Individual, Interpersonal, and Organizational Factors Affecting Physical Activity of School Adolescents in Pakistan

The purpose of this study was to explore individual, interpersonal, and organizational factors that may influence the physical activity of adolescents (ages 10–14) in Pakistani schools. A set of questionnaires that included individual, interpersonal, and organizational factors and PA behavior was completed by the 618 students selected from Pakistani schools. Stepwise forward regression model was applied to check the possible effects of multilevel variables on physical activity and to extract the stronger predictors. The results showed that physical activity was significantly predicted by individual level factors such as self-efficacy, motivation, and attitude. Among the demographic correlates, gender, age, and BMI did not affect physical activity, while socioeconomic status and geographic characteristics had a meaningful association with PA. At the interpersonal level, adolescents’ perception of family support had a potential influence on physical activity, while there was no impact of friends/peers and teachers support on adolescents’ PA. A school environmental characteristic, such as PA facility, was positively related to PA; however, the impact of PA equipment, safety, and policy and PA culture were statistically non-significant. The findings suggest that public health intervention strategies aimed at promoting PA in adolescents should recognize multiple levels of influences that may either enhance or impede the likelihood of PA among adolescents.

Factors associated with dengue fever patients attending primary health clinics in Kota Kinabalu

Background: Dengue fever infection has become a major public health concern in Malaysia with frequent epidemics occurring in urban areas. In Sabah, Dengue fever is among the 5 most reported communicable diseases and the district of Kota Kinabalu is among the top 3 districts with the highest number of dengue cases with 563 cases recorded in 2016. Aims and Methodolgy: This study aimed to determine the factors contributing or associated with dengue fever occurrence in Kota Kinabalu. A cross- sectional study was conducted among the primary health care clinic attendees in Kota Kinabalu. Data was collected via a set of structured questionnaires focusing on socio-demographic characteristic of participants, environmental characteristic of households, history of previous exposure to dengue fever, knowledge towards dengue fever and its vector, awareness on dengue fever and mosquito control and dengue fever prevention practices. Results and Recommendations: Among the 350 individual’s that participated in the interview, 53 were dengue fever cases. Subsequently, the prevalence of Dengue fever cases among the study population was calculated with prevalence in percentage concluded as 15.1%. Further analysis revealed that factors such as aged group by years, number of household occupants, staying at dengue outbreak areas, self – reported history of recent mosquito bites, indoor and outdoor storage of open water containers, installed house window screens, knowledge on dengue fever and its vector, practices of wearing protective clothing outdoor and usage of mosquito repellent ointment or creams showed significant association with dengue fever outcomes. However, further studies would need to be conducted to determine if these factors possess a higher threat or risk for dengue fever. Bangladesh Journal of Medical Science Vol.20(4) 2021 p.878-886

A katonai közlekedési támogatás vasútföldrajzi alapú vizsgálata

Trains running on rails are the integral part of the transport system and such as, they can be classified as elements of the transportation support system in the military logistics. The volume of the military transport-movement tasks is constantly increasing, also due to allied obligations. Because of the adequate transport capacity of the rail-sector, as well as its more beneficial environmental characteristic, it is worth examining how the geographical conditions enable the sub-sector to complete the increasing military transportation and transportation support tasks. My article deals with this analysis through military, social and physical geographic approaches.

The Relationship between Environmental Characteristics and Risk Management Practices on Produce Farms: A Systematic Literature Review

Produce-associated foodborne disease outbreaks have increased worldwide highlighting the importance of proper implementation of risk management practices (RMP). We determined the relationship between environmental characteristics (i.e., physical resources) of produce farms and implementation of RMP. Following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses principles, we identified 36 studies to include in our analysis. Most study data were collected through surveys administered to growers in developed countries. Quality assessment results showed that studies on this topic should be more rigorously conducted (e.g., powering sample sizes and training data collectors) to yield better quality evidence. Agricultural waters were the most common environmental characteristic assessed, with many farms using unsafe water sources. Hygiene aids (e.g., accessible handwashing facilities), were lacking across many farms. Animal intrusion RMP were the least commonly assessed environmental characteristic. Only one study tested the relationship between on-farm environmental characteristics and RMP implementation reporting a positive relationship between accessible handwashing and worker hygiene practices. Grower knowledge and perception of RMP combined with cost and ease in carrying out RMP might influence the availability of physical resources for proper RMP implementation. These results can inform practical interventions aimed to increase adoption of RMP on produce farms.

Deep phenotyping meets big data: the Geoscience and hEalth Cohort COnsortium (GECCO) data to enable exposome studies in The Netherlands

Environmental exposures are increasingly investigated as possible drivers of health behaviours and disease outcomes. So-called exposome studies that aim to identify and better understand the effects of exposures on behaviours and disease risk across the life course require high-quality environmental exposure data. The Netherlands has a great variety of environmental data available, including high spatial and often temporal resolution information on urban infrastructure, physico-chemical exposures, presence and availability of community services, and others. Until recently, these environmental data were scattered and measured at varying spatial scales, impeding linkage to individual-level (cohort) data as they were not operationalised as personal exposures, that is, the exposure to a certain environmental characteristic specific for a person. Within the Geoscience and hEalth Cohort COnsortium (GECCO) and with support of the Global Geo Health Data Center (GGHDC), a platform has been set up in The Netherlands where environmental variables are centralised, operationalised as personal exposures, and used to enrich 23 cohort studies and provided to researchers upon request. We here present and detail a series of personal exposure data sets that are available within GECCO to date, covering personal exposures of all residents of The Netherlands (currently about 17 M) over the full land surface of the country, and discuss challenges and opportunities for its use now and in the near future.

Aquatic Insects and Benthic Diatoms: A History of Biotic Relationships in Freshwater Ecosystems

The most important environmental characteristic in streams is flow. Due to the force of water current, most ecological processes and taxonomic richness in streams mainly occur in the riverbed. Benthic algae (mainly diatoms) and benthic macroinvertebrates (mainly aquatic insects) are among the most important groups in running water biodiversity, but relatively few studies have investigated their complex relationships. Here, we review the multifaceted interactions between these two important groups of lotic organisms. As the consumption of benthic algae, especially diatoms, was one of the earliest and most common trophic habits among aquatic insects, they then had to adapt to the particular habitat occupied by the algae. The environmental needs of diatoms have morphologically and behaviorally shaped their scrapers, leading to impressive evolutionary convergences between even very distant groups. Other less evident interactions are represented by the importance of insects, both in preimaginal and adult stages, in diatom dispersion. In addition, the top-down control of diatoms by their grazers contributes to their spatial organization and functional composition within the periphyton. Indeed, relationships between aquatic insects and diatoms are an important topic of study, scarcely investigated, the onset of which, hundreds of millions of years ago, has profoundly influenced the evolution of stream biological communities.

Feedback-Dubins-RRT Recovery Path Planning of UUV in an Underwater Obstacle Environment

In this paper, a UUV (Unmanned Underwater Vehicle) recovery path planning method of a known starting vector and end vector is studied. The local structure diagram is designed depending on the distance and orientation information about the obstacles. According to the local structure diagram, a Rapidly exploring Random Tree (RRT) method with feedback is used to generate a 3D Dubins path that approaches the target area gradually, and the environmental characteristic of UUV reaching a specific target area is discussed. The simulation results demonstrate that this method can effectively reduce the calculation time and the amount of data storage required for planning. Meanwhile, the smooth spatial path generated can be used further to improve the feasibility of the practical application of UUV.

Do Habitats Show a Different Invasibility Pattern by Alien Plant Species? A Test on a Wetland Protected Area

Biological invasions are deemed to be the second most important global driver of biodiversity loss, right behind habitat destruction and fragmentation. In this study, we aimed at testing if community invasibility, defined as the vulnerability to invasion of a community, could be associated with the characteristics of a given habitat, as described by the composition and structure of its native species. Based on a probabilistic sampling of the alien flora occurring in the temperate wetland Lake Doberdò (Friuli Venezia Giulia region, NE Italy) and using a null-model-based approach, the observed occurrence of Invasive Alien Species (IAS) within sampling units was randomized within habitats. While testing the degree of invasibility for each habitat within the wetland, our null hypothesis postulated that habitats are equally invaded by IAS, as IAS can spread homogeneously in the environment thanks to their plasticity in functional traits that makes them able to cope with different ecological conditions. The obtained results comparing observed IAS frequencies, abundance and richness to those obtained by the null model randomizations show that, for all habitats, invasion was selective. Specifically, a marked preference for habitats with an intermediate disturbance level, a high nutrients level and a medium-high light availability was observed, while an avoidance was detected for habitats characterized by lower levels of nutrients and light availability or extreme conditions caused by prolonged submersion. This method allows us to provide useful information using a simple-to-run simulation for the management of the IAS threat within protected areas. Moreover, the method allows us to infer important ecological characteristics leading to habitat invasion without sampling the environmental characteristic of the habitats, which is an expensive operation in terms of time and money.

Deteksi Filariasis Bancrofti dengan Filariasis Test Strip (FTS) dan Perilaku Pencegahan Gigitan Nyamuk di Desa Endemis Filariasis Amban Manokwari Papua Barat

Mass Drug Administration (MDA) of filariasis in Amban, the endemic area of filariasis, was carried out since 2016. The treatment target of the filariasis area is the area with the microfilaria rate (Mf rate ≥ 1%). The purposes of this study were to detect Wuchereria bancrofti antigens after 3 years of mass treatment and to find out the environmental characteristic and preventive behavior from mosquito bites in Amban the endemic filariasis village Manokwari, West Papua. This observational analytic study was conducted in Amban by examining the subject with the AlereTM Filariasis Strip Test (FTS) and questionnaires collection on 56 research subjects. Respondents were taken capillary blood and followed by tracking environmental and behavioral data of questionnaires. The data obtained was performed by bivariate analysis. The result showed that 56 respondents were negative for W. bancrofti filarial antigen (Mf rate 0%). Research subjects were dominated by the age range of adults, moderate education, and unemployment. The subjects living environment 58.9% far from the garden and 57.1% far from standing water. Preventive behavior from mosquito bites showed that 44.1% use wire ventilation; 44.6% use repellent; 19.6% do not do an outdoor activity at the night; 39.3% use mosquito nets; 28.6% do not do habits of hanging clothes. The level of education was related to the behavior to use repellent (p = 0.025).

Influence of Rendering Type on the Environmental Characteristics of Expanded Polystyrene-Based External Thermal Insulation Composite System

External thermal insulation systems (ETICS) are relevant facade applications of functional components allowing to reduce energy consumption in buildings to fulfill the provisions of nearly Zero-Energy Buildings (nZEBs). ETICS systems generally are made of adhesives, thermal insulation material, renders with mesh reinforcement, primers, and finish coats. Their main parameters are thermal characteristics and durability, both determined by the specific composition of the systems. Growing concerns on the environment and depletion of natural resources drive the need for the determination of the environmental characteristic of ETICS due to its growing market demand. This analysis focuses on a life cycle assessment (LCA) of a commonly used EPS based ETICS system with four different renderings, produced in several locations. The scope of this study concerns raw materials extraction, transport, production, and energy provision up to the finished, packed, and ready-for-sale product at the factory gate. The authors compared the environmental impact allocated to the 1 m2 of the produced system by taking into account the thickness of EPS and within different environmental impact categories. The results of the current impacts were compared to those obtained five years earlier, considering the technological and environmental progress of the production process.