An Assessment of Sedentary Time Among Undergraduate Students at an Urban Canadian University

The purpose of this study was to calculate a total daily sedentary time for the undergraduate population at a large urban Canadian University and discover student perceptions on the facilitators and barriers to engaging in a less sedentary lifestyle. A sample of 335 participants responded to an online survey, with 102 participants included in the quantitative analysis and 145 included in the qualitative analysis. Participants responded to the SIT-Q Sedentary Behaviour Questionnaire and two opened ended questions. Analysis of the SIT-Q demonstrated that undergraduate student’s have daily sedentary times similar to previously studied adults with a significant amount of sedentary time allocated to study. Three themes were identified as facilitators to engaging in a less sedentary lifestyle: 1) access to a gym, 2) student jobs, and 3) walking to and on campus. Two themes were identified as barriers to engaging in a less sedentary lifestyle: 1) sitting in class and 2) studying outside of class. The results suggest that like desk-based working adults, undergraduate student’s have levels of sedentary behaviour that warrant further investigation and intervention, perhaps most effectively within the university classroom

The role of fiscal rules and institutions in shaping budgetary outcomes

The Workshop "The role of fiscal rules and institutions in shaping budgetary outcomes" organized by the Directorate-General for Economic and Financial affairs of the European Commission on 24 November 2006 in Brussels aimed at enriching the debate on the fiscal arrangements and improving the understanding of their functioning. This Economic Paper contains all the paper presented in this event that was organised in four sessions. A first set of papers mainly focus on the impact of numerical fiscal rules on budgetary outturns. Other paper deal primarily with the appropriate design of fiscal rules and institutions. An additional group of papers addresses the relationship between the fiscal governance approach adopted by the EU Member States and their institutional and political frameworks. Finally the remaining presentations relate more directly to policy experiences. fiscal rules, budget, institutions.fiscal rules, budget, institutions, Ayuso-i-Casals, Deroose, Flores, Moulin

Reflexion M\"ossbauer analysis of the in situ oxidation products hydroxycarbonate green rust

The purpose of this study is to determine the nature of the oxidation products of FeII-III hydroxycarbonate FeII4FeIII2(OH)12CO3~3H2O (green rust GR(CO32-)) by using the miniaturised M\"ossbauer spectrometer MIMOS II. Two M\"ossbauer measurements methods are used: method (i) with green rust pastes coated with glycerol and spread into Plexiglas sample holders, and method (ii) with green rust pastes in the same sample holders but introduced into a gas-tight cell with a beryllium window under a continuous nitrogen flow. Method (ii) allows us to follow the continuous deprotonation of GR(CO32-) into the fully ferric deprotonated form FeIII6O4(OH)8CO3~3H2O by adding the correct amount of H2O2, without any further oxidation or degradation of the samples

Letter. On the activation of [CrCl3{R-SN(H)S-R}] catalysts for selective trimerization of ethene: a freeze-quench Cr K-edge XAFS study

Homogeneous chromium catalysts for the selective conversion of ethene to hex-1-ene are formed from Cr(III) reagents, amino-thioether ligands of the type HN(CH2CH2SR)2, and aluminum reagents. In this study the early activation steps are investigated by EPR, UV-visible and Cr K-edge XAFS spectroscopy; rapid stopped-flow mixing and a freeze-quench allows good quality EXAFS analysis of a species formed in ~ 1 second of reaction. This is shown to involve reduction to Cr(II) and deprotonation of a NH group of the auxiliary ligand. This 4-coordinate metal-center may act as precursor for the coordination of ethene and subsequent selective oligomerization

Are COVID-19 models blind to the social determinants of health? A systematic review protocol

Introduction Infectious disease models are important tools to inform public health policy decisions. These models are primarily based on an average population approach and often ignore the role of social determinants in predicting the course of a pandemic and the impact of policy interventions. Ignoring social determinants in models may cause or exacerbate inequalities. This limitation has not been previously explored in the context of the current pandemic, where COVID-19 has been found to disproportionately affect marginalised racial, ethnic and socioeconomic groups. Therefore, our primary goal is to identify the extent to which COVID-19 models incorporate the social determinants of health in predicting outcomes of the pandemic. Methods and analysis We will search MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library and Web of Science databases from December 2019 to August 2020. We will assess all infectious disease modelling studies for inclusion of social factors that meet the following criteria: (a) focused on human spread of SARS-CoV-2; (b) modelling studies; (c) interventional or non-interventional studies; and (d) focused on one of the following outcomes: COVID-19-related outcomes (eg, cases, deaths), non-COVID-19-related outcomes (ie, impacts of the pandemic or control policies on other health conditions or health services), or impact of the pandemic or control policies on economic outcomes. Data will only be extracted from models incorporating social factors. We will report the percentage of models that considered social factors, indicate which social factors were considered, and describe how social factors were incorporated into the conceptualisation and implementation of the infectious disease models. The extracted data will also be used to create a narrative synthesis of the results. Ethics and dissemination Ethics approval is not required as only secondary data will be collected. The results of this systematic review will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publication and conference proceedings. PROSPERO registration number CRD42020207706

Cooling Tests of the NectarCAM camera for the Cherenkov Telescope Array

The NectarCAM is a camera proposed for the medium-sized telescopes in the framework of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), the next-generation observatory for very-high-energy gamma-ray astronomy. The cameras are designed to operate in an open environment and their mechanics must provide protection for all their components under the conditions defined for the CTA observatory. In order to operate in a stable environment and ensure the best physics performance, each NectarCAM will be enclosed in a slightly overpressurized, nearly air-tight, camera body, to prevent dust and water from entering. The total power dissipation will be ~7.7 kW for a 1855-pixel camera. The largest fraction is dissipated by the readout electronics in the modules. We present the design and implementation of the cooling system together with the test bench results obtained on the NectarCAM thermal demonstrator.Comment: In Proceedings of the 34th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC2015), The Hague, The Netherlands. All CTA contributions at arXiv:1508.0589

In vivo testing of a novel adjustable glaucoma drainage device.

PURPOSE: We report on the in vivo testing of a novel noninvasively adjustable glaucoma drainage device (AGDD), which features an adjustable outflow resistance, and assess the safety and efficiency of this implant. METHODS: Under general anesthesia, the AGDD was implanted on seven white New Zealand rabbits for a duration of 4 months under a scleral flap in a way analogous to the Ex-PRESS device and set in an operationally closed position. The IOP was measured on a regular basis on the operated and control eyes using a rebound tonometer. Once a month the AGDD was adjusted noninvasively from its fully closed to its fully open position and the resulting pressure drop was measured. The contralateral eye was not operated and served as control. After euthanization, the eyes were collected for histology evaluation. RESULTS: The mean preoperative IOP was 11.1 ± 2.4 mm Hg. The IOP was significantly lower for the operated eye (6.8 ± 2 mm Hg) compared to the nonoperated eye (13.1 ± 1.6 mm Hg) during the first 8 days after surgery. When opening the AGDD from its fully closed to fully open position, the IOP dropped significantly from 11.2 ± 2.9 to 4.8 ± 0.9 mm Hg (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Implanting the AGDD is a safe and uncomplicated surgical procedure. The fluidic resistance was noninvasively adjustable during the postoperative period with the AGDD between its fully closed and fully open positions

Regression games

The solution of a TU cooperative game can be a distribution of the value of the grand coalition, i.e. it can be a distribution of the payo (utility) all the players together achieve. In a regression model, the evaluation of the explanatory variables can be a distribution of the overall t, i.e. the t of the model every regressor variable is involved. Furthermore, we can take regression models as TU cooperative games where the explanatory (regressor) variables are the players. In this paper we introduce the class of regression games, characterize it and apply the Shapley value to evaluating the explanatory variables in regression models. In order to support our approach we consider Young (1985)'s axiomatization of the Shapley value, and conclude that the Shapley value is a reasonable tool to evaluate the explanatory variables of regression models