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Obesity prevention and control have been identified as top public health priorities in modern societies. Sport and exercise science researchers from multiple perspectives (e.g. behavioral, pedagogical, psychological, and physiological) have been active contributors addressing this topic. This paper examines the importance of energy balance (EB) knowledge in enabling behaviors associated with weight management in youth (e.g. physical activity and dietary behaviors). Relevant research studies were searched using ERIC, Proquest, PubMed, and Scopus. A total of 48 articles that met the inclusion criteria were identified and retrieved. The research findings of the included articles were summarized after being thoroughly reviewed. The paper reveals mixed findings about the association between EB knowledge and behaviors, reinforcing the importance of developing knowledge through education. The literature review further identifies that there is inadequate knowledge about EB among youth, coinciding with a national call for action to enhance EB education in schools. The knowledge inadequacy is related to two plausible reasons: the science of EB is still evolving and systematic EB education is lacking in schools. In addition, while some school-based EB education programmes are available, many of these programmes are expensive and lack generalizability and sustainability over time. The paper concludes with a proposal to enhance EB education using concept-based physical education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A large amount of external overpotential is normally required to split water using p -type silicon (p-Si) due to the insufficient driving force between the conduction band-edge and the hydrogen evolution level. We demonstrate how inserting an Al 2 O 3 interlayer between p-Si and the electrolyte mitigates the requirement of overpotentials. Since the Al 2 O 3 film decreased the number of interface defect states, electrons were observed to migrate into the Si surface so that negative charges accumulated at the band-edge of silicon. This resulted in band bending enhancement and a reduction of the overpotential requirement. In our result, the overpotential of ~ 150 mV was reduced at a current density of 20 mA/cm 2 , and the onset voltage of ~ 70 mV was also reduced at the 1.4 nm thickness of Al 2 O 3 interlayer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: SWITCH® is an evidence-based childhood obesity prevention program that works through schools to impact parenting practices. The present study was designed as a formative evaluation to test whether an online version of SWITCH® would work equivalently as the established print version. Methods: Ten elementary schools were matched by socio-economic status and randomly assigned to receive either the print (n = 5) or online (n = 5) version. A total of 211 children from 22, 3rd grade classrooms were guided through the 4 month program by a team of program leaders working in cooperation with the classroom teachers. Children were tasked with completing weekly SWITCH® Trackers with their parents to monitor goal setting efforts in showing positive Do (=60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity), View (=2 hours of screen time), and Chew (=5 servings of fruits and vegetables) behaviors on each day. A total of 91 parents completed a brief survey to assess project-specific interactions with their child and the impact on their behaviors. Results: The majority of parents (93.2%) reported satisfactory experiences with either the online or print SWITCH® program. The return rate for the SWITCH® Trackers was higher (42.5% ± 11%) from the print schools compared to the online schools (27.4% ± 10.9%). District program managers rated the level of teacher engagement in regards to program facilitation and the results showed a higher Trackers return rate in the highly engaged schools (38.5% ± 13.3%) than the lowly engaged schools (28.6 ± 11.9%). No significant differences were observed in parent/child interactions or reported behavior change (ps > .05) suggesting the equivalence in intervention effect for print and online versions of the SWITCH® program. Conclusions: The findings support the utility of the online SWITCH® platform but school-based modules are needed to facilitate broader school engagement by classroom teachers and PE teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We employ a thin Al 2 O 3 interlayer between p-NiO X catalyst/n-Si photoanode interfaces to realize an effective oxygen evolution reaction (OER). The Al 2 O 3 interlayer is used to reduce the interface defect density, enhance the band bending by suppressing the Fermi-level pinning effect, and enhance photovoltage at the catalyst/semiconductor rectifying junction. Our NiO X /Al 2 O 3 /n-Si photoanodes generated a photocurrent of 3.36 mA/cm 2 at the equilibrium potential of OER (E OER = 1.23 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode in 1 M NaOH solution) and a solar-to-oxygen conversion efficiency of 0.321%. Moreover, the photoanode showed no sign of decay over 20 h of photoelectrochemical water oxidation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]