A Pilot Study of Increasing Nonpurposeful Movement Breaks at Work as a Means of Reducing Prolonged Sitting

There is a plethora of workplace physical activity interventions designed to increase purposeful movement, yet few are designed to alleviate prolonged occupational sitting time. A pilot study was conducted to test the feasibility of a workplace e-health intervention based on a passive approach to increase nonpurposeful movement as a means of reducing sitting time. The study was trialled in a professional workplace with forty-six participants (33 females and 13 males) for a period of twenty-six weeks. Participants in the first thirteen weeks received a passive prompt every 45 minutes on their computer screen reminding them to stand and engage in nonpurposeful activity throughout their workday. After thirteen weeks, the prompt was disabled, and participants were then free to voluntary engage the software. Results demonstrated that when employees were exposed to a passive prompt, as opposed to an active prompt, they were five times more likely to fully adhere to completing a movement break every hour of the workday. Based on this pilot study, we suggest that the notion that people are willing to participate in a coercive workplace e-health intervention is promising, and there is a need for further investigation

An Agricultural Time Series-Cross Section Data Set

The Agricultural Time Series-Cross Section (ATICS) dataset described in this Working Paper is based on the annual crop and livestock statistics collected by the United States Department of Agriculture. These statistics, scattered through a wide assortment of published and unpublished USDA bulletins and circulars, are extensive in their coverage of the agricultural sector, are highly disaggregated, and span a time period over one hundred years in length. Yet these rich sources have never been unified into a single compilation of data which is accessible, uniform, and machine readable. The ATICS dataset is an attempt to fill this gap.

Anticipating ocean acidification's economic consequences for commercial fisheries

Author Posting. © IOP Publishing, 2009. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of IOP Publishing for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Environmental Research Letters 4 (2009): 024007, doi:10.1088/1748-9326/4/2/024007.Ocean acidification, a consequence of rising anthropogenic CO2 emissions, is poised to change marine ecosystems profoundly by increasing dissolved CO2 and decreasing ocean pH, carbonate concentration, and calcium carbonate mineral saturation state worldwide. These conditions hinder growth of calcium carbonate shells and skeletons by many marine plants and animals. The first direct impact on humans may be through declining harvests and fishery revenues from shellfish, their predators, and coral reef habitats. In a case study of U.S. commercial fishery revenues, we begin to constrain the economic effects of ocean acidification over the next 50 years using atmospheric CO2 trajectories and laboratory studies of its effects, focusing especially on mollusks. In 2007, the $3.8 billion U.S. annual domestic ex-vessel commercial harvest ultimately contributed$34 billion to the U.S. gross national product. Mollusks contributed 19%, or $748 million, of the ex-vessel revenues that year. Substantial revenue declines, job losses, and indirect economic costs may occur if ocean acidification broadly damages marine habitats, alters marine resource availability, and disrupts other ecosystem services. We review the implications for marine resource management and propose possible adaptation strategies designed to support fisheries and marine-resource-dependent communities, many of which already possess little economic resilience.This work was supported by NASA grant NNG05GG30G and a generous grant from the WHOI Development Office

Are Australian pre-service physical education teachers prepared to teach inclusive physical education?

Abstract: Australian pre-service physical education (PE) teachers must be prepared for the reality of teaching in inclusive classrooms. Past studies have indicated that the amount of academic preparedness can affect pre-service PE teachers’ intentions to successfully teach in inclusive settings. The current study measured these intentions in a sample of pre-service PE teachers from two different universities. This modified survey required participants to respond to two separate scenarios: one teaching inclusive PE to a student with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and one to a student with autism. All participants completed an adapted PE unit with an embedded practicum of different lengths. Findings indicated that pre-service teachers’ who experienced the larger adapted PE practicum had more favourable intentions towards teaching students with both disabilities compared to the other cohort. Implications of this research to improve Australian PE teacher training are discussed and recommendations are made

Physical Educators’ Efficacy in Utilising Paraprofessionals in an Inclusive Setting

Inclusion of students with disabilities (SwD) in Australian health and physical education (HPE) classes is on the rise. Reasonable adjustment to assist inclusive practice is often accomplished through the use of teaching assistants, or paraprofessionals. While this practice is commonly understood within the classroom, this approach remains obscure in the HPE setting. The purpose of this study was to explore how Australian HPE teachers utilise paraprofessionals when teaching SwD in inclusive environments. HPE teachers (N=14) completed an online questionnaire inquiring how paraprofessionals are being used and the strategies they are using to develop working relationships with paraprofessionals. The HPE teachers in our sample generally had a favourable attitudes towards the paraprofessionals they have worked with, however a lack of appropriate training and HPE curriculum knowledge were highlighted as deficient areas that may have an adverse effect on the overall HPE environment. While the paraprofessionals were recognised as providing a level of support that was generally to the satisfaction of the HPE teachers, the HPE teachers’ consistently provided areas in which the paraprofessional could improve. Strategies to foster this collaborative working relationship were also investigated, and the primary finding dealt with adequate reciprocal communication. With the move toward inclusive practice in Australian public schools this is an area that warrants further investigation so all students can benefit from a healthy and productive HPE

Intentions and Behaviours: Record-Keeping Practices of Pre-Service Teachers During Professional Experience

The current expectation of teachers in Australia is that they are able to collect, interpret, and use data related to teaching and learning. Digital technologies in schools, such as electronic methods of record-keeping, offer enhanced opportunities for teachers to perform this skill, and its application has been growing steadily in education. The aim of this exploratory study was to examine fourth-year pre-service teachers’ behaviour in record-keeping whilst on their final professional experience placement. Using Ajzen’s (1992) theory of planned behavior, this study found that most pre-service teachers exhibited positive attitudes toward the behaviour of recording, using, and analysing classroom data. Despite this positive attitude, many pre-service teachers were unable to maintain any system of record-keeping whilst on placement. For many, this was due to a number of external influences or perceived external influences, which acted as a constraint to their behaviour

Ocean acidification’s potential to alter global marine ecosystem services

Author Posting. © Oceanography Society, 2009. This article is posted here by permission of Oceanography Society for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Oceanography 22 no. 4 (2009): 172-181.Ocean acidification lowers the oceanic saturation states of carbonate minerals and decreases the calcification rates of some marine organisms that provide a range of ecosystem services such as wild fishery and aquaculture harvests, coastal protection, tourism, cultural identity, and ecosystem support. Damage to marine ecosystem services by ocean acidification is likely to disproportionately affect developing nations and coastal regions, which often rely more heavily on a variety of marine-related economic and cultural activities. Losses of calcifying organisms or changes in marine food webs could significantly alter global marine harvests, which provided 110 million metric tons of food for humans and were valued at US$160 billion in 2006. Some of the countries most dependent on seafood for dietary protein include developing island nations with few agricultural alternatives. Aquaculture, especially of mollusks, may meet some of the future protein demand of economically developing, growing populations, but ocean acidification may complicate aquaculture of some species. By 2050, both population increases and changes in carbonate mineral saturation state will be greatest in low-latitude regions, multiplying the stresses on tropical marine ecosystems and societies. Identifying costeffective adaptive strategies to mitigate the costs associated with ocean acidification requires development of transferable management strategies that can be tailored to meet the specific needs of regional human and marine communities.S. Doney and S. Cooley were supported in part by a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF ATM-0628582). H. Kite- Powell’s participation in this work was supported in part by the WHOI Marine Policy Center

Use of formative research in developing a knowledge translation approach to rotavirus vaccine introduction in developing countries

BACKGROUND: Rotavirus gastroenteritis is the leading cause of diarrheal disease mortality among children under five, resulting in 450,000 to 700,000 deaths each year, and another 2 million hospitalizations, mostly in the developing world. Nearly every child in the world is infected with rotavirus at least once before they are five years old. Vaccines to prevent rotavirus or minimize its severity are now becoming available, and have already been introduced into the public vaccine programs of several Latin American countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) has made rotavirus vaccine introduction in developing countries a high priority. The WHOs Guidelines for Vaccine Introduction indicates that a key determinant to achieving vaccine introduction is the public health priority of the disease, suggesting that where the disease is not a priority uptake of the vaccine is unlikely. WHO recommends conducting a qualitative analysis of opinions held by the public health community to determine the perceptions of the disease and the priority given to the vaccine. METHODS: This paper presents the formative research results of a qualitative survey of public health providers in five low- and middle-income countries to determine if and to what degree rotavirus is perceived to be a problem and the priority of a vaccine. Open-ended surveys were carried out through focus group discussions and one-on-one interviews. RESULTS: Researchers discovered that in all five countries knowledge of rotavirus was extremely low, and as a result was not considered a high priority. However, diarrhea among young children was considered a high priority among public health providers in the three poorest countries with relatively high levels of child mortality: India, Indonesia, and Nicaragua. CONCLUSION: In the poorest countries, advocacy and communication efforts to raise awareness about rotavirus sufficient for prioritization and accelerated vaccine introduction might benefit from a knowledge translation approach that delivers information and evidence about rotavirus through the broader context of diarrheal disease control, an existing priority, and including information about other new interventions, specifically low-osmolarity oral rehydration solution and zinc treatment

Are Australian pre-service physical education teachers prepared to teach inclusive physical education?

Australian pre-service physical education (PE) teachers must be prepared for the reality of teaching in inclusive classrooms. Past studies have indicated that the amount of academic preparedness can affect pre-service PE teachers' intentions to successfully teach in inclusive settings. The current study measured these intentions in a sample of pre-service PE teachers from two different universities. This modified survey required participants to respond to two separate scenarios: one teaching inclusive PE to a student with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and one to a student with autism. All participants completed an adapted PE unit with an embedded practicum of different lengths. Findings indicated that pre-service teachers' who experienced the larger adapted PE practicum had more favourable intentions towards teaching students with both disabilities compared to the other cohort. Implications of this research to improve Australian PE teacher training are discussed and recommendations are made