Just Pin It: Understanding the Dynamics of Pinterest Use, Motivation, Self-Efficacy, and Health Behaviors

Image-based social media platforms, such as Pinterest, have revolutionized how individuals seek, share, and interpret health information. Previous research suggests a link between consuming social media content and intentions to engage in health behaviors; however, it is unclear if individuals who actively seek health-related information on social media engage in healthier behaviors. This mixed-methods study explored the relationships among Pinterest use, motivations, self-efficacy, and health behaviors. Women participants (n = 227) completed surveys that included sociodemographic characteristics, motivation, self-efficacy, Pinterest use, and diet and exercise behaviors. Independent samples t-tests assessed differences in exercise behaviors, and multivariate analyses of variance determined differences in dietary behaviors. Open-ended short answers were coded using thematic analysis. There were no differences in dietary (p= .18) or exercise behaviors (p = .23) between Pinterest users and non-users. Curating health-related content was related to higher diet self-efficacy (r = .25), though there were no differences in dietary (p = .06) or exercise (p = .51) behaviors between Pinterest users with health-related boards and those without health-related boards. Four themes emerged from the qualitative data: (1) Motivation to change; (2) Construction of a health toolkit; (3) The best of intentions; and (4) Looking to the future. Findings suggest that health-related content is pinned to inspire health behavior change; however, just engaging with the content on Pinterest is different than applying the information to the point of behavior change

Managing Employees In Higher Education Transformation: Exploring The Goal Of Vision 10: 2022 Of Covenant University, Nigeria

Education is a tool of high value to the welfare of any society as it is crucial to the resolution of complex problems and development challenges in the world today. It is in this regard that, Covenant University (CU) has set out to achieV,.e the goal of transforming higher education by becoming one of the best ten universities in the wor1&1>y the year, 2022 (otherwise known as Vision 1 0:2022). Thus, the objective of this study is to investigate the preparedness of the employees to accept the CU vision and the factors that would significantly motivate the desired level of acceptance. This is important because organizations can hardly grow beyond the quality and support of their workforce. The study utilized data collected from a randomly selected sample of both academic and administrative employees of the university. Thereafter, regression analysis was performed to identify the determinants of acceptance of the vision 10:2022. The results of this study show that the vision has the potential to be actualized within the set period. However, the management of the university should take proactive steps to address the factors which have been identified in the study)hat cou ld constrain the effective implementation and actualization of the vision. This is critical , especially that the mean score for the acceptance of the vision is moderate. Given the time frame within which the vision is expected to be actualized, the moderate score needs to be improved upon by strengthening the variables currently impacting the vision positively and addressing those others that have the potential to stall effective implementation and actualization. To this end, management should address f)1ore specifically the issues bordering on job security, promotion, trust and adopt a more participative approach to managemen

Stellar Lyman-alpha Emission Lines in the Hubble Space Telescope Archive: Intrinsic Line Fluxes and Absorption from the Heliosphere and Astrospheres

We search the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) archive for previously unanalyzed observations of stellar H I Lyman-alpha emission lines, our primary purpose being to look for new detections of Lyman-alpha absorption from the outer heliosphere, and to also search for analogous absorption from the astrospheres surrounding the observed stars. The astrospheric absorption is of particular interest because it can be used to study solar-like stellar winds that are otherwise undetectable. We find and analyze 33 HST Lyman-alpha spectra in the archive. All the spectra were taken with the E140M grating of the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) instrument on board HST. The HST/STIS spectra yield 4 new detections of heliospheric absorption (70 Oph, Xi Boo, 61 Vir, and HD 165185) and 7 new detections of astrospheric absorption (EV Lac, 70 Oph, Xi Boo, 61 Vir, Delta Eri, HD 128987, and DK UMa), doubling the previous number of heliospheric and astrospheric detections. When combined with previous results, 10 of 17 lines of sight within 10 pc yield detections of astrospheric absorption. This high detection fraction implies that most of the ISM within 10 pc must be at least partially neutral, since the presence of H I within the ISM surrounding the observed star is necessary for an astrospheric detection. In contrast, the detection percentage is only 9.7% (3 out of 31) for stars beyond 10 pc. Our Lyman-alpha analyses provide measurements of ISM H I and D I column densities for all 33 lines of sight, and we discuss some implications of these results. Finally, we measure chromospheric Lyman-alpha fluxes from the observed stars. We use these fluxes to determine how Lyman-alpha flux correlates with coronal X-ray and chromospheric Mg II emission, and we also study how Lyman-alpha emission depends on stellar rotation.Comment: 56 pages, 15 figures; AASTEX v5.0 plus EPSF extensions in mkfig.sty; accepted by ApJ

Observational Limits on Machos in the Galactic Halo

We present final results from the first phase of the EROS search for gravitational microlensing of stars in the Magellanic Clouds by unseen deflectors (machos: MAssive Compact Halo Objects). The search is sensitive to events with time scales between 15 minutes and 200 days corresponding to deflector masses in the range 1.e-7 to a few solar masses. Two events were observed that are compatible with microlensing by objects of mass of about 0.1 Mo. By comparing the results with the expected number of events for various models of the Galaxy, we conclude that machos in the mass range [1.e-7, 0.02] Mo make up less than 20% (95% C.L.) of the Halo dark matter.Comment: 4 pages, 3 Postscript figures, to be published in Astronomy & Astrophysic

Non-Hermitian matrix description of the PT symmetric anharmonic oscillators

Schroedinger equation H \psi=E \psi with PT - symmetric differential operator H=H(x) = p^2 + a x^4 + i \beta x^3 +c x^2+i \delta x = H^*(-x) on L_2(-\infty,\infty) is re-arranged as a linear algebraic diagonalization at a>0. The proof of this non-variational construction is given. Our Taylor series form of \psi complements and completes the recent terminating solutions as obtained for certain couplings \delta at the less common negative a.Comment: 18 pages, latex, no figures, thoroughly revised (incl. title), J. Phys. A: Math. Gen., to appea

PT-symetrically regularized Eckart,Poeschl-Teller and Hulthen potentials

Version 1: The well known Eckart's singular s-wave potential is PT-symmetrically regularized and continued to the whole real line. The new model remains exactly solvable and its bound states remain proportional to Jacobi polynomials. Its real and discrete spectrum exhibits several unusual features. Version 2: Parity times time-reversal symmetry of complex Hamiltonians with real spectra is usually interpreted as a weaker mathematical substitute for Hermiticity. Perhaps an equally important role is played by the related strengthened analyticity assumptions. In a constructive illustration we complexify a few potentials solvable only in s-wave. Then we continue their domain from semi-axis to the whole axis and get the new exactly solvable models. Their energies come out real as expected. The new one-dimensional spectra themselves differ quite significantly from their s-wave predecessors.Comment: Original 10-page letter ``PT-symmetrized exact solution of the singular Eckart oscillator" is extended to a full pape

Estimate of the bottom compressional wave speed profile in the northeastern South China Sea using "Sources of Opportunity"

Author Posting. © IEEE, 2004. This article is posted here by permission of IEEE for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering 29 (2004): 1231-1248, doi:10.1109/JOE.2004.834681.The inversion of a broad-band "source of opportunity" signal for bottom geoacoustic parameters in the northeastern South China Sea (SCS) is presented, which supplements the towed source and chirp sonar bottom inversions that were performed as part of the Asian Seas International Acoustics Experiment (ASIAEX). This source of opportunity was most likely a "dynamite fishing" signal, which has sufficient low-frequency content (5-500 Hz) to make it complimentary to the somewhat higher frequency J-15-3 towed source (50-260 Hz) signals and the much higher frequency (1-10 kHz) chirp signals. This low frequency content will penetrate deeper into the bottom, thus extending the other inverse results. Localization of the source is discussed, using both a horizontal array for azimuthal steering and the "water wave" part of the pulse arrival for distance estimation. A linear broad-band inverse is performed, and three new variants of the broad-band inverse, based on: 1) the Airy phase; 2) the cutoff frequency; and 3) a range-dependent medium are presented. A multilayer model of the bottom compressional wave speed is obtained, and error estimates for this model are shown, both for the range-independent approximation to the waveguide and for the range-dependent waveguide. Directions for future research are discussed.This work was supported by the Office of Naval Research under Grant N0 001 498-1-0413, Grant N00014-00-0931, and Grant N00014-01-0772 and by the National Science Council, Taiwan, R.O.C. under Grant NSC92-2611-E-002-005-CCS