Community event sustainability: why don’t people volunteer?

Every Saturday, thousands of runners worldwide participate in parkrun – a free five-kilometre run/walk event. Delivery relies on volunteers, and parkrunners are encouraged to volunteer regularly. However, volunteer recruitment is often difficult, and this study aimed to investigate the underpinning reasons for this. Data were collected from 6,749 parkrunners using an online survey, including 860 who had never volunteered. In addition to demographic information and views on incentives, non-volunteers were asked to rate agreement level for 18 statements about not volunteering. Main reasons were preferring to run or walk and not having got round to it. Principal component analysis indicated four underlying factors: inertia, self-interest, lack of knowledge and anxiety. Non-volunteers were younger, slower runners and walkers, less frequent parkrun attendees and had become involved more recently than volunteers. Ease of signing up to volunteer and being unsure of the commitment required were barriers. It is recommended that these two issues are addressed to help volunteer recruitment

Variational Approach to Hydrogen Atom in Uniform Magnetic Field of Arbitrary Strength

Extending the Feynman-Kleinert variational approach, we calculate the temperature-dependent effective classical potential governing the quantum statistics of a hydrogen atom in a uniform magnetic at all temperatures. The zero-temperature limit yields the binding energy of the electron which is quite accurate for all magnetic field strengths and exhibits, in particular, the correct logarithmic growth at large fields.Comment: Author Information under this http://www.physik.fu-berlin.de/~kleinert/institution.html Latest update of paper also at this http://www.physik.fu-berlin.de/~kleinert/30

ARMED to ESCAPE COVID-19 : the impact of COVID-19 on a mixed methods feasibility study of a weight management, education and physical function programme for patients with knee osteoarthritis at the primary/secondary care interface

OBJECTIVES: This study was designed to test the feasibility of running a trial to compare the effectiveness of a combined weight management and physical function programme for patients with knee osteoarthritis ARMED (Arthritis Rehabilitation through the Management of Exercise and Diet) with usual care ESCAPE pain (Enabling Self-management and Coping with Arthritic Pain using Exercise). The COVID-19 pandemic interruption allowed additional measurement of the qualitative ‘lived in’ experiences of this patient group during the pandemic and also their appetite for virtual health. PARTICIPANTS: Thirty-two patients with knee osteoarthritis were recruited from a combined primary/secondary care waiting list and were allocated to either a six-week intervention group (ARMED) or to the six-week usual care ESCAPE pain group (Enabling Self-management and Coping with Arthritic Pain using Exercise) group. RESULTS: The intervention programme was interrupted after three weeks by COVID-19. Fifteen patients were reassessed after the first stage. The average attendance was 92% with 6 patients attending all sessions, 5 attending 5/6, 1 attending 4/6 and 2 attending 3/6. One subject dropped out and 15/16 patients completed all outcome measurements. All patients completed the KOOS knee score and the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well Being Scale to evaluate anxiety and depression. There was a statistically significant improvement in pain, activities of daily living, quality of life and mental health and well-being scores from time one to time 2. The mean weight, BMI and waist measurements were reduced also from time one to time 2, but these failed to reach significance. The semi-structured interviews provided rich information on enablers and barriers to coping in lockdown, benefits of the ARMED programme to increasing physical activity and weight management and enablers and barriers to redesigning the programme for online delivery. CONCLUSIONS: Evaluation of preliminary data from this feasibility study supports the three-week intervention combining education, exercise and weight management in this patient group even during a pandemic. Based on the results of the qualitative interviews, we have now redesigned our programme to present it virtually. We hope to present the results of our virtual feasibility study later in 2021

Fungal Planet description sheets: 1436–1477

Novel species of fungi described in this study include those from various countries as follows: Argentina, Colletotrichum araujiae on leaves, stems and fruits of Araujia hortorum. Australia, Agaricus pateritonsus on soil, Curvularia fraserae on dying leaf of Bothriochloa insculpta, Curvularia millisiae from yellowing leaf tips of Cyperus aromaticus, Marasmius brunneolorobustus on well-rotted wood, Nigrospora cooperae from necrotic leaf of Heteropogon contortus, Penicillium tealii from the body of a dead spider, Pseudocercospora robertsiorum from leaf spots of Senna tora, Talaromyces atkinsoniae from gills of Marasmius crinis-equi and Zasmidium pearceae from leaf spots of Smilax glyciphylla. Brazil, Preussia bezerrensis from air. Chile, Paraconiothyrium kelleni from the rhizosphere of Fragaria chiloensis subsp. chiloensis f. chiloensis. Finland, Inocybe udicola on soil in mixed forest with Betula pendula, Populus tremula, Picea abies and Alnus incana. France, Myrmecridium normannianum on dead culm of unidentified Poaceae. Germany, Vexillomyces fraxinicola from symptomless stem wood of Fraxinus excelsior. India, Diaporthe limoniae on infected fruit of Limonia acidissima, Didymella naikii on leaves of Cajanus cajan, and Fulvifomes mangroviensis on basal trunk of Aegiceras corniculatum. Indonesia, Penicillium ezekielii from Zea mays kernels. Namibia, Neocamarosporium calicoremae and Neocladosporium calicoremae on stems of Calicorema capitata, and Pleiochaeta adenolobi on symptomatic leaves of Adenolobus pechuelii. Netherlands, Chalara pteridii on stems of Pteridium aquilinum, Neomackenziella juncicola (incl. Neomackenziella gen. nov.) and Sporidesmiella junci from dead culms of Juncus effusus. Pakistan, Inocybe longistipitata on soil in a Quercus forest. Poland, Phytophthora viadrina from rhizosphere soil of Quercus robur, and Septoria krystynae on leaf spots of Viscum album. Portugal (Azores), Acrogenospora stellata on dead wood or bark. South Africa, Phyllactinia greyiae on leaves of Greyia sutherlandii and Punctelia anae on bark of Vachellia karroo. Spain, Anteaglonium lusitanicum on decaying wood of Prunus lusitanica subsp. lusitanica, Hawksworthiomyces riparius from fluvial sediments, Lophiostoma carabassense endophytic in roots of Limbarda crithmoides, and Tuber mohedanoi from calcareus soils. Spain (Canary Islands), Mycena laurisilvae on stumps and woody debris. Sweden, Elaphomyces geminus from soil under Quercus robur. Thailand, Lactifluus chiangraiensis on soil under Pinus merkusii, Lactifluus nakhonphanomensis and Xerocomus sisongkhramensis on soil under Dipterocarpus trees. Ukraine, Valsonectria robiniae on dead twigs of Robinia hispida. USA, Spiralomyces americanus (incl. Spiralomyces gen. nov.) from office air. Morphological and culture characteristics are supported by DNA barcodes

Global surveillance of cancer survival 1995-2009: analysis of individual data for 25,676,887 patients from 279 population-based registries in 67 countries (CONCORD-2)

BACKGROUND: Worldwide data for cancer survival are scarce. We aimed to initiate worldwide surveillance of cancer survival by central analysis of population-based registry data, as a metric of the effectiveness of health systems, and to inform global policy on cancer control. METHODS: Individual tumour records were submitted by 279 population-based cancer registries in 67 countries for 25·7 million adults (age 15-99 years) and 75,000 children (age 0-14 years) diagnosed with cancer during 1995-2009 and followed up to Dec 31, 2009, or later. We looked at cancers of the stomach, colon, rectum, liver, lung, breast (women), cervix, ovary, and prostate in adults, and adult and childhood leukaemia. Standardised quality control procedures were applied; errors were corrected by the registry concerned. We estimated 5-year net survival, adjusted for background mortality in every country or region by age (single year), sex, and calendar year, and by race or ethnic origin in some countries. Estimates were age-standardised with the International Cancer Survival Standard weights. FINDINGS: 5-year survival from colon, rectal, and breast cancers has increased steadily in most developed countries. For patients diagnosed during 2005-09, survival for colon and rectal cancer reached 60% or more in 22 countries around the world; for breast cancer, 5-year survival rose to 85% or higher in 17 countries worldwide. Liver and lung cancer remain lethal in all nations: for both cancers, 5-year survival is below 20% everywhere in Europe, in the range 15-19% in North America, and as low as 7-9% in Mongolia and Thailand. Striking rises in 5-year survival from prostate cancer have occurred in many countries: survival rose by 10-20% between 1995-99 and 2005-09 in 22 countries in South America, Asia, and Europe, but survival still varies widely around the world, from less than 60% in Bulgaria and Thailand to 95% or more in Brazil, Puerto Rico, and the USA. For cervical cancer, national estimates of 5-year survival range from less than 50% to more than 70%; regional variations are much wider, and improvements between 1995-99 and 2005-09 have generally been slight. For women diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2005-09, 5-year survival was 40% or higher only in Ecuador, the USA, and 17 countries in Asia and Europe. 5-year survival for stomach cancer in 2005-09 was high (54-58%) in Japan and South Korea, compared with less than 40% in other countries. By contrast, 5-year survival from adult leukaemia in Japan and South Korea (18-23%) is lower than in most other countries. 5-year survival from childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia is less than 60% in several countries, but as high as 90% in Canada and four European countries, which suggests major deficiencies in the management of a largely curable disease. INTERPRETATION: International comparison of survival trends reveals very wide differences that are likely to be attributable to differences in access to early diagnosis and optimum treatment. Continuous worldwide surveillance of cancer survival should become an indispensable source of information for cancer patients and researchers and a stimulus for politicians to improve health policy and health-care systems

Discrimination of the neutral low back sitting posture in people with and without low back pain, before and after a shift of work

Background: The "neutral" lumbar posture is considered the position least likely to cause low back pain, with errors as little as 2° from the neutral spinal posture substantially decreasing the axial compressive load capacity of the spine. Accurate sensory feedback from, and activation of, appropriate trunk muscles is essential for appreciation and maintenance of the neutral spinal posture. If these muscles are dysfunctional due to low back pain and/or workrelated activity and fatigue, this might impair people’s ability to discriminate the neutral spinal posture. This study investigated whether LBP or a shift ofwork alters people’s ability to discriminate the neutral low back sitting posture.Methods: Sixty one subjects with, and forty subjects without, a history of LBP were recruited. Each subject’s spinal position sense was assessed before and after a shift of work by an electro-goniometer placed over the lumbar sacral spine. Subjects were blindfolded and instructed to actively locate the neutral low back sitting posture – the "test" position. They were then asked to flex or extend their low back and stop at a random position for 3 seconds, before returning to the neutral low back sitting position; the position they returned to was the "reproduced" position. This procedure was repeated 20 times in total. The absolute error between the "test" position and each "reproduced" position was calculated in degrees. The average mean error was then calculated and compared between the two groups using an independent-samples t test.Results: Data was not normally distributed and therefore log-transformed before analysis. Anti-logged (returning data to original scale) values are also presented. LBP subjects had slightly higher average mean error values before work, showing that they found it more difficult than NLBP subjects to discriminate the neutral low back sitting posture, but the difference was nonsignificant. Conclusions: The ability of people with and without LBP to appreciate the neutral low back sitting posture was similar, both before and after a shift of work

Muscle function, inhibition and rehabilitation following traumatic and degenerative joint damage

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:DX194021 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

In osteoarthritis, the psychosocial benefits of exercise are as important as physiological improvements

Exercise has a major role in the management of osteoarthritis, effecting well-documented physiological improvements on muscle function. However, exercise also has lasting benefits on the complex psychosocial sequelae of osteoarthritis--facilitating appropriate health beliefs, behaviors, pain coping, and self-management strategies--that are as important as its physiological effects

Hand impairment and hand disability in rheumatoid arthritis: do they correlate: should they correlate?

Background: Chronic shoulder and neck pain is a very common and costly condition, for which manipulative physiotherapy is frequently recommended, although evidence to support its use is limited. This study examined the effectiveness of a scheme of manipulative physiotherapy examination and treatment in the management of a subject with neurogenic cervicobrachial pain.Methods: A single case study ABC design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of manipulative physiotherapy. The patient was a 44-year old woman with an eight-month history of left-sided neurogenic cervicobrachial pain. Clinical examination demonstrated signs of upper quadrant neural tissue mechanosensitivity suggesting that neural tissue was the origin of the subject's complaint of pain. Corroborative magnetic resonance imaging verified that the cause for the patient's radicular signs and symptoms was discal pathology at the C5/6 intersegmental level. The study involved three phases Phase A was a four-week pre-assessment phase; Phase B was a four-week treatment phase; Phase C was a two-week home exercise phase. Before phase A and at the end of each phase the patient's function (Northwick Park Neck Pain Questionnaire), pain (Short Form McGill Pain Questionnaire or SF-MPQ) and cervical and left shoulder abduction range of motion were measured. Manipulative physiotherapy treatment consisted of a lateral glide mobilisation technique of C5 on C6 towards the right side, performed by a physiotherapist with a postgraduate qualification in manipulative physiotherapy. Treatment was 3 sessions per week for 2 weeks and 2 sessions per week for 2 weeks. The two-week home exercise phase consisted of the patient performing an active cervical right side flexion movement.Results: From the end of Phase A to the 1 month follow-up there was a 42% improvement in functional disability; there was a 70% reduction in pain level recorded in the VAS aspect of the SF-MPQ; shoulder abduction increased from 280 to 1400 and cervical right side flexion increased from 180 to 520. Because of the controversy regarding performing statistical tests on single case studies, and because there was obvious clinical improvement, no statistical tests were performed on the results.Conclusion: This treatment protocol produced beneficial effects on functional disability, pain and cervical and shoulder mobility in a patient with chronic cervicobrachial pain. These improvements were maintained until a one-month follow-up. The single case design of the study limits generalisation of the findings, but the results give further impetus for a clinical trial

Proprioceptive acuity of the lumbar spine in low back pain and non-low back pain subjects

Background: Proprioceptive acuity - our ability to appreciate body position and movement - is considered to make an essential contribution to functional stability of the spine. Pain may impair proprioceptive acuity and initiate or exacerbate joint damage. Low back pain (LBP) is a pervasive problem and the incidence and socio-economic consequences are increasing. Few studies have investigated the relationship between LBP and proprioception of the lumbar spine. This study investigated whether a history of LBP is associated with altered proprioceptive acuity of the lumbar spine. Methods: Sixty one subjects with, and forty subjects without a history of LBP were recruited. Each subject's spinal reposition sense was assessed by an electro-goniometer placed over the lumbar spine. Testing was performed in standing and sitting. For both sitting and standing tests each subject was blindfolded and asked to flex or extend their low back slowly and stop at a random "test" position for 3 seconds. The subject was then instructed to return to the upright position. After 3 seconds the subject attempted to return to the "test" position the position they returned to was the "reproduced" position. This procedure was repeated 10 times in total. The absolute error between each "test" position and the "reproduced" position was calculated in degrees. The average mean error was then calculated and compared between the two groups using an independent-samples t test. Results: No significant differences were found in the average mean error between the LBP and non-LBP subjects. In standing, the average mean error was 2.480 (SD=1.040) for LBP subjects and 2.210 (SD=0.650) for non-LBP subjects, with a mean difference of -0.270 (95% CI = -0.600 to 0.070; P = 0.118). In sitting, the average mean error was 1.780 (SD=0.800) for LBP subjects and 1.810 (SD=0.950) for non-LBP subjects, with a mean difference of 0.030 (95% CI = -0.310 to 0.380; P = 0.854).Conclusions: There was no difference in proprioceptive acuity of the lumbar spine during flexion and extension movements for LBP and non-LBP subjects in sitting or standing