641 research outputs found
Effectiveness of aerobic exercise for adults living with HIV: systematic review and meta-analysis using the Cochrane Collaboration protocol
Background: People with HIV are living longer with the health-related consequences of HIV, multi-morbidity, and
aging. Exercise is a key strategy that may improve or sustain health for people living with HIV. Our aim was to
examine the safety and effectiveness of aerobic exercise interventions on immunological, virological,
cardiorespiratory, strength, weight, body composition, and psychological outcomes in adults living with HIV.
Methods: We conducted a systematic review using the Cochrane Collaboration protocol. We searched databases
up to April 2013. We included randomized controlled trials comparing aerobic exercise with no exercise or another
intervention performed at least three times per week for at least four weeks among adults living with HIV. Two
reviewers independently determined study eligibility. Data were extracted from studies that met inclusion criteria
using standardized forms. We assessed risk of bias using the Cochrane Collaboration’s tool for assessing risk of bias.
Outcomes were analyzed as continuous and meta-analyses conducted using random effects models with Review
Manager (RevMan) computer software.
Results: Twenty-four studies met inclusion criteria (n = 936 participants at study completion); the majority of
participants were men (73 %) and the majority were taking antiretroviral therapy (19/24 included studies). The
exercise intervention included aerobic exercise alone (11 studies) or a combination of aerobic and resistive exercise
(13 studies) ranging from 5 to 52 weeks. Fifty-eight meta-analyses were performed. Main results indicated
statistically significant improvements in selected outcomes of cardiorespiratory status (maximum oxygen
consumption, exercise time), strength (chest press, knee flexion), body composition (lean body mass, percent body
fat, leg muscle area), depression symptoms, and quality of life (SF-36 questionnaire) among exercisers compared
with non-exercisers. No significant differences in change in CD4 count and viral load were found.
Conclusions: Performing aerobic exercise or a combination of aerobic and resistive exercise at least three times per
week for at least five weeks is safe and can lead to improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness, strength, body
composition and quality of life for adults with HIV. Aerobic exercise is safe and beneficial for adults living with HIV
who are medically stable
Developing a Wellbeing Framework for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples Living with Chronic Disease (Wellbeing Study)
Addressing a need identified by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and their primary
healthcare providers, this study developed a Wellbeing Framework for managing chronic disease in
a manner that also supports wellbeing.
Chronic care models that are currently in use usually focus upon the systems, resources and
policies that are required to deliver care. The important roles of culture, spirituality, Country and
family in maintaining health and wellbeing are notably absent from such models.
Re-defining the way in which care is delivered to reflect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
peoples’ needs and values is essential for improving the accessibility and acceptability of primary
healthcare services.The research reported in this paper is a project of the Australian Primary Health Care Research Institute which is supported by a grant from the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing under the Primary Health Care Research Evaluation and Development Strategy
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Ultrahigh drug loading and release from biodegradable porous silicon aerocrystals
Biodegradable porous silicon (pSi) is under assessment for the controlled release of both proteins and poorly-soluble API formulations. Super-critical drying of ultrahigh porosity (90%) porous silicon is shown here to preserve much higher mesopore volumes (up to 4mL/g) and surface areas (up to 600m2M/g) than achievable with standardair drying. The payloads and physical state of the model drug (S) (+) ibuprofen, as loaded within a super-critically dried porous silicon carrier matrix,were quantified and assessed using TGA, DSC, cross-sectional EDX, XRD, Raman mapping andFT-IR. In-vitro biodegradability was assessed using Mmolybdenum blue assay and drug release using RPHPLC. Entrapped drug payloads as high as 70%w/w have been achieved, substantially higher than values reported for other mesoporous materials. The entrapped (S) (+) ibuprofen showed faster release than bulk (S) (+) ibuprofen
Challenges to adaptation: a fundamental concept for the shared socio-economic pathways and beyond
The framework for the new scenarios being developed for climate research calls
for the development of a set of Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs), which are meant to
differ in terms of their challenges to mitigation and challenges to adaptation. In order for the
scenario process to fulfill its goals, the research and policy communities need to develop a
shared understanding of these concepts. This paper focuses on challenges to adaptation. We
begin by situating this new concept in the context of the rich literatures related to inter alia
adaptation, vulnerability, and resilience. We argue that a proper characterization of challenges to adaptation requires a rich, exploration of the concept, which goes beyond mere
description. This has a number of implications for the operationalization of the concept in
the basic and extended versions of the SSPs. First, the elements comprising challenges to
adaptation must include a wide range of socioeconomic and even some (non-climatic)
biophysical factors. Second, careful consideration must be given to differences in these
factors across scales, as well as cross-scale interactions. Third, any representation of the
concept will require both quantitative and qualitative elements. The scenario framework
offers the opportunity for the SSPs and full scenarios to be of greater value than has been the
case in past exercises to both Integrated Assessment Modeling (IAM) and Impacts,Adaptation, and Vulnerability (IAV) researchers, but this will require a renegotiation of the
traditional, primarily unidirectional relationship between the two communities
Identifying the science and technology dimensions of emerging public policy issues through horizon scanning
Public policy requires public support, which in turn implies a need to enable the public not just to understand policy but also to be engaged in its development. Where complex science and technology issues are involved in policy making, this takes time, so it is important to identify emerging issues of this type and prepare engagement plans. In our horizon scanning exercise, we used a modified Delphi technique [1]. A wide group of people with interests in the science and policy interface (drawn from policy makers, policy adviser, practitioners, the private sector and academics) elicited a long list of emergent policy issues in which science and technology would feature strongly and which would also necessitate public engagement as policies are developed. This was then refined to a short list of top priorities for policy makers. Thirty issues were identified within broad areas of business and technology; energy and environment; government, politics and education; health, healthcare, population and aging; information, communication, infrastructure and transport; and public safety and national security.Public policy requires public support, which in turn implies a need to enable the public not just to understand policy but also to be engaged in its development. Where complex science and technology issues are involved in policy making, this takes time, so it is important to identify emerging issues of this type and prepare engagement plans. In our horizon scanning exercise, we used a modified Delphi technique [1]. A wide group of people with interests in the science and policy interface (drawn from policy makers, policy adviser, practitioners, the private sector and academics) elicited a long list of emergent policy issues in which science and technology would feature strongly and which would also necessitate public engagement as policies are developed. This was then refined to a short list of top priorities for policy makers. Thirty issues were identified within broad areas of business and technology; energy and environment; government, politics and education; health, healthcare, population and aging; information, communication, infrastructure and transport; and public safety and national security
Event-by-event fluctuations in Mean and Mean in sqrt(s_NN) = 130 GeV Au+Au Collisions
Distributions of event-by-event fluctuations of the mean transverse momentum
and mean transverse energy near mid-rapidity have been measured in Au+Au
collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 130 GeV at RHIC. By comparing the distributions to
what is expected for statistically independent particle emission, the magnitude
of non-statistical fluctuations in mean transverse momentum is determined to be
consistent with zero. Also, no significant non-random fluctuations in mean
transverse energy are observed. By constructing a fluctuation model with two
event classes that preserve the mean and variance of the semi-inclusive p_T or
e_T spectra, we exclude a region of fluctuations in sqrt(s_NN) = 130 GeV Au+Au
collisions.Comment: 10 pages, RevTeX 3, 7 figures, 4 tables, 307 authors, submitted to
Phys. Rev. C on 22 March 2002. Plain text data tables for the points plotted
in figures for this and previous PHENIX publications are (will be made)
publicly available at
http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/phenix/WWW/run/phenix/papers.htm
Net Charge Fluctuations in Au + Au Interactions at sqrt(s_NN) = 130 GeV
Data from Au + Au interactions at sqrt(s_NN) = 130 GeV, obtained with the
PHENIX detector at RHIC, are used to investigate local net charge fluctuations
among particles produced near mid-rapidity. According to recent suggestions,
such fluctuations may carry information from the Quark Gluon Plasma. This
analysis shows that the fluctuations are dominated by a stochastic distribution
of particles, but are also sensitive to other effects, like global charge
conservation and resonance decays.Comment: 6 pages, RevTeX 3, 3 figures, 307 authors, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Lett. on 21 March, 2002. Plain text data tables for the points plotted in
figures for this and previous PHENIX publications are (will be made) publicly
available at http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/phenix/WWW/run/phenix/papers.htm
Influences of club connectedness among young adults in Western Australian community-based sports clubs
Background: Along with physical benefits, community-based sport provides opportunities to enhance connectedness, an important protective factor of social and emotional health. However, young Australians participating in sport have been found to drink alcohol at higher levels than their non-sporting peers, and many clubs serve unhealthy food and beverages. This study explored the association between the dependent variable, level of alcohol consumption (AUDIT-C) and connectedness to club and other health behaviours among young people aged 18-30 years who play club sport in Western Australia. Methods: An online cross sectional survey measured levels of alcohol consumption (AUDIT-C), alcohol-related harm, connectedness (including volunteering and team cohesion), mental wellbeing, healthy food options and club sponsorship among young adults aged 18-30 years involved in sports clubs in Western Australia (n = 242). Relationships and association between the dependent variable (AUDIT-C) and independent variables were assessed. Results: Male sportspeople were more likely to drink alcohol at high-risk levels than females (p <.001), and respondents belonging to a club that received alcohol-related sponsorship were more likely to drink at high-risk levels (p =.019). Females were significantly more likely to want healthy food and beverage options provided at their clubs (p = 0.011). When all factors were considered team cohesion (p = 0.02), alcohol expectations (p = <.001), occurrences of experienced alcohol-related harm (p = <.001) and length of club membership (p = 0.18) were significant predictors of high-risk AUDIT-C (R 2 =.34, adjusted R 2 =.33, F (4, 156) = 20.43, p = <.001). High-risk AUDIT-C and club connectedness predicted strong team cohesion (R 2 =.39, adjusted R 2 =.39, F (2, 166) = 53.74, p = <.001). Conclusions: Findings from this study may inform policy and practice to enhance healthy behaviours among young adults participating in community sports clubs in Australia and other countries
Flow Measurements via Two-particle Azimuthal Correlations in Au + Au Collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 130 GeV
Two particle azimuthal correlation functions are presented for charged
hadrons produced in Au + Au collisions at RHIC sqrt(s_NN) = 130 GeV. The
measurements permit determination of elliptic flow without event-by-event
estimation of the reaction plane. The extracted elliptic flow values v_2 show
significant sensitivity to both the collision centrality and the transverse
momenta of emitted hadrons, suggesting rapid thermalization and relatively
strong velocity fields. When scaled by the eccentricity of the collision zone,
epsilon, the scaled elliptic flow shows little or no dependence on centrality
for charged hadrons with relatively low p_T. A breakdown of this epsilon
scaling is observed for charged hadrons with p_T > 1.0 GeV/c for the most
central collisions.Comment: 6 pages, RevTeX 3, 4 figures, 307 authors, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Lett. on 11 April 2002. Plain text data tables for the points plotted in
figures for this and previous PHENIX publications are (will be made) publicly
available at http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/phenix/WWW/run/phenix/papers.htm
Mid-Rapidity Direct-Photon Production in p+p Collisions at sqrt(s) = 200 GeV
A measurement of direct photons in p+p collisions at sqrt(s)=200 GeV is
presented. A photon excess above background from pi^0 --> gamma+gamma, eta -->
gamma+gamma, and other decays is observed in the transverse momentum range 5.5
< p_T < 7 GeV/c. The result is compared to a next-to-leading-order perturbative
QCD calculation. Within errors, good agreement is found between the QCD
calculation and the measured result.Comment: 330 authors, 7 pages text, RevTeX, 2 figures, 2 tables. Submitted to
Physical Review D. Plain text data tables for the points plotted in figures
for this and previous PHENIX publications are (or will be) publicly available
at http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/papers.htm
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