The Short-Term Effects of a Computer-Based Pregnancy,STD, and HIV Prevention Program

A computer- and Internet-based intervention was designed to influence several variables related to the prevention of pregnancy, STDs, and HIV in rural adolescents. Three-hundred and thirty-eight tenth-graders enrolled in two rural public high schools participated in this field experiment. Results indicate that students in the experimental school had greater knowledge, greater condom negotiation efficacy, greater situational efficacy, and more favorable attitudes toward waiting to have sex than students in the control school. In tandem, the results suggest that computer-based programs may be a cost-effective and easily replicable means of providing teens with basic information and skills necessary to prevent pregnancy, STDs, and HIV.     

The building stones of the ancient centre of Naples (Italy): Piperno from Campi Flegrei. A contribution to the knowledge of a long-time-used stone

Piperno, a Late Quaternary magmatic rock cropping out on the eastern side of the Campi Flegrei (Italy), is probably the most important building stone of Naples, used over a time-span from at least the Roman age until the beginning of the 20th century. Despite its wide diffusion in the monumental architecture of Naples, very little is known about this rock, as regards its technical features, as well as the geological aspects. This paper aims at providing a first overall contribution towards a rediscovery of this long-time-used material, in view of careful restoration works, which nowadays at Naples only take into account the proper geological features of the stone in a few peculiar cases. Thus, it seems of extreme importance to understand the basic parameters of Piperno and, above all, its response to weathering agents. Main mineralogical, petrographical and engineering–geological properties are presented here for the first time, with specific reference to two sampling areas, located at Pianura and Soccavo, in the western sector of the Neapolitan urban area. As far as many of its physico–mechanical features are concerned, Piperno extends over a wide range of values, which allow different varieties of the rock to be identified. This preliminary result is seemingly in accordance with data from old historical literature, which stated the existence of six horizons in the Piperno formation.     

The Child and Adult Care Food Program and the nutrition of preschoolers

Children spend a considerable amount of time in preschools and child care centers. As a result, these settings may have an influence on their diet, weight, and food security, and are potentially important contexts for interventions to address nutritional health. The Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) is one such intervention. No national study has compared nutrition-related outcomes of children in CACFP-participating centers to those of similar children in non-participating centers. We use a sample of four-year-old children drawn from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort to obtain estimates of associations between CACFP program participation and consumption of milk, fruits, vegetables, fast food, and sweets, and indicators of overweight, underweight status and food insecurity. We find that, among low-income children, CACFP participation moderately increases consumption of milk and vegetables, and may also reduce the prevalence of overweight and underweight. Effects on other outcomes are generally small and not statistically significant.     

Body image, perceived and actual physical abilities in normal-weight and overweight boys involved in individual and team sports

The aim of the study was to examine the relationships among body image, perception of physical abilities, and motor performance in boys involved in organized individual (i.e. tennis, fencing, judo) and team (i.e. soccer, handball, volleyball) sports. Altogether, 162 children (12.6 ± 1.0 years) were categorized as normal-weight (n = 85) or overweight (n = 77). Body image was measured using Collins' Child Figure Drawings, while individuals' perceptions of strength, speed, and agility were assessed using the Perceived Physical Ability Scale. Fitness tests of the standing long jump, 20 m sprint, and 10 × 5 m shuttle-run were also administered. Overweight boys showed greater body dissatisfaction and lower actual physical abilities than normal-weight peers. Participants involved in team sports reported lower body dissatisfaction and better performances in the shuttle-run compared with those involved in individual sports. For boys participating in team sports, body dissatisfaction was a significant mediator of the effect of body mass index on perceived physical ability. Results may influence intervention efforts, suggesting that targeting personal, psychological, and physical factors may prove efficient across physical activity locations and weight groups.