Unravelling effectiveness of a nurse-led behaviour change intervention to enhance physical activity in patients at risk for cardiovascular disease in primary care: study protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial

BACKGROUND: Self-management interventions are considered effective in patients with chronic disease, but trials have shown inconsistent results, and it is unknown which patients benefit most. Adequate self-management requires behaviour change in both patients and health care providers. Therefore, the Activate intervention was developed with a focus on behaviour change in both patients and nurses. The intervention aims for change in a single self-management behaviour, namely physical activity, in primary care patients at risk for cardiovascular disease. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the Activate intervention. METHODS/DESIGN: A two-arm cluster randomised controlled trial will be conducted to compare the Activate intervention with care as usual at 31 general practices in the Netherlands. Approximately 279 patients at risk for cardiovascular disease will participate. The Activate intervention is developed using the Behaviour Change Wheel and consists of 4 nurse-led consultations in a 3-month period, integrating 17 behaviour change techniques. The Behaviour Change Wheel was also applied to analyse what behaviour change is needed in nurses to deliver the intervention adequately. This resulted in 1-day training and coaching sessions (including 21 behaviour change techniques). The primary outcome is physical activity, measured as the number of minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity using an accelerometer. Potential effect modifiers are age, body mass index, level of education, social support, depression, patient-provider relationship and baseline number of minutes of physical activity. Data will be collected at baseline and at 3 months and 6 months of follow-up. A process evaluation will be conducted to evaluate the training of nurses, treatment fidelity, and to identify barriers to and facilitators of implementation as well as to assess participants' satisfaction. DISCUSSION: To increase physical activity in patients and to support nurses in delivering the intervention, behaviour change techniques are applied to change behaviours of the patients and nurses. Evaluation of the effectiveness of the intervention, exploration of which patients benefit most, and evaluation of our theory-based training for primary care nurses will enhance understanding of what works and for whom, which is essential for further implementation of self-management in clinical practice. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02725203 . Registered on 25 March 2016

The Effect of Correlated Colour Temperature on Physiological, Emotional and Subjective Satisfaction in the Hygiene Area of a Space Station

The hygiene area is one of the most important facilities in a space station. If its environmental lighting is appropriately designed, it can significantly reduce the psychological pressure on astronauts. This study investigates the effect of correlated colour temperature (CCT) on heart rate, galvanic skin response, emotion and satisfaction in the hygiene area of a space station. Forty subjects participated in experiments in a hygiene area simulator with a controlled lighting environment. The lighting conditions included 2700 K, 3300 K, 3600 K, 5000 K and 6300 K; physiological responses (heart rate, galvanic skin response), as well as emotion and satisfaction, were recorded. The results showed that CCT significantly influenced the participants’ physiological and subjective responses in the space station hygiene area. 6300 K led to the best emotion and satisfaction levels, the highest galvanic skin response and the lowest heart rate. The opposite was true for 2700 K

Characteristics of self-care interventions for patients with a chronic condition: A scoping review

Background: Self-care is a fundamental element of treatment for patients with a chronic condition and a major focus of many interventions. A large body of research exists describing different types of self-care interventions, but these studies have never been compared across conditions. Examination of heterogeneous interventions could provide insights into effective approaches that should be used in diverse patient populations. Objectives: To provide a comprehensive and standardized cross-condition overview of interventions to enhance self-care in patients with a chronic condition. Specific aims were to: 1) identify what self-care concepts and behaviors are evaluated in self-care interventions; 2) classify and quantify heterogeneity in mode and type of delivery; 3) quantify the behavior change techniques used to enhance self-care behavior; and 4) assess the dose of self-care interventions delivered. Design: Scoping review DATA SOURCES: Four electronic databases - PubMed, EMBASE, PsychINFO and CINAHL - were searched from January 2008 through January 2019. Eligibility criteria for study selection: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with concealed allocation to the intervention were included if they compared a behavioral or educational self- care intervention to usual care or another self-care intervention and were conducted in adults. Nine common chronic conditions were included: hypertension, coronary artery disease, arthritis, chronic kidney disease, heart failure, stroke, asthma, chronic obstructive lung disease, and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Diagnoses that are psychiatric (e.g. schizophrenia), acute rather than chronic, or benefitting little from self-care (e.g. dementia) were excluded. Studies had to be reported in English with full-text available. Results: 9309 citations were considered and 233 studies were included in the final review. Most studies addressed type 2 diabetes mellitus (n = 85; 36%), hypertension (n = 32; 14%) or heart failure (n = 27; 12%). The majority (97%) focused on healthy behaviors like physical activity (70%), dietary intake (59%), and medication management (52%). Major deficits found in self-care interventions included a lack of attention to the psychological consequences of chronic illness, technology and behavior change techniques were rarely used, few studies focused on helping patients manage signs and symptoms, and the interventions were rarely innovative. Research reporting was generally poor. Conclusions: Major gaps in targeted areas of self-care were identified. Opportunities exist to improve the quality and reporting of future self-care intervention research. Registration: The study was registered in the PROSPERO database (#123,719)

Probability distribution of substituted Titanium in RT12 (R = Nd, Sm, T = Fe, Co) structures

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from IEEE via the DOI in this recordWe investigated the atomic fill site probability distributions across supercell structures of RT12-xTi (R=Nd, Sm, T=Fe, Co). We use a combined molecular dynamics and Boltzmann distribution approach to extrapolate the probability distributions for Ti substitution from lower to higher temperatures with an equilibrium condition to assess how temperature affects the predictability of the structures fill path. It was found that the Nd and Sm based Fe systems have the highest filling probability path at lower temperatures but the cohesive energy change due to Ti substitution in Sm and Nd based crystals indicates that a more stable system could be achieved with a combination Co and Fe in the transition metal site.Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)Vienna Science and Technology FundRoyal SocietyToyota Motor Corporatio

Identifying networks in social media: The case of #Grexit

We examine the intensity of ‘#Grexit’ usage in Twitter during a period of economic and financial turbulence. Using a frequency-analysis technique, we illustrate that we can extract detailed information from social media data. This allows us to map the networks of interest as it is reflected in Twitter. Our findings identify high-interest in Grexit from Twitter users in key peripheral countries, core Eurozone members as well as core EU member states outside the Eurozone. Overall, our study presents a useful tool for identifying clusters. This is part of a new research agenda utilising the information extracted from big data available via social media channels

I-HAZE: a dehazing benchmark with real hazy and haze-free indoor images

Image dehazing has become an important computational imaging topic in the recent years. However, due to the lack of ground truth images, the comparison of dehazing methods is not straightforward, nor objective. To overcome this issue we introduce a new dataset -named I-HAZE- that contains 35 image pairs of hazy and corresponding haze-free (ground-truth) indoor images. Different from most of the existing dehazing databases, hazy images have been generated using real haze produced by a professional haze machine. For easy color calibration and improved assessment of dehazing algorithms, each scene include a MacBeth color checker. Moreover, since the images are captured in a controlled environment, both haze-free and hazy images are captured under the same illumination conditions. This represents an important advantage of the I-HAZE dataset that allows us to objectively compare the existing image dehazing techniques using traditional image quality metrics such as PSNR and SSIM

An Evaluation Model For Web-based 3D Mass Customization Toolkit Design

The development of geometric modelling technologies and web technologies provides the ability to present a virtual 3D product in a mass customization (MC) toolkit. Compared with 2D graphic toolkits, 3D toolkit design requires better consideration of individual customer needs, consumer and toolkit interaction, and also a means of integrating with the underlying technical infrastructure. However, there is currently no widely accepted model or criteria to regulate and evaluate 3D MC toolkit design. Given these considerations, in this paper we provide an evaluation model for web-based 3D toolkits and a heuristic evaluation of two representative commercial web-based 3D toolkits. The evaluation results indicate the usefulness and effectiveness of the model as a scale for evaluating 3D toolkits. It also reveals that despite a fair amount of effort that has been devoted to theoretical research, current 3D toolkits are still at an early development stage. We therefore conclude this paper by identifying and encouraging further topics and questions as directions for future research

The Paradox of Colour Constancy: Plotting the Lower Borders of Perception

This paper resolves a paradox concerning colour constancy. On the one hand, our intuitive, pre-theoretical concept holds that colour constancy involves invariance in the perceived colours of surfaces under changes in illumination. On the other, there is a robust scientific consensus that colour constancy can persist in cerebral achromatopsia, a profound impairment in the ability to perceive colours. The first stage of the solution advocates pluralism about our colour constancy capacities. The second details the close relationship between colour constancy and contrast. The third argues that achromatopsics retain a basic type of colour constancy associated with invariants in contrast processing. The fourth suggests that one person-level, conscious upshot of such processing is the visual awareness of chromatic contrasts ‘at’ the edges of surfaces, implicating the ‘colour for form’ perceptual function. This primitive type of constancy sheds new light on our most basic perceptual capacities, which mark the lower borders of representational mind