"The Great Blackbury Pie" ~ or ~ Focal Area Bias in Geographically Weighted Analysis

Focal and geographically weighted analyses are commonplace in GIS applications across many fields and disciplines. However, where such analyses are based on ‘dense’ datasets (e.g., a raster surface), they can suffer from an unintended bias towards the periphery of the focal zone (neighbourhood), which (counterintuitively) is exacerbated by the use of distance weighting functions. This paper serves to characterise this problem, which we call focal area bias (FAB), present a proposed correction, and point to extensive simulation-based analysis, which demonstrates both the impact that this effect can have on analyses and the efficacy of our proposed solution

Temporal inabilities and decision-making capacity in depression

We report on an interview-based study of decision-making capacity in two classes of patients suffering from depression. Developing a method of second-person hermeneutic phenomenology, we articulate the distinctive combination of temporal agility and temporal inability characteristic of the experience of severely depressed patients. We argue that a cluster of decision-specific temporal abilities is a critical element of decision-making capacity, and we show that loss of these abilities is a risk factor distinguishing severely depressed patients from mildly/moderately depressed patients. We explore the legal and clinical consequences of this result

Noncommunicable Diseases, Park Prescriptions, and Urban Green Space Use Patterns in a Global South Context: The Case of Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Urban green space use is often associated with improved physical and mental health and lower noncommunicable disease (NCDs) burdens. Factors that influence green space visits have been documented in cities of the Global North, but evidence of urban green space use patterns for cities in the Global South is scarce. The aim of this study is to investigate factors influencing urban green space use patterns in Dhaka, Bangladesh, a megacity of the Global South, with a particular focus on how poor health condition and healthcare professionals' prescriptions to exercise outdoors (park prescriptions-ParkRx) impact the green space use of middle-aged adults. We collected green space characteristics and use factors (i.e., availability, accessibility, attractiveness, and attachment), health condition, ParkRx, and urban green space use intensity (i.e., frequency and duration) via a self-reported questionnaire from 169 middle-aged residents of Dhaka. We used multivariate modeling to estimate the association of green space characteristics, health condition, and ParkRx with use intensity. We further applied a mediation analysis to determine the influence of ParkRx on the relationship between residents' poor health conditions and use intensity. We found that green space availability and accessibility did not significantly influence use intensity, but attractiveness was negatively associated with use intensity. Green space use intensity was significantly and positively associated with attachment to the green space, poor health condition (i.e., having noncommunicable diseases), and ParkRx. ParkRx significantly mediated the relationship between health condition and use intensity. We observed limited supply, poor access, and low attractiveness when studying the urban green spaces in Dhaka, but these qualities did not affect use intensity, as found in many case studies in the Global North. In contrast, urban green space use intensity in our case study is mostly dependent on poor health condition and park prescriptions

Goldstinos, Supercurrents and Metastable SUSY Breaking in N=2 Supersymmetric Gauge Theories

We construct an N=2 supersymmetric generalization of the N=1 supercurrent formalism of Komargodski and Seiberg (KS) and use it to show that N=2 theories with linear superconformal anomalies cannot break SUSY under certain broad assumptions. This result suggests that there are no metastable SUSY breaking vacua in a large class of theories that includes N=2 Super Yang-Mills (SYM).Comment: 19 pages; minor revisions; JHEP versio

Altered Patterns of Fungal Keratitis at a London Ophthalmic Referral Hospital: An Eight-Year Retrospective Observational Study.

PURPOSE: In previous studies of fungal keratitis (FK) from temperate countries, yeasts were the predominant isolates, with ocular surface disease (OSD) being the leading risk factor. Since the 2005-2006 outbreak of contact lens (CL)-associated Fusarium keratitis, there may have been a rise in CL-associated filamentary FK in the United Kingdom. This retrospective case series investigated the patterns of FK from 2007 to 2014. We compared these to 1994-2006 data from the same hospital. DESIGN: Retrospective observational study. METHODS: All cases of FK presenting to Moorfields Eye Hospital between 2007 and 2014 were identified. The definition of FK was either a fungal organism isolated by culture or fungal structures identified by light microscopy (LM) of scrape material, histopathology, or in vivo corneal confocal microscopy (IVCM). Main outcome measure was cases of FK per year. RESULTS: A total of 112 patients had confirmed FK. Median age was 47.2 years. Between 2007 and 2014, there was an increase in annual numbers of FK (Poisson regression, P = .0001). FK was confirmed using various modalities: 79 (70.5%) by positive culture, 16 (14.3%) by LM, and 61 (54.5%) by IVCM. Seventy-eight patients (69.6%) were diagnosed with filamentary fungus alone, 28 (25%) with yeast alone, and 6 (5.4%) with mixed filamentary and yeast infections. This represents an increase in the proportion of filamentary fungal infections from the pre-2007 data. Filamentary fungal and yeast infections were associated with CL use and OSD, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The number of FK cases has increased. This increase is due to CL-associated filamentary FK. Clinicians should be aware of these changes, which warrant epidemiologic investigations to identify modifiable risk factors

Order of same-day concurrent training influences some indices of power development, but not strength, lean mass, or aerobic fitness in healthy, moderately-active men after 9 weeks of training

Background: The importance of concurrent exercise order for improving endurance and resistance adaptations remains unclear, particularly when sessions are performed a few hours apart. We investigated the effects of concurrent training (in alternate orders, separated by ~3 hours) on endurance and resistance training adaptations, compared to resistance-only training. Materials and methods: Twenty-nine healthy, moderately-active men (mean ± SD; age 24.5 ± 4.7 y; body mass 74.9 ± 10.8 kg; height 179.7 ± 6.5 cm) performed either resistance-only training (RT, n = 9), or same-day concurrent training whereby high-intensity interval training was performed either 3 hours before (HIIT+RT, n = 10) or after resistance training (RT+HIIT, n = 10), for 3 d.wk-1 over 9 weeks. Training-induced changes in leg press 1-repetition maximal (1-RM) strength, countermovement jump (CMJ) performance, body composition, peak oxygen uptake (VO2 peak), aerobic power (W peak), and lactate threshold (W LT) were assessed before, and after both 5 and 9 weeks of training. Results: After 9 weeks, all training groups increased leg press 1-RM (~24–28%) and total lean mass (~3-4%), with no clear differences between groups. Both concurrent groups elicited similar small-to-moderate improvements in all markers of aerobic fitness (VO 2 peak ~8–9%; W LT ~16-20%; W peak ~14-15%). RT improved CMJ displacement (mean ± SD, 5.3 ± 6.3%), velocity (2.2 ± 2.7%), force (absolute: 10.1 ± 10.1%), and power (absolute: 9.8 ± 7.6%; relative: 6.0 ± 6.6%). HIIT+RT elicited comparable improvements in CMJ velocity only (2.2 ± 2.7%). Compared to RT, RT+HIIT attenuated CMJ displacement (mean difference ± 90%CI, -5.1 ± 4.3%), force (absolute: -8.2 ± 7.1%) and power (absolute: -6.0 ± 4.7%). Only RT+HIIT reduced absolute fat mass (mean ± SD, -11.0 ± 11.7%). Conclusions: In moderately-active males, concurrent training, regardless of the exercise order, presents a viable strategy to improve lower-body maximal strength and total lean mass comparably to resistance-only training, whilst also improving indices of aerobic fitness. However, improvements in CMJ displacement, force, and power were attenuated when RT was performed before HIIT, and as such, exercise order may be an important consideration when designing training programs in which the goal is to improve lower-body power. © 2020 Lee et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

Study protocol: evaluation of a parenting and stress management programme: a randomised controlled trial of Triple P discussion groups and stress control

<br>Background: Children displaying psychosocial problems are at an increased risk of negative developmental outcomes. Parenting practices are closely linked with child development and behaviour, and parenting programmes have been recommended in the treatment of child psychosocial problems. However, parental mental health also needs to be addressed when delivering parenting programmes as it is linked with parenting practices, child outcomes, and treatment outcomes of parenting programmes. This paper describes the protocol of a study examining the effects of a combined intervention of a parenting programme and a cognitive behavioural intervention for mental health problems.</br> <br>Methods: The effects of a combined intervention of Triple P Discussion Groups and Stress Control will be examined using a randomised controlled trial design. Parents with a child aged 3?8?years will be recruited to take part in the study. After obtaining informed consent and pre-intervention measures, participants will be randomly assigned to either an intervention or a waitlist condition. The two primary outcomes for this study are change in dysfunctional/ineffective parenting practices and change in symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress. Secondary outcomes are child behaviour problems, parenting experiences, parental self-efficacy, family relationships, and positive parental mental health. Demographic information, participant satisfaction with the intervention, and treatment fidelity data will also be collected. Data will be collected at pre-intervention, mid-intervention, post-intervention, and 3-month follow-up.</br> <br>Discussion: The aim of this paper is to describe the study protocol of a randomised controlled trial evaluating the effects of a combined intervention of Triple P Discussion Groups and Stress Control in comparison to a waitlist condition. This study is important because it will provide evidence about the effects of this combined intervention for parents with 3?8?year old children. The results of the study could be used to inform policy about parenting support and support for parents with mental health problems. Trial registration ClinicalTrial.gov: NCT01777724, UTN: U1111-1137-1053.</br&gt

Managing Injuries of the Neck Trial (MINT) : design of a randomised controlled trial of treatments for whiplash associated disorders

Background: A substantial proportion of patients with whiplash injuries develop chronic symptoms. However, the best treatment of acute injuries to prevent long-term problems is uncertain. A stepped care treatment pathway has been proposed, in which patients are given advice and education at their initial visit to the emergency department (ED), followed by review at three weeks and physiotherapy for those with persisting symptoms. MINT is a two-stage randomised controlled trial to evaluate two components of such a pathway: 1. use of The Whiplash Book versus usual advice when patients first attend the emergency department; 2. referral to physiotherapy versus reinforcement of advice for patients with continuing symptoms at three weeks. Methods: Evaluation of the Whiplash Book versus usual advice uses a cluster randomised design in emergency departments of eight NHS Trusts. Eligible patients are identified by clinicians in participating emergency departments and are sent a study questionnaire within a week of their ED attendance. Three thousand participants will be included. Patients with persisting symptoms three weeks after their ED attendance are eligible to join an individually randomised study of physiotherapy versus reinforcement of the advice given in ED. Six hundred participants will be randomised. Follow-up is at 4, 8 and 12 months after their ED attendance. Primary outcome is the Neck Disability Index (NDI), and secondary outcomes include quality of life and time to return to work and normal activities. An economic evaluation is being carried out. Conclusion: This paper describes the protocol and operational aspects of a complex intervention trial based in NHS emergency and physiotherapy departments, evaluating two components of a stepped-care approach to the treatment of whiplash injuries. The trial uses two randomisations, with the first stage being cluster randomised and the second individually randomised

NO-Mediated [Ca2+]cyt Increases Depend on ADP-Ribosyl Cyclase Activity in Arabidopsis.

Cyclic ADP ribose (cADPR) is a Ca(2+)-mobilizing intracellular second messenger synthesized from NAD by ADP-ribosyl cyclases (ADPR cyclases). In animals, cADPR targets the ryanodine receptor present in the sarcoplasmic/endoplasmic reticulum to promote Ca(2+) release from intracellular stores to increase the concentration of cytosolic free Ca(2+) in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), and cADPR has been proposed to play a central role in signal transduction pathways evoked by the drought and stress hormone, abscisic acid, and the circadian clock. Despite evidence for the action of cADPR in Arabidopsis, no predicted proteins with significant similarity to the known ADPR cyclases have been reported in any plant genome database, suggesting either that there is a unique route for cADPR synthesis or that a homolog of ADPR cyclase with low similarity might exist in plants. We sought to determine whether the low levels of ADPR cyclase activity reported in Arabidopsis are indicative of a bona fide activity that can be associated with the regulation of Ca(2+) signaling. We adapted two different fluorescence-based assays to measure ADPR cyclase activity in Arabidopsis and found that this activity has the characteristics of a nucleotide cyclase that is activated by nitric oxide to increase cADPR and mobilize Ca(2.)This work was supported by the Islamic Development Bank and the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust (SMA-A), Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CTH) and BBSRC UK grant BB/D017904/1 (AND) awarded to AARW.This is the author accepted manuscript. It is permanently embargoed to comply with the publisher’s copyright terms. The final version is available from American Society of Plant Biologists via https://doi.org10.1104/pp.15.0196