Short-term Behavioral Changes Research Articles

Mixed methods evaluation of nutrition education for limited resource audiences

This paper presents an exploratory evaluation of pilot nutrition education programs, Plan Shop Save Cook (PSSC). Behavior change between two nutrition education programs, Buy Eat Live Healthy (BELH; n=92 and PSSC; n=42), was examined using pre- and post-program questionnaire responses. Both programs resulted in significant improvement in food resource management (FRM) behaviors; however, there was no significant difference in the amount of change between the programs. Qualitative data suggests participants perceived label reading as the most useful information provided in the PSSC programs. The current findings suggest short-term behavior change can be achieved with a limited dose program.

The Effect of Graded Activity and Pain Education After Lumbar Spinal Fusion on Sedentary Behavior 3 and 12 Months Postsurgery: A Randomized Controlled Trial

ObjectivesTo examine the effect of an early postsurgical intervention consisting of graded activity and pain education (GAPE) in patients with chronic low back pain (CLBP) undergoing lumbar spinal fusion (LSF) on sedentary behavior, disability, pain, fear of movement, self-efficacy for exercise and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) at 3-, 6-, and 12 months follow-up. DesignA parallel-group, observer-blinded randomized controlled trial. SettingDepartment of Occupational- and Physiotherapy and the Centre for Rheumatology and Spine Diseases, Rigshospitalet, Denmark. ParticipantsIn total, 144 participants undergoing an LSF for CLBP were randomly assigned to an intervention or a control group. InterventionsThe intervention group received 9 sessions of GAPE, based on principles of operant conditioning. Main Outcome MeasuresThe primary outcome was reduction in time spent in sedentary behavior, measured by an accelerometer at 3 months. The secondary outcomes were reduction in time spent in sedentary behavior at 12 months and changes from baseline to 3-, 6-, and 12 months on disability, pain, fear of movement, self-efficacy for exercise, and HRQoL. ResultsNo difference in changes in sedentary behavior between groups was found 3 months after surgery. At 12 months after surgery, there was a significant difference between groups (mean difference: −25.4 min/d (95% confidence interval −49.1 to −1.7)) in favor of the intervention group. ConclusionsCompared with usual care, GAPE had no effect on short-term changes in sedentary behavior but GAPE had a statistical, but possibly not clinical significant effect on sedentary behavior 12 months after LSF. Further, the behavioral intervention was safe to perform.

Exploring students’ perception of subjective food literacy: A model of educational practice

IntroductionLatest research showed that lower levels of food literacy led to poorer health outcomes and highlighted the importance of nutrition education to improve food literacy for the population. Although evidence at the global level exists, the scientific literature on food literacy in Romania is scarce; therefore, this article aims to explore the perception of subjective food literacy as an outcome of an educational model in a sample of university students from Romania. MethodsThe present study used a qualitative inductive approach using focus groups to explore the results from an educational “learning-by-doing” model regarding the perception of subjective food literacy. The sample consisted of 64 second-year students who participated in a class taught by one of the authors between October 2019 and February 2020 and later agreed to participate in the focus groups. All focus groups were audiotaped following participants’ permission and transcribed verbatim. Data was analyzed with the QSR Nvivo 12 Pro software package using an inductive thematic analysis. ResultsSeveral themes and sub-themes emerged from the focus groups discussing prior information of participants regarding nutrition, change in nutrition knowledge (information about plant protein, information about soy and soy products, information about sugar and its effects on health, and additional nutrition information), modified perception of nutrition and food, dietary habits, short-term behavior changes, and aspects that helped them to have more information about nutrition (construction of the health campaign, pre-testing materials, and support offered by the professors). All participants reported acquiring new information about food and nutrition, modified perceptions about nutritional habits, and even reported short-term behavioral change as an outcome of the educational model. ConclusionsEducational models using a learning-by-doing approach and combining formal and non-formal education can potentially affect students' subjective food literacy. Future research should explore university students' food literacy using evidence-based educational models.

HPAIV outbreak triggers short-term colony connectivity in a seabird metapopulation

Disease outbreaks can drastically disturb the environment of surviving animals, but the behavioural, ecological, and epidemiological consequences of disease-driven disturbance are poorly understood. Here, we show that an outbreak of High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza Virus (HPAIV) coincided with unprecedented short-term behavioural changes in Northern gannets (Morus bassanus). Breeding gannets show characteristically strong fidelity to their nest sites and foraging areas (2015–2019; n = 120), but during the 2022 HPAIV outbreak, GPS-tagged gannets instigated long-distance movements beyond well-documented previous ranges and the first ever recorded visits of GPS-tagged adults to other gannet breeding colonies. Our findings suggest that the HPAIV outbreak triggered changes in space use patterns of exposed individuals that amplified the epidemiological connectivity among colonies and may generate super-spreader events that accelerate disease transmission across the metapopulation. Such self-propagating transmission from and towards high density animal aggregations may explain the unexpectedly rapid pan-European spread of HPAIV in the gannet.

Assessing the Impact of COVID-19 on HIV Outcomes in the United States: A Modeling Study.

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted sexual behaviors and the HIV continuum of care in the United States, reducing HIV testing and diagnosis, and use of preexposure prophylaxis and antiretroviral therapy. We aimed to understand the future implications of these effects through a modeling study. We first ran our compartmental model of HIV transmission in the United States accounting for pandemic-related short-term changes in transmission behavior and HIV prevention and care provision in 2020 to 2021 only. We then ran a comparison scenario that did not apply pandemic effects but assumed a continuation of past HIV prevention and care trends. We compared results from the 2 scenarios through 2024. HIV incidence was 4·4% lower in 2020 to 2021 for the pandemic scenario compared with the no-pandemic scenario because of reduced levels of transmission behavior, despite reductions in HIV prevention and care caused by the pandemic. However, reduced care led to less viral load suppression among people with HIV in 2020, and in turn, our model resulted in a slightly greater incidence of 2·0% from 2022 to 2024 in the COVID-19 scenario, as compared with the non-COVID scenario. Disruptions in HIV prevention and care services during COVID-19 may lead to somewhat higher postpandemic HIV incidence than assuming prepandemic trends in HIV care and prevention continued. These results underscore the importance of continuing to increase HIV prevention and care efforts in the coming years.

Transcriptomic responses to location learning by honeybee dancers are partly mirrored in the brains of dance-followers.

The waggle dances of honeybees are a strikingly complex form of animal communication that underlie the collective foraging behaviour of colonies. The mechanisms by which bees assess the locations of forage sites that they have visited for representation on the dancefloor are now well-understood, but few studies have considered the remarkable backward translation of such information into flight vectors by dance-followers. Here, we explore whether the gene expression patterns that are induced through individual learning about foraging locations are mirrored when bees learn about those same locations from their nest-mates. We first confirmed that the mushroom bodies of honeybee dancers show a specific transcriptomic response to learning about distance, and then showed that approximately 5% of those genes were also differentially expressed by bees that follow dances for the same foraging sites, but had never visited them. A subset of these genes were also differentially expressed when we manipulated distance perception through an optic flow paradigm, and responses to learning about target direction were also in part mirrored in the brains of dance followers. Our findings show a molecular footprint of the transfer of learnt information from one animal to another through this extraordinary communication system, highlighting the dynamic role of the genome in mediating even very short-term behavioural changes.

Multi-step and multi-task learning to predict quality-related variables in wastewater treatment processes

In wastewater treatment processes, lack of hardware sensors together with unacceptable dynamics, strong nonlinearity and large time delay often leads to a large number of key variables that are difficult to measure online accurately and timely, then frustrate safe operations of the processes. To accurately and timely capture the short-term behavior changes and trend development of critical variables, a novel neural network based soft-sensing model is proposed to take full use of multi-task learning, direct multi-step prediction strategy and evolutionary algorithm to formulate a novel multi-task multi-step evolution (MTMSE) neural network. Firstly, single-output MTMSE (SO-MTMSE) neural network is used to realize the dynamic monitoring of a single variable. Moreover, by considering the spatiotemporal interaction among the data, the model is extended to multi-output MTMSE (MO-MTMSE) neural network to simultaneously realize multi-step prediction of multiple variables, thus providing a desired reference for optimizing the wastewater treatment processes. Finally, the proposed model is applied to the benchmark simulation model 2 (BSM2) and a full-scale wastewater treatment plant in Shenzhen. And the results show that the proposed dynamic soft sensor model outperforms the standard methods, such as autoregressive moving average model (ARMA) and multiple output gaussian process regression (MGPR).

Applying behavioral science to agriculture, food, and agri-environmental policymaking

This special issue aims to extend the active discourse on applying behavioral science-based tools to policymaking in the fields of food, agriculture, and agri-environmental issues. For this introductory article, we collected and analyzed data from the 91 submissions we received for this special issue to identify knowledge gaps and priorities for future policy research. In the submitted papers, the impacts of the behavioral interventions were small when implemented in isolation, but they were larger when coupled with other policy tools. Yet, we also found that most of the interventions that were evaluated in the submitted papers focused either on consumers or producers and thus offered little insight into other actors in the supply chain. Moreover, many of the submitted papers had shortcomings that are common in the behavioral science literature, including the use of hypothetical or low-stake incentives, a focus on short-term behavior change, and a lack of discussion about cost-effectiveness and mechanisms. We argue that better research designs and practices are needed to improve the credibility of behavioral science-based research in food policy. We conclude by presenting insights and recommendations for researchers and practitioners that arise from this special issue.

Acute cycling exercise and hippocampal subfield function and microstructure in healthy older adults.

Aging is associated with deterioration in dentate gyrus (DG) and CA3, both crucial hippocampal subfields for age susceptible memory processes such as mnemonic discrimination (MD). Meanwhile, a single aerobic exercise session alters DG/CA3 function and neural activity in both rats and younger adults and can elicit short-term microstructural alterations in the hippocampus of older adults. However, our understanding of the effects of acute exercise on hippocampal subfield integrity via function and microstructure in older adults is limited. Thus, a within subject-design was employed to determine if 20-min of moderate to vigorous aerobic exercise alters bilateral hippocampal subfield function and microstructure using high-resolution functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during an MD task (n = 35) and high angular resolution multi-shell diffusion imaging (n = 31), in healthy older adults, compared to seated rest. Following the exercise condition, participants exhibited poorer MD performance, particularly when their perception of effort was higher. Exercise was also related to lower MD-related activity within the DG/CA3 but not CA1 subfield. Finally, after controlling for whole brain gray matter diffusion, exercise was associated with lower neurite density index (NDI) within the DG/CA3. However, exercise-related differences in DG/CA3 activity and NDI were not associated with differences in MD performance. Our results suggest moderate to vigorous aerobic exercise may temporarily inhibit MD performance, and suppress DG/CA3 MD-related activity and NDI, potentially through neuroinflammatory/glial processes. However, additional studies are needed to confirm whether these short-term changes in behavior and hippocampal subfield neurophysiology are beneficial and how they might relate to long-term exercise habits.

Measuring short-term changes in stress-associated salivary analytes in free-ranging Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata).

Monitoring short-term changes of endocrine responses in non-human primates living in wild populations is a challenge. Saliva contains enzymes, steroids, and various analytes that can be broadly useful for helping us understand physiological responses to social and environmental sources of stress as well as other compromises to an individual's health homeostasis. Salivary alpha-amylase and salivary cortisol are known to respond rapidly to stress, which can allow us to use these analytes to monitor stress on a time scale of minutes. We developed a non-invasive methodology for the collection of saliva and verified its applicability by conducting short-term interval sampling of focal individuals under varying social conditions in a group of semi-provisioned free-ranging Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) living endemically on the island of Koshima, Miyazaki prefecture, Japan. Monkeys were habituated to sampling by using ingestive attractants applied to cotton ropes. Their receptivity to chewing on the saliva sampling material provided and chewing time was recorded ad libitum during the initial habituation period of the troop to the sampling procedure. Focal animal behavior observations were conducted in conjunction with saliva sampling. Salivary analytes associated with stress, alpha-amylase and cortisol, were measured via enzyme immunoassay. Short-term changes in salivary alpha-amylase and salivary cortisol were examined in relation to short-term changes in social behavior, in particular aggression or grooming. We tested flow-rate effects in both analytes and found strong correlations between original sample results and their respective flow-rate transformed equivalents. Additionally, temperature effects on samples were tested and both analytes showed nearly the same values when stored at -20, 4, and 30°C conditions for 6h; important information expected to facilitate future sampling in field conditions where freezer storage is uncertain. Our study shows that saliva can be repeatedly sampled non-invasively to investigate short-term changes in stress-associated markers in free-ranging Japanese macaques.

P104 The role of occupational therapy for the self-management of rheumatoid arthritis: a mixed methods systematic review

Abstract Background/Aims Occupational therapy (OT) can support people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) to self-manage their symptoms and engage in meaningful daily activities. Previous evidence reviews are dated, limited to quantitative research designs, and lack a focus on self-management. The effectiveness of OT in supporting RA self-management is unclear when accounting for both measurable outcomes (e.g., function) and lived experience. This review aimed to assess the impact of OT on the self-management of RA by reviewing quantitative (pain, function and fatigue) outcomes and qualitative (narrative experience) evidence. Methods PROSPERO registration CRD42022302205. We systematically searched for studies involving adults with RA participating in self-management programmes incorporating OT. Searches were conducted via MEDLINE, CINAHL, AMED, PsycINFO, Web of Science (Core Collection) databases, and grey literature sources up to 1 April 2022, with a refresher search conducted on 30 June 2022. Three reviewers screened titles and abstracts. Two reviewers independently extracted and assessed full texts of eligible studies, using the Cochrane risk of bias (quantitative and mixed methods) and Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) (qualitative) tools to assess study quality. Studies were categorised as: educational-behavioural, comprehensive OT, community (home-based) OT, splints and assistive devices, and other programmes, including workplace interventions. The Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluations (GRADE) (quantitative) and GRADE-CERQual (qualitative) were used to assess the quality of evidence for each intervention category. Patients and occupational therapists (OTs) were consulted via online workshops to inform the search strategy (n = 4 patients) and interpret review findings (n = 6 patients; n = 4 OTs). Results Of the 36 papers meeting eligibility criteria, 27 were quantitative studies (n = 1802 participants), three qualitative (n = 31), and six mixed methods (n = 844). Strong evidence supports the use of educational-behavioural programmes for pain and function, particularly group sessions on joint protection education. Qualitative evidence was limited to three papers exploring personal transformations experienced during community-based (home) OT. Weak evidence supports the use of splints and assistive devices, whereas comprehensive OT intervention had mixed effectiveness. Across all intervention types, there was little evidence to support OT for self-managing fatigue. Conclusion Educational-behavioural programmes offer improvements in pain and function, but behaviour changes in self-management do not translate to improved long-term health benefits. For fatigue, the evidence to support OT self-management programmes is inconclusive, with the few qualitative insights on lived experience relating to illness, independence, (occupational) activity and altruism specific to home-based OT. Our findings extend current research that OT programmes targeting RA self-management behaviours are effective for short-term behaviour change and improving pain and function, but cannot demonstrate prevention of further physical deterioration for progressive RA. Timing programmes to match the individual’s disease stage (i.e. early or established RA) appeared to impact therapy outcomes and patient experience. Evidence on the patient experience and long-term effectiveness are lacking. Disclosure J.P. Gavin: None. L. Rossiter: None. J. Adams: None. V. Fenerty: None. J. Leese: None. A. Hammond: None. E. Davidson: None. C. Backman: None.

Online financial and demographic education for workers: Experimental evidence from an Italian Pension Fund

This study experimentally tests a low-cost, Internet-based,online literacy intervention program implemented with the largest employer-based pension fund in Italy. This program, called Financial Education and Planning for a Long Life (Finlife) included: 1) an online instructional video on financial, and demographic (survival) literacy; 2) an experimental design to evaluate the impact of the online videoprogram on financial and demographic literacy, as well as and on short-term behavioral changes in behavior; and 3) a follow-up to assess the impact of the videoprogram on subsequent choices of available investment lines in the Italian pension fund. Finlife was designed as a low-cost and, scalable approach aimed at increasing financial and demographic survival literacy, which is consistent with a ‘nudge’ philosophy. Based on the findings, Finlife significantly increased the financial and demographic survival literacy of the participants, and pushed them towards seeking more information and becoming more active in financial decisions.

Safety Assessments of Electroacupuncture-Mediated Blood–Brain Barrier Opening: An Animal Study

The presence of the Blood–Brain barrier (BBB) makes it difficult for therapeutic agents to reach the brain to treat brain diseases. As an emerging treatment, electroacupuncture (EA)-mediated BBB opening can temporarily increase the permeability of the brain blood vessels to increase the concentration of the therapeutic agent in the brain parenchyma, which offers great clinical benefits. Recent studies have suggested that BBB opening with excessive exposure levels may cause tissue/cell damage and short-term behavioral changes. Here, we investigated whether the EA-mediated BBB opening cause serious adverse events in the normal rat brain tissue and motor behavior, such as brain tissue damage, histopathologic alteration, or aggravated behavioral changes. EA was performed on the accupoint GV26 and GV20. Evans Blue Assay (EBA) and fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)–dextran Assay were performed to assess the BBB permeability. Immunofluorescence of GFAP-positive cells was marked and Hematoxylin-eosin (HE) Staining was carried out for assessing brain cortex damage. Tunel Assay was conducted to assess cell apoptosis. ELISA was used to measure the contents of TNF-α and IL-1β in brain tissue to explore the inflammatory response. The open field test, balance beam test and Y-Maze test were carried out to assess and neural behaviour. EA can induce an increase in BBB permeability on rats, allowing the macromolecular tracer Evans blue (EB) and Fluorescein Isothiocyanate (FITC)–Dextran to enter the brain. Histological analysis indicated that there was no obvious red blood cell leakage and a cellular apoptotic response in the brain tissue of rats with EA treatment. In addition, EA stimulation at specific parameters did not impair the rats’ motor ability, balance and coordination, and short-term spatial learning and memory. Our results suggest that EA can safely and effectively open the BBB in rats without causing brain damage and behavioral memory impairment.

Parameters of EMA Compliance and Self-Reported Reactivity in a Longitudinal Study of Young Adult Cannabis and Tobacco Co-Users.

Co-use of cannabis and tobacco has become increasingly popular among young adults. Interactive voice response (IVR) based ecological momentary assessment (EMA) allows for measurement of behavior in or near real-time, but has limitations including non-compliance, missing data, and potential for reactivity (e.g., behavior change) from frequent assessments. This study examined tobacco and cannabis use characteristics and factors associated with IVR compliance and self-reported reactivity in 97 young adults who reported cannabis and tobacco co-use at baseline and completed daily IVR surveys of co-use behavior at three random times per day for 28 days. Overall IVR compliance was 55%, with a modal compliance of 60%. Compliance rates did not differ across morning, midday, and evening surveys, but significantly declined over time. The sample was divided into high frequency responders (>70% calls completed, n=35) and low frequency responders (<70%, calls completed n=62). There were no differences between high and low frequency responders on any baseline demographic, tobacco use (nicotine dependence severity), alcohol, or cannabis use characteristics (past 30-day frequency of use). Participants were receptive to IVR-based EMA monitoring and, 16.5% reported purposely decreasing nicotine/tobacco use due to monitoring, while 19.6% reported purposely decreasing cannabis use, which predicted lower cannabis use post-EMA monitoring. Real-time assessment of co-use behavior among young adults does not appear to be impacted by specific demographics or substance use severity (nicotine dependence, heavy drinking). Data suggest some predictive utility of IVR-based EMA monitoring on short-term behavior change. More intensive approaches are needed to improve compliance among young adult cannabis and tobacco co-users.

The effect of neighborhood walkability on changes in physical activity and sedentary behavior during a 12-week pedometer-facilitated intervention.

Pedometer-facilitated interventions encourage physical activity via the accumulation of steps. Mixed evidence suggests that neighborhood walkability might influence the effectiveness of physical activity interventions, including pedometer-facilitated interventions. Our study investigated the moderating effect of neighborhood walkability on immediate (4-week) and short-term (12-week) changes in self-reported neighborhood-specific leisure and transportation walking, leisure-based moderate and vigorous-intensity physical activity, and leisure-based screen time during a pedometer-facilitated intervention (UWALK). This quasi-experiment undertaken in Calgary (Canada) compared behavior changes during the 12-week intervention between two neighborhood groups classified as 'walkable' or 'car dependent' based on Walk Score®. Of the 573 volunteers (adults in the contemplation and preparation stages of physical activity behavior change), 466 participated in UWALK. Surveys captured sociodemographic characteristics, perceived neighborhood walkability, neighborhood preferences, motivation, physical activity and screen-based leisure. Covariate-adjusted linear mixed models estimated the differences in physical activity and leisure screen time between the neighborhood walkability groups at baseline, 4-weeks, and 12-weeks. UWALK participants included mostly females (83%) and had an average age of 49.2 years. Weekly minutes of walking for transport inside the neighborhood was higher (p < .001) among participants from walkable versus car dependent neighborhoods at baseline (42.5 vs. 21.1), 4-weeks (81.2 vs. 48.2), and 12-weeks (87.2 vs. 48.0). Regardless of neighborhood walkability, all physical activity outcomes were higher and leisure screen time lower at 4-weeks and 12-weeks compared with baseline. We found no significant neighborhood group by time interactions. Pedometer-facilitated interventions may be effective for supporting short-term changes in physical activity and sedentary behavior even among adults residing in low walkable neighborhoods.

Changes in cigarette smoking behavior among breast cancer and unaffected women – A prospective study in the MARIE cohort

BackgroundSmoking cessation after a cancer diagnosis can reduce adverse cancer treatment outcomes. Whether a breast cancer diagnosis, a cancer commonly seen as unrelated to smoking cigarettes, motivates changes in smoking behavior is not fully understood. We aimed to compare long-term changes at three follow-up times of cigarette smoking behavior in women with breast cancer and baseline age- and region-matched unaffected women. MethodsWe used longitudinal data from the population-based case-control study MARIE (Mamma Carcinoma Risk Factor Investigation). Women with breast cancer (N = 3813) and unaffected women (N = 7341) aged 50–74 years were recruited from 2002 to 2005. Analyses on changes in smoking were based on data from those who also completed follow-up 1 in 2009–2012, follow-up 2 in 2014–2016 and follow-up 3 in 2020. Multinomial logistic regression for changes (quitting, stable, or start smoking) adjusted for age, study region, education, comorbidities, living situation, and follow-up time, was applied to examine the associations between breast cancer status and changes in smoking behavior. ResultsWomen with breast cancer had significantly higher odds than unaffected women of quitting smoking (OR = 1.38, 95 % CI: 1.01–1.89) and lower odds of returning to smoking (OR = 0.29, 95 % CI: 0.09–0.94) at follow-up 1, but were more likely to start or return to smoking at follow-up 2 (OR = 2.11, 95 % CI 1.08–4.15). No significant group differences were found for changes in smoking behavior at follow-up 3. ConclusionOur findings indicate that short-term changes in smoking behavior can be attributed to a breast cancer diagnosis, but that over time the effect diminishes and changes in smoking no longer differ between breast cancer and breast cancer-free women. To support smoking cessation and to prevent relapse, guidelines to address smoking in cancer care, as well as comprehensive tobacco treatment services, are needed.

Fear conditioning in invertebrates.

Learning to identify and predict threats is a basic skill that allows animals to avoid harm. Studies in invertebrates like Aplysia californica, Drosophila melanogaster, and Caenorhabditis elegans have revealed that the basic mechanisms of learning and memory are conserved. We will summarize these studies and highlight the common pathways and mechanisms in invertebrate fear-associated behavioral changes. Fear conditioning studies utilizing electric shock in Aplysia and Drosophila have demonstrated that serotonin or dopamine are typically involved in relaying aversive stimuli, leading to changes in intracellular calcium levels and increased presynaptic neurotransmitter release and short-term changes in behavior. Long-term changes in behavior typically require multiple, spaced trials, and involve changes in gene expression. C. elegans studies have demonstrated these basic aversive learning principles as well; however, fear conditioning has yet to be explicitly demonstrated in this model due to stimulus choice. Because predator-prey relationships can be used to study learned fear in a naturalistic context, this review also summarizes what is known about predator-induced behaviors in these three organisms, and their potential applications for future investigations into fear conditioning.

Short-term behavioral and histological changes in a rodent model of mild traumatic brain injury

An in-house developed weight drop injury (WDI) device is a recently described animal model of traumatic brain injury (TBI) that was designed to produce a blunt, closed-head injury. More specifically, the apparatus was designed to reliably generate a wide range of TBI severities using precise and quantifiable biomechanical inputs in a nonsurgical user-friendly platform. The objective of this study was to define the lower limit of a single mild TBI (mTBI) impact using our WDI device by characterizing the relationship between the biomechanical input and the behavioral and histological inflammatory outcomes. Rats were subjected to a single mTBI impact using two impact energies of 0.2 and 0.5J, and post-impact outcomes were assessed over two recovery periods of 3- and 7-days. Here we report that a single, closed-head impact energy of 0.5J and below produces no significant phenotype. Despite the insignificant results of alterations in behavior and inflammatory analysis, the study revealed important aspects of lower-level impact loads. First, this work provides evidence in support of the notion that not every closed-head impact has the capacity to result in system perturbations. Although a theoretical injury threshold may not exist for rats using a WDI model, we hypothesize a biomechanical threshold of impact associated with a lack of functional impairment and neuroinflammation due to a single closed-head injury is likely around an energy level of 0.5 J.

Will short-term behavior changes during the COVID-19 crisis evolve into low-carbon practices?

During the Covid-19 pandemic, many people have changed established routines in everyday life, often involuntarily. Some of these changes implied a lowering of carbon emissions. Will this behavior change lead to sustainable habits that extend beyond the pandemic? Recapitulating conditions of behavior change, we suggest policy measures that could support a lasting adoption of low-carbon habits.In the course of the COVID-19 crisis, there were a number of behavioral adaptations to the extraordinary conditions that temporarily reduced individual carbon footprints. The question is whether these short-term changes will evolve into sustainable behavioral habits and how to support these changes through policy measures. During the three waves of the pandemic, there has been an increase in surveys as well as in social science studies and research in Germany and other countries on the topic of behavioral changes due to the pandemic. The paper recapitulates what is known about behavior change from psychology and sociology, and synoptically summarizes the preliminary findings from the empirical studies conducted so far. The emphasis will be on the behavioral changes, with a focus on mobility and work routines, as witnessed in Germany. However, the insights from Germany may also shed a light on similar processes in other countries.

Carbon neutrality of China’s passenger car sector requires coordinated short-term behavioral changes and long-term technological solutions

<h2>Summary</h2> The passenger car sector accounts for nearly half of all transport-related emissions. Rapid decarbonization is therefore important but challenging, particularly in China, where, despite recent emission peak (by 2030) and carbon-neutrality (by 2060) pledges, car ownership and associated emissions are increasing. Successful emissions reduction will require a rapid transition of both technology (e.g., toward electrification) and demand (e.g., driving less). However, how to successfully deploy these twin strategies for optimal outcomes remains unclear. Here, we develop an integrated fleet dynamics model that considers emissions associated with car manufacturing, operation, end-of-life recycling, and energy supply alongside socioeconomic changes. Our analyses reveal that optimal short-term results will be achieved through demand-oriented strategies, which can reduce emissions by 22% and achieve 2030 emissions peak targets. Technology-oriented strategies are more optimal when deployed in the longer term and can result in emission reductions of 91%. A successfully coordinated strategy could reduce China's passenger cars CO₂ emissions to 0.05 Gt by 2050.