Yoga, change and embodied enlightenment

Though it has been claimed that modern yoga retains little of its origins of religious austerity, I will argue that even if yoga as a physical practice has taken a strong position among the modern fitness trends, there are still important links to the philosophic­al and religious traditions of India – not least in the minds of many of its practitioners. Reorientations of these traditions to more modern settings have an impact on the practitioners’ bodies, and the embodied experience of the practice in turn influences yoga

Implementation conditions for diet and physical activity interventions and policies : an umbrella review

BACKGROUND: This umbrella review aimed at identifying evidence-based conditions important for successful implementation of interventions and policies promoting a healthy diet, physical activity (PA), and a reduction in sedentary behaviors (SB). In particular, we examined if the implementation conditions identified were intervention-specific or policy-specific. This study was undertaken as part of the DEterminants of DIet and Physical Activity (DEDIPAC) Knowledge Hub, a joint action as part of the European Joint Programming Initiative a Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life. METHODS: A systematic review of reviews and stakeholder documents was conducted. Data from nine scientific literature databases were analyzed (95 documents met the inclusion criteria). Additionally, published documentation of eight major stakeholders (e.g., World Health Organization) were systematically searched (17 documents met the inclusion criteria). The RE-AIM framework was used to categorize elicited conditions. Across the implementation conditions 25 % were identified in at least four documents and were subsequently classified as having obtained sufficient support. RESULTS: We identified 312 potential conditions relevant for successful implementation; 83 of these received sufficient support. Using the RE-AIM framework eight implementation conditions that obtained support referred to the reach in the target population; five addressed efficacy of implementation processes; 24 concerned adoption by the target staff, setting, or institutions; 43 referred to consistency, costs, and adaptations made in the implementation process; three addressed maintenance of effects over time. The vast majority of implementation conditions (87.9 %; 73 of 83) were supported by documents referring to both interventions and policies. There were seven policy-specific implementation conditions, which focused on increasing complexities of coexisting policies/legal instruments and their consequences for implementation, as well as politicians' collaboration in implementation. CONCLUSIONS: The use of the proposed list of 83 conditions for successful implementation may enhance the implementation of interventions and policies which pursue identification of the most successful actions aimed at improving diet, PA and reducing SB

Methods for second language training of adult immigrants: a systematic scoping review

Source at https://www.fhi.no/.Vi utførte på oppdrag fra Integrerings- og mangfoldsdirektoratet (IMDi) en systematisk kartleggingsoversikt. Den sammenfattet studier om undervisningsstrategier for andrespråksopplæring av voksne innvandrere. Vi utførte et svært omfattende søk, og vurderte ca. 1100 studier i fulltekst. Vi inkluderte 66 studier, med totalt ca. 79 000 deltakere i studiene (77 060 deltakere er fra én svensk registerbasert studie). Det var flest kvalitative studier, men vi inkluderte også 12 kontrollerte studier. Tre fjerdedeler av studiene er publisert det siste tiåret. Majoriteten av studiene er fra Europa, inkludert 21 studier fra Skandinavia

Developing a systems-based framework of the factors influencing dietary and physical activity behaviours in ethnic minority populations living in Europe - a DEDIPAC study

Background: Some ethnic minority populations have a higher risk of non-communicable diseases than the majority European population. Diet and physical activity behaviours contribute to this risk, shaped by a system of inter-related factors. This study mapped a systems-based framework of the factors influencing dietary and physical activity behaviours in ethnic minority populations living in Europe, to inform research prioritisation and intervention development. Methods: A concept mapping approach guided by systems thinking was used: i. Preparation (protocol and terminology); ii. Generating a list of factors influencing dietary and physical activity behaviours in ethnic minority populations living in Europe from evidence (systematic mapping reviews) and ‘eminence’ (89 participants from 24 academic disciplines via brainstorming, an international symposium and expert review) and; iii. Seeking consensus on structuring, rating and clustering factors, based on how they relate to each other; and iv. Interpreting/utilising the framework for research and interventions. Similar steps were undertaken for frameworks developed for the majority European population. Results: Seven distinct clusters emerged for dietary behaviour (containing 85 factors) and 8 for physical activity behaviours (containing 183 factors). Four clusters were similar across behaviours: Social and cultural environment; Social and material resources; Psychosocial; and Migration context. Similar clusters of factors emerged in the frameworks for diet and physical activity behaviours of the majority European population, except for ‘migration context’. The importance of factors across all clusters was acknowledged, but their relative importance differed for ethnic minority populations compared with the majority population. Conclusions: This systems-based framework integrates evidence from both expert opinion and published literature, to map the factors influencing dietary and physical activity behaviours in ethnic minority groups. Our findings illustrate that innovative research and complex interventions need to be developed that are sensitive to the needs of ethnic minority populations. A systems approach that encompasses the complexity of the inter-related factors that drive behaviours may inform a more holistic public health paradigm to more effectively reach ethnic minorities living in Europe, as well as the majority host population

The SOS-framework (Systems of Sedentary behaviours): an international transdisciplinary consensus framework for the study of determinants, research priorities and policy on sedentary behaviour across the life course: a DEDIPAC-study.

BACKGROUND: Ecological models are currently the most used approaches to classify and conceptualise determinants of sedentary behaviour, but these approaches are limited in their ability to capture the complexity of and interplay between determinants. The aim of the project described here was to develop a transdisciplinary dynamic framework, grounded in a system-based approach, for research on determinants of sedentary behaviour across the life span and intervention and policy planning and evaluation. METHODS: A comprehensive concept mapping approach was used to develop the Systems Of Sedentary behaviours (SOS) framework, involving four main phases: (1) preparation, (2) generation of statements, (3) structuring (sorting and ranking), and (4) analysis and interpretation. The first two phases were undertaken between December 2013 and February 2015 by the DEDIPAC KH team (DEterminants of DIet and Physical Activity Knowledge Hub). The last two phases were completed during a two-day consensus meeting in June 2015. RESULTS: During the first phase, 550 factors regarding sedentary behaviour were listed across three age groups (i.e., youths, adults and older adults), which were reduced to a final list of 190 life course factors in phase 2 used during the consensus meeting. In total, 69 international delegates, seven invited experts and one concept mapping consultant attended the consensus meeting. The final framework obtained during that meeting consisted of six clusters of determinants: Physical Health and Wellbeing (71% consensus), Social and Cultural Context (59% consensus), Built and Natural Environment (65% consensus), Psychology and Behaviour (80% consensus), Politics and Economics (78% consensus), and Institutional and Home Settings (78% consensus). Conducting studies on Institutional Settings was ranked as the first research priority. The view that this framework captures a system-based map of determinants of sedentary behaviour was expressed by 89% of the participants. CONCLUSION: Through an international transdisciplinary consensus process, the SOS framework was developed for the determinants of sedentary behaviour through the life course. Investigating the influence of Institutional and Home Settings was deemed to be the most important area of research to focus on at present and potentially the most modifiable. The SOS framework can be used as an important tool to prioritise future research and to develop policies to reduce sedentary time

Spectroscopic Ellipsometry of MoO3-x

Intermediate band solar cells (IBSC) has a great potential to increase the efficiency of solar cells and reduce the costs of the generated electricity. To realize IBSC that contain one or more sub-band gap in the main band gap of the semiconductor needs to be developed. In this master thesis, non-destructive spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) measurements are used to determine the dielectric function (DF) of the samples. The measurements are performed on different series of reduced molybdenum oxides, MoO3-x, thin films. The samples had been fabricated by either pulsed laser deposition (PLD) or spin coating (SC) before the thesis work started. To determine the DF, an optical model for the samples had to be developed. A model developed previously for another potential IB material (chromium doped ZnS) was used as a staring point, but turned out not to be suitable for the MoO3-x samples. Initially, information about the thickness and roughness was used to develop the model, and later also information about composition and resistivity, available for some of the samples, was used. Information from cross-sectional scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy images were used to develop the layer structure of the model. For the PLD samples, the final model consisted of three layers and it was assumed to consist of the same material, but with varying amount of void, on top of a substrate. The bottom layer had no void, the uppermost layer (surface roughness) had 50 % void, and in the middle layer the amount of void was used as a fitting parameter between 0 and 50 %. The SC samples were more dense than the PLD samples, and thus the middle layer was not included. A single oscillator layer was developed for the material in both the PLD and SC samples. This oscillator layer accounts for contributions from band to band transitions across the band gap, as well as sub-band gap transitions caused by intermediate, or sub-stoichiometric, phases of MoO3-x and contributions from free electron excitations. The final model was used to obtain the DF for most of the samples, but not for the PLD samples grown at the highest temperatures: for these samples it is likely that the three layers consist of different material, and thus the developed model, assuming the same material in each layer, failed. For the low growth temperature series from PLD and the SC samples, reasonable dielectric functions were obtained, that matched the information about the samples obtained from other characterization techniques, and also matched DFs reported for MoO3-x found in literature. Using the finale model, fitted values for the band gap and other material properties could be obtained. Based on this, we can conclude that the low growth temperature series from PLD consist of mainly MoO3 for the the films made with high oxygen partial pressure in the vacuum chamber during deposition, with very little sub-band gap absorption, meaning that intermediate band states are most likely not present in these samples. In contrast, the low growth temperature series deposited with a low oxygen partial pressure, consist of MoO2 (i.e. highly reduced MoO3, but also of intermediate phases such as Mo4O11, leading to significant sub-band gap absorption. The samples made by SC had been annealed in a hydrogen atmosphere to form oxygen vacancies, because it was known from literature that this could result in an intermediate band. From the fitted values of the band gap and the other parameters we could confirm earlier findings that for the thickest films, only the highest annealing temperatures lead to formation of significant amounts of sub-band gap states. In contrast, for the thinnest films, that also were found to consist of MoO3, an increasing amount of sub-band gap absorption was seen with increasing annealing temperature. The sub-band gap absorption was related to intermediate phases (for instance Mo4O11) and MoO2 for the highest annealing temperature. Suggestions for further development of the model are also included in this thesis work, as well as a discussion on what deposition technique seems to be more suitable to make an IB material based on MoO3-

“Pay attention – Listen to your heart!”: Unfolding practice, changing realities and awareness of the embodied self in Ashtanga yoga

PhD i sosialantropologiPhD in Social Anthropolog