducted by observations and interviews with dyads and a work-session with professionals. People with dementia, their caregiver(s) and professionals experienced these conversations as very positive. Dyads indicated the type of counsellor (accessible, warm and open), timing of the conversation and topics about ‘not making the diagnosis too heavy’ and ‘sharing the diagnosis with others’ as important. The professionals were also very positive about the conversations. Important themes for them were focusing on the more personal, holistic and preventive approach in the conversations.

Birch tar production does not prove Neanderthal behavioral complexity

Birch tar production by Neanderthals—used for hafting tools—has been interpreted as one of the earliest manifestations of modern cultural behavior. This is because birch tar production per se was assumed to require a cognitively demanding setup, in which birch bark is heated in anaerobic conditions, a setup whose inherent complexity was thought to require modern levels of cognition and cultural transmission. Here we demonstrate that recognizable amounts of birch tar were likely a relatively frequent byproduct of burning birch bark (a natural tinder) under common, i.e., aerobic, conditions. We show that when birch bark burns close to a vertical to subvertical hard surface, such as an adjacent stone, birch tar is naturally deposited and can be easily scraped off the surface. The burning of birch bark near suitable surfaces provides useable quantities of birch tar in a single work session (3 h; including birch bark procurement). Chemical analysis of the resulting tar showed typical markers present in archaeological tar. Mechanical tests verify the tar’s suitability for hafting and for hafted tools use. Given that similarly sized stones as in our experiment are frequently found in archaeological contexts associated with Neanderthals, the cognitively undemanding connection between burning birch bark and the production of birch tar would have been readily discoverable multiple times. Thus, the presence of birch tar alone cannot indicate the presence of modern cognition and/or cultural behaviors in Neanderthals.

Family Maths: Experiential Learning

The international Family Maths programme adopts an inquiry teaching and learning approach and it encourages learners, often from diverse backgrounds, to participate fully in the learning process. The programme also aims to develop the vocabulary necessary for meaningful communication in mathematics, develop problem solving skills and increase confidence and enjoyment of mathematics. The programme has proven to be a powerful catalyst in this regard and holds important lessons for both curriculum development and developing positive attitudes towards mathematics teaching and learning. This experiential learning, interactive work-session focuses on primary school mathematics curricula (for pupils approximately 9 – 13 years of age) and aims at giving participating conference delegates an opportunity to engage with and experience some of the hands-on problem solving activities used in the Family Maths programme. Discussion will be encouraged around the relevance of these activities for the teaching and learning of mathematics. Our conference organisers encourage presenters to consider the relationship between research and classroom teaching, and how, and if, these relate to each other in practice. Can the Family Maths philosophy and practice be a catalyst in narrowing the divide between the theory and practice of effective mathematics teaching and learning?