Evaluation of a physical activity and nutrition program for older people

The aim of the program was to develop, implement and evaluate a low cost, accessible, sustainable, replicable physical activity and nutrition program that would ultimately reduce chronic disease. The thesis demonstrates the importance of evaluation pre, during and post intervention. The program was successful, data from the intervention group improved in areas of physical activity, dietary behaviours, and anthropometric measures, in comparison to the control group participants

Stories of family in working‐class graduates’ early careers

How do young graduates view the role of immediate families in influencing/supporting them as they start their working lives and how do those reflections affect how they think of themselves as graduates? Social, political and economic changes have led to many young people being dependent on family for longer, but how does this play out in their reflections? This article addresses these questions by reporting upon findings from qualitative research with 14 young people from working‐class backgrounds, who were part of a larger study of recent graduates. Figured Worlds theory illuminates data, with a consideration of the role that family plays in the ‘space of authoring’ and understanding of ‘positionality’. Findings capture vivid stories of the enabling but also limiting role of family. In our analysis of data, we borrow the words ‘salience’ from Holland and her co‐authors and ‘distinction’ from Bourdieu, which help capture different depictions of family. Both articulations of ‘salience’ and a search for ‘distinction’ emerge in how graduates’ stories respond to family. We argue for a greater appreciation of the differing family resources of working‐class graduates, and reject an emphasis on what they may lack, compared to their peers, which has tended to be the case in some media and policy commentary. There are implications for educators to foster student reflexivity about family sensitively, and to be aware of how family backgrounds may influence graduate career paths and students’ awareness of wider inequalities

Computational analysis of factors affecting the probability of survival in trauma injuries

A preliminary computational analysis of a number of factors affecting the probability of survival in trauma injuries was carried out. The study examined the manner the types and extent of body injuries, specific body regions affected by the injuries, pre-exiting medical conditions, physiological parameters (e.g. heart rate, blood pressure and respiration rate), age, gender and Glasgow Comma Score contribute to the probability of survival. A more in depth analysis of these factors are currently ongoing to develop a model for the probability of survival

Effectiveness of short-term heat acclimation on intermittent exercise in thermoneutral and hot environments

It is well-established that repetition of heat stress exposure has been shown to facilitate adaptations to the heat but these protocols have tended to be of a fixed work intensity, continuous exercise, long-term in duration (>7 days) and use hydration. Secondly, there is limited information on the potential use of heat acclimation as a training method for human performance in thermoneutral conditions. Therefore, the aims of this study were to investigate the effectiveness of short-term heat acclimation (STHA) for 5 days, using the controlled hyperthermia technique with dehydration, on intermittent exercise in thermoneutral and hot environments

Fuzzy logic to determine the likelihood of survival for trauma injury patients

Abstract. A system to determine the likelihood of survival for trauma injury patients is being developed. It uses a fuzzy logic approach that can model complex processes without reliance on sophisticated mathematical formulations and may have the potential to be more accurate than the existing approaches. The outline operation of the system that is currently in a prototype stage is described

Fibronectin-binding protein B variation in Staphylococcus aureus

BACKGROUND: Fibronectin binding proteins A and B (FnBPA and FnBPB) mediate adhesion of S. aureus to fibrinogen, elastin and fibronectin. We previously identified seven different isotypes of FnBPA based on divergence in the fibrinogen- and elastin-binding A domains. The variation created differences in antigenicity while ligand binding functions were retained. Here, FnBPB variation was examined in both human and bovine isolates and compared to that of FnBPA. RESULTS: Seven different fnbB allelic variants were identified. Some strains that cluster by phylogenetic analysis contain different fnbB variants, whereas more divergent strains contain the same fnbB variant. The phylogeny of fnbB alleles does not match the phylogeny of fnbA alleles. Some FnBPA and FnBPB isotypes that are specified by human S. aureus strains are also found in bovine strains. The seven fnbB allelic variants encode seven distinct isotypes of the FnBPB A domain that are 61 to 85% identical in amino acid sequence. Variant amino acid residues were mapped on a three-dimensional model of the FnBPB A domain and were predicted to be surface-exposed. They are responsible for the antigenic diversity detected with polyclonal antibody and a monoclonal antibody raised against isotype I. Ligand binding by recombinant FnBPB N23 isotypes was compared by ELISA-based solid phase assays and surface plasmon resonance. Each bound to immobilized fibrinogen, elastin and fibronectin dose-dependently and saturably with similar affinities. Binding to fibronectin was surprising because the A domains do not contain any known motifs that mediate binding to fibronectin. This raises the possibility that the A domain of FnBPB contains a novel fibronectin binding motif that binds fibronectin by a novel mechanism. CONCLUSIONS: Seven different isoforms of FnBPB A domain retain ligand-binding functions but are antigenically distinct. The variation in FnBPA and FnBPB occurs in human and bovine S. aureus strains and may act as an immune evasion mechanism. All seven isotypes of FnBPB are capable of binding fibronectin though none contain any known fibronectin-binding motifs. These results have implications for the development of vaccines or immunotherapeutics that target FnBPB

Effectiveness of Short-Term Heat Acclimation on Intermittent Sprint Performance in the Heat with Moderately Trained Males

Purpose: Effectiveness of short-term heat acclimation (STHA), over 5-days (permissive dehydration), on intermittent heat stress test (HST) with males. Methods: Ten, moderately-trained, males (mean [SD]; age 25.6 [8.9] y; stature 180.7 [5.6] cm; body mass 83.2 [10.8] kg; and 45.3 [6.5] mL.kg-1.min-1) participated. The HST was 9 x 5min (45-min) of intermittent exercise based on professional soccer players. One week apart, HST1 vs HST (11.0°C; 50%RH), as a reliability trial and HST3 in 31.0°C; 50%RH were completed. Then 90 min dehydration, STHA (no fluid intake), for 5 consecutive days (39.5oC; 60%RH), using controlled-hyperthermia (~rectal temperature [Tre] 38.5oC). The HST4 within one week after STHA. Blood plasma constituents: percent plasma volume (%PV), aldosterone, total protein, albumin, electrolytes, cortisol and HSP70. Data analysis reported as mean differences with 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) and Cohen’s d effect size. Results: Post STHA, there was a decrease of -0.20 Tre at 45-min in the HST (95%CI -0.40 to -0.05°C; P=0.03; d =-0.56); mean skin temperature (-0.80; -1.30 to -0.30°C; P=0.007; d =-1.46) and mean body temperature (-0.30; -0.50 to -0.10°C, P=0.01; d =-0.75). Cardiac frequency reduced (-3: -5 to -1 b.min-1; P=0.01; d =-0.20) and %PV increased (7.3: 0.9 to 13.7%; P=0.03; d=0.59). Mean Peak Power (MPO) increased (Pd =0.63). Conclusions: Short-term heat acclimation (5-days) with dehydration, using controlled-hyperthermia technique, is effective for physiological adaptations during intermittent exercise in the heat, with moderately trained males

Effectiveness of short-term heat acclimation on intermittent sprint performance in the heat with moderately trained males.

Introduction: Effectiveness of short-term heat acclimation (STHA), over 5-days (permissive dehydration), on intermittent heat stress test (HST) with males. Methods: Ten, moderately-trained, males (mean [SD]; age 25.6 [8.9] y; stature 180.7 [5.6] cm; body mass 83.2 [10.8] kg; and 45.3 [6.5] mL.kg-1.min-1) participated. The HST was 9 x 5min (45-min) of intermittent exercise based on professional soccer players. One week apart, HST1 vs HST (11.0°C; 50%RH), as a reliability trial and HST3 in 31.0°C; 50%RH were completed. Then 90 min dehydration, STHA (no fluid intake), for 5 consecutive days (39.5oC; 60%RH), using controlled-hyperthermia (~rectal temperature [Tre] 38.5oC). The HST4 within one week after STHA. Blood plasma constituents: percent plasma volume (%PV), aldosterone, total protein, albumin, electrolytes, cortisol and HSP70. Data analysis reported as mean differences with 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) and Cohen’s d effect size. Results: Post STHA, there was a decrease of -0.20 Tre at 45-min in the HST (95%CI -0.40 to -0.05°C; P=0.03; d =-0.56); mean skin temperature (-0.80; -1.30 to -0.30°C; P=0.007; d =-1.46) and mean body temperature (-0.30; -0.50 to -0.10°C, P=0.01; d =-0.75). Cardiac frequency reduced (-3: -5 to -1 b.min-1; P=0.01; d =-0.20) and %PV increased (7.3: 0.9 to 13.7%; P=0.03; d=0.59). Mean Peak Power (MPO) increased (P<0.05) across sprints 7, 8 and 9. Time to exhaustion increased (167: -15 to 350 s; P=0.06; d =0.63). Conclusions: Short-term heat acclimation (5-days) with dehydration, using controlled-hyperthermia technique, is effective for physiological adaptations during intermittent exercise in the heat, with moderately-trained males

Traumatic brain injury probability of survival assessment in adults using iterative random comparison classification

Trauma brain injury (TBI) is the most common cause of death and disability in young adults. A method to determine probability of survival (Ps) in trauma called Iterative Random Comparison Classification (IRCC) was developed and its performance was evaluated in TBI. IRCC operates by iteratively comparing the test case with randomly chosen subgroups of cases from a database of known outcomes (survivors and not survivors) and determines the overall percentage match. The performance of IRCC to determine Ps in TBI was compared with two existing methods. One was Ps14 that uses regression and the other was predictive statistical diagnosis (PSD) that is based on Bayesian statistic. The TBI database contained 4124 adult cases (mean age 67.9 years, standard deviation 21.6) of which 3553 (86.2%) were survivors and 571 (13.8%) were not survivors. IRCC determined Ps for the survivors and not survivors with an accuracy of 79.0% and 71.4% respectively while the corresponding values for Ps14 were 97.4% (survivors) and 40.2% (not survivors) and for PSD were 90.8% (survivors) and 50% (not survivors). IRCC could be valuable for determining Ps in TBI and with a suitable database in other traumas