N-95 Masks Have No Effect on Spontaneous Physical Activity

In recent years, the use of facemasks has greatly increased, especially due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many individuals were required to wear a face mask for long durations. The impact of mask wearing on spontaneous physical activity (PA) is unknown. PURPOSE: This study seeks to determine if wearing an N-95 mask for extended duration would have any impact on spontaneous physical activity. METHODS: 12 total participants aged 18-21 yr. were recruited for this experimental cross-over study. Subjects reported to the lab twice, separated by one week, to receive a wrist-worn accelerometer. One condition was control (CON) and subjects did not wear masks. During the second condition, subjects wore an N-95 mask (MASK) for 10-h over the day. Starting condition was randomized for the first subject and the following subjects were assigned alternating starting conditions for a possible ordering effect. Subjects were asked to keep a food and drink log and asked to replicate the results during the second condition. The subjects wore the accelerometer for the entirety of the 10-h with activity counts being taken over 60-s epochs during both conditions. Time spent in sedentary, light, and moderate-to-vigorous PA was calculated according to Freedson 1998 cut-points. Data expressed as means ± SE. RESULTS: 12 college-aged(20.5 + 1.5 yr.) male (n=5) and female (n=7) healthy individuals completed the study. There was no statistically significant difference between conditions in the percent of time spent in sedentary (CON: 33.8 ± 25.2% vs. MASK: 33.7 ± 26.2%, P = .996), light (CON: 49.2 ± 20.7% vs. MASK: 48.9 ± 21.2%, P = .974), and moderate-to-vigorous (CON: 16.9 ± 8.7% vs. MASK: 17.4 ± 9.8%, P = .909), behaviors. CONCLUSION: The data suggest that wearing a mask for an extended period does not affect spontaneous PA

Mucedorus: the last ludic playbook, the first stage Arcadia

This article argues that two seemingly contradictory factors contributed to and sustained the success of the anonymous Elizabethan play Mucedorus (c. 1590; pub. 1598). First, that both the initial composition of Mucedorus and its Jacobean revival were driven in part by the popularity of its source, Philip Sidney's Arcadia. Second, the playbook's invitation to amateur playing allowed its romance narrative to be adopted and repurposed by diverse social groups. These two factors combined to create something of a paradox, suggesting that Mucedorus was both open to all yet iconographically connected to an elite author's popular text. This study will argue that Mucedorus pioneered the fashion for “continuations” or adaptations of the famously unfinished Arcadia, and one element of its success in print was its presentation as an affordable and performable version of Sidney's elite work. The Jacobean revival of Mucedorus by the King's Men is thus evidence of a strategy of engagement with the Arcadia designed to please the new Stuart monarchs. This association with the monarchy in part determined the cultural functions of the Arcadia and Mucedorus through the Interregnum to the close of the seventeenth century

Shakespeare in Collections/Collecting Shakespeare Virtual Presentation by Dr. Zachary Lesser

Recording from April 22, 2021 of Shakespeare in Collection/Collecting Shakespeare: What We Can Learn from 2,936 Copies by Dr. Zachary Lesser, the Edward W. Kane Professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania. In this talk, cosponsored by the WCU Special Collections and WCU Center for Book History, Dr. Lesser discusses Shakespeare\u27s folios, the copies at WCU Special Collections, and the research that led to his Shakespeare Census project. Shakespeare Census: https://shakespearecensus.org