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Touching a beloved family member, or even making eye contact, is impossible online. Still, it's possible to feel close to them. Anna Martín Bylund and Linnéa Stenliden have studied the social and emotional challenges that geographical distance can create among family members who are spread out in different countries, and how longing is expressed in video calls. Their study has been published in the Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development.

"Our study shows that in a video call, an interaction can develop where the participants feel proximity. This interaction is enacted by way of the body and the senses, as well as other means like the camera and the technology. This research has become extra relevant in these corona times, when many of us are forced to communicate digitally," says Anna Martín Bylund, senior lecturer at Linköping University's Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning.

The researchers have studied how three multilingual families who have moved to China communicate with their relatives in Europe. The researchers have analysed the family members' verbal and physical interaction in four online video calls. They see how the physical distance and the digital interface present various challenges, but that proximity is still established, in creative and to a degree innovative ways. The researchers have used recordings of the video calls from the participants' own mobile phones or computers, as well as from cameras installed in the rooms where the participants were located. With these separate cameras, the participants could be captured when they were not in view in the video calls.

Previous research in the field has discussed whether it is possible to create proximity and togetherness digitally. It has shown that changing communication patterns affect how we move our bodies as well as how we move ourselves across national boundaries. In this study, the LiU researchers show that proximity is not a given, but that it can, to a degree, be re-created and modified by way of video calls. The study also shows that proximity is created primarily using the body and the senses, although spoken language also plays a part. In video calls, the room is very important -- what appears on screen and how the body is coordinated in relation to the camera lens. In the study one can see that this suits small children without a well-developed language. Their participation is facilitated when body and space can be more important than speech.

One factor that can help build emotional proximity is humour. The camera's presence contributes to this, for instance by zooming in on different parts of the body and excluding others, leading to jokes and laughter. But proximity is also created through the participants' ability to be creative and to handle the situations that arise between themselves, the person or people they are speaking to, and the technology. An example of this is the high-five that a three-year-old in China and her grandparents give each other. But instead of one palm contacting another, the experience is replaced by skin against visual impressions, speech, and the muscle memory of a high-five. This practice produces a high-five despite everything, and togetherness between the participants.

In the conversations between the children and their relatives, memories are also evoked, which they can relate to together. In one conversation, a grandmother mentions a bag that she has given to her granddaughter, which affects the girl so much that she runs out from the conversation to get it. After the conversation is over, the girl keeps her grandmother both in her memory and in her body by holding onto the bag.

"Our study contributes insights into how technological solutions are used for everyday communication, in order to overcome distance in families with roots in different countries. The families' communication is affected by the technology, which creates specific conditions for how proximity can arise," says Linnéa Stenliden, senior lecturer at Linköping University's Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning

Closer to far away; transcending the spatial in transnational families' online video calling is a small, qualitative study, and further research is required.

The researchers are taking the results from the study into their new project. Here they will investigate new challenges such as uncomfortable silence, which upper secondary teachers are faced with when using distance education in the age of the coronavirus.

Anna Martín-Bylund, Linnéa Stenliden. Closer to far away: transcending the spatial in transnational families’ online video calling. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 2020; 1 DOI: 10.1080/01434632.2020.1749643

The systematic review and meta-analysis found that movement-based yoga improves the mental health of people living with depression, post-traumatic stress, schizophrenia, anxiety, alcohol dependence and bipolar, with the benefits increasing the more yoga they practiced.

The researchers defined movement-based yoga as any form of yoga where participants are physically active at least 50% of the time, that is forms of yoga that emphasise holding poses and flowing through sequences of poses. 

Lead researcher, UniSA PhD candidate Jacinta Brinsley, says it’s a welcome and timely finding given current strict social distancing measures.

“As more and more people find themselves working from home and unable to physically catch up with their friends and family, we’re likely to see more people feel lonely and disconnected,” Brinsley says.

“Exercise has always been a great strategy for people struggling with these feelings as it boosts both mood and health. But as gyms and exercise classes of all kinds are now closed, people are looking for alternatives, and this is where yoga can help.

“Our review of available evidence shows that movement-based yoga improves symptoms of depression in people who have been diagnosed with a mental disorder. So, it’s very good news for people struggling in times of uncertainty.”

The research, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine today, analysed 19 studies with 1080 participants for the review part, across six countries (US, India, Japan, China, Germany and Sweden), and included 13 studies in the meta-analysis (632 participants). In all studies, individuals had a formal diagnosis of a mental disorder, including depression and anxiety.

“We found that across these studies, yoga showed greater reductions in depressive symptoms than other control groups, which included people on a waitlist for treatment, treatment as usual and attention control,” co-author Associate Professor Simon Rosenbaum from UNSW Medicine says.

“The more sessions per week people engaged in, the greater the benefit was.”

Co-author Dr Joseph Firth form from the University of Manchester, UK says that rather than just seeing yoga as a pastime or hobby, the research is increasingly showing we can 'take seriously' the real benefits it seems to confer for mental health. 

“Also, the potential for yoga to be conducted in the home makes this an attractive option for people looking for ways to preserve their mental well-being during periods of prolonged social isolation,” he says.

Co-author Prof Felipe Schuch from the Federal University of Santa Maria, Brazil says people experiencing poor mental health can experience physical and mental health benefits from yoga practice. 

“It is likely that other aspects of yoga including meditation may play an important role in overall management and recovery,” he says.

A/Prof Rosenbaum says while the results are promising, challenges remain.

“Importantly, the most vulnerable in our community are often the least likely to have access to exercise or yoga programs despite the potential benefits,” A/Prof Rosenbaum says. 

The researchers also say their review has gaps that future studies will need to address.

“To understand the mechanism by which yoga has an effect on mental and physical health,  we need more and better data on the intervention variables such as type of yoga, intensity, environment, instructor qualification, specific postures, cueing, philosophical focuses, mindfulness techniques and breathing techniques,” A/Prof Rosenbaum says. 

“But our results have significant implications and demonstrate that you don’t necessarily need to go for a jog to benefit from movement.”

Globally, around 450 million people suffer from mental health issues, with the World Health Organisation reporting that one in four people will be affected by a mental health condition or a neurological disorder at some point in their lives. In Australia, almost half of adults (aged 18-85 years) will experience mental illness. 

The study was conducted in partnership with the Federal University of Santa Maria, Kings College London and Western Sydney University and is available online.

The research team, led by PhD student Christina Zdenek and Associate Professor Bryan Fry, compared the effects of snake venoms on the blood clotting agents in dogs and cats, hoping to help save the lives of our furry friends.

"Snakebite is a common occurrence for pet cats and dogs across the globe and can be fatal," Dr Fry said.

"This is primarily due to a condition called 'venom-induced consumptive coagulopathy' -- where an animal loses its ability to clot blood and sadly bleeds to death.

"In Australia, the eastern brown snake (Pseudonaja textilis) alone is responsible for an estimated 76 per cent of reported domestic pet snakebites each year.

"And while only 31 per cent of dogs survive being bitten by an eastern brown snake without antivenom, cats are twice as likely to survive -- at 66 per cent."

Cats also have a significantly higher survival rate if given antivenom treatment and, until now, the reasons behind this disparity were unknown.

Dr Fry and his team used a coagulation analyser to test the effects of eastern brown snake venom -- as well as 10 additional venoms found around the world -- on dog and cat plasma in the lab.

"All venoms acted faster on dog plasma than cat or human," Mrs Zdenek said.

"This indicates that dogs would likely enter a state where blood clotting fails sooner and are therefore more vulnerable to these snake venoms.

"The spontaneous clotting time of the blood -- even without venom -- was dramatically faster in dogs than in cats.

"This suggests that the naturally faster clotting blood of dogs makes them more vulnerable to these types of snake venoms.

"And this is consistent with clinical records showing more rapid onset of symptoms and lethal effects in dogs than cats."

Several behavioural differences between cats and dogs are also highly likely to increase the chances of dogs dying from venomous snake bite.

"Dogs typically investigate with their nose and mouth, which are highly vascularised areas, whereas cats often swat with their paws," Dr Fry said.

"And dogs are usually more active than cats, which is not great after a bite has taken place because the best practice is to remain as still as possible to slow the spread of venom through the body."

The researchers hope their insights can lead to a better awareness of the critically short period of time to get treatment for dogs envenomed by snakes.

"As dog lovers ourselves, this study strikes close to home but it also has global implications," Dr Fry said.

"I've had two friends lose big dogs to snakebites, dying in less than ten minutes even though the eastern brown snakes responsible were not particularly large specimens.

"This underscores how devastatingly fast and fatal snake venom can be to dogs."

Christina N. Zdenek, Joshua Llinas, James Dobson, Luke Allen, Nathan Dunstan, Leijiane F. Sousa, Ana M. Moura da Silva, Bryan G. Fry. Pets in peril: The relative susceptibility of cats and dogs to procoagulant snake venoms. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part C: Toxicology & Pharmacology, 2020; 108769 DOI: 10.1016/j.cbpc.2020.108769