Repairing the Broken Mirror: Understanding Men\u27s Muscularity-Focused Body Image Concerns Through the Lens of Gender Role Conflict and Self-Compassion.

Psychological research pertaining to the study of men and masculinity has discerned that men are increasingly becoming dissatisfied with their bodies. However, men’s body image research has been neglected as researchers originally concluded that only women were impacted. However, the last 20 years has begun to elucidate factors and consequences of muscularity-focused body image dissatisfaction among men. Particularly, some men engage in dangerous behaviors (e.g., excessive exercise, dieting, steroid use) in order to obtain a body with large biceps, chiseled chest, and defined abdominal muscles. Also, more men are experiencing characteristics of muscle dysmorphia (MD), a subtype of body dysmorphic disorder, in which they believe that they are not big enough and continue to abuse steroids, excessively exercise, engage in body checking behaviors, and sacrifice work/life balance and interpersonal relationships. Although there is an increase in men with negative body image and symptoms indicative of muscle MD, there has been scant literature examining factors that precipitate and mitigate body dissatisfaction, drive for muscularity, and MD characteristics. Therefore, the current dissertation study examined a mediation model associating conformity to traditional masculine norms with body dissatisfaction, drive for muscularity, and MD characteristics, identifying both gender role conflict and self-compassion as mediators of this relation. A total of 154 college-aged heterosexual men completed counterbalanced measures pertaining to the aforementioned constructs and results suggested that gender socialization (i.e., traditional masculine ideology and GRC) was positively related to body dissatisfaction, drive for muscularity, and MD characteristics. Also, self-compassion was found to be negatively related to body dissatisfaction, drive for muscularity, and MD characteristics. However, both self-compassion and GRC did not mediate the relationship between traditional masculine ideology and body dissatisfaction, drive for muscularity, and MD characteristics. Implications for mental health practitioners and researchers, limitations of the study, and directions for future research are provided. Advisor: M. Meghan Davidso

Linking Maryland - An Analysis of a Broadband Grant Program

A decade before Covid 19, educators first wrote about the homework gap, a phenomenon where students have reduced school achievement due to a lack of reliable broadband access at home. The pandemic has only served to emphasize how broadband has become an absolute necessity in our children’s academic success. This paper examines Linking Maryland, a hypothetical grant program designed to encourage local actors to come up with innovative solutions to help expand reliable broadband into communities in need. Unlike similar programs, Linking Maryland does not place restrictions on the use of wireless technology. Upon examination, it was determined that Linking Maryland was not a viable policy solution. This recommendation was based on several factors including cost, political realities, overlap and competition, etc

The short-term market reaction to U.S. bank M&As

This study examines the short-term shareholder wealth effects to U.S. bank mergers and acquisitions (M&As) that were announced and completed between 1989 and 2004. Using various event windows, the cumulative abnormal returns (CARs) to target firms are positive, bidder firm abnormal returns are negative, and the combined CARs are positive. This result is consistent with the synergy and hubris hypothesis wherein bank M&As are wealth-creating events as synergies exist; however, bidders may overpay to realize these gains. The M&As are examined by the method with which they are financed, namely, cash, or a combination of cash, stock, and/or debt, versus stock only. The target, bidder and combined mean CARs for M&As that are financed by a cash or combination payment are higher than those that are financed by stock for the full sample period and the 1999 – 2003 sub-sample period. Furthermore, the results indicate a positive and statistically significant relationship between the bidder and combined CARs and cash or combination payments. Further evidence presented suggests a positive and statistically significant relationship between the target CARs and whether the M&A is geographically focusing (intrastate), with no corresponding relationship existing for the bidder and combined firms. Results, however, do indicate that the mean combined CARs are higher for intrastate compared to interstate M&As. In addition, the target, bidder and combined CARs are driven in part by the relative size of the merger parties

An Overview of Double-Crested Cormorant Management to Protect Natural Resources in Michigan: The First Five Years (2004-2008)

Michigan, like other Great Lakes states, experienced a tremendous increase of double-crested cormorants (DCCO) in the 1990s that prompted substantial concern about their impacts on natural resources such as sport fish, nesting birds and vegetation. To address these issues, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued the Public Resource Depredation Order (PRDO) in November 2003 that created a new authority for managing DCCO damage. In this overview, we provide a summary of the collective implementation of the new authority by two agencies, i.e., USDA, Wildlife Services (WS) and five Native American governments for the first five years of PRDO in Michigan. DCCO management under PRDO has been implemented primarily to protect fish species important to both sport and commercial fisheries in many locations but can be categorized in three types of circumstances: 1) during spring migration at locations where DCCOs congregate in large numbers for a period of approximately three weeks; 2) at or near nesting colonies during and shortly after nesting; and 3) in the vicinity of fish stocking sites until the fish disperse. While it is too early to draw definitive conclusions, there is evidence that suggests that as a result of management, in some locations DCCO numbers have been reduced and that the corresponding fisheries have improved

DEVELOPING A STRATEGY OF PREDATOR CONTROL FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE CALIFORNIA LEAST TERN: A CASE HISTORY

In recent years, predation has been determined to be a seriously limiting factor in the reproduction of the endangered California least tern (Sterna antillarum browni) at many of its nesting colonies. Among them is a major colony at Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base near Oceanside, CA. Early efforts to control predation were limited in effectiveness. In 1988, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal Damage Control Program was contracted to provide control of mammalian and avian predators. The development of the successful strategy that has evolved over four years is discussed, with emphasis on the development and application of techniques, and the timing and areas of control

Tricarballylic ester formation during biosynthesis of fumonisin mycotoxins in \u3ci\u3eFusarium verticillioides\u3c/i\u3e

Fumonisins are agriculturally important mycotoxins produced by the maize pathogen Fusarium verticillioides. The chemical structure of fumonisins contains two tricarballylic esters, which are rare structural moieties and important for toxicity. The mechanism for the tricarballylic ester formation is not well understood. FUM7 gene of F. verticillioides was predicted to encode a dehydrogenase/reductase, and when it was deleted, the mutant produced tetradehydro fumonisins (DH4–FB). MS and NMR analysis of DH4–FB1 indicated that the esters consist of aconitate with a 3′-alkene function, rather than a 2′-alkene function. Interestingly, the purified DH4–FB1 eventually yielded three chromatographic peaks in HPLC. However, MS revealed that the metabolites of the three peaks all had the same mass as the initial single-peak DH4–FB1. The results suggest that DH4–FB1 can undergo spontaneous isomerization, probably including both cis–trans stereoisomerization and 3′- to 2′-ene regioisomerization. In addition, when FUM7 was expressed in Escherichia coli and the resulting enzyme, Fum7p, was incubated with DH4–FB, no fumonisin with typical tricarballylic esters was formed. Instead, new fumonisin analogs that probably contained isocitrate and/or oxalosuccinate esters were formed, which reveals new insight into fumonisin biosynthesis. Together, the data provided both genetic and biochemical evidence for the mechanism of tricarballylic ester formation in fumonisin biosynthesis

Tricarballylic ester formation during biosynthesis of fumonisin mycotoxins in \u3ci\u3eFusarium verticillioides\u3c/i\u3e

Fumonisins are agriculturally important mycotoxins produced by the maize pathogen Fusarium verticillioides. The chemical structure of fumonisins contains two tricarballylic esters, which are rare structural moieties and important for toxicity. The mechanism for the tricarballylic ester formation is not well understood. FUM7 gene of F. verticillioides was predicted to encode a dehydrogenase/reductase, and when it was deleted, the mutant produced tetradehydro fumonisins (DH4–FB). MS and NMR analysis of DH4–FB1 indicated that the esters consist of aconitate with a 3′-alkene function, rather than a 2′-alkene function. Interestingly, the purified DH4–FB1 eventually yielded three chromatographic peaks in HPLC. However, MS revealed that the metabolites of the three peaks all had the same mass as the initial single-peak DH4–FB1. The results suggest that DH4–FB1 can undergo spontaneous isomerization, probably including both cis–trans stereoisomerization and 3′- to 2′-ene regioisomerization. In addition, when FUM7 was expressed in Escherichia coli and the resulting enzyme, Fum7p, was incubated with DH4–FB, no fumonisin with typical tricarballylic esters was formed. Instead, new fumonisin analogs that probably contained isocitrate and/or oxalosuccinate esters were formed, which reveals new insight into fumonisin biosynthesis. Together, the data provided both genetic and biochemical evidence for the mechanism of tricarballylic ester formation in fumonisin biosynthesis

Generation of virus-specific cytotoxic T cells in vitro I. Induction conditions of primary and secondary Sendai virus-specific cytotoxic T cells

H-2-restricted cytotoxic T cells specific for Sendai virus were generated in vitro in a primary response from normal mouse lymphocytes cultured in the presence of infective as well as inactivated Sendai virus. Antigen-presenting cells of different origin, including T cells, were found to be effective stimulators. Antibodies to Sendai virus were shown to inhibit the activation of specific precursor killer cells when added to cultures before, but not after, the addition of viral antigen. Data obtained by Lyt phenotyping, revealed that precursor killer cells specific for Sendai virus reside in the Lyt-2,3+ T cell population and that Lyt-l,2,3+ T cells are not required for the generation of cytotoxic lymphocytes. Different activation kinetics were demonstrated for primary and secondary antiviral cytotoxic responses, and the analysis of the proliferation and stimulation requirements suggests qualitative differences