Hands on Biofilm! Utilizing a public audience in a citizen science project to assess yield variability when culturing kombucha pellicle.

The pellicle biofilm generated during the Kombucha tea fermentation process has, when dried, textile-like properties that may have real-life applications. However, pellicle yield can vary depending on inoculation and incubation conditions, which affects research investigations on the properties of the pellicle. To generate data on variability to help define optimum pellicle growth conditions, as part of a public engagement event about biofilm, a citizen science activity was hosted whereby visitors to a science festival were invited to select incubation conditions and inoculate different media with liquid or solid (pellicle). More than 220 samples were inoculated (in excess of 1200 visitors, mainly in family groups). The most popular incubation conditions were coconut water or tea medium, 30°C/room temperature and liquid inoculum. The most productive/reproducible in terms of yield and variability were tea medium, 30°C, and liquid inoculum, which reflect some of the conditions most used in the domestic setting for kombucha culture. The event provided both useful research data and generated public interest in a research area of which many will have been unaware. Interest in the results of the activity, available several weeks after the activity, was sustained using email contact and FlickR for the dissemination of images and data.

Use of programme theory to understand the differential effects of interventions across socio-economic groups in systematic reviews-a systematic methodology review.

BACKGROUND: Systematic review guidance recommends the use of programme theory to inform considerations of if and how healthcare interventions may work differently across socio-economic status (SES) groups. This study aimed to address the lack of detail on how reviewers operationalise this in practice. METHODS: A methodological systematic review was undertaken to assess if, how and the extent to which systematic reviewers operationalise the guidance on the use of programme theory in considerations of socio-economic inequalities in health. Multiple databases were searched from January 2013 to May 2016. Studies were included if they were systematic reviews assessing the effectiveness of an intervention and included data on SES. Two reviewers independently screened all studies, undertook quality assessment and extracted data. A narrative approach to synthesis was adopted. RESULTS: A total of 37 systematic reviews were included, 10 of which were explicit in the use of terminology for 'programme theory'. Twenty-nine studies used programme theory to inform both their a priori assumptions and explain their review findings. Of these, 22 incorporated considerations of both what and how interventions do/do not work in SES groups to both predict and explain their review findings. Thirteen studies acknowledged 24 unique theoretical references to support their assumptions of what or how interventions may have different effects in SES groups. Most reviewers used supplementary evidence to support their considerations of differential effectiveness. The majority of authors outlined a programme theory in the "Introduction" and "Discussion" sections of the review to inform their assumptions or provide explanations of what or how interventions may result in differential effects within or across SES groups. About a third of reviews used programme theory to inform the review analysis and/or synthesis. Few authors used programme theory to inform their inclusion criteria, data extraction or quality assessment. Twenty-one studies tested their a priori programme theory. CONCLUSIONS: The use of programme theory to inform considerations of if, what and how interventions lead to differential effects on health in different SES groups in the systematic review process is not yet widely adopted, is used implicitly, is often fragmented and is not implemented in a systematic way.