Search Results (8)

Cerebral palsy (CP) is one of the most common disorders in childhood that significantly impacts quality of life. Background/Objectives: This study conducted a literature review of physical activity (PA)-based interventions for children and adolescents with CP, highlighting the physical, cognitive, and social benefits, as well as the factors and barriers that influence practice. Methods: The PRISMA methodology was used to identify and analyze the most relevant studies up to December 2024 through specific search equations and the databases Science Direct, Scopus, and Dialnet. Of the 707 articles identified, a total of 62 publications were selected for further analysis. These were subjected to a quality assessment through a checklist based on seven items. Results: The practice of PA guaranteed improvements in balance, postural control, strength, socialization, and self-confidence. On the other hand, some programs, such as Makey Makey, Ballet, aquatic PA, and Matrogymnasia, among others, were highlighted because they promoted an increase in physical practice among the population. However, there are still some barriers, such as sedentary lifestyles (90%), limited accessibility, and a lack of qualified professionals that hinder the intervention and ensure motivation and interest in its practice for those individuals who have not yet begun to practice it. Conclusions: PA is an effective tool to favor quality of life in children and adolescents, as it contributes to their integral development and social inclusion. The need for interdisciplinary strategies to reduce barriers and increase the benefits of PA is emphasized. A joint effort to promote integration in leisure time could promote optimal long-term results. Full article

The increasing prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) underscores its significant impact on individuals and the importance of early intervention. ASD affects various aspects of life, including education, emotional development, and social interactions. Besides traditional therapeutic approaches, a novel strategy incorporating digital games has been introduced. Four games developed using Makey Makey and Scratch aim to enhance cognitive skills in children with ASD. This approach facilitates emotional and intellectual development, tracks progress, and offers personalized and engaging interventions. This study demonstrated significant improvements in memory and concentration among participants, with an average improvement of 23.38 points. The most notable enhancements were observed in children aged 10, who showed an average improvement of 25.67 points. Additionally, female participants exhibited a slightly higher average improvement compared to males. The Memory Maze game also effectively enhanced cognitive skills in children with different types of ADHD. Children with the Hyperactive–Impulsive type showed the highest average improvement, with 25.00 points, followed by those with the Combined type, with 24.15 points, and the Inattentive type, with 23.53 points. These findings highlight the potential use of these tools in both ASD and ADHD therapy, providing a structured and enjoyable learning environment that supports cognitive development and therapeutic outcomes. Full article

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to assess the efficacy, short- and long-term cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular mortalities and postoperative morbidities of surgical pulmonary embolectomy (SPE) for patients with massive or submassive pulmonary embolism. Methods: A comprehensive literature review was performed to identify articles reporting SPE for pulmonary embolism. The outcomes included in-hospital and long-term mortality in addition to postoperative morbidities. The random effect inverse variance method was used. Cumulative meta-analysis, leave-one-out sensitivity analysis, subgroup analysis and meta-regression were performed. Results: Among the 1949 searched studies in our systematic literature search, 78 studies met our inclusion criteria, including 6859 cases. The mean age ranged from 42 to 65 years. The percentage of males ranged from 25.6% to 86.7%. The median rate of preoperative cardiac arrest was 27.6%. The percentage of contraindications to preoperative systemic thrombolysis was 30.4%. The preoperative systemic thrombolysis use was 11.5%. The in-hospital mortality was estimated to be 21.96% (95% CI: 19.21–24.98); in-hospital mortality from direct cardiovascular causes was estimated to be 16.05% (95% CI: 12.95–19.73). With a weighted median follow-up of 3.05 years, the late cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular mortality incidence rates were 0.39 and 0.90 per person-year, respectively. The incidence of pulmonary bleeding, gastrointestinal bleeding, surgical site bleeding, non-surgical site bleeding and wound complications was 0.62%, 4.70%, 4.84%, 5.80% and 7.2%, respectively. Cumulative meta-analysis showed a decline in hospital mortality for SPE from 42.86% in 1965 to 20.56% in 2024. Meta-regression revealed that the publication year and male sex were associated with lower in-hospital mortality, while preoperative cardiac arrest, the need for inotropes or vasopressors and preoperative mechanical ventilation were associated with higher in-hospital mortality. Conclusions: This study demonstrates acceptable perioperative mortality rates and late cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular mortality in patients who undergo SPE for massive or submassive pulmonary embolism. Full article

GCTs are developmental tumors and are likely to reflect ontogenetic and teratogenetic determinants. The objective of this study was to identify syndromes with or without congenital anomalies and non-syndromic defects as potential risk factors. Patients with extracranial GCTs (eGCTs) registered in MAKEI 96/MAHO 98 between 1996 and 2017 were included. According to Teilum’s holistic concept, malignant and benign teratomas were registered. We used a case–control study design with Orphanet as a reference group for syndromic defects and the Mainz birth registry (EUROCAT) for congenital anomalies at birth. Co-occurring genetic syndromes and/or congenital anomalies were assessed accordingly. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated and p-values for Fisher’s exact test with Bonferroni correction if needed. A strong association was confirmed for Swyer (OR 338.6, 95% CI 43.7–2623.6) and Currarino syndrome (OR 34.2, 95% CI 13.2–88.6). We additionally found 16 isolated cases of eGCT with a wide range of syndromes. However, these were not found to be significantly associated following Bonferroni correction. Most of these cases pertained to girls. Regarding non-syndromic defects, no association with eGCTs could be identified. In our study, we confirmed a strong association for Swyer and Currarino syndromes with additional congenital anomalies. Full article

We examine the ecosystem degradation of the Kaipara moana as an example of the nexus of settler colonialism and slow violence. Settler colonialism is a type of domination that violently interrupts Indigenous people’s interactions and relationships with their land-, sea-, and water-scapes. Slow violence provides a conceptual framework to explore the slow and invisible erosion of ecosystems and to make visible how unseen violence inflicted upon nature (such as deforestation and sedimentation pollution) also unfolds at the intimate scale of the Indigenous body and household. Here, we present how the structural violence of settler colonialism and ecological transformations created a form of settler colonial slow violence for humans and more-than-humans which highlights the ethical and justice features of sustainability because of the link with settler-colonialism. We argue for the need to include local knowledge and lived experiences of slow violence to ensure ethical and just ensuring practices that better attend to the relationships between Indigenous peoples and their more-than-human kin (including plants, animals, rivers, mountains, and seas). We build on this argument using auto- and duo-ethnographic research to identify possibilities for making sense of and making visible those forms of harm, loss and dispossession that frequently remain intangible in public, political and academic representations of land-, sea-, and water-scapes. Situated in the Kaipara moana, Aotearoa New Zealand, narratives are rescued from invisibility and representational bias and stories of water pollution, deforestation, institutional racism, species and habitat loss form the narratives of slow violence. (Please see Glossary for translation of Māori language, terms and names.) Full article

Information and communication technologies (ICT) are immersed in the teaching and learning processes. Specifically, educational robotics is a technology with great projection in learning spaces. This educational technology has revealed great potential in educational processes in the scientific literature. In this study, the Makey Makey device has been used to carry out a methodological contrast at the instructional level. The objective of this study is to verify if the use of the Makey Makey robotic device influences various psycho-social and educational dimensions in the subject of physical education. A quasi-experimental research design has been used in a sample of 177 students from secondary education. A questionnaire was used as the data collection instrument. The results show the ratings made by the control group students are lower than those of the experimental group in all dimensions, although there is no relationship of significance in all dimensions. This fact only occurs in motivation, teacher–student, student–content, collaboration, resolution, and teacher-rating dimensions. Conclusions show that the teaching method in which robotics is used leads to more success in the field of physical education if we compared it to the more conventional method. The outstanding data show the teaching–learning process has the highest influence on motivation, teacher–student, student–content, collaboration, resolution, and teacher rating. Full article

Objective: To evaluate prognostic factors in pediatric patients with gonadal germ cell tumors (GCT). Methods: Patients <18 years with ovarian and testicular GCT (respectively OGCT and TGCT) were prospectively registered according to the guidelines of MAKEI 96. After resection of the primary tumor, patients staged ≥II received risk-stratified cisplatin-based combination chemotherapy. Patients were analyzed in respect to age (six age groups divided into 3-year intervals), histology, stage, and therapy. The primary end point was overall survival. Results: Between January 1996 and March 2016, the following patients were registered: 1047 OGCT, of those, 630 had ovarian teratoma (OTER) and 417 had malignant OGCT (MOGCT); and 418 TGCT, of those, 106 had testicular teratoma (TTER) and 312 had malignant TGCT (MTGCT). Only in MTGCT, older age correlated with a higher proportion of advanced tumors. All 736 teratomas and 240/415 stage I malignant gonadal GCT underwent surgery and close observation alone. In case of watchful waiting, the progression rate of OGCT was higher than that of TGCT. However, death from disease was reported in 8/417 (1.9%) MOGCT and 8/312 (2.6%) MTGCT irrespective of adjuvant chemotherapy and repeated surgery. Conclusions: The different pathogenesis and histogenesis of gonadal GCT reflects sex- and age-specific patterns that define clinically relevant risk groups. Therefore, gender and age should be considered in further research on the biology and clinical practice of pediatric gonadal GCT. Full article

In this paper, the potential relationship between creative citizenship and what may be termed ‘maker literacies’ is examined in the light of emergent findings from an international project on the use of makerspaces in early childhood, “MakEY” (see http://makeyproject.eu). The paper outlines the concept of creative citizenship and considers the notion of maker literacies before moving on to examine how maker literacies might be developed in early-years curricula in ways that foster civic engagement. Three vignettes are offered of makerspaces in early-years settings and a museum in Finland, Norway, and the UK. The activities outlined in the vignettes might be conceived of as ‘maker citizenship’, a concept which draws together understandings of making, digital literacies, and citizenship. The paper considers the implications of this analysis for future research and practice. Full article