Animal studies on Spacelab-3

The flight of two squirrel monkeys and 24 rates on Spacelab-3 was the first mission to provide hand-on maintenance on animals in a laboratory environment. With few exceptions, the animals grew and behaved normally, were free of chronic stress, and differed from ground controls only for gravity-dependent parameters. One of the monkeys exhibited symptoms of space sickness similar to those observed in humans, which suggests squirrel monkeys may be good models for studying the space-adaptation syndrome. Among the wide variety of parameters measured in the rats, most notable was the dramatic loss of muscle mass and increased fragility of long bones. Other interesting rat findings were those of suppressed interferon production by spleen cells, defective release of growth hormone by somatotrophs, possible dissociation of circadian pacemakers, changes in hepatic lipid and carbohydrate metabolism, and hypersensitivity of marrow cells to erythopoietin. These results portend a strong role for animals in identifying and elucidating the physiological and anatomical responses of mammals to microgravity

Strong approximation of lacunary series with random gaps

We investigate the asymptotic behavior of sums (Formula presented.), where f is a mean zero, smooth periodic function on (Formula presented.) and (Formula presented.) is a random sequence such that the gaps (Formula presented.) are i.i.d. Our result shows that, in contrast to the classical Salem–Zygmund theory, the almost sure behavior of lacunary series with random gaps can be described very precisely without any assumption on the size of the gaps. © 2017 Springer-Verlag Wie

Animal studies on Spacelab-3

The flight of two squirrel monkeys and 24 rats on Spacelab-3 was the first mission to provide hands-on maintenance on animals in a laboratory environment. With few exceptions, the animals grew and behaved normally, were free of chronic stress, and differed from ground controls only for gravity dependent parameters. One of the monkeys exhibited symptoms of space sickness similar to those observed in humans, which suggests squirrel monkeys may be good models for studying the space adaptation syndrome. Among the wide variety of parameters measured in the rats, most notable was the dramatic loss of muscle mass and increased fragility of long bones. Other interesting rat findings were those of suppressed interferom production by spleen cells, defective release of growth hormone by somatrophs, possible dissociation of circadian pacemakers, changes in hepatic lipid and carbohydrate metabolism, and hypersensitivity of marrow cells to erythropoietin. These results portend a strong role for animals in identifying and elucidating the physiological and anatomical responses of mammals to microgravity

Ecosystem services provided by a non-cultured shellfish species: the common cockle Cerastoderma edule

Coastal habitats provide many important ecosystem services. The substantial role of shellfish in delivering ecosystem services is increasingly recognised, usually with a focus on cultured species, but wild-harvested bivalve species have largely been ignored. This study aimed to collate evidence and data to demonstrate the substantial role played by Europe's main wild-harvested bivalve species, the common cockle Cerastoderma edule, and to assess the ecosystem services that cockles provide. Data and information are synthesised from five countries along the Atlantic European coast with a long history of cockle fisheries. The cockle helps to modify habitat and support biodiversity, and plays a key role in the supporting services on which many of the other services depend. As well as providing food for people, cockles remove nitrogen, phosphorus and carbon from the marine environment, and have a strong cultural influence in these countries along the Atlantic coast. Preliminary economic valuation of some of these services in a European context is provided, and key knowledge gaps identified. It is concluded that the cockle has the potential to become (i) an important focus of conservation and improved sustainable management practices in coastal areas and communities, and (ii) a suitable model species to study the integration of cultural ecosystem services within the broader application of ‘ecosystem services’

Inter‐country differences in the cultural ecosystem services provided by cockles

1. Coastal systems provide many cultural ecosystem services (CES) to humans. Fewer studies have focused solely on CES, while those comparing CES across countries are even rarer. In the case of shellfish, considerable ecosystem services focus has been placed on nutrient remediation, with relatively little on the cultural services provided, despite strong historical, cultural, social and economic links between shellfish and coastal communities. The ecosystem services provided by the common cockle, Cerastoderma edule, have recently been described, yet the cultural benefits from cockles remain mostly unknown. 2. Here, we documented the CES provided by C. edule in five maritime countries along the Atlantic coast of western Europe, classifying evidenced examples of services into an a priori framework. The high-level classes, adapted from the Millennium Assessment and the Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services, were: inspirational, sense of place, spiritual & religious, aesthetic, recreation & ecotourism, cultural heritage and educational. A further 19 sub-classes were defined. We followed a narrative approach to draw out commonalities and differences among countries using a semi-quantitative analysis. 3. Examples of CES provided by cockles were found for all classes in most countries. Cockles supply important and diverse cultural benefits to humans across Atlantic Europe, making it an ideal model species to study CES in coastal areas. Most examples were in cultural heritage, highlighting the importance of this class in comparison with classes which typically receive more attention in the literature like recreation or aesthetics. We also found that the cultural associations with cockles differed among countries, including between neighbouring countries that share a strong maritime heritage. The extent to which cultural associations were linked with the present or past also differed among countries, with stronger association with the present in southern countries and with the past in the north. 4. Understanding the wider benefits of cockles could deepen the recognition of this important coastal resource, and contribute to promoting sustainable management practices, through greater engagement with local communities. This study is an important step towards better integration of CES in coastal environments and could be used as a framework to study the CES of other species or ecosystems

Implementation outcome instruments for use in physical healthcare settings: a systematic review

BACKGROUND: Implementation research aims to facilitate the timely and routine implementation and sustainment of evidence-based interventions and services. A glaring gap in this endeavour is the capability of researchers, healthcare practitioners and managers to quantitatively evaluate implementation efforts using psychometrically sound instruments. To encourage and support the use of precise and accurate implementation outcome measures, this systematic review aimed to identify and appraise studies that assess the measurement properties of quantitative implementation outcome instruments used in physical healthcare settings. METHOD: The following data sources were searched from inception to March 2019, with no language restrictions: MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, HMIC, CINAHL and the Cochrane library. Studies that evaluated the measurement properties of implementation outcome instruments in physical healthcare settings were eligible for inclusion. Proctor et al.'s taxonomy of implementation outcomes was used to guide the inclusion of implementation outcomes: acceptability, appropriateness, feasibility, adoption, penetration, implementation cost and sustainability. Methodological quality of the included studies was assessed using the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) checklist. Psychometric quality of the included instruments was assessed using the Contemporary Psychometrics checklist (ConPsy). Usability was determined by number of items per instrument. RESULTS: Fifty-eight publications reporting on the measurement properties of 55 implementation outcome instruments (65 scales) were identified. The majority of instruments assessed acceptability (n = 33), followed by appropriateness (n = 7), adoption (n = 4), feasibility (n = 4), penetration (n = 4) and sustainability (n = 3) of evidence-based practice. The methodological quality of individual scales was low, with few studies rated as 'excellent' for reliability (6/62) and validity (7/63), and both studies that assessed responsiveness rated as 'poor' (2/2). The psychometric quality of the scales was also low, with 12/65 scales scoring 7 or more out of 22, indicating greater psychometric strength. Six scales (6/65) rated as 'excellent' for usability. CONCLUSION: Investigators assessing implementation outcomes quantitatively should select instruments based on their methodological and psychometric quality to promote consistent and comparable implementation evaluations. Rather than developing ad hoc instruments, we encourage further psychometric testing of instruments with promising methodological and psychometric evidence. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO 2017 CRD42017065348