Identifying the health and well-being benefits of recreational fishing.

In summary, this study found that considerable health and well-being benefits can be gained through involvement in recreational fishing. Encouraging young children, youth, adults and families to fish offers a cost effective and healthful outdoor recreational activity that can be enjoyed throughout life. Benefits were evident for individuals and groups. Recreational fishing was also noted to provide significant benefits to children and youth with behavioural and mental health issues. Finally, educational strategies that focus on how to minimise the environmental impacts of recreational fishing can ensure today’s and tomorrow’s recreational fishers are aware of sustainable fishing practices

The Effect of Vitamin E on the Survival Rate of unc-13 Caenorhabditis elegans mutants under Oxidative Stress

Caenorhabditis elegans unc-13 mutants express decreased neuronal activity and thus are a good model strain for examining defective nervous systems. These unc-13 mutants as well as wild type N2 strains, show rapid mortality when under oxidative stress. However, the antioxidant vitamin E may prolong survival in unc-13 mutant and N2 strains under oxidative stress. The addition of vitamin E to organisms under oxidative stress has a protective effect in both N2 and unc-13 C. elegans strains. Interestingly, vitamin E resulted in a greater increase in survival rate in N2 worms than with unc-13 mutant worms. While both strains displayed lower mortality rates with the addition of vitamin E, this finding suggests that vitamin E more efficiently increases survival rates of C. elegans with typical nervous system function. The efficacy of vitamin E implies that use of antioxidants may lessen the damage caused by oxidative stress in both N2 and mutant worms

Enhancing activity, nutrition and mental health in overweight adolescents Stage 1 - Formative Research

This report discusses Stage 1 of the 'Curtin Activity, Food and Attitudes Program' (CAFAP). As a part of this research program, a tertiary hospital adolescent obesity intervention was adapted and piloted it in a community setting with clinically obese adolescents and their families. The first stage of the project refined the program and its evaluation framework based on individual, family and community enablers and barriers. This report will present the outcomes of Stage 1. It will examine the experiences of participants and discuss the understanding gained of what would encourage potential participants to become involved in CAFAP if it was available to them in their community

Understanding Seafood Consumption and Healthy Living Practices Report 2010

This report documents the findings of a small cross-sectional survey conducted from November 6 - 9th 2010. The survey was administered to 48 people via random interception at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre. Respondents were asked to complete demographic information, consumption and perception of seafood to other proteins (chicken, pork, lamb and beef), what types of seafood consumed in the past week and the preparation methods used. Respondents were also asked whether they participated in physical activities and what barriers they had to recreational fishing. Although the sample size was small, this study provided validation to the survey instrument used. Reliability will now be assessed and the survey modified accordingly for use in a larger study to be conducted through CESSH. The study has also provided some direction for further work within a community based model of behaviour change communication

Community intervention to increase seafood consumption (CIISC)

In summary, this report describes a whole of community intervention aimed at increasing consumption of seafood. The health benefits of seafood were reviewed and a suit of communication materials developed including: primary and secondary education models. vocational eductaion materials, resources for general practitioners and point of sale materials. Evaluation of project outcomes revealed an increase in seafood consumption during and one month after the intervention period

Enhancing activity, nutrition and mental health in overweight adolescents. Stage 1 – Formative research

The aim of the project was to refine, implement and evaluate a multi-disciplinary family-centred community-based intervention intended to influence the physical activity, nutrition and psychosocial behaviours of overweight adolescents in Western Australia

Genetic Variants of Ehrlichia phagocytophila1, Rhode Island and Connecticut

Primers were used to amplify a 561-bp region of the 16S rRNA gene of Ehrlichia phagocytophila from Ixodes scapularis ticks and small mammals collected in Rhode Island and Connecticut. DNA sequences for all 50 E. phagocytophila-positive samples collected from 1996 through 1998 in southwestern Connecticut were identical to the sequence reported for E. phagocytophila DNA from confirmed human cases. In contrast, the sequences from 92 of 123 E. phagocytophila-positive Rhode Island samples collected from 1996 through 1999 included several variants differing by 1-2 nucleotides from that in the agent infecting humans. While 11.9% of 67 E. phagocytophila-positive ticks collected during 1997 in Rhode Island harbored ehrlichiae with sequences identical to that of the human agent, 79.1% had a variant sequence not previously described. The low incidence of human ehrlichiosis in Rhode Island may in part result from interference by these variant ehrlichiae with maintenance and transmission of the true agent of human disease

Empirical Standards for Software Engineering Research

Empirical Standards are natural-language models of a scientific community's expectations for a specific kind of study (e.g. a questionnaire survey). The ACM SIGSOFT Paper and Peer Review Quality Initiative generated empirical standards for research methods commonly used in software engineering. These living documents, which should be continuously revised to reflect evolving consensus around research best practices, will improve research quality and make peer review more effective, reliable, transparent and fair.Comment: For the complete standards, supplements and other resources, see https://github.com/acmsigsoft/EmpiricalStandard

PROTOCOL: Global elder abuse: A mega‐map of systematic reviews on prevalence, consequences, risk and protective factors and interventions

This is the protocol for a Campbell systematic review. The objectives are as follows: to produce a mega‐map which identifies, maps and provides a visual interactive display, based on systematic reviews on all the main aspects of elder abuse in both the community and in institutions, such as residential and long‐term care institutions

Care in subsequent pregnancies following stillbirth: An international survey of parents

Objective: To assess the frequency of additional care, and parents' perceptions of quality, respectful care in pregnancies subsequent to stillbirth. Design: Multi-language web-based survey. Setting: International. Population: 2,716 parents, from 40 high- and middle-income countries. Methods: Data were obtained from a broader survey of parentsâ experiences of stillbirth. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and stratified by geographical region. Subgroup analyses explored variation in additional care by gestational age at index stillbirth. Main outcome measures: Frequency of additional care, and perceptions of quality, respectful care. Results: The majority (66%) of parents conceived their subsequent pregnancy within one year of stillbirth. Additional antenatal care visits and ultrasound scans were provided for 67% and 70% of all parents, respectively, although there was wide variation across geographical regions. Care addressing psychosocial needs was less frequently provided, such as visits to a bereavement counsellor (10%) and access to named care provider's phone number (27%). Compared to parents whose stillbirth occurred at 29 weeks' gestation or less, parents whose stillbirth occurred at 30 weeksâ gestation or greater were more likely to receive various forms of additional care, particularly the option for early delivery after 37 weeks. Around half (47-63%) of all parents felt that elements of quality, respectful care were consistently applied, such as spending enough time with parents and involving parents in decision-making. Conclusions: Care in pregnancies subsequent to stillbirth appears inconsistent. Greater attention is required to providing thoughtful, empathic, and collaborative care in all pregnancies following stillbirth. Training for health professionals is needed