Reducing the health risks of severe winter weather among older people in the United Kingdom: an evidence-based intervention

Excess winter morbidity and mortality among older people remain significant public health issues in those European countries which experience relatively mild winter temperatures, particularly the United Kingdom (UK), Ireland, Portugal and Spain. In the UK, episodes of severe winter weather, when ambient temperatures fall below 5x C, are associated with peaks in general practitioner consultations,hospital admissions, and cardiovascular deaths among those aged over 65. While research indicates that such health risks could be substantially reduced by the adoption of appropriate behavioural strategies, accessible and credible advice on how older people can reduce risk during ‘cold snaps’ is lacking. This paper describes a programme of research that aimed: (a) to translate the relevant scientific literature into practical advice for older people in order to reduce health risk during episodes of severe winter weather ; and (b) to integrate this advice with a severe winter weather ‘Early Warning System’ developed by the UK Met Office. An advice booklet was generated through a sequential process of systematic review, consensus development, and focus group discussions with older people. In a subsequent field trial, a combination of the Met Office ‘Early Warning System’ and the advice booklet produced behavioural change among older people consistent with risk reduction. The results also show that long-held convictions about ‘healthy environments ’ and anxieties about fuel costs are barriers to risk reduction

Carnivore: Will It Devour Your Privacy?

Perhaps you have written an e-mail that looks something like this

De Novo Design of Artificial Cu Peptide for Substrate Oxidation and an Electrochemical Approach to Determine Reorganization Energy

Copper enzymes are found in nature. Their mechanisms and properties are unknown, as spectroscopy is limited. By creating artificially designed copper peptides through de novo design, the behavior, characteristics, and spectroscopy of copper enzymes can be studied to enhance understanding of the mechanisms involved with enzyme catalysis. Design, synthesis, purification, and characterization are completed to create a quality peptide mutant that can be studied to learn about natural enzymes. This plays an important role in pharmaceutical research, renewable energy sourcing, and studies of biological processes in the body. In this study, 3SCC de novo peptide is mutated at different positions, from Ile to Ala, to open the copper active site, allowing for more efficient binding and catalytic activity. Electrochemical and kinetic experiments are currently being conducted to measure catalytic activity at different temperatures to ultimately find the reorganization energy, ��, of the 3SCC and mutants

Parents\u27 Intentions to Allow Youth Football Participation : Perceived Concussion Risk and an Augmented Theory of Planned Behavior

Youth football participation numbers have seen a decline in recent years, with many believing that the risk of head injury is to blame for the decrease. One step to reversing the decline in participation is to understand why fewer children are participating in football. Using an augmented version of the Theory of Planned Behavior, this study looked at the predictors of parents\u27 intentions to allow their children to participate in football. It was hypothesized that in addition to attitudes, social norms, and behavioral control, perceived concussion risk would be a predictor of intention to allow football participation. An online survey was developed and taken by 491 parents of children age 18 and younger. As hypothesized, there were four significant predictors of intention to allow football participation: attitude toward youth football participation, social norms, behavioral control, and perceived risk of concussion in football. The findings of this study provide a better understanding of parents’ decision making when considering youth football participation. These results provide a theoretical platform for interventions to promote youth sport participation and to reverse the decline in football participation

The Sad Predictability of Indigenous Affairs

The recycling of debates around welfare, violence and history in Settler-Indigenous Australian affairs involves the circulation of some well-worn perspectives. The authors assert that the entire relationship of black and white Australia needs to be reconsidered, and claim that this should include a critical examination of Australia's political and administrative rationality and (the history of) its intersection with Aboriginal culture. They call for a dialogue between European and Aboriginal political values and systems

Movement Analysis Of A Box Jump

https://digitalcommons.gardner-webb.edu/exercise-science-research-proposal-posters/1059/thumbnail.jp

The intrinsic stiffness of human trabecular meshwork cells increases with senescence.

Dysfunction of the human trabecular meshwork (HTM) plays a central role in the age-associated disease glaucoma, a leading cause of irreversible blindness. The etiology remains poorly understood but cellular senescence, increased stiffness of the tissue, and the expression of Wnt antagonists such as secreted frizzled related protein-1 (SFRP1) have been implicated. However, it is not known if senescence is causally linked to either stiffness or SFRP1 expression. In this study, we utilized in vitro HTM senescence to determine the effect on cellular stiffening and SFRP1 expression. Stiffness of cultured cells was measured using atomic force microscopy and the morphology of the cytoskeleton was determined using immunofluorescent analysis. SFRP1 expression was measured using qPCR and immunofluorescent analysis. Senescent cell stiffness increased 1.88±0.14 or 2.57±0.14 fold in the presence or absence of serum, respectively. This was accompanied by increased vimentin expression, stress fiber formation, and SFRP1 expression. In aggregate, these data demonstrate that senescence may be a causal factor in HTM stiffening and elevated SFRP1 expression, and contribute towards disease progression. These findings provide insight into the etiology of glaucoma and, more broadly, suggest a causal link between senescence and altered tissue biomechanics in aging-associated diseases

Investigation of Genetic Structure between Deep and Shallow Populations of the Southern Rock Lobster, Jasus edwardsii in Tasmania, Australia

The southern rock lobster, Jasus edwardsii, shows clear phenotypic differences between shallow water (red coloured) and deeper water (pale coloured) individuals. Translocations of individuals from deeper water to shallower waters are currently being trialled as a management strategy to facilitate a phenotypic change from lower value pale colouration, common in deeper waters, to the higher value red colouration found in shallow waters. Although panmixia across the J. edwardsii range has been long assumed, it is critical to assess the genetic variability of the species to ensure that the level of population connectivity is appropriately understood and translocations do not have unintended consequences. Eight microsatellite loci were used to investigate genetic differentiation between six sites (three shallow, three deep) across southern Tasmania, Australia, and one from New Zealand. Based on analyses the assumption of panmixia was rejected, revealing small levels of genetic differentiation across southern Tasmania, significant levels of differentiation between Tasmania and New Zealand, and high levels of asymmetric gene flow in an easterly direction from Tasmania into New Zealand. These results suggest that translocation among Tasmanian populations are not likely to be problematic, however, a re-consideration of panmictic stock structure for this species is necessary

Association Between Bisphenols, Acrylamide, Glycidamide, Fast Food, and Obesity: An Obesogenic Perspective

Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are exogenous man-made substances that have the ability to interfere with hormone action and are believed to be a contributing factor to chronic illnesses, including but not limited to obesity. Recent studies have suggested that environmental agents (environmental obesogens), such as food additives, plasticizers, and personal care products are contributors that aid in the altering of hormone receptors and hormone mimicry. Such environmental obesogens have the potential to promote adipogenesis and fat accumulation. In this study, the social-ecological model was used to determine the factors that can influence the increased exposure to obesogenic chemicals at the intrapersonal, interpersonal, organizational, and community levels of an individual. This correlational cross-sectional quantitative study analysis of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2015–2016 cycle investigated the possible relationship between the dependent variable of body mass index (BMI) and the independent variables of bisphenols A, F, S, acrylamide (AA), and glycidamide (GA) while controlling for confounding variables that served as markers for each level of the social-ecological model. Linear regression analysis indicated that the endocrine disruptors BPA and AA/GA were the only significant predictors of BMI (p \u3c 0.05) among the confounding variables of income, race, food security, and times healthcare was received over the past year. This study can promote positive social change by offering insights on the levels of exposure to endocrine disruptors, which can be useful for longitudinal epidemiological and biomonitoring studies, conducted by national and international environmental agencies, for precautionary toxicological assessments in the future

Submaximal Exercise Performance In Fasted vs. Non-Fasted Individuals

The purpose of this study is to compare exercise performance and substrate utilization in fasted and non-fasted, healthy college students during submaximal exercise on the leg ergometer. It was hypothesized that consuming a meal prior to submaximal exercise will yield a higher RER value compared to fasting at least three hours prior to the start of exercise.https://digitalcommons.gardner-webb.edu/exercise-science-research-proposal-posters/1025/thumbnail.jp