Interventions are needed to stem the rise of obesity and type 2 diabetes. Physical activity (PA) is integral to lifestyle interventions, however, a paucity of research applying objective measures of ...PA exists in populations at risk of diabetes. Insight into changing PA and dietary behaviours is required to develop effective interventions. The aim of this thesis was to capture an insight into high-risk behaviours and behaviour change in pre-diabetic adults, and assess the feasibility of running an intervention in overweight and obese children. Study 1 investigated the associations between objectively measured PA and cardio-metabolic risk factors in pre-diabetic adults from 8 countries. Results indicated that moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) was negatively associated with cardio-metabolic risk factors. However, associations between total PA and all risk factors were at least as strong as than MVPA. Study 2 examined the psychosocial correlates of objectively measured PA. Results showed that habit-strength and exercise intentions were negatively and positively associated with MVPA respectively. Two-way interactions between peer support and inactivity temptations and between age and social support, suggested that social support was of greater importance in older participants and in the presence of inactivity temptations. Associations between PA self-efficacyand goal adjustment were country specific. Study 3 investigated associations between body fat% and lifestyle behaviours in15,977 children aged 9-11yrs. Multilevel-models revealed body fat% wasnegatively associated with active transport to school, full fat milk and sweetenedbeverage consumption. Later bed time was positively associated with bodyfat%. No change was found in associations over a 10-year period. Study 4 used mixed methods case studies combining participant perceptions ofthe behaviour change process with objective outcome measures to assess thefeasibility of running an intervention in children. Three of the four cases showedimprovements in dietary and PA behaviour and reductions in BMI z-score,HOMA-IR and HbA1c. Semi-structured interviews indicated that behaviouralchanges occurred despite not always being detected by objective measures,possibly due to compensation effects or seasonal changes. Furthermore, goalsetting was considered useful but planning goals waned throughout the study. Compliance with self-monitoring techniques was low and largely reliant onparents.
The present study examined the consequences of eliminating horizontal cells from the outer retina during embryogenesis upon the organization and assembly of the outer plexiform layer (OPL). Retinal ...horizontal cells exhibit a migration defect in Lim1-conditional knock-out (Lim1-CKO) mice and become mispositioned in the inner retina before birth, redirecting their dendrites into the inner plexiform layer. The resultant (mature) OPL, developing in the absence of horizontal cells, shows a retraction of rod spherules into the outer nuclear layer and a sprouting of rod bipolar cell dendrites to reach ectopic ribbon-protein puncta. Cone pedicles and the dendrites of type 7 cone bipolar cells retain their characteristic stratification and colocalization within the collapsed OPL, although both are atrophic and the spatial distribution of the pedicles is disrupted. Developmental analysis of Lim1-CKO retina reveals that components of the rod and cone pathways initially co-assemble within their normal strata in the OPL, indicating that horizontal cells are not required for the correct targeting of photoreceptor terminals or bipolar cell dendrites. As the rod spherules begin to retract during the second postnatal week, rod bipolar cells initially show no signs of ectopic growth, sprouting only subsequently and continuing to do so well after the eighth postnatal week. These results demonstrate the critical yet distinctive roles for horizontal cells on the rod and cone pathways and highlight a unique and as-yet-unrecognized maintenance function of an inhibitory interneuron that is not required for the initial targeting and co-stratification of other components in the circuit.
the Handbooks of the Bible and Its Reception (HBR) provide comprehensive introductions to individual topics in biblical reception history. They address a wide range of academic fields and ...interdisciplinary matters, including reception of the Bible in various contexts and historical periods; in diverse geographic areas; in particular cultural, social, and political contexts; and in relation to important biblical themes, topics, and figures.
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