The emotional decision maker: Exploring the role of affect in sweet-food choice

Obesity is now described as a pandemic (Hu, 2013) and a strong association has been identified between sugar consumption and excessive weight gain (e.g. Te Morenga, Mallard & Mann, 2013). Yet difficulty in establishing the factors driving this relationship leaves a dearth of research investigating causal mechanisms behind this global crisis (Lean, Astrup & Roberts, 2018). Food choice has been linked with cognitive processes involved in decision making (Peters, 2009), which in turn, has been linked with affect, i.e. mood and emotion (Lerner, Li, Valdesolo & Kassam, 2015). The aim of this thesis was therefore to explore the way in which both state and trait affect influence impulsive, sweet food decision making across three studies. As hypothesised and supported by affective regulation theory (Gross, 1998), results showed that as laboratory-induced mood (i.e. state affect) moved from positive to negative, the likelihood of choosing a chocolate reward over a non-food/neutral reward increased. This finding was conclusively evident when controlling for other factors such as chocolate craving in Study 2, ultimately highlighting the complex influence of affect on sweet food choice. Following this initial choice in Studies 1 and 2, subsequent hypotheses concerning impulse and self-control were not wholly supported as participants in both mood conditions were more likely to make impulsive decisions than exercise self-control. While affective regulation theory also explained those in negative moods making impulsive choices, an integrative framework was put forward to explain those in positive moods displaying the same behaviour (Andrade, 2005). In Studies 2 and 3 a willingness-to-pay (WTP) task was included to explore the relationship between state and trait affect and economic decisions concerning chocolate and high-sugar foods. While laboratory-induced mood did not predict WTP prices in Study 2, decreasing positive affectivity (i.e. trait affect) was found to significantly predict higher WTP prices for chocolate and high-sugar items, as hypothesised in Study 3. Reduced positive affectivity has been linked with symptoms of depression (Watson, Clark & Carey, 1988) which, in turn, is associated with an increase in desire for chocolate and sweet foods (Lester & Bernard, 1991). These results therefore provided robust evidence that higher spending for sweet items is connected to the absence of positive affectivity rather than presence of negative affectivity. Finally, increasing chocolate craving was found to significantly predict choices and increasing WTP prices for chocolate items in Studies 2 and 3. The potential parallel between chocolate and substances more commonly associated with addiction is discussed, together with the broad, practical implications of all findings in the context of sweet food choice and obesity

Neural organisation of innate behaviour in zebrafish larvae

Animals’ inner worlds are a hazy imitation of reality, shaped by evolution. Of the infinitude of stimuli that can arise in their natural environment, only a few will bear significance for an animal’s survival and reproductive success. Thus, neural circuits have evolved to extract only these relevant stimuli from the background and connect them to downstream effectors. Sometimes, competing representations of the outside world arise in the brain, and these must be resolved to ensure adaptive behaviour. Through the study of an animal’s behaviour, we can learn about its inner world: which stimuli it cares about; the desires these stimuli engender within it; and how its movements enact and extinguish those desires, allowing new stimuli to emerge that reorchestrate the inner world and refresh the cycle. Here, I present three studies that investigate the emergence of this world in the neural circuits of zebrafish larvae. In the first study, I mapped the behavioural sequences of zebrafish larvae as they pursued and consumed prey. Manipulating their vision with genetic mutants, virtual reality, and lesion studies revealed the dynamic features of stimuli that drive switches in the behaviour. I showed that, by chaining kinematically varied swim types into regular sequences, larvae bring prey to a binocular zone in the near visual field. Here, the fused representation of the stimulus across hemispheres releases stereotyped strike manoeuvres, tuned to the distance to the prey. In the second study, I helped investigate how visual circuits build representations of prey and predator stimuli. Measuring the responses of neurons to visual stimuli revealed how feature selectivity arises from the integration of upstream inputs. Features are unevenly represented across space, matching predicted changes in prey percepts as animals progress through their hunting sequences. When neurons tuned to specific features were ablated, I showed that the detection of prey was altered, no longer eliciting the usual hunting responses from animals. In the third study, I contributed to the discovery of a circuit in the brain that coordinates behavioural responses to competing stimuli. When confronted with multiple threats, animals either ignore one and escape from the other, or average their locations and escape in an intermediate direction. I showed that these two strategies are mediated by distinct swims types. Inhibiting specific neurons in the brain reduced directional escapes, but not intermediate ones, revealing a circuit that contributes to a bottom-up attention mechanism. Together, these three studies reveal the organisation of behaviour within neural circuits of the larval zebrafish brain. Finally, I consider the broader networks in the brain that might implement and modulate responses to salient visual stimuli, and how these circuits could serve as a substrate for behavioural evolution

Re Board of School Trustees, School District No 70 (Alberni) and Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 727

Union Grievance relating to employment of part-time employees. This arbitration arises out of the implementation by the employer of Program Chance , the thrust of which is explained in the following excerpts from a schools department circular dated April 21, 1980

Safety intelligence : An exploration of senior managers' characteristics

Peer reviewedPostprin

Motivation as a predictor of outcomes in school-based humanistic counselling

Recent years have seen a growth in the provision of counselling within UK secondary schools, and research indicates that it is associated with significant reductions in psychological distress. However, little is known about the moderators and mediators of positive therapeutic benefit. In the field of adult mental health, motivation has been found to be one of the strongest predictors of therapeutic outcomes, and it was hypothesised that this may also be a predictor of outcomes for young people in school-based counselling services. To assess the relationship between young people’s motivation for counselling and its effectiveness within a secondary school setting. Eighty-one young people (12 - 17 years old) who attended school-based humanistic counselling services in Scotland. Clients completed a measure of motivation for counselling at the commencement of their therapeutic work and a measure of psychological wellbeing at the commencement and termination of counselling. Motivation for counselling was not found to be significantly related to outcomes. The results indicate that the association between motivation and outcomes may be weaker in young people as compared with adults. However, a number of design factors may also account for the non-significant findings: insufficient participants, marginal reliability of the motivation measure and social desirability effects

A design of experiments (DoE) approach to optimize cryogel manufacturing for tissue engineering applications

Marine origin polymers represent a sustainable and natural alternative to mammal counterparts regarding the biomedical application due to their similarities with proteins and polysaccharides present in extracellular matrix (ECM) in humans and can reduce the risks associated with zoonosis and overcoming social- and religious-related constraints. In particular, collagen-based biomaterials have been widely explored in tissue engineering scaffolding applications, where cryogels are of particular interest as low temperature avoids protein denaturation. However, little is known about the influence of the parameters regarding their behavior, i.e., how they can influence each other toward improving their physical and chemical properties. Factorial design of experiments (DoE) and response surface methodology (RSM) emerge as tools to overcome these difficulties, which are statistical tools to find the most influential parameter and optimize processes. In this work, we hypothesized that a design of experiments (DoE) model would be able to support the optimization of the collagen-chitosan-fucoidan cryogel manufacturing. Therefore, the parameters temperature (A), collagen concentration (B), and fucoidan concentration (C) were carefully considered to be applied to the Boxâ Behnken design (three factors and three levels). Data obtained on rheological oscillatory measurements, as well as on the evaluation of antioxidant concentration and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) concentration, showed that fucoidan concentration could significantly influence collagen-chitosan-fucoidan cryogel formation, creating a stable internal polymeric network promoted by ionic crosslinking bonds. Additionally, the effect of temperature significantly contributed to rheological oscillatory properties. Overall, the condition that allowed us to have better results, from an optimization point of view according to the DoE, were the gels produced at −80ºC and composed of 5% of collagen, 3% of chitosan, and 10% fucoidan. Therefore, the proposed DoE model was considered suitable for predicting the best parameter combinations needed to develop these cryogels.This research was funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) for Ph.D. fellowship (D.N.C.) under the scope of the doctoral program Tissue Engineering, Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cells, ref. PD/BD/143044/2018, for postdoctoral fellowship (C.G.), ref. SFRH/BPD/94277/2013. This work has been partially funded by ERDF under the scope of the Atlantic Area Program through project EAPA_151/2016 (BLUEHUMAN)

Inuit approaches to naming and distinguishing caribou: Considering language, place, and homeland toward improved co-management

Qikiqtaq (King William Island), in the Kitikmeot region of Nunavut, has been largely overlooked in caribou research to date. Qikiqtaq is shown as blank, or as having uncertain status, in the majority of caribou herd range maps. However, our work with Inuit Elders and hunters in Uqsuqtuuq (Gjoa Haven) on the southeastern coast of Qikiqtaq made it clear that caribou migrate on and off the island seasonally, and some remain on the island year-round. Caribou were identified as a local research priority in 2010, and we have worked together with Uqsuqtuurmiut (people of Uqsuqtuuq) from 2011 to 2016 to document and share Uqsuqtuurmiut knowledge of caribou movements, hunting, and habitat, as well as the importance of caribou for community diets, livelihoods, and cultural practices. In this process, it was important to understand appropriate Inuktitut terminology and local approaches to naming and distinguishing caribou in the region. Uqsuqtuurmiut do not generally distinguish caribou (tuktuit in Inuktitut) according to herds, in the way that biologists or wildlife managers do. Locally, people differentiate four main types of caribou: iluiliup tuktuit (inland caribou), kingailaup tuktuit (island caribou), qungniit (reindeer), and a mixture of iluiliup tuktuit and kingailaup tuktuit. Through these names, along with reviewing approaches to naming and distinguishing caribou in other Kitikmeot and Kivalliq commu