Publications

Supplementary Data from Concurrent Disruption of the Ras/MAPK and NF-κB Pathways Induces Circadian Deregulation and Hepatocarcinogenesis

This study examined youth physical activity (PA), correlates of parental rules about children's PA, perceived barriers, and use of PA facilities by neighborhood walkability and median household income. Parents (N = 517) from 32 neighborhoods completed a questionnaire related to the PA of their youngest or only child aged 4–18 years living in the household. Using mixed regression analysis, results showed that neighborhood income and walkability played a significant role in parental perceptions of barriers and their rules for allowing their children to participate in physical activities. Interventions to promote children's PA may need to vary by neighborhood characteristics.

To develop an epidemiological profile of children that work in the streets of Tijuana, Mexico, and to determine the prevalence of cigarette smoking in this group, as well as the prevalence of those factors associated with tobacco experimentation.cross-sectional.Children aged 8 through 15, who work in the streets of Tijuana were included. Demographic, socioeconomic, and smoking related variables were analyzed.The study included 110 children, with a mean age of 11.43 years. Of these 91.7% live with one or both of their parents; 60% attend school and an additional 30% did so in the past. Only 6.4% of these children are the principal economic support of the household, and 51.8% reported an average daily income of $US 10 or less. Only 9.1% reported experimentation with tobacco, and 31% of them tobacco prompting (in the form of lighting up a cigarette) by an adult of the family; this is significantly more frequent on behalf of the father than of the mother (21.8% vs 4.5% p < 0.001).Most of the children under 15 years of age who work in the streets of Tijuana live with their parents and maintain close relationships with their family. Most of them attend school and work in the streets only to complement the family income. Their tobacco experimentation is not greater than that of other children of the same age group.

Our study shows that higher B-cell infiltration was present within the intra-tumoral PCa regions compared to the extra-tumoral benign prostate tissue regions in prostatectomy sections. For this study we developed a new method to measure B-cells using computer-assisted digitized image analysis. Accurate, consistent quantitation of B-cells in prostatectomy specimens is essential for future clinical trials evaluating the effect of B cell ablating antibodies. The interaction of B-cells and PCa may serve as the basis for new therapeutic targets.

The after-school period provides an opportune context for adolescent physical activity. This study examined how characteristics of after-school recreation environments related to adolescent physical activity.Participants were 889 adolescents aged 12 to 17 (mean = 14.1, SD = 1.4) from 2 US regions. Adolescents reported on whether their school offered after-school supervised physical activity, access to play areas/fields, and presence of sports facilities. Outcomes were accelerometer-measured after-school physical activity, reported physical activity on school grounds during nonschool hours, attainment of 60 minutes of daily physical activity excluding school physical education, and BMI-for-age z-score. Mixed regression models adjusted for study design, region, sex, age, ethnicity, vehicles/licensed drivers in household, and distance to school.School environment variables were all significantly associated with self-reported physical activity on school grounds during non-school hours (P < .001) and attainment of 60 minutes of daily physical activity (P < .05). Adolescents' accelerometer-measured after-school physical activity was most strongly associated with access to supervised physical activity (P = .008).Policies and programs that provide supervised after-school physical activity and access to play areas, fields, and sports facilities may help adolescents achieve daily physical activity recommendations.

An infrequently studied question is how diverse combinations of built environment (BE) features relate to physical activity (PA) for older adults. We derived patterns of geographic information systems- (GIS) measured BE features and explored how they accounted for differences in objective and self-reported PA, sedentary time, and BMI in a sample of older adults. Senior Neighborhood Quality of Life Study participants (N=714, aged 66–97years, 52.1% women, 29.7% racial/ethnic minority) were sampled in 2005–2008 from the Seattle-King County, WA and Baltimore, MD-Washington, DC regions. Participants' home addresses were geocoded, and net residential density, land use mix, retail floor area ratio, intersection density, public transit density, and public park and private recreation facility density measures for 1-km network buffers were derived. Latent profile analyses (LPAs) were estimated from these GIS-based measures. In multilevel regression models, profiles were compared on accelerometer-measured moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) and sedentary time and self-reported PA, adjusting for covariates and clustering. Analyses were conducted in 2014–2015. LPAs yielded three profiles: low walkability/transit/recreation (L−L−L); mean walkability/transit/recreation (M-M-M); and high walkability/transit/recreation (H−H−H). Three PA outcomes were more favorable in the HHH than the LLL profile group (difference of 7.2min/day for MVPA, 97.8min/week for walking for errands, and 79.2min/week for walking for exercise; all ps<0.02). The most and least activity-supportive BE profiles showed greater differences in older adults' PA than did groupings based solely on a 4-component walkability index, suggesting that diverse BE features are important for healthy aging.

Purpose: To compare the test-retest reliability, convergent validity, and overall feasibility/ usability of activity-based (AB) and time-based (TB) approaches for obtaining self-reported moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) from adolescents. Methods: Adolescents (206 females and 114 males) completed two 3-d physical activity recalls using the AB and TB surveys, which contained identical lists of physical activities. The participants wore an MTI Actigraph® accelerometer for the same period. Results: The TB instrument took about 3 min longer to complete (P = 0.022). Overall 2-d test-retest correlations for MVPA were similar for the two surveys (r = 0.676 and 0.667), but the girls had higher reliability on the AB survey than the boys (girls: r = 0.713; boys: r = 0.568). The overall 3-d correlations for MVPA surveys and Actigraph counts varied by gender (girls: AB = 0.265 vs TB = 0.314; boys: AB = 0.340 vs TB = 0.277). Correlations for vigorous physical activity and Actigraph counts were higher for the AB than for the TB (r = 0.281 vs 0.162). As the interval between completing the surveys and the days being recalled increased, reliability and validity were lower, especially for the AB survey. Conclusion: For both genders, either approach is acceptable for obtaining MVPA information on a single day, but the TB approach appears to be slightly favored over the AB approach for obtaining multiple days of MVPA. A 3-d recall period appears to be too long for accurate recall of MVPA information from either instrument. For both genders, the surveys overestimated activity levels; thus, self-reports should be supplemented with objective data.

Advancements in geographic information systems over the past two decades have increased the specificity by which an individual's neighborhood environment may be spatially defined for physical activity and health research. This study investigated how different types of street network buffering methods compared in measuring a set of commonly used built environment measures (BEMs) and tested their performance on associations with physical activity outcomes. An internationally-developed set of objective BEMs using three different spatial buffering techniques were used to evaluate the relative differences in resulting explanatory power on self-reported physical activity outcomes. BEMs were developed in five countries using 'sausage,' 'detailed-trimmed,' and 'detailed,' network buffers at a distance of 1 km around participant household addresses (n = 5883). BEM values were significantly different (p < 0.05) for 96% of sausage versus detailed-trimmed buffer comparisons and 89% of sausage versus detailed network buffer comparisons. Results showed that BEM coefficients in physical activity models did not differ significantly across buffering methods, and in most cases BEM associations with physical activity outcomes had the same level of statistical significance across buffer types. However, BEM coefficients differed in significance for 9% of the sausage versus detailed models, which may warrant further investigation. Results of this study inform the selection of spatial buffering methods to estimate physical activity outcomes using an internationally consistent set of BEMs. Using three different network-based buffering methods, the findings indicate significant variation among BEM values, however associations with physical activity outcomes were similar across each buffering technique. The study advances knowledge by presenting consistently assessed relationships between three different network buffer types and utilitarian travel, sedentary behavior, and leisure-oriented physical activity outcomes.

Background: Sedentary behavior is related to obesity, but measures of sedentary behaviors are lacking for adults. The purpose of this study was to examine the reliability and validity of the Sedentary Behavior Questionnaire (SBQ) among overweight adults. Methods: Participants were 49 adults for the 2 week test-retest reliability study (67% female, 53% white, mean age = 20) and 401 overweight women (mean age = 41, 61% white) and 441 overweight men (mean age = 44, 81% white) for the validity study. The SBQ consisted of reports of time spent in 9 sedentary behaviors. Outcomes for validity included accelerometer measured inactivity, sitting time (International Physical Activity Questionnaire), and BMI. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) assessed reliability and partial correlations assessed validity. Results: ICCs were acceptable for all items and the total scale (range = .51–.93). For men, there were significant relationships of SBQ items with IPAQ sitting time and BMI. For women, there were relationships between the SBQ and accelerometer inactivity minutes, IPAQ sitting time, and BMI. Conclusions: The SBQ has acceptable measurement properties for use among overweight adults. Specific measures of sedentary behavior should be included in studies and population surveillance.

Several systematic reviews have reported mixed associations between access to parks and physical activity, and suggest that this is due to inconsistencies in the study methods or differences across countries. An international study using consistent methods is needed to investigate the association between access to parks and physical activity. The International Physical Activity and Environment Network (IPEN) Adult Study is a multi-country cross-sectional study using a common design and consistent methods. Accelerometer, survey and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) data for 6181 participants from 12 cities in 8 countries (Belgium, Brazil, Czech Republic, Denmark, Mexico, New Zealand, UK, USA) were used to estimate the strength and shape of associations of 11 measures of park access (1 perceived and 10 GIS-based measures) with accelerometer-based moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and four types of self-reported leisure-time physical activity. Associations were estimated using generalized additive mixed models. More parks within 1km from participants' homes were associated with greater leisure-time physical activity and accelerometer-measured MVPA. Respondents who lived in the neighborhoods with the most parks did on average 24min more MVPA per week than those living in the neighborhoods with the lowest number of parks. Perceived proximity to a park was positively associated with multiple leisure-time physical activity outcomes. Associations were homogeneous across all cities studied. Living in neighborhoods with many parks could contribute with up to 1/6 of the recommended weekly Having multiple parks nearby was the strongest positive correlate of PA. To increase comparability and validity of park access measures, we recommend that researchers, planners and policy makers use the number of parks within 1km travel distance of homes as an objective indicator for park access in relation to physical activity.