Aims: Video games provide opportunities for positive psychological experiences such as flow-like phenomena during play and general happiness that could be associated with gaming achievements. However, research has shown that specific features of game play may be associated with problematic behaviour associated with addiction-like experiences. The study was aimed at analysing whether certain structural characteristics of video games, flow, and global happiness could be predictive of video game addiction. Method: A total of 110 video game players were surveyed about a game they had recently played by using a 24-item checklist of structural characteristics, an adapted Flow State Scale, the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire, and the Game Addiction Scale. Results: The study revealed decreases in general happiness had the strongest role in predicting increases in gaming addiction. One of the nine factors of the flow experience was a significant predictor of gaming addiction – perceptions of time being altered during play. The structural characteristic that significantly predicted addiction was its social element with increased sociability being associated with higher levels of addictive-like experiences. Overall, the structural characteristics of video games, elements of the flow experience, and general happiness accounted for 49.2% of the total variance in Game Addiction Scale levels. Conclusions: Implications for interventions are discussed, particularly with regard to making players more aware of time passing and in capitalising on benefits of social features of video game play to guard against addictive-like tendencies among video game players. Salience is evident when the playing of the video game becomes the single most important thing in a person's life, often resulting in cravings and total preoccupation with the activity. Mood modification involves the creation of an arousing  feeling from playing the game that is often used as a way of coping with other areas of the person's life. The mood-modifying effect from the game often requires increasing amounts of game time, leading to tolerance. When playing the game is not possible, players may experience withdrawal symptoms, including irritability, sweating, headaches, the shakes, etc. Conflict refers to the ways in which playing the game interferes with normal day-to-day life, compromising personal relationships, job and/or educational activities, and hobbies/social life. Players may also experience intra-psychic conflict . Relapse refers to the tendency for those attempting to change their behaviour to return to similar patterns of video game playing prior to stopping the last time around.Video game playing is prevalent across many cultures with a wide range of different types, genres, and interfaces from which to choose. These media have been subjected to an increasing number of studies concerning the adverse effects of video game play that may entail cases of video game addiction, for instance ; 2012b. Addictive behaviours brought on by video game play could be elicited by positive psychological phenomena, such as the state of flow . With thFlow has been proposed by The application of flow to video games is intuitive and some of the core concepts in gaming design indirectly incorporate facets of flow theory. For example, Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment (DDA) is a design implementation within a game that replaces the traditional, optional difficulty system . InsteadGiven that several studies have concentrated on psychological flow and addiction in relation to video games, it is not surprising that these two factors may at times inter-relate. In addition to positive psychological phenomena (e.g. flow), being correlated with gaming addiction, there is evidence to suggest that low levels of well-being and happiness can be predictive of increased tendencies to engage in problematic video gaming behaviour. For instance, a two-wave longitudinal study by Characteristic features that a video game may possess could impact on a player's experiences and the potential for a game to elicit addictive-type behaviours. To this end, Overall, this pilot study was designed to test a predictive model of video game addiction that incorporated the structural characteristics of a game that participants had recently played, along with the nine different elements of flow that may have been experienced in relation to playing that game, along with the influence of respondents' general levels of happiness, or lack thereof.It was hypothesised, based on prior research into flow and addiction, that flow would be positively associated with gaming addiction, in particular the elements of flow that would be symptomatic of being immersed in a state of being that would involve shutting out the player from the outside world . It was also anticipated that, as unhappiness has been correlated with tendencies to withdraw socially and be engrossed in activities such as excessive video gaming, we predicted that low levels of happiness would predict an increase in gaming addiction. Moreover, we expected to see positive associations between the main structural features identified by SD = 9.04 years). The mean number of years of playing video games was 13.4 years (SD = 5.6 years) and participants played for a mean of 9.2 hours per week (SD = 8.8 hours). Respondents mainly came from the United States of America (n = 65) or the United Kingdom (n = 34). Overall, 79 different video games were played by the participants with the most common game being played by respondents being Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (n = 20). Of the 110 participants, 66 played the video game alone, while 42 played in a multiplayer mode. Two players did not specify whether they played alone or with others.A total of 190 gamers completed an online questionnaire. The sample was obtained via opportunity sampling by advertising through online gaming forums and via other online psychology research web sites. After data cleaning for incomplete or problematic responding , a final sample comprising 110 responses was used. This included 78 males and 32 females, with a mean age of 24.7 years  to strongly agree (5). Higher scores for each of the nine factors indicated a strong indication of flow-like experiences having taken place. The scale has good psychometric properties, with confirmatory factor analysis supporting its factorial validity and it has satisfactory internal consistency, with Cronbach's alphas ranging from .72 to .91 to very often (coded as 5). A score of 5 indicated a strong indication of addiction-proneness with regard to a specific factor. The Gaming Addiction Scale total was calculated by summing all items. The GAS has been found to have good levels of concurrent validity and very high internal consistency . Three predictor variables were statistically significant predictors of total GAS – social features of a video game, distortion of time perception when playing the game, and levels of happiness; happiness was the strongest predictor (b = –.47), signalling that a one SD unit increase in happiness would predict a .47 SD unit decrease in gaming addiction levels, and vice versa.By conducting multiple regression analysis on the data collected relating to flow, the structural characteristics of video games, and addiction, the findings provide insights into some of the important factors that may be involved in the development of video game addiction. More specifically, the results demonstrated that three variables were statistically significant predictors of gaming addiction . These all appear to have good face validity in relation to previous findings on video game addiction . These tIn relation to happiness, the study showed that the unhappier a player was, the more likely they would have a higher score on the GAS. Given that much of the video game addiction literature shows that video game addicts play as a means of escaping and coping with unpleasant and unwanted aspects of their day-to-day lives , 2012b, The structural characteristic that significantly predicted video game addiction was the social element with increased sociability being associated with higher levels of addictive-like experiences. Structural characteristics that promote sociability are also likely to be deemed as highly rewarding and reinforcing by players, and again any activity that is constantly providing rewarding experiences to the player increases the likelihood of habitual behaviour. The findings in the current study also confirm results obtained by Indeed, it has been argued in a seminal paper by Only one of the nine factors of the flow experience was a significant predictor of gaming addiction – heightened levels of a sense of time being altered during play. This factor may be highly reinforcing and rewarding to video game players, and as such may be an experience that players want to constantly repeat to achieve these positively rewarding psychological experiences. Given that addictive behaviour is essentially about constant rewards , such a At present, it is likely that no one type of gaming experience can be associated with higher levels of flow or addiction. In essence, it may not be the phenomenological set of experiences derived from playing a game that is as vital to addiction and flow as perhaps the actual interplay between facets of addiction and flow themselves. Certain, as yet uncovered, facets of gaming experiences may be more crucial to determining a video game player's tendencies to become addicted to a certain game or in getting into a state of flow while playing it. Rather, it is possible that other factors may more crucial to getting into a flow state when gaming, such as the speed with which the gamer can interact with the gaming environment or the need for a focused attentional state .This study aimed to uncover the potential for assessing common gaming experiences among video game players and also in seeing whether these experiences could be equated with video game addiction. However, as this was only a small-scale pilot study, it is acknowledged that were some limitations, which included issues to do with: the sample size; whether the sample can be seen as representative of the video gamer population and its self-selecting nature; the self-report nature of the data, and that the fact that the cross-sectional design did not make it possible to infer causality.The study's findings suggest some implications for prevention and treatment of gaming problems. The results suggest that strategies are needed to help game players keep track of time spent during gameplay. Certainly, the extant literature , 2012 ar


Palinurus elephas as our model organism, we evaluate the effectiveness of baited underwater video (BUV) for estimating abundance in areas with widely different population density. We test three BUV abundance metrics and compare the results with an independently obtained abundance index from trammel-net surveys (Trammel). Video metrics used to estimate relative abundance include a value for total number of individuals per recording (TotN), the traditional maximum number of fish observed in a single video frame (MaxN), and the recently suggested alternative, the average of the mean MaxN from 5-minute periods throughout the duration of the recording (MeanN). This is the first video study of a wild population to include an estimate for TotN. Comparison of TotN with the other two BUV relative abundance metrics demonstrates that both of the latter lack resolution at high population densities. In spite of this, the three BUV metrics tested, as well as the independent estimate Trammel, distinguished high density areas from low density areas. Thus they could all be used to identify areas of differing population density, but MaxN and MeanN would not be appropriate metrics for studies aimed at documenting increases in abundance, such as those conducted to assess marine protected area effectiveness, as they are prone to sampling saturation. We also demonstrate that time of first arrival (T1) is highly correlated with all of the abundance indices; suggesting T1 may be a potentially useful index of abundance. However, these relationships require further investigation as our data suggests T1 may not adequately represent lobster abundance in areas of high density.Video survey techniques are now commonly used to estimate animal abundance under the assumption that estimates relate to true abundance, a key property needed to make video a valid survey tool. Using the spiny lobster  The use of video to study marine life has increased over the past twenty years, and a variety of video survey techniques are now commonly used for sampling marine populations (see reviews by –2). AmonWhile video has been used for underwater surveys in many different ways –2, videoThe introduction of video hardware to sample marine populations required the development of methods to retrieve information from recordings, particularly metrics that could be used as a proxy for true abundance. The most commonly used metric for this purpose has been MaxN, generally defined as the maximum number of fish observed in a single video frame –10, 19. Palinurus elephas in and around the Columbretes Islands Marine Reserve (hereafter the “MPA”). We trialed BUV because the traditionally used method to capture this species for study is trammel netting which, while considered a highly efficient method for spiny lobster fishing ),P. elephas, almost exclusively attracting this species. Body markings specific to individual lobsters allowed us to estimate TotN and compare this estimation of the total number of lobsters attracted to the BUV with the traditionally used and more recently suggested metrics MaxN and MeanN, respectively. Our findings demonstrate that all the metrics used  are able to distinguish between high density areas and low density areas. However, neither MaxN nor MeanN would be appropriate metrics for studies that seek to document increases in abundance, as they are prone to saturation and therefore likely to prematurely indicate that peak abundance has been reached. While TotN was useful to explore the relationships between these metrics, tracking lobsters through recordings requires a lot of video analysis time, so TotN is unlikely to be used extensively in future studies of lobsters or other marine organisms without the aid of new software to automate the process. Time of first arrival may be a useful measure for some studies, but further work would be required to determine if it can be a useful index of abundance in areas of high density.In conclusion, the BUV system we developed proved to be reliable for estimating the relative abundance of


Salmonella and E. coli flagellin FliC and Toxoplasma gondii profilin-like protein. Given the highly divergent biology of these pathogens recognized by TLR11, it is unclear whether common mechanisms are used to recognize these distinct protein PAMPs. Here we show that TLR11 interacts with these two PAMPs using different receptor domains. Furthermore, TLR11 binding to flagellin and profilin exhibits differential dependency on pH and receptor ectodomain cleavage.Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are innate immune receptors that sense a variety of pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) by interacting with them and subsequently initiating signal transduction cascades that elicit immune responses. TLR11 has been shown to interact with two known protein PAMPs:  TLRs recognize microbial molecules termed PAMPs by interacting with them in the extracellular compartment or within endosomes . FollowiToxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) profilin (TPRF) [E. coli and Salmonella typhimurium [TLRs are type I transmembrane proteins that possess an N-terminal ectodomain (ECD) containing leucine-rich-repeat (LRR) motifs for ligand interaction, a single transmembrane domain, and a C-terminal cytoplasmic signaling domain . There an (TPRF) . Recentlhimurium .Salmonella flagellin, and induces proinflammatory cytokines, TLR5-deficient mice show enhanced resistance against oral Salmonella infection [Flagellin is a bacterial protein that forms flagella, the structure that promotes bacterial chemotaxis and invasion in host tissues . Recogninfection . Finallynfection .T. gondii is a protozoan apicomplexan parasite that can infect all mammals. In humans, infection primarily occurs through the ingestion of infected food [T. gondii and maintains it in a quiescent state [T. gondii causes severe neurological disease in immunocompromised individuals as well as when transmitted in utero [ted food . In healnt state . Howeverin utero .T. gondii infection have reinforced the importance of parasite recognition and T helper 1 cells (Th1) response in T. gondii clearance in murine models [TLR11 recognizes the unconventional apicomplexan actin-binding protein profilin , which re models .Although TLR11 is not expressed in humans , investiHere we show that TLR11 ectodomain (ECD) is cleaved in a cathepsin-dependent manner, similar to other intracellular TLRs. The C-terminal region of cleaved-TLR11 interacts strongly with FliC but not with TPRF. In contrast to TLR11 binding to TPRF, acidic pH conditions significantly promoted the interaction between TLR11 and FliC. Furthermore, TLR11 used different protein domains to interact with TPRF and FliC. These results demonstrate that a single TLR is capable of binding to distinct PAMPs through highly divergent mechanisms and suggest that the modular structure of the TLR ectodomain is compatible with recognition of unique PAMPs.Typhimurium SL1344 (ATCC) genomic DNA and cloned into pET15 vector (Novagen). Primers sequences are as follows: forward (5’- aaactcgagatggcacaagtcattaataca -3’) and reverse (5’- aaaggatccttaacgcagtaaagagaggac -3’).The plasmids coding for mouse TLR11-FLAG was previously described . Mouse TT. gondii profilin protein (His-TPRF) was recombinantly expressed in ScarabXpress T7 lac Chemically Competent Cells (Scarab Genomics), lacking flagellar operons [Histidine-tagged  operons , by tran operons . The pur operons .Histidine-tagged FliC protein (His-FliC) was recombinantly expressed in ScarabXpress T7 lac Chemically Competent Cells. Cultures were shaken at 37°C to an OD600 of 0.6. His-FliC expression was then induced using 0.4 mM IPTG at 27°C overnight. The culture was pelleted and lysed in PBS (pH 7.4) (GIBCO) containing 5% glycerol, 0.5% Triton-X and 1 mM PMSF on ice. The remaining purification steps were preformed as for His-TPRF, except for the purification step using Superdex 200 10/30 size-exclusion column.HEK-293T cells or Hela cells were plated in a 6-well plate and transiently transfected with vectors encoding the indicated TLRs using either Lipofectamine 2000 (Invitrogen) or polyethylenimine (Polysciences). After 2 days, cells were detached, washed twice with PBS and pelleted by centrifugation. Cell pellets were lysed with lysis buffer containing 1% Nonidet P-40, 150 mM NaCl, protease inhibitors  and either 30 mM 2-Morpholinoethanesulfonic acid (MES) (pH 6.0) or 25 mM HEPES (pH 7.0) on ice. Cell lysates were clarified by ultra-centrifugation at 45,000 x g for 20 min at 4°C. The concentration of Nonidet P-40 in the cleared cell lysates was diluted to 0.5% by addition of buffer containing 150 mM NaCl, protease inhibitors and either 30 mM MES (pH 6.0) or 25 mM HEPES (pH 7.0). Cell lysates were mixed with 15 uL TALON Metal Affinity Resin (Clontech) and incubated at 4°C to remove non-specific binding proteins. The resulting pre-cleared lysates were collected by centrifugation at 4°C and mixed with 3 μg/ml His-TPRF. After 4–6 h incubation with rotation at 4°C, mixtures were rotated with 2 mM imidazole and 15 uL TALON Metal Affinity Resin for 20 min at 4°C. Resins were collected by centrifugation, resuspended and incubated for 2 min with washing buffer containing 0.5% Nonidet P-40, 150 mM NaCl, 20 mM imidazole and either 30 mM MES (pH 6.0) or 25 mM HEPES (pH 7.0) on ice. This washing step was repeated three times. Resins were boiled for 5 min in SDS sample buffer containing 50 mM Tris-HCl (pH 6.8), 2% sodium dodecyl sulfate, 10% glycerol and 2% β-mercaptoethanol.Cell lysates were prepared as for TPRF pulldown assay. Cell lysates were mixed with 20 ul Glutathione Sepharose 4B  beads and incubated at 4°C to remove non-specific binding proteins. The resulting pre-cleared cell lysates were collected by centrifugation at 4°C and mixed with 3 μg/ml His-FliC. After 90 min rotation at 4°C, mixtures were rotated with 20 ul anti-FliC mouse monoclonal antibody (Invivogen) -conjugated Glutathione Sepharose 4B beads for 3 h at 4°C. Beads were collected by centrifugation and washed with washing buffer containing 0.5% Nonidet P-40, 150 mM NaCl and either 30 mM MES (pH 6.0) or 25 mM HEPES (pH 7.0). This washing step was repeated three times. Beads were boiled for 5 min in SDS sample buffer.t test.Samples were separated using 10% polyacrylamide gels. After electrophoresis, proteins were transferred to polyvinylidene fluoride membrane (Millipore). The membrane was blocked with 5% skim milk in TTBS and incubated with the following primary antibodies: 1/1000 anti-FLAG M2 , 1/5000 anti-polyHistidine  or 1/500 anti-FliC  mouse monoclonal antibodies. An appropriate HRP-conjugated secondary antibody was added and HRP activity was detected using Luminata Forte Western HRP substrate (Millipore). Densitometric analysis was performed using ImageJ . StatistIn order to investigate in vitro ligand binding by TLR11, we used HEK-293T cells to express epitope tagged full length TLR11. We then analyzed TLR11 expression by Western blotting. Consistent with previous reports , upon ovCleavage of the ectodomain of other intracellular TLRs depends on cathepsin activity in endosomes ,17. TherThe presence of both cleaved and uncleaved forms of TLR11 in lysates from transfected HEK-293T cells  allowed Notably, His-FliC strongly interacted with both full-length and the C-terminal fragment of cleaved TLR11-Flag . In contIntracellular TLRs, TLR3 and TLR9, interact with their ligands at acidic pH, found within the endolysosomal system ,19. His-As expected, the interaction of TLR11-Flag with His-FliC was detected only at acidic conditions (pH 6.0)  but not Considering the differences between TLR11-Flag binding to His-TPRF and His-FliC, we hypothesized that TLR11 uses different protein domains to interact with TPRF and FliC. To better understand these differences, we constructed a series of chimera between TLR11 and TLR2 . Using tWe used the TLR11/2 chimera consisting of TLR11 N-terminus—LRR9 and TLR2 LRR10—C-terminus and the TLR2/11 chimera consisting of TLR2 N-terminus—LRR13 and TLR11 LRR14—C-terminus. Surprisingly, both of the chimeras interacted with His-FliC but neither was able to pull down His-TPRF . TherefoGiven that both the TLR11/2 and TLR2/11 chimeras bind to FliC, it appears that they are capable of binding to ligand. Therefore, consistent with the failure of cleaved TLR11 to bind TPRF, it seems that both the N- and C-terminal region of TLR11 are critical for interaction with TPRF. To further delineate the contribution of the N- and C-terminal LRRs, we performed targeted mutagenesis of candidate motifs within the TLR11 ECD.Based on a comparative sequence analysis of TLR11 (11), amino acids M1 to S21 correspond to the signal sequence and amino acids T22 to S709 comprise the extracellular domain of the receptor consisting of 26 LRRs  .To examine the role of the N-terminal region of the TLR11 ECD on TPRF interaction, we therefore constructed TLR11-Flag mutants in which we deleted portions of the N-terminal LRRs of the TLR11 ECD. Based on the loss of TPRF binding observed upon deletion of N-terminal LRRs (data not shown), we constructed a series of alanine point mutations in LRR-NT of TLR11-Flag to define which residues are critical for TPRF interaction. As shown in To examine the role of the C-terminal region of the TLR11 ECD on TPRF interaction, we also constructed a series of truncated TLR11-Flag mutants in which we deleted portions of the C-terminal region of the TLR11 ECD . RemovalThis study shows that TLR11 specifically interacts with two protein PAMPs, TPRF and FliC, using distinct mechanisms that depend on receptor cleavage, pH and different receptor domains.It has previously been reported that TLR cleavage affects ligand interaction. Cleaved C-terminal fragment of TLR9 binds its ligand more strongly than full-length TLR9 ,20. SurpIt has also been reported that ligand recognition by intracellular TLRs is pH-dependent ,19. One TLR11 interacted specifically with these two distinct PAMPs through different domains. Recently, the precise role of N-terminal fragments of intracellular TLRs has been a controversial topic. It was previously thought that N-terminal fragment of TLR9 does not play an important role in ligand recognition . In contConsidering both the acidic pH-dependency  and inteSalmonella invasion [Salmonella. In contrast to FliC, it seems that TPRF recognition happens outside of the lysosomal compartments. Actually, it is thought that TLR11 recognizes TPRF before parasite invasion because direct contact with T. gondii is not required for TLR11-dependent IL-12 production [Hence TLR11 might utilize distinct subcellular compartments to sense different PAMPs. This putative TLR11 ligands recognition model is consistent with some previous reports. TLR11 is highly expressed in epithelial cells in various organs such as intestine, lung and skin  and prevoduction . Furtheroduction  and thesT. gondii profilin does not necessarily mean that TLR11 recognizes TPRF only in endolysosomal compartments or only after cleavage. These data leave open the possibility of TPRF binding to full length TLR11 in a neutral pH environment, either at the cell surface or within early endosomses. Alternatively, it is possible that in the context of a TLR11/12 heterodimer, that LRR24 TPRF binding motif is sufficient for TPRF recognition, or that the pH dependence of the TPRF response might differ from that observed using in vitro assays. Consequently, in the future, it will also be important to determine whether both N- and C-terminal extracellular domains of TLR11 are required for TPRF recognition by the murinme innate immune system in the context of a TLR11/12 heterodimer.It was thought that UNC93B1 only regulated endosomal TLRs. Thus given that recognition of TPRF by TLR11/12 required UNC93B1 , it was Unfortunately, such functional studies are not readily performed through simple transfection experiments as the requirements for signaling by TLR11, in response to either PAMP, remain poorly understood. Experiments using transfection of TLR11 together with a reporter gene into various cell lines yield weak responses to either PAMP. For example, in CHO cells or HEK-293 cells expressing TLR11, TPRF stimulation resulted in modest activation of an NF-κB reporter . Similar


Thinornis rubricollis management as a model. The inconvenience experienced by beach goers in regard to plover management was low. Awareness and support for plover conservation were high. Frequency of beach use, whether a person was a dog walker, and awareness of the species and its plight, influenced perceptions.Coastal urbanisation brings humans into contact with beach-dwelling wildlife. Where wildlife are disturbance prone, active management is required to promote coexistence between beach-goers and endangered wildlife. Coexistence relies on people adopting wildlife-sensitive behaviours. This study examines factors, which influence people’s awareness and perceptions of threatened species management in southern Australia, using Hooded Plover Thinornis rubricollis. We postulated that: (1) lower awareness of the species and higher ‘inconvenience’ of management would engender less favourable perceptions of conservation and management; and (2) that frequency of beach use and dog ownership may mediate perceptions and levels of awareness and inconvenience. Overall, inconvenience was low while awareness and support for plover conservation were high. Education and awareness strategies were considered less effective than regulations; exclusion and regulations were considered less desirable than on-ground protective measures. Awareness, frequency of beach use and dog walking did not influence the perceived effectiveness of different managements. More frequent beach users had greater awareness of the species and their plight but reported greater inconvenience associated with management. Respondents with high awareness rated the severity of human-related threats higher; low awareness was associated with more inconvenience associated with on-ground protection, and exclusion and regulations. Dog walkers reported more inconvenience associated with exclusions and regulations than non-dog walkers. Dog walkers who used the beach infrequently rated threats significantly higher than frequent beach users. Conservation and education strategies could usefully be tailored to beach users’ level of use and pet ownership.We surveyed 579 recreationists regarding management of the threatened, beach-dwelling Hooded Plover  Sandy shores around the world are becoming increasingly urbanized . Human aThinornis rubricollis of south-eastern Australian beaches, where recreationists inadvertently cause disturbance and crush eggs and chicks. A range of effective management techniques, such as ‘temporary beach closures’ and artificial chick shelters, ultimately rely on cooperation from the public by seeking behavioural adjustments e.g., avoidance of small sections of beach or leashing of dogs  or age of respondents ). Females represented 52.2% of respondents (n = 579), similar to 52.5% of coastal residents (outside Melbourne) who are female [Of the 390 surveys distributed, 102 (26.2%) were returned and 582 online surveys were submitted. We excluded 20 online surveys because of incompleteness and 85 surveys because respondents participated in BirdLife Australia’s beach-nesting birds project, and so did not represent the general public. Thus, 579 surveys were available for analysis  used the beach several times per year; 15.6% and 15.2% used the beach once or two to three times per month, respectively; 13.8% and 10.7%, one to two and three to five times per week, respectively; and 7.3% used the beach daily. Only 2.6% of respondents visited the beach once per year. Overall, 78.5% of respondents visited known Hooded Plover locations . Walking and swimming were the most common beach activity . SPSS . Sample sizes vary because not all questions were answered. Means ± one standard error are presented throughout. Factor analysis  was used to identify groupings of questions (factors) to facilitate interpretation of the data, that is, PCA effectively identified themes used by participants when they answered questions. Items were selected for a factor if they had a component value of greater than 0.5 and factors were considered reliable if Cronbach’s α > 0.5. Repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) with an α level of 0.05 were conducted to compare factor scores . Scaled data were analysed using 1,520 = 218.129, p < 0.001) with exclusion and regulations considered less favourable than on-ground protection measures (except for prohibition of dune boarding).Respondents reported little inconvenience to 15 conservation actions . ControlVanellus miles . A tota1,494 = 110.528, p < 0.001) with human-related threats being considered more impactful than threats to the integrity of habitat.Respondents rated the seriousness of 14 known threats to plover eggs and chicks. Disturbance to incubating birds by people and dogs, as well as depredation of eggs and chicks by foxes, ravens and raptors, were considered the greatest threats. High tides and storms, and beach pollution were considered least problematic . Factor 1,494 = 136.329, p < 0.001) with education and awareness strategies being considered least effective and regulations most effective.Respondents rated the effectiveness of 23 conservation actions at improving Hooded Plover breeding success where one was “not very effective”. Enforcement of regulations was considered most effective and control of introduced pests and prohibition of dune boarding were regarded as highly effective strategies. Educational strategies such as social networks, email updates and website information were considered least effective . Factor 1,510 = 2444.101, p < 0.001) with higher support for the importance of the species conservation in an ecosystem context than for the importance of a single species.Respondents rated agreement with five statements about whether it was worth conserving Hooded Plovers  and factTo balance sample sizes, data on the frequency of beach use were pooled into three categories: yearly , monthly  and weekly rates of use . Dog owners represented 38.9% of respondents. Regionally, numbers of dog owners and non-dog owners completing the survey were similar with the exception of Melbourne where non-dog owners accounted for 68.1% of the sample. A total of 73.4% of dog owners indicated that they walked their dog on the beach, of which 78.4% (n = 167) walked their dog off the lead. Overall, 22.6% of all respondents indicated that they walked dogs off leads at the beach. vs. 4.30 ± 0.04, respectively). Respondents with greater awareness rated exclusions, such as permanent fencing, as less effective than respondents with no or poor awareness . Respondents with poor or no awareness felt slightly more inconvenienced than those with awareness of on-ground protection (vs. 4.77 ± 0.03) and exclusion and regulations (vs. 4.34 ± 0.04).Awareness of Hooded Plovers significantly influenced respondents rating of the severity of threats to Hooded Plovers; people with poor to no awareness of the birds scored human-related impacts lower than those who were aware of the birds  and non-dog walkers (93.6%) knew of the Hooded Plover. Awareness of a difference between the Hooded Plover and Masked Lapwing was 74.8% among non-dog walkers and 68.5% among dog walkers.vs. 4.41 ± 0.04, respectively). Frequency of beach use and dog walking did not influence the perceived effectiveness of different conservation managements. However, frequency of beach use influenced the level of inconvenience reported in relation to conservation management . People The interaction between frequency of beach use and dog walkers significantly affected how respondents rated threats to Hooded Plovers . Non-dogUrbanisation increases the interaction between humans and wildlife, and these interactions can detrimentally influence wildlife ,6. HowevInconvenience refers to either an increased difficulty in, or prevention of, attaining a goal. General levels of inconvenience with management were low, as has been reported from Northland, New Zealand . The ploInconvenience varied between the stakeholder groups we describe, conforming to our predictions, namely that higher inconvenience occurred among those with lower awareness, those using beaches more frequently and dog walkers. People with lower awareness may not have experienced management on beaches and therefore may have responded on the basis of preconceived ideas rather than personal experience . Alternai.e., to leash their dog) in comparison with non-dog walkers, and many dog walkers do not leash their dogs when required to, suggesting resistance to the idea of leashing among at least a selection of dog walkers [et al. [Dog walkers are required to make a greater behavioural change  and lapwing (superabundant) species, which potentially degrades levels of concern over the threatened Hooded Plover. High awareness (>80% of beach users) of birds of conservation significance and their protective measures on beaches was also evident from beaches in Northland, New Zealand . Less frPeople were generally aware of the threat they pose to Hooded Plovers and rated human threats more highly than others, including loss of habitat. However, awareness of threats was positively related to prior awareness suggesting education is effective at conveying ‘ownership’ of the problem . Almost Australians tend to use their ‘local’ beaches more regularly than ‘non-local’ beaches, and so regularity of use may reflect different populations of recreationists . Regulari.e., have taken into account the breadth of beach users and their desire for continued access to beaches). Where coexistence is deemed as ineffective at mitigating impacts to threatened species, then limiting or prohibiting access should be associated with the provision of alternative areas or times of use at alternative sites. Given the multi-jurisdictional and multi-tenure nature of beach management in most countries, this will require collaboration and cooperation between agencies in formulating balanced coastal access and zoning across the landscape. Involvement of communities in the decision-making via opportunities for public comment and information sessions will improve the efficacy of policy change [This study has revealed the importance of limiting the perception of inconvenience via targeted awareness-raising and education, and by ensuring that on-ground managements optimise coexistence . Here, implementation should be gradual and coupled with education, in particular delivered by rangers during patrols (most participants in this study were more open to this delivery mechanism). Websites, social media, permanent signage and brochures were viewed as less effective, however, participants did prefer signage on the beach itself around the nest site and compliance with this management is very high . Rimmer et al.  revealedUrbanisation in Australia is biased towards the coast, and results in direct changes to coastlines and increases the human usage of beaches. Wherever people and wildlife interact, different stakeholder groups span the spectrum from “support” to “opposition”, or from “coexistence” to “conflict”. Determining which factors place a person along this spectrum is a critical step in approaching behaviour change. Here we have identified low awareness and high inconvenience as correlates of attitudes toward threatened species conservation and their management. Understanding perceptions of management strategies could enhance community engagement, avoid unnecessary conflicts, and assist in fine-tuning managements to promote coexistence.


The Nudge Theory has been widely used to improve healthy behavior ,2 and woTo engage medical staff towards improved hand hygiene compliance.“Doctor, take a moment”. Feedback from clinicians about nudging and rates on both wards from June 2014 to February 2015 were compared.An automated hand hygiene surveillance system was installed in an Australian tertiary teaching hospital. The clinicians were taught to access a dashboard for daily compliance rates to be discussed at hand-over meetings and to use a seven-step approach that included nudging each other on the wards with During the run-in period prior to introducing nudging the baseline compliance rate was 18% on ward C and 37% on ward D. Preliminary results indicated one ward has improved by 32 percentage points while compliance on ward C remained stable at 15%. Clinicians on ward D reported that they were comfortable working as a team to nudge each other towards a goal of improved daily compliance and it was fun. Conversely, ward C clinicians reported a discomfort with nudging each other and were observed to have a different ward culture than ward D. We will discuss the difference in the staff and leadership on the wards that may explain the opposing attitudes towards nudging.Nudging daily compliance rates by nurses and doctors resulted in collegiality and developed a ‘team consciousness’ about improvement in compliance. Changing hand hygiene compliance must work with different organization cultures on wards for effective change management.A. Kwok Conflict with: Deb Australia, Debgroup UK provided the automated system to collect daily compliance rates. The authors declared have no other conflict of interests. , M.L. McLaws Conflict with: Deb Australia, Debgroup UK provided the automated system to collect daily compliance rates. The authors declared have no other conflicts of interest.


Systematic assessment of muscle strength of the lower extremities throughout the annual training cycle in athletes is crucial from a performance perspective for the optimization of the training process, as well as a health perspective with regard to injury prevention. The main aim of the present study was to determine isokinetic muscle strength of the knee flexors and extensors in female handball players at the beginning of a preparatory period and to assess whether there were any differences between players of different performance levels. The performance level was expressed by means of membership of the Women’s Junior National Handball Team  or the Women’s National Handball Team . The isokinetic peak torque during concentric and eccentric single-joint knee flexion and extension was measured at angular velocities of 60, 180, 240°/s (concentric) and 60°/s (eccentric). The Mann-Whitney test showed no significant differences in the peak torques or ipsilateral ratios between the two groups. The bilateral force deficit (BFD) for concentric extension at 240°/s was significantly higher in the JNT compared with the NT . However, the results of individual evaluation show that the BFD was more frequent in the NT in most measurements. A high BFD was evident in the eccentric mode in both groups highlighting a need for particular strengthening. With regard to low strength ratios a prevention programme should be suggested for both observed groups of professional female handball players to reduce the risk of injury. Handball is a high-intensity Olympic sport with an intermittent game character and frequent body contacts requiring high demands for a degree of variability of locomotor actions such as repeated accelerations, sprints, and rapid changes in direction, stops and jumps . In thesIn handball, ACL injuries are common and frequent, with, for example, an incidence of more than 4.5% in Norwegian elite female handball players . LohmandFor the reasons mentioned above, systematic assessment of the isokinetic muscle strength of the lower extremities throughout the annual training cycle is crucial from a performance perspective for the optimization of the training process, as well as a health perspective with regard to injury prevention. Assessment by isokinetic dynamometry has been considered as the gold standard to provide an objective approach to diagnostics and simpler quantification of muscle strength. Most studies in handball female players have concentrated on concentric measurements. Based on these measurements, ipsilateral imbalances were described by the conventional hamstring to quadriceps ratio (H/QCONV) . HoweverThe study group consisted of 17 elite female handball players  who compBilateral isokinetic strength of the knee flexors and extensors was measured using the IsoMed 2000 isokinetic dynamometer . The reliability of measurement was confirmed by CONV) and functional H/Q ratio (H/QFUNC). Bilateral imbalances are represented by the bilateral force deficit (BFD) of the maximum force exerted between the legs with regard to the stronger leg according to Testing of the knee extensors and flexors was conducted at an angular velocity of 60°/s in concentric/concentric and eccentric/eccentric reciprocal actions and angular velocities of 180 and 240°/s in concentric/concentric reciprocal actions. The slow angular velocity was performed before the high velocities to reduce the risk of injury . Concentd , /≥ 15 /≥ 20  % in all testing velocities and modes.Descriptive statistics included mean ± standard deviation for all variables. The Mann-Whitney test for independent samples was used for evaluation of the differences in the mean values between the NT and the JNT. Moreover, effect sizes were assessed by Cohen’s effect), . All staCONV and the H/QFUNC on the DL and the NL, the BFD and the frequency of risk border values in individual evaluation according to the performance level are reported in Absolute and relative peak torque values of the knee flexors and extensors in the DL and the NL according to the performance level are reported in The study enabled a comparison of isokinetic concentric and eccentric peak torques of the knee flexors and extensors and their bilateral and ipsilateral imbalances in different performance levels in female handball players.st and 2nd division players.Muscular strength is one of the most important physical components of game performance in handball. The reported normalized average concentric PT at a velocity of 60°/s regardless of the group division and limb dominance in our study is similar to the values of female handball players of elite to second division reported by Bilateral muscle strength comparison is based on the premise that strength of compared muscle groups should be balanced. If this balance is disturbed, the muscle strength deficit incidence can be associated with increased susceptibility to weaker limb injury . The relWhile only a single result shows a significantly higher BFD in the JNT in concentric extension at a velocity of 240°/s in comparison with the NT, individual evaluation shows an opposite trend. During individual evaluation, we recorded the BFD ≥ 10% in 12 players, i.e. 71% (6 from the NT and 6 from the JNT), ≥ 15% in 11 players, i.e. 65% (7 from the NT and 4 from the JNT) and ≥ 20% in 6 players, i.e. 50% (5 from the NT and 1 from the JNT) at least in one velocity or mode. The highest values were recorded in the eccentric mode of action in both groups.According to the results of individual evaluation we can assume that the BFD is more frequent in the NT in most measurements, which could be caused by long-term unilateral orientation of handball specific skills. Also, a higher BFD was evident in the eccentric mode of action in both groups highlighting a need for particular strengthening to compensate for unilateral overload because eccentric strength is an important indicator of safe functional and sport-specific tasks execution .The reported BFD might be a risk factor of injury as handball-specific movements like landing, jump shooting, drop jumping or side-cutting are usually abrupt and explosive with a very large angular change of directions  and therCONV and H/QFUNC ratio between the NT and the JNT. This finding is not in line with the fact that a higher risk of injury is associated with higher experience levels  on the DL and the NDL.We found no significant differences in ipsilateral ratios represented by the H/Qe levels  when ipsdication , is loweCONV value of 0.57 in our handball players regardless of group division and limb dominance is similar to the value of 0.56 reported by On the basis of a retrospective analysis of the training process we hypothesise that in the monitored handball club in the senior category, the approach applied to strength training of the lower limbs does not provide sufficient stimuli for further muscle strength development, especially when hamstring muscles are taken into account. The reason is that at this level only well-periodized resistance training can ensure a further increase or maintain muscle strength and power at a stable level . With reCONV ratios with increasing velocities found in our study is in line with former studies of handball female players  on the DL and/or the NDL at velocity of 60°/s. The incidence of an insufficient value of the ratio was 10 for the DL and 11 for the NDL.The H/Qtimation . The valpecifics  and a hipecifics . It has tability . RegardlCONV and H/QFUNC has been considered an intrinsic factor of injury, our findings suggest, in accordance with Since a low ipsilateral ratio represented by the H/QAlthough the research has reached its aim, there is a limitation of the study in the small amount of included players. This makes the conclusions impossible for generalization and the fact has to be taken into consideration in data interpretation.Regardless of group division, the results of the present study concerning ipsilateral as well as bilateral ratios indicate hamstring weakness and predisposition to acute knee injury in female handball players. To overcome this risk implementing a prevention programme is recommended.In prospective studies, we suggest an assessment of seasonal variations in PT, ipsilateral ratios and bilateral imbalances during various training phases in an annual training cycle. Unless seasonal assessment is possible to conduct, we recommend to perform testing at least at the beginning of the preparatory period for identification of possible muscle strength imbalances that could be reduced by appropriate strength training programmes. Eccentric assessment should be also incorporated in the evaluation for a better understanding of strength development and adaptations.


Among unhealthy drinking patterns, drinking above recommended limits is the most prevalent one. Little is known to what extend lack of knowledge on risky amounts of drinking influences these drinking patterns.In general practices in Luebeck, Germany, all consecutive patients aged 18-64 were systematically screened. Individuals screening positive on the Alcohol Use disorders Identification test (AUDIT) or the Luebeck Alcoholism Screening Test (LAST) were asked to participate in an intervention study. Patients screening positive willing to participate  were diagnosed using the Munich Composite International Diagnostic Inventory M-CIDI. In addition to Alcohol Use Disorders (AUDs), at-risk drinking according to the British Medical Association  and binge drinking  were assessed. As a part of an in-depth assessment, participants were asked to rate how many standard drinks one could drink on a daily basis without having to fear negative consequences. In the present analysis, participants were dichotomized according to BMA-recommendations into individuals with gender-specific adequate  and individuals with inadequate  risk perception. These groups were compared.Patients with INARP had a lower degree of schooling, were more often male and reported more often at-risk drinking according to BMA but did not report higher levels of binge drinking or AUDs.Data suggest that in a subgroup of at-risk drinkers, lack of knowledge concerning health-related drinking limits might perpetuate unhealthy drinking patterns. This might in part also explain findings on the beneficial impact of minimal interventions (e.g. simple advice) on unhealthy drinking patterns.


Dear SirA 3-day-old term male child weighing 2.1 Kg, born by spontaneous vaginal delivery, was admitted with complaints of abdominal distention, meconuria and absent anal opening. This was the first child of the couple who had a non-consanguineous marriage. On examination, there was abdominal distention, poorly developed gluteal folds and an absent anal opening. Plain X-ray abdomen showed two large air fluid levels . At exploratory laparotomy, Saxena-Mathur classification type 5 congenital pouch colon (CPC) was found. Ileum was opening directly into a hugely distended pouch; there was no appendix. The pouch was dumbbell shaped with normal looking intervening colon of about 5 centimeters. The dumbbell shaped pouch  was opening into the bladder through a wide fistula. The proximal part of intervening colon was not communicating with the proximal pouch but was intimately adherent to it. However, the distal part of the intervening colon was communicating with the distal pouch. Both the dumbbell shaped pouch and the terminal colon were receiving blood supply from a prominent marginal vascular pattern . The distal pouch and intervening normal-looking colon appeared dusky with doubtful viability, so it was excised. Tubularized proximal pouch was brought out as end colostomy. The histopathological examination revealed the disorganized muscles in the muscularis layer of pouch colon; the intervening colon had normal colonic histology though there was evidence of congestion. The child is awaiting definitive repair.CPC is a rare variant of anorectal malformation (ARM) in which colon is foreshortened, with all or varying lengths of colon being replaced by a dilated pouch that is accompanied by a fistula, which communicates it with the genitourinary tract. The Krickenbeck classification for ARM has included it in the rare / regional variants group [1]. Most of the CPC large series have been reported from North Indian tertiary care centers. Udaipur in the Western State of Rajasthan has reported the highest incidence of CPC in India accounting for 37% of the high forms of anorectal malformations [2]. Based on the anatomic morphology of the pouch, the Saxena-Mathur classification differentiates five types of CPC [3].Type 1 Normal colon is absent, and ileum opens into pouch colon.Type 2 Ileum opens into a normal cecum that opens into pouch colon.Type 3 Normal ascending colon and transverse colon open into pouch colon.Type 4 Normal colon with rectosigmoid pouchType 5 Double pouch colon with short normal inter-positioned colon segment The embryological and anatomical bases of formation of type 5 CPC have been previously described (4). This type of pouch is formed by defective embryogenesis on the basis of vascular insult theory proposed for CPC. According to them obliteration of ileocolic branch of superior mesenteric artery apart from the obliteration of inferior mesenteric artery leads to the formation of the second pouch. The interposed segment of normal colon remains unaffected as its vascular supply through the middle colic branch of the superior mesenteric artery remains patent [4]. The proximal end of interposed colon in the present case probably became atretic in late gestation due to some vascular accident (probably occlusion of a branch of middle colic artery). This is the 4th case of type 5 CPC reported in world literature .Source of Support: NilConflict of Interest: None


Based on video recordings of the movement of the patients with epilepsy, this paper proposed a human action recognition scheme to detect distinct motion patterns and to distinguish the normal status from the abnormal status of epileptic patients. The scheme first extracts local features and holistic features, which are complementary to each other. Afterwards, a support vector machine is applied to classification. Based on the experimental results, this scheme obtains a satisfactory classification result and provides a fundamental analysis towards the human-robot interaction with socially assistive robots in caring the patients with epilepsy (or other patients with brain disorders) in order to protect them from injury. Epilepsy, one of the most common neurologic disorders, is a chronic disease of brain sudden paradoxical discharge of cortical neurons. It is characterized by the spontaneous and unforeseeable occurrence of seizures  with traSince the first robot was created in the 1960s, robots have been increasingly used in industrial and entertainment, and more recently the research on socially assistive robots (SARs) for domestic use has received much attention. A socially assistive robot is an intelligent system that is capable of providing assistance for healthy adults or enhancing existing care for persons with cognitive disabilities/impairment, for example, stroke, Alzheimer, and autism spectrum disorder. The question then arises: can socially assistive robots replace nurses or patients' family members for monitoring and caring the epilepsy patients, that is, sounding the alarm, or taking some effective actions to alleviate seizure symptoms?To address this, human-robot interaction (HRI) , 4 is anAccording to the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE), seizure types are organized according to whether the source of the seizure within the brain is localized  or distributed  . PartialInitially, epilepsy is diagnosed by experienced experts via observing patients' actions, behavioral changes, and mental health history in the family. However, it is not practical in clinical use due to high cost of the manpower and financial resources. During the past few decades, it was confirmed that electroencephalogram (EEG) signals, recording the spontaneous brain electrical activity by means of electrodes located on the scalp, can provide evidence for the existence of a preseizure phase in partial epilepsy , 10. In Human action recognition , 12 is oTo this end, in the task of recognizing normal and abnormal status of epileptics, we propose a simple classification scheme on video recordings by combining local representation with holistic representation, which is able to deal with their shortcomings while integrating their merits. For local representation, we use 3D Gabor filters , 15 as tTo determine whether an epileptic is at the seizure status, the scheme is implemented on the video recordings of epileptic patients at different ages. The movement of affected patients is characterized by more abrupt motion direction changes with periods of no movement. Moreover, the classification task entails lots of challenges: (1) different types of actions: epilepsy appears in different actions, for example, abruptly falling down and continuously vibrating; (2) multiple persons: some video recordings not only contain the patient himself/herself, but also contain the family members or nurses; (3) turning on and turning off the lights in the ward lead to different lighting conditions; and (4) the persons in the videos sometimes wear different-color clothes. Due to the above-mentioned difficulties, the literature that addresses the epilepsy area using video data is limited. Although we only obtain primary results, it is the first time that only video recordings are analyzed for the classification problem in epilepsy, aiming at shedding the light for future research on the prediction of seizure onset. The rest of the paper is organized as follows. In The proposed scheme  , 18 is aHard-margin SVM and soft-margin SVM are two different forms of an SVM. On one hand, hard-margin SVM solves a quadratic programming problem to deal with linearly separable data. It is effective and requires no parameters. However, it cannot deal with linearly nonseparable examples. On the other hand, soft-margin SVM, the standard solution of a SVM, allows some misclassifications or outliers by adding a regularization term to handle linearly nonseparable data. The methodology of soft-margin SVM is reviewed as follows.yi ∈ {+1, −1}, an SVM separates these two classes by a hyperplaneb is a bias. The optimal hyperplane, which maximizes the geometric margin C is a constant determined by cross-validation and αi, the Lagrangian isConsider a problem of classifying a set of linearly separable training examples b can be obtained using the Wolfe dual problemTherefore, the parameters αi are zeros, and αi > 0 are referred to the support vectors. In Most of L are mapped onto a higher dimensional feature space H (the Hilbert inner product space) by the replacementIn the dual format, data points only appear in the inner product. To solve the nonlinearly separable problem, the data points from the low-dimensional input space Finally, for a given kernel function, the SVM classifier is given asIn traditional SVM-based RF algorithms, In this section, we describe the process of video data acquisition and experimental setup. Afterwards, the experimental results that evaluate the effectiveness of our proposed scheme are reported.We collected 41 video recordings of 9 epilepsy patients at a resolution of 640 × 480. The videos were recorded with a frame rate of 25 frames/s in the AVI video format. Each patient was lying on a standard hospital bed, and a stationary digital video camera was placed at a distance above the patients to record the movements. This resulted in an experimental setup where a similar camera position was assured for all recordings. Please note that not every video clip recorded the seizure status; that is, some videos were selected to ensure an awake and comfortable state. The original 41 video recordings are of different length, ranging from less than one minute to nearly ten minutes. Considering this, we segment each video into several ones that are no longer than one minute. Afterwards, each of them is converted into the AVI video format at a resolution of 160 × 128. The study protocol had previously been approved by the ethics committee of Peking University People's Hospital and the patients had signed informed consent that their clinical data might be used and published for research purposes.To evaluate the classification performance, we manually annotated each video recording with a bounding box to locate the epilepsy child. Moreover, a label, that is, “normal” or “abnormal,” is assigned to each video.For classification, we make use of an SVM classifier with a linear kernel due to its good generalization ability and efficiency. Classification consists of the training phase and the testing phase. We randomly select half of the video clips for each patient for training and use the rest for testing. This step is conducted for 5 times and the average accuracy is 65.22%. After training the classifier based on the extracted features of the training set, the classifier is trained and able for classifying the examples in the testing set. We define two categories labeled as “normal” and as “abnormal,” which denote different states of the tested epileptics.Although the accuracy is not very high, but with such a complex video dataset, the classification performance is satisfactory and can serve as a tool for automatically predicting the seizure status of the epilepsy patients. The current video data include epilepsy patients of different ages. An interesting question is how the movement changes with an increasing age of the patients and whether this can be used as a feature value.This paper explores whether the normal status and the abnormal status of epileptic patients can be distinguished based on video recordings rather than traditional EEG recordings. Combining local representation and holistic representation, the extracted features are effective for the subsequent classification by an SVM. Our future goal is to capture the characteristic abrupt movements of epileptics by developing new features that are effective in detecting abnormal actions of the epileptic patients.As pointed in , higher


After adjusting for prenatal and postnatal risk factors, binge pattern of alcohol consumption (≥4 drinks in a day on at least one occasion) during pregnancy was associated with higher levels of mental health problems  in girls at age 11 years, according to parental report. After disentangling binge-pattern and daily drinking, binge-pattern drinking was independently associated with teacher-rated hyperactivity/inattention and lower academic scores in both genders. Episodic drinking involving ≥4 drinks per day during pregnancy may increase risk for child mental health problems and lower academic attainment even if daily average levels of alcohol consumption are low. Episodic binge pattern of drinking appears to be a risk factor for these outcomes, especially hyperactivity and inattention problems, in the absence of daily drinking.The objective of the study is to investigate whether episodic binge pattern of alcohol consumption during pregnancy is independently associated with child mental health and academic outcomes. Using data from the prospective, population-based Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), we investigated the associations between binge patterns of alcohol consumption during pregnancy (≥4 drinks per day) and child mental health [as rated by both parent (The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00787-014-0599-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. Alcohol consumption during pregnancy can lead to fetal alcohol spectrum disorders amongst exposed children; outcomes include adverse physical, developmental and behavioural consequences . Fetal ehttp://www.alspac.bris.ac.uk and http://www.bristol.ac.uk/alspac/researchers/resources-available/cohort/represent/). Detailed information on the cohort (mothers and children) has been obtained through questionnaires completed at regular intervals during the pregnancy and since the birth. Please note that the study website contains details of all the data that are available through a fully searchable data dictionary . Ethical approval for the study was obtained from the ALSPAC Ethics and Law Committee and the Local Research Ethics Committees.The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) is a prospective population-based study in England . All pren = 13,171). Using postal questionnaires, information on alcohol consumption at 18 weeks gestation was gathered on 93 %  of their mothers. Of these respondents, 65 %  provided further information on alcohol consumption at 32 weeks gestation. This discrepancy reflects 3,378 (28 %) mothers who completed the initial version of the 32-week questionnaire where these questions were not asked and non-response in 914 (7 %) mothers. As previously shown, there was no sampling bias in the mothers not asked these questions  of these mothers had consumed ≥4 drinks on only 1–2 days in the previous month. The majority  of mothers who reported at least one occasion of consuming ≥4 drinks between 14 and 18 weeks also reported this pattern between 28 and 32 weeks gestation. Table χ2 = 40.08, p < 0.001). Other maternal correlates of non-response included younger age, higher parity, smoking and use of cannabis, depression, being unmarried, rented tenure, and lower level of education (Online Supplementary Table 1). Teacher-completed SDQs were available on 4,274 (54 %) and KS2 data on 6,939 (87 %) children. Their availability (Online Supplementary Tables 2 and 3) was not associated with drinking status, but other correlates of non-availability included use of cannabis, being unmarried and rented tenure (both SDQ and KS2), and lower parity and higher level of maternal education (KS2 only).Parent-completed SDQs were available on 4,610 (58 %) children. Mothers who reported consuming ≥4 drinks were less likely than other mothers to provide SDQs  was not adversely associated with SDQ or KS2 outcome measures.There was evidence of an interaction between child gender and alcohol consumption in relation to parent-rated SDQ scores Table . In girlp = 0.016). In contrast, daily (non-binge) drinking in the absence of binge pattern of drinking was not associated with KS2 scores after adjusting for paternal education .At either time point, 8 %  of mothers reported regular daily drinking, i.e. at least one drink a day in the preceding month (between 14 and 18 or 28 and 32 weeks gestation). Overall, 19 % of mothers reported binge-pattern drinking, but not daily drinking whereas 5 % reported both episodic binge-pattern drinking and daily drinking. The relationships between patterns and frequency/quantity of drinking during pregnancy and outcomes are shown in Table After adjusting for prenatal confounding factors and disentangling binge-pattern and daily drinking, our findings suggest that a binge pattern of alcohol consumption during pregnancy (≥4 drinks in a day) is independently associated with higher levels of hyperactivity and inattention problems and lower academic attainment at age 11 years  and outcomes, suggesting that risk related to intra-uterine exposure. In the analyses, we were also able to separate out the effects of frequency and quantity of drinking from binge-pattern drinking. This enabled us to achieve our aim of distinguishing risk related to occasional episodes of heavier drinking . As the In terms of limitations, our ascertainment of the timing of the exposure meant that it was not possible to specify any particular risk period during the pregnancy. We did not have information on first trimester binge-pattern drinking. The differences in our findings compared to other studies may also reflect other methodological factors such as sample size, ascertainment of drinking behaviour by self-report questionnaire rather than interview (the latter might lead to under-reporting), number of binge episodes and levels of background drinking. In particular, our definition of binge-pattern drinking may have under-estimated risk when compared with studies using binge drinking definitions that reflect alcohol consumption over a shorter duration or studies assessing the impact of frequent binge episodes . HoweverOur findings suggest a persistent adverse effect over time for children’s mental health related to prenatal exposure to ≥4 drinks in a single day. This pattern of drinking on one or more days during pregnancy carries risk in the absence of daily drinking. The pattern of findings at age 11 years was similar to our earlier findings following up this cohort up till age 7. The persistence of adverse effects into mid-childhood, even with small individual effect sizes, is significant at a whole-population level. Clinicians should enquire about episodic binge drinking as well as regular drinking when taking a history of pregnancy and keep this in mind when assessing mental health and learning problems , 27, 28.Supplementary material 1 (DOC 22 kb)Supplementary material 2 (DOC 95 kb)Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.


Herbaspirillum seropedicae SmR1 revealed two homologous phasin genes. To verify the role of the phasins on PHB accumulation in the parental strain H. seropedicae SmR1, isogenic strains defective in the expression of phaP1, phaP2 or both genes were obtained by gene deletion and characterized in this work. Despite of the high sequence similarity between PhaP1 and PhaP2, PhaP1 is the major phasin in H. seropedicae, since its deletion reduced PHB accumulation by ≈50% in comparison to the parental and ΔphaP2. Upon deletion of phaP1, the expression of phaP2 was sixfold enhanced in the ΔphaP1 strain. The responsive backup expression of phaP2 partially rescued the ΔphaP1 mutant, maintaining about 50% of the parental PHB level. The double mutant ΔphaP1.2 did not accumulate PHB in any growth stage and showed a severe reduction of growth when glucose was the carbon source, a clear demonstration of negative impact in the fitness. The co-occurrence of phaP1 and phaP2 homologous in bacteria relatives of H. seropedicae, including other endophytes, indicates that the mechanism of phasin compensation by phaP2 expression may be operating in other organisms, showing that PHB metabolism is a key factor to adaptation and efficiency of endophytic bacteria.Phasins are important proteins controlling poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) granules formation, their number into the cell and stability. The genome sequencing of the endophytic and diazotrophic bacterium  Herbaspirillum seropedicae SmR1 is a diazotrophic β-Proteobacterium that associates beneficially with economically relevant species of Gramineae  which encodes a transcriptional repressor protein was identified and characterized , the products of which had been shown by proteomic analyses to be the main phasins associated to PHB granules  family that some bacteria synthesize to store carbon and reducing equivalents . In addiynthesis , which oynthesis . When caaZ genes . PolymeraZ genes . PhasinsaZ genes . These paZ genes  and are aZ genes . Ralstonin genes , 2012 buin genes . In planectively . The delri A1501  indicateri A1501 . The gengranules . Neverthgranules . To see nt genes .Table 1. Escherichia coli strain Top10  and S17.1  analyses as described previously  on 5 to phaP1 and ΔphaC1 mutants were constructed by in-frame deletion of the phaP1  and phaC1  in H. seropedicae SmR1, as previously described  was obtained by cloning upstream and downstream fragments of the gene into the non-replicating plasmid pK18mobsacB, which carries a kanamycin resistance cassette along with sacB that confers sucrose sensitivity  sucrose. Colonies that grew on sucrose were screened for deletion by PCR using the primers Fw_phaP2_UP and Rev_phaP2_DOWN. To obtain the double mutant ΔphaP1.2, the plasmid pEFT13 was conjugated in the ΔphaP1 mutant of H. seropedicae and double-recombinants were selected as described above.The Δescribed . The in-sitivity . BrieflyphaP1 (333 bp including 28 bp of the phaP1 coding sequence) and phaP2 (224 bp including 54 bp of the phaP2 coding sequence) were amplified from H. seropedicae SmR1 genomic DNA by PCR  and re-suspended in 1 mL of TRIzol® Reagent . The homogenized sample was incubated for 5 min at room temperature and then, extracted with 0.25 mL of chloroform. After centrifugation , the aqueous phase was precipitated with 0.5 mL of isopropanol. The pellet was collected by centrifugation  and washed with 1 mL of ethanol 80%. The air dried RNA pellet was resuspended in 30 μL of RNAse-free water and the quality of RNA preparation was determined by A260/A280 ratio and checked by electrophoresis in 1.0% agarose gel. For cDNA preparation, 100 ng of total RNA was used in 20 μL reactions applying the High Capacity RNA-to-cDNA kit  according to the manufacturer’s instructions. From the cDNA preparations, 1 μL was used as template in a 20 μL PCR reaction with PfuX7 as described previously  plus 333 bp of the intergenic region upstream of its start codon was amplified by PCR with Fw_Pro_phaP1 and Rev_Gen_phaP1 primers (Supplementary Table H. seropedicae SmR1 genomic DNA and cloned into the XhoI and XbaI sites of pBBR1MCS-3 (phaP2 (Hsero_4759) plus 224 bp of the intergenic region upstream of its start codon was amplified with Fw_Pro_phaP2 and Rev_Gen_phaP2 primers  carrying the transcriptional fusion plasmids pEFT11 or pEFT12 in the presence of pMMS31 (that expresses the PhaR from H. seropedicae) or pDK6 (negative control). To perform similar analyses in H. seropedicae parental strain SmR1 and mutant strains, pEFT11 or pEFT12 was introduced by bi-parental mating with E. coli S17-1. Transconjugants were selected on NFb-malate agar containing 20 mM of ammonium chloride and tetracycline (10 μg.mL-1). β-galactosidase activity was assayed following previous protocol  ethanol in PBS  and 3 μL of 1.6 mM Nile Red  dissolved in DMSO was added and incubated in the dark for 5 min. Then, the samples were centrifuged again for 60 s at 10,000 × g, resuspended in PBS and viewed under a fluorescent microscope. The images were obtained using an Axio Imager Z2 microscope , equipped with four Metafer automated capture software  and a CoolCube 1 camera (with 100× magnification). To TEM analyses, cell pellets from H. seropedicae cultures were fixed with Karnovsky’s fixative (4 in 0.1 M cacodylic acid buffer (pH 7.2) for 1 h and embedded in Epon 812 , but PhaP3 was further removed, indicating significant sequence divergence and possibly also function . Indeed, PhaP3 was only detected on PHB granules when phaP1 was deleted and, it was clearly less abundant than PhaP2, the main phasin in the absence of PhaP1. The phaP1 and phaP2 genes could have been generated by gene duplication based on 59% identity between their encoded amino acid sequences, as well as a region of more than 150 amino acids that can be aligned , according to the classification of duplicated genes proposed by phaP1 and phaP2 homologs was found in other bacteria phylogenetically close to H. seropedicae SmR1 . The phylogenetic analysis of PhaP1 and PhaP2 homolog sequences showed that the appearance of a second phasin occurred early in evolution of the Herbaspirillum genus and was conserved in subsequent speciation events , indicating that the presence of both phasins should be important for PHB accumulation.Three genes coding putative phasins . Since cells accumulating PHB are less translucent than those without PHB, which can affect optical density measurements, the growth of parental and mutant strains was also determined by counting the number of viable cells in culture ; in mid-exponential growth (OD600 = 0.8); (iii) early stationary phase (OD600 = 1.2); and, (iv) in late stationary growth (OD600 = 1.4). The parental strain accumulated PHB up to 13% (w/w) of cell dry weight (cdw) after 12 h of growth , but decreased to 11% of PHB at late stationary phase. Similar behavior was observed with ΔphaP2 which reached 15% of cdw at early stationary phase. On the other hand, ΔphaP1 only accumulated approximately 50% of parental levels of PHB at all tested growth phases . Deletion of both phasins (ΔphaP1.2) drastically reduced PHB accumulation to <1% of cdw .To verify the roles of PhaP1 and PhaP2 in PHB accumulation, three isogenic deletion mutants – Δper se that affected PHB accumulation, similar experiments were performed using glucose as the carbon source. Under these conditions, SmR1 also accumulated PHB as previously reported for the strains Z67, Z69, and Z78 of H. seropedicae . In ΔphaP1.2, PHB accumulation was not detected when cultivated on glucose. Noteworthy, the ΔphaP1.2 strain presented a growth penalty when cultivated in glucose (Table 2), suggesting that the absence of PHB affects the glucose metabolism in H. seropedicae. Despite the growth rate in glucose of the ΔphaP1 mutant did not present a statistical difference (Table 2), its growth pattern was atypical, since it stopped to grow early than parental strain . This finding is also in agreement that reduction in PHB affects growth in glucose. In conclusion, regardless of the carbon source employed and the growth phase, the absence of PhaP1 or both phasins negatively affected PHB accumulation.To exclude the possibility that it was growth on malate rather than the mutations opedicae  and the Figure 3) the rest only one (n = 100 counted cells), but in ΔphaP1 the situation was practically reversed – only 18% of cells contained two granules and 82% only one (n = 100 cells). ΔphaP2 had a similar granular distribution as the parental strain. No cells containing two PHB granules in ΔphaP1.2 were observed, but 9% of the counted cells (n = 100) contained one PHB granule. In the strict sense, it was not clear whether these PHB granules were coated by other proteins or a transient agglomeration of polymer within the cytoplasm, since at all times examined, the level of PHB accumulated in the double mutant was below 1% of cdw. The absence of granules in ΔphaP1.2 was also confirmed by TEM analysis .After staining with Nile Red, 92% of native cells contained at least two PHB granules per cell (H. seropedicae (a homolog of PhaR in R. eutropha H16) binds to the regulatory region of phaP1 thus repressing its expression . We decide to measure the activity of the fusions in E. coli as a heterologous non-PHB-producing model, to avoid any perturbation on PhaR activity caused by PHB production .Previously, we showed that the negative regulator PhaR of pression . To furtoduction . The fusphaP1 and phaP2, the PphaP1- and PphaP2-lacZ fusions were conjugated into the parental and mutant strains. Expression profiles were evaluated during growth in media containing DL-malate as the carbon source. Expression of PphaP1-lacZ in the parental strain was dependent on the growth stage, since expression increased after an OD600 of 0.5 was achieved and PHB began to accumulate . Interestingly, expression of PphaP2-lacZ was 8-fold lower than that achieved by the PphaP1-lacZ fusion in the same strain . However, expression of PphaP2-lacZ increased 6-fold in ΔphaP1, showing that upon deletion of the main phasin, PhaP2 can act as a backup phasin . Since the ΔphaP1.2 did not accumulate PHB granules, one should anticipate that both fusions would be repressed by PhaR. Nevertheless, the PphaP1- and PphaP2-lacZ fusions were actives in ΔphaP1.2, indicating that not only PHB granules de-repress expression of phaP, but that newly synthesized chains of PHB have the same effect . As expected, in ΔphaC1, which is unable to synthesize PHB, expression of both fusions was repressed . Expression of phaP1 and phaP2 was also assayed in NFb media containing 25 mM glucose and 20 mM ammonium chloride, conditions which stimulated PHB accumulation. High β-galactosidase activities  for PphaP1-lacZ were obtained in all strains analyzed , showing that even at low cell densities  enough PHB granules were present to almost completely de-repress phaP1 expression. Expression of phaP2 was not fully activated in the parental strain , but in ΔphaP1 it was fivefold higher even at low cell densities . The results of expression applying lacZ fusions were validated by RT-PCR. The same profile of transcription was observed when the intensities of the amplified bands from phaP1 and phaP2 cDNAs were compared in different genetic backgrounds .To determine expression levels of phaP genes were cloned under control of their native promoter into a medium copy-number plasmid (pBBR1MCS-3) and expressed into the phaP mutants. The expression of phaP1 in the ΔphaP1, ΔphaP2, and ΔphaP1.2 mutants restored PHB accumulation to native levels . The expression of a plasmid-borne phaP1 copy restored PHB granules formation in ΔphaP1.2 . Complementation by expression of phaP2 significantly reduced PHB accumulation, regardless the strain tested. ΔphaP1 complemented with phaP2 presented 45% of reduction in PHB as compared to complementation with phaP1. Similarly, 51% less PHB was observed when ΔphaP1.2 was complemented with phaP2. Once again, these results show that PhaP1 is more effective in controlling PHB accumulation than its homolog PhaP2. As demonstrated before in this work, deletion of phaP1 or both phasin genes generated mutant strains with growth penalty in minimal medium containing glucose as sole carbon source . Therefore, to verify if complementation would restore normal growth in NFb-glucose, the strains were complemented with phaP1 and their growth curves were determined . The strains ΔphaP1 and ΔphaP1.2, which exhibited reduced growth on glucose, grew as the parental strain when complemented with phaP1. In conclusion, the expression of phaP1 recovered PHB accumulation in the deficient strains, consequently normalizing their metabolic status and turning them able to grow in glucose.To determine if both phasins were able to restore PHB accumulation, the H. seropedicae, we correlated their presence with PHB production and expression of phaP1 and phaP2. Deletion of phaP1 reduced PHB accumulation on 50%, showing that PhaP1 is the key phasin controlling synthesis and stability of PHB granules. Deletion of phaP2 had little effect, reinforcing the idea that when PhaP1 is expressed, PHB granules are well formed and stocked . The suggestion that H. seropedicae has other phasin-like proteins seems unlikely, since deletion of both genes completely suppressed PHB granules formation. A similar dependence of phasins on accumulation of PHB was also found in S. meliloti Rm1021  has not been constructed so far. This mutant could reveal whether all phasins are relevant to PHB granule biogenesis and accumulation in R. eutropha and, if the functional redundancy among phasins (including PhaP5-7) supports PHB accumulation in the multiple deletion mutants, as related to ΔphaP1234 strain  also functions as a repressor of transcription . Furthermore, the pattern of phaP1 and phaP2 expression in different backgrounds of H. seropedicae demonstrated a backup regulation, whereas the genes are dissimilarly expressed . In other words, the simultaneously expression of both phasins seems to be unnecessary, however, upon mutation of phaP1, expression of phaP2 is reprogrammed to achieve a similar level compared to expression of phaP1 in the wild type. This mode of regulation is named responsive backup circuit (RBC) and has important consequences controlling expression of functional redundant proteins to increase the robustness of organisms when facing stressful conditions  it guarantees proper levels of phasin expression, avoiding perturbations on PHB synthesis and granule formation and (ii) it saves the cells of wasting unnecessary metabolic costs with superfluous gene expression. Other β-Proteobacteria including species of the Herbaspirillum genus, Collimonas fungivorans, Herminiimonas arsenicoxydans and Janthinobacterium sp. possess orthologous to phaP1 and phaP2 of H. seropedicae, indicating that the backup expression of phaP2 may be conserved among species phylogenetically related to H. seropedicae. In the genome of Azoarcus sp. BH72, a plant-associated and PHB-producing β-proteobacterium, four genes expressing putative phasins were found  were found four phasin genes, which are expressed when the bacteria were epiphytically colonizing roots of Triticum aestivum (Azospirillum species so far. Therefore, these findings pave the way to investigate the impact of phasin gene deletions in other relevant plant-associated bacteria, as those from Azoarcus and Azospirillum genus.The existence of two highly homologous genes encoding proteins with the same predicted function raises the question of whether the phasins of re found , suggestectively . On the aestivum . To the LA and CT designed and performed the most part of experiments, analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript. ET constructed mutants and some plasmids used in this work. LD performed the TEM analysis. MT-S prepared cDNA and performed the RT-PCR. MS, ES, and FO conceived and supervised the study. LC and MM-S conceived and supervised the study, analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript.The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.


The majority of methods for recognizing human actions are based on single-view video or multi-camera data. In this paper, we propose a novel multi-surface video analysis strategy. The video can be expressed as three-surface motion feature (3SMF) and spatio-temporal interest feature. 3SMF is extracted from the motion history image in three different video surfaces: horizontal–vertical, horizontal- and vertical-time surface. In contrast to several previous studies, the prior probability is estimated by 3SMF rather than using a uniform distribution. Finally, we model the relationship score between each video and action as a probability inference to bridge the feature descriptors and action categories. We demonstrate our methods by comparing them to several state-of-the-arts action recognition benchmarks. Human action recognition in video sequences is a challenging research topic in computer vision , horizontal-time (XT surface) and vertical-time surface (YT surface), as shown in Fig. However, the fusion of direct features is not sufficient or robust. To this end, we propose to integrate the holistic features and STIP features into an action classifier. A probability inference model is used to identify the action in the video. The proposed multi-surface video analysis method is shown in Fig. We propose a novel multi-surface video analysis strategy that is different from using multiple cameras.We propose a probability method to combine the holistic and local features. In contrast to the majority of previous works, we use 3SMF for the prior probability rather than the uniform distribution.The experimental results show that the proposed method is effective, robust to scene motion and provides accurate results.The contributions of our work are threefold:The remainder of this paper is organized as follows. “The numerous existing methods for recognizing human action from image sequences or video have been classified as template-based approaches, local-feature-based approaches (including appearance and motion features) and object/scene-context-based approaches. Methods of human action recognition in multi-view scenes have been proposed in many studies. A literature review . Numerous studies have demonstrated the good performance and robustness of STIP features. In the proposed method, the STIP is extracted by the 3D-Harris detector proposed by Laptev and Lindeberg , and is L by convolution with spatio-temporal Gaussian kernel. The second-moment matrix μ of spatio-temporal scale-space representation L is calculated, which is 3-by-3 matrix composed by first order spatial and temporal derivatives. The response function H is defined by combining the determinant and the trace of μ as following:λ1, λ2, λ3 is the eigenvalue of matrix μ. The STIP is defined by searching the maxima of the point with H. In Laptev’s work, the parameter k is set to .005 through experimental results.To calculate STIP, the video is constructed a spatio-temporal scale-space representation To describe the action, we propose a new action feature named the 3SMF. The framework of 3SMF is shown in Fig. Nx is the width of the video, Ny is the height of the video, and Nt is the length of the video. The XT surface image sequence For the input video, the original image sequence appears as an XY surface image sequence entclass1pt{minimaFor the XY, YT and XY surface image sequences, the MHI  of the current pixel.i, h(i), is normalized to n is the total number of bins, i.e., ten in this work. So, the HOG feature length of MHI is 810.Each pixel within a block then casts a weighted vote for an orientation-based histogram channel based on the values calculated by gradient computation. The histogram channels are evenly spread over 0°–180° or 0°–360°. In this work, angles of 0°–180° are divided into ten 18° intervals. To increase the tolerance for vertical and horizontal angles, angles of 0°–9° and 171°–180° are set to the same interval; the angles of 81°–99° form a new interval. After partitioning, feature extraction is applied to construct a local feature histogram for each block, which is concatenated to form the image representation. For a consistent measure, each value for bin Finally, the HOG feature of each block is concatenated to build the 3SMF feature, and the length of the 3SMF feature is 2430.The 3SMF feature detection algorithm is summarized in Algorithm 1.V, the class of V is the class c* that has the maximum probability score between V and a specific class c corresponding to the following equation:Nc is the number of action categories. Given the prior p(c) and posterior c* by maximizing the joint distribution p. Here, we train the SVM classifier to inference the prior p(c) using the 3SMF feature. The posterior To classify the test video The SVM classifier is a binary classifier in a high-dimensional hyper plane and it is a decision function in high-dimensional space. For the problem of multiclass classification, one-versus-one strategy is used in SVM model training. We build the binary classifier with RBF kernel for every two actions [total of dv is the STIP feature and Nv is the number of STIPs. The probability To compute the posterior And to calculate the probability ci. dt in the training videos dv of less than ε. Furthermore, dv in the set ε. The experimental results of Yuan et al.  actions . Each action has 25 subjects in four environments . Subjects are selected randomly, and their corresponding actions are collected as a training dataset; the remaining videos are used as the dataset test. In our experiment, we used 25-fold leave-one-out cross-validation to measure the performance of the proposed method.The UCF Sports Action dataset consists of ten different types of sports actions (A = 10), i.e., ‘swing-bench’, ‘swing-side’, ‘diving’, ‘kicking’, ‘lifting’, ‘riding horse’, ‘running’, ‘skateboarding’, ‘golf swing’, and ‘walking’. The dataset consists of 150 real videos. A horizontally flipped version of each video sequence was added to the dataset to increase the number of training samples. In our experiment, we used the leave-one-out strategy to test each original action sequence, whereas the remaining original video sequences, together with their flipped versions, were included in the training set.The parameters in the STIP detection are the same as those used by Laptev .Nx × Nt. The size of the MHI image of the YT surface image sequence is Ny × Nt. Figure To compute the 3SMF feature, the size of the MHI image of video is the same as the image in the video. The size of the MHI image of the XT surface image sequence is Nc = 200. The same setting is used for YTMHI. The other parameters for detecting 3SMF are set as stated in “Due to the difference of the length of the video, the sizes of the XTMHI and YTMHI are different, as shown in Fig. In the experiment, certain parameters affect the accuracy of action recognition. The relevant parameters were set as follows:The experimental results of the KTH dataset are shown in Table Comparing with the approach using STIP and the NBNN algorithm in Table Ni test samples with action ci, Ni is the number of predict the test samples to action cj  is proposed to represent video. 3SMF can reflect the difference of the action in different surfaces. The results of the comparisons with the state-of-the-art action recognition benchmarks demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. However, it also has some limitations in this study. Due to the computation complexity of feature detection and NBNN algorithm, the proposed method is not suitable for real-time recognition. And our method works only in the case that the videos contain one action category. Therefore, in future, we will address the following topics: real-time action recognition and multiple action events recognition in videos.