Activating health goals reduces (increases) hedonic evaluation of food brands for people who harbor highly positive (negative) affect toward them

Associations of pleasure and fun with junk foods have the potential to create considerable challenges for efforts to improve diets. The aim of this research was to determine whether activating health goals had the potential to exploit mixed motivations (i.e., health and pleasure) that people have related to food, and subsequently strip junk foods of the expected pleasure derived from them. In study 1, 98 participants evaluated a soft drink brand after being primed (not primed) for health. In study 2, 93 participants evaluated a presweetened breakfast cereal brand after being primed (not primed) for health. In both studies, participants who harbored highly positive feelings for the food brands devalued their hedonic judgments of them when they were primed for health. However, in an unexpected result, participants in both studies who harbored highly negative feelings for the food brands revalued their hedonic judgments of them (i.e., increased the favorability) when they were primed for health. Thus, increasing health salience is only effective in decreasing expected pleasure derived from junk foods for people who harbor positive affect toward junk food brands, and is likely counterproductive for people who harbor negative affect toward junk food brands

Validation of the Beck Motivation Inventory in a Schizophrenia Sample

poster abstractObjectives: Low motivation is an obstacle to recovery for many individuals with schizophrenia, and assessing motivation remains challenging. The aim of this study was to examine the reliability and validity of a new measure of motivation, The Beck Motivation Inventory (BMI). The BMI is a 13-item measure created to assess self-reported behavior related to an individual’s ability to initiate and sustain task-related motivation, as opposed to relying on others to encourage task-related motivation. Methods: In a sample of 251 adult outpatients and inpatients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder, the BMI was administered along with measures of social functioning and dependent and autonomy beliefs. A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to test a two-factor model, which consisted of an inner- and other- directed motivation factor. The BMI’s internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and convergent and predictive validity were also assessed. Results: The BMI demonstrated acceptable internal consistency (α > .70) and adequate test-retest stability after six months (r > .5). Convergent validity was established with measures of dependent and autonomy beliefs, and predictive validity was demonstrated with a measure of social functioning. The two-factor model of the BMI was also supported. Conclusions: Results provide initial support for the validation of the BMI, suggesting that the BMI may be a useful and brief tool for evaluating behaviors linked to task-related motivation that may act as obstacles to recovery for individuals with schizophrenia

Are Audience Response Systems Worth the Cost? Comparing Question-Driven Teaching Strategies for Emergency Medical Technician Education

Purpose: As Emergency Medical Technician educators develop curricula to meet new national educational standards, effective teaching strategies validated for course content and unique student demographics are warranted. Three methods for answering multiple choice questions presented during lectures were compared: a) Audience Response System (ARS, clickers), b) hand-raising-with-eyes-closed (no-cost option), and c) passive response (no-cost option). The purpose was to determine if using the ARS resulted in improved exam scores. Method: 113 Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) students participated in this cross-over, block randomized, controlled trial, which was incorporated into their Cardiac Emergencies and Pulmonary Emergencies course lectures. Students took pretests, immediate post-tests, and delayed post-tests composed of multiple choice questions that targeted either lower or higher order thinking. Results: For both lectures, there were significant improvements on all immediate post-test scores compared to all pretest scores (p Conclusions: In this cohort, incorporation of no-cost question-driven teaching strategies into lectures was as effective as an ARS at encouraging significant, immediate and sustained improvements in answering multiple choice questions

Predicting Scattering Scanning Near-field Optical Microscopy of Mass-produced Plasmonic Devices

Scattering scanning near-field optical microscopy enables optical imaging and characterization of plasmonic devices with nanometer-scale resolution well below the diffraction limit. This technique enables developers to probe and understand the waveguide-coupled plasmonic antenna in as-fabricated heat-assisted magnetic recording heads. In order validate and predict results and to extract information from experimental measurements that is physically comparable to simulations, a model was developed to translate the simulated electric field into expected near-field measurements using physical parameters specific to scattering scanning near-field optical microscopy physics. The methods used in this paper prove that scattering scanning near-field optical microscopy can be used to determine critical sub-diffraction-limited dimensions of optical field confinement, which is a crucial metrology requirement for the future of nano-optics, semiconductor photonic devices, and biological sensing where the near-field character of light is fundamental to device operation.Comment: article: 18 pages, 5 figures; SI: 15 pages, 12 figure

Heat and sun related medical concerns in Australian led outdoor activities: a three-year prospective study

Active participation in the outdoors is beneficial for health and wellbeing. However, the impact of extreme weather, particularly heat, on safe participation is causing concern for organisations who lead these activities. Local mitigation strategies and acute management of heat- and sun-related illness (HSRI) are generally well understood by researchers and medical practitioners, however, cases continue to occur so further understanding of why this happens is required. This study aimed to identify the number, nature and contributory factors of HSRI in Australian led outdoor activities in order to seek opportunities for their prevention. This study presents a descriptive analysis of contributory factors to HSRI occurring during led outdoor activities. Cases were prospectively collected across 3 years (2014-2017) from a national Australian incident reporting system. Cases were included by identification of keywords linked with sun or heat exposure. From 2,015 incident cases, 48 cases were included: 25 termed heat stroke and 23 as “other adverse outcomes related to sun or heat.” One in three (35%) cases occurred during outdoor walking or running, and one in four occurred while camping. A total 146 contributory factors were identified. These factors were attributed to the activity participant (e.g. competence, decision making); equipment and resources (e.g. food/drink, dehydration); and environment (e.g. hot weather.). Mild to moderate HSRI was identifiable by signs/symptoms. Contributory factors were linked to the individual participant. Potentially, these factors could be mitigated through system focused approaches. Awareness of wider responsibility for preventing HSRI should be promoted across led outdoor activities

Severe Diabetes and Leptin Resistance Cause Differential Hepatic and Renal Transporter Expression in Mice

Background: Type-2 Diabetes is a major health concern in the United States and other Westernized countries, with prevalence increasing yearly. There is a need to better model and predict adverse drug reactions, drug-induced liver injury, and drug efficacy in this population. Because transporters significantly contribute to drug clearance and disposition, it is highly significant to determine whether a severe diabetes phenotype alters drug transporter expression, and whether diabetic mouse models have altered disposition of acetaminophen (APAP) metabolites. Results: Transporter mRNA and protein expression were quantified in livers and kidneys of adult C57BKS and db/db mice, which have a severe diabetes phenotype due to a lack of a functional leptin receptor. The urinary excretion of acetaminophen-glucuronide, a substrate for multidrug resistance-associated proteins transporters was also determined. The mRNA expression of major uptake transporters, such as organic anion transporting polypeptide Slco1a1 in liver and kidney, 1a4 in liver, and Slc22a7 in kidney was decreased in db/db mice. In contrast, Abcc3 and 4 mRNA and protein expression was more than 2 fold higher in db/db male mouse livers as compared to C57BKS controls. Urine levels of APAP-glucuronide, -sulfate, and N-acetyl cysteine metabolites were higher in db/db mice. Conclusion: A severe diabetes phenotype/presentation significantly altered drug transporter expression in liver and kidney, which corresponded with urinary APAP metabolite levels

Topological organization of whole-brain white matter in HIV infection

Infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is associated with neuroimaging alterations. However, little is known about the topological organization of whole-brain networks and the corresponding association with cognition. As such, we examined structural whole-brain white matter connectivity patterns and cognitive performance in 29 HIV+ young adults (mean age = 25.9) with limited or no HIV treatment history. HIV+ participants and demographically similar HIV− controls (n = 16) residing in South Africa underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and neuropsychological testing. Structural network models were constructed using diffusion MRI-based multifiber tractography and T(1)-weighted MRI-based regional gray matter segmentation. Global network measures included whole-brain structural integration, connection strength, and structural segregation. Cognition was measured using a neuropsychological global deficit score (GDS) as well as individual cognitive domains. Results revealed that HIV+ participants exhibited significant disruptions to whole-brain networks, characterized by weaker structural integration (characteristic path length and efficiency), connection strength, and structural segregation (clustering coefficient) than HIV− controls (p < 0.05). GDSs and performance on learning/recall tasks were negatively correlated with the clustering coefficient (p < 0.05) in HIV+ participants. Results from this study indicate disruption to brain network integrity in treatment-limited HIV+ young adults with corresponding abnormalities in cognitive performance

Lingering radioactivity at the Bikini and Enewetak Atolls

© The Author(s), 2017. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Science of The Total Environment 621 (2018): 1185-1198, doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.10.109.We made an assessment of the levels of radionuclides in the ocean waters, seafloor and groundwater at Bikini and Enewetak Atolls where the US conducted nuclear weapons tests in the 1940's and 50's. This included the first estimates of submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) derived from radium isotopes that can be used here to calculate radionuclide fluxes in to the lagoon waters. While there is significant variability between sites and sample types, levels of plutonium (239,240Pu) remain several orders of magnitude higher in lagoon seawater and sediments than what is found in rest of the world's oceans. In contrast, levels of cesium-137 (137Cs) while relatively elevated in brackish groundwater are only slightly higher in the lagoon water relative to North Pacific surface waters. Of special interest was the Runit dome, a nuclear waste repository created in the 1970's within the Enewetak Atoll. Low seawater ratios of 240Pu/239Pu suggest that this area is the source of about half of the Pu in the Enewetak lagoon water column, yet radium isotopes suggest that SGD from below the dome is not a significant Pu source. SGD fluxes of Pu and Cs at Bikini were also relatively low. Thus radioactivity associated with seafloor sediments remains the largest source and long term repository for radioactive contamination. Overall, Bikini and Enewetak Atolls are an ongoing source of Pu and Cs to the North Pacific, but at annual rates that are orders of magnitude smaller than delivered via close-in fallout to the same area.Finally, none of this would have been possible without the generous financial support from the Dalio Explore Fund (WHOI #25531513) for the vessel and our post cruise analyses that together resulted in this unique and successful research program