Entire Days Research Articles

Reassessing the definition of basal metabolic rate: Circadian considerations in avian studies

The importance of daily fluctuations in avian basal metabolic rate (BMR) was introduced in the classic paper by Aschoff and Pohl (1970) characterizing circadian differences. Since that time, there has been a shift in the BMR literature to accept only values measured in the ρ- (resting) phase of the day as true BMR. We argue that α- (active) and ρ-phases both represent BMR, analogous to the plasticity of BMR seen in seasonal variations, or associated with changes in body composition and restrictions in diet. Furthermore, we demonstrate that circadian differences in BMR are not even present in most polar birds and are sometimes absent in a variety of non-passerines. We argue for the ecological value of a 24 h BMR in order to compare with daily energy expenditure (field metabolic rate, FMR), which integrates entire days. We make recommendations for the reporting of BMR with sufficient information so readers will know time, season, etc. We also suggest that measures of BMR can be accepted during reproduction in birds, though with some caution.

Role of eddies in structuring the mesozooplankton composition in coastal waters of the western Bay of Bengal

The mesozooplankton community structure of a cold core eddy, moving through a coastal location (Bheemunipatnam) in the western Bay of Bengal (BoB), was studied continuously for 17 days (21st February to 8th March 2016) during Spring Intermonsoon. Vertical profiles of temperature, salinity and Chlorophyll a were measured in 1hr interval. Nutrients and dissolved oxygen were measured in every 3 hrs from 8 discrete depths. Mesozooplankton samples were collected through vertical haul (100 m depth to the surface) in 6 hrs intervals. Cluster analysis delineated the entire sampling days into 3 clusters based on temperature, salinity, anomaly of temperature and salinity in various depth layers Viz., phase I (Pre-eddy: 21st to 24th February), phase II (Core eddy: 28th February to 6th March) and phase III (Transition: 25th to 27th February and 7th to 8th March). The phase I was characterised as a comparatively warm, low saline, less nutrient and oxygenated subsurface water. During phase II, cool, nutrient-rich and oxygen deficient waters in the study location indicating the presence of a cold core eddy. Phase III is an intermediate condition between the phases I and II. Deep chlorophyll maxima (DCM) were shoaled to 23 m in Phase II from a depth of 38 m in Phase I. Mesozooplankton abundance was high during phase II (62320 No. m−2) compared to phase III (41633 No. m−2) and phase I (39510 No. m−2). Altogether 64 copepod species were identified of which, seven were dominant throughout the observation. Twelve species found as the indicator species in the core eddy condition. The high abundance of the Temora turbinata (upwelling indicator), Pleuromamma indica (low oxygen tolerant and highly central BoB reported) and occurrence of oceanic, oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) reported forms as indicator species in phase II is indicative of their entrainment from offshore by eddies. Eddy genesis and their movement tracking appear that this northeastern offshore formed cold core eddy advected to western coastal Bay of Bengal and traversing through the study site during the sampling period. Copepod species composition indicates the eddy trapped biological communities were sustained and retained in the core over a long period, and it advected over a long distance. This study is the first kind of information about northeastern offshore formed cold core eddy carries the plankton community in coastal waters of western BoB on their path and explains copepods community structure can be used as the indicator of eddy water masses.

Digital Psychiatry Apps Show Promise But May Present New Challenges

Digital Psychiatry Apps Show Promise But May Present New Challenges

Ammonia emissions from an in-ground finisher hog manure tank

A large fraction of emitted and ultimately deposited ammonia (NH3) originates from swine waste storage. Understanding the factors that influence these emissions is important in determining how to mitigate NH3 loading of the atmosphere. Hog manure is stored in slurry pits, tanks, or lagoons. Ammonia emissions from a ground-level mid-western hog finisher manure tank collecting manure from a mean of 3508 animals was measured for 8–20 d each quarter of the year for two years. Forty of the 164 measurement days had sufficient measurements to represent entire days. These daily emissions averaged 0.44 g NH3 m−2h−1 (53.1 g d−1 AU−1, 7.2 g d−1 hd−1: AU = 500 kg animal mass, hd = 1 animal) with maximum emissions of 1.62 g NH3 m−2h−1 (194.2 g d−1 AU−1, 26.4 g d−1 hd−1). Emissions from the tank were greater on an area basis but comparable on an animal basis relative to emissions from much larger anaerobic lagoons. Emissions were correlated with air temperature and manure composition, but not wind speed or friction velocity- probably due to the turbulence created by the tank structure under all winds. Crusting of the manure surface in the tank corresponded with a non-significant 10% increase in NH3 emissions. A model of the tank emissions, based on nominal nitrogen loading rates from the literature and taking into account the configuration of the circular tank, had a mean bias error of 0.01 g NH3 m−2h−1 (0.9 g d−1 AU−1, 0.1 g d−1 hd−1) and a root mean square error of 0.26 g NH3m−2h−1 (31.6 d−1 AU−1, 4.3 g d−1 hd−1). Additional emissions measurements from such ground-level manure storage tanks with greater documentation of the manure liquid composition are needed to verify the modeling approach.

The Role of Diabetes Educators in Reduction the Risk of Hypoglycemia in Type 1 Patients during Fasting Ramadan

Background/Objectives: Fasting Ramadan for type 1 patients could be a challenging for both patients and physicians due to complications such as hypoglycemia, so in this study we choice to introduce glucose sensor and intensify the role of diabetes educator follow-up for type 1 patients who already on pump and willing to fast Ramadan for the first time. Design and Methods: This is a pilot prospective cohort study. Total of 6 patients (4 females and 2 males) with type 1 diabetes were recruited. Their mean age is (21.8+/-2.2) years, diabetes duration(11.1+/-2.3) years, mean duration on insulin pump is (4+/-1.6)years. Insulin basal rates of infusion were reduced 5-10% during fasting hours and increased between 5-10% after breaking fast. Weekly follow-up visits during Ramadan took place as well a daily follow-up by phone with the educator. Patients were asked to wear glucose sensor for entire days of fasting to detect hypoglycemia. Results: An (28.8+/- 8.6) units for 24 hours of basal insulin were set before fasting, and (26.8+/- 7.5) units for 24 hours of basal insulin were required for fasting Ramadan, and from that (15.1+/-4.3) units was basal insulin for total hours of fasting(14 hours), part of it explained by food habitus and lack of activity during Ramadan. An average of blood glucose was (11.1+/-2.1) mmol/l an hour before futoor, (9.7+/-3.8) mmol/l two hours after futoor, and (12.5+/- 3.4) mmol/l at suhoor. On the first week, four hypoglycemic episodes (BG less than 3.9 mmol/l), daily follow-up by diabetes educator, pop up visit in educator office and weekly visit to physician and educator office reduce the episode of hypoglycemia by the 2nd week till the 4th week of Ramadan. Conclusions: The use of glucose sensor together with adjustment of basal insulin wasn’t enough to minimzing the fear of fasting Ramadan but with role of diabetes educator reduce the risk of further hypoglycemia episode. Disclosure S. Mourad: None.

Daily Differences in Bonobo Activities: More Sex in the Morning?

This technical note for field primatologists demonstrates that behavioral activities are not consistent throughout the day. In LuiKotale (DR Congo), a habituated group of bonobos (Pan paniscus) was continuously followed in 2010 and 2011 (38 and 124 entire days of analyzable data) for comparison of the morning and afternoon activities (mid-day=11:30). While group size, number of females, and feeding activity are similar, bonobos travel more in the afternoon. Furthermore, sexual activities show differences: bonobos copulate more in the morning and homosexual interaction between females (GG rubbing) seems to be consistent between morning and afternoon. This fact highlights the risk of bias in studies based on number of hours observation. Preliminary observation during entire days is a prerequisite for generalization of a behavior with bonobos and probably, other primates and animals.

Influence of El Niño on atmospheric CO2 over the tropical Pacific Ocean: Findings from NASA's OCO-2 mission.

Spaceborne observations of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 are used to characterize the response of tropical atmospheric CO2 concentrations to the strong El Niño event of 2015-2016. Although correlations between the growth rate of atmospheric CO2 concentrations and the El Niño-Southern Oscillation are well known, the magnitude of the correlation and the timing of the responses of oceanic and terrestrial carbon cycle remain poorly constrained in space and time. We used space-based CO2 observations to confirm that the tropical Pacific Ocean does play an early and important role in modulating the changes in atmospheric CO2 concentrations during El Niño events-a phenomenon inferred but not previously observed because of insufficient high-density, broad-scale CO2 observations over the tropics.

In situ photosynthetic yields of cave photoautotrophic biofilms using two different Pulse Amplitude Modulated fluorometers

In order to evaluate the photosynthetic efficiency of cave photoautotrophic biofilms, in vivo chlorophyll a fluorescence was measured using two different fluorometers, in two biofilms in the touristic karstic Nerja Cave (Spain). The study was done for entire days in summer and in winter during the first year and repeated for a second year, in order to cover the widest range of environmental conditions, i.e., atmospheric CO2, temperature, seeping water and relative humidity levels. Effective quantum yield and relative electron transport rate (rETR) were determined during periods of light whereas maximal quantum yield (Fv/Fm) was determined in situ during dark periods. On summer days, in situ photosynthetic yields in cyanobacterium biofilms (Chroococcidiopsis sp.) increased 7–16 times compared to that of winter days, whereas in biofilms comprised of green and red microalgae and various cyanobacterium species, no seasonal or yearly variations were observed. In contrast, maximal rETR in the two biofilms increased in the periods with the highest values of both CO2 and relative humidity. Positive correlations between all environmental variables and rETR were found. According to Redundancy Analysis, all environmental variables, mainly CO2 and relative humidity were related to photosynthetic variables. The effective quantum yields showed different values depending on the measuring light of the PAM. The values were higher with red light (Diving PAM) compared to blue light (Junior PAM) mainly in the site dominated by cyanobacteria. Nerja Cave is shown as an excellent place to study the effects of light and CO2, among other environmental variables of biofilm photosynthetic activity. The monitoring of photosynthetic activity by in vivo chlorophyll a fluorescence could be used to follow the effects of the treatments applied by the touristic cave managers to reduce the proliferation of biofilms composed of various species, and, consequently, the biodeterioration of speleothems could be reduced.

Days of Jubilee: Emancipation Day Celebrations in Chicago, 1853 to 1877

ON THE MORNING OF JANUARY i, 1863, Quinn Chapel swelled with anticipation as hundreds of black Chicagoans crowded into the church and filed into its pews. Unlike previous years, the crowd had not gathered in the city's African Methodist Episcopal church mark the beginning of a new year. Instead, they had come together give thanks God for the Emancipation Proclamation, which President Abraham Lincoln was scheduled sign later that day. The congregation filled the church with jubilant song and scripture. Leading the group in prayer, Quinn's pastor Reverend Dare offered up praises to the Most High for the manifestations of Divine interposition in behalf of the down-trodden and oppressed slaves. At another meeting held later that day, the reassembled crowed vowed preserve that momentous date for posterity, resolving that they would ever hold this day, the first day of January, 1863, as . . . the day that four millions of African-Americans were redeemed from the thraldom of American slavery and into the noonday of universal life.1For the next four decades, the city's black community held true the promise expressed in that 1863 New Year's Day resolution. But January 1 was just one of many dates black Chicagoans celebrated as critical moments in the struggle for universal emancipation. The festivities held on these dates came be known as Emancipation Day celebrations or jubilees. Before and even after the Civil War, black Chicagoans observed Emancipation Day on August 1, which marked the abolition of slavery in the British Empire in 1834. Beginning in 1860s, Emancipation Day festivities were organized around two dates: September 22 and January 1. The former date referred September 22,1862, when President Abraham Lincoln announced that he intended issue a proclamation emancipating slaves held by Confederate states that remained in rebellion against the Union. The latter date referred January 1, 1863, when Lincolns proclamation went into effect. After the Civil War, black Chicagoans also embraced March 30, the date when the Fifteenth Amendment was added the Constitution, as another emancipation. Although slavery had been legally abolished well before it was ratified in 1870, the Fifteenth Amendment extended the franchise black men, providing blacks with the tool-the ballot-that would help them defend their freedom.Through the latter half of the nineteenth century, Emancipation Days remained major if unofficial holidays for African Americans throughout the country. In Chicago, Emancipation Day celebrations consistently attracted crowds that numbered in the hundreds or thousands. Black Chicagoans could fill their social calendars with these commemorative festivities, which stretched across entire days and frequently occurred multiple times in a single year. A typical celebration would begin with a grand procession that carried participants through the city's streets and terminated at Quinn Chapel. Once inside, the crowd would offer thanksgiving God for abolishing slavery. Following the early morning service, the crowd would depart from the church a train station where they would pack into passenger cars that transported them a secluded grove in a nearby town. Joined by members of that town's black community, the crowd would be treated oratory, recitations of poems and historical documents like the Emancipation Proclamation, and music. Following a picnic and dancing, the party would return the city and might regroup at a meeting hall. There they would enjoy additional oratory and a formal banquet, and top off the day with more music and dancing. Through these multilayered activities, Emancipation Day celebrations combined the secular with the spiritual, the public with the private, the formal with the festive, and the political with the social.In recent years, Emancipation Day celebrations have begun attract more attention from scholars of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century African American history. …

Measurements of the impact of atmospheric aging on physical and optical properties of ambient black carbon particles in Los Angeles

Understanding how physical and optical properties of atmospheric black carbon (BC) particles vary in time and space is critical for reducing uncertainty in climate forcing estimates from ambient BC. In this study, ambient BC was measured in Rubidoux, California, approximately 90 km (55 miles) downwind of downtown Los Angeles. Collocated NOx and NOy measurements were used to estimate the photochemical age of the sampled air. Sampling was conducted throughout entire days between February 3, 2015 and March 12, 2015 to capture diurnal and daily variations in ambient BC. Both ambient and thermally-denuded air was sampled in 15-min cycles to compare the physical and optical properties of coated versus uncoated BC particles. Physical properties of individual BC particles including mass and coating thickness were measured using a Single-Particle Soot Photometer (SP2), and BC optical properties were measured using a Photoacoustic Extinctiometer (PAX) at 870 nm. The mean BC mass concentration (±standard deviation) for the campaign was 0.12 ± 0.08 μg m−3. BC mass concentrations were higher on weekdays than weekends, though only differences between 11:00 and 17:00 h were statistically distinguishable. The fraction of total BC particles that were thickly-coated (f) was found to be relatively low, with a mean of 0.05 ± 0.02 over the campaign. Values for f peaked in the afternoon when photochemical pollutant concentrations are also generally at a maximum. Further, f at 15:00–16:00 h was found to be statistically higher on weekends than weekdays, potentially due to a higher relative amount of ambient SOA to BC on weekends versus weekdays, which would enhance SOA coating of primary BC particles as they age during transport from the western Los Angeles basin to our sampling site on weekends. Differences at other hours during the photochemically active period of the day (10:00–14:00 h) were not statistically different although the weekend values were systematically higher. Comparing f with the photochemical age (PCA) of sampled air showed increases in f as PCA increases; the mean value (±95% confidence interval) of f for PCA < 1 h was 0.037 ± 0.004, while that for PCA > 3 h was 0.12 ± 0.04. This suggests that even in winter, photochemistry in urban environments can lead to increased thickly coated BC particles. The mean (±95% confidence interval) enhancement in mass absorption cross-section (MAC) due to coatings on BC for our wintertime measurements in urban Los Angeles was found to be 1.03 ± 0.05. Comparisons to other studies that measure enhancement of MAC are presented.

Insect models of illumination-invariant skyline extraction from UV and green channels

Experiments have shown that the skyline is an important visual cue for navigating insects. However, the comparison between two snapshots collected at different times of day is a complex task due to possible illumination changes. In this study we examine whether the information from two different color channels (UV and green, which are also available for many insects) can be used to obtain an illumination-invariant separation between the sky and ground. We collected UV and green images of seven different scenes over entire days, in which natural and artificial objects are visible in front of the sky. With the collected data we want to find answers to the following two questions: ‘Does UV/green contrast vision increase the quality of separation compared to UV-only vision?’ and ‘What yields a better performance: separation methods based on a fixed threshold (global separation techniques) or separation methods which adapt the threshold dependent on the input image (local separation techniques)?’ We implemented several linear separation techniques and found that UV/green contrast only marginally increases the quality of global separation in comparison to UV-only, and that local separation techniques are superior to global separation techniques.

Fosaprepitant for the prevention of nausea and vomiting in patients receiving BEAM or high-dose melphalan before autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplant.

To assess the impact of single-dose fosaprepitant on nausea and emesis after BEAM and high-dose melphalan conditioning regimens for autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. In a single-center cohort study patients receiving melphalan containing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation regimens who received a one-time dose of 150 mg IV fosaprepitant (n = 56) were compared to a historical control (n = 70). The primary endpoint of no emesis from melphalan administration through five days afterward was 80% for the fosaprepitant group versus 66% in the control group (p = 0.068). Addition of fosaprepitant demonstrated significant improvement in emetic episodes per patient during the entire assessment period (p = 0.011) and days 1-5 after melphalan (p = 0.045). Fosaprepitant resulted in no substantial nausea during the entire assessment period in 37% of high-dose melphalan patients and 57% of BEAM patients. Further studies are suggested to investigate the optimal number and timing of doses of fosaprepitant in this setting.

Determining Temporal Sampling Schemes for Passive Acoustic Studies in Different Tropical Ecosystems

Among different approaches to exploring and describing the ecological complexity of natural environments, soundscape analyses have recently provided useful proxies for understanding and interpreting dynamic patterns and processes in a landscape. Nevertheless, the study of soundscapes remains a new field with no internationally accepted protocols. This work provides the first guidelines for monitoring soundscapes in three different tropical areas, specifically located in the Atlantic Forest, Rupestrian fields, and the Cerrado (Brazil). Each area was investigated using three autonomous devices recording for six entire days during a period of 15 days in both the wet and dry seasons. The recordings were processed via a specific acoustic index and successively subsampled in different ways to determine the degree of information loss when reducing the number of minutes of recording used in the analyses. We describe for the first time the temporal and spectral soundscape features of three tropical environments. We test diverse programming routines to describe the costs and the benefits of different sampling designs, considering the pressing issue of storing and analyzing extensive data sets generated by passive acoustic monitoring. Schedule 5 (recording one minute of every five) appeared to retain most of the information contained in the continuous recordings from all the study areas. Less dense recording schedules produced a similar level of information only in specific portions of the day. Substantial sampling protocols such as those presented here will be useful to researchers and wildlife managers, as they will reduce time- and resource-consuming analyses, whilst still achieving reliable results.

Flexible and Robust Method for Missing Loop Detector Data Imputation

This study is primarily focused on missing traffic sensor data imputation for the purpose of improving the coverage and accuracy of traffic analysis and performance estimation. Missing data, whether attributable to hardware failure or error detection and removal, are a constant problem in loop and other traffic detector data sets. As the rate of missingness increases, the treatment of missing values quickly becomes the controlling factor in overall data quality. Previously, several imputation approaches have been developed for traffic data. However, few studies aim at handling the traffic data with large blocks of missing values for networkwide implementation. A proven predictive mean matching multiple imputation method is introduced; it was applied to loop detector volume data collected on Interstate 5 in Washington State. With the use of the iterative multiple imputation by chained equations approach, the spatial correlation between nearby detectors was considered for prediction, and the presence of missing data was effectively dealt with in all predictors. The proposed methodology is shown to perform well on a range of missing data patterns, including missing completely at random, missing days, and missing months. After the imputation method was applied to 20-s data and postimputation aggregation was performed, the results in this study suggest that the proposed method can outperform elementary pairwise regression and produce reliable imputation estimates, even when entire days and months are missing from the data set. Thus the predictive mean matching multiple imputation method can be used as an effective approach for imputing missing traffic data in a range of challenging scenarios.

The End or Something Like That by Ann Dee Ellis (review)

Reviewed by: The End or Something Like That by Ann Dee Ellis Amy Atkinson Ellis, Ann Dee. The End or Something Like That. Dial, 2014. [352p] ISBN 978-0-8037-3739-6 $17.99 Reviewed from galleys R Gr. 7-12. When Kim died, she left her best friend Emmy strict instructions on how to contact her in the afterlife. Emmy has done everything she’s supposed to, waiting at designated meeting spots for entire days for Kim to appear and consulting the books of psychic medium Dr. Ted Farnsworth, whom the girls met when he brought his act to their hometown of Las Vegas. Though Kim never manifests, the grieving Emmy does see her recently deceased teacher, as well as other persons now departed. Haunted not only by these specters but also by the guilt of how she treated Kim and her own chronic inability to own her emotions, Emmy struggles to make peace with her newfound gift, the loss of her friend, and the idea of moving [End Page 571] on. Ellis (This Is What I Did:, BCCB 9/07) conveys intense ideas and emotions—from changing relationships to body image to budding romance to deep loss—in spare and exacting prose believable as the internal monologue of a protagonist who struggles to put voice to her feelings. Emmy makes a sympathetic and nuanced character, frustrating but never alienating as she clumsily moves through her grief while dealing with the peers and adults, portrayed here with observant precision, who make up her life. This is a sad novel, but not one wallowing in its misery; rather, with understated humor, compassion, and evenhandedness in its staccato sentences, it takes readers on a meaningful journey into grief and uncertainty—and gently leads them back to safety. Copyright © 2014 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

A case of cyclic esotropia with menstrual cycle

Cyclic esotropia, alternatively called ‘day squint’, is an intermittent disorder. It usually occurs in repeated cycles of every 48 hr (Hutcheson & Lambert 1998). The fusion and binocularity are usually defective on the strabismic days; in contrast, it remains normal during the straight days. Many studies have tried to clarify the pathophysiology of this rare condition, but exact mechanisms remain unknown (Metz & Searl 1984). We present a monthly cycle of these squints with misalignment associated with the days of the menstrual period that has never been reported yet. A 46-year-old female was referred for ocular pain. She had already been diagnosed with orbital pseudotumor at another clinic and took oral steroids for this condition. She was noted to have 45PD esotropia with diplopia. Six months later, her esotropia had improved without diplopia. We could not see her again until 4 years later when she presented to our clinic for a history of a squint, which was worse during her menstrual period. It typically lasted for 2 weeks each month. At that time, her ocular examination showed orthotropia and no diplopia, and visual acuity was 20/20. Two weeks later, she was noticed to have 35PD esotropia, but no change of visual acuity or refraction error was seen (Fig. 1). Her ocular motility was normal, but binocularity did not evaluated. We suggested a self-diary should be started, so she recorded daily whether she had straight eyes or a manifest squint. The diary clearly showed that the manifest deviation did predictably present during her menstrual periods. The cycle started on the first day of menstrual period, and it terminated at the end of menstrual period. Cyclic fluctuation usually occurred over one-month time frame. For evaluating the recurrence of orbital pseudotumor, she received CT scans, but we did not find any abnormalities on the CT scans (Fig. 1). The cycle had lasted for 4 months, and the strabismic period became more prolonged as time went on, and at last, her esotropia has lasted for 1 month. Finally, the periodic squint became a constant 40PD esotropia. The patient underwent bilateral medial rectus muscle recession (right, 5.5 mm; left, 5.0 mm). Following the surgery, she has remained orthotropic and free of diplopia during her menstrual period. Cyclic esotropia can be idiopathic or consecutive and also occur with defects of the central nervous system (CNS) (Pillai & Dhand 1987). The proposed mechanism of cyclic esotropia is a disruption of the innate biological clock associated with the CNS (Hutcheson & Lambert 1998). Some authors have suggested that a lesion of the suprachiasmatic nucleus of the hypothalamus could disrupt the biological clock and lead to cyclic esotropia (Pillai & Dhand 1987). Our case supports this possible mechanism in that the suprachiasmatic nucleus plays an important role in the course of menstruation (Norman et al. 1976). Several authors proposed that patients with cyclic esotropia have a basically strabismic condition with appended ‘bursts of orthophoria’ (Hutcheson & Lambert 1998). After visual maturity, late-onset cyclic esotropia could develop from conditions that disrupt fusion or cause diplopia (Hutcheson & Lambert 1998). The trigger event could be ocular surgery or CNS problems (Pillai & Dhand 1987). In this case, we could propose that constant esotropia by orbital pseudotumor might disrupt fusion. It is hypothesized that underlying this strabismic condition, our patient had entire days except her menstrual period where she experienced an orthotropic burst; therefore, a trigger factor to suppress orthotropic burst condition might also exist. The trigger factor could be menstrual hormones or unknown endogenous CNS transmitters stimulated by menstrual hormones. In conclusion, we present the first unique case of periodic esotropia with a monthly cycle and onset along with the menstrual period. In our patient, the development of cyclic esotropia could be related to the disruption of an innate biological clock, and the cycle was probably the result of some interacting factors related to the suprachiasmatic nucleus of the hypothalamus.

Beverages contribute extra calories to meals and daily energy intake in overweight and obese women

Caloric beverages may promote obesity by yielding energy without producing satiety, but prior laboratory and intervention studies are inconclusive. This study examined whether the diets of free-living overweight and obese women show evidence that calories from beverages are offset by reductions in solid food within individual eating occasions and across entire days. Eighty-two women weighed and recorded all consumed foods and beverages for seven days. Beverages were coded as high-calorie (≥0.165kcal/g) or low-calorie (<0.165kcal/g), and total energy intake and energy intake from solid food were calculated for each eating occasion and day. In covariate-adjusted models, energy intake from solid food did not differ between eating occasions that included high-calorie or low-calorie beverages and those with no reported beverage. Energy intake from solid food was also unrelated to the number of high-calorie or low-calorie beverages consumed per day. On average, eating occasions that included a high-calorie beverage were 169kcal higher in total energy than those with no reported beverage, and 195kcal higher in total energy than those that included a low-calorie beverage. Each high-calorie beverage consumed per day contributed an additional 147kcal to women's daily energy intake, whereas low-calorie beverage intake was unrelated to daily energy intake. Beverages contributed to total energy intake in a near-additive fashion among free-living overweight and obese women, suggesting a need to develop more effective interventions to reduce caloric beverage intake in the context of weight management, and to potentially reexamine dietary guidelines.

Stack Zooming for Multifocus Interaction in Skewed-Aspect Visual Spaces

Many 2D visual spaces have a virtually one-dimensional nature with very high aspect ratio between the dimensions: examples include time-series data, multimedia data such as sound or video, text documents, and bipartite graphs. Common among these is that the space can become very large, e.g., temperature measurements could span a long time period, surveillance video could cover entire days or weeks, and documents can have thousands of pages. Many analysis tasks for such spaces require several foci while retaining context and distance awareness. In this extended version of our IEEE PacificVis 2010 paper, we introduce a method for supporting this kind of multifocus interaction that we call stack zooming. The approach is based on building hierarchies of 1D strips stacked on top of each other, where each subsequent stack represents a higher zoom level, and sibling strips represent branches in the exploration. Correlation graphics show the relation between stacks and strips of different levels, providing context and distance awareness for the foci. The zoom hierarchies can also be used as graphical histories and for communicating insights to stakeholders and can be further extended with annotation and integrated statistics.

How do Clinical Pharmacists spend their Working Day? A Time‐and‐Motion Study

ABSTRACTBackgroundOur health service is introducing an electronic medication management system (eMMs). Obtaining baseline data on the work patterns of pharmacists will allow assessment of the impact of the eMMs on pharmacists' work patterns.AimTo quantify the time clinical pharmacists spend on various activities over their working day prior to the implementation of an eMMs.MethodDuring this continuous observational time‐and‐motion study (23 November to 17 December 2009), clinical pharmacists assigned to general medical and surgical wards were shadowed by two independent observers over their entire working days. A customised Access application was used to log times and calculate average times spent on each activity. Other data collected included time from admission to interview and opportunities for medication chart review.Results9 pharmacists were observed for 265.3 hours over 30 separate pharmacist observation days. Clinical activities (56% of total time) included professional communication (20%), medication chart review (9.6%), medication history interview (9.5%), clinical review (9.1%), providing information to patients/carers (5.5%), ascertaining discharge drugs required (1.6%), and obtaining drug information (0.5%). Non‐clinical activities (44% of total time) included social activities/breaks (13%), meetings (6.9%), ordering/distribution (6.6%), discharge dispensing (6.3%), walking between wards/pharmacy (5.2%), looking for something (3.1%), and other activities (2.8%). On an average day, each pharmacist reviewed 21 of a possible 38 medication charts (55%), spent 20 minutes on clinical interventions and completed 4.5 medication history interviews. Average time from admission to interview was 67 hours. 18% of pharmacists' time was taken up with discharge/transfer of patients. Most patients 130/141 (93%) at discharge did not require further medication history clarification.ConclusionThis study provides baseline data for comparison of the impact of the eMMs on pharmacist workflow.

Patterns of physical activity and sedentary behaviour in preschool children.

BackgroundLittle is known about patterns of sedentary behavior (SB) and physical activity among preschoolers. Therefore, in this observational study patterns of SB and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) were examined in detail throughout the week in preschool-aged boys and girls.MethodsA sample of 703 Melbourne preschool children (387 boys; 4.6 ± 0.7 y) were included in data analysis. SB and MVPA data were collected using accelerometry over an eight-day period. Percentage of time per hour in SB and in MVPA between 08:00 h and 20:00 h was calculated. Multi-level logistic regression models were created to examine the hour-by-hour variability in SB and MVPA for boys and girls across weekdays and weekend days. Odds ratios (OR) were calculated to interpret differences in hour-by-hour SB and MVPA levels between boys and girls, and between weekdays and weekend days.ResultsThe highest SB levels co-occurred with the lowest MVPA levels from the morning till the early afternoon on weekdays, and during the morning and around midday on weekends. Besides, participation in SB was the lowest and participation in MVPA was the highest from the mid afternoon till the evening on weekdays and weekend days. The variability across the hours in SB and, especially, in MVPA was rather small throughout weekdays and weekends. These patterns were found in both boys and girls. During some hours, girls were found to be more likely than boys to demonstrate higher SB levels (OR from 1.08 to 1.16; all p < 0.05) and lower MVPA levels (OR from 0.75 to 0.88; all p < 0.05), but differences were small. During weekends, hour-by-hour SB levels were more likely to be lower (OR from 0.74 to 0.98; all p < 0.05) and hour-by-hour MVPA levels were more likely to be higher (OR from 1.15 to 1.50; all p < 0.05), than during weekdays, in boys and girls.ConclusionEntire weekdays, especially from the morning till the early afternoon, and entire weekend days are opportunities to reduce SB and to promote MVPA in preschool-aged boys and girls. Particularly weekdays hold the greatest promise for improving SB and MVPA. No particular time of the week was found where one sex should be targeted.