AtmosActions: An Interactive Audiovisual Installation for a Human/Weather Interface

Atmospheric Interactions is a real-time audiovisual installation which uses meteorological data collected from a weather station with instruments mounted to a 10-meter tower atop the PACCAR building at the Laboratory for Atmospheric Research (LAR) at Washington State University in WA, USA. Three artists worked with two atmospheric scientists to realize the project. The weather data is visualized and sonified in real-time. The aims are to reconnect people with their local weather and with weather in other parts of the world, and to support their engagement with climate change

Key Stakeholder Perspectives on Challenges and Opportunities for Rural HPV Vaccination in North and South Carolina

The objective of this study was to identify factors at the individual, provider, and systems levels that serve as challenges or opportunities for increasing adolescent vaccination—including Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination—in rural communities in the southern United States (US). As part of a broader study to increase HPV vaccine uptake in the southern US, we conducted in-depth interviews with vaccination stakeholders representing public health and education agencies in North Carolina (NC) and South Carolina (SC). Fourteen key stakeholders were recruited using purposive sampling to obtain insights into challenges and solutions to rural-urban disparities in HPV vaccination coverage. Stakeholders were also queried about their experiences and attitudes toward school-based vaccination promotion programs and campaigns. We used a rapid qualitative approach to analyze the data. Stakeholders identified factors at the individual, provider, and systems levels that serve as challenges to vaccination in rural communities. Similar to previous studies, stakeholders mentioned challenges with healthcare access and vaccine-related misconceptions that pose barriers to HPV vaccination for rural residents. Systems-level challenges identified included limited access to high-speed internet in rural areas that may impact providers’ ability to interface with state-level digital systems such as the vaccination registry. Stakeholders identified a number of opportunities to increase HPV vaccination coverage, including through school-based health promotion programs. Stakeholders strongly supported school-based programs and approaches to strengthen confidence and demand for HPV vaccination and to help address persistent social determinants and system level factors that pose challenges to HPV vaccination coverage in many rural areas

Association of Caregiver Attitudes With Adolescent HPV Vaccination in 13 Southern US States

Background and objectives: HPV vaccination coverage is lower than that of other adolescent vaccines in the southern US. This study sought to characterize caregiver attitudes associated with adolescent HPV vaccination in the southern US and to inform interventions to promote HPV vaccination. Methods: From December 2019 – January 2020, caregivers of adolescents (ages 9–17 years) living in thir- teen southern US states were recruited from a nationally-representative online survey panel. Caregivers (N = 1,105) completed a cross-sectional survey that assessed general adolescent vaccine attitudes as well as those associated with the HPV vaccine and HPV vaccination decision-making. The primary study out- come was adolescents’ receipt of at least one dose of the HPV vaccine. Results: Caregivers with vaccinated adolescents had greater positive attitudes towards adolescent vacci- nes compared to caregivers of unvaccinated adolescents. Top three areas of concern among caregivers were related to vaccine ingredients, perceptions that adolescents receive too many vaccines, and worry about vaccine side effects. In multivariable regression models, positive attitudes towards the HPV vaccine and HPV vaccination decision-making strongly associated with HPV vaccination in addition to general adolescent vaccination attitudes. Caregivers’ reported discomfort with discussing the topic of sex was predictive of lower vaccination uptake for older adolescents. Conclusions: Public health messaging in the southern US should be tailored to reduce concerns about vac- cine safety and to communicate the importance of timely HPV vaccination. Campaigns that deliver infor- mation specific to the HPV vaccine and to support vaccination decision-making may be more effective than those delivering only general adolescent vaccination information at promoting on-time HPV vaccinatio

How does subjective well-being evolve with age? A literature review

This literature review provides an overview of the theoretical and empirical research in several disciplines on the relation between ageing and subjective well-being, i.e., how subjective well-being evolves across the lifespan. Because of the different methodologies, data sets and samples used, comparison among disciplines and studies is difficult. However, extant studies do show either a U-shaped, inverted U-shaped or linear relation between ageing and subjective well-being

Examining Associations Between Knowledge and Vaccine Uptake Using the Human Papillomavirus Knowledge Questionnaire (HPV-KQ)

Objectives: Understanding the relationship between human papillomavirus (HPV) knowledge and vaccination behavior is important to inform public health interventions, yet few validated HPV knowledge scales exist. This study describes development of the Human Papillomavirus Knowledge Questionnaire (HPV-KQ) and its validation with parents residing in the southern United States (US). Methods: Drawing on previously published measures, we developed the 13-item HPV-KQ and administered the scale via Web-based survey to parents (N=1105) of adolescents ages 9 to 17 years. Dimensionality, internal consistency, model fit, and predictive validity were assessed. Results: The scale was bidimensional. One factor captured general HPV knowledge, and the second factor captured perceptions of gender differences in HPV infection and vaccine recommendations. The 13-item scale and 2-factor solution displayed strong internal consistency and good model fit. Parents of vaccinated adolescents scored higher on the 13-item HPV-KQ (Mean = 8.56) than parents of unvaccinated adolescents (Mean = 6.43) (p \u3c .001). In regression models, controlling for key covariates, parents\u27 performance on the HPV-KQ predicted adolescent HPV vaccination (p \u3c .001). Conclusions: Evaluation indicates the HPV-KQ is a reliable and valid tool for measuring knowledge of HPV and the HPV vaccine among parents residing in the southern US. We recommend further efforts to validate the scale with other populations

Cross-sectional associations between sleep duration, sedentary time, physical activity, and adiposity indicators among Canadian preschool-aged children using compositional analyses

Abstract Background Sleep duration, sedentary behaviour, and physical activity are three co-dependent behaviours that fall on the movement/non-movement intensity continuum. Compositional data analyses provide an appropriate method for analyzing the association between co-dependent movement behaviour data and health indicators. The objectives of this study were to examine: (1) the combined associations of the composition of time spent in sleep, sedentary behaviour, light-intensity physical activity (LPA), and moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA) with adiposity indicators; and (2) the association of the time spent in sleep, sedentary behaviour, LPA, or MVPA with adiposity indicators relative to the time spent in the other behaviours in a representative sample of Canadian preschool-aged children. Methods Participants were 552 children aged 3 to 4 years from cycles 2 and 3 of the Canadian Health Measures Survey. Sedentary time, LPA, and MVPA were measured with Actical accelerometers (Philips Respironics, Bend, OR USA), and sleep duration was parental reported. Adiposity indicators included waist circumference (WC) and body mass index (BMI) z-scores based on World Health Organization growth standards. Compositional data analyses were used to examine the cross-sectional associations. Results The composition of movement behaviours was significantly associated with BMI z-scores (p = 0.006) but not with WC (p = 0.718). Further, the time spent in sleep (BMI z-score: γ sleep  = −0.72; p = 0.138; WC: γ sleep  = −1.95; p = 0.285), sedentary behaviour (BMI z-score: γ SB  = 0.19; p = 0.624; WC: γ SB  = 0.87; p = 0.614), LPA (BMI z-score: γ LPA  = 0.62; p = 0.213, WC: γ LPA  = 0.23; p = 0.902), or MVPA (BMI z-score: γ MVPA  = −0.09; p = 0.733, WC: γ MVPA  = 0.08; p = 0.288) relative to the other behaviours was not significantly associated with the adiposity indicators. Conclusions This study is the first to use compositional analyses when examining associations of co-dependent sleep duration, sedentary time, and physical activity behaviours with adiposity indicators in preschool-aged children. The overall composition of movement behaviours appears important for healthy BMI z-scores in preschool-aged children. Future research is needed to determine the optimal movement behaviour composition that should be promoted in this age group

Neural correlates of sexual cue reactivity in individuals with and without compulsive sexual behaviours

Although compulsive sexual behaviour (CSB) has been conceptualized as a "behavioural" addiction and common or overlapping neural circuits may govern the processing of natural and drug rewards, little is known regarding the responses to sexually explicit materials in individuals with and without CSB. Here, the processing of cues of varying sexual content was assessed in individuals with and without CSB, focusing on neural regions identified in prior studies of drug-cue reactivity. 19 CSB subjects and 19 healthy volunteers were assessed using functional MRI comparing sexually explicit videos with non-sexual exciting videos. Ratings of sexual desire and liking were obtained. Relative to healthy volunteers, CSB subjects had greater desire but similar liking scores in response to the sexually explicit videos. Exposure to sexually explicit cues in CSB compared to non-CSB subjects was associated with activation of the dorsal anterior cingulate, ventral striatum and amygdala. Functional connectivity of the dorsal anterior cingulate-ventral striatum-amygdala network was associated with subjective sexual desire (but not liking) to a greater degree in CSB relative to non-CSB subjects. The dissociation between desire or wanting and liking is consistent with theories of incentive motivation underlying CSB as in drug addictions. Neural differences in the processing of sexual-cue reactivity were identified in CSB subjects in regions previously implicated in drug-cue reactivity studies. The greater engagement of corticostriatal limbic circuitry in CSB following exposure to sexual cues suggests neural mechanisms underlying CSB and potential biological targets for interventions

Association of Accelerometry-Measured Physical Activity and Cardiovascular Events in Mobility-Limited Older Adults: The LIFE (Lifestyle Interventions and Independence for Elders) Study.

BACKGROUND:Data are sparse regarding the value of physical activity (PA) surveillance among older adults-particularly among those with mobility limitations. The objective of this study was to examine longitudinal associations between objectively measured daily PA and the incidence of cardiovascular events among older adults in the LIFE (Lifestyle Interventions and Independence for Elders) study. METHODS AND RESULTS:Cardiovascular events were adjudicated based on medical records review, and cardiovascular risk factors were controlled for in the analysis. Home-based activity data were collected by hip-worn accelerometers at baseline and at 6, 12, and 24 months postrandomization to either a physical activity or health education intervention. LIFE study participants (n=1590; age 78.9±5.2 [SD] years; 67.2% women) at baseline had an 11% lower incidence of experiencing a subsequent cardiovascular event per 500 steps taken per day based on activity data (hazard ratio, 0.89; 95% confidence interval, 0.84-0.96; P=0.001). At baseline, every 30 minutes spent performing activities ≥500 counts per minute (hazard ratio, 0.75; confidence interval, 0.65-0.89 [P=0.001]) were also associated with a lower incidence of cardiovascular events. Throughout follow-up (6, 12, and 24 months), both the number of steps per day (per 500 steps; hazard ratio, 0.90, confidence interval, 0.85-0.96 [P=0.001]) and duration of activity ≥500 counts per minute (per 30 minutes; hazard ratio, 0.76; confidence interval, 0.63-0.90 [P=0.002]) were significantly associated with lower cardiovascular event rates. CONCLUSIONS:Objective measurements of physical activity via accelerometry were associated with cardiovascular events among older adults with limited mobility (summary score >10 on the Short Physical Performance Battery) both using baseline and longitudinal data. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION:URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01072500