Education Matters: Certified health professionals have higher credibility than non health professionals on Instagram

Social media serves as an accessible source of health information and nutrition information. Instagram, an internationally known social media platform with an average of more than 1 billion monthly active users, allows its users to create and share content. However, the credibility of the nutrition content created by users with unknown qualifications may be questionable. The objective of this study is to assess the credibility of content created by nutrition influencers on Instagram by comparing health professionals with non-health professionals.  For this study, “influencer” is defined as an Instagram user with at least 15,000 followers who promotes products, services, or ideas and who creates nutrition- or health-related content. For each influencer (n=29), two posts were selected every month from August 2018 to July 2019. Using the “Credible Information Factsheet” from the Dietitians of Canada, a credibility score based on four dichotomous criteria was created. Looking at the 24 posts of each influencer holistically, a credibility score out of 4 was calculated, with 0 being the least credible and 4 being the most credible.  Without exception, a greater proportion of health professionals compared to non-health professionals met each criterion from the “Credible Information Factsheet”. 92% of the health professionals met criteria 1 (Miracle Cure) compared to only 31% of non-health professionals. This demonstrates how the vast majority of health professionals would not promise a miracle cure, while most non-health professionals would readily promise a miracle cure. Additionally, 46% of health professionals met criteria 4 (Research-based) compared to only 19% of non-health professionals, which demonstrates how non-health professionals do not support claims with research. When looking at the total credibility scores for health professionals and non-health professionals, not a single health professional scored a total of 0, while not a single non-health professional scored a total of 4. Most importantly, health professionals had an average credibility score of 2.4, which is twice as high as that of non-health professionals (1.2).  Overall, health professionals appeared to be more credible than non-health professionals. By viewing nutrition information posted on Instagram by non-health professionals, followers potentially expose themselves to misinformation. Further research should be undertaken to validate the credibility score based on the “Credible Information Factsheet” by determining how adept the factsheet is at differentiating credibility for Instagram content

Quantum field and uniformly accelerated oscillator

We present an exact treatment of the influences on a quantum scalar field in its Minkowski vacuum state induced by coupling of the field to a uniformly accelerated harmonic oscillator. We show that there are no radiation from the oscillator in the point of view of a uniformly accelerating observer. On the other hand, there are radiations in the point of view of an inertial observer. It is shown that Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) like correlations of Rindler particles in Minkowski vacuum states are modified by a phase factor in front of the momentum-symmetric Rindler operators. The exact quantization of a time-dependent oscillator coupled to a massless scalar field was given.Comment: 28 pages, LaTe

Radiation from a uniformly accelerating harmonic oscillator

We consider a radiation from a uniformly accelerating harmonic oscillator whose minimal coupling to the scalar field changes suddenly. The exact time evolutions of the quantum operators are given in terms of a classical solution of a forced harmonic oscillator. After the jumping of the coupling constant there occurs a fast absorption of energy into the oscillator, and then a slow emission follows. Here the absorbed energy is independent of the acceleration and proportional to the log of a high momentum cutoff of the field. The emitted energy depends on the acceleration and also proportional to the log of the cutoff. Especially, if the coupling is comparable to the natural frequency of the detector ($e^2/(4m) \sim \omega_0$) enormous energies are radiated away from the oscillator.Comment: 26 pages, 1 eps figure, RevTeX, minor correction in grammar, add a discussio

Adolescent Weight Status and Related Behavioural Factors: Web Survey of Physical Activity and Nutrition

Purpose. To identify whether non-overweight students were different from their overweight or obese peers with respect to diet, suboptimal meal behaviours, and physical activity using a self-administered web-based survey. Methods. 4097 adolescents living in Alberta, Canada completed Web-SPAN (Web Survey of Physical Activity and Nutrition). Students were classified as overweight or obese, and differences were described in terms of nutrient intakes, physical activity, and meal behaviours. Results. Non-overweight students consumed significantly more carbohydrate and fibre, and significantly less fat and high calorie beverages, and had a higher frequency of consuming breakfast and snacks compared to overweight or obese students. Both non-overweight and overweight students were significantly more active than obese students. Conclusions. This research supports the need to target suboptimal behaviours such as high calorie beverage consumption, fat intake, breakfast skipping, and physical inactivity. School nutrition policies and mandatory physical education for all students may help to improve weight status in adolescents

Adolescent Weight Status and Related Behavioural Factors: Web Survey of Physical Activity and Nutrition

Purpose. To identify whether non-overweight students were different from their overweight or obese peers with respect to diet, suboptimal meal behaviours, and physical activity using a self-administered web-based survey. Methods. 4097 adolescents living in Alberta, Canada completed Web-SPAN (Web Survey of Physical Activity and Nutrition). Students were classified as overweight or obese, and differences were described in terms of nutrient intakes, physical activity, and meal behaviours. Results. Non-overweight students consumed significantly more carbohydrate and fibre, and significantly less fat and high calorie beverages, and had a higher frequency of consuming breakfast and snacks compared to overweight or obese students. Both non-overweight and overweight students were significantly more active than obese students. Conclusions. This research supports the need to target suboptimal behaviours such as high calorie beverage consumption, fat intake, breakfast skipping, and physical inactivity. School nutrition policies and mandatory physical education for all students may help to improve weight status in adolescents

Promotion of physical activity in rural, remote and northern settings: a Canadian call to action

Introduction: The lack of policy, practice and research action on physical activity and features of the physical (built and natural) environments in rural, remote and northern settings is a significant threat to population health equity in Canada. This paper presents a synthesis of current evidence on the promotion of physical activity in non-urban settings, outcomes from a national priority-setting meeting, and a preliminary call to action to support the implementation and success of population-level initiatives targeting physical activity in non-urban settings. Methods: We conducted a “synopses of syntheses” scoping review to explore current evidence on physical activity promotion in rural, remote, northern and natural settings. Next, we facilitated a collaborative priority-setting conference with 28 Canadian experts from policy, research and practice arenas to develop a set of priorities on physical activity in rural, remote and northern communities. These priorities informed the development of a preliminary Canadian call to action. Results: We identified a limited number of reviews that focused on physical activity and the built environment in rural, remote and northern communities. At the priority-setting conference, participants representing rural, remote and northern settings identified top priorities for policy, practice and research action to begin to address the gaps and issues noted in the literature. These priorities include self-identifying priorities at the community level; compiling experiences; establishing consistency in research definitions and methods; and developing mentorship opportunities. Conclusion: Coordinated action across policy, practice and research domains will be essential to the success of the recommendations presented in this call to action

A multiple case history and systematic review of adoption, diffusion, implementation and impact of provincial daily physical activity policies in Canadian schools

BACKGROUND : Few children meet physical activity (PA) recommendations, and are therefore at increased risk for overweight/obesity and adverse health outcomes. To increase children\u27s opportunities for PA, several Canadian provinces have adopted school-based daily PA (DPA) policies. It is not clear why some jurisdictions have adopted DPA policies, and others have not, nor whether these policies have been implemented and have achieved their intended outcomes. The purpose of this study was to understand the processes underlying adoption and diffusion of Canadian DPA policies, and to review evidence regarding their implementation and impact. METHODS: We adopted a multiple case history methodology in which we traced the chronological trajectory of DPA policies among Canadian provinces by compiling timelines detailing key historical events that preceded policy adoption. Publicly available documents posted on the internet were reviewed to characterize adopter innovativeness, describe the content of their DPA policies, and explore the context surrounding policy adoption. Diffusion of Innovations theory provided a conceptual framework for the analyses. A systematic literature search identified studies that had investigated adoption, diffusion, implementation or impact of Canadian DPA policies. RESULTS: Five of Canada\u27s 13 provinces and territories (38.5%) have DPA policies. Although the underlying objectives of the policies are similar, there are clear differences among them and in their various policy trajectories. Adoption and diffusion of DPA policies were structured by the characteristics and capacities of adopters, the nature of their policies, and contextual factors. Limited data suggests implementation of DPA policies was moderate but inconsistent and that Canadian DPA policies have had little to no impact on school-aged children\u27s PA levels or BMI. CONCLUSIONS: This study detailed the history and current status of Canadian DPA policies, highlighting the conditional nature of policy adoption and diffusion, and describing policy and adopter characteristics and political contexts that shaped policy trajectories. An understanding of the conditions associated with successful policy adoption and diffusion can help identify receptive contexts in which to pioneer novel legislative initiatives to increase PA among children. By reviewing evidence regarding policy implementation and impact, this study can also inform amendments to existing, and development of future PA policies

Temporal perception deficits in schizophrenia: integration is the problem, not deployment of attentions

Patients with schizophrenia are known to have impairments in sensory processing. In order to understand the specific temporal perception deficits of schizophrenia, we investigated and determined to what extent impairments in temporal integration can be dissociated from attention deployment using Attentional Blink (AB). Our findings showed that there was no evident deficit in the deployment of attention in patients with schizophrenia. However, patients showed an increased temporal integration deficit within a hundred-millisecond timescale. The degree of such integration dysfunction was correlated with the clinical manifestations of schizophrenia. There was no difference between individuals with/without schizotypal personality disorder in temporal integration. Differently from previous studies using the AB, we did not find a significant impairment in deployment of attention in schizophrenia. Instead, we used both theoretical and empirical approaches to show that previous findings (using the suppression ratio to correct for the baseline difference) produced a systematic exaggeration of the attention deficits. Instead, we modulated the perceptual difficulty of the task to bring the baseline levels of target detection between the groups into closer alignment. We found that the integration dysfunction rather than deployment of attention is clinically relevant, and thus should be an additional focus of research in schizophrenia

Correction: Faught et al. “Socioeconomic Disadvantage across the Life Course is associated with Diet Quality in Young Adulthood” Nutrients, 2019, 11(2), 242

We noticed an error in the text that requires correcting as it may contribute to an incorrect understanding of our study’s scientific conclusions. In the text accompanying Table 4 (Section 3.3: Mediation Analysis (Pathways Hypothesis), page 11), the third sentence in the paragraph reads: “Adult SEP at the level of university education mediated associations between childhood SEP and mean adult HEI-2015 score (p < 0.001).” This should in fact read: “Adult SEP at the level of high school or less mediated associations between childhood SEP and mean adult HEI-2015 score (p < 0.001).” This correction is consistent with the results presented in Table 4, and in line with the scientific conclusions discussed in the article that a low socioeconomic position (SEP) in adulthood mediates associations between childhood SEP and adult diet quality. SEP at the level of university education was the reference group in this analysis

Early Trauma and Increased Risk for Physical Aggression during Adulthood: The Moderating Role of MAOA Genotype

Previous research has reported that a functional polymorphism in the monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) gene promoter can moderate the association between early life adversity and increased risk for violence and antisocial behavior. In this study of a combined population of psychiatric outpatients and healthy volunteers (N = 235), we tested the hypothesis that MAOA genotype moderates the association between early traumatic life events (ETLE) experienced during the first 15 years of life and the display of physical aggression during adulthood, as assessed by the Aggression Questionnaire. An ANOVA model including gender, exposure to early trauma, and MAOA genotype as between-subjects factors showed significant MAOA×ETLE (F1,227 = 8.20, P = 0.005) and gender×MAOA×ETLE (F1,227 = 7.04, P = 0.009) interaction effects. Physical aggression scores were higher in men who had experienced early traumatic life events and who carried the low MAOA activity allele (MAOA-L). We repeated the analysis in the subgroup of healthy volunteers (N = 145) to exclude that the observed G×E interactions were due to the inclusion of psychiatric patients in our sample and were not generalizable to the population at large. The results for the subgroup of healthy volunteers were identical to those for the entire sample. The cumulative variance in the physical aggression score explained by the ANOVA effects involving the MAOA polymorphism was 6.6% in the entire sample and 12.1% in the sub-sample of healthy volunteers. Our results support the hypothesis that, when combined with exposure to early traumatic life events, low MAOA activity is a significant risk factor for aggressive behavior during adulthood and suggest that the use of dimensional measures focusing on behavioral aspects of aggression may increase the likelihood of detecting significant gene-by-environment interactions in studies of MAOA-related aggression