Women, migrant labor, and social change in Botswana

African Studies Center Working Paper No. 4

Residential territories: cues to burglary vulnerability

Journal ArticleNewman's work on defensible space and Altman's work on territoriality were used to formulate a hypothesis that certain design elements enhance or reflect residential territoriality and thereby influence burglars' target selections. Specifically, evidence on the links from real and symbolic barriers, traces, and detectability features to burglary vulnerability and residential territoriality are reviewed

Using accelerometer feedback to identify walking destinations, activity overestimates, and stealth exercise in obese and nonobese individuals

Journal ArticleAccelerometer output feedback might enable assessment of recall biases for moderate bouts by obese and nonobese individuals; accelerometry might also help residents recall destinations for moderate-intensity walking bouts. Methods: Adult residents' 1-week accelerometer-measured physical activity and obesity status were measured before and after a new rail stop opened (n = 51 Time 1; n = 47 Time 2). Participants recalled the week's walking bouts, described them as brisk (moderate) or not, and reported a rail stop destination or not. Results: At the end of the week, we provided accelerometry output to residents as a prompt. Recall of activity intensity was accurate for about 60% of bouts. Nonobese participants had more moderate bouts and more "stealth exercise" -moderate bouts recalled as not brisk-than did obese individuals. Obese participants had more overestimates-recalling light bouts as brisk walks-than did nonobese individuals. Compared with unprompted recall, accelerometry-prompted recalls allowed residents to describe where significantly more moderate bouts of activity occurred. Conclusion: Coupling accelerometry feedback with self-report improves research by measuring the duration, intensity, and destination of walking bouts. Recall errors and different patterns of errors by obese and nonobese individuals underscore the importance of validation by accelerometry

Walkable new urban LEED_Neighborhood-Development (LEED-ND) community design and children's physical activity: selection, environmental, or catalyst effects?

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Interest is growing in physical activity-friendly community designs, but few tests exist of communities explicitly designed to be walkable. We test whether students living in a new urbanist community that is also a pilot LEED_ND (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-Neighborhood Development) community have greater accelerometer-measured moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) across particular time periods compared to students from other communities. We test various time/place periods to see if the data best conform to one of three explanations for MVPA. Environmental effects suggest that MVPA occurs when individuals are exposed to activity-friendly settings; selection effects suggest that walkable community residents prefer MVPA, which leads to both their choice of a walkable community and their high levels of MVPA; catalyst effects occur when walking to school creates more MVPA, beyond the school commute, on schooldays but not weekends.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Fifth graders (n = 187) were sampled from two schools representing three communities: (1) a walkable community, Daybreak, designed with new urbanist and LEED-ND pilot design standards; (2) a mixed community (where students lived in a less walkable community but attended the walkable school so that part of the route to school was walkable), and (3) a less walkable community. Selection threats were addressed through controlling for parental preferences for their child to walk to school as well as comparing in-school MVPA for the walkable and mixed groups.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Minutes of MVPA were tested with 3 × 2 (Community by Gender) analyses of covariance (ANCOVAs). Community walkability related to more MVPA during the half hour before and after school and, among boys only, more MVPA after school. Boys were more active than girls, except during the half hour after school. Students from the mixed and walkable communities--who attended the same school--had similar in-school MVPA levels, and community groups did not differ in weekend MVPA, providing little evidence of selection effects.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Even after our controls for selection effects, we find evidence of environmental effects on MVPA. These results suggest that walkable community design, according to new urbanist and LEED_ND pilot design standards, is related to higher MVPA among students at certain times.</p

Adding maps (GPS) to accelerometry data to improve study participants recall of physical activity: a methodological advance in physical activity research

pre-printObjective Obtaining the ‘when, where and why' of healthy bouts of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) provides insights into natural PA. Design In Salt Lake City, Utah, adults wore accelerometer and Global Positioning System (GPS) loggers for a week in a cross-sectional study to establish baseline travel and activity patterns near a planned Complete Street intervention involving a new rail line, new sidewalks and a bike path. Results At the end of the week, research assistants met with the 918 participants who had at least three 10 h days of good accelerometer readings. Accelerometer and GPS data were uploaded and integrated within a custom application, and participants were provided with maps and time information for past MVPA bouts of ≥3 min to help them recall bout details. Participants said that ‘getting someplace' was, on average, a more important motivation for their bouts than leisure or exercise. A series of recall tests showed that participants recalled most bouts they were asked about, regardless of the duration of the bout, suggesting that participant perceptions of their shorter lifestyle bouts can be studied with this methodology. Visual prompting with a map depicting where each bout took place yielded more accurate recall than prompting with time cues alone. Conclusions These techniques provide a novel way to understand participant memories of the context and subjective assessments associated with healthy bouts of PA. Prompts with time-stamped maps that illustrate places of MVPA offer an effective method to improve understanding of activity and its supportive sociophysical context

Post-occupancy evaluation of wayfinding in a pediatric hospital: research findings and implications for instruction

Journal ArticleA post-occupancy evaluation (POE) of way finding in a new pediatric hospital pointed to a wide range of areas where wayfinding aids could be improved. After initial walk-through evaluation tours and meetings with administrators, five more systematic methods were used to assess problems: staff and visitor interviews, staff-maintained logs to record visitor requests for wayfinding, photographed traces in problem areas, behavior observation and tracking of visitors, and cognitive maps drawn by patients and parents. From the larger report of findings and recommendations, a few results are highlighted: a general assessment of wayfinding processes and problems, the importance of distinguishing inpatient and outpatient areas, the problems of radial floor layouts, and general problems with signs, colors, and other wayfinding cues. Results underscore the importance of triangulation - relying on multiple research methods to assess wayfinding. Issues relating to conducting post-occupancy analyses as class projects are also addressed

Crime, new housing, and housing incivilities in a first-ring suburb: multilevel relationships across time

Journal ArticleConcepts deriving from criminology, housing policy, and environmental psychology are integrated to test two ways that housing conditions could relate to crime in a declining first-ring suburb of Salt Lake City. For existing housing, we use a model to test whether housing incivilities, such as litter and unkempt lawns, are associated with later crime. For new housing, we test whether a new subdivision on a former brownfield creates spillover reductions in nearby crime and incivilities. Police-reported crime rates were highest for residences near the brownfield and lowest for those farther away. After the subdivision was constructed, this linear decline disappeared, reflecting less crime adjacent to the new subdivision, but also more crime farther away. A multilevel analysis shows that incivilities, particularly litter and unkempt lawns on the block, predict unexpected increases in crime. Both brownfield redevelopment and reductions in incivilities may be important ways to improve declining suburban areas

SOME QUALITATIVE COMPARISONS OF BENT AND STRAIGHT CANOE PADDLING TECHNIQUES

The bent paddle has become popular, not only among racers, but also among touring and recreational paddlers. The makers claim that the bent paddle keeps its pushing surface at a 900 angle to the water during the most powerful part of the stroke for a longer period of time than the straight paddle, thus maximizing horizontal propulsive forces. The paucity of literature on the bent paddle suggested that a pilot study was needed. It was the purpose of the present study to compare bent and straight paddles, while being used in the bow of the canoe, at both slow (touring) and fast (racing) paces

Walkable route perceptions and physical features: converging evidence for en-route walking experiences

ManuscriptGuided walks near a light rail stop in downtown Salt Lake City, UT, were examined using a 2 (gender) x 3 (route walkability: low, mixed, or high walkability features) design. Trained raters confirmed that more walkable segments had more traffic, environmental and social safety; pleasing aesthetics; natural features; pedestrian amenities; and land use diversity (using the Irvine-Minnesota physical environment audit) and a superior social milieu rating. According to tape recorded open-ended descriptions, university student participants experienced walkable route segments as noticeably safer, with a more positive social environment, fewer social and physical incivilities, and more attractive natural and built environment features. According to closed-ended scales, walkable route segments had more pleasant social and/or environmental atmosphere and better traffic safety. Few gender differences were found. Results highlight the importance of understanding subjective experiences of walkability and suggest that these experiences should be an additional focus of urban design

Physical activity mediates the relationship between perceived crime safety and obesity

pre-printObjective. The current cross-sectional study tests whether low perceived crime safety is associated with body mass index (BMI) and obesity risk and whether less moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) accounts for part of this relationship. Method. Adults (n=864) from a relatively low-income and ethnically mixed neighborhood in Salt Lake City UT (2012) were assessed for perceived crime safety, objective physical activity, and BMI measures. Results. This neighborhood had lower perceived safety than for other published studies utilizing this safety measure. In a mediation test, lower perceived crime safety was significantly associated with higher BMI and greater risk of obesity, net of control variables. Residents with lower perceived safety had less MVPA. Lower MVPA partially explained the relationship between less safety and both elevated BMI and higher obesity risk, suggesting that perceiving less crime safety limits MVPA which, in turn, increases weight. Conclusion. In this neighborhood, with relatively low perceived safety from crime, residents' low perceived safety related to more obesity and higher BMI; lower MVPA among residents explained part of this relationship. If residents are to become more active in their neighborhood it may be important to address perceived crime safety as part of broader efforts to enhance active living