Older adults' evaluations of the standard and modified pedometer-based Green Prescription

INTRODUCTION: The Green Prescription is a primary care programme designed to increase physical activity in individuals with low activity levels. Older adults tend to engage in insufficient physical activity to obtain health-related gain. AIM: To examine participants’ ratings of the Healthy Steps intervention and to assess how participants rated the use of a pedometer-based Green Prescription in aiding their physical activity. METHODS: In total, 330 community-dwelling older adults who have low levels of activity were randomised to receive either a standard time-based Green Prescription or a modified pedometer-based Green Prescription. Post-intervention, 259 participants completed the participant evaluation questionnaire via postal survey. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and Chi-squared analyses. RESULTS: The standard components of the Green Prescription (general practitioner consultations and telephone counselling) received similar and higher ratings across both allocation groups than the use of print materials. A pedometer-based Green Prescription was rated as being helpful in aiding physical activity. DISCUSSION: This study supports the importance of general practitioners’ initial role in prescribing physical activity for older adults and of ongoing telephone support for longer-term adherence. Incorporating a pedometer can be effective in helping low-active older adults initiate and maintain regular physical activity

Secular trends in under-reporting in young people

Original article can be found at: http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=BJN Copyright The Authors. DOI: 10.1079/BJN20041307National survey data show that reported energy intake has decreased in recent decades despite a rise in the prevalence of obesity. This disparity may be due to a secular increase in under-reporting or a quantitatively greater decrease in energy expenditure. This study examines the extent of under-reporting of energy intake in the National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS) in young people aged 4–18 years in 1997 using published equations to calculate estimated energy requirements. It explores secular changes by comparison with the Diets of British School Children (DBSC) survey in 10–11- and 14–15-year-olds in 1983. In the NDNS, under-reporting (estimated energy requirements – energy intake) represented 21 % of energy needs in girls and 20 % in boys. The magnitude of under-reporting increased significantly with age (P<0·001) and was higher in overweight than lean individuals over 7 years of age. To compare reported energy intake in DBSC and NDNS, the estimated physical activity level from dietary records (dPAL=reported energy intake/predicted BMR) was calculated. If there were no under-reporting, dPAL would represent the subject's true activity level. However, dPAL from the NDNS was significantly lower than that from the DBSC by 8 % and 9 % in boys and girls for those aged 10–11 years, and by 14 % and 11 % for 14–15-year-olds respectively, reaching physiologically implausible levels in the 14–15-year-old girls (dPAL=1·17). If activity levels have remained constant between the two surveys, under-reporting has increased by 8–14 %. The evidence supports a secular trend towards increased under-reporting between the two surveys, but the precise magnitude cannot be quantified in the absence of historical measures of energy expenditure.Peer reviewe

STM characterization of the Si-P heterodimer

We use scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and Auger electron spectroscopy to study the behavior of adsorbed phosphine (PH$_{3}$) on Si(001), as a function of annealing temperature, paying particular attention to the formation of the Si-P heterodimer. Dosing the Si(001) surface with ${\sim}$0.002 Langmuirs of PH$_{3}$ results in the adsorption of PH$_{x}$ (x=2,3) onto the surface and some etching of Si to form individual Si ad-dimers. Annealing to 350$^{\circ}$C results in the incorporation of P into the surface layer to form Si-P heterodimers and the formation of short 1-dimensional Si dimer chains and monohydrides. In filled state STM images, isolated Si-P heterodimers appear as zig-zag features on the surface due to the static dimer buckling induced by the heterodimer. In the presence of a moderate coverage of monohydrides this static buckling is lifted, rending the Si-P heterodimers invisible in filled state images. However, we find that we can image the heterodimer at all H coverages using empty state imaging. The ability to identify single P atoms incorporated into Si(001) will be invaluable in the development of nanoscale electronic devices based on controlled atomic-scale doping of Si.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures (only 72dpi

Energetic Instability Unjams Sand and Suspension

Jamming is a phenomenon occurring in systems as diverse as traffic, colloidal suspensions and granular materials. A theory on the reversible elastic deformation of jammed states is presented. First, an explicit granular stress-strain relation is derived that captures many relevant features of sand, including especially the Coulomb yield surface and a third-order jamming transition. Then this approach is generalized, and employed to consider jammed magneto- and electro-rheological fluids, again producing results that compare well to experiments and simulations.Comment: 9 pages 2 fi

Encapsulation of phosphorus dopants in silicon for the fabrication of a quantum computer

The incorporation of phosphorus in silicon is studied by analyzing phosphorus delta-doped layers using a combination of scanning tunneling microscopy, secondary ion mass spectrometry and Hall effect measurements. The samples are prepared by phosphine saturation dosing of a Si(100) surface at room temperature, a critical annealing step to incorporate phosphorus atoms, and subsequent epitaxial silicon overgrowth. We observe minimal dopant segregation (5 nm), complete electrical activation at a silicon growth temperature of 250 degrees C and a high two-dimensional electron mobility of 100 cm2/Vs at a temperature of 4.2 K. These results, along with preliminary studies aimed at further minimizing dopant diffusion, bode well for the fabrication of atomically precise dopant arrays in silicon such as those found in recent solid-state quantum computer architectures.Comment: 3 pages, 4 figure

Toxicity and Positivity Across Genders: Feminine, Masculine, and Androgynous Consumer Characteristics

A research model is designed to assess toxic and positive consumer behavior based on masculinity, femininity, and androgyny. New definitions of androgyny are developed, resulting in two types of consumer androgyny – hypo-androgyny and hyper-androgyny. Also, the hypotheses of the research model are assessed using a snowball sample beginning with young consumers enrolled in upper-division marketing classes at a large U.S. university. Results show important insights on the toxicity of certain consumer characteristics not only in individuals who measure high in masculinity, but also those others included in this study who are more feminine or androgynous. Results also offer findings indicating positive consumer characteristics for all consumer classifications of this research

The green prescription and older adults:What do general practitioners see as barriers?

Introduction: Limited research exists that has examined the barriers that older adults (those aged 65 years and older) can encounter when given a Green Prescription (GRx)). This study aimed to identify what general practitioners (GPs) perceived their older-aged patients' barriers were with regard to carrying out a GRx. This study also identified the strategies that GPs used to assist their older-aged patients in overcoming barriers to physical activity engagement. Methods: Fifteen GPs from the Auckland region of New Zealand were interviewed individually. An inductive thematic approach was used to analyse data. Findings: GPs identified chronic health conditions, fear of injury, transportation contraints, set routines and lack of confidence as being barriers that some of their older-aged patients have encountered when considering whether to become more physically active and, also, when engaging in actual physical activity. Conclusion: Physical activity interventions, such as the GRx programme, can have an important role in helping confer health-related gain for low-active older adults. To ensure that such interventions are successful on a long-term basis, practitioners need to be aware of the barriers that their older-aged patients can encounter when given a prescription for physical activity

Analysis of antenal sensilla patterns of Rhodnius prolixus from Colombia and Venezuela

Antennal sensilla patterns were used to analyze population variation of domestic Rhodnius prolixus from six departments and states representing three biogeographical regions of Colombia and Venezuela. Discriminant analysis of the patterns of mechanoreceptors and of three types of chemoreceptors on the pedicel and flagellar segments showed clear differentiation between R. prolixus populations east and west of the Andean Cordillera. The distribution of thick and thin-walled trichoids on the second flagellar segment also showed correlation with latitude, but this was not seen in the patterns of other sensilla. The results of the sensilla patterns appear to be reflecting biogeographic features or population isolation rather than characters associated with different habitats and lend support to the idea that domestic R. prolixus originated in the eastern region of the Andes.Fil: Esteban, Lyda. Universidad Industrial de Santander; ColombiaFil: Angulo, Víctor Manuel. Universidad Industrial de Santander; ColombiaFil: Dora Feliciangeli, M.. Universidad de Carabobo; VenezuelaFil: Catala, Silvia Susana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja. - Universidad Nacional de La Rioja. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja. - Universidad Nacional de Catamarca. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja. - Secretaría de Industria y Minería. Servicio Geológico Minero Argentino. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja. - Provincia de La Rioja. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja; Argentin

How should we interpret the two transport relaxation times in the cuprates ?

We observe that the appearance of two transport relaxation times in the various transport coefficients of cuprate metals may be understood in terms of scattering processes that discriminate between currents that are even, or odd under the charge conjugation operator. We develop a transport equation that illustrates these ideas and discuss its experimental and theoretical consequences.Comment: 19 pages, RevTeX with 8 postscript figures included. To appear in ``Non Fermi Liquid Physics'', J. Phys:Cond. Matt. (1997