Study protocol: can a school gardening intervention improve children's diets?

BACKGROUND: The current academic literature suggests there is a potential for using gardening as a tool to improve children's fruit and vegetable intake. This study is two parallel randomised controlled trials (RCT) devised to evaluate the school gardening programme of the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Campaign for School Gardening, to determine if it has an effect on children's fruit and vegetable intake. METHOD/DESIGN: Trial One will consist of 26 schools; these schools will be randomised into two groups, one to receive the intensive intervention as "Partner Schools" and the other to receive the less intensive intervention as "Associate Schools". Trial Two will consist of 32 schools; these schools will be randomised into either the less intensive intervention "Associate Schools" or a comparison group with delayed intervention. Baseline data collection will be collected using a 24-hour food diary (CADET) to collect data on dietary intake and a questionnaire exploring children's knowledge and attitudes towards fruit and vegetables. A process measures questionnaire will be used to assess each school's gardening activities. DISCUSSION: The results from these trials will provide information on the impact of the RHS Campaign for School Gardening on children's fruit and vegetable intake. The evaluation will provide valuable information for designing future research in primary school children's diets and school based interventions. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN11396528

The SNAPSHOT study protocol : SNAcking, Physical activity, Self-regulation, and Heart rate Over Time

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Assessment of risk of insect-resistant transgenic crops to nontarget arthropods

An international initiative is developing a scientifically rigorous approach to evaluate the potential risks to nontarget arthropods (NTAs) posed by insect-resistant, genetically modified (IRGM) crops. It adapts the tiered approach to risk assessment that is used internationally within regulatory toxicology and environmental sciences. The approach focuses on the formulation and testing of clearly stated risk hypotheses, making maximum use of available data and using formal decision guidelines to progress between testing stages (or tiers). It is intended to provide guidance to regulatory agencies that are currently developing their own NTA risk assessment guidelines for IRGM crops and to help harmonize regulatory requirements between different countries and different regions of the world

Distinguishing Family from Friends

Kinship and friendship are key human relationships. Increasingly, data suggest that people are not less altruistic toward friends than close kin. Some accounts suggest that psychologically we do not distinguish between them; countering this is evidence that kinship provides a unique explanatory factor. Using the Implicit Association Test, we examined how people implicitly think about close friends versus close kin in three contexts. In Experiment 1, we examined generic attitudinal dispositions toward friends and family. In Experiment 2, attitude similarity as a marker of family and friends was examined, and in Experiments 3 and 4, strength of in-group membership for family and friends was examined. Findings show that differences exist in implicit cognitive associations toward family and friends. There is some evidence that people hold more positive general dispositions toward friends, associate attitude similarity more with friends, consider family as more representative of the in-group than friends, but see friends as more in-group than distant kin

Movement and habitat use of the snapping turtle in an urban landscape

In order to effectively manage urban habitats, it is important to incorporate the spatial ecology and habitat use of the species utilizing them. Our previous studies have shown that the distribution of upland habitats surrounding a highly urbanized wetland habitat, the Central Canal (Indianapolis, IN, USA) influences the distribution of map turtles (Graptemys geographica) and red-eared sliders (Trachemys scripta) during both the active season and hibernation. In this study we detail the movements and habitat use of another prominent member of the Central Canal turtle assemblage, the common snapping turtle, Chelydra serpentina. We find the same major upland habitat associations for C. serpentina as for G. geographica and T. scripta, despite major differences in their activity (e.g., C. serpentina do not regularly engage in aerial basking). These results reinforce the importance of recognizing the connection between aquatic and surrounding terrestrial habitats, especially in urban ecosystems

Water channel pore size determines exclusion properties but not solute selectivity

Aquaporins (AQPs) are a ubiquitous family of transmembrane water channel proteins. A subgroup of AQP water channels also facilitates transmembrane diffusion of small, polar solutes. A constriction within the pore, the aromatic/arginine (ar/R) selectivity filter, is thought to control solute permeability: previous studies on single representative water channel proteins suggest narrow channels conduct water, whilst wider channels permit passage of solutes. To assess this model of selectivity, we used mutagenesis, permeability measurements and in silico comparisons of water-specific as well as glycerol-permeable human AQPs. Our studies show that single amino acid substitutions in the selectivity filters of AQP1, AQP4 and AQP3 differentially affect glycerol and urea permeability in an AQP-specific manner. Comparison between in silico-calculated channel cross-sectional areas and in vitro permeability measurements suggests that selectivity filter cross-sectional area predicts urea but not glycerol permeability. Our data show that substrate discrimination in water channels depends on a complex interplay between the solute, pore size, and polarity, and that using single water channel proteins as representative models has led to an underestimation of this complexity

Training Programmes Can Change Behaviour and Encourage the Cultivation of Over-Harvested Plant Species

Cultivation of wild-harvested plant species has been proposed as a way of reducing over-exploitation of wild populations but lack of technical knowledge is thought to be a barrier preventing people from cultivating a new species. Training programmes are therefore used to increase technical knowledge to encourage people to adopt cultivation. We assessed the impact of a training programme aiming to encourage cultivation of xaté (Chamaedorea ernesti-augusti), an over-harvested palm from Central America. Five years after the training programme ended, we surveyed untrained and trained individuals focusing on four potential predictors of behaviour: technical knowledge, attitudes (what individuals think about a behaviour), subjective norms (what individuals perceive others to think of a behaviour) and perceived behavioural control (self assessment of whether individuals can enact the behaviour successfully). Whilst accounting for socioeconomic variables, we investigate the influence of training upon these behavioural predictors and examine the factors that determine whether people adopt cultivation of a novel species. Those who had been trained had higher levels of technical knowledge about xaté cultivation and higher belief in their ability to cultivate it while training was not associated with differences in attitudes or subjective norms. Technical knowledge and perceived behavioural control (along with socio-economic variables such as forest ownership and age) were predictors of whether individuals cultivate xaté. We suggest that training programmes can have a long lasting effect on individuals and can change behaviour. However, in many situations other barriers to cultivation, such as access to seeds or appropriate markets, will need to be addressed

Evolutionary patterns of two major reproduction candidate genes (Zp2 and Zp3) reveal no contribution to reproductive isolation between bovine species

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>It has been established that mammalian egg zona pellucida (ZP) glycoproteins are responsible for species-restricted binding of sperm to unfertilized eggs, inducing the sperm acrosome reaction, and preventing polyspermy. In mammals, ZP apparently represents a barrier to heterospecific fertilization and thus probably contributes to reproductive isolation between species. The evolutionary relationships between some members of the tribe Bovini are complex and highly debatable, particularly, those involving <it>Bos </it>and <it>Bison </it>species for which interspecific hybridization is extensively documented. Because reproductive isolation is known to be a major precursor of species divergence, testing evolutionary patterns of ZP glycoproteins may shed some light into the speciation process of these species. To this end, we have examined intraspecific and interspecific genetic variation of two ZP genes (<it>Zp2 </it>and <it>Zp3</it>) for seven representative species (111 individuals) from the Bovini tribe, including five species from <it>Bos </it>and <it>Bison</it>, and two species each from genera <it>Bubalus </it>and <it>Syncerus</it>.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A pattern of low levels of intraspecific polymorphism and interspecific divergence was detected for the two sequenced fragments each for <it>Zp2 </it>and <it>Zp3</it>. At intraspecific level, none of neutrality tests detected deviations from neutral equilibrium expectations for the two genes. Several haplotypes in both genes were shared by multiple species from <it>Bos </it>and <it>Bison</it>.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Here we argue that neither ancestral polymorphism nor introgressive hybridization alone can fully account for haplotype sharing among species from <it>Bos </it>and <it>Bison</it>, and that both scenarios have contributed to such a pattern of haplotype sharing observed here. Additionally, codon-based tests revealed strong evidence for purifying selection in the <it>Zp3 </it>coding haplotype sequences and weak evidence for purifying selection in the <it>Zp2 </it>coding haplotype sequences. Contrary to a general genetic pattern that genes or genomic regions contributing to reproductive isolation between species often evolve rapidly and show little or no gene flow between species, these results demonstrate that, particularly, those sequenced exons of the <it>Zp2 </it>and the <it>Zp3 </it>did not show any contribution to reproductive isolation between the bovine species studied here.</p

Protocol for population testing of an Internet-based Personalised Decision Support system for colorectal cancer screening

Extent: 8p.Background: Australia has a comparatively high incidence of colorectal (bowel) cancer; however, population screening uptake using faecal occult blood test (FOBT) remains low. This study will determine the impact on screening participation of a novel, Internet-based Personalised Decision Support (PDS) package. The PDS is designed to measure attitudes and cognitive concerns and provide people with individually tailored information, in real time, that will assist them with making a decision to screen. The hypothesis is that exposure to (tailored) PDS will result in greater participation in screening than participation following exposure to non-tailored PDS or resulting from the current non-tailored, paper-based approach. Methods/design: A randomised parallel trial comprising three arms will be conducted. Men and women aged 50-74 years (N = 3240) will be recruited. They must have access to the Internet; have not had an FOBT within the previous 12 months, or sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy within the previous 5 years; have had no clinical diagnosis of bowel cancer. Groups 1 and 2 (PDS arms) will access a website and complete a baseline survey measuring decision-to-screen stage, attitudes and cognitive concerns and will receive immediate feedback; Group 1 will receive information 'tailored' to their responses in the baseline survey and group 2 will received 'non-tailored' bowel cancer information. Respondents in both groups will subsequently receive an FOBT kit. Group 3 (usual practice arm) will complete a paper-based version of the baseline survey and respondents will subsequently receive 'non-tailored' paper-based bowel cancer information with accompanying FOBT kit. Following despatch of FOBTs, all respondents will be requested to complete an endpoint survey. Main outcome measures are (1) completion of FOBT and (2) change in decision-to-screen stage. Secondary outcomes include satisfaction with decision and change in attitudinal scores from baseline to endpoint. Analyses will be performed using Chi-square tests, analysis of variance and log binomial generalized linear models as appropriate. Discussion: It is necessary to restrict participants to Internet users to provide an appropriately controlled evaluation of PDS. Once efficacy of the approach has been established, it will be important to evaluate effectiveness in the wider at-risk population, and to identify barriers to its implementation in those settings.Carlene J Wilson, Ingrid HK Flight, Ian T Zajac, Deborah Turnbull, Graeme P Young, Stephen R Cole, Tess Gregor