Alimentary Politics and Algorithms: The Spread of Information about “Healthy” Eating and Diet on TikTok

Social media has been identified as an important venue for the spread of diet trends, especially those that promote disordered eating. Meanwhile, existing research on diet and alimentary politics points to deeper societal issues at stake in food choice, such as notions of personhood and what it means to be healthy. This research involves a deeper study, through interviews with users and extensive observation of content, of the types of information about diet being promoted on TikTok and the ways in which it spreads on the app. TikTok emerged as its own social world, a place of interaction where both identity formation and community formation took place. Messages about eating “healthily” were woven into identities and communities, allowing them to become central to personhood, identity, and morality. Additionally, in interviews and in the observation of content, several ways of demonstrating authority and credibility that were important to the spread of this information became evident. Complex social rules and processes governed the construction of knowledge and the regulation of potentially harmful content or discourses. The dynamics of how people interact with TikToks and how these processes work are key to understanding the ideas about diet that are spreading on the app and knowing how to account for and respond to them in future public health and health communication efforts

Unwearable war: a visual exploration of transversal politics

2008 Fall.To view the abstract, please see the full text of the document

The relationship between epistemological beliefs and academic achievement goals in middle school children

This study examined relationships among epistemic beliefs, achievement goals, self-regulated learning, cognitive strategy use, and academic performance for 131 sixth graders and 100 eighth graders

Spilt milk: an unusual cause of bilateral chylothorax

We report a case of bilateral chylothorax without evidence of chylous fistula in a 62-year-old man following total laryngectomy and bilateral selective neck dissection for laryngeal cancer. Chylous fistulae, a well-known complication of neck dissection, occurs following 1% to 2% of these surgeries. On rare occasions, the chyle leak may communicate with the pleural space, resulting in chylothorax. This is a rare but potentially life-threatening complication. Bilateral chylothorax following neck dissection is even rarer, with less than 25 cases reported in the literature. Early diagnosis is essential to prevent complications. Physicians should have a high index of suspicion, especially when the postoperative effusions do not respond to diuretics. Though no evidence-based treatment guidelines exist, expert opinion recommends conservative management as first-line therapy. Our patient was effectively treated by conservative management. We postulate a mechanism whereby bilateral chylothorax occurred in our patient without a chylous fistula

The rise of sustainability in Italian wineries: key dimensions and practices

Previous studies on sustainability support the idea that the introduction of specific projects and certifications on sustainability increase the quality of wine production while specific requirements enhance environmental biodiversity and efficiency considering several aspects, such as water consumption and fertilizer use. These studies are mainly based on case studies and focus in particular on the new world and the USA. Despite this increasing attention, little is still known on Italian wineries considering the country context. The present study sheds the light on the emerging attention on sustainability paid by the Italian wineries presenting their novel dimensions and practices. Empirical evidences are collected through an explorative field study carried out through 21 interviews. The results show a recent rise of sustainable practices in Italian wineries in which the main focus is on environmental issues. The study also presents a comprehensive picture of the sustainability\u2010related peculiarities in the context as the Italian culture on wine

Endemism in recently diverged angiosperms is associated with polyploidy

Endemic (range restricted or precinctive) plant species are frequently observed to exhibit polyploidy (chromosome set duplication), which can drive shifts in ecology for angiosperms, but whether endemism is generally associated with polyploidy throughout the flowering plants has not been determined. We tested the hypothesis that polyploidy is more frequent and more pronounced (higher evident ploidy levels) for recently evolved endemic angiosperms. Chromosome count data, molecular dating and distribution for 4210 species (representing all major clades of angiosperms and including the largest families) were mined from literature-based databases. Upper boundary regression was used to investigate the relationship between the maximum number of chromosomes and time since taxon divergence, across clades and separately for families, comparing endemic with non-endemic species. A significant negative exponential relationship between maximum number of chromosomes and taxon age was evident across angiosperms (R2adj = 0.48 for all species, R2adj = 0.49 for endemics; R2adj = 0.44 for non-endemics; p always < 0.0001), recent endemics demonstrating greater maximum chromosome numbers (y intercept = 164 cf. 111) declining more rapidly with taxon age (decay constant = 0.12, cf. 0.04) with respect to non-endemics. The majority of families exhibited this relationship, with a steeper regression slope for endemic Campanulaceae, Asteraceae, Fabaceae, Poaceae, Caryophyllaceae and Rosaceae, cf. non-endemics. Chromosome set duplication is more frequent and extensive in recent angiosperms, particularly young endemics, supporting the hypothesis of recent polyploidy as a key explanation of range restriction. However, as young endemics may also be diploid, polyploidy is not an exclusive driver of endemism

INCORPORATING HUMAN ENERGY FIELDS INTO FAMILY RESEARCH AND THERAPY

The study of family interactions has a long tradition from different disciplines and methodologies, but one area ignored is the investigation of human energy fields (HEFs). While the concept has been around for centuries, only recently has it been utilized in Western contemporary practice. Combining emotional expression, family processes, and HEF perspectives, this study was developed to investigate the relationship between emotional expression and HEF interactions in relation to reported closeness between parents and adolescents. The methodology was designed to analyze self-report and observational data on 56 dyads and triads within two-parent families with a high school adolescent. The data were analyzed in terms of simple correlations and a step-wise regression. The findings are discussed along with implications for further research and therapy with adolescents and families

INCORPORATING HUMAN ENERGY FIELDS INTO FAMILY RESEARCH AND THERAPY

The study of family interactions has a long tradition from different disciplines and methodologies, but one area ignored is the investigation of human energy fields (HEFs). While the concept has been around for centuries, only recently has it been utilized in Western contemporary practice. Combining emotional expression, family processes, and HEF perspectives, this study was developed to investigate the relationship between emotional expression and HEF interactions in relation to reported closeness between parents and adolescents. The methodology was designed to analyze self-report and observational data on 56 dyads and triads within two-parent families with a high school adolescent. The data were analyzed in terms of simple correlations and a step-wise regression. The findings are discussed along with implications for further research and therapy with adolescents and families

Latina/o Students’ Perceptions of Academic Self-Confidence in Community College Experiences

The low completion rates of Latina/o community college (CC) students continue to be a problem in the landscape of higher education both in California and across the United States. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological research was to describe and better understand the lived experiences of Latina/o CC students and their perceptions of the role that academic self-confidence plays in their degree completion. Delgado and Stefancic’s critical race theory provided the conceptual framework that guided this study. The research questions were aimed at probing the experiences of CC Latina/o students to describe their perceptions of the potential role academic self-confidence may play in degree completion. The study included interviews of 6 Latina/o students who succeeded and graduated at the local college and a focus group with 4 current students at the same institution. Data were analyzed using the Colaizzi method of phenomenological interpretation that depends on rich, in-depth first-person interviews. Findings from this study included five overall themes that were found to positively influence the students’ perceptions of academic self-confidence and served to create a description of the phenomenon as it is defined by Latina/o CC students. The five themes that resulted from this study are (a) support, (b) failure, (c) familial and cultural alliance, (d) motivation to disempower stereotypes, and (e) intrinsic motivation and growth mindset. The anticipated positive change implications of this study are that a better understanding of the lived experiences of Latina/o students may contribute to planning for policies and procedures that could improve equity in the CC experience

Interfering with inflammation: a new strategy to block breast cancer self-renewal and progression?

Two recent studies show that epigenetics and inflammation play a relevant role in the regulation of transformation and cancer cell self-renewal in breast tumours, opening up the possibility that cancer progression can be controlled by interfering with inflammation cascades. Struhl's group showed that transient activation of the Src oncoprotein induces transformation and self-renewal of immortal cells via an epigenetic switch involving NF-κB, Lin28, Let-7 microRNA and IL-6. Concomitantly, Wicha's laboratory developed a strategy to selectively target cancer stem cells, retarding tumour growth and reducing metastasis by blocking the IL-8 receptor CXCR1 using either an inhibitor, repertaxin or a specific blocking antibody