Impact of a comprehensive nutrition and lifestyle education intervention on body weight and health-related outcomes in morbidly-obese Hispanic-Americans following laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass

As morbid obesity increasingly affects Hispanic-Americans, the incidence of Roux-en-Y gastric bypass procedures (RYGB) among this population rises. Prospective research on the impact of postoperative educational interventions focused on Hispanic- Americans is needed to prevent premature weight loss plateau, weight regain, nutritional deficiencies, and relapse of obesity-related comorbidities. This randomized-controlled study evaluated the impact of a comprehensive nutrition and lifestyle education intervention (6 biweekly postoperative sessions that incorporated motivational strategies for behavioral change) as compared to a non-comprehensive approach (printed guidelines for healthy lifestyle). The variables to consider are body weight, obesity-related comorbidities (depression, diabetes, dyslipidemia, and others), nutrient status, physical activity, and eating habits in 144 morbidly-obese adult Hispanic-Americans 6 to 12 months following RYGB. Patients were randomly assigned to either the comprehensive intervention (n=72) or the comparison group (n=72). Participants (mean age 44.5 ± 13.5 years) were mainly Cuban-born females (83.3%). Intervention sessions attendance was 64%. At 12 months, both groups lost weight significantly, but those in the comprehensive intervention experienced greater excess weight loss than those in the comparison group (80% vs. 64% from preoperative excess weight, P<.001). Intervention participants were significantly more involved in physical activity (+ 14 min/week vs. – 4 min/week), had decreased depression, joint illness, and required less medication for comorbidities than comparison participants. Additionally, those in the comprehensive intervention had sustained supplement intake experiencing less folate deficiency (P=.014). The non-comprehensive intervention group significantly decreased their protein and supplement intake compared to the intervention group. Patients in the comprehensive intervention had significantly better eating habits reflected by fewer episodes of dumping syndrome, constipation, and night eating, than those in the comparison group who reported greater eating in response to negative emotions (P=.003). These findings support the importance of a comprehensive educational approach to achieve more effective weight reduction and health-related outcomes to prevent relapse of obesity-related comorbidities and nutritional deficiencies in Hispanic-Americans 6 to 12 months following RYGB.

Exploring thermal and mechanical properties of selected transition elements under extreme conditions: Experiments at high pressures and high temperatures

Transition metals (Ti, Zr, Hf, Mo, W, V, Nb, Ta, Pd, Pt, Cu, Ag, and Au) are essential building units of many materials and have important industrial applications. Therefore, it is important to understand their thermal and physical behavior when they are subjected to extreme conditions of pressure and temperature. This dissertation presents: • An improved experimental technique to use lasers for the measurement of thermal conductivity of materials under conditions of very high pressure (P, up to 50 GPa) and temperature (T up to 2500 K). • An experimental study of the phase relationship and physical properties of selected transition metals, which revealed new and unexpected physical effects of thermal conductivity in Zr, and Hf under high P-T. • New phase diagrams created for Hf, Ti and Zr from experimental data. • P-T dependence of the lattice parameters in α-hafnium. Contrary to prior reports, the α-ω phase transition in hafnium has a negative dT/dP slope. • New data on thermodynamic and physical properties of several transition metals and their respective high P-T phase diagrams. • First complete thermodynamic database for solid phases of 13 common transition metals was created. This database has: All the thermochemical data on these elements in their standard state (mostly available and compiled); All the equations of state (EoS) formulated from pressure-volume-temperature data (measured as a part of this study and from literature); Complete thermodynamic data for selected elements from standard to extreme conditions. The thermodynamic database provided by this study can be used with available thermodynamic software to calculate all thermophysical properties and phase diagrams at high P-T conditions. For readers who do not have access to this software, tabulated values of all thermodynamic and volume data for the 13 metals at high P-T are included in the APPENDIX. In the APPENDIX, a description of several other high-pressure studies of selected oxide systems is also included. Thermophysical properties (Cp, H, S, G) of the high P-T ω-phase of Ti, Zr and Hf were determined during the optimization of the EoS parameters and are presented in this study for the first time. These results should have important implications in understanding hexagonal-close-packed to simple-hexagonal phase transitions in transition metals and other materials.

Science behind management of Shark Bay and Florida Bay, two P-limited subtropical systems with different climatology and human pressures

This special issue on ‘Science for the management of subtropical embayments: examples from Shark Bay and Florida Bay’ is a valuable compilation of individual research outcomes from Florida Bay and Shark Bay from the past decade and addresses gaps in our scientific knowledge base in Shark Bay especially. Yet the compilation also demonstrates excellent research that is poorly integrated, and driven by interests and issues that do not necessarily lead to a more integrated stewardship of the marine natural values of either Shark Bay or Florida Bay. Here we describe the status of our current knowledge, introduce the valuable extension of the current knowledge through the papers in this issue and then suggest some future directions. For management, there is a need for a multidisciplinary international science program that focusses research on the ecological resilience of Shark Bay and Florida Bay, the effect of interactions between physical environmental drivers and biological control through behavioural and trophic interactions, and all under increased anthropogenic stressors. Shark Bay offers a ‘pristine template’ for this scale of study.

Food Services Styles in Chinese Hotels: Traditions and Tourism Pressures Merge

Tourist often want to experience their hosts' culture including cuisines. Their reactions can be negatively influenced by vastly different customs which confront them. What can be done, for example, when traditional food serving styles violate the tourist's sanitation standards? The authors discuss a Chinese case study-- and tell what hoteliers in China gace done to make good serving more desirable, with minimal compromise to culinary traditions.

Relationship of Lifestyle Medical Advice and Non-HDL Cholesterol Control of a Nationally Representative US Sample with Hypercholesterolemia by Race/Ethnicity

Objective. The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the associations of lifestyle medical advice and non-HDL cholesterol control of a nationally representative US sample of adults with hypercholesterolemia by race/ethnicity. Methods. Data were collected by appending sociodemographic, anthropometric, and laboratory data from two cycles of the National Health and Nutrition Survey (2007-2008 and 2009-2010). This study acquired data from male and female adults aged ≥ 20 years (N = 11,577), classified as either Mexican American (MA), (), other Hispanic (OH) (), Black non-Hispanic (BNH) (), or White non-Hispanic (WNH) (). Results. Minorities were more likely to report having received dietary, weight management, and exercise recommendations by healthcare professionals than WNH, adjusting for confounders. Approximately 80% of those receiving medical advice followed the recommendation, regardless of race/ethnicity. Of those who received medical advice, reporting “currently controlling or losing weight” was associated with lower non-HDL cholesterol. BNH who reported “currently controlling or losing weight” had higher non-HDL cholesterol than WNH who reported following the advice. Conclusion. The results suggest that current methods of communicating lifestyle advice may not be adequate across race/ethnicity and that a change in perspective and delivery of medical recommendations for persons with hypercholesterolemia is needed.

Lifestyle Behaviors and Self-Rated Health: The Living for Health Program

Background. Lack of adherence to dietary and physical activity guidelines has been linked to an increase in chronic diseases in the United States (US). The aim of this study was to assess the association of lifestyle behaviors with self-rated health (SRH). Methods. This cross-sectional study used self-reported data from Living for Health Program ( 1,701) which was conducted from 2008 to 2012 in 190 health fair events in South Florida, US. Results. Significantly higher percent of females as compared to males were classified as obese (35.4% versus 27.0%), reported poor/fair SRH (23.4% versus 15.0%), and were less physically active (33.9% versus 25.4%). Adjusted logistic regression models indicated that both females and males were more likely to report poor/fair SRH if they consumed 2 servings of fruits and vegetables per day (, 95% CI 1.30–3.54; , 95% CI 1.12–7.35, resp.) and consumed mostly high fat foods (, 95% CI 1.03–2.43; , 95% CI 1.67–2.43, resp.). The association of SRH with less physical activity was only significant in females (, 95% CI 1.17–2.35). Conclusion. Gender differences in health behaviors should be considered in designing and monitoring lifestyle interventions to prevent cardiovascular diseases.

Relationship of Lifestyle Medical Advice and Non-HDL Cholesterol Control of a Nationally Representative US Sample with Hypercholesterolemia by Race/Ethnicity

Objective: The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the associations of lifestyle medical advice and non-HDL cholesterol control of a nationally representative US sample of adults with hypercholesterolemia by race/ethnicity. Methods: Data were collected by appending sociodemographic, anthropometric, and laboratory data from two cycles of the National Health and Nutrition Survey (2007-2008 and 2009-2010). This study acquired data from male and female adults aged ≥ 20 years (N = 11,577), classified as either Mexican American (MA), (), other Hispanic (OH) (), Black non-Hispanic (BNH) (), or White non-Hispanic (WNH) (). Results: Minorities were more likely to report having received dietary, weight management, and exercise recommendations by healthcare professionals than WNH, adjusting for confounders. Approximately 80% of those receiving medical advice followed the recommendation, regardless of race/ethnicity. Of those who received medical advice, reporting “currently controlling or losing weight” was associated with lower non-HDL cholesterol. BNH who reported “currently controlling or losing weight” had higher non-HDL cholesterol than WNH who reported following the advice. Conclusion: The results suggest that current methods of communicating lifestyle advice may not be adequate across race/ethnicity and that a change in perspective and delivery of medical recommendations for persons with hypercholesterolemia is needed.

Study of Ammonia Borane and its Derivatives: Influence of Nanoconfinements and Pressures

Recently, ammonia borane has increasingly attracted researchers’ attention because of its merging applications, such as organic synthesis, boron nitride compounds synthesis, and hydrogen storage. This dissertation presents the results from several studies related to ammonia borane. The pressure-induced tetragonal to orthorhombic phase transition in ammonia borane was studied in a diamond anvil cell using in situ Raman spectroscopy. We found a positive Clapeyron-slope for this phase transformation in the experiment, which implies that the phase transition from tetragonal to orthorhombic is exothermic. The result of this study indicates that the rehydrogenation of the high pressure orthorhombic phase is expected to be easier than that of the ambient pressure tetragonal phase due to its lower enthalpy. The high pressure behavior of ammonia borane after thermal decomposition was studied by in situ Raman spectroscopy at high pressures up to 10 GPa. The sample of ammonia borane was first decomposed at ~140 degree Celcius and ~0.7 GPa and then compessed step wise in an isolated sample chamber of a diamond anvil cell for Raman spectroscopy measurement. We did not observe the characteristic shift of Raman mode under high pressure due to dihydrogen bonding, indicating that the dihydrogen bonding disappears in the decomposed ammonia borane. Although no chemical rehydrogenation was detected in this study, the decomposed ammonia borane could store extra hydrogen by physical absorption. The effect of nanoconfinement on ammonia borane at high pressures and different temperatures was studied. Ammonia borane was mixed with a type of mesoporous silica, SBA-15, and restricted within a small space of nanometer scale. The nano-scale ammonia borane was decomposed at ~125 degree Celcius in a diamond anvil cell and rehydrogenated after applying high pressures up to ~13 GPa at room temperature. The successful rehydrogenation of decomposed nano-scale ammonia borane gives guidance to further investigations on hydrogen storage. In addition, the high pressure behavior of lithium amidoborane, one derivative of ammonia borane, was studied at different temperatures. Lithium amidoborane (LAB) was decomposed and recompressed in a diamond anvil cell. After applying high pressures on the decomposed lithium amidoborane, its recovery peaks were discovered by Raman spectroscopy. This result suggests that the decomposition of LAB is reversible at high pressures.

Study protocol of European Fans in Training (EuroFIT) : a four-country randomised controlled trial of a lifestyle program for men delivered in elite football clubs

Funding The EuroFIT study is funded by the European Union’s Seventh Framework Program for research technological development and demonstration under Grant Agreement no: 602170. The Health Services Research Unit, University of Aberdeen, is core funded by the Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government Health Directorates.

Global Change Pressures on Soils from Land Use and Management

This work contributed to The input of PS and PCW contributes to the Belmont Forum/FACCE-JPI funded DEVIL project (NE/M021327/1) and for PS also contributes to the EU FP7 SmartSoil project (Project number: 289694)

Global Change Pressures on Soils from Land Use and Management

This work contributed to The input of PS and PCW contributes to the Belmont Forum/FACCE-JPI funded DEVIL project (NE/M021327/1) and for PS also contributes to the EU FP7 SmartSoil project (Project number: 289694)

Lifestyle interventions for the treatment of urinary incontinence in adults

Peer reviewed

Small-scale Fisheries and the Global Economy: Understanding Common-pool Resource Governance in the Context of Market Pressures, Neoliberal Policies, and Transnational Institutions

The purpose of this dissertation is to contribute to a better understanding of how global seafood trade interacts with the governance of small-scale fisheries (SSFs). As global seafood trade expands, SSFs have the potential to experience significant economic, social, and political benefits from participation in export markets. At the same time, market connections that place increasing pressures on resources pose risks to both the ecological and social integrity of SSFs. This dissertation seeks to explore the factors that mediate between the potential benefits and risks of global seafood markets for SSFs, with the goal of developing hypotheses regarding these relationships.

The empirical investigation consists of a series of case studies from the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. This is a particularly rich context in which to study global market connections with SSFs because the SSFs in this region engage in a variety of market-oriented harvests, most notably for octopus, groupers and snappers, lobster, and sea cucumber. Variation in market forms and the institutional diversity of local-level governance arrangements allows the dissertation to explore a number of examples.

The analysis is guided primarily by common-pool resource (CPR) theory because of the insights it provides regarding the conditions that facilitate collective action and the factors that promote long-lasting resource governance arrangements. Theory from institutional economics and political ecology contribute to the elaboration of a multi-faceted conceptualization of markets for CPR theory, with the aim of facilitating the identification of mechanisms through which markets and CPR governance actually interact. This dissertation conceptualizes markets as sets of institutions that structure the exchange of property rights over fisheries resources, affect the material incentives to harvest resources, and transmit ideas and values about fisheries resources and governance.

The case studies explore four different mechanisms through which markets potentially influence resource governance: 1) Markets can contribute to costly resource governance activities by offsetting costs through profits, 2) markets can undermine resource governance by generating incentives for noncompliance and lead to overharvesting resources, 3) markets can increase the costs of resource governance, for example by augmenting monitoring and enforcement burdens, and 4) markets can alter values and norms underpinning resource governance by transmitting ideas between local resource users and a variety of market actors.

Data collected using participant observation, survey, informal and structured interviews contributed to the elaboration of the following hypotheses relevant to interactions between global seafood trade and SSFs governance. 1) Roll-back neoliberalization of fisheries policies has undermined cooperatives’ ability to achieve financial success through engagement with markets and thus their potential role as key actors in resource governance (chapter two). 2) Different relations of production influence whether local governance institutions will erode or strengthen when faced with market pressures. In particular, relations of production in which fishers own their own means of production and share the collective costs of governance are more likely to strengthen resource governance while relations of production in which a single entrepreneur controls capital and access to the fishery are more likely to contribute to the erosion of resource governance institutions in the face of market pressures (chapter three). 3) By serving as a new discursive framework within which to conceive of and talk about fisheries resources, markets can influence norms and values that shape and constitute governance arrangements.

In sum, the dissertation demonstrates that global seafood trade manifests in a diversity of local forms and effects. Whether SSFs moderate risks and take advantage of benefits depends on a variety of factors, and resource users themselves have the potential to influence the outcomes of seafood market connections through local forms of collective action.

Risk and benefits in lifestyle sports: parkour, law and social value

This paper examines the interrelationship between law and lifestyle sports, viewed through the lens of parkour. We argue that the literature relating to legal approaches to lifestyle sport is currently underdeveloped and so seek to partially fill this lacuna. Hitherto, we argue, the law has been viewed as a largely negative presence, seen particularly in terms of the ways in which counter-cultural activities are policed and regulated, and where such activities are viewed as transgressive or undesirable. We argue that this is a somewhat unsophisticated take on how the law can operate, with law constructed as an outcome of constraints to behaviour (where the law authorises or prohibits), distinct from the legal contexts, environments and spaces in which these relationships occur. We argue that the distinctive settings in which lifestyle sports are practiced needs a more fine-grained analysis as they are settings which bear, and bring to life, laws and regulations that shape how space is to be experienced. We examine specifically the interrelationship between risk and benefit and how the law recognises issues of social utility or value, particularly within the context of lifestyle sport. We seek to move from user-centred constructions of law as an imposition, to a more nuanced position that looks at parkour at the intersections of law, space and lifestyle sport, in order to reveal how law can be used to support and extend claims to space.