Association between fast food purchasing and the local food environment

Objective: In this study, an instrument was created to measure the healthy and unhealthy characteristics of food environments and investigate associations between the whole of the food environment and fast food consumption.Design and subjects: In consultation with other academic researchers in this field, food stores were categorised to either healthy or unhealthy and weighted (between +10 and &minus;10) by their likely contribution to healthy/unhealthy eating practices. A healthy and unhealthy food environment score (FES) was created using these weightings. Using a cross-sectional study design, multilevel multinomial regression was used to estimate the effects of the whole food environment on the fast food purchasing habits of 2547 individuals.Results: Respondents in areas with the highest tertile of the healthy FES had a lower likelihood of purchasing fast food both infrequently and frequently compared with respondents who never purchased, however only infrequent purchasing remained significant when simultaneously modelled with the unhealthy FES (odds ratio (OR) 0.52; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.32&ndash;0.83). Although a lower likelihood of frequent fast food purchasing was also associated with living in the highest tertile of the unhealthy FES, no association remained once the healthy FES was included in the models. In our binary models, respondents living in areas with a higher unhealthy FES than healthy FES were more likely to purchase fast food infrequently (OR 1.35; 95% CI 1.00&ndash;1.82) however no association was found for frequent purchasing.Conclusion: Our study provides some evidence to suggest that healthier food environments may discourage fast food purchasing.<br /

A qualitative exploration of perspectives of physical activity and sedentary behaviour among Indian migrants in Melbourne, Australia: how are they defined and what can we learn?

BackgroundAlthough perceptions of what constitutes physical activity (PA) may vary between culturally diverse populations, very little research has explored the perceptions of PA among Indian migrants. This study aimed to identify how PA and sedentary behaviour (SB) are defined and describe how these definitions are shaped by cultural background and migration among a sample of Indian migrants living in Australia.MethodsUsing an exploratory qualitative approach, semi-structured interviews were conducted with twenty-one Indian migrants living in Melbourne (10 men and 11 women; age range: 18 to 65 years). Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were coded and analysed inductively using thematic analyses.ResultsData revealed two emerging themes: 1) Holistic perspectives related to PA, where although the majority of participants described PA as "any sort of movement", or "physical exercise", several of these descriptions had interwoven ideas related to the mind (mind-body connect), social, cultural, and to the outdoor environment; 2) Broader perspectives for SB, where descriptions of SB as "not having movement", "doing nothing" or "being lazy", were shaped with ideas of purpose and duration. Women spoke about how their perspectives of PA and SB may be shaped by native Indian experiences, particularly the gender roles, social caste, and regional subcultural norms which they perceived were important to consider among women who migrate to western settings.ConclusionsCultural background is important in shaping the perspectives of PA and SB among Indian migrants in Australia. Practitioners and researchers should consider the varying perspectives of PA to communicate and promote PA among migrant populations more effectively

Variations in area-level disadvantage of Australian registered fitness trainers usual training locations

BACKGROUND: Leisure-time physical activity and strength training participation levels are low and socioeconomically distributed. Fitness trainers (e.g. gym/group instructors) may have a role in increasing these participation levels. However, it is not known whether the training location and characteristics of Australian fitness trainers vary between areas that differ in socioeconomic status. METHODS: In 2014, a sample of 1,189 Australian trainers completed an online survey with questions about personal and fitness industry-related characteristics (e.g. qualifications, setting, and experience) and postcode of their usual training location. The Australian Bureau of Statistics \u27Index of Relative Socioeconomic Disadvantage\u27 (IRSD) was matched to training location and used to assess where fitness professionals trained and whether their experience, qualification level and delivery methods differed by area-level disadvantage. Linear regression analysis was used to examine the relationship between IRSD score and selected characteristics adjusting for covariates (e.g. sex, age). RESULTS: Overall, 47&nbsp;% of respondents worked in areas within the three least-disadvantaged deciles. In contrast, only 14.8&nbsp;% worked in the three most-disadvantaged deciles. In adjusted regression models, fitness industry qualification was positively associated with a higher IRSD score (i.e. working in the least-disadvantaged areas) (Cert III: ref; Cert IV &beta;:13.44 [95&nbsp;% CI 3.86-23.02]; Diploma &beta;:15.77 [95&nbsp;% CI: 2.17-29.37]; Undergraduate &beta;:23.14 [95&nbsp;% CI: 9.41-36.86]). CONCLUSIONS: Fewer Australian fitness trainers work in areas with high levels of socioeconomic disadvantaged areas than in areas with low levels of disadvantage. A higher level of fitness industry qualifications was associated with working in areas with lower levels of disadvantage. Future research should explore the effectiveness of providing incentives that encourage more fitness trainers and those with higher qualifications to work in more socioeconomically disadvantaged areas

Drawing from life: An autobiographical study in the creative work of Sheryl Thornton-Dibb le Tourneur with reference to selected female artists.

Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg.This practice-based research (PBR) project facilitates the use of creative studio practice as research together with theoretical research that culminate in an integrated exhibition and written dissertation for examination for the degree: Master of Art in Fine Art – Research (MAFA-R). This research adopts an heuristic approach to allow for flexibility, un pre-determined outcomes and tacit knowledge. Heuristics is suitable for autobiographical study as the subjective experience of the researcher is not only acknowledged but becomes the focus of the research. The phases and processes of heuristics become guides to the research process. The heuristic phases are also used in discussion of the processes and artworks of creative studio practice from a retrospective ‘bird’s eye’ view. The process becomes an immersive one in which the researcher embodies the research question and follows intuition, personal interest and emotion to engage with the materials of creative practice, to incubate inner knowledge and wait for emergent illumination. The theory of autobiography as influenced by feminism provides a theoretical framework that respects the influence of existential-phenomenological, psychoanalytic and spiritual frameworks and recognises the possibility of philosophical engagement. Autobiographical subjectivity, composed of experience, identity, memory, embodiment and agency, is implicitly and explicitly expressed in creative expression. Materiality and metaphor as embodied are also discussed as relating to autobiographical and creative expression in which varied themes emerge. The written and artistic work of Käthe Kollwitz and Wilma Cruise produced during midlife during which they experienced the loss of a loved one and psychological and/or spiritual existential crises is discussed in relation to the work and experience of personal loss and midlife of the author, Sheryl Thornton-Dibb le Tourneur. In this context the metaphors of birthing of self and creativity and nurturing creative seed within are discussed as is the equation of mother and artist. The use of figurative work and self-portraiture and the materials and processes of drawing and clay for artworks in 2D and 3D are considered in terms of their materiality and personal and implicit autobiographical expression in the quest for articulation of a personal and universal voice. Visual journaling of the process and curation of the artworks are recognised as significant in their contribution to the production and presentation of the creative studio practice and are unable to be reduced to or subsumed by the explication or exhibition

Using mixed methods for analysing culture : The Cultural Capital and Social Exclusion project

This paper discusses the use of material generated in a mixed method investigation into cultural tastes and practices, conducted in Britain from 2003 to 2006, which employed a survey, focus groups and household interviews. The study analysed the patterning of cultural life across a number of fields, enhancing the empirical and methodological template provided by Bourdieu’s Distinction. Here we discuss criticisms of Bourdieu emerging from subsequent studies of class, culture and taste, outline the arguments related to the use of mixed methods and present illustrative results from the analysis of these different types of data. We discuss how the combination of quantitative and qualitative methods informed our analysis of cultural life in contemporary Britain. No single method was able to shed light on all aspects of our inquiry, lending support to the view that mixing methods is the most productive strategy for the investigation of complex social phenomena

Waveguiding and photoluminescence in Er³⁺-doped Ta₂O₅ planar waveguides

The optimization of erbium-doped Ta2O5 thin film waveguides deposited by magnetron sputtering onto thermally oxidized silicon wafer is described. Optical constants of the film were determined by ellipsometry. For the slab waveguides, background losses below 0.4dB/cm at 633nm have been obtained before post-annealing. The samples, when pumped at 980nm yielded abroad photoluminescence spectrum (FWHM ~50 nm) centred at 1534nm, corresponding to 4 I 13/2 to the 4 I 15/2 transition of Er3+ ion. The samples were annealed up to 600 °C and both photoluminescence power and fluorescence lifetime increase with post-annealing temperature and a fluorescence lifetime of 2.4ms was achieved, yielding promising results for compact waveguide amplifier

Investigating the beneficial traits of Trichoderma hamatum GD12 for sustainable agriculture-insights from genomics.

This is the final version of the article. Available from the publisher via the DOI in this record.Trichoderma hamatum strain GD12 is unique in that it can promote plant growth, activate biocontrol against pre- and post-emergence soil pathogens and can induce systemic resistance to foliar pathogens. This study extends previous work in lettuce to demonstrate that GD12 can confer beneficial agronomic traits to other plants, providing examples of plant growth promotion in the model dicot, Arabidopsis thaliana and induced foliar resistance to Magnaporthe oryzae in the model monocot rice. We further characterize the lettuce-T. hamatum interaction to show that bran extracts from GD12 and an N-acetyl-β-D-glucosamindase-deficient mutant differentially promote growth in a concentration dependent manner, and these differences correlate with differences in the small molecule secretome. We show that GD12 mycoparasitises a range of isolates of the pre-emergence soil pathogen Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and that this interaction induces a further increase in plant growth promotion above that conferred by GD12. To understand the genetic potential encoded by T. hamatum GD12 and to facilitate its use as a model beneficial organism to study plant growth promotion, induced systemic resistance and mycoparasitism we present de novo genome sequence data. We compare GD12 with other published Trichoderma genomes and show that T. hamatum GD12 contains unique genomic regions with the potential to encode novel bioactive metabolites that may contribute to GD12's agrochemically important traits.This work was supported by a Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council grant BB/I014691/1 to Murray Grant and Chris R. Thornto

Draft Genome Sequence of the Human-Pathogenic Fungus Scedosporium boydii

The opportunistic fungal pathogen Scedosporium boydii is the most common Scedosporium species in French patients with cystic fibrosis. Here we present the first genome report for S. boydii, providing a resource which may enable the elucidation of the pathogenic mechanisms in this species

Transcriptional reprogramming underpins enhanced plant growth promotion by the biocontrol fungus Trichoderma hamatum GD12 during antagonistic interactions with Sclerotinia sclerotiorumin soil

The free-living soil fungus Trichoderma hamatum strain GD12 is notable amongst Trichoderma strains in both controlling plant diseases and in stimulating plant growth, a property enhanced during its antagonistic interactions with pathogens in soil. These attributes, alongside its markedly expanded genome and proteome compared to other biocontrol and plant growth promoting Trichoderma strains, imply a rich potential for sustainable alternatives to synthetic pesticides and fertilisers for controlling plant disease and increasing yields. The purpose of this study was to investigate the transcriptional responses of GD12 underpinning its biocontrol and plant growth promotion capabilities during antagonistic interactions with the pathogen Sclerotinia sclerotiorum in soil. Using an extensive mRNA-seq study capturing different time points during the pathogen-antagonist interaction in soil, we show that dynamic and biphasic signatures in the GD12 transcriptome underpin its biocontrol and plant (lettuce) growth promotional activities. Functional predictions of differentially expressed genes demonstrate the enrichment of transcripts encoding proteins involved in transportation and oxidation-reduction reactions during both processes and an over-representation of siderophores. We identify a biphasic response during biocontrol characterised by a significant induction of transcripts encoding small-secreted cysteine rich proteins, secondary metabolite producing gene clusters and genes unique to GD12. These data support the hypothesis that Sclerotinia biocontrol is mediated by the synthesis and secretion of antifungal compounds and that GD12's unique reservoir of uncharacterised genes is actively recruited during effective biological control of a plurivorous plant pathogen. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

Investigating the beneficial traits of Trichoderma hamatum GD12 for sustainable agriculture : insights from genomics

Trichoderma hamatum strain GD12 is unique in that it can promote plant growth, activate biocontrol against pre- and post-emergence soil pathogens and can induce systemic resistance to foliar pathogens. This study extends previous work in lettuce to demonstrate that GD12 can confer beneficial agronomic traits to other plants, providing examples of plant growth promotion in the model dicot, Arabidopsis thaliana and induced foliar resistance to Magnaporthe oryzae in the model monocot rice. We further characterize the lettuce-T. hamatum interaction to show that bran extracts from GD12 and an N-acetyl-β-D-glucosamindase-deficient mutant differentially promote growth in a concentration dependent manner, and these differences correlate with differences in the small molecule secretome. We show that GD12 mycoparasitises a range of isolates of the pre-emergence soil pathogen Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and that this interaction induces a further increase in plant growth promotion above that conferred by GD12. To understand the genetic potential encoded by T. hamatum GD12 and to facilitate its use as a model beneficial organism to study plant growth promotion, induced systemic resistance and mycoparasitism we present de novo genome sequence data. We compare GD12 with other published Trichoderma genomes and show that T. hamatum GD12 contains unique genomic regions with the potential to encode novel bioactive metabolites that may contribute to GD12's agrochemically important traits. Read Full Tex