The association between socioeconomic status and adult fast-food consumption in the U.S.

Health follows a socioeconomic status (SES) gradient in developed countries, with disease prevalence falling as SES rises. This pattern is partially attributed to differences in nutritional intake, with the poor eating the least healthy diets. This paper examines whether there is an SES gradient in one specific aspect of nutrition: fast-food consumption. Fast food is generally high in calories and low in nutrients. We use data from the 2008, 2010, and 2012 waves of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79) to test whether adult fast-food consumption in the United States falls as monetary resources rise (n = 8136). This research uses more recent data than previous fast-food studies and includes a comprehensive measure of wealth in addition to income to measure SES. We find little evidence of a gradient in adult fast-food consumption with respect to wealth. While adults in the highest quintile are 54.5% less likely to report fast-food consumption than those in the lowest quintile, adults in the second and third quintiles are no less likely to report fast food–food intake than the poorest. Contrary to popular belief, fast-food consumption rises as income rises from the lowest to middle quintiles. The variation in adult fast-food consumption across income and wealth groups is, however, small. Those in the wealthiest quintile ate about one less fast-food meal on average than those in the lowest quintile. Other factors play a bigger role in explaining fast-food consumption: reading ingredient labels is negatively associated while soda consumption and hours of work are positively associated with fast-food consumption.Accepted manuscrip

“Do I look fat?” Self-perceived body weight and labor market outcomes

Research reporting that greater body weight is associated with lower wages and employment, particularly among women, focuses on how employers perceive workers. In contrast, we examine whether workers’ own perceptions of body weight influence labor market outcomes. Numerous studies find that misperception of body weight influences health behaviors and health, both mental and physical. For example, anorexia nervosa involves the over-perception of weight and raises the risk of cardiovascular disease. Do the health consequences of inaccurate self-perceived weight carry through to the labor market? We use the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97) to investigate patterns in weight misperception and three labor market outcomes. We find little evidence that either over-perception or under-perception of weight is associated with wages, weeks worked, or the number of jobs held for women and men.Accepted manuscrip

Does asthma impair wealth accumulation or does wealth protect against asthma?

OBJECTIVE: We investigate the association between adult asthma and wealth, testing whether the disease impairs wealth accumulation (social selection model) or if wealth protects against asthma (social causation model). METHODS: We use the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (n = 7,644) and linear and logistic regressions to estimate the association between wealth and asthma. Changes in relative wealth following an asthma diagnosis and asthma status by increases in wealth through inheritance provide evidence on the causal direction. RESULTS: Asthma, particularly severe asthma, is associated with lower wealth. Wealth ranking does not change after a diagnosis of asthma, but inheriting a substantial sum is associated with a lower risk of severe asthma. CONCLUSION: Wealth appears to protect against severe asthma, supporting the social causation model of disease.Accepted manuscrip

A Survey of the courses offered in data processing in the secondary schools in Kansas in 1968-69 and a proposed course outline for a one-semester course in introduction to data processing

The purpose of this study is: (1) To determine the high schools in Kansas that teach data processing on the secondary level, what courses are taught, and what machines are used. (2) To present a proposed one-semester course outline in Introduction to Data Processing. The study will present the following information about the data processing courses. 1) length of the course, 2) classification of the student that may first take the course, 3) prerequisites for the course. 4) number of sections and students per section, and 5) equipment used in the course

The Effect of Sewage Effluent Removal on the Water Quality of Lake Howell, Florida

In April, 1983, sewage effluent discharge from the Maitland and Winter Park sewage treatment plants was diverted from Lake Howell to the Iron Bridge Regional Sewage Treatment Plant. The sewage treatment plants of the cities of Winter Park and Maitland had been discharging into Lake Howell since 1927 and 1962, respectively. These point sources had contributed 95% of the total phosphorus and 69% of the total nitrogen budgets for Lake Howell. Physico-chemical parameters were monitored monthly for two years chemical parameters were monitored monthly for two years from January, 1983 through December, 1984. Annual mean values fro chlorophylla, pH, Secchi disc transparency, and water temperature were found to be a higher during the second year (1984). Annual mean values for alkalinity, dissolved oxygen, and pheophytina (non-functional chlorophylla) were higher during 1983. Chemical parameters were monitored quarterly for 1983 and 1984 for comparison with data obtained prior to the sewage diversion from Lake Howell. Biological oxygen demand, nitrate nitrogen, total kjeldahl nitrogen, orthophosphate, and total phosphate were found to decrease over all years compared, from 1978 through 1985

A Survey of the Courses Offered in Data Processing in the Secondary Schools in Kansas in 1968-69 and a Proposed Course Outline for a One-Semester Course in Introduction to Data Processing

The purpose of this study is: (1) To determine the high schools in Kansas that teach data processing on the secondary level, what courses are taught, and what machines are used. (2) To present a proposed one-semester course outline in Introduction to Data Processing. The study will present the following information about the data processing courses. 1) length of course, 2) classification of student that may first take the course, 3) prerequisites for the course. 4) number of sections and students per section, and 5) equipment used in the course

MUD Play : A Transformative Learning Context

This case study describes Multi-user domains (MUDS) as a virtual learning environment for fostering the imaginative and symbolic aspects of transformative learning by relying primarily on the work of Boyd and Freire. MUDs are an increasingly popular but largely unexplored location for adult learning

Toward a Model for Fisheries Social Impact Assessment

This paper presents a model for Fisheries Social Impact Assessment (SIA) that lays the groundwork for development of fisheries-focused, quantitative social assessments with a clear conceptual model. The usefulness of current fisheries SIA’s has been called into question by some as incompatible with approaches taken by fisheries biologists and economists when assessing potential effects of management actions. Our model’s approach is closer to the economists’ and biologists’ assessments and is therefore more useful for Fishery Management Council members. The paper was developed by anthropologists initially brought together in 2004 for an SIA Modeling Workshop by the National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA. Opinions and conclusions expressed or implied are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or policy of the National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA

Conference report: The 13th Congress of the International Society of Developmental and Comparative Immunology

9 páginas.-- L. Courtney Smith ... et al.The 13th Congress of the International Society of Developmental and Comparative Immunology took place in Murcia Spain from June 28 to July 3, 2015 at the Victor Villegas Auditorium and Convention Center. There were two or three parallel sessions during the Congress that covered a wide range of immunological topics and brought researchers together from around the world who work in different areas of immunology. The Congress included three plenary presentations, 12 oral sessions, two poster sessions, and a special symposium. Here we report on some of the talks and a few of the posters that were presented at the meetingFunding from the US National Science Foundation (IOS-1461716) awarded to LCS and Louise Rollins-Smith (Vanderbilt University, USA) supported students and postdocs from laboratories in the US to attend the 13th Congress of ISDCIPeer reviewe

Quantitating Iron in Serum Ferritin by Use of ICP-MS

A laboratory method has been devised to enable measurement of the concentration of iron bound in ferritin from small samples of blood (serum). Derived partly from a prior method that depends on large samples of blood, this method involves the use of an inductively-coupled-plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS). Ferritin is a complex of iron with the protein apoferritin. Heretofore, measurements of the concentration of serum ferritin (as distinguished from direct measurements of the concentration of iron in serum ferritin) have been used to assess iron stores in humans. Low levels of serum ferritin could indicate the first stage of iron depletion. High levels of serum ferritin could indicate high levels of iron (for example, in connection with hereditary hemochromatosis an iron-overload illness that is characterized by progressive organ damage and can be fatal). However, the picture is complicated: A high level of serum ferritin could also indicate stress and/or inflammation instead of (or in addition to) iron overload, and low serum iron concentration could indicate inflammation rather than iron deficiency. Only when concentrations of both serum iron and serum ferritin increase and decrease together can the patient s iron status be assessed accurately. Hence, in enabling accurate measurement of the iron content of serum ferritin, the present method can improve the diagnosis of the patient s iron status. The prior method of measuring the concentration of iron involves the use of an atomic-absorption spectrophotometer with a graphite furnace. The present method incorporates a modified version of the sample- preparation process of the prior method. First, ferritin is isolated; more specifically, it is immobilized by immunoprecipitation with rabbit antihuman polyclonal antibody bound to agarose beads. The ferritin is then separated from other iron-containing proteins and free iron by a series of centrifugation and wash steps. Next, the ferritin is digested with nitric acid to extract its iron content. Finally, a micronebulizer is used to inject the sample of the product of the digestion into the ICPMS for analysis of its iron content. The sensitivity of the ICP-MS is high enough to enable it to characterize samples smaller than those required in the prior method (samples can be 0.15 to 0.60 mL)