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Age- and Sex-Specific Impact of Health Literacy on Healthy Lifestyle Characteristics among Japanese Residents in a Rural Community

Health information is important for people to understand and engage in the management of their own health status. With increasing health information available through media reports and the Internet, many health information resources are easily distributed to the general population. However, adequate use of these resources depends on an individual’s skill in finding and applying information about their health issues. And these skills have been conceptualized as health literacy (HL). The study aimed to examine age- and sex-specific associations between health literacy (HL) and healthy lifestyle characteristics. The cross-sectional study was conducted to examine a total 1348 Japanese participants (613 male and 735 female) who took the health check-up program in April 2013, at Tsumagoi Village, Japan. Information was collected by self-administered questionnaire on three communicative and two critical HL items, and healthy lifestyle characteristics listed in Bres-low’s seven health pra...
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Identity and the Arts: Using Drama and Masks as a Pedagogical Tool to Support Identity Development in Adolescence

Adolescence is defined as the years between the onset of puberty and the beginning of adulthood. Among the profound and exciting changes taking place in adolescence is the process of self-discovery. Our teens are working to figure out who they are, making adolescent identity development a central feature of teen life. Young people’s identities are shaped by lots of factors: family, cultural and societal expectations, experiences with institutions like school and the media, and friends. And identity in adolescents is an ever-growing concern and pre-occupation within formal education, with a need to identify factors that can positively impact upon adolescent development. A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance, or entertainment. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practical purposes and the role that mask has played in allowing people to explore what it means to us through adopting th...
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Trace and Macro Elements Concentrations in Selected Fresh Fruits, Vegetables, Herbs, and Processed Foods in North Carolina, USA

Trace elements are minerals that are required in small amounts to maintain normal physiological processes and function. Although required in very small amounts, trace elements such as iron, iodine, fluoride, copper, zinc, chromium, selenium, manganese and molybdenum are vital for maintaining health. Fresh fruits, vegetables, herbs, and processed foods continue to be the major sources of essential trace elements in humans’ diet required for proper body development. However, food products can potentially be contaminated by toxic heavy metals (HMs) from environmental contamination or industrial food processing. Accordingly, this study investigated a comparative analysis of essential elements and potential toxic HMs concentration in food products in the Greensboro metropolis, North Carolina, USA. A total of 49 food samples comprising of 16 difference fresh fruits, 17 fresh vegetables, 4 herbs, and 12 processed foods were purchased from local grocery stores and analyzed for ir...
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Forest Tenure and Sustainable Forest Management

Global forestry problems such as deforestation, degradation, and biodiversity loss have persisted for decades. More recently, new challenges have been identified, such as atmospheric carbon capture and storage in forests and the role they fulfill in global climate change mitigation efforts. Various public, private, and nongovernmental efforts have been developed and implemented to address these problems and many new international, regional, local, and private forest institutions have been developed in the last decade in order to improve forest conditions and retention. Tenure arrangements and reform have been identified as crucial components among the many new policies and institutions introduced for improving sustainable forest management. In this paper, in order to empirically assess the effects of forest tenure on sustainable forest management, the authors analyzed aggregate FAO data for selected countries in the world, supplemented by the results of numerous country and case ...
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Public Perception of Physical Risks: Effect of the Experience of Repeated Explosion Accidents at a Chemical Plant

Physical risk can refer to the risk of death, injury and property damage caused by a physical effect (e.g., explosion, fire, radiant heat, projection). Industrial accidents involving hazardous materials can result from explosions, fires, chemical spills and leaks, leading to human injury and environmental damage. Industrial accidents may cause both casualties and economic loss; thus, accidental explosions and fires at a chemical plant pose a social problem in many countries. Some studies have shown that the development of effective risk management and communication about physical risks requires an understanding of the public’s perception of physical risk. In the present study, the authors compared the risk perception of people living near a chemical plant at which accidental explosions/fires occurred (group A) and that of people living near a chemical plant where no other serious explosion/fire accidents happened nearby (group B). The authors employed a questionnaire-based sur...
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Incorporation of High-Altitude Balloon Experiment in High School Science Classrooms

High-altitude balloon is a balloon, filled usually with helium or hydrogen that ascends into an area called “near space” or stratosphere. The most common type of high-altitude balloons are weather balloons. Other purposes include use as a platform for experiments in the upper atmosphere. Modern balloons generally contain electronic equipment such as radio transmitters, cameras, or satellite navigation systems, such as GPS receivers. The mission of the High-Altitude Balloon Experiment (HABE) is to acquire supporting data, validate enabling technologies, and resolve critical acquisition, tracking, and pointing (ATP) and fire control issues in support of future space-based precision pointing experiments. The use of high-altitude balloons offers a relatively low-cost, low-vibration test platform, a recoverable and reusable payload, worldwide launch capability, and a 'near- space' emulation of the future space systems operational scenarios. More recently, several university...
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Green Tea Consumption Reduces Oxidative Stress in Parkinson’s Disease Patients

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a slowly progressive, and neurodegenerative disorder. Several factors, such as aging, genetics, environment, oxidative stress, and inflammation, are involved in PD risk and progression. Among these factors, oxidative stress is critical in initiating and promoting neurodegeneration. Antioxidants via improving the antioxidant defense system offer a promising approach to protect neuronal cells by removing free radicals, scavenging reactive oxygen species (ROS) or their precursors, maintaining redox homeostasis, and decreasing oxidative damage. In this paper, the authors hypothesized that green tea consumption (3 cups daily for 3 months) would improve antioxidant status and reduces oxidative damage in Parkinson’s disease based on its antioxidant effect. Fifteen subjects who were within the first five years of PD, on stable PD medication, and not regular green tea consumers were recruited. Iron status, oxidative stress and PD status were evaluated before...
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