Wellcome Open Research最新文献

Background and purpose: Early years experiences shape a child's physical, cognitive and emotional development. Spending time in greenspaces offers benefits for children's development, but access and use can be limited in urban settings. There is increasing interest in the health and developmental benefits of Forest Schools for primary-aged children, but little is known about the benefits for pre-school children. This study aims to identify these and explore the processes and activities associated with a Forest School intervention for early years children that may influence outcomes.

Methods: This paper reports on an ethnographic approach involving 65 hours of observations with two cohorts of 10 3-year-olds attending 11 weekly Forest School sessions in an urban setting. The children attending had little or no previous experience of natural spaces. 14 in-depth interviews were conducted with parents, and nursery and Forest School staff. The data were analysed using thematic analysis, and outcomes were identified using the Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory Framework.

Results: Despite logistical challenges, the intervention benefitted age-specific health and development outcomes, particularly personal, socio- and emotional development, verbal communication, and mathematics. Unexpected benefits were observed among nursery staff and parents attending Forest School.

Conclusion: Forest Schools are a promising and feasible method to improve nature connectedness and development in children aged 3 years and support school readiness. The maintenance and protection of urban woodland spaces are paramount to facilitate this.

Background: The paucity of state-supported rehabilitation for chronically ill patients with long-term tracheostomies has ramifications of prolonged hospital-stay, increased burden on acute-care resources, and nosocomial infections. Few interventions describe home rehabilitation of adult tracheostomized patients. Almost none involve stakeholders. This paper describes the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) ICU rehabilitation (AIR) healthcare intervention developed to facilitate home rehabilitation of chronically ill tracheostomized patients.

Methods: The AIR intervention development was based on the experience-based codesign theory (EBCD). A core research-committee studied prevalent knowledge and gaps in the area. Patients-carer and health-care stakeholders' experiences of barriers and facilitators to home care resulted in an intervention with interlinked components: family-carer training, equipment bank, m-health application, and follow-up, guided by the Medical Research Council (MRC) framework. Healthcare stakeholders (doctors, nurses, medical equipment vendors) and patient-carer dyads were engaged to gather experiences at various stages to form smaller codesign teams for each component. Multiple codesign meetings iteratively allowed refinement of the intervention over one year. The Template for Intervention Description and Replication (TIDieR) checklist was used to report the AIR intervention.

Results: The first component comprised a minimum of three bedside hands-on training sessions for carers relating to tracheostomy suction, catheter care, monitoring oxygenation, enteral feeding, skincare, and physiotherapy, buttressed by pictorial-books and videos embedded in a mobile-application. The second was an equipment-bank involving a rental-retrieval model. The third component was a novel m-health tool for two-way communication with the core group and community of other patient-carers in the project for follow-up and troubleshooting. Home visits on days 7 and 21 post-discharge assessed patient hygiene, nutrition, physiotherapy, and established contact with the nearest primary healthcare facility for the future.

Conclusions: Findings support the EBCD-based development using active feedback from stakeholders. Assessment of feasibility, process and effectiveness evaluation will follow.

We present a genome assembly from an individual Comarum palustre (the marsh cinquefoil; Streptophyta; Magnoliopsida; Rosales; Rosaceae). The genome sequence has a total length of 528.90 megabases. Most of the assembly is scaffolded into 21 chromosomal pseudomolecules suggesting the individual is an allohexaploid (2 n = 6 x = 42). The mitochondrial and plastid genome assemblies have lengths of 362.32 kilobases and 154.29 kilobases, respectively. Gene annotation of this assembly on Ensembl identified 37,459 protein-coding genes.

We present a genome assembly from an individual male Sarcophaga subvicina (the lesser worm flesh fly; Arthropoda; Insecta; Diptera; Sarcophagidae). The genome sequence is 71 megabases in span. Most of the assembly (95.91%) is scaffolded into six chromosomal pseudomolecules, with the X sex chromosome assembled. The mitochondrial genome has also been assembled and is 16.7 kilobases in length. Gene annotation of this assembly on Ensembl identified 16,793 protein coding genes.

We present a genome assembly from an individual female Phoxinus phoxinus (the Eurasian minnow; Chordata; Actinopteri; Cypriniformes; Leuciscidae). The genome sequence spans 950.50 megabases. Most of the assembly is scaffolded into 25 chromosomal pseudomolecules. The mitochondrial genome has also been assembled and is 18.36 kilobases in length.

We present a genome assembly from an individual male Chesias legatella (the Streak; Arthropoda; Insecta; Lepidoptera; Geometridae). The genome sequence is 310.3 megabases in span. Most of the assembly is scaffolded into 31 chromosomal pseudomolecules, including the Z sex chromosome. The mitochondrial genome has also been assembled and is 20.1 kilobases in length. Gene annotation of this assembly on Ensembl identified 15,520 protein-coding genes.

Background: Training for PhD researchers was previously identified by the Wellcome Trust funded Emerging Research Cultures project as an area for further investigation to ensure an inclusive culture which enables PhD students to become well-rounded researchers.

Methods: The Taskforce on Training conducted a survey of 35 Wellcome Trust funded PhD students and 10 programme administrators to evaluate the provision of training in eight key areas. This survey examined a number of issues, such as availability and knowledge of training, potential gaps in training, and the perceived usefulness of training.

Results: PhD students reported that training was generally useful and viewed as important; with technical training being particularly highly valued. However, the survey identified that students desired additional training in project management and personal development. Surveying programme administrators highlighted the wide variety in training availability for students across different Wellcome Trust programmes currently running in the UK.

Conclusion: In response to these findings, several recommendations were suggested. Examples include; promotion of peer mentoring for PhD students, and alternative methods for delivery of wellbeing training. However, this report only explores the views of a small number of Wellcome Trust funded PhD students and would benefit from further research into the experiences of PhD students, programme administrators, and PhD supervisors.

We present a genome assembly from an individual Dogs-Mercury Flea Beetle, Hermaeophaga mercurialis (Arthropoda; Insecta; Coleoptera; Chrysomelidae). The genome sequence has a length of 479.40 megabases. Most of the assembly is scaffolded into 9 chromosomal pseudomolecules. The mitochondrial genome has also been assembled and is 16.05 kilobases in length. Gene annotation of this assembly on Ensembl identified 12,633 protein-coding genes.

We present a genome assembly of a female Silver-barred Sober moth Aproaerema taeniolella (Arthropoda; Insecta; Lepidoptera; Gelechiidae). The genome sequence has a length of 636.60 megabases. Most of the assembly is scaffolded into 31 chromosomal pseudomolecules, including the Z sex chromosome. The mitochondrial genome has also been assembled and is 15.19 kilobases in length. Gene annotation of this assembly on Ensembl identified 22,274 protein-coding genes.

The Centre for the Social Study of Microbes (CSSM) at University of Helsinki, Finland is a Wellcome-funded hub for creating new approaches to human-microbial relations. Most urgently, the complex relations between microbes, antimicrobial resistance (in its human-health centered definition, understood as infection and disease now uncurable by antibiotics, threatening human life and wellbeing), animals, environments and climate emergency require new theoretical and methodological approaches. These include a variety of research interest from global fermentation practices and cultures to microbial bioremediation techniques, from aquatic microbes to urban gardens. A key orientation of CSSM is also combining ethnography with artistic and performative practice such as felting, painting, installation, sculpture and audiovisual means, to gain a deeper, more sensory and embodied perspective of our shared lives with microbes. As their agency exists outside textuality, new experimental methodology is needed to engage with it. Thinking with microbes invites many ethical issues that often remain unaddressed in medical and scientific approach. As one of such contributions, we suggest a new framework for bioethics. In a conceptual analysis, a queer feminist posthuman framework aims for radical reorientation of human exceptionalism for more-than-human justice while keeping existing social justice issues between groups of people, such as vulnerabilities cascading around gender and sexual variance, in the same framework. Both a theoretical and practical initiative, seeking to forge solidarity between justice movements, this framework could ground policies relevant to a broader bioethical and philosophical research community, and social scientists studying microbes. This open letter discusses this work at the CSSM.