Two Studies of Partnership Approaches to Comprehensive School Physical Activity Programming: A Process Evaluation and a Case Study

This dissertation consists of two studies that examine partnership approaches to comprehensive school physical activity programs (CSPAP). Both studies function in tandem to advance the knowledge base about school – university partnership approaches to CSPAP programming. Study 1 examined the first-year classroom component of the Partnerships for Active Children in Elementary Schools (PACES) intervention, and Study 2 examined the implementation of a Health Optimizing Physical Education (HOPE)- based CSPAP. Both studies utilized school-university partnerships in their design and implementation. The purpose of Study 1 was to examine the effects of different PACES treatment levels on classroom movement integration promotion during the first year of implementation, and qualitatively examine program implementation processes from the perspective of intervention classroom teachers. Four schools participated in the study. The first school received all three levels of the intervention (Community of Practice [CoP], Community-based Participatory Research, [CBPR], and Service Learning [SL]), the second school received two levels (CoP and CBPR), the third school received one level of the intervention (CoP), and the fourth school served as a waitlisted control. Three teachers from each school (N=12) participated. Process data were collected in the Fall 2014 (baseline) and Spring 2015 (~ four months of intervention) using the System for Observing Student Movement in Academic Routines and Transitions. Semi-structured interviews with the intervention teachers (n=9) were conducted after ~four months of intervention. There were no significant differences between intervention classrooms and control classroom in PA promotion, but differences in classrooms receiving two levels of the intervention (CoP+ CBPR) and three levels of the intervention (CoP+CBPR+SL) when compared to classrooms receiving one component of the intervention (CoP) and the control school were found. The difference between the classrooms receiving two or more intervention components when compared to classrooms receiving one component and the control classrooms were approaching significance (U = 5, p = 0.037, d=1.22). Quantitative and qualitative results supported the CBPR component having the most marked impact on classroom-based physical activity promotion. This study provides rich information about process variables in the context of a classroom-based physical activity intervention, and the types of support universities can offer schools for physical activity promotion. The purpose of Study 2 was to examine the enablers and barriers related to the development, implementation, and sustainability of a two-year university-supported HOPE based CSPAP implemented at a middle school. The study employed a qualitative case study design. The literature on program diffusion and school-university partnerships for CSPAP implementation and sustainability guided data collection, analysis, and interpretation of results. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with each member of the implementation team (n=5), the funding agency (n=1), each health-physical education teacher at the school (n=7), follow-up interviews with the implementation team (n=5), and a focus group interview with students (n=5). Documents were collected from the implementation team (e.g., field notes, meeting minutes) and from the teachers (e.g., lesson plans, newsletters, etc.). Next, prolonged field observations were conducted at the school during physical education, health, and before and after school programming. Data was coded using the theoretical model of program diffusion. Trustworthiness included member checking, data and researcher triangulation, researcher debriefing, and an audit trail. The findings about the implementation suggest that HOPE and CSPAP programming takes a lot of effort to implement, training should be centered on marketing, advocacy, and physical activity management, and needs assessments should be used before the start of new programming. Several components of the HOPE-based CSPAP sustained including before and after school programming and an annual 5k run. This study provides insider perspectives from health-physical educators, students, and a university intervention team about the implementation and sustainability of a HOPEbased CSPAP. The study suggests that program implementation and sustainability of a CSPAP are linked to strong external support mechanisms

Teacher Attitudes on Assessing Student Effort

Research indicates that there are classroom practices teachers can implement to help students develop non-cognitive skills such as the ability to persevere and tackle challenging work. After consulting the literature, there is a clear lack of research measuring teacher attitudes and beliefs about pedagogical practices that promotes resilience and perseverance. Research suggests that teachers’ beliefs and attitudes shape the learning environment and impact student outcomes (Brackett et al., p. 232). Therefore, it is critical to understand teacher comfort and commitment to initiatives, as well as their perceptions on how school culture supports such practices. Understanding teacher attitudes and beliefs can help administrators make decisions on the timing, type, and amount of teacher training if the school is committed to efforts to teach these skills (Brackett et al., p. 232). I conducted this mixed methods action research study using a cross-sectional survey design to gather and evaluate quantitative and qualitative data on variables regarding Grade 7-12 teacher attitudes and classroom practice aimed at promoting increased student effort. The data suggests real-life obstacles faced by teachers and provides valuable discussion points on assessment and grading practices. Study limitations, implications for practice, and suggestions for further research are discussed

The application of digital accelerometers for wired and non-wired Mechanomyography

The objective of this paper is to consider the use of digital accelerometers for Mechanomyographic applications. The digital outputs of the accelerometer require the consideration of additional interfacing hardware for any commercial data acquisition systems being considered. The Arduino open-source platform is shown to meet this requirement. This platform also provides access to set the data registers on the accelerometer to output data at the resolution, speed and format required. Results show that digital accelerometers provide an accurate representation of the MMG signal. The second objective of this work was to extend this digital platform to design a wireless MMG sensor. This has been completed using open-source components and libraries. The wireless sensor can provide an inexpensive accurate representation of the MMG response for distances in excess of 30 meters

Valuing Water Quality As a Functionof Water Quality Measures

This paper incorporates a rich set of physical water quality attributes, as well as site and household characteristics, into a model of recreational lake usage in Iowa. Our analysis shows individuals are responsive to physical water quality measures. Willingness-to-pay estimates are reported based on improvements in these measures.

Healthy Migrants in an Unhealthy City? The Effects of Time on the Health of Migrants Living in Deprived Areas of Glasgow.

This paper examines the healthy immigrant effect in Glasgow, a post-industrial city where the migrant population has more than doubled in the last decade. Using data from a community survey in 15 communities across the city, the paper compares four health outcomes for the following three groups: British-born, social and economic migrants and asylum seekers and refugees. Migrants were found to be healthier than the indigenous population on all four measures, particularly in the case of adult households in both migrant groups and for older asylum seeker and refugee households. Health declines for social and economic migrants with time spent in the UK, but there is no clear pattern for asylum seekers and refugees. Health declined for refugees according to time spent awaiting a decision, whilst their health improved after a leave-to-remain decision. Indigenous and social and economic migrant health declines with time spent living in a deprived area; this was true for three health indicators for the former and two indicators for the latter. Asylum seekers and refugees who had lived in a deprived area for more than a year had slightly better self-rated health and well-being than recent arrivals. The study's findings highlight the role of destination city and neighbourhood in the health immigrant effect, raise concerns about the restrictions placed upon asylum seekers and the uncertainty afforded to refugees and suggest that spatial concentration may have advantages for asylum seekers and refugees

Phylogenetic screening of a bacterial, metagenomic library using homing endonuclease restriction and marker insertion

Metagenomics provides access to the uncultured majority of the microbial world. The approaches employed in this field have, however, had limited success in linking functional genes to the taxonomic or phylogenetic origin of the organism they belong to. Here we present an efficient strategy to recover environmental DNA fragments that contain phylogenetic marker genes from metagenomic libraries. Our method involves the cleavage of 23S ribsosmal RNA (rRNA) genes within pooled library clones by the homing endonuclease I-CeuI followed by the insertion and selection of an antibiotic resistance cassette. This approach was applied to screen a library of 6500 fosmid clones derived from the microbial community associated with the sponge Cymbastela concentrica. Several fosmid clones were recovered after the screen and detailed phylogenetic and taxonomic assignment based on the rRNA gene showed that they belong to previously unknown organisms. In addition, compositional features of these fosmid clones were used to classify and taxonomically assign a dataset of environmental shotgun sequences. Our approach represents a valuable tool for the analysis of rapidly increasing, environmental DNA sequencing information

The Onset of Ciliate Populations in Newborn Foals

The time of onset of survival of ciliate protozoa in the equine hindgut in new born foals was investigated. Daily faecal samples were collected from 6 new-born foals and studied under a microscope for examples of ciliates within the samples. The results of this study show that ciliates are first seen in faecal samples from the foal on day 5 post partum although these appeared to be voided and were assumed to be non-viable. However, by the following day the ciliates collected seen in the faecal samples appeared to be intact and were assumed to be viable. This observation is 5 days earlier than ciliates have previously been observed in faeces collected from the digestive tract of newborn foals

Intraretinal pigmented cells in retinal degenerative disease

PURPOSE: Invasion of pigmented cells into the retina occurs in retinal degenerative diseases, such as macular telangiectasia type 2 (MacTel) and retinitis pigmentosa (RP). These intraretinal pigmented cells may be derived from the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), but differences and similarities between intraretinal pigmented cells and RPE have so far not been well characterised.Clinicopathologic case report. METHOD: Here, we compared intraretinal pigment cells with RPE cells by immunohistochemistry. Immunohistological stains for classic RPE markers (RPE65, CRALBP and KRT18) and blood vessel markers (lectin and collagen 4) were done on sections from postmortem eye tissue from two MacTel donors, an RP donor and a control donor. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Presence of specific immunohistochemistry markers on intraretinal pigmented and RPE cells. RESULTS: We found that intraretinal pigmented cells did not express RPE65 and CRALBP, with a small subset expressing them weakly. However, they all expressed KRT18, which was also present in normal RPE cells. Interestingly, we also found clusters of KRT18-positive cells in the retina that were not pigmented. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that RPE cells invading the retina dedifferentiate (losing classic RPE markers) and can be pigmented or unpigmented. Therefore, the number of RPE cells invading the retina in retinal degenerative disease may be underappreciated by funduscopy