The Association of Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Intake and Body Mass Index of University Students Living On and Off Campus

Background: The obesity epidemic in America has become an important topic of public health concern. With an increase of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) in the American diet, much research has been done examining the relationships between obesity, weight gain, body mass index (BMI) and SSBs. Recently, this research has expanded to examining these variables among specific populations, such as university students, to learn how detrimental these beverages have become to the American diet. It is imperative that research is continued to learn more information surrounding university students, weight gain, and its relationship with SSB intake. Purpose: It is the purpose of this study to determine if there is a relationship between SSB consumption and BMI among university students, and if this relationship differs based on students’ residency. Methods: Utilizing a snowball sample, participants were recruited from a large, public university in the Northeastern United States, via email listservs, Canvas, and various social media platforms. Participants were considered eligible for participation if they were over the age of 18 years old and a current student at Montclair State University. Participants were asked questions regarding their demographics, motivations for purchasing SSBs, locations for purchasing and consuming SSBs, and a beverage recall. Data were collected in Limesurvey software and exported into Statistical Analysis Software Package (SPSS, IBM) version 24, for analysis. Data analysis included descriptive statistics for descriptive demographics, locations of purchasing and consuming, and motivations for purchasing and consuming, independent sample t-tests to examine differences between groups such as commuters and residents, males and females, and Pearson’s r correlations to determine relationships between variables such as BMI and SSBs. Results: Of the 200 participants, the majority were undergraduates (81.5%), female (77.5%), Caucasian (66%), and half residential students (50%). One-third (33%) of this sample was overweight or obese as determined by their BMI. Overall, students living on campus have a higher BMI than those living off campus (BMI of 25.29 ±5.35, and 23.97 ± 4.03, respectively) by about 1.32 kg/m2. The average SSB intake among this sample was 13.98 ±22.91 fluid ounces per day, which is two ounces below the national average. This equates to an average of 155 calories per day from SSBs. The students consuming the most SSBs were residential students and students with a meal plan, consuming 16.25 ±26.58 and 19.49 ±27.33 fluid ounces, respectively. Similarly, there was a significant positive relationship between SSB intake and BMI among all students, but especially those living on campus, and those with a meal plan. Correlation of SSB intake and BMI between undergraduate students and graduate students was also found to be positively associated. This correlation is slightly stronger among men than women meaning males consuming excess SSBs are more likely to have an increased BMI. Students most frequently reported consuming SSBs because they enjoy the taste (72%) and to mix with alcohol (50%). Most students reported that they do not consume SSBs to enhance their academic or athletic performance (90%). Even though students living on campus and students with a meal plan are consuming the most SSBs, the majority of these students (62% of commuters and 69% of students with a meal plan) are purchasing SSBs at off-campus locations. Conclusions: The results of this study reveal that there is a significant, positive relationship between SSB intake and BMI among this population of university students. As SSB intake increases, BMI does as well. Students living on campus and students with a meal plan are not only consuming the most of these beverages 16.25 ±26.58 and 19.49 ±27.33 fluid ounces, respectively, but are also experiencing the implications of it, by having a higher BMI than their peers consuming less SSBs. The importance of these findings is that it shows the significance of SSB intake among a university sample in Northern New Jersey. With SSBs being largely consumed among this sample, this relationship should be more closely examined to decrease the risk of obesity among young adults attending university. The completion of this research allows for public health professionals to create an appropriate nutrition education intervention for college students with different living arrangements to decrease the consumption of SSBs overall

“Invest in crypto!”: An analysis of investment scam advertisements found in Bitcointalk

This paper investigates the evolution of investment scam lures and scam-related keywords in the cryptocurrency online forum Bitcointalk over a period of 12 years. Our findings show a shift in scam-related keywords found within posts in the forum, where “Ponzi” was the most popular and most frequently mentioned in 2014 and 2018 and “HYIP” appeared more often in 2018 and 2021. We also identify that the financial principle is the tactic more likely to be used to lure people into investment scams from 2015 until 2017, coinciding with the period when “Ponzi” was the most commonly found keyword. This is followed by a transition to the authority and distraction principles from 2018 until 2022, which also coincides with the increase of popularity of “HYIP”. We collect more than 17.8M posts from 399k threads from the forum from July 2010 until June 2022. Our longitudinal analysis shows the popularity transition between subforums and keywords across time. We design a categorisation criteria and annotate 4,218 posts from 2,630 threads based on it. We then use the annotated sample to train four machine learning statistical models. We use the best performing model to classify all 281k English-language threads into four categories: overt scams, potential scams, scam comments and not investment scam related. We analyze the frequency changes of scam-related threads across the 12 year period and observe that overt and potential scams peaked in 2015 and 2018 respectively. We see that potential scams also increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. We use heuristics to pinpoint the types of cryptocurrencies most frequently used within scam advertisements. Bitcoin is most commonly found in potential scams while Ethereum appears more often than other cryptocurrencies in overt scams. We use machine learning classifiers to identify the scam actor types behind the posts categorised as overt and potential scams. We also classify the type of lure used by scammers. Our results indicate that the time principle is not a tactic used as frequently as expected. Finally, we observe the influence of the pandemic in the strategies used to lure victims, reflected in higher than expected use of the kindness principle in 2021 and 2022

An examination of the rehabilitation process of adult male offenders with a mental disorder

This thesis includes an examination of the rehabilitation process of adult male offenders with a mental disorder. More specifically, it examines the effectiveness of treatment, and the community rehabilitation of adult mentally disordered offenders (MDOs). In Chapter 1 a literature review following a systematic approach examined the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioural interventions with adult MDOs in inpatient settings. Results revealed such interventions have the potential to improve: problem solving ability, social-cognitive skills, social adjustment, hostile and aggressive behaviour, and awareness of illness, ultimately bringing about a reduction of antisocial thinking and behaviour. The review findings were considered in relation to study quality and methodological limitations and recommendations for future research were discussed. In Chapter 2, an empirical research study gathered qualitative information of the experiences of adult male MDOs under Section 37/41 of the Mental Health Act (1983) who had been given a conditional discharge into the community. Results offered preliminary indications of influential factors at the individual level for the process of MDOs reintegration into the community. Recommendations for future research were discussed along with the clinical implications of the findings. A case study is presented in Chapter 3, evaluating the effectiveness of a cognitive-behavioural intervention with an adult male offender suffering anxiety and depression serving a sentence at HMP Cardiff. This case study demonstrated the importance of individual assessment and formulation in developing appropriate and effective interventions to meet client needs and highlighted the need to address prisoners’ mental health before they are released into the community. Future directions were considered with regards to working with offenders in prison settings. In Chapter 4 a critique of the CRIME-PICS-II (Frude, Honess & Maguire, 1994) offered a review of the tool in terms of its development, purpose, use, relevance to intervention planning and assessment, scientific and psychometric properties and its ease of use and accessibility. Further, it considered the tools applicability to forensic and clinical settings before exploring some of the limitations associated with its use. The implications of the thesis findings are finally considered in terms of existing limitations, clinical implications and future research

IMPACT LOAD SYMMETRY FOLLOWING ANTERIOR CRUCIATE LIGAMENT RECONSTRUCTION AFTER RETURN TO SPORT IN COLLEGIATE ATHLETES

Anterior cruciate ligament injury and surgical reconstruction (ACLR) increases the risk of sustaining secondary injury in athletes returning to cutting and pivoting field sports. Changes in how an athlete loads each limb during sport-specific movements is thought to be a risk factor for sustaining secondary injury. It remains unclear as to how the ACLR population differs from healthy teammates in load symmetry during high-intensity running, cutting, pivoting, and jumping tasks as demanded on the field. Furthermore, little research has focused attention on the effects of muscular fatigue on field-based biomechanics such as load symmetry. The purpose of this research study is to find out if there are differences in load symmetry between collegiate athletes with a history of ACL reconstruction and healthy collegiate athletes without ACL injuries during sport-specific tasks. We will also investigate the effects of fatigue on load symmetry between ACLR individuals and determine the within-day reliability of measuring impact load symmetry during the designed test battery.Master of Art

Energy Informatics and Business Model Generation

Sustainability needs to be tightly woven into the thinking of every senior executive if we are to develop a sustainable society. Furthermore, those companies seek to gain from meeting the needs of such a society need to forefront sustainability in all of their planning and product development. With this in mind, we have taken the business model generation canvas and developed a layer to stimulate Energy Informatics thinking. Business model generation is a technique to capture the essential features of an organization\u27s business. It addresses such issues as value proposition, sources of costs and revenues, partnerships, and customers in a concise and graphical manner. Osterwalder and Pigneur\u27s book has quickly become an international best seller because the technique is powerful and collectively engaging. We have taken the business model generation canvas and created a group collaborative version on Cacoo, which is web-based software for creating diagrams collaboratively. One of the features of Cacoo is the ability to create layers, so we have augmented our initial two-layer model of a blank canvas and key questions, with a layer containing questions to provoke Energy Informatics thinking and a layer containing examples of the application of Energy Informatics. Our goal is to use the workshop to discuss the content of each of these layers. Specifically, we would like participants to address the following questions: Do we have good questions for each segment of the canvas? Should there be several canvases for different audiences? What are some good Energy Informatics examples to stimulate thinking? The resulting canvas will be made publicly available to advance the development of Green IS

The Bitcoin Brain Drain: Examining the Use and Abuse of Bitcoin Brain Wallets

In the cryptocurrency Bitcoin, users can deterministically derive the private keys used for transmitting money from a password. Such “brain wallets” are appealing because they free users from storing their private keys on untrusted computers. Unfortunately, they also enable attackers to conduct unlimited offline password guessing. In this paper, we report on the first large-scale measurement of the use of brain wallets in Bitcoin. Using a wide range of word lists, we evaluated around 300 billion passwords. Surprisingly, after excluding activities by researchers, we identified just 884 brain wallets worth around $100K in use from September 2011 to August 2015. We find that all but 21 wallets were drained, usually within 24 h but often within minutes. We find that around a dozen “drainers” are competing to liquidate brain wallets as soon as they are funded. We find no evidence that users of brain wallets loaded with more bitcoin select stronger passwords, but we do find that brain wallets with weaker passwords are cracked more quickly

Teen Sexuality and Pregnancy in Nevada

The proliferation of sexually explicit materials has been the hallmark of North American culture for decades. The arrival of the Internet made access to such materials all the easier, and not only for adults but also for teenagers who learn at ever-early age that romantic relations are exciting and sexual encounters are a welcome part of life. When such exposure to sensual images is not accompanied by appropriate sex education, the consequences could be dire for teenagers and society alike