A randomised feasibility study to investigate the impact of education and the addition of prompts on the sedentary behaviour of office workers

Abstract Background Office workers have been identified as being at risk of accumulating high amounts of sedentary time in prolonged events during work hours, which has been associated with increased risk of a number of long-term health conditions. There is some evidence that providing advice to stand at regular intervals during the working day, and using computer-based prompts, can reduce sedentary behaviour in office workers. However, evidence of effectiveness, feasibility and acceptability for these types of intervention is currently limited. Methods A 2-arm, parallel group, cluster-randomised feasibility trial to assess the acceptability of prompts to break up sedentary behaviour was conducted with office workers in a commercial bank (n = 21). Participants were assigned to an education only group (EG) or prompt and education group (PG). Both groups received education on reducing and breaking up sitting at work, and the PG also received hourly prompts, delivered by Microsoft Outlook over 10 weeks, reminding them to stand. Objective measurements of sedentary behaviour were made using activPAL monitors worn at three time points: baseline, in the last 2 weeks of the intervention period and 12 weeks after the intervention. Focus groups were conducted to explore the acceptability of the intervention and the motivations and barriers to changing sedentary behaviour. Results Randomly generated, customised prompts, delivered by Microsoft Outlook, with messages about breaking up sitting, proved to be a feasible and acceptable way of delivering prompts to office workers. Participants in both groups reduced their sitting, but changes were not maintained at follow-up. The education session seemed to increase outcome expectations of the benefits of changing sedentary behaviour and promote self-regulation of behaviour in some participants. However, low self-efficacy and a desire to conform to cultural norms were barriers to changing behaviour. Conclusions Prompts delivered by Microsoft Outlook were a feasible, low-cost way of prompting office workers to break up their sedentary behaviour, although further research is needed to determine whether this has an additional impact on sedentary behaviour, to education alone. The role of cultural norms, and promoting self-efficacy, should be considered in the design of future interventions. Trial registration This study was registered retrospectively as a clinical trial on ClinicalTrials.gov (ID no. NCT02609282 ) on 23 March 2015

Visualising biological data: a semantic approach to tool and database integration

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Motivation</p> <p>In the biological sciences, the need to analyse vast amounts of information has become commonplace. Such large-scale analyses often involve drawing together data from a variety of different databases, held remotely on the internet or locally on in-house servers. Supporting these tasks are <it>ad hoc </it>collections of data-manipulation tools, scripting languages and visualisation software, which are often combined in arcane ways to create cumbersome systems that have been customised for a particular purpose, and are consequently not readily adaptable to other uses. For many day-to-day bioinformatics tasks, the sizes of current databases, and the scale of the analyses necessary, now demand increasing levels of automation; nevertheless, the unique experience and intuition of human researchers is still required to interpret the end results in any meaningful biological way. Putting humans in the loop requires tools to support real-time interaction with these vast and complex data-sets. Numerous tools do exist for this purpose, but many do not have optimal interfaces, most are effectively isolated from other tools and databases owing to incompatible data formats, and many have limited real-time performance when applied to realistically large data-sets: much of the user's cognitive capacity is therefore focused on controlling the software and manipulating esoteric file formats rather than on performing the research.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>To confront these issues, harnessing expertise in human-computer interaction (HCI), high-performance rendering and distributed systems, and guided by bioinformaticians and end-user biologists, we are building reusable software components that, together, create a toolkit that is both architecturally sound from a computing point of view, and addresses both user and developer requirements. Key to the system's usability is its direct exploitation of semantics, which, crucially, gives individual components knowledge of their own functionality and allows them to interoperate seamlessly, removing many of the existing barriers and bottlenecks from standard bioinformatics tasks.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The toolkit, named Utopia, is freely available from <url>http://utopia.cs.man.ac.uk/</url>.</p

Satellite Telemetry and Long-Range Bat Movements

Background: Understanding the long-distance movement of bats has direct relevance to studies of population dynamics, ecology, disease emergence, and conservation. Methodology/Principal Findings: We developed and trialed several collar and platform terminal transmitter (PTT) combinations on both free-living and captive fruit bats (Family Pteropodidae: Genus Pteropus). We examined transmitter weight, size, profile and comfort as key determinants of maximized transmitter activity. We then tested the importance of bat-related variables (species size/weight, roosting habitat and behavior) and environmental variables (day-length, rainfall pattern) in determining optimal collar/PTT configuration. We compared battery- and solar-powered PTT performance in various field situations, and found the latter more successful in maintaining voltage on species that roosted higher in the tree canopy, and at lower density, than those that roost more densely and lower in trees. Finally, we trialed transmitter accuracy, and found that actual distance errors and Argos location class error estimates were in broad agreement. Conclusions/Significance: We conclude that no single collar or transmitter design is optimal for all bat species, and that species size/weight, species ecology and study objectives are key design considerations. Our study provides a strategy for collar and platform choice that will be applicable to a larger number of bat species as transmitter size and weight continue to decrease in the future

National and firm-level drivers of the devolution of HRM decision making to line managers

Multinational companies must understand the influences on responsibility for managing people so that they can manage talent consistently thus ensuring that it is transferable across locations. We examine the impact of firm and national level characteristics on the devolution of HRM decision making to line managers. Our analysis draws on data from 2335 indigenous organizations in 21 countries. At the firm level, we found that where the HR function has higher power, devolution is less likely. At the national level, devolution of decision making to line management is more likely in societies with more stringent employment laws and lower power distance

The self-management of longer-term depression: learning from the patient, a qualitative study

Background Depression is a common mental health condition now viewed as chronic or long-term. More than 50 % of people will have at least one further episode of depression after their first, and therefore it requires long-term management. However, little is known about the effectiveness of self-management in depression, in particular from the patients’ perspective. This study aimed to understand how people with longer-term depression manage the condition, how services can best support self-management and whether the principles and concepts of the recovery approach would be advantageous. Methods Semi-structured in depth interviews were carried out with 21 participants, recruited from a range of sources using maximum variation sampling. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was used by a diverse team comprised of service users, practitioners and academics. Results Four super-ordinate themes were found: experience of depression, the self, the wider environment, self-management strategies. Within these, several prominent sub-themes emerged of importance to the participants. These included how aspects of themselves such as hope, confidence and motivation could be powerful agents; and how engaging in a wide range of chosen activities could contribute to their emotional, mental, physical, social, spiritual and creative wellbeing. Conclusions Services in general were not perceived to be useful in specifically facilitating self-management. Increased choice and control were needed and a greater emphasis on an individualised holistic model. Improved information was needed about how to develop strategies and locate resources, especially during the first episode of depression. These concepts echoed those of the recovery approach, which could therefore be seen as valuable in aiding the self-management of depression. Keywords: Depression; Patients’ perspective; Qualitative research; Recovery; Self-help; Self-managemen

Search for rare quark-annihilation decays, B --> Ds(*) Phi

We report on searches for B- --> Ds- Phi and B- --> Ds*- Phi. In the context of the Standard Model, these decays are expected to be highly suppressed since they proceed through annihilation of the b and u-bar quarks in the B- meson. Our results are based on 234 million Upsilon(4S) --> B Bbar decays collected with the BABAR detector at SLAC. We find no evidence for these decays, and we set Bayesian 90% confidence level upper limits on the branching fractions BF(B- --> Ds- Phi) Ds*- Phi)<1.2x10^(-5). These results are consistent with Standard Model expectations.Comment: 8 pages, 3 postscript figues, submitted to Phys. Rev. D (Rapid Communications

f(R) theories

Over the past decade, f(R) theories have been extensively studied as one of the simplest modifications to General Relativity. In this article we review various applications of f(R) theories to cosmology and gravity - such as inflation, dark energy, local gravity constraints, cosmological perturbations, and spherically symmetric solutions in weak and strong gravitational backgrounds. We present a number of ways to distinguish those theories from General Relativity observationally and experimentally. We also discuss the extension to other modified gravity theories such as Brans-Dicke theory and Gauss-Bonnet gravity, and address models that can satisfy both cosmological and local gravity constraints.Comment: 156 pages, 14 figures, Invited review article in Living Reviews in Relativity, Published version, Comments are welcom

Developmental Programming Mediated by Complementary Roles of Imprinted Grb10 in Mother and Pup

Developmental programming links growth in early life with health status in adulthood. Although environmental factors such as maternal diet can influence the growth and adult health status of offspring, the genetic influences on this process are poorly understood. Using the mouse as a model, we identify the imprinted gene Grb10 as a mediator of nutrient supply and demand in the postnatal period. The combined actions of Grb10 expressed in the mother, controlling supply, and Grb10 expressed in the offspring, controlling demand, jointly regulate offspring growth. Furthermore, Grb10 determines the proportions of lean and fat tissue during development, thereby influencing energy homeostasis in the adult. Most strikingly, we show that the development of normal lean/fat proportions depends on the combined effects of Grb10 expressed in the mother, which has the greater effect on offspring adiposity, and Grb10 expressed in the offspring, which influences lean mass. These distinct functions of Grb10 in mother and pup act complementarily, which is consistent with a coadaptation model of imprinting evolution, a model predicted but for which there is limited experimental evidence. In addition, our findings identify Grb10 as a key genetic component of developmental programming, and highlight the need for a better understanding of mother-offspring interactions at the genetic level in predicting adult disease risk

Profiling the HER3/PI3K Pathway in Breast Tumors Using Proximity-Directed Assays Identifies Correlations between Protein Complexes and Phosphoproteins

The identification of patients for targeted antineoplastic therapies requires accurate measurement of therapeutic targets and associated signaling complexes. HER3 signaling through heterodimerization is an important growth-promoting mechanism in several tumor types and may be a principal resistance mechanism by which EGFR and HER2 expressing tumors elude targeted therapies. Current methods that can study these interactions are inadequate for formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tumor samples.Herein, we describe a panel of proximity-directed assays capable of measuring protein-interactions and phosphorylation in FFPE samples in the HER3/PI3K/Akt pathway and examine the capability of these assays to inform on the functional state of the pathway. We used FFPE breast cancer cell line and tumor models for this study. In breast cancer cell lines we observe both ligand-dependent and independent activation of the pathway and strong correlations between measured activation of key analytes. When selected cell lines are treated with HER2 inhibitors, we not only observe the expected molecular effects based on mechanism of action knowledge, but also novel effects of HER2 inhibition on key targets in the HER receptor pathway. Significantly, in a xenograft model of delayed tumor fixation, HER3 phosphorylation is unstable, while alternate measures of pathway activation, such as formation of the HER3PI3K complex is preserved. Measurements in breast tumor samples showed correlations between HER3 phosphorylation and receptor interactions, obviating the need to use phosphorylation as a surrogate for HER3 activation.This assay system is capable of quantitatively measuring therapeutically relevant responses and enables molecular profiling of receptor networks in both preclinical and tumor models