The Relationship between Religiosity and Substance Abuse among African Americans: A Systematic Review of 30 Years of Research

The main purpose of this study is to systematically examine research conducted over the past 30 years regarding the effects of religiosity on substance abuse among African American. The present study was designed to examine whether there is empirical support for a relationship between religiosity and substance abuse among African American. This study is a partial replication of a systematic review by Johnson et al. (2000) on the effect of religion on delinquent behaviors. Johnson and his colleagues (2000) found that there is a consistent negative relationship between religiosity and deviance in the most rigorous research. Given that various types of deviant behaviors are related to religiosity in different ways, the present study focuses solely on African American substance abuse in order to avoid masking effects and variations

A Structural Equation Modeling Analysis of the Effect of Religion on Adolescent Delinquency

The University Archives has determined that this item is of continuing value to OSU's history.Session 2. Presenter: Jeongah Kim, Ph.D., The Ohio State University (2003) - "A Structural Equation Modeling Analysis of the Effect of Religion on Adolescent Delinquency"The Ohio State University College of Social Wor

Metric and Tool Support for Instant Feedback of Source Code Readability

In the software maintenance phase, comprehending the legacy source code is inevitable, which consumes most of the time of the phase. The better the code is readable, the easier it is for code readers to comprehend the system based on the source code. This paper proposes an enhanced source code readability metric to quantitatively measure the extent of code readability. In addition, we developed a tool support named Instant R. Gauge to update the code on the fly based on the readability feedback of the current code. The tool also provides the history of the readability change so that developers recognize the more readable code and gradually change their coding habit without any annoying advice. The suggested readability metric achieves 75.74% of explanatory power, and our experiment showed that readability of most of the methods authored in our tool is higher than that of the methods without our approach

Cooperative roles of the suprachiasmatic nucleus central clock and the adrenal clock in controlling circadian glucocorticoid rhythm

The mammalian circadian timing system consists of the central clock in the hypothalamic suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) and subsidiary peripheral clocks in other tissues. Glucocorticoids (GCs) are adrenal steroid hormones with widespread physiological effects that undergo daily oscillations. We previously demonstrated that the adrenal peripheral clock plays a pivotal role in circadian GC rhythm by driving cyclic GC biosynthesis. Here, we show that the daily rhythm in circulating GC levels is controlled by bimodal actions of central and adrenal clockwork. When mice were subjected to daytime restricted feeding to uncouple central and peripheral rhythms, adrenal GC contents and steroidogenic acute regulatory protein expression peaked around zeitgeber time 00 (ZT00), consistent with shifted adrenal clock gene expression. However, restricted feeding produced two distinct peaks in plasma GC levels: one related to adrenal GC content and the other around ZT12, which required an intact SCN. Light pulse-evoked activation of the SCN increased circulating GC levels in both wild-type and adrenal clock-disrupted mutant mice without marked induction of GC biosynthesis. In conclusion, we demonstrate that adrenal clock-dependent steroidogenesis and a SCN-driven central mechanism regulating GC release cooperate to produce daily circulatory GC rhythm. © The Author(s) 2017.1

A systemic review and meta-analysis on the antihypertensive effect of aromatherapy essential oils

Purpose: This study is a systemic review of experimental results on the effects of aromatherapy on blood pressure. Materials and Methods: Journal articles published to December, 2017, were retrieved from twelve databases. Randomized controlled trials in which were evaluated for changes in blood pressure following aromatherapy were selected. Risks of bias were assessed using the risk-of-bias (ROB) tool of the Cochrane Collaboration. Meta-analysis were dine using RevMan. Results: Of the 2545 articles retrieved from the electronic databases, 580 duplicate articles and 1891 articles that were unrelated to the PICO (patient/problem, intervention, comparison, outcome) elements or did not satisfy the inclusion criteria excluded. Of the remaining 74 articles, 15 found to satisfy the inclusion criteria after full-text review and therefore selected for analysis. The findings of meta-analysis of 11 of these 15 articles revealed that essential oil inhalation and massage effectively decreased both systolic (n = 379; mean difference [MD], -4.72; 95% confidence interval [CI], -8.38 to -1.07) and diastolic (n = 379; MD, -2.42; 95% CI, -4.46 to -0.38) pressure. Conclusions: Essential oil inhalation and massage therapy can effectively decrease systolic and diastolic pressure in health adults as well as in patients with hypertension

Gut Microbial Metabolites Induce Changes in Circadian Oscillation of Clock Gene Expression in the Mouse Embryonic Fibroblasts

Circadian rhythm is an endogenous oscillation of about 24-h period in many physiological processes and behaviors. This daily oscillation is maintained by the molecular clock machinery with transcriptional-translational feedback loops mediated by clock genes including Period2 (Per2) and Bmal1. Recently, it was revealed that gut microbiome exerts a significant impact on the circadian physiology and behavior of its host; however, the mechanism through which it regulates the molecular clock has remained elusive. 3-(4-hydroxyphenyl)propionic acid (4-OH-PPA) and 3-phenylpropionic acid (PPA) are major metabolites exclusively produced by Clostridium sporogenes and may function as unique chemical messengers communicating with its host. In the present study, we examined if two C. sporogenes-derived metabolites can modulate the oscillation of mammalian molecular clock. Interestingly, 4-OH-PPA and PPA increased the amplitude of both PER2 and Bmal1 oscillation in a dosedependent manner following their administration immediately after the nadir or the peak of their rhythm. The phase of PER2 oscillation responded differently depending on the mode of administration of the metabolites. In addition, using an organotypic slice culture ex vivo, treatment with 4-OH-PPA increased the amplitude and lengthened the period of PER2 oscillation in the suprachiasmatic nucleus and other tissues. In summary, two C. sporogenes-derived metabolites are involved in the regulation of circadian oscillation of Per2 and Bmal1 clock genes in the host's peripheral and central clock machineries.1

Interior Design with Consumers’ Perception about Art, Brand Image, and Sustainability

In this study, the main research purpose was to determine whether artistic components of interior design in a store lead consumers to have different perceptions of the store. There were three main research questions. The first was whether consumers perceived the artistic components in a store visually. Second, based on the first research question, this study explored whether the artistic displays at the show window, around the furniture, and around the stairs were associated with consumers’ perceptions of the store as environmental-friendly. The third research question explored how the consumers’ perceptions of artistic and environment-friendly components were associated with the conventional marketing performance of the store. The 2 Stages Probit Least Squares (2SPLS) method was utilized to answer the first and second research questions and the 2 Stage Least Squares (2SLS) method was utilized for the third research question. Findings indicated that consumers had significant emotional responses from seeing artistic components in a store. In addition, these perceived art elements were associated with marketing performances, including pro-environmental perception, store differentiation, brand image, and consumer satisfaction. The practical implications were included in the discussion

Importance of Interior Design: An Environmental Mediator for Perceiving Life Satisfaction and Financial Stress

Based on the stimuli–organism–response framework, this study investigates how artistic stimuli (i.e., interior design) influence a person’s mental responses (i.e., situational satisfaction and stress). Prior to checking the main analysis, demographic features were checked to determine whether they were significant precedents to the stimuli by using hierarchical linear modeling. As the main model, structural equation modeling was used to find (a) how stimuli (i.e., interior design) were associated with organisms (i.e., emotional perception) and (b) how organisms were associated with mental responses. The results showed that demographic features were not significantly associated with the stimuli. Stimuli were partially and significantly associated with organisms and the organisms were partially and significantly associated with the mental responses. The study has implications for practitioners in commercial fields who might recognize the importance of interior design and employ their utilities in practical applications

An Empirical Study of How Both Environmental Awareness and Interest in Artwork Can Be Incorporated into the Interior Design of Urban Hotels

Prior studies on urban hotel service settings show that the positive response to the lobby artwork and interior design in a hotel is a performance determinant since it directly impacts the orientation of green customers’ preferences who form a significant part of the primary and secondary consumers outcome of emotional satisfaction. In addition, it elaborates on the importance of marketing strategy based on hotel interior design for urban hotels intending to increase customer loyalty. For this reason, the present study collected a total of 330 South Korean participants to identify the mediating role of hotel lobby interior design and artworks between green customers’ preferences and hotel loyalty. The survey instrument designed for the current study included 15 questions to test the hypotheses and a path analysis using AMOS 24.0 was conducted as the main tool to determine the relationship key factors. According to our statistical findings, it is acceptable to relate the customers’ environmental awareness with interest in artwork in the hotel lobby due to the first impression created. The artwork gives a general perception of the value and quality that the consumer is likely to gain by interacting with the available products and services. It is also valid to indicate that the customers’ environmental awareness closely relates to their preference for interior design to develop customer loyalty. Therefore, we conclude that the environmental awareness and hotel loyalty factors impact the marketing strategy and segmentation process used for the urban hotels that deal with green customers with unique and exclusive needs