Student\u27s Explicit and Implicit Attitudes Regarding Breastfeeding in Public : Analyzed Through FaceReader™ Technology

INTRODUCTION: The recommended length of time to exclusively breastfeed a child is six months. However, women are not meeting these rates because they are not receiving enough support from their communities. Societal support is essential to successful breastfeeding rates. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to examine students’ explicit and implicit attitudes toward women breastfeeding in public, to better understand the challenges associated with breastfeeding in public and social situations. METHODS: FaceReader technology was used to analyze participants’ reactions to three images and one video clip of mothers breastfeeding in public. Questionnaires were used to record participants’ explicit (self-reported) reactions on a 5-point Likert scale and facial expression technology was used to capture their implicit (facial) reactions to the images and video. Data was analyzed using a non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis test to determine the significance between each image/video clip and implicit and explicit responses. Pearson’s Correlation test was used to determine any significant relationships between variables. RESULTS: Twenty-two students (14 undergraduate, 8 graduate) participated in the study. Men had more positive attitudes toward public breastfeeding than women did (R2= 0.256; p= .016). Getting kicked out of a restaurant because of breastfeeding had significantly higher negative emotions than breastfeeding in a public park. Overall, participants generally had positive attitudes towards breastfeeding but were most comfortable when the woman in the image had showed the least breast exposure. CONCLUSION: Additional knowledge and positive exposure to public breastfeeding is needed to improve students’ attitudes toward women breastfeeding in public

Unintended Pregnancy in Gaborone, Botswana: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Rates of unintended pregnancy in sub-Saharan Africa range from 20-40%. Unintended pregnancy leads to increased maternal and infant mortality, and higher rates of abortions. Potentially high levels of unintended pregnancy in Botswana, against the backdrop of the popularity of short-acting, less-effective contraception, could suggest that the methods available to women are not meeting their contraceptive needs. Little data exists on unintended pregnancy in Botswana. We assessed levels of unintended pregnancy and contraceptive use among 231 pregnant women presenting to the antenatal clinic at the largest hospital in Botswana. Forty-three percent of pregnancies were reported as unintended. Of women with an unintended pregnancy, 72% reported using a contraceptive method to prevent pregnancy at the time of conception. Of the women with unintended pregnancy despite contraceptive use, 88% were using male condoms as their only method of contraception. Women reporting unintended pregnancy were more likely to have had more previous births (p=0.05). While barrier protection with condoms is essential for the prevention of HIV and other STIs, condom use alone may not be meeting the contraceptive needs of women in Botswana. Increased promotion of dual-method contraceptive use with condoms is needed

Skeletal Muscle Differentiation and Fusion Are Regulated by the BAR-containing Rho-GTPase-activating Protein (Rho-GAP), GRAF1

Although RhoA activity is necessary for promoting myogenic mesenchymal stem cell fates, recent studies in cultured cells suggest that down-regulation of RhoA activity in specified myoblasts is required for subsequent differentiation and myotube formation. However, whether this phenomenon occurs in vivo and which Rho modifiers control these later events remain unclear. We found that expression of the Rho-GTPase-activating protein, GRAF1, was transiently up-regulated during myogenesis, and studies in C2C12 cells revealed that GRAF1 is necessary and sufficient for mediating RhoA down-regulation and inducing muscle differentiation. Moreover, forced expression of GRAF1 in pre-differentiated myoblasts drives robust muscle fusion by a process that requires GTPase-activating protein-dependent actin remodeling and BAR-dependent membrane binding or sculpting. Moreover, morpholino-based knockdown studies in Xenopus laevis determined that GRAF1 expression is critical for muscle development. GRAF1-depleted embryos exhibited elevated RhoA activity and defective myofibrillogenesis that resulted in progressive muscle degeneration, defective motility, and embryonic lethality. Our results are the first to identify a GTPase-activating protein that regulates muscle maturation and to highlight the functional importance of BAR domains in myotube formation

Obesity, Metabolic Factors and Risk of Different Histological Types of Lung Cancer: A Mendelian Randomization Study

Background Assessing the relationship between lung cancer and metabolic conditions is challenging because of the confounding effect of tobacco. Mendelian randomization (MR), or the use of genetic instrumental variables to assess causality, may help to identify the metabolic drivers of lung cancer. Methods and findings We identified genetic instruments for potential metabolic risk factors and evaluated these in relation to risk using 29,266 lung cancer cases (including 11,273 adenocarcinomas, 7,426 squamous cell and 2,664 small cell cases) and 56,450 controls. The MR risk analysis suggested a causal effect of body mass index (BMI) on lung cancer risk for two of the three major histological subtypes, with evidence of a risk increase for squamous cell carcinoma (odds ratio (OR) [95% confidence interval (CI)] = 1.20 [1.01–1.43] and for small cell lung cancer (OR [95%CI] = 1.52 [1.15–2.00]) for each standard deviation (SD) increase in BMI [4.6 kg/m2]), but not for adenocarcinoma (OR [95%CI] = 0.93 [0.79–1.08]) (Pheterogeneity = 4.3x10-3). Additional analysis using a genetic instrument for BMI showed that each SD increase in BMI increased cigarette consumption by 1.27 cigarettes per day (P = 2.1x10-3), providing novel evidence that a genetic susceptibility to obesity influences smoking patterns. There was also evidence that low-density lipoprotein cholesterol was inversely associated with lung cancer overall risk (OR [95%CI] = 0.90 [0.84–0.97] per SD of 38 mg/dl), while fasting insulin was positively associated (OR [95%CI] = 1.63 [1.25–2.13] per SD of 44.4 pmol/l). Sensitivity analyses including a weighted-median approach and MR-Egger test did not detect other pleiotropic effects biasing the main results. Conclusions Our results are consistent with a causal role of fasting insulin and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in lung cancer etiology, as well as for BMI in squamous cell and small cell carcinoma. The latter relation may be mediated by a previously unrecognized effect of obesity on smoking behavior

Obesity, Metabolic Factors and Risk of Different Histological Types of Lung Cancer: A Mendelian Randomization Study

Background: Assessing the relationship between lung cancer and metabolic conditions is challenging because of the confounding effect of tobacco. Mendelian randomization (MR), or the use of genetic instrumental variables to assess causality, may help to identify the metabolic drivers of lung cancer. Methods and findings: We identified genetic instruments for potential metabolic risk factors and evaluated these in relation to risk using 29,266 lung cancer cases (including 11,273 adenocarcinomas, 7,426 squamous cell and 2,664 small cell cases) and 56,450 controls. The MR risk analysis suggested a causal effect of body mass index (BMI) on lung cancer risk for two of the three major histological subtypes, with evidence of a risk increase for squamous cell carcinoma (odds ratio (OR) [95% confidence interval (CI)] = 1.20 [1.01–1.43] and for small cell lung cancer (OR [95%CI] = 1.52 [1.15–2.00]) for each standard deviation (SD) increase in BMI [4.6 kg/m2]), but not for adenocarcinoma (OR [95%CI] = 0.93 [0.79–1.08]) (Pheterogeneity = 4.3x10-3). Additional analysis using a genetic instrument for BMI showed that each SD increase in BMI increased cigarette consumption by 1.27 cigarettes per day (P = 2.1x10-3), providing novel evidence that a genetic susceptibility to obesity influences smoking patterns. There was also evidence that low-density lipoprotein cholesterol was inversely associated with lung cancer overall risk (OR [95%CI] = 0.90 [0.84–0.97] per SD of 38 mg/dl), while fasting insulin was positively associated (OR [95%CI] = 1.63 [1.25–2.13] per SD of 44.4 pmol/l). Sensitivity analyses including a weighted-median approach and MR-Egger test did not detect other pleiotropic effects biasing the main results. Conclusions: Our results are consistent with a causal role of fasting insulin and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in lung cancer etiology, as well as for BMI in squamous cell and small cell carcinoma. The latter relation may be mediated by a previously unrecognized effect of obesity on smoking behavior

Obesity, metabolic factors and risk of different histological types of lung cancer: A Mendelian randomization study.

BACKGROUND: Assessing the relationship between lung cancer and metabolic conditions is challenging because of the confounding effect of tobacco. Mendelian randomization (MR), or the use of genetic instrumental variables to assess causality, may help to identify the metabolic drivers of lung cancer. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We identified genetic instruments for potential metabolic risk factors and evaluated these in relation to risk using 29,266 lung cancer cases (including 11,273 adenocarcinomas, 7,426 squamous cell and 2,664 small cell cases) and 56,450 controls. The MR risk analysis suggested a causal effect of body mass index (BMI) on lung cancer risk for two of the three major histological subtypes, with evidence of a risk increase for squamous cell carcinoma (odds ratio (OR) [95% confidence interval (CI)] = 1.20 [1.01-1.43] and for small cell lung cancer (OR [95%CI] = 1.52 [1.15-2.00]) for each standard deviation (SD) increase in BMI [4.6 kg/m2]), but not for adenocarcinoma (OR [95%CI] = 0.93 [0.79-1.08]) (Pheterogeneity = 4.3x10-3). Additional analysis using a genetic instrument for BMI showed that each SD increase in BMI increased cigarette consumption by 1.27 cigarettes per day (P = 2.1x10-3), providing novel evidence that a genetic susceptibility to obesity influences smoking patterns. There was also evidence that low-density lipoprotein cholesterol was inversely associated with lung cancer overall risk (OR [95%CI] = 0.90 [0.84-0.97] per SD of 38 mg/dl), while fasting insulin was positively associated (OR [95%CI] = 1.63 [1.25-2.13] per SD of 44.4 pmol/l). Sensitivity analyses including a weighted-median approach and MR-Egger test did not detect other pleiotropic effects biasing the main results. CONCLUSIONS: Our results are consistent with a causal role of fasting insulin and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in lung cancer etiology, as well as for BMI in squamous cell and small cell carcinoma. The latter relation may be mediated by a previously unrecognized effect of obesity on smoking behavior

Zoll Cellars Winery

The MQP team worked with Zoll Cellars, in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, to create a more consistent and better quality product. This was accomplished with research, experimentation, and the analysis of the results. Chardonnay and Riesling were the two wines investigated. The sugar content, Fermaid K, and yeast were varied in 44 different samples. After various obstacles were overcome, the samples were extracted and analyzed. The results were compared to a generic brand of Chardonnay and Riesling. One wine did not stand out from the rest, but some were more similar to the generic brand than others. Relationships between the Fermaid K additions and the amount of certain compounds were discovered, however none were found for sugar content or yeast

Plymouth Long Beach Erosion

This project proposes an erosion plan for Plymouth Long Beach, in Plymouth, MA. This was accomplished through three main steps: research, visitation and observation, and interviews. Duxbury Beach was used as an example due to its similarity to Plymouth Long Beach and successful beach mitigation. As a result of our observations, we developed an ideal plan to prevent erosion at Plymouth Long Beach

Anxiety-inducing Facebook behavior is associated with higher rates of upper respiratory infection in college-aged users

Exposure to chronic stress can suppress immune function and increase susceptibility to infection. Recent evidence indicates that social network use (e.g., Facebook) can serve as a chronic stressor to some users and contribute to poor health, however, mechanisms underlying these interactions remain unclear. In the current study we investigated if Facebook user behavior might help start to explain interactions between Facebook use, stress and health. In this prospective study, healthy college students completed online questionnaires assessing Facebook use, health and then were followed for 10 weeks to track incidence of upper respiratory infection (URI). Subjects who reported that Facebook provoked anxiety/stress demonstrated a significantly higher number of URI than those not reporting Facebook-induced anxiety/stress and having more Facebook friends was associated with increased anxiety/stress and the number of URI. Users who demonstrated anxiety regarding their Facebook use were more likely to demonstrate a pattern of increased number of log-ins to Facebook/day and these anxiety-linked behavior patterns were associated with poorer health. The other health practices and psychological processes assessed (e.g., physical activity levels, sleep, social support) do not appear to explain these associations. These results suggest an association between specific Facebook use, psychological anxiety and health might exist