Exploring spillovers between government quality and individual health production through sport and physical activity

Research question: The purpose of this study is to examine whether and how government quality is related to individual health production through sport and physical activity. Previous research has only examined the role of government through the lens of government spending and provision of facilities, but not the role of government quality per se. Research methods: Individual survey data from the 2013 Eurobarometer (n=20,419) were combined with data on government quality and expenditure as well as GDP for 21 European countries. The sport and physical activity measures reflect whether an individual’s activity level (including or excluding walking) is below the guidelines of the World Health Organization, meets, or exceeds them, securing extra health benefits. Results and findings: The results of multi-level models show that government quality is significantly and positively associated with individual sport and physical activity meeting or exceeding the guidelines, controlling for GDP and government spending. The empirical evidence suggests that there are spillovers between government quality and individual health production through sport and physical activity. Implications: The findings indicate that a more open and accountable government can provide the regulatory framework and tolerance required for more effective structural delivery of sport and physical activity in society

Pollution, health, and the moderating role of physical activity opportunities

Cunningham GB, Wicker P, McCullough BP. Pollution, health, and the moderating role of physical activity opportunities. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2020;17(17): 6272.Air and water pollution have detrimental effects on health, while physical activity opportunities have a positive relationship. The purpose of this study was to explore whether physical activity opportunities moderate the relationships among air and water pollution, and measures of health. Aggregate data were collected at the county level in the United States (n = 3104). Variables included the mean daily density of fine particle matter (air pollution), reported cases of health-related drinking water violations (water pollution), subjective ratings of poor or fair health (overall health), the number of physically and mentally unhealthy (physical and mental health, respectively), and the percentage of people living in close proximity to a park or recreation facility (access to physical activity). Air and water pollution have a significant positive effect on all measures of residents' poor health, while physical activity opportunities only have a negative effect on overall health and physical health. Access to physical activity only moderates the relationship between air pollution and all health outcomes. Since physical activity behavior can be more rapidly changed than some causes of pollution, providing the resident population with better access to physical activity can represent an effective tool in environmental health policy

Does government spending help to promote healthy behavior in the population? Evidence from 27 European countries

Background The aim of this study was to examine if government spending is associated with an individual’s decision to participate in physical activity and sport which is regarded as healthy behavior given the positive health effects documented in previous research. Methods Individual-level data (n ¼ 25 243) containing socio-demographic information are combined with national-level data on government spending (5-year average) in 27 European countries. Given the hierarchical data structure, i.e. individuals are nested within countries; multi-level analyses are applied. Results The multi-level models show that it is mainly education spending that has a significant positive association with participation in sport of various regularities. Health spending has some association with participation in other physical activity and sport of a lower regularity. Conclusions While health spending can be considered a relevant policy tool for increasing sport participation rates, education spending is required more since the effects are larger and it affects both physical activity and sport. This suggests that health spending will have most effect combined with earlier influences from education spending

Willingness to pay for policies to reduce health risks from COVID-19: Evidence from U.S. professional sports

Airborne transmission of COVID-19 increased the need for health policies to reduce transmission in congregate settings associated with minimal risk before the pandemic. While a large literature estimates tradeoffs between policies designed to reduce negative health outcomes, no empirical research addresses consumer willingness to pay for health policies designed to reduce airborne virus transmission. Using survey data from 1,381 fans of professional sports teams, we estimate consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for reduced likelihood of coronavirus transmission through mask and social distancing policies using a stated preference approach. The results indicate increased attendance likelihood if the venue requires masks and limits attendance, with significant heterogeneity in WTP across risk scenarios and sports. We characterize consumers as casual fans who prefer a mask requirement but are indifferent to capacity constraints, strong fans who are anti-maskers and prefer capacity constraints, and a second group of casual fans with positive WTP under both mask and limited capacity requirements. Casual fans’ WTP for masking, $38 per NBA game attended, is more than double their WTP for capacity constraints only. Strong fans’ WTP for attending capacity constrained NBA games was$490, more than 400% higher than the pre-pandemic average WTP of $105

Gender stereotypes and their correlates: the moderating role of voluntary sports club membership

IntroductionThis study examined the correlates of gender stereotypes and the moderating role of membership in a voluntary sports club. Drawing on the contact hypothesis, this study argues that gender stereotypes are lower when individuals regularly have the opportunity to meet and play sport with such people, for example in a voluntary sports club.MethodsSurvey data from the European Values Study are used for the analysis (n = 36,185; 30 countries). Gender stereotypes are measured with statements on gender role attributes.ResultsRegression results show that membership in a voluntary sports club, being a student, income, and living in a more gender equal country significantly reduce gender stereotypes. On the contrary, male gender, living in a partnership, having children, lower and medium education, part-time employment, self-employment, unemployment, being a home maker, and living in a small town are correlates of higher gender stereotypes. Interacting the latter correlates with sports club membership support its moderating effect in the sense that most correlates turn insignificant or have smaller coefficients. The only variables retaining their coefficient size are self-employment and living in a small town.DiscussionThe findings support the contact hypothesis and suggest that sports clubs are places that lessen gender stereotypes

Early Cenozoic Fluvial Deposits of the Renova Formation in SW Montana: Links to Southern Nevada and Utah?

Examination of the early Cenozoic fluvial deposits of the Renova Formation provides support for the hypothesis that a southern branch of the pre-ice age Bell River of Canada, a river thought to have been the size of the Amazon, may have originated in the southern Colorado Plateau and flowed northward through Nevada, Utah, Idaho, and Montana. The Renova Formation mostly comprises fluvially-reworked and degraded volcanic ash. Radiometric ages of zircon grains from the Renova Formation, reported in the literature, correlate with the ages of zircons from ash-flow tuffs that erupted from mega-calderas in southern Nevada and Utah. There are also older zircons present in the Renova deposits which indicate recycling of zircon grains from Precambrian and Cambrian quartzites of Utah. These results provide evidence of river transport of ash and sand from Nevada and Utah into Montana. Previous research has been reviewed and assessed in the context of the Bell River hypothesis. A field trip was taken to physically observe the composition and depositional features of the Renova. Histograms generated by mass spectroscopy of Renova Formation zircon have been re-analyzed in light of the mega-caldera origin hypothesis. This new model suggests that a major, north-flowing Cenozoic drainage system was present in the western interior of North America before being segmented and destroyed by faulting and volcanism

Do women perceive a payoff from working without pay? A gender comparison of perceived career outcomes of sport volunteering

Gender equality among volunteers and in the labor market are essential for social sustainability. This study examines whether women value benefits of sport volunteering for their job market situation significantly differently than men. Based on signaling and social role theory, we hypothesize that women are more likely to value sport volunteering as a job market signal and as useful for career options than men. According to human capital and ecological systems theory, we hypothesize that this link depends on women’s age and national gender equality. An online survey targeting volunteers in European football clubs (in seven countries; n = 16,989) was conducted. Logistic regressions are estimated to analyze the factors affecting respondents’ agreement that sport volunteering ‘looks good on their CV’ or ‘allows to explore new career options’. The findings show that women are significantly more likely to value sport volunteering as a job market signal but are significantly less likely to explore new career options than men. While older women are significantly less likely to agree, women living in more gender equal countries are more likely to agree. Our findings indicate a link between the male dominance in sport volunteering and the job market, which is determined by social sustainability

Restricted nasal-only breathing during self-selected low intensity training does not affect training intensity distribution

Introduction: Low-intensity endurance training is frequently performed at gradually higher training intensities than intended, resulting in a shift towards threshold training. By restricting oral breathing and only allowing for nasal breathing this shift might be reduced.Methods: Nineteen physically healthy adults (3 females, age: 26.5 ± 5.1 years; height: 1.77 ± 0.08 m; body mass: 77.3 ± 11.4 kg; VO2peak: 53.4 ± 6.6 mL·kg−1 min−1) performed 60 min of self-selected, similar (144.7 ± 56.3 vs. 147.0 ± 54.2 W, p = 0.60) low-intensity cycling with breathing restriction (nasal-only breathing) and without restrictions (oro-nasal breathing). During these sessions heart rate, respiratory gas exchange data and power output data were recorded continuously.Results: Total ventilation (p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.45), carbon dioxide release (p = 0.02, ηp2 = 0.28), oxygen uptake (p = 0.03, ηp2 = 0.23), and breathing frequency (p = 0.01, ηp2 = 0.35) were lower during nasal-only breathing. Furthermore, lower capillary blood lactate concentrations were found towards the end of the training session during nasal-only breathing (time x condition-interaction effect: p = 0.02, ηp2 = 0.17). Even though discomfort was rated marginally higher during nasal-only breathing (p = 0.03, ηp2 = 0.24), ratings of perceived effort did not differ between the two conditions (p ≥ 0.06, ηp2 = 0.01). No significant “condition” differences were found for intensity distribution (time spent in training zone quantified by power output and heart rate) (p ≥ 0.24, ηp2 ≤ 0.07).Conclusion: Nasal-only breathing seems to be associated with possible physiological changes that may help to maintain physical health in endurance athletes during low intensity endurance training. However, it did not prevent participants from performing low-intensity training at higher intensities than intended. Longitudinal studies are warranted to evaluate longitudinal responses of changes in breathing patterns

Natural Variation in Interleukin-2 Sensitivity Influences Regulatory T-Cell Frequency and Function in Individuals With Long-standing Type 1 Diabetes.

Defective immune homeostasis in the balance between FOXP3+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) and effector T cells is a likely contributing factor in the loss of self-tolerance observed in type 1 diabetes (T1D). Given the importance of interleukin-2 (IL-2) signaling in the generation and function of Tregs, observations that polymorphisms in genes in the IL-2 pathway associate with T1D and that some individuals with T1D exhibit reduced IL-2 signaling indicate that impairment of this pathway may play a role in Treg dysfunction and the pathogenesis of T1D. Here, we have examined IL-2 sensitivity in CD4+ T-cell subsets in 70 individuals with long-standing T1D, allowing us to investigate the effect of low IL-2 sensitivity on Treg frequency and function. IL-2 responsiveness, measured by STAT5a phosphorylation, was a very stable phenotype within individuals but exhibited considerable interindividual variation and was influenced by T1D-associated PTPN2 gene polymorphisms. Tregs from individuals with lower IL-2 signaling were reduced in frequency, were less able to maintain expression of FOXP3 under limiting concentrations of IL-2, and displayed reduced suppressor function. These results suggest that reduced IL-2 signaling may be used to identify patients with the highest Treg dysfunction and who may benefit most from IL-2 immunotherapy.This work was supported by the JDRF UK Centre for Diabetes Genes, Autoimmunity and Prevention (D-GAP; 4-2007-1003), the Wellcome Trust (WT061858/091157) and the NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre (CBRC). The Cambridge Institute for Medical Research (CIMR) is in receipt of a Wellcome Trust Strategic Award (100140).This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the American Diabetes Association via http://dx.doi.org/10.2337/db15-051

The plasma biomarker soluble SIGLEC-1 is associated with the type I interferon transcriptional signature, ethnic background and renal disease in systemic lupus erythematosus.

BACKGROUND: The molecular heterogeneity of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases has been one of the main obstacles to the development of safe and specific therapeutic options. Here, we evaluated the diagnostic and clinical value of a robust, inexpensive, immunoassay detecting the circulating soluble form of the monocyte-specific surface receptor sialic acid binding Ig-like lectin 1 (sSIGLEC-1). METHODS: We developed an immunoassay to measure sSIGLEC-1 in small volumes of plasma/serum from systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients (n = 75) and healthy donors (n = 504). Samples from systemic sclerosis patients (n = 99) were studied as an autoimmune control. We investigated the correlation between sSIGLEC-1 and both monocyte surface SIGLEC-1 and type I interferon-regulated gene (IRG) expression. Associations of sSIGLEC-1 with clinical features were evaluated in an independent cohort of SLE patients (n = 656). RESULTS: Plasma concentrations of sSIGLEC-1 strongly correlated with expression of SIGLEC-1 on the surface of blood monocytes and with IRG expression in SLE patients. We found ancestry-related differences in sSIGLEC-1 concentrations in SLE patients, with patients of non-European ancestry showing higher levels compared to patients of European ancestry. Higher sSIGLEC-1 concentrations were associated with lower serum complement component 3 and increased frequency of renal complications in European patients, but not with the SLE Disease Activity Index clinical score. CONCLUSIONS: Our sSIGLEC-1 immunoassay provides a specific and easily assayed marker for monocyte-macrophage activation, and interferonopathy in SLE and other diseases. Further studies can extend its clinical associations and its potential use to stratify patients and as a secondary endpoint in clinical trials