Developing the Diary-Interview Approach to Study the Embodied, Tacit and Mundane Nutrition Information Behaviours of People with Type 2 Diabetes

© The Author(s) 2022. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)This article discusses the development and use of the solicited unstructured diary-interview method to explore the everyday tacit and mundane nutrition information activities (NIA) of people who have type 2 diabetes. Diary completion was followed by individual qualitative interviews with individuals (n = 18) and one couple. Diary entry styles ranged from succinct daily logs of their NIA to extensive prose reflecting on the nutrition information they used and associated practices. Development of the method incorporated piloting and advice from lay groups who checked acceptability and understanding of the research tools, and highlighted the need for regular contact between the researcher and participants throughout the diary completion phase. Participants engaged positively with the diary approach. The findings highlight the extent to which the everyday NIA is mundane and thus unavailable for academic exploration. The diary-interview method exposed these practices to both the researcher and participant, and supported them to reflect on the practices they engage in every day in order to self-manage their type 2 diabetes. Although this article draws on an example from health, the article demonstrates how the diary-interview method has utility for researchers exploring other everyday tacit and mundane experiences.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Designing whole-systems commissioning: lessons from the English experience

The paucity of formal evidence, allied to the requirement for strategies that are sensitive to local history and context, means that a ‘blueprint’ for successful strategic commissioning is not currently available for adoption. We are therefore confined to proposing ‘design principles’ for those seeking to embark upon a transition towards a whole systems approach to strategic commissioning. People and relationships are of critical importance all the way through the chain from strategic commissioning to micro-commissioning. Most crucially, experience suggests that structural solutions alone cannot deliver effective relationships and will not be effective when relationships are neglected. The need to ensure staff, partner and political buy-in suggests that relationship management and consensus-building are an integral component of the leadership role in moving toward strategic commissioning. As with any major re-organisation, the move to strategic commissioning is essentially a change management initiative and therefore will stand or fall according to whether it adheres to good practice in the change management process. Central to this, and to achieving commissioning outcomes, is the requirement for meaningful service user and public engagement. Effective commissioning emphasizes individual capabilities as well as needs, and community assets as well as deficits and problems. Adoption of strategic commissioning approaches is still at the developmental and learning stage and arguably all structural arrangements should be regarded as transitional

‘Feta is obviously very dangerous stuff looking at all those reds’: Can nutrition labelling help people living with type 2 diabetes to self‐manage their condition?

© 2023 The Authors. Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Dietetic Association. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives License. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.Background to the study The consumption of a healthy balanced diet is the cornerstone of treatment for people living with type 2 diabetes (PLWT2DM). The UK recommends a standardised voluntary front of pack food labelling system which uses the green-amber-red colour coding to indicate the presence of nutrients in a food item. Research with PLWT2DM suggests they may find it challenging to interpret the information on food labels. This paper draws from a larger study exploring nutrition information practices for PLWT2DM. The aim of this paper is to explore the experiences of using nutrition information found on food labels amongst PLWT2DM and their partners/carers. Methodology The study used a qualitative and mixed methods design, using a solicited 4 week unstructured diary followed by a qualitative interview with each participant. The theoretical framework drew on practice theory. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. Results 19 PLWT2DM and one partner took part. Data consisted of 19 diaries and interviews. Almost all participants used food labels to help manage their condition, however the colour coding link with traffic lights appeared to overemphasise the need to avoid foods with red labels. Participants’ beliefs about sugar influenced their food choices which in turn could impact on their nutritional intake. Highly developed mathematical skills were needed in order to interpret information about portion sizes. Principal conclusions Healthcare professionals and patient support groups should focus more on educating PLWT2DM about how to interpret food labels so that they are able to apply these to their own food choices. Future research and development of subsequent versions of the food labelling system should include PLWT2DM to ensure that labels are both clear and relevant to them.Peer reviewe

A research note on the benefit of patient and public involvement in research: The experience of prostate cancer patients regarding information in radiotherapy.

This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of the following article: L. Gordon, A. Dickinson, M. Offredy, and J. Smiddy, ‘A research note on the benefit of patient and public involvement in research: The experience of prostate cancer patients regarding information in radiotherapy’, Radiography, Vol. 23(2): 167-170, May 2017, doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.radi.2017.02.004. Under embargo. Embargo end date: 27 February 2018. © 2016. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/. © 2017 The College of Radiographers. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Aim To explore the inclusion of patient and public involvement (PPI) in a qualitative study on the experiences of men with prostate cancer regarding information in radiotherapy. Method The application of PPI to one doctoral research study is explored with respect to two perspectives: firstly, involvement of a patient reference group who informed the research design and materials, and secondly, the involvement of a public involvement in research group (PIRg) in advising the researcher during the design process. Discussion PPI is recognised as an important component of contemporary health research. PPI is becoming a common and essential requirement for high quality research projects and yet literature exploring or reporting the involvement and influence of PPI is sparse. Consideration is given to the national PPI landscape that has shaped public involvement in health research. Conclusion The contribution of PPI to this study appears to have been beneficial to the development and evaluation of the study design, the self-worth of the reference group participants and demonstrates that the value of PPI in health research should not be underestimated.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

RPCH modulation of a multi-oscillator network: Effects on the pyloric network of the spiny lobster

The neuropeptide red pigment concentrating hormone (RPCH), which we have previously shown to activate the cardiac sac motor pattern and lead to a conjoint gastric mill-cardiac sac pattern in the spiny lobster Panulirus, also activates and modulates the pyloric pattern. Like the activity of gastric mill neurons in RPCH, the pattern of activity in the pyloric neurons is considerably more complex than that seen in control saline. This reflects the influence of the cardiac sac motor pattern, and particularly the upstream inferior ventricular (IV) neurons, on many of the pyloric neurons. RPCH intensifies this interaction by increasing the strength of the synaptic connections between the IV neurons and their targets in the stomatogastric ganglion. At the same time, RPCH enhances postinhibitory rebound in the lateral pyloric (LP) neuron. Taken together, these factors largely explain the complex pyloric pattern recorded in RPCH in Panulirus

Using cGANs for Anomaly Detection: Identifying Astronomical Anomalies in JWST NIRcam Imaging

We present a proof of concept for mining JWST imaging data for anomalous galaxy populations using a conditional Generative Adversarial Network (cGAN). We train our model to predict long wavelength NIRcam fluxes (LW: F277W, F356W, F444W between 2.4 to 5.0\mu m) from short wavelength fluxes (SW: F115W, F150W, F200W between 0.6 to 2.3\mu m) in approximately 2000 galaxies. We test the cGAN on a population of 37 Extremely Red Objects (EROs) discovered by the CEERS JWST Team arXiv:2305.14418. Despite their red long wavelength colours, the EROs have blue short wavelength colours (F150W \- F200W equivalently 0 mag) indicative of bimodal SEDs. Surprisingly, given their unusual SEDs, we find that the cGAN accurately predicts the LW NIRcam fluxes of the EROs. However, it fails to predict LW fluxes for other rare astronomical objects, such as a merger between two galaxies, suggesting that the cGAN can be used to detect some anomaliesComment: 4 pages, 1 figure with 5 sub-figures. Submitted, accepted and awaiting publication in AAS Journal

WHAT NUTRITION INFORMATION ARE DIETITIANS USING WITH THEIR PATIENTS WHO HAVE TYPE 2 DIABETES?

Introduction Dietitians offer specialist evidence-based dietary advice to their patients. Dietary advice for people with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) including written nutrition information (NI) is a key component of the management plan. The aim of the project was to investigate the NI used by dietitians with people with T2DM. Methods An online ad hoc questionnaire exploring whether dietitians produced NI, whether they have had training in the production, any patient involvement in the production, other sources of NIs, factors affecting choice of NIs used and the provision of NIs to other healthcare professionals (HCPs) was developed and pre-piloted. Individual dietitians and departments with dietitians who were working with people with T2DM across England were emailed a link to an online questionnaire. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. Ethics approval was obtained from the University of Hertfordshire. Results All 93 respondents used NIs in their consultations. The main sources were a national diabetes charity and a national provider of nutrition information. The main reason given for their use was that the information met the needs of patients. Two thirds of respondents also used NIs produced by their own departments. However almost 40% reported not having any training in the production of NIs and only 10% involved patients in their development. Over 80% of respondents also supplied HCPs with information; nurses and GPs being the main recipients. Conclusions, discussion and/or practical application Dietitians are using evidence-based information and in ensuring HCPs who work with people with T2DM have access to appropriate resources. However their lack of access to training in the development of NIs and in involving patients may limit the effectiveness of resources developed by their own departments. Dietitians could benefit from training in the development of NIs and should be encouraged to involve patients in the development process.Peer reviewe

Neurotransmitter interactions in the stomatogastric system of the spiny lobster: One peptide alters the response of a central pattern generator to a second peptide

Two of the peptides found in the stomatogastric nervous system of the spiny lobster. Panulirus interruptus, interacted to modulate the activity of the cardiac sac motor pattern. In the isolated stomatogastric ganglion, red- pigment-concentrating hormone (RPCH), but not proctolin, activated the bursting activity in the inferior ventricular (IV) neurons that drives the cardiac sac pattern. The cardiac sac pattern normally ceased within 15 min after the end of RPCH superfusion. However, when proctolin was applied within a few minutes of that time, it was likewise able to induce cardiac sac activity. Similarly, proctolin applied together with subthreshold RPCH induced cardiac sac bursting. The amplitude of the excitatory postsynaptic potentials from the IV neurons to the cardiac sac dilator neuron CD2 (1 of the 2 major motor neurons in the cardiac sac system) was potentiated in the presence of both proctolin and RPCH. The potentiation in RPCH was much greater than in proctolin alone. However, the potentiation in proctolin after RPCH was equivalent to that recorded in RPCH alone. Although we do not yet understand the mechanisms for these interactions of the two modulators, this study provides an example of one factor that can determine the \u27state\u27 of the system that is critical in determining the effect of a modulator that is \u27state dependent,\u27 and it provides evidence for yet another level of flexibility in the motor output of this system