Lifestyle interventions for type 2 diabetes prevention in women with prior gestational diabetes : a systematic review and meta-analysis of behavioural, anthropometric and metabolic outcomes

Purpose. To systematically review lifestyle interventions for women with prior Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) to report study characteristics, intervention design and study quality and explore changes in 1) diet, physical activity and sedentary behaviour; 2) anthropometric outcomes and; 3) glycaemic control and diabetes risk. Methods. Databases (Web of Science, CCRCT, EMBASE and Science DIRECT) were searched (1980 to April 2014) using keywords for controlled or pre–post design trials of lifestyle intervention targeting women with previous GDM reporting at least one behavioural, anthropometric or diabetes outcome. Selected studies were narratively synthesized with anthropometric and glycaemic outcomes synthesized using meta-analysis. Results. Three of 13 included studies were rated as low bias risk. Recruitment rates were poor but study retention good. Six of 11 studies reporting on physical activity reported favourable intervention effects. All six studies reporting on diet reported favourable intervention effects. In meta-analysis, significant weight-loss was attributable to one Chinese population study (WMD = − 1.06 kg (95% CI = − 1.68, − 0.44)). Lifestyle interventions did not change fasting blood glucose (WMD = − 0.05 mmol/L, 95% CI = − 0.21, 0.11) or type 2 diabetes risk. Conclusions. Lack of methodologically robust trials gives limited evidence for the success of lifestyle interventions in women with prior GDM. Recruitment into trials is challenging

Tetrahydrophthalic Anhydrides as Addition Curing Polyimide End Caps: Thermal Isomerization of Methylendianiline 3,6-Diphenyltetrahydrophthalic Bisimides

In depth NMR studies confirm that heating a 1:2 mixture of cis, cis, cis 3,6-diphenyltetrahydrophthalic anhydride (end cap 9c) with methylenedianiline at 316 C initially yields the corresponding highly congested cis, cis, cis 3,6-diphenyltetrahydrophthalic bisimide 11, which is converted at this temperature to the observed product, the less hindered trans, cis, trans isomer 12

Kinetics of exciton photoluminescence in type-II semiconductor superlattices

The exciton decay rate at a rough interface in type-II semiconductor superlattices is investigated. It is shown that the possibility of recombination of indirect excitons at a plane interface essentially affects kinetics of the exciton photoluminescence at a rough interface. This happens because of strong correlation between the exciton recombination at the plane interface and at the roughness. Expressions that relate the parameters of the luminescence kinetics with statistical characteristics of the rough interface are obtained. The mean height and length of roughnesses in GaAs/AlAs superlattices are estimated from the experimental data.Comment: 3 PostScript figure

The Underestimation Of Egocentric Distance: Evidence From Frontal Matching Tasks

There is controversy over the existence, nature, and cause of error in egocentric distance judgments. One proposal is that the systematic biases often found in explicit judgments of egocentric distance along the ground may be related to recently observed biases in the perceived declination of gaze (Durgin & Li, Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, in press), To measure perceived egocentric distance nonverbally, observers in a field were asked to position themselves so that their distance from one of two experimenters was equal to the frontal distance between the experimenters. Observers placed themselves too far away, consistent with egocentric distance underestimation. A similar experiment was conducted with vertical frontal extents. Both experiments were replicated in panoramic virtual reality. Perceived egocentric distance was quantitatively consistent with angular bias in perceived gaze declination (1.5 gain). Finally, an exocentric distance-matching task was contrasted with a variant of the egocentric matching task. The egocentric matching data approximate a constant compression of perceived egocentric distance with a power function exponent of nearly 1; exocentric matches had an exponent of about 0.67. The divergent pattern between egocentric and exocentric matches suggests that they depend on different visual cues

Development of intuitive rules: Evaluating the application of the dual-system framework to understanding children's intuitive reasoning

This is an author-created version of this article. The original source of publication is Psychon Bull Rev. 2006 Dec;13(6):935-53 The final publication is available at www.springerlink.com Published version: http://dx.doi.org/10.3758/BF0321390

Problems recruiting and retaining postnatal women to a pilot randomised controlled trial of a web-delivered weight loss intervention ISRCTN48086713 ISRCTN

Abstract Objective This paper highlights recruitment and retention problems identified during a pilot randomised controlled trial and process evaluation. The pilot trial aimed to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of a web-delivered weight loss intervention for postnatal women and associated trial protocol. Results General practice database searches revealed low rates of eligible postnatal women per practice. 16 (10%) of the 168 identified women were recruited and randomised, seven to the intervention and nine to the control. 57% (4/7) of the intervention women completed 3 month follow-up measurements in comparison to 56% (5/9) in the control group. By 12 months, retention in the intervention group was 43% (3/7), with 2/7 women active on the website, in comparison to 44% (4/9) of the control group. Interview findings revealed the web as an acceptable method for delivery of the intervention, with the suggestion of an addition of a mobile application. Alternative recruitment strategies, using health visitor appointments, midwifery departments or mother and baby/toddler groups, should be explored. Greater involvement of potential users should enable better recruitment methods to be developed. Trial registration ISRCTN: ISRCTN48086713, Registered 26 October 201

Will the Conscious–Subconscious Pacing Quagmire Help Elucidate the Mechanisms of Self-Paced Exercise? New Opportunities in Dual Process Theory and Process Tracing Methods

The extent to which athletic pacing decisions are made consciously or subconsciously is a prevailing issue. In this article we discuss why the one-dimensional conscious–subconscious debate that has reigned in the pacing literature has suppressed our understanding of the multidimensional processes that occur in pacing decisions. How do we make our decisions in real-life competitive situations? What information do we use and how do we respond to opponents? These are questions that need to be explored and better understood, using smartly designed experiments. The paper provides clarity about key conscious, preconscious, subconscious and unconscious concepts, terms that have previously been used in conflicting and confusing ways. The potential of dual process theory in articulating multidimensional aspects of intuitive and deliberative decision-making processes is discussed in the context of athletic pacing along with associated process-tracing research methods. In attempting to refine pacing models and improve training strategies and psychological skills for athletes, the dual-process framework could be used to gain a clearer understanding of (1) the situational conditions for which either intuitive or deliberative decisions are optimal; (2) how intuitive and deliberative decisions are biased by things such as perception, emotion and experience; and (3) the underlying cognitive mechanisms such as memory, attention allocation, problem solving and hypothetical thought

Weak up-regulation of serum response factor in gastric ulcers in patients with co-morbidities is associated with increased risk of recurrent bleeding

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Serum response factor (SRF) is crucial for gastric ulcer healing process. The study determined if gastric ulcer tissues up-regulate SRF and if such up-regulation correlated with co-morbidities and the risk of recurrent bleeding.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Ulcer and non-ulcer tissues were obtained from 142 patients with active gastric ulcers for SRF expression assessed by immunohistochemistry. Based on the degree of SRF expression between these two tissue types, SRF up-regulation was classified as strong, intermediate, and weak patterns. The patients were followed-up to determine if SRF up-regulation correlated to recurrent bleeding.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Gastric ulcer tissues had higher SRF expression than non-ulcer tissues (<it>p </it>< 0.05). Patients with strong SRF up-regulation had lower rates of stigmata of recent hemorrhage (SRH) on the ulcer base than the others (<it>p </it>< 0.05). Multivariate logistic regression confirmed that co-morbidities and weak SRF up-regulation were two independent factors of recurrent gastric ulcer bleeding (<it>p </it>< 0.05). Combining both factors, there was an 8.29-fold (95% CI, 1.31~52.62; <it>p </it>= 0.03) higher risk of recurrent gastric ulcer bleeding.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>SRF expression is higher in gastric ulcer tissues than in non-ulcer tissues. Weak SRF up-regulation, combined with the presence of co-morbidities, increase the risk of the recurrent gastric ulcer bleeding.</p

Biomic Specialization and Speciation Rates in Ruminants (Cetartiodactyla, Mammalia): A Test of the Resource-Use Hypothesis at the Global Scale

The resource-use hypothesis proposed by E.S. Vrba predicts that specialist species have higher speciation and extinction rates than generalists because they are more susceptible to environmental changes and vicariance. In this work, we test some of the predictions derived from this hypothesis on the 197 extant and recently extinct species of Ruminantia (Cetartiodactyla, Mammalia) using the biomic specialization index (BSI) of each species, which is based on its distribution within different biomes. We ran 10000 Monte Carlo simulations of our data in order to get a null distribution of BSI values against which to contrast the observed data. Additionally, we drew on a supertree of the ruminants and a phylogenetic likelihood-based method (QuaSSE) for testing whether the degree of biomic specialization affects speciation rates in ruminant lineages. Our results are consistent with the predictions of the resource-use hypothesis, which foretells a higher speciation rate of lineages restricted to a single biome (BSI = 1) and higher frequency of specialist species in biomes that underwent high degree of contraction and fragmentation during climatic cycles. Bovids and deer present differential specialization across biomes; cervids show higher specialization in biomes with a marked hydric seasonality (tropical deciduous woodlands and schlerophyllous woodlands), while bovids present higher specialization in a greater variety of biomes. This might be the result of divergent physiological constraints as well as a different biogeographic and evolutionary history