Prospective study of alcohol consumption and the incidence of the metabolic syndrome in US men

Few studies have evaluated the effects of alcohol consumption on the incidence of the metabolic syndrome (MetS). Therefore, the objective of the present study was to examine the association between alcohol consumption and incident MetS in a population of US men. This is a prospective study of 7483 Caucasian men, who were free of the MetS and CVD at baseline. Information was collected on alcohol consumption, health status and fitness level at an initial clinical examination. Additional health information and determination of incident cases of the MetS were obtained at follow-up clinical examinations between 1979 and 2005. Compared with non-drinkers, the multivariate hazard ratios of the MetS for light (1–3 drinks/week), moderate (4–7 drinks/week), moderate–heavy (8–13 drinks/week) and heavy ( ≥ 14 drinks/week) drinkers were 0·81 (95 % CI 0·68, 0·95), 0·68 (95 % CI 0·57, 0·80), 0·70 (95 % CI 0·59, 0·83) and 0·78 (95 % CI 0·66, 0·91), respectively. This association was seen across age groups, in men with one or more pre-existing MetS risk factors, and those with BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2, and in all alcohol beverage types at most levels of alcohol consumption. An inverse dose–response association between alcohol consumption and low HDL concentrations was observed, while significant associations were observed between high fasting glucose concentrations and moderate, moderate–heavy and heavy levels of alcohol consumption. Alcohol consumption was not significantly associated with central obesity, hypertriacylglycerolaemia or hypertension. All levels of alcohol consumption provided significant inverse associations with incidence of the MetS. In particular, this effect was observed in overweight and/or obese individuals, in those who had pre-existing risk factors for the MetS, and extended across all types of alcoholic beverages consumed

Evaluation of the IMPACTS Computer Science Presentations

Recent computer science enrollments have shown positive trends. However, these trends are not evenly distributed by gender and race. Efforts to recruit underrepresented students should focus on providing information that demystifies the field of computer science. This paper reports on such an effort to inform underrepresented high school students about the field and its diversity. The results suggest that increasing awareness in an enjoyable format can increase student interest in pursuing computer science. These results can provide guidance about ways to encourage students to take high school computer science classes as motivation and preparation for college-level computer science

Mortality trends in the general population: the importance of cardiorespiratory fitness

Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) is not only an objective measure of habitual physical activity, but also a useful diagnostic and prognostic health indicator for patients in clinical settings. Although compelling evidence has shown that CRF is a strong and independent predictor of all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality, the importance of CRF is often overlooked from a clinical perspective compared with other risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes, smoking, or obesity. Several prospective studies indicate that CRF is at least as important as the traditional risk factors, and is often more strongly associated with mortality. In addition, previous studies report that CRF appears to attenuate the increased risk of death associated with obesity. Most individuals can improve their CRF through regular physical activity. Several biological mechanisms suggest that CRF improves insulin sensitivity, blood lipid profile, body composition, inflammation, and blood pressure. Based on the evidence, health professionals should encourage their patients to improve CRF through regular physical activity

Self-rated health status and cardiorespiratory fitness as predictors of mortality in men

Self-rated health (SRH) and cardiorespiratory fitness (fitness) are independent risk factors for all-cause mortality. The purpose of this report is to examine the single and joint effects of these exposures on mortality risk. The study included 18 488 men who completed a health survey, clinical examination and a maximal exercise treadmill test during 1987–2003. Cox regression analysis was used to quantify the associations of SRH and fitness with all-cause mortality. There were 262 deaths during 17 years of follow-up. There was a significant inverse trend (ptrend \u3c0.05) for mortality across SRH categories after adjustment for age, examination year, body mass index, physical activity, smoking, alcohol consumption, abnormal ECG, hypertension, hypercholesterolaemia, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer. Adjustment for fitness attenuated the association (p value =0.09). The authors also observed an inverse association between fitness and mortality after controlling for the same covariates and SRH (ptrend = 0.006). The combined analysis of SRH and fitness showed that fit men with good or excellent SRH had a 58% lower risk of mortality than their counterparts. SRH and fitness were both associated with all-cause mortality in men. Fit men with good or excellent SRH live longer than unfit men with poor or fair SRH

Alcohol Consumption and Risk of All-Cause and Cardiovascular Disease Mortality in Men

This study examined the association between consumption of alcoholic beverages and all-cause and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality in a cohort of men (n = 31,367). In the Cox proportional hazards model adjusted for age, year of examination, body mass index (BMI), smoking, family history of CVD, and aerobic fitness, there were no significant differences in risk of all-cause mortality across alcohol intake groups. Risk of CVD mortality was reduced 29% in quartile 1 (HR = 0.71, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.53, 0.95) and 25% in quartile 2 (HR = 0.75, 95% CI: 0.58, 0.98). The amount of alcohol consumed to achieve this risk reduction was <6 drinks/week; less than the amount currently recommended. The addition of other potential confounders and effect modifiers including blood pressure, insulin sensitivity, lipid levels, and psychological variables did not affect the magnitude of association. Future research is needed to validate the current public health recommendations for alcohol consumption

Running and Mortality: Is More Actually Worse?

In follow-up to our recent state-of-the-art review on running published in the November 2015 issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 1 we have additional data regarding the relationship of high-dose running with prognosis. Clearly, observational studies have recently reported that leisure-time running provides mortality benefits. However, the dose-response relationship between running and mortality has been increasingly debated, specifically whether more running is better or worse

Study of access and outcomes from advanced computer science coursework in the Chicago Public Schools\u27\u27 poster in Structured Poster Session CS for All: An intersectional approach to unpacking equity in computer science education

The Chicago Public Schools (CPS) has taken a unique approach to broadening participation of low-income students, students of color, and girls by establishing Computer Science (CS) as a high school graduation requirement. This policy ensures that all CPS high school students will take a CS course, starting with the class of 2020. However, equity is more than just access. We define equity as equivalence in both the quality and outcomes of CS experiences. Exploring Computer Science (ECS) is the foundational course that fulfills the CPS requirement. Through ECS professional development, the number of qualified ECS teachers has grown. Two years into policy implementation, three-fourths of the schools offered ECS. Our prior research has shown that ECS participation rates by race, gender, and income closely reflect representation of the corresponding populations in CPS. In addition, student performance on the ECS end-of-course assessment was equivalent by race, gender, and income level. This evidence suggests that the CPS graduation policy is contributing towards equitable access to introductory CS with equitable course outcomes. Another outcome of interest is the equitable pursuit of advanced CS. Our primary research question for this poster is the extent to which there is equitable representation and outcomes of students who pursue advanced CS coursework in CPS. In particular, we focused on enrollment in the AP Computer Science A (CSA) and AP Computer Science Principles (CSP) courses from the 2014--15 to the 2017--18 school year. The 2014--15 school year was the first year that the CSP course was pilot tested in CPS, and the 2016--17 school year was the first year that the CSP exam was available. For every student enrolled in either AP CS course, the dataset included race, gender, special education status, English language learner status, free and reduced lunch status, overall GPA, AP course grade, and AP exam score. During the target period, enrollment in CSA declined from a high of 220 to a low of 136 students, while CSP enrollment increased from a pilot of 29 students to 693 students. The combined representation of students by race and gender in both courses was not reflective of the district\u27s student demographics. However, student representation by race and gender was closer to the district representation for CSP than for CSA. We conducted a multiple regression of the factors that correlated with the AP exam performance. The students\u27 overall GPA and the grade in the course were significantly correlated with exam scores. Girls scored statistically lower than boys and Latinx students scored statistically lower than Caucasian, Asian, and African-American students. Students who took ECS prior to CSP scored statistically higher on the CSP exam. These results show promise that using ECS as a foundation course is helpful for students who go on to pursue AP CSP. However, more work needs to be done to capitalize on the success of ECS to encourage CPS schools to offer AP CS courses and to encourage girls and students from underrepresented minority groups to pursue advanced CS coursework

An examination of the factors correlating with course failure in a high school computer science course

Across the United States, enrollment in high school computer science (CS) courses is increasing. These increases, however, are not spread evenly across race and gender. CS remains largely an elective class, and fewer than three-fourths of the states allow it to count towards graduation. The Chicago Public Schools has sought to ensure access for all students by recently enacting computer science as a high school graduation requirement. The primary class that fulfills the graduation requirement is Exploring Computer Science (ECS), a high school introductory course and professional development program designed to foster deep engagement through equitable inquiry around CS concepts. The number of students taking CS in the district increased significantly and these increases are distributed equitably across demographic characteristics. With ECS serving as a core class, it becomes critical to ensure success for all students independent of demographic characteristics, as success in the course directly affects a student\u27s ability to graduate from high school. In this paper, we examine the factors that correlate with student failure in the course. At the student level, attendance and prior general academic performance correlate with passing the class. After controlling for student characteristics, whether or not teachers participated in the professional development program associated with ECS correlates with student success in passing the course. These results provide evidence for the importance of engaging teachers in professional development, in conjunction with requiring a course specifically designed to provide an equitable computer science experience, in order to broaden participation in computing

Fitness and Fatness as Health Markers through the Lifespan: An Overview of Current Knowledge

There is an increasing body of evidence supporting that both fitness and fatness levels relate to current and future individuals’ health status. In this article, we discuss the meaning of fitness and fatness/obesity, and make an overview of what is currently known about fitness and fatness as potentially modifiable risk factors related to health and disease from preschool children to older adults. We describe the methods available for fitness assessment in each age group, providing reference/criterion values when available. Most of the existing previous reviews are focused on specific age groups with the advantage of allowing more in-depth analysis of the evidence, but the disadvantage of losing the overall understanding of the fitness and fatness binomial through the human lifespan, which is the ultimate goal of the present article

An Examination of the Correlation of Exploring Computer Science Course Performance and the Development of Programming Expertise

This study investigated patterns in the development of computational thinking and programming expertise in the context of the Exploring Computer Science (ECS) program, a high school introductory CS course and professional development program designed to foster deep engagement through equitable inquiry around CS concepts. Prior research on programming expertise has identified three general areas of development --- program comprehension, program planning, and program generation. The pedagogical practices in ECS are consistent with problem solving approaches that support the development of programming expertise. The study took place in a large urban district during the 2016--17 school year with 28 ECS teachers and 1,931 students. A validated external assessment was used to measure the development of programming expertise. The results indicate that there were medium-sized, statistically significant increases from pretest to posttest, and there were no statistically significant differences by gender or race/ethnicity. After controlling for prior academic achievement, performance in the ECS course correlated with performance on the posttest. With respect to specific programming concepts, the results also provide evidence on the progression of the development of programming expertise. Students seem to develop comprehension and planning expertise prior to expertise in program generation. In addition, students seem to develop expertise with concrete tasks prior to abstract tasks