Limited research exists regarding healthcare professionals' knowledge and practice of physical activity promotion for cancer survivors in Ireland. There is also a lack of research identifying the barriers experienced by oncology professionals when promoting physical activity, or referring patients to community-based exercise programmes. This study aims to identify healthcare professionals' knowledge, barriers and practices in relation to physical activity promotion for cancer survivors, and to generate guidance regarding the optimisation of the referral process to community-based exercise programmes. Oncology healthcare professionals (n = 114) were invited to participate in two rounds of an online Delphi study. The response rates in rounds one and two were 38% (43/114) and 70% (30/43). Most respondents acknowledged the value of physical activity for cancer survivors (≥86%) and agreed that discussing physical activity with cancer patients was part of their role (88%). However, the majority of recommendations provided to patients did not align with the current physical activity guidelines. Strategies related to four themes that could optimise the referral process to community-based exercise programmes achieved consensus, including providing education to healthcare professionals and patients regarding the benefits of physical activity and the logistics and quality of programmes, and optimising the logistics of the referral process.

BackgroundVirtual reality (VR) computer technology creates a simulated environment, perceived as comparable to the real world, with which users can actively interact. The e ectiveness of VR distraction on acute pain intensity in children is uncertain. ObjectivesTo assess the e ectiveness and adverse e ects of virtual reality (VR) distraction interventions for children (0 to 18 years) with acute pain in any healthcare setting. Search methodsWe searched CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO and four trial registries to October 2019. We also searched reference lists of eligible studies, handsearched relevant journals and contacted study authors. Selection criteriaRandomised controlled trials (RCTs), including cross-over and cluster-RCTs, comparing VR distraction to no distraction, non-VR distraction or other VR distraction. Data collection and analysisWe used standard Cochrane methodological processes. Two reviewers assessed risk of bias and extracted data independently. The primary outcome was acute pain intensity (during procedure, and up to one hour post-procedure). Secondary outcomes were adverse e ects, child satisfaction with VR, pain-related distress, parent anxiety, rescue analgesia and cost. We used GRADE and created 'Summary of findings' tables. Main resultsWe included 17 RCTs (1008 participants aged four to 18 years) undergoing various procedures in healthcare settings. We did not pool data because the heterogeneity in population (i.e. diverse ages and developmental stages of children and their di erent perceptions and reactions to pain) and variations in procedural conditions (e.g. phlebotomy, burn wound dressings, physical therapy sessions), and consequent level of pain experienced, made statistical pooling of data impossible. We narratively describe results.We judged most studies to be at unclear risk of selection bias, high risk of performance and detection bias, and high risk of bias for small sample sizes. Across all comparisons and outcomes, we downgraded the certainty of evidence to low or very low due to serious study limitations and serious or very serious indirectness. We also downgraded some of the evidence for very serious imprecision. Virtual reality distraction for acute pain in children (Review)

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The Implicit Association Test (IAT) is a reaction time based categorization task that measures the differential associative strength between bipolar targets and evaluative attribute concepts as an approach to indexing implicit beliefs or biases. An open question exists as to what exactly the IAT measures, and here EEG (Electroencephalography) has been used to investigate the time course of ERPs (Event-related Potential) indices and implicated brain regions in the IAT. IAT-EEG research identifies a number of early (250–450 ms) negative ERPs indexing early-(pre-response) processing stages of the IAT. ERP activity in this time range is known to index processes related to cognitive control and semantic processing. A central focus of these efforts has been to use IAT-ERPs to delineate the implicit and explicit factors contributing to measured IAT effects. Increasing evidence indicates that cognitive control (and related top-down modulation of attention/perceptual processing) may be components in the effective measurement of IAT effects, as factors such as physical setting or task instruction can change an IAT measurement. In this study we further implicate the role of proactive cognitive control and top-down modulation of attention/perceptual processing in the IAT-EEG. We find statistically significant relationships between D-score (a reaction-time based measure of the IAT-effect) and early ERP-time windows, indicating where more rapid word categorizations driving the IAT effect are present, they are at least partly explainable by neural activity not significantly correlated with the IAT measurement itself. Using LORETA, we identify a number of brain regions driving these ERP-IAT relationships notably involving left-temporal, insular, cingulate, medial frontal and parietal cortex in time regions corresponding to the N2- and P3-related activity. The identified brain regions involved with reduced reaction times on congruent blocks coincide with those of previous studies.

To elucidate the core executive function profile (strengths and weaknesses in inhibition, updating, and switching) associated with dyslexia, this study explored executive function in 27 children with dyslexia and 29 age matched controls using sensitive z-mean measures of each ability and controlled for individual differences in processing speed. This study found that developmental dyslexia is associated with inhibition and updating, but not switching impairments, at the error z-mean composite level, whilst controlling for processing speed. Inhibition and updating (but not switching) error composites predicted both dyslexia likelihood and reading ability across the full range of variation from typical to atypical. The predictive relationships were such that those with poorer performance on inhibition and updating measures were significantly more likely to have a diagnosis of developmental dyslexia and also demonstrate poorer reading ability. These findings suggest that inhibition and updating abilities are associated with developmental dyslexia and predict reading ability. Future studies should explore executive function training as an intervention for children with dyslexia as core executive functions appear to be modifiable with training and may transfer to improved reading ability.