Applications of nutrient profiling : potential role in diet-related chronic disease prevention and the feasibility of a core nutrient-profiling system

Background/objectives: A number of different nutrient-profiling models have been proposed and several applications of nutrient profiling have been identified. This paper outlines the potential role of nutrient-profiling applications in the prevention of diet-related chronic disease (DRCD), and considers the feasibility of a core nutrient-profiling system, which could be modified for purpose, to underpin the multiple potential applications in a particular country.

Methods: The ‘Four ‘P’s of Marketing’ (Product, Promotion, Place and Price) are used as a framework for identifying and for classifying potential applications of nutrient profiling. A logic pathway is then presented that can be used to gauge the potential impact of nutrient-profiling interventions on changes in behaviour, changes in diet and, ultimately, changes in DRCD outcomes. The feasibility of a core nutrient-profiling system is assessed by examining the implications of different model design decisions and their suitability to different purposes.

Results and conclusions: There is substantial scope to use nutrient profiling as part of the policies for the prevention of DRCD. A core nutrient-profiling system underpinning the various applications is likely to reduce discrepancies and minimise the confusion for regulators, manufacturers and consumers. It seems feasible that common elements, such as a standard scoring method, a core set of nutrients and food components, and defined food categories, could be incorporated as part of a core system, with additional application-specific criteria applying. However, in developing and in implementing such a system, several country-specific contextual and technical factors would need to be balanced.

RQF publication quality measures: methodoligical issues

The Research Quality Framework uses Thomson-ISI citation benchmarks as its main set of objective measures of research quality. The Thomson-ISI measures rely on identifying a core set of journals in which the major publications for a discipline are to be found. The core for a discipline is determined by applying a nontransparent process that is partly based on Bradford’s Law (1934). Yet Bradford was not seeking measures about quality of publications or journals. How valid then is it to base measures of publication quality on Bradford’s Law? We explore this by returning to Bradford’s Law and subsequent related research asking ‘what is Bradford’s Law really about?’ We go further, and ask ‘does Bradford’s Law apply in Information Systems?’ We use data from John Lamp’s internationally respected Index of Information Systems Journals to explore the latter question. We have found that Information Systems may have a core of journals only a subset of which is also in the list of Thomson-ISI journals. There remain many unanswered questions about the RQF metrics based on Thomson-ISI and their applicability to information systems.

Broadband : benefits and problems

The striving of nations to build a broadband-based information society is paralleled by individuals striving to improve their personal lot and by organisations seeking a competitive advantage—all supposedly to be achieved via broadband. However, the social and economic impact of broadband may be surrounded in controversies. This paper argues that these controversies need to be identified and addressed if public policy decisions about broadband are to be made with confidence. While literature on broadband abounds, it is rarely directed at the impact of broadband on social and personal issues. Rather, that literature typically focuses on broadband's economic aspects, but with poor benefit identification and measure difficulties, the findings tend to be steeped in rhetoric. Largely, what we are left with is literature on the impact of narrowband Internet. While research on the Internet abounds, its findings are typically indeterminate and often disputed. The paper works with literature on broadband and extrapolates from the literature on narrowband with its disputed impacts to identify possible impacts of broadband. In so doing it identifies a core set of controversies regarding broadband at the national, individual and organisational levels. It then calls for diversity of analysis of possible broadband outcomes. Only with such analysis will it be possible to place the likely broadband future in the context of broader national, individual and organisational aspirations.

Diabetes MILES - Australia (Management and Impact for Long-Term Empowerment and Success) : methods and sample characteristics of a national survey of the psychological aspects of living with type 1 or type 2 diabetes in Australian adults

Background Successful management of diabetes requires attention to the behavioural, psychological and social aspects of this progressive condition. The Diabetes MILES (Management and Impact for Long-term Empowerment and Success) Study is an international collaborative. Diabetes MILES-Australia, the first Diabetes MILES initiative to be undertaken, was a national survey of adults living with type 1 or type 2 diabetes in Australia. The aim of this study was to gather data that will provide insights into how Australians manage their diabetes, the support they receive and the impact of diabetes on their lives, as well as to use the data to validate new diabetes outcome measures.

Methods The survey was designed to include a core set of self-report measures, as well as modules specific to diabetes type or management regimens. Other measures or items were included in only half of the surveys. Cognitive debriefing interviews with 20 participants ensured the survey content was relevant and easily understood. In July 2011, the survey was posted to 15,000 adults (aged 18-70 years) with type 1 or type 2 diabetes selected randomly from the National Diabetes Services Scheme (NDSS) database. An online version of the survey was advertised nationally. A total of 3,338 eligible Australians took part; most (70.4%) completed the postal survey. Respondents of both diabetes types and genders, and of all ages, were adequately represented in both the postal and online survey sub-samples. More people with type 2 diabetes than type 1 diabetes took part in Diabetes MILES-Australia (58.8% versus 41.2%). Most respondents spoke English as their main language, were married/in a de facto relationship, had at least a high school education, were occupied in paid work, had an annual household income > $AUS40,000, and lived in metropolitan areas.

Discussion A potential limitation of the study is the under-representation of respondents from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds (including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin). Diabetes MILES-Australia represents a major achievement in the study of diabetes in Australia, where for the first time, the focus is on psychosocial and behavioural aspects of this condition at a national level.

Wireless sensor networks for heritage object deformation detection and tracking algorithm

Deformation is the direct cause of heritage object collapse. It is significant to monitor and signal the early warnings of the deformation of heritage objects. However, traditional heritage object monitoring methods only roughly monitor a simple-shaped heritage object as a whole, but cannot monitor complicated heritage objects, which may have a large number of surfaces inside and outside. Wireless sensor networks, comprising many small-sized, low-cost, low-power intelligent sensor nodes, are more useful to detect the deformation of every small part of the heritage objects. Wireless sensor networks need an effective mechanism to reduce both the communication costs and energy consumption in order to monitor the heritage objects in real time. In this paper, we provide an effective heritage object deformation detection and tracking method using wireless sensor networks (EffeHDDT). In EffeHDDT, we discover a connected core set of sensor nodes to reduce the communication cost for transmitting and collecting the data of the sensor networks. Particularly, we propose a heritage object boundary detecting and tracking mechanism. Both theoretical analysis and experimental results demonstrate that our EffeHDDT method outperforms the existing methods in terms of network traffic and the precision of the deformation detection.

Transcriptomics-based analysis using RNA-Seq of the coconut (Cocos nucifera) leaf in response to yellow decline phytoplasma infection

Invasive phytoplasmas wreak havoc on coconut palms worldwide, leading to high loss of income, food insecurity and extreme poverty of farmers in producing countries. Phytoplasmas as strictly biotrophic insect-transmitted bacterial pathogens instigate distinct changes in developmental processes and defence responses of the infected plants and manipulate plants to their own advantage; however, little is known about the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying host–phytoplasma interactions. Further, phytoplasma-mediated transcriptional alterations in coconut palm genes have not yet been identified. This study evaluated the whole transcriptome profiles of naturally infected leaves of Cocos nucifera ecotype Malayan Red Dwarf in response to yellow decline phytoplasma from group 16SrXIV, using RNA-Seq technique. Transcriptomics-based analysis reported here identified genes involved in coconut innate immunity. The number of down-regulated genes in response to phytoplasma infection exceeded the number of genes up-regulated. Of the 39,873 differentially expressed unigenes, 21,860 unigenes were suppressed and 18,013 were induced following infection. Comparative analysis revealed that genes associated with defence signalling against biotic stimuli were significantly overexpressed in phytoplasma-infected leaves versus healthy coconut leaves. Genes involving cell rescue and defence, cellular transport, oxidative stress, hormone stimulus and metabolism, photosynthesis reduction, transcription and biosynthesis of secondary metabolites were differentially represented. Our transcriptome analysis unveiled a core set of genes associated with defence of coconut in response to phytoplasma attack, although several novel defence response candidate genes with unknown function have also been identified. This study constitutes valuable sequence resource for uncovering the resistance genes and/or susceptibility genes which can be used as genetic tools in disease resistance breeding.

Workplace pedometer interventions for increasing physical activity

Background
The World Health Organization and the World Economic Forum have recommended further research to strengthen current knowledge of workplace health programmes, particularly on effectiveness and using simple instruments. A pedometer is one such simple instrument that can be incorporated in workplace interventions.

Objectives
To assess the effectiveness of pedometer interventions in the workplace for increasing physical activity and improving subsequent health outcomes.

Search methods
Electronic searches of the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (671 potential papers), MEDLINE (1001), Embase (965), CINAHL (1262), OSH UPDATE databases (75) and Web of Science (1154) from the earliest record to between 30th January and 6th February 2012 yielded 3248 unique records. Reference lists of articles yielded an additional 34 papers. Contact with individuals and organisations did not produce any further records.

Selection criteria
We included individual and cluster-randomised controlled trials of workplace health promotion interventions with a pedometer component in employed adults. The primary outcome was physical activity and was part of the eligibility criteria. We considered subsequent health outcomes, including adverse effects, as secondary outcomes.

Data collection and analysis
Two review authors undertook the screening of titles and abstracts and the full-text papers independently. Two review authors (RFP and MC) independently completed data extraction and risk of bias assessment. We contacted authors to obtain additional data and clarification.

Main results
We found four relevant studies providing data for 1809 employees, 60% of whom were allocated to the intervention group. All studies assessed outcomes immediately after the intervention had finished and the intervention duration varied between three to six months. All studies had usual treatment control conditions; however one study’s usual treatment was an alternative physical activity programme while the other three had minimally active controls. In general, there was high risk of bias mainly due to lack of blinding, self reported outcome measurement, incomplete outcome data due to attrition, and most of the studies had not published protocols, which increases the likelihood of selective reporting.

Three studies compared the pedometer programme to a minimally active control group, but the results for physical activity could not be combined because each study used a different measure of activity. One study observed an increase in physical activity under a pedometer programme, but the other two did not find a significant difference. For secondary outcomes we found improvements in body mass index, waist circumference, fasting plasma glucose, the quality of life mental component and worksite injury associated with the pedometer programmes, but these results were based on limited data from one or two small studies. There were no differences between the pedometer programme and the control group for blood pressure, a number of biochemical outcomes and the quality of life physical component. Sedentary behaviour and disease risk scores were not measured by any of the included studies.

One study compared a pedometer programme and an alternative physical activity programme, but baseline imbalances made it difficult to distinguish the true improvements associated with either programme.

Overall, there was insufficient evidence to assess the effectiveness of pedometer interventions in the workplace.

There is a need for more high quality randomised controlled trials to assess the effectiveness of pedometer interventions in the workplace for increasing physical activity and improving subsequent health outcomes. To improve the quality of the evidence available, future studies should be registered in an online trials register, publish a protocol, allocate time and financial support to reducing attrition, and try to blind personnel (especially those who undertake measurement). To better identify the effects of pedometer interventions, future studies should report a core set of outcomes (total physical activity in METs, total time sitting in hours and minutes, objectively measured cardiovascular disease and type II diabetes risk factors, quality of life and injury), assess outcomes in the long term and undertake subgroup analyses based upon demographic subgroups (e.g. age, gender, educational status). Future studies should also compare different types of active intervention to test specific intervention components (eligibility, duration, step goal, step diary, settings), and settings (occupation, intervention provider).

Authors’ conclusions
There was limited and low quality data providing insufficient evidence to assess the effectiveness of pedometer interventions in the workplace for increasing physical activity and improving subsequent health outcomes.

P L A I N  L A N G U A G E  S U M M A R Y

Do workplace pedometer interventions increase physical activity?
The World Health Organization recommends that most people should undertake at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity on most days, as it reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and some cancers. However, less than 40% of the world’s population are undertaking adequate amounts of physical activity and rates have been declining. Here we assess whether pedometer workplace interventions increase physical activity and thereby lead to subsequent health benefits.

To assess this, we searched for randomised controlled trials of workplace health promotion interventions that involved the use of a pedometer undertaken in employed adults. Between 30th January and 6th February 2012 we searched a range of electronic libraries and references of relevant papers, retrieving 3282 potential papers.

We eventually included four studies in the review. One study compared pedometer programmes with an alternative physical activity programme, but there were important baseline differences between the intervention and control groups that made it difficult to distinguish the true effect. The three remaining studies compared pedometer programmes with minimally active control groups. One study observed an improvement in physical activity in the pedometer programme, but two other studies found no significant difference between the pedometer group and the control group. We could not combine these results together, as each study used a different measure for physical activity, so it is not clear what the overall effect is. Single studies found beneficial changes in body mass index, fasting plasma glucose, the mental component of quality of life and worksite injury associated with the pedometer programmes as opposed to the control group. However, none of the studies identified consistent differences between the pedometer programme and the control group for waist circumference, blood pressure and quality of life outcomes. In addition, we judged the majority of included studies to have a high risk of bias, mainly due to participants and staff knowing who was in the intervention and who was in the control group, attrition of participants and not having published a protocol prior to running the study.

We conclude that there was insufficient evidence to assess whether workplace pedometer interventions are of benefit. There is a need for further high quality randomised controlled trials to be undertaken with a range of health outcomes and assessment in the long term.

A set of patterns for the web-based interfaces of an employee services system

The provision of Human Resource (HR), especially payroll, is a core function in every organization. Previously, providers of HR/payroll have offered their services to their clients via conventional modes of communication, such as telephones, facsimile, and courier services. In recent years, with the advent of the Internet and the emergence of web-based electronic commerce, there has been a rise in the adoption of web-based technology and information
systems by service providers, thereby enabling them to interact with their clients through this medium. This development necessitates the use of web-based user interfaces as workspaces between the HR/payroll providers and their clients, and thus, raises certain concerns that determine the effectiveness of web-based workflow systems. These concerns, related to the use of web interfaces, form the basis of the patterns discussed in this paper

Core affect and subjective wellbeing: a rebuttal to Moum and Land

This paper is a rebuttal to the reviews of Moum and Land. Publication has been facilitated by Journal policy (see Instructions to authors ‘Procedure when the authors and reviewers disagree’ on the Journal website) which details the procedure to be followed in the case of disputed manuscripts. Our reply is in two parts. The first concerns issues of theory and the second issues of methodology. Each point of critique raised by the reviewers has been answered and shown either to be false or irrelevant. We contend that our original conclusion still stands. Subjective wellbeing is dominated by Core Affect.

Core competencies in information management education

Core competencies have long been discussed and developed in the literature of library science education and information systems education. However, for information management, a blending of these two disciplines, there has been much less discussion of core competencies. The purpose of this paper is to consolidate the sparse literature on information management educational competencies and to suggest a set of core competencies and educational outcomes that might be applied to curricula in both developed and developing countries.

Visualizing the core-periphery distinction in theory domains

As specific parts of a theory are refined over time, the aggregated set of variables and associations of multiple theory instances provide the identity of a theory domain. This research applies a meta-theoretical analysis to the problem of theory identity and the core-periphery distinction. The theoretico-empirical network for quantitative publications over a 20 year span of two top Information Systems journals is analysed and visualized to illustrate these aspects of theory. The analysis provides insight into the density of research in specific theory domains, the verisimilitude and explanatory ubiquity of core versus peripheral postulates, and suggests opportunities for increasing explanatory depth and integration in select theory domains.

Localized learning by emerging multinational enterprises in developed host countries: a fuzzy-set analysis of Chinese foreign direct investment in Australia

Firms learn general international management and foreign market specific knowledge in their internationalization process. Firms' strategic emphasis on generalized vs. localized learning is an important yet underexplored issue in the extant literature. Drawing on the theoretical framework of dynamic capability, and in the context of emerging multinational enterprises' FDI into developed host countries, this study examines the equifinal process-position-path configurations of firms that will motivate them to engage in localized learning (as opposed to generalized learning). Utilizing primary and secondary data of eleven Chinese foreign direct investments in Australia, collected at both headquarters and subsidiary levels, we conducted fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) that provided substantial support to our propositions. This study contributes to the internationalization process model by identifying equifinal process-position-path configurations, as well as their core and peripheral conditions that motivate localized learning at both the headquarters and the subsidiary levels.

Investigating the affective core of SWB: the circular way

 This thesis builds on premises from the subjective wellbeing homeostasis theoretical framework, and applies constructs from circumplex theories of affect. The findings inform basic affective science by using circumplex modeling and curve-fitting to identify the set-point core affective state associated with normal self-perceptions, and overall life satisfaction.

The use of instability to train the core musculature

Training of the trunk or core muscles for enhanced health, rehabilitation, and athletic performance has received renewed emphasis. Instability resistance exercises have become a popular means of training the core and improving balance. Whether instability resistance training is as, more, or less effective than traditional ground-based resistance training is not fully resolved. The purpose of this review is to address the effectiveness of instability resistance training for athletic, nonathletic, and rehabilitation conditioning. The anatomical core is defined as the axial skeleton and all soft tissues with a proximal attachment on the axial skeleton. Spinal stability is an interaction of passive and active muscle and neural subsystems. Training programs must prepare athletes for a wide variety of postures and external forces, and should include exercises with a destabilizing component. While unstable devices have been shown to be effective in decreasing the incidence of low back pain and increasing the sensory efficiency of soft tissues, they are not recommended as the primary exercises for hypertrophy, absolute strength, or power, especially in trained athletes. For athletes, ground-based free-weight exercises with moderate levels of instability should form the foundation of exercises to train the core musculature. Instability resistance exercises can play an important role in periodization and rehabilitation, and as alternative exercises for the recreationally active individual with less interest or access to ground-based free-weight exercises. Based on the relatively high proportion of type I fibers, the core musculature might respond well to multiple sets with high repetitions (e.g., >15 per set); however, a particular sport may necessitate fewer repetitions.