Prediction of alcohol-related harm from controlled drinking strategies and alcohol consumption trajectories

Aims To establish predictors of age 21 alcohol-related harm from prior drinking patterns, current levels of alcohol consumption and use of controlled drinking strategies.

Participants One thousand, five hundred and ninety-six students recruited from an initial sample of 3300 during their final year of high school in 1993.

Design Longitudinal follow-up across five waves of data collection.

Setting Post high school in Victoria, Australia.

Measurements Self-administered surveys examining a range of health behaviours, including alcohol consumption patterns and related behaviour.

Findings Drinking behaviours at age 21 were found to be strongly predicted by drinking trajectories established through the transition from high school. Multivariate regression analysis revealed that alcohol-related harms at age 21 were reduced where current levels of alcohol use fell within limits recommended in Australian national guidelines. After controlling for this effect it was found that the range of strategies employed by participants to control alcohol use maintained a small protective influence. Post-high-school drinking trajectories continued to demonstrate a significant effect after controlling for current behaviours. Findings revealed that over one quarter of males and females drank alcohol, but on a less-than-weekly basis. This pattern of alcohol use demonstrated considerable stability through the post-school transition and was associated with a low level of subsequent harm at age 21.

Conclusions Future research should investigate whether encouraging more Australian adolescents to drink alcohol on a less-than-weekly basis may be a practical intervention target for reducing alcohol-related harms.

Study of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons emissions from burning of local wood species in Australia

Four kinds of Australian local wood species were burned in a domestic wood heater installed in a laboratory. The selected wood species include pine, red gum, yellow box and sugar gum, that are the most popular domestic fuel wood in Australia. Particulate matter emissions from burning of each load of wood were sampled isokinetically on filter media from the flue by standard stack emission sampling train. The particle laden filters then went for Gas Chromatography/ Mass Spectrometer (GC/MS) analysis to determine polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) concentrations. The sampling was conducted under two different burning conditions – air inlet of the combustion chamber fully open and half open. Approximately 15 types of PAHs were detected. Emission factors were derived as microgram of PAHs /kg of wood burned. Total particulate emission factors were also obtained from gravimetric measurement before and after the sampling. PAH emission profiles for four species were generated from the results. Comparisons of emission factors have been conducted among different species of wood, as well as under different burning conditions, ie. fast burning and slowing burning. According to the derived emission factors, pine displayed the highest level of PAHs among the four species, followed by red gum and yellow box, whereas sugar gum showed the lowest level of PAHs. Emission factors were compared between each type of wood under two different burning conditions, the slow burning condition, which was air inlet half open, clearly showed higher PAH levels compared to the fast burning condition. Total PAH fractions on particulate matter were calculated and compared among wood types under two burning conditions. During the fast burning condition, red gum and pine have the higher percentage of PAH to total particulate matter emission than sugar gum and yellow box. When changed to slow burning, the PAH fraction on particulate matter are all increased with sugar gum having the largest increase.

An web content based data mining for car consumption in China

This paper introduces an incremental FP-Growth approach for Web content based data mining and its application in solving a real world problem The problem is solved in the following ways. Firstly, we obtain the semi-structured data from the Web pages of Chinese car market and structure them and save them in local database. Secondly, we use an incremental FP-Growth algorithm for mining association rules to discover Chinese consumers' car consumption preference. To find more general regularities, an attribute-oriented induction method is also utilized to find customer's consumption preference among a range of car categories. Experimental results have revealed some interesting consumption preferences that are useful for the decision makers to make the policy to encourage and guide car consumption. Although the current data we used may not be the best representative of the actual market in practice, it is still good enough for the decision making purpose in terms of reflecting the real situation of car consumption preference under the two assumptions in the context.

The influence of point of identification on merchandise consumption

It has long been recognised that consumers can form bonds and identify strongly with the organisations with which they are involved. When the organisation in question is a professional sporting club, identification can be a complex issue. Sports fans can identify with the team as a whole, with individual players, or both. How this different point of identification affects behaviour such as merchandise consumption is the focus of this paper. The survey responses of 161 members of the Kangaroos Football (AFL) Club suggest that members can identify with both team and individual players in tandem. Far from being opposites, team and player identification were found to be distinct constructs, not significantly related to each other. The point of identification was related to the nature of merchandise consumed and the manner in which it was consumed. The results suggest both player and team identification should be encouraged and that merchandise should cater for both in an inclusive way.

The consumption of gift wrapping

Gift Wrapping is part of a valued ritual of giving that is important culturally, socially and economically. Consumer researchers have studied the process and meanings of gift giving with little consideration for the gift wrapping. The way a gift is wrapped involves a complex range of decisions and meanings. Building on existing literature we propose a model based on existing models of the gift giving process. Our model is based on value, context, relationship, and appropriateness of consumption as perceived by the donor.

Consumer complaint behaviour in sport consumption: a theoretical model

In this study, traditional consumer complaint behaviours (CCBs) are re-examined in an experiential context; specifically, the consumption of live sport. It is proposed that these behaviours are not motivated by the “traditional” antecedents, and further, that they are not enacted with the purpose of reducing dissonance. Instead, it would appear that traditional CCBs, such as private responses, direct voicing and third party action take on a more functional role in the sport consumption experience. The possibility exists that for some spectators, these CCBs, which have been traditionally classified as negative, actually contribute to overall enjoyment of, and satisfaction with, a sport consumption experience. A review of literature in the area is presented, and a theoretical model of CCB in the experiential context is offered.

Consumer complaint behaviour in sport consumption

While consumer complaint behaviour, and specifically voicing, has been extensively investigated from the perspective of goods (see Volkov et al., 2003, for a review), there have been fewer studies investigating consumer voicing with regard to services (Andreasen, 1984, 1985; Singh, 1988, 1990; Zeithaml, Berry, & Parasuraman, 1996). Further, no research can be identified in the extant literature with respect to experiential consumer voicing. This research proposes an examination of voicing behaviour of consumers in an experiential consumption setting and uses sport consumption as the context. A review of literature in the area is presented and a proposal for experiential research is offered.

In experiential consumption settings, consumers are more likely to experience emotional reactions to, and be actively involved in, the experience than in traditional consumption episodes (Addis & Holbrook, 2001; Hoffman, Kumar, & Novak, 2003; Lofman, 1991). Further, experiential consumption episodes
involve greater emotional processing, more activity, more evaluation, but less overall cognitive processing than traditional episodes (Lofman, 1991), which in turn is likely to result in different consumer behaviour in these experiential settings.

Tn this study, traditional consumer complaint behaviours are re-examined in an experiential context; specifically, consumption of live sport. It is proposed that these behaviours are not motivated by the traditional antecedents of anger and involvement and, further, that they are not enacted with the purpose of
reducing dissonance. Instead, it would appear that traditional complaint behaviour concepts such as voicing, overt aggression, and assignment of blame take on a more functional role in the sport consumption experience. The possibility exists that for some spectators these complaining behaviours that have traditionally been cJassitIed as negative, actually contribute to overall enjoyment o( and satisfaction with, a sport consumption experience.

Fruit and vegetable consumption and stroke : meta-analysis of cohort studies

Background
Increased consumption of fruit and vegetables has been shown to be associated with a reduced risk of stroke in most epidemiological studies, although the extent of the association is uncertain. We quantitatively assessed the relation between fruit and vegetable intake and incidence of stroke in a meta-analysis of cohort studies.

Methods
We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, and bibliographies of retrieved articles. Studies were included if they reported relative risks and corresponding 95% CIs of stroke with respect to frequency of fruit and vegetable intake.

Findings
Eight studies, consisting of nine independent cohorts, met the inclusion criteria. These groups included 257 551 individuals (4917 stroke events) with an average follow-up of 13 years. Compared with individuals who had less than three servings of fruit and vegetables per day, the pooled relative risk of stroke was 0·89 (95% CI 0·83–0·97) for those with three to five servings per day, and 0·74 (0·69–0·79) for those with more than five servings per day. Subgroup analyses showed that fruit and vegetables had a significant protective effect on both ischaemic and haemorrhagic stroke.

Interpretation
Increased fruit and vegetable intake in the range commonly consumed is associated with a reduced risk of stroke. Our results provide strong support for the recommendations to consume more than five servings of fruit and vegetables per day, which is likely to cause a major reduction in strokes.

Consumer construction of sport consumption experiences through role play : a literature review

Evidence exists in the literature that many traditional consumer behaviours have fundamentally different meanings when considered in an experiential context. This paper posits that voicing during the experiential consumption of sport may in fact be a factor of experiential consumption rather than an expression of dissatisfaction as in the traditional complaint behaviour model. This is significant in the interpretation of experiential sport consumption where vocalising appears to serve purposes other than complaining. This paper revises the traditional complaint behaviour literature for explanations about vocalising and then offers some alternate conceptual propositions using experiential consumption literature.

Red wine consumption increases antioxidant status and decreases oxidative stress in the circulation of both young and old humans

Background: Red wine contains a naturally rich source of antioxidants, which may protect the body from oxidative stress, a determinant of age-related disease. The current study set out to determine the in vivo effects of moderate red wine consumption on antioxidant status and oxidative stress in the circulation.
Methods: 20 young (18–30 yrs) and 20 older (≥ 50 yrs) volunteers were recruited. Each age group was randomly divided into treatment subjects who consumed 400 mL/day of red wine for two weeks, or control subjects who abstained from alcohol for two weeks, after which they crossed over into the other group. Blood samples were collected before and after red wine consumption and were used for analysis of whole blood glutathione (GSH), plasma malondialdehyde (MDA) and serum total antioxidant status.
Results: Results from this study show consumption of red wine induced significant increases in plasma total antioxidant status (P < 0.03), and significant decreases in plasma MDA (P < 0.001) and GSH (P < 0.004) in young and old subjects. The results show that the consumption of 400 mL/day of red wine for two weeks, significantly increases antioxidant status and decreases oxidative stress in the circulation.
Conclusion: It may be implied from this data that red wine provides general oxidative protection and to lipid systems in circulation via the increase in antioxidant status.

Increased consumption of fruit and vegetables is related to a reduced risk of coronary heart disease: meta-analysis of cohort studies

Increased consumption of fruit and vegetables has been shown to be associated with a reduced risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) in many epidemiological studies, however, the extent of the association is uncertain. We quantitatively assessed the relation between fruit and vegetable intake and incidence of CHD by carrying out a meta-analysis of cohort studies. Studies were included if they reported relative risks (RRs) and corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) of CHD with respect to frequency of fruit and vegetable intake. Twelve studies, consisting of 13 independent cohorts, met the inclusion criteria. There were 278 459 individuals (9143 CHD events) with a median follow-up of 11 years. Compared with individuals who had less than 3 servings/day of fruit and vegetables, the pooled RR of CHD was 0.93 (95% CI: 0.86–1.00, P=0.06) for those with 3–5 servings/day and 0.83 (0.77–0.89, P<0.0001) for those with more than 5 servings/day. Subgroup analyses showed that both fruits and vegetables had a significant protective effect on CHD. Our meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies demonstrates that increased consumption of fruit and vegetables from less than 3 to more than 5 servings/day is related to a 17% reduction in CHD risk, whereas increased intake to 3–5 servings/day is associated with a smaller and borderline significant reduction in CHD risk. These results provide strong support for the recommendations to consume more than 5 servings/day of fruit and vegetables.

The influence of perceived body image, vanity and personal values on food consumption and related behaviour

Although food is a vital part of the chemical process of life, the manner in which people choose the foods that they eat is subject to a wide variety of external and internal influences. This study employed a sequential mixed method research design to investigate the influence of perceived body image, vanity and personal values on food purchasing behaviour among 18- to 30-year-old females. It was found that although personal values and orientation have a major influence on the food purchasing and consumption process, vanity, physical health and perceived body image were major factors of influence in the purchasing and consumption decision.

Fresh kids: the efficacy of a health promoting schools approach to increasing consumption of fruit and water in Australia

The Fresh Kids programme utilized the Health Promoting Schools (HPSs) framework to design a whole-of-school, multifaceted intervention targeting specific behaviours to promote healthy eating and reduce the risk factors associated with childhood obesity. The aim of the programme was to evaluate the effectiveness of the HPS framework to increase fruit and water consumption among primary school-aged children over a 2-year period. The study design was an interrupted time series. Four primary schools in the inner west of Melbourne, Australia, participated in the programme intervention. Baseline data were collected using a lunch box audit to assess the frequency of children with fresh fruit, water and sweet drinks, either brought from home or selected from canteen lunch orders. The lunch box audit was repeated periodically for up to 2 years following programme implementation to assess the sustainability of dietary changes. Across all participating schools, significant increases between 25 and 50% were observed in the proportion of children bringing fresh fruit. Similarly, all schools recorded increases between 15 and 60% in the proportion of students bringing filled water bottles to school and reductions between 8 and 38% in the proportion of children bringing sweet drinks. These significant changes in dietary patterns were sustained for up to 2 years following programme implementation. Targeting key nutrition behaviours and using the HPS framework is an effective and simple approach which could be readily implemented in similar childhood settings. Effective strategies include facilitating organizational change within the school; integrating curriculum activities; formalizing school policy and establishing project partnerships with local community nutrition and dietetic services.