1,721,333 research outputs found
Integrating GPS, Accelerometry and Online Mapping Technologies: Exploring Built Environment Correlates of Adolescent Mobility and Domain-specific Physical Activity
No full textRegular physical activity in youth is associated with many aspects of health and development, yet more than half of New Zealand adolescents struggle to meet physical activity guidelines. The modest results of past physical activity initiatives have fostered a growing consensus that sustainable changes in population physical activity will require built environment change. Despite this, current evidence shows inconsistent and sometimes contradictory associations between the built environment and adolescents’ physical activity. Accounting for wider mobility patterns and improving measurement specificity are consistently acknowledged as avenues of progression. Through a series of five sequential studies, this thesis aims to explore how recent technological innovations can enhance our understanding of how the built environment is related to adolescents’ physical activity and travel behaviours.
The first two studies (Chapters 3 and 4) developed and piloted a novel interactive online mapping tool (VERITAS) for capturing information about adolescents’ mobility and interaction with their environment. Each participant successfully located an average of 18 regularly-visited destinations, as well as travel modes, routes, companions, and perceived neighbourhood spaces. Global Positioning System (GPS) travel records were used to demonstrate the accuracy of routes drawn using the mapping interface. Together, these initial studies revealed the functionality and feasibility of online mapping technology for capturing adolescents’ wider mobility and travel behaviours.
The third study (Chapter 5) was conceived by recognising that research on adolescents’ transport-related physical activity had focused almost exclusively on the school trip. This study integrated GPS and accelerometry to examine how school travel behaviours were representative of wider mobility patterns. Active school travellers (i.e., walk or cycle) accumulated 12.8 min and 14.4 min more moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) on weekdays and weekend days, respectively, and spent less time in vehicles during non school trips. However, individuals who did not travel actively to school still achieved most of their MVPA in the transport domain, suggesting that destinations beyond school also provide important travel opportunities.
The fourth study (Chapter 6) attempted to elucidate these findings by integrating VERITAS, GPS, and accelerometry to examine the entirety of destinations that adolescents frequent, and how travel to these destinations was related to physical activity. VERITAS-reported destinations varied markedly in terms of visit frequency, suggesting some destination types were more important than others for providing active travel opportunities. Those who reported using active travel modes for most of their weekly trips walked 1.50 km further per weekday, and 2.25 km further per weekend day, compared to those who reported using passive travel modes.
The final study made pragmatic use of the findings in Chapter 6 by creating an objective and spatially-derived measure of destination accessibility that was relevant to adolescents’ active travel. Accessibility scores were based on the distribution of local destinations around the home, accounting for both destination type and distance from the residence. Adolescents with high destination accessibility achieved 13.9 min more transport-related MVPA and 9.90 min less transport-related sedentary time each day compared to those living in areas of low destination accessibility. These individuals also walked 1.10 km further and travelled 18.6 km less in a vehicle each day. However, total daily MVPA and sedentary time displayed weaker trends, suggesting an element of displacement across physical activity domains.
This body of work demonstrates how recent technologies can be integrated and applied in this research field, and reinforces the importance of capturing domain-specific physical activity and wider mobility patterns in built environment studies. This thesis established that active travel is the primary source of physical activity New Zealand adolescents, and that destination accessibility is strongly associated with transport practices. It is hoped the original information contained within this thesis will contribute to the next generation of physical activity studies, and help encourage the development of more compact cities that promote active living and reduced health inequities
Children’s and Adolescent’s Physical Activity and Health: The Role of Urban-Rural Living and Natural Environments
Get PDFIntegrating GPS, Accelerometry and Online Mapping Technologies: Exploring Built Environment Correlates of Adolescent Mobility and Domain-Specific Physical Activity
No full textRegular physical activity in youth is associated with many aspects of health and development, yet more than half of New Zealand adolescents struggle to meet physical activity guidelines. The modest results of past physical activity initiatives have fostered a growing consensus that sustainable changes in population physical activity will require built environment change. Despite this, current evidence shows inconsistent and sometimes contradictory associations between the built environment and adolescents’ physical activity. Accounting for wider mobility patterns and improving measurement specificity are consistently acknowledged as avenues of progression. Through a series of five sequential studies, this thesis aims to explore how recent technological innovations can enhance our understanding of how the built environment is related to adolescents’ physical activity and travel behaviours.
The first two studies (Chapters 3 and 4) developed and piloted a novel interactive online mapping tool (VERITAS) for capturing information about adolescents’ mobility and interaction with their environment. Each participant successfully located an average of 18 regularly-visited destinations, as well as travel modes, routes, companions, and perceived neighbourhood spaces. Global Positioning System (GPS) travel records were used to demonstrate the accuracy of routes drawn using the mapping interface. Together, these initial studies revealed the functionality and feasibility of online mapping technology for capturing adolescents’ wider mobility and travel behaviours.
The third study (Chapter 5) was conceived by recognising that research on adolescents’ transport-related physical activity had focused almost exclusively on the school trip. This study integrated GPS and accelerometry to examine how school travel behaviours were representative of wider mobility patterns. Active school travellers (i.e., walk or cycle) accumulated 12.8 min and 14.4 min more moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) on weekdays and weekend days, respectively, and spent less time in vehicles during non school trips. However, individuals who did not travel actively to school still achieved most of their MVPA in the transport domain, suggesting that destinations beyond school also provide important travel opportunities.
The fourth study (Chapter 6) attempted to elucidate these findings by integrating VERITAS, GPS, and accelerometry to examine the entirety of destinations that adolescents frequent, and how travel to these destinations was related to physical activity. VERITAS-reported destinations varied markedly in terms of visit frequency, suggesting some destination types were more important than others for providing active travel opportunities. Those who reported using active travel modes for most of their weekly trips walked 1.50 km further per weekday, and 2.25 km further per weekend day, compared to those who reported using passive travel modes.
The final study made pragmatic use of the findings in Chapter 6 by creating an objective and spatially-derived measure of destination accessibility that was relevant to adolescents’ active travel. Accessibility scores were based on the distribution of local destinations around the home, accounting for both destination type and distance from the residence. Adolescents with high destination accessibility achieved 13.9 min more transport-related MVPA and 9.90 min less transport-related sedentary time each day compared to those living in areas of low destination accessibility. These individuals also walked 1.10 km further and travelled 18.6 km less in a vehicle each day. However, total daily MVPA and sedentary time displayed weaker trends, suggesting an element of displacement across physical activity domains.
This body of work demonstrates how recent technologies can be integrated and applied in this research field, and reinforces the importance of capturing domain-specific physical activity and wider mobility patterns in built environment studies. This thesis established that active travel is the primary source of physical activity New Zealand adolescents, and that destination accessibility is strongly associated with transport practices. It is hoped the original information contained within this thesis will contribute to the next generation of physical activity studies, and help encourage the development of more compact cities that promote active living and reduced health inequities
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Associations between green space availability and youth’s physical activity in urban and rural areas across Germany.
Get PDFGreen space may be an important physical activity facilitator for children and adolescents. However, to date, most studies focused on urban green space, and few studies investigated associations between green space and physical activity across urban and rural areas, which was the goal of this study. Data were obtained from a German cohort study, including 1,211 youth aged 6–17 years. Residential green space was assessed within a 1000 m street-network buffer using land cover and land use data and divided into quartiles, urbanicity using the European Urbanization Degree, and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) using accelerometers. Associations were investigated via linear regression analysis stratified by urbanicity degree, controlling for relevant confounders. We found that in rural areas, compared to youth in the bottom green quartile, those within the middle (2nd) and upper (3rd) green quartiles engaged in less MVPA. This relationship was not observed for youth in towns and cities. Interactions occurred between green space and socio-demographic characteristics for children and adolescents in cities: Compared to the bottom green quartile, boys or younger children within the middle green quartile engaged in more MVPA. However, socially disadvantaged children and adolescents in cities engaged in less MVPA in the upper compared to the bottom green quartile. Our results show that associations between green space and MVPA do not only differ between urban and rural areas but also among youth sub-populations. These findings are important to consider for planning policies to create inclusive active living environments across urban and rural areas
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
- …
