Effect of Brief Biofeedback via a Smartphone App on Stress Recovery: Randomized Experimental Study.

BACKGROUND:Smartphones are often vilified for negatively influencing well-being and contributing to stress. However, these devices may, in fact, be useful in times of stress and, in particular, aid in stress recovery. Mobile apps that deliver evidence-based techniques for stress reduction, such as heart rate variability biofeedback (HRVB) training, hold promise as convenient, accessible, and effective stress-reducing tools. Numerous mobile health apps that may potentially aid in stress recovery are available, but very few have demonstrated that they can influence health-related physiological stress parameters (eg, salivary biomarkers of stress). The ability to recover swiftly from stress and reduce physiological arousal is particularly important for long-term health, and thus, it is imperative that evidence is provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of stress-reducing mobile health apps in this context. OBJECTIVE:The purpose of this research was to investigate the physiological and psychological effects of using a smartphone app for HRVB training following a stressful experience. The efficacy of the gamified Breather component of the Happify mobile health app was examined in an experimental setting. METHODS:In this study, participants (N=140) underwent a laboratory stressor and were randomly assigned to recover in one of three ways: with no phone present, with a phone present, with the HRBV game. Those in the no phone condition had no access to their phone. Those in the phone present condition had their phone but did not use it. Those in the HRVB game condition used the serious game Breather on the Happify app. Stress recovery was assessed via repeated measures of salivary alpha amylase, cortisol, and self-reported acute stress (on a 1-100 scale). RESULTS:Participants in the HRVB game condition had significantly lower levels of salivary alpha amylase during recovery than participants in the other conditions (F2,133=3.78, P=.03). There were no significant differences among the conditions during recovery for salivary cortisol levels or self-reported stress. CONCLUSIONS:These results show that engaging in a brief HRVB training session on a smartphone reduces levels of salivary alpha amylase following a stressful experience, providing preliminary evidence for the effectiveness of Breather in improving physiological stress recovery. Given the known ties between stress recovery and future well-being, this study provides a possible mechanism by which gamified biofeedback apps may lead to better health

Noncoronary Cardiac Abnormalities Are Associated With Coronary Artery Dilation and With Laboratory Inflammatory Markers in Acute Kawasaki Disease

ObjectivesWe explored the association of noncoronary cardiac abnormalities with coronary artery dilation and with laboratory inflammatory markers early after Kawasaki disease (KD) diagnosis.BackgroundLeft ventricular (LV) dysfunction, mitral regurgitation (MR), and aortic root dilation occur early after diagnosis; their associations with coronary artery dilation and inflammatory markers have not been well-described.MethodsCentrally interpreted echocardiograms were obtained at KD diagnosis and 1 and 5 weeks after diagnosis on 198 subjects in the National Institutes of Health-sponsored Pediatric Heart Network KD pulsed steroid trial. Regression models were constructed to investigate the relationships among early LV dysfunction, MR, and aortic root dilation with coronary artery dilation and laboratory inflammatory markers.ResultsAt diagnosis, LV systolic dysfunction was present in 20% of subjects and was associated with coronary artery dilation, seen in 29% (p = 0.004). Although LV dysfunction improved rapidly, LV dysfunction at diagnosis predicted greater odds of coronary artery dilation at 1 and 5 weeks after diagnosis (5-week odds ratio: 2.7, 95% confidence interval: 1.2 to 6.3). At diagnosis, MR was present in 27% of subjects and aortic root dilation was present in 8%; each was associated with larger coronary artery size at diagnosis. Left ventricular dysfunction was associated with higher erythrocyte sedimentation rate and, at diagnosis only, lower serum albumin; MR was associated with higher erythrocyte sedimentation rate and lower albumin at all times. Aortic root size had little association with inflammatory markers.ConclusionsNoncoronary cardiac abnormalities are associated with coronary artery dilation and laboratory evidence of inflammation in the first 5 weeks after KD, suggesting a shared inflammatory mechanism. (Trial of Pulse Steroid Therapy in Kawasaki Disease [A Trial Conducted by the Pediatric Heart Network]; NCT00132080

The Women’s Equality Party: Emergence, Organisation and Challenges

Women's political parties are designed to increase women's representation in politics. More than thirty have been established in Europe since 1987, yet there has been little systematic analysis of why and when they emerge, how they organize, and what challenges they face. We argue that the study of women's parties can offer insights into questions concerning inter and intra-party power relations and the relationship between social movements and political parties, whilst also contributing to broader debates around the 'big questions' of representation, gender (in)equality, and the dynamics of political inclusion and exclusion. This article explores these issues through a case study analysis of the UK's Women's Equality Party. Drawing upon original empirical research undertaken with party activists and officials, we argue that the party's impact has been constrained by wider organizational logics and an unequal party system, whilst it has so far adhered to traditional (male-dominated) patterns of party organisation

Association of Physical Activity and Fracture Risk Among Postmenopausal Women

Importance: Physical activity is inversely associated with hip fracture risk in older women. However, the association of physical activity with fracture at other sites and the role of sedentary behavior remain unclear. Objective: To assess the associations of physical activity and sedentary behavior with fracture incidence among postmenopausal women. Design, Setting, and Participants: The Women\u27s Health Initiative prospective cohort study enrolled 77206 postmenopausal women aged 50 to 79 years between October 1993 and December 1998 at 40 US clinical centers. Participants were observed for outcomes through September 2015, with data analysis conducted from June 2017 to August 2019. Exposures: Self-reported physical activity and sedentary time. Main Outcomes and Measures: Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% CIs for total and site-specific fracture incidence. Results: During a mean (SD) follow-up period of 14.0 (5.2) years among 77206 women (mean [SD] age, 63.4 [7.3] years; 66072 [85.6%] white), 25516 (33.1%) reported a first incident fracture. Total physical activity was inversely associated with the multivariable-adjusted risk of hip fracture ( \u3e 17.7 metabolic equivalent [MET] h/wk vs none: HR, 0.82; 95% CI, 0.72-0.95; P for trend \u3c .001). Inverse associations with hip fracture were also observed for walking ( \u3e 7.5 MET h/wk vs none: HR, 0.88; 95% CI, 0.78-0.98; P for trend = .01), mild activity (HR, 0.82; 95% CI, 0.73-0.93; P for trend = .003), moderate to vigorous activity (HR, 0.88; 95% CI, 0.81-0.96; P for trend = .002), and yard work (HR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.82-0.99; P for trend = .04). Total activity was positively associated with knee fracture ( \u3e 17.7 MET h/wk vs none: HR, 1.26; 95% CI, 1.05-1.50; P for trend = .08). Mild activity was associated with lower risks of clinical vertebral fracture (HR, 0.87; 95% CI, 0.78-0.96; P for trend = .006) and total fractures (HR, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.87-0.94; P for trend \u3c .001). Moderate to vigorous activity was positively associated with wrist or forearm fracture (HR, 1.09; 95% CI, 1.03-1.15; P for trend = .004). After controlling for covariates and total physical activity, sedentary time was positively associated with total fracture risk ( \u3e 9.5 h/d vs \u3c 6.5 h/d: HR, 1.04; 95% CI, 1.01-1.07; P for trend = .01). When analyzed jointly, higher total activity mitigated some of the total fracture risk associated with sedentary behavior. Analysis of time-varying exposures resulted in somewhat stronger associations for total physical activity, whereas those for sedentary time were materially unchanged. Conclusions and Relevance: In older ambulatory women, higher total physical activity was associated with lower total and hip fracture risk but higher knee fracture risk. Mild activity and walking were associated with lower hip fracture risk, a finding with important public health implications because these activities are common in older adults. The positive association between sedentary time and total fracture risk requires further investigation

Potential for elimination of folate and vitamin B12 deficiency in India using vitamin-fortified tea: a preliminary study

Introduction: The majority of Indian women have a poor dietary folate and vitamin B12 intake resulting in their chronically low vitamin status, which contributes to anaemia and the high incidence of folate-responsive neural-tube defects (NTDs) in India. Although many countries have successfully deployed centrally-processed folate-fortified flour for prevention of NTDs, inherent logistical problems preclude widespread implementation of this strategy in India. Because tea-the second most common beverage worldwide (after water)-is consumed by most Indians every day, and appeared an ideal vehicle for fortification with folate and vitamin B12, we determined if daily consumption of vitamin-fortified tea for 2 months could benefit young women of childbearing-age in Sangli, India. Methods: Women (average age=20±2 SD) used teabags spiked with therapeutic doses of 1 mg folate plus either 0.1 mg vitamin B12 (Group-1, n=19) or 0.5 mg vitamin B12 (Group-2, n=19), or mock-fortified teabags (Group-0, n=5) to prepare a cup of tea every day for 2 months, following which their pre-intervention and post-intervention serum vitamin and haemoglobin concentrations were compared. Results: Most women had baseline anaemia with low-normal serum folate and below-normal serum vitamin B12 levels. After 2 months, women in both Group-1 and Group-2 exhibited significant increases in mean differences in pre-intervention versus post-intervention serum folate levels of 8.37 ng/mL (95% CIs 5.69 to 11.04, p<0.05) and 6.69 ng/mL (95% CI 3.93 to 9.44, p<0.05), respectively; however, Group-0 experienced an insignificant rise of 1.26 ng/mL (95% CI -4.08 to 0.16). In addition, over one-half and two-thirds of women in Group-1 and Group-2, respectively, exhibited increases in serum vitamin B12 levels over 300 pg/mL. There was also a significant post-interventional increase in the mean haemoglobin concentration in Group-1 of 1.45 g/dL (95% CI 0.64 to 2.26, p=0.002) and Group-2 of 0.79 g/dL (95% CI 0.11 to 1.42, p=0.027), which reflected a bona fide clinical response. Conclusion: Tea is an outstanding scalable vehicle for fortification with folate and vitamin B12 in India, and has potential to help eliminate haematological and neurological complications arising from inadequate dietary consumption or absorption of folate and vitamin B12

The Large Scale Distribution of Neutral Hydrogen in the Fornax Region

Using HIPASS data, we have searched for HI in a ~25x25 sq.deg. region centred on the Fornax cluster. Within a velocity search range of 300 - 3700 km/s and a lower flux limit of ~40 mJy, 110 galaxies with HI emission were detected, one of which is previously uncatalogued. None of the detections has early-type morphology. Previously unknown velocities for 14 galaxies have been determined, with a further 4 velocity measurements being significantly dissimilar to published values. Identification of an optical counterpart is relatively unambiguous for more than ~90% of our HI galaxies. The galaxies appear to be embedded in a sheet at the cluster velocity which extends for more than 30 deg across the search area. At the nominal cluster distance of ~20 Mpc, this corresponds to an elongated structure more than 10 Mpc in extent. A velocity gradient across the structure is detected, with radial velocities increasing by \~500 km/s from SE to NW. The clustering of galaxies evident in optical surveys is only weakly suggested in the spatial distribution of our HI detections. Our results suggest a considerable deficit of HI-rich galaxies in the centre of the cluster. However, relative to the field, there is a 3(+/-1)-fold excess of HI-rich galaxies in the outer parts of the cluster where galaxies may be infalling towards the cluster for the first time.Comment: 16 pages, 14 figures, 110 HI spectra. To be published in MNRA

The HIPASS Catalogue - II. Completeness, Reliability, and Parameter Accuracy

The HI Parkes All Sky Survey (HIPASS) is a blind extragalactic HI 21-cm emission line survey covering the whole southern sky from declination -90 to +25. The HIPASS catalogue (HICAT), containing 4315 HI-selected galaxies from the region south of declination +2, is presented in Meyer et al. (2004a, Paper I). This paper describes in detail the completeness and reliability of HICAT, which are calculated from the recovery rate of synthetic sources and follow-up observations, respectively. HICAT is found to be 99 per cent complete at a peak flux of 84 mJy and an integrated flux of 9.4 Jy km/s. The overall reliability is 95 per cent, but rises to 99 per cent for sources with peak fluxes >58 mJy or integrated flux > 8.2 Jy km/s. Expressions are derived for the uncertainties on the most important HICAT parameters: peak flux, integrated flux, velocity width, and recessional velocity. The errors on HICAT parameters are dominated by the noise in the HIPASS data, rather than by the parametrization procedure.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. 12 pages, 11 figures. Paper with higher resolution figures can be downloaded from http://hipass.aus-vo.or

Open Science, Closed Doors?:Countering Marginalization through an Agenda for Ethical, Inclusive Research in Communication

The open science (OS) movement has advocated for increased transparency in certain aspects of research. Communication is taking its first steps toward OS as some journals have adopted OS guidelines codified by another discipline. We find this pursuit troubling as OS prioritizes openness while insufficiently addressing essential ethical principles: respect for persons, beneficence, and justice. Some recommended open science practices increase the potential for harm for marginalized participants, communities, and researchers. We elaborate how OS can serve a marginalizing force within academia and the research community, as it overlooks the needs of marginalized scholars and excludes some forms of scholarship. We challenge the current instantiation of OS and propose a divergent agenda for the future of Communication research centered on ethical, inclusive research practices.</p