The Effects Of Cardiorespiratory Fitness And Total Body Fatness On Arterial Stiffness In Healthy Overweight And Non-Overweight Children And Adolescents

Our objective was to determine whether increased central aortic stiffness is associated with decreased cardiorespiratory fitness or increased adiposity in healthy children. Seventy 7-to-17-year-old children were studied. Carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV) and brachial systolic blood pressure were compared according to quartiles of ratio-scaled oxygen uptake at first ventilatory threshold (VO2 at VT1), body fat percentage, and body mass index. A separate ANOVA with Dunnett’s T3 post-hoc tests for multiple comparisons of quartiles was conducted for each dependent variable, with each comparison evaluated at an alpha level of 0.05. Our results are in line with previous literature suggesting that higher levels of cardiorespiratory fitness and lower body mass index are associated with lower central arterial stiffness. In particular, VO2 at VT1 normalized for fat-free mass was inversely associated with cfPWV. Moreover, contrary to some of the present literature, our findings suggest there is no difference in arterial stiffness between the lowest and the highest body fat percentage

Decision-Making in the Selection of Food Waste Diversion Systems for Boone, North Carolina: Comparing Composting and Anaerobic Digestion by Life Cycle Assessment and Cost Benefit Analysis

Selecting an optimal food waste diversion system for a specific site is not a simple process and varies depending on local conditions. The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of the relative environmental burdens and economic benefits of each alternative food waste diversion system compared to landfilling by conducting a case study in Boone, NC. The results indicate that anaerobic digestion is more environmentally beneficial in Boone due to the avoidance of fossil fuel use for electricity generation, while composting becomes more economically beneficial with 10,000 tons of annual organic waste generation

Reducing Greenhouse Energy Consumption By Bench-Top Root Zone Heating And Renewable Energy: Springhouse Farm Case Study (Vilas, North Carolina - POSTER)

Mountain farmers in Southern Appalachia often face challenges associated with terrain and climate such as a short growing season and size of farm, thus balancing economic feasibility. However, demand for locally grown produce exceeds current spending by 260%. This unmet demand indicates that the potential exists for increasing mountain farmers in the region. Growing season extension with greenhouse technology is a key strategy to increase the availability of local food and farmers' profits

Telepractice Versus In-Person Delivery of Voice Therapy for Primary Muscle Tension Dysphonia

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the utility of telepractice for delivering flow phonation exercises to persons with primary muscle tension dysphonia (MTD). Method: Fourteen participants with a diagnosis of primary MTD participated, 7 on site and 7 at remote locations. Each participant received 12 treatment sessions across 6 weeks. Treatment consisted of flow phonation voice therapy exercises. Auditory–perceptual, acoustic, aerodynamic, and quality-of-life measures were taken before and after treatment. Results: Perceptual and quality-of-life measures were significantly better posttreatment and were statistically equivalent across groups. Acoustic and aerodynamic measures improved in both groups, but changes did not reach statistical significance. Results for the 2 service delivery groups were comparable, with no significant differences observed for perceptual and quality-of-life measures.Conclusions: Although the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association supports the use of telepractice for speech-language pathology services, evidence for the use of telepractice for providing behavioral treatment to patients with MTD has been lacking. The results of this study indicate that flow phonation exercises can be successfully used for patients with MTD using telepractice

MODEL DEVELOPMENT AND SYSTEM OPTIMIZATION TO MINIMIZE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS FROM WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANTS

As greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) reduction has drawn considerable attention, various methods have been established to estimate greenhouse gas emissions from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). In order to establish a design and operational strategy for GHG mitigation, accurate estimates are essential. However, the existing approaches (e.g. the IPCC protocol and national greenhouse gas inventories) do not cover emissions from all sources in WWTPs and are not sufficient to predict facility-level emissions. The ultimate goal of this research was to improve the quantification of GHG emissions from WWTPs. This was accomplished by creating a new mathematical model based on an existing activated sludge model. The first part of the research proposed a stepwise methodology using elemental balances in order to derive stoichiometry for state variables used in a mass balance based whole-plant wastewater treatment plant model. The two main advantages of the elemental balance method are the inclusion of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the existing model with no mass loss and ease of tracking elemental pathways. The second part of the research developed an integrated model that includes (1) a direct emission model for onsite emissions from treatment processes and (2) an indirect emission model for offsite emissions caused by plant operation. A sensitivity analysis of the proposed model was conducted to identify key input parameters. An uncertainty analysis was also carried out using a Monte Carlo simulation, which provided an estimate of the potential variability in GHG estimations. Finally, in the third part, the research identified an optimal operational strategy that resulted in minimizing operating costs and GHG emission, while simultaneously treating the wastewater at better levels. To do this, an integrated performance index (IPI) was proposed to combine the three criteria. The IPI was then incorporated into an optimization algorithm. The results obtained in this research demonstrated that the variation of GHG emissions is significant across the range of practical operational conditions. With system optimization, however, WWTPs have the potential to reduce GHG emissions without raising operating costs or reducing effluent quality. Further research should include a mechanistic examination of processes that produce methane (CH4) in the wastewater treatment stream and nitrous oxide (N2O) in the sludge treatment stream

Investigating older female consumers’ environmentally sustainable apparel consumption through socioemotional selectivity theory and advertising appeals

During recent decades, the importance of environmentally sustainable apparel consumption has been emphasized by researchers and marketers because the apparel industry is responsible for several concerns related to the environment. However, despite numerous studies on environmental apparel consumption, current research on the behavior of older consumers is limited. Older consumers have recently grown in their collective purchasing power and are increasingly consuming more apparel; thus, for the purpose of sustainable development, it is important to examine their environmentally sustainable apparel consumption. The purpose of this study is to explain the consumption of environmentally sustainable apparel among elderly consumers. Built on socioemotional selectivity theory (SST) and the positivity effect, this study attempts to discover whether the time perspective of elderly consumers explains their environmentally sustainable apparel consumption. Moreover, by comparing advertisement appeal types, the study further examines how purchase intentions toward environmentally sustainable apparel may be enhanced. This research was conducted with female participants who were 65 years of age or older at the time of this study. A survey questionnaire obtained information about the respondents’ environmentally sustainable apparel consumption, time perspective, fashion consciousness, and purchase intention toward shirts shown in environment-related advertisement stimuli. In order to test the ten proposed hypotheses, a total of 154 usable responses were collected from members of organizations (e.g., churches, YMCAs, and senior centers) in North Carolina. The findings showed that older female adults with expansive time perspectives were more likely to behave sustainably when purchasing apparel (H1), with their fashion consciousness moderating this relationship between time perspective and environmental apparel consumption (H1a). Although emotional appeals did not have stronger effects on purchase intention than rational (H2a) or control appeals (H2b), it was discovered that rational advertisements can encourage the environmental purchase intentions of elderly consumers more effectively than advertisements with no environmental messages (H2c). Positive emotional messages were not more persuasive than negative emotional messages (H3a), but they nevertheless enhanced environmental purchase intentions more than control advertisements (advertisements with no messages about environmental sustainability) (H3b). There were no significant differences between negative emotional and control appeals (H3c). These results offer several implications. The time perspective of elderly women is shown to have considerable influence on their environmental behavior. Expansive time perspective is correlated with higher environmentally sustainable apparel consumption than limited time perspective, likely because expansive time perspectives emphasize future-oriented goals, which align strongly with the concept of sustainability. Thus, apparel retailers are advised to consider time perspective as well as age when encouraging environmental consumption; furthermore, their clothing items would benefit from higher levels of fashion consciousness. Environmental messages containing rational information and eliciting positive emotions can also encourage purchase intentions toward environmentally sustainable apparel among elderly consumers. The limitations of the study and suggestions for future studies are discussed as well

ISOGEOMETRIC ANALYSIS AND PATCHWISE REPRODUCING POLYNOMIAL PARTICLE METHOD FOR PLATES

Isogeometric analysis (IGA) ([8, 16, 27]) is designed to combine two tasks, design by Computer Aided Design (CAD) and Finite Element Analysis (FEA), so that it drastically reduces the error in the representation of the computational domain and the re-meshing by the use of “exact” CAD geometry directed at the coarsest level of discretization. This is achieved by using B-splines or non-uniform rational B-splines (NURBS) for the description of geometries as well as for the representation of unknown solution fields. In order to handle the singularities arising in the PDEs, Babu?ska and Oh [7] introduced mapping techniques, called the Method of Auxiliary Mapping (MAM), into conventional p-version of Finite Element Methods (FEM). In a similar spirit to MAM, it is possible to construct a novel NURBS geometrical mapping that generates singular functions resembling the singularities. The proposed mapping technique is concerned with constructions of unconventional novel geometrical mappings by which push-forward of B-spline functions defined on the parameter space generates singular functions in a physical domain that resemble the given point singularities. In other words, the pull-back of the singularity into the parameter space by the non standard NURBS mapping becomes highly smooth. However, the mapping technique is not able to handle in the framework of IGA. Thus, we consider how to use the proposed mapping method in IGA of elliptic prob- lems and elasticity containing singularities without changing the design mapping. For this end, we embed the mapping method into the standard IGA that uses NURBS basis functions for which h - p - k-refinements are applicable for improved computational solution. In other words, the mapping method will be used to enrich NURBS basis functions around neighborhood of singularities so that they can capture singular behaviors of the solution to be approximated. Finally, Reproducing Polynomial Particle Method (RPPM) is one of meshless methods that use meshes minimally or do not use meshes at all. In this disserta- tion, the RPPM is employed for free vibration and buckling of the first order shear deformation model (FSDT), called the Reissner-Mindlin plate, and for analysis of boundary layer of the Reissner-Mindlin plate. For numerical implementation, we use flat-top partition of unity functions, introduced by Oh et al, and patchwise RPPM in which approximation functions have high order polynomial reproducing property and shape functions satisfying the Kronecker delta property. Also, we demonstrate that our method is more effective than other existing methods in dealing with Reissner- Mindlin plates with various material properties and boundary conditions

The development of adolescent emotion regulation among Black and White youth: the role of negative emotionality and parental emotion socialization

The purpose of the current study was to explore the interactive effect of youth’s dispositional susceptibility to negative emotions—or negative emotionality (NE)—and parental socialization of youth’s negative emotions in predicting adolescent emotion regulation (ER). ER is characterized by an individual’s ability to modify activated emotions. It was hypothesized that higher levels of NE in youth would predict subsequent poor ER skills, particularly in youth whose parents endorsed greater levels of non-supportive responses to their negative emotions. However, this effect would be mitigated among Black youth relative to White youth (Dunbar, Leerkes, Coard, Supple, & Calkins, 2017; Leerkes, Supple, & Gudmunson, 2014). In the large-scale, longitudinal study from which the current secondary analyses were drawn, mothers completed measures on youth’s NE at 5 years of age and their non-supportive responses to their child’s emotions at 5, 7, and 10 years of age. Adolescents (N = 371; 70.6% White, 29.4% Black; Mage = 15.64 years) completed a measure of ER at 15 years of age. A multi-group analysis indicated no significant moderation of race on the interaction between NE and non-supportive parental responses. However, a significant main effect of non-supportive responses emerged, where greater non-supportive responses across childhood predicted lower ER in all adolescents. Exploratory post hoc analyses revealed differential outcomes for non-supportive responses to dominant versus submissive emotions as well as differential outcomes for non-supportive responses of discrete emotions to adolescent ER between Black and White youth. Potential interpretations and contributions to the literature are discussed

Korean parents' disciplinary practices and socioeconomic status : an investigation based on disciplinary domains and language functions

"The purpose of the study was to examine the culture-specific parenting processes in terms of socioeconomic status using Bronfenbrenner's PPCT model. Kohn's theory of parental values and Bernstein's sociolinguistic theory were applied to deepen the understanding of proximal processes in Korean parenting. Ten mothers of young children were selected from middle and working classes in Korea. Questionnaire and videotaped data were collected. For the survey of parental beliefs, data from 63 mothers were used. Filming was conducted for 2 hours in naturally occurring situations. Korean mothers' parental values and verbal disciplinary practices varied as a function of a social class. Middle-class mothers valued talking more and talked more than did working-class mothers. Mothers' preferences for disciplinary domains differed by the social class, supporting Kohn's thesis. Working-class mothers valued strictness in parenting and used stricter language functions than did middle-class mothers, which is consistent with Bernstein's sociolinguistic approach toward parenting."--Abstract from author supplied metadata

Re-imagining the users' experience: An ethnographic approach to web usability and space design

The purpose of this paper is to describe the process and work undertaken by the library anthropologist and the Usability Task Force (UTF) for reconfiguring the library's physical and virtual spaces to meet the educational needs and expectations of users, including students, faculty, and community patrons. Through formal usability studies and ethnographic research, the paper describes the process and work undertaken by the library anthropologist and the UTF. Through surveys, focus groups observation data were obtained about the current study and web habits of undergraduates and faculty. This paper presents an ethnographic approach to policy development and implementation to re-orient the physical and virtual library environments at a large research library. Libraries and library administrators will find value in the policies established and processes outlined for the development of user-centered learning spaces