Agreement of Health Status Classification and Body Composition Differences in Asian Indian Students upon Residence in the United States

Obesity is one of the major health problems in the United States (U.S.). As Asian Indian students immigrate to the U.S., the effect of acculturation to the U.S. lifestyle is an area of concern. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was two-fold: 1) examine the health-risk status of Asian Indians with respect to agreement in classifications of percent body fat (PF) and body mass index (BMI), and 2) examine the effects of U.S. residence duration on body composition of Asian Indian college students. METHODS: Forty-two Asian Indian males and females were divided into two groups according to length of residence. First year residents resided in the U.S. for ≤ 4 months, second year residents had resided in the U.S. for ≥ 1 year. Height and weight were recorded for BMI. PF was measured by whole body air displacement plethysmography. Percent agreement was determined between the health risk classifications of both BMI and PF. The effect of gender and U.S. residence duration were determined on both BMI and PF using Factorial ANOVA. RESULTS: The percent agreement between BMI and PF on classification of health status was 69.05%. Two exclusive 2 (gender) x 2 (residence duration) between subjects factorial ANOVAs were calculated comparing the BMI and PF by group and gender. For BMI, the main effect for gender was not significant (F(1,38)=0.023, p\u3e0.025). A significant effect for U.S. residence duration was found (F(1,38)=20.193, p\u3c0.025). Students of the second year demonstrated a higher mean BMI (m=26.52, sd=0.78) than the first year (m=21.57, sd=0.78). The interaction was not significant (F(1,38)=0.647, p\u3e0.025). Thus, the difference in BMI due to U.S. residence duration is not influenced by differences in gender. For PF, a significant main effect for the gender was found (F(1,38)=31.354, p\u3c0.025). A significant main effect for U.S. residence duration was found (F(1,38)=13.044, p\u3c0.025). Second year students demonstrated a higher mean PF (m=33.98, sd=1.61) as compared to the first year (m=25.78, sd=1.61). The interaction was not significant (F(1,38)=0.97, p\u3e0.05). The effect of gender was not influenced by residence duration. CONCLUSION: Agreement information indicates the discrepancy between the two methods of determining health status in Asian Indians. Additionally, this study demonstrates that as a result of one year in the U.S., second year students had higher body composition values than first year students

Disrupted Thalamus White Matter Anatomy and Posterior Default Mode Network Effective Connectivity in Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and its prodromal state amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) are characterized by widespread abnormalities in inter-areal white matter fiber pathways and parallel disruption of default mode network (DMN) resting state functional and effective connectivity. In healthy subjects, DMN and task positive network interaction are modulated by the thalamus suggesting that abnormal task-based DMN deactivation in aMCI may be a consequence of impaired thalamo-cortical white matter circuitry. Thus, this article uses a multimodal approach to assess white matter integrity between thalamus and DMN components and associated effective connectivity in healthy controls (HCs) relative to aMCI patients. Twenty-six HC and 20 older adults with aMCI underwent structural, functional and diffusion MRI scanning using the high angular resolution diffusion-weighted acquisition protocol. The DMN of each subject was identified using independent component analysis (ICA) and resting state effective connectivity was calculated between thalamus and DMN nodes. White matter integrity changes between thalamus and DMN were investigated with constrained spherical deconvolution (CSD) tractography. Significant structural deficits in thalamic white matter projection fibers to posterior DMN components posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and lateral inferior parietal lobe (IPL) were identified together with significantly reduced effective connectivity from left thalamus to left IPL. Crucially, impaired thalamo-cortical white matter circuitry correlated with memory performance. Disrupted thalamo-cortical structure was accompanied by significant reductions in IPL and PCC cortico-cortical effective connectivity. No structural deficits were found between DMN nodes. Abnormal posterior DMN activity may be driven by changes in thalamic white matter connectivity; a view supported by the close anatomical and functional association of thalamic nuclei effected by AD pathology and the posterior DMN nodes. We conclude that dysfunctional posterior DMN activity in aMCI is consistent with disrupted cortico-thalamo-cortical processing and thalamic-based dissemination of hippocampal disease agents to cortical hubs

Rural Research Report: A Longitudinal Study on the Effect of the Texas Behavior Support Initiative on Rural Middle School Students

The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of a school wide positive behavior initiative designed to improve student behavior. Researchers analyzed the last 3 years (2005-2008) of student discipline referral data for grades 7 and 8. Implementation resulted in a significant reduction in the number of discipline referrals. Data revealed a decrease of 23% in the number (2239 vs. 1723) of discipline referrals from year one to year two and a decrease of 22% in the number (1723 vs.1340) of discipline referrals from year two to year three. Results obtained from the analysis indicate that the TBSI was effective in improving student behavior in a rural middle school

Agreement of Health Status Classification and Body Composition Differences in Asian Indian Students upon Residence in the United States

Obesity is one of the major health problems in the United States (U.S.). As Asian Indian students immigrate to the U.S., the effect of acculturation to the U.S. lifestyle is an area of concern. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was two-fold: 1) examine the health-risk status of Asian Indians with respect to agreement in classifications of percent body fat (PF) and body mass index (BMI), and 2) examine the effects of U.S. residence duration on body composition of Asian Indian college students. METHODS: Forty-two Asian Indian males and females were divided into two groups according to length of residence. First year residents resided in the U.S. for ≤ 4 months, second year residents had resided in the U.S. for ≥ 1 year. Height and weight were recorded for BMI. PF was measured by whole body air displacement plethysmography. Percent agreement was determined between the health risk classifications of both BMI and PF. The effect of gender and U.S. residence duration were determined on both BMI and PF using Factorial ANOVA. RESULTS: The percent agreement between BMI and PF on classification of health status was 69.05%. Two exclusive 2 (gender) x 2 (residence duration) between subjects factorial ANOVAs were calculated comparing the BMI and PF by group and gender. For BMI, the main effect for gender was not significant (F(1,38)=0.023, p\u3e0.025). A significant effect for U.S. residence duration was found (F(1,38)=20.193, p\u3c0.025). Students of the second year demonstrated a higher mean BMI (m=26.52, sd=0.78) than the first year (m=21.57, sd=0.78). The interaction was not significant (F(1,38)=0.647, p\u3e0.025). Thus, the difference in BMI due to U.S. residence duration is not influenced by differences in gender. For PF, a significant main effect for the gender was found (F(1,38)=31.354, p\u3c0.025). A significant main effect for U.S. residence duration was found (F(1,38)=13.044, p\u3c0.025). Second year students demonstrated a higher mean PF (m=33.98, sd=1.61) as compared to the first year (m=25.78, sd=1.61). The interaction was not significant (F(1,38)=0.97, p\u3e0.05). The effect of gender was not influenced by residence duration. CONCLUSION: Agreement information indicates the discrepancy between the two methods of determining health status in Asian Indians. Additionally, this study demonstrates that as a result of one year in the U.S., second year students had higher body composition values than first year students

Mental Concentration as Influenced by Adventure Activity

One of the premises behind outdoor experiential education and/or adventure education is the authenticity of the experience; students are engaged and “in the moment” (Boss, 1994; Conrad & Hedin, 1981). Outdoor adventure experiences can potentially provide an educational experience during which increased awareness and the impact of the experience will be retained since the student’s focus and attentiveness levels are enhanced. The purpose of this study was to determine if awareness and mental concentration levels of university students following outdoor adventure experiences would be greater than those following more traditional activities. Flow theory, according to Shernoff, Csikszentmiha-lyi, Schneider and Shernoff (2003), “is based on a symbiotic relationship between chal-lenges and skills needed to meet those challenges” (p. 160). In this study, three groups had their concentration levels measured immediately following 3 one-day activities (non-challenging hiking; abseiling/canyoning; snorkeling) in Australia through completion of the Flow State Scale (Jackson & Eklund, 2004). It was determined that participation in the outdoor adventure activities did result in higher short term concentration levels than traditional sporting activities