PARTICIPATORY DEPRESSION. A CAVEAT FOR PARTICIPATORY RESEARCH APPROACHES

International audienceParticipatory approaches have become de rigueur in research for development. A goal of many participatory projects is to generally empower beneficiaries, beyond the scope of the immediate project. The technical and organizational learning, the social contacts, and the prestige that result from participation continue to serve beneficiaries after the end of a project. These benefits would accrue more in projects with higher levels of participation. However, in the event of a premature end or an ostensible failure, how are beneficiaries of highly participatory projects affected? Based on experiences with participatory research-development projects in four villages in Benin, this paper discusses the possibility of a “participatory depression”, that is to say an intense disillusionment or sense of abandonment experienced by local participants of projects in which institutional actors fail to fulfill their responsibilities. The forging of close relationships between researchers and beneficiaries means that any incompletion of objectives is charged with personal overtones. A failed participatory project can thus do much to harm the trust of beneficiaries. The article shows that this disillusionment is stronger if participating groups exclude other community members during the project. The authors conclude by recommending a participatory ethic for researchers, based on responsible project completion and sincere commitment to the participatory process

Attitudes toward Death Anxiety and Dying Among Respiratory Therapy Students: A Pilot Study

Objective: To evaluate relative and absolute reliability and repeatability in assessing median nerve mobility at the level of the wrist and distal upper arm of the right upper extremity during wrist extension. Methods: Six healthy participants participated in the study. Median nerve mobility was captured three times at both sites using Sonocyte Turbo by two sonologists for a total of 72 video clips (36 for each site and 18 by each sonologist). Longitudinal movement was measured using Motion Tracking Analysis Program (MTAP) by the two assessors who were rehabilitation medicine residents. After one month, the assessors remeasured the longitudinal excursion of the median nerve of the previous video clips. Results: There was moderate agreement between the two sonologists of the median nerve mobility at the level of the distal upper arm and the wrist respectively. There was a moderate to almost perfect agreement between the two assessors’ readings in the mobility of the nerve at level of the distal upper arm and wrist for the first and second readings. Repeatability testing showed that there was variable agreement at the level of the distal upper arm and at the wrist. Conclusion: MTAP using fast template tracking with an adaptive template is a reliable tool that can be employed in the accurate assessment of median nerve mobility at the distal upper arm and wrist

The dark triad in male and female athletes and non-athletes: Group differences and psychometric properties of the short dark triad (SD3)

© 2019 Elsevier Ltd Objectives: The Short Dark Triad (SD3) is a popular, brief measure of narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy, which are known as the Dark Triad. The present study adopted this measure and had two aims. First, to assess the psychometric properties of the SD3 with a focus on measurement invariance across gender, athletic expertise, and sport type. Second, to examine mean differences in Dark Triad scores across these groups. Design: Cross-sectional. Method: In total, 1258 participants (625 women; mean age 23.47 years) with a range of athletic experience (non-athletes, N = 408; amateur, N = 557; elite, N = 293) from team (N = 577) and individual (N = 273) sports completed the SD3. Factorial validity was assessed using exploratory structural equation modelling. Results: Analyses indicated that the three-factor model provided adequate fit, however, a bifactor model incorporating the three specific factors and a general factor, provided superior fit to the data. Moreover, invariance testing suggested some inconsistency in the observed factor structures across groups. In addition, findings indicated group differences with men scoring higher than women, athletes with greater expertise scoring higher than those with less expertise, and individual athletes scoring higher than team athletes across all factors. Conclusions: We suggest that researchers continue to use the SD3 using both composite and subscale scores, but recommend caution when interpreting subscale scores among women and team athletes until further psychometric work has been conducted within these populations. Our findings also suggest that the Dark Triad may be worth examining in future studies in sport

Indoor secondhand tobacco smoke emission levels in six Lebanese cities

Background: To date, Lebanon has failed to enact comprehensive clean indoor air laws despite ratification of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which calls for the protection of non-smokers from exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke (SHS). Complicating the problem of SHS exposure in Lebanon is the widespread use of the tobacco water-pipe. While most research on SHS has involved cigarette smoking as a source of emissions, other sources, including tobacco water-pipes, may be an important contributor. Methods: $PM_{2.5}$ concentrations $(\mu g/m^3)$ were measured in a sample of 28 public venues located in six major Lebanese cities. Active smoker density (number of smokers$/100 m^3$) was calculated for both water-pipe and cigarette smokers. Venues were then categorised as having higher density of water-pipe smokers or higher density of cigarette smokers, and resultant emission levels were compared between the two groups. Results: Cigarette and water-pipe smoking was observed in 14 venues, while cigarette smoking only and water-pipe smoking only were found in 12 venues and one venue, respectively. Among all smoking-permitted venues, the mean $PM_{2.5}$ concentration was $342 \mu g/m^3$. Venues with a higher density of water-pipe smokers $(n =14)$ showed a similar median $PM_{2.5}$ concentration $349 \mu g/m^3$ compared with venues with a higher density of cigarette smokers $(n =13; 241 \mu g/m^3; p=0.159)$. The mean $PM_{2.5}$ concentration in the single venue with a voluntary smoke-free policy was $6 \mu g/m^3$. Conclusions: Despite ratification of the FCTC in 2005, both cigarette and water-pipe smoking are commonly practised in enclosed public places throughout Lebanon, leading to unsafe levels of indoor particulate pollution. Smoke-free policies are needed in Lebanon to protect the public's health, and should apply to all forms of tobacco smoking

Boys to Men: A Conference Report

Nearly 350 middle and high school aged boys, fathers and male mentors attended. It was the first such conference to be held in Maine. “Boys to Men” was intended to launch a community dialogue about how schools, families and other institutions can better understand, celebrate and support boys in their journey to manhood. There was a special emphasis on the pressures exerted by popular culture in shaping the behavior of adolescent boys

A critique of laser-induced incandescence for the measurement of soot

The health and environmental risks due to airborne nanoparticles are important issues facing the citizens and governments of the industrialized countries. To assess and mitigate these risks, increasingly stringent regulations are being enacted to reduce the particulate emissions from the combustion of hydrocarbon fuels, which primarily consist of soot. Improvements to the understanding of the formation of soot nanoparticles and their impact on the health and the environment are required. This necessitates advances in the state of quantitative measurement of soot. Laser-induced incandescence (LII) is an optical diagnostic technique for the measurement of concentration and primary particle diameter of soot with high selectivity. Limitations with conventional LII were identified and a significantly enhanced technique, autocompensating LII (AC-LII), was developed employing time- resolved two-colour pyrometry, low fluence, and an absolute intensity calibration to address these limitations. AC-LII was shown to measure the soot particle temperature and automatically compensate for variations in the measurement environment that affected the peak soot particle temperature. With low fluence, AC-LII was shown to avoid soot sublimation, which impacted the measurements of concentration and size with high fluences. AC-LII was applied to flames and to combustion-generated emissions. At low ambient temperatures it was discovered that the measured concentration varied with fluence. To mitigate this issue, it was recommended that AC-LII be performed at a moderate fluence near the sublimation threshold. In order to assess the impact of distributions of the soot primary particle diameter and of aggregate size, analysis coupling experiments with a state-of-the-art numerical model of the heat transfer was performed. The results showed that AC-LII signal evaluation should begin immediately after an initial anomalous cooling period but before distribution effects become dominant. The sensitivity of AC-LII was optimized and applied to measure atmospheric black carbon concentrations. Comparison to other instruments demonstrated that AC-LII has significant advantages for the measurement of soot, and represents a major advancementin techniques for nanoparticle characterization.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Harder, better, faster, stronger? Mental toughness, the dark triad and physical activity

Mental toughness (MT) provides additional psychological resources important for achievement and health outcomes in sport. Previous research has highlighted complex relationships between the Dark Triad (DT; sub-clinical narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy) and MT, but with little focus on health-related behaviours – i.e., physical activity (PA). The aim of this study was twofold: to assess the relationship between these variables and determine any differences as a function of athlete expertise; and, to determine whether MT mediated the DT-PA relationship, and whether this relationship differed across athlete expertise. In total, 762 participants with varying levels of sports participation experience - elite (n = 222), amateur (n = 338), and non-athletes (n = 202) - completed questionnaires assessing DT, MT, and PA. Results indicated that elite athletes scored higher on all variables compared with amateur athletes who in turn scored higher than non-athletes. Moreover, positive relationships were found between narcissism and MT. Structural equation modelling indicated MT fully mediated the relationship between DT and PA, and this effect was more evident for elites and amateurs than non-athletes

Fruit quality in strawberry (fragaria sp.) grown on colored plastic mulch

Use of mulch has morphogenetic effects on strawberry (Fragaria sp.) production. In the present study the effects of red, blue, and fruit quality were evaluated in a trial carried out at 2,500 m a.s.l. in central Colombia. Red mulch gave results similar or better to the black control for most factors. Foliar area, fresh fruit weight, and fruit length were highest with red mulch and lowest for silver. Silver mulch gave the lowest pH and dry fruit weight, and the lowest ratio of total soluble solids/titratable acidity, while black mulch gave the highest value in this ratio.Positive effects of red mulch are possibly due to the increased absorption of red and far-red light by phytochrome, which in turn influences enzymes associated with sweetness and flavor.The superior results of red mulch were not always statistically significant, but the present study indicates the potential value of further tests on the use of red mulch instead of black mulch. If it is definitively shown that red mulch provides for better yield and fruit quality, it will be important to expand and improve its manufacture and stabilize its color, which often fades under high altitude tropical conditions