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ObjectivesPhysical activity (PA) may help maintain brain structure and function in aging. Since the intensity of PA needed to effect cognition and cerebrovascular health remains unknown, we examined associations between PA and cognition, regional white matter hyperintensities (WMH), and regional cerebral blood flow (CBF) in older adults.MethodForty-three older adults without cognitive impairment underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and comprehensive neuropsychological assessment. Waist-worn accelerometers objectively measured PA for approximately one week.ResultsHigher time spent in moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA) was uniquely associated with better memory and executive functioning after adjusting for all light PA. Higher MVPA was also uniquely associated with lower frontal WMH volume although the finding was no longer significant after additionally adjusting for age and accelerometer wear time. MVPA was not associated with CBF. Higher time spent in all light PA was uniquely associated with higher CBF but not with cognitive performance or WMH volume.ConclusionsEngaging in PA may be beneficial for cerebrovascular health, and MVPA in particular may help preserve memory and executive function in otherwise cognitively healthy older adults. There may be differential effects of engaging in lighter PA and MVPA on MRI markers of cerebrovascular health although this needs to be confirmed in future studies with larger samples. Future randomized controlled trials that increase PA are needed to elucidate cause-effect associations between PA and cerebrovascular health.

This article draws on research undertaken by the Professional Association of Lecturers in Youth and Community Work (PALYCW) in collaboration with the Open University, University of Glasgow and the University of Hull. The authors are all part of a community of practice of lecturers teaching in higher education on Community and Youth Work (CYW) degree programmes. These CYW programmes are professionally endorsed by Youth Work and Community Development professional bodies across the UK. They adopt informal methodologies and have a strong focus on preparing students to work as informal educators with young people and communities. The unique contribution of this paper is highlighting the experiences, issues and challenges presented and exploring creative approaches that have been developed by programmes that adopt these approaches to educate professional practitioners. Looking forward in a context of great uncertainty, the research also set out to consider what the future might look like for CYW programmes, located in the neoliberal university. Questions explored included the extent to which the pandemic might lead to longer term changes in learning and teaching methodologies in CYW in higher education (HE) and how CYW programmes should be preparing students for navigating practice in the society that unfolds post COVID-19 as the basis for taking action in communities in response to new formations of social injustice and inequality with conscious intent.

BackgroundRheumatoid arthritis (RA) affects 2.1% of the Australian population (1.5% males; 2.6% females), with the highest prevalence from ages 55 to over 75 years (4.4-6.1%). In Canada, RA affects approximately 0.9% of adults, and within 30 years that is expected to increase to 1.3%. With an aging population and a greater number of individuals with modifiable risk factors for chronic diseases, such as arthritis, there is an urgent need for co-care management of arthritic conditions. The increasing trend and present shifts in the health services and policy sectors suggest that digital information delivery is becoming more prominent. Therefore, it is necessary to further investigate the use of online resources for RA information delivery. ObjectiveThe objective is to examine the effect of implementing an online program provided to patients with RA, the People Getting a Grip on Arthritis for RA (PGrip-RA) program, using information communication technologies (ie, Facebook and emails) in combination with arthritis health care professional support and electronic educational pamphlets. We believe this can serve as a useful and economical method of knowledge translation (KT). MethodsThis KT randomized controlled trial will use a prospective randomized open-label blinded-endpoint design to compare four different intervention approaches of the PGrip-RA program to a control group receiving general electronic educational pamphlets self-management in RA via email. Depending on group allocation, links to the Arthritis Society PGrip-RA material will be provided either through Facebook or by email. One group will receive feedback online from trained health care professionals. The intervention period is 6 weeks. Participants will have access to the Internet-based material after the completion of the baseline questionnaires until the final follow-up questionnaire at 6 months. We will invite 396 patients from Canadian and Australian Arthritis Consumers’ Associations to participate using online recruitment. ResultsThis study will build on a pilot study using Facebook, which revealed promising effects of knowledge acquisition/integration of the evidence-based self-management PGrip educational program. ConclusionsThe use of online techniques to disseminate knowledge provides an opportunity to reduce health care costs by facilitating self-management of people with arthritis. Study design strengths include the incorporation of randomization and allocation concealment to ensure internal validity. To avoid intergroup contamination, the Facebook group page security settings will be set to “closed”, thus allowing only invited participants to access it. Study limitations include the lack of participant blinding due to the characteristics of this KT randomized controlled trial and a potential bias of recruiting patients only online, though this was proven effective in the previous pilot study. Trial RegistrationAustralian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12614000397617; http://www.anzctr.org.au/TrialSearch.aspx (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6PrP0kQf8).

This article draws on research undertaken as part of a Collective Biography project generated by a group of activists and lecturers teaching and researching in youth and community work (YCW). Collective Biography (CB) is an approach to research in which participants work productively with memory and writing to generate collective action orientated analysis. The emphasis on collectivized approaches to CB work acts as a potential strategy to disrupt and resist the reproduction of power in academic knowledge-making practices and the impact of powerful policy discourses in practice. The article explores the current context and contemporary challenges for teaching anti-oppressive practice in UK based universities before briefly scoping out the methodology of CB. Extracts from a memory story are used as an example of the process of collective analysis generated through the process of CB in relation to racism, the role of anti-oppressive practice, and as the basis for YCW educators to think collectively about implications for teaching going forward. The article goes on to explore the role of concepts that were worked with as part of the CB process and considers the potential significance for teaching anti-oppressive practice in YCW. The article concludes by starting to scope out key considerations relating to the potential role of CB as a grass roots strategy to open spaces of possibility alongside young people and communities in reassembling the teaching of anti-oppressive practice in YCW.

ObjectiveEpisodic memory impairment and hippocampal pathology are hallmark features of both temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) and amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI). Pattern separation (PS), which enables the distinction between similar but unique experiences, is thought to contribute to successful encoding and retrieval of episodic memories. Impaired PS has been proposed as a potential mechanism underling episodic memory impairment in aMCI, but this association is less established in TLE. In this study, we examined behavioral PS in patients with TLE and explored whether profiles of performance in TLE are similar to aMCI.MethodPatients with TLE, aMCI, and age-matched, healthy controls (HCs) completed a modified recognition task that relies on PS for the discrimination of highly similar lure items, the Mnemonic Similarity Task (MST). Group differences were evaluated and relationships between clinical characteristics, California Verbal Learning Test-Second Edition scores, and MST performance were tested in the TLE group.ResultsPatients with TLE and aMCI demonstrated poorer PS performance relative to the HCs, but performance did not differ between the two patient groups. Neither the side of seizure focus nor having hippocampal sclerosis affected performance in TLE. However, TLE patients with clinically defined memory impairment showed the poorest performance.ConclusionMemory performance on a task that relies on PS was disrupted to a similar extent in TLE and aMCI. The MST could provide a clinically useful tool for measuring hippocampus-dependent memory impairments in TLE and other neurological disorders associated with hippocampal damage.

The rain has been falling steadily all day. The light is flat and the clouds are thick, but a couple hundred meters off the boat's starboard side are killer whales. [...]

Novel tests of semantic memory (SM)--for example, memory for news events (NE; news facts) or famous personalities--are useful for estimating the severity of retrograde amnesia. Individuals with mild cognitive impairment exhibit relatively intact SM/language on traditional neuropsychological tests but exhibit consistent impairment on novel tests of SM, suggesting novel SM tests are dissimilar from traditional SM tests. To identify the relationship between NE memory and traditional cognitive measures, older adults (N = 51) completed a traditional neuropsychological battery and the Retrograde Memory News Events Test (RM-NET; a new test that robustly measures NE memory across the adult life span with high temporal resolution), and the relationship between performance on these tests was examined. Total RM-NET scores were more closely aligned with episodic memory scores than SM scores. The strength of the association between NE scores and episodic memory scores decreased as the age of NE memory increased. Tests of news events appear to reflect performance on traditional tests of episodic memory rather than SM, especially when recent news events are tested.

In the current study, we examined the relationship between Big Five personality traits, cognitive flexibility, and life satisfaction. We expected that the Big Five traits would predict cognitive flexibility, cognitive flexibility would predict life satisfaction, and cognitive flexibility would mediate the relationship between four of the Big Five traits (conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism) and life satisfaction. We sampled 258 U. S. participants through MTurk, where they completed a series of self-report measures. Using path analysis, we found support for each of our predictions. Future research should examine the role of affect and cognition in the Big Five traits, and how those might predict cognitive flexibility and life satisfaction., Author(s): Christine A. Smith [sup.1] , Julie Konik [sup.2] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.267461.0, 0000 0001 0559 7692, Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, , 54322, Green Bay, WI, USA [...]

Undergraduate research experiences are an increasingly common component of STEM education practices. Student benefits associated with these experiences include increased interest and retention in STEM and/or research fields. Across the country, twenty-three states and Puerto Rico are supported through the National Institutes of Health's Institutional Development Award (IDeA) Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) Program. INBREs are statewide collaborations of research intensive and primarily undergraduate institutions that are designed to support the biomedical research pipeline as well as faculty research. Most INBREs offer summer undergraduate research experiences to meet their program goals. While the structure and focus of these programs are tailored to state-specific needs, they typically include 10-15 week sessions and many emphasize participation from underrepresented student populations. In summer 2019, eleven INBREs collaborated to explore the collective reach and impact of their summer undergraduate research programs (SURPs). A common set of survey items were identified and added to pre- and/or post-program surveys. These items focused on the reach of the programs (e.g. demographics of participating students) and the impact of the programs on educational goals for students. In total, data from 461 students across 11 states were included in the project. One third of participating students were racial/ethnic minority students; 28% were first-generation college students and 34% were Pell grant eligible. At the conclusion of the program, 72% of participants reported that they hoped to earn a doctoral-level degree. Our results suggest that INBRE-supported SURPs are successfully reaching underrepresented students and that INBRE-supported students widely anticipate pursuing graduate level study in STEM fields.

In recent years the delivery of practical laboratories classes has been subjected to debate, with regards to pedagogical efficiency. Our aim was to develop a pre-laboratory online learning resource that enhances the preparedness and performance within laboratory classes. A study was conducted using second year Pharmacy students, in which the class was given access to an online learning resource that included visual information, quizzes, safety and theory and this was compared to the laboratory script as a preparative resource for the class. Less advice was requested by students and reduced error in practical skills was observed when the online learning resource was used by students, when compared to the laboratory script. Students felt they were able to use the apparatus without the requirement of support, and thus were more confident in the laboratory class. This online resource has the potential to overcome the pedagogical limitations associated with traditional delivery of laboratory classes.

Work placements and workplace learning are increasingly integral components of undergraduate degrees, run within post-compulsory educational institutions; both in universities and further education colleges in the United Kingdom (UK). The intent in workplace learning is to help students attain the work-ready competencies (or employability) sought by graduate employers. By consequence, the UK's Higher Education (HE) and Further Education (FE) sectors are under pressure to identify and respond to students' needs during this important, but often challenging transition to workplace learning. Conceptual considerations around work placements, drawing from employer and students' perspectives on the challenges of placements are presented. This analysis contributes to discussions on students' preparation and transition into work contexts, focusing on promoting self-regulation, as part of developing students' capacities for this kind of independent learning and in building students' pre-professional identities. The design of an outline 'pedagogical pattern' for scaffolding transition into work placements is provided, as a systematic approach to scaffolding students during transition and to aid workplace learning. Significantly, the pattern articulates the contemporary challenges associated with student support and self-regulation in commencing workplace learning, while recommending a flexible web-based solution that is informed by authentic student perceptions of placement support needs.

When individuals select the recently studied (and familiar) item in a multiple-choice memory test, they direct a greater proportion of viewing time toward the to-be-selected item when their choice is correct than when their choice is incorrect. Thus, for both correct and incorrect choices, individuals indicate that the chosen item is old, but viewing time nevertheless distinguishes between old and new items. What kind of memory supports this preferential viewing effect? We recorded eye movements while participants made three-alternative, forced-choice recognition memory judgments for scenes. In experiment 1 (n = 30), the magnitude of the preferential viewing effect was strongly correlated with measures of conscious, declarative memory: recognition accuracy as well as the difference in confidence ratings and in response times for correct and incorrect choices. In four analyses that minimized the contribution of declarative memory in order to detect a possible contribution from other processes, the preferential viewing effect was absent. In experiment 2, five memory-impaired patients with medial temporal lobe lesions exhibited a diminished preferential viewing effect. These patients also exhibited poor recognition accuracy and reduced differences in confidence ratings and response times for correct and incorrect choices. We propose that the preferential viewing effect is a phenomenon of conscious, declarative memory and is dependent on the medial temporal lobe. The findings support the link between medial temporal lobe function and declarative memory. When the effects of experience depend on the medial temporal lobe, the effects reflect conscious memory.