A meta-study of qualitative research examining determinants of children's independent active free play.

Purpose: To produce a meta-study by completing a systematic review of qualitative research examining determinants of independent active free play in children.

Method: Following systematic electronic and manual searches and application of inclusion/exclusion criteria, 46 studies were retained and subjected to meta-method, meta-theory, and meta-data analyses, followed by a final meta-synthesis.

Results: Identified determinants of independent active free play were child characteristics (age, competence, and gender), parental restrictions (safety concerns and surveillance), neighborhood and physical environment (fewer children to play with, differences in preferences for play spaces between parents and children, accessibility and proximity, and maintenance), societal changes (reduced sense of community, good parenting ideal, changing roles of parents, privatization of playtime and play spaces), and policy issues (need to give children voice).

Youth sport experiences of individuals with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

The purpose of this study was to explore youth sport experiences of individuals with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Participants were 6 males (mean age=22.7 yr) with ADHD who had played 3 or more seasons in team sports during adolescence.

ZENK activation in the nidopallium of black-capped chickadees in response to both conspecific and heterospecific calls.

Neuronal populations in the songbird nidopallium increase in activity the most to conspecific vocalizations relative to heterospecific songbird vocalizations or artificial stimuli such as tones. Here, we tested whether the difference in neural activity between conspecific and heterospecific vocalizations is due to acoustic differences or to the degree of phylogenetic relatedness of the species producing the vocalizations. To compare differences in neural responses of black-capped chickadees, Poecile atricapillus, to playback conditions we used a known marker for neural activity, ZENK, in the caudal medial nidopallium and caudomedial mesopallium.

Identification of natural product fonsecin B as a stabilizing ligand of c-myc G-quadruplex DNA by high-throughput virtual screening.

Fonsecin B has been identified as stabilizing ligand of c-myc G-quadruplex DNA using high-throughput virtual screening of a natural product database, and inhibited Taq polymerase-mediated DNA extension in vitro through stabilization of the G-quadruplex secondary structure.

Structure-based discovery of natural-product-like TNF-α inhibitors.

Small but effective: two natural-product-like inhibitors of tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α; represented in green in the picture) have been identified using structure-based virtual screening. These compounds represent only the third and fourth examples of direct targeting of TNF-α by a small molecule, and display potency comparable to that of the strongest TNF-α inhibitor reported to date.

A selective oligonucleotide-based luminescent switch-on probe for the detection of nanomolar mercury(II) ion in aqueous solution.

An oligonucleotide-based luminescent platinum(II) switch-on probe has been developed for selective detection of nanomolar Hg(2+) ions.