Website physical activity interventions : preferences of potential users

Information and communication technologies (particularly websites and e-mail) have the potential to deliver health behavior change programs to large numbers of adults at low cost. Controlled trials using these new media to promote physical activity have produced mixed results. User-centered development methods can assist in understanding the preferences of potential participants for website functions and content, and may lead to more effective programs. Eight focus group discussions were conducted with 40 adults after they had accessed a previously trialed physical activity website. The discussions were audio taped, transcribed and interpreted using a themed analysis method. Four key themes emerged: structure, interactivity, environmental context and content. Preferences were expressed for websites that include simple interactive features, together with information on local community activity opportunities. Particular suggestions included online community notice boards, personalized progress charts, e-mail access to expert advice and access to information on specific local physical activity facilities and services. Website physical activity interventions could usefully include personally relevant interactive and environmentally focused features and services identified through a user-centered development process.

Endogenous parathyroid hormone is associated with reduced cartilage volume in vivo in a population-based sample of adult women

Objectives Animal and in vitro studies suggest that parathyroid hormone (PTH) may affect articular cartilage. However, little is known of the relationship between PTH and human joints in vivo.

Design Longitudinal.

Setting Barwon Statistical Division, Victoria, Australia.

Participants 101 asymptomatic women aged 35–49 years (2007–2009) and without clinical knee osteoarthritis, selected from the population-based Geelong Osteoporosis Study.

Risk factors Blood samples obtained 10 years before (1994–1997) and stored at −80°C for random batch analyses. Serum intact PTH was quantified by chemiluminescent enzyme assay. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) was assayed using equilibrium radioimmunoassay. Models were adjusted for age, bone area and body mass index; further adjustment was made for 25(OH)D and calcium supplementation.

Outcome Knee cartilage volume, measured by MRI.

Results A higher lnPTH was associated with reduced medial—but not lateral—cartilage volume (regression coefficient±SD, p value: −72.2±33.6 mm3, p=0.03) after adjustment for age, body mass index and bone area. Further sinusoidal adjustment (−80.8±34.4 mm3, p=0.02) and 25(OH)D with seasonal adjustment (−72.7±35.1 mm3, p=0.04), calcium supplementation and prevalent osteophytes did not affect the results.

Conclusions A higher lnPTH might be detrimental to knee cartilage in vivo. Animal studies suggest that higher PTH concentrations reduce the healing ability of cartilage following minor injury. This may be apparent in the presence of increased loading, which occurs in the medial compartment, placing the medial cartilage at higher risk for injury.

Learning other agents' preferences in multi-agent negotiation using the bayesian classifier

In multi-agent systems, most of the time, an agent does not have complete information about the preferences and decision making processes of other agents. This prevents even the cooperative agents from making coordinated choices, purely due to their ignorance of what others want. To overcome this problem, traditional coordination methods rely heavily on inter-agent communication, and thus become very inefficient when communication is costly or simply not desirable (e.g. to preserve privacy). In this paper, we propose the use of learning to complement communication in acquiring knowledge about other agents. We augment the communication-intensive negotiating agent architecture with a learning module, implemented as a Bayesian classifier. This allows our agents to incrementally update models of other agents' preferences from past negotiations with them. Based on these models, the agents can make sound predictions about others' preferences, thus reducing the need for communication in their future interactions.

Learning other agents' preferences in multiagent negotiation

In multiagent systems, an agent does not usually have complete information about the preferences and decision making processes of other agents. This might prevent the agents from making coordinated choices, purely due to their ignorance of what others want. This paper describes the integration of a learning module into a communication-intensive negotiating agent architecture. The learning module gives the agents the ability to learn about other agents' preferences via past interactions. Over time, the agents can incrementally update their models of other agents' preferences and use them to make better coordinated decisions. Combining both communication and learning, as two complement knowledge acquisition methods, helps to reduce the amount of communication needed on average, and is justified in situations where communication is computationally costly or simply not desirable (e.g. to preserve the individual privacy).

Negotiating agents that learn about others’ preferences

In multiagent systems, an agent does not usually have complete information about the preferences and decision making processes of other agents. This might prevent the agents from making coordinated choices, purely due to their ignorance of what others want. This paper describes the integration of a learning module into a communication-intensive negotiating agent architecture. The learning module gives the agents the ability to learn about other agents’ preferences via past interactions. Over time, the agents can incrementally update their models of other agents’ preferences and use them to make better coordinated decisions. Combining both communication and learning, as two complement knowledge acquisition methods, helps to reduce the amount of communication needed on average, and is justified in situation where communication is computationally costly or simply not desirable (e.g. to preserve the individual privacy).

Direct methods for distinction between endogenous and exogenous erythropoietin

Since the commercialization of the first recombinant human erythropoietin (rhEPO) product (epoetin-a) in 1989 as a treatment for acute anemia, rhEPO detection has represented a continuous challenge for the anti-doping fight. Indeed, it appeared rapidly that this ergogenic hormone would be abused by athletes looking for an artificial performance enhancer. Hemoglobin is one of the principal modulators of aerobic power [1, 2] and, consequently, of performance in endurance sports [3]. By stimulating the red blood cells production, EPO is known to raise hemoglobin concentration in a dose-dependant and predictable way. Therefore, this hormone soon became one of the athletes most popular doping agent. Since 1984, all forms of blood doping in sport have been officially banned. In 1990, the IOC medical commission, which was in charge of the anti-doping regulations, added rhEPO to the list of the prohibited drugs in sports, even if a direct test allowing to detect the molecule became available a decade after only.

Aggregation of preferences in recommender systems

This chapter gives an overview of aggregation functions toward their use in recommender systems. Simple aggregation functions such as the arithmetic mean are often employed to aggregate user features, item ratings, measures of similarity, etc., however many other aggregation functions exist which could deliver increased accuracy and flexibility to many systems. We provide definitions of some important families and properties, sophisticated methods of construction, and various examples of aggregation functions in the domain of recommender systems.

Language and learning preferences : a study of university students in Australia

This study sought to investigate the preferences for language use and modes of learning of university students who were completing undergraduate degrees in Australia. Of the sixty students surveyed, forty percent were international students. For seventy five percent of all students sampled, either they or their parents (or both) were bi- or multilingual. Questions which this research sought to answer were: Do the preferences for learning of university students differ according to the culture and / or language backgrounds of the students? Does an individual student’s preferred learning style influence the student’s preferences for learning in a group situation? For students whose first language is not English, do their preferences for language use vary in group learning? General findings resulting from a statistical analysis of responses to the questionnaire indicated in many, but not all, cases that the preferences for learning of university students differed according to the cultural and / or language backgrounds of the students, that an individual student’s preferred learning style influenced the student’s preferences for learning in a group situation, and that the preferences for language use of students whose first language was not English varied in group learning. Reid’s (1984 in Richards, J.C. & Lockhart, C., 1994) “Perceptual learning style preference questionnaire” comprised one section of the questionnaire for this study. This replication made possible a comparison of the findings which related to students’ learning styles from this study with findings from similar studies in which Reid’s survey instrument had been used. Findings of the present study indicate a number of differences from Reid’s findings. This study found, for example, that most language groups showed a minor preference for group learning using this survey instrument whereas Reid had found that group learning was a negligible preference for most of the language groups in her study. This study may give tertiary educators a greater understanding of their students’ preferences for group and other learning styles. It may also inform them of the likely preferences for language use of those of their students who have first languages other than English. Future students may benefit from this.

An effective semi-supervised clustering framework integrating pairwise constraints and attribute preferences

Both the instance level knowledge and the attribute level knowledge can improve clustering quality, but how to effectively utilize both of them is an essential problem to solve. This paper proposes a wrapper framework for semi-supervised clustering, which aims to gracely integrate both kinds of priori knowledge in the clustering process, the instance level knowledge in the form of pairwise constraints and the attribute level knowledge in the form of attribute order preferences. The wrapped algorithm is then designed as a semi-supervised clustering process which transforms this clustering problem into an optimization problem. The experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness and potential of proposed method.

A fuzzy decision support method for customer preferences analysis based on Choquet integral

The explosion of the Web 2:0 platforms, with massive volume of user generated data, has presented many new opportunities as well as challenges for organizations in understanding consumer's behavior to support for business planning process. Feature based sentiment mining has been an emerging area in providing tools for automated opinion discovery and summarization to help business managers with achieving such goals. However, the current feature based sentiment mining systems were only able to provide some forms of sentiments summary with respect to product features, but impossible to provide insight into the decision making process of consumers. In this paper, we will present a relatively new decision support method based on Choquet Integral aggregation function, Shapley value and Interaction Index which is able to address such requirements of business managers. Using a study case of Hotel industry, we will demonstrate how this technique can be applied to effectively model the user's preference of (hotel) features. The presented method has potential to extend the practical capability of sentiment mining area, while, research findings and analysis are useful in helping business managers to define new target customers and to plan more effective marketing strategies.

Factors limiting participation in arthritis self-management programmes : an exploration of barriers and patient preferences within a randomized controlled trial

Objective. To improve understanding of barriers to participation in community-based arthritis self-management programmes and patient preferences for self-management education.

Methods. Individuals with hip or knee OA referred to orthopaedic surgeons or rheumatologists at six public and private hospitals in Victoria, Australia, were recruited for a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of the Stanford Arthritis Self-Management Programme (ASMP). As part of the study design, potential participants were asked during the screening and recruitment process about reasons for being unable to attend the course, reasons for not participating in the study and individual preferences for course scheduling.

Results. Of 1125 individuals assessed, 216 (19%) were unable to attend six ASMP sessions. This was commonly due to physical limitations, including illness, restricted mobility and pain (22%), difficulty getting to or from courses (22%), work commitments (22%), the time commitment required (17%) and family roles (12%). Among those who did not want to participate in the study (n = 258), the overwhelming reason was disinterest (74%). Specific preferences for course scheduling were frequent, confirming the practical challenges faced in organizing courses for the RCT.

Conclusion. Incorporating patients from public and private settings, this study has elicited new insights into barriers to ASMP participation. Many people with hip or knee OA have limited capacity and motivation to attend community-based group programmes. Future self-management programmes and research should include more accessible options for those who cannot attend group-based programmes.