RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: To evaluate the impact of an online workplace program that promotes physical activity and health, while focusing on performance measures relating to physical activity, nutrition, and overall health. METHODS: The large sample size (more than 18,000 participants) allowed the use of text mining and machine-learning methods to determine what descriptions of the program identify successful outcomes, and hierarchical linear models to determine the most beneficial program modules and features. RESULTS: The program increased overall health and awareness of levels of physical activity and nutrition, especially for people who scored low on these measures initially. Interestingly, although physical activity is the most popular program module, the daily step-tracking process was associated with smaller improvements in overall health. CONCLUSIONS: This study finds that the Virgin Pulse Global Challenge is an effective workplace intervention for improving overall health and awareness of physical activity and nutrition. Effectiveness relates to the holistic approach adopted rather than to individual modules in isolation. Future evaluations of workplace health and exercise programs should explore a variety of outcome measures within the rich context provided by open-ended participant experience feedback. In addition, a control group and a follow-up study are required.
Asunto(s)
Dieta Saludable/psicología , Ejercicio Físico/psicología , Educación en Salud/métodos , Promoción de la Salud/métodos , Adulto , Femenino , Estudios de Seguimiento , Humanos , Masculino , Evaluación de Programas y Proyectos de Salud , Lugar de Trabajo/psicologíaRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Workplace programs designed to improve the health and psychological well-being of employees are becoming increasingly popular. However, there are mixed reports regarding the effectiveness of such programs and little analysis of what helps people to engage with such programs. OBJECTIVE: This evaluation of a particularly broad, team-based, digital health and well-being program uses mixed methods to identify the elements of the program that reduce work stress and promote psychological well-being, sleep quality, and productivity of employees. METHODS: Participation in the Virgin Pulse Global Challenge program during May to September 2016 was studied. Self-reported stress, sleep quality, productivity, and psychological well-being data were collected both pre- and postprogram. Participant experience data were collected through a third final survey. However, the response rates for the last 2 surveys were only 48% and 10%, respectively. A random forest was used to estimate the probability of the completion of the last 2 surveys based on the preprogram assessment data and the demographic data for the entire sample (N=178,350). The inverse of these estimated probabilities were used as weights in hierarchical linear models in an attempt to address any estimation bias caused by the low response rates. These linear models described changes in psychological well-being, stress, sleep, and productivity over the duration of the program in relation to gender and age, engagement with each of the modules, each of the program features, and participant descriptions of the Virgin Pulse Global Challenge. A 0.1% significance level was used due to the large sample size for the final survey (N=18,653). RESULTS: The final analysis suggested that the program is more beneficial for older people, with 2.9% greater psychological well-being improvements observed on average in the case of women than men (P<.001). With one exception, all the program modules contributed significantly to the outcome measures with the following average improvements observed: psychological well-being, 4.1%-6.0%; quality of sleep, 3.2%-6.9%; work-related stress, 1.7%-6.8%; and productivity, 1.9%-4.2%. However, only 4 of the program features were found to have significant associations with the outcome measures with the following average improvements observed: psychological well-being, 3.7%-5.6%; quality of sleep, 3.4%-6.5%; work-related stress, 4.1%-6.4%; and productivity, 1.6%-3.2%. Finally, descriptions of the Virgin Pulse Global Challenge produced 5 text topics that were related to the outcome measures. Healthy lifestyle descriptions showed a positive association with outcomes, whereas physical activity and step count tracking descriptions showed a negative association with outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: The complementary use of qualitative and quantitative survey data in a mixed-methods analysis provided rich information that will inform the development of this and other programs designed to improve employee health. However, the low response rates and the lack of a control group are limitations, despite the attempts to address these problems in the analysis.
Asunto(s)
Ejercicio Físico/psicología , Sueño/fisiología , Lugar de Trabajo/psicología , Adulto , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Encuestas y CuestionariosRESUMEN
The Southern Ocean (SO) is a major sink for anthropogenic atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), potentially harbouring even greater potential for additional sequestration of CO2 through enhanced phytoplankton productivity. In the SO, primary productivity is primarily driven by bottom up processes (physical and chemical conditions) which are spatially and temporally heterogeneous. Due to a paucity of trace metals (such as iron) and high variability in light, much of the SO is characterised by an ecological paradox of high macronutrient concentrations yet uncharacteristically low chlorophyll concentrations. It is expected that with increased anthropogenic CO2 emissions and the coincident warming, the major physical and chemical process that govern the SO will alter, influencing the biological capacity and functioning of the ecosystem. This review focuses on the SO primary producers and the bottom up processes that underpin their health and productivity. It looks at the major physico-chemical drivers of change in the SO, and based on current physiological knowledge, explores how these changes will likely manifest in phytoplankton, specifically, what are the physiological changes and floristic shifts that are likely to ensue and how this may translate into changes in the carbon sink capacity, net primary productivity and functionality of the SO.
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Cambio Climático , Océanos y Mares , Fitoplancton/fisiología , Modelos Teóricos , TemperaturaRESUMEN
Diatoms, an important group of phytoplankton, bloom annually in the Southern Ocean, covering thousands of square kilometers and dominating the region's phytoplankton communities. In their role as the major food source to marine grazers, diatoms supply carbon, nutrients and energy to the Southern Ocean food web. Prevailing environmental conditions influence diatom phenotypic traits (for example, photophysiology, macromolecular composition and morphology), which in turn affect the transfer of energy, carbon and nutrients to grazers and higher trophic levels, as well as oceanic biogeochemical cycles. The paucity of phenotypic data on Southern Ocean phytoplankton limits our understanding of the ecosystem and how it may respond to future environmental change. Here we used a novel approach to create a 'snapshot' of cell phenotype. Using mass spectrometry, we measured nitrogen (a proxy for protein), total carbon and carbon-13 enrichment (carbon productivity), then used this data to build spectroscopy-based predictive models. The models were used to provide phenotypic data for samples from a third sample set. Importantly, this approach enabled the first ever rate determination of carbon productivity from a single time point, circumventing the need for time-series measurements. This study showed that Chaetoceros simplex was less productive and had lower protein and carbon content during short-term periods of high salinity. Applying this new phenomics approach to natural phytoplankton samples could provide valuable insight into understanding phytoplankton productivity and function in the marine system.
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Carbono/análisis , Diatomeas/química , Fitoplancton/química , Proteínas/análisis , Espectroscopía Infrarroja por Transformada de Fourier/métodos , Carbono/metabolismo , Dióxido de Carbono/análisis , Dióxido de Carbono/metabolismo , Isótopos de Carbono/análisis , Isótopos de Carbono/metabolismo , Diatomeas/metabolismo , Cadena Alimentaria , Nitrógeno/análisis , Nitrógeno/metabolismo , Fitoplancton/metabolismo , Proteínas/metabolismo , Agua de Mar/químicaRESUMEN
Diatoms are the primary source of nutrition and energy for the Southern Ocean ecosystem. Microalgae, including diatoms, synthesise biological macromolecules such as lipids, proteins and carbohydrates for growth, reproduction and acclimation to prevailing environmental conditions. Here we show that three key species of Southern Ocean diatom (Fragilariopsis cylindrus, Chaetoceros simplex and Pseudo-nitzschia subcurvata) exhibited phenotypic plasticity in response to salinity and temperature regimes experienced during the seasonal formation and decay of sea ice. The degree of phenotypic plasticity, in terms of changes in macromolecular composition, was highly species-specific and consistent with each species' known distribution and abundance throughout sea ice, meltwater and pelagic habitats, suggesting that phenotypic plasticity may have been selected for by the extreme variability of the polar marine environment. We argue that changes in diatom macromolecular composition and shifts in species dominance in response to a changing climate have the potential to alter nutrient and energy fluxes throughout the Southern Ocean ecosystem.