Promoting Public Health In The Context Of The “Obesity Epidemic”: False Starts And Promising New Directions

In the battle to combat obesity rates in the United States, several misconceptions have dominated policy initiatives. We address those misconceptions, including the notion that restrictive diets lead to long-term weight loss, that stigmatizing obesity is an effective strategy for promoting weight reduction, and that weight and physical health should be considered synonymous with one another. In offering correctives to each of these points, we draw on psychological science to suggest new policies that could be enacted at both the local and national levels. Instead of policies that rely solely on individual willpower, which is susceptible to failure, we recommend those that make use of environmental changes to reduce the amount of willpower necessary to achieve healthy behavior. Ultimately, the most effective policies will promote health rather than any arbitrary level of weight

Taking A Stand: The Effects Of Standing Desks On Task Performance And Engagement

Time spent sitting is associated with negative health outcomes, motivating some individuals to adopt standing desk workstations. This study represents the first investigation of the effects of standing desk use on reading comprehension and creativity. In a counterbalanced, within-subjects design, 96 participants completed reading comprehension and creativity tasks while both sitting and standing. Participants self-reported their mood during the tasks and also responded to measures of expended effort and task difficulty. In addition, participants indicated whether they expected that they would perform better on work-relevant tasks while sitting or standing. Despite participants’ beliefs that they would perform worse on most tasks while standing, body position did not affect reading comprehension or creativity performance, nor did it affect perceptions of effort or difficulty. Mood was also unaffected by position, with a few exceptions: Participants exhibited greater task engagement (i.e., interest, enthusiasm, and alertness) and less comfort while standing rather than sitting. In sum, performance and psychological experience as related to task completion were nearly entirely uninfluenced by acute (~30-min) standing desk use. View Full-Tex

Extended Gas in Seyfert Galaxies: Near-Infrared Observations of 15 Active Nuclei

Results from an analysis of low resolution (R~250) near-IR long-slit spectra covering simultaneously the I, J, H, and K bands, for a sample of 15 Seyfert galaxies and the N5253 starburst nucleus, are presented. The Seyfert galaxies were selected as presenting `linear' or cone-like high excitation emission line in the optical, most probably due to the collimation of the central source's radiation by a dusty molecular torus. Our goal was to look for signatures of this torus, and to investigate the gaseous distribution, excitation and reddening. The IR emission lines are spatially extended in most cases, and we have used the [FeII]/Pa(beta) ratio as a measure of the gaseous excitation in Mrk573, N1386, and N7582. Values for this ratio between 1.5 and 6 are found, suggesting excitation of [FeII] by X-rays or shock waves in some regions. Nuclear Pa(beta) in N1365, and possibly nuclear Br(gama) in Mrk573, are broad. From analysis of the spatial distribution of the continuum (J-H) and (H-K) colours derived from our spectra, we find redder colours for the nucleus than the nearby bulge in most of the Seyfert 2s observed. Comparison with models including emission from dust and stars shows that hot (T~1000 K) dust emission dominates the nuclear continuum in N1365, N2110, N3281, N7582, and ESO362-G18. In N1386, N5643, and N5728 the main contributor is the underlying stellar population, combined with some foreground reddening and/or cool dust emission. In a few cases, the (J-H) colours on opposite sides of the nucleus differ by 0.3-0.8 mag, an effect that we interpret as partly due to differences in the local stellar population, and possibly extinction gradients.Comment: 19 pages (LaTeX, mn.sty), 27 Postscript figures embedded. Accepted for publication in the Monthly Notices of the R.A.

The Temporal Doppler Effect: When The Future Feels Closer Than The Past

People routinely remember events that have passed and imagine those that are yet to come. The past and the future are sometimes psychologically close ( just around the corner ) and other times psychologically distant ( ages away ). Four studies demonstrate a systematic asymmetry whereby future events are psychologically closer than past events of equivalent objective distance. When considering specific times (e.g., 1 year) or events (e.g., Valentine\u27s Day), people consistently reported that the future was closer than the past. We suggest that this asymmetry arises because the subjective experience of movement through time (whereby future events approach and past events recede) is analogous to the physical experience of movement through space. Consistent with this hypothesis, experimentally reversing the metaphorical arrow of time (by having participants move backward through virtual space) completely eliminated the past-future asymmetry. We discuss how reducing psychological distance to the future may function to prepare people for upcoming action

Laser-induced nucleation promotes crystal growth of anhydrous sodium bromide

We report on a study of crystal hydrate formation in supersaturated aqueous sodium bromide using different methods to induce nucleation: mechanical shock-induced nucleation (MSIN), nucleation by ultrasound (sonocrystallization), non-photochemical laser-induced nucleation (NPLIN) and laser-trapping nucleation. The most stable crystal form at room temperature is known to be sodium bromide dihydrate (DH) and this form was favoured (>95%) through spontaneous nucleation or mechanical shock. Sonocrystallization favoured DH crystals (74%). Remarkably both laser-induced nucleation methods showed a strong preference (>90%) for anhydrous (AH) crystals. The nucleation mechanisms are discussed with reference to the solution–solid phase diagram. For laser-trapping nucleation, the results are consistent with previous studies showing that nucleation is preceded by formation of a localised volume of increased solute concentration. The common mechanistic feature linking sonocrystallization, MSIN and NPLIN is cavitation. The preference for AH sodium bromide suggests that nanosecond laser pulses produce cavitation events with more thermal energy compared to the other methods. The results demonstrate the value of laser-induced nucleation in controlling crystal hydrate growth and provide new understanding of the nucleation mechanisms

Practical security bounds against the Trojan-horse attack in quantum key distribution

In the quantum version of a Trojan-horse attack, photons are injected into the optical modules of a quantum key distribution system in an attempt to read information direct from the encoding devices. To stop the Trojan photons, the use of passive optical components has been suggested. However, to date, there is no quantitative bound that specifies such components in relation to the security of the system. Here, we turn the Trojan-horse attack into an information leakage problem. This allows us quantify the system security and relate it to the specification of the optical elements. The analysis is supported by the experimental characterization, within the operation regime, of reflectivity and transmission of the optical components most relevant to security.Comment: 18 pages, 11 figures. Some typos correcte

Future Proof and Real-World Ready: The Role of Live Project-Based Learning in Students’ Skill Development

The rapid pace of technological change taking place today makes it even more important for marketing educators to incorporate relevant technical and higher level meta-skills in their digital marketing courses. We review the pedagogical literature on skill development and project-based learning and detail two live course projects designed to help students develop technical skills related to digital marketing in addition to important meta-skills involving creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication. We evaluate the impact of the projects through a direct and indirect assessment process. Findings suggest that live project–based learning can support the development of the technical and meta-skills necessary for students to adapt to uncertainty and ambiguity and become future proof and real-world ready as they enter the workforce. We discuss the benefits and challenges associated with moving digital marketing education from conceptual to real-life projects and highlight pedagogical recommendations for educators who want to integrate live project-based learning into their courses

First Passage Statistics for the Capture of a Brownian Particle by a Structured Spherical Target with Multiple Surface Traps

We study the first passage time problem for a diffusing molecule in an enclosed region to hit a small spherical target whose surface contains many small absorbing traps. This study is motivated by two examples of cellular transport. The first is the intracellular process through which proteins transit from the cytosol to the interior of the nucleus through nuclear pore complexes that are distributed on the nuclear surface. The second is the problem of chemoreception, in which cells sense their surroundings through diffusive contact with receptors distributed on the cell exterior. Using a matched asymptotic analysis in terms of small absorbing pore radius, we derive and numerically verify a high order expansion for the capacitance of the structured target which incorporates surface effects and gives explicit information on interpore interaction through a Coulomb-type discrete energy with additional logarithmic dependencies. In the large $N$ dilute surface trap fraction limit, a single homogenized Robin boundary condition $\partial_n v + \kappa v = 0$ is derived in which $\kappa$ depends on the total absorbing fraction, the characteristic pore scale, and parameters relating to interpore interactions