Typical Week Research Articles

Determinants of and barriers to physical activity for women in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Background: Physical activity (PA) has been linked to a variety of health benefits, disease prevention, and treatment. Understanding cultural influences are important for the effective promotion of PA. This study examined PA among women in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and the determinants and barriers to it. The research was conducted through a cross-sectional survey. The Arab Teens Lifestyle (ATLS) questionnaire was completed by 1238 randomly selected women in Jeddah. It includes the repetitions and average duration of different types of physical activities per typical week. In addition, the participants self-reported their anthropometric measurements. Results: 76.4% met the minimum requirement for moderately vigorous physical activity (MVPA), but only 19.5% met both MVPA and muscle-strengthening activity (MSA). The two main barriers to participation in PA are the lack of sports facilities and time constraints. The number of comorbidities, calculated body mass index (BMI), and waist circumference were significant determinants of PA (R2 =.27) Conclusion: Women largely ignore MSA despite engaging in a high percentage of MVPA. The presence of comorbidities and obesity are the most important determinants of PA. Finally, these data can be used to develop early interventions to promote health instead of managing complications. Keywords: Physical Activity, Obesity, Barriers, Determinants, Women, Sports, Saudi Arabia.

Effects of social isolation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic on changes in daily activity: A case study of physical education students

Background: The study sought to describe student time use and to analyse the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic (lockdown) on changes in the time use and their role within the context of health and social aspects. Material & Methods: The research was carried out every year from 2017 to 2020 in the same period of time. The study included 340 students of physical education. In their time budget diaries, the participants noted down the amount of time devoted to activities performed in a typical week. Results: The study showed that during the lockdown, students devoted less time to sports training, social meetings or cultural activities as compared to previous years. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the amount of time devoted to the majority of activities was different on weekdays and at weekends. The results also showed that women devoted more time to personal hygiene and individual study, while men spent more time doing sports training. Conclusions: The crisis sparked off by COVID-19 resulted in considerable changes in student time use. The findings show that the allocation of time to various activities depends on gender, days of the week, legal regulations and recipients.

Willingness to intervene to protect the group from consequences of substance use

ABSTRACT Objective We tested relationships between three substances – alcohol, marijuana, and club drugs (hallucinogens, LSD, and MDMA) – and willingness to intervene as bystanders in potentially high-risk situations. Self-reported substance use was assessed during a typical week and during a week with multiple electronic music events. Method Two hundred undergraduate students were asked about substance use during specific days with a calendar method to promote recall. Willingness to intervene within peer group was measured with a 5-item scale. Results Willingness to intervene was relatively high (M= 4.27, SD = 0.74, range 1–5). Multiple linear regression showed heavy drinkers or club drug users had lower group willingness to intervene than non-users of either substance (β = −.16, −.21, respectively). Gender and event attendance were not related to willingness to intervene and did not moderate links with heavy drinking or club drug use. Conclusions Although overall undergraduates reported being willing to intervene to protect group members, heavy drinkers or club drug users had lower willingness to intervene. Future research should assess actual behavior. Programs addressing high-risk situations and bystander interventions might benefit from adding strategies that focus on heavy drinkers or club drug users.

Comparison between Energy Simulation and Monitoring Data in an Office Building

One of the most important steps in the retrofitting process of a building is to understand its pre-retrofitting stage energy performance. The best choice for carrying this out is by means of a calibrated building energy simulation (BES) model. Then, the testing of different retrofitting solutions in the validated model allows for quantifying the improvements that may be obtained, in order to choose the most suitable solution. In this work, based on the available detailed building drawings, constructive details, building operational data and the data sets obtained on a minute basis (for a whole year) from a dedicated energy monitoring system, the calibration of an in-use office building energy model has been carried out. It has been possible to construct a detailed white box model based on Design Builder software. Then, comparing the model output for indoor air temperature, lighting consumption and heating consumption against the monitored data, some of the building envelope parameters and inner building inertia of the model were fine tuned to obtain fits fulfilling the ASHRAE criteria. Problems found during this fitting process and how they are solved are explained in detail. The model calibration is firstly performed on an hourly basis for a typical winter and summer week; then, the whole year results of the simulation are compared against the monitored data. The results show a good agreement for indoor temperature, lighting and heating consumption compared with the ASHRAE criteria for the mean bias error (MBE).

Behavioral Health and Most-Interested Topics Among Older Adults in Three Aging-in-Community Programs in Florida

This study compares behavioral health and most-interested topics among older adults in three aging-in-community (AIC) programs: a university-based lifelong learning program (LLP; 38%), a county neighborhood lunch program (NLP; 29%), and a village program sample (33%) (total n=289). Mean age was 72.4 (SD=8.68) years. Although perceived health was similar (mean=3.76), LLP and village members reported higher quality of life than NLP participants (p=.004). Two-thirds of the participants indicated at least half of their daily plates filled with fruits and vegetables, and at least 10 min. walking in 4.5 days during a typical week. The duration of each walking was lower among NLP members (23 min.), compared with village (31 min.) or LLP members (35 min.) (p=.002). The top three most interested topics were brain health, giving back, and keep community healthy. Older adults in AIC programs were overall healthy and active. Results have implication on tailored program development.

Energy flexible CHP-DHN systems: Unlocking the flexibility in a real plant

The purpose of this paper is to identify and analyze the impact of flexibility enablers in cogeneration and district heating network (CHP-DHN) plants by means of a real case study located in central Italy. A wider definition of energy flexibility applicable to the entire energy supply chain (i.e. production, transport and usage) is used in this analysis. In particular the flexibility is intended as the capability of each part of the system to produce a variation in its load curve, while ensuring the required performance. In this sense energy efficiency technologies, the use of energy storage and advanced control techniques can be seen as flexibility enablers potentially available in each section of the energy system. The innovative contribution of this work is to propose flexibility strategies in compliance with the constraints imposed by both the managers and users. The study aims to show possible ways to activate flexibility services to be used with known instruments and to quantify their impact with a simulation-based approach. In particular, three different flexibility instruments are identified in different sections of the plant: (i) the use of a thermal energy storage (TES) in the generation side, (ii) the optimal management of the DHN supply temperature (energy distribution side) and (iii) the management of the thermostatically controlled loads (TCLs) of the final users (demand side) connected to the network. Through the implementation of simulation models calibrated with available measurements, the influence of these flexibility instruments on the energy/environmental performance is evaluated in comparison to the current configuration of the plant. Results confirm the great impact of the TES to increase the CHP working hours and, as a consequence, a primary energy saving increase is obtained in mid-season and in summer season. Whereas the optimal management of the water supply temperature in the DHN allows to obtain 1% fuel reduction in a typical winter week and 2% in a typical summer week. As far as the activation of the demand side flexibility is concerned, the effect of the management of TCLs on energy conservation is demonstrated: 1 °C reduction of the setpoint of all the residential users during a typical winter day produces a 7.3% reduction of the DHN thermal demand. However, its impact on the generation side (i.e. to reduce the electricity/thermal production of the CHP at specific times) is limited due to the characteristics of the considered CHP plant (the CHP engine is sized to cover only the thermal baseload and it scarcely affected by thermal demand variations). The analysis proposed helps to obtain valuable hints on unlocking the energy flexibility in CHP-DHN plants useful for a better management of such systems.

Analysis of the daily consumption of potable water in the urban area of the Ambato city in the Province of Tungurahua-Ecuador

The consumption of drinking water has increased over the years worldwide, therefore, the analysis of daily consumption in a certain sector is important, to know the existing demand of the population of the sector under analysis. The study of water consumption not only allows the knowledge of the amount of water consumed in a population, it also enables future projects for the design and redesign of potable water distribution networks. The main methodology for this analysis was the daily record for a period of 60 days, in each of the sectors corresponding to the urban area of Ambato city; this methodology allowed the analysis of the typical week of the sector and therefore the amount of water consumed per day in the urban sector,it was concluded that the San Francisco parish presents the highest demand for water consumption per capita with a requirement of 256.48 L/inhab/day, the predominant type of residence in the urban area of the city of Ambato is type B, which is characterized by having a typical structural system in which reinforced concrete predominates.

Sensor-Based Machine Learning Approach for Indoor Air Quality Monitoring in an Automobile Manufacturing

The alternative control concept using emission from the machine has the potential to reduce energy consumption in HVAC systems. This paper reports on a study of alternative inputs for a control system of HVAC using machine learning algorithms, based on data that are gathered in a welding area of an automotive factory. A data set of CO2, fine dust, temperatures and air velocity was logged using continuous and gravimetric measurements during two typical production weeks. The HVAC system was reduced gradually each day to trigger fluctuations of emission. The data were used to train and test various machine learning models using different statistical indices, consequently to choose a best fit model. Different models were tested and the Long Short-Term Memory model showed the best result, with 0.821 discrepancy on R2. The gravimetric samples proved that the reduction of air exchange rate does not correlate to escalation of fine dust linearly, which means one cannot rely on just gravimetric samples for HVAC system optimization. Furthermore, by using machine learning algorithms, this study shows that by using commonly available low cost sensors in a production hall, it is possible to correlate fine dust data cost effectively and reduce electricity consumption of the HVAC.

Screens for infants and preschool children: Assessment of medical prevention with parents and assessment of exposure

BackgroundRegarding the massive increase of interactive mobile screen household equipment and the omnipresence of television, many recommendations are in favor of a limitation of use, especially among the youngest. ObjectiveWe aimed to evaluate the proportion of parents who report having discussed the subject of their child's exposure to screens during a consultation with a health professional.We also aimed to assess preschool exposure to television and mobile media devices, and to explore parents’ views on the benefits and risks of exposing their children under 3 years old. MethodsA questionnaire was administered to parents of children aged 6 months to 3 years in a pediatric emergency ward and several nurseries. This observational, cross-sectional and multicenter study was conducted from January to May 2019. ResultsWe included 451 responses in the analyses. Only 99 (22.7%; 95% CI: 18.7–26.6) parents reported having discussed their child's exposure to screens with a doctor, on the initiative of the parents themselves for 52 households (53.1%; 95% CI: 43.2–62.9). Feelings of a benefit of screens on child learning concerned 134 (34.5%; 95% CI: 29.8–39.3) parents; 300 (68.5%; 95% CI: 64.1–72.8) said they were sufficiently informed about benefits and risks. In a typical week, 240 (53.7%; 95% CI: 49.1–58.3), 160 (35.8%; 95% CI: 31.3–40.2), and 58 (13.0%; 95% CI: 9.9–16.1) children were exposed at least once a week to television, smartphones, and tablets, respectively. ConclusionsOur study showed that the theme of exposure to screens was hardly addressed by physicians in consultation. Our findings help target prevention messages, including fighting the widespread belief that media are beneficial to child development, emphasizing the importance of screen-free time (eating, going to bed, after waking up) and encouraging support and interaction during exposure in families who choose to expose their children.

Parental perception and guideline awareness of children’s lifestyle behaviours at ages 5 to 14 in Singapore

There are limited data on the descriptive lifestyle behaviour of school-age children in Singapore. A total of 100 parents of children ages 5 to 14 participated in a parents' proxy-reported survey. Frequency of moderate physical activity (PA) and vigorous PA was assessed, while t-tests or chi-square test was used to examine differences between weekdays and weekends for sleep, screen viewing time (SVT) and sedentary behaviour (SB). Of the 100 children (68% of Chinese ethnicity, 59% boys, mean age 9.1±2.9 years), 31% were overweight or obese, with body mass index z-score of >1. For moderate and vigorous PA participation in a typical week, 32.0% and 43.0%, respectively, did not participate, while median (interquartile range) days of participation were 3 (2-3) days/week and 2 (1-3) days/week for a duration of 60 (interquartile range 30-120) minutes/session. When comparing weekends with weekdays, the means (standard deviation) of both SVT and sleep duration were higher on weekends (SVT: 4.1 [2.9] versus 3.3 [3.1] hours/day, P=0.07; sleep: 8.8 [1.5] vs 8.3 [1.3] hours/day, P=0.02), while there were no significant differences for SB. A higher proportion of children had SB of ≥10 hours/day and slept <8 hours/day on weekdays compared with on weekends (SB: 23.5% vs 20.6%, P>0.05; sleep:18.8% vs 2.1%, P<0.05), while the proportion exceeding SVT of 2 hours/day were higher on weekends than on weekdays (63.8% vs 45.4%, P=0.03). Overall, there was higher parental awareness of sleep guidelines (80.0%), but lower awareness of PA (51.0%) and SVT (59.0%) guidelines. Lifestyle behaviours were suboptimal in Singapore children compared with existing overseas guidelines, indicating a need for an integrated guideline with greater dissemination.

Changes in Older Adults' Social Contact During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

ObjectivesTo understand changes during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in weekly contact with nonresident family and friends for U.S. adults aged 70 and older in residential care and community settings.MethodsParticipants in the National Health and Aging Trends Study COVID-19 mail supplement (N = 3,098) reported frequency of phone, electronic, video, and in-person contact with nonresident family and friends in a typical week before and during the pandemic. We examined less than weekly contact by mode for those in residential care settings and community residents with and without limitations. We estimated multinomial logit models to examine predictors of change to less than weekly contact (vs. maintaining weekly or more contact) by mode, overall, and stratified by setting.ResultsWeekly in-person contact fell substantially (from 61% to 39%) and more so in residential care (from 56% to 22%), where nearly 4 in 10 transitioned to less than weekly in-person contact (doubling to 8 out of 10). Weekly or more contact was largely stable for electronic and telephone modes across settings. Weekly or more video contact increased mainly for community residents without limitations. Compared to community residents without limitations, those in assisted living or nursing homes had more than 5 times the odds (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 5.3; p = .01) of changing to less than weekly in-person contact; those in independent living also had higher odds of changing to less than weekly in-person (AOR = 2.6; p = .01) and video (AOR = 3.4; p = .01) contact.DiscussionThe pandemic revealed the importance of ensuring that communication technologies to maintain social ties are available to and usable by older adults, particularly for those living in residential care settings.

MP34-04 BURNOUT AND DOCUMENTATION BURDEN AMONG UROLOGY RESIDENTS AND ATTENDINGS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER

You have accessJournal of UrologyHealth Services Research: Quality Improvement & Patient Safety II (MP34)1 Sep 2021MP34-04 BURNOUT AND DOCUMENTATION BURDEN AMONG UROLOGY RESIDENTS AND ATTENDINGS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER Thomas Osinski, Gareth Warren, Edward Messing, and Jeanne O'Brien Thomas OsinskiThomas Osinski More articles by this author , Gareth WarrenGareth Warren More articles by this author , Edward MessingEdward Messing More articles by this author , and Jeanne O'BrienJeanne O'Brien More articles by this author View All Author Informationhttps://doi.org/10.1097/JU.0000000000002043.04AboutPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints ShareFacebookLinked InTwitterEmail Abstract INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: For the past several years Urology has consistently had among the highest rates of physician burnout when compared with other medical and surgical specialties. Physician burnout has been associated with significant personal consequences (such as higher levels of substance abuse, depression, and motor vehicle incidents). Physician burnout can also have negative patient care outcomes as burnout has been linked to increased rates of medical error. It is well known that the electronic medical record (EMR) has increased clinical documentation demands. We thus sought to determine the prevalence of burnout among urologic residents and attendings at our institution and how medical documentation may play a role in physician burnout. METHODS: An anonymous survey tool was created through Redcap. The survey included the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), to assess burnout, and several questions pertaining to documentation. The Redcap survey was sent via email to urology residents and attendings at the University of Rochester Medical Center with data collected from January to March of 2020. RESULTS: Overall, 11/19 (58%) attendings and 7/13 (54%) residents responded to the survey. 46% of attendings and 71% of residents were found to have a high-risk of burnout in at least 1 component of the MBI. All respondents with a high-risk of burnout in 1 or more component of the MBI had a high-risk of burnout in the depersonalization component of the MBI. Furthermore, 91% of attendings and 100% of residents responded that they ‘sometimes’ or ‘often’ document on patients at home with 64% of attendings and 29% of residents spending 7 hours or more in a typical week documenting outside of ‘normal’ clinic and hospital hours. Critically, 73% of attendings and 72% of residents ‘sometimes’ or ‘often’ felt stress due to documentation requirements not being complete. When asked ‘Has documentation interfered with planned activities out of work?’, 100% of attendings and 86% residents replied ‘sometimes’ or ‘often’. Lastly, 91% of attendings and 86% of residents thought that documentation accurately reflected the care provided to patients less than 75% of the time. CONCLUSIONS: EMR documentation demands are likely disrupting activities outside of work more than is currently appreciated and contributing to burnout. Additionally, despite all the effort, many think documentation often does not reflect the actual care provided to patients. Finding ways to reduce the burden of documentation and making documentation more clinically focused for providers may help reduce burnout within urology. Finally, asking questions to better understand how specific clinical activities are perceived and impact life outside of work may help identify the stressors that have the biggest impact on burnout. Source of Funding: None © 2021 by American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc.FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Volume 206Issue Supplement 3September 2021Page: e617-e617 Advertisement Copyright & Permissions© 2021 by American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc.MetricsAuthor Information Thomas Osinski More articles by this author Gareth Warren More articles by this author Edward Messing More articles by this author Jeanne O'Brien More articles by this author Expand All Advertisement Loading ...

Prevalence and associated factors of insufficient physical activity among elderly people in Bangladesh: a nationally representative cross-sectional study

ObjectivesInsufficient physical activity (IPA) is a crucial risk factor for non-communicable diseases (NCDs). The elderly population has a higher likelihood of suffering from NCDs. We aimed to estimate the prevalence...

The current landscape of youth multi-sport training: athlete and parent insight data

The intent to improve a youth athlete’s ability is developed through structured focused training in the competencies within their sport. To date there is little evidence around how multi-discipline youth athletes organise their training load (TL) outlook in a multitude of sports. The aim of this study was to analyse the daily TL, distribution and wellness in aspiring 10-15yr old pentathletes (n = 31) over 152 ± 35 days. Athletes completed daily reports documenting sport mode, session duration, session rate of perceived exertion (sRPE) and wellness (sleep, stress, mood, fatigue, muscle soreness). Parental understanding of training periodisation was used to contextualise the athletes training patterns (n = 15) through semi-structured interviews. Weekly training duration was 5 h 59 min ± 3 h 38 min. The swimming discipline dominates the overall time spent training (50.5%). Pentathlon specific TL was significantly higher in the 14–15 yrs (3000 ± 1207 AUT) in comparison to 10–11 yrs (1837 ± 874 AUT). Weekly micro TL fluctuations showed significant peaks on the weekend compared to Tuesday and Friday (p &lt; 0.05). Wellness scores were significantly worse on Monday to Wednesdays (p &lt; 0.05), compared to Fridays. Parent interviews suggest a multitude of coach input from solo disciplines over a typical week, with little inter-coach discussions. In conclusion there is little structure on a micro or macro level in youth pentathletes training showing multiple-coach input with little coach crossover. Implications for the training/competition is based around convenience/holidays/availability of resources rather than overall individual development, which suggests the potential need for an early specialisation approach to support athletes within this style of multi-discipline sport.

Longitudinal differences in levels and bouts of sedentary time by different day types among Australian toddlers and pre-schoolers

ABSTRACT The aim of the present study was to characterize sedentary time (ST) and sedentary bouts among young children, across a typical week and by day type (childcare days, non-childcare days and weekends), over a 12-month period. ST % (ST/accelerometer wear time*100) and number of sedentary bouts/hours were assessed using accelerometers at two time-points 12-months apart in 153 toddlers and 74 pre-schoolers. Differences between baseline and follow-up according to the whole week and the different day types were calculated using linear mixed models with adjustment for age, sex, socio-economic status and zBMI. During the weekend, toddlers had more 20–30 min/h sedentary bouts at follow-up than at baseline (MD: 0.03). In pre-schoolers, ST % (MD:-8.4), the number of 1–4 min/h (MD:-1.45), 5–9 min/h (MD: −0.46) and 10–19 min/h sedentary bouts (MD:-0.11) were lower at baseline, compared to follow-up, on non-childcare days; as were the number of 5–9 min/h sedentary bouts on weekends (MD:0.40). P < 0.05 for all. This study found that longer sedentary bouts (20–30 min/h) tended to decrease among toddlers and pre-schoolers, whereas ST and shorter sedentary bouts increased over 12-months, particularly among pre-schoolers on non-childcare weekdays. Non-childcare days, and home environment may be targeted for intervention to reduce ST and sedentary bouts among pre-schoolers.

Is fast-food consumption a problem among adolescents in Malaysia? An analysis of the National School-Based Nutrition Survey, 2012

BackgroundFast-food consumption is an unhealthy dietary behaviour because it increases the risk of diet-related chronic diseases. We aimed to investigate factors associated with fast-food consumption, namely sociodemographic characteristics, body mass index-for-age, meal away from home habit, and intake of various food groups among adolescents in Malaysia.MethodsWe analysed data from the National School-Based Nutrition Survey (NSNS). The NSNS was a nationwide, cross-sectional survey. Multiple-stage stratified cluster random sampling method was applied to obtain a representative sample of adolescents’ population. This study recruited adolescents aged 10–18 years who were attending schools. Pre-tested self-administered questionnaires in Malay language were used to obtain relevant information. Frequency of fast-food consumption per week was classified into three groups: “consumed fast-food four to seven days”, “consumed fast-food one to three days”, and “did not consume fast-food”. Intake of food groups was assessed by self-administered food frequency questionnaire. Descriptive and complex sample multinomial logistic regression analyses were performed in data analysis.ResultsA total of 26,383 from 40,012 selected adolescents completed all the relevant questions for this study. Of those surveyed, 13.5% of the respondents consumed fast-food 4 to 7 days, 69.3% of the respondents consumed fast food 1 to 3 days, and 17.2% of them did not consume fast-food in a typical week. Frequency of fast-food consumptions (4 to 7 days and 1 to 3 days per week) was significantly associated with age; sex; ethnicity; locality of schools; frequency of eating out; and not consuming recommended intake of cereals or grains, vegetables, and meat or poultry or eggs.ConclusionIn conclusion, age; sex; ethnicity; locality of schools; frequency of eating out per week; imbalanced intake of cereals or grains, meat, or poultry or eggs; and inadequate vegetable intake were significantly associated with fast-food consumption among adolescents in Malaysia. The findings of this study will be useful for policy makers in promoting healthy food choices among adolescents in Malaysia.

Household travel survey method for vehicle kilometers travel estimations: A case study in a developing country

Vehicle Kilometers Travelled (VKT) represents number of kilometers travelled by vehicles during a specific period of time in a specific area of concern. Transportation planners, policy makers, urban planners, and estimators of vehicle emission, energy consumption and fuel-price encourage the calculation of VKT for various analytical purposes. However, in most of the developing countries VKT is not estimated due to data challenges. This study aimed at proposing a household travel survey method for estimating VKT in developing countries where timely VKT data are not available. Also, estimating Personal Kilometers Travelled (PKT) seems important in developing countries, since the majority is using public and non-motorized transport modes rather than personal vehicles in those countries. This proposed method allows to collect data that are needed for estimating both VKT and PKT together with socio demographic information. A case study was conducted in three different regions; Northern, Eastern and Southern areas of Sri Lanka, which is a developing country. Questions were asked regarding to trips in a typical week, trips in holidays, special seasons or vacations, number of passengers travelled, travel modes and, socio demography of the respondent. Pilot surveys were conducted prior to the actual surveys to verify the efficiency of developed questionnaire. Samples were taken satisfying all the selected socio demographic categories within the community. Collected data through surveys were aggregated to annual level and, weighted using relevant census and population data. Weighted VKT and PKT estimates were obtained under each selected socio demographic category. Also, VKT estimates were statistically compared for studying the travel behavior of people across different regions. ANOVA and Post Hoc tests were employed for statistical comparisons. These findings can efficiently be used for transport planning, policy making activities, emission calculations, energy consumption estimations etc. by transport and environmental agencies of the country. The case study revealed the experience of utilizing the household travel survey method in Sri Lanka, making it possible to be replicated in other developing countries as well.

Exploring the relationship between adults’ perceptions of sedentary behaviours and psychological stress: Is your mindset stressing you out?

ABSTRACT Mindsets that people hold regarding activity adequacy play an integral part in various health outcomes. Yet, little is known about the relationship between the mindset one has about their sedentary behaviour levels and psychological stress. As such, the present study sought to understand if adults’ perceptions of themselves as compared to others of the same age, specifically perceptions about their level of sedentary behaviours, is a significant predictor of psychological stress. Three-hundred and seventy-four adults (n female = 279, n male = 95; M age = 60.4% aged between 18 and 24) completed an online survey package that included two multi-scale instruments to assess perceived stress symptoms and actual time spent sitting during a typical week, and two single-items to measure perceptions of their level of sedentary behaviours during a typical week (i.e., typical weekday, weekend day). Cross-sectional results indicated that perceived sedentary behaviour relative to others on a typical weekend day explained significant albeit modest unique variance in perceived stress scores, even after controlling for covariates including actual sitting time on a typical weekend day (t(363) = 2.35, p = 0.019, R2 increment = 0.010). Weekday perceptions failed to be an influential factor (t(363) = −0.28, p = 0.780, R2 inc = .000). These findings suggest that a sedentary behaviour mindset, yoked within a social comparison framework, may be important for understanding psychological stress.

Understanding the characteristics of Latino individuals with first-time DUI offenses to facilitate effective interventions

Literature shows that Latinos who drink are more likely to experience alcohol-related consequences and less likely to seek care for alcohol misuse than Whites. We aim to understand characteristics, consumption patterns, and openness to treatment among Latino first-time offenders driving under the influence. Latino participants were significantly younger (29.0 years) than non-Latinos (37.7 years). In adjusted models, Latino participants were significantly more likely than non-Latinos to binge drink, but there were no significant group differences in amount of alcohol consumed in a typical week. There was no significant difference in incidence of alcohol-related consequences, readiness to change drinking, and driving behaviors in this sample.

Tactical blueprints for surgical weeks – An integrated approach for operating rooms and intensive care units

Decisions on the number of surgeries to perform during a typical week in an operating room (OR) generally affect downstream resources such as intensive care units (ICU), recovery rooms, or regular inpatient wards. Since capacity of e.g. ICUs is highly restricted, this bottleneck plays an important role in the management of an efficient flow of surgical patients through the system. This paper aims to provide hospital decision makers with easy-to-follow guidelines for the daily patient scheduling decisions and presents a novel chance-constraint optimisation model to develop efficient admission templates for elective surgeries on a tactical level. With a given patient mix, we decide on the number of surgeries that can realistically be treated during a typical week, with respect to limited resources of OR and ICU and considering stochastic demand. The benefit of such templates is exemplified using a dedicated simulation model in a realistic case study. The simulation model rebuilds daily operations in OR and ICU and allows to mimic typical decision making in OR and ICU. Computational studies show that continually applying such templates as admission guidelines leads to a well-utilised OR and efficiently used ICUs. The extensive simulation studies confirm that the template plans obtained from the chance-constraint optimisation model can provide guidance for an operating room planner.