Energy expenditure and muscular activation patterns through active sitting on compliant surfaces

AbstractPurposeTo test the effectiveness of sitting surfaces with varied amounts of stability on muscle activity and energy expenditure.MethodsUsing a within-participants repeated measures design, 11 healthy young-adult females (age = 20.0 ± 1.8 years) were measured using indirect calorimetry to assess energy expenditure, and electromyography to assess muscular activation in trunk and leg musculature under three different sitting surfaces: flat-firm surface, air-filled cushion, and a stability ball. Data were analyzed using repeated measures analysis variance with follow-up pairwise contrasts used to determine the specific effects of sitting surface on muscle activation and energy expenditure.ResultsSignificantly greater energy expenditure was recorded for the stability ball (p = 0.01) and the cushion (p = 0.03) over the flat surface (10.4% and 9.6% greater, respectively), with no differences between the ball and the cushion. Both the ball and the cushion produced higher tibialis anterior activation over the flat surface (1.09 and 0.63 root-mean-square millivolts (RMSmv), respectively), while the stability ball produced higher soleus activity over both cushion and flat surfaces (3.97 and 4.24 RMSmv, respectively). Additionally, the cushion elicited higher adductor longus activity over the ball and flat surfaces (0.47 and 0.52 RMSmv, respectively), but no trunk musculature differences were revealed.ConclusionCompliant surfaces resulted in higher levels of muscular activation in the lower extremities facilitating increased caloric expenditure. Given the increasing trends in sedentary careers and the increases in obesity, this is an important finding to validate the merits of active sitting facilitating increased caloric expenditure and muscle activation

Cluster-randomized non-inferiority trial to compare supplement consumption and adherence to different dosing regimens for antenatal calcium and iron-folic acid supplementation to prevent preeclampsia and anaemia: rationale and design of the Micronutrient Initiative study

Background: To prevent pre-eclampsia in populations with insufficient dietary calcium (Ca) intake, the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends routine Ca supplementation during antenatal care (ANC). WHO guidelines suggest a complex dosing regimen, requiring as many as 5 pill-taking events per day when combined with iron and folic acid (IFA) supplements. Poor adherence may undermine public health effectiveness, so simpler regimens may be preferable. This trial will compare the effect of the WHO-recommended (higher-dose) regimen vs. a simpler, lower-dose regimen on supplement consumption and pill-taking behaviours in Kenyan ANC clients. Design and methods: This is a parallel, non-inferiority, cluster-randomized trial; we examined 16 primary care health facilities in Kenya, 1047 pregnant women between 16-30 weeks gestational age. Higher-dose regimen: 1.5 g elemental calcium in 3 separate doses (500 mg Ca/pill) and IFA (60 mg Fe + 400 μg folic acid) taken with evening dose. Lower-dose regimen: 1.0 g calcium in 2 separate doses (500 mg Ca/pill) with IFA taken as above. Measurements: Primary outcome is Ca pills consumed per day, measured by pill counts. Secondary outcomes include IFA pills consumed per day, client knowledge, motivation, social support, and satisfaction, measured at 4 to 10 weeks post-enrolment. Statistical analyses: Unit of randomization is the health-care facility; unit of analysis is individual client. Intent-to-treat analysis will be implemented with multi-level models to account for clustering. Expected public health impact: If pregnant women prescribed lower doses of Ca ingest as many pills as women prescribed the WHO-recommended regimen, developing a lower-dose recommendation for antenatal Ca and IFA supplementation programs could save resources

Summary of the effects of three tillage and three traffic systems on cereal yields over a four-year rotation

This paper reports the design and results of a study to consider the effects of deep, shallow and zero tillage with random conventional and low tyre inflation pressures and controlled traffic systems on the yield of winter wheat, winter barley (×2) and spring oats. The results show that crop yields for zero tillage were significantly less (P<0.001) than deep and shallow tillage for all crops with an overall reduction of 1.0 t ha-1 below the mean of the deep and shallow tillage practices. Controlled traffic farming with a 30% trafficked area produced significantly higher yields than random conventional pressure traffic for the winter wheat and spring oats. Controlled traffic farming, with trafficked areas of 30% and 15% showed overall benefits over random conventional inflation pressure traffic of 0.32 t ha-1 (£41 ha-1) and 0.61 t ha-1 (£77 ha-1) respectively, requiring breakeven areas of 312 ha and 168 ha to cover the costs of three vehicle guidance/auto-steering systems

A Review of 2011 for PLoS Computational Biology

A Review of 2011 for <em>PLoS Computational Biology</em

Assessing mutual accountability to strengthen national WASH systems and achieve the SDG targets for water and sanitation

Abstract Multi-stakeholder engagement is critical for making progress towards Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 ‘Ensure access to water and sanitation for all’, which is currently off track to be achieved by 2030. The aim of this paper was to investigate mutual accountability and multi-stakeholder platforms in the WASH sector in a diverse range of countries. Data were collected by Sanitation and Water for All (SWA) Research and Learning Constituency partners and collaborators in five SWA member countries: Bangladesh, Indonesia, Kenya, Peru and Somalia. Data collection involved document review, key informant interviews and workshops, and an online questionnaire. Across all the case study countries, there were no clear examples of mutual accountability mechanisms being widely used in the WASH sector. However, the findings indicate that some of the case study countries have active WASH multi-stakeholder platforms involving a range of actors from government, civil society and the private sector; however, these typically function as coordination and communication platforms rather than supporting mutual accountability. Other case study countries did not have multi-stakeholder platforms involving a diverse range of actors, and instead had platforms established for single stakeholder groups such as the private sector or civil society, leaving certain groups out of activities. Overall, the study highlights the importance of establishing strong multi-stakeholder processes and platforms that bring together a range of actors including government, civil society, private sector, research actors, and WASH external support organizations. Such platforms could provide a foundation to enable mutual accountability between these actors by providing a space to set commitments and monitor progress and have potential to strengthen WASH systems both nationally and globally.</jats:p

The roles of vicariance and isolation by distance in shaping biotic diversification across an ancient archipelago: evidence from a Seychelles caecilian amphibian

© 2020 The Authors. Published by BMC. This is an open access article available under a Creative Commons licence. The published version can be accessed at the following link on the publisher’s website: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-020-01673-wBackground Island systems offer excellent opportunities for studying the evolutionary histories of species by virtue of their restricted size and easily identifiable barriers to gene flow. However, most studies investigating evolutionary patterns and processes shaping biotic diversification have focused on more recent (emergent) rather than ancient oceanic archipelagos. Here, we focus on the granitic islands of the Seychelles, which are unusual among island systems because they have been isolated for a long time and are home to a monophyletic radiation of caecilian amphibians that has been separated from its extant sister lineage for ca. 65–62 Ma. We selected the most widespread Seychelles caecilian species, Hypogeophis rostratus, to investigate intraspecific morphological and genetic (mitochondrial and nuclear) variation across the archipelago (782 samples from nine islands) to identify patterns and test processes that shaped their evolutionary history within the Seychelles. Results Overall a signal of strong geographic structuring with distinct northern- and southern-island clusters were identified across all datasets. We suggest that these distinct groups have been isolated for ca. 1.26 Ma years without subsequent migration between them. Populations from the somewhat geographically isolated island of Frégate showed contrasting relationships to other islands based on genetic and morphological data, clustering alternatively with northern-island (genetic) and southern-island (morphological) populations. Conclusions Although variation in H. rostratus across the Seychelles is explained more by isolation-by-distance than by adaptation, the genetic-morphological incongruence for affinities of Frégate H. rostratus might be caused by local adaptation over-riding the signal from their vicariant history. Our findings highlight the need of integrative approaches to investigate fine-scale geographic structuring to uncover underlying diversity and to better understand evolutionary processes on ancient, continental islands.Funding for this research was provided by two grants from the National Science Foundation (BSR 88–17453, BSR 90–24505) [funding for fieldwork and lab work], two grants from the National Geographic Society (Grants 1977: 1633, 1743) [funding for fieldwork], three grants from the University of Michigan Office of the Vice President for Research, and a Research Partnership Award from the University of Michigan to RAN [morphology work]; a joint NHM-UCL IMPACT studentship [to fund STM’s PhD, lab work and fieldwork], Mohamed Bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund [funding for fieldwork] and Systematics Research Fund [funding for fieldwork] to STM; an Institutional Development Award (IDeA) from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under Grant #P20GM103408 to LL [funding for lab work]; a NERC/BBSRC SynTax grant [funding for fieldwork and collaboration], and Darwin Initiative (grant 19–002) [funding for fieldwork, lab work and capacity building] with partners Bristol University, Islands Conservation Society, Seychelles Islands Foundation, Seychelles Ministry of Environment, Seychelles National Parks Authority, Seychelles Natural History Museum, University of Kent, Zoological Society of London to MW, DJG, JJD. The funding bodies played no role in the design of the study and collection, analysis, and interpretation of data and in writing the manuscript.Published onlin