Martial Arts Participation, Aggression, and Self-Control: An Examination of the “Gentle Arts.”

The recent emergence of mixed-martial arts (MMA) as a professional sport has led to an increased interest in martial arts in the United States. While the visibility of the violence that constitutes mixed martial arts might be cause of concern, MMA is not indicative of martial arts participation as a whole. The martial arts have become an increasingly popular form of leisure that draws a broad, diverse group of participants. This study explores the relationships between martial arts participation, aggression, and self-control. Using the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire (BPAQ) (1992) and Tangney’s Brief Self-Control Scale (BSCS) (2004), my findings show that compared to non-participants, individuals who participate in martial arts training are less verbally aggressive, less hostile, less angry, and exhibit more self-control. &nbsp

Postpartum depression – researching new methods for diagnosis, education, and treatment

Postpartum depression can affect, directly or indirectly, both mothers and fathers after the birth of a child. The primary goal of the project was to conduct exploratory research to determine new methods for diagnosis and treatment of the condition. Specifically, we looked for ways to use technology to educate people about postpartum depression, as well as treat it. We hoped this would also increase accessibility of care to all communities. We conducted interviews directly with people who had experienced postpartum depression as well as people who knew someone who experienced it. Through the interviews we learned about their experiences and asked when and where intervention could have helped alleviate the condition. We also polled them about using technology to treat postpartum depression, and whether they found that to be potentially helpful. After completing the interviews, we collected our data and prepared a report containing our findings and recommendations.Informatio

Destructive behavior among adolescents: the role of social integration in the academic institution

This study explores the relationships between the social environment of the academic institution and the self-destructive behavior of the students within it. My approach combines elements of strain and social control theories to expand the concept of social integration and its importance in influencing adolescent deviant behavior; I include theories of identity, efficacy and locus of control, and self-concept in my theoretical model. My primary focus is on the importance of social integration in anchoring the individual into the social environment, providing him/her with pro-social sources for identity, efficacy, and social support. For students, the social environment of the school serves as a stage for public performance and construction of the adolescent identity. Regression analyses of data from the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988 reveal that students who participate in any extracurricular activity during their sophomore year are less likely to commit light delinquency, are less likely to get into fights at school, less likely to use marijuana and cocaine at school, and are more likely to experience feelings of empowerment and personal control during their senior year. Even after we consider differences in race, gender, SES, school characteristics and location, academic performance, student employment, student church attendance, parental involvement in school, and student involvement in the community, delinquent behavior during the senior year is greater for students who did not participate in any extracurricular activity during their sophomore year. Furthermore, these relationships are even stronger among students who also experienced feelings of powerlessness and negative self-concept during their sophomore years. Over the course of their high school career, these students stand to gain the most from participation in the school environment. Social integration in the school anchors students in a structured, ordered existence; the social support, norms, routine, and identity enhancement that accompany social integration provide buffers against sources of strain and outlets through which to cope with the stressful environment of the school

A low pre-infall mass for the Carina dwarf galaxy from disequilibrium modelling

Dark matter only simulations of galaxy formation predict many more subhalos around a Milky Way like galaxy than the number of observed satellites. Proposed solutions require the satellites to inhabit dark matter halos with masses between one to ten billion solar masses at the time they fell into the Milky Way. Here we use a modelling approach, independent of cosmological simulations, to obtain a preinfall mass of 360 (+380,-230) million solar masses for one of the Milky Way's satellites: Carina. This determination of a low halo mass for Carina can be accommodated within the standard model only if galaxy formation becomes stochastic in halos below ten billion solar masses. Otherwise Carina, the eighth most luminous Milky Way dwarf, would be expected to inhabit a significantly more massive halo. The implication of this is that a population of "dark dwarfs" should orbit the Milky Way: halos devoid of stars and yet more massive than many of their visible counterparts.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, 1 table, and supplementary material availabl

CCPG1, an unconventional cargo receptor for ER-phagy, maintains pancreatic acinar cell health

ER stress-mediated induction of a new vertebrate-specific autophagy cargo receptor, CCPG1 (cell-cycle progression gene 1), drives degradation of endoplasmic reticulum. CCPG1 acts via ATG8-family interaction and, non-canonically, via discrete interactions with FIP200. CCPG1 ameliorates ER stress in the exocrine pancreas. This has potential implications for inflammation and cancer, discussed here