Swimming behaviour and post-swimming activity in Vitamin D receptor knockout mice

Animal experiments have shown that Vitamin D plays a role in both brain development and adult brain function. The adult Vitamin D receptor null mutant mouse (VDR -/-) is reported to be less active and more anxious than wild-type litter mate controls and to have poor swimming ability. However, an anxious behavioural phenotype is inferred from differences in locomotor behaviour. This is a general problem in behavioural phenotyping where a neurological phenotype is inferred from changes in locomotion which will be affected by non-neurological factors, such as muscle fatigue. In this study of VDR -/-, we conducted a detailed examination of one form of motor behaviour, swimming, compared to wildtype littermate controls. Swimming was assessed using a forced swim test, a laneway swimming test and a watermaze test using a visible platform. Post-swimming activity was assessed by comparing grooming and rearing behaviour before, and 5 min after, the forced swimming test. We replicated previous findings in which VDR -/- mice demonstrate more sinking episodes than wildtype controls in the forced swim test but they were similar to controls in the time taken to swim a 1 m laneway, and in the time taken to reach a visible platform in the watermaze. Thus, the VDR -/- mice were able to swim but were not able to float. Grooming and rearing behaviour of the VDR -/- mice was similar to wildtype controls before the forced swim but the VDR -/- were much less active after the swim compared with wildtype mice which displayed high levels of grooming and rearing. We conclude that VDR -/- mice have muscular and motor impairments that do not affect their ability to swim but significantly alters the ability to float as well as their post-swimming activity. Differences in muscle strength may confound tests of activity that are used to infer an anxious phenotype. (c) 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Being fit and looking healthy: Young women's and men's constructions of health and fitness

We drew on Foucault's notion of 'practices of the self' to examine how young people take up, negotiate, and resist the imperatives of a public health discourse concerned with the relationships between health, fitness, and the body. We did this through a discussion of the ways young women and men talk about their own and others' bodies, in the context of a number of in-depth interviews conducted for the Life Activity Project, a study of the place and meaning of physical activity in young people's lives, funded by an Australian Research Council Grant. We found that the young women and men in the study engaged the health/fitness discourse very differently: for the young men, health conflated with fitness as an embodied capacity to do physical work; and for the young women, health was a much more difficult and complex project associated with managing and monitoring practices associated with eating and exercise to maintain an 'appropriate' body shape.

Socioeconomic disadvantage and changes in health risk behaviours in Australia: 1989-90 to 2001

Objective. Lower socioeconomic status (SES) is associated in industrialized countries with unhealthy lifestyle characteristics, such as smoking, physical inactivity and being overweight or obese. This paper examines changes over time in the association between SES and smoking status, physical activity and being overweight or obese in Australia. Methods. Data were taken from three successive national health surveys in Australia carried out in 1989-90 (n = 54 576), 1995 (n = 53 828) and 2001 (n = 26 863). Participants in these surveys were selected using a national probability sampling strategy, and aggregated data for geographical areas are used to determine the changing association between SES and lifestyle over time. Findings. Overall, men had less healthy lifestyles, In 2001 inverse SES trends for both men and women showed that those living in lower SES areas were more likely to smoke and to be sedentary and obese, There were some important socioeconomic changes over the period 1989-90 to 2001. The least socioeconomically disadvantaged areas had the largest decrease in the percentage of people smoking tobacco (24% decrease for men and 12% for women) and the largest decrease in the percentage of people reporting sedentary activity levels (25% decrease for men and 22% for women). While there has been a general increase in the percentage over time of those who are overweight or obese, there is a modest trend for being overweight to have increased (by about 16% only among females) among those living in areas of higher SES. Conclusion. Socioeconomic inequalities have been increasing for several key risk behaviours related to health; this suggests that T specific population-based prevention strategies intended to reduce health inequalities are needed.

How does the health and well-being of young Australian vegetarian and semi-vegetarian women compare with non-vegetarians?

Objective: To compare the sociodemographic characteristics, health status and health service use of vegetarians, semi-vegetarians and non-vegetarians. Design: In cross-sectional data analyses of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health in 2000, 9113 women (aged 22-27 years) were defined as non-vegetarians if they reported including red meat in their diet., as semi-vegetarians if they excluded red meat and as vegetarians if they excluded meat, poultry and fish from their diet. Results: The estimated prevalence was 3% and 10% for vegetarian and semi-vegetarian young women. Compared with non-vegetarians, vegetarians and semi-vegetarians were more likely to live in urban areas and to not be married. Vegetarians and semi-vegetarians had lower body mass index (mean (95% confidence interval): 22.2 (21.7-22.7) and 23.0 (22.7-23.3) kg m(-2)) than non-vegetarians (23.7 (23.6-23.8) kg m(-2)) and tended to exercise more. Semi-vegetarians and vegetarians had poorer mental health, with 21-22% reporting depression compared with 15% of non-vegetarians (P < 0.001). Low iron levels and menstrual symptoms were also more common in both vegetarian groups. Vegetarian and semi-vegetarian women were more likely to consult alternative health practitioners and semi-vegetarians reported taking more prescription and non-prescription medications. Compared with non-vegetarians, semi-vegetarians were less likely and vegetarians much less likely to be taking the oral contraceptive pill. Conclusion: The levels of physical activity and body mass indices of the vegetarian and semi-vegetarian women suggest they are healthier than non-vegetarians. However, the greater reports of menstrual problems and the poorer mental health of these young women may be of clinical significance.

Unsafe driving behaviour and four wheel drive vehicles: observational study

Objective To assess the level of compliance with the new law in the United Kingdom mandating penalties for rising a hand held mobile phone while driving, to compare compliance with this law with the one on the use of seat belts, and to compare compliance with these laws between drivers of four wheel drive vehicles and drivers of normal cars. Design Observational study with two phases-one within the grace period, the other starting one week after penalties were imposed on drivers using such telephones. Setting Three busy sites in London. Participants Drivers of 38 182 normal cars and 2944 four wheel drive vehicles. Main outcome measures Proportions of drivers seen to be using hand held mobile phones and not using seat belts. Results Drivers of four wheel drive vehicles were more likely than drivers of other cars to be seen using hand held mobile phones (8.2% v 2.0%) and not complying with the law on seat belts (19.5% v 15.0%). Levels of non-compliance with both laws were slightly higher in the penalty phase of observation, and breaking one law was associated with increased likelihood of breaking the other. Conclusions The level of non-compliance with the law on the use of hand held mobile phones by drivers in London is high, as is non-compliance with the law on seat belts. Drivers of four wheel drive vehicles were four times more likely than drivers of other cars to be seen using hand held mobile phones and slightly more likely not to comply with the law on seat belts.

Parental influences on children's eating behaviour and characteristics of successful parent-focussed interventions

Parental reports suggest that difficulties related to child-feeding and children's eating behaviour are extremely common. While 'fussy eating' does not pose an immediate threat to health, over the long-term, consumption of a poor diet can contribute to the development of a range of otherwise preventable diseases. In addition, the stress and anxiety that can surround difficult mealtimes can have a detrimental impact upon both child and parental psychological wellbeing. Since parents have a great influence over what, when, and how much food is offered, feeding difficulties may be preventable by better parental awareness. The aim of this review is to describe how parental factors contribute to the development of common feeding problems, and to discuss the merits of existing interventions aimed at parents/primary caregivers to improve child-feeding and children's eating behaviour. The potential for different technologies to be harnessed in order to deliver interventions in new ways will also be discussed. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.

An online study combining the constructs from the theory of planned behaviour and protection motivation theory in predicting intention to test for chlamydia in two testing contexts

Chlamydia is a common sexually transmitted infection that has potentially serious consequences unless detected and treated early. The health service in the UK offers clinic-based testing for chlamydia but uptake is low. Identifying the predictors of testing behaviours may inform interventions to increase uptake. Self-tests for chlamydia may facilitate testing and treatment in people who avoid clinic-based testing. Self-testing and being tested by a health care professional (HCP) involve two contrasting contexts that may influence testing behaviour. However, little is known about how predictors of behaviour differ as a function of context. In this study, theoretical models of behaviour were used to assess factors that may predict intention to test in two different contexts: self-testing and being tested by a HCP. Individuals searching for or reading about chlamydia testing online were recruited using Google Adwords. Participants completed an online questionnaire that addressed previous testing behaviour and measured constructs of the Theory of Planned Behaviour and Protection Motivation Theory, which propose a total of eight possible predictors of intention. The questionnaire was completed by 310 participants. Sufficient data for multiple regression were provided by 102 and 118 respondents for self-testing and testing by a HCP respectively. Intention to self-test was predicted by vulnerability and self-efficacy, with a trend-level effect for response efficacy. Intention to be tested by a HCP was predicted by vulnerability, attitude and subjective norm. Thus, intentions to carry out two testing behaviours with very similar goals can have different predictors depending on test context. We conclude that interventions to increase self-testing should be based on evidence specifically related to test context.

A bidirectional relationship between executive function and health behavior : evidence, implications, and future directions

This work was supported by a grant from the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ES/L010437/1).

Nutrition and health: the issue is not food, nor nutrients, so much as processing [Invited commentary]

Orthodox teaching and practice on nutrition and health almost always focuses on nutrients, or else on foods and drinks. Thus, diets that are high in folate and in green leafy vegetables are recommended, whereas diets high in saturated fat and in full-fat milk and other dairy products are not recommended. Food guides such as the US Food Guide Pyramid are designed to encourage consumption of healthier foods, by which is usually meant those higher in vitamins, minerals and other nutrients seen as desirable.What is generally overlooked in such approaches, which currently dominate official and other authoritative information and education programmes, and also food and nutrition public health policies, is food processing. It is now generally acknowledged that the current pandemic of obesity and related chronic diseases has as one of its important causes increased consumption of convenience including pre-prepared foods(1,2). However, the issue of food processing is largely ignored or minimised in education and information about food, nutrition and health, and also in public health policies.A short commentary cannot be comprehensive, and a general proposal such as that made here is bound to have some problems and exceptions. Also, the social, cultural, economic and environmental consequences of food processing are not discussed here. Readers comments and queries are invited

Crystallisation behaviour and glass-forming ability in Al-La-Ni system

The crystallisation behaviour for alloys in the Al-rich corner in the Al-La-Ni system is reported in this paper Alloys were selected based on the topological instability criterion (lambda criterion) calculated from the alloy composition and metallic radii of the alloying elements and aluminum Amorphous ribbons were produced by melt-spinning and the crystallisation reactions were analysed by X-ray diffraction and calorimetry The results showed that increasing the values of lambda from 0.072 to 0.16 resulted in the following changes in the crystallisation behaviour, as predicted by the lambda criterion (a) nanocrystallisation of alpha-Al for the alloy composition corresponding to lambda = 0 072 and (b) detection of the glass transition temperature, T(g), for the alloys with composition close to lambda approximate to 0.1 line. For compositions corresponding to both ends of the lambda approximate to 0 1 line (near the binaries lines) T(g) could be detected only in the ""intermediary"" central region, and the alloy we produced in this region was considered the best glass former for the Al-rich corner Also, except for the alloys with the highest NI content, crystallisation proceeded by two distinct exothermic peaks which are typical of nanocrystallisation transformation. These behaviours are discussed in terms of compositional (lambda parameter) and topological aspects to account for cluster formation in the amorphous phase. Crown Copyright (C) 2009 Published by Elsevier B V All rights reserved

Negative stress and the outcome of treatment for binge eating

This study investigated the ability of negatively versus positively perceived stress to predict outcome of treatment for binge eating disorder (BED). Participants were 62 obese women satisfying the DSMIV research criteria for BED. Stress was measured using an instrument based on the Recent Life Change Questionnaire (RLCQ). Participants experiencing high negative stress during the study period reported a binge eating frequency three times greater than that reported by subjects experiencing low negative stress (2.14 vs. 0.65 binge-days/week). Negative stress predicted how fast an individual would reduce binge eating and demonstrated more predictive power than positive stress.