University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences. / Department of Communication

No description available.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Umeå : Univ., 2006. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

published_or_final_version / abstract / Dentistry / Master / Master of Dental Surgery

A social ecological framework is used in this study to identify health behaviours that have the potential to affect physical activity levels in Interlake youth. Data from two cycles of the Youth Health Survey (YHS) were used to identify which demographic, individual, social and environmental factors were associated with physical activity levels of youth. Boys were found to have higher rates of physical activity than girls. As students got older their physical activity rates declined. Sex, active transportation to school, screen time, healthy eating, self perception of body image, feelings of hopelessness and feeling close to people at school were significantly associated with physcial activity levels. Important differences have been identified between the individual, social and environmental factors that can potentially affect physical activity levels of youth based on the data produced by the Interlake YHS. Individual factors have the strongest association with physical activity levels, followed by environmental factors.

Background: Alzheimer’s disease, one type of dementia, is predicted to have great impact on society and economy. This effect increases rapidly especially in developing countries. The number of people with Alzheimer’s disease is huge due to the large population in China where the effects of this disease are amplified by the one-child policy. Objective: To review the risk factors of Alzheimer’s disease in different countries and offer some suggestions that how to prevent Alzheimer’s Disease in China that has very limited research on Alzheimer’s disease. To make recommendations for potential strategies to be implemented by policy-makers, government or other stakeholders. Method and results: Relevant studies which identified the risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease and evaluated the interventions and treatments for reducing the risk of getting Alzheimer’s disease, that were published between 1990 and 2012 were searched in PubMed and Google Academic using specific keywords. A total of 1071 studies were found and 62 used. Based on this systematic review, the risk factors of Alzheimer’s disease are age, lifestyle, family history and genetics, vascular, mild cognitive impairment, head injury as well as early-life negative events. There appear to be several important contributions to Alzheimer’s disease prevention including diet, cognitive activity, physical activity, social engagement, smoking cessation, and alcohol ingestion or simply being optimistic. Conclusion: This review has included the potential risk factors of Alzheimer's disease and the ways of preventing Alzheimer's disease, as well as to produce some possible strategies of preventing Alzheimer's disease based on the situation in China for the Chinese government and policy makers such as to use media as an important channel to draw people's attention about Alzheimer's disease and to educate about preventive factors. There should be government-funded education and health services in the rural areas and plans to build more leisure and sports centers in China. The government should also subsidize hospitals and medical centers to provide affordable or even free health examinations for people and build a central database for the purpose of recording, analysis and research into Alzheimer's disease for better understanding of the disease. Medical professionals and volunteers can help to enhance this database by the implementation of data collection to look for symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. If the patients appear to have such symptoms, further data collection should be taking place, such as family history of Alzheimer’s disease, health status, head injuries, family status, characteristics and behavior, income levels, residential areas and other background information of the patients as part of their work whenever and wherever they go, especially in rural areas. / published_or_final_version / Public Health / Master / Master of Public Health

Inflammation contributes to the etiology of type 2 diabetes (T2D) and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Therefore, it is of interest to investigate how diet relates to plasma inflammatory proteins, particularly whole grain and fibre intakes, as these factors have been associated with lower CVD and T2D risk. Only a limited number of observational studies have examined these relationships. The objective of this study was to investigate the cross-sectional relationships of whole and refined grain and dietary fibre intakes with plasma inflammatory proteins. There was a strong inverse relationship between whole grain intake and plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 (PAI-1) (β =-0.102; SE=0.038; p=0.0077), and a positive relationship between refined grain intake and PAI-1 (β=0.076; SE=0.034; p=0.0251). Additionally, dietary fibre was related to lower concentrations of C-reactive protein (β=-0.034; SE=0.010; p=0.0008) and fibrinogen (β=-1.207; SE=0.505; p=0.0171). This research suggests that whole and refined grain and fibre intakes may influence inflammatory protein concentrations.

Inflammation contributes to the etiology of type 2 diabetes (T2D) and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Therefore, it is of interest to investigate how diet relates to plasma inflammatory proteins, particularly whole grain and fibre intakes, as these factors have been associated with lower CVD and T2D risk. Only a limited number of observational studies have examined these relationships. The objective of this study was to investigate the cross-sectional relationships of whole and refined grain and dietary fibre intakes with plasma inflammatory proteins. There was a strong inverse relationship between whole grain intake and plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 (PAI-1) (β =-0.102; SE=0.038; p=0.0077), and a positive relationship between refined grain intake and PAI-1 (β=0.076; SE=0.034; p=0.0251). Additionally, dietary fibre was related to lower concentrations of C-reactive protein (β=-0.034; SE=0.010; p=0.0008) and fibrinogen (β=-1.207; SE=0.505; p=0.0171). This research suggests that whole and refined grain and fibre intakes may influence inflammatory protein concentrations.

Background: Premenopausal black women have a 2-3 fold greater rate of coronary heart disease (CHD) than premenopausal white women. The purpose of this study was to provide insight into the reasons for this difference. Methods and Results: We compared CHD risk factors in 100 black and 100 white, healthy premenopausal women age 18-45 years and of relatively advantaged socioeconomic status. Black women consumed diets higher in saturated fat and cholesterol (12% of kcal as saturated fat and 360 mg of cholesterol per day) than did white women (10% of kcal and 290 mg/day) (p=0.008). Black women also had a higher body mass index (BMI) (32.0±9.2 vs. 29.0±9.4 kg/m², p=0.021), and higher systolic (124±17 vs. 115±14 mmHg, p<0.0001), and diastolic (79±14 vs. 75±11 mmHg, p=0.048) blood pressures. The mean plasma Lp(a) concentration was higher in the black women (40.2±31.3 mg/dl) than in the white women (19.2±23.7 mg/dl)(p<0.0001). The black women, however, had lower plasma triglyceride levels (0.91±0.46 vs. 1.22±0.60 mmol/L, p<0.0001), and a trend toward higher HDL cholesterol levels (1.37±0.34 vs. 1.29±0.31 mmol/L, p=0.064) than the white women. Plasma total and LDL cholesterol levels were similar. Rates of cigarette smoking and alcohol intake were low and similar between the races. Black women additionally had higher levels of plasma total homocysteine (8.80 vs. 7.81 μmol/L, p=0.013), lower plasma folates (3.52 vs. 5.23 ng/ml, p<0.0001), and higher vitamin B₁₂ levels (522 vs. 417 pg/ml, p<0.0001) than white women. More white women than black women took a multivitamin supplement (42.4% vs. 24.7%, p=0.019). When adjusted for multivitamin use, homocysteine levels did not differ, but plasma folate remained significantly lower in black women. Sixty-eight percent of black women carried the wild-type methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase genotype, 32.0% were heterozygotes, and none were homozygotes. Of the white women, 47.4% were wild-type, 40.3% heterozygotes, and 12.3% homozygotes (p=0.013). Conclusions: Premenopausal black women consumed more saturated fat and cholesterol and had a higher mean body mass index, blood pressure, Lp(a), and plasma total homocysteine levels than white women. These differences in coronary risk factors may explain the higher incidence of CHD in premenopausal black compared to white women. / Graduation date: 1998

Thesis (MTech (Tourism and Hospitality Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2007 / The main objectives ofthis research were • To investigate how HIV/AIDS affect Southern African tourism, with specific reference to the tour operators. • To investigate measures taken by the Southern African tour operators and governments to combat HIVIAIDS and the chances of success. • To make some recommendations on what can further be done to fight HIV/AIDS in the Southern African tourism sector. T 0 conduct the literature study, the following methods were used: I. Literature search particularly about Southern Africa and in general, as well as news report has been conducted. H. Review ofHIV statistics. lll. Use of Internet. IV. Journals and government publications. RESULTS: The United Nations (2005: 22) indicates that Southern Africa is experiencing the highest rate of HIV infection in the world. The infection rate is particularly high among the young people (aged 15 - 49). This age group constitutes people who are economically active, and some of them work directly or indirectly in the tourism sector. THETA (2003: 4) conducted a study on a number of tourism and hospitality companies in South Africa. The study results indicate that 92% of the companies surveyed do not have HIVIAIDS educational programmes for their employees, and that 91% of the surveyed companies do not provide HIV/AIDS preventive measures like condoms to their workers at workplace.