Age and gender differences in objectively measured physical activity in youth

TROST. S. G., R. R. PATE, J. F. SALLIS, P. S. FREEDSON, W. C. TAYLOR, M. DOWDA, and J. SIRARD. Age and gender differences in objectively measured physical activity in youth. Med. Sci. Sports Ererc., Vol. 34, No. 2, pp. 350-355, 2002. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate age and gender differences in objectively measured physical activity (PA) in a population-based sample of students in grades 1-12. Methods: Participants (185 male, 190 female) wore a CSA 7164 accelerometer for 7 consecutive days. To examine age-related trends. students were grouped as follows: grades 1-3 (N = 90), grades 4-6 (N = 91), grades 7-9 (N = 96). and grades 10-12 (N = 92). Bouts of PA and minutes spent in moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) and vigorous PA (VPA) were examined. Results: Daily MVPA and VPA exhibited a significant inverse relationship with grade level, with the largest differences occurring between grades 1d-3 and 4-6. Boys were more active than girls; however, for overall PA, the magnitudes of the gender differences were modest. Participation in continuous 20-min bouts of PA was low to nonexistent. Conclusion: Our results support the notion that PA declines rapidly during childhood and adolescence and that accelerometers are feasible alternatives to self-report methods in moderately sized population-level surveillance studies.

Extra-pair paternity and mate-guarding behaviour in the brown thornbill

We used multilocus DNA fingerprinting to assess parentage in the brown thornbill, Acanthiza pusilla, a socially monogamous Australian passerine. Extra-pair paternity was uncommon (6.2% of 178 offspring; 11.9% of 67 broods) and there was no evidence of intra-specific brood parasitism. Extra-pair paternity was limited because pairs spent more time together when females were fertile and males were able to evict intruding males before they could approach the female. Males were responsible for the close proximity of partners during the fertile period. Mate guarding therefore appears to be a male tactic aimed at preventing female infidelity rather than a cooperative behaviour of the pair aimed at preventing extra-pair copulations and/or female harassment. Females did not attempt to escape male guarding and were rarely observed to solicit copulations from intruding males. Nevertheless, females paired to smaller and younger males were more likely to cuckold their mates than females paired to larger and older males. This suggests that females may be more likely to seek or accept extra-pair matings when paired to small, young males or that old, large males are better at preventing their mates from engaging in extra-pair copulations. We found that male age but not male size influences mate-guarding behaviour. Older males tended to respond more aggressively to intruders. We therefore speculate that the relationship between male size/age and extra-pair paternity in brown thornbills may arise because female thornbills prefer large males as mates but are unable to express this preference as easily when paired to older males.

Divorce, dispersal and incest avoidance in the cooperatively breeding superb fairy-wren Malurus cyaneus

1. Between 1988 and 2001, we studied social relationships in the superb fairy-wren Malurus cyaneus (Latham), a cooperative breeder with male helpers in which extra-group fertilizations are more common than within-pair fertilizations. 2. Unlike other fairy-wren species, females never bred on their natal territory. First-year females dispersed either directly from their natal territory to a breeding vacancy or to a foreign 'staging-post' territory where they spent their first winter as a subordinate. Females dispersing to a foreign territory settled in larger groups. Females on foreign territories inherited the territory if the dominant female died, and were sometimes able to split the territory into two by pairing with a helper male. However, most dispersed again to obtain a vacancy. 3. Females dispersing from a staging post usually gained a neighbouring vacancy, but females gaining a vacancy directly from their natal territory travelled further, perhaps to avoid pairing or mating with related males. 4. Females frequently divorced their partner, although the majority of relationships were terminated by the death of one of the pair. If death did not intervene, one-third of pairings were terminated by female-initiated divorce within 1000 days. 5. Three divorce syndromes were recognized. First, females that failed to obtain a preferred territory moved to territories with more helpers. Secondly, females that became paired to their sons when their partner died usually divorced away from them. Thirdly, females that have been in a long relationship divorce once a son has gained the senior helper position. 6. Dispersal to avoid pairing with sons is consistent with incest avoidance. However, there may be two additional benefits. Mothers do not mate with their sons, so dispersal by the mother liberates her sons to compete for within-group matings. Further, divorcing once their son has become a breeder or a senior helper allows the female to start sons in a queue for dominance on another territory. Females that do not take this option face constraints on their ability to recruit more sons into the local neighbourhood.

Habitat choice and vigilance behaviour of brush-tailed rock-wallabies (Petrogale penicillata) within their nocturnal foraging ranges

Habitat choice by brush-tailed rock-wallabies (Petrogale penicillata) in south-east Queensland was investigated by comparing the attributes of the nocturnal foraging locations that they selected with those of random locations within a radius of 50 m. Brush-tailed rock-wallabies were shown to select foraging locations on the basis of forage quality and/or their ability to see predators, rather than protection from predators amongst vegetation that could conceal them. Habitat choice may have been affected by limited food availability, as this study was conducted in the winter dry season. The attributes of foraging locations that brush- tailed rock-wallabies perceived as increasing their predation risk were assessed by recording the proportion of time that brush- tailed rock-wallabies spent vigilant while foraging. To measure vigilance, focal animals were observed with a night- vision scope for two minutes and the proportions of time spent vigilant and feeding were recorded. No measured feature of foraging locations was related to higher vigilance levels, suggesting that brush- tailed rock-wallabies did not alter their vigilance whether sheltered amongst grass tussocks or in open habitat, or whether feeding on good quality or poorer quality vegetation. Vigilance levels significantly declined as overnight temperatures decreased, which may have resulted from higher energy requirements of brush- tailed rock-wallabies during winter. The only factors that were found to significantly increase vigilance levels were high winds and moonlit nights. On bright nights, brush- tailed rock-wallabies were very unsettled and during high winds they often did not emerge to feed. More information is needed about how macropods detect predators at night before the effects of wind and light intensity upon vigilance can be fully understood.

Sitting time and work patterns as indicators of overweight and obesity in Australian adults

BACKGROUND: Increasing levels of physical inactivity and sedentariness are contributing to the current overweight and obesity epidemic. In this paper, the findings of two recent studies are used to explore the relationships between sitting time ( in transport, work and leisure), physical activity and body mass index (BMI) in two contrasting samples of adult Australians. METHODS: Data on sitting time, physical activity, BMI and a number of demographic characteristics were compared for participants in two studies-529 women who were participants in a preschool health promotion project ('mothers'), and 185 men and women who were involved in a workplace pedometer study ('workers'). Relationships between age, number of children, physical activity, sitting time, BMI, gender and work patterns were explored. Logistic regression was used to predict the likelihood of being overweight or obese, among participants with different physical activity, sitting time and work patterns. RESULTS: The total reported time spent sitting per day ( across all domains) was almost 6 h less among the mothers than the workers (P

The reliability of video based time motion analysis

Time motion analysis is extensively used to assess the demands of team sports. At present there is only limited information on the reliability of measurements using this analysis tool. The aim of this study was to establish the reliability of an individual observer's time motion analysis of rugby union. Ten elite level rugby players were individually tracked in Southern Hemisphere Super 12 matches using a digital video camera. The video footage was subsequently analysed by a single researcher on two occasions one month apart. The test-retest reliability was quantified as the typical error of measurement (TEM) and rated as either good (10% TEM). The total time spent in the individual movements of walking, jogging, striding, sprinting, static exertion and being stationary had moderate to poor reliability (5.8-11.1% TEM). The frequency of individual movements had good to poor reliability (4.3-13.6% TEM), while the mean duration of individual movements had moderate reliability (7.1-9.3% TEM). For the individual observer in the present investigation, time motion analysis was shown to be moderately reliable as an evaluation tool for examining the movement patterns of players in competitive rugby. These reliability values should be considered when assessing the movement patterns of rugby players within competition.

Environmental conditions and variation in levels of sun exposure among children in child care

Sun exposure in childhood is I of the risk factors for developing skin cancer, yet little is known about levels of exposure at this age. This is particularly important in countries with high levels of ultraviolet radiation. (UVR) such as Australia. Among 49 children 3 to 5 years of age attending child care centers, UVR exposure was studied under 4 conditions in a repeated measures design; sunny days, cloudy days, teacher's instruction to stay in the shade, and a health professionals instruction to apply sunscreen. Three different data collection methods were employed: (a) completion of questionnaire or diary by parents and researcher, (b) polysulphone dosimeter readings, and (c) observational audits (video recording). Results of this study indicated that more than half the children had been sunburnt (pink or red) and more than a third had experienced painful sunburn (sore or tender) in the last summer. Most wore short sleeve shirts, short skirts or shorts and cap, that do not provide optimal levels of skin protection. However, sunscreen was applied to all exposed parts before the children went out to the playground. Over the period of I hr (9-10 a.m.) the average amount of time children spent in full sun was 22 min. On sunny days there was more variation across children in the amount of sun exposure received. While the potential amount of UVR exposure for young children during the hour they were outside on a sunny day was 1.45 MED (Minimum Erythemal Dose), they received on average 0.35 MED, which is an insufficient amount to result in an erythemal response on fair skin even without the use of sunscreen.

Estado nutricional e estilo de vida em vegetarianos e onívoros, Grande Vitória-ES

Objetivo: Descrever e analisar o estado nutricional e aspectos do estilo de vida de vegetarianos e onívoros residentes na Grande Vitória/ES, na faixa etária de 35 a 64 anos de idade. Material E Métodos: Trata-se de estudo observacional híbrido de casos prevalentes com avaliação retrospectiva da exposição. Os grupos de expostos (134) e não expostos à dieta onívora típica ocidental (67) foram determinados no início da investigação. Foram coletados dados antropométricos, bioquímicos, de atividade física e alimentação através de questionário e 3 recordatórios de 24 horas e diagnosticados sobrepeso, Razão Cintura Quadril (RCQ) inadequada e hipercolesterolemia. Colesterol total e frações, triglicerídeos, ácido úrico, sódio e potássio urinários foram comparados entre os grupos, através do teste t de Student. Foi usado o teste qui-quadrado para comparar proporções, com =0,05. Resultados: Foram encontradas diferenças significativas em relação à ocupação. Duração da atividade física e tempo assistindo televisão e/ou utilizando computador foram maiores entre os onívoros. Os vegetarianos relataram práticas alimentares mais saudáveis e menor consumo de lipídios, proteínas e sódio. Os onívoros apresentaram maior risco de sobrepeso, RCQ inadequada e hipercolesterolemia (valores de P<0,0001). HDL-colesterol não foi diferente nos grupos. Conclusão: Os vegetarianos apresentaram perfil nutricional mais adequado e menor risco para os agravos crônicos estudados, apesar de pequena diferença no padrão de atividade física regular entre os grupos estudados.

Leanness na manutenção aeronáutica: o caso FAP

Os sistemas de armas da Força Aérea Portuguesa (FAP) têm por missão a defesa militar de Portugal, através de operações aéreas e da defesa do espaço aéreo nacional, sendo o F-16 o principal avião de ataque em uso nesta organização. Neste sentido, e tendo em conta o actual contexto económico mundial, as organizações devem rentabilizar todos os recursos disponíveis, custos associados e optimizar processos de trabalho. Tendo por base os pressupostos anteriores, o presente estudo pretende analisar a implementação de lean na FAP, uma vez que esta filosofia assenta na eliminação de desperdícios com vista a uma melhoria da qualidade e diminuição de tempos e custos. Posto isto, a análise deste trabalho vai recair sobre a área de manutenção do F-16, em concreto na Inspeção de Fase (IF), um tipo de manutenção que esta aeronave realiza a cada trezentas horas de voo. O estudo de caso vai incidir em dois momentos da IF: o primeiro ponto relaciona-se com o processamento da recolha de dados para a reunião preliminar onde são definidas, para as áreas de trabalho executantes, as ações de manutenção a realizar com a paragem da aeronave. Deste modo, pretende-se averiguar as causas inerentes aos atrasos verificados para a realização desta reunião. O segundo ponto em observação compreende a informação obtida através da aplicação informática SIAGFA, em uso na FAP, para o processamento de dados de manutenção das quatro aeronaves que inauguraram a IF com a filosofia lean. Esta análise permitiu perceber o número de horas de trabalho dispendidas (em média pelas quatro aeronaves) por cada uma das cartas de trabalho, verificando-se que as cartas adicionais comportam mais horas; foi possível compreender quais as áreas de trabalho consideradas críticas; foram identificados os dias de trabalho realizado e tempos de paragem sem qualquer tipo de intervenção. Foi ainda avaliado, por aeronave, o número de horas de trabalho realizadas na IF e quais os constrangimentos que se verificaram nas aeronaves, que não realizaram a IF no tempo definido para tal.

Virtual communities of practice: investigating motivations and constraints in the processes of knowledge creation and transfer

With accelerated market volatility, faster response times and increased globalization, business environments are going through a major transformation and firms have intensified their search for strategies which can give them competitive advantage. This requires that companies continuously innovate, to think of new ideas that can be transformed or implemented as products, processes or services, generating value for the firm. Innovative solutions and processes are usually developed by a group of people, working together. A grouping of people that share and create new knowledge can be considered as a Community of Practice (CoP). CoP’s are places which provide a sound basis for organizational learning and encourage knowledge creation and acquisition. Virtual Communities of Practice (VCoP's) can perform a central role in promoting communication and collaboration between members who are dispersed in both time and space. Nevertheless, it is known that not all CoP's and VCoP's share the same levels of performance or produce the same results. This means that there are factors that enable or constrain the process of knowledge creation. With this in mind, we developed a case study in order to identify both the motivations and the constraints that members of an organization experience when taking part in the knowledge creating processes of VCoP's. Results show that organizational culture and professional and personal development play an important role in these processes. No interviewee referred to direct financial rewards as a motivation factor for participation in VCoPs. Most identified the difficulty in aligning objectives established by the management with justification for the time spent in the VCoP. The interviewees also said that technology is not a constraint.

Low-Carbon Cement with Waste Oil-Cracking Catalyst Incorporation

The present paper shows preliminary results of an ongoing project which one of the goals is to investigate the viability of using waste FCC catalyst (wFCC), originated from Portuguese oil refinery, to produce low carbon blended cements. For this purpose, four blended cements were produced by substituting cement CEM I 42.5R up to 20% (w/w) by waste FCC catalyst. Initial and final setting times, consistency of standard paste, soundness and compressive strengths after 2, 7 and 28 days were measured. It was observed that the wFCC blended cements developed similar strength, at 28 days, compared to the reference cement, CEM I 42.5R. Moreover, cements with waste FCC catalyst incorporation up to 15% w/w meet European Standard EN 197-1 specifications for CEM II/A type cement, in the 42.5R strength class.

Alcohol drinking patterns by gender, ethnicity, and social class in Bahia, Brazil

OBJECTIVE: To study patterns of alcohol consumption and prevalence of high-risk drinking. METHODS: A household survey was carried out in a sample of 2,302 adults in Salvador, Brazil. Cases of High-Risk Drinking (HRD) were defined as those subjects who referred daily or weekly binge drinking plus episodes of drunkenness and those who reported any use of alcoholic beverages but with frequent drunkenness (at least once a week). RESULTS: Fifty-six per cent of the sample acknowledged drinking alcoholic beverages. Overall consumption was significantly related with gender (male), marital status (single), migration (non-migrant), better educated (college level), and social class (upper). No significant differences were found regarding ethnicity, except for cachaça (Brazilian sugarcane liquor) and other distilled beverages. Overall 12-month prevalence of high-risk drinking was 7%, six times more prevalent among males than females (almost 13% compared to 2.4%). A positive association of HRD prevalence with education and social class was found. No overall relationship was found between ethnicity and HRD. Male gender and higher socioeconomic status were associated with increased odds of HRD. Two-way stratified analyses yielded consistent gender effects throughout all strata of independent variables. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that social and cultural elements determine local patterns of alcohol-drinking behavior. Additional research on long-term and differential effects of gender, ethnicity, and social class on alcohol use and misuse is needed in order to explain their role as sources of social health inequities.

Cost of schizophrenia: direct costs and use of resources in the State of São Paulo

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the direct costs of schizophrenia for the public sector. METHODS: A study was carried out in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, during 1998. Data from the medical literature and governmental research bodies were gathered for estimating the total number of schizophrenia patients covered by the Brazilian Unified Health System. A decision tree was built based on an estimated distribution of patients under different types of psychiatric care. Medical charts from public hospitals and outpatient services were used to estimate the resources used over a one-year period. Direct costs were calculated by attributing monetary values for each resource used. RESULTS: Of all patients, 81.5% were covered by the public sector and distributed as follows: 6.0% in psychiatric hospital admissions, 23.0% in outpatient care, and 71.0% without regular treatment. The total direct cost of schizophrenia was US$191,781,327 (2.2% of the total health care expenditure in the state). Of this total, 11.0% was spent on outpatient care and 79.2% went for inpatient care. CONCLUSIONS: Most schizophrenia patients in the state of São Paulo receive no regular treatment. The study findings point out to the importance of investing in research aimed at improving the resource allocation for the treatment of mental disorders in Brazil.

Satisfação de utentes do ACES Tâmega I – Baixo Tâmega

A reforma dos cuidados de saúde primários surgiu, em 2005, com o objectivo principal de criar um novo modelo de organização dos cuidados de saúde primários mais próximo dos cidadãos e mais eficiente, tendo surgido, neste contexto, as Unidades de Saúde Familiares (USF) e, mais recentemente, as Unidades de Cuidados de Saúde Personalizados (UCSP). Importa agora determinar a avaliação que os utentes destas unidades fazem dos cuidados que lhes são prestados. O presente estudo pretende avaliar a satisfação dos utentes das UCSP e USF do Agrupamento de Centros de Saúde (ACES)Tâmega I- Baixo Tâmega e identificar os factores que a influenciam, tendo sido utilizado para tal uma versão adaptada e validada do questionário Europep. Os resultados demonstram queos utentes do ACES Tâmega I - Baixo Tâmega avaliam favoravelmente os cuidados de saúde. As dimensões com maior satisfação são a “relação e comunicação”, com destaque para o tempo dedicado pelo pessoal de enfermagem, os“recursos humanos”, com destaque para a competência, cortesia e carinho do pessoal de enfermagem e as“instalações”. Os níveis mais baixos de satisfação, embora positivos, são relativos à organização dos serviços e continuidade e cooperação. O tempo de espera na sala de espera, referente à organização dos serviços, é,entre todos, o aspecto com pior avaliação distanciando-se significativamente de todos os outros itens avaliados. Também na análise dos comentários relativos a surpresas agradáveis e desagradáveis encontradas nas unidades verifica-se que os aspectos organizacionais são os que mais desagradam os utentes e os relacionais os que mais agradam. Verifica-se que a idade, estado civil, escolaridade, utilização da unidade de saúde e tipo de unidade determinam diferenças na satisfação. Os utentes das USF recomendam mais a sua unidade de saúde e encontram-semais satisfeitos em todas as dimensões da satisfação avaliadas, sendoesta discrepância mais acentuada a nível da organização dos serviços e resposta às necessidades.

Envelhecimento e actividades na reforma: situação e satisfação com a vida dos reformados bancários: um estudo na ilha de São Miguel

Dissertação de Mestrado, Ciências Sociais, 20 de Maio de 2014, Universidade dos Açores.