Publishing and Archiving Trends in Open Access: Preliminary Results

Agricultural researchers are engaged in the growing open access (OA) movement, either publishing in OA journals or archiving in OA repositories. The latter is reflected in the use of the institutional repository (IR) at Kansas State University (K-State), a land grant institution. K-State library faculty are analyzing faculty publications to determine the publishing and archiving habits of selected researchers. Reviewing copyright agreements from journals reveals those with policies for archiving post-prints in an IR; articles by these authors are compared to their total three-year article output to determine the efficacy of the current IR program at K-State. Chosen for analysis were the faculties of the College of Agriculture’s Department of Animal Sciences and Industry’s (ASI) and the College of Veterinary Medicine\u27s Department of Clinical Sciences (CS) who conduct research on food animals. ASI has one of the largest faculty on campus as well as a department head supportive of the University’s IR. While many of ASI’s extension publications are in the IR, several important animal science journals do not allow for self-archiving or deposit in an IR. Many articles published by ASI faculty are co-authored with faculty in CS, who also focus their research on livestock

The role of soils in provision of energy

Acknowledgments The inputs of J.S. and D.N. contributes to the Newton Bhabha Virtual Centre on Nitrogen Efficiency in Whole Cropping Systems (NEWS) project no. NEC 05724, the DFID-NERC El Niño programme in project NE P004830, ‘Building Resilience in Ethiopia’s Awassa Region to Drought’ (BREAD), the ESRC NEXUS programme in project IEAS/POO2501/1, ‘Improving Organic Resource Use in Rural Ethiopia’ (IPORE), and the GCRF South Asian Nitrogen Hub (NE/S009019/1). The input of J.F. and J.S. contributes to the NERC funded Global Methane project, MOYA (NE/N016211/1). The input of P.S. contributes to the UKRI-funded projects DEVIL (NE/M021327/1), Soils-R-GRREAT (NE/P019455/1) and N-Circle (BB/N013484/1), the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme projects CIRCASA (grant agreement no. 774378) and UNISECO (grant agreement no. 773901), and the Wellcome Trust-funded project Sustainable and Healthy Food Systems (SHEFS).Peer reviewedPostprin

Understanding acceptability in the context of text messages to encourage medication adherence in people with type 2 diabetes

From Springer Nature via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: received 2021-01-29, accepted 2021-05-11, registration 2021-06-22, pub-electronic 2021-06-28, online 2021-06-28, collection 2021-12Publication status: PublishedAbstract: Background: Acceptability is recognised as a key concept in the development of health interventions, but there has been a lack of consensus about how acceptability should be conceptualised. The theoretical framework of acceptability (TFA) provides a potential tool for understanding acceptability. It has been proposed that acceptability measured before use of an intervention (anticipated acceptability) may differ from measures taken during and after use (experienced acceptability), but thus far this distinction has not been tested for a specific intervention. This paper 1) directly compares ratings of anticipated and experienced acceptability of a text message-based intervention, 2) explores the applicability of the TFA in a technology-based intervention, and 3) uses these findings to inform suggestions for measuring acceptability over the lifespan of technology-based health interventions. Methods: Data were obtained from a quantitative online survey assessing anticipated acceptability of the proposed text messages (n = 59) and a 12-week proof-of-concept mixed methods study assessing experienced acceptability while receiving the text messages (n = 48). Both quantitative ratings by return text message, and qualitative data from participant interviews were collected during the proof-of-concept study. Results: The quantitative analysis showed anticipated and experienced acceptability were significantly positively correlated (rs > .4). The qualitative analysis identified four of the seven constructs of the TFA as themes (burden, intervention coherence, affective attitude and perceived effectiveness). An additional two themes were identified as having an important impact on the TFA constructs (perceptions of appropriateness and participants’ role). Three suggestions are given related to the importance of appropriateness, what may affect ratings of acceptability and what to consider when measuring acceptability. Conclusions: The high correlation between anticipated and experienced acceptability was a surprising finding and could indicate that, in some cases, acceptability of an intervention can be gauged adequately from an anticipated acceptability study, prior to an expensive pilot or feasibility study. Directly exploring perceptions of appropriateness and understanding whether the acceptability described by participants is related to the intervention or the research - and is for themselves or others - is important in interpreting the results and using them to further develop interventions and predict future use

Supporting People With Type 2 Diabetes in the Effective Use of Their Medicine Through Mobile Health Technology Integrated With Clinical Care to Reduce Cardiovascular Risk : Protocol for an Effectiveness and Cost-effectiveness Randomized Controlled Trial

Funding Information: The Support Through Mobile Messaging and Digital Health Technology for Diabetes research team acknowledges the support of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) through the Clinical Research Networks. AF, LT, and RR have received support from the NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre. RH received support from the NIHR Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care and North Thames at Bart's Health National Health Service (NHS) Trust. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR, or the Department of Health. This paper presents independent research funded by the NIHR under its Program Grants for Applied Research as part of a wider program of work (RP-PG-1214-20003). The authors thank the personnel of the University of Oxford Primary Care and Vaccines Clinical Trials Collaborative for providing support in the conduct of the trial.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Day occupation is associated with psychopathology for adolescents and young adults with Down syndrome

Background: Young adults with Down syndrome experience increased rates of emotional and behavioural problems compared with the general population. Most adolescents with Down syndrome living in Western Australia participate in sheltered employment as their main day occupation. Relationship between day occupation and changes in behaviour has not been examined. Therefore, the aim of this research was to explore any relationship between post school day occupations and changes in the young person’s behaviour. Methods: The Down syndrome Needs Opinion Wishes database was used for case ascertainment of young adults aged 15 to 32 years with Down syndrome. Families of 118 young people in this population-based database completed questionnaires in 2004, 2009 and 2011. The questionnaires addressed both young person characteristics such as age, gender, presence of impairments, behaviour, functioning in activities of daily living, and family characteristics such as income and family functioning. Post-school day occupations in which the young people were participating included open and sheltered employment, training and day recreation programs. Change in behaviour of young adults who remained in the same post-school day occupation from 2009 to 2011 (n = 103) were examined in a linear regression model adjusting for confounding variables including age, gender, prior functioning and behaviour in 2004 and family income.Results: In comparison to those young adults attending open employment from 2009 to 2011, those attending day recreation programs were reported to experience worsening in behaviour both in the unadjusted (effect size -0.14, 95% CI -0.24, -0.05) and adjusted models (effect size -0.15, 95% CI -0.29, -0.01). Conclusions: We found that the behaviour of those participating in open employment improved compared to those attending other day occupations. Further examination of the direction of this association is required

Variation in carbon and nitrogen concentrations among peatland categories at the global scale

Publisher Copyright: © 2022 This is an open access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication.Peatlands account for 15 to 30% of the world's soil carbon (C) stock and are important controls over global nitrogen (N) cycles. However, C and N concentrations are known to vary among peatlands contributing to the uncertainty of global C inventories, but there are few global studies that relate peatland classification to peat chemistry. We analyzed 436 peat cores sampled in 24 countries across six continents and measured C, N, and organic matter (OM) content at three depths down to 70 cm. Sites were distinguished between northern (387) and tropical (49) peatlands and assigned to one of six distinct broadly recognized peatland categories that vary primarily along a pH gradient. Peat C and N concentrations, OM content, and C:N ratios differed significantly among peatland categories, but few differences in chemistry with depth were found within each category. Across all peatlands C and N concentrations in the 10-20 cm layer, were 440 ± 85.1 g kg-1 and 13.9 ± 7.4 g kg-1, with an average C:N ratio of 30.1 ± 20.8. Among peatland categories, median C concentrations were highest in bogs, poor fens and tropical swamps (446-532 g kg-1) and lowest in intermediate and extremely rich fens (375-414 g kg-1). The C:OM ratio in peat was similar across most peatland categories, except in deeper samples from ombrotrophic tropical peat swamps that were higher than other peatlands categories. Peat N concentrations and C:N ratios varied approximately two-fold among peatland categories and N concentrations tended to be higher (and C:N lower) in intermediate fens compared with other peatland types. This study reports on a unique data set and demonstrates that differences in peat C and OM concentrations among broadly classified peatland categories are predictable, which can aid future studies that use land cover assessments to refine global peatland C and N stocks.Peer reviewe

Unacylated Ghrelin Rapidly Modulates Lipogenic and Insulin Signaling Pathway Gene Expression in Metabolically Active Tissues of GHSR Deleted Mice

Background: There is increasing evidence that unacylated ghrelin (UAG) improves insulin sensitivity and glucose homeostasis; however, the mechanism for this activity is not fully understood since a UAG receptor has not been discovered. Methodology/Principal Findings: To assess potential mechanisms of UAG action in vivo, we examined rapid effects of UAG on genome-wide expression patterns in fat, muscle and liver of growth hormone secretagogue receptor (GHSR)-ablated mice using microarrays. Expression data were analyzed using Ingenuity Pathways Analysis and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis. Regulation of subsets of these genes was verified by quantitative PCR in an independent experiment. UAG acutely regulated clusters of genes involved in glucose and lipid metabolism in all three tissues, consistent with enhancement of insulin sensitivity. Conclusions/Significance: Fat, muscle and liver are central to the control of lipid and glucose homeostasis. UAG rapidly modulates the expression of metabolically important genes in these tissues in GHSR-deleted mice indicating a direct, GHSRindependent, action of UAG to improve insulin sensitivity and metabolic profile