Background: Among numerous health benefits, sports participation has been shown to reduce the risk of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents. Schools represent an ideal environment for increasing sports p...Background: Among numerous health benefits, sports participation has been shown to reduce the risk of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents. Schools represent an ideal environment for increasing sports participation, but it is unclear how access and choice influence participation and whether characteristics of the school sports program differentially influence boys' and girls' participation. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the characteristics of high school athletic programs and determine the extent to which these characteristics influenced boys' and girls' sports team participation. Methods: Longitudinal telephone surveys were conducted with 1244 New Hampshire and Vermont students. Students self-reported their sports team participation at baseline (elementary school) and follow-up (high school). High school personnel were surveyed to assess sports oppor- tunities, which were defined for this analysis as the number of sports offered per 100 students (i.e., choice) and the percent of sports offered that did not restrict the number of players (i.e., access). Results: Approximately 70% of children participated on at least one sports team, including 73% of boys and 66% of girls. We detected sta- tistically significant interactions between sex and two school opportunity variables: 1) the number of sports offered per 100 students (i.e., choice) and 2) the percent of sports offered that did not restrict the number of players (i.e., access). After controlling for children's baseline sports participation and other covariates, boys were more likely to play on at least one sports team per year if their school did not restrict participation in the most popular sports (relative risk, RR = 1.12, p 〈 0.01); in contrast, girls were more likely to play on at least one sports team per year if their school offered a wider variety of sports (RR = 1.47, p 〈 0.001). Conclusion: Sports participation has previously been shown to confer a number of health benefits; as such, school sports programs may be an important, effective, and underused target for public health efforts, including obesity prevention programs. Efforts to increase physical activity among youth should consider both access and choice in school athletic programs. Schools may need to use different strategies to increase sports participation in boys and girls.展开更多
This paper describes the implementation of an Information Systems (IS) capstone project management course that is a requirement for graduating seniors in an undergraduate Computer Information Systems (CIS) program...This paper describes the implementation of an Information Systems (IS) capstone project management course that is a requirement for graduating seniors in an undergraduate Computer Information Systems (CIS) program at a regional university. The description provides a model which includes the culmination of students' academic training in an IS curriculum which is part of a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) program in an accredited college of business. The course requires an application of technical and business skills, as well as systems development and project management skills--while students are working on an actual IS project for an external sponsoring organization. Rationale for implementing this type of course includes the benefits it provides to the students, the project sponsors, and the IS department providing the course. Feedback from the course is used as integral part of the C1S curriculum assessment process used for accreditation purposes.展开更多
The concept of sustainable livelihood is an attempt to go beyond the conventional definitions and approaches to poverty eradication. These had been found to be too narrow because they focused only on certain aspects o...The concept of sustainable livelihood is an attempt to go beyond the conventional definitions and approaches to poverty eradication. These had been found to be too narrow because they focused only on certain aspects or manifestations of poverty, such as low income, or did not consider other vital aspects of poverty such as vulnerability and social exclusion. It is now recognized that more attention must be paid to the various factors and processes which either constrain or enhance poor people's ability to make a living in an economically, ecologically, and socially sustainable manner. Construction of nuclear power plants in Vietnam is in the first step of implementing and will be allocated in Thuan Nam and Ninh Hai districts, Ninh Thuan province, an agricultural and poor province in Vietnam. This requires a large area of land mobilized, thus a part of popupation living in the project area has to move far away. Besides the positive effects of this project, there are significantly negative impacts on the people living in the project areas and nearby, and their livelihoods are seriously affected. This paper aims at assessing the impact of the nuclear power plants construction on the livelihoods of people in two districts in Ninh Thuan province, in order to have mechanisms and policies to support reasonably and effectively, contributing to stabilize people's lives and local development.展开更多
基金funded by the U.S.National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences(ES014218)the U.S.National Cancer Institute(CA94273)
文摘Background: Among numerous health benefits, sports participation has been shown to reduce the risk of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents. Schools represent an ideal environment for increasing sports participation, but it is unclear how access and choice influence participation and whether characteristics of the school sports program differentially influence boys' and girls' participation. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the characteristics of high school athletic programs and determine the extent to which these characteristics influenced boys' and girls' sports team participation. Methods: Longitudinal telephone surveys were conducted with 1244 New Hampshire and Vermont students. Students self-reported their sports team participation at baseline (elementary school) and follow-up (high school). High school personnel were surveyed to assess sports oppor- tunities, which were defined for this analysis as the number of sports offered per 100 students (i.e., choice) and the percent of sports offered that did not restrict the number of players (i.e., access). Results: Approximately 70% of children participated on at least one sports team, including 73% of boys and 66% of girls. We detected sta- tistically significant interactions between sex and two school opportunity variables: 1) the number of sports offered per 100 students (i.e., choice) and 2) the percent of sports offered that did not restrict the number of players (i.e., access). After controlling for children's baseline sports participation and other covariates, boys were more likely to play on at least one sports team per year if their school did not restrict participation in the most popular sports (relative risk, RR = 1.12, p 〈 0.01); in contrast, girls were more likely to play on at least one sports team per year if their school offered a wider variety of sports (RR = 1.47, p 〈 0.001). Conclusion: Sports participation has previously been shown to confer a number of health benefits; as such, school sports programs may be an important, effective, and underused target for public health efforts, including obesity prevention programs. Efforts to increase physical activity among youth should consider both access and choice in school athletic programs. Schools may need to use different strategies to increase sports participation in boys and girls.
文摘This paper describes the implementation of an Information Systems (IS) capstone project management course that is a requirement for graduating seniors in an undergraduate Computer Information Systems (CIS) program at a regional university. The description provides a model which includes the culmination of students' academic training in an IS curriculum which is part of a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) program in an accredited college of business. The course requires an application of technical and business skills, as well as systems development and project management skills--while students are working on an actual IS project for an external sponsoring organization. Rationale for implementing this type of course includes the benefits it provides to the students, the project sponsors, and the IS department providing the course. Feedback from the course is used as integral part of the C1S curriculum assessment process used for accreditation purposes.
文摘The concept of sustainable livelihood is an attempt to go beyond the conventional definitions and approaches to poverty eradication. These had been found to be too narrow because they focused only on certain aspects or manifestations of poverty, such as low income, or did not consider other vital aspects of poverty such as vulnerability and social exclusion. It is now recognized that more attention must be paid to the various factors and processes which either constrain or enhance poor people's ability to make a living in an economically, ecologically, and socially sustainable manner. Construction of nuclear power plants in Vietnam is in the first step of implementing and will be allocated in Thuan Nam and Ninh Hai districts, Ninh Thuan province, an agricultural and poor province in Vietnam. This requires a large area of land mobilized, thus a part of popupation living in the project area has to move far away. Besides the positive effects of this project, there are significantly negative impacts on the people living in the project areas and nearby, and their livelihoods are seriously affected. This paper aims at assessing the impact of the nuclear power plants construction on the livelihoods of people in two districts in Ninh Thuan province, in order to have mechanisms and policies to support reasonably and effectively, contributing to stabilize people's lives and local development.