671 research outputs found
Randomised controlled trial of primary school based intervention to reduce risk factors for obesity
OBJECTIVE: To assess if a school based intervention was
effective in reducing risk factors for obesity.
DESIGN: Group randomised controlled trial.
SETTING: 10 primary schools in Leeds.
PARTICIPANTS: 634 children aged 7-11 years.
INTERVENTION: Teacher training, modification of school
meals, and the development of school action plans
targeting the curriculum, physical education, tuck
shops, and playground activities.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Body mass index, diet,
physical activity, and psychological state.
RESULTS: Vegetable consumption by 24 hour recall was
higher in children in the intervention group than the
control group (weighted mean difference 0.3
portions/day, 95% confidence interval 0.2 to 0.4),
representing a difference equivalent to 50% of
baseline consumption. Fruit consumption was lower
in obese children in the intervention group ( - 1.0,
- 1.8 to - 0.2) than those in the control group. The
three day diary showed higher consumption of high
sugar foods (0.8, 0.1 to 1.6)) among overweight
children in the intervention group than the control
group. Sedentary behaviour was higher in overweight
children in the intervention group (0.3, 0.0 to 0.7).
Global self worth was higher in obese children in the
intervention group (0.3, 0.3 to 0.6). There was no
difference in body mass index, other psychological
measures, or dieting behaviour between the groups.
Focus groups indicated higher levels of self reported
behaviour change, understanding, and knowledge
among children who had received the intervention.
CONCLUSION: Although it was successful in producing
changes at school level, the programme had little
effect on children's behaviour other than a modest
increase in consumption of vegetables
The Bright and the Dark Side of Malin 1
Malin 1 has long been considered a prototype giant, dark matter dominated Low
Surface Brightness galaxy. Two recent studies, one based on a re-analysis of
VLA HI observations and the other on an archival Hubble I-band image, throw a
new light on this enigmatic galaxy and on its dark/luminous matter properties.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, to appear in the Proceedings of the 41st ESLAB
Symposium "The Impact of HST on European Astronomy", 29 May to 1 June 2007,
ESTEC, Noordwijk, N
Evaluation of implementation and effect of primary school based intervention to reduce risk factors for obesity
OBJECTIVES: To implement a school based health
promotion programme aimed at reducing risk factors
for obesity and to evaluate the implementation
process and its effect on the school.
DESIGN: Data from 10 schools participating in a group
randomised controlled crossover trial were pooled
and analysed.
SETTING: 10 primary schools in Leeds.
Participants 634 children (350 boys and 284 girls)
aged 711 years.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Response rates to
questionnaires, teachers' evaluation of training and
input, success of school action plans, content of
school meals, and children's knowledge of healthy
living and self reported behaviour.
RESULTS: All 10 schools participated throughout the
study. 76 (89%) of the action points determined by
schools in their school action plans were achieved,
along with positive changes in school meals. A high
level of support for nutrition education and
promotion of physical activity was expressed by both
teachers and parents. 410 (64%) parents responded to
the questionnaire concerning changes they would like
to see implemented in school. 19 out of 20 teachers
attended the training, and all reported satisfaction
with the training, resources, and support. Intervention
children showed a higher score for knowledge,
attitudes, and self reported behaviour for healthy
eating and physical activity.
CONCLUSION: This programme was successfully
implemented and produced changes at school level
that tackled risk factors for obesity
Spin state and phase competition in TbBaCo_{2}O_{5.5} and the lanthanide series LnBaCo_{2}O_{5+\delta} (0<=\delta<=1)
A clear physics picture of TbBaCoO is revealed on the basis of
density functional theory calculations. An antiferromagnetic (AFM)
superexchange coupling between the almost high-spin Co ions competes
with a ferromagnetic (FM) interaction mediated by both p-d exchange and double
exchange, being responsible for the observed AFM-FM transition. And the
metal-insulator transition is accompanied by an xy/xz orbital-ordering
transition. Moreover, this picture can be generalized to the whole lanthanide
series, and it is predicted that a few room-temperature magnetoresistance
materials could be found in LnBaACoO
(Ln=Ho,Er,Tm,Yb,Lu; A=Sr,Ca,Mg).Comment: 13 pages, 2 figures; to be published in Phys. Rev. B on 1st Sept.
Title and Bylines are added to the revised versio
Evolution of supermassive black holes
Supermassive black holes (SMBHs) are nowadays believed to reside in most
local galaxies, and the available data show an empirical correlation between
bulge luminosity - or stellar velocity dispersion - and black hole mass,
suggesting a single mechanism for assembling black holes and forming spheroids
in galaxy halos. The evidence is therefore in favour of a co-evolution between
galaxies, black holes and quasars. In cold dark matter cosmogonies, small-mass
subgalactic systems form first to merge later into larger and larger
structures. In this paradigm galaxy halos experience multiple mergers during
their lifetime. If every galaxy with a bulge hosts a SMBH in its center, and a
local galaxy has been made up by multiple mergers, then a black hole binary is
a natural evolutionary stage. The evolution of the supermassive black hole
population clearly has to be investigated taking into account both the
cosmological framework and the dynamical evolution of SMBHs and their hosts.
The seeds of SMBHs have to be looked for in the early Universe, as very
luminous quasars are detected up to redshift higher than z=6. These black holes
evolve then in a hierarchical fashion, following the merger hierarchy of their
host halos. Accretion of gas, traced by quasar activity, plays a fundamental
role in determining the two parameters defining a black hole: mass and spin. A
particularly intriguing epoch is the initial phase of SMBH growth. It is very
challenging to meet the observational constraints at z=6 if BHs are not fed at
very high rates in their infancy.Comment: Extended version of the invited paper to appear in the Proceedings of
the Conference "Relativistic Astrophysics and Cosmology - Einstein's Legacy
Spin Fluctuations and the Magnetic Phase Diagram of ZrZn2
The magnetic properties of the weak itinerant ferromagnet ZrZn_2 are analyzed
using Landau theory based on a comparison of density functional calculations
and experimental data as a function of field and pressure. We find that the
magnetic properties are strongly affected by the nearby quantum critical point,
even at zero pressure; LDA calculations neglecting quantum critical spin
fluctuations overestimate the magnetization by a factor of approximately three.
Using renormalized Landau theory, we extract pressure dependence of the
fluctuation amplitude. It appears that a simple scaling based on the
fluctuation-dissipation theorem provides a good description of this pressure
dependence.Comment: 4 revtex page
Electronic structure study of double perovskites FeReO (A=Ba,Sr,Ca) and SrMoO (M=Cr,Mn,Fe,Co) by LSDA and LSDA+U
We have implemented a systematic LSDA and LSDA+U study of the double
perovskites FeReO (A=Ba,Sr,Ca) and SrMoO
(M=Cr,Mn,Fe,Co) for understanding of their intriguing electronic and magnetic
properties. The results suggest a ferrimagnetic (FiM) and half-metallic (HM)
state of FeReO (A=Ba,Sr) due to a pdd- coupling between the
down-spin Re/Fe orbitals via the intermediate O
ones, also a very similar FiM and HM state of SrFeMoO.
In contrast, a decreasing Fe component at Fermi level () in the
distorted CaFeReO partly accounts for its nonmetallic behavior,
while a finite - coupling between the down-spin
Re/Fe orbitals being present at serves to
stabilize its FiM state. For SrCrMoO compared with
SrFeMoO, the coupling between the down-spin Mo/Cr
orbitals decreases as a noticeable shift up of the Cr 3d
levels, which is likely responsible for the decreasing value and weak
conductivity. Moreover, the calculated level distributions indicate a
Mn(Co)/Mo ionic state in SrMnMoO
(SrCoMoO), in terms of which their antiferromagnetic insulating
ground state can be interpreted. While orbital population analyses show that
owing to strong intrinsic pd covalence effects, SrMoO
(M=Cr,Mn,Fe,Co) have nearly the same valence state combinations, as accounts
for the similar M-independent spectral features observed in them.Comment: 21 pages, 3 figures. to be published in Phys. Rev. B on 15th Se
"Low-state" Black Hole Accretion in Nearby Galaxies
I summarize the main observational properties of low-luminosity AGNs in
nearby galaxies to argue that they are the high-mass analogs of black hole
X-ray binaries in the "low/hard" state. The principal characteristics of
low-state AGNs can be accommodated with a scenario in which the central engine
is comprised of three components: an optically thick, geometrically accretion
disk with a truncated inner radius, a radiatively inefficient flow, and a
compact jet.Comment: 8 pages. To appear in From X-ray Binaries to Quasars: Black Hole
Accretion on All Mass Scales, ed. T. J. Maccarone, R. P. Fender, and L. C. Ho
(Dordrecht: Kluwer
Extrapolating SMBH correlations down the mass scale: the case for IMBHs in globular clusters
Empirical evidence for both stellar mass black holes M_bh<10^2 M_sun) and
supermassive black holes (SMBHs, M_bh>10^5 M_sun) is well established.
Moreover, every galaxy with a bulge appears to host a SMBH, whose mass is
correlated with the bulge mass, and even more strongly with the central stellar
velocity dispersion sigma_c, the `M-sigma' relation. On the other hand,
evidence for "intermediate-mass" black holes (IMBHs, with masses in the range
1^2 - 10^5 M_sun) is relatively sparse, with only a few mass measurements
reported in globular clusters (GCs), dwarf galaxies and low-mass AGNs. We
explore the question of whether globular clusters extend the M-sigma
relationship for galaxies to lower black hole masses and find that available
data for globular clusters are consistent with the extrapolation of this
relationship. We use this extrapolated M-sigma relationship to predict the
putative black hole masses of those globular clusters where existence of
central IMBH was proposed. We discuss how globular clusters can be used as a
constraint on theories making specific predictions for the low-mass end of the
M-sigma relation.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Astrophysics and
Space Science; fixed typos and a quote in Sec.
Magnetic properties of the frustrated AFM spinel ZnCr_2O_4 and the spin-glass Zn_{1-x}Cd_xCr_2O_4 (x=0.05,0.10)
The -dependence (2- 400 K) of the electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR),
magnetic susceptibility, , and specific heat, , of the
antiferromagnetic (AFM) spinel ZnCrO and the spin-glass
(SG) ZnCdCrO () is reported. These
systems behave as a strongly frustrated AFM and SG with K and -400 K K. At high-
the EPR intensity follows the and the -value is -independent.
The linewidth broadens as the temperature is lowered, suggesting the existence
of short range AFM correlations in the paramagnetic phase. For
ZnCrO the EPR intensity and decreases below 90 K and 50
K, respectively. These results are discussed in terms of nearest-neighbor
Cr (S %) spin-coupled pairs with an exchange coupling of 50 K. The appearance of small resonance modes for K,
the observation of a sharp drop in and a strong peak in
at K confirms, as previously reported, the existence of long range
AFM correlations in the low- phase. A comparison with recent neutron
diffraction experiments that found a near dispersionless excitation at 4.5 meV
for and a continuous gapless spectrum for ,
is also given.Comment: 17 pages, 8 figures, 1 Table. Submitted to Physical Review
- …