Associations of sitting accumulation patterns with cardio-metabolic risk biomarkers in Australian adults

Backgroun

The association of cold weather and all-cause and cause-specific mortality in the island of Ireland between 1984 and 2007

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.Background This study aimed to assess the relationship between cold temperature and daily mortality in the Republic of Ireland (ROI) and Northern Ireland (NI), and to explore any differences in the population responses between the two jurisdictions. Methods A time-stratified case-crossover approach was used to examine this relationship in two adult national populations, between 1984 and 2007. Daily mortality risk was examined in association with exposure to daily maximum temperatures on the same day and up to 6 weeks preceding death, during the winter (December-February) and cold period (October-March), using distributed lag models. Model stratification by age and gender assessed for modification of the cold weather-mortality relationship. Results In the ROI, the impact of cold weather in winter persisted up to 35 days, with a cumulative mortality increase for all-causes of 6.4% (95%CI=4.8%-7.9%) in relation to every 1oC drop in daily maximum temperature, similar increases for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and stroke, and twice as much for respiratory causes. In NI, these associations were less pronounced for CVD causes, and overall extended up to 28 days. Effects of cold weather on mortality increased with age in both jurisdictions, and some suggestive gender differences were observed. Conclusions The study findings indicated strong cold weather-mortality associations in the island of Ireland; these effects were less persistent, and for CVD mortality, smaller in NI than in the ROI. Together with suggestive differences in associations by age and gender between the two Irish jurisdictions, the findings suggest potential contribution of underlying societal differences, and require further exploration. The evidence provided here will hope to contribute to the current efforts to modify fuel policy and reduce winter mortality in Ireland

The Social and Political Dimensions of the Ebola Response: Global Inequality, Climate Change, and Infectious Disease

The 2014 Ebola crisis has highlighted public-health vulnerabilities in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea – countries ravaged by extreme poverty, deforestation and mining-related disruption of livelihoods and ecosystems, and bloody civil wars in the cases of Liberia and Sierra Leone. Ebola’s emergence and impact are grounded in the legacy of colonialism and its creation of enduring inequalities within African nations and globally, via neoliberalism and the Washington Consensus. Recent experiences with new and emerging diseases such as SARS and various strains of HN influenzas have demonstrated the effectiveness of a coordinated local and global public health and education-oriented response to contain epidemics. To what extent is international assistance to fight Ebola strengthening local public health and medical capacity in a sustainable way, so that other emerging disease threats, which are accelerating with climate change, may be met successfully? This chapter considers the wide-ranging socio-political, medical, legal and environmental factors that have contributed to the rapid spread of Ebola, with particular emphasis on the politics of the global and public health response and the role of gender, social inequality, colonialism and racism as they relate to the mobilization and establishment of the public health infrastructure required to combat Ebola and other emerging diseases in times of climate change

Time spent in sedentary posture is associated with waist circumference and cardiovascular risk

Background The relationship between metabolic risk and time spent sitting, standing and stepping has not been well established. The present study aimed to determine associations of objectively measured time spent siting, standing and stepping, with coronary heart disease (CHD) risk. Methods A cross-sectional study of healthy non-smoking Glasgow postal workers, n=111 (55 office-workers, 5 women, and 56 walking/delivery-workers, 10 women), who wore activPAL physical activity monitors for seven days. Cardiovascular risks were assessed by metabolic syndrome categorisation and 10-y PROCAM risk. Results Mean(SD) age was 40(8) years, BMI 26.9(3.9)kg/m-2 and waist circumference 95.4(11.9)cm. Mean(SD) HDL-cholesterol 1.33(0.31), LDL-cholesterol 3.11(0.87), triglycerides 1.23(0.64)mmol/l and 10-y PROCAM risk 1.8(1.7)%. Participants spent mean(SD) 9.1(1.8)h/d sedentary, 7.6(1.2)h/d sleeping, 3.9(1.1)h/d standing and 3.3(0.9)h/d stepping, accumulating 14,708(4,984)steps/d in 61(25) sit-to-stand transitions per day. In univariate regressions - adjusting for age, sex, family history of CHD, shift worked, job type and socio-economic status - waist circumference (p=0.005), fasting triglycerides (p=0.002), HDL-cholesterol (p=0.001) and PROCAM-risk (p=0.047) were detrimentally associated with sedentary time. These associations remained significant after further adjustment for sleep, standing and stepping in stepwise regression models. However, after further adjustment for waist circumference, the associations were not significant. Compared to those without the metabolic syndrome, participants with the metabolic syndrome were significantly less active – fewer steps, shorter stepping duration and longer time sitting. Those with no metabolic syndrome features walked >15,000 steps/day, or spent >7h/day upright. Conclusion Longer time spent in sedentary posture is significantly associated with higher CHD risk and larger waist circumference

Systematic literature review of determinants of sedentary behaviour in older adults:a DEDIPAC study

BACKGROUND: Older adults are the most sedentary segment of society and high sedentary time is associated with poor health and wellbeing outcomes in this population. Identifying determinants of sedentary behaviour is a necessary step to develop interventions to reduce sedentary time. METHODS: A systematic literature review was conducted to identify factors associated with sedentary behaviour in older adults. Pubmed, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO and Web of Science were searched for articles published between 2000 and May 2014. The search strategy was based on four key elements: (a) sedentary behaviour and its synonyms; (b) determinants and its synonyms (e.g. correlates, factors); (c) types of sedentary behaviour (e.g. TV viewing, sitting, gaming) and (d) types of determinants (e.g. environmental, behavioural). Articles were included in the review if specific information about sedentary behaviour in older adults was reported. Studies on samples identified by disease were excluded. Study quality was rated by means of QUALSYST. The full review protocol is available from PROSPERO (PROSPERO 2014: CRD42014009823). The analysis was guided by the socio-ecological model framework. RESULTS: Twenty-two original studies were identified out of 4472 returned by the systematic search. These included 19 cross-sectional, 2 longitudinal and 1 qualitative studies, all published after 2011. Half of the studies were European. The study quality was generally high with a median of 82 % (IQR 69-96 %) using Qualsyst tool. Personal factors were the most frequently investigated with consistent positive association for age, negative for retirement, obesity and health status. Only four studies considered environmental determinants suggesting possible association with mode of transport, type of housing, cultural opportunities and neighbourhood safety and availability of places to rest. Only two studies investigated mediating factors. Very limited information was available on contexts and sub-domains of sedentary behaviours. CONCLUSION: Few studies have investigated determinants of sedentary behaviour in older adults and these have to date mostly focussed on personal factors, and qualitative studies were mostly lacking. More longitudinal studies are needed as well as inclusion of a broader range of personal and contextual potential determinants towards a systems-based approach, and future studies should be more informed by qualitative work

Practicum for international students in teacher education programs: an investigation of three university sites through multisocialisation, interculturalisation and reflection

This chapter explores the practicum experience of international students undertaking education programs at three different universities in Australia. International students were interviewed about their practicum experiences with a particular focus on what worked well and what needed improvement. Through a thematic analysis as well as identifying aspects of the interview data related to multisocialisation, interculturalisation and reflection models the authors share findings even though international students may experience difficulties during their practicum they also note that these experiences allow them to learn. When mentor teachers were able to recognise the international students’ strengths then placements were successful. Further, unpacking areas that need improvement through a supportive manner enabled students to learn and reconstruct their practice. The rich and informative data on the challenges and successful approaches across the three sites in this study add to the body of literature regarding effective ways to improve work placements for international students

Three little pieces for computer and relativity

Numerical relativity has made big strides over the last decade. A number of problems that have plagued the field for years have now been mostly solved. This progress has transformed numerical relativity into a powerful tool to explore fundamental problems in physics and astrophysics, and I present here three representative examples. These "three little pieces" reflect a personal choice and describe work that I am particularly familiar with. However, many more examples could be made.Comment: 42 pages, 11 figures. Plenary talk at "Relativity and Gravitation: 100 Years after Einstein in Prague", June 25 - 29, 2012, Prague, Czech Republic. To appear in the Proceedings (Edition Open Access). Collects results appeared in journal articles [72,73, 122-124

The impact of ambient temperature on mortality among the urban population in Skopje, Macedonia during the period 1996–2000

BACKGROUND: This study assesses the relationship between daily numbers of deaths and variations in ambient temperature within the city of Skopje, R. Macedonia. METHODS: The daily number of deaths from all causes, during the period 1996–2000, as well as those deaths from cardiovascular diseases, occurring within the city of Skopje were related to the average daily temperature on the same day using Multiple Regression statistical analyses. Temperature was measured within the regression model as two complementary variables: 'Warm' and 'Cold'. Excess winter mortality was calculated as winter deaths (deaths occurring in December to March) minus the average of non-winter deaths (April to July of the current year and August to November of the previous year). RESULTS: In this study the average daily total of deaths was 7% and 13% greater in the cold when compared to the whole period and warm period respectively. The same relationship was noticed for deaths caused by cardiovascular diseases. The Regression Beta Coefficient (b = -0.19) for the total mortality as a function of the temperature in Skopje during the period 1996–2000 was statistically significant with negative connotation as was the circulatory mortality due to average temperature (statistically significant regression Beta coefficient (b = -0.24)). A measure of this increase is provided, on an annual basis, in the form of the excess winter mortality figure. CONCLUSION: Mortality with in the city of Skopje displayed a marked seasonality, with peaks in the winter and relative troughs in the summer