Beyond peer observation of teaching

OBJECTIVE To summarize the evidence on effectiveness of translational diabetes prevention programs, based on promoting lifestyle change to prevent type 2 diabetes in real-world settings and to examine whether adherence to international guideline recommendations is associated with effectiveness. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Bibliographic databases were searched up to July 2012. Included studies had a follow-up of ≥12 months and outcomes comparing change in body composition, glycemic control, or progression to diabetes. Lifestyle interventions aimed to translate evidence from previous efficacy trials of diabetes prevention into real-world intervention programs. Data were combined using random-effects meta-analysis and meta-regression considering the relationship between intervention effectiveness and adherence to guidelines. RESULTS Twenty-five studies met the inclusion criteria. The primary meta-analysis included 22 studies (24 study groups) with outcome data for weight loss at 12 months. The pooled result of the direct pairwise meta-analysis shows that lifestyle interventions resulted in a mean weight loss of 2.12 kg (95% CI -2.61 to -1.63; I(2) = 91.4%). Adherence to guidelines was significantly associated with a greater weight loss (an increase of 0.3 kg per point increase on a 12-point guideline-adherence scale). CONCLUSIONS Evidence suggests that pragmatic diabetes prevention programs are effective. Effectiveness varies substantially between programs but can be improved by maximizing guideline adherence. However, more research is needed to establish optimal strategies for maximizing both cost-effectiveness and longer-term maintenance of weight loss and diabetes prevention effects

Evidence, theory and context - using intervention mapping to develop a school-based intervention to prevent obesity in children

© 2011 Lloyd et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Only limited data are available on the development and feasibility piloting of school-based interventions to prevent and reduce obesity in children. Clear documentation of the rationale, process of development and content of such interventions is essential to enable other researchers to understand why interventions succeed or fail

Improving cardiovascular health in patients with an abdominal aortic aneurysm:development of the cardiovascular risk reduction in patients with aneurysms (CRISP) behaviour change intervention

Background: Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is an important cardiovascular health problem. Ultrasound screening is proven to reduce AAA mortality and programmes have been implemented in some healthcare systems. Those who are identified as having a small AAA in screening enter into a surveillance programme to monitor AAA size. Individuals in AAA surveillance are at elevated risk of cardiovascular events, which is not currently addressed sufficiently. We aimed to develop a simple intervention to reduce cardiovascular risk, which could be embedded in AAA surveillance pathways. Methods: Intervention mapping methods were used to co-develop the intervention with individuals with AAA, families/carers, and healthcare staff. We identified “targets for change” by synthesising research evidence and international guidelines and consulting with patients, caregivers and health service providers. We conducted a series of workshops to identify barriers to and facilitators of change and used taxonomies of behaviour change theories and techniques to match intervention strategies to each target. Further stakeholder involvement work helped refine the intervention. Results: The developed intervention focusses on assessment and individually tailored discussion of risk factors, exchanging information, building motivation and action planning, followed by review of progress and problem-solving. Workbooks covering physical activity, diet, stress management, alcohol, smoking, blood pressure and mental health are provided to support behaviour change. The intervention is facilitated by trained healthcare professionals during the patient’s AAA screening appointment for the duration that they are in surveillance. Discussion: The developed intervention will now be tested to assess whether it can be integrated with the current AAA screening programme. The developed intervention is a novel approach to reducing cardiovascular disease in the AAA population, it is also the first intervention which tries to do this in this population. Trial registration: International Clinical Trial Registration: ISRCTN93993995

Magnetic ordering in the pyrochlore Ho₂CrSbO₇ determined from neutron diffraction, and the magnetic properties of other RE₂CrSbO₇ phases (RE=Y, Tb, Dy, Er)

AbstractThe magnetic structure of the pyrochlore Ho2CrSbO7, which orders magnetically below 13K, has been studied using neutron powder diffraction. Ho2CrSbO7 is found to form an “ordered spin-ice structure” where the magnetic moments are constrained along the 111 axes, but with a ferromagnetic moment in one direction. The Cr3+ ions order ferromagnetically and this is thought to lift the degeneracy of the x, y and z directions in the cubic structure causing the ferromagnetic component from the Ho3+ ions to align. The pyrochlores RE2CrSbO7 where RE=Y, Tb, Dy and Er have also been prepared and studied using SQUID magnetometry

Informing the development of online weight management interventions:a qualitative investigation of primary care patient perceptions

Background: The internet is a potentially promising medium for delivering weight loss interventions. The current study sought to explore factors that might influence primary care patients’ initial uptake and continued use (up to four-weeks) of such programmes to help inform the development of novel, or refinement of existing, weight management interventions.Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 patients purposively sampled based on age, gender and BMI from a single rural general practice. The interviews were conducted 4 weeks after recruitment at the general practice and focused on experiences with using one of three freely available weight loss websites. Thematic Analysis was used to analyse the data.Results: Findings suggested that patients were initially motivated to engage with internet-based weight loss programmes by their accessibility and novelty. However, continued use was influenced by substantial facilitators and barriers, such as time and effort involved, reaction to prompts/reminders, and usefulness of information. Facilitation by face-to-face consultations with the GP was reported to be helpful in supporting change.Conclusions: Although primary care patients may not be ready yet to solely depend on online interventions for weight loss, their willingness to use them shows potential for use alongside face–to-face weight management advice or intervention. Recommendations to minimise barriers to engagement are provided

Preventing type 2 diabetes:A research agenda for behavioural science

Aims The aim of this narrative review was to identify important knowledge gaps in behavioural science relating to type 2 diabetes prevention, to inform future research in the field. Methods Seven researchers who have published behaviour science research applied to type 2 diabetes prevention independently identified several important gaps in knowledge. They met to discuss these and to generate recommendations to advance research in behavioural science of type 2 diabetes prevention. Results A total of 21 overlapping recommendations for a research agenda were identified. These covered issues within the following broad categories: (a) evidencing the impact of whole population approaches to type 2 diabetes prevention, (b) understanding the utility of disease-specific approaches to type 2 diabetes prevention such as Diabetes Prevention Programmes (DPPs) compared to generic weight loss programmes, (c) identifying how best to increase reach and engagement of DPPs, whilst avoiding exacerbating inequalities, (d) the need to understand mechanism of DPPs, (e) the need to understand how to increase maintenance of changes as part of or following DPPs, (f) the need to assess the feasibility and effectiveness of alternative approaches to the typical self-regulation approaches that are most commonly used, and (g) the need to address emotional aspects of DPPs, to promote effectiveness and avoid harms. Conclusions There is a clear role for behavioural science in informing interventions to prevent people from developing type 2 diabetes, based on strong evidence of reach, effectiveness and cost-effectiveness. This review identifies key priorities for research needed to improve existing interventions

Perovskite-Related Oxide Fluorides: The Use of Mössbauer Spectroscopy in the Investigation of Magnetic Properties

We review here some of our recent work on the synthesis and characterisation of new perovskite-related oxide fluorides. We demonstrate the use of low temperature fluorination methods for the preparation of new phases with high fluorine contents. We also show how fluorine can be accommodated in different sites according to the structural details of the initial oxide and the fluorine content. Importantly, we describe how Mössbauer spectroscopy is a powerful technique for monitoring changes in cation oxidation state as a result of fluorination and for examining the complex magnetic interactions which result from the accommodation of fluorine within the structures and how these can be related to structural properties and changes to the superexchange pathways

Systematic review of reviews of intervention components associated with increased effectiveness in dietary and physical activity interventions.

BACKGROUND: To develop more efficient programmes for promoting dietary and/or physical activity change (in order to prevent type 2 diabetes) it is critical to ensure that the intervention components and characteristics most strongly associated with effectiveness are included. The aim of this systematic review of reviews was to identify intervention components that are associated with increased change in diet and/or physical activity in individuals at risk of type 2 diabetes. METHODS: MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycInfo, and the Cochrane Library were searched for systematic reviews of interventions targeting diet and/or physical activity in adults at risk of developing type 2 diabetes from 1998 to 2008. Two reviewers independently selected reviews and rated methodological quality. Individual analyses from reviews relating effectiveness to intervention components were extracted, graded for evidence quality and summarised. RESULTS: Of 3856 identified articles, 30 met the inclusion criteria and 129 analyses related intervention components to effectiveness. These included causal analyses (based on randomisation of participants to different intervention conditions) and associative analyses (e.g. meta-regression). Overall, interventions produced clinically meaningful weight loss (3-5 kg at 12 months; 2-3 kg at 36 months) and increased physical activity (30-60 mins/week of moderate activity at 12-18 months). Based on causal analyses, intervention effectiveness was increased by engaging social support, targeting both diet and physical activity, and using well-defined/established behaviour change techniques. Increased effectiveness was also associated with increased contact frequency and using a specific cluster of "self-regulatory" behaviour change techniques (e.g. goal-setting, self-monitoring). No clear relationships were found between effectiveness and intervention setting, delivery mode, study population or delivery provider. Evidence on long-term effectiveness suggested the need for greater consideration of behaviour maintenance strategies. CONCLUSIONS: This comprehensive review of reviews identifies specific components which are associated with increased effectiveness in interventions to promote change in diet and/or physical activity. To maximise the efficiency of programmes for diabetes prevention, practitioners and commissioning organisations should consider including these components.RIGHTS : This article is licensed under the BioMed Central licence at http://www.biomedcentral.com/about/license which is similar to the 'Creative Commons Attribution Licence'. In brief you may : copy, distribute, and display the work; make derivative works; or make commercial use of the work - under the following conditions: the original author must be given credit; for any reuse or distribution, it must be made clear to others what the license terms of this work are