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Social behavior of some species of African mole-rats makes them interesting object of study. Members of multigenerational families were only one pair breeds collectively work on building of their burrow system and obtaining food. Distribution of activity during the day in individual family members may give us a clue of how they manage their work. However, studies monitoring mole-rats in their natural environment are scarce and usually carried out on low number of individuals. Present study deals with outside-nest activity of 16 free-living Ansell´s mole-rats using data obtained by automatic radio-telemetry - method which was used in radio-tracking of mole-rats for the first time. It reveals differences in activity pattern of individual mole-rats and examines how they relate to body mass, sex, reproductive status and affiliation to a family and test whether individuals of the same family tend to be synchronized in their outside nest activity.

Le principal apport de cette thèse est de contribuer à la compréhension d’une dimension de la professionnalisation du dirigeant de santé, l’activité. Une bonne partie de la formation des dirigeants peut reposer sur une analyse, par eux-mêmes, de leurs propres activités en situation.Cette recherche est un apport de la Formation des Adultes pour les Sciences de Gestion : comprendre l’activité de qualification, activité faite par les dirigeants dans leur quotidien de travail.Les activités de qualification des dirigeants sont des activités discursives et sociales. À travers l’activité de qualification l’environnement professionnel se trouve modifié ou reconstitué. Pour atteindre les objectifs de l’organisation, le dirigeant cherche à influencer autrui, ses collaborateurs, au travers des «jugements de valeur » qu’il formule. L’activité de qualification du dirigeant de santé est comprise à partir d’une entrée complémentaire de celle de la Théorie Managériale. Elle est comprise du point de vue microsocial, spécifiquement de la Théorie de l’Activité et de la Théorie Cognitive de l’Apprentissage. Elle s’appuie méthodologiquement sur la courante théorique de la pragmatique discursive, dans une démarche de la pragmatique du discours, c’est-à-dire, sur des observations détaillées du terrain de ce que les dirigeants disons en interaction avec leurs collaborateurs, dans un contexte, taille et type d'organisations déterminés : l’hôpital de la ville de Curicó ou Chili.Nous avons conclu que les activités de qualification sont des requalifications pour les autres. C’est une façon de prendre le pouvoir sur l'environnement du travail et une appropriation dudit environnement pour la proposer aux autres, en permettant au dirigeant de construire « d’apprentissage interprétatif ».Les activités de qualification sont comprises comme des «propositions explicites» faite par le dirigeant, qui a l’intension d’influencer et d’agir sur la construction du sens d’autrui, avec trois fonctions dominant, en rapport avec : la réduction de l’incertitude, la préservation de l’image de l’organisation et de soi et l’enjeu de pouvoir. / The main contribution of this thesis is to enrich the understanding of an aspect in the professionalization of health managers, the activity. Much of the leadership training can be based on an analysis, made by themselves, about their own working situations. This research is a contribution from Adult Education to Management Science: understanding the qualifying activities undertaken by leaders in their daily work. Qualification activities undertaken by leaders are social and discursive activities. Through the qualifying activity, the working context is modified or reconstructed. To achieve the objectives of the organization, the leader seeks to influence others, the employees, through the "value judgments" that he expresses.The qualifying activity of health managers is understood from an additional matter from that of managerial theories. It ranges from the micro perspective, specifically according to the Activity Theory and Cognitive Learning Theory of Learning. It draws methodologically on the discursive pragmatic theory trend in an ethnomethodological approach. That is to say, on detailed observations of the context including what the leaders say in interaction with their colleagues in a specific context, as well as the size and the type of organizations identified: the hospital in the city of Curicó or Chile. We concluded that the qualifying activities are re-qualifications for others. It is a way to take power on the working environment and the ownership of that environment to propose it to others, allowing the manager to build an "interpretive learning."Qualifying activities are understood as "explicit proposals" made by the manager, who intends to influence and to act on the construction of meaning of others, with three dominant functions in relation to: the reduction of uncertainty, the preservation of the image of the organization and of the actors and the issue of power.

Caring for patients in an acute medical ward occurs in a complex and dynamic environment. Prioritisation of goals and activities represents one element of effective planning and delivery of care. The importance of priority setting has been highlighted in the nursing literature for over twenty-five years; however, there would appear to be no systematic study of this key skill. This thesis explores priority setting within a novice/expert framework, using a mixed methods approach. In addition to using simulation it investigates real-time priority setting within actual clinical practice. Study one used simulation in four groups with a range of nursing experience. This included one group of non-nurses for comparison. Participants were asked to prioritise twelve care activities presented in a simulated case-load. Analysis demonstrated that the simulation evoked priority setting behaviour, and differences in priority setting were seen. Study two combined the simulated case-load with think-aloud method. Semistructured interview completed the data collection. Findings were consistent with Benner’s ovice/expert framework, suggesting that prioritisation is determined by two main characteristics, the views, values and perceptions of the nurse, and key skills, knowledge and experience. Study three used think-aloud method to examine priority setting in clinical practice, comparing junior student nurses with senior staff nurses. This was supplemented by observation and semi-structured interview. Findings from this study identified differences in cognitive processes, and priority setting strategies. Developing critical thinking skills, expert role modelling, and the use of an active apprenticeship model may facilitate skill acquisition. This thesis highlights the complexity of priority setting in caring for patients in an acute medical ward. It explores the development of this skill in learner nurses, and demonstrated a range of methods for studying decision-making in both simulated and clinical settings.

Previous research has demonstrated a retrieval-induced forgetting effect for verbal material (Anderson & Spellman, 1995), colours and shapes (Ciranni & Shimamura,1999), eyewitness testimony (MacLeod, 2002), and images of novel actions (Koutstaal et al., 1999). However, little research has been conducted into retrieval-induced forgetting and self-performed actions. A recent study by Sharman (2011) demonstrated retrieval-induced forgetting for familiar and bizarre self-performed actions. The current thesis aims to examine retrieval-induced forgetting and actions including self-performed and observed actions, and combinations of self-performed and observed actions. The first experiment demonstrated retrieval-induced forgetting for novel motor sequences. In addition, retrieval-induced forgetting was also found for less novel actions (Experiments 3 and 4) for both typical and non-typical self-performed actions (Experiment 3) and memorable self-performed actions (Experiment 4). Experiment 2 demonstrated a retrieval-induced forgetting effect for objects associated with actions suggesting that retrieval-induced forgetting effects occur both for the action and the object. However the findings of experiment 5 suggest that retrieval-induced forgetting may not occur for goal-orientated actions. These experiments may suggest that retrieval-induced forgetting occurs for non goal-orientated actions, but may not occur for goal-orientated actions. These findings are discussed in terms of the inhibitory account.

Ageing is associated with a decline in health. Physical activity is known to attenuate this decline; however a large amount of the general population does not participate in the recommended amount of physical activity. Time is reported in middle-aged and elderly populations as a major barrier to exercise participation. Therefore time-efficient and effective exercise paradigms are required to encourage engagement in physical activity, improve health and reduce the risk of disease. The aim of this thesis was to investigate the potential of using high intensity training (HIT) as an exercise paradigm to promote optimal ageing. Seventy seven participants (age range 35-75 years) were recruited to take part in HIT protocols consisting of 10 x 6 second sprints interspersed with a minimum of 1 minute recovery. Prior to taking part in the training participants underwent a series of baseline measures which included physical function tests, predicted aerobic capacity, oral glucose tolerance test, fasting lipid profile, body composition and blood pressure. After 6-10 week of training, participants were retested to determine the effectiveness of HIT. Following 6, 8 or 10 weeks of HIT, physical function was significantly improved by 9-29% in both middle aged and elderly populations. Aerobic capacity was increased by 10.5% in middle aged participants and by 5.1-8.7% in elderly participants. Blood glucose clearance, as assessed by area under the curve, was decreased by 6% in the middle aged participants and 4.2-17% in the elderly population. Systolic blood pressure was unchanged in the middle aged participants but was reduced by 5.4-8% in the elderly participants. Following 10 weeks of HIT, circulating lipid profile was significantly improved in the elderly by 11-25.9%. These improvements are speculated to be a result of HIT-induced adaptations in skeletal muscle mitochondrial, cardiac, vascular and metabolic function. Very short duration sprints provide rapid improvements in various aspects of health and could be utilised to promote optimal ageing.

Master of Public Health / Kinesiology / David A. Dzewaltowski / Background: This study examined youth moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) levels during flag football practice and compared youth MVPA in practices led by trained or untrained, and by experienced or inexperienced coaches. Methods: Boys (n = 111, mean age= 7.9 ± 1.2 years) from 14 recreation flag football teams wore an accelerometer during two practices. Each team's volunteer head coach reported prior training and coaching experience. Results: Mixed-model team-adjusted means showed the proportion of practice time spent in sedentary (13 ± 1%), MVPA (34 ± 2%), and vigorous (12 ± 1%) activity. Practice contributed ~20 minutes of MVPA towards public health guidelines. There was no significant difference in percentage time spent in MVPA between teams with trained (mean = 33.3%, 95% CI = 29.4%, 37.2%) and untrained coaches (mean= 35.9%, 95% CI = 25.5%, 42.4%) or between experienced (mean = 34.1%, 95% CI= 30.2%, 38.0%) and inexperienced coaches (mean = 33.8, 95% CI = 27.9%, 39.7%). Conclusion: Although sport provides a setting for youth to be physically active at a moderate to vigorous level, two-thirds of practice was spent sedentary or in light activity. Having participated in a coach training program was not associated with higher MVPA. Further research is needed to inform volunteer coach training programs that provide coaches with skills necessary to increase the percentage of practice time spent in MVPA.

Master of Public Health / Department of Kinesiology / Emily Mailey / INTRODUCTION: Research has focused on the relationship between socioeconomic status and physical activity, yet there are limited examinations which directly address social groups dealing with major issues associated with insufficient income. Studies have neglected the role of psychosocial stressors, such as financial stress, food insecurity, availability of government assistance programs, as well as psychological distress relative to the relationship between physical activity and low-income status. The purposes of this study were threefold: 1) to describe the multidimensional characteristics of life among low-income populations; 2) to examine how psychosocial stressors and health conditions vary across subsets of low-income groups; and 3) to examine the relationship among income, psychological distress and physical activity within low-income populations. METHODS: Data from the 2015 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) were analyzed for the purposes of this investigation. Descriptive statistics were calculated for the low-income status individuals who provide complete data for all variables of interest to this study. A series of chi-square analyses were conducted to determine whether key psychosocial stressors, health behaviors, and health conditions differed by low-income (FIPR) groups. Two stepwise logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine these factors and their relationships with moderate-intensity (MPA) and vigorous (VPA)-intensity physical activity. RESULTS: Overall, women made up 58.5% of the sample size. Blacks/African Americans accounted for 20.6% of the sample, yet 28.0% of FIPR Group 1 identified as Black/African American. FIPR Group 1 was disproportionately unemployed, with 63.5% unemployed compared to 46.9% for the sample. One-quarter (25.9%) of the entire sample reported severe psychological distress, yet 33.9% of FIPR Group 1 and 30.8% of FIPR Group 2 reported severe distress. Nearly three-quarters (70%) of the sample was overweight or obese and 44.2% lived with at least one chronic disease at the time the survey was taken. Overall, 67.9% of the sample reported zero minutes of VPA and 51.3% reported zero minutes of MPA. Both psychological distress and income showed significant relationships with VPA. Psychological distress remained significantly associated with VPA after controlling for all covariates; however, income was no longer related to VPA after demographic and health-related variables were added to the model. Income was not related to MPA. Psychological distress demonstrated a weak relationship with MPA before the other covariates were added to the model, at which point the relationship became non-significant. Only the relationship between psychological distress and VPA was significant in the final models. Although some of the psychosocial stressor, demographic, and health-related variables contributed to the relationships between income, physical activity, and psychological distress, these variables explained only a small portion of the variance in both MPA and VPA. CONCLUSION: Low-income individuals are faced with difficult decisions and are limited in the choices they can make to improve health. It is important to understand the multidimensional characteristics of life under limited income to better serve and improve the health of low-income populations. Further study of the relationships among income, physical activity and psychological distress is needed to further this understanding.

abstract: With many students of all ages attending after school programs (APSs) where there are a variety of program specific goals, this study examined the physical activity (PA) patterns of youth and teens attending afterschool programs as well as their physical activity during the school week. The first phase of the study used a validated observational instrument System for Observing Play and Leisure in Youth (SOPLAY) to record PA data and contextual aspects. Data was analyzed using cross-tabulations, chi-square test, and a table created to understand moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) levels and contextual variables of the ASP. Findings suggest both girls and boys engaged in MVPA in environments built for play, while the mean percentage of girls engaged in MVPA was less than boys regardless of activity area. The second phase of the study used a survey comprised of two self-administered instruments. The first section used the Middle School Health Behavior Survey (MSHBS), which has been previously validated to record youth and teens PA behaviors during the past school week inside and outside of school. The second portion of the survey asked youth and teens about PA participation, leisure time, perceptions of the after school program, and choices within the after school program using the validated Kaiser Physical Activity Survey (KPAS). Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics to calculate and summarize data within and across both groups. Results showed more than half of youth and teens surveyed were active in some form during the past week regardless of being in school or outside of school, approximately less than a third are in front of a television or computer for less than an hour, and the favorite part of the ASP to youth and teens was the Gym and Friends respectively. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Physical Education 2015