A user-centred approach to developing bWell, a mobile app for arm and shoulder exercises after breast cancer treatment

Purpose: The study aim was to develop a mobile application (app) supported by user preferences to optimise self-management of arm and shoulder exercises for upper-limb dysfunction (ULD) after breast cancer treatment. Methods: Focus groups with breast cancer patients were held to identify user needs and requirements. Behaviour change techniques were explored by researchers and discussed during the focus groups. Concepts for content were identified by thematic analysis. A rapid review was conducted to inform the exercise programme. Preliminary testing was carried out to obtain user feedback from breast cancer patients who used the app for 8 weeks post-surgery. Results: Breast cancer patients’ experiences with ULD and exercise advice and routines varied widely. They identified and prioritised several app features: tailored information, video demonstrations of the exercises, push notifications, and tracking and progress features. An evidence-based programme was developed with a physiotherapist with progressive exercises for passive and active mobilisation, stretching and strengthening. The exercise demonstration videos were filmed with a breast cancer patient. Early user testing demonstrated ease of use, and clear and motivating app content. Conclusions: bWell, a novel app for arm and shoulder exercises was developed by breast cancer patients, health care professionals and academics. Further research is warranted to confirm its clinical effectiveness. Implications for Cancer Survivors: Mobile health has great potential to provide patients with information specific to their needs. bWell is a promising way to support breast cancer patients with exercise routines after treatment and may improve future self-management of clinical care

Registered Replication Report: Dijksterhuis and van Knippenberg (1998)

Dijksterhuis and van Knippenberg (1998) reported that participants primed with a category associated with intelligence ("professor") subsequently performed 13% better on a trivia test than participants primed with a category associated with a lack of intelligence ("soccer hooligans"). In two unpublished replications of this study designed to verify the appropriate testing procedures, Dijksterhuis, van Knippenberg, and Holland observed a smaller difference between conditions (2%-3%) as well as a gender difference: Men showed the effect (9.3% and 7.6%), but women did not (0.3% and -0.3%). The procedure used in those replications served as the basis for this multilab Registered Replication Report. A total of 40 laboratories collected data for this project, and 23 of these laboratories met all inclusion criteria. Here we report the meta-analytic results for those 23 direct replications (total N = 4,493), which tested whether performance on a 30-item general-knowledge trivia task differed between these two priming conditions (results of supplementary analyses of the data from all 40 labs, N = 6,454, are also reported). We observed no overall difference in trivia performance between participants primed with the "professor" category and those primed with the "hooligan" category (0.14%) and no moderation by gender

Registered Replication Report: Dijksterhuis and van Knippenberg (1998)

Dijksterhuis and van Knippenberg (1998) reported that participants primed with a category associated with intelligence ("professor") subsequently performed 13% better on a trivia test than participants primed with a category associated with a lack of intelligence ("soccer hooligans"). In two unpublished replications of this study designed to verify the appropriate testing procedures, Dijksterhuis, van Knippenberg, and Holland observed a smaller difference between conditions (2%-3%) as well as a gender difference: Men showed the effect (9.3% and 7.6%), but women did not (0.3% and -0.3%). The procedure used in those replications served as the basis for this multilab Registered Replication Report. A total of 40 laboratories collected data for this project, and 23 of these laboratories met all inclusion criteria. Here we report the meta-analytic results for those 23 direct replications (total N = 4,493), which tested whether performance on a 30-item general-knowledge trivia task differed between these two priming conditions (results of supplementary analyses of the data from all 40 labs, N = 6,454, are also reported). We observed no overall difference in trivia performance between participants primed with the "professor" category and those primed with the "hooligan" category (0.14%) and no moderation by gender

A comparison of biogas production from dairy manure filtrate using conventional and fixed-film reactors. Canadian Agricultural Engineering 26

1983. Biogas production from dairy manure and its filtrate. Can. Agric. The effect of liquid-solid separation pretreatment on methane production from the anaerobic digestion of cattle manure was investigated in the laboratory. Screening out the coarse solid fraction from the waste before digestion had a minimal effect on the rate of biogas production for equal volatile solids loading rates at a 16-day hydraulic retention time. For a 12-day hydraulic retention time, a significant increase was found in the biogas production rate per litre of digester or per gram volatile solids added for the screened manure over the unscreened manure. The results support the concept that a liquid-solid separation pretreatment step could significantly reduce the volume of digester required for a farm with no decrease in biogas production

Dynamics of drying bentonite in superheated steam and air as a model food system. Canadian Agricultural Engineering

Dynamics of drying bentonite in superheated steam and air as a model food system. Can. Agric. Eng. 38:305-310. The objective of this research was to compare temperature patterns, drying rates, and diffusivities of bentonite as a food model with a high concentration of solids dried in hot air and superheated steam at 160°C. In our preliminary investigations on the drying of liquid food droplets in hot air and superheated steam, spherical samples of 13.5 mm in diameter were prepared from chemically stable bentonite paste. In superheated steam drying, bentonite samples reached the saturation temperature for steam (100°C) after the first minute of drying. During this period the samples gained approximately 0.1 kglkg dry basis (db) of moisture, due to condensation of water on the surface of the sample. In air drying at 160°C, the temperature of a similar sized sample gradually increased to a wet bulb temperature of 80°C over a 10 min period. The drying rate in the superheated steam was higher by 8 to 10% than in the 160°C air in the initial stage of drying. However, this situation reversed when samples reached the falling rate-of-drying stage. For this period and below moisture content of 0.10 kglkg db, the overall diffusion coefficient was 50 to 80% higher for samples dried in the 160°C air than in superheated steam of the same temperature