10,000 Steps Rockhampton: A Whole Community Approach to Increasing Levels of Physical Activity

10,000 Steps Rockhampton is a multi-strategy health promotion program which aims to develop sustainable community-based strategies to increase physical activity.The central coordinating focus of the project is the use of pedometers to raise awareness of and provide motivation for physical activity, around the theme of '10,000 steps/day - Every step counts.' To date, five key strategies have been implemented: (1) a media-based awareness raising campaign; (2) promotion of physical activity by health professionals; (3) improving social support for physical activity through group-based programs; (4) working with local council to improve environmental support for physical activity; and (5) establishment of a ‘micro-grants’ fund to which community groups could apply for assistance with small, innovative physical activity enhancing projects. Strategies were introduced on a rolling basis beginning in February 2002 with 'layering' of interventions designed to address the multi-level individual social and environmental determinants of physical activity. The project was quasi-experimental in design, involving collection of baseline and two year follow-up data from community based surveys in Rockhampton and in a matched regional Queensland town. In August 2001,the baseline CATI survey (N=1281)found that 47.9% of men and 33.0% of women were meeting the national guidelines for physical activity. In August 2002, a smaller survey (N=400) found an increase in activity levels among women (39.7% active) but not in men (48.5%). Data from the two year follow up survey, to be conducted in August 2003, will be presented, with discussion of the major successes and challenges of this landmark physical activity intervention. Acknowledgement: This project is supported by a grant from Health Promotion Queensland

Levels of consensus and majority and minority influence

Three experiments are reported which examine the effects of consensus information on majority and minority influence. In all experiments two levels of consensus difference were examined; large (82% versus 18%) and small (52% versus 48%). Experiment 1 showed that a majority source had more influence than a minority source, irrespective of consensus level. Experiment 2 examined the cause of this effect by presenting only the source label (‘majority’ versus ‘minority’), only the consensus information (percentages) or both. The superior influence of the majority was again found when either (a) both source label and consensus information were given (replicating Experiment 1) and (b) only consensus information was given, but not when (c) only the source label was given. The results showed majority influence was due to the consensus information indicating more than 50% of the population supported that position. Experiment 3 also manipulated message quality (strong versus weak arguments) to identify whether systematic processing had occurred. Message quality only had an impact with the minority of 18%. These studies show that consensus information has different effects for majority and minority influence. For majority influence, having over 50% support is sufficient to cause compliance while for a minority there are advantages to being numerically small, in terms of leading to detailed processing of its message.

Systematic and heuristic processing of majority and minority-endorsed messages:the effects of varying outcome relevance and levels of orientation on attitude and message processing

Two experiments investigated the conditions under which majority and minority sources instigate systematic processing of their messages. Both experiments crossed source status (majority vs. minority) with message quality (strong vs. weak arguments). In each experiment, message elaboration was manipulated by varying either motivational (outcome relevance, Experiment 1) or cognitive (orientating tasks, Experiment 2) factors. The results showed that when either motivational or cognitive factors encouraged low message elaboration, there was heuristic acceptance of the majority position without detailed message processing. When the level of message elaboration was intermediate, there was message processing only for the minority source. Finally, when message elaboration was high, there was message processing for both source conditions. These results show that majority and minority influence is sensitive to motivational and cognitive factors that constrain or enhance message elaboration and that both sources can lead to systematic processing under specific circumstances. © 2007 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

The levels of neopterin, biopterin and the neopterin/biopterin ratio in urine from control subjects and patients with Alzheimer’s disease and Down’s syndrome

The levels of neopterin, biopterin and the neopterin/biopterin ratio (N/B) were measured in urine samples taken from normal young and elderly control subjects, exceptionally healthy elderly control subjects classified according to the ‘Senieur’ protocol and patients with Down’s syndrome (DS) or Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The N/B ratio was approximately unity in control groups with the exception of the normal elderly controls. The levels of neopterin and biopterin declined with age in the exceptionally healthy ‘Senieur’ control group. The N/B ratio was elevated in young and old DS patients as a result of the significant increase in neopterin. Neopterin levels were significantly elevated in AD patients compared with the healthy elderly controls, but this did not result in a significant increase in the N/B ratio in these patients. The N/B ratio increased with age in AD patients as a result of a decline in biopterin. These results suggested that there is a cellular immune reponse in DS and AD patients which in DS, may precede the formation of beta-amyloid deposits in the brain. In addition, there may be a deficiency in tetrahydrobiopterin biosynthesis in AD which becomes more marked with age.

The levels of ribitol, arabitol and mannitol in individual lobes of the lichen Parmelia conspersa (Ehrh. ex Ach.) ACH.

The levels of the soluble carbohydrates ribitol, arabitol and mannitol were measured in individual lobes of the lichen Parmelia conspersa (Ehrh. ex Ach.) Ach. Lobes were collected from a north and a south facing slate rock surface in South Gwynedd, Wales, U.K. on 4 days during 1990-1991. On each day sampled, the most significant variation in soluble carbohydrate levels was between the individual lobes of a thallus. In addition, carbohydrate levels were significantly greater on the south facing rock surface on 2 of the 4 days sampled. Factorial analyses of variance suggested that the levels of individual carbohydrates varied significantly between days but not between north and south facing rock surfaces. Mannitol levels varied less between days than arabitol levels. Levels of ribitol, arabitol and mannitol were positively correlated in individual lobes. A stepwise multiple regression suggested that on the north facing rock surface, arabitol and mannitol levels could be explained by variations in the level of ribitol. By contrast, on the south facing rock surface, the levels of fungal carbohydrates were less dependent on the level of ribitol and there was evidence of a relationship between arabitol and mannitol. Variations in carbohydrate production, allocation and metabolism could help to explain lobe growth variation in foliose lichens and the radial growth of lobes over a longer period of time. Greater carbohydrate production rather than differences in allocation and metabolism may explain the increased growth and frequency of P. conspersa on south facing rock surfaces in South Gwynedd. © 1994.

Background levels of urban land contamination

The research work reported in this thesis is concerned with the development and application of an urban scale sampling methodology for measuring and assessing background levels of heavy metal soil contamination in large and varied urban areas. The policy context of the work is broadly the environmental health problems posed by contaminated land and their implications for urban development planning. Within this wider policy context, the emphasis in the research has been placed on issues, related to the determination and application of 'guidelines' for assessing the significance of contaminated land for environmental planning. In concentrating on background levels of land contamination, the research responds to the need for additional techniques which address both the problems of measuring soil contamination at the urban scale and which are also capable of providing detailed information for use in the assessment of contaminated sites. Therefore, a key component of the work has been the development of a land-use based sampling framework for generating spatially comprehensive data on heavy metals in soil. The utility of the information output of the sampling method is demonstrated in two alternative ways. Firstly, it has been used to map the existing pattern of typical levels of heavy metals in urban soils. Secondly, it can be used to generate both generalised data in the form of 'reference levels' from which the overall significance of .background contamination may be assessed and detailed data, termed 'normal limit levels' for use in the assessment of site specific investigation data. The fieldwork was conducted in the West Midlands Metropolitan County and surface soil has been sampled and analysed for a measure of plant-available' and 'total' lead cadmium, copper and zinc. The research contrasts with much of the previous work on contaminated land which has generally concentrated on either the detailed investigation of individual sites suspected of being contaminated or the appraisal of land contamination resulting from specific point sources.

Plasma levels of HDL and carotenoids are lower in dementia patients with vascular comorbidities

Elevated serum cholesterol concentrations in mid-life increase risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD) in later life. However, lower concentrations of cholesterol-carrying high density lipoprotein (HDL) and its principal apolipoprotein A1 (ApoA1) correlate with increased risk for AD. As HDL transports oxocarotenoids, which are scavengers of peroxynitrite, we have investigated the hypothesis that lower HDL and oxocarotenoid concentrations during AD may render HDL susceptible to nitration and oxidation and in turn reduce the efficiency of reverse cholesterol transport (RCT) from lipid-laden cells. Fasting blood samples were obtained from subjects with 1) AD without cardiovascular comorbidities and risk factors (AD); 2) AD with cardiovascular comorbidities and risk factors (AD Plus); 3) normal cognitive function; for carotenoid determination by HPLC, analysis of HDL nitration and oxidation by ELISA, and 3H-cholesterol export to isolated HDL. HDL concentration in the plasma from AD Plus patients was significantly lower compared to AD or control subject HDL levels. Similarly, lutein, lycopene, and zeaxanthin concentrations were significantly lower in AD Plus patients compared to those in control subjects or AD patients, and oxocarotenoid concentrations correlated with Mini-Mental State Examination scores. At equivalent concentrations of ApoA1, HDL isolated from all subjects irrespective of diagnosis was equally effective at mediating RCT. HDL concentration is lower in AD Plus patients' plasma and thus capacity for RCT is compromised. In contrast, HDL from patients with AD-only was not different in concentration, modifications, or function from HDL of healthy age-matched donors. The relative importance of elevating HDL alone compared with elevating carotenoids alone or elevating both to reduce risk for dementia should be investigated in patients with early signs of dementia.

Are democratising countries ‘rewarded’ with higher levels of foreign aid?

The paper examines how flows of foreign aid have reacted to events of democratisation in developing countries. Using a panel dataset of 136 aid-receiving countries between 1980 and 2009, aid allocation regressions reveal that Western donors in general have tended to react to visible, major democratic transitions by increasing aid to the partner country, but no significant increases can be identified in the case of countries introducing smaller democratic reforms. The increases in aid flows are not sustained over time, implying that donors do not provide long-term support to nascent democracies. Also, democratisations in Sub-Saharan Africa do not seem to have been rewarded with higher levels of aid.

Types of Addresses and Levels of use in the TCP/IP Protocol Stack

The publication comments on certain moments of the method of teaching the types of addresses and their use in the TCP/IP protocol stack.