Evaluating the impact of physical activity apps and wearables: interdisciplinary review

Background: Although many smartphone apps and wearables have been designed to improve physical activity, their rapidly evolving nature and complexity present challenges for evaluating their impact. Traditional methodologies, such as randomized controlled trials (RCTs), can be slow. To keep pace with rapid technological development, evaluations of mobile health technologies must be efficient. Rapid alternative research designs have been proposed, and efficient in-app data collection methods, including in-device sensors and device-generated logs, are available. Along with effectiveness, it is important to measure engagement (ie, users’ interaction and usage behavior) and acceptability (ie, users’ subjective perceptions and experiences) to help explain how and why apps and wearables work. Objectives: This study aimed to (1) explore the extent to which evaluations of physical activity apps and wearables: employ rapid research designs; assess engagement, acceptability, as well as effectiveness; use efficient data collection methods; and (2) describe which dimensions of engagement and acceptability are assessed. Method: An interdisciplinary scoping review using 8 databases from health and computing sciences. Included studies measured physical activity, and evaluated physical activity apps or wearables that provided sensor-based feedback. Results were analyzed using descriptive numerical summaries, chi-square testing, and qualitative thematic analysis. Results: A total of 1829 abstracts were screened, and 858 articles read in full. Of 111 included studies, 61 (55.0%) were published between 2015 and 2017. Most (55.0%, 61/111) were RCTs, and only 2 studies (1.8%) used rapid research designs: 1 single-case design and 1 multiphase optimization strategy. Other research designs included 23 (22.5%) repeated measures designs, 11 (9.9%) nonrandomized group designs, 10 (9.0%) case studies, and 4 (3.6%) observational studies. Less than one-third of the studies (32.0%, 35/111) investigated effectiveness, engagement, and acceptability together. To measure physical activity, most studies (90.1%, 101/111) employed sensors (either in-device [67.6%, 75/111] or external [23.4%, 26/111]). RCTs were more likely to employ external sensors (accelerometers: P=.005). Studies that assessed engagement (52.3%, 58/111) mostly used device-generated logs (91%, 53/58) to measure the frequency, depth, and length of engagement. Studies that assessed acceptability (57.7%, 64/111) most often used questionnaires (64%, 42/64) and/or qualitative methods (53%, 34/64) to explore appreciation, perceived effectiveness and usefulness, satisfaction, intention to continue use, and social acceptability. Some studies (14.4%, 16/111) assessed dimensions more closely related to usability (ie, burden of sensor wear and use, interface complexity, and perceived technical performance). Conclusions: The rapid increase of research into the impact of physical activity apps and wearables means that evaluation guidelines are urgently needed to promote efficiency through the use of rapid research designs, in-device sensors and user-logs to assess effectiveness, engagement, and acceptability. Screening articles was time-consuming because reporting across health and computing sciences lacked standardization. Reporting guidelines are therefore needed to facilitate the synthesis of evidence across disciplines

Ecology and conservation of breeding lapwings in upland grassland systems: Effects of agricultural management and soil properties

Agriculture is the principal land use throughout Europe and agricultural intensification has been implicated in large reductions in biodiversity, with the negative effects on birds particularly well documented. The lapwing (Vanellus vanellus) is one such species where changes in farming practices has reduced the suitability and quality of breeding habitat, leading to a drop in population size that has been so severe as to warrant its addition to the Red List of Birds of Conservation Concern in the UK. Lowland areas, where agricultural intensification has generally been most pronounced, have been worst affected, however, more recently declines in marginal upland areas, previously considered refuges for breeding wader populations, have been identified. An upland livestock farm in Stirlingshire that uses an in-bye system of fodder crop management and has unusually high densities of breeding lapwings provides a basis for this project to test causal hypotheses for the decline of upland lapwing populations and to identify potential conservation management solutions. Specifically this farm plants a forage brassica in an in-bye field for two consecutive years, followed by reseeding with grass and seven, out of sixteen, in-bye fields have undergone this regime at the study site since 1997. Fields that had undergone fodder crop management supported almost 60% more lapwings than comparable fields that had not previously been planted with the fodder crop. Lapwing density was highest in the year after the fodder crop was planted, once it had been grazed, which results in a high percentage of bare ground, likely to be attractive to nesting lapwings. Lapwing densities remained above that which occurred in fields that had not undergone fodder crop management for a further four years after the field had been returned to grass. The effect of management on lapwing food resources and nesting structure was tested through a field experiment; liming increased the abundance of Allolobophora chlorotica, an earthworm species that was associated with chick foraging location at the study site, suggesting that lapwings may benefit from liming conducted as part of fodder crop management. The relationship between lapwings and soil pH is further explored across 89 sites on mainland Scotland, using soil property data to improve the predictive power of habitat association models, something which has not previously been done for any farmland bird. Adding soil and topographical data to habitat models, based on established relationships between breeding lapwings and their habitat, improved model fit by almost 60%, indicating that soil properties influence the distribution of this species. The density of breeding lapwings was highest at higher altitude sites, but only when the soil was relatively less peaty and less acidic, providing further support for the hypothesis that agricultural liming benefits lapwings. In addition to assessing the conservation benefit of fodder crop management, the economic costs are also considered. Fodder crop management provides a source of livestock fodder in the autumn and winter during a period when forage demands outstrip grass growth, and ultimately improves the grazing quality of the grass that is replaced; this system currently operates outside of any agri-environment scheme (AES). However, at the study site, planting of the fodder crop and grass is delayed to avoid agriculture operations during the breeding season, which reduces yield and hence profitability. An initial estimate of £200 ha-1 is suggested as an incentive to encourage wider adoption of fodder crop management in a “lapwing friendly” manner, although further work is required to determine if this payment level is appropriate and the current method of AES implementation may limit the suitability of fodder crop management as an AES. The results indicate that agricultural liming could benefit breeding lapwings in pasture fields where soil pH falls below pH 5.2, by increasing earthworm abundance. Where soil pH is below pH 5.2, liming should provide a cost effective mechanism for farmers to improve grass yields. Regular soil testing and liming in response to low pH, within improved or semi-improved grassland fields, where management activities such as use of nitrogen fertiliser can contribute to soil acidification, should be advocated to farmers in marginal areas as a mechanism for improving grass productivity whilst potentially benefitting breeding lapwing and other species where earthworms contribute significantly to their diet

Turning Graduate School Aspirations into Enrollment: How Student Affairs Professionals Can Help African American Students

The purpose of this qualitative study was to highlight the relationship between student affairs professionals and African American students who are considering pursuing doctoral degree programs. The data were interpreted through Sanford\u27s (1966) conceptualization of challenge and support. Findings reveal that African American students form meaningful relationships with student affairs professionals that both challenge and support their pursuit of the doctorate. Implications for research and practice are discussed

Chemical evaluation of Carcavelos fortified wine aged in portuguese (Quercus pyrenaica) and french (Quercus robur) oak barrels at medium and high toast

Adega do Casal Manteiga is a winery, publicly owned by the Municipality of Oeiras that produces Carcavelos fortified wine. Carcavelos fortified wine is an appellation of origin and demarcated as D.O.P. (Denominação de Origem Protegida). This study examines the effects of barrels made from botanical species (Quercus pyrenaica, and Quercus robur) and toasting method (medium and high) on a single vintage wine that has been aged for 8 years. Twenty barrels were used, with five replicates for each factor. The barrels were fabricated and toasted using the same cooperage, J.M. Gonçalves in Portugal. Significant differences were seen between the species Q. robur and Q. pyrenaica, with an impact on total phenolic content, including both flavonoids and non-flavonoids. The total phenols of the wine aged in Q. pyrenaica barrels was significantly higher than in the Q. robur barrels, and Q. pyrenaica contained more flavonoids than Q. robur in medium and high toast barrels. Q. pyrenaica showed more non-flavonoid compounds than Q. robur inhigh and medium toasted barrels, but this difference in non-flavonoids was only statistically significant in the high toasted barrels. The degree of toasting had significant effects on the flavonoid content of the wine, as well as the tanning power. Flavonoid content increased for both Q. pyrenaica and Q. robur in the wines that were aged in high tasted barrels compared to those that were medium toasted. The tannin power decreased for both Q. pyrenaica and Q. robur when the toasting increasedinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Differential thermal analysis and solution growth of intermetallic compounds

To obtain single crystals by solution growth, an exposed primary solidification surface in the appropriate, but often unknown, equilibrium alloy phase diagram is required. Furthermore, an appropriate crucible material is needed, necessary to hold the molten alloy during growth, without being attacked by it. Recently, we have used the comparison of realistic simulations with experimental differential thermal analysis (DTA) curves to address both these problems. We have found: 1) complex DTA curves can be interpreted to determine an appropriate heat treatment and starting composition for solution growth, without having to determine the underlying phase diagrams in detail. 2) DTA can facilitate identification of appropriate crucible materials. DTA can thus be used to make the procedure to obtain single crystals of a desired phase by solution growth more efficient. We will use some of the systems for which we have recently obtained single-crystalline samples using the combination of DTA and solution growth as examples. These systems are TbAl, Pr$_7$Ni$_2$Si$_5$, and YMn$_4$Al$_8$.Comment: 17 pages, 8 figure

The AAACF Community Scholarship Program: A Strategic Approach to Building Community

Five years ago, the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation decided to take a strategic approach to offering college scholarships that would address gaps in educational achievement among local students. To increase the impact of its scholarship program, the foundation shifted its emphasis from one-time awards to promoting degree attainment, and determined that the criteria for new scholarships would be based on impact data instead of donor intent. The Community Scholarship Program awards multiyear scholarships to local students of color, students from low-income families, and first-generation college students, and provides them with a dedicated college success coach to help them successfully navigate through higher education. The program is in the midst of a four-year evaluation of its impact on persistence and degree completion among its scholarship recipients, and early assessments indicate positive outcomes. This article outlines the evolution of the program, examining its design, implementation, and outcomes to date. To encourage replication in other communities, it concludes with recommendations for other community foundations interested in addressing disparities in access to college and degree attainment in the United States

Diagnosing pregnancy in sheep : the \u27Scanopreg\u27

The Scanopreg , an ultrasonic machine for diagnosing pregnancy in sheep, is effective as early as eight to nine weeks of pregnancy, and could therefore be a useful management tool

A Robust Solution to the Super-Resolution Phase Problem in Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy

From a set of images, each of poor resolution, recorded in a transmission microscope under many different incident angles of coherent illumination, it is possible to obtain wavelength-limited resolution even if there is a narrow aperture lying in the back-focal plane of the imaging lens. This is achieved by a deconvolution algorithm which retrieves the phase of the Fourier transform of the specimen. The method accounts for complex components in the transfer function of the lens, is not very sensitive to defocus and is remarkably resilient to noise. It may have important applications in overcoming the resolution limit in the scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM), where such data are readily available