Service provider difficulties in operationalising coercive control

We examined perspectives of social workers, police officers, and specialist domestic abuse practitioners about their perceived ability and organizational readiness to respond effectively to incidents of coercive and controlling behavior. Interviews revealed intervention and risk assessment strategies structured around an outdated, maladaptive concept of domestic abuse as an unambiguous and violent event and frontline services that lacked appreciation of the power dynamics inherent in controlling relationships. The analysis demonstrates how lack of definitional clarity around nonphysical domestic abuse can increase the use of discretion by frontline services and, by extension, increase the discounting of coercive control by pressured frontline officers

Phylogenetics of Begonia section Gireoudia

Begonia is one of the most species-rich angiosperm genera with c. 1500 species currently identified and a pantropical distribution. Although Begonia are predominantly found in ever wet rain forests, they can also be found in other habitats including dry, desert scrub, and at altitudes from sea level to over 3000 meters. Begonia can also exhibit huge morphological variation between closely related species thus making them an ideal system for the study of the ecology, biogeography and developmental evolution of tropical plants. Previous work carried out at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh focused on the phylogenetic framework and biogeographic history of African and Asian Begonias. This work on the Neotropical Begonia Section Gireoudia, aims to complement those studies and to provide a framework for determining how macro- and micro-evolutionary processes have contributed to the high level of diversity in Begonia worldwide. Traditionally used nuclear and chloroplast markers for phylogenetics failed to resolve species level relationships within sect. Gireoudia, therefore an alternative approach using next-generation sequencing technology was developed. A multiplexed, massively parallel sequencing approach was developed to sequence sixteen Begonia chloroplast genomes on the Illumina GAIIx genome analyser in order to identify chloroplast regions with sufficient phylogenetic information to resolve a species-level phylogeny. The lack of a reference chloroplast genome sequence for Begonia led to the development of a new method combining sequence from conserved angiosperm chloroplast genome sequences together with long-range PCR to generate the samples. Eighteen, overlapping long-range PCR amplicons for each Begonia species were used in a multiplexed sequencing reaction on an Illumina GAIIx and the chloroplast sequence reads were assembled using a de novo approach. A selection of potentially, phylogenetically informative regions, determined from the large-scale chloroplast alignment generated during this study, were assessed. Two of these regions were chosen for further phylogenetic analysis and resulted in improved resolution of American Begonia, sect. Gireoudia. This study successfully demonstrates a new innovative approach to that normally taken in traditional molecular systematics. The research presented provides a framework for the development of new molecular markers that are suitable for low-level phylogenetic studies, especially where recent radiations make resolution of species groups difficult, such as Begonia. New sequencing technologies such as those used here will provide powerful new tools for students of molecular evolution, phylogenetics and taxonom

Accelerometer-measured physical activity in mid-age Australian adults

BACKGROUND: Raw data from accelerometers can provide valuable insights into specific attributes of physical activity, such as time spent in intensity-specific activity. The aim of this study was to describe physical activity assessed with raw data from triaxial wrist-worn accelerometers in mid-age Australian adults. METHODS: Data were from 700 mid-age adults living in Brisbane, Australia (mean age: 60.4; SD:7.1 years). Data from a non-dominant wrist worn triaxial accelerometer (Actigraph wGT3X-BT), expressed as acceleration in gravitational equivalent units (1 mg = 0.001 g), were used to estimate time spent in moderate-vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA; >100 mg) using different bout criteria (non-bouted, 1-, 5-, and 10-min bouts), and the proportion of participants who spent an average of at least one minute per day in vigorous physical activity. RESULTS: Mean acceleration was 23.2 mg (SD: 7.5) and did not vary by gender (men: 22.4; women: 23.7; p-value: 0.073) or education (p-value: 0.375). On average, mean acceleration was 10% (2.5 mg) lower per decade of age from age 55y. The median durations in non-bouted, 1-min, 5-min and 10-min MVPA bouts were, respectively, 68 (25th -75th : 45–99), 26 (25th -75th : 12–46), 10 (25th -75th : 3–24) and 8 (25th -75th : 0–19) min/day. Around one third of the sample did at least one minute per day in vigorous intensity activities. CONCLUSION: This population-based cohort provided a detailed description of physical activity based on raw data from accelerometers in mid-age adults in Australia. Such data can be used to investigate how different patterns and intensities of physical activity vary across the day/week and influence health outcomes

The association between sedentary leisure and physical activity in middle-aged adults

Aim The aim of this study was to examine the association between time spent in sedentary leisure and physical activity level in mid-aged men and women

Acidosis slows electrical conduction through the atrio-ventricular node

Acidosis affects the mechanical and electrical activity of mammalian hearts but comparatively little is known about its effects on the function of the atrio-ventricular node (AVN). In this study, the electrical activity of the epicardial surface of the left ventricle of isolated Langendorff-perfused rabbit hearts was examined using optical methods. Perfusion with hypercapnic Tyrode's solution (20% CO2, pH 6.7) increased the time of earliest activation (Tact) from 100.5 ± 7.9 to 166.1 ± 7.2 ms (n = 8) at a pacing cycle length (PCL) of 300 ms (37°C). Tact increased at shorter PCL, and the hypercapnic solution prolonged Tact further: at 150 ms PCL, Tact was prolonged from 131.0 ± 5.2 to 174.9 ± 16.3 ms. 2:1 AVN block was common at shorter cycle lengths. Atrial and ventricular conduction times were not significantly affected by the hypercapnic solution suggesting that the increased delay originated in the AVN. Isolated right atrial preparations were superfused with Tyrode's solutions at pH 7.4 (control), 6.8 and 6.3. Low pH prolonged the atrial-Hisian (AH) interval, the AVN effective and functional refractory periods and Wenckebach cycle length significantly. Complete AVN block occurred in 6 out of 9 preparations. Optical imaging of conduction at the AV junction revealed increased conduction delay in the region of the AVN, with less marked effects in atrial and ventricular tissue. Thus acidosis can dramatically prolong the AVN delay, and in combination with short cycle lengths, this can cause partial or complete AVN block and is therefore implicated in the development of brady-arrhythmias in conditions of local or systemic acidosis

Service provider difficulties in operationalising coercive control

© The Author(s) 2018. We examined perspectives of social workers, police officers, and specialist domestic abuse practitioners about their perceived ability and organizational readiness to respond effectively to incidents of coercive and controlling behavior. Interviews revealed intervention and risk assessment strategies structured around an outdated, maladaptive concept of domestic abuse as an unambiguous and violent event and frontline services that lacked appreciation of the power dynamics inherent in controlling relationships. The analysis demonstrates how lack of definitional clarity around nonphysical domestic abuse can increase the use of discretion by frontline services and, by extension, increase the discounting of coercive control by pressured frontline officers

Identifying patterns of item missing survey data using latent groups: An observational study

Objectives: To examine whether respondents to a survey of health and physical activity and potential determinants could be grouped according to the questions they missed, known as ‘item missing’. Design: Observational study of longitudinal data. Setting: Residents of Brisbane, Australia. Participants: 6901 people aged 40–65 years in 2007. Materials and methods: We used a latent class model with a mixture of multinomial distributions and chose the number of classes using the Bayesian information criterion. We used logistic regression to examine if participants’ characteristics were associated with their modal latent class. We used logistic regression to examine whether the amount of item missing in a survey predicted wave missing in the following survey. Results: Four per cent of participants missed almost one-fifth of the questions, and this group missed more questions in the middle of the survey. Eighty-three per cent of participants completed almost every question, but had a relatively high missing probability for a question on sleep time, a question which had an inconsistent presentation compared with the rest of the survey. Participants who completed almost every question were generally younger and more educated. Participants who completed more questions were less likely to miss the next longitudinal wave. Conclusions: Examining patterns in item missing data has improved our understanding of how missing data were generated and has informed future survey design to help reduce missing data

Is physical inactivity associated with depressive symptoms among adolescents with high screen time? Evidence from a developing country

Background Increasing levels of screen use and physical inactivity in developing countries may be deleterious for adolescent mental health. This study aimed to examine how physical inactivity is associated with concurrent depressive symptoms among adolescents with high recreational screen time in Bangladesh. Methods A self-administered survey was conducted among 898 secondary school students of Dhaka city, Bangladesh. High screen-time was assessed using the Adolescent Sedentary Activity Questionnaire (ASAQ), with a cut-off of >2\ua0h/day. Scores ≥10 on the 10-item Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CESD10) suggested depressive symptoms. The Three-Day Physical Activity Recall (3DPAR) instrument was used to estimate physical activity, with those doing ≤60\ua0min/day of moderate-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) classified as not meeting MVPA recommendations. Of the 599 adolescents who were determined to have high recreational screen time (>2\ua0h/day), 505 completed the CESD10, and form the basis for this analysis. Results Of the adolescents with high recreational screen time, 32% did not meet MVPA recommendations and 25% reported depressive symptoms. Generalized estimating equations modelling on CESD scores showed that depressive symptoms were more prevalent among adolescents with high screen time who also did not meet MVPA recommendations (OR 2.37; 95% CI: 1.23–4.59), after adjusting for a set of confounders including sociodemographic, psychosocial and lifestyle factors. Conclusions Adolescents in Dhaka city with high recreational screen time and not meeting physical activity recommendations are also likely to have depressive symptoms. More research is needed to understand the causal directions of these relationships