Social Representativeness and Intervention Adherence—A Systematic Review of Clinical Physical Activity Trials in Breast Cancer Patients

Objectives: Representativeness in physical activity randomised controlled trials (RCT) in breast cancer patients is essential to analyses of feasibility and validity considering privileged- social groups. A step-by-step exclusion of less privileged groups through the trial process could reinforce health inequality. This study aimed at examining representativeness in breast cancer (BC) physical activity trials, investigate associations between socio-economic status (SES) and intervention adherence, and explore associations between representativeness and the relationship between SES and intervention adherence. Methods: Systematic, computerised searches were performed in PubMed, CINAHL, AMED, EMBASE and PsycINFO. Additional citation-based searches retrieved 37 articles. Distributions of education level, ethnicity, and marital status in study samples were compared to national populations data to estimate representativeness in less privileged groups. Results: A preponderance of studies favoured educated, married and white patients. Only six studies reported SES-adherence associations, hampering conclusions on this relationship and possible associations between representativeness and an SES-adherence relationship. Conclusion: Less educated, unmarried and non-white individuals may be underrepresented in BC physical activity RCTs, while SES-adherence associations in such trials are inconclusive. Unintentional social misrepresentations may indicate that disguised inequity warrants revived attention.publishedVersio

The Prevalence of Left-Handedness Is Higher Among Individuals With Developmental Coordination Disorder Than in the General Population

Many medical, psychiatric and neurological conditions have been characterized by a high prevalence of left-handedness or mixed-handedness. Several studies have indicated an elevated frequency of left-handedness in children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD). However, there have been few studies explicitly exploring this relationship. The assumption is that the prevalence of left-handedness in individuals with DCD is higher compared with the prevalence in the general population and resembles the prevalence described in children with other developmental disorders. Computerized searches were conducted in PubMed, PsycInfo and CINAHL databases. Thirty-eight studies were identified and included in the present review, containing handedness distributions across 1071 persons with DCD and 1,045 controls. The distribution of DCD participants across handedness-categories was proved to be significantly different from that of the control group, with 14.7 and 8.1% left-handers, respectively. The prevalence of left-handedness within the DCD-group is lower than that reported for ASD, and larger than in dyslexia. The elevated levels of left-handedness within the different developmental disorders supports the notion of an association between the different diagnoses. However, the present results are not sufficient to conclude anything about a common cause or underlying factor via the male hormone testosterone. The present results could act as a starting point for testing the hypothesis of such a common factor, as one of the requirements is an elevated prevalence of left-handedness, and without such considerable doubt would be cast upon the hypothesis

THE REASONS AND CONDITIONS OF SYMBOLIC POLITICS IN ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY. A case study of the reasons and conditions for use of symbolic politics in the decision of Low Emission Zones for cars in Stockholm

This thesis aims to examine the reasons and conditions for symbolic politics in the decision to implement Low emission zones (LEZ) for cars in Stockholm. A LEZ restricts the ability to move with certain vehicles in an area to improve air quality, decrease congestion and sending a signal for upgrading the car/vehicle fleet (Connelly et.al. 2012). Symbolic politics can appear when decisions become politically important because they symbolize something important, not necessarily because they have the aimed or substantive effect (Santesson-Wilson, 2003; Newig, 2007). The decision to introduce a LEZ for cars on Hornsgatan, Stockholm, can be considered as symbolic politics. The issue is politically important and symbolizes the importance of better air quality without having a substantive effect since the zone only covers one street. It is a suitable case for examining the reasons and conditions for symbolic politics in environmental policy. This is a qualitative single case study and the empirical data collection consists of interviews with decision-makers and experts. Five reasons and four conditions for the use and adoption of symbolic environmental politics are the basis of the theoretical framework. These reasons and conditions were developed to hypotheses, which are tested in relation to the collected data. The hypotheses were all confirmed as present to some extent. The most important reasons were uncertainty, cost reduction and integration and social orientation by symbols. The most critical conditions were political pressure to respond, lack of clear solutions or greater short-run costs than benefits and societal conflict

Associations between Self-Esteem, Psychological Stress, and the Risk of Exercise Dependence

Body concerns and stress-related disorders are increasing in the younger population in a wide range of nations. Studies find links between both self-worth, exercise dependence, and self-esteem in relation to stress, but few have considered all three variables in relation to one another. The present study explored whether the co-appearance of high levels of psychological distress, and low levels of self-esteem may be a vulnerability factor for developing exercise dependence by studying the links between self-esteem, psychological stress, and exercise dependence. A standardized cross-sectional questionnaire was completed by 203 regular exercisers attending two gyms (mean age: 35.9 years). The variables self-esteem, psychological distress, and exercise dependence were all significantly correlated with each other, even after weekly exercise amount, age, and gender had been accounted for. Those who exercised for more than 9 h per week had a significantly higher score on stress and exercise dependence symptoms, and a lower score on self-esteem compared with the remaining groups. One could hypothesize that low self-esteem is a vulnerability factor and high psychological stress a maintenance factor for an exercise-dependent person. It is argued that more focus should be directed toward the negative consequences of excessive exercise.</jats:p

Associations between Self-Esteem, Psychological Stress, and the Risk of Exercise Dependence

Body concerns and stress-related disorders are increasing in the younger population in a wide range of nations. Studies find links between both self-worth, exercise dependence, and self-esteem in relation to stress, but few have considered all three variables in relation to one another. The present study explored whether the co-appearance of high levels of psychological distress, and low levels of self-esteem may be a vulnerability factor for developing exercise dependence by studying the links between self-esteem, psychological stress, and exercise dependence. A standardized cross-sectional questionnaire was completed by 203 regular exercisers attending two gyms (mean age: 35.9 years). The variables self-esteem, psychological distress, and exercise dependence were all significantly correlated with each other, even after weekly exercise amount, age, and gender had been accounted for. Those who exercised for more than 9 h per week had a significantly higher score on stress and exercise dependence symptoms, and a lower score on self-esteem compared with the remaining groups. One could hypothesize that low self-esteem is a vulnerability factor and high psychological stress a maintenance factor for an exercise-dependent person. It is argued that more focus should be directed toward the negative consequences of excessive exercise

Effect of nanofluid concentration and composition on laminar jet impinged cooling of heated steel plate

In this paper, an experimental investigation of heated steel surface cooled by laminar nanofluid jets and its comparison with water jets are presented. The effects of concentration and jet velocity of TiO2 based nanofluid on cooling rate are evaluated experimentally. Further, the cooling rates of TiO2, Al2O3. and SiO2 nanofluids with same concentration and velocity are compared. The total heat flux is deduced from the experimentally obtained cooling curves by using a one-dimensional finite volume method based transient inverse heat transfer model. It is found that heat transfer is enhanced using nanofluid jets when compared to water. Increase in concentration of TiO2 nanoparticle in nanofluid leads to an increase in CHF. Further, it is also observed that the shift from film boiling to transition boiling is faster for nanofluid jet cooled surface. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved