The critical role of second-order normative beliefs in predicting energy conservation

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Springer Nature via the DOI in this recordSustaining large-scale public goods requires individuals to make environmentally friendly decisions today to benefit future generations. Recent research suggests that second-order normative beliefs are more powerful predictors of behaviour than first-order personal beliefs. We explored the role that second-order normative beliefs—the belief that community members think that saving energy helps the environment—play in curbing energy use. We first analysed a data set of 211 independent, randomized controlled trials conducted in 27 US states by Opower, a company that uses comparative information about energy consumption to reduce household energy usage (pooled N = 16,198,595). Building off the finding that the energy savings varied between 0.81% and 2.55% across states, we matched this energy use data with a survey that we conducted of over 2,000 individuals in those same states on their first-order personal and second-order normative beliefs. We found that second-order normative beliefs predicted energy savings but first-order personal beliefs did not. A subsequent pre-registered experiment provides causal evidence for the role of second-order normative beliefs in predicting energy conservation above first-order personal beliefs. Our results suggest that second-order normative beliefs play a critical role in promoting energy conservation and have important implications for policymakers concerned with curbing the detrimental consequences of climate change

Tissue-Informative Mechanism for Wearable Non-invasive Continuous Blood Pressure Monitoring

Accurate continuous direct measurement of the blood pressure is currently available thru direct invasive methods via intravascular needles, and is mostly limited to use during surgical procedures or in the intensive care unit (ICU). Non-invasive methods that are mostly based on auscultation or cuff oscillometric principles do provide relatively accurate measurement of blood pressure. However, they mostly involve physical inconveniences such as pressure or stress on the human body. Here, we introduce a new non-invasive mechanism of tissue-informative measurement, where an experimental phenomenon called subcutaneous tissue pressure equilibrium is revealed and related for application in detection of absolute blood pressure. A prototype was experimentally verified to provide an absolute blood pressure measurement by wearing a watch-type measurement module that does not cause any discomfort. This work is supposed to contribute remarkably to the advancement of continuous non-invasive mobile devices for 24-7 daily-life ambulatory blood-pressure monitoring.open

Case-Control Study of Risk Factors for Sporadic Giardiasis and Parasite Assemblages in North West England

Giardia duodenalis is a major cause of infectious gastroenteritis worldwide, and it is diversified into eight genetic assemblages (A to H), which are distinguishable only by molecular typing. There is some evidence that the assemblages infecting humans (assemblages A and B) may have different transmission routes, but systematically acquired data, combining epidemiological and molecular findings, are required. We undertook a case-control study with Giardia genotyping in North West England, to determine general and parasite assemblage-specific risk factors. For people without a history of foreign travel, swimming in swimming pools and changing diapers were the most important risk factors for the disease. People infected with assemblage B reported a greater number of symptoms and higher frequencies of vomiting, abdominal pain, swollen stomach, and loss of appetite, compared with people infected with assemblage A. More importantly, keeping a dog was associated only with assemblage A infections, suggesting the presence of a potential zoonotic reservoir for this assemblage. This is the first case-control study to combine epidemiological data with Giardia genotyping, and it shows the importance of integrating these two levels of information for better understanding of the epidemiology of this pathogen

A review of the Cenozoic stratigraphy and glacial history of the Lambert Graben - Prydz Bay region, East Antarctica

The Cenozoic glacial history of East Antarctica is recorded in part by the stratigraphy of the Prydz Bay - Lambert Graben region. The glacigene strata and associated erosion surfaces record at least 10 intervals of glacial advance (with accompanying erosion and sediment compaction), and more than 17 intervals of glacial retreat (enabling open marine deposition in Prydz Bay and the Lambert Graben). The number of glacial advances and retreats is considerably less than would be expected from Milankovitch frequencies due to the incomplete stratigraphic record. Large advances of the Lambert Glacier caused progradation of the continental shelf edge. At times of extreme glacial retreat, marine conditions reached > 450 km inland from the modern ice shelf edge. This review presents a partial reconstruction of Cenozoic glacial extent within Prydz Bay and the Lambert Graben that can be compared to eustatic sea-level records from the southern Australian continental margin

Dependency Relationships within the Fission Yeast Polarity Network

The ability to regulate polarised cell growth is crucial to maintain the viability of cells. Growth is modulated to facilitate essential cell functions and respond to the external environment. Failure to do so can lead to numerous developmental and disease states including cancer. We have undertaken a detailed analysis of the regulatory interplay between molecules involved in the regulation and maintenance of polarised cell growth within fission yeast. Internally controlled live cell imaging was used to examine interactions between 10 key polarity proteins. Analysis reveals: interplay between the microtubule and actin cytoskeletons; multiple novel dependency pathways and feedback networks between groups of proteins. This study provides important insights into the conserved regulation of polarised cell growth within eukaryotes

Prevalence and determinants of the use of self-tests by members of the public: a mixed methods study

Background Self-tests can be used by members of the public to diagnose conditions without involving a doctor, nurse or other health professional. As technologies to design and manufacture diagnostic tests have developed, a range of self-tests have become available to the public to buy over-the-counter and via the Internet. This study aims to describe how many people have used self-tests and identify factors associated with their use. Methods A postal questionnaire will elicit basic information, including sociodemographic characteristics, and whether the person has used or would use specified self-tests. Consent will be sought to recontact people who want to participate further in the study, and interviews and focus groups will be used to develop hypotheses about factors associated with self-test use. These hypotheses will be tested in a case-control study. An in-depth questionnaire will be developed incorporating the identified factors. This will be sent to: people who have used a self-test (cases); people who have not used a self-test but would use one in the future (controls); and people who have not used and would not use a self-test (controls). Logistic regression analysis will be used to establish which factors are associated with self-test use. Discussion Self-tests do have potential benefits, for example privacy and convenience, but also potential harms, for example delay seeking treatment after a true negative result when the symptoms are actually due to another condition. It is anticipated that the outcomes from this study will include recommendations about how to improve the appropriate use of self-tests and existing health services, as well as information to prepare health professionals for patients who have used self-tests

Effect of Body Mass Index on pregnancy outcomes in nulliparous women delivering singleton babies

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Automatically extracting functionally equivalent proteins from SwissProt

In summary, FOSTA provides an automated analysis of annotations in UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot to enable groups of proteins already annotated as functionally equivalent, to be extracted. Our results demonstrate that the vast majority of UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot functional annotations are of high quality, and that FOSTA can interpret annotations successfully. Where FOSTA is not successful, we are able to highlight inconsistencies in UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot annotation. Most of these would have presented equal difficulties for manual interpretation of annotations. We discuss limitations and possible future extensions to FOSTA, and recommend changes to the UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot format, which would facilitate text-mining of UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot