Cultural expectations of muscularity in men: The evolution of playgirl centerfolds

Abstract: Objective: We sought to assess whether cultural ideals of the male body, as illustrated by magazine models, have changed over the past 25 years. Method: We examined 115 male centerfold models in Playgirl magazine from 1973 to 1997. Using the models’ heights and weights quoted by the magazine, together with visual estimates of body fat, we calculated the body mass index (BMI) and fat-free mass index (FFMI) of each model. Results: The Playgirl centerfold models became increasingly “dense ” and more muscular over time, as indicated by the significant correlations between BMI, FFMI, and year of publication. Discussion: These observations, in combination with previous studies, suggest that cultural norms of the ideal male body are growing increasingly muscular. © 2000 by John Wiley &amp

Sexual orientation and associated characteristics among north american academic psychiatrists

We mailed questionnaires inquiring about a range of personal and professional attributes to 972 North American psychiatrists at five leading medical schools in the United States and Canada. Of these, 49% (435 psychiatrists) responded. Of the respondents, 90.9% reported being exclusively heterosexual, 3.5% predominantly heterosexual, and 5.6% bisexual/homosexual. Analyses were performed to assess the relationship between sexual orientation and other variables. We found that exclusive heterosexuals were more likely than other psychiatrists to be Jewish (p = .002), to have first‐degree relatives with psychiatric illness (p =.015), and to have conducted research after residency training (p = .034). Exclusively heterosexual psychiatrists were less likely to have used recreational drugs (p = .025), or to prescribe psychotropic medications to none of their patients (p = .017). Sexual orientation was not correlated with a variety of other personal and professional characteristics. The findings suggest that gay men and lesbians are represented within psychiatry at rates comparable to their estimated representation in society. Moreover, the data invite several hypotheses—for example, that medical students may be drawn to psychiatry for specific reasons such as feeling marginalized due to being gay or bisexual

Treatment Orientation and Associated Characteristics of North American Academic Psychiatrists

We present data showing the degree to which a “biological-psychotherapeutic” division persists in American psychiatry, and how psychiatrists' treatment orientation is associated with personal and professional characteristics. Almost two thirds of academic psychiatrists who responded to our survey (N = 435) could be classified as either biological (27%) or psychotherapeutic (37%) in orientation, according to the proportion of their caseload to which they provided psychotherapy (25% vs. ≥75%). There appears to have been an increase over the last 35 years in the proportion of psychiatrists who can be classified as biologically oriented and a decrease in the proportion who can be classified as psychotherapeutically oriented, as well as the emergence of a large class of intermediate or “eclectic” practitioners (36%). Several personal and professional attributes were distributed differentially according to treatment orientation. Psychotherapeutically oriented respondents more frequently reported personal histories of psychiatric disorders than did biologically oriented respondents (64% vs. 39%) as well as greater satisfaction with clinical work (81% vs. 53% “very satisfied”). Differences were also found in age, gender, history of personal psychotherapy, family history of psychiatric disorder, history of marijuana use, degrees of involvement in research, teaching and clinical care of patients, and overall work satisfaction, as well as other characteristics

MDMA (“Ecstasy”) Abuse and High-Risk Sexual Behaviors Among 169 Gay and Bisexual Men

OBJECTIVE: The authors explored the association between abuse of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, or “Ecstasy”) and high-risk sexual behaviors among gay and bisexual men. METHOD: An anonymous questionnaire was completed by 169 gay and bisexual men at three New York City dance clubs. The questionnaire covered demographic indices, use of MDMA and other drugs, and history of high-risk sexual behaviors. RESULTS: About one-third of the respondents reported MDMA use at least monthly. MDMA use was strongly and significantly associated with a history of recent unprotected anal intercourse. This association remained equally strong even after controlling for age, ethnicity, and all other forms of drug use, including alcohol. CONCLUSIONS: MDMA abuse, and its strong association with high-risk sexual behaviors, appears to represent important unexplored public health problems among some gay or bisexual men

National Athletic Trainers\u27 Association Position Statement: Anabolic-Androgenic Steroids

Objective: This manuscript summarizes the best available scholarly evidence related to anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) as a reference for health care professionals, including athletic trainers, educators, and interested others. Background: Health care professionals associated with sports or exercise should understand and be prepared to educate others about AAS. These synthetic, testosteronebased derivatives are widely abused by athletes and nonathletes to gain athletic performance advantages, develop their physiques, and improve their body image. Although AAS can be ergogenic, their abuse may lead to numerous negative health effects. Recommendations: Abusers of AAS often rely on questionable information sources. Sports medicine professionals can therefore serve an important role by providing accurate, reliable information. The recommendations provide health care professionals with a current and accurate synopsis of the AAS-related research

Trace Elemental Composition in PM10 and PM2.5 Collected in Cardiff, Wales

A Dichotomous Sampler Model 241 was used to collect PM10 and PM2.5 samples, from midnight to midnight on every other day, from December 2009 to December 2010. Ca, K, Mg, Na, Al, Pb, Cr, Ni, Zn, Cu, Cd, and Fe were determined by Atomic absorption Spectrometer (AAS). The mass concentration ranged from 18.0 to 83.3 μg/m3, with an annual average of 37. 9 μg/m3 for PM10. The mass concentration of PM2.5 ranged from 3.0 to 36.0 μg/m3 with an annual average of 14.1 μg/m. Most of the elements in both PM fractions were abundant in the winter season. A good correlation was observed between PM10 and PM2.5.Enrichment factors (EF) for elements in PM10 and PM2.5 were calculated and indicate that elements from anthropogenic origins such as Zn, Pb, Cu, Cr and Cd were highly enriched with respect to crustal elements Al, Fe and Ca

Atmospheric distribution of HCN from satellite observations and 3-D model simulations

Hydrogen cyanide (HCN) is an important tracer of biomass burning, but there are significant uncertainties in its atmospheric budget, especially its photochemical and ocean sinks. Here we use a tracer version of the TOMCAT global 3-D chemical transport model to investigate the physical and chemical processes driving the abundance of HCN in the troposphere and stratosphere over the period 2004–2016. The modelled HCN distribution is compared with version 4.1 of the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment Fourier transform spectrometer (ACE-FTS) HCN satellite data, which provide profiles up to around 42 km, and with ground-based column measurements from the Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change (NDACC). The long-term ACE-FTS measurements reveal the strong enhancements in upper-tropospheric HCN due to large wildfire events in Indonesia in 2006 and 2015. Our 3-D model simulations confirm previous lower-altitude balloon comparisons that the currently recommended NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) reaction rate coefficient of HCN with OH greatly overestimates the HCN loss. The use of the rate coefficient proposed by Kleinböhl et al. (2006) in combination with the HCN oxidation by O(1D) gives good agreement between ACE-FTS observations and the model. Furthermore, the model photochemical loss terms show that the reduction in the HCN mixing ratio with height in the middle stratosphere is mainly driven by the O(1D) sink with only a small contribution from a reaction with OH. From comparisons of the model tracers with ground-based HCN observations we test the magnitude of the ocean sink in two different published schemes (Li et al., 2000, 2003). We find that in our 3-D model the two schemes produce HCN abundances which are very different to the NDACC observations but in different directions. A model HCN tracer using the Li et al. (2000) scheme overestimates the HCN concentration by almost a factor of 2, while a HCN tracer using the Li et al. (2003) scheme underestimates the observations by about one-third. To obtain good agreement between the model and observations, we need to scale the magnitudes of the global ocean sinks by factors of 0.25 and 2 for the schemes of Li et al. (2000) and Li et al. (2003), respectively. This work shows that the atmospheric photochemical sinks of HCN now appear well constrained but improvements are needed in parameterizing the major ocean uptake sink.</p

Intercomparison and evaluation of satellite peroxyacetyl nitrate observations in the upper troposphere-lower stratosphere

Peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN) is an important chemical species in the troposphere as it aids the long-range transport of NOx and subsequent formation of O3 in relatively clean remote regions. Over the past few decades observations from aircraft campaigns and surface sites have been used to better understand the regional distribution of PAN. However, recent measurements made by satellites allow for a global assessment of PAN in the upper troposphere–lower stratosphere (UTLS). In this study, we investigate global PAN distributions from two independent retrieval methodologies, based on measurements from the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS) instrument, on board Envisat from the Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research (IMK), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, and the Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester (UoL). Retrieving PAN from MIPAS is challenging due to the weak signal in the measurements and contamination from other species. Therefore, we compare the two MIPAS datasets with observations from the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment Fourier transform spectrometer (ACE-FTS), in situ aircraft data and the 3-D chemical transport model TOMCAT. MIPAS shows peak UTLS PAN concentrations over the biomass burning regions (e.g. ranging from 150 to  >  200 pptv at 150 hPa) and during the summertime Asian monsoon as enhanced convection aids the vertical transport of PAN from the lower atmosphere. At 150 hPa, we find significant differences between the two MIPAS datasets in the tropics, where IMK PAN concentrations are larger by 50–100 pptv. Comparisons between MIPAS and ACE-FTS show better agreement with the UoL MIPAS PAN concentrations at 200 hPa, but with mixed results above this altitude. TOMCAT generally captures the magnitude and structure of climatological aircraft PAN profiles within the observational variability allowing it to be used to investigate the MIPAS PAN differences. TOMCAT–MIPAS comparisons show that the model is both positively (UoL) and negatively (IMK) biased against the satellite products. These results indicate that satellite PAN observations are able to detect realistic spatial variations in PAN in the UTLS, but further work is needed to resolve differences in existing retrievals to allow quantitative use of the products

Doping in two elite athletics competitions assessed by randomized-response surveys

BACKGROUND: Doping in sports compromises fair play and endangers health. To deter doping among elite athletes, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) oversees testing of several hundred thousand athletic blood and urine samples annually, of which 1-2% test positive. Measures using the Athlete Biological Passport suggest a higher mean prevalence of about 14% positive tests. Biological testing, however, likely fails to detect many cutting-edge doping techniques, and thus the true prevalence of doping remains unknown. METHODS: We surveyed 2167 athletes at two sporting events: the 13th International Association of Athletics Federations Word Championships in Athletics (WCA) in Daegu, South Korea in August 2011 and the 12th Quadrennial Pan-Arab Games (PAG) in Doha, Qatar in December 2011. To estimate the prevalence of doping, we utilized a "randomized response technique," which guarantees anonymity for individuals when answering a sensitive question. We also administered a control question at PAG assessing past-year use of supplements. RESULTS: The estimated prevalence of past-year doping was 43.6% (95% confidence interval 39.4-47.9) at WCA and 57.1% (52.4-61.8) at PAG. The estimated prevalence of past-year supplement use at PAG was 70.1% (65.6-74.7%). Sensitivity analyses, assessing the robustness of these estimates under numerous hypothetical scenarios of intentional or unintentional noncompliance by respondents, suggested that we were unlikely to have overestimated the true prevalence of doping. CONCLUSIONS: Doping appears remarkably widespread among elite athletes, and remains largely unchecked despite current biological testing. The survey technique presented here will allow future investigators to generate continued reference estimates of the prevalence of doping

A phenomenology of new particle formation (NPF) at 13 European sites

New particle formation (NPF) events occur almost everywhere in the world and can play an important role as a particle source. The frequency and characteristics of NPF events vary spatially, and this variability is yet to be fully understood. In the present study, long-term particle size distribution datasets (minimum of 3 years) from 13 sites of various land uses and climates from across Europe were studied, and NPF events, deriving from secondary formation and not traffic-related nucleation, were extracted and analysed. The frequency of NPF events was consistently found to be higher at rural background sites, while the growth and formation rates of newly formed particles were higher at roadsides (though in many cases differences between the sites were small), underlining the importance of the abundance of condensable compounds of anthropogenic origin found there. The growth rate was higher in summer at all rural background sites studied. The urban background sites presented the highest uncertainty due to greater variability compared to the other two types of site. The origin of incoming air masses and the specific conditions associated with them greatly affect the characteristics of NPF events. In general, cleaner air masses present higher probability for NPF events, while the more polluted ones show higher growth rates. However, different patterns of NPF events were found, even at sites in close proximity (< 200 km), due to the different local conditions at each site. Region-wide events were also studied and were found to be associated with the same conditions as local events, although some variability was found which was associated with the different seasonality of the events at two neighbouring sites. NPF events were responsible for an increase in the number concentration of ultrafine particles of more than 400% at rural background sites on the day of their occurrence. The degree of enhancement was less at urban sites due to the increased contribution of other sources within the urban environment. It is evident that, while some variables (such as solar radiation intensity, relative humidity, or the concentrations of specific pollutants) appear to have a similar influence on NPF events across all sites, it is impossible to predict the characteristics of NPF events at a site using just these variables, due to the crucial role of local conditions.Peer reviewe