Toughening by nanostructure

Block copolymer modified epoxy resins have generated significant interest since it was demonstrated that the combination could lead to nanostructured thermosets through self-assembly. Over moderate to high polymer concentration the system behaves as expected for a block copolymer in a solvent selective for one block. Two types of copolymers have been studied: non-reactive and reactive modifiers. Morphologies such as copolymer vesicle and spherical/wormlike micelles can be formed under the appropriate conditions. The enhancement of the modified thermosets' mechanical properties depends on the morphology adopted by the polymers. Besides improving mechanical properties, the morphology was found to also have an effect on the glass transition in the studied systems. In this review we collect the available data on the block copolymers used to fabricate nanostructured epoxy resins and critically appraise the properties reported

Charities’ use of Twitter : exploring social support for women living with and beyond breast cancer

Twitter is one social media platform that enables those experiencing breast cancer to access support from others. This study explores how cancer charities provide support to women living with and beyond breast cancer (LWBBC) through their Twitter feeds. Seven hundred and seventy-two tweets from seven purposively sampled cancer charities were used to explore Twitter posts made relating to social support. Two questions were posed: (1) what type of support is positioned by cancer charities on Twitter for women LWBBC and (2) what themes emerge from tweet content pertaining to support for women LWBBC? Using a peer-reviewed typology of ‘social support’ [Rui, J., Chen, Y., & Damiano, A. (2013). Health organizations providing and seeking social support: A twitter-based content analysis. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, And Social Networking, 16(9), 669–673. doi:10.1089/cyber.2012.0350], a deductive content analysis was utilised to identify informational, instrumental or emotional social support tweets (n = 199). Over half (56%) of tweets offered informational support; 27% provided or sought instrumental support and 18% related to emotional support. Interestingly, 74.3% (n = 573) of tweets were not related to providing or seeking social support. An inductive qualitative thematic analysis of the 199 tweets identified the focus (i.e., themes) of support. Three themes were identified: (1) raising awareness, (2) focusing on the future and (3) sharing stories. Cancer charities predominantly use Twitter to signpost women to informational resources and to seek instrumental support to meet charitable objectives. As the number of women LWBBC continues to increase, this study provides valuable insight into how charities represent themselves on Twitter in relation to the social support needs of women LWBBC

Relationship between objective measures of physical activity and weather: a longitudinal study

BACKGROUND: The weather may be a barrier to physical activity but objective assessment of this hypothesis is lacking. Therefore we evaluated the effect of temperature, rain or snow, and wind speed on the daily physical activity of adults. METHODS: This report contains data from 25 males (BMI (mean ± SD): 28.7 ± 3.83 kg/m(2)) and 177 females (BMI: 29.2 ± 5.92 kg/m(2)) enrolled in an intervention to increase physical activity. Steps/day of the participants was measured by pedometer. Weather data were obtained from Environment Canada. A total of 8,125 observations were included in a mixed linear model analysis. RESULTS: Significant weather related variables (at the 5% level) impacting steps/day included: seasonal effects related to the interaction between weekday and month; mean temperature, total rainfall, interactions between gender, BMI and total snow, interactions between maximum wind speed and BMI, and the amount of snow on the ground. The estimated magnitudes for the various effects were modest, ranging from ~1% to ~20%. Thus for an average individual taking ~10,000 steps/day, weather-dependent changes in physical activity could reach 2,000 steps/day. CONCLUSION: We conclude that weather had modest effects on physical activity of participants in an intervention to increase their activity. It should be stressed that these effects may be different for less or more motivated people. With this in mind, we suggest that the effect of weather on physical activity in the general population needs to be objectively assessed to better understand the barrier it poses, especially as it relates to outdoor recreation or work activities

Assessment of Physical, Technical, and Tactical Analysis in the Australian Football League: A Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND: Elite Australian Football (AF) match-play requires proficiency in physical, technical, and tactical elements. However, when analysing player movement practitioners commonly exclude technical and tactical considerations, failing to recognise the multifactorial nature of AF match-play and providing little context into the movement requirements of the players. OBJECTIVES: This systematic review aimed to identify the physical, technical, and tactical requirements of the Australian Football League (AFL) and to highlight the importance of integrating data from multiple sources when analysing player output. METHODS: A systematic search of electronic databases (CINAHL, PubMed, Scopus, SPORTDiscus, and Web of Science) was conducted from January 2009 to June 2022. Keywords relating to physical, technical, and tactical match requirements were used. RESULTS: Forty-eight studies met the inclusion criteria. In isolation, physical requirements were the most analysed construct within the AFL (n = 17), followed by technical (n = 9) and then tactical (n = 6). Thirteen studies integrated physical and technical elements, one study integrated technical and tactical elements, one study integrated physical and tactical elements, and one study integrated all three elements. Movement analysis centred around average 'whole' match requirements, whereas technical and tactical match analyses focused on key performance indicators of match performance. CONCLUSION: While the physical requirements of the AFL have been well documented, there is little understanding of how player technical output and various team tactics influence player movement requirements. Knowledge of how the elements of AF match-play interact with one another could enhance our understanding of match performance and provide a greater resource for training prescription

Accessibility and applicability of currently available e-mental health programs for depression for people with poststroke aphasia: Scoping review

© Stephanie Jane Clunne, Brooke Jade Ryan, Annie Jane Hill, Caitlin Brandenburg, Ian Kneebone. Background: Depression affects approximately 60% of people with aphasia 1 year post stroke and is associated with disability, lower quality of life, and mortality. Web-delivered mental health (e-mental health) programs are effective, convenient, and cost-effective for the general population and thus are increasingly used in the management of depression. However, it is unknown if such services are applicable and communicatively accessible to people with poststroke aphasia. Objective: The aim of this study was to identify freely available e-mental health programs for depression and determine their applicability and accessibility for people with poststroke aphasia. Methods: A Web-based search was conducted to identify and review freely available e-mental health programs for depression. These programs were then evaluated in terms of their (1) general features via a general evaluation tool, (2) communicative accessibility for people with aphasia via an aphasia-specific communicative accessibility evaluation tool, and (3) empirical evidence for the general population and stroke survivors with and without aphasia. The program that met the most general evaluation criteria and aphasia-specific communicative accessibility evaluation criteria was then trialed by a small subgroup of people with poststroke aphasia. Results: A total of 8 programs were identified. Of these, 4 had published evidence in support of their efficacy for use within the general population. However, no empirical evidence was identified that specifically supported any programs’ use for stroke survivors with or without aphasia. One evidence-based program scored at least 80% (16/19 and 16/20, respectively) on both the general and aphasia-specific communicative accessibility evaluation tools and was subject to a preliminary trial by 3 people with poststroke aphasia. During this trial, participants were either unable to independently use the program or gave it low usability scores on a post-trial satisfaction survey. On this basis, further evaluation was considered unwarranted. Conclusions: Despite fulfilling majority of the general evaluation and aphasia-specific evaluation criteria, the highest rated program was still found to be unsuitable for people with poststroke aphasia. Thus, e-mental health programs require substantial redevelopment if they are likely to be useful to people with poststroke aphasia

Measurement Characteristics of Athlete Monitoring Tools in Professional Australian Football.

PURPOSE:To examine the measurement reliability and sensitivity of common athlete monitoring tools in professional Australian Football players. METHODS:Test-retest reliability (noise) and weekly variation (signal) data were collected from 42 professional Australian footballers from 1 club during a competition season. Perceptual wellness was measured via questionnaires completed before main training sessions (48, 72, and 96 h postmatch), with players providing a rating (1-5 Likert scale) regarding their muscle soreness, sleep quality, fatigue level, stress, and motivation. Eccentric hamstring force and countermovement jumps were assessed via proprietary systems once per week. Heart rate recovery was assessed via a standard submaximal run test on a grass-covered field with players wearing a heart rate monitor. The heart rate recovery was calculated by subtracting average heart rate during final 10 seconds of rest from average heart rate during final 30 seconds of exercise. Typical test error was reported as coefficient of variation percentage (CV%) and intraclass coefficients. Sensitivity was calculated by dividing weekly CV% by test CV% to produce a signal to noise ratio. RESULTS:All measures displayed acceptable sensitivity. Signal to noise ratio ranged from 1.3 to 11.1. Intraclass coefficients ranged from .30 to .97 for all measures. CONCLUSIONS:The heart rate recovery test, countermovement jump test, eccentric hamstring force test, and perceptual wellness all possess acceptable measurement sensitivity. Signal to noise ratio analysis is a novel method of assessing measurement characteristics of monitoring tools. These data can be used by coaches and scientists to identify meaningful changes in common measures of fitness and fatigue in professional Australian football

Wellbeing and HCI in later life – what matters?

As part of the Challenging Obstacles and Barriers to Assisted Living Technologies (COBALT) project, we developed the COBALT Tools for EngagementTM, a number of innovative techniques to engage older people in all stages of technology development process. In the present study we used Technology Tours of the homes of eight older adults to look at their daily usage and examine the ways in which tech-nology influences well-being. All of the participants use multiple tech-nologies every day both inside the home and out. The data highlighted how technology contributes to well-being in a number of ways, includ-ing enabling them to maintain current activities; providing a means of staying in touch with families and friends; being easy to access and learn to use; and enhancing their lives. These can be divided into two types of factors: ones that relate to the direct outcomes of technology use and how these contribute to feelings of wellbeing and factors that relate to meeting an individual’s needs, which if met contribute to their well-being. The findings indicate that well-being is a multi-faceted con-struct that includes autonomy, i.e. remaining independent, competence both in continuing to complete activities and learning new ones, and communication with other people. The study also indicates that Tech-nology Tours provide an easily applicable and accessible means for en-abling older adults to speak as ‘experts’ on technology

Interpreting and acting upon home blood pressure readings: A qualitative study

This article is made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund. Copyright @ 2013 Vasileiou 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: Recent guidelines recognize the importance of home blood pressure monitoring (HBPM) as an adjunct to clinical measurements. We explored how people who have purchased and use a home blood pressure (BP) monitor make sense of, and act upon, readings and how they communicate with their doctor about the practice of home monitoring. Methods: A qualitative study was designed and participants were purposively recruited from several areas in England, UK. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 18 users of home BP monitors. The transcribed data were thematically analysed. Results: Interpretation of home BP readings is complex, and is often characterised by uncertainty. People seek to assess value normality using ‘rules of thumb’, and often aim to identify the potential causes of the readings. This is done by drawing on lay models of BP function and by contextualising the readings to personal circumstances. Based on the perceived causes of the problematic readings, actions are initiated, mostly relating to changes in daily routines. Contacting the doctor was more likely when the problematic readings persisted and could not be easily explained, or when participants did not succeed in regulating their BP through their other interventions. Most users had notified their doctor of the practice of home monitoring, but medical involvement varied, with some participants reporting disinterest or reservations by doctors. Conclusions: Involvement from doctors can help people overcome difficulties and resolve uncertainties around the interpretation of home readings, and ensure that the rules of thumb are appropriate. Home monitoring can be used to strengthen the patient-clinician relationship

Associations of sedentary behaviour, physical activity, blood pressure and anthropometric measures with cardiorespiratory fitness in children with cerebral palsy

Background - Children with cerebral palsy (CP) have poor cardiorespiratory fitness in comparison to their peers with typical development, which may be due to low levels of physical activity. Poor cardiorespiratory fitness may contribute to increased cardiometabolic risk. Purpose - The aim of this study was to determine the association between sedentary behaviour, physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness in children with CP. An objective was to determine the association between cardiorespiratory fitness, anthropometric measures and blood pressure in children with CP. Methods- This study included 55 ambulatory children with CP [mean (SD) age 11.3 (0.2) yr, range 6-17 yr; Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) levels I and II]. Anthropometric measures (BMI, waist circumference and waist-height ratio) and blood pressure were taken. Cardiorespiratory fitness was measured using a 10 m shuttle run test. Children were classified as low, middle and high fitness according to level achieved on the test using reference curves. Physical activity was measured by accelerometry over 7 days. In addition to total activity, time in sedentary behaviour and light, moderate, vigorous, and sustained moderate-to-vigorous activity (≥10 min bouts) were calculated. Results - Multiple regression analyses revealed that vigorous activity (β = 0.339, p<0.01), sustained moderate-to-vigorous activity (β = 0.250, p<0.05) and total activity (β = 0.238, p<0.05) were associated with level achieved on the shuttle run test after adjustment for age, sex and GMFCS level. Children with high fitness spent more time in vigorous activity than children with middle fitness (p<0.05). Shuttle run test level was negatively associated with BMI (r2 = -0.451, p<0.01), waist circumference (r2 = -0.560, p<0.001), waist-height ratio (r2 = -0.560, p<0.001) and systolic blood pressure (r2 = -0.306, p<0.05) after adjustment for age, sex and GMFCS level. Conclusions - Participation in physical activity, particularly at a vigorous intensity, is associated with high cardiorespiratory fitness in children with CP. Low cardiorespiratory fitness is associated with increased cardiometabolic risk