Prevalence and Use of Fitness Tracking Devices within a College Community

Purpose: Wearable devices for tracking health and fitness related activities are thought to motivate individuals to participate in regular exercise. The purpose of this study was to examine the frequency of these wearable fitness tracking devices in a college setting. Methods: Students, faculty, administration, and staff of Linfield College were asked to complete a survey that examined the types of fitness tracking devices owned, frequency of use, and application of the device. Results: Of 217 participants surveyed (67 males, 150 females), 29.49% own a fitness tracker, with the most common types being a phone app (46.2% of faculty, staff, and administration) and a specific wearable wrist device (44.7% of students). Step count tracking was the most popularly used feature among all participants (86.8% of students and 96.2% of faculty, staff, and administration). 84% of all participants reported that the device encouraged their participation in physical activity. For those not owning a device (70.51% of participants), lack of interest was the most prevalent reason reported against purchasing a device, followed by expense. Conclusion: Our results suggest that a small percentage of individuals across a college community own fitness tracking devices, despite the fact that they are perceived to encourage physical activity

Vulnerability to Stroke: Implications of Perinatal Programming of the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis

Chronic stress is capable of exacerbating each major, modifiable, endogenous risk factor for cerebrovascular and cardiovascular disease. Indeed, exposure to stress can increase both the incidence and severity of stroke, presumably through activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Now that characterization of the mechanisms underlying epigenetic programming of the HPA axis is well underway, there has been renewed interest in examining the role of early environment on the evolution of health conditions across the entire lifespan. Indeed, neonatal manipulations in rodents that reduce stress responsivity, and subsequent life-time exposure to glucocorticoids, are associated with a reduction in the development of neuroendocrine, neuroanatomical, and cognitive dysfunctions that typically progress with age. Although improved day to day regulation of the HPA axis also may be accompanied by a decrease in stroke risk, evidence from rodent studies suggest that an associated cost could be increased susceptibility to inflammation and neuronal death in the event that a stroke does occur and the individual is exposed to persistently elevated corticosteroids. Given its importance in regulation of health and disease states, any long-term modulation of the HPA axis is likely to be associated with both benefits and potential risks. The goals of this review article are to examine (1) the clinical and experimental data suggesting that neonatal experiences can shape HPA axis regulation, (2) the influence of stress and the HPA axis on stroke incidence and severity, and (3) the potential for neonatal programming of the HPA axis to impact adult cerebrovascular health

Sex, Crime, and Serostatus

The HIV crisis in the United States is far from over. The confluence of widespread opioid usage, high rates of HIV infection, and rapidly shrinking rural medical infrastructure has created a public health powder keg across the American South. Yet few states have responded to this grim reality by expanding social and medical services. Instead, criminalizing the behavior of people with HIV remains an overused and counterproductive tool for addressing this crisis—especially in the South, where HIV-specific criminal laws are enforced with the most frequency. People living with HIV are subject to arrest, prosecution, and lengthy prison sentences if they fail to disclose their HIV-positive serostatus before engaging in sexual or needle-sharing activities. Passed in response to panic following the discovery of HIV, these laws have not kept pace with medical advancements regarding the transmission and treatment of the infection. As a result, they criminalize behaviors that pose little risk of transmission and punish people who cannot or do not infect others. HIV criminalization laws also contribute to the spread of HIV by disincentivizing HIV testing, which would otherwise connect people to prevention and treatment plans. While other scholars have critiqued these laws, this Article is the first to argue that state legislatures should pivot away from criminalization toward a comprehensive response to HIV informed by harm reduction—a branch of public health emphasizing risk mitigation. This approach must prioritize both the expansion of preventative services and the repeal of most HIV exposure laws. Simultaneously broadening services and narrowing criminal liability would remove barriers to HIV testing and promote early medical interventions, which reduce the spread of HIV and improve health outcomes. This paradigmatic shift also introduces a framework that can be implemented in other public health contexts that currently over-rely on criminalization throughout the region and the country

The Dangers of Disclosure: How HIV Laws Harm Domestic Violence Survivors

People living with HIV or AIDS must decide whether, how, and when to disclose their positive status. State laws play an outsized role in this highly personal calculus. Partner notification laws require that current and former sexual partners of individuals newly diagnosed with HIV be informed of their potential exposure to the disease. Meanwhile, people who fail to disclose their positive status prior to engaging in sexual acts—even acts that carry low to no risk of infection—can be prosecuted and incarcerated for exposing their partners to HIV. Although both partner notification laws and criminal HIV exposure laws were ostensibly created to combat the spread of the disease, they are ineffective at doing so. Instead, they threaten the safety and health of people living with HIV. This Article analyzes HIV laws through the lens of domestic violence and reveals that both compliance and failure to comply with these laws can endanger survivors of domestic violence. This previously ignored double bind is significant given the reciprocal relationship between HIV and domestic violence: people living with HIV are more likely to experience domestic violence, just as survivors of domestic violence experience higher rates of HIV. Yet nearly all state HIV laws fail to recognize this inextricable relationship and, in so doing, create additional, unwarranted dangers for many individuals living at the intersection of HIV and domestic violence. This Article exposes the pernicious shortsightedness of state HIV laws and proposes reforms that would better protect both individuals at risk of infection as well as those at risk of violence

Faleoloa Laititi: The Role of Small Shops in a Developing Samoa

Samoa presently finds itself caught between the wave of development and an unyielding tie to its culture. Development in Samoa consists of a multitude of efforts including, but not limited to, commercial agriculture, tourism, environmental protection, and private sector business. In all of the areas, the struggle between the Western view and the Samoan internalization of the Western view proves readily apparent. More so, the way of life in Samoa somehow drips its way through the cracks of all these ideas, creating protocol for development which is uniquely Samoan. The research examines the strength and weaknesses of the small roadside shops found throughout the islands of Samoa. Case studies of shops in the rural village of Lotofaga and the sprawling urban village of Vaitele-Uta were the focus for information. Interviews with shop keepers as well as government officials sought to further validate observations and opinions. The research shed light on the small shops and their amazing role as an icon for the representation of a multitude of issues presently facing Samoa. Furthermore, the research allowed an accurate view of the shops’ actual contribution to the development of Samoan economy, or lack thereof, which served as the impetus for the study. Presently, the shops are not contributing in any significant manner to the development of the Samoan economy. Rather these shops are a staple in subsistence of a “cultural economy” stemming from ideas and practices lying at the heart of every Samoan. Ironically, the onset of Western economics has fueled a transition of protocol in cultural economics not soon to be undone