A new approach to assessing the health benefit from obesity interventions in children and adolescents: the assessing cost-effectiveness in obesity project

OBJECTIVE: To report on a new modelling approach developed for the assessing cost-effectiveness in obesity (ACE-Obesity) project and the likely population health benefit and strength of evidence for 13 potential obesity prevention interventions in children and adolescents in Australia. METHODS: We used the best available evidence, including evidence from non-traditional epidemiological study designs, to determine the health benefits as body mass index (BMI) units saved and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) saved. We developed new methods to model the impact of behaviours on BMI post-intervention where this was not measured and the impacts on DALYs over the child's lifetime (on the assumption that changes in BMI were maintained into adulthood). A working group of stakeholders provided input into decisions on the selection of interventions, the assumptions for modelling and the strength of the evidence. RESULTS: The likely health benefit varied considerably, as did the strength of the evidence from which that health benefit was calculated. The greatest health benefit is likely to be achieved by the 'Reduction of TV advertising of high fat and/or high sugar foods and drinks to children', 'Laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding' and the 'multi-faceted school-based programme with an active physical education component' interventions. CONCLUSIONS: The use of consistent methods and common health outcome measures enables valid comparison of the potential impact of interventions, but comparisons must take into account the strength of the evidence used. Other considerations, including cost-effectiveness and acceptability to stakeholders, will be presented in future ACE-Obesity papers. Information gaps identified include the need for new and more effective initiatives for the prevention of overweight and obesity and for better evaluations of public health interventions.

On the size of training set and the benefit from ensemble

In this paper, the impact of the size of the training set on the benefit from ensemble, i.e. the gains obtained by employing ensemble learning paradigms, is empirically studied. Experiments on Bagged/ Boosted J4.8 decision trees with/without pruning show that enlarging the training set tends to improve the benefit from Boosting but does not significantly impact the benefit from Bagging. This phenomenon is then explained from the view of bias-variance reduction. Moreover, it is shown that even for Boosting, the benefit does not always increase consistently along with the increase of the training set size since single learners sometimes may learn relatively more from additional training data that are randomly provided than ensembles do. Furthermore, it is observed that the benefit from ensemble of unpruned decision trees is usually bigger than that from ensemble of pruned decision trees. This phenomenon is then explained from the view of error-ambiguity balance.

Social policy for sport events : leveraging (relationships with) teams from other nations for community benefit

Recent work on sport events has argued that host governments should do more to leverage events in order to obtain and spread the benefits. This study uses ethnographic methods to compare two cities' implementation of a programme designed to leverage the presence of visiting teams training for the 2006 Commonwealth Games. Whereas one city formulated and implemented a detailed strategic plan to obtain benefits from its relationship with its adopted visiting team (Papua New Guinea), the other made no effort to benefit from adopting a visiting team (Wales). The city that leveraged its visiting team obtained new relationships, cultural insights, and improved organisational networks, whereas the city that did not leverage obtained no comparable benefits. The difference was due to the disparity in strategic vision by the two city governments and the vague mandate of the state programme which had caused each city to adopt its chosen team. Future work should explore factors that foster and that inhibit effective leverage before and during sport events.

Doubling fish exports or garment exports : which would benefit the Fijian economy most? Evidence from a computable general equilibrium model

The need to diversify Fiji's export base has been identified as an important avenue for reducing Fiji's vulnerabilities in international trade. This paper poses the question: Doubling fish exports or garment exports: which would be most beneficial for the Fijian economy? To achieve the goal of this paper, the computable general equilibrium model is used, this being at the forefront of research on 'impact studies'. The main finding is that when garment exports and fish exports are doubled, the benefits to the Fijian economy are greater from garment exports, suggesting that the latter has stronger linkages with the rest of the economy. On the basis of this finding, policymakers should divert resources towards sustaining the garment industry whose future is uncertain due to expiring trade agreements and unstable economic policies.

Adults with cerebral palsy benefit from participating in a strength training programme at a community gymnasium

Purpose : This study examined whether a community-based progressive resistance strength training programme could improve muscle strength and functional activity in a group of adults with cerebral palsy with high support needs.

Method : Using a single group pre-post clinical design, 10 adults (7 males, 3 females; mean age 47.8 SD 5.7 years) with cerebral palsy and high support needs completed 4 weeks of introduction and familiarization, followed by a 10-week progressive resistance strength training programme in a community gymnasium. Participants were measured for muscle strength, locomotion speed and timed sit-to-stand.

Results : After establishment of a stable baseline from weeks 2 to 5 with no systematic change and a high degree of association ( r  > 0.86), participants increased leg strength by 22.0% ( p  = 0.02), arm strength by 17.2% ( p  = 0.01) and improved performance of sit-to-stand ( p  = 0.02) during the 10-week strength training intervention.

Conclusions : This study adds to the accumulating evidence that strength training can be beneficial for people with cerebral palsy by demonstrating benefits for adults with cerebral palsy and high support needs who are subject to decline in physical function associated with the ageing process.

The benefit : a well-written entrepreneurial business plan is to an entrepreneur what a midwife is to an expecting mother

The evaluation of new ventures often involves two key aspects of entrepreneurial business plans: how best to write them and how best to rate (evaluate) them. Ultimately the performance of the venture should be the definitive criterion of quality. Surprisingly, the writing, rating and performance effects of entrepreneurial business plans (EBPs) comprise three related but under researched areas. This article empirically tested principles for writing and rating entrepreneurial business plans to draw inferences on how to improve the private equity investment evaluation process. A simplified perspective of General Systems Theory guided our empirical investigation of the input and outcome of the VC investment decision. Our empirical investigation reveals that entrepreneurial business plans that comport with the writing principles from the literature improve a new venture's likelihood of success.

Elderly men may benefit from vitamin D

Vitamin D deficiency is associated with a myriad of musculoskeletal disorders in the elderly, including osteoporosis, reduced muscle function, falls and fractures. Recent scientific trials, conducted mostly in elderly or institutionalized women, indicate that supplementation with at least 800 IU/d of vitamin D₃ or a dose required to raise serum 25(OH) D levels to at least 75 nmol/L, and approximately 1200 mg/d of calcium is most effective for improving many of these musculoskeletal and functional performance measures. While further targeted research is still needed in elderly men, vitamin D supplementation should be considered as a safe and low cost strategy to optimize musculoskeletal health and function in both elderly men and women.