This secondary analysis examined the influence of changes in physical activity (PA), sedentary time and energy expenditure (EE) during dietary energy restriction on the rate of weight loss (WL) and 1-year follow-up weight change in women with overweight/obesity.

Measurements of body weight and composition (air-displacement plethysmography), resting metabolic rate (indirect calorimetry), total daily (TDEE) and activity EE (AEE), minutes of PA and sedentary time (PA monitor) were taken at baseline, after 2 weeks, after ≥5% WL or 12 weeks of continuous (25% daily energy deficit) or intermittent (75% daily energy deficit alternated with ad libitum day) energy restriction, and at 1-year post-WL. The rate of WL was calculated as total %WL/number of dieting weeks. Data from both groups were combined for analyses.

Thirty-seven participants (age=35±10y; BMI=29.1±2.3kg/m2) completed the intervention (WL=−5.9±1.6%) and 18 returned at 1-year post-WL (weight change=+4.5±5.2%). Changes in sedentary time at 2 weeks were associated with the rate of WL during energy restriction (r=−0.38; p=0.03). Changes in total (r=0.54; p<0.01), light (r=0.43; p=0.01) and moderate-to-vigorous PA (r=0.55; p<0.01), sedentary time (r=−0.52; p<0.01), steps per day (r=0.39; p=0.02), TDEE (r=0.46; p<0.01) and AEE (r=0.51; p<0.01) during energy restriction were associated with the rate of WL. Changes in total (r=−0.50; p=0.04) and moderate-to-vigorous PA (r=−0.61; p=0.01) between post-WL and follow-up were associated with 1-year weight change (r=−0.51; p=0.04).

These findings highlight that PA and sedentary time could act as modifiable behavioural targets to promote better weight outcomes during dietary energy restriction and/or weight maintenance.

Economic incentives are in widespread use to stimulate the development of the electric vehicle industry. However, the distributional effects of such incentives have been subject to little empirical inquiry. This study examines how California’s electric vehicle rebate program impacts different income groups financially. Two effects are considered: the income distribution of rebate beneficiaries and the income distribution of the rebate payers. The results reveal that the overall net financial impacts of the electric vehicle rebate program are regressive: the benefit distribution is highly regressive while the cost distribution is slightly progressive. Recent efforts to improve the fairness of the rebate program do not alter our findings. Policy implications are discussed.

Online peer support platforms have been shown to provide a supportive space that can enhance social connectedness and personal empowerment. Some studies have analysed forum messages, showing that users describe a range of advantages, and some disadvantages to their use. However, the direct examination of users’ experiences of such platforms is rare and may be particularly informative for enhancing their helpfulness. This study aimed to understand users’ experiences of the Support, Hope and Recovery Online Network (SHaRON), an online cognitive behavioural therapy-based peer support platform for adults with mild to moderate anxiety or depression. Platform users (n = 88) completed a survey on their use of different platform features, feelings about using the platform, and overall experience. Responses were analysed descriptively and using thematic analysis. Results indicated that most features were generally well used, with the exception of private messaging. Many participants described feeling well supported and finding the information and resources helpful; the majority of recent users (81%) rated it as helpful overall. However, some participants described feeling uncomfortable about posting messages, and others did not find the platform helpful and gave suggestions for improvements. Around half had not used the platform in the past 3 months, for different reasons including feeling better or forgetting about it. Some described that simply knowing it was there was helpful, even without regular use. The findings highlight what is arguably a broader range of user experiences than observed in previous studies, which may have important implications for the enhancement of SHaRON and other platforms.

To assess the burden of respiratory virus coinfections with severe acute respiratory coronavirus virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), this study reviewed 4,818 specimens positive for SARS-CoV-2 and tested using respiratory virus multiplex testing. Coinfections with SARS-CoV-2 were uncommon (2.8%), with enterovirus or rhinovirus as the most prevalent target (88.1%). Respiratory virus coinfection with SARS-CoV-2 remains low 1 year into the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Climate change is causing the geographical ranges of some species to track suitable conditions. Habitat specialists, range-restricted species and species with limited dispersal abilities may be unable to track changing conditions, increasing their extinction risk. In response to changing conditions and species movement patterns, there is a need to account for the effects of climate change when designing protected areas and identifying potential climate refugia. We used ecological niche models projected into future climates to identify potential impacts of climate change on the distribution of 11 rupicolous reptile species in the Soutpansberg Mountains, South Africa. Lygodactylus incognitus, Lygodactylus soutpansbergensis, Platysaurus relictus and Vhembelacerta rupicola were identified as being vulnerable to climate change due to substantial reductions in suitable habitat and low spatial overlap between current and future niche envelopes. We identified areas of high conservation importance for the persistence of these species under present-day and projected future conditions. The western Soutpansberg was identified as an area of high conservation priority as it is a potential refuge under future projections. Projecting distributions of vulnerable species into future climate predictions can guide future research and identify potential refugia that will best conserve species with restricted ranges in a world with climate change.

Benefit-cost analyses of regulations address Kaldor-Hicks efficiency but rarely investigate the distribution of benefits and costs as experienced by low-income households. In order to fill this gap, this article assembles the available evidence to determine how regulations of the automobile industry may impact the well-being of low-income Americans. The scope of the investigation includes air pollution, safety and fuel-economy regulations. We find that performing benefit-cost analyses for low-income households is more challenging than commonly understood. Given the difficulties in completing distributional analysis with available information, the authors offer practical suggestions on how to change the federal data systems and the rulemaking process to ensure that information is collected about how future automobile regulations impact the well-being of the poor.

The 2020 update of the Canadian Stroke Best Practice Recommendations (CSBPR) for the Secondary Prevention of Stroke includes current evidence-based recommendations and expert opinions intended for use by clinicians across a broad range of settings. They provide guidance for the prevention of ischemic stroke recurrence through the identification and management of modifiable vascular risk factors. Recommendations address triage, diagnostic testing, lifestyle behaviors, vaping, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, atrial fibrillation, other cardiac conditions, antiplatelet and anticoagulant therapies, and carotid and vertebral artery disease. This update of the previous 2017 guideline contains several new or revised recommendations. Recommendations regarding triage and initial assessment of acute transient ischemic attack (TIA) and minor stroke have been simplified, and selected aspects of the etiological stroke workup are revised. Updated treatment recommendations based on new evidence have been made for dual antiplatelet therapy for TIA and minor stroke; anticoagulant therapy for atrial fibrillation; embolic strokes of undetermined source; low-density lipoprotein lowering; hypertriglyceridemia; diabetes treatment; and patent foramen ovale management. A new section has been added to provide practical guidance regarding temporary interruption of antithrombotic therapy for surgical procedures. Cancer-associated ischemic stroke is addressed. A section on virtual care delivery of secondary stroke prevention services in included to highlight a shifting paradigm of care delivery made more urgent by the global pandemic. In addition, where appropriate, sex differences as they pertain to treatments have been addressed. The CSBPR include supporting materials such as implementation resources to facilitate the adoption of evidence into practice and performance measures to enable monitoring of uptake and effectiveness of recommendations.

The Subglacial Antarctic Lakes Scientific Access (SALSA) Project accessed Mercer Subglacial Lake using environmentally clean hot-water drilling to examine interactions among ice, water, sediment, rock, microbes and carbon reservoirs within the lake water column and underlying sediments. A ~0.4 m diameter borehole was melted through 1087 m of ice and maintained over ~10 days, allowing observation of ice properties and collection of water and sediment with various tools. Over this period, SALSA collected: 60 L of lake water and 10 L of deep borehole water; microbes >0.2 μm in diameter from in situ filtration of ~100 L of lake water; 10 multicores 0.32–0.49 m long; 1.0 and 1.76 m long gravity cores; three conductivity–temperature–depth profiles of borehole and lake water; five discrete depth current meter measurements in the lake and images of ice, the lake water–ice interface and lake sediments. Temperature and conductivity data showed the hydrodynamic character of water mixing between the borehole and lake after entry. Models simulating melting of the ~6 m thick basal accreted ice layer imply that debris fall-out through the ~15 m water column to the lake sediments from borehole melting had little effect on the stratigraphy of surficial sediment cores.

For decades, a strong case has been made for comprehensive reform of the U.S. federal government’s regulatory processes (for early contributions, see Weidenbaum & DeFina, 1978; Lave, 1981; Breyer, 1982; Harrison & Portney, 1983; Litan & Nordhaus, 1983; Viscusi, 1992; Breyer, 1993; Sunstein, 1996; Graham, 1996, 1997). Establishment of centralized Office of Management and Budget (OMB) oversight through the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) was an important achievement, but Congress has not yet passed comprehensive regulatory reform legislation.

The measurement of thin film mechanical properties free from substrate influence remains one of the outstanding challenges in nanomechanics. Here, a technique based on indentation of a supported film with a flat punch whose diameter is many times the initial film thickness is introduced. This geometry generates a state of confined uniaxial strain for material beneath the punch, allowing direct access to intrinsic stress versus strain response. For simple elastic–plastic materials, this enables material parameters such as elastic modulus, bulk modulus, Poisson's ratio, and yield stress to be simultaneously determined from a single loading curve. The phenomenon of confined plastic yield has not been previously observed in thin films or homogeneous materials, which we demonstrate here for 170 -470 nm thick polystyrene (PS), polymethyl-methacrylate (PMMA) and amorphous Selenium films on silicon. As well as performing full elastic -plastic parameter extraction for these materials at room temperature, we used the technique to study the variation of yield stress in PS to temperatures above the nominal glass transition of 100 °C.

First Peoples' knowledge at university lies within a contested knowledge space. The incompatibilities and differences between Western and First Peoples' knowledge systems means attempts to superficially ‘add’ First Peoples' content to university courses are often ineffective and tokenistic. Considering these issues, this paper reflects on the design and implementation of weaving First Peoples' knowledge and perspectives throughout a service-learning course. The course is a nationally awarded work-integrated learning programme delivered to undergraduate and postgraduate students. Drawing on a theoretical framework of Woven Law, the design of the module was led and authored by First Peoples. Throughout the design process, the module was critically examined in terms of the content developed and methods of content inclusion, while also responding to institutional demands of student learning outcomes. Survey results show a positive student reception and early success in enabling students to achieve learning outcomes. While initial results are promising, data are limited due to this being the first assessment of the programme and the fact that students were asked to rate their own experience. Nonetheless, Woven Law and carefully weaving First Peoples' knowledge throughout the curriculum represents a promising methodology and area for future research.