Comparing Location Data From Smartphone and Dedicated Global Positioning System Devices: Implications for Epidemiologic Research.

In this study, we compared location data from a dedicated Global Positioning System (GPS) device with location data from smartphones. Data from the Interventions, Equity, and Action in Cities Team (INTERACT) Study, a study examining the impact of urban-form changes on health in 4 Canadian cities (Victoria, Vancouver, Saskatoon, and Montreal), were used. A total of 337 participants contributed data collected for about 6 months from the Ethica Data smartphone application (Ethica Data Inc., Toronto, Ontario, Canada) and the SenseDoc dedicated GPS (MobySens Technologies Inc., Montreal, Quebec, Canada) during the period 2017-2019. Participants recorded an average total of 14,781 Ethica locations (standard deviation, 19,353) and 197,167 SenseDoc locations (standard deviation, 111,868). Dynamic time warping and cross-correlation were used to examine the spatial and temporal similarity of GPS points. Four activity-space measures derived from the smartphone app and the dedicated GPS device were compared. Analysis showed that cross-correlations were above 0.8 at the 125-m resolution for the survey and day levels and increased as cell size increased. At the day or survey level, there were only small differences between the activity-space measures. Based on our findings, we recommend dedicated GPS devices for studies where the exposure and the outcome are both measured at high frequency and when the analysis will not be aggregate. When the exposure and outcome are measured or will be aggregated to the day level, the dedicated GPS device and the smartphone app provide similar results.

The current landscape of exercise and female fertility research: a narrative review.

In brief: Females with obesity may experience infertility and can improve their fertility through exercise. This review found that most exercise interventions improve fertility outcomes regardless of technique, intensity, or duration. More detailed reporting through the lens of exercise prescription should be included in future studies. Abstract: Female infertility disproportionately affects people with obesity. Exercise often improves fertility outcomes for this population, however, there is limited prescriptive evidence. Specifically, there is a lack of information on the ideal type, frequency, intensity, and setting of exercise to improve fertility outcomes. Using principles of exercise prescription, this review aimed to describe the scope of exercise interventions that have been explored and fertility outcomes measured for people with female infertility and obesity. A search was completed in PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, and CINAHL, identifying 16 relevant published articles. Overall, exercise had a positive impact on female fertility outcomes in people with obesity, though there were large variations in the exercise interventions prescribed and outcomes measured. Cyclic exercise (i.e. walking and cycling) was the most common technique incorporated, though a combination of cyclic, acyclic (i.e. circuit training and boot camp), or individualization was often used. Several fertility outcomes were reported; however, the rate of conception, pregnancy, and live birth rates were the most common, which, we suggest, should always be reported in fertility intervention research. We stress that future studies provide more thorough descriptions of their implemented exercise interventions to facilitate reproducibility and comparisons between studies. Closer attention to the principles of exercise prescription when developing and reporting exercise interventions will help improve fertility outcomes, mainly live birth rates, for those with female infertility and obesity.

Deubiquitinase-targeting chimeras for targeted protein stabilization.

Many diseases are driven by proteins that are aberrantly ubiquitinated and degraded. These diseases would be therapeutically benefited by targeted protein stabilization (TPS). Here we present deubiquitinase-targeting chimeras (DUBTACs), heterobifunctional small molecules consisting of a deubiquitinase recruiter linked to a protein-targeting ligand, to stabilize the levels of specific proteins degraded in a ubiquitin-dependent manner. Using chemoproteomic approaches, we discovered the covalent ligand EN523 that targets a non-catalytic allosteric cysteine C23 in the K48-ubiquitin-specific deubiquitinase OTUB1. We showed that a DUBTAC consisting of our EN523 OTUB1 recruiter linked to lumacaftor, a drug used to treat cystic fibrosis that binds ΔF508-cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR), robustly stabilized ΔF508-CFTR protein levels, leading to improved chloride channel conductance in human cystic fibrosis bronchial epithelial cells. We also demonstrated stabilization of the tumor suppressor kinase WEE1 in hepatoma cells. Our study showcases covalent chemoproteomic approaches to develop new induced proximity-based therapeutic modalities and introduces the DUBTAC platform for TPS.

HealthyPlan.City: A Web Tool to Support Urban Environmental Equity and Public Health in Canadian Communities.

Urban environmental factors such as air quality, heat islands, and access to greenspaces and community amenities impact public health. Some vulnerable populations such as low-income groups, children, older adults, new immigrants, and visible minorities live in areas with fewer beneficial conditions, and therefore, face greater health risks. Planning and advocating for equitable healthy urban environments requires systematic analysis of reliable spatial data to identify where vulnerable populations intersect with positive or negative urban/environmental characteristics. To facilitate this effort in Canada, we developed HealthyPlan.City ( https://healthyplan.city/ ), a freely available web mapping platform for users to visualize the spatial patterns of built environment indicators, vulnerable populations, and environmental inequity within over 125 Canadian cities. This tool helps users identify areas within Canadian cities where relatively higher proportions of vulnerable populations experience lower than average levels of beneficial environmental conditions, which we refer to as Equity priority areas. Using nationally standardized environmental data from satellite imagery and other large geospatial databases and demographic data from the Canadian Census, HealthyPlan.City provides a block-by-block snapshot of environmental inequities in Canadian cities. The tool aims to support urban planners, public health professionals, policy makers, and community organizers to identify neighborhoods where targeted investments and improvements to the local environment would simultaneously help communities address environmental inequities, promote public health, and adapt to climate change. In this paper, we report on the key considerations that informed our approach to developing this tool and describe the current web-based application.

The effectiveness of simple heuristic features in sensor orientation and placement problems in human activity recognition using a single smartphone accelerometer.

BACKGROUND: Human activity Recognition (HAR) using smartphone sensors suffers from two major problems: sensor orientation and placement. Sensor orientation and sensor placement problems refer to the variation in sensor signal for a particular activity due to sensors' altering orientation and placement. Extracting orientation and position invariant features from raw sensor signals is a simple solution for tackling these problems. Using few heuristic features rather than numerous time-domain and frequency-domain features offers more simplicity in this approach. The heuristic features are features which have very minimal effects of sensor orientation and placement. In this study, we evaluated the effectiveness of four simple heuristic features in solving the sensor orientation and placement problems using a 1D-CNN-LSTM model for a data set consisting of over 12 million samples. METHODS: We accumulated data from 42 participants for six common daily activities: Lying, Sitting, Walking, and Running at 3-Metabolic Equivalent of Tasks (METs), 5-METs and 7-METs from a single accelerometer sensor of a smartphone. We conducted our study for three smartphone positions: Pocket, Backpack and Hand. We extracted simple heuristic features from the accelerometer data and used them to train and test a 1D-CNN-LSTM model to evaluate their effectiveness in solving sensor orientation and placement problems. RESULTS: We performed intra-position and inter-position evaluations. In intra-position evaluation, we trained and tested the model using data from the same smartphone position, whereas, in inter-position evaluation, the training and test data was from different smartphone positions. For intra-position evaluation, we acquired 70-73% accuracy; for inter-position cases, the accuracies ranged between 59 and 69%. Moreover, we performed participant-specific and activity-specific analyses. CONCLUSIONS: We found that the simple heuristic features are considerably effective in solving orientation problems. With further development, such as fusing the heuristic features with other methods that eliminate placement issues, we can also achieve a better result than the outcome we achieved using the heuristic features for the sensor placement problem. In addition, we found the heuristic features to be more effective in recognizing high-intensity activities.

Silicone hydrogel versus hydrogel soft contact lenses for differences in patient-reported eye comfort and safety: A Cochrane systematic review summary.

SIGNIFICANCE: This work is significant because it is the first Cochrane systemic review that compares the comfort and safety of hydrogel and silicone hydrogel soft contact lenses (SCL). PURPOSE: This study aimed to conduct a systemic review of randomized trials comparing the comfort and safety of silicone hydrogel and hydrogel SCLs. METHODS: CENTRAL, MEDLINE Ovid, EMBASE.com, PubMed, LILACS, ClinicalTrials.gov, and World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Platform were searched on or before June 24, 2022, to identify randomized clinical trials that compared silicone hydrogel and hydrogel SCLs. RESULTS: Seven trials were identified and evaluated. One trial reported Ocular Surface Disease Index results, with the evidence being very uncertain about the effects of SCL material on Ocular Surface Disease Index scores (mean difference, -1.20; 95% confidence interval, -10.49 to 8.09). Three trials reported visual analog scale comfort score results, with no clear difference in comfort between materials, although results were of low certainty; trial results could not be combined because the three trials reported results at different time points. None of the included trials reported Contact Lens Dry Eye Questionnaire 8 or Standard Patient Evaluation of Eye Dryness scores. There was no evidence of a clinically meaningful difference (>0.5 unit) between daily disposable silicone hydrogel and hydrogel SCLs in corneal staining, conjunctival staining, or conjunctival redness (very low certainty evidence). CONCLUSIONS: The overall evidence for a difference between all included silicone hydrogel and hydrogel SCL trials was of very low certainty, with most trials judged as having a high overall risk of bias. There was insufficient evidence to support recommending one SCL material over the other. Future well-designed trials are needed to generate high certainty evidence to further clarify differences in SCL material comfort and safety.

Discovery of Potent Pyrazoline-Based Covalent SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease Inhibitors.

While vaccines and antivirals are now being deployed for the current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, we require additional antiviral therapeutics to not only effectively combat SARS-CoV-2 and its variants, but also future coronaviruses. All coronaviruses have relatively similar genomes that provide a potential exploitable opening to develop antiviral therapies that will be effective against all coronaviruses. Among the various genes and proteins encoded by all coronaviruses, one particularly "druggable" or relatively easy-to-drug target is the coronavirus Main Protease (3CLpro or Mpro), an enzyme that is involved in cleaving a long peptide translated by the viral genome into its individual protein components that are then assembled into the virus to enable viral replication in the cell. Inhibiting Mpro with a small-molecule antiviral would effectively stop the ability of the virus to replicate, providing therapeutic benefit. In this study, we have utilized activity-based protein profiling (ABPP)-based chemoproteomic approaches to discover and further optimize cysteine-reactive pyrazoline-based covalent inhibitors for the SARS-CoV-2 Mpro. Structure-guided medicinal chemistry and modular synthesis of di- and tri-substituted pyrazolines bearing either chloroacetamide or vinyl sulfonamide cysteine-reactive warheads enabled the expedient exploration of structure-activity relationships (SAR), yielding nanomolar potency inhibitors against Mpro from not only SARS-CoV-2, but across many other coronaviruses. Our studies highlight promising chemical scaffolds that may contribute to future pan-coronavirus inhibitors.

Prioritizing a research agenda on built environments and physical activity: a twin panel Delphi consensus process with researchers and knowledge users.

BACKGROUND: The growth of urban dwelling populations globally has led to rapid increases of research and policy initiatives addressing associations between the built environment and physical activity (PA). Given this rapid proliferation, it is important to identify priority areas and research questions for moving the field forward. The objective of this study was to identify and compare research priorities on the built environment and PA among researchers and knowledge users (e.g., policy makers, practitioners). METHODS: Between September 2022 and April 2023, a three-round, modified Delphi survey was conducted among two independent panels of international researchers (n = 38) and knowledge users (n = 23) to identify similarities and differences in perceived research priorities on the built environment and PA and generate twin 'top 10' lists of the most important research needs. RESULTS: From a broad range of self-identified issues, both panels ranked in common the most pressing research priorities including stronger study designs such as natural experiments, research that examines inequalities and inequities, establishing the cost effectiveness of interventions, safety and injuries related to engagement in active transportation (AT), and considerations for climate change and climate adaptation. Additional priorities identified by researchers included: implementation science, research that incorporates Indigenous perspectives, land-use policies, built environments that support active aging, and participatory research. Additional priorities identified by knowledge users included: built environments and PA among people living with disabilities and a need for national data on trip chaining, multi-modal travel, and non-work or school-related AT. CONCLUSIONS: Five common research priorities between the two groups emerged, including (1) to better understand causality, (2) interactions with the natural environment, (3) economic evaluations, (4) social disparities, and (5) preventable AT-related injuries. The findings may help set directions for future research, interdisciplinary and intersectoral collaborations, and funding opportunities.

Silicone hydrogel versus hydrogel soft contact lenses for differences in patient-reported eye comfort and safety.

BACKGROUND: Ocular discomfort is the leading cause of permanent discontinuation of soft contact lens (SCL) wear. Silicone hydrogel and hydrogel materials are the two major categories of SCLs, with silicone hydrogel materials being newer and more breathable than hydrogel materials. Whether comfort is associated with SCL material is controversial despite numerous studies. Similarly, the difference between these materials in terms of safety outcomes (e.g. frequency of microbial keratitis) is unclear. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the comparative effectiveness and safety of silicone hydrogel compared with hydrogel SCLs on self-reported comfort, dry eye test results, and adverse events in SCL-wearing adults 18 years of age or older. SEARCH METHODS: The Cochrane Eyes and Vision Information Specialist searched the electronic databases for randomized controlled trials (RCTs). There were no restrictions on language or date of publication. We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL, including the Cochrane Eyes and Vision Trials Register; 2022, Issue 6), MEDLINE Ovid, Embase.com, PubMed, LILACS (Latin American and Caribbean Health Science Information database), ClinicalTrials.gov, and World Health Organization (WHO) International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP). We also searched the reference lists of identified studies, review articles, and guidelines for information about relevant studies that may not have been identified by our search strategy. Furthermore, we contacted investigators regarding ongoing trials. The most recent database search was conducted on 24 June 2022. SELECTION CRITERIA: Our search selection criteria included RCTs, quasi-RCTs, and cross-over RCTs. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: We applied standard Cochrane methodology. MAIN RESULTS: We included seven parallel-group RCTs conducted in the USA, the UK, Australia, Germany, India, and Turkey. A total of 1371 participants were randomized. The duration of SCL wear ranged from one to 52 weeks. Study characteristics and risk of bias The median number of participants per trial was 120 (interquartile range: 51 to 314), and the average age ranged from 20.7 to 33.0 years. Women represented the majority of participants (range 55% to 74.9%; 5 RCTs). Collectively, the included trials compared eight different silicone hydrogel SCLs with three different hydrogel SCLs. Five trials compared daily disposable SCLs, and two compared extended wear SCLs (worn for seven days and six nights). New SCL wearers were enrolled in three trials. Two trials included both new and established SCL wearers, and two trials did not report participants' history of SCL use. Five trials were sponsored by industry. We judged the overall risk of bias to be 'high' or 'some concerns' for the safety and efficacy outcomes. Findings One trial reported Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) results, with the evidence being very uncertain about the effects of SCL material on OSDI scores (mean difference -1.20, 95% confidence interval [CI] -10.49 to 8.09; 1 RCT, 47 participants; very low certainty evidence). Three trials reported visual analog scale comfort score results, with no clear difference in comfort between materials, but the evidence was of very low certainty; trial results could not be combined because the three trials reported results at different time points. The evidence is very uncertain about the effect of SCL material on discontinuation of contact lens wear (risk ratio [RR] 0.64, 95% CI 0.11 to 3.74; 1 RCT, 248 participants). None of the included trials reported Contact Lens Dry Eye Questionnaire (CLDEQ-8) or Standard Patient Evaluation of Eye Dryness (SPEED) scores. There was no evidence of a clinically meaningful difference (> 0.5 unit) between daily disposable silicone hydrogel and hydrogel SCLs in corneal staining, conjunctival staining, or conjunctival redness (very low certainty evidence). Adverse events Very low certainty evidence from two trials comparing daily disposable SCLs suggested no evidence of a difference between lens materials in the risk of vision-threatening adverse events at one to four weeks (RR 0.68, 95% CI 0.08 to 5.51; 2 RCTs, 368 participants). Two trials comparing extended wear SCLs indicated that hydrogel SCLs may have a 2.03 times lower risk of adverse events at 52 weeks compared with silicone hydrogel SCLs (RR 2.03, 95% CI 1.38 to 2.99; 815 participants), but the certainty of evidence was very low. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: The overall evidence for a difference between all included silicone hydrogel and hydrogel SCLs was of very low certainty, with most trials at high overall risk of bias. The majority of studies did not assess comfort using a validated instrument. There was insufficient evidence to support recommending one SCL material over the other. For extended wear, hydrogel SCL may have a lower risk of adverse events at 52 weeks compared to silicon hydrogel. Future well-designed trials are needed to generate high certainty evidence to further clarify differences in SCL material comfort and safety.

Multidimensional school features associated with physical activity among youth at risk of obesity: an exploratory principal component and generalized estimating equation analysis.

BACKGROUND: Schools may be high-leverage points for the promotion of physical activity (PA), yet little is known about school built and social environments among youth at high risk of obesity. PURPOSE: To characterise school built and social environments that may be salient for PA and to examine associations between school PA environments and PA in youth at risk of obesity. METHODS: Data from youth attending 206 schools (314 youth in 2005-2008, and 129 youth in 2008-2010) within the QUALITY cohort study, a longitudinal investigation of youth at high risk of obesity were used. Features of schools, based on built, policy/programming and social environments were identified using principal components (PC) analysis. Gender-stratified generalized estimating equation (GEE) models were used to explore associations between school features and accelerometer measured mean counts per minute (MCPM), mean daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and the odds of meeting MVPA guidelines cross-sectionally and prospectively using 90% confidence intervals. RESULTS: Nine PCs were identified. Associations were observed between PA and 7 of the 9 PCs. The social environment seemed to be particularly important. Social Norms to Promote PA was associated with an increase in girls' baseline MCPM and MVPA. High Willingness to Promote PA was associated with boys' MCPM, MVPA, and odds of meeting MVPA guidelines, at both baseline and follow-up. CONCLUSION: School built and social contexts may be associated with PA cross-sectionally and over time. Further studies are necessary to confirm the direction and magnitude of effects and to establish their relevance to school-based health promotion efforts.

Identifying the sociodemographic and work-related factors related to workers' daily physical activity using a decision tree approach.

BACKGROUND: The social and behavioural factors related to physical activity among adults are well known. Despite the overlapping nature of these factors, few studies have examined how multiple predictors of physical activity interact. This study aimed to identify the relative importance of multiple interacting sociodemographic and work-related factors associated with the daily physical activity patterns of a population-based sample of workers. METHODS: Sociodemographic, work, screen time, and health variables were obtained from five, repeated cross-sectional cohorts of workers from the Canadian Health Measures Survey (2007 to 2017). Classification and Regression Tree (CART) modelling was used to identify the discriminators associated with six daily physical activity patterns. The performance of the CART approach was compared to a stepwise multinomial logistic regression model. RESULTS: Among the 8,909 workers analysed, the most important CART discriminators of daily physical activity patterns were age, job skill, and physical strength requirements of the job. Other important factors included participants' sex, educational attainment, fruit/vegetable intake, industry, work hours, marital status, having a child living at home, computer time, and household income. The CART tree had moderate classification accuracy and performed marginally better than the stepwise multinomial logistic regression model. CONCLUSION: Age and work-related factors-particularly job skill, and physical strength requirements at work-appeared as the most important factors related to physical activity attainment, and differed based on sex, work hours, and industry. Delineating the hierarchy of factors associated with daily physical activity may assist in targeting preventive strategies aimed at promoting physical activity in workers.

The Metaverse, the Built Environment, and Public Health: Opportunities and Uncertainties.

There has been a growing interest in the "metaverse," and discourse about how this platform may contribute to different fields of science is already beginning to emerge. In this paper, we discuss key opportunities and uncertainties about how a metaverse might contribute to advancing knowledge in the interdisciplinary field of the built environment and public health aimed at reducing noncommunicable diseases.

Changes in physical activity after joining a bikeshare program: a cohort of new bikeshare users.

BACKGROUND: There are hundreds of bikeshare programs worldwide, yet few health-related evaluations have been conducted. We enrolled a cohort of new bikeshare members in Philadelphia (Pennsylvania, USA) to assess whether within-person moderate and vigorous physical activity (MVPA) increased with higher use of the program and whether effects differed for vulnerable sub-groups. METHODS: During 2015-2018, 1031 new members completed baseline and one-year follow-up online surveys regarding their personal characteristics and past 7-day MVPA minutes per week (minutes per week with- and without walking). Participants were linked to their bikeshare trips to objectively assess program use. Negative binomial (for continuous outcomes) and multinomial (for categorical outcomes) regression adjusted for person characteristics (socio-demographics, health), weather, biking-infrastructure, and baseline biking. RESULTS: Participant median age was 30, 25% were of Black or Latino race/ethnicity, and 30% were socioeconomically disadvantaged. By follow-up, personal bike ownership increased and 75% used bikeshare, although most used it infrequently. Per 10 day change in past year (PY) bikeshare use, non-walking MVPA min/wk increased 3% (roughly 6 min/wk, P < 0.014). More days of bikeshare was also associated with change from inactive to more active (odds ratio for ≥ 15 days in PY vs. no bikeshare use 1.80, CI 1.05-3.09, P < 0.03). Results were consistent across vulnerable sub-groups. In general, impacts on MVPA were similar when exposure was personal bike or bikeshare. CONCLUSIONS: Bikeshare facilitated increases in cycling, slightly increased non-walking MVPA, and showed potential for activating inactive adults; however, for larger program impact, members will need to use it more frequently.

Using combined Global Position System and accelerometer data points to examine how built environments and gentrification are associated with physical activity in four Canadian cities.

BACKGROUND: Built and social environments are associated with physical activity. Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and accelerometer data can capture how people move through their environments and provide promising tools to better understand associations between environmental characteristics and physical activity. The purpose of this study is to examine the associations between GPS-derived exposure to built environment and gentrification characteristics and accelerometer-measured physical activity in a sample of adults across four cities. METHODS: We used wave 1 data from the Interventions, Research, and Action in Cities Team, a cohort of adults living in the Canadian cities of Victoria, Vancouver, Saskatoon, and Montreal. A subsample of participants wore a SenseDoc device for 10 days during May 2017-January 2019 to record GPS and accelerometry data. Two physical activity outcomes were derived from SenseDoc data: time spent in light, moderate, and vigorous physical activity; and time spent in moderate or vigorous physical activity. Using corresponding GPS coordinates, we summarized physical activity outcomes by dissemination area-a Canadian census geography that represents areas where 400 to 700 people live- and joined to built (active living space, proximity to amenities, and urban compactness) and gentrification measures. We examined the associations between environmental measures and physical activity outcomes using multi-level negative binomial regression models that were stratified by city and adjusted for covariates (weekday/weekend), home dissemination area, precipitation, temperature) and participant-level characteristics obtained from a survey (age, gender, income, race). RESULTS: We found that adults spent more time being physically active near their homes, and in environments that were more walkable and near parks and less time in urban compact areas, regardless of where participants lived. Our analysis also highlighted how proximity to different amenities was linked to physical activity across different cities. CONCLUSIONS: Our study provides insights into how built environment and gentrification characteristics are associated with the amount of time adults spend being physically active in four Canadian cities. These findings enhance our understanding of the influence that environments have on physical activity over time and space, and can support policies to increase physical activity.

Rethinking walkability and developing a conceptual definition of active living environments to guide research and practice.

BACKGROUND: Walkability is a popular term used to describe aspects of the built and social environment that have important population-level impacts on physical activity, energy balance, and health. Although the term is widely used by researchers, practitioners, and the general public, and multiple operational definitions and walkability measurement tools exist, there are is no agreed-upon conceptual definition of walkability. METHOD: To address this gap, researchers from Memorial University of Newfoundland hosted "The Future of Walkability Measures Workshop" in association with researchers from the Canadian Urban Environmental Health Research Consortium (CANUE) in November 2017. During the workshop, trainees, researchers, and practitioners worked together in small groups to iteratively develop and reach consensus about a conceptual definition and name for walkability. The objective of this paper was to discuss and propose a conceptual definition of walkability and related concepts. RESULTS: In discussions during the workshop, it became clear that the term walkability leads to a narrow conception of the environmental features associated with health as it inherently focuses on walking. As a result, we suggest that the term Active Living Environments, as has been previously proposed in the literature, are more appropriate. We define Active Living Environments (ALEs) as the emergent natural, built, and social properties of neighbourhoods that promote physical activity and health and allow for equitable access to health-enhancing resources. CONCLUSIONS: We believe that this broader conceptualization allows for a more comprehensive understanding of how built, natural, and social environments can contribute to improved health for all members of the population.

Recruiting Participants for Population Health Intervention Research: Effectiveness and Costs of Recruitment Methods for a Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: Public health research studies often rely on population-based participation and draw on various recruitment methods to establish samples. Increasingly, researchers are turning to web-based recruitment tools. However, few studies detail traditional and web-based recruitment efforts in terms of costs and potential biases. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to report on and evaluate the cost-effectiveness, time effectiveness, and sociodemographic representation of diverse recruitment methods used to enroll participants in 3 cities of the Interventions, Research, and Action in Cities Team (INTERACT) study, a cohort study conducted in Canadian cities. METHODS: Over 2017 and 2018 in Vancouver, Saskatoon, and Montreal, the INTERACT study used the following recruitment methods: mailed letters, social media (including sponsored Facebook advertisements), news media, partner communications, snowball recruitment, in-person recruitment, and posters. Participation in the study involved answering web-based questionnaires (at minimum), activating a smartphone app to share sensor data, and wearing a device for mobility and physical activity monitoring. We describe sociodemographic characteristics by the recruitment method and analyze performance indicators, including cost, completion rate, and time effectiveness. Effectiveness included calculating cost per completer (ie, a participant who completed at least one questionnaire), the completion rate of a health questionnaire, and the delay between completion of eligibility and health questionnaires. Cost included producing materials (ie, printing costs), transmitting recruitment messages (ie, mailing list rental, postage, and sponsored Facebook posts charges), and staff time. In Montreal, the largest INTERACT sample, we modeled the number of daily recruits through generalized linear models accounting for the distributed lagged effects of recruitment campaigns. RESULTS: Overall, 1791 participants were recruited from 3 cities and completed at least one questionnaire: 318 in Vancouver, 315 in Saskatoon, and 1158 in Montreal. In all cities, most participants chose to participate fully (questionnaires, apps, and devices). The costs associated with a completed participant varied across recruitment methods and by city. Facebook advertisements generated the most recruits (n=687), at a cost of CAD $15.04 (US $11.57; including staff time) per completer. Mailed letters were the costliest, at CAD $108.30 (US $83.3) per completer but served to reach older participants. All methods resulted in a gender imbalance, with women participating more, specifically with social media. Partner newsletters resulted in the participation of younger adults and were cost-efficient (CAD $5.16 [US $3.97] per completer). A generalized linear model for daily Montreal recruitment identified 2-day lag effects on most recruitment methods, except for the snowball campaign (4 days), letters (15 days), and reminder cards (5 days). CONCLUSIONS: This study presents comprehensive data on the costs, effectiveness, and bias of population recruitment in a cohort study in 3 Canadian cities. More comprehensive documentation and reporting of recruitment efforts across studies are needed to improve our capacity to conduct inclusive intervention research.

Gentrification, Urban Interventions and Equity (GENUINE): A map-based gentrification tool for Canadian metropolitan areas.

BACKGROUND: Researchers, policy makers, and urban planners require tools to better understand the complex relationship between gentrification and health. The Gentrification, Urban Interventions and Equity (GENUINE) tool is an open-access, map-based tool that allows users to explore measures of gentrification for Canadian cities and incorporate them into their work. DATA AND METHODS: The phenomenon of gentrification has manifested differently across cities. The GENUINE tool was developed to include four distinct gentrification measures that have been used in the United States and Canada and that rely on different combinations of change in census indicators related to income, housing, occupation, education and age. The measures were computed for all census tracts within the 36 Canadian census metropolitan areas to identify gentrifiable areas in 2006 and those that gentrified between 2006 and 2016. RESULTS: Depending on the measure, by 2016, 2% to 20% of census tracts had experienced gentrification, corresponding to between 2% (418,065 people) and 17% (4,266,434) of the Canadian population living in gentrified areas. Generally, metropolitan areas with populations over 1 million people had a greater proportion of their population living in gentrified areas (2% to 18%) compared with metropolitan areas with fewer than 250,000 residents (1% to 14%). DISCUSSION: With attention on healthy cities only expanding, GENUINE provides pan-Canadian indicators of gentrification, which can be an integral part of solution-oriented research and advancing cities toward designing healthy and equitable communities.

Safety and Efficacy of Scleral Lenses for Keratoconus.

SIGNIFICANCE: This study affirms the long-term safety and efficacy of scleral contact lens use in patients with keratoconus. PURPOSE: This study aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of contemporary scleral contact lenses in the visual rehabilitation of the keratoconic population. METHODS: A retrospective study of keratoconic subjects examined between 2013 and 2018 was conducted. Subjects were included regardless of age, sex, pre-existing morbidity, or scleral lens design. Only eyes fit successfully with scleral contact lenses for ≥1 year were included. Exclusion criteria were prior corneal surgery, dystrophy, degeneration, and trauma. RESULTS: A total of 157 eyes of 86 subjects met the study criteria. The mean Keratoconus Severity Score at initial fitting was 3.6 ± 1.0. Lenses were gas-permeable and nonfenestrated, with a mean overall diameter of 15.8 ± 0.6 mm and 70.1% toric scleral periphery. Physiological adverse events occurred in 9.6% of eyes, including microbial keratitis (0.6%), phlyctenulosis (0.6%), corneal abrasion (1.3%), contact lens-induced acute red eye (1.3%), corneal infiltrative events (1.3%), pingueculitis (1.3%), and hydrops (3.2%). Lens-related adverse events were documented in 55.4% of eyes. Adverse events related to surface issues included poor wetting in 1.9%, handling in 3.8%, reservoir fogging in 7.0%, lens intolerance in 7.6%, deposit in 8.9%, and broken lenses in 26.1% of eyes. The most common management strategies involved refits (54.0% of interventions), patient reeducation (29.5%), medical treatment (5.5%), surgical referral (6.8%), adjustment to wear time (2.5%), surface treatment (1.2%), and lens replacement (0.6%). Best-corrected distance logMAR visual acuity improved significantly from a mean of 0.50 in spectacles to a mean of 0.08 in scleral lenses (P < .0001). During the study period, 14.6% of eyes lost best-corrected scleral lens visual acuity, all from keratoconus progression. CONCLUSIONS: Consistent with other groups, our study demonstrates excellent safety and efficacy of scleral contact lenses in subjects with keratoconus.

Variable-Temperature ESI-IMS-MS Analysis of Myohemerythrin Reveals Ligand Losses, Unfolding, and a Non-Native Disulfide Bond.

Variable-temperature electrospray ionization combined with ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) and mass spectrometry (MS) techniques are used to monitor structural transitions of the protein myohemerythrin from peanut worm in aqueous ammonium acetate solutions from ∼15 to 92 °C. At physiological temperatures, myohemerythrin favors a four-helix bundle motif and has a diiron oxo cofactor that binds oxygen. As the solution temperature is increased from ∼15 to 35 °C, some bound oxygen dissociates; at ∼66 °C, the cofactor dissociates to produce populations of both folded and unfolded apoprotein. At higher temperatures (∼85 °C and above), the IMS-MS spectrum indicates that the folded apoprotein dominates, and provides evidence for stabilization of the structure by formation of a non-native disulfide bond. In total, we find evidence for 18 unique forms of myohemerythrin as well as information about the structures and stabilities of these states. The high-fidelity of IMS-MS techniques provides a means of examining the stabilities of individual components of complex mixtures that are inaccessible by traditional calorimetric and spectroscopic methods.

Evaluating the impact of implementing public bicycle share programs on cycling: the International Bikeshare Impacts on Cycling and Collisions Study (IBICCS).

BACKGROUND: Despite rapid expansion of public bicycle share programs (PBSP), there are limited evaluations of the population-level impacts of these programs on cycling, leaving uncertainty as to whether these programs lead to net health gains at a population level or attract those that already cycle and are sufficiently physically active. Our objective was to determine whether the implementation of PBSPs increased population-level cycling in cities across the US and Canada. METHODS: We conducted repeat cross-sectional surveys with 23,901 residents in cities with newly implemented PBSPs (Chicago, New York), existing PBSPs (Boston, Montreal, Toronto) and no PBSPs (Detroit, Philadelphia, Vancouver) at three time points (Fall 2012, 2013, 2014). We used a triple difference in differences analysis to assess whether there were increases in cycling over time amongst those living in closer proximity (< 500 m) to bicycle share docking stations in cities with newly implemented and existing PBSPs, relative to those in cities with no PBSPs. RESULTS: Living in closer proximity to bicycle share predicted increases in cycling over time for those living in cities with newly implemented PBSPs at 2-year follow-up. No change was seen over time for those living in closer proximity to bicycle share in cities with existing PBSPs relative to those in cities with no PBSP. CONCLUSION: These findings indicate that PBSPs are associated with increases in population-level cycling for those who live near to a docking station in the second year of program implementation.