The Impact of Consumerism on the Market

A brief Article discussing different aspects of the Consumer Union of the United States and its various activities

Comparison of Methods to Evaluate Body Composition in Collegiate Women Ultimate Frisbee Athletes

Body composition is a useful measure in the female athlete population both for assessing sport performance and for tracking the athlete’s overall health. This study aimed to evaluate multiple modalities of body composition in collegiate female ultimate frisbee athletes, a population that currently has no published peer-review body composition literature. The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a significant mean difference between various tools for accessing body composition among women ultimate frisbee athletes when compared to the air displacement plethysmography (AP). A total of nine (n=9) female collegiate ultimate frisbee athletes aged between 20-23 (height = 165.7 ± 4.5 cm, body mass = 64.1± 7.9 kg, and BMI = 23.3 ± 2.3 kg.m-2) completed this study. The tools used to measure body composition were AP, 3-site skinfold assessment, bioelectrical impedance analysis, four previously developed body mass index-based equations, and the body adiposity index. A repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to determine the differences in body fat percentages recorded from the various tools used to measure body composition. A Bonferroni correction post hoc analysis was used to examine group differences between the body fat percentage values and a Pearson Product-Moment Correlation was completed to find correlations between the different variables compared to the Bod Pod. A strong, positive relationship was seen between body composition estimated by AP and skinfold assessment (r=0.83, p=0.0006). The data collected is useful in determining if there is an alternative method to measuring body composition that is more cost effective, portable, and produces similar results when compared to AP

Seeing the unseen: Underrepresented groups in prime-time television

Television is considered America\u27s No. 1 pastime, occupying an average of four hours and 39 minutes of a person\u27s time every day (Stelter, 2008). A majority of viewers are tuned in during prime time to live vicariously through their favorite fictional characters who reflect friends, family or even themselves. However, is prime-time television really representing everyone? The purpose of this study is to discover whether a media format as influential as TV reflects the people of the United States. This will be accomplished through coding the prime-time programing on major broadcast networks ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox and the CW

An Exploration into the Reality of Media Perceptions: The Depictions of Women Public Relations Practitioners in Reality Television

Reality television is a media staple for this generation. Reality programs including Jersey Shore, Keeping Up with the Kardashians, and Teen Mom 2 are among the most watched programs in the United States. In the last five years, reality television has highlighted professions including Public Relations. However, these new reality shows depict an unrealistic image of female practitioners in the PR field. These negative portrayals have been analyzed in film, yet there is a lack of research in regards to reality television. The purpose of this study is to analyze the portrayal of women in the Public Relations profession as seen on reality television. This study examines two reality shows pertaining to the field of Public Relations: Kell on Earth and The Spin Crowd. These programs will be analyzed through a coding system that identifies the positive and negative images of female Public Relations professionals as portrayed in reality television

Electrochemical sintering process for producing electrodes from cadmium felt and a nickel or silver grid

Electrochemical sintering process produces cadmium felt electrodes. Two pieces of cadmium felt are sandwiched around a nickel screen or silver expanded metal grid, held together by mold compression, and electrochemically sinitered by being put through several charge and discharge cycles at low current density

Electrochemical cell has internal resistive heater element

External source supplies power to electrochemical cells containing internal resistive heater element. Each cell plate is individually contained in its own Pellon bag, enabling the heater element to be arranged in a continuous, parallel circuit

Coade, Blashfield or Doulton? The in situ identification of ceramic garden statuary and ornament from three eighteenth and nineteenth century manufacturers

In the eighteenth century, the emergence of a neo-classical style in architecture created a growing demand for a range of classically-inspired products - not only for architectural decoration but also for ornamentation of the garden. Producing individual items in stone, however, was time-consuming and expensive, so cheaper clay-based alternatives were adopted, most notably from manufacturers such as Coade (1769-1830), Blashfield (1840s-1875) and Doulton (1854-1890s). The artefacts of these manufacturers are now considered of high historic value and significance and their identification is important, not only for the historical record, but also for provision of the evidence necessary to carry out informed conservation. As the sale and copy of moulds was common practice during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, stylistic considerations do not provide reliable identification. Through the analysis of 24 historic objects of garden statuary and ornamentation, this research evaluates the use of portable X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (pXRF), and more specifically element profiles, in identifying, and differentiating between the products of Coade, Blashfield and Doulton. Key questions around heterogeneity and representative material analysis are addressed. Despite the inherent heterogeneity of these materials, it is shown that discrimination is nevertheless possible using pXRF, primarily due to the significant differences observed across a range of elements at both macro- and trace-level. Objects of known provenance from Coade, Blashfield and Doulton produced three distinct and statistically significant groups demonstrating that the data reflect the composition of the bulk material – rather than surface characteristics. Through identifying the main discriminators for the Coade, Blashfield and Doulton materials, a simple presumptive test is proposed that can be used in an initial evaluation of any unsigned works. Analysis of a selection of unsigned objects with a probable Coade, Blashfield or Doulton provenance was in many cases successful in confirming the documentary evidence. A few objects, however, presented anomalous element profiles. These most likely result from past conservation treatments or polychromy - the two major limitations of the technique

Sensitivity of selected organ dissection to diagnose Taenia solium cysticercosis in pigs from endemic areas

Taenia solium, also known as the pork tapeworm, is a neglected zoonotic parasite which is endemic in many developing countries, including Zambia. The tapeworm causes two disease conditions in humans: (1) taeniosis, which is the intestinal tapeworm infection, obtained after consumtion of raw/undercooked infected pork; and (2) cysticercosis, which is the metacestode larval stage infection, obtained after ingestion of tapeworm eggs. A human tapeworm carrier can excrete high numbers of eggs with the stool (100 000 eggs per day) and is thus an important source of environmental contamination. The transmission of cysticercosis is thus enhanced with poor sanitation and the lack of clean drinking water. After ingestion of the eggs, oncospheres hatch in the intestine and disseminate to several body tissues, including the central nervous system. Infection of the central nervous system with cysticerci is called neurocysticercosis, which is a major cause of acquired epilepsy worldwide

ACVR2B/Fc counteracts chemotherapy-induced loss of muscle and bone mass

Chemotherapy promotes the development of cachexia, a debilitating condition characterized by muscle and fat loss. ACVR2B/Fc, an inhibitor of the Activin Receptor 2B signaling, has been shown to preserve muscle mass and prolong survival in tumor hosts, and to increase bone mass in models of osteogenesis imperfecta and muscular dystrophy. We compared the effects of ACVR2B/Fc on muscle and bone mass in mice exposed to Folfiri. In addition to impairing muscle mass and function, Folfiri had severe negative effects on bone, as shown by reduced trabecular bone volume fraction (BV/TV), thickness (Tb.Th), number (Tb.N), connectivity density (Conn.Dn), and by increased separation (Tb.Sp) in trabecular bone of the femur and vertebra. ACVR2B/Fc prevented the loss of muscle mass and strength, and the loss of trabecular bone in femurs and vertebrae following Folfiri administration. Neither Folfiri nor ACVR2B/Fc had effects on femoral cortical bone, as shown by unchanged cortical bone volume fraction (Ct.BV/TV), thickness (Ct.Th) and porosity. Our results suggest that Folfiri is responsible for concomitant muscle and bone degeneration, and that ACVR2B/Fc prevents these derangements. Future studies are required to determine if the same protective effects are observed in combination with other anticancer regimens or in the presence of cancer