Individual variability in compensatory eating following acute exercise in overweight and obese women

Background While compensatory eating following acute aerobic exercise is highly variable, little is known about the underling mechanisms that contribute to alterations in exercise-induced eating behaviour. Methods Overweight and obese women (BMI = 29.6 ± 4.0kg.m2) performed a bout of cycling individually tailored to expend 400kcal (EX), or a time-matched no exercise control condition in a randomised, counter-balanced order. Sixty minutes after the cessation of exercise, an ad libitum test meal was provided. Substrate oxidation and subjective appetite ratings were measured during exercise/time-matched rest, and during the period between the cessation of exercise and food consumption. Results While ad libitum EI did not differ between EX and the control condition (666.0 ± 203.9kcal vs. 664.6 ± 174.4kcal, respectively; ns), there was marked individual variability in compensatory energy intake (EI). The difference in EI between EX and the control condition ranged from -234.3 to +278.5kcal. Carbohydrate oxidation during exercise was positively associated with post-exercise EI, accounting for 37% of the variance in EI (r = 0.57; p = 0.02). Conclusions These data indicate that capacity of acute exercise to create a short-term energy deficit in overweight and obese women is highly variable. Furthermore, exercise-induced CHO oxidation can explain part of the variability in acute exercise-induced compensatory eating. Post-exercise compensatory eating could serve as an adaptive response to facilitate the restoration of carbohydrate balance.

Measurement, modelling and capacity analysis for novel, fixed multi-user single-antenna MIMO-OFDM system, in rural environments

High-speed broadband internet access is widely recognised as a catalyst to social and economic development. However, the provision of broadband Internet services with the existing solutions to rural population, scattered over an extensive geographical area, remains both an economic and technical challenge. As a feasible solution, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) proposed a highly spectrally efficient, innovative and cost-effective fixed wireless broadband access technology, which uses analogue TV frequency spectrum and Multi-User MIMO (MUMIMO) technology with Orthogonal-Frequency-Division-Multiplexing (OFDM). MIMO systems have emerged as a promising solution for the increasing demand of higher data rates, better quality of service, and higher network capacity. However, the performance of MIMO systems can be significantly affected by different types of propagation environments e.g., indoor, outdoor urban, or outdoor rural and operating frequencies. For instance, large spectral efficiencies associated with MIMO systems, which assume a rich scattering environment in urban environments, may not be valid for all propagation environments, such as outdoor rural environments, due to the presence of less scatterer densities. Since this is the first time a MU-MIMO-OFDM fixed broadband wireless access solution is deployed in a rural environment, questions from both theoretical and practical standpoints arise; For example, what capacity gains are available for the proposed solution under realistic rural propagation conditions?. Currently, no comprehensive channel measurement and capacity analysis results are available for MU-MIMO-OFDM fixed broadband wireless access systems which employ large scale multiple antennas at the Access Point (AP) and analogue TV frequency spectrum in rural environments. Moreover, according to the literature, no deterministic MU-MIMO channel models exist that define rural wireless channels by accounting for terrain effects. This thesis fills the aforementioned knowledge gaps with channel measurements, channel modeling and comprehensive capacity analysis for MU-MIMO-OFDM fixed wireless broadband access systems in rural environments. For the first time, channel measurements were conducted in a rural farmland near Smithton, Tasmania using CSIRO's broadband wireless access solution. A novel deterministic MU-MIMO-OFDM channel model, which can be used for accurate performance prediction of rural MUMIMO channels with dominant Line-of-Sight (LoS) paths, was developed under this research. Results show that the proposed solution can achieve 43.7 bits/s/Hz at a Signal-to- Noise Ratio (SNR) of 20 dB in rural environments. Based on channel measurement results, this thesis verifies that the deterministic channel model accurately predicts channel capacity in rural environments with a Root Mean Square (RMS) error of 0.18 bits/s/Hz. Moreover, this study presents a comprehensive capacity analysis of rural MU-MIMOOFDM channels using experimental, simulated and theoretical models. Based on the validated deterministic model, further investigations on channel capacity and the eects of capacity variation, with different user distribution angles (θ) around the AP, were analysed. For instance, when SNR = 20dB, the capacity increases from 15.5 bits/s/Hz to 43.7 bits/s/Hz as θ increases from 10° to 360°. Strategies to mitigate these capacity degradation effects are also presented by employing a suitable user grouping method. Outcomes of this thesis have already been used by CSIRO scientists to determine optimum user distribution angles around the AP, and are of great significance for researchers and MU-MUMO-OFDM system developers to understand the advantages and potential capacity gains of MU-MIMO systems in rural environments. Also, results of this study are useful to further improve the performance of MU-MIMO-OFDM systems in rural environments. Ultimately, this knowledge contribution will be useful in delivering efficient, cost-effective high-speed wireless broadband systems that are tailor-made for rural environments, thus, improving the quality of life and economic prosperity of rural populations.

Air Gondwana and Mosswood Manor : blended learning environments utilising second life machinima to teach negotiation skills

Seminal reports into higher education in Australia and overseas have recognised negotiation as an essential skill of a practising lawyer and have recommended that all law schools include instruction in negotiation theory and practice in their curricula. Effective negotiation training includes the elements of instruction, modelling, practice and feedback. Ideally such training takes place in the context of small groups. However, this does not necessarily mean that negotiation cannot be taught effectively in the context of large groups. This paper discusses two related blended learning environments that provide instruction in negotiation theory and practice as part of the graduate capabilities program of the undergraduate law degree in the School of Law at the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia. Air Gondwana, which forms part of the curriculum of the two first year Contract Law subjects, and Mosswood Manor, which forms part of the curriculum of the second year Trusts subject, utilise a common narrative concerning the family of a wealthy industrialist to facilitate learning of negotiation skills. The programs both combine online and in-class components, the online components utilising machinima (computer graphics created without the need for professional software) to depict the narrative. This strategy has enabled the creation of effective, engaging and challenging learning experiences for large cohorts of students studying by different modes (full-time, part-time and distance external). The use of a common narrative, including the same characters and settings, in the two programs also provides a familiar environment in which students advance their learning from one level of attainment to the next.

Environments For Healthy Living (EFHL) Griffith birth cohort study : characteristics of sample and profile of antenatal exposures

Background The Environments for Healthy Living (EFHL) study is a repeated sample, longitudinal birth cohort in South East Queensland, Australia. We describe the sample characteristics and profile of maternal, household, and antenatal exposures. Variation and data stability over recruitment years were examined. Methods Four months each year from 2006, pregnant women were recruited to EFHL at routine antenatal visits on or after 24 weeks gestation, from three public maternity hospitals. Participating mothers completed a baseline questionnaire on individual, familial, social and community exposure factors. Perinatal data were extracted from hospital birth records. Descriptive statistics and measures of association were calculated comparing the EFHL birth sample with regional and national reference populations. Data stability of antenatal exposure factors was assessed across five recruitment years (2006–2010 inclusive) using the Gamma statistic for ordinal data and chi-squared for nominal data. Results Across five recruitment years 2,879 pregnant women were recruited which resulted in 2904 live births with 29 sets of twins. EFHL has a lower representation of early gestational babies, fewer still births and a lower percentage of low birth weight babies, when compared to regional data. The majority of women (65%) took a multivitamin supplement during pregnancy, 47% consumed alcohol, and 26% reported having smoked cigarettes. There were no differences in rates of a range of antenatal exposures across five years of recruitment, with the exception of increasing maternal pre-pregnancy weight (p=0.0349), decreasing rates of high maternal distress (p=0.0191) and decreasing alcohol consumption (p<0.0001). Conclusions The study sample is broadly representative of births in the region and almost all factors showed data stability over time. This study, with repeated sampling of birth cohorts over multiple years, has the potential to make important contributions to population health through evaluating longitudinal follow-up and within cohort temporal effects.

Child eating behaviour outcomes of an early feeding intervention to reduce risk indicators for child obesity : the NOURISH RCT

Objective Describe parent-reported child eating behaviour and maternal parenting impact outcomes of an infant feeding intervention to reduce child obesity risk. Design and Methods An assessor masked Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) with concealed allocation of individual mother-infant dyads. The NOURISH RCT enrolled 698 first-time mothers (mean age 30.1 years, SD=5.3) with healthy term infants (51% female) aged 4.3 months (SD=1.0) at baseline. Outcomes were assessed six months post-intervention when the children were 2-years old. Mothers reported on child eating behaviours using the Child Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (CEBQ), food preferences and dietary intake using a 24-hour telephone recall. Parenting was assessed using five scales validated for use in Australia. Results Intervention effects were evident on the CEBQ overall (MANOVA P=.002) and 4/8 subscales: child satiety responsiveness (P=.03), fussiness (P=.01), emotional overeating (P<.01), and food responsiveness (P=.06). Intervention children ‘liked’ more fruits (P<.01) and fewer non-core foods and beverages (Ps=.06, .03). The intervention mothers reported greater ‘autonomy encouragement’ (P=.002) Conclusions Anticipatory guidance on protective feeding practices appears to have modest positive impacts on child eating behaviours that are postulated to reduce future obesity risk.

Monitoring policy and actions on food environments : rationale and outline of the INFORMAS policy engagement and communication strategies

The International Network for Food and Obesity/non-communicable diseases Research, Monitoring and Action Support (INFORMAS) proposes to collect performance indicators on food policies, actions and environments related to obesity and non-communicable diseases. This paper reviews existing communications strategies used for performance indicators and proposes the approach to be taken for INFORMAS. Twenty-seven scoring and rating tools were identified in various fields of public health including alcohol, tobacco, physical activity, infant feeding and food environments. These were compared based on the types of indicators used and how they were quantified, scoring methods, presentation and the communication and reporting strategies used. There are several implications of these analyses for INFORMAS: the ratings/benchmarking approach is very commonly used, presumably because it is an effective way to communicate progress and stimulate action, although this has not been formally evaluated; the tools used must be trustworthy, pragmatic and policy-relevant; multiple channels of communication will be needed; communications need to be tailored and targeted to decision-makers; data and methods should be freely accessible. The proposed communications strategy for INFORMAS has been built around these lessons to ensure that INFORMAS's outputs have the greatest chance of being used to improve food environments.

Monitoring and benchmarking government policies and actions to improve the healthiness of food environments : a proposed Government Healthy Food Environment Policy Index

Government action is essential to increase the healthiness of food environments and reduce obesity, diet-related non-communicable diseases (NCDs), and their related inequalities. This paper proposes a monitoring framework to assess government policies and actions for creating healthy food environments. Recommendations from relevant authoritative organizations and expert advisory groups for reducing obesity and NCDs were examined, and pertinent components were incorporated into a comprehensive framework for monitoring government policies and actions. A Government Healthy Food Environment Policy Index (Food-EPI) was developed, which comprises a ‘policy’ component with seven domains on specific aspects of food environments, and an ‘infrastructure support’ component with seven domains to strengthen systems to prevent obesity and NCDs. These were revised through a week-long consultation process with international experts. Examples of good practice statements are proposed within each domain, and these will evolve into benchmarks established by governments at the forefront of creating and implementing food policies for good health. A rating process is proposed to assess a government's level of policy implementation towards good practice. The Food-EPI will be pre-tested and piloted in countries of varying size and income levels. The benchmarking of government policy implementation has the potential to catalyse greater action to reduce obesity and NCDs.

A proposed approach to monitor private-sector policies and practices related to food environments, obesity and non-communicable disease prevention

Private-sector organizations play a critical role in shaping the food environments of individuals and populations. However, there is currently very limited independent monitoring of private-sector actions related to food environments. This paper reviews previous efforts to monitor the private sector in this area, and outlines a proposed approach to monitor private-sector policies and practices related to food environments, and their influence on obesity and non-communicable disease (NCD) prevention. A step-wise approach to data collection is recommended, in which the first (‘minimal’) step is the collation of publicly available food and nutrition-related policies of selected private-sector organizations. The second (‘expanded’) step assesses the nutritional composition of each organization's products, their promotions to children, their labelling practices, and the accessibility, availability and affordability of their products. The third (‘optimal’) step includes data on other commercial activities that may influence food environments, such as political lobbying and corporate philanthropy. The proposed approach will be further developed and piloted in countries of varying size and income levels. There is potential for this approach to enable national and international benchmarking of private-sector policies and practices, and to inform efforts to hold the private sector to account for their role in obesity and NCD prevention.

Monitoring the impacts of trade agreements on food environments

The liberalization of international trade and foreign direct investment through multilateral, regional and bilateral agreements has had profound implications for the structure and nature of food systems, and therefore, for the availability, nutritional quality, accessibility, price and promotion of foods in different locations. Public health attention has only relatively recently turned to the links between trade and investment agreements, diets and health, and there is currently no systematic monitoring of this area. This paper reviews the available evidence on the links between trade agreements, food environments and diets from an obesity and non-communicable disease (NCD) perspective. Based on the key issues identified through the review, the paper outlines an approach for monitoring the potential impact of trade agreements on food environments and obesity/NCD risks. The proposed monitoring approach encompasses a set of guiding principles, recommended procedures for data collection and analysis, and quantifiable ‘minimal’, ‘expanded’ and ‘optimal’ measurement indicators to be tailored to national priorities, capacity and resources. Formal risk assessment processes of existing and evolving trade and investment agreements, which focus on their impacts on food environments will help inform the development of healthy trade policy, strengthen domestic nutrition and health policy space and ultimately protect population nutrition.

Robust recognition of human behaviour in challenging environments

Novel techniques have been developed for the automatic recognition of human behaviour in challenging environments using information from visual and infra-red camera feeds. The techniques have been applied to two interesting scenarios: Recognise drivers' speech using lip movements and recognising audience behaviour, while watching a movie, using facial features and body movements. Outcome of the research in these two areas will be useful in the improving the performance of voice recognition in automobiles for voice based control and for obtaining accurate movie interest ratings based on live audience response analysis.

Autonomous forced landing system for light general aviation aircraft in unknown environments

This paper presents a system which enhances the capabilities of a light general aviation aircraft to land autonomously in case of an unscheduled event such as engine failure. The proposed system will not only increase the level of autonomy for the general aviation aircraft industry but also increase the level of dependability. Safe autonomous landing in case of an engine failure with a certain level of reliability is the primary focus of our work as both safety and reliability are attributes of dependability. The system is designed for a light general aviation aircraft but can be extended for dependable unmanned aircraft systems. The underlying system components are computationally efficient and provides continuous situation assessment in case of an emergency landing. The proposed system is undergoing an evaluation phase using an experimental platform (Cessna 172R) in real world scenarios.

Female game developers wanted low pay, long hours, inflexible work environments

Almost half of all game players are now women. However, women only represent a small proportion of game developers. There is a lack of previous research to suggest why women don't pursue careers in games and how we can attract more women to the industry. In this paper, we investigate the issues and barriers that prevent women from entering the games industry, as well as the solutions and steps that can be taken to attract more women to the industry. We draw on the lessons learned by the information technology industry and report on a program of events that was conducted at the Queensland University of Technology in 2011. These events provided some insight into the issues surrounding the lack of women in the games industry, as well as some initial steps that we can take as an industry to attract and support more female developers.

Access to commercial destinations within the neighbourhood and walking among Australian older adults

BACKGROUND: Physical activity, particularly walking, is greatly beneficial to health; yet a sizeable proportion of older adults are insufficiently active. The importance of built environment attributes for walking is known, but few studies of older adults have examined neighbourhood destinations and none have investigated access to specific, objectively-measured commercial destinations and walking. METHODS: We undertook a secondary analysis of data from the Western Australian state government's health surveillance survey for those aged 65--84 years and living in the Perth metropolitan region from 2003--2009 (n = 2,918). Individual-level road network service areas were generated at 400 m and 800 m distances, and the presence or absence of six commercial destination types within the neighbourhood service areas identified (food retail, general retail, medical care services, financial services, general services, and social infrastructure). Adjusted logistic regression models examined access to and mix of commercial destination types within neighbourhoods for associations with self-reported walking behaviour. RESULTS: On average, the sample was aged 72.9 years (SD = 5.4), and was predominantly female (55.9%) and married (62.0%). Overall, 66.2% reported some weekly walking and 30.8% reported sufficient walking (>=150 min/week). Older adults with access to general services within 400 m (OR = 1.33, 95% CI = 1.07-1.66) and 800 m (OR = 1.20, 95% CI = 1.02-1.42), and social infrastructure within 800 m (OR = 1.19, 95% CI = 1.01-1.40) were more likely to engage in some weekly walking. Access to medical care services within 400 m (OR = 0.77, 95% CI = 0.63-0.93) and 800 m (OR = 0.83, 95% CI = 0.70-0.99) reduced the odds of sufficient walking. Access to food retail, general retail, financial services, and the mix of commercial destination types within the neighbourhood were all unrelated to walking. CONCLUSIONS: The types of neighbourhood commercial destinations that encourage older adults to walk appear to differ slightly from those reported for adult samples. Destinations that facilitate more social interaction, for example eating at a restaurant or church involvement, or provide opportunities for some incidental social contact, for example visiting the pharmacy or hairdresser, were the strongest predictors for walking among seniors in this study. This underscores the importance of planning neighbourhoods with proximate access to social infrastructure, and highlights the need to create residential environments that support activity across the life course.

Thinking about internal states, a qualitative investigation into metacognitions in women with eating disorders

Background There is a need for qualitative research to help develop case conceptualisations to guide the development of Metacognitive Therapy interventions for Eating Disorders. Method A qualitative study informed by grounded theory methodology was conducted involving open-ended interviews with 27 women aged 18–55 years, who were seeking or receiving treatment for a diagnosed ED. Results The categories identified in this study appeared to be consistent with a metacognitive model including constructs of a Cognitive Attentional Syndrome and metacognitive beliefs. These categories appear to be transdiagnostic, and the interaction between the categories is proposed to explain the maintenance of EDs. Conclusions The transdiagnostic model proposed may be useful to guide the development of future metacognitive therapy interventions for EDs with the hope that this will lead to improved outcomes for individuals with EDs.

Datasets for the evaluation of multi-sensor perception in natural environments with challenging conditions

This paper presents large, accurately calibrated and time-synchronised datasets, gathered outdoors in controlled environmental conditions, using an unmanned ground vehicle (UGV), equipped with a wide variety of sensors. It discusses how the data collection process was designed, the conditions in which these datasets have been gathered, and some possible outcomes of their exploitation, in particular for the evaluation of performance of sensors and perception algorithms for UGVs.