Background: Many studies have reported that adherence to health promotion guidelines for diet, physical activity, and maintenance of healthy body weight may decrease cancer incidence and mortality, including site-specific cancers such as colorectal cancer. To date, there have been no studies investigating adherence to the American Cancer Society's (ACS) Nutrition and Physical Activity Cancer Prevention Guidelines and the development and characteristics of premalignant lesions. Several individual lifestyle factors targeted by the ACS guidelines have also been associated with circulating concentrations of vitamin D metabolites. These associations suggest that adherence to the ACS guidelines may be related to improved vitamin D status. This dissertation sought to 1) synthesize the evidence from published prospective cohort studies regarding adherence to the ACS and World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research (WCRF/AICR) nutrition and physical activity cancer prevention guidelines and the risk of overall cancer incidence and/or cancer mortality and 2) to further explore the role of adhering to a healthy lifestyle pattern as outlined by the ACS guidelines on a) colorectal adenoma occurrence and b) circulating concentrations of vitamin D metabolites using secondary data analyses from completed large prevention trials. Methods: A systematic review was performed to examine associations between adherence to established cancer prevention guidelines for diet and physical activity and overall cancer incidence and mortality. PubMed, Google Scholar, and Cochrane Reviews databases were searched following the current recommendations of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis Approach (PRISMA). Cross-sectional and prospective analyses of pooled participants were also conducted from the Wheat Bran Fiber (n=503) and Ursodeoxycholic Acid (n=854) trials. A cumulative adherence score was constructed using baseline data regarding body size, diet, physical activity, and alcohol consumption. Continuous vitamin D metabolite concentrations and clinically significant vitamin D categories were evaluated with adherence score category using multiple linear and logistic regression models, respectively. Baseline adenoma characteristics and new colorectal adenomas were evaluated by adherence score category using multivariate logistic regression models. Results: Twelve studies met inclusion criteria for the systematic review. High versus low adherence to established nutrition and physical activity cancer prevention guidelines was consistently and significantly associated with decreases of 10-61% in overall cancer incidence and mortality. Consistent significant reductions were also shown for breast cancer incidence (19-60%), endometrial cancer incidence (23-60%), and colorectal cancer incidence in both men and women (27-52%). Findings for lung cancer incidence were equivocal and no significant relationships were found between adherence and ovarian or prostate cancer. In the pooled analyses, concentrations of circulating 25-hydroxycholecalciferol [25(OH)D] were statistically significantly higher among participants with high versus low adherence to guidelines (31.4 ± 0.8 and 26.3 ± 0.8 ng/ml, respectively; p<0.001). For 1,25(OH)₂D concentrations, high adherence was again significantly related to greater metabolite levels, with mean concentrations of 36.4 ± 1.1 and 31.2 ± 1.2 pg/mL for high- and low-adherers, respectively (p<0.001). Furthermore, the odds of attaining sufficient 25(OH)D status were 4.30 times higher for those most adherent versus those least adherent (95% CI: 2.43-7.60). Significantly reduced odds of having three or more adenomas at baseline were shown for moderate (odds ratio [OR]=0.67, 95% confidence intervals [CI]: 0.46-0.99) and highly adherent (OR=0.50, 95% CI: 0.31-0.81) participants compared to those with low adherence (p-trend=0.005). Conversely, guideline adherence was not associated with the development of a new colorectal adenoma (moderate adherence OR=1.16, 95% CI: 0.85-1.59, high adherence OR=1.23, 95% CI: 0.85-1.79). Conclusion: From the systematic review, greater adherence to cancer prevention guidelines for diet and physical activity was consistently associated with lower risks of overall cancer incidence and mortality, including for some site-specific cancers. In addition, adherence to the ACS guidelines was associated with higher concentrations of both of 25(OH)D and 1,25(OH)₂D. Following the ACS guidelines could potentially increase 25(OH)D levels as much as that observed by a supplement of 1000 IU/d in a population similar to ours, and therefore may be a viable strategy for increasing both 25(OH)D and 1,25(OH)₂D concentrations. Further, our findings suggest that following the ACS Nutrition and Physical Activity guidelines may lead to a lower odds of multiple adenomas when at least one adenoma is detected. Finally, these guidelines and recommendations are consistent with strategies for the prevention of major diseases, and if followed, will ultimately lead to healthier lives overall.

The study was conducted to monitor pesticide residues in groundwater of two agriculturally intensive regions of Alberta, to determine the occurrence of pesticide residues in soil and groundwater of an experimental plot in southern Alberta, and to investigate the influence of land management factors and soil depth on pesticide residues in soil. A total of 440 groundwater samples were collected in three years (2013-2015) and analyzed for the presence of 142 pesticides using Liquid-liquid Extraction (LLE) in combination with Gas Chromatography- Mass Selective Detector (GC-MSD) and Gas Chromatography - Tandem Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS/MS). Ten herbicides, seven insecticides, and six fungicides were detected. Herbicides 2,4-D, MCPA, and clopyralid were the most frequently detected, and the only pesticides consistently detected every year in both regions. Pesticides were detected more frequently in summer and fall compared to spring. 4.5% of the samples were contaminated with more than one pesticides. No pesticides exceeded the Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality. Similarly, a total of 213 groundwater samples (December 2014-November 2015) and 61 soil samples (in December 2014) in duplicates were analysed from the experimental plots in Lethbridge. Soil samples were collected at various depths (0-75 cm) and analyzed for the presence of 130 pesticides. A linear mixed effect model was fitted to determine the effect of soil depth, cropping systems and manure amendments on pesticide concentration in soil. In groundwater, bentazone, 2,4-D, and MCPA occurred most frequently and pesticide detection frequency varied seasonally with greater detections in July and September compared to other months. 37 different pesticide compounds were detected, and DDT isomers, 2,4-D, difenoconazole, MCPA and trans-heptachlor epoxide accounted for 85% of all detections. p,p’-DDE, 2,4-D, p,p-DDT, difenoconazole and MCPA occurred throughout the soil column and all of these except p,p-DDT were detected in underlying groundwater. Bentazone was found in groundwater throughout the year but not in soil. A greater number and higher concentrations of pesticides were found in soil. However, not all of them leached to groundwater. Soil depth and cropping system were significantly associated with total pesticide and total DDT concentration in the soil. Manure amendments had no affect pesticide concentrations. / May 2017

Background: The majority of Americans - especially women - do not meet physical activity recommendations. Having physical activity goals has been associated with physical activity participation, and physical activity recommendations set by public health experts can be viewed as externally set goals. However, past research has shown that goals that are specific rather than ambiguous are more likely to be achieved, and variations in recommendations over time and across sources may have created perceived goal ambiguity.Objectives: This study aimed to (1) examine the extent of physical activity recommendation knowledge among adults in the United States, (2) quantify perceptions of the ambiguity of these recommendations, (3) determine whether knowledge of physical activity recommendations is associated with physical activity level, and (4) investigate whether perceived ambiguity of recommendations moderates the relationship between recommendation knowledge and activity. An additional objective was to explore demographic differences in any associations detected.Methods: SUDAAN was used to weight data from the 2005 Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) (N=5,586) to represent the U.S. population. Descriptive statistics were calculated, and logistic regression was used to determine crude and adjusted odds ratios.Results: An estimated 31% of Americans had accurate knowledge of recommendations, and 35% reported engaging in physical activity at the recommended level. An estimated 75% perceived the recommendations as ambiguous. The odds of reporting accurate knowledge of recommendations were significantly higher among women than among men (OR 1.53,95% CI 1.22-1.93), but accurate knowledge of recommendations was associated with physical activity at the recommended level only among men (OR 1.67,95% CI 1.06-2.64). Perceived ambiguity did not moderate the association between knowledge and activity level in any analysis.Conclusions: These findings support disseminating updated physical activity recommendations as indicated by the scientific evidence base. Future research should explore: (1) how to boost knowledge of recommendations, particularly in men, (2) factors that would enable women to act on such knowledge, and (3) gender differences in other determinants of physical activity.

Master of Science / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Stephanie Rolley / More than 5% of the 65 and older population utilize nursing homes, congregate care, assisted living, and board-and-care homes, with about 4.2% of these individuals occupying nursing homes at any given time (Administration on Aging, 2008). The rate of nursing home use generally increases with age and studies have shown that by the year 2030, the number of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) adults over the age of 65 is expected to be nearly 3 million (SAGE, 2010). With this overall increase in potential resident populations, those aging adults who identify as LGBT are faced with additional unique challenges commonly not encountered by their heterosexual counterparts. The majority of LGBT elders fear they will experience discrimination in long-term care organizations, with more than half maintaining that staff or even other residents will abuse or neglect them (Knochel, et al., 2010). Unrevised long-term care organizational rules combined with prejudice and hostile treatment from staff members can create unwelcoming environments for LGBT elders who are generally unable to advocate for themselves. Challenges that aging LGBT adults face in long-term care settings will be reviewed and discussed in this report. In addition, this report will provide educational guidelines to assist long-term care organizations in developing an educational model targeted at addressing LGBT elders’ concerns. When staff within a long-term care community lack proper training on and understanding of LGBT concerns, it can negatively affect the quality of care provided to these members. As such, the educational guidelines will encourage an educational model incorporating cultural competency training among the long-term care staff and organizational leadership, and will utilize community development principles to ensure inclusiveness and increase social capital.

Att barn blir utsatta för våld är i dagens samhälle inte ovanligt. Våld är ett komplicerat ämne att prata om med barn då barnen behöver lita på den som frågar, inte känna sig trängda och samtidigt åsidosätta sin lojalitet till en nära person för att våga berätta. Syftet med vår studie har varit att utifrån en triangulering, en kombination av kvalitativ och kvantitativ metod, undersöka hur yrkesverksamma inom barn- och ungdomspsykiatrin arbetar i kontakten med barn för att upptäcka om barnet utsätts för våld i hemmet och att uppmärksamma om eventuellt glapp finns mellan riktlinjer och verklighet. Undersökningen gjordes genom en enkät med 23 svarande som redovisas genom en deskriptiv analys av de kvantitativa frågorna samt en innehållsanalys av de kvalitativa frågorna. Resultatet visar att yrkesverksamma inom barn- och ungdomspsykiatrin idag frågar barn om de har utsatts för någon typ av våld när misstanke uppstår snarare än på rutin. Arbetsplatsens riktlinjer är bekanta för de flesta svarande och de vet hur de ska gå vidare om de får reda på att ett barn utsatts för våld. De yrkesverksammas upplevelser kring att fråga skiljer sig mellan olika typerna av våld och det är svårare att närma sig ämnet sexuellt våld än att prata om fysiskt våld. Trots olika svar på våra frågor kring att fråga om det förekommer våld i hemmet finns det ett genomgående tema: Det handlar om att fråga på ett sådant sätt att ingen känner sig trängd eller kränkt. / That children are exposed to violence is nothing unusual in the society of today. Violence is a complicated topic to talk about with children because the child has to trust the person who asks, not feel repressed and also, to tell someone about what has happened means to override their loyalty to a person close to them. The aim of our study has been, through a triangulation, a combination of qualitative and quantitative method, to investigate how the child and adolescent psychiatry work in the contact with children to discover if there is violence in the family, and whether they have knowledge of the workplace guidelines in the subject. The survey was conducted through a questionnaire with 23 respondents reported by a descriptive analysis of the quantitative material and a content analysis of the qualitative. The result shows that professionals in child and adolescent psychiatry today ask children if they have suffered any kind of violence when the suspicion arises rather than routine. Workplace guidelines are familiar to most respondents, and they know how they should proceed if they find out that a child is exposed to violence. The professionals' experiences on the issue differ between different types of violence and it is difficult to approach the topic of sexual violence than it is to talk about physical violence. Despite the various answers to our questions around the topic to ask if there is violence in the family, there is a consistent theme: It's all about to question in such a way that no one feels cornered or offended.

Topic: Practical aspects of high-carbohydrate dieting in top sport The topic of this thesis is sports nutrition. After a comprehensive summary of current scientific and generally accepted guidelines, the practical part is based on an example of the current state of sports nutrition in one concrete men's basketball team. Subsequently, the practical part combines the knowledge of theory and results of diet analysis of the current nutritional status in the team. The aim of the analytical part of the thesis was to find out the individual and subsequently average data of the monitored file through the registration of weekly eating diaries, both in terms of macro and micronutrients. These data were statistically processed using the program Sportvital-Nutrition (http://www.bonfit.cz/), whose database contains the most comperhensive information about the composition of individual foods and meals, allowing analysis of up to 30 nutritional parameters. The main aim of the application part of the thesis was to design and calculate a sample menu for seven whole days for top athletes based on predetermined and defined criteria based on theoretical background and analysis of collected eating diaries. These criteria were to follow the principles of healthy nutrition, i.e. primarily the variety, regularity and...

Magister Administrationis - MAdmin / The generation of large volumes of solid and liquid wastes in urban and periurban areas of Ghana is a big problem for the people and government of Ghana. It contributes to the outbreak of many diseases in the country such as malaria, diarrhoea and typhoid fever. In managing the situation, a new concept called ecological sanitation (ecosan), which focuses on reuse of waste, has been introduced in the country. The objectives of the thesis were to criticise the environmental sanitation policy by analysing its content in relation to policy implementation arrangements, to discuss programmes and projects identified under the policy, to critically examine the implementation of an ecosan project as a way of achieving the goal and objectives by outlining its implementation processes, prospects and challenges, and to make appropriate recommendations. The analysis and discussion of the thesis were based on both primary and secondary data. The primary data, on one hand, were collected on the prospects and challenges that exist in the implementation of ecosan projects from Kumasi metropolis. The secondary data, on the other hand, were from books, journals and websites. From the research analysis, it emerged that the policy allows the implementation of many sanitation projects including ecosan. Secondly, stakeholders see ecosanto be a good approach to reduce waste generation in the country. However, the main challenges that exist in promoting the concept are inadequate financial support, unavailability of implementation guidelines and lack of knowledge about concept details. It is therefore argued that financial support, implementation guidelines and awareness-creation activities should be available in the implementation of ecosan in the metropolis. Government, private organisations, companies and individuals should each contribute their quota in the support and processes. / South Africa

This Research Report critiques the English Home Language Literature setwork selection for the period 2009-2011 in terms of the National Curriculum Statement for English Home Language for Grades 10- 12 to establish whether there is consonance between policy and practice in this section of the syllabus and to determine whether the new national syllabus offers a traditional or a transformational approach to the subject. In order to do this, the National Curriculum Statement is analysed in terms of the principles and outcomes which it intends to be actualised in the study of English and selects those that seem applicable to literature studies. Questions are formulated encapsulating these principles and used as the tools to critique the new national literature syllabus both as regards its individual constituent parts and as regards the syllabus as a whole. A brief comparison between the current prescribed literature selection and setworks set from 1942 to the present day establishes whether the new syllabus has departed from old syllabus designs, whether it acknowledges the new target group of pupils in multiracial English Home Language classrooms by offering a revised, wider and more inclusive selection of novels, dramas, poems and other genres such as short stories, or whether it remains traditionally Anglocentric in conception. The conclusions reached are that although the setworks conform to the letter of the requirements set down in the NCS, the underlying spirit of transformation is not realised. The inclusion of some poets from Africa and South Africa is merely content addition to a Eurocentric core curriculum, a form of tokenism which does not reorientate the syllabus significantly or move it away from its traditional trajectory. The report suggests that literature of merit from both Africa and South Africa be included in every part of the syllabus so that it reflects in some degree the contributions that the continent makes to English literature, in this way including in its scope the interests and identities of the wide range of learners studying English Home Language in the South African context.

There have been many studies performing experiments that showcase the potential of machine learning solutions for intrusion detection, but their experimental approaches are non-transparent and vague, making it difficult to replicate their trained methods and results. In this thesis we exemplify a healthier experimental methodology. A survey was performed to investigate evaluation metrics. Three experiments implementing and benchmarking machine learning classifiers, using different optimization techniques, were performed to set up a frame of reference for future work, as well as signify the importance of using descriptive metrics and disclosing implementation. We found a set of metrics that more accurately describes the models, and we found guidelines that we would like future researchers to fulfill in order to make their work more comprehensible. For future work we would like to see more discussion regarding metrics, and a new dataset that is more generalizable.

Artificial intelligence is used today in both everyday applications and specialised expert systems. In situations where relying on the output of the AI brings about the risk of negative consequences, it becomes important to understand why the AI system has produced its output. Previous research in human-computer trust has identified trust antecedents that contribute to formation of trust in an AI artifact, understanding of the system being one of them. In the context of Pipedrive, a sales management system, this thesis investigates how can AI predictions be designed as understandable and trustworthy, and by extension which explanatory aspects provide guidance towards actions to take, and which presentation formats support for- mation of trust. Using a research-through design approach, multiple designs for displaying AI predictions are explored for Pipedrive, leading to a proposal for a set of design guidelines that support understandability, trustworthiness and actionability of AI. Both the designs and the guidelines have been iteratively developed in collaboration with users and design practitioners. / Artificiell intelligens används idag både i vardagliga applikationer och expertsystem. I situationer då förtroendet för utdata från AI innebär en risk för negativa konsekvenser blir det viktigt att förstå varför AI-systemet har producerat dess utdata. Tidigare forskning inom människa-datorförtroende har identifierat förtroendeföregångare som bidrar till att skapa förtroende för en AI-artefakt, varav förståelse för systemet är en av dem. Inom ramen för Pipedrive, ett säljhanteringssystem, utreder denna avhandling hur AI-förut-sägelser kan designas på ett förståeligt och pålitligt sätt, och i förlängningen vilka förklarande aspekter som kan ge vägledning gällande de åtgärder som ska vidtas, samt vilka presentationsformat som stödjer skapande av förtroende. Med hjälp av en metod för forskning genom design undersöks flera utföranden för att visa AI-förutsägelser för Pipedrive, vilket leder till ett förslag till en uppsättning riktlinjer för design som stödjer förståelse, pålitlighet och funktionsduglighet. Både design och riktlinjer har utvecklats iterativt i samarbete med användare och designutövare.