Football fans in training: the development and optimization of an intervention delivered through professional sports clubs to help men lose weight, become more active and adopt healthier eating habits

<p>Background: The prevalence of obesity in men is rising, but they are less likely than women to engage in existing weight management programmes. The potential of professional sports club settings to engage men in health promotion activities is being increasingly recognised. This paper describes the development and optimization of the Football Fans in Training (FFIT) programme, which aims to help overweight men (many of them football supporters) lose weight through becoming more active and adopting healthier eating habits.</p> <p>Methods: The MRC Framework for the design and evaluation of complex interventions was used to guide programme development in two phases. In Phase 1, a multidisciplinary working group developed the pilot programme (p-FFIT) and used a scoping review to summarize previous research and identify the target population. Phase 2 involved a process evaluation of p-FFIT in 11 Scottish Premier League (SPL) clubs. Participant and coach feedback, focus group discussions and interviews explored the utility/acceptability of programme components and suggestions for changes. Programme session observations identified examples of good practice and problems/issues with delivery. Together, these findings informed redevelopment of the optimized programme (FFIT), whose components were mapped onto specific behaviour change techniques using an evidence-based taxonomy.</p> <p>Results: p-FFIT comprised 12, weekly, gender-sensitised, group-based weight management classroom and ‘pitch-side’ physical activity sessions. These in-stadia sessions were complemented by an incremental, pedometer-based walking programme. p-FFIT was targeted at men aged 35-65 years with body mass index ≥ 27 kg/m2. Phase 2 demonstrated that participants in p-FFIT were enthusiastic about both the classroom and physical activity components, and valued the camaraderie and peer-support offered by the programme. Coaches appreciated the simplicity of the key healthy eating and physical activity messages. Suggestions for improvements that were incorporated into the optimized FFIT programme included: more varied in-stadia physical activity with football-related components; post-programme weight management support (emails and a reunion session); and additional training for coaches in SMART goal setting and the pedometer-based walking programme.</p> <p>Conclusions: The Football Fans in Training programme is highly acceptable to participants and SPL coaches, and is appropriate for evaluation in a randomised controlled trial.</p&gt

Antisense DNA parameters derived from next-nearest-neighbor analysis of experimental data

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The enumeration of tetrameric and other sequence motifs that are positively or negatively correlated with <it>in vivo </it>antisense DNA effects has been a useful addition to the arsenal of information needed to predict effective targets for antisense DNA control of gene expression. Such retrospective information derived from <it>in vivo </it>cellular experiments characterizes aspects of the sequence dependence of antisense inhibition that are not predicted by nearest-neighbor (NN) thermodynamic parameters derived from <it>in vitro </it>experiments. However, quantitation of the antisense contributions of motifs is problematic, since individual motifs are not isolated from the effects of neighboring nucleotides, and motifs may be overlapping. These problems are circumvented by a next-nearest-neighbor (NNN) analysis of antisense DNA effects in which the overlapping nature of nearest-neighbors is taken into account.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Next-nearest-neighbor triplet combinations of nucleotides are the simplest that include overlapping sequence effects and therefore can encompass interactions beyond those of nearest neighbors. We used singular value decomposition (SVD) to fit experimental data from our laboratory in which phosphorothioate-modified antisense DNAs (S-DNAs) 20 nucleotides long were used to inhibit cellular protein expression in 112 experiments involving four gene targets and two cell lines. Data were fitted using a NNN model, neglecting end effects, to derive NNN inhibition parameters that could be combined to give parameters for a set of 49 sequences that represents the inhibitory effects of all possible overlapping triplet interactions in the cellular targets of these antisense S-DNAs. We also show that parameters to describe subsets of the data, such as the mRNAs being targeted and the cell lines used, can be included in such a derivation. While NNN triplet parameters provided an adequate model to fit our data, NN doublet parameters did not.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The methodology presented illustrates how NNN antisense inhibitory information can be derived from <it>in vivo </it>cellular experiments. Subsequent calculations of the antisense inhibitory parameters for any mRNA target sequence automatically take into account the effects of all possible overlapping combinations of nearest-neighbors in the sequence. This procedure is more robust than the tallying of tetrameric motifs that have positive or negative antisense effects. The specific parameters derived in this work are limited in their applicability by the relatively small database of experiments that was used in their derivation.</p

Barriers and facilitators to adherence to group exercise in institutionalized older people living with dementia: a systematic review

Objectives Research suggests targeted exercise is important for people living with dementia, especially those living in residential care. The aim of this review was to collect and synthesize evidence on the known barriers and facilitators to adherence to group exercise of institutionalized older people living with dementia. Methods We searched all available electronic databases. Additionally, we searched trial registries (clinicaltrial.gov, and WHO ICTRP) for ongoing studies. We searched for and included papers from January 1990 until September 2017 in any language. We included randomized, non-randomized trials. Studies were not eligible if participants were either healthy older people or people suffering from dementia but not living in an institution. Studies were also excluded if they were not focused on barriers and facilitators to adherence to group exercise. Results Using narrative analysis, we identified the following themes for barriers: bio-medical reasons and mental wellbeing and physical ability, relationships dynamics, and socioeconomic reasons. The facilitators were grouped under the following thematic frames: bio-medical benefits and benefits related to physical ability, feelings and emotions and confidence improvements, therapist and group relationships dynamics and activity related reasons. Conclusions We conclude that institutionalized older people living with dementia, even those who are physically frail, incontinent and/or have mild dementia can demonstrate certain level of exercise adherence, and therefore can respond positively to exercise programs. Tailored, individually-adjusted and supported physical activity, led by a knowledgeable, engaging and well communicating therapist/facilitator improves the adherence to group exercise interventions of institutionalized older people living with dementia

Sequence Specificity of BAL 31 Nuclease for ssDNA Revealed by Synthetic Oligomer Substrates Containing Homopolymeric Guanine Tracts

Background: The extracellular nuclease from Alteromonas espejiana, BAL 31 catalyzes the degradation of single-stranded and linear duplex DNA to 59-mononucleotides, cleaves negatively supercoiled DNA to the linear duplex form, and cleaves duplex DNA in response to the presence of apurinic sites. Principal Findings: In this work we demonstrate that BAL 31 activity is affected by the presence of guanine in singlestranded DNA oligomers. Specifically, nuclease activity is shown to be affected by guanine’s presence in minimal homopolymeric tracts in the middle of short oligomer substrates and also by its presence at the 39 end of ten and twenty base oligomers. GNC rich regions in dsDNA are known to cause a decrease in the enzyme’s nuclease activity which has been attributed to the increased thermal stability of these regions, thus making it more difficult to unwind the strands required for enzyme access. Our results indicate that an additional phenomenon could be wholly or partly responsible for the loss of activity in these GNC rich regions. Thus the presence of a guanine tract per se impairs the enzyme’s functionality, possibly due to the tract’s bulky nature and preventing efficient progression through the active site. Conclusions: This study has revealed that the general purpose BAL 31 nuclease commonly used in molecular genetics exhibits a hithertofore non-characterized degree of substrate specificity with respect to single-stranded DNA (ssDNA

Comparative proteomic analysis of metabolically labelled proteins from Plasmodium falciparum isolates with different adhesion properties

The virulence of Plasmodium falciparum relates in part to the cytoadhesion characteristics of parasitized erythrocytes but the molecular basis of the different qualitative and quantitative binding phenotypes is incompletely understood. This paucity of information is due partly to the difficulty in working with membrane proteins, the variant nature of these surface antigens and their relatively low abundance. To address this two-dimensional (2D) protein profiles of closely related, but phenotypically different laboratory strains of P. falciparum have been characterized using proteomic approaches. Since the mature erythrocyte has no nucleus and no protein synthesis capability, metabolic labelling of proteins was used to selectively identify parasite proteins and increase detection sensitivity. A small number of changes (less than 10) were observed between four different P. falciparum laboratory strains with distinctive cytoadherence properties using metabolic labelling, with more parasite protein changes found in trophozoite iRBCs than ring stage. The combination of metabolic labelling and autoradiography can therefore be used to identify parasite protein differences, including quantitative ones, and in some cases to obtain protein identifications by mass spectrometry. The results support the suggestion that the membrane protein profile may be related to cytoadherent properties of the iRBCs. Most changes between parasite variants were differences in iso-electric point indicating differential protein modification rather than the presence or absence of a specific peptide

Competitive endothelial adhesion between Plasmodium falciparum isolates under physiological flow conditions

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Sequestration of parasitized red blood cells in the microvasculature of major organs involves a sequence of events that is believed to contribute to the pathogenesis of severe falciparum malaria. <it>Plasmodium falciparum </it>infections are commonly composed of multiple subpopulations of parasites with varied adhesive properties. A key question is: do these subpopulations compete for adhesion to endothelium? This study investigated whether, in a laboratory model of cytoadherence, there is competition in binding to endothelium between pRBC infected with <it>P. falciparum </it>of variant adhesive phenotypes, particularly under flow conditions.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Four different <it>P. falciparum </it>isolates, of known adherence phenotypes, were matched in pairs, mixed in different proportions and allowed to bind to cultured human endothelium. Using <it>in vitro </it>competitive static and flow-based adhesion assays, that allow simultaneous testing of the adhesive properties of two different parasite lines, adherence levels of paired <it>P. falciparum </it>isolates were quantified and analysed using either non-parametric Wilcoxon's paired signed rank test or Student paired test.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Study findings show that <it>P. falciparum </it>parasite lines show marked differences in the efficiency of adhesion to endothelium.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p><it>Plasmodium falciparum </it>variants will compete for adhesion to endothelia and variants can be ranked by their efficiency of binding. These findings suggest that variants from a mixed infection will not show uniform cytoadherence and so may vary in their ability to cause disease.</p

Inter-hemispheric EEG coherence analysis in Parkinson's disease : Assessing brain activity during emotion processing

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is not only characterized by its prominent motor symptoms but also associated with disturbances in cognitive and emotional functioning. The objective of the present study was to investigate the influence of emotion processing on inter-hemispheric electroencephalography (EEG) coherence in PD. Multimodal emotional stimuli (happiness, sadness, fear, anger, surprise, and disgust) were presented to 20 PD patients and 30 age-, education level-, and gender-matched healthy controls (HC) while EEG was recorded. Inter-hemispheric coherence was computed from seven homologous EEG electrode pairs (AF3–AF4, F7–F8, F3–F4, FC5–FC6, T7–T8, P7–P8, and O1–O2) for delta, theta, alpha, beta, and gamma frequency bands. In addition, subjective ratings were obtained for a representative of emotional stimuli. Interhemispherically, PD patients showed significantly lower coherence in theta, alpha, beta, and gamma frequency bands than HC during emotion processing. No significant changes were found in the delta frequency band coherence. We also found that PD patients were more impaired in recognizing negative emotions (sadness, fear, anger, and disgust) than relatively positive emotions (happiness and surprise). Behaviorally, PD patients did not show impairment in emotion recognition as measured by subjective ratings. These findings suggest that PD patients may have an impairment of inter-hemispheric functional connectivity (i.e., a decline in cortical connectivity) during emotion processing. This study may increase the awareness of EEG emotional response studies in clinical practice to uncover potential neurophysiologic abnormalities

Cultural measurement on whose terms? Critical friends as an experiment in participant-led evaluation

Critical Friends is an enquiry into the commissioning, planning and delivery of participatory art carried out by the people that such projects claim to empower. Participants become interviewers, researchers and evaluators, acting as ‘productive parasites’ to a process of socially-engaged art. Aims of social cohesion and active citizenship underpinned a series of publicly-funded art commissions in North Greenwich, London (2008-2011). The group of Critical Friends were residents of North Greenwich who came together to investigate what, why and how these socially engaged art projects were happening in their area. Did the projects reflect the ambitious aims to ‘stimulate debate to generate action and change’ and ‘develop connections and relations between people’? Facilitated by myself and Rebecca Maguire over three years, Critical Friends developed their own questions and methods for finding out. While participation and engagement is usually measured for such projects in terms of numbers of people who attend workshops, Critical Friends was a space for enacting a different kind of cultural measurement. The group focused on trying to find out the qualitative experiences of other participants and interrogated the underlying motives, targets and politics behind the commissions. They did this by acting as participant observers in the projects themselves and by interviewing artists, commissioners, board members, their neighbours and friends (http://criticalfriends.sophiehope.org.uk/)