HIIT-ing the Books: University Student Time Allocation and Exercise

A growing body of economic literature examines irrational human behavior in a variety of contexts, including exercise habits (Duckworth and Milkman 2019). Based on this research, small interventions known as nudges have been introduced, sometimes significantly altering how individuals behave. This study focuses on a specific population’s behavior to nudge: university student’s exercise habits. Despite the benefits of physical exercise, such as a 40-50% reduction in all-cause mortality, only half of the students surveyed by this study met CDC suggested exercise requirement of 5 hours per week—5% responded that they do not exercise at all (Morris et al. 1953). This physical inactivity has not only costs the individual, but also society, estimated at $117 billion per year in America alone (Carlson et al. 2015). This study investigates why university students act against their long-term interest and wellbeing. The central question of this study is: how do students frame the tradeoffs between exercise and academics and what are implications for their time allocation? Understanding how students frame the time consumption can enlighten policy responses to the problem of physical inactivity. This paper uses data from a survey sent via email to the ~8,400 student membership of the University of Montana Recreation Center which generating ~440 observations analyzed using ordinary least squares and ordered logit. Preliminary results indicate a majority of students do not engage in sufficient number of hours of exercise. Students are least likely to give up studying time in order to exercise, but answered that they would be motivated to exercise if it were bundled with a payment or fine, if they received academic credit, or if they went with a friend. These responses suggest novel behavioral interventions that could induce students to exercise more often that could be replicated in society at large

Place, Experience, and Conversation: Understanding How to Most Effectively Talk About Climate Change Risks

The risks associated with sea level rise and climate change pose a major threat to coastal cities around the United States and the globe. Currently, the climate conversation is essentially a one way conversation based on power structures that fails to recognize the importance of how people approach the abstract nature of this problem. The overarching goals of this research project are 1) to understand the nuances of content framing and delivery approaches of climate change communication and 2) to discover if this reveals more effective ways to truly engage individuals in this difficult topic and to foster further discussions. This report culminates the first steps in a larger project, with the creation of a field tested social science research survey. The resulting survey measures the relative effectiveness of content framing and deliverance approaches to communication strategies regarding risks of sea level rise on individuals’ concern and stated willingness to take action in three locational spheres (local, home place, and national)

Acute Cardiometabolic Responses to Medicine Ball Interval Training in Children

International Journal of Exercise Science 11(4): 886-899, 2018. Medicine ball interval training (MBIT) has been found to be an effective exercise modality in fitness programs, yet the acute physiological responses to this type of this exercise in youth are unknown. The purpose of this study was to examine the acute cardiometabolic responses to MBIT in children. Fourteen children (mean age 10.1 ± 1.3 yr) were tested for peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak) on a treadmill and subsequently (\u3e 48 hours later) performed a progressive 10 min MBIT protocol of 5 exercises (EX): standing marches (EX1), alternating lunges (EX2), squat swings (EX3), chest passes (EX4) and double arm slams (EX5). A 2.3 kg medicine ball was used for all trials and each exercise was performed twice for 30 sec with a 30 sec rest interval between sets and exercises. Participants exercised while connected to a metabolic system and heart rate (HR) monitor. During the MBIT protocol, mean HR significantly (p\u3c0.05, η2= 0.89) increased from 121.5 ± 12.3 bpm during EX1 to 178.3 ± 9.4 bpm during EX5 and mean VO2 significantly (p\u3c0.05, η2= 0.88) increased from 15.5 ± 2.9 ml ×kg-1×min-1during EX1 to 34.9 ± 5.1 ml ×kg-1×min-1during EX5. Mean HR and VO2values during MBIT ranged from 61.1% to 89.6% of HRpeak and from 28.2% to 63.5% of VO2peak. These descriptive data indicate that MBIT can pose a moderate to vigorous cardiometabolic stimulus in children

Sex differences in protein excretion in mice consuming high protein diet

Background: Normally, the renal excretion of protein (or proteinuria) is absent or very small. Ingesting high-protein diets can elevate proteinuria and in the long term, increase the work on the kidney by increasing glomerular filtration and higher energy requirement to handle the protein. Sex differences in renal function are well known and thus, differences in proteinuria may exist. The purpose of this study was to determine if sex differences exist in proteinuria in mice consuming high protein diet and investigate the potential roles of the sex steroids 17beta-estrogen (E2) and testosterone.Methods: Healthy 3-4-week-old male and female intact and gonadectomized mice were used. Mice were placed in individual metabolic cages where the urine of each mouse could be collected and measured for protein concentration. Mice consumed a 40% casein protein diet for 25 days (normal protein = 20% protein). Some gonadectomized female mice received exogenous E2 and gonadectomized male mice received exogenous testosterone. Proteinuria was measured via dipstick measurement and protein excretion (mg/day) i.e., urine flow rate (ml/day) x urine protein concentration(mg/day).Results: Intact male mice had significantly higher proteinuria compared to intact female mice (5-10 mg/day vs 25-30 mg/day, p<0.001). Gonadectomized male and female mice had very low proteinuria (3- 5 mg/day). Gonadectomized testosterone-treated male mice had high proteinuria not different from the intact male mice. Gonadectomized E2-treated female mice had similar proteinuria compared to intact female mice and slightly though not significantly higher than gonadectomized placebo-treated female mice.Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that the male sex steroid induces high proteinuria in mice consuming high protein levels. The female sex steroid plays no role or only a minor role in proteinuria under these experimental conditions. Our results suggest that androgens may account for the higher incidence of kidney disease in males compared to age-matched pre-menopausal females

Mapping The Toronto Theatre Blogosphere

From online reviews, to live tweeting during a performance, to “liking” a production on Facebook, the blogosphere is transforming how we talk about theatre. Theatre criticism in the digital world is now a “team sport,” where audience members and artists play alongside professional critics (Fricker 49). This shift holds much potential: online critical discourse can help us develop a more diverse and inclusive picture of theatre reception and theatre-going cultures than print reviews, and expand the historical documentation of performance, which, as a vanishing art form, leaves very few traces of itself. However, the limited research in this area has yet to fully understand the role of the blogosphere in theatre ecology or how to archive the criticism found there (Collins ; Poll ; Radosavljevic). “Mapping the Toronto Theatre Blogosphere” is a new research project bringing together Dramatic Art and Computer Science students. It attempts to answer two key questions: how is the blogosphere changing how we talk about theatre, and how can we preserve the critical discourse occurring there? To answer the first question, we tracked and archived the online critical response (blog reviews, online publications, tweets, and Facebook posts) to a representative sample from the fall 2016 Toronto theatre season. Our resulting dataset was examined using a content analysis approach in order to identify which productions generated the most critical response (posts) online, the demographics of the posters (including age, gender, occupation, and ethnicity), and the purpose of the posts (including commentary on the production, socio-political commentary, endorsements, and check-ins). To answer the second question, our CS team member is developing an open-access website to archive the materials collected, which the public will be invited to use and contribute to once it is launched. Our preliminary findings suggest that the blogosphere is changing how we talk about theatre in three key ways: it is providing more coverage to new plays and plays about political or controversial subject matter; it is increasing and diversifying the participants in critical discourse, allowing women and people of colour more access into the conversations; and it is connecting discussions about theatre to other topics such as political issues and identity. Our UWill Discover presentation will summarize our findings about the Toronto theatre blogosphere and include an interactive demonstration of our database

Kirkwood District

This Historic District Information form and all of its supplementary documents were compiled by the Case Studies class in the spring of 2007. It includes information on the district known as Kirkwood, as well as prints of Sanborn maps, early plattings of the properties, as well as historic photographs and newspaper clippings.https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/history_heritagepreservation/1050/thumbnail.jp

Thymic stromal lymphopoietin is released by human epithelial cells in response to microbes, trauma, or inflammation and potently activates mast cells

Compelling evidence suggests that the epithelial cell–derived cytokine thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) may initiate asthma or atopic dermatitis through a dendritic cell–mediated T helper (Th)2 response. Here, we describe how TSLP might initiate and aggravate allergic inflammation in the absence of T lymphocytes and immunoglobulin E antibodies via the innate immune system. We show that TSLP, synergistically with interleukin 1 and tumor necrosis factor, stimulates the production of high levels of Th2 cytokines by human mast cells (MCs). We next report that TSLP is released by primary epithelial cells in response to certain microbial products, physical injury, or inflammatory cytokines. Direct epithelial cell–mediated, TSLP-dependent activation of MCs may play a central role in “intrinsic” forms of atopic diseases and explain the aggravating role of infection and scratching in these diseases

Gepotidacin for the Treatment of Uncomplicated Urogenital Gonorrhea: A Phase 2, Randomized, Dose-Ranging, Single-Oral Dose Evaluation

Background: In this phase 2 study, we evaluated the efficacy and safety of oral gepotidacin, a novel triazaacenaphthylene bacterial type II topoisomerase inhibitor, for the treatment of uncomplicated urogenital gonorrhea. Methods: Adult participants with suspected urogenital gonorrhea were enrolled and completed baseline (day 1) and test-of-cure (days 4-8) visits. Pretreatment and posttreatment urogenital swabs were collected for Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG) culture and susceptibility testing. Pharyngeal and rectal swab specimens were collected if there were known exposures. Participants were stratified by gender and randomized 1:1 to receive a 1500-mg or 3000-mg single oral dose of gepotidacin. Results: The microbiologically evaluable population consisted of 69 participants, with NG isolated from 69 (100%) urogenital, 2 (3%) pharyngeal, and 3 (4%) rectal specimens. Microbiological eradication of NG was achieved by 97%, 95%, and 96% of participants (lower 1-sided exact 95% confidence interval bound, 85.1%, 84.7%, and 89.1%, respectively) for the 1500-mg, 3000-mg, and combined dose groups, respectively. Microbiological cure was achieved in 66/69 (96%) urogenital infections. All 3 failures were NG isolates that demonstrated the highest observed gepotidacin minimum inhibitory concentration of 1 µg/mL and a common gene mutation. At the pharyngeal and rectal sites, 1/2 and 3/3 NG isolates, respectively, demonstrated microbiological cure. There were no treatment-limiting adverse events for either dose. Conclusions: This study demonstrated that single, oral doses of gepotidacin were ≥95% effective for bacterial eradication of NG in adult participants with uncomplicated urogenital gonorrhea

RELICS: Strong Lens Models for Five Galaxy Clusters From the Reionization Lensing Cluster Survey

Strong gravitational lensing by galaxy clusters magnifies background galaxies, enhancing our ability to discover statistically significant samples of galaxies at z>6, in order to constrain the high-redshift galaxy luminosity functions. Here, we present the first five lens models out of the Reionization Lensing Cluster Survey (RELICS) Hubble Treasury Program, based on new HST WFC3/IR and ACS imaging of the clusters RXC J0142.9+4438, Abell 2537, Abell 2163, RXC J2211.7-0349, and ACT-CLJ0102-49151. The derived lensing magnification is essential for estimating the intrinsic properties of high-redshift galaxy candidates, and properly accounting for the survey volume. We report on new spectroscopic redshifts of multiply imaged lensed galaxies behind these clusters, which are used as constraints, and detail our strategy to reduce systematic uncertainties due to lack of spectroscopic information. In addition, we quantify the uncertainty on the lensing magnification due to statistical and systematic errors related to the lens modeling process, and find that in all but one cluster, the magnification is constrained to better than 20% in at least 80% of the field of view, including statistical and systematic uncertainties. The five clusters presented in this paper span the range of masses and redshifts of the clusters in the RELICS program. We find that they exhibit similar strong lensing efficiencies to the clusters targeted by the Hubble Frontier Fields within the WFC3/IR field of view. Outputs of the lens models are made available to the community through the Mikulski Archive for Space TelescopesComment: Accepted to Ap

RELICS: High-Resolution Constraints on the Inner Mass Distribution of the z=0.83 Merging Cluster RXJ0152.7-1357 from strong lensing

Strong gravitational lensing (SL) is a powerful means to map the distribution of dark matter. In this work, we perform a SL analysis of the prominent X-ray cluster RXJ0152.7-1357 (z=0.83, also known as CL 0152.7-1357) in \textit{Hubble Space Telescope} images, taken in the framework of the Reionization Lensing Cluster Survey (RELICS). On top of a previously known $z=3.93$ galaxy multiply imaged by RXJ0152.7-1357, for which we identify an additional multiple image, guided by a light-traces-mass approach we identify seven new sets of multiply imaged background sources lensed by this cluster, spanning the redshift range [1.79-3.93]. A total of 25 multiple images are seen over a small area of ~0.4 $arcmin^2$, allowing us to put relatively high-resolution constraints on the inner matter distribution. Although modestly massive, the high degree of substructure together with its very elongated shape make RXJ0152.7-1357 a very efficient lens for its size. This cluster also comprises the third-largest sample of z~6-7 candidates in the RELICS survey. Finally, we present a comparison of our resulting mass distribution and magnification estimates with those from a Lenstool model. These models are made publicly available through the MAST archive.Comment: 15 Pages, 7 Figures, 4 Tables Accepted for publication in Ap