The Benefits and Barriers of Physical Activity among College Students

According to the DHHS, one third of adults in the United States do not participate in enough physical activity (Coronado, Sos, Talbot, Do & Taylor, 2010). Physical inactivity is a serious health problem among university students, (Irwin, 2007, p.40). This poses a great danger to students who have serious health issues. Thirty-seven percent of the college student population is overweight, with 11 % being obese, (Berg, An, Ahluwalia, 2013, p. 389). Even though the benefits of participating in physical activity are proven to increase psychological and physiological health, many college students do not meet the minimal recommendations for physical activity (Kilpatrick, Herbert & Bartholomew, 2005). Obesity has increased among college students due to lack of exercise and sedentary lifestyle, such as long periods of sitting and inactivity (Bragg, Carolyn, Kaye & Desmond, 2009). Specifically, weight gain in the first few years of college is becoming an important concern affecting the likelihood that more young adults are, or will become obese, (Gruber, 2008, p.557). On average, weight gain is greater among college students compared to the general population (English, 2009). However, students can improve their health by including exercise 5 days each week for 30 min (English, 2009). Students have an array of physical activity options available to them through campus recreational facilities; for example, recreational sports, games, weight lifting, swimming, or outdoor activities. These activities range from moderate to vigorous intensity levels (Coronado, Sos, Talbot, Do & Taylor, 2010). While it may appear simplistic to engage in these activities, there are challenges and barriers that can impede students from reaping the benefits of physical activity. The purpose of this paper is to provide a brief overview of the benefits and challenges of physical activity for college students

Sexual Attitudes as Predictors of Homonegativity in College Women

Rancorous attitudes toward lesbian women and gay men are widespread in the United States (Morrison, Parriag, & Morrison, 1999). Homonegativity is any prejudicial attitude or discriminatory behavior directed toward an individual because of his or her homosexual orientation (Morrison, McLeod, Morrison, Anderson, & O’Connor, 1997). A small amount of research has been done regarding women’s attitudes towards lesbians. The purpose of this study is to investigate the potential relationship between sexual attitude expression and homonegativity. It was hypothesized that females with conservative sexual attitudes would show higher levels of homonegativity, and females with liberal sexual attitudes should show more non-homonegative expression towards lesbians. A correlation analysis supported the hypothesis (r =.73, p \u3c .01) indicating a positive correlation

The State of Fraternity and Sorority Life in Higher Education

Since the establishment of the first fraternity Phi Beta Kappa in 1776, fraternities and sororities have had a 200-year-old history on college campuses in the United States. Fraternity and sorority life has become an important opportunity for students to get involved, gain leadership skills, and develop into global citizens. Despite a long standing history, the threat on the sustainability of these organizations has increased over the years. Hazing, alcohol abuse, and negative media attention have created challenges for Greek-letter organizations. The purpose of this article is to explore the historical context of fraternity and sorority life, the issues that are impacting the Greek community, and provide recommendations for student affairs professionals

Examining the Responsibilities of Faculty Senates

Faculty senates function to preserve and represent the interest of the faculty during the decision-making process. The purpose of this article is to initiate dialogue focused on increasing the influence of the faculty senates in an era of declining power

Elucidating Drivers for Variations in the Explosive Human Immunodeficiency Virus Epidemic among People Who Inject Drugs in Pakistan

BACKGROUND: Pakistan’s explosive human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic among people who inject drugs (PWID) varies widely across cities. We evaluated possible drivers for these variations. METHODS: Multivariable regression analyses were undertaken using data from 5 national surveys among PWID (n = 18 467; 2005–2017) to determine risk factors associated with variations in city-level HIV prevalence. A dynamic HIV model was used to estimate the population-attributable fraction (PAF; proportion of HIV infections prevented over 10 years when that risk factor is removed) of these risk factors to HIV transmission and impact on HIV incidence of reducing their prevalence. RESULTS: Regression analyses suggested that city-level HIV prevalence is strongly associated with the prevalence of using professional injectors at last injection, heroin use in last month, and injecting ≥4 times per day. Through calibrating a model to these associations, we estimate that the 10-year PAFs of using professional injectors, heroin use, and frequent injecting are 45.3% (95% uncertainty interval [UI], 4.3%–79.7%), 45.9% (95% UI, 8.1%–78.4%), and 22.2% (95% UI, 2.0%–58.4%), respectively. Reducing to lowest city-level prevalences of using professional injectors (2.8%; median 89.9% reduction), heroin use (0.9%; median 91.2% reduction), and frequent injecting (0.1%; median 91.8% reduction) in 2020 reduces overall HIV incidence by 52.7% (95% UI, 6.1%–82.0%), 53.0% (95% UI, 11.3%–80.2%), and 28.1% (95% UI, 2.7%–66.6%), respectively, over 10 years. CONCLUSIONS: Interventions should focus on these risk factors to control Pakistan’s explosive HIV epidemic among PWID, including a concomitant expansion of high-coverage needle/syringe provision, opioid substitution therapy, and antiretroviral therapy

Progress report no. 2

Statement of responsibility on title-page reads: Editors: I.A. Forbes, M.J. Driscoll, N.C. Rasmussen, D.D. Lanning and I. Kaplan; Contributors: S.T. Brewer, G.J. Brown, P.DeLaquil, III, M.J. Driscoll, I.A. Forbes, C.W. Forsberg, E.P. Gyftopoulos, P.L. Hendrick, C.S. Kang, I. Kaplan, J.L. Klucar, D.D. Lanning, T.C. Leung, E.A. Mason, N.R. Ortiz, N.A. Passman, N.C. Rasmussen, I.C. Rickard, V.C. Rogers, G.E. Sullivan, A.T. Supple, and C. P. TzanosIncludes bibliographical referencesProgress report; June 30, 1971U.S. Atomic Energy Commission contract AT(11-1)306

Effects of Grassland Management Practices on Ant Functional Groups in Central North America

Tallgrass prairies of central North America have experienced disturbances including fire and grazing for millennia. Little is known about the effects of these disturbances on prairie ants, even though ants are thought to play major roles in ecosystem maintenance. We implemented three management treatments on remnant and restored grassland tracts in the central U.S., and compared the effects of treatment on abundance of ant functional groups. Management treatments were: (1) patch-burn graze—rotational burning of three spatially distinct patches within a fenced tract, and growing-season cattle grazing; (2) graze-and-burn—burning entire tract every 3 years, and growing-season cattle grazing, and (3) burn-only—burning entire tract every 3 years, but no cattle grazing. Ant species were classified into one of four functional groups. Opportunist ants and the dominant ant species, Formica montana, were more abundant in burn-only tracts than tracts managed with either of the grazing treatments. Generalists were more abundant in graze-and-burn tracts than in burn-only tracts. Abundance of F. montana was negatively associated with pre-treatment time since fire, whereas generalist ant abundance was positively associated. F. montanawere more abundant in restored tracts than remnants, whereas the opposite was true for subdominants and opportunists. In summary, abundance of the dominant F. montana increased in response to intense disturbances that were followed by quick recovery of plant biomass. Generalist ant abundance decreased in response to those disturbances, which we attribute to the effects of competitive dominance of F. montana upon the generalists

The UCSC Genome Browser database: extensions and updates 2011

The University of California Santa Cruz Genome Browser (http://genome.ucsc.edu) offers online public access to a growing database of genomic sequence and annotations for a wide variety of organisms. The Browser is an integrated tool set for visualizing, comparing, analyzing and sharing both publicly available and user-generated genomic data sets. In the past year, the local database has been updated with four new species assemblies, and we anticipate another four will be released by the end of 2011. Further, a large number of annotation tracks have been either added, updated by contributors, or remapped to the latest human reference genome. Among these are new phenotype and disease annotations, UCSC genes, and a major dbSNP update, which required new visualization methods. Growing beyond the local database, this year we have introduced ‘track data hubs’, which allow the Genome Browser to provide access to remotely located sets of annotations. This feature is designed to significantly extend the number and variety of annotation tracks that are publicly available for visualization and analysis from within our site. We have also introduced several usability features including track search and a context-sensitive menu of options available with a right-click anywhere on the Browser's image

Molecular composition of organic aerosols in central Amazonia: An ultra-high-resolution mass spectrometry study

The Amazon Basin plays key role in atmospheric chemistry, biodiversity and climate change. In this study we applied nanoelectrospray (nanoESI) ultra-high-resolution mass spectrometry (UHRMS) for the analysis of the organic fraction of PM2.5 aerosol samples collected during dry and wet seasons at a site in central Amazonia receiving background air masses, biomass burning and urban pollution. Comprehensive mass spectral data evaluation methods (e.g. Kendrick mass defect, Van Krevelen diagrams, carbon oxidation state and aromaticity equivalent) were used to identify compound classes and mass distributions of the detected species. Nitrogen-and/or sulfur-containing organic species contributed up to 60% of the total identified number of formulae. A large number of molecular formulae in organic aerosol (OA) were attributed to later-generation nitrogen-and sulfur-containing oxidation products, suggesting that OA composition is affected by biomass burning and other, potentially anthropogenic, sources. Isoprene-derived organosulfate (IEPOX-OS) was found to be the most dominant ion in most of the analysed samples and strongly followed the concentration trends of the gas-phase anthropogenic tracers confirming its mixed anthropogenic-biogenic origin. The presence of oxidised aromatic and nitro-aromatic compounds in the samples suggested a strong influence from biomass burning especially during the dry period. Aerosol samples from the dry period and under enhanced biomass burning conditions contained a large number of molecules with high carbon oxidation state and an increased number of aromatic compounds compared to that from the wet period. The results of this work demonstrate that the studied site is influenced not only by biogenic emissions from the forest but also by biomass burning and potentially other anthropogenic emissions from the neighbouring urban environments. © 2016 Author(s)