Nitrogen dioxide exposures among a selected group of residents of substandard housing in Houston, Texas

Nitrogen dioxide (NO$\sb2)$ levels in sixteen substandard houses located in Houston, Texas were examined. The classification of the houses as substandard was based on an assessment of structural integrity which would affect air exchange rates. In these homes, unvented gas space heaters were operated as the primary source of heat.^ The Ogawa passive sampling device was used to measure NO$\sb2$ concentrations over 24 to 48-hour periods during generally cold weather. A sampler was placed in the kitchen and bedroom of each house. The female head of household was asked to wear a monitor during area monitoring to assess her personal exposure. Outdoor levels of NO$\sb2$ were also measured.^ Mean (standard deviation) levels of kitchen, bedroom and personal exposures were 280 (125) ppb, 256 (155) ppb and 164 (102) ppb, respectively. Additional short-term ($<$24 hours) samples were measured in three houses. The mean level of NO$\sb2$ measured outdoors was 51 ppb over the course of the study.^ The measurements obtained with the Ogawa sampler were compared to those levels obtained using a reference method (chemiluminescence). Outdoor levels measured with the diffusion samplers were 48% higher.^ These results suggest that wintertime NO$\sb2$ levels within substandard houses using gas appliances for heating and cooking are extremely elevated. Further work is needed to investigate the prevalence of possible health effects associated with these exposures. ^

AN INVESTIGATION OF VOLATILE ORGANIC AIR CONTAMINANTS IN THE INDOOR MANUFACTURED HOUSING ENVIRONMENT (TEXAS)

Manufactured housing has been found to have substantial levels of formaldehyde in the indoor air. Because mobile homes are more affordable than conventional housing, there has been a large increase in their use in the U.S. This increase in mobile home use has been substantial in the sunbelt regions such as Texas, where high temperatures and humidities may enhance out-gassing of formaldehyde and other volatile organic compounds from construction and furnishing materials and increase any potential health hazards.^ The influences of environmental, architectural and temporal factors on the presence of indoor formaldehyde and other organic compounds were investigated in conjunction with the Texas Indoor Air Quality Study of manufactured housing. A matched pair of mobile homes, one with electric heating and cooking utilities and the other with propane gas utilities, were used for a series of controlled experiments over a fourteen month period from October, 1982 through November, 1983.^ Over this fourteen month period formaldehyde levels decreased approximately 33%. Daily fluctuations of 20% to 40% were observed even with a constant indoor temperature. An increase in indoor temperature of 8(DEGREES)C doubled the measured formaldehyde concentration. Opening windows resulted in decreases of indoor formaldehyde levels of up to 50%. Studies of the impact of propane as a cooking source showed no increase in formaldehyde levels with stove use.^ The presence and concentration of selected volatile organic compounds is influenced greatest by occupancy. Occupants continually open and close windows and doors, vary the operation and settings (temperature) of air control systems, and vary in their selection of furnishings and use of consumer products, which may act as sources of indoor air contaminants. ^

Engaging stakeholders in community-level obesity prevention programming: Evaluation of the Fit Family Challenge

Introduction: Both a systems approach to change and a focus on multi-sector interventions ensures obesity prevention programming within the community is equitable, sustainable, and cost-effective. An authentic community engagement approach is required to implement interventions guided by best-evidence research and practice. Although there are examples illustrating the benefits of community engagement, there is no standardized method to implement it. The San Antonio Sports Foundation (SA Sports), a non-profit community-based organization, implements a variety of free events and programs promoting active life styles. One such program is the Fit Family Challenge which is a summer-long program implemented at the school level targeted at families. ^ Aims: This thesis was a culmination of the experience from the student collaborating with SA Sports as part of a practicum opportunity. Using secondary data collected by the Fit Family Challenge during the 2011 year, the goals of this thesis were: to assess individual changes; evaluate short-term impact; and describe the community engagement process. ^ Methods: SA Sports collected quantitative and qualitative data during the implementation and evaluation of the FFC program. SA Sports allowed the used of de-identified data to be analyzed to study the aims of this thesis. ^ Results: The program was able to provide families with the knowledge, information, and opportunity to exercise as a family and cook healthier meals. School district coordinators were generally satisfied and illustrated the benefits of a community partnership. An authentic community engagement was present highlighting the importance of communication, collaboration and the sustainability of such partnerships in the community. ^ Conclusion: The success of an obesity program should focus on triggers that initiate behavioral change rather than physiological changes. The evaluation was guided by a community engagement approach, which illustrated the development of new partnerships and the strengthening of other collaborations. Ultimately, the engagement approach empowered the community to identify their own problems and build collaboration, rather than tackling obesity prevention alone. ^

Age determination of sediment core SO75-26KL, Portuguese margin

A benthic isotope record has been measured for core SO75-26KL from the upper Portuguese margin (1099 m water depth) to monitor the response of thermohaline overturn in the North Atlantic during Heinrich events. Evaluating benthic delta18O in TS diagrams in conjunction with equilibrium deltac fractionation implies that advection of Mediterranean outflow water (MOW) to the upper Portuguese margin was significantly reduced during the last glacial (< 15% compared to 30% today). The benthic isotope record along core SO75-26KL therefore primarily monitors variability of glacial North Atlantic conveyor circulation. The 14C-accelerator mass spectrometry ages of 13.54±.07 and 20.46±.12 ka for two ice-rafted detritus (IRD) layers in the upper core section and an interpolated age of 36.1 ka for a third IRD layer deeper in the core are in the range of published 14C ages for Heinrich events H1, H2, and H4. Marked depletion of benthic delta13C by 0.7-1.1 per mil during the Heinrich events suggests reduced thermohaline overturn in the North Atlantic during these events. Close similarity between meltwater patterns (inferred from planktonic delta18O) at Site 609 and ventilation patterns (inferred from benthic delta13C) in core SO75-26KL implies coupling between thermohaline overturn and surface forcing, as is also suggested by ocean circulation models. Benthic delta13C starts to decrease 1.5-2.5 kyr before Heinrich events Hl and H4, fully increased values are reached 1.5-3 kyr after the events, indicating a successive slowdown of thermohaline circulation well before the events and resumption of the conveyor's full strength well after the events. Benthic delta13C changes in the course of the Heinrich events show subtle maxima and minima suggesting oscillatory behavior of thermohaline circulation, a distinct feature of thermohaline instability in numerical models. Inferrred gradual spin-up of thermohaline circulation after Hl and H4 is in contrast to abrupt wanning in the North Atlantic region that is indicated by sudden increases in Greenland ice core delta18O and in marine faunal records from the northern North Atlantic. From this we infer that thermohaline circulation can explain only in part the rapid climatic oscillations seen in glacial sections of the Greenland ice core record.

Fission track analyses of ODP Hole 129-800A samples

Four models of fission track annealing in apatite are compared with measured fission track lengths in samples from Site 800 in the East Mariana Basin, Ocean Drilling Program Leg 129, given an independently determined temperature history. The temperature history of Site 800 was calculated using a one-dimensional, compactive, conductive heat flow model assuming two end-member thermal cases: one for cooling of Jurassic ocean crust that has experienced no subsequent heating, and one for cooling of Cretaceous ocean crust. Because the samples analyzed were only shallowly buried and because the tectonic history of the area since sample deposition is simple, resolution of the temperature history is high. The maximum temperature experienced by the sampled bed is between 16°-21°C and occurs at 96 Ma; temperatures since the Cretaceous have dropped in spite of continued pelagic sediment deposition because heat flow has continued to decay exponentially and bottom-water temperatures have dropped. Fission tracks observed within apatite grains from the sampled bed are 14.6 +/- 0.1 µm (1 sigma) long. Given the proposed temperature history of the samples, one unpublished and three published models of fission track annealing predict mean track lengths from 14.8 to 15.9 µm. These models require temperatures as much as 40°C higher than the calculated paleotemperature maximum of the sampled bed to produce the same degree of track annealing. Measured and predicted values are different because annealing models are based on extrapolation of high temperature laboratory data to geologic times. The model that makes the closest prediction is based on the greatest number of experiments performed at low temperature and on an apatite having composition closest to that of the core samples.

La Revista de medicina aplicada a los deportes, educación física y trabajo (Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Argentina) entre los años 1935 y 1940 : Principales conceptualizaciones sobre los deportes, los juegos, las gimnasias y la higiene

La pregunta que guía la investigación es cómo son entendidos los juegos, los deportes, las gimnasias y la higiene en la Revista de Medicina aplicada a los deportes, educación física y trabajo, entre los años 1935, momento de su fundación, y 1940. Se trata de la divulgación oficial de la Filial Argentina de la Unión Internacional de Médicos del Deporte. Se entiende a la publicación como una forma de legitimar y deslegitimar, desde el discurso médico, ciertos comportamientos relativos al cuerpo de las personas. Se plantean como objetivos: a) Comprender a la Revista de medicina aplicada a los deportes, educación física y trabajo en relación al contexto argentino e internacional de la última mitad de la década de 1930; b) Analizar el discurso médico como legitimador/deslegitimador de prácticas corporales en la publicación en cuestión; y c) Indagar las formas en que son entendidos los juegos, los deportes, las gimnasias y la higiene. Se opta por una metodología de tipo cualitativa o no estándar y por la técnica de rastreo bibliográfico

Educación Física y deportes : las instituciones deportivas y sus actores

El trabajo aquí expuesto intenta presentar, a modo de síntesis, las características generales y algunas conclusiones del proyecto de investigación "La educación física y los deportes: las instituciones deportivas en la perspectiva de los actores", desarrollado desde el año 2003 hasta el año 2005. Desde él se buscó, a partir de la recuperación de la voz de los actores de las instituciones deportivas -padres, dirigentes, entrenadores y profesores, practicantes y jugadores-, como también desde el análisis desde los discursos y las prácticas, reconocer las ideas y conceptos que conviven en la cotidianeidad institucional; las formas de organización distintivas de esas instituciones; los modos de relación entre los diversos actores y las formas y modos sociales que sobre ellas actúan. Se indagó en las instituciones deportivas con la finalidad de rastrear los sentidos y significados que les otorgan los actores, su organización y dinámica de funcionamiento, las razones de su proceder, los principios y lógicas que las configuran. Asimismo se analizaron las articulaciones existentes con macroinstituciones externas, la autonomía o dependencia respecto de éstas, y la incidencia que tienen sobre las lógicas de las instituciones deportivas

Os primórdios do esporte no sistema ONU : I MINEPS (1976) e Carta Internacional de Educaçao Física (1978)

In the sport field, Physical Education, which is a curricular discipline in basic education, and body practices of the UN education system started to have an active participation from the 1970s. The aim of this paper is precisely to analyze the documents and central events in the early days in the relationship between the UN system and its indications for political sports, Physical Education and body practices. Thus, we can understand the outlines of greater integration and organic nature of the actions in the Sport field and Physical Education, seeking to fulfill its role of a worldwide organic intelectual group

La Revista de medicina aplicada a los deportes, educación física y trabajo (Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Argentina) entre los años 1935 y 1940 : Principales conceptualizaciones sobre los deportes, los juegos, las gimnasias y la higiene

La pregunta que guía la investigación es cómo son entendidos los juegos, los deportes, las gimnasias y la higiene en la Revista de Medicina aplicada a los deportes, educación física y trabajo, entre los años 1935, momento de su fundación, y 1940. Se trata de la divulgación oficial de la Filial Argentina de la Unión Internacional de Médicos del Deporte. Se entiende a la publicación como una forma de legitimar y deslegitimar, desde el discurso médico, ciertos comportamientos relativos al cuerpo de las personas. Se plantean como objetivos: a) Comprender a la Revista de medicina aplicada a los deportes, educación física y trabajo en relación al contexto argentino e internacional de la última mitad de la década de 1930; b) Analizar el discurso médico como legitimador/deslegitimador de prácticas corporales en la publicación en cuestión; y c) Indagar las formas en que son entendidos los juegos, los deportes, las gimnasias y la higiene. Se opta por una metodología de tipo cualitativa o no estándar y por la técnica de rastreo bibliográfico

Educación Física y deportes : las instituciones deportivas y sus actores

El trabajo aquí expuesto intenta presentar, a modo de síntesis, las características generales y algunas conclusiones del proyecto de investigación "La educación física y los deportes: las instituciones deportivas en la perspectiva de los actores", desarrollado desde el año 2003 hasta el año 2005. Desde él se buscó, a partir de la recuperación de la voz de los actores de las instituciones deportivas -padres, dirigentes, entrenadores y profesores, practicantes y jugadores-, como también desde el análisis desde los discursos y las prácticas, reconocer las ideas y conceptos que conviven en la cotidianeidad institucional; las formas de organización distintivas de esas instituciones; los modos de relación entre los diversos actores y las formas y modos sociales que sobre ellas actúan. Se indagó en las instituciones deportivas con la finalidad de rastrear los sentidos y significados que les otorgan los actores, su organización y dinámica de funcionamiento, las razones de su proceder, los principios y lógicas que las configuran. Asimismo se analizaron las articulaciones existentes con macroinstituciones externas, la autonomía o dependencia respecto de éstas, y la incidencia que tienen sobre las lógicas de las instituciones deportivas

Os primórdios do esporte no sistema ONU : I MINEPS (1976) e Carta Internacional de Educaçao Física (1978)

In the sport field, Physical Education, which is a curricular discipline in basic education, and body practices of the UN education system started to have an active participation from the 1970s. The aim of this paper is precisely to analyze the documents and central events in the early days in the relationship between the UN system and its indications for political sports, Physical Education and body practices. Thus, we can understand the outlines of greater integration and organic nature of the actions in the Sport field and Physical Education, seeking to fulfill its role of a worldwide organic intelectual group

G-force measurements at Mount Nyiragongo

To evaluate the mechanical stress on the volcanic edifice that results from lava lake level variations, we deployed a self-recording, differential capacitance (MEMS Inertial Sensor STMicroelectronics LIS3LV02DQ), 3-axis X6-1A accelerometer (Gulf Coast Data Concepts, LLC) at a distance of ~100m from the center of the Nyiragongo lava lake on freshly erupted lava flows. The device range was used in high (12-bit) resolution mode, which corresponds to a sensitivity of about 1 mg. The device was set to high-sensitivity mode with four additional bits to improve resolution, yet with a much lower signal-noise ratio. Once in position, the accelerometer continuously recorded data for three-day periods in June 2010. The system was oriented so that the X- and Y-axes form a plain parallel to the lava lake. During data collection, we did not attempt to calibrate the precision of the angle because relative G-force measurements were required instead of absolute G-force measurements. To distinguish the tiny accelerations caused by temperature differentials of the atmosphere, from the forces caused by magma movements, the temperature of the X6-1A device was continuously recorded. Temperature variations were corrected for by applying a de-correlation method to the recorded signal. Data was collected at 20 Hz, regrouped into batches that cover 1 hour per observation and associated with one averaged temperature measurement. This method was reproducible because diurnal temperature variations were the main cause for heating and cooling.

La Revista de medicina aplicada a los deportes, educación física y trabajo (Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Argentina) entre los años 1935 y 1940 : Principales conceptualizaciones sobre los deportes, los juegos, las gimnasias y la higiene

La pregunta que guía la investigación es cómo son entendidos los juegos, los deportes, las gimnasias y la higiene en la Revista de Medicina aplicada a los deportes, educación física y trabajo, entre los años 1935, momento de su fundación, y 1940. Se trata de la divulgación oficial de la Filial Argentina de la Unión Internacional de Médicos del Deporte. Se entiende a la publicación como una forma de legitimar y deslegitimar, desde el discurso médico, ciertos comportamientos relativos al cuerpo de las personas. Se plantean como objetivos: a) Comprender a la Revista de medicina aplicada a los deportes, educación física y trabajo en relación al contexto argentino e internacional de la última mitad de la década de 1930; b) Analizar el discurso médico como legitimador/deslegitimador de prácticas corporales en la publicación en cuestión; y c) Indagar las formas en que son entendidos los juegos, los deportes, las gimnasias y la higiene. Se opta por una metodología de tipo cualitativa o no estándar y por la técnica de rastreo bibliográfico

Educación Física y deportes : las instituciones deportivas y sus actores

El trabajo aquí expuesto intenta presentar, a modo de síntesis, las características generales y algunas conclusiones del proyecto de investigación "La educación física y los deportes: las instituciones deportivas en la perspectiva de los actores", desarrollado desde el año 2003 hasta el año 2005. Desde él se buscó, a partir de la recuperación de la voz de los actores de las instituciones deportivas -padres, dirigentes, entrenadores y profesores, practicantes y jugadores-, como también desde el análisis desde los discursos y las prácticas, reconocer las ideas y conceptos que conviven en la cotidianeidad institucional; las formas de organización distintivas de esas instituciones; los modos de relación entre los diversos actores y las formas y modos sociales que sobre ellas actúan. Se indagó en las instituciones deportivas con la finalidad de rastrear los sentidos y significados que les otorgan los actores, su organización y dinámica de funcionamiento, las razones de su proceder, los principios y lógicas que las configuran. Asimismo se analizaron las articulaciones existentes con macroinstituciones externas, la autonomía o dependencia respecto de éstas, y la incidencia que tienen sobre las lógicas de las instituciones deportivas

Os primórdios do esporte no sistema ONU : I MINEPS (1976) e Carta Internacional de Educaçao Física (1978)

In the sport field, Physical Education, which is a curricular discipline in basic education, and body practices of the UN education system started to have an active participation from the 1970s. The aim of this paper is precisely to analyze the documents and central events in the early days in the relationship between the UN system and its indications for political sports, Physical Education and body practices. Thus, we can understand the outlines of greater integration and organic nature of the actions in the Sport field and Physical Education, seeking to fulfill its role of a worldwide organic intelectual group