Recent high school graduates knowledge about physical activity guidelines and disease related to sedentary lifestyle

This study examined recent high school graduates\u27 knowledge about physical activity (PA) guidelines and disease related to sedentary lifestyle. Using a cross-sectional descriptive design, focus was on assessing knowledge performance and relating it to gender, ethnicity, PA behavior, and conceptualizations about high school health education (HE) and physical education (PE). Study participants were 394 recent high school graduates between the ages of 18-20 years of age. Participants completed a questionnaire designed to measure knowledge about PA guidelines and disease associated with sedentary lifestyle. In addition, the questionnaire also comprised items designed to capture demographical information and provide some information about respondents\u27 PA behavior and high school HE and PE. The mean score of knowledge about PA guidelines and disease related to sedentary lifestyle were 13.01 (SD=1.99, 68.8%) and 5.37 (SD=2.05, 53.7% respectively). No significant relationships were found between knowledge of PA guidelines and diseases related to sedentary lifestyle, and conceptualization of high school HE and PE. Multiple regression analysis revealed that gender and PA behavior were significant predictors of knowledge about PA guidelines ( F (5, 1391) = 13.395, p \u3c .001, R 2 = .046). Gender contributed to 17.3% of the variance in knowledge about PA guidelines, while PA behavior had 15.2%. Gender and ethnicity were also significant predictors of knowledge of disease related to sedentary lifestyle ( F (5, 1391) = 5.864, p \u3c .001, R 2 = .021). Gender contributed 9.5% of the variance in knowledge about disease related to sedentary lifestyle, while ethnicity contributed 9.2%. Other results showed that as respondents matriculated through high school, dramatically fewer enrolled in PE (88.6% as a freshman and only 22.8% as a senior) and HE (67% as a freshman and only 7.6% as a senior). Sport and nutrition were the most frequently reported conceptualizations of PE and HE respectively. Recent high school graduates\u27 performance on knowledge of PA guidelines and diseases related to sedentary lifestyle was very poor. While the results of this study fail to find PA behavior or conceptualization of HE and PE as salient variables associated with knowledge performances, in addition to the poor knowledge performance, the study did provide valuable information regarding the low enrollment patterns in high school HE and PE with most individuals enrolling as freshman. While only subjective, it is interesting that respondents mostly conceptualized PE as sport oriented and HE as nutrition oriented as these data provide respondents\u27 perspectives as to what was emphasized in these courses. These data do raise the question of where the general public information access points are for gaining knowledge about PA guidelines and disease associated with sedentary lifestyle and that this content may not be what is emphasized in the PE or HE high school curriculum

The Decline of Physical Activity with Age in School-Aged Children with Cerebral Palsy: A Single-Center Cross-Sectional Observational Study

Maintaining physical activity is important for children with cerebral palsy (CP). This study examined whether age predicted habitual physical activity (HPA) or cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) in school-aged children with CP and clarified the relationship between HPA and CRF. We utilized cross-sectional data from 39 children with CP (18 girls and 21 boys; mean age 7.44 years; mean body weight 24.76 kg; mean body mass index 15.97 kg/m2; hemiplegic or diplegic CP). The participants wore an accelerometer (ActiGraph) for five days to measure HPA, physical activity energy expenditure (kcal/kg/d), sedentary physical activity (%SPA), light physical activity, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (%MVPA), and activity counts (counts/min). Participants underwent cardiopulmonary exercise tests on a treadmill using a modified Naughton protocol. Linear regression and correlation analyses were performed. p-value (two-tailed) \u3c 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Age was positively associated with SPA. MVPA negatively correlated with resting heart rate (HR), and activity counts were negatively correlated with resting HR. In conclusion, our study found strong evidence of a negative association between HPA and age in school-aged children with CP. It highlights the importance of creating and improving recreational opportunities that promote physical activity in all children with CP, regardless of whether they are considered therapeutic

The association between motor capacity and motor performance in school-aged children with cerebral palsy: An observational study

Background This study aimed to investigate the association between motor capacity and motor performance in children with cerebral palsy (CP) aged 6–12 years with Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) levels I to III. Methods Forty-six children with CP (24 boys and 22 girls) classified as GMFCS levels Ⅰ, Ⅱ, or Ⅲ were included. Motor capacity was measured by the Gross motor function measure (GMFM), Pediatric balance scale (PBS), Timed up and go (TUG), and 6-min walk test (6MWT). Motor performance was measured by triaxial accelerometers. Estimations of physical activity energy expenditure (PAEE) (kcal/kg/day), percentage of time spent on physical activity (% sedentary physical activity; %SPA; % light physical activity, %LPA; % moderate physical activity, %MPA; % vigorous physical activity %VPA; and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, %MVPA), and activity counts (counts/minute) were obtained. Results Children with GMFCS level I showed a significantly higher motor capacity (GMFM-66, GMFM-88, D-dimension and E-dimension, PBS and 6MWT) than those with level II or III. Children with GMFCS level II and/or III had significantly lower physical activity (PAEE, % MPA, % VPA, %MVPA, and activity counts) than children with GMFCS level I. Multiple linear regression analysis (dependent variable, GMFM-66) showed that %MVPA was positively associated with GMFM-66 in the GMFCS level II & III children but not in GMFCS level I children

Coins and Logic

We establish fun parallels between coin-weighing puzzles and knights-and-knaves puzzles.Comment: 18 pages, 2 figure

Global gene-expression profiles of intracellular survival of the BruAb2_1031 gene mutated Brucella abortus in professional phagocytes, RAW 264.7 cells

Background Since recognizing the interaction between Brucella and host cells is crucial to the elucidation of the infectious process, Brucella researches have prioritized the investigation of genes related to pathogenicity. To demonstrate the roles of Brucella genes, RAW 264.7 cells were infected with the Brucella abortus wild-type and mutant strains (generated using transposon mutagenesis), after which the different transcriptional responses of the infected cells were determined using microarray. Results Following infection, enhanced strategies for intracellular survival, such as down-regulation of genes associated with cytokine responses and apoptosis, were observed in RAW 264.7 cells infected with C3 mutant strain when compared to the transcriptional responses of wild-type infected cells. Using sequence analysis, we determined the mutation site of a C3 mutant strain as the ATP-binding cassette transporter permease (BruAb2_1031). These results were evidenced by an increased level of intracellular survival of the C3 mutant strain. Conclusions Characteristics of each mutant strain including bacterial growth rate, abilities to induce cytokine production in macrophages after infection, internalization, and levels of intracellular survival and replication, were investigated by performing RAW 264.7 cell infection experiments. Our results indicate that the BruAb2_1031 gene might be closely related with intracellular survival of B. abortus in RAW 264.7 cells.This work was supported by NRF grant of MSIP (No. 2014R1A2A2A01007291), Korea Health Industry Development Institute (HI16C2130), BK21 PLUS and Research Institute for Veterinary Science, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, writing the manuscript and the decision to submit the work for publication

Hierarchical Multiscale Hyperporous Block Copolymer Membranes via Tunable Dual-Phase Separation

The rational design and realization of revolutionary porous structures have been long-standing challenges in membrane science. We demonstrate a new class of amphiphilic polystyrene-block-poly(4-vinylpyridine) block copolymer (BCP)-based porous membranes featuring hierarchical multiscale hyperporous structures. The introduction of surface energy-modifying agents and the control of major phase separation parameters (such as nonsolvent polarity and solvent drying time) enable tunable dual-phase separation of BCPs, eventually leading to macro/nanoscale porous structures and chemical functionalities far beyond those accessible with conventional approaches. Application of this BCP membrane to a lithium-ion battery separator affords exceptional improvement in electrochemical performance. The dual-phase separation-driven macro/nanopore construction strategy, owing to its simplicity and tunability, is expected to be readily applicable to a rich variety of membrane fields including molecular separation, water purification, and energy-related devices.clos

Well-organized raspberry-like Ag@Cu bimetal nanoparticles for highly reliable and reproducible surface-enhanced Raman scattering

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is ideally suited for probing and mapping surface species and incipient phases on fuel cell electrodes because of its high sensitivity and surface-selectivity, potentially offering insights into the mechanisms of chemical and energy transformation processes. In particular, bimetal nanostructures of coinage metals (Au, Ag, and Cu) have attracted much attention as SERS-active agents due to their distinctive electromagnetic field enhancements originated from surface plasmon resonance. Here we report excellent SERS-active, raspberry-like nanostructures composed of a silver (Ag) nanoparticle core decorated with smaller copper (Cu) nanoparticles, which displayed enhanced and broadened UV-Vis absorption spectra. These unique Ag@Cu raspberry nanostructures enable us to use blue, green, and red light as the excitation laser source for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) with a large enhancement factor (EF). A highly reliable SERS effect was demonstrated using Rhodamine 6G (R6G) molecules and a thin film of gadolinium doped ceria.close3

Evaluating a shared decision-making intervention regarding dialysis modality: development and validation of self-assessment items for patients with chronic kidney disease

Background Shared decision-making is a two-way symmetrical communication process in which clinicians and patients work together to achieve the best outcome. This study aimed to develop self-assessment items as a decision aid for choosing a dialysis modality in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and to assess the construct validity of the newly developed items. Methods Five focus group interviews were performed to extract specific self-assessment items regarding patient values in choosing a dialysis modality. After survey items were refined, a survey of 330 patients, consisting of 152 hemodialysis (HD) and 178 peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients, was performed to validate the self-assessment items. Results The self-assessment for the decision aid was refined to 35 items. The structure of the final items appeared to have three dimensions of factors; health, lifestyle, and dialysis environment. The health factor consisted of 12 subscales (α = 0.724), the lifestyle factor contained 11 subscales (α = 0.624), and the dialysis environment factor was represented by 12 subscales (α = 0.694). A structural equation model analysis showed that the relationship between the decision aid factors (health, lifestyle, and dialysis environment), patients’ CKD perception, and cognition of shared decision-making differed between HD patients and PD patients. Conclusion We developed and validated self-assessment items as part of a decision aid to help patients with CKD. This attempt may assist CKD patients in making informed and shared decisions closely aligned with their values when considering dialysis modality

High-temperature surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy for in situ study of solid oxide fuel cell materials

In situ probing of surface species and incipient phases is vital to unraveling the mechanisms of chemical and energy transformation processes. Here we report Ag nanoparticles coated with a thin-film SiO2 shell that demonstrate excellent thermal robustness and chemical stability for surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) study of solid oxide fuel cell materials under in situ conditions (at ???400 ??C).close3

The fabrication of highly ordered block copolymer micellar arrays: control of the separation distances of silicon oxide dots

We demonstrate the fabrication of highly ordered silicon oxide dotted arrays prepared from polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) filled nanoporous block copolymer (BCP) films and the preparation of nanoporous, flexible Teflon or polyimide films. Polystyrene-block-poly(2-vinylpyridine) (PS-b-P2VP) films were annealed in toluene vapor to enhance the lateral order of micellar arrays and were subsequently immersed in alcohol to produce nano-sized pores, which can be used as templates for filling a thin layer of PDMS. When a thin layer of PDMS was spin-coated onto nanoporous BCP films and thermally annealed at a certain temperature, the PDMS was drawn into the pores by capillary action. PDMS filled BCP templates were exposed to oxygen plasma environments in order to fabricate silicon oxide dotted arrays. By addition of PS homopolymer to PS-b-P2VP copolymer, the separation distances of micellar arrays were tuned. As-prepared silicon oxide dotted arrays were used as a hard master for fabricating nanoporous Teflon or polyimide films by spin-coating polymer precursor solutions onto silicon patterns and peeling off. This simple process enables us to fabricate highly ordered nanoporous BCP templates, silicon oxide dots, and flexible nanoporous polymer patterns with feature size of sub-20 nm over 5 cm x 5 cm.clos