Accuracy of physical activity assessment during pregnancy: an observational study

BACKGROUND: Prenatal physical activity may improve maternal and infant health and lower future disease risk for both mother and baby; however, very few physical activity assessment methods have been validated for use during pregnancy. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of a subjective physical activity record (PAR) and an objective activity monitor, against a reference standard to quantify moderate and vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in pregnant women. The reference standard was based on participant interviews to determine if a woman was an exerciser and confirmed with information obtained from the PAR and a heart rate monitor. METHODS: Fifty-two pregnant women completed a physical activity record (PAR) and wore a SenseWear(® )Mini Armband (SWA) activity monitor over a 7-day period at 18 weeks gestation. Total minutes spent in MVPA were totaled from both modalities and evaluated against the reference standard using contingency analysis and Pearson's chi-square test to evaluate the number of women meeting minimum prenatal physical activity recommendations (at least 3, 30 minute sessions of exercise per week). Both modalities were also tested individually and collectively to assess their ability as indicators of activity using empirically determined cut-offs as indicated by receiver-operator characteristic curves. These experimentally-derived criteria were also tested with Pearson's chi-square test. RESULTS: According to the reference standard, 13 of 52 participants (25%) met the criterion of 3, 30 minute sessions of volitional, moderate-intensity activity. When compared to the reference standard, both the PAR and SWA overestimated exercise status; 42 (81%) and 52 (100%) participants, respectively, achieved 90 minutes of MVPA (P < 0.0001 for both comparisons). Single-modality predictors of MVPA did not show a significant correlation. A composite predictor of MVPA offered the most favorable option for sensitivity and specificity (true positives, n = 8 and true negatives, n = 36) using cut-offs of 280 and 385 minutes/week for the PAR and SWA, respectively. CONCLUSION: Compared to the reference standard, time spent in MVPA obtained from the PAR or SWA overestimated the prevalence of women meeting prenatal exercise recommendations. The most accurate predictor of women meeting current prenatal exercise guidelines was identified by using the PAR and SWA collectively

Physical Activity during Pregnancy: Impact of Applying Different Physical Activity Guidelines

Multiple guidelines and de�nitions of physical activity (PA) have been used to study the bene�ts of activity during pregnancy. e different guidelines lead to a wide range of prevalence estimates and this has led to con�icting reports about activity patterns during pregnancy. A longitudinal study was conducted to assess PA using a pattern-recognition monitor for a 7-day period at week 18 ( ) and week 35 ( ) of pregnancy. e amount of activity performed and the number of women meeting six different PA guidelines were evaluated. Adherence to PA guidelines ranged from 5 to 100% and 9 to 100% at weeks 18 and 35, respectively. All women achieved the 500 MET-minute guideline and nearly all women accumulated ≥150 minutes of weekly moderate-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) at both time points. Only 22% and 26% participated in ≥3 sessions of MVPA lasting ≥30 minutes at both time points and this further declined to 5% and 9% when the guideline was increased to ≥5 sessions of 30 minutes. e amount of PA during pregnancy varied drastically depending on which guideline was used. Further research is warranted to clearly identify the patterns of activity that are associated with healthy pregnancy outcomes

Best practices for bioinformatic characterization of neoantigens for clinical utility

Neoantigens are newly formed peptides created from somatic mutations that are capable of inducing tumor-specific T cell recognition. Recently, researchers and clinicians have leveraged next generation sequencing technologies to identify neoantigens and to create personalized immunotherapies for cancer treatment. To create a personalized cancer vaccine, neoantigens must be computationally predicted from matched tumor-normal sequencing data, and then ranked according to their predicted capability in stimulating a T cell response. This candidate neoantigen prediction process involves multiple steps, including somatic mutation identification, HLA typing, peptide processing, and peptide-MHC binding prediction. The general workflow has been utilized for many preclinical and clinical trials, but there is no current consensus approach and few established best practices. In this article, we review recent discoveries, summarize the available computational tools, and provide analysis considerations for each step, including neoantigen prediction, prioritization, delivery, and validation methods. In addition to reviewing the current state of neoantigen analysis, we provide practical guidance, specific recommendations, and extensive discussion of critical concepts and points of confusion in the practice of neoantigen characterization for clinical use. Finally, we outline necessary areas of development, including the need to improve HLA class II typing accuracy, to expand software support for diverse neoantigen sources, and to incorporate clinical response data to improve neoantigen prediction algorithms. The ultimate goal of neoantigen characterization workflows is to create personalized vaccines that improve patient outcomes in diverse cancer types

Insights from the Inclusive Environments and Metrics in Biology Education and Research Network: Our Experience Organizing Inclusive Biology Education Research Events

In contrast to efforts focusing on improving inclusion in STEM classrooms from kindergarten through un-dergraduate (K–16), efforts to improve inclusion in scientific meetings and conferences, important hubs of STEM culture, are more recent. Markers of inclusion that are sometimes overlooked at these events can include the composition of panels, how workshops are run, the affordability of conferences, and various other mechanisms that maintain pre-existing hierarchies and norms that limit the participation of early-career researchers and individuals of minoritized cultural, linguistic, and economic backgrounds. The Inclusive Environments and Metrics in Biology Education and Research (iEMBER) network coordinates efforts of researchers from many fields interested in diversity and inclusion in biology education. Given the concerns regarding inclusion at professional meetings, iEMBER has developed and implemented several practices in planning and executing our meetings to make them more inclusive. In this report, we share our experiences developing inclusive meetings on biology education research and discuss the outcomes of such efforts. Spe-cifically, we present our approach to planning and executing the iEMBER 2019 conference and the National Association of Biology Teachers iEMBER 2019 workshop. This report adds to the growing body of resources on inclusive meetings, provides readers with an account of how such an attempt at implementation might unfold, and complements existing theories and work relating to the importance and functioning of such meetings in terms of representation in STEM

Behavioural optimisation to address trial conduct challenges : case study in the UK-REBOA trial

Acknowledgements We thank the UK-REBOA site staf for dedicating their time to be interviewedPeer reviewedPublisher PD

Patient information leaflets for placebo-controlled surgical trials : a review of current practice and recommendations for developers

Contributions Sian Cousin: methodology; formal analysis; writing—original draft; writing—review and editing; visualisation. Marc Huttman: data collection, review and editing. Natalie Blencowe: conceptualisation; methodology; formal analysis; writing—original draft; writing—review and editing; visualisation. Carmen Tsang: data collection, review and editing. Daisy Elliott: formal analysis, review and editing. Jane Blazeby: review and editing. David Beard: conceptualisation, review and editing. Marion Campbell: conceptualisation, review and editing. Katie Gillies: conceptualisation; methodology; formal analysis; writing—original draft; writing—review and editing; visualisation.Peer reviewe

Ruthenium-Catalyzed Ring-Closing Metathesis to Form Tetrasubstituted Olefins

Increased efficiency for ring-closing metathesis to form tetrasubstituted olefins using N-heterocyclic carbene ligated ruthenium catalysts was achieved by reducing the size of the substituents at the ortho positions of the N-bound aryl rings