Body Satisfaction and Sex Differences in Exercise Motivations

In this study we investigated body satisfaction and sex differences in exercise motivations. We used a questionnaire that assessed the exercise motivations: stress/anxiety, health/fitness level, mood/enjoyment, and appearance/body shape. We had 198 undergraduate participants, 114 females and 84 males between the ages of 18-23 from the University of New Hampshire, Durham campus. Self-objectification is relevant in this topic because males and females feel pressures from society to obtain the “ideal body type”. We found that health/fitness goals are the primary motivators for both males and females. There were statistically significant differences between male and female exercisers desire to lose, gain weight, and be stronger. The majority of both males and females, regardless of exercise behavior, desire to have thinner bodies. The majority of exercising males report no discrepancy in their ideal and actual body types and the majority of exercising females report an ideal body type thinner than their own body

Criticism of Parasocial Interaction Theory in Public Relations Research: A Fan Studies Application Through BTS ARMY Autoethnographies and Situational Theory of Publics

This thesis investigates the reliability and ethics of parasocial interaction theory (PSI) for public relations (PR) practitioners to rely on when creating content or campaigns for fans. Drawing on literature from fan studies and public relations theories, this research proposes situational theory of publics as an alternative theory when researching the motivations and passions of fandom communities. The researcher employs a qualitative multimethod design that integrates individual in-depth interviews (IDIs) with PR practitioners in fan engagement specialist roles and autoethnographic essays written by BTS’ ARMY–a fandom that supports popular K-pop group Bangtan Soyeondan (BTS). The interviews and essays are coded to identify whether the mindset of the fan engagement specialist and fan can be categorized as identifying with PSI or situational theory of publics as part of a qualitative thematic analysis. Findings from both fan engagement specialists and ARMY reveal that they view fans as active publics since fandoms represent community, meaning situational theory of publics best serves as a PR theoretical framework in studying today’s fandom culture. The fan engagement specialists and ARMY share similar views as both parties identify as fans, thus, demonstrating an understanding of fandom from an insider perspective that revealed the positive participatory culture experience. By viewing fans as an active public, the research recommends that PR practitioners use research methods to study the nuances of fan activity to make an authentic connection as a reflection of their audience research, and engage in co-creating practices

Down In Bom - Bombay

https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-vp/4918/thumbnail.jp

The Complexity of Peace: A Case Study of the Peaceful Islamic-Christian Coexistence in Senegal

In the field of Peace and Conflict studies most research focuses on the conflict side while instances of peace receive little attention. This thesis strives to evaluate Robert Ricigliano’s Structural, Attitudinal, and Transactional (SAT) model of peacebuilding by examining the peaceful coexistence between Senegalese Muslims and Christians. Through personal experience and observations, literature review of historical texts, indices, surveys, and journals, statistical analysis, and informal correspondence with Senegalese citizens, this project discusses two main questions: (1) Do Senegalese Muslims and Christians coexist in a genuine peace? (2) If a genuine Islamic-Christian peace exists in Senegal, what factors have significantly fostered this actuality? The findings to these two questions partially support the SAT model. In Senegal, though factors at all three levels of the SAT model exist, structural factors seem much weaker than attitudinal and transactional factors in fostering Islamic-Christian peace. This reinforces the notion of the complexity of peace and conflict and reminds that no formula exists for peacebuilding. Each situation of peace and conflict is unique and therefore will have different and perhaps unbalanced combinations of structural, attitudinal, and transactional factors. These findings will bring new insights and perspectives for how to approach peacebuilding efforts and research

Reproductive tactics in baleen whales

Funding: FE is supported by a University of St Andrews School of Biology Ph.D. scholarship and a Royal Society Research Fellows Enhancement Award (RGF\EA \180213 to ECG), ECG is funded by a Royal Society University Research Fellowship (UF160081 & URF\R\221020), and ELC is funded by a Rutherford Discovery Fellowship from the Royal Society of New Zealand Te Apārangi.While a variety of reproductive tactics are readily witnessed in the odontocetes, such behaviors can be far more elusive, and in some cases, are yet to be observed, in baleen whales. This leads researchers to employ a variety of research methods, some of which have improved greatly in recent decades, to study reproductive behaviors in mysticetes. Genetics and genomics tools can provide invaluable information on maternity, paternity, age, diversity, and kinship, while acoustic tools can provide new insights into the function of sexual displays such as song. In this chapter, we explore what is known about the reproductive strategies and tactics of baleen whales, with a particular focus on the comparatively well-studied right whales (Eubalaena spp.) and humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). Finally, we showcase that by integrating multiple data types, we can explore the interactions between anatomy, physiology, reproductive success, age, population dynamics, and acoustic displays to better understand the mating systems of baleen whales.Publisher PD

Phylogenetically controlled life history trait meta-analysis in cetaceans reveals unexpected negative brain size and longevity correlation

Funding: ELC was supported by a Rutherford Discovery Fellowship from the Royal Society of New Zealand Te Apārangi and EG was supported by a University Research Fellowship from the Royal Society of London.The identification of patterns in trait evolution is essential to understand the interaction of evolutionary forces, and provides useful information for species management. Cetaceans are a phylogenetically well-resolved infraorder that exhibit distinct trait variation across behavioural, molecular and life history dimensions, yet few researchers have applied a meta-analytic or comparative approach to these traits. To understand cetacean trait evolution, we used a phylogenetic generalised least squares approach to examine the cognitive buffer hypothesis (CBH). A large brain should buffer individuals against environmental challenges through increasing survival rates, and a longer lifespan should buffer individuals against the cost of extended development for larger brains according to the CBH, leading to an expected positive correlation between brain size and lifespan. In contrast to this expectation, previously observed in taxa including primates, we found a negative correlation between brain size and lifespan in cetaceans. This suggests cetaceans experience selective pressures different from most other mammals in these traits but may be more similar to some social mammalian carnivores that display alloparenting. We also provide a comprehensive dataset to explore additional aspects of trait evolution but which would greatly benefit from studies on behavioural ecology across cetaceans and increased focus on data deficient species.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Improving ICSI success rates following root cause analysis and use of system behaviour charts: the devil is in the detail!

A fertility clinic observed a reduction in its fresh intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) implantation rate key performance indicator (KPI) below benchmark threshold which was further monitored but did not improve. The clinic had been performing ICSI successfully for >16 years with good ICSI implantation rates meeting benchmark level. A root cause analysis (RCA) was conducted, including the input from an external observer, reviewing all systems and processes. A bundle of recommended changes was implemented as part of an improvement cycle with the aim to increase fresh ICSI implantation rates back to benchmark. Quality improvement (QI) methodology and tools were used including Statistical-Process-Control charts (BaseLine SAASoft). Measurements included standard clinical outcome data. KPIs were tracked following defined and controlled clinical and laboratory changes. Fresh ICSI implantation rates improved significantly (p=0.013, ChiSq). The improvement work was limited by its design of a plan-do-study-act (PDSA) cycle ‘intervention bundle’ as opposed to small PDSA cycles of single changes. Therefore, the improvement could not be attributed to any singular intervention within the bundle. It took longer than anticipated to see improvement due to the impact of the pandemic. The QI project highlighted the difficulty for clinics with low cycle volumes to sensitively monitor KPI’s in a timely and responsive way. The need to accumulate sufficient data to be confident of any trends/concerns means small clinics could be less responsive to any problems or too reactive to false positives. It is important to disseminate the learning from this improvement work because there is currently no agreed standardised optimal protocol for ICSI, resulting in clinics using slightly different approaches, and there are limited published reports where embryology KPI’s are tracked following defined and controlled laboratory/clinical changes. This project provides useful knowledge about ICSI improvement interventions and could be more effective within a larger clinic with higher cycle volumes

Future directions in Eubalaena spp. : comparative research to inform conservation

All three extant right whales [Eubalaena australis (Southern; SRW), glacialis (North Atlantic; NARW), and japonica (North Pacific; NPRW)] were heavily exploited, and the status of the two northern hemisphere species remains precarious. Recently, limited gains made by the NARW have been reversed and urgent changes to management approaches are needed if extinction is to be averted. By contrast, some SRW populations are recovering. Given their close phylogenetic relationship, morphological, demographic, and ecological similarities, the contrasting recovery rates between populations and species provide an opportunity to apply a comparative approach to inform the differences in recovery as follows. (1) Recovery: All right whale species were internationally protected in 1931, but NARW, eastern NPRW and some SRW populations have barely recovered from whaling, while others are doing so at maximal rates. Are these differences a legacy of extreme depletion (e.g., loss of genetic diversity and cultural knowledge) or primarily due to anthropogenic factors (e.g., high mortality from ship strike and fisheries entanglement)? If modern anthropogenic threats are not affecting remote SRW populations, can these serve as baseline populations for comparison with NARW and NPRW? (2) Linking individuals to population-level responses: In wild mammals, strong links exist between reproductive indices and environmental conditions within the context of life-history strategies. Individual identification of whales provides the ability to track survival, reproduction and other demographic parameters, and their population-level consequences, providing the tools with which to uncover these links. Robust life-history analyses are now available for NARW and several SRW populations, linking demography with environmental conditions, providing the potential for teasing out important influencing factors. (3) Adapting to shifting resources: Recent reproductive declines in NARW appear linked to changing food resources. While we know some large-scale movement patterns for NARW and a few SRW populations, we know little of mesoscale movements. For NPRW and some SRW populations, even broad-scale movements are poorly understood. In the face of climate change, can methodological advances help identify Eubalaena distributional and migratory responses? (4) Emergent diseases and the vulnerability of populations under stress: Marine mammals are vulnerable to infectious diseases, particularly when subjected to stressors such as fishing gear entanglements, acoustic disturbance, and prey shortages. New tools to assess large whale health include body condition imaging, viromes, microbiomes, as well as metabolic and stress hormones. Comparative analysis of the three Eubalaena spp. could identify causes of varying recovery. (5) Comparative synthesis and cumulative effects: The lack of a good analytical approach for cumulative effects is an urgent bio-statistical problem in conservation biology. Without such a framework every stressor is managed in isolation, limiting efficacy. We propose a comparative synthesis to inform future cumulative effect analyses and outline future research priorities to achieve these goals.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Bacteria colonies modify their shear and compressive mechanical properties in response to different growth substrates

Bacteria build multicellular communities termed biofilms, which are often encased in a self-secreted extracellular matrix that gives the community mechanical strength and protection against harsh chemicals. How bacteria assemble distinct multicellular structures in response to different environmental conditions remains incompletely understood. Here, we investigated the connection between bacteria colony mechanics and the colony growth substrate by measuring the oscillatory shear and compressive rheology of bacteria colonies grown on agar substrates. We found that bacteria colonies modify their own mechanical properties in response to shear and uniaxial compression with the increasing agar concentration of their growth substrate. These findings highlight that mechanical interactions between bacteria and their microenvironment are an important element in bacteria colony development, which can aid in developing strategies to disrupt or reduce biofilm growth.Comment: biophysics, soft matter, biofilm rheology, biofilm mechanic