Acceptability of novel lifelogging technology to determine context of sedentary behaviour in older adults

<strong>Objective:</strong> Lifelogging, using body worn sensors (activity monitors and time lapse photography) has the potential to shed light on the context of sedentary behaviour. The objectives of this study were to examine the acceptability, to older adults, of using lifelogging technology and indicate its usefulness for understanding behaviour.<strong> </strong><strong>Method:</strong> 6 older adults (4 males, mean age: 68yrs) wore the equipment (ActivPAL^TM and Vicon Revue^TM/SenseCam^TM) for 7 consecutive days during free-living activity. The older adults’ perception of the lifelogging technology was assessed through semi-structured interviews, including a brief questionnaire (Likert scale), and reference to the researcher&#39;s diary. <strong>Results:</strong> Older adults in this study found the equipment acceptable to wear and it did not interfere with privacy, safety or create reactivity, but they reported problems with the actual technical functioning of the camera. <strong>Conclusion:</strong> This combination of sensors has good potential to provide lifelogging information on the context of sedentary behaviour

Predicting fracture outcomes from clinical registry data using artificial intelligence supplemented models for evidence-informed treatment (PRAISE) study protocol

BackgroundDistal radius (wrist) fractures are the second most common fracture admitted to hospital. The anatomical pattern of these types of injuries is diverse, with variation in clinical management, guidelines for management remain inconclusive, and the uptake of findings from clinical trials into routine practice limited. Robust predictive modelling, which considers both the characteristics of the fracture and patient, provides the best opportunity to reduce variation in care and improve patient outcomes. This type of data is housed in unstructured data sources with no particular format or schema. The “Predicting fracture outcomes from clinical Registry data using Artificial Intelligence (AI) Supplemented models for Evidence-informed treatment (PRAISE)” study aims to use AI methods on unstructured data to describe the fracture characteristics and test if using this information improves identification of key fracture characteristics and prediction of patient-reported outcome measures and clinical outcomes following wrist fractures compared to prediction models based on standard registry data.Methods and designAdult (16+ years) patients presenting to the emergency department, treated in a short stay unit, or admitted to hospital for >24h for management of a wrist fracture in four Victorian hospitals will be included in this study. The study will use routine registry data from the Victorian Orthopaedic Trauma Outcomes Registry (VOTOR), and electronic medical record (EMR) information (e.g. X-rays, surgical reports, radiology reports, images). A multimodal deep learning fracture reasoning system (DLFRS) will be developed that reasons on EMR information. Machine learning prediction models will test the performance with/without output from the DLFRS.DiscussionThe PRAISE study will establish the use of AI techniques to provide enhanced information about fracture characteristics in people with wrist fractures. Prediction models using AI derived characteristics are expected to provide better prediction of clinical and patient-reported outcomes following distal radius fracture

HCV treatment rates and sustained viral response among people who inject drugs in seven UK sites: real world results and modelling of treatment impact.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) antiviral treatment for people who inject drugs (PWID) could prevent onwards transmission and reduce chronic prevalence. We assessed current PWID treatment rates in seven UK settings and projected the potential impact of current and scaled-up treatment on HCV chronic prevalence. Data on number of PWID treated and sustained viral response rates (SVR) were collected from seven UK settings: Bristol (37-48% HCV chronic prevalence among PWID), East London (37-48%), Manchester (48-56%), Nottingham (37-44%), Plymouth (30-37%), Dundee (20-27%) and North Wales (27-33%). A model of HCV transmission among PWID projected the 10-year impact of (i) current treatment rates and SVR (ii) scale-up with interferon-free direct acting antivirals (IFN-free DAAs) with 90% SVR. Treatment rates varied from <5 to over 25 per 1000 PWID. Pooled intention-to-treat SVR for PWID were 45% genotypes 1/4 [95%CI 33-57%] and 61% genotypes 2/3 [95%CI 47-76%]. Projections of chronic HCV prevalence among PWID after 10 years of current levels of treatment overlapped substantially with current HCV prevalence estimates. Scaling-up treatment to 26/1000 PWID annually (achieved already in two sites) with IFN-free DAAs could achieve an observable absolute reduction in HCV chronic prevalence of at least 15% among PWID in all sites and greater than a halving in chronic HCV in Plymouth, Dundee and North Wales within a decade. Current treatment rates among PWID are unlikely to achieve observable reductions in HCV chronic prevalence over the next 10 years. Achievable scale-up, however, could lead to substantial reductions in HCV chronic prevalence

Atmospheric Evolution

Earth's atmosphere has evolved as volatile species cycle between the atmosphere, ocean, biomass and the solid Earth. The geochemical, biological and astrophysical processes that control atmospheric evolution are reviewed from an "Earth Systems" perspective, with a view not only to understanding the history of Earth, but also to generalizing to other solar system planets and exoplanets.Comment: 34 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables. Accepted as a chapter in "Encyclopaedia of Geochemistry", Editor Bill White, Springer-Nature, 201

Atmospheric oxygenation caused by a change in volcanic degassing pressure

International audienceThe Precambrian history of our planet is marked by two major events: a pulse of continental crust formation at the end of the Archaean eon and a weak oxygenation of the atmosphere (the Great Oxidation Event) that followed, at 2.45 billion years ago. This oxygenation has been linked to the emergence of oxygenic cyanobacteria1,2 and to changes in the compositions of volcanic gases3,4, but not to the composition of erupting lavas--geochemical constraints indicate that the oxidation state of basalts and their mantle sources has remained constant since 3.5 billion years ago5,6. Here we propose that a decrease in the average pressure of volcanic degassing changed the oxidation state of sulphur in volcanic gases, initiating themodern biogeochemical sulphur cycle and triggering atmospheric oxygenation. Using thermodynamic calculations simulating gas-melt equilibria in erupting magmas, we suggest that mostly submarine Archaean volcanoes produced gases with SO2/H2S,1 and low sulphur content. Emergence of the continents due to a global decrease in sea level and growth of the continental crust in the late Archaean then led to widespread subaerial volcanism, which in turn yielded gases much richer in sulphur and dominated bySO2. Dissolution of sulphur in sea water and the onset of sulphate reduction processes could then oxidize the atmosphere

Extreme sensitivity in Snowball Earth formation to mountains on PaleoProterozoic supercontinents

During the PaleoProterozoic 2.45 to 2.2 billion years ago, several glaciations may have produced Snowball Earths. These glacial cycles occurred during large environmental change when atmospheric oxygen was increasing, a supercontinent was assembled from numerous landmasses, and collisions between these landmasses formed mountain ranges. Despite uncertainties in the composition of the atmosphere and reconstruction of the landmasses, paleoclimate model simulations can test the sensitivity of the climate to producing a Snowball Earth. Here we present a series of simulations that vary the atmospheric methane concentration and latitudes of west–east-oriented mountain ranges on an idealised supercontinent. For a given methane concentration, the latitudes of mountains control whether a Snowball Earth forms or not. Significantly, mountains in middle latitudes inhibited Snowball Earth formation, and mountains in low latitudes promoted Snowball Earth formation, with the supercontinent with mountains at ±30° being most conducive to forming a Snowball Earth because of reduced albedo at low latitudes. We propose that the extreme sensitivity of a Snowball Earth to reconstructions of the paleogeography and paleoatmospheric composition may explain the observed glaciations, demonstrating the importance of high-quality reconstructions to improved understanding of this early period in Earth’s history

A fresh look at the evolution and diversification of photochemical reaction centers

In this review, I reexamine the origin and diversification of photochemical reaction centers based on the known phylogenetic relations of the core subunits, and with the aid of sequence and structural alignments. I show, for example, that the protein folds at the C-terminus of the D1 and D2 subunits of Photosystem II, which are essential for the coordination of the water-oxidizing complex, were already in place in the most ancestral Type II reaction center subunit. I then evaluate the evolution of reaction centers in the context of the rise and expansion of the different groups of bacteria based on recent large-scale phylogenetic analyses. I find that the Heliobacteriaceae family of Firmicutes appears to be the earliest branching of the known groups of phototrophic bacteria; however, the origin of photochemical reaction centers and chlorophyll synthesis cannot be placed in this group. Moreover, it becomes evident that the Acidobacteria and the Proteobacteria shared a more recent common phototrophic ancestor, and this is also likely for the Chloroflexi and the Cyanobacteria. Finally, I argue that the discrepancies among the phylogenies of the reaction center proteins, chlorophyll synthesis enzymes, and the species tree of bacteria are best explained if both types of photochemical reaction centers evolved before the diversification of the known phyla of phototrophic bacteria. The primordial phototrophic ancestor must have had both Type I and Type II reaction centers

Use of mitogenic cascade blockers for treatment of C-Raf induced lung adenoma in vivo: CI-1040 strongly reduces growth and improves lung structure

BACKGROUND: Signaling networks promoting cell growth and proliferation are frequently deregulated in cancer. Tumors often are highly dependent on such signaling pathways and may become hypersensitive to downregulation of key components within these signaling cascades. The classical mitogenic cascade transmits stimuli from growth factor receptors via Ras, Raf, MEK and ERK to the cell nucleus and provides attractive molecular targets for cancer treatment. For example, Ras and Raf kinase inhibitors are already in a number of ongoing phase II and phase III clinical trials. In this study the effect of the Raf kinase inhibitor BAY 43-9006 and of the MEK inhibitor CI-1040 (PD184352) on a Raf dependent lung tumor mouse model was analyzed in detail. METHODS: We have generated a lung cancer mouse model by targeting constitutively active C-Raf kinase to the lung. These mice develop adenomas within 4 months of life. At this time-point they received daily intraperitoneal injections of either 100 mg/kg BAY 43-9006 or CI-1040 for additional 21 days. Thereafter, lungs were isolated and the following parameters were analyzed using histology and immunohistochemistry: overall lung structure, frequency of adenoma foci, proliferation rate, ERK activity, caspase-3 activation, and lung differentiation. RESULTS: Both inhibitors were equally effective in vitro using a sensitive Raf/MEK/ERK ELISA. In vivo, the systemic administration of the MEK inhibitor CI-1040 reduced adenoma formation to a third and significantly restored lung structure. The proliferation rate of lung cells of mice treated with CL-1040 was decreased without any obvious effects on differentiation of pneumocytes. In contrast, the Raf inhibitor BAY 43-9006 did not influence adenoma formation in vivo. CONCLUSION: The MEK inhibitor CI-1040 may be used for the treatment of Ras and/or Raf-dependent human malignancies