Work in progress: a novel method of creating an academic content repository

This paper outlines a project aimed at addressing the issue of the scalability of online academic support. This project is being run during the Autumn semester at the University of Southern Queensland (USQ) Toowoomba Australia, in conjunction with the Australian Digital Futures Institute. The study attached to the project will use Design-Based Research to evaluate the effectiveness of a simple, but innovative academic content and metadata creation tool referred to as Academic Assist. Academic Assist has been recently developed at USQ as a plug-in block for the moodle-based Learning Management System employed at USQ for its several hundred online subjects. The pilot project and associated study now extends over nine subjects, including three consecutive subjects in computer engineering; and covers faculties of Engineering, Education, Business, Science and Arts. Some preliminary results are presented here. Complete results of the study including acceptance surveys, expert reviews and usage statistics will be presented at FIE 2009

Response to ‘Protected areas and climate change Reflections from a practitioner's perspective

Cliquet et al. 1 provide a thought-provoking analysis of the challenges posed to the EU's protected areas by climate change. This paper seeks to build on some of the perspectives they brought to what is a highly challenging area of nature conservation law, policy and practice. While there is much to support in their analysis of the relationships between protected areas and climate change, there are two key strands we seek to develop further, based on the RSPB's experience of this area of nature conservation policy and practice: first, is the ecological model for adapting to climate change and second, the legal framework provided by the Birds2 and Habitats3 Directives (the Nature Directives) as it relates to the delivery of such adaptive actions

Motives for Physical Activity and Physiological Variables as Predictors of Exercise Intentions Following a High Intensity Interval Training Protocol in College-Age Females

International Journal of Exercise Science 9(2): 121-135, 2016. More females are classified as insufficiently active and may have little time for physical activity than males (28). Sufficient activity for adults includes a minimum of 30 minutes of moderate intensity aerobic exercise, five days per week or 20 minutes of vigorous intensity exercise three days per week, or a combination of these, in addition to the resistance training recommendation of training each muscle group two times per week (14). High intensity interval training (defined as very short intense intervals, usually above 85% maximum heart rate accompanied by alternated passive recovery periods; HIIT) has become a popular alternative to the more traditional continuous training utilized by individuals due to its time efficiency. In fact, HIIT has been shown to induce many of the same physiological changes as moderate intensity training with less training time. It is possible that college-aged females may benefit from HIIT and its inherent time-saving qualities. To test this hypothesis, this study sought to determine the influence of a HIIT protocol on general motives for being physically active and intentions for future HIIT participation. Participants included sixty-five female students between the ages 18 and 25 who were enrolled in a physical activity class that included HIIT as a part of the curriculum. Physiological responses to the HIIT protocol were measured via exercise intensity and calories burned, while motives and intentions were measured through questionnaires. Results revealed no changes in any variables over the course of the study with the exception of blood pressure. Fitness was the only variable that significantly predicted intentions for exercise and thus future HIIT participation. These psychologically oriented results show some promise for the use of HIIT in this population. In order to promote long-term adherence to exercise programs, the nature of the relationship between motives and intentions call for future studies to determine why more intrinsic motives, including competence, were not related to intentions to HIIT

A Framework for Establishing Restoration Goals for Contaminated Ecosystems

This article represents 1 of 6 articles in the special series “Restoration of Impaired Ecosystems: An Ounce of Prevention or a Pound of Cure?” The articles result from a Technical Workshop organized by SETAC and the Society for Ecological Restoration, held June 2014 in Jackson, Wyoming, that focused on advancing the practice of restoring ecosystems that have been contaminated or impaired from industrial activities.As natural resources become increasingly limited, the value of restoring contaminated sites, both terrestrial and aquatic, becomes increasingly apparent. Traditionally, goals for remediation have been set before any consideration of goals for ecological restoration. The goals for remediation have focused on removing or limiting contamination whereas restoration goals have targeted the ultimate end use. Here, we present a framework for developing a comprehensive set of achievable goals for ecological restoration of contaminated sites to be used in concert with determining goals for remediation. This framework was developed during a Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) and Society of Ecological Restoration (SER) cosponsored workshop that brought together experts from multiple countries. Although most members were from North America, this framework is designed for use internationally. We discuss the integration of establishing goals for both contaminant remediation and overall restoration, and the need to include both the restoration of ecological and socio-cultural-economic value in the context of contaminated sites. Although recognizing that in some countries there may be regulatory issues associated with contaminants and clean up, landscape setting and social drivers can inform the restoration goals. We provide a decision tree support tool to guide the establishment of restoration goals for contaminated ecosystems. The overall intent of this decision tree is to provide a framework for goal setting and to identify outcomes achievable given the contamination present at a site. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2016;12:264–272. 2015 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC

Utilization of an Anti-gravity Treadmill in a Physical Activity Program with Female Breast Cancer Survivors: a Pilot Study

International Journal of Exercise Science 9(1): 101- 109, 2016. Breast Cancer survivors can experience a myriad of physical and psychological benefits as a result of regular exercise. This study aimed to build on previous research using lower impact exercise programs by using an anti-gravity (Alter-G®) treadmill to administer cardiovascular training. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness a physical activity program, including an Alter-G® treadmill, for improving physiological and psychosocial measures in female breast cancer survivors. A 14-week intervention using an AB-AB study design was employed. Six female breast cancer survivors were recruited to participate in the study. Participants attended three 60-minute sessions per week, consisting of a combination of muscular strength/endurance, and cardiovascular endurance exercises. Consistent with current literature and guidelines, exercise interventions were individualized and tailored to suit individuals. Data was collected and analyzed in 2013. Visual inspection of results found improvements in cardiovascular endurance and measures of body composition. Quality of life was maintained and in some cases, improved. Finally, no adverse effects were reported from the participants, and adherence to the program for those who completed the study was 97%. The results of this study suggest that the use of a physical activity program in combination with an Alter-G® treadmill may provide practical and meaningful improvements in measures of cardiovascular endurance and body composition

A metadata-aware application for remote scoring and exchange of tissue microarray images.

BACKGROUND: The use of tissue microarrays (TMA) and advances in digital scanning microscopy has enabled the collection of thousands of tissue images. There is a need for software tools to annotate, query and share this data amongst researchers in different physical locations. RESULTS: We have developed an open source web-based application for remote scoring of TMA images, which exploits the value of Microsoft Silverlight Deep Zoom to provide a intuitive interface for zooming and panning around digital images. We use and extend existing XML-based standards to ensure that the data collected can be archived and that our system is interoperable with other standards-compliant systems. CONCLUSION: The application has been used for multi-centre scoring of TMA slides composed of tissues from several Phase III breast cancer trials and ten different studies participating in the International Breast Cancer Association Consortium (BCAC). The system has enabled researchers to simultaneously score large collections of TMA and export the standardised data to integrate with pathological and clinical outcome data, thereby facilitating biomarker discovery.RIGHTS : This article is licensed under the BioMed Central licence at http://www.biomedcentral.com/about/license which is similar to the 'Creative Commons Attribution Licence'. In brief you may : copy, distribute, and display the work; make derivative works; or make commercial use of the work - under the following conditions: the original author must be given credit; for any reuse or distribution, it must be made clear to others what the license terms of this work are

A preconsultation web-based tool to generate an agenda for discussion in diabetes outpatient clinics to improve patient outcomes (DIAT): a feasibility study

This is the final version. Available on open access from BMJ Publishing Group via the DOI in this record.OBJECTIVE: To test the feasibility of running a randomised controlled trial of a preconsultation web-based intervention (Presenting Asking Checking Expressing (PACE-D)) to improve the quality of care and clinical outcomes in patients with diabetes. DESIGN AND SETTING: A feasibility study (with randomisation) conducted at outpatient diabetes clinics at two secondary care hospitals in Devon, UK. PARTICIPANTS: People with diabetes (type 1 and type 2) attending secondary care general diabetes outpatient clinics. INTERVENTION: The PACE-D, a web-based tool adapted for patients with diabetes to use before their consultation to generate an agenda of topics to discuss with their diabetologist. OUTCOMES: The percentage of eligible patients who were recruited and the percentage of participants for whom routine glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c) data (the putative primary outcome) could be extracted from medical notes and who completed secondary outcome assessments via questionnaire at follow-up were reported. RESULTS: In contrast with the planned recruitment of 120 participants, only 71 participants were randomised during the 7-month recruitment period. This comprised 18.7% (95% CI 14.9% to 23.0%) of those who were eligible. Mean (SD) age of the participants was 56.5 (12.4) years and 66.2% had type 1 diabetes. Thirty-eight patients were randomised to the intervention arm and 33 to the control arm. HbA1c data were available for only 73% (95% CI 61% to 83%) of participants at the 6 months follow-up. The questionnaire-based data were collected for 66% (95% CI 54% to 77%) of the participants at 6 months follow-up. Participants reported that the PACE-D tool was easy to use. CONCLUSIONS: A randomised controlled trial of the preconsultation web-based intervention as set out in our current protocol is not feasible without significant modification to improve recruitment and follow-up of participants. The study also provides insights into the feasibility and challenges of conducting complex intervention trials in everyday clinical practice. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN75070242.The research question was generated from a research prioritisation exercise undertaken by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care South West Peninsula (PenCLAHRC) and the Patient and Public Involvement Group (PenPIG). The authors are grateful to Andy Barton (Research Design Service South West) for advice provided when developing the proposal. The authors would like to thank the study sponsor: Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust. They are grateful to Donald Cegala (Emeritus Professor of Communication and Family Medicine, Ohio State University) for supporting their use and modification of the PACE intervention. They are grateful to Cosmo White for formatting images for the paper

Chapter 1 Raising a Healthy Nation

This collection brings together cutting-edge research on the history of embodiment, health and schooling in an international context. The book distinguishes a set of educational technologies, schooling practices and school-based public health programmes that organise and influence the bodies of children and young people, defining the curriculum of the body. Taking a historical approach, with a focus on the period in which mass schooling became an international phenomenon, the book is organised according to four major themes. The first positions the school as a modern clinical space, followed by the second that explores programmes and curricula which influence the discipline of and care for the body. The third section examines the role of the built environment on the organisation and experience of children’s bodies, and the final section outlines the pedagogies, rules and routines that determine how the body is treated and experienced in school. International and multidisciplinary in scope, this unique collection is of interest to postgraduate students and researchers in education and public health, as well as history, policy studies and sociology