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Physical exercise requiring oxidative energy transfer increases pulmonary ventilation (VE). In an air polluted environment, the exercise-induced increase in VE increases the volume of toxic gases and number of toxic particles to which the pulmonary system is exposed. Using a respiratory air-filtering device (RAFD) during exercise decreases exposure to inhaled toxic gases and particles. However, a RAFD creates external resistance to inspiration and expiration which could decrease pulmonary muscle function and pulmonary volumes, and creates an external mechanical dead-space which produces fractional rebreathing which could increase pulmonary flowrates. This experiment tested the hypotheses that using a RAFD during exercise would; decrease post-exercise peak inspiratory pressure (PPI) and peak expiratory (PPE) pressure, FVC and FEV1, and increase post-exercise flowrates. Using a repeated-measures, counter-balanced design, six healthy moderately aerobically-trained, men (mean ± SD; age 24.7 ± 1.7 years; peak oxygen utilization [VO2peak] 42.8 ± 5.3 ml kg-1 min-1) completed two 30 min exercise test sessions at a power output equal to 75% VO2peak. One session was performed not using (NORAFD), and one using a RAFD (Moldex 8000) fitted with organic vapor cartridges and combined dust and mist pre-filters (inspiratory resistance = 0.216 kPa, expiratory resistance = 0.094 kPa at 85.0 l min-1). All pulmonary function tests were performed immediately pre-(Pre) and 0 (Post-0), 5 (Post-5), and 15 (Post-15) min post-exercise. There was a significant (p

To assess the effectiveness of weight-loss interventions on pain and disability in people with knee and hip osteoarthritis (OA) and spinal pain.Intervention systematic review.Twelve online databases and clinical trial registries.Randomized controlled trials of any weight-loss intervention (eg, diet, physical activity, surgical, pharmaceutical) that reported pain or disability outcomes in people with knee or hip OA or spinal pain.We calculated mean differences or standardized mean differences (SMDs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). We used the Cochrane risk of bias tool to assess risk of bias and the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation tool to judge credibility of evidence.Twenty-two trials with 3602 participants were included. There was very low- to very low-credibility evidence for a moderate effect of weight-loss interventions on pain intensity (10 trials, n = 1806; SMD, -0.54; 95% CI: -0.86, -0.22; IWeight-loss interventions may provide small to moderate improvements in pain and disability for OA compared to minimal care. There was limited and inconclusive evidence for weight-loss interventions targeting spinal pain.

This paper explores the application of ethics in two contrasting approaches to evaluation: one that views evaluation as essentially a research project, and the other that sees evaluation as an extension of project management. We argue that the growth in so-called rigorous impact evaluation, characterised by practitioners as evaluation using experimental or quasi-experimental methods, has seen evaluation treated increasingly as a subset of research. This has entailed greater use of ethical committees, and specifically institutional review boards (IRBs), as many academics promoting the use of experimental methods are based in the USA. Elsewhere, evaluation is treated more as a management activity, with professionalisation initiatives such as membership standards and ethical guidance often used in the place of formal review. In this paper, we question whether the simultaneous growth in usage of IRBs and professionalisation addresses the ethical issues faced by evaluators.

Neighborhood context impacts health. Using an index of geospatial disadvantage measures to predict neighborhood socioeconomic disparities would support area-based allocation of preventative resources, as well as the use of location as a clinical risk factor in care of individual patients. This study tested the association of the Area Deprivation Index (ADI), a neighborhood-based index of socioeconomic contextual disadvantage, with elderly obesity risk. We sampled 5066 Medicare beneficiaries at the University of Missouri between September 1, 2013 and September 1, 2014. We excluded patients with unknown street addresses, excluded body mass index (BMI) lower than 18 or higher than 62 as probable errors, and excluded patients with missing BMI data. We used a plot of simple proportions to examine the association between ADI and prevalence of obesity, defined as BMI of 30 and over. We found that obesity was significantly less prevalent in the least-disadvantaged ADI decile (decile 1) than in all other deciles (p

The use of mixed methods in impact evaluation often focuses on the triangulation of findings or using qualitative data to explain statistical assessments of impact (net effect). In this article, we argue for the benefits of combining and contesting ex ante etic-informed theory with ex post emic-informed grounded theory. Using the case of the Millennium Villages Project (MVP) evaluation in northern Ghana, we highlight examples of where emergent theory led to a deeper understanding that valued how local people view change. In the context of an independent evaluation that set out to assess the MVP model – and with little scope for the evaluation to influence or adapt implementation – the theories of change created abductively helped fill a theoretical void. We argue that this is particularly applicable for integrated programmes where ex ante theory may struggle to capture the complex interaction of different sector-based activities, overlook unintended effects, and undervalue local perceptions of change.

This IDS Bulletin is the first of two special issues presenting contributions from the event ‘Impact Innovation and Learning: Towards a Research and Practice Agenda for the Future’, organised by IDS in March 2013. The initiative, as well as these two issues, represent a ‘rallying cry’ for impact evaluation to rise to the challenges of a post‐MDG/post‐2015 development agenda. This introduction articulates first what these challenges are, and then goes on to summarise how the contributors propose to meet these challenges in terms of methodological and institutional innovation. Increasingly ambitious development goals, multiple layers of governance and lines of accountability require adequate causal inference frameworks and less ambitious expectations on the span of direct influence single interventions can achieve, as well as awareness of multiple bias types. Institutions need to be researched and become more impact‐oriented and learning‐oriented .

This article details the design of an impact evaluation of the Millennium Villages Project in Northern Ghana. The evaluation is particularly challenging because the intervention cannot be randomised; it is clustered in a group of homogeneous communities and likely to generate spill-over effects. We propose a difference-in-differences design selecting control communities based on a propensity score and collecting five rounds of yearly data. We address a number of evaluation questions in relation to testing the breaking of the poverty trap, assessing project externalities, the role of qualitative research, cost-effectiveness and project synergies, sustainability and scalability in the presence of scale economies.

tives can lead to innovations that can change the world. The amount of money available for prizes has more than tripled over the last decade to an estimated $1$2 billion, and the sector continues to grow rapidly. Famous prizes, such as the Longitude Prize, the Orteig Prize, and Napoleon’s food preservation prize (see text box on next page), provide powerful evidence of the enormous benefits that be achieved by people competing for prizes. Although hugely popular a century ago, interest in prizes declined during the 1900s, replaced in large part with grant funding. Grants have been credited with establishing the research centers and institutes of excellence that have been behind much of the rapid rise in innovation over the last 100 years. However, after a century of grant-funding cycles that have become ever more deeply entrenched in the complex relationship between funders and recipients, the connection between grant funding and innovation leaves room for improvement While grant funding regroups, the awarding of prizes is again proliferating, not only in terms of numbers but in ambition and aims. The rapid growth of information technology and social media are helping to fuel this proliferation. Most observers see 2004 as the start of this upward trend, as that is the year that Scaled Composites launched a reusable manned spacecraft twice within two weeks—a feat that won the company the $10 million Ansari X PRIZE. From 2004 to 2009, the number of prizes offering large incentives more than tripled across the globe.

This article compares key attributes, strengths and weaknesses of three different approaches to monitoring development interventions: the logical framework approach, participatory monitoring and evaluation (PM&E) and feedback systems. Academic and practitioner literature describes how logframes meet the needs of senior decision makers to summarise, organise and compare projects. PM&E meets the needs of field staff to work sensitively with intended beneficiaries and support their learning and empowerment. Feedback systems appear to link the two, providing performance data for managers and creating incentives for implementing staff to focus on their intended beneficiaries. Feedback systems build on the rich heritage of PM&E and are compatible with logframes. They may help provide a manageable and effective approach to accountability that links the means and the ends of development interventions. Feedback systems are at an early stage of development. There is a lot to learn about how and where they work best.

This experiment investigated the effects of varying bench inclination and hand spacing on the EMG activity of five muscles acting at the shoulder joint. Six male weight trainers performed presses under four conditions of trunk inclination and two of hand spacing at 80% of their predetermined max. Preamplified surface EMG electrodes were placed over the five muscles in question. The EMG signals during the 2-sec lift indicated some significant effects of trunk inclination and hand spacing. The sternocostal head of the pectoralis major was more active during the press from a horizontal bench than from a decline bench. Also, the clavicular head of the pectoralis major was no more active during the incline bench press than during the horizontal one, but it was less active during the decline bench press. The clavicular head of the pectoralis major was more active with a narrow hand spacing. Anterior deltoid activity tended to increase as trunk inclination increased. The long head of the triceps brachii was more active during the decline and flat bench presses than the other two conditions, and was also more active with a narrow hand spacing. Latissimus dorsi exhibited low activity in all conditions.

“Programs for lower secondary students supporting their access to vocational education and training in the senior years: a cross-sectoral approach including school and industry profession development” is a project funded by the Career Education Association of Western Australia and the Department of Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs. The project objectives, findings and recommendations from the preliminary research and other project developments are described. The Internet address for regular updated information is also provided.