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The impact of different researchers to capture quality of life measures in a dementia randomised controlled trial
Get PDFBACKGROUND: Capturing changes in health and wellbeing within randomised controlled trials (RCTs) can be complex. The precision and accuracy of outcome scales to measure change is crucial, and therefore, consideration needs to be given to potential measurement errors when collecting these outcomes. Many RCTs use multiple researchers to collect data, which has the potential to introduce variation in measurements. This study aimed to identify if there was a measurable effect of using different researchers to collect repeated assessments of quality of life (QoL) at different time points.METHODS: A previously conducted study assessing the impact of reminiscence therapy on participants with dementia and carer (PwD-carer) dyads, 'REMCARE' (Reminiscence groups for people with dementia and their family caregivers), provided the platform for this exploratory secondary analysis. Data was categorised into two broad groups: those where the same researcher attended all assessments and those where different researchers undertook the assessments. ANCOVA (analysis of covariance) models used in the original REMCARE analysis with the addition of the 'researcher-continuity' variable were run on two QoL measures, the QoL-AD (Quality of Life in Alzheimer's Disease) and QCPR (Quality of the Caregiving Relationship).RESULTS: Three hundred thirty PwD-carer dyads were included in the analysis. For the PwD, a statistically significant effect was found on the researcher continuity variable for the QoL-AD and QCPR outcome measures at follow-up 1 but not at follow-up 2 signifying an impact of researcher attendance at the first follow-up but not follow-up 2. For the carer data, analyses revealed no statistically significant effects at follow-up 1; however, the QoL-AD measure at follow-up 2 was found to be statistically significant.CONCLUSIONS: These exploratory results indicate the possible impact of researcher continuity on QoL outcomes in dementia studies. Further research is required to explore this further and establish causality. If demonstrated, this would have implications for the planning of future empirical studies in dementia, in order to reduce this potential source of bias.</p
Microscale pollen release and dispersal patterns in flowering grass populations
Get PDFCharacterizing pollen release and dispersion processes is fundamental for knowledge advancement in ecological, agricultural and public health disciplines. Understanding pollen dispersion from grass communities is especially relevant due to their high species-specific allergenicity and heterogeneously distributed source areas. Here, we aimed to address questions concerning fine level heterogeneity in grass pollen release and dispersion processes, with a focus on characterizing the taxonomic composition of airborne grass pollen over the grass flowering season using eDNA and molecular ecology methods. High resolution grass pollen concentrations were compared between three microscale sites
Challenges in Developing a Real-time Bee-counting Radar
Get PDFDetailed within is an attempt to implement a real-time radar signal classification system to monitor and count bee activity at the hive entry. There is interest in keeping records of the productivity of honeybees. Activity at the entrance can be a good measure of overall health and capacity, and a radar-based approach could be cheap, low power, and versatile, beyond other techniques. Fully automated systems would enable simultaneous, large-scale capturing of bee activity patterns from multiple hives, providing vital data for ecological research and business practice improvement. Data from a Doppler radar were gathered from managed beehives on a farm. Recordings were split into 0.4 s windows, and Log Area Ratios (LARs) were computed from the data. Support vector machine models were trained to recognize flight behavior from the LARs, using visual confirmation recorded by a camera. Spectrogram deep learning was also investigated using the same data. Once complete, this process would allow for removing the camera and accurately counting the events by radar-based machine learning alone. Challenging signals from more complex bee flights hindered progress. System accuracy of 70% was achieved, but clutter impacted the overall results requiring intelligent filtering to remove environmental effects from the data.</p
Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) skills training group for borderline personality disorder
Get PDFExamining current best-practices for the use of wild post-larvae capture, culture, and release for fisheries enhancement
Get PDFDemand for marine fisheries is rising despite global impacts on the productive capacity of wild fish stocks due to overfishing, habitat loss, and global warming. Fisheries enhancement programs—aimed at augmenting stocks by releasing juveniles into the wild—are expected to play an increasingly important auxiliary role in addressing capture-based fishery limitations into the future. However, concerns exist over the impacts and efficacy of aquaculture-based enhancement (ABE), releasing captive-bred fish into wild populations. An alternative but understudied approach for fisheries enhancement is wild post-larvae capture, culture, and release (PCCR). Here, we provide an overview of the PCCR process, from initial planning to measuring success, providing an overview of its implementation in a viable finfish fishery, the white seabream Diplodus sargus in the Mediterranean. We discuss management application of PCCR-based enhancement and its limitations, highlighting future research required to realise the full potential this alternative approach. Notwithstanding some limitations, including limited uptake for full evaluation, some species restrictions, density-dependent mortality, and the remaining open challenge for stock enhancement generally of tracking released fish through to reproduction, PCCR offers potential as a credible auxiliary management tool for fisheries restoration
The Impact of Living in a Bio-Secure Bubble on Mental Health: An Examination in Elite Cricket
Get PDFThe COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on many people's lives, including the use of bio-secure environments to facilitate the continuation of professional sport. Although it is well documented that the pandemic has negatively impacted mental health, the impact of bio-bubbles on mental health is yet to be investigated. In the present study we sought to identify the impact of bio-bubbles on the mental health of those residing within, and then to explore the underlying mechanism of any such impact. Individuals ( n = 68) who resided in England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) created bio-bubbles between March 2020 and April 2021 provided data, regarding their time inside and outside of bio-bubbles, on measures of mental health and basic psychological need satisfaction and frustration. Analysis revealed that bio-bubbles increased anxiety and depression and reduced wellbeing. Additionally, MEMORE mediation analyses revealed that autonomy frustration mediated the relationship between bubble status and all mental health markers. Furthermore, compared to men, women were more likely to experience elevated levels of anxiety and depression inside the bubble. The findings suggest that bio-bubbles negatively impact mental health and further suggest that satisfaction and frustration of basic psychological needs is a contributing factor. Findings suggest organizations tasked with creating bio-bubbles would do well to tailor their environment with an awareness of the importance of basic psychological needs and sex differences in relation to mental health. To the best of our knowledge, this research represents the first investigation of the impact of bio-bubbles on mental health. </p
The Goldberg-Huxley model of the pathway to psychiatric care:21st-century systematic review
Get PDFBACKGROUND: The classification of mental disorders used to be based only on people seen by hospital psychiatrists. In fact, most people with a mental disorder were, and are, not seen by psychiatrists because of decisions made prior to psychiatric consultation. The first description of this 'pathway' to care and its levels and filters was published by Goldberg and Huxley in 1980.AIMS: To conduct a review of papers relevant to the application of the Goldberg-Huxley model in the 21st century.METHOD: Systematic review (PROSPERO registration CRD42021270603) of the pathway to psychiatric care in the 21st century. The review concentrates on community surveys and passage through the first filter (consultation in primary care or its equivalent). Ten databases were searched for papers meeting the defined inclusion criteria published between 2000 and 2019 and completed on 15 February 2020.RESULTS: In total, 1824 papers were retrieved, 137 screened fully and 31 included in this review. The results are presented in a table comparing them with previous research. Despite major social, economic and health service changes since 1980, community prevalence and consultation rates remain remarkably consistent and in line with World Health Organization findings. Passage through the first filter is largely unchanged and there is evidence that the same factors operate internationally, especially gender and social parameters.CONCLUSIONS: The Goldberg-Huxley model remains applicable internationally, but this may change owing to an increasingly mixed mental health economy and reduced access to primary care services.</p
Evaluating the impact of biodiversity offsetting on native vegetation
Get PDFAbstract Biodiversity offsetting is a globally influential policy mechanism for reconciling trade-offs between development and biodiversity loss. However, there is little robust evidence of its effectiveness. We evaluated the outcomes of a jurisdictional offsetting policy (Victoria, Australia). Offsets under Victoria's Native Vegetation Framework (2002–2013) aimed to prevent loss and degradation of remnant vegetation, and generate gains in vegetation extent and quality. We categorised offsets into those with near-complete baseline woody vegetation cover (“avoided loss”, 2702 ha) and with incomplete cover (“regeneration”, 501 ha), and evaluated impacts on woody vegetation extent from 2008 to 2018. We used two approaches to estimate the counterfactual. First, we used statistical matching on biophysical covariates: a common approach in conservation impact evaluation, but which risks ignoring potentially important psychosocial confounders. Second, we compared changes in offsets with changes in sites that were not offsets for the study duration but were later enrolled as offsets, to partially account for self-selection bias (where landholders enrolling land may have shared characteristics affecting how they manage land). Matching on biophysical covariates, we estimated that regeneration offsets increased woody vegetation extent by 1.93.6year more than non-offset sites (138–180 ha from 2008 to 2018) but this effect weakened with the second approach (0.31.9year more than non-offset sites; 19–97 ha from 2008 to 2018) and disappeared when a single outlier land parcel was removed. Neither approach detected any impact of avoided loss offsets. We cannot conclusively demonstrate whether the policy goal of ‘net gain’ (NG) was achieved because of data limitations. However, given our evidence that the majority of increases in woody vegetation extent were not additional (would have happened without the scheme), a NG outcome seems unlikely. The results highlight the importance of considering self-selection bias in the design and evaluation of regulatory biodiversity offsetting policy, and the challenges of conducting robust impact evaluations of jurisdictional biodiversity offsetting policies
Barriers, facilitators, and motives to provide distance care, and the consequences for distance caregivers: A mixed-methods systematic review.
Get PDFAbstractRationale: Distance caregivers (DCGs) are a growing population with substantial contributions to informal care. While much is known about the provision of local informal care, evidence from the distance caregiving population is lacking.Objective: This mixed-method systematic review examines barriers and facilitators of distance caregiving, determinants of motivations and willingness to provide distance care, and the impact on caregiver outcomes.Methods: A comprehensive search strategy was conducted in four electronic databases and grey literature to minimise potential publication bias. Thirty-four studies, including 15 quantitative, 15 qualitative, and 4 mixed-method studies were identified. Data synthesis involved a convergent integrated approach to integrate quantitative with qualitative findings, followed by thematic synthesis to identify key themes and subthemes.Results: Barriers and facilitators of providing distance care included contextual and socioeconomic aspects of geographic distance, communication and information resources, and local support networks that shaped the distance caregiver role and caregiver involvement. The main motives for caregiving given by DCGs were cultural values and beliefs, societal norms, and perceived expectations of caregiving encompassing the sociocultural context of the caregiving role. Interpersonal relationships and individual characteristics further shaped DCGs' motivations and willingness to care from a geographic distance. DCGs experienced both positive and negative outcomes as a result of their distance caretaking responsibilities including feelings of satisfaction, personal growth, and enhanced relationship with the care recipient but also high levels of caregiver burden, social isolation, emotional distress, and anxiety.Conclusions: The reviewed evidence contributes toward novel understandings about the unique nature of distance care and have important implications for research, policy, healthcare, and social practice.Keywords: Barriers to care; Caregiver outcomes; Distance caregiving; Motives; Willingness to care
A Monolithically Integrated Two-Section Laser for Wideband and Frequency-Tunable Photonic Microwave Generation
Get PDFA monolithically integrated two-section laser is presented for wideband and frequency-tunable photonic microwave generation. The laser consists of two back-to-back DFB sections forming a mutually coupled structure. By properly adjusting the bias currents of two sections, the laser can stably work at the state of period-one oscillation over a wide range of frequency detuning. Based on this, continuous and linear tuning of photonic microwave signals can be achieved. Experimental results confirm that a large tunable range from 12.45 to 80.30 GHz can be realized using this laser