The Scutulum and the Pre-Auricular Aponeurosis in Bats.

The external ear in eutherian mammals is composed of the annular, auricular (pinna), and scutellar cartilages. The latter extends between the pinnae, across the top of the head, and lies at the intersection of numerous auricular muscles and is thought to be a sesamoid element. In bats, this scutulum consists of two distinct regions, (1) a thin squama that is in contact with the underlying temporalis fascia and (2) a lateral bossed portion that is lightly tethered to the medial surface of the pinna.

Influence of short bouts of stair climbing on young adults during prolonged sitting on posture, discomfort, and musculoskeletal performance outcomes: a counterbalanced pilot randomised crossover trial.

Prolonged sitting is postulated to influence musculoskeletal performance (cervical flexor endurance, balance, and agility), discomfort and alter cervical spine angles during work-based computer use. Stair climbing breaks may be a great addition at typical and home offices however remain unexplored for its impact on musculoskeletal performance. In our counterbalanced pilot crossover trial, 24 adults were randomised to three interventions: (1) prolonged sitting, (2) interrupted by 2 min of self-paced, and (3) externally paced stair climbing for 2 h.

One-Pot Synthesis of Sulfonamides from Unactivated Acids and Amines via Aromatic Decarboxylative Halosulfonylation.

The coupling of carboxylic acids and amines to form amide linkages is the most commonly performed reaction in the pharmaceutical industry. Herein, we report a new strategy that merges these traditional amide coupling partners to generate sulfonamides, important amide bioisosteres. This method leverages copper ligand-to-metal charge transfer (LMCT) to convert aromatic acids to sulfonyl chlorides, followed by one-pot amination to form the corresponding sulfonamide.

Dose-response effects of periodic physical activity breaks on the chronic inflammatory risk associated with sedentary behavior in high- and upper-middle income countries: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background And Aims: Though moderate-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) is speculated to mitigate the inflammatory risk associated with sedentary behavior, only a fraction of the global population meets the recommended weekly dose of MVPA. More individuals indulge in bouted and sporadic light-intensity physical activity (LIPA) that occurs throughout the typical day. However, the anti-inflammatory effects of LIPA or MVPA breaks during prolonged sitting remains unclear.

A Privacy-Preserving Desk Sensor for Monitoring Healthy Movement Breaks in Smart Office Environments with the Internet of Things.

Smart workplace Internet of Things (IoT) solutions rely on several sensors deployed efficiently in the workplace environment to collect accurate data to meet system goals. A vital issue for these sensor-based IoT solutions is privacy. Ideally, the occupants must be monitored discreetly, and the strategies for maintaining privacy are dependent on the nature of the data required.

Breaking the Habit? Identifying Discrete Dimensions of Sitting Automaticity and Their Responsiveness to a Sitting-Reduction Intervention.

Background: Growing evidence suggests that sitting is activated automatically on exposure to associated environments, yet no study has yet sought to identify in what ways sitting may be automatic.

Method: This study used data from a 12-month sitting-reduction intervention trial to explore discrete dimensions of sitting automaticity, and how these dimensions may be affected by an intervention. One hundred ninety-four office workers reported sitting automaticity at baseline, and 3 months, 6 months, 9 months and 12 months after receiving one of two sitting-reduction intervention variants.

Peer champions responses to nudge-based strategies designed to reduce prolonged sitting behaviour: Lessons learnt and implications from lived experiences of non-compliant participants.

Occupational sedentariness is problematic for office-based workers because of their prolonged sitting periods and the advent of technology which reduces work-based movement. A common workplace strategy to deal with this preventable health risk is to have workers engage in brief movement breaks throughout the workday. To date, the use of interventions underpinned by individual self-regulation has had less than optimal impact on changing workers sedentary work behaviours.

A Unified Approach to Decarboxylative Halogenation of (Hetero)aryl Carboxylic Acids.

Aryl halides are a fundamental motif in synthetic chemistry, playing a critical role in metal-mediated cross-coupling reactions and serving as important scaffolds in drug discovery. Although thermal decarboxylative functionalization of aryl carboxylic acids has been extensively explored, the scope of existing halodecarboxylation methods remains limited, and there currently exists no unified strategy that provides access to any type of aryl halide from an aryl carboxylic acid precursor. Herein, we report a general catalytic method for direct decarboxylative halogenation of (hetero)aryl carboxylic acids via ligand-to-metal charge transfer.

Decarboxylative Borylation and Cross-Coupling of (Hetero)aryl Acids Enabled by Copper Charge Transfer Catalysis.

We report a copper-catalyzed strategy for arylboronic ester synthesis that exploits photoinduced ligand-to-metal charge transfer (LMCT) to convert (hetero)aryl acids into aryl radicals amenable to ambient-temperature borylation. This near-UV process occurs under mild conditions, requires no prefunctionalization of the native acid, and operates broadly across diverse aryl, heteroaryl, and pharmaceutical substrates. We also report a one-pot procedure for decarboxylative cross-coupling that merges catalytic LMCT borylation and palladium-catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura arylation, vinylation, or alkylation with organobromides to access a range of value-added products.

Using an e-Health Intervention to Reduce Prolonged Sitting in UK Office Workers: A Randomised Acceptability and Feasibility Study.

Low-cost workplace interventions are required to reduce prolonged sitting in office workers as this may improve employees' health and well-being. This study aimed to assess the acceptability and feasibility of an e-health intervention to reduce prolonged sitting among sedentary UK-based office workers. Secondary aims were to describe preliminary changes in employee health, mood and work productivity after using an e-health intervention.

Exercise as cardiovascular medicine.

Background: Physical inactivity is a major modifiable contributor to the global burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality.

Objective: In this article, a clinical case study is used to provide practical approaches for general practitioners and their teams to individualise exercise prescriptions for patients with hypertension who are at risk of CVD. The case presented describes a sedentary, overweight male with newly diagnosed hypertension - a common scenario in general practice.

Taking a Stand for Office-Based Workers' Mental Health: The Return of the Microbreak.

There is evidence that movement-based microbreaks can improve the cardiovascular health of desk-based employees, but their effect on mood states is yet to be investigated. As daily work tasks can potentially result in the loss of physical and psychological resources, the objective of this study was to measure the effect of movement microbreaks during formal work time on mood states. In a randomized-controlled pilot study with repeated measures (baseline, post-test, washout) of self-reported job stress and mood states (fatigue and vigor), police officers ( = 43) were exposed to movement microbreaks during work hours.

The immediate and durable effects of yoga and physical fitness exercises on stress.

This study aimed to examine the effects of yoga and physical fitness exercises on stress and the underlying mechanisms. Healthy undergraduates from four yoga and four fitness classes participated in Study 1 (n = 191) and Study 2 (n = 143), respectively (in 2017 Fall). Study 1 evaluated the immediate effect (a 60-minute practice) while Study 2 evaluated the durable effect (a 12-week intervention).

Blood Pressure Response to Interrupting Workplace Sitting Time With Non-Exercise Physical Activity: Results of a 12-Month Cohort Study.

Objective: To evaluate the blood pressure (BP) effects of a yearlong e-health solution designed to interrupt prolonged occupational sitting time.

Methods: BP data of 228 desk-based employees (45.1 ± 10.

Is self-reporting workplace activity worthwhile? Validity and reliability of occupational sitting and physical activity questionnaire in desk-based workers.

Background: With the advent of workplace health and wellbeing programs designed to address prolonged occupational sitting, tools to measure behaviour change within this environment should derive from empirical evidence. In this study we measured aspects of validity and reliability for the Occupational Sitting and Physical Activity Questionnaire that asks employees to recount the percentage of work time they spend in the seated, standing, and walking postures during a typical workday.

Methods: Three separate cohort samples (N = 236) were drawn from a population of government desk-based employees across several departmental agencies.

A randomised control trial of the cognitive effects of working in a seated as opposed to a standing position in office workers.

Sedentary behaviour is increasing and has been identified as a potential significant health risk, particularly for desk-based employees. The development of sit-stand workstations in the workplace is one approach to reduce sedentary behaviour. However, there is uncertainty about the effects of sit-stand workstations on cognitive functioning.

Effect of Standing or Walking at a Workstation on Cognitive Function: A Randomized Counterbalanced Trial.

Objective: In the present study, we examined the effect of working while seated, while standing, or while walking on measures of short-term memory, working memory, selective and sustained attention, and information-processing speed.

Background: The advent of computer-based technology has revolutionized the adult workplace, such that average adult full-time employees spend the majority of their working day seated. Prolonged sitting is associated with increasing obesity and chronic health conditions in children and adults.

Lancet dynamics in greater horseshoe bats, Rhinolophus ferrumequinum.

Echolocating greater horseshoe bats (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum) emit their biosonar pulses nasally, through nostrils surrounded by fleshy appendages ('noseleaves') that diffract the outgoing ultrasonic waves. Movements of one noseleaf part, the lancet, were measured in live bats using two synchronized high speed video cameras with 3D stereo reconstruction, and synchronized with pulse emissions recorded by an ultrasonic microphone. During individual broadcasts, the lancet briefly flicks forward (flexion) and is then restored to its original position.

The effect of an e-health intervention designed to reduce prolonged occupational sitting on mean arterial pressure.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of a workplace health intervention designed to reduce prolonged occupational sitting on the mean arterial pressure (MAP) of desk-based employees.

Methods: This randomized controlled trial involved an experimental group who received an e-health intervention and a control group who did not. The 13-week intervention passively prompted participants to stand and engage in short bouts of office-based physical activity by interrupting prolonged occupational sitting time periodically throughout the workday.

Activity Behaviors of University Staff in the Workplace: A Pilot Study.

Background: Sedentary behavior is related to metabolic syndrome and might have implications for the long-term health of workers in a low activity environment. The primary aim of this pilot study was to determine activity levels of adults working at a University during work hours. A secondary aim was to determine the relationship between actual and perceived activity levels.

Ghostman: augmented reality application for telerehabilitation and remote instruction of a novel motor skill.

This paper describes a pilot study using a prototype telerehabilitation system (Ghostman). Ghostman is a visual augmentation system designed to allow a physical therapist and patient to inhabit each other's viewpoint in an augmented real-world environment. This allows the therapist to deliver instruction remotely and observe performance of a motor skill through the patient's point of view.

Assessment of the impact of a workplace intervention to reduce prolonged occupational sitting time.

We aim to provide a better picture of the outcomes associated with implementing a nonpurposeful, physical activity, e-health intervention in a professional workplace. There is a need for health professionals to evaluate physical-activity-based workplace health interventions with a full range of measures. Using a social ecological model as a basis, we identify a range of subjective outcomes from 15 interviews of a cross section of participants.

An e-health intervention designed to increase workday energy expenditure by reducing prolonged occupational sitting habits.

Background: Desk-based employees face multiple workplace health hazards such as insufficient physical activity and prolonged sitting.

Objective: The objective of this study was to increase workday energy expenditure by interrupting prolonged occupational sitting time and introducing short-bursts of physical activity to employees' daily work habits.

Methods: Over a 13-week period participants (n=17) in the intervention group were regularly exposed to a passive prompt delivered through their desktop computer that required them to stand up and engage in a short-burst of physical activity, while the control group (n=17) was not exposed to this intervention.