Reliability of the modified child and adolescent physical activity and nutrition survey, physical activity (CAPANS-PA) questionnaire among chinese-australian youth

Background : Evidence suggests that differences exist in physical activity (PA) participation among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) children and adolescents. It is possible that these differences could be influenced by variations in measurement technique and instrument reliability. However, culturally sensitive instruments for examining PA behaviour among CALD populations are lacking. This study tested the reliability of the Child and Adolescent Physical Activity and Nutrition Survey (CAPANS-PA) recall questionnaire among a sample of Chinese-Australian youth.
Methods : The psychometric property of the CAPANS-PA questionnaire was examined among a sample of 77 Chinese-Australian youth (aged 11 - 14 y) who completed the questionnaire twice within 7 days. Test-retest reliability of individual items and scales within the CAPANS-PA questionnaire was determined using Kappa statistics for categorical variables and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) for continuous variables.
Results : The CAPANS-PA questionnaire demonstrated acceptable test-retest reliability for frequency and duration of time spent in weekly Moderate to Vigorous Physical Activity (MVPA) (ICC ≥ 0.70) for all participants. Test-retest reliability for time spent in weekly sedentary activities was acceptable for females (ICC = 0.82) and males (ICC = 0.72).
Conclusions : The results suggest the CAPANS-PA questionnaire provides reliable estimates for type, frequency and duration of MVPA participation among Chinese-Australian youth. Further investigation into the reliability of the sedentary items within the CAPANS-PA is required before these items can be used with confidence. This study is novel in that the reliability of instruments among CALD groups nationally and internationally remains sparse and this study contributes to the wider body of available psychometrically tested instruments. In addition, this study is the first to our knowledge to successfully engage and investigate the basic health enhancing behaviours of Chinese-Australian adolescents.

Credit risk of interest rate swaps : a comparative study of CIR and Monte Carlo simulation approach

This paper compares the credit risk profile for two types of model, the Monte Carlo model used in the existing literature, and the Cox, Ingersoll and Ross (CIR) model. Each of the profiles has a concave or hump-backed shape, reflecting the amortisation and diffusion effects. However, the CIR model generates significantly different results. In addition, we consider the sensitivity of these models of credit risk to initial interest rates, volatility, maturity, kappa and delta. The results show that the sensitivities vary across the models, and we explore the meaning of that variation.

A marginalised Markov Chain Monte Carlo approach for model based analysis of EEG data

The work presented in this paper focuses on fitting of a neural mass model to EEG data. Neurophysiology inspired mathematical models were developed for simulating brain's electrical activity imaged through Electroencephalography (EEG) more than three decades ago. At the present well informative models which even describe the functional integration of cortical regions also exists. However, a very limited amount of work is reported in literature on the subject of model fitting to actual EEG data. Here, we present a Bayesian approach for parameter estimation of the EEG model via a marginalized Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) approach.

Monte Carlo calculations of the free energy of binary SII hydrogen clathrate hydrates for identifying efficient promoter molecules

The thermodynamics of binary sII hydrogen clathrates with secondary guest molecules is studied with Monte Carlo simulations. The small cages of the sII unit cell are occupied by one H2 guest molecule. Different promoter molecules entrapped in the large cages are considered. Simulations are conducted at a pressure of 1000 atm in a temperature range of 233?293 K. To determine the stabilizing effect of different promoter molecules on the clathrate, the Gibbs free energy of fully and partially occupied sII hydrogen clathrates are calculated. Our aim is to predict what would be an efficient promoter molecule using properties such as size, dipole moment, and hydrogen bonding capability. The gas clathrate configurational and free energies are compared. The entropy makes a considerable contribution to the free energy and should be taken into account in determining stability conditions of binary sII hydrogen clathrates.