‘It is like school sometimes’: friendship and sociality on university campuses and patterns of social inequality

Whilst most social and educational research on friendship focuses on children at school, it remains a crucially important factor for students in higher education – and can play a key role in the maintenance, exacerbation or subversion of dominant forms of social inequalities. This paper explores the complexities of such dynamics in relation to friendship and social life at university, utilising data from an in-depth qualitative study of HE students at a UK campus university. Students stressed the importance of friendship for comfort and a sense of ‘belonging’. Nevertheless, students describe the continuation of cliques, hierarchies, and exclusions that are more commonly linked to sociality at school. Despite the conception that friendship is an individual experience, it is very much influenced by social positionings such as gender, class, age, and ethnicity – having significant repercussions for students in relation to happiness and wellbeing at university

Four Weeks of Hericium erinaceus Supplementation Does Not Impact Markers of Metabolic Flexibility or Cognition

International Journal of Exercise Science 15(2): 1366-1380, 2022. Hericium erinaceus (HE), also known as Lion’s Mane mushroom, has been found to enhance cognition and metabolic flexibility in various animal models. To date however, only four studies exist in humans and none have evaluated the effects of HE on markers of metabolic flexibility or cognitive performance. A single-blind, placebo controlled, parallel-longitudinal study was used to determine the effects of HE on markers of metabolic flexibility and cognition. Twenty-four participants completed a graded exercise test on a cycle ergometer to analyze substrate oxidation rates and markers of cardiorespiratory fitness. Additionally, two dual-task challenges consisting of a Stroop Word Challenge interspersed with a Mental Arithmetic Challenge were performed, pre-post the graded exercise test, to evaluate markers of cognition in a pre-post fatigued state. Participants were stratified into two groups, receiving either 10 g of HE per day or placebo for 4-weeks in the form of two muffins identical in taste and appearance. Repeated-measures analysis of variance were conducted to evaluate potential interactions or main effects. Although group differences were noted at baseline, there were no significant interactions or main effects observed from HE ingestion for any dependent variable (all p \u3e 0.05). Our data suggest that ingesting 10 g of HE per day for 4-weeks had no impact on metabolic flexibility and cognition in a college-age cohort. Due to the limited research on HE supplementation, future research is needed to establish an effective supplement dose and duration for potential physiological changes to be observed in humans

Wireless vs. Traditional Ultrasound Assessed Knee Cartilage Outcomes Utilizing Automated Gain and Normalization Techniques

Advancements in wireless ultrasound technology allow for point of care cartilage imaging, yet validation against traditional ultrasound units remains to be established for knee cartilage outcomes. Therefore, the purpose of our study was to establish the agreement of articular cartilage thickness and echo-intensity measures between traditional and wireless ultrasound units utilizing automatic-gain and normalization techniques. We used traditional and wireless ultrasound to assess the femoral cartilage via transverse suprapatellar scans with the knee in maximum flexion in 71 female NCAA Division I athletes (age: 20.0$\pm$1.3 years, height: 171.7$\pm$8.7 cm, mass: 69.4$\pm$11.0 kg). Wireless ultrasound images (auto-gain and standard gain) were compared to traditional ultrasound images (standard gain) before and after normalization. Ultrasound image pixel values were algebraically scaled to normalize imaging parameter differences between units. Mean thickness and echo-intensity of the global and sub-regions of interest were measured for unnormalized and normalized images. Intraclass correlation coefficients ($ICC_{2,k}$) for absolute agreement, standard error of the measurement, and minimum detectable difference were calculated between the traditional and wireless ultrasound units across both gain parameters and normalization. Cartilage thickness demonstrated good to excellent agreement for all regions ($ICC_{2,k} = 0.83 {\text -} 0.95$) regardless of gain and normalization. However, mean echo-intensity demonstrated poor to moderate agreement in all regions regardless of gain and normalization ($ICC_{2,k} = 0.23 {\text -} 0.68$). While there was a high level of agreement between units when assessing cartilage thickness, further research in ultrasound beam forming may lead to improvements in agreement of cartilage echo-intensity between ultrasound units.Comment: 19 Pages, 1 figure, 3 table

Measurement of the beta beta Decay Half-Life of Te-130 with the NEMO-3 Detector

We report results from the NEMO-3 experiment based on an exposure of 1275 days with 661 g of Te-130 in the form of enriched and natural tellurium foils. The beta beta decay rate of Te-130 is found to be greater than zero with a significance of 7.7 standard deviations and the half-life is measured to be T-1/2(2v)=[7.0 +/- 0.9(stat) +/- 1: 1(syst)] x 10(20) yr. This represents the most precise measurement of this half- life yet published and the first real-time observation of this decay