Health Behavior Models and Regular Exercise Levels Among Workers in Taiwan.

Purpose: The present study aims to examine the disparate effects of health behavior models, namely exercise self-efficacy (ESE), health belief model (HBM), and planned behavior theory (PBT), applied to clarify the degree of regular exercise among workers in Taiwan. Methods: A cross-sectional research design was adopted. A questionnaire was distributed to obtain information pertaining to regular exercise level, demographic characteristics, and the scores of ESE, HBM, and PBT. In total, 400 full-time workers voluntarily participated in this study. Results: The results showed that only 20.5% of the participants exercised regularly, 37.3% exercised irregularly, and 42.3% did not exercise currently. "Perceived benefits" and "perceived barriers" pertaining to HBM; "attitude" and "perceived behavioral control" pertaining to PBT; and ESE were associated with regular exercise level in the multiple linear regression analyses of each health behavior model. When all three models were considered simultaneously, ESE provided the greatest explanation of the variances for regular exercise levels. PBT total made a smaller contribution in the prediction of regular exercise level, while the effect of HBM did not show statistical significance. In order to explore the practicality of moving beyond theoretical models and focusing on the components across health behavior models to enhance workers' exercise behavior, the components showing statistical significance in separate analysis were put into the multiple linear regression simultaneously. The results showed that ESE, perceived barriers of health behavior, attitude, and perceived behavioral control were significantly associated with regular exercise level. Conclusion: A low percentage of workers exercising regularly should be a notable issue for workplace health promotion. Neither utilizing cues to exercise nor advertising health threats of physical inactivity is sufficient to enable workers to exercise regularly. Enhancing workers' ESE and behavior control and removing the exercise barriers would constitute efficient strategies for maintaining the exercise habit of workers.

Surface display of roGFP for monitoring redox status of extracellular microenvironments in Shewanella oneidensis biofilms.

Biofilms are the most ubiquitous and resilient form of microbial life on earth. One most important feature of a biofilm is the presence of a self-produced matrix, which creates highly heterogeneous and dynamic microenvironments within biofilms. Redox status in biofilm microenvironments plays a critical role in biofilm development and function. However, there is a lack of non-intrusive tools to quantify extracellular redox status of microenvironments within a biofilm matrix. In this study, using Shewanella oneidensis as a model organism, we demonstrated a novel approach to monitor extracellular redox status in biofilm microenvironments. Specifically, we displayed a redox sensitive fluorescence protein roGFP onto the cell surface of S. oneidensis by fusing it to the C-terminus of BpfA, a large surface protein, and used the surface displayed roGFP as a sensor to quantify the extracellular redox status in the matrix of S. oneidensis biofilms. The fusion of roGFP into BpfA has no negative impacts on cell growth and biofilm formation. Upon exposure to oxidizing agents such as H2 O2 , Ag(+) , and SeO3 (2-) , S. oneidensis BpfA-roGFP cells exhibited a characteristic fluorescence of roGFP. Proteinase treatment assay and super-resolution structured illumination microscopy confirmed the surface localization of BpfA-roGFP. We further used the surface displayed roGFP monitored the extracellular redox status in the matrix at different depths of a biofilm exposed to H2 O2 . This study provides a novel approach to non-invasively monitor extracellular redox status in microenvironments within biofilms, which can be used to understand redox responses of biofilms to environmental perturbations.

Spectroscopic study of the I2 formation from the photolysis of iodomethanes (CHI3, CH2I2, CH3I, and CH2ICl) at different wavelengths.

Emission spectra following the photolysis of iodomethanes (CHI3, CH2I2, CH3I, and CH2ICl) at 266 nm were recorded in a slow flow cell. In addition to emission from the electronically excited species including CH (A(2)Δ, B(2)Σ(-), and C(2)Σ(+)), C2 (d(3)Πg), and atomic iodine ((4)P(o)), a series of emission bands was observed in the 12,000-19,000 cm(-1) region. The dominant structure of these emission bands was verified as the I2 B(3)Π(+)(0,u)-X(1)Σ(+)g emission at the 532 nm excitation, and the observed I2 was formed from collisions between iodine atoms generated from the C-I bond dissociation in these iodomethanes. The I2 emission spectra following the photolysis of CH2I2 at different wavelengths were acquired, and the threshold energy for the first C-I bond cleavage was determined to be 208 ± 1 kJ mol(-1). We also obtained the emission spectra of pure I2 at several visible excitation wavelengths for comparison with those from the photolysis of iodomethanes, and a least-squares global fit of the observed I2 emission bands yields more accurate anharmonicity parameters for the vibrational structure in the I2 B-X transition.