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Background: The aim of this study is to understand what children with a disability like and dislike about participating in a gymnastics program, and to understand the views of the adults supporting the program. Methods: Children with a mild intellectual disability (aged 5–12) from a primary school providing special education participated in one of four gymnastics programs (1 h/week for 5 weeks) at a gymnastics centre. The program included ~25–50 children per group, with ~20 adults providing support, including gymnastics coaches, teachers, and adult students on placement. To evaluate the program, children (11–12-year-olds; n = 51) were invited to complete a written two-page reflection, and the adults were invited to participate in one of three focus groups. Results: 150 children attended one of four programs. Twenty-six 11–12-year-olds participated in the evaluation (n = 26/51, 51%), and, from the written responses, the themes of 'individual preference' and 'resilience' emerged. It was found that 96% (n = 25/26) reported they would like to do more gymnastics, 88% (n = 23/26) reported positive feelings during gymnastics, and 65% (n = 17/26) expressed concerns such as feeling tired or hot. Twenty-three adults participated in a focus group. Key themes included the positive impact the program delivery had on the children's participation; and the positive impact on coaches, students, and teacher's disability attitudes and knowledge. Conclusions: This gymnastics program was well-liked by children with a disability. To optimise participation, promoting individual choice and control may be of benefit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Members of the actinomycete genus Streptomyces are non-motile, filamentous bacteria that are well-known for the production of biomedically relevant secondary metabolites. While considered obligate aerobes, little is known about how these bacteria respond to periods of reduced oxygen availability in their natural habitats, which include soils and ocean sediments. Here, we provide evidence that the marine streptomycete strain CNQ-525 can reduce MnO2 via a diffusible mechanism. We investigated the effects of hypoxia on secondary metabolite production and observed a shift away from the antibiotic napyradiomycin towards 8-amino-flaviolin, an intermediate in the napyradiomycin biosynthetic pathway. We purified 8-amino-flaviolin and demonstrated that it is reversibly redox-active (midpoint potential -474.5 mV), indicating that it has the potential to function as an endogenous extracellular electron shuttle. This study provides evidence that environmentally triggered changes in secondary metabolite production may provide clues to the ecological functions of specific compounds, and that Gram-positive bacteria considered to be obligate aerobes may play previously unrecognized roles in biogeochemical cycling through mechanisms that include extracellular electron shuttling.

The agents of deterioration (AoD) offer a structured categorization of hazards to collections: they are a basis for risk-informed preservation management. In drawing up the AoD their creators were not ignorant of wider societal issues of concern to conservators, but they envisaged them to be part of a broader institutional activity located beyond the scope of preventive conservation. Within conservation, there have been discussions about additional agents: social, cultural, or political causes of loss. Their continued exclusion from the AoD may mistakenly be interpreted as a lack of consideration of such concerns. There are reasons to limit the scope of an institution's preventive conservation system but not everyone agrees that those reasons are sufficient to justify this limitation. This paper is a discussion and disagreement by two authors. Henderson argues that dissociation should capture any loss of meaning resulting from any aspect of conservation practice, including cleaning, documentation, failure to respect beliefs, etc. She argues that dissociation from context may stop preventive conservators from identifying and respecting optimal traditional sustainable methods and techniques. Waller argues that the threat of losing context information about collection items should be managed as part of the wider cultural heritage institution's role and resolved through its engagement with the community. He acknowledges that preventive conservation can contribute to understanding and mitigating this form of loss, but advocates that primary responsibility must be situated at a higher level than the preventive conservation remit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research demonstrates that operating effectively across boundaries is more complex than traditional essentialist models in cross-cultural studies suggest. The authors present a teaching model that leverages this research and moves away from static comparative models of intercultural interaction. Using self-reflexive and analytical processes, students learn to apprehend the multiple facets of their own and others' identities as these become salient in different contexts. The article shows that through the experience of this course, students develop a mind-set which is essential to deal with the complexity facing today's professionals. Students are quoted verbatim to illustrate the success of this model.

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