'It is fun, fitness and football really': a process evaluation of a football-based health intervention for men

Concerns about gender inequalities in longevity, particularly premature male mortality, have prompted a range of innovative approaches to health promotion work dating back to the 1980s. In developing such work, sport, and football in particular, has emerged as a gendered cultural field that has utility for engaging men in community health initiatives. Evaluations of such work have shown that health initiatives using football settings, football interventions or even club branding can have positive impact on various health measures in the short and longer term. However, little work to date has looked at the underlying mechanisms that generate success in such projects. This paper presents secondary analysis of data collected during the evaluation of the Premier League Health (PLH) programme specifically focusing on these underlying mechanisms and how/where gender (masculinities) appears in these processes. We draw on interview data with 16 staff who had been involved in the delivery of the PLH initiative and 58 men who took part. Thematic analysis highlighted two overarching (and underpinning) themes: 'Trust', what processes it was key to and how it was developed and sustained; and 'Change', including what it was facilitated by and what impact it had. The paper adds to our understanding of how active listening, flexibility and sustained engagement are key to community-based sports projects' success. Furthermore, it demonstrates how the physicality and sociability of involvement, rather than any direct focus on 'health', are important in acting as a springboard for facilitating reflection and aiding lifestyle changes for men. © 2013 Taylor & Francis

Peat Characterization and Uptake of Nickel (II) and Cobalt (II) in a Saprist Peat Column

In this study, fibrist and saprist sphagnum peat soils taken from a bog in Torbay, Newfoundland (Canada) were characterized. The saprist and fibrist peat soils had wet bulk densities of 0.65 and 0.60 g/cm3, respectively, and cation-exchange capacities of 70 and 45 meq/100 g, respectively. The pH of both peat soils was 4.2 and the soils were amorphous for the most part; however, the fibrist peat was more porous than the saprist peat. Results of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and 13carbon nuclear magnetic resonance suggested the presence of carboxylic acid, alcoholic hydroxyl, phenolic hydroxyl, amine and amide functional groups in both peats. The less reported amine and amide groups may have been observed because non-destructive characterization techniques were employed. The saprist peat was studied as an Ni2+ and Co2+ adsorbent in a vertical downflow fixed-bed column and at the end of each column experiment, metal ions in the upper layer of the peat were desorbed with HCl. The metal sorption capacity of the saprist peat increased with decreasing flow rate and overall the sorption capacity of Ni2+ was two times greater than the sorption capacity of Co2+. Ni2+ may have been retained by a combination of ion exchange and complexation, while Co2+ may have been retained only by complexation

Interpreting immunological indices: the importance of taking parasite community into account. An example in blackbirds Turdus merula.

13 pagesInternational audienceDespite the intensive use of immune indices in immunoecology, whether to interpret the results of immune indices in terms of actual immune competence (i.e. ability to control and clear parasite infections as indicated by high values of immune indices associated with low parasite loads) or current immune activation (pathogenic infection being associated with high parasite load and high values of immune indices) is still an open question. Most studies to date have produced contrasting results focused on the effect of a single parasite species despite the fact that hosts usually harbour a community of parasites that influences one another's impact on host immune response. We simultaneously assessed blood parasites, intestinal parasites and ectoparasite loads in male blackbirds and compared these measures to several immune indices to investigate how parasites explain the variation around the mean of these immune indices. Parasite loads covaried within hosts. Immune indices better reflected the interacting effects of these parasites than their independent effect. Immune indices may therefore be better indicators of ongoing pathogenic infections than immunocompetence. Furthermore, intestinal parasites explained a significant part of the variance in most immune indices through their interactions with other parasites, suggesting that they have a strong influence in modulating immune function. Taking the parasite community into account in immunoecology studies will certainly help increase our understanding of immune indices