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The practice of tracking one’s food intake and physical activity through the use of a wearable device or a smartphone application has become increasingly popular. There are concerns use of this technology may be associated with disordered eating behaviours. Particularly for vulnerable groups such as young adults and individuals with a pre-existing eating psychopathology. This study aims to systematically review the current literature investigating this association. This review aims to investigate the following research questions: 1. Is there an association between the use of fitness and diet tracking technology and disordered eating? 2. Are there vulnerable groups who are at a greater risk of negative outcomes of this technology use? Studies will be included in the review if they meet set eligibility criteria. Studies must (1) include a measure of fitness and/or diet tracking used in the context of self-monitoring; (2) include a measure of disordered eating symptomatology; (3) contain quantitative research, and (4) be written in English. The following electronic databases will be searched: PsycInfo, MEDLINE/PubMed, CINAHL Plus (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature), Scopus, EMBASE, ASSIA (Applied Social Science Index and Abstracts), Cochrane Library, Sociological Abstracts and ERIC, ProQuest Dissertation and Theses Global, Sports Medicine & Educational Health, and SportDiscus. Quality of the studies will be assessed using the NIH Quality Assessment Tool. Preliminary searches were run with databases being examined from January 2005 (this is when fitness and diet tracking technology came into use) to September 2021 as part of a Masters project. The searches will now be updated and run from January 2005 to the current date (February 2023) to ensure continuity.

Recurrent glioblastoma (GBM) is an aggressive disease with poor survival and limited treatment options. SL-701 is a novel immunotherapy comprised of synthetic peptides designed to elicit an anti-tumor immune response against GBM antigens IL-13Rα2, ephrinA2, and survivin. Here we describe an 18-color flow cytometry analysis from stage 2 of a Ph2 clinical trial of SL-701+poly-ICLC+bevacizumab (NCT02078648), in which 12-month overall survival (OS) was 50%. Of the 27 patients in stage 2, 24 (89%) developed heterogeneous T-cell responses against 1, 2, or 3 of the SL-701 CD8 peptides. Magnitude and kinetics of peptide responses were variable among these patients with no clear relationship to OS. Therefore, a phenotypic analysis of the T-cell response in all 27 patients was conducted using terraFlow, a unique data analysis approach utilizing machine learning to identify T-cell phenotypes associated with clinical response from all possible combinations of markers. In total, 10,184 unique SL-701 induced phenotypes were measured, including 223 phenotypes (P < 0.05) and 16 core phenotypes that uniquely represent differences between patients with OS above or below 12 months (P < 0.05). 50% of the core phenotypes were CD8+ CD57+ CD107a+ PD-1- SL-701-specific T-cells, which are highly-differentiated memory T-cells primed for cytotoxicity. The frequency of the CD57+ core phenotypes (8%-18%) was enhanced 1.6- to 2.3-fold in patients with an OS > 12 months (P < 0.05). Similarly, 2 core phenotypes identified cytotoxic CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, which were enhanced 1.9- and 2.5-fold in patients with an OS >12 months. The final 6 core phenotypes identified activated CD4+ CD154+ SL-701-specific T-cells (5%-19%) that were enhanced 0.3- to 0.5-fold in patients with an OS < 12 months (P < 0.05), suggesting helper T-cell responses in the absence of cytotoxic T-cell responses are associated with an OS < 12 months. Deep sequencing of SL-701-specific T-cells using whole transcriptome-based molecular cytometry is planned.

This study involved the determination of sediment quality and heavy metals in the water column and bottom sediment of a selected cage fish farm in Lake Volta, to assess the potential impact of metals and organic matter pollution on the lake due to cage fish farming. Sediment analysis indicated that the texture of all sampling sites was sandy clay loam with sand dominating with a range of 31.5%–81.2%. The organic matter (TOM) ranged from 4.42%–8.89%, while organic carbon (TOC) was from 2.57%–5.22%. Total nitrogen (TN) fluctuated between 0.22% and 0.45%; total phosphate ranged between 0.22% and 5.30%. The TOC, TOM and TN content in the farm sediment were significantly lower than those of the reference sites (ANOVA, p < .05). Lead, copper, cadmium and selenium were not detected in the water. The results revealed that heavy metal concentrations in the water column and sediments were low and within tolerable levels, indicating no influence of metals from fish feed was observed on the lake water quality. However, the farm seemed to have moderate impact on sediment quality from organic matter. Water and sediment quality monitoring should be embarked upon periodically to ensure sustainable cage culture in the Lake Volta.