Trends in demographic, health behaviour factors, and self-perceived weight status : influences on obesity in Australia from 1995 to 2005

Overweight and obesity are two of the most important emerging public health issues in our time and regarded by the World Health Organisation [WHO] (1998) as a worldwide epidemic. The prevalence of obesity in the USA is the highest in the world, and Australian obesity rates fall into second place. Currently, about 60% of Australian adults are overweight (BMI „d 25kg/m2). The socio-demographic factors associated with overweight and/or obesity have been well demonstrated, but many of the existing studies only examined these relationships at one point of time, and did not examine whether significant relationships changed over time. Furthermore, only limited previous research has examined the issue of the relationship between perception of weight status and actual weight status, as well as factors that may impact on people¡¦s perception of their body weight status. Aims: The aims of the proposed research are to analyse the discrepancy between perceptions of weight status and actual weight status in Australian adults; to examine if there are trends in perceptions of weight status in adults between 1995 to 2004/5; and to propose a range of health promotion strategies and furth er research that may be useful in managing physical activity, healthy diet, and weight reduction. Hypotheses: Four alternate hypotheses are examined by the research: (1) there are associations between independent variables (e.g. socio -demographic factors, physical activity and dietary habits) and overweight and/or obesity; (2) there are associations between the same independent variables and the perception of overweight; (3) there are associations between the same independent variables and the discrepancy between weight status and perception of weight status; and (4) there are trends in overweight and/or obesity, perception of overweight, and the discrepancy in Australian adults from 1995 to 2004/5. Conceptual Framework and Methods: A conceptual framework is developed that shows the associations identified among socio -demographic factors, physical activity and dietary habits with actual weight status, as well as examining perception of weight status. The three latest National Health Survey data bases (1995 , 2001 and 2004/5) were used as the primary data sources. A total of 74,114 Australian adults aged 20 years and over were recruited from these databases. Descriptive statistics, bivariate analyses (One -Way ANOVA tests, unpaired t-tests and Pearson chi-square tests), and multinomial logistic regression modelling were used to analyse the data. Findings: This research reveals that gender, main language spoken at home, occupation status, household structure, private health insurance status, and exercise are related to the discrepancy between actual weight status and perception of weight status, but only gender and exercise are related to the discrepancy across the three time point s. The current research provides more knowledge about perception of weight status independently. Factors which affect perception of overweight are gender, age, language spoken at home, private health insurance status, and diet ary habits. The study also finds that many factors that impact overweight and/or obesity also have an effect on perception of overweight, such as age, language spoken at home, household structure, and exercise. However, some factors (i.e. private health insurance status and milk consumption) only impact on perception of overweight. Furthermore, factors that are rel ated to people’s overweight are not totally related to people’s underestimation of their body weight status in the study results. Thus, there are unknown factors which can affect people’s underestimation of their body weight status. Conclusions: Health promotion and education activities should provide education about population health education and promotion and education for particular at risk sub -groups. Further research should take the form of a longitudinal study design ed to examine the causal relationship between overweight and/or obesity and underestimation of body weight status, it should also place more attention on the relationships between overweight and/or obesity and dietary habits, with a more comprehensive representation of SES. Moreover, further research that deals with identification of characteristics about perception of weight status, in particular the underestimation of body weight status should be undertaken.

Econometric analysis of stuctural systems with permanent and transitory shocks

This paper considers the implications of the permanent/transitory decomposition of shocks for identification of structural models in the general case where the model might contain more than one permanent structural shock. It provides a simple and intuitive generalization of the influential work of Blanchard and Quah [1989. The dynamic effects of aggregate demand and supply disturbances. The American Economic Review 79, 655–673], and shows that structural equations with known permanent shocks cannot contain error correction terms, thereby freeing up the latter to be used as instruments in estimating their parameters. The approach is illustrated by a re-examination of the identification schemes used by Wickens and Motto [2001. Estimating shocks and impulse response functions. Journal of Applied Econometrics 16, 371–387], Shapiro and Watson [1988. Sources of business cycle fluctuations. NBER Macroeconomics Annual 3, 111–148], King et al. [1991. Stochastic trends and economic fluctuations. American Economic Review 81, 819–840], Gali [1992. How well does the ISLM model fit postwar US data? Quarterly Journal of Economics 107, 709–735; 1999. Technology, employment, and the business cycle: Do technology shocks explain aggregate fluctuations? American Economic Review 89, 249–271] and Fisher [2006. The dynamic effects of neutral and investment-specific technology shocks. Journal of Political Economy 114, 413–451].

Shareholder values, not shareholder value : the role of 'ethical funds' and 'ethical entrepreneurs' in connecting shareholders' values with their investments

This article rebuts the still-common assumption that managers of capitalist entities have a duty, principally or even exclusively, to maximise the monetary return to investors on their investments. It argues that this view is based on a misleadingly simplistic conception of human values and motivation. Not only is acting solely to maximise long-term shareholder value difficult, it displays, at best, banal single-mindedness and, at worst, sociopathy. In fact, real investors and managers have rich constellations of values that should be taken account of in all their decisions, including their business decisions. Awareness of our values, and public expression of our commitment to exemplify them, make for healthier investment and, in the long term, a healthier corporate world. Individuals and funds investing on the basis of such values, in companies that express their own, display humanity rather than pathology. Preamble I always enjoyed the discussions that Michael Whincop and I had about the interaction of ethics and economics. Each of us could see an important role for these disciplines, as well as our common discipline of law. We also shared an appreciation of the institutional context within which much of the drama of life is played out. In understanding the behaviour of individuals and the choices they make, it seemed axiomatic to each of us that ethics and economics have a lot to say. This was also true of the institutions in which they operate. Michael ·had a strong interest in 'the new institutional economics' I and I had a strong interest in 'institutionalising ethics' right through the 1990s.' This formed the basis of some fascinating and fruitful discussions. Professor Charles Sampford is Director, Key Centre for Ethics, Law, Justice and Governance, Foundation Professor of Law at Griffith University and President, International Institute for Public Ethics.DrVirginia Berry is a Research Fellow at theKey Centre for Ethics, Law,Justice andGovernance, Griffith University. Oliver Williamson, one of the leading proponents of the 'new institutional economics', published a number of influential works - see Williamson (1975, 1995,1996). Sampford (1991),' pp 185-222. The primary focus of discussions on institutionalising ethics has been in public sectorethics: see, for example, Preston and Sampford (2002); Sampford (1994), pp 114-38. Some discussion has, however, moved beyond the public sector to include business - see Sampford 200408299

Cyber bullying in schools and the law : is there an effective means of addressing the power imbalance?

Cyber bullying – or bullying through the use of technology – is a growing phenomenon which is currently most commonly experienced by young people and the consequences manifested in schools. Cyber bullying shares many of the same attributes as face-to-face bullying such as a power imbalance and a sense of helplessness on the part of the target. Not surprisingly, targets of face-to-face bullying are increasingly turning to the law, and it is likely that targets of cyber bullying may also do so in an appropriate case. This article examines the various criminal, civil and vilification laws that may apply to cases of cyber bullying and assesses the likely effectiveness of these laws as a means of redressing that power imbalance between perpetrator and target.

Safety climate and relational conflict in the eyes of team members : examining the role of need for closure

This study was aimed at examining the safety climate and relational conflict within teams at the individual level. A sample of 372 respondents, divided into 50 teams, was used to test our hypothesis. It was proposed - and discovered - that team members’ individual differences in need for closure mitigated the negative relationship between perceptions of team safety climate and team relational conflict. The implications of our findings and the study’s limitations are discussed.

Thermogravimetric analysis-mass spectrometry (TG-MS) of selected Chinese kaolinites

Thermogravimetric analysis-mass spectrometry, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to characterize eight kaolinite samples from China. The results show that the thermal decomposition occurs in three main steps (a) desorption of water below 100 °C, (b) dehydration at about 225 °C, (c) well defined dehydroxylation at around 450 °C. It is also found that decarbonization took place at 710 °C due to the decomposition of calcite impurity in kaolin. The temperature of dehydroxylation of kaolinite is found to be influenced by the degree of disorder of the kaolinite structure and the gases evolved in the decomposition process can be various because of the different amount and kinds of impurities. It is evident by the mass spectra that the interlayer carbonate from impurity of calcite and organic carbon is released as CO2 around 225, 350 and 710 °C in the kaolinite samples.

Low sodium haemodialysis reduces interdialytic fluid consumption but paradoxically increases post-dialysis thirst

Background Interdialytic weight gain (IDWG) can be reduced by lowering the dialysate sodium concentration ([Na]) in haemodialysis patients. It has been assumed that this is because thirst is reduced, although this has been difficult to prove. We compared thirst patterns in stable haemodialysis patients with high and low IDWG using a novel technique and compared the effect of low sodium dialysis (LSD) with normal sodium dialysis (NSD). Methods Eight patients with initial high IDWG and seven with low IDWG completed hourly visual analogue ratings of thirst using a modified palmtop computer during the dialysis day and the interdialytic day. The dialysate [Na] was progressively reduced by up to 5 mmol/l over five treatments. Dialysis continued at the lowest attained [Na] for 2 weeks and the measurements were repeated. The dialysate [Na] then returned to baseline and the process was repeated. Results Baseline interdialytic day mean thirst was higher than the dialysis day mean for the high IDWG group (49.9±14.0 vs 36.2±16.6) and higher than the low weight gain group (49.9±14.0 vs 34.1±14.6). This trend persisted on LSD, but there was a pronounced increase in post-dialysis thirst scores for both groups (high IDWG: 46±13 vs 30±21; low IDWG: 48±24 vs 33±18). The high IDWG group demonstrated lower IDWG during LSD than NSD (2.23±0.98 vs 2.86±0.38 kg; P<0.05). Conclusions Our results indicate that patients with high IDWG experience more intense feelings of thirst on the interdialytic day. LSD reduces their IDWG, but paradoxically increases thirst in the immediate post-dialysis period.

Physical inactivity, appetite regulation and obesity

In a consumerist society obsessed with body image and thinness, obesity levels have reached an all-time high. This multi-faceted book written by a range of experts, explores the social, cultural, clinical and psychological factors that lie behind the Obesity Epidemic . It is required reading for the many healthcare professionals dealing with the effects of obesity and for anyone who wants to know more about the causes of weight gain and the best ways of dealing with it. Fat Matters covers a range of issues from sociology through medicine to technology. This is not a book for the highly specialised expert. Rather it is a book that shows the diversity of approaches to the phenomenon of obesity, tailored to the reader who wants to be up-to-date and well-informed on a subject that is possibly as frequently discussed and as misunderstood as the weather.

The effect of dialect mismatch on likelihood-maximising speech enhancement for noise-robust speech recognition

Traditional speech enhancement methods optimise signal-level criteria such as signal-to-noise ratio, but these approaches are sub-optimal for noise-robust speech recognition. Likelihood-maximising (LIMA) frameworks are an alternative that optimise parameters of enhancement algorithms based on state sequences generated for utterances with known transcriptions. Previous reports of LIMA frameworks have shown significant promise for improving speech recognition accuracies under additive background noise for a range of speech enhancement techniques. In this paper we discuss the drawbacks of the LIMA approach when multiple layers of acoustic mismatch are present – namely background noise and speaker accent. Experimentation using LIMA-based Mel-filterbank noise subtraction on American and Australian English in-car speech databases supports this discussion, demonstrating that inferior speech recognition performance occurs when a second layer of mismatch is seen during evaluation.

Cigarette smoking in young adults : the influence of the HTR2A T102C polymorphism and punishment sensitivity

Background: The C allele of a common polymorphism of the serotonin 2A receptor (HTR2A) gene, T102C, results in reduced synthesis of 5-HT2A receptors and has been associated with current smoking status in adults. The -1438A/G polymorphism, located in the regulatory region of this gene, is in linkage disequilibrium with T102C, and the A allele is associated with increased promoter activity and with smoking in adult males. We investigated the contributions of the HTR2A gene, chronic psychological stress, and impulsivity to the prediction of cigarette smoking status and dependence in young adults. Methods: T102C and -1438A/G genotyping was conducted on 132 healthy Caucasian young adults (47 smokers) who completed self-report measures of chronic stress, depressive symptoms, impulsive personality and cigarette use. Results: A logistic regression analysis of current cigarette smoker user status, after adjusting for gender, depressive symptom severity and chronic stress, indicated that the T102C TT genotype relative to the CC genotype (OR = 7.53), and lower punishment sensitivity (OR = 0.91) were each significant predictive risk factors. However, for number of cigarettes smoked, only lower punishment sensitivity was a significant predictor (OR = 0.81). Conclusions: These data indicate the importance of the T102C polymorphism to tobacco use but not number of cigarettes smoked for Caucasian young adults. Future studies should examine whether this is explained by effects of nicotine on the serotonin system. Lower punishment sensitivity increased risk of both smoking and of greater consumption, perhaps via a reduced sensitivity to cigarette health warnings and negative physiological effects.

Monitoring of the vertical movements of rail sleepers with the passage of trains

Due to an ever increasing demand for more frequent and higher volume of train service, the physical conditions of tracks in modem railways are deteriorating more quickly when compared to tracks built decades ago. There are incidences in both the UK and Hong Kong indicating there are needs for a more stringent checks on the rail conditions using suitable and effective non-invasive and nondestructive condition monitoring system.

Selective accumulation of virus-specific CD8+ T cells within the peripheral blood stem cell compartment

The absence of cellular immunity is central to the pathogenesis of herpesvirus-mediated diseases after allogeneic hemopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). For both bone marrow (BM)– and granulocyte-colony stimulating factor–mobilized peripheral blood stem cells (PBSCs) HSCT, donor-derived Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and cytomegalovirus (CMV) peptide–specific CD8+ T cells clones undergo early expansion and persist long-term, with additional diversification arising from novel antigen-specific clones from donor-derived progenitors. Whether BM or PBSC is the superior source of antiviral CD8+ T cells is unclear. Given that PBSC has largely replaced BM as a source of stem cells for HSCT, it is unlikely that herpesvirus effector T-cell reconstitution will ever be compared prospectively. PBSC grafts contain 10 to 30 times more T cells than BM and a randomized study found proven viral infections were more frequent in BM than PBSC recipients, suggesting viral-specific T-cell immunity is enhanced in PBSC. Recently Moss showed in lung cancer patients that herpesvirus-specific BM-derived CD8+ T cells have unique homing properties relative to herpesvirus-specific CD8+ T cells present in unmobilized peripheral blood (PB). Immunodominant EBV-lytic peptide–specific CD8+ T cells were enriched in BM but were reduced for CMV peptide–specific CD8+ T cells relative to PB. EBV-latent peptide–specific CD8+ T cells were equivalent, which has relevance in the context of posttransplantation lymphoproliferative disorder for which impaired EBV-latent CD8+ T-cell immunity is a risk-factor. A comparison of herpesvirus-specific cellular immunity in PBSC versus PB has yet to be performed.

Gaseous air pollution and emergency hospital visits for hypertension in Beijing, China : a time-stratified case-crossover study

Background: A number of epidemiological studies have been conducted to research the adverse effects of air pollution on mortality and morbidity. Hypertension is the most important risk factor for cardiovascular mortality. However, few previous studies have examined the relationship between gaseous air pollution and morbidity for hypertension. ---------- Methods: Daily data on emergency hospital visits (EHVs) for hypertension were collected from the Peking University Third Hospital. Daily data on gaseous air pollutants (sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2)) and particulate matter less than 10 μm in aerodynamic diameter (PM10) were collected from the Beijing Municipal Environmental Monitoring Center. A time-stratified case-crossover design was conducted to evaluate the relationship between urban gaseous air pollution and EHVs for hypertension. Temperature and relative humidity were controlled for. ---------- Results: In the single air pollutant models, a 10 μg/m3 increase in SO2 and NO2 were significantly associated with EHVs for hypertension. The odds ratios (ORs) were 1.037 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.004-1.071) for SO2 at lag 0 day, and 1.101 (95% CI: 1.038-1.168) for NO2 at lag 3 day. After controlling for PM10, the ORs associated with SO2 and NO2 were 1.025 (95% CI: 0.987-1.065) and 1.114 (95% CI: 1.037-1.195), respectively.---------- Conclusion: Elevated urban gaseous air pollution was associated with increased EHVs for hypertension in Beijing, China.

The Australian response to climate change : business as usual or legal innovation?

Through international agreement to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol the global community has acknowledged that climate change is a global problem and sought to achieve reductions in global emissions, within a sufficient timeframe, to avoid dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system. The sheer magnitude of emissions reductions required within such an urgent timeframe presents a challenge to conventional regulatory approaches both internationally and within Australia. The phenomenon of climate change is temporally and geographically challenging and it is scientifically complex and uncertain. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the current Australian legal response to climate change and to examine the legal measures which have been proposed to promote carbon trading, energy efficiency, renewable energy, and carbon sequestration initiatives across Australia. As this paper illustrates, the current Australian approach is clearly ineffective and the law as it stands overwhelmingly inadequate to address Australia’s emissions and meet the enormity of the challenges posed by climate change. Consequently, the government should look towards a more effective legal framework to achieve rapid and urgent transformations in the selection of energy sources, energy use and sequestration initiatives across the Australian community.