Use of mobile devices to answer online surveys: implications for research.

BACKGROUND: There is a growing use of mobile devices to access the Internet. We examined whether participants who used a mobile device to access a brief online survey were quicker to respond to the survey but also, less likely to complete it than participants using a traditional web browser. FINDINGS: Using data from a recently completed online intervention trial, we found that participants using mobile devices were quicker to access the survey but less likely to complete it compared to participants using a traditional web browser. More concerning, mobile device users were also less likely to respond to a request to complete a six week follow-up survey compared to those using traditional web browsers. CONCLUSIONS: With roughly a third of participants using mobile devices to answer an online survey in this study, the impact of mobile device usage on survey completion rates is a concern. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01521078

Internet-Based Brief Intervention to Prevent Unhealthy Alcohol Use among Young Men: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

INTRODUCTION: Alcohol use is one of the leading modifiable morbidity and mortality risk factors among young adults. STUDY DESIGN: 2 parallel-group randomized controlled trial with follow-up at 1 and 6 months. SETTING/PARTICIPANTS: Internet based study in a general population sample of young men with low-risk drinking, recruited between June 2012 and February 2013. Intervention: Internet-based brief alcohol primary prevention intervention (IBI). The IBI aims at preventing an increase in alcohol use: it consists of normative feedback, feedback on consequences, calorific value alcohol, computed blood alcohol concentration, indication that the reported alcohol use is associated with no or limited risks for health. Intervention group participants received the IBI. Control group (CG) participants completed only an assessment. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Alcohol use (number of drinks per week), binge drinking prevalence. Analyses were conducted in 2014-2015. RESULTS: Of 4365 men invited to participate, 1633 did so; 896 reported low-risk drinking and were randomized (IBI: n = 451; CG: n = 445). At baseline, 1 and 6 months, the mean (SD) number of drinks/week was 2.4(2.2), 2.3(2.6), 2.5(3.0) for IBI, and 2.4(2.3), 2.8(3.7), 2.7(3.9) for CG. Binge drinking, absent at baseline, was reported by 14.4% (IBI) and 19.0% (CG) at 1 month and by 13.3% (IBI) and 13.0% (CG) at 6 months. At 1 month, beneficial intervention effects were observed on the number of drinks/week (p = 0.05). No significant differences were observed at 6 months. CONCLUSION: We found protective short term effects of a primary prevention IBI. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Controlled-Trials.com ISRCTN55991918

Internet-based brief intervention for young men with unhealthy alcohol use: a randomized controlled trial in a general population sample.

To test the efficacy of an internet-based brief intervention (IBI) in decreasing alcohol use among young Swiss men aged 21 years on average. Two parallel-group randomized controlled trial with a 1 : 1 allocation ratio containing follow-up assessments at 1 and 6 months post-randomization Internet-based study in a general population sample. Twenty-one-year-old men from Switzerland with unhealthy alcohol use (> 14 drinks/week or ≥ 6 drinks/occasion at least monthly or Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) scores ≥ 8) INTERVENTION: IBI consisting of (1) normative feedback, (2) feedback on consequences of alcohol use, (3) calorific value of reported consumption, (4) computed blood alcohol concentration for reported consumption, (5) indication of risk, (6) information on alcohol and health and (7) recommendations indicating low-risk drinking limits. Control condition: no intervention (assessment only). At 1 and 6 months: quantity/frequency questions on alcohol use (primary outcome: number of drinks/week) and binge drinking prevalence; at 6 months: AUDIT score, consequences of drinking (range = 0-12). Follow-up rates were 92% at 1 month and 91% at 6 months. At 6 months, participants in the intervention group (n = 367) reported greater reductions in the number of drinks/week than participants in the control group (n = 370) [treatment × time interaction, incidence rate ratio (RR) = 0.86, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.78; 0.96], but no significant differences were observed on binge drinking prevalence. There was a favourable intervention effect on AUDIT scores (IRR = 0.93, 95% CI = 0.88; 0.98), but not on the number of consequences (IRR = 0.93, 95% CI = 0.84; 1.03). An internet-based brief intervention directed at harmful alcohol use among young men led to a reduction in self-reported alcohol consumption and AUDIT scores compared with a no-intervention control condition (assessment only)

A randomized trial of brief web-based prevention of unhealthy alcohol use: Participant self-selection compared to a male young adult source population.

How much a randomized controlled trial (RCT) sample is representative of or differs from its source population is a challenging question, with major implications for generalizability of results. It is particularly crucial for freely-available web-based interventions tested in RCTs since they are designed to reach broad populations and could increase health disparities if they fail to reach the more vulnerable individuals. We assessed the representativeness of a sample of participants in a primary/secondary prevention web-based brief intervention RCT in relation to its source population. Then we compared those recruited to those not recruited in the RCT. There is a mandatory army recruitment process in Switzerland at age 19 for men. Between August 2010 and July 2011, 12,564 men (source population) attended two recruitment centers and were asked to answer a screening questionnaire on alcohol use. Among 11,819 (94.1%) who completed it, 7027 (59.5%) agreed to participate in a longitudinal cohort study with regular assessments. In 2012, these participants were invited to a web-based brief intervention RCT. Participation was not dependent on the presence or quantity of alcohol use. We assessed the representativeness of the RCT sample in relation to the source population and compared participants recruited/not recruited in the RCT with respect to education level and alcohol use. The RCT sample differed from the source population: individuals 20 and over were significantly less represented (34.3% vs 37.9%, p = 0.006), as were those with lower education level (58.6% vs 63.0%, p = 0.0009). The prevalence of any alcohol use was higher in the RCT population (92.3% vs 90.6%, p = 0.03) but unhealthy alcohol use was less represented (37.1% vs 43.2%, p < 0.0001). Differences on alcohol use measures and education were similarly found when those recruited in the RCT were compared to those who were not, including in a multivariable model, showing independent associations between less unhealthy alcohol use and higher education and recruitment in the RCT. RCT participants differed from other members of the source population, with those participating in the RCT having higher prevalence of any alcohol use but lower levels of consumption and lower prevalence of indicators of unhealthy alcohol use. Individuals with higher education were overrepresented in the RCT sample. Selection bias may exist at both ends of the drinking spectrum and individuals with some indicators of greater vulnerability were less likely to participate. Results of web-based studies may not adequately generalize to the general population.Trial registration: The trial was registered at current controlled trials: ISRCTN55991918

Search for the hero: an investigation into the sports heroes of British sports fans

This is an initial study into British sports fans’ heroes. A questionnaire was sent to 95 students (average age ¼ 19.75) to identify their sporting hero, the hero’s sport and nationality and the reasons for this choice. Football was the most common source of sports heroes, identified by 49% of participants with a sporting hero. The majority (60%, N ¼ 48) of heroes chosen by participants were British, with David Beckham the most popular choice. Differences were observed between the gender of participants, gender of hero chosen and the reasons for choosing the hero. The most common reason for selecting a hero was a personal trait rather than skill, while in the questionnaire a category of Local Affiliation was added to those suggested by previous work. It was concluded that to become a hero athletes should combine skill with devotion to family, charity work and a place in popular culture

Scientistsʼ warning on climate change and medicinal plants

The recent publication of a World Scientistsʼ Warning to Humanity highlighted the fact that climate change, absent strenuous mitigation or adaptation efforts, will have profound negative effects for humanity and other species, affecting numerous aspects of life. In this paper, we call attention to one of these aspects, the effects of climate change on medicinal plants. These plants provide many benefits for human health, particularly in communities where Western medicine is unavailable. As for other species, their populations may be threatened by changing temperature and precipitation regimes, disruption of commensal relationships, and increases in pests and pathogens, combined with anthropogenic habitat fragmentation that impedes migration. Additionally, medicinal species are often harvested unsustainably, and this combination of pressures may push many populations to extinction. A second issue is that some species may respond to increased environmental stresses not only with declines in biomass production but with changes in chemical content, potentially affecting quality or even safety of medicinal products. We therefore recommend actions including conservation and local cultivation of valued plants, sustainability training for harvesters and certification of commercial material, preservation of traditional knowledge, and programs to monitor raw material quality in addition to, of course, efforts to mitigate climate change

Single-electron transport driven by surface acoustic waves: moving quantum dots versus short barriers

We have investigated the response of the acoustoelectric current driven by a surface-acoustic wave through a quantum point contact in the closed-channel regime. Under proper conditions, the current develops plateaus at integer multiples of ef when the frequency f of the surface-acoustic wave or the gate voltage Vg of the point contact is varied. A pronounced 1.1 MHz beat period of the current indicates that the interference of the surface-acoustic wave with reflected waves matters. This is supported by the results obtained after a second independent beam of surface-acoustic wave was added, traveling in opposite direction. We have found that two sub-intervals can be distinguished within the 1.1 MHz modulation period, where two different sets of plateaus dominate the acoustoelectric-current versus gate-voltage characteristics. In some cases, both types of quantized steps appeared simultaneously, though at different current values, as if they were superposed on each other. Their presence could result from two independent quantization mechanisms for the acoustoelectric current. We point out that short potential barriers determining the properties of our nominally long constrictions could lead to an additional quantization mechanism, independent from those described in the standard model of 'moving quantum dots'.Comment: 25 pages, 12 figures, to be published in a special issue of J. Low Temp. Phys. in honour of Prof. F. Pobel

What does it mean when people say that they have received expressions of concern about their drinking or advice to cut down on the AUDIT scale?

The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) is a commonly used scale to measure severity of alcohol consumption that contains an item asking if anyone has expressed concern about your drinking or suggested you cut down. What does it mean when a participant says yes to this question? Participants who were 18 or older and who drank at least weekly were recruited to complete a survey about their drinking from the Mechanical Turk platform. Comparisons were made between at risk (n = 2565) and high risk drinkers (n = 581) who said that someone had expressed concern about their drinking regarding who had expressed concern. If the person expressing concern was a health professional, the participant was also asked what type of support was provided. Expressions of concern about drinking were received more often by high risk than at risk drinkers. The most common type of person to have expressed concern was a relative, followed by a friend, or a marital partner. About one quarter of participants had received expressions of concern from a medical doctor or other health professional. All health professionals' expressions of concern were accompanied by a suggestion to cut down and about half provided some additional support (the most common type of support was brief advice). Expressions of concern come from a variety of sources and the likelihood of their occurrence is partially related to amount of alcohol intake

Dense circumnuclear molecular gas in starburst galaxies

We present results from a study of the dense circumnuclear molecular gas of starburst galaxies. The study aims to investigate the interplay between starbursts, active galactic nuclei and molecular gas.We characterize the dense gas traced by HCN, HCO and HNC and examine its kinematics in the circumnuclear regions of nine starburst galaxies observed with the Australia Telescope Compact Array. We detect HCN (1-0) and HCO (1-0) in seven of the nine galaxies and HNC (1-0) in four. Approximately 7 arcsec resolution maps of the circumnuclear molecular gas are presented. The velocity-integrated intensity ratios, HCO (1-0)/HCN (1-0) and HNC (1-0)/HCN (1-0), are calculated. Using these integrated intensity ratios and spatial intensity ratio maps, we identify photon-dominated regions (PDRs) in NGC 1097, NGC 1365 and NGC 1808. We find no galaxy which shows the PDR signature in only one part of the observed nuclear region.We also observe unusually strong HNC emission in NGC 5236, but it is not strong enough to be consistent with X-ray-dominated region chemistry. Rotation curves are derived for five of the galaxies and dynamical mass estimates of the inner regions of three of the galaxies are made. © 2016 The Authors.This project was supported by the Brother Vincent Cotter Award for Physics (UNSW). LVM has been supported by Grant AYA2011-30491-C02-01 co-financed by MICINN and FEDER funds, and the Junta de Andalucia (Spain) grants P08-FQM-4205 and TIC-114. WAB acknowledges the support as a Visiting Professor of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (KJZD-EW-T01). The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme (/FP7/2007-2013/) under grant agreement No 229517.Peer Reviewe