Showing papers by "University of Westminster published in 2006"

The role of diet and exercise for the maintenance of fat-free mass and resting metabolic rate during weight loss.

Abstract: The incidence of obesity is increasing rapidly. Research efforts for effective treatment strategies still focus on diet and exercise programmes, the individual components of which have been investigated in intervention trials in order to determine the most effective recommendations for sustained changes in bodyweight. The foremost objective of a weight-loss trial has to be the reduction in body fat leading to a decrease in risk factors for metabolic syndrome. However, a concomitant decline in lean tissue can frequently be observed. Given that fat-free mass (FFM) represents a key determinant of the magnitude of resting metabolic rate (RMR), it follows that a decrease in lean tissue could hinder the progress of weight loss. Therefore, with respect to long-term effectiveness of weight-loss programmes, the loss of fat mass while maintaining FFM and RMR seems desirable. Diet intervention studies suggest spontaneous losses in bodyweight following low-fat diets, and current data on a reduction of the carbohydrate-to-protein ratio of the diet show promising outcomes. Exercise training is associated with an increase in energy expenditure, thus promoting changes in body composition and bodyweight while keeping dietary intake constant. The advantages of strength training may have greater implications than initially proposed with respect to decreasing percentage body fat and sustaining FFM. Research to date suggests that the addition of exercise programmes to dietary restriction can promote more favourable changes in body composition than diet or physical activity on its own. Moreover, recent research indicates that the macronutrient content of the energy-restricted diet may influence body compositional alterations following exercise regimens. Protein emerges as an important factor for the maintenance of or increase in FFM induced by exercise training. Changes in RMR can only partly be accounted for by alterations in respiring tissues, and other yet-undefined mechanisms have to be explored. These outcomes provide the scientific rationale to justify further randomised intervention trials on the synergies between diet and exercise approaches to yield favourable modifications in body composition.

Motion sickness susceptibility

Abstract: Motion sickness can be caused by a variety of motion environments (e.g., cars, boats, planes, tilting trains, funfair rides, space, virtual reality) and given a sufficiently provocative motion stimulus almost anyone with a functioning vestibular system can be made motion sick. Current hypotheses of the 'Why?' of motion sickness are still under investigation, the two most important being 'toxin detector' and the 'vestibular-cardiovascular reflex'. By contrast, the 'How?' of motion sickness is better understood in terms of mechanisms (e.g., 'sensory conflict' or similar) and stimulus properties (e.g., acceleration, frequency, duration, visual-vestibular time-lag). Factors governing motion sickness susceptibility may be divided broadly into two groups: (i) those related to the stimulus (motion type and provocative property of stimulus); and (ii) those related to the individual person (habituation or sensitisation, individual differences, protective behaviours, administration of anti-motion sickness drugs). The aim of this paper is to review some of the more important factors governing motion sickness susceptibility, with an emphasis on the personal rather than physical stimulus factors.

EEG Signal Classification Using Wavelet Feature Extraction and Neural Networks

Abstract: Decision Support Systems have been utilised since 1960, providing physicians with fast and accurate means towards more accurate diagnoses and increased tolerance when handling missing or incomplete data. This paper describes the application of neural network models for classification of electroencephalogram (EEG) signals. Decision making was performed in two stages: initially, a feature extraction scheme using the wavelet transform (WT) has been applied and then a learning-based algorithm classifier performed the classification. The performance of the neural model was evaluated in terms of training performance and classification accuracies and the results confirmed that the proposed scheme has potential in classifying the EEG signals.

Polyhydroxyalkanoates in Gram-positive bacteria: insights from the genera Bacillus and Streptomyces

Abstract: Gram-positive bacteria, notably Bacillus and Streptomyces, have been used extensively in industry. However, these microorganisms have not yet been exploited for the production of the biodegradable polymers, polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs). Although PHAs have many potential applications, the cost of production means that medical applications are currently the main area of use. Gram-negative bacteria, currently the only commercial source of PHAs, have lipopolysaccharides (LPS) which co-purify with the PHAs and cause immunogenic reactions. On the other hand, Gram- positive bacteria lack LPS, a positive feature which justifies intensive investigation into their production of PHAs. This review summarizes currently available knowledge on PHA production by Gram- positive bacteria especially Bacillus and Streptomyces. We hope that this will form the basis of further research into developing either or both as a source of PHAs for medical applications.

Biomedical applications of polyhydroxyalkanoates, an overview of animal testing and in vivo responses

Abstract: Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) have been established as biodegradable polymers since the second half of the twentieth century. Altering monomer composition of PHAs allows the development of polymers with favorable mechanical properties, biocompatibility and desirable degradation rates, under specific physiological conditions. Hence, the medical applications of PHAs have been explored extensively in recent years. PHAs have been used to develop devices, including sutures, nerve repair devices, repair patches, slings, cardiovascular patches, orthopedic pins, adhesion barriers, stents, guided tissue repair/regeneration devices, articular cartilage repair devices, nerve guides, tendon repair devices, bone-marrow scaffolds, tissue engineered cardiovascular devices and wound dressings. So far, various tests on animal models have shown polymers, from the PHA family, to be compatible with a range of tissues. Often, pyrogenic contaminants copurified with PHAs limit their pharmacological application rather than the monomeric composition of the PHAs and thus the purity of the PHA material is critical. This review summarizes the animal testing, tissue response, in vivo molecular stability and challenges of using PHAs for medical applications. In future, PHAs may become the materials of choice for various medical applications.

Cytotoxicity of clove (Syzygium aromaticum) oil and its major components to human skin cells

Abstract: . The essential oil extracted from clove (Syzygium aromaticum) is used as a topical application to relieve pain and promote healing in herbal medicine and also finds use in the fragrance and flavouring industries. Clove oil has two major components, eugenol and β-caryophyllene, which constitute 78% and 13% of the oil, respectively. Clove oil and these components are generally recognized as ‘safe’, but the in-vitro study here demonstrates cytotoxic properties of both the oil and eugenol, towards human fibroblasts and endothelial cells. Clove oil was found to be highly cytotoxic at concentrations as low as 0.03% (v/v) with up to 73% of this effect attributable to eugenol. β-caryophyllene did not exhibit any cytotoxic activity, indicating that other cytotoxic components may also exist within the parent oil.

Providing transport for social inclusion within a framework for environmental justice in the UK

Abstract: This paper examines emerging trends in transport policy in the UK, as identified by the 2004 Transport White Paper and the supporting policy guidance to local transport authorities for addressing social exclusion through local transport provision; accessibility planning. It moves on to identify potential barriers to delivery at the local level and more fundamental challenges, risks and policy tensions. In this context, it critiques UK policies to deliver social equity through transport programmes in light of its Climate Change Agenda and the identified need to significantly reduce traffic levels on UK roads. It identifies the potential synergy between these two policy ambitions, but argues that currently there is a serious policy conflict between these agendas within the UK policy framework. In the light of this conclusion, it offers some key recommendations on the best way forward, which it recommends must be based on the synergistic and integrated delivery of policies for social and environmental equity within the transport sector. It concludes by identifying the key challenges this implies for applied research in this area.

Education and skills mismatch in the Italian graduate labour market

Abstract: This paper focuses on education and skills mismatch among Italian graduates. Indicators for over- and under-utilization of education and under-utilization of skills are included as explanatory factors in a wage equation, testing theories that could explain the effect of over-schooling on wages. We find little evidence to support assignment theory and also identify a relatively weak wage effect arising from educational mismatch associated with employers’, as opposed to employees’, perceptions of the job requirements. Our interpretation is that some employers have re-categorized jobs as requiring a degree, when they were previously filled by non-graduates, and many have not altered pay scales accordingly.

A normative framework for agent-based systems

Abstract: One of the key issues in the computational representation of open societies relates to the introduction of norms that help to cope with the heterogeneity, the autonomy and the diversity of interests among their members. Research regarding this issue presents two omissions. One is the lack of a canonical model of norms that facilitates their implementation, and that allows us to describe the processes of reasoning about norms. The other refers to considering, in the model of normative multi-agent systems, the perspective of individual agents and what they might need to effectively reason about the society in which they participate. Both are the concerns of this paper, and the main objective is to present a formal normative framework for agent-based systems that facilitates their implementation.

A European Skills Framework?--But What Are Skills? Anglo-Saxon versus German Concepts.

Abstract: With the proposed introduction of a common framework for comparing qualifications within the European Union as a result of the Lisbon Agreement of 2000, the question of commonly agreed transnationa...

“The Old Me Could Never Have Done That”: How People Give Meaning to Recovery Following Depression

Abstract: Depression is usually a "self-limiting" condition, and recovery is likely, even if people do have subsequent episodes. However, despite considerable research into depression, little is known about how people actually go about understanding and organizing their recovery from depression. In this article, the authors draw on one-to-one interviews with people who have experienced mainly severe depression to explore the approaches and meanings attributed to overcoming depression. They used unstructured and semistructured interview phases to collect data and a modified grounded theory approach to analysis. They interviewed 38 men and women who had previously experienced depression (selected using the principles of maximum variation sampling through general practitioners, support groups, and newsletters) in late 2003 and early 2004. The authors explore the specific components involved in recovery (e.g., authenticity, responsibility, rewriting depression into the self), the stories people tell about their recovery, and the strategies deployed to revitalize life following depression.

Malaria Parasite Detection in Peripheral Blood Images

Abstract: This paper investigates the possibility of computerised diagnosis of malaria and describes a method to detect malaria parasites (Plasmodium spp) in images acquired from Giemsa-stained peripheral blood samples using conventional light microscopes. Prior to processing, the images are transformed to match a reference image colour characteristics. The parasite detector utilises a Bayesian pixel classifier to mark stained pixels. The class conditional probability density functions of the stained and the non-stained classes are estimated using the non-parametric histogram method. The stained pixels are further processed to extract features (histogram, Hu moments, relative shape measurements, colour auto-correlogram) for a parasite/non-parasite classifier. A distance weighted K-nearest neighbour classifier is trained with the extracted features and a detailed performance comparison is presented. Our method achieves 74% sensitivity, 98% specificity, 88% positive prediction, and 95% negative prediction values for the parasite detection.

Vitamin C mediates chemical aging of lens crystallins by the Maillard reaction in a humanized mouse model.

Abstract: Senile cataracts are associated with progressive oxidation, fragmentation, cross-linking, insolubilization, and yellow pigmentation of lens crystallins. We hypothesized that the Maillard reaction, which leads browning and aroma development during the baking of foods, would occur between the lens proteins and the highly reactive oxidation products of vitamin C. To test this hypothesis, we engineered a mouse that selectively overexpresses the human vitamin C transporter SVCT2 in the lens. Consequently, lenticular levels of vitamin C and its oxidation products were 5- to 15-fold elevated, resulting in a highly compressed aging process and accelerated formation of several protein-bound advanced Maillard reaction products identical with those of aging human lens proteins. These data strongly implicate vitamin C in lens crystallin aging and may serve as a model for protein aging in other tissues particularly rich in vitamin C, such as the hippocampal neurons and the adrenal gland. The hSVCT2 mouse is expected to facilitate the search for drugs that inhibit damage by vitamin C oxidation products.

The consequences of swim, cycle, and run performance on overall result in elite olympic distance triathlon.

Abstract: This study examined the consequences of performance in swim, cycle, and run phases on overall race finish in an elite "draft legal" Olympic distance (OD) triathlon. The subjects were 24 male athletes grouped by rank order into the top 50 % (n = 12) and bottom 50 % (n = 12) of the race population. Swimming velocity (m x s (-1)), cycling speed (km x h (-1)), and running velocity (m x s (-1)) were measured at regular intervals using a global positioning system, chip timing system, and video analysis. Actual rank after each stage and overall was obtained from the race results and video analysis. The top 50 % athletes overall swam faster over the first 400 m of the swim phase (p > 0.05). Their swim ranking was lower (p 0.01). It appears that inferior swimming performance can result in a tactic that involves greater work in the initial stages of the cycle stage of elite OD racing, and may influence subsequent running performance.

Stressful life events are associated with low secretion rates of immunoglobulin A in saliva in the middle aged and elderly.

Abstract: Whether chronic stress experience is related to downregulation of secretory immunoglobulin A (S-IgA) was tested in two substantial cohorts, one middle aged (N = 640) and another elderly (N = 582), comprising similar numbers of men (N = 556) and women (N = 666) and manual (N = 606) and non-manual (N = 602) workers. Participants indicated from a list of major stressful life events, up to six, they had experienced in the past 2 years. They also rated how disruptive and stressful the events were, at the time and now, as well as their perceived seriousness; the products of these impact values and event frequency were adopted as measures of stress load. From unstimulated 2-min saliva samples, saliva volume and S-IgA concentration were measured, and S-IgA secretion rate determined as their product. There was a negative association between the stress load measures and the S-IgA secretion rate, still evident following adjustment for such variables as smoking and saliva volume. The associations also withstood adjustment for sex, cohort, and household occupational status. Although these associations are small in terms of the amount of variance explained, they nonetheless suggest that chronic stress experience either decreases IgA production by the local plasma cells or reduces the efficiency with which S-IgA is transported from the glandular interstitium into saliva. Given the importance of S-IgA in immune defence at mucosal surfaces and the frequency with which infections are initiated at these surfaces, S-IgA downregulation could be a means by which chronic stress increases susceptibility to upper respiratory tract infection.

The evidence base and recommendations for interprofessional education in health and social care.

Abstract: This is a summary of findings from a Systematic Review reported in:Barr, H., Koppel, I., Reeves, S., Hammick, M., & Freeth. D. (2005). Effective Interprofessional Education: Argument, Assumption an...

Small and medium-sized enterprises: findings from the 2004 Workplace Employee Relations Survey

Abstract: This report presents a descriptive analysis of employment relations in small and medium-sized private-sector enterprises (SMEs) using data from the 2004 Workplace Employment Relations Survey (WERS 2004). WERS 2004 is the fifth in a series of surveys that are regarded as one of the most authoritative sources of information on employment relations in Great Britain. The report is based on a subset of interviews with managers in around 600 private sector workplaces that belonged to SMEs. It also draws on a survey of around 5,000 employees working in these establishments. An analysis is provides of the key features of employment relations and working life in British SMEs.

Contribution of activin receptor-like kinase 5 (transforming growth factor beta receptor type I) signaling to the fibrotic phenotype of scleroderma fibroblasts.

Abstract: Objective To use a specific transforming growth factor β receptor type I (TGFβRI; activin receptor–like kinase 5 [ALK-5]) kinase inhibitor (SD208) to determine the role of activation of the TGFβRI kinase (ALK-5) in maintaining the profibrotic phenotype of dermal fibroblasts in systemic sclerosis (SSc). Methods The effect of SD208 on the expression of key biochemical markers of the fibrotic phenotype was compared in fibroblasts cultured from clinically involved (lesional) and clinically uninvolved skin of patients with diffuse cutaneous SSc (dcSSc) and in fibroblasts from healthy controls matched for age, sex, and anatomic site. Protein expression was compared together with the ability of fibroblasts to adhere to the extracellular matrix and to remodel and contract a free-floating fibroblast–populated type I collagen lattice. Results Inhibiting TGFβRI kinase reduced the expression of a cohort of fibrotic markers by dermal fibroblasts from patients with dcSSc, including type I collagen and β1 integrin. Moreover, inhibition also attenuated the elevated adhesive and contractile abilities of dcSSc fibroblasts. Conclusion Our data suggest that some of the key profibrotic features of lesional SSc fibroblasts are dependent upon ALK-5 activity. Thus, TGFβRI kinase–mediated signaling may contribute to dermal fibrosis in dcSSc.

University Quality and Labour Market Outcomes in Italy

Abstract: . This paper uses proxies for university quality derived from Performance Indicators to evaluate the impact of university quality on the early labour market outcome of a cohort of recent Italian graduates. Institutional research quality is found to have a negative effect on the probability that both male and female graduates will be overeducated. Additionally, research inputs are positively related to men's wages. In contrast, teaching quality does not appear to enhance students’ economic success.

Increasing cognitive load with increasing balance challenge: recipe for catastrophe

Abstract: The variety of sometimes contradictory results of studies of the impact of secondary cognitive tasks on postural balance may be attributed to the heterogeneity of balance challenges and tasks deployed and frequent lack of quantitative comparability of tasks. We deployed a wide range of quantitatively graded difficulties of both balance challenge and cognitive tasking to obtain an overview of the spectrum of their interactions in a multi-tasking situation. A differential comparison of the effects of verbally versus spatially loaded tasks, balanced for difficulty, was made and unlike any other study, we contrived to incorporate falls as an experimental variable. In the first study subjects stood in tandem on beams of either 2, 3 and 6 cm or 3, 6 and 8 cm width (according to 'best performance' ability) while performing mental verbal or spatial 'Stroop' tasks. The design was a between groups (sixteen subjects each) comparison (to reduce learning effect) of sway, fall rate and task error, balanced for order. Measurements were taken of centre of pressure, sway velocity at the hip and head displacement. For any beam width there were no within-subject correlations between sway magnitudes and frequency of falls. Spatial task errors increased with balance challenge (hence with magnitude of sway) but verbal performance was maintained independently of balance challenge. The results of the first study provided statistical power estimates for the design of the second focussed experiment which made a within group (twenty four subjects) comparison of the impact of spatial versus verbal tasks on balancing on the hardest beam. The spatial task significantly elevated the incidence of falls whereas the verbal task had no effect on fall rate. The spatial task raised the incidence of falling by 50% (P = 0.0008) in comparison with 'no task'. The verbal task had no effect (P = 0.07). We conclude that sway magnitude is a poor index of multi-task load. Multi-tasking can increase the chance of falling and spatial processing may have a specific impact on balance. The significant elevation of fall frequency during cognitive tasking shows that the 'posture first' principal can be transgressed although the necessary condition for transgression may be that the subject is willing to take risks believing that he can arrest any fall.

Storing and sharing knowledge: Supporting the management of knowledge made explicit in transnational organisations

Abstract: Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to indicate and illustrate the potential for use of different types of technologies to support knowledge process in transnational organisations. Design/methodology/approach - The paper uses a standard literature review plus illustrations from case organisations to demonstrate the potential applications and value of technology for knowledge sharing. Findings - Transnational organisations have specific issues relating to space and time, and increasingly virtuality, in their working practices. Technology can assist to alleviate these issues and can provide the organisations with ways to share and distribute knowledge throughout their processes, sites and workforces. Successful knowledge management however, continues to need a sociotechnical approach where the social aspects of knowledge creation, storage and sharing need to be considered alongside the technical. Sociotechnical theory tells us we must importantly consider people, task, process, and environment (both internal and external) when considering how best to implement technology into our organisations. Research limitations/implications - Case studies that specifically describe the work of transnationals are not common and thus the organisations used as illustrations may be atypical, however we believe this limitation is alleviated by using both a for-profit and a not-for-profit organisation to illustrate the variety of purposes to which technology can be put in transnational organisations. Originality/value - This paper has major practical implications. It is now common in the knowledge management literature to lower the value of technology for knowledge sharing and to emphasise the human aspects of knowledge sharing. This paper agrees with this perspective but illustrates how technology can be used successfully to assist in the knowledge sharing processes across time, space and virtuality.

Welfare Regimes, Welfare Systems and Housing in Southern Europe

Abstract: Are housing provision systems in southern Europe (Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece) different from those in northern Europe? Answering this question requires a way of theorizing housing systems, which locates them within their broader societal contexts. After setting out some of the key empirical differences between northern and southern, the paper reanalyses Esping-Andersen's work on welfare regimes and reviews housing-specific work using these ideas as a basis for identifying differences between northern and southern European welfare and housing systems. Three key factors emerge from this analysis: the capacity of civil administration, the linkages between formal and informal segments in the labour market, and the operation of extended familial networks in welfare distribution. On this basis, the paper presents a more institutionally robust analysis of the relationships between welfare and housing provision systems in southern Europe. The conclusions address the problems of using welfare regime theory to analyse housing provision as well as some of the specific housing problems associated with socio-economic change in southern Europe.

Effect on weight gain of routinely giving albendazole to preschool children during child health days in Uganda: cluster randomised controlled trial

Abstract: Objective To estimate the effectiveness of delivering an anthelmintic through a community child health programme on the weight gain of preschool children in Uganda. Design Cluster randomised controlled trial. Setting Eastern Uganda. Participants 48 parishes participating in a new programme for child health: 24 offered children an additional service of anthelmintic treatment. The outcome is based on measurements from 27 995 children. Intervention Treatment of children aged between 1 and 7 years with 400 mg albendazole added to standard services offered during child health days over a three year period. Main outcome measure Weight gain. Results The provision of periodic anthelmintic treatment as a part of child health services in Uganda resulted in an increase in weight gain of about 10% (166 g per child per year, 95% confidence interval 16 to 316) above expected weight gain when treatments were given twice a year, and an increase of 5% when the treatment was given annually. Conclusion Deworming of preschool children in Uganda as part of regularly scheduled health services seems practical and associated with increased weight gain.