Young people's views on accelerometer use in physical activity research : findings from a user involvement investigation

The use of accelerometers to objectively measure physical activity is important in understanding young people's behaviours, as physical activity plays a key part in obesity prevention and treatment. A user-involvement qualitative study with young people aged 7–18years (n = 35) was carried out to investigate views on accelerometer use to inform an obesity treatment research study. First impressions were often negative, with issues related to size and comfort reported. Unwanted attention from wearing an accelerometer and bullying risk were also noted. Other disadvantages included feeling embarrassed and not being able to wear the device for certain activities. Positive aspects included feeling "special" and having increased attention from friends. Views on the best time to wear accelerometers were mixed. Advice was offered on how to make accelerometers more appealing, including presenting them in a positive way, using a clip rather than elastic belt to attach, personalising the device, and having feedback on activity levels. Judgements over the way in which accelerometers are used should be made at the study development stage and based on the individual population. In particular, introducing accelerometers in a clear and positive way is important. Including a trial wearing period, considering practical issues, and providing incentives may help increase compliance

Sévérité des étiages et indigence des précipitations : une relation évidente mais rarement simple - Exemple en régime pluvial océanique

Les étiages sont des phénomènes hydrologiques fortement liés aux apports pluviométriques. Cependant, le lien évident entre sévérité des étiages et indigence des précipitations est rarement simple, car d’autres facteurs conditionnent les débits d’étiage, en particulier les apports souterrains et donc la géologie des bassins versants. De plus, si les étiages apparaissent généralement en période estivale, voire automnale, les processus inhérents à leur genèse peuvent s’étaler sur plusieurs mois. Cette longue genèse permet une évaluation assez  précoce de la situation, par l’analyse des précipitations enregistrées durant les périodes favorables à la recharge des réservoirs souterrains, à condition d’observer un bassin versant à forte inertie et au régime d’étiage conditionné par les nappes. Cet article tente de mettre en évidence le rôle des précipitations et de la géologie comme facteurs de la sévérité et de la variabilité spatiale des débits d’étiage.Low flows depend primarily on rainfall. However, the relationship between very low discharges and low precipitations may be complex because low flows are influenced by a combination of factors. Indeed low flow generating mechanisms are strongly related to antecedent rainfall condition and on storage properties within the catchments. This paper intends to present how these factors affect the spatial and temporal distribution of low flows. This paper focuses further on precipitations observed during the groundwater recharge period. These observations allow long-term forecasting for basins fed by large groundwater resources

Hydrosystèmes et enjeux de gestion

La Revue Géographique de l’Est publie un numéro consacré aux hydrosystèmes et aux enjeux liés à leur gestion. Le terme d’« hydrosystème », utilisé à l’origine par les géomorphologues, garde encore une connotation de dynamique fluviale, mais renvoie aujourd’hui à un concept plus vaste et très employé par les géographes. Cette notion a en effet connu une évolution thématique depuis son apparition dans les années 60, puisqu’elle englobe désormais de nombreuses approches et ouvre le champ de la p..

Hydrosystèmes et enjeux de gestion

La Revue Géographique de l’Est publie un numéro consacré aux hydrosystèmes et aux enjeux liés à leur gestion. Le terme d’« hydrosystème », utilisé à l’origine par les géomorphologues, garde encore une connotation de dynamique fluviale, mais renvoie aujourd’hui à un concept plus vaste et très employé par les géographes. Cette notion a en effet connu une évolution thématique depuis son apparition dans les années 60, puisqu’elle englobe désormais de nombreuses approches et ouvre le champ de la p..

Une méthode d’analyse du tarissement des cours d’eau pour la prévision des débits d’étiage

Cette recherche s’inscrit dans le cadre d’un contrat financé par l’Agence de l’Eau Rhin-Meuse, dont l’objectif est la mise en place d’outils de prévision des débits d’étiage pour une soixantaine de stations du bassin Rhin-Meuse. Ce travail se fonde essentiellement sur l’analyse du tarissement, car durant la période d’étiage le débit des cours d’eau provient essentiellement des nappes. Nous présentons les difficultés liées au choix des phases de tarissement ainsi que les critères de sélection retenus. Les coefficients de tarissement sont utilisés pour réaliser des prévisions journalières par extrapolation de la courbe de tarissement, mais leur forte variabilité nécessite la mise en œuvre de méthodes qui synthétisent l’information: construction d’une courbe moyenne de tarissement et analyse statistique.This research-work comes within the scope of a contract which was paid for by the Rhine-Meuse Water Agency. The main objective is to develop tools to forecast low flows affecting (about) sixty locations of the Rhine-Meuse basin. This work is primarily based on the analysis of recession periods, because during drought periods river discharge derives essentially from groundwater flow. We discuss how difficult it is to select the recession phases and the criteria we used to sort them out. The recession coefficients are used to carry out day forecasts by extrapolation of the groundwater depletion curve. However their important variability requires methods which synthesize information: construction of the master recession curve and statistical analyses

Une méthode d’analyse du tarissement des cours d’eau pour la prévision des débits d’étiage

Cette recherche s’inscrit dans le cadre d’un contrat financé par l’Agence de l’Eau Rhin-Meuse, dont l’objectif est la mise en place d’outils de prévision des débits d’étiage pour une soixantaine de stations du bassin Rhin-Meuse. Ce travail se fonde essentiellement sur l’analyse du tarissement, car durant la période d’étiage le débit des cours d’eau provient essentiellement des nappes. Nous présentons les difficultés liées au choix des phases de tarissement ainsi que les critères de sélection retenus. Les coefficients de tarissement sont utilisés pour réaliser des prévisions journalières par extrapolation de la courbe de tarissement, mais leur forte variabilité nécessite la mise en œuvre de méthodes qui synthétisent l’information: construction d’une courbe moyenne de tarissement et analyse statistique.This research-work comes within the scope of a contract which was paid for by the Rhine-Meuse Water Agency. The main objective is to develop tools to forecast low flows affecting (about) sixty locations of the Rhine-Meuse basin. This work is primarily based on the analysis of recession periods, because during drought periods river discharge derives essentially from groundwater flow. We discuss how difficult it is to select the recession phases and the criteria we used to sort them out. The recession coefficients are used to carry out day forecasts by extrapolation of the groundwater depletion curve. However their important variability requires methods which synthesize information: construction of the master recession curve and statistical analyses

Interspecific analysis of diurnal gene regulation in panicoid grasses identifies known and novel regulatory motifs

Background: The circadian clock drives endogenous 24-h rhythms that allow organisms to adapt and prepare for predictable and repeated changes in their environment throughout the day-night (diurnal) cycle. Many components of the circadian clock in Arabidopsis thaliana have been functionally characterized, but comparatively little is known about circadian clocks in grass species including major crops like maize and sorghum. Results: Comparative research based on protein homology and diurnal gene expression patterns suggests the function of some predicted clock components in grasses is conserved with their Arabidopsis counterparts, while others have diverged in function. Our analysis of diurnal gene expression in three panicoid grasses sorghum, maize, and foxtail millet revealed conserved and divergent evolution of expression for core circadian clock genes and for the overall transcriptome. We find that several classes of core circadian clock genes in these grasses differ in copy number compared to Arabidopsis, but mostly exhibit conservation of both protein sequence and diurnal expression pattern with the notable exception of maize paralogous genes. We predict conserved cis-regulatory motifs shared between maize, sorghum, and foxtail millet through identification of diurnal co-expression clusters for a subset of 27,196 orthologous syntenic genes. In this analysis, a Cochran– Mantel–Haenszel based method to control for background variation identified significant enrichment for both expected and novel 6–8 nucleotide motifs in the promoter regions of genes with shared diurnal regulation predicted to function in common physiological activities. Conclusions: This study illustrates the divergence and conservation of circadian clocks and diurnal regulatory networks across syntenic orthologous genes in panacoid grass species. Further, conserved local regulatory sequences contribute to the architecture of these diurnal regulatory networks that produce conserved patterns of diurnal gene expression

Researching Zika in pregnancy:lessons for global preparedness

Our understanding of congenital infections is based on prospective studies of women infected during pregnancy. The EU has funded three consortia to study Zika virus, each including a prospective study of pregnant women. Another multi-centre study has been funded by the US National Institutes of Health. This Personal View describes the study designs required to research Zika virus, and questions whether funding academics in the EU and USA to work with collaborators in outbreak areas is an effective strategy. 3 years after the 2015\u201316 Zika virus outbreaks, these collaborations have taught us little about vertical transmission of the virus. In the time taken to approve funding, agree contracts, secure ethics approval, and equip laboratories, Zika virus had largely disappeared. By contrast, prospective studies based on local surveillance and standard-of-care protocols have already provided valuable data. Threats to fetal and child health pose new challenges for global preparedness requiring support for the design and implementation of locally appropriate protocols. These protocols can answer the key questions earlier than externally designed studies and at lower cost. Local protocols can also provide a framework for recruitment of unexposed controls that are required to study less specific outcomes. Other priorities include accelerated development of non-invasive tests, and longer-term storage of neonatal and antenatal samples to facilitate retrospective reconstruction of cohort studies

The PDF4LHC report on PDFs and LHC data: Results from Run I and preparation for Run II

The accurate determination of the Parton Distribution Functions (PDFs) of the proton is an essential ingredient of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) program. PDF uncertainties impact a wide range of processes, from Higgs boson characterisation and precision Standard Model measurements to New Physics searches. A major recent development in modern PDF analyses has been to exploit the wealth of new information contained in precision measurements from the LHC Run I, as well as progress in tools and methods to include these data in PDF fits. In this report we summarise the information that PDF-sensitive measurements at the LHC have provided so far, and review the prospects for further constraining PDFs with data from the recently started Run II. This document aims to provide useful input to the LHC collaborations to prioritise their PDF-sensitive measurements at Run II, as well as a comprehensive reference for the PDF-fitting collaborations.Comment: 55 pages, 13 figure

Reply: Cardiotoxicity of BRAF/MEK inhibitors according to HFA/ICOS cardiotoxicity risk category

No abstract available