918 research outputs found

    'Not to Be Harsh but Try Less to Relate to 'the Teens' and You'll Relate to Them More': Co-Designing Obesity Prevention Text Messages with Adolescents.

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    Text messages remain a preferred way for adolescents to communicate, and recent evidence suggests adolescents would like access to digital healthcare options. However, there is limited evidence for text messages to engage adolescent populations in obesity prevention behaviors. We aimed to co-design a bank of text messages that are evidence-based, acceptable, and engaging for adolescents. An established iterative mixed methods process, consisting of three phases, was used to develop the text message program. The first bank of 145 text messages was drafted based on current evidence, behavior change techniques, and input from researchers and health professionals. A survey was then administered to adolescents and professionals for review of text message content, usefulness, understanding, and age-appropriateness. An adolescent research assistant collaborated with the research team on all three phases. Forty participants (25 adolescents and 15 professionals) reviewed the initial bank of 145 text messages. On average, all reviewers agreed the text messages were easy to understand (13.6/15) and useful (13.1/15). In total, 107 text messages were included in the final text message bank to support behavior change and prevent obesity. This study may guide other researchers or health professionals who are seeking to engage adolescents in the co-design of health promotion or intervention content. Effectiveness of the text message program will be tested in a randomized controlled trial

    Identification of elderly fallers by muscle strength measures

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    For efficient prevention of falls among older adults, individuals at a high risk of falling need to be identified. In this study, we searched for muscle strength measures that best identified those individuals who would fall after a gait perturbation and those who recovered their balance. Seventeen healthy older adults performed a range of muscle strength tests. We measured maximum and rate of development of ankle plantar flexion moment, knee extension moment and whole leg push-off force, as well as maximum jump height and hand grip strength. Subsequently, their capacity to regain balance after tripping over an obstacle was determined experimentally. Seven of the participants were classified as fallers based on the tripping outcome. Maximum isometric push-off force in a leg press apparatus was the best measure to identify the fallers, as cross-validation of a discriminant model with this variable resulted in the best classification (86% sensitivity and 90% specificity). Jump height and hand grip strength were strongly correlated to leg press force (r = 0.82 and 0.59, respectively) and can also be used to identify fallers, although with slightly lower specificity. These results indicate that whole leg extension strength is associated with the ability to prevent a fall after a gait perturbation and might be used to identify the elderly at risk of falling

    Minimising disability and falls in older people through a post-hospital exercise program: a protocol for a randomised controlled trial and economic evaluation

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    Background: Disability and falls are particularly common among older people who have recently been hospitalised. There is evidence that disability severity and fall rates can be reduced by well-designed exercise interventions. However, the potential for exercise to have these benefits in older people who have spent time in hospital has not been established. This randomised controlled trial will investigate the effects of a home-based exercise program on disability and falls among people who have had recent hospital stays. The cost-effectiveness of the exercise program from the health and community service provider's perspective will be established. In addition, predictors for adherence with the exercise program will be determined. Methods and design: Three hundred and fifty older people who have recently had hospital stays will participate in the study. Participants will have no medical contraindications to exercise and will be cognitively and physically able to complete the assessments and exercise program. The primary outcome measures will be mobility-related disability (measured with 12 monthly questionnaires and the Short Physical Performance Battery) and falls (measured with 12 monthly calendars). Secondary measures will be tests of risk of falling, additional measures of mobility, strength and flexibility, quality of life, fall-related self efficacy, health-system and community-service contact, assistance from others, difficulty with daily tasks, physical activity levels and adverse events. After discharge from hospital and completion of all hospital-related treatments, participants will be randomly allocated to an intervention group or usual-care control group. For the intervention group, an individualised home exercise program will be established and progressed during ten home visits from a physiotherapist. Participants will be asked to exercise at home up to 6 times per week for the 12-month study period. Discussion: The study will determine the impact of this exercise intervention on mobility-related disability and falls in older people who have been in hospital as well as cost-effectiveness and predictors of adherence to the program. Thus, the results will have direct implications for the design and implementation of interventions for this high-risk group of older people.7 page(s

    Evidence for an excess of B -> D(*) Tau Nu decays

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    Based on the full BaBar data sample, we report improved measurements of the ratios R(D(*)) = B(B -> D(*) Tau Nu)/B(B -> D(*) l Nu), where l is either e or mu. These ratios are sensitive to new physics contributions in the form of a charged Higgs boson. We measure R(D) = 0.440 +- 0.058 +- 0.042 and R(D*) = 0.332 +- 0.024 +- 0.018, which exceed the Standard Model expectations by 2.0 sigma and 2.7 sigma, respectively. Taken together, our results disagree with these expectations at the 3.4 sigma level. This excess cannot be explained by a charged Higgs boson in the type II two-Higgs-doublet model. We also report the observation of the decay B -> D Tau Nu, with a significance of 6.8 sigma.Comment: Expanded section on systematics, text corrections, improved the format of Figure 2 and included the effect of the change of the Tau polarization due to the charged Higg

    Search for the decay modes D^0 → e^+e^-, D^0 → μ^+μ^-, and D^0 → e^±μ∓

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    We present searches for the rare decay modes D^0→e^+e^-, D^0→μ^+μ^-, and D^0→e^±μ^∓ in continuum e^+e^-→cc events recorded by the BABAR detector in a data sample that corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 468  fb^(-1). These decays are highly Glashow–Iliopoulos–Maiani suppressed but may be enhanced in several extensions of the standard model. Our observed event yields are consistent with the expected backgrounds. An excess is seen in the D^0→μ^+μ^- channel, although the observed yield is consistent with an upward background fluctuation at the 5% level. Using the Feldman–Cousins method, we set the following 90% confidence level intervals on the branching fractions: B(D^0→e^+e^-)<1.7×10^(-7), B(D^0→μ^+μ^-) within [0.6,8.1]×10^(-7), and B(D^0→e^±μ^∓)<3.3×10^(-7)

    A search for the decay modes B+/- to h+/- tau l

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    We present a search for the lepton flavor violating decay modes B+/- to h+/- tau l (h= K,pi; l= e,mu) using the BaBar data sample, which corresponds to 472 million BBbar pairs. The search uses events where one B meson is fully reconstructed in one of several hadronic final states. Using the momenta of the reconstructed B, h, and l candidates, we are able to fully determine the tau four-momentum. The resulting tau candidate mass is our main discriminant against combinatorial background. We see no evidence for B+/- to h+/- tau l decays and set a 90% confidence level upper limit on each branching fraction at the level of a few times 10^-5.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

    Individual nutrition therapy and exercise regime: A controlled trial of injured, vulnerable elderly (INTERACTIVE trial)

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    © 2008 Thomas et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Background Proximal femoral fractures are amongst the most devastating consequences of osteoporosis and injurious accidental falls with 25–35% of patients dying in the first year post-fracture. Effective rehabilitation strategies are evolving however, despite established associations between nutrition, mobility, strength and strength-related functional outcomes; there has been only one small study with older adults immediately following fragility fracture where a combination of both exercise and nutrition have been provided. The aim of the INTERACTIVE trial is to establish whether a six month, individualised exercise and nutrition program commencing within fourteen days of surgery for proximal femur fracture, results in clinically and statistically significant improvements in physical function, body composition and quality of life at an acceptable level of cost and resource use and without increasing the burden of caregivers. Methods and Design This randomised controlled trial will be performed across two sites, a 500 bed acute hospital in Adelaide, South Australia and a 250 bed acute hospital in Sydney, New South Wales. Four hundred and sixty community-dwelling older adults aged > 70 will be recruited after suffering a proximal femoral fracture and followed into the community over a 12-month period. Participants allocated to the intervention group will receive a six month individualised care plan combining resistance training and nutrition therapy commencing within 14 days post-surgery. Outcomes will be assessed by an individual masked to treatment allocation at six and 12 months. To determine differences between the groups at the primary end-point (six months), ANCOVA or logistic regression will be used with models adjusted according to potential confounders. Discussion The INTERACTIVE trial is among the first to combine nutrition and exercise therapy as an early intervention to address the serious consequence of rapid deconditioning and weight loss and subsequent ability to regain pre-morbid function in older patients post proximal femoral fracture. The results of this trial will guide the development of more effective rehabilitation programs, which may ultimately lead to reduced health care costs, and improvements in mobility, independence and quality of life for proximal femoral fracture sufferers. Trial registration Australian Clinical Trials Registry: ACTRN12607000017426

    Observation and study of baryonic B decays: B -> D(*) p pbar, D(*) p pbar pi, and D(*) p pbar pi pi

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    We present a study of ten B-meson decays to a D(*), a proton-antiproton pair, and a system of up to two pions using BaBar's data set of 455x10^6 BBbar pairs. Four of the modes (B0bar -> D0 p anti-p, B0bar -> D*0 p anti-p, B0bar -> D+ p anti-p pi-, B0bar -> D*+ p anti-p pi-) are studied with improved statistics compared to previous measurements; six of the modes (B- -> D0 p anti-p pi-, B- -> D*0 p anti-p pi-, B0bar -> D0 p anti-p pi- pi+, B0bar -> D*0 p anti-p pi- pi+, B- -> D+ p anti-p pi- pi-, B- -> D*+ p anti-p pi- pi-) are first observations. The branching fractions for 3- and 5-body decays are suppressed compared to 4-body decays. Kinematic distributions for 3-body decays show non-overlapping threshold enhancements in m(p anti-p) and m(D(*)0 p) in the Dalitz plots. For 4-body decays, m(p pi-) mass projections show a narrow peak with mass and full width of (1497.4 +- 3.0 +- 0.9) MeV/c2, and (47 +- 12 +- 4) MeV/c2, respectively, where the first (second) errors are statistical (systematic). For 5-body decays, mass projections are similar to phase space expectations. All results are preliminary.Comment: 28 pages, 90 postscript figures, submitted to LP0

    Study of the reaction e^{+}e^{-} -->J/psi\pi^{+}\pi^{-} via initial-state radiation at BaBar

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    We study the process e+eJ/ψπ+πe^+e^-\to J/\psi\pi^{+}\pi^{-} with initial-state-radiation events produced at the PEP-II asymmetric-energy collider. The data were recorded with the BaBar detector at center-of-mass energies 10.58 and 10.54 GeV, and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 454 fb1\mathrm{fb^{-1}}. We investigate the J/ψπ+πJ/\psi \pi^{+}\pi^{-} mass distribution in the region from 3.5 to 5.5 GeV/c2\mathrm{GeV/c^{2}}. Below 3.7 GeV/c2\mathrm{GeV/c^{2}} the ψ(2S)\psi(2S) signal dominates, and above 4 GeV/c2\mathrm{GeV/c^{2}} there is a significant peak due to the Y(4260). A fit to the data in the range 3.74 -- 5.50 GeV/c2\mathrm{GeV/c^{2}} yields a mass value 4244±54244 \pm 5 (stat) ±4 \pm 4 (syst)MeV/c2\mathrm{MeV/c^{2}} and a width value 11415+16114 ^{+16}_{-15} (stat)±7 \pm 7(syst)MeV\mathrm{MeV} for this state. We do not confirm the report from the Belle collaboration of a broad structure at 4.01 GeV/c2\mathrm{GeV/c^{2}}. In addition, we investigate the π+π\pi^{+}\pi^{-} system which results from Y(4260) decay
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