Reducing weekly screen time use in college students.

Background: Screen time overuse is a serious problem currently affecting college students. Studies have shown that too much screen time use can contribute to symptoms of depression and anxiety as well as stress, insomnia, and sedentary behavior contributing to obesity and cardiometabolic issues. Though much research has been devoted to assessing and reducing screen time use in children and adolescents, there are fewer published studies on interventions specific to college students. Therefore, the interventions for adolescents (ages 13 to 17) were reviewed and synthesized, as college students are close in age and brain development to late adolescent stage. Setting: The University of Louisville’s (UofL) REACH center employs UofL student tutors to lead large- and small- group peer tutoring sessions. The EBP project was implemented with REACH peer tutors. Purpose: To educate UofL REACH student tutors about the untoward health effects of screen time overuse, with a goal of reducing screen time use among the REACH participants. Methods: An educational session was developed and delivered to 17 REACH tutors during a previously scheduled mid-semester training meeting. A pre- and post-test was given on the day of the educational session. Additionally, two questionnaires- the Sedentary Behavior Questionnaire and the Smartphone Addiction Scale were administered on the day of the educational session and six weeks later. Participants were also asked to keep a log of their recreational screen time for five weeks following the educational intervention and submit a screenshot of their smartphone use weekly during the 5-week screen time use data collection period. Results: The scores on the pre- and post-tests showed that there was a statistically significant increase in participants’ knowledge about screen time use/overuse from pretest (M=5.23, SD= 1.09) to posttest (M=8.23, SD= 1.92), t(-5.602), p= \u3c.001. Only a third of the participants completed the Sedentary Behavior Questionnaire and Smartphone Addiction Scale with the results of the paired T-test from week 1 to week 6 was not significant. Conclusion: While there was no significant decrease in screen time use among the participants, the educational session did significantly increase the participants’ knowledge about the harmful effects of excessive screen time use

Windage measurements in a rotor stator cavity with rotor mounted protrusions and bolts

This paper reports an experimental investigation of the windage associated with enclosed rotor-stator systems with superposed throughflow, as commonly found in gas turbine engines. The term windage is often used to describe the viscous heating that arises from the interaction of surfaces and fluids in rotating disc systems. Since the presence of circumferentially discreet geometric features strongly alters the magnitude of Windage measured, the physical mechanisms collectively referred to as windage in this paper are separately described as part of the discussion of results. Tests have been carried out to measure windage directly in the form of shaft torque and also rotor surface temperature. Non-dimensional flow parameters are used to expand the relevance of the data obtained, which encompasses the ranges 0.17 x 107 ≤ Reφ ≤ 1.68 x 107and 0.24 x 105 ≤ Cw ≤ 1.06 x 105 which corresponds to 0.058 ≤ λT ≤ 0.631. Data has been obtained for smooth disc geometry and also with rotor mounted protrusions of N = 3, 9 and 18; D = 10 mm, 13 mm and 16 mm diameter; H = 11 mm, high, hexagonal bolt shaped protrusions. Bi-hexagonal (twelve sided) bolts of D = 13 mm effective diameter, and height, H = 11mm, were also tested with conditions closely matched to the 13 mm hexagonal bolts. Finally, tests with 10 mm diameter, 6 mm deep, pockets were also carried out. Over the range of conditions and geometries tested, increasing the number of bolts increases the moment coefficient and windage heating. At low values of turbulent flow parameter, λT, which correspond to rotational speeds between 8000 and 10000 rev/min, increasing the diameter of the bolts shows a clear trend for both increased windage torque and average disc temperature rise. For these conditions, there also appears to be a clear reduction in windage and temperature rise with the bi-hexagonal shaped bolts compared to the equivalent diameter hexagonal bolt form. Variation in the moment coefficient with the number and diameter of bolts is attributed to variations in form drag between the different configurations. The introduction of the recesses onto the disc has very little effect on either windage heating or moment coefficient; this is attributed to the component of windage mechanism in operation and also the relatively small size in comparison to the protrusions studied here. This work contributes to the understanding of windage in gas turbines by introducing new low uncertainty data obtained at engine representative conditions and as such is of benefit to those involved with the design of internal air systems and disc fixture

The Construction of Neighbourhoods and its Relevance for the Measurement of Social and Ethnic Segregation: Evidence from Denmark

In this paper we propose a model for constructing neighbourhoods based on geo-referenced data and administrative data. The 431,233 inhabited hectare cells in Denmark are clustered into 9,404 small and 2,296 large neighbourhoods, inhabited on average in 2004 by 572 and 2,343 persons respectively. The priorities in the clustering process are to obtain neighbourhoods that are unaltered over time, delineated by physical barriers, compact, homogeneous in terms of type of housing and ownership, relatively small, homogeneous in terms of number of inhabitants, and comprised of a contiguous cluster of cells. To illustrate the importance of detailed neighbourhood information we compare social and ethnic segregation measured by Isolation and Dissimilation indices on the levels of municipalities and of small neighbourhoods. Our findings demonstrate substantial variation in the residential mix in neighbourhoods within a given municipality, and thus show the importance of having information on a more detailed geographical level than that of the municipality.geo-referenced data, neighbourhoods, segregation

The Construction of Neighbourhoods and its Relevance for the Measurement of Social and Ethnic Segregation: Evidence from Denmark

In this paper we propose a model for constructing neighbourhoods based on georeferenced data and administrative data. The 431,233 inhabited hectare cells in Denmark are clustered into 9,404 small and 2,296 large neighbourhoods, inhabited on average in 2004 by 572 and 2,343 persons respectively. The priorities in the clustering process are to obtain neighbourhoods that are unaltered over time, delineated by physical barriers, compact, homogeneous in terms of type of housing and ownership, relatively small, homogeneous in terms of number of inhabitants, and comprised of a contiguous cluster of cells. To illustrate the importance of detailed neighbourhood information we compare social and ethnic segregation measured by Isolation and Dissimilation indices on the levels of municipalities and of small neighbourhoods. Our findings demonstrate substantial variation in the residential mix in neighbourhoods within a given municipality, and thus show the importance of having information on a more detailed geographical level than that of the municipality.Geo-referenced data, neighbourhoods, segregation

From Cultural Translation to Clinical Consultation: Working Between Languages, Working Between Disciplines

This article discusses the findings of a translation “workshop” run at intervals between 2011-2015, which brought together a) students of a liberal arts graduate program in Cultural Translation and b) recently arrived asylum seekers in Paris. The evolution of these workshops prompted the decision to explore the field of transcultural psychiatry and clinical practice as it has developed from its inception at the Hôpital Avicenne in Paris, where it continues to be developed and taught under the direction of Professor Marie Rose Moro. The aim of the collaboration was to support and theorize the inclusion of a marginalized, potentially traumatized and multilingual public within the frame of the liberal arts classroom. Reviewing, first, the reasons for reaching beyond the discipline of translation studies to that of psychiatry and psychotherapy, this article will explore this “case” of interdisciplinary practice through a comparative analysis of the group dynamics operating in the translation workshop, on the one hand, and in the teaching and clinical environment on the other. It examines the different modes of production for discursive acts in the two contexts—situating, first, the processes of positioning within each of these multilingual groups, in order, second, to foreground the relative importance accorded to textual productions versus oral enunciation. This difference offers a useful magnifier for understanding the conceptions of subjectivation at work in the respective approaches to multilingual transcultural communication

Mitochondrial damage accumulation in oocytes – a potential link between maternal obesity and increased cardiometabolic disease risk in offspring.

The developmental origins of health and disease (DoHAD) hypothesis suggests that negative maternal lifestyle choices, such as obesity, affect the health of her offspring. Clinical and laboratory studies support this hypothesis – offspring born to obese mothers are at increased risk for health conditions including cardiometabolic syndrome and congenital abnormalities. Maternal obesity damages the oocytes, contributing to the increased disease risk by transmitting damaged organelles and epigenetic modifications to the offspring. Mitochondria, the most abundant organelle in the oocyte, are damaged in oocytes from obese females. However, we do not understand if mitochondrial damage in oocytes is reversible nor why offspring are at increased risk for cardiometabolic syndrome like cardiomyopathy. Here we show that in mice fed a high fat/high sugar (HF/HS diet), improving female health with moderate, voluntary exercise does not reverse oocyte damage. We also tested if oocytes could activate mitophagy to repair obesity induced mitochondrial damage. Finally, we show that female offspring from obese mothers have mitochondrial damage in the heart that persists into adulthood. This damage causes dilated cardiomyopathy that worsens with age. These results provide an explanation for the persistence of damaged mitochondria in the oocytes of obese females. Additionally, they suggest that maternal obesity promotes the development of heart failure in offspring by inducing mitochondrial damage in the heart. Together, this data suggests mitochondrial damage caused by maternal obesity is non-reversible and contributes to cardiometabolic syndrome. The research provides potential mechanisms that support the DoHAD hypothesis and open new questions about how the changes to offspring health occur

Compost Amendments on Urban Soils vs. Water Retention

This study was undertaken to investigate the impact of compost on urban soils’ ability to retain water. Data from past studies led to the development of the hypothesis that compost will increase soil’s water-holding capacity up to a certain point, but, if too much compost is present, the soil will become hydrophobic. To test this hypothesis, four treatments were chosen in the form of compost layers of increasing thicknesses (0-inch compost layer, 1-inch compost layer, 2-inch compost layer, 3-inch compost layer), and three repetitions of each treatment were randomly assigned to twelve planting plots of equal size. Kale seeds were planted evenly in each plot and were tended as needed and watered consistently for the duration of two thirty-day trials. Soil moisture, temperature, and conductivity were measured with a soil probe twice weekly throughout the trials. The data showed an inverse relationship between compost and soil moisture: Soil moisture decreased as compost thickness increased. The same trend was seen between conductivity and compost. Temperature was not impacted by compost. This data led to a rejection of the hypothesis that compost increases soil’s water-holding capacity up to a certain limit. These unexpected results could be attributed to the shallow soil measurements achieved by the probe. In future research, a different method should be used to measure soil moisture in order to determine the characteristics of the soil below the compost layer. This study revealed implications for plants of different rooting lengths and provided insight for future designs of urban soil research projects

Sperm pHertility: male gamete responses to ocean acidification and other stressors

Ocean acidification (OA) together with other anthropogenic perturbations is projected to dramatically alter marine environments over the coming centuries. The vast majority of marine species reproduce by freely spawning sperm directly into the water column, where fertilisation can then either be external or a female can draw sperm into a burrow, brooding chamber or onto her external surface. Hence, sperm are now being released into rapidly changing seawater conditions. In this thesis, I firstly assess what is currently known on the potential for OA and other anthropogenic stressors to influence freely spawned sperm in marine invertebrate taxa. I then present a series of experimental chapters investigating the influence of OA, as a single stressor or in conjunction with a second stressor, copper, on sperm function, physiology and competitive fertilisation performance in a range of invertebrate taxa. My research demonstrates that sperm are vulnerable to the projected changes in seawater carbonate chemistry under OA, with responses observed at all biological levels from sperm physiology, swimming performance, fertilisation ecology and sperm competitiveness. In a multi-stressor experiment on polychaete gametes and larvae, I provide empirical evidence that changes to seawater pH under OA can alter the susceptibility of early life stages including sperm, to the common coastal pollutant copper. Sperm DNA damage increased by 150 % and larval survivorship was reduced by 44 % in combined exposures, than when exposed to copper alone. As a single stressor OA also acted to significantly reduce Arenicola marina sperm swimming speeds and fertilisation success. This work was followed up with a mechanistic investigation of A. marina sperm swimming performance under OA conditions. I found that the length of time between spawning and fertilisation can strongly influence the impact of OA on sperm performance. Key fitness-related aspects of sperm functioning declined after several hours under OA conditions, and these declines could not be explained by changes in sperm ATP content, oxygen consumption or viability. In a final set of experiments, I ran a set of paired competitive fertilisation trials in the sea urchin, Paracentrotus lividus. In addition to reducing fundamental sperm performance parameters, OA conditions affected competitive interactions between males during fertilisation, with potential implications for the proportion of offspring contributed by each male under the new conditions. This work suggests that the ‘best’ males currently may not be the most competitive under OA. Overall this body of work reveals a series of significant changes to sperm performance under OA that might act to perturb sperm functioning in future oceans.NER