Evaluation of an alternative transport initiative in Perth, Western Australia 2000-2004

Issue addressed: Perth Western Australia, has the highest proportion of per capita car ownership in Australia. Despite the various health, environmental and traffic-related benefits, the uptake of alternative forms of transportation such as walking, cycling and public transport are low.Methods: In response to a growing reliance on motorised transport, the Department for Planning and Infrastructure's (DPI's) Cycling Unit conducts an annual Bike to Work Breakfast to promote cycling as a viable form of transport to work. During this event a short cross sectional survey is distributed to assess the usual cycling behaviours of attendees. Topical issues relating to cycling are also investigated.Results: Results from the 2004 survey indicated that the majority of respondents cycled at least 2-3 times per week (85%) to improve fitness (88%), for enjoyment (70%) and because it was a cost effective means of transport (45%). Most of the respondents (92%) supported the need for more cycle friendly infrastructure such as advanced stop lines at intersections and safety measures such as wearing cycle helmets (85%). These findings were consistent with results from similar surveys conducted between 2000 and 2003.Conclusions: The DPI's Bike to Work Breakfast is a popular event within the cycling calendar that provides the opportunity to gain a snapshot of cycling behaviours and attitudes of cyclists. Prior consultation with the evaluators in the developed of the survey instrument has the potential to investigate barriers and enablers to cycling on a regular basis. Age and gender differences could also be explored

Promoting writing amongst peers: establishing a community of writing practice for early career academics

In the current research-focused climate, academics are facing increasing pressure to produce research outputs. This pressure can prove particularly daunting for early career (EC) academics, who are simultaneously attempting to master new teaching and administrative demands while establishing their own independent research trajectories. Previous reports suggest that academic writing retreats can be an effective way of increasing research outputs. Such retreats generally involve academics from a range of career stages and require expert facilitators. Through organising a series of structured writing events, this project aims to cultivate an enduring community of practice for academic writers. Reflecting on our EC retreat and subsequent writing days with academics from different career stages, we suggest that success hinged on three key factors: (1) A formal structure comprising bounded periods of intense writing, flanked by group reviewing and goal-setting; (2) Co-located writing with participants based in a shared space, away from their usual workstation and distractions; (3) Peer discussions involving participants at a similar career stage. Specifically we found that writing amongst ‘equals’ increased productivity and confidence amongst EC academics

Synthesis of hybrid anticancer agents based on kinase and histone deacetylase inhibitors

Fragments based on the VEGFR2i Semaxanib (SU5416, (vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 inhibitor) and the HDACi (histone deacetylase inhibitor) SAHA (suberanilohydroxamic acid) have been merged to form a range of low molecular weight dual action hybrids. Vindication of this approach is provided by SAR, docking studies, in vitro cancer cell line and biochemical enzyme inhibition data as well as in vivo Xenopus data for the lead molecule (Z)-N1-(3-((1H-pyrrol-2-yl)methylene)-2-oxoindolin-5-yl)- N8-hydroxyoctanediamide 6

Dancing to the Partisan Beat: A First Analysis of Political Communication on TikTok

TikTok is a video-sharing social networking service, whose popularity is increasing rapidly. It was the world's second-most downloaded app in 2019. Although the platform is known for having users posting videos of themselves dancing, lip-syncing, or showcasing other talents, user-videos expressing political views have seen a recent spurt. This study aims to perform a primary evaluation of political communication on TikTok. We collect a set of US partisan Republican and Democratic videos to investigate how users communicated with each other about political issues. With the help of computer vision, natural language processing, and statistical tools, we illustrate that political communication on TikTok is much more interactive in comparison to other social media platforms, with users combining multiple information channels to spread their messages. We show that political communication takes place in the form of communication trees since users generate branches of responses to existing content. In terms of user demographics, we find that users belonging to both the US parties are young and behave similarly on the platform. However, Republican users generated more political content and their videos received more responses; on the other hand, Democratic users engaged significantly more in cross-partisan discussions.Comment: Accepted as a full paper at the 12th International ACM Web Science Conference (WebSci 2020). Please cite the WebSci version; Second version includes corrected typo

The range of peripapillary retinal nerve fibre layer and optic disc parameters, in children aged up to but not including 18 years of age who were born prematurely:protocol for a systematic review

Proposed list of data for extraction from full text articles. (DOCX 15 kb

Strong social relationships are associated with decreased longevity in a facultatively social mammal

Data accessibility. Data are available from the Dryad Digital Repository at: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.h8n7p [40]. D.T.B. was supported by the National Geographic Society, UCLA (Faculty Senate and the Division of Life Sciences), a Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory research fellowship and by the NSF (IDBR-0754247, and DEB-1119660 and 1557130 to D.T.B., as well as DBI-0242960, 0731346 and 1226713 to the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory).Peer reviewedPostprin

The Role of Discrete Emotions in Job Satisfaction: A Meta-Analysis

[Summary] The relationship between emotions and job satisfaction is widely acknowledged via affective events theory (AET). Despite its widespread use, AET was not designed to address why specific emotions might differentially relate to job satisfaction. We utilize appraisal theory of emotion to refine AET and provide this nuanced theorizing. We meta‐analytically test our ideas with 235 samples across 99 883 individuals and 22 600 intra‐individual episodes. We test two approaches—specific emotion experiences (16 discrete emotions) versus general emotion experiences (positive or negative emotions)—and present empirical evidence of their similarities and differences with job satisfaction. Our findings suggest that specific emotions with circumstance‐agency appraisals (e.g., depression and happiness) have the strongest associations with job satisfaction compared to emotions with self‐ and other‐agency appraisals and general emotion experiences. However, more variability is observed for negative emotions and job satisfaction compared to positive emotions. Further, we address and even challenge influential critiques of emotions and job satisfaction via a meta‐analytic test of five moderators—emotion intensity versus frequency, target of emotion, job satisfaction measure, level of analysis, and time referent for emotion and job satisfaction recall. In sum, we advance academic and practitioner understanding of the relationship between emotions and job satisfaction

Protein for Life : Review of Optimal Protein Intake, Sustainable Dietary Sources and the Effect on Appetite in Ageing Adults

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Response Parameters for SMS Text Message Assessments Among Pregnant and General Smokers Participating in SMS Cessation Trials.

INTRODUCTION: Despite a substantial increase in use of SMS text messages for collecting smoking-related data, there is limited knowledge on the parameters of response. This study assessed response rates, response speed, impact of reminders and predictors of response to text message assessments among smokers. METHODS: Data were from two SMS cessation intervention trials using clinical samples of pregnant (n = 198) and general smokers (n = 293) sent text message assessments during 3-month cessation programs. Response rates were calculated using data from the host web-server. Changes in response over time, impact of reminders and potential demographic (age, gender, ethnicity, parity, and deprivation) and smoking (nicotine dependence, determination to quit, prenatal smoking history, smoking status at follow-up) predictors of response were analyzed. RESULTS: Mean response rates were 61.9% (pregnant) and 67.8% (general) with aggregated median response times of 0.35 (pregnant) and 0.64 (general) hours. Response rate reduced over time (P = .003) for general smokers only. Text message reminders had a significant effect on response (Ps < .001), with observed mean increases of 13.8% (pregnant) and 17.7% (general). Age (odds ratio [OR] = 0.95, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.90-1.00) and deprivation (OR = 0.98, 95% CI 0.96-1.00) weakly predicted response among pregnant smokers and nonsmoking status at 4 weeks follow-up (OR = 8.63, 95% CI 3.03-24.58) predicted response among general smokers. CONCLUSIONS: Text message assessments within trial-based cessation programs yield rapid responses from a sizable proportion of smokers, which can be increased using text reminders. While few sources of nonresponse bias were identified for general smokers, older and more deprived pregnant women were less likely to respond. IMPLICATIONS: This study demonstrates that most pregnant and general smokers enrolled in a cessation trial will respond to a small number of questions about their smoking sent by text message, mostly within 1 hour of being sent the assessment text message. For those who do not initially respond, our findings suggest that 24- and 48-hour text message reminders are likely to increase response a small but meaningful amount. However, older age and higher deprivation among pregnant smokers and relapse among general smokers is likely to reduce the chance of response.The MiQuit feasibility trial was funded by Cancer Research UK (CR-UK) grant number C1345/A5809. The iQuit in Practice trial was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) School for Primary Care Research (SPCR).This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Oxford University Press via http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ntr/ntv26