2,872 research outputs found
I'm not just fat, I'm old: Has the study of body image overlooked " old talk"?
Background: Research indicates that body dissatisfaction is correlated with and often predictive of both physical and mental health problems. " Fat talk," a well-studied form of body image talk in adolescents and university-aged women, has been implicated as contributing to body dissatisfaction and mediating the relationship between body dissatisfaction and other mental health problems. Limited research, however, has investigated fat talk across the female lifespan. Further, consistent with most body image research, fat talk research solely focuses on the thin dimension of idealized female attractiveness, even though other dimensions may contribute to body dissatisfaction in women. Method: The current study investigated whether or not " old talk," a hereto un-described form of body image talk, appears to be a parallel, but distinct, form of body image talk that taps into the young dimension of the thin-young-ideal standard of female beauty. An international, internet sample of women (aged 18-87, N = 914) completed questionnaires aimed at assessing fat talk, old talk, body image disturbance, and eating disorder pathology. Results: Results indicated that both fat talk and old talk were reported by women across the lifespan, although they evidenced different trajectories of frequency. Like fat talk, old talk was significantly correlated with body image disturbance and eating disorder pathology, albeit at a lower rate than fat talk in the total sample. Old talk was more highly correlated with ageing appearance anxiety than fat talk, and the correlation between old talk and body image disturbance and ED pathology increased with women's ages. Conclusion: Results suggest that old talk is a form of body image talk that is related to but distinct from fat talk. Old talk appears to be similarly problematic to fat talk for women whose age increases their deviation from the thin-young-ideal. Further research into the phenomenon of old talk is warranted as is increased attention to fat talk across the full lifespan of women. © 2013 Becker et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd
Initial Development of a Patient-Reported Instrument Assessing Harm, Efficacy, and Misuse of Long-Term Opioid Therapy
Guidelines on long-term opioid therapy recommend frequent reassessment of harm, efficacy, and misuse of these potentially harmful and sometimes ineffective medications. In primary care, there is a need for a brief, patient-reported instrument. This report details the initial steps in the development of such an instrument. An interdisciplinary team of clinician-scientists performed four discrete steps in this study: (1) conceptualization of the purpose and function of the instrument, (2) assembly of an item pool, (3) expert rating on which items were most important to include in the instrument, and (4) modification of expert-selected items based on a reading level check and cognitive interviews with patients. A diverse panel of 47 subject matter experts was presented with 69 items to rate on a 1â9 scale in terms of importance for inclusion in the instrument. The panel highly rated 37 items: 8 related to harm, 4 related to efficacy, and 25 related to misuse. These 37 items were then tested for patient comprehension and modified as needed. Next steps in development will include further item reduction, testing against a gold standard, and assessment of the instrumentâs effect on clinical outcomes
Struggling and juggling: a comparison of assessment loads in research and teaching-intensive universities
In spite of the rising tide of metrics in UK higher education, there has been scant attention paid to assessment loads, when evidence demonstrates that heavy demands lead to surface learning. Our study seeks to redress the situation by defining assessment loads and comparing them across research-and teaching intensive universities. We clarify the concept of âassessment loadâ in response to findings about high volumes of summative assessment on modular degrees. We define assessment load across whole undergraduate degrees, according to four measures: the volume of summative assessment; volume of formative assessment; proportion of examinations to coursework; number of different varieties of assessment. All four factors contribute to the weight of an assessment load, and influence studentsâ approaches to learning. Our research compares programme assessment data from 73 programmes in 14 UK universities, across two institutional categories. Research-intensives have higher summative assessment loads and a greater proportion of examinations; teaching-intensives have higher varieties of assessment. Formative assessment does not differ significantly across both university groups. These findings pose particular challenges for students in different parts of the sector. Our study questions the wisdom that âmoreâ is always better, proposing that lighter assessment loads may make room for âslowâ and deep learning
Detection of Vacuum Birefringence with Intense Laser Pulses
We propose a novel technique that promises hope of being the first to
directly detect a polarization in the quantum electrodynamic (QED) vacuum. The
technique is based upon the use of ultra-short pulses of light circulating in
low dispersion optical resonators. We show that the technique circumvents the
need for large scale liquid helium cooled magnets, and more importantly avoids
the experimental pitfalls that plague existing experiments that make use of
these magnets. Likely improvements in the performance of optics and lasers
would result in the ability to observe vacuum polarization in an experiment of
only a few hours duration.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur
Engaging stakeholder communities as body image intervention partners: The Body Project as a case example
© 2015 Elsevier Ltd Despite recent advances in developing evidence-based psychological interventions, substantial changes are needed in the current system of intervention delivery to impact mental health on a global scale (Kazdin & Blase, 2011). Prevention offers one avenue for reaching large populations because prevention interventions often are amenable to scaling-up strategies, such as task-shifting to lay providers, which further facilitate community stakeholder partnerships. This paper discusses the dissemination and implementation of the Body Project, an evidence-based body image prevention program, across 6 diverse stakeholder partnerships that span academic, non-profit and business sectors at national and international levels. The paper details key elements of the Body Project that facilitated partnership development, dissemination and implementation, including use of community-based participatory research methods and a blended train-the-trainer and task-shifting approach. We observed consistent themes across partnerships, including: sharing decision making with community partners, engaging of community leaders as gatekeepers, emphasizing strengths of community partners, working within the community's structure, optimizing non-traditional and/or private financial resources, placing value on cost-effectiveness and sustainability, marketing the program, and supporting flexibility and creativity in developing strategies for evolution within the community and in research. Ideally, lessons learned with the Body Project can be generalized to implementation of other body image and eating disorder prevention programs
Coherent multi-flavour spin dynamics in a fermionic quantum gas
Microscopic spin interaction processes are fundamental for global static and
dynamical magnetic properties of many-body systems. Quantum gases as pure and
well isolated systems offer intriguing possibilities to study basic magnetic
processes including non-equilibrium dynamics. Here, we report on the
realization of a well-controlled fermionic spinor gas in an optical lattice
with tunable effective spin ranging from 1/2 to 9/2. We observe long-lived
intrinsic spin oscillations and investigate the transition from two-body to
many-body dynamics. The latter results in a spin-interaction driven melting of
a band insulator. Via an external magnetic field we control the system's
dimensionality and tune the spin oscillations in and out of resonance. Our
results open new routes to study quantum magnetism of fermionic particles
beyond conventional spin 1/2 systems.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figure
Optically induced coherent intra-band dynamics in disordered semiconductors
On the basis of a tight-binding model for a strongly disordered semiconductor
with correlated conduction- and valence band disorder a new coherent dynamical
intra-band effect is analyzed. For systems that are excited by two, specially
designed ultrashort light-pulse sequences delayed by tau relatively to each
other echo-like phenomena are predicted to occur. In addition to the inter-band
photon echo which shows up at exactly t=2*tau relative to the first pulse, the
system responds with two spontaneous intra-band current pulses preceding and
following the appearance of the photon echo. The temporal splitting depends on
the electron-hole mass ratio. Calculating the population relaxation rate due to
Coulomb scattering, it is concluded that the predicted new dynamical effect
should be experimentally observable in an interacting and strongly disordered
system, such as the Quantum-Coulomb-Glass.Comment: to be published in Physical Review B15 February 200
The optical spectra of X-shaped radio galaxies
X-shaped radio galaxies are defined by their peculiar large-scale radio
morphology. In addition to the classical double-lobed structure they have a
pair of low-luminosity wings that straddles the nucleus at almost right angles
to the active lobes, thus giving the impression of an 'X'. In this paper we
study for the first time the optical spectral properties of this object class
using a large sample (~50 sources). We find that the X-shaped radio population
is composed roughly equally of sources with weak and strong emission line
spectra, which makes them, in combination with the well-known fact that they
preferentially have radio powers intermediate between those of Fanaroff-Riley
type I (FR I) and type II (FR II) radio galaxies, the archetypal transition
population. We do not find evidence in support of the proposition that the
X-shape is the result of a recent merger: X-shaped radio sources do not have
unusually broad emission lines, their nuclear environments are in general not
dusty, and their host galaxies do not show signs of enhanced star formation.
Instead, we observe that the nuclear regions of X-shaped radio sources have
relatively high temperatures. This finding favours models, which propose that
the X-shape is the result of an overpressured environment.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures, accepted by MNRA
The Legacy of Hope Summit: A Consensus-Based Initiative and Report on Eating Disorders in the U.S. and Recommendations for the Path Forward
Background: Several unsuccessful attempts have been made to reach a cross-disciplinary consensus on issues fundamental to the field of eating disorders in the United States (U.S.). In January 2020, 25 prominent clinicians, academicians, researchers, persons with lived experience, and thought leaders in the U.S. eating disorders community gathered at the Legacy of Hope Summit to try again. This paper articulates the points on which they reached a consensus. It also: (1) outlines strategies for implementing those recommendations; (2) identifies likely obstacles to their implementation; and (3) charts a course for successfully navigating and overcoming those challenges.
Methods: Iterative and consensual processes were employed throughout the Summit and the development of this manuscript.
Results: The conclusion of the Summit culminated in several consensus points, including: (1) Eating disorder outcomes and prevention efforts can be improved by implementing creative health education initiatives that focus on societal perceptions, early detection, and timely, effective intervention; (2) Such initiatives should be geared toward parents/guardians, families, other caretakers, and frontline healthcare providers in order to maximize impact; (3) Those afflicted with eating disorders, their loved ones, and the eating disorders community as a whole would benefit from greater accessibility to affordable, quality care, as well as greater transparency and accountability on the part of in-hospital, residential, and outpatient health care providers with respect to their qualifications, methodologies, and standardized outcomes; (4) Those with lived experience with eating disorders, their loved ones, health care providers, and the eating disorders community as a whole, also would benefit from the establishment and maintenance of treatment program accreditation, professional credentialing, and treatment type and levels of care guidelines; and (5) The establishment and implementation of effective, empirically/evidence-based standards of care requires research across a diverse range of populations, adequate private and government funding, and the free exchange of ideas and information among all who share a commitment to understanding, treating, and, ultimately, markedly diminishing the negative impact of eating disorders.
Conclusions: Widespread uptake and implementation of these recommendations has the potential to unify and advance the eating disorders field and ultimately improve the lives of those affected. A cross-disciplinary group of eating disorder professionals, thought leaders, and persons with lived experience have come together and reached a consensus on issues that are fundamental to the battle against the life-threatening and life-altering illnesses that are eating spectrum disorders. Those issues include: (1) the need for early detection, intervention, prevention, and evidenced-based standards of care; (2) the critical need to make specialized care more accessible and affordable to all those in need; (3) the importance of developing uniform, evidenced-based standards of care; (4) the need for funding and conducting eating spectrum disorder research; and (5) the indispensability of advocacy, education, and legislation where these illnesses are concerned. During the consensus process, the authors also arrived at strategies for implementing their recommendations, identified likely obstacles to their implementation, and charted a course for successfully navigating and overcoming those challenges. Above all else, the authors demonstrated that consensus in the field of eating spectrum disorders is possible and achievable and, in doing so, lit a torch of hope that is certain to light the path forward for years to come
The impact of Cochrane Systematic Reviews : a mixed method evaluation of outputs from Cochrane Review Groups supported by the UK National Institute for Health Research
© 2014 Bunn et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.Background: There has been a growing emphasis on evidence-informed decision making in health care. Systematic reviews, such as those produced by the Cochrane Collaboration, have been a key component of this movement. The UK National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Systematic Review Programme currently supports 20 Cochrane Review Groups (CRGs). The aim of this study was to identify the impacts of Cochrane reviews published by NIHR funded CRGs during the years 2007-11. Methods: We sent questionnaires to CRGs and review authors, interviewed guideline developers and used bibliometrics and documentary review to get an overview of CRG impact and to evaluate the impact of a sample of 60 Cochrane reviews. We used a framework with four categories (knowledge production, research targeting, informing policy development, and impact on practice/services). Results: A total of 1502 new and updated reviews were produced by the 20 NIHR funded CRGs between 2007-11. The clearest impacts were on policy with a total of 483 systematic reviews cited in 247 sets of guidance; 62 were international, 175 national (87 from the UK) and 10 local. Review authors and CRGs provided some examples of impact on practice or services, for example safer use of medication, the identification of new effective drugs or treatments and potential economic benefits through the reduction in the use of unproven or unnecessary procedures. However, such impacts are difficult to objectively document and the majority of reviewers were unsure if their review had produced specific impacts. Qualitative data suggested that Cochrane reviews often play an instrumental role in informing guidance although a poor fit with guideline scope or methods, reviews being out of date and a lack of communication between CRGs and guideline developers were barriers to their use. Conclusions: Health and economic impacts of research are generally difficult to measure. We found that to be the case with this evaluation. Impacts on knowledge production and clinical guidance were easier to identify and substantiate than those on clinical practice. Questions remain about how we define and measure impact and more work is needed to develop suitable methods for impact analysis.Peer reviewe
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