Using GPS and Accelerometers to Identify Preferred Locations for Physical Activity Participation and Commuter Mode Choice

As cities seek to foster more livable and active communities, much attention is being placed on promoting physical activity through active transport and wellness activities. As such, it is important that city planners and engineers be able to tailor these livable improvements to the interests and needs of their specific residents. More importantly, it is important to understand where individuals are most likely to participate in physical activities as well as their level of interest in pursuing these activities. This thesis develops a unique GPS and accelerometer-based methodology for collecting and analyzing (through a series of regression models) university students’ levels of interest in physical activities that take place at/near home, at a destination or during transportation. It also utilizes a discrete choice model to determine the factors influencing students’ commute mode choices. As a result, it was possible to determine where students were most physically active through observed activity data. Both built environment and health/lifestyle variables significantly influenced physical activity as well as mode choice. These methods and the models estimated in this paper can be applied on a larger scale to communities to forecast locations of physical activity participation for use in guiding the development of livable communities

Real-time ultrasound (RTU) imaging methods for quality control of meats

In this chapter the use of real-time ultrasonography to predict in vivo carcass composition and meat traits will be reviewed. The chapter begins by discussing background and principles of ultrasound. Then aspects affecting the suitability of realtime ultrasonography and image analysis for predicting carcass composition and meat traits of meat producing species and fish will be presented. This chapter also provides an overview of the present and future trends in the application of real-time ultrasonography in the meat industry. © 2012 Woodhead Publishing Limited All rights reserved.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio