Since its introduction in 2006, SOPARC (Systematic Observation of Play and Recreation in Communities) has become a fundamental tool to quantify park visitor behaviors and characteristics. We tested ...SOPARC reliability when assessing race/ethnicity, physical activity, contextual conditions at the time of observation, and settings of target areas to understand its utility when trying to account for individual characteristics of users.
We used 4725 SOPARC observations completed simultaneously by two independent observers to evaluate intraclass correlation and agreement rate between the two observers when trying to assess sex, age group, race/ethnicity, and level of physical activity of urban park users in different park settings. Observations were in 20 New York City parks during Spring and Summer 2017 within the PARC
project.
Observers counted 25,765 park users with high interobserver reliability (ICC = .94; %Agreement.75). Reliability scores were negatively affected by the population being observed, the intensity of physical activity, and the contextual conditions and settings of the target area at the time of observation. Specific challenges emerged when assessing the combination of physical activity and race/ethnicity.
SOPARC training should aim to improve reliability when assessing concurrent measures such as physical activity, race/ethnicity, age, and sex. Similarly, observing crowded park areas with many active users areas may require more observation practice hours.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Few studies assess built environment correlates of active commuting in low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs), but the different context could yield distinct findings. Policies and investments to ...promote active commuting remain under-developed in LMICs like India, which grapples with traffic congestion, lack of activity-supportive infrastructure, poor enforcement of traffic rules and regulations, air pollution, and overcrowding. This cross-sectional study investigated associations between home neighborhood environment characteristics and active commuting in Chennai, India. Adults (N = 370, 47.2% female, mean age =37.9 years) were recruited from 155 wards in the metropolitan area of Chennai in southern India between January and June 2015. Participants self-reported their usual mode of commute to work, with responses recoded into three categories: (1) multi-modal or active commuting (walking and bicycling; n = 56); (2) public transit (n = 52); and (3) private transport (n = 111). Environmental attributes around participants' homes were assessed using the Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale for India (NEWS-India). Associations between environmental characteristics and likelihood of active commuting and public transit use were modeled using logistic regression with private transport (driving alone or carpool) as the reference category, adjusting for age, gender, and household car ownership. Consistent with other international studies, participants living in neighborhoods with a mix of land uses and a transit stop within a 10-minute walk from home were more likely to use active commuting (both
< 0.01). Land-use mix was significantly associated with the use of public transit compared to private transport (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) =5.2,
= 0.002). Contrary to findings in high-income countries, the odds of active commuting were reduced with improved safety from crime (aOR =0.2,
= 0.003), aesthetics (aOR =0.2,
= 0.05), and street connectivity (aOR =0.2,
= 0.003). Different environmental attributes were associated with active commuting, suggesting that these relationships are complex and may distinctly differ from those in high-income countries. Unexpected inverse associations of perceived safety from crime and aesthetics with active commuting emphasize the need for high-quality epidemiologic studies with greater context specificity in the study of physical activity in LMICs. Findings have public health implications for India and suggest that caution should be taken when translating evidence across countries.
BackgroundTo investigate associations between active transport, employment status and objectively measured moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in a representative sample of US ...adults.MethodsCross-sectional analyses of data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. A total of 5180 adults (50.2 years old, 49.0% men) were classified by levels of active transportation and employment status. Outcome measure was weekly time spent in MVPA as recorded by the Actigraph accelerometer. Associations between active transport, employment status and objectively measured MVPA were examined using multivariable linear regression models adjusted for age, body mass index, race and ethnicity, education level, marital status, smoking status, working hour duration (among the employed only) and self-reported leisure time physical activity.ResultsPatterns of active transport were similar between the employed (n=2897) and unemployed (n=2283), such that 76.0% employed and 77.5% unemployed engaged in no active transport. For employed adults, those engaging in high levels of active transport (≥90 min/week) had higher amount of MVPA than those who did not engage in active transport. This translated to 40.8 (95% CI 15.7 to 65.9) additional minutes MVPA per week in men and 57.9 (95% CI 32.1 to 83.7) additional minutes MVPA per week in women. Among the unemployed adults, higher levels of active transport were associated with more MVPA among men (44.8 min/week MVPA, 95% CI 9.2 to 80.5) only.ConclusionsFindings from the present study support interventions to promote active transport to increase population level physical activity. Additional strategies are likely required to promote physical activity among unemployed women.
Rest-activity patterns provide an indication of circadian rhythmicity in the free-living setting. We aimed to describe the distributions of rest-activity patterns in a sample of adults and children ...across demographic variables. A sample of adults (N = 590) and children (N = 58) wore an actigraph on their nondominant wrist for 7 days and nights. We generated rest-activity patterns from cosinor analysis (MESOR, acrophase and magnitude) and nonparametric circadian rhythm analysis (IS: interdaily stability; IV: intradaily variability; L5: least active 5-hour period; M10: most active 10-hour period; and RA: relative amplitude). Demographic variables included age, sex, race, education, marital status, and income. Linear mixed-effects models were used to test for demographic differences in rest-activity patterns. Adolescents, compared to younger children, had (1) later M10 midpoints (β = 1.12 hours 95% CI: 0.43, 1.18 and lower M10 activity levels; (2) later L5 midpoints (β = 1.6 hours 95% CI: 0.9, 2.3) and lower L5 activity levels; (3) less regular rest-activity patterns (lower IS and higher IV); and 4) lower magnitudes (β = -0.95 95% CI: -1.28, -0.63) and relative amplitudes (β = -0.1 95% CI: -0.14, -0.06). Mid-to-older adults, compared to younger adults (aged 18-29 years), had (1) earlier M10 midpoints (β = -1.0 hours 95% CI: -1.6, -0.4; (2) earlier L5 midpoints (β = -0.7 hours 95% CI: -1.2, -0.2); and (3) more regular rest-activity patterns (higher IS and lower IV). The magnitudes and relative amplitudes were similar across the adult age categories. Sex, race and education level rest-activity differences were also observed. Rest-activity patterns vary across the lifespan, and differ by race, sex and education. Understanding population variation in these patterns provides a foundation for further elucidating the health implications of rest-activity patterns across the lifespan.
Accurate information on the number and distribution of pedestrians in space and time helps urban planners maintain current city infrastructure and design better public spaces for local residents and ...visitors. Previous studies have demonstrated that using webcams together with crowdsourcing platforms to locate pedestrians in the captured images is a promising technique for analyzing pedestrian activity. However, it is challenging to efficiently transform the time series of pedestrian locations in the images to information suitable for geospatial analytics, as well as visualize data in a meaningful way to inform urban design or decision making. In this study, we propose to use a space-time cube (STC) representation of pedestrian data to analyze the spatio-temporal patterns of pedestrians in public spaces. We take advantage of AMOS (The Archive of Many Outdoor Scenes), a large database of images captured by thousands of publicly available, outdoor webcams. We developed a method to obtain georeferenced spatio-temporal data from webcams and to transform them into high-resolution continuous representation of pedestrian densities by combining bivariate kernel density estimation with trivariate, spatio-temporal spline interpolation. We demonstrate our method on two case studies analyzing pedestrian activity of two city plazas. The first case study explores daily and weekly spatio-temporal patterns of pedestrian activity while the second one highlights the differences in pattern before and after plaza’s redevelopment. While STC has already been used to visualize urban dynamics, this is the first study analyzing the evolution of pedestrian density based on crowdsourced time series of pedestrian occurrences captured by webcam images.
Abstract
Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is prone to mutation in aging and over evolutionary time, yet the processes that regulate the accumulation of de novo mtDNA mutations and modulate mtDNA ...heteroplasmy are not fully elucidated. Mitochondria lack certain DNA repair processes, which could contribute to polymerase error-induced mutations and increase susceptibility to chemical-induced mtDNA mutagenesis. We conducted error-corrected, ultra-sensitive Duplex Sequencing to investigate the effects of two known nuclear genome mutagens, cadmium and Aflatoxin B1, on germline mtDNA mutagenesis in Caenorhabditis elegans. Detection of thousands of mtDNA mutations revealed pervasive heteroplasmy in C. elegans and that mtDNA mutagenesis is dominated by C:G → A:T mutations generally attributed to oxidative damage. However, there was no effect of either exposure on mtDNA mutation frequency, spectrum, or trinucleotide context signature despite a significant increase in nuclear mutation rate after aflatoxin B1 exposure. Mitophagy-deficient mutants pink-1 and dct-1 accumulated significantly higher levels of mtDNA damage compared to wild-type C. elegans after exposures. However, there were only small differences in mtDNA mutation frequency, spectrum, or trinucleotide context signature compared to wild-type after 3050 generations, across all treatments. These findings suggest mitochondria harbor additional previously uncharacterized mechanisms that regulate mtDNA mutational processes across generations.
Accumulation of somatic mutations in the mitochondrial genome (mtDNA) has long been proposed as a possible mechanism of mitochondrial and tissue dysfunction that occurs during aging. A thorough ...characterization of age-associated mtDNA somatic mutations has been hampered by the limited ability to detect low-frequency mutations. Here, we used Duplex Sequencing on eight tissues of an aged mouse cohort to detect >89,000 independent somatic mtDNA mutations and show significant tissue-specific increases during aging across all tissues examined which did not correlate with mitochondrial content and tissue function. G→A/C→T substitutions, indicative of replication errors and/or cytidine deamination, were the predominant mutation type across all tissues and increased with age, whereas G→T/C→A substitutions, indicative of oxidative damage, were the second most common mutation type, but did not increase with age regardless of tissue. We also show that clonal expansions of mtDNA mutations with age is tissue- and mutation type-dependent. Unexpectedly, mutations associated with oxidative damage rarely formed clones in any tissue and were significantly reduced in the hearts and kidneys of aged mice treated at late age with elamipretide or nicotinamide mononucleotide. Thus, the lack of accumulation of oxidative damage-linked mutations with age suggests a life-long dynamic clearance of either the oxidative lesions or mtDNA genomes harboring oxidative damage.
Abstract
Neighborhood environments can support fitness-promoting behavior, yet little is known about their influence on youth physical fitness outcomes over time. We examined longitudinal ...associations between neighborhood opportunity and youth physical fitness among New York City (NYC) public school youth. The Child Opportunity Index (COI), a composite index of 29 indicators measuring neighborhood opportunity at the census-tract level, along with scores on 4 selected COI indicators were linked to NYC FITNESSGRAM youth data at baseline. Fitness outcomes (measured annually, 2011–2018) included body mass index, curl-ups, push-ups, and Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run (PACER) laps. Unstratified and age-stratified, adjusted, 3-level generalized linear mixed models, nested by census tract and time, estimated the association between COI and fitness outcomes. The analytical sample (n = 204,939) lived in very low (41%) or low (30%) opportunity neighborhoods. Unstratified models indicated that overall COI is modestly associated with improved youth physical fitness outcomes. The strongest opportunity-fitness associations were observed for PACER. Stratified models show differences in associations across younger vs. older youth. We find that neighborhood factors are associated with youth fitness outcomes over time, with the strength of the associations dependent on age. Future implications include better informed place-based interventions tailored to specific life stages to promote youth health.
Data on built environment (BE) and physical activity (PA) in low- and middle- income countries is sparse. This study compared BE features, PA levels, and weight status among adults living in ...neighborhoods stratified by walkability and socio-economic status (SES) in the city of Chennai, India.
This cross sectional study design surveyed 370 adults (≥18 years) from four neighborhoods with differing walkability and socio-economic status. Participants were asked to complete a survey on their neighborhood environment, leisure and travel PA, height, weight, and demographic characteristics. One-way analysis of variance tests were used to examine differences across neighborhoods.
Residents of high-walkability/high-SES neighborhoods reported higher land use mix diversity, land use mix access, street connectivity, aesthetics, and safety from crime. Residential density and walking/bicycling infrastructure were highest in the high-walkability/low-SES neighborhood. Transport PA was the maximum contributor to total PA in low-SES neighborhoods, while residents of high-SES neighborhoods reported greater levels of leisure-time PA. Sitting time and BMI were greater among high-SES participants. Patterns of PA, sedentary time, and weight status varied significantly by neighborhood walkability and SES.
An understanding of BE correlates of domain-specific PA can support the development of contextually tailored interventions to promote physical activity and reverse the determinants of inactivity occurring through patterns of urbanization and sedentary behaviors in India.
•First to document differences in built environment and physical activity in India.•Transport–related physical activity was more predominant among low-SES populations.•High-SES populations reported greater leisure-time physical activity.•High-SES populations reported longer sitting time and higher BMI.
: Socioeconomic characteristics of locations where physical activity equipment is installed may affect the activity level of users. The purpose of this study was to verify patterns of use and ...physical activity levels in fitness zones installed in low- and high-income neighborhoods in the city of Curitiba, Brazil.
: Over 1200 observations were conducted in 20 fitness zones in the city of Curitiba, Brazil. Data were collected during the months of November and December 2012, in 4 periods of the day (8 AM, 11 AM, 2 PM, and 5 PM), on 2 weekdays and 2 weekend days.
: A total of 2232 people were observed in the fitness zones. Age group, level of physical activity in the area, use of fitness zones during weekend days, and occupation of spaces were significantly associated with neighborhood income. Moreover, users of fitness zones located in high-income neighborhoods showed higher odds ratio (OR = 1.74; 95% confidence interval, 1.46-2.07) of moderate to vigorous physical activity than light or sedentary activities, regardless of gender or day of the week.
: The sole presence of equipment does not seem to favor the use of fitness zones in low-income neighborhoods. Future studies should investigate intrinsic factors for the use of fitness zones for physical activity.
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