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Eat Smart! Ontario's Healthy Restaurant Program is a standard provincial health promotion program. Public health units grant an award of excellence to restaurants that meet designated standards in nutrition, food safety, and non-smoking seating. The purpose of this study was to assess whether program objectives for participating restaurant operators were achieved during the first year of program implementation, and to obtain operators' recommendations for improving the program. Dillman's tailored design method was used to design a mail survey and implement it among participating operators (n = 434). The design method, which consisted of four mail-outs, yielded a 74% response rate. Fifty percent of respondents operated family-style or quick-service restaurants, and 82% of respondents learned about the program from public health inspectors. Almost all respondents (98%) participated in the program mainly to have their establishments known as clean and healthy restaurants, 65% received and used either point-of-purchase table stands or postcards to promote the program, and 98% planned to continue participating. The respondents' suggestions for improving the program were related to the award ceremony and program materials, media promotion, communication, education, and program standards. Program staff can use the findings to enhance the program.

Background: Teachers in Ontario are expected to implement the physical activity guidelines in the health and physical education (HPE) curriculum document that was introduced in 1998. This study examined Toronto teachers' perspective on barriers to implementing these guidelines., Methods: Forty-five teachers from five Toronto elementary schools in which generalist classroom teachers provide physical education classes participated in focus groups. An experienced moderator facilitated each session. Themes were inductively generated from the data., Results: Participants reported that children were not engaged in moderate or vigorous physical activity daily and for the expected duration. Participants identified three categories of barriers to implementing the curriculum guidelines: lower priority for HPE, lack of performance measures for physical activity, and lack of sufficient infrastructure. First, they reported that the new curriculum expectations for other subjects were demanding, which left little time to focus on physical education. They felt that resource support for the HPE curriculum was not sufficient and that physical education specialists were necessary but unavailable to implement the curriculum. Second, participants felt accountable to both government and parents for high student performance on standardized tests in subjects deemed to be of higher priority. Third, participants reported inadequate facilities and equipment, use of portables for classrooms, cancelling physical education to have events in the gymnasium, and unavailability of teachers to supervise off-school physical activity., Conclusion: The study suggests that participating teachers perceive physical education to be a low priority in the educational system, making it difficult for them to meet the HPE curriculum expectations.

An evaluability assessment was conducted to plan a community-based, multi-strategy approach to physical activity promotion (MSAPAP) to maximize young children's physical activity in an ethno-racially and socio-economically diverse city. This assessment involved consultation with various stakeholders to develop a program logic model to diagrammatically describe the MSAPAP. First, published literature regarding physical activity was reviewed to describe interventions designed to increase children's physical activity and to identify factors that contributed to program effectiveness. Secondly, key informants from mainstream service organizations and smaller community-based agencies were interviewed to determine their views on how to increase physical activity among children and families. A workgroup developed a draft logic model based on the results of the literature review and community needs assessment results. Thirdly, stakeholders were consulted about the draft model. This consisted of 12 focus groups with members of school boards (two sessions), members of community organizations (three sessions), lay home visitors who provide support to mothers of young children in ethno-racially diverse communities (one session), and parents from six cultural groups (six sessions). The logic model was revised based on the findings from this consultation. The final logic model shows children aged 3-8 years as the main target group, and parents and various community members who influence children as intermediate target groups. The MSAPAP is depicted as six strategies, which are clusters of program activities that are conceptually similar: community engagement, community assessment, accessibility, promotion, education and skill development, and inclusive programming. The logic model shows the 'cause and effect' relationships among program activities, shorter-term outcome objectives (e.g. to reduce user fees for physical activity programs) and longer-term outcome objectives (e.g. to increase the proportion of children who are physically active). The extensive community involvement in planning the MSAPAP facilitated a subsequent plan to develop, implement and evaluate selected program activities in the MSAPAP.

Objective: This paper examines trends in vigorous physical activity participation among students enrolled in grades 7, 9, 11 and 13 in Ontario between 1997 and 2001. Patterns in participation by gender and grade level are also described., Methods: Data were derived from the Ontario Student Drug Use Survey for 1997, 1999, and 2001. Three outcomes of vigorous physical activity were included in self-report questionnaires completed by more than 5,000 students over a three-year period. They responded to the survey in classroom groups during school time. Estimates were weighted and variance and statistical tests have been corrected for the complex sample design., Results: Comparisons between 1997 and 2001 indicated that, overall, patterns of vigorous physical activity remained stable. However, there were significant declines in vigorous physical activity participation by females and 11th grade students between 1997 and 2001., Interpretation: The trends for females and 11th graders are disturbing, since they indicate that the normal gender and age differences in vigorous physical activity participation, found in numerous previous studies, are compounded by declining levels over time for these groups.

In models of HIV fusion, the glycoprotein gp41 is thought to form a six-helix bundle during viral fusion with the target cell. This bundle is comprised of three helical regions (from the heptad repeat 2, or HR2, region of gp41) bound to an inner, trimeric, coiled-coil core (from the HR1 region). Although much has been learned about the structure and thermodynamics of this complex, the energetics of the isolated HR1 self-associated oligomer remain largely unknown. By systematically studying self-association through a series of truncations based on a 51-mer HR1 peptide (T865), we have identified amino acid segments which contribute significantly to the stability of the oligomeric HR1 complex. Biophysical characterization of C-terminal truncations of T865 identifies a 10-15-amino acid region that is essential for HR1 oligomerization. This region coincides with a hydrophobic pocket that provides important contacts for the interaction of HR2 helices. Complete removal of this pocket abolishes HR1 oligomerization. Despite the dramatic reduction in stability, the monomeric HR1 peptides are still able to form stable six-helix bundles in the presence of HR2 peptides. Truncations on the N-terminal side of T865 have little effect on oligomerization but significantly reduce the stability of the HR1-HR2 six-helix bundle. Unlike the HR2 binding site, which extends along a hydrophobic groove on the HR1 oligomer, the residues that are critical for HR1 oligomerization are concentrated in a 10-15-amino acid region. These results demonstrate that there are localizations of binding energy, or "hot spots", in the self-association of peptides derived from the HR1 region of gp41.