A comparison of the provision of the My Choice Weight Management Programme via general practitioner practices and community pharmacies in the United Kingdom

This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of a novel, community-based weight management programme delivered through general practitioner (GP) practices and community pharmacies in one city in the United Kingdom. This study used a non-randomized, retrospective, observational comparison of clinical data collected by participating GP practices and community pharmacies. Subjects were 451 overweight or obese men and women resident in areas of high socioeconomic deprivation (82% from black and minority ethnic groups, 86% women, mean age: 41.1 years, mean body mass index [BMI]: 34.5 kg m−2). Weight, waist circumference and BMI at baseline, after 12 weeks and after 9 months were measured. Costs of delivery were also analysed. Sixty-four per cent of participants lost weight after the first 12 weeks of the My Choice Weight Management Programme. There was considerable dropout. Mean percentage weight loss (last observation carried forward) was 1.9% at 12 weeks and 1.9% at final follow-up (9 months). There was no significant difference in weight loss between participants attending GP practices and those attending pharmacies at both 12 weeks and at final follow-up. Costs per participant were higher via community pharmacy which was attributable to better attendance at sessions among community pharmacy participants than among GP participants. The My Choice Weight Management Programme produced modest reductions in weight at 12 weeks and 9 months. Such programmes may not be sufficient to tackle the obesity epidemic.

Breast-feeding, maternal feeding practices and mealtime negativity at one year

This paper explores whether breast-feeding, mediated by lower maternal use of controlling strategies, predicts more positive mealtime interactions between mothers and their 1 year old infants. Eighty-seven women completed questionnaires regarding breast-feeding, assessing their control over child feeding and mealtime negativity at 1 year of infant age. Seventy-four of these women were also observed feeding their infants solid food at 1 year. Mediation analyses demonstrated that the experience of breast-feeding, mediated by lower reported maternal control over child feeding, predicted maternal reports of less negative mealtime interactions. The experience of breast-feeding also predicted observations of less conflict at mealtimes, mediated by observations of maternal sensitivity during feeding interactions. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Household pre-purchase practices and online grocery shopping

This paper explores household pre-purchase practices and their mediation by information and communications technologies (ICTs), specifically online grocery shopping. Drawing on practice theory, the impacts of ICTs on household grocery shopping behavior are conceptualized, and the concept of "front-loading" is introduced. Emerging themes generated from 31 semi-structured interviews conducted via Skype with Turkish consumers focusing on their experiences of online grocery practices are presented. To this end, the contribution of this paper is twofold. First, an understanding of the domestication of online grocery shopping and its affect on the dynamics of household decision making, information sharing, and responsibilities of tasks before the actual act of online shopping is developed. Second, how such pre-purchase practices undertaken by consumers act as a catalyst of change at the industry level is appraised.

Spatial perspective taking is an embodied process, but not for everyone in the same way:differences predicted by sex and social skills score

We re-analysed visuo-spatial perspective taking data from Kessler and Thomson (2010) plus a previously unpublished pilot with respect to individual- and sex differences in embodied processing (defined as body-posture congruence effects). We found that so-called 'systemisers' (males/low-social-skills) showed weaker embodiment than so-called 'embodiers' (females/high-social-skills). We conclude that 'systemisers' either have difficulties with embodied processing or, alternatively, they have a strategic advantage in selecting different mechanisms or the appropriate level of embodiment. In contrast, 'embodiers' have an advantageous strategy of "deep" embodied processing reflecting their urge to empathise or, alternatively, less flexibility in fine-tuning the involvement of bodily representations. © 2012 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.

High-performance human resource practices, citizenship behaviour and organizational performance:A relational perspective

Taking a relational perspective on the employment relationship, we examined processes (mediation and moderation) linking high-performance human resource practices and productivity and turnover, two indicators of organizational performance. Multilevel analysis of data from hotels in the People's Republic of China revealed that service-oriented organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) partially mediated the relationships between high-performance human resource practices and both performance indicators. Unemployment rate moderated the service-oriented OCB-turnover relationship, and business strategy (service quality) moderated the service-oriented OCB-productivity relationship. Copyright of the Academy of Management, all rights reserved.

Autochthonous heritage languages and social media:writing and bilingual practices in Low German on Facebook

This article analyses how speakers of an autochthonous heritage language (AHL) make use of digital media, through the example of Low German, a regional language used by a decreasing number of speakers mainly in northern Germany. The focus of the analysis is on Web 2.0 and its interactive potential for individual speakers. The study therefore examines linguistic practices on the social network site Facebook, with special emphasis on language choice, bilingual practices and writing in the autochthonous heritage language. The findings suggest that social network sites such as Facebook have the potential to provide new mediatized spaces for speakers of an AHL that can instigate sociolinguistic change.

Validating the organizational climate measure:links to managerial practices, productivity and innovation

This paper describes the development and validation of a multidimensional measure of organizational climate, the Organizational Climate Measure (OCM), based upon Quinn and Rohrbaugh's Competing Values model. A sample of 6869 employees across 55 manufacturing organizations completed the questionnaire. The 17 scales contained within the measure had acceptable levels of reliability and were factorially distinct. Concurrent validity was measured by correlating employees' ratings with managers' and interviewers' descriptions of managerial practices and organizational characteristics. Predictive validity was established using measures of productivity and innovation. The OCM also discriminated effectively between organizations, demonstrating good discriminant validity. The measure offers researchers a relatively comprehensive and flexible approach to the assessment of organizational members' experience and promises applied and theoretical benefits. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Spatial and temporal dependencies of cross-orientation suppression in human vision.

A well-known property of orientation-tuned neurons in the visual cortex is that they are suppressed by the superposition of an orthogonal mask. This phenomenon has been explained in terms of physiological constraints (synaptic depression), engineering solutions for components with poor dynamic range (contrast normalization) and fundamental coding strategies for natural images (redundancy reduction). A common but often tacit assumption is that the suppressive process is equally potent at different spatial and temporal scales of analysis. To determine whether it is so, we measured psychophysical cross-orientation masking (XOM) functions for flickering horizontal Gabor stimuli over wide ranges of spatio-temporal frequency and contrast. We found that orthogonal masks raised contrast detection thresholds substantially at low spatial frequencies and high temporal frequencies (high speeds), and that small and unexpected levels of facilitation were evident elsewhere. The data were well fit by a functional model of contrast gain control, where (i) the weight of suppression increased with the ratio of temporal to spatial frequency and (ii) the weight of facilitatory modulation was the same for all conditions, but outcompeted by suppression at higher contrasts. These results (i) provide new constraints for models of primary visual cortex, (ii) associate XOM and facilitation with the transient magno- and sustained parvostreams, respectively, and (iii) reconcile earlier conflicting psychophysical reports on XOM.

Low spatial frequencies are suppressively masked across spatial scale, orientation, field position, and eye of origin

Masking is said to occur when a mask stimulus interferes with the visibility of a target (test) stimulus. One widely held view of this process supposes interactions between mask and test mechanisms (cross-channel masking), and explicit models (e.g., J. M. Foley, 1994) have proposed that the interactions are inhibitory. Unlike a within-channel model, where masking involves the combination of mask and test stimulus within a single mechanism, this cross-channel inhibitory model predicts that the mask should attenuate the perceived contrast of a test stimulus. Another possibility is that masking is due to an increase in noise, in which case, perception of contrast should be unaffected once the signal exceeds detection threshold. We use circular patches and annuli of sine-wave grating in contrast detection and contrast matching experiments to test these hypotheses and investigate interactions across spatial frequency, orientation, field position, and eye of origin. In both types of experiments we found substantial effects of masking that can occur over a factor of 3 in spatial frequency, 45° in orientation, across different field positions and between different eyes. We found the effects to be greatest at the lowest test spatial frequency we used (0.46 c/deg), and when the mask and test differed in all four dimensions simultaneously. This is surprising in light of previous work where it was concluded that suppression from the surround was strictly monocular (C. Chubb, G. Sperling, & J. A. Solomon, 1989). The results confirm that above detection threshold, cross-channel masking involves contrast suppression and not (purely) mask-induced noise. We conclude that cross-channel masking can be a powerful phenomenon, particularly at low test spatial frequencies and when mask and test are presented to different eyes. © 2004 ARVO.

Strategic practices:an activity theory perspective on continuity and change

This paper draws upon activity theory- to analyse an empirical investigation of the micro practices of strategy in three UK universities. Activity theory provides a framework of four interactive components from which strategy emerges; the collective structures of the organization, the primary actors, in this research conceptualized as the top management team (TMT), the practical activities in which they interact and the strategic practices through which interaction is conducted. Using this framework, the paper focuses specifically on the formal strategic practices involved in direction setting, resource allocation, and monitoring and control. These strategic practices arc associated with continuity of strategic activity in one case study but are involved in the reinterpretation and change of strategic activity in the other two cases. We model this finding into activity theory-based typologies of the cases that illustrate the way that practices either distribute shared interpretations or mediate between contested interpretations of strategic activity. The typologies explain the relationships between strategic practices and continuity and change of strategy as practice. The paper concludes by linking activity theory to wider change literatures to illustrate its potential as an integrative methodological framework for examining the subjective and emergent processes through which strategic activity is constructed. © Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2003.

Sibling eating behaviours and differential child feeding practices reported by parents

The purpose of this study was to investigate the intra-familial relationships between parental reports of feeding practices used with siblings in the same family, and to evaluate whether differences in feeding practices are related to differences in siblings' eating behaviours. Eighty parents of two sibling children completed measures assessing their feeding practices and child eating behaviours. Parents reported using greater restrictive feeding practices with children who were fussier and desired to drink more than their sibling. Parents reported using more pressure to eat with siblings who were slower to eat, were fussier, emotionally under-ate, enjoyed food less, were less responsive to food, and were more responsive to internal satiety cues. Restriction and pressure to eat appear to be part of the non-shared environment which sibling children experience differently. These feeding practices may be used differently for children in the same family in response to child eating behaviours or other specific characteristics.

Stability and continuity of parentally reported child eating behaviours and feeding practices from 2 to 5 years of age

Previous research suggests that many eating behaviours are stable in children but that obesigenic eating behaviours tend to increase with age. This research explores the stability (consistency in individual levels over time) and continuity (consistency in group levels over time) of child eating behaviours and parental feeding practices in children between 2 and 5 years of age. Thirty one participants completed measures of child eating behaviours, parental feeding practices and child weight at 2 and 5 years of age. Child eating behaviours and parental feeding practices remained stable between 2 and 5 years of age. There was also good continuity in measures of parental restriction and monitoring of food intake, as well as in mean levels of children's eating behaviours and BMI over time. Mean levels of maternal pressure to eat significantly increased, whilst mean levels of desire to drink significantly decreased, between 2 and 5 years of age. These findings suggest that children's eating behaviours are stable and continuous in the period prior to 5 years of age. Further research is necessary to replicate these findings and to explore why later developmental increases are seen in children's obesigenic eating behaviours. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.

Do parental feeding practices moderate the relationships between impulsivity and eating in children?

This study examines the relationships between children's impulsivity, their eating behaviours, and their perceptions of their parent's feeding practices. 153 10-13. year old children completed questionnaires assessing their eating behaviours, their impulsiveness and their perception of their parent's feeding practices. Children's reports of dysfunctional eating behaviours were significantly correlated with their perceptions of their parents feeding practices and with their levels of impulsivity. Children's reports of parental monitoring of their food intake significantly moderated the influence of child impulsiveness upon emotional eating. Children's perceptions of parental monitoring of their food intake may potentially have a protective effect at preventing more impulsive children from eating in response to emotional feelings. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.

The two forms of visuo-spatial perspective taking are differently embodied and subserve different spatial prepositions

We set out to distinguish level 1 (VPT-1) and level 2 (VPT-2) perspective taking with respect to the embodied nature of the underlying processes as well as to investigate their dependence or independence of response modality (motor vs. verbal). While VPT-1 reflects understanding of what lies within someone else’s line of sight, VPT-2 involves mentally adopting someone else’s spatial point of view. Perspective taking is a high-level conscious and deliberate mental transformation that is crucially placed at the convergence of perception, mental imagery, communication, and even theory of mind in the case of VPT-2. The differences between VPT-1 and VPT-2 mark a qualitative boundary between humans and apes, with the latter being capable of VPT-1 but not of VPT-2. However, our recent data showed that VPT-2 is best conceptualized as the deliberate simulation or emulation of a movement, thus underpinning its embodied origins. In the work presented here we compared VPT-2 to VPT-1 and found that VPT-1 is not at all, or very differently embodied. In a second experiment we replicated the qualitatively different patterns for VPT-1 and VPT-2 with verbal responses that employed spatial prepositions. We conclude that VPT-1 is the cognitive process that subserves verbal localizations using “in front” and “behind,” while VPT-2 subserves “left” and “right” from a perspective other than the egocentric. We further conclude that both processes are grounded and situated, but only VPT-2 is embodied in the form of a deliberate movement simulation that increases in mental effort with distance and incongruent proprioception. The differences in cognitive effort predict differences in the use of the associated prepositions. Our findings, therefore, shed light on the situated, grounded and embodied basis of spatial localizations and on the psychology of their use.