Time for COP27 to put food on the table

Meat and dairy are killing our planet, so why isn’t diet at the top of the menu in climate change negotiations? Heidi Zamzow (PhD student in the Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science) explores the impact that animal agriculture is having on the planet and the role of behavioural scientists in leading sustainable change

Effects of Natural Nutritional Beverages on Anaerobic Exercise Performance

Introduction: Dietary nitrate (NO3-) can serve as a substrate for the important signaling molecule nitric oxide (NO). Recent studies suggest that NO3- beet juice could be beneficial during anaerobic (i.e. short duration, high power) exercise, though this area has received much less attention than beet juice’s effects during aerobic exercise. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine if acute dietary NO3- supplementation, in the form of beet juice, could improve measures of anaerobic power in trained, healthy men during a primarily anaerobic bout of exercise. A secondary purpose was to investigate if NO3- supplementation produced a greater increase in performance measures in a 60-second (60-s) bout of exercise compared to a 30-second (30-s) bout. Methods: Fourteen male hockey players participated in this study. The study used a cross-over, double-blind design. The exercise protocol included maximal effort 30-s and 60-s tests on a stationary bike, with a fixed amount of resistance applied. In addition to two familiarization trials, a 30-s placebo trial, 30-s beet juice trial, 60-s placebo trial, and 60-s beet juice trial were completed by each participant in random order, over six total visits. The beet juice supplement (RediBeets, The AIM Companies, Nampa, ID) contained ~8mmol/496 mg of dietary NO3-. Apple-cherry-cranberry juice served as the placebo, containing a negligible amount of NO3. Paired t-tests were run to compare performance in both the 30-s and 60-s trials, analyzing peak and mean power (W), peak and mean RPM, relative power (W/kg), total work (J), and fatigue index (FI, %). Results: No statistical differences were found between the beet juice and placebo trials for the 30 or 60-s tests. The percent change (∆) for FI was significantly different between the 30 and 60-s tests. The FI decreased between the P30 and B30 (suggesting less fatigue occurred after beet supplementation) while it increased between the P60 and B60 (suggesting less fatigue occurred after placebo supplementation), accounting for the statistical significance when comparing the percent change (∆) during the 30-s test to the change during the 60-s test. No other significant differences emerged when comparing the percent change between the 30 and 60-s tests. Conclusion: A dose of ~8 mmol of beet juice did not improve anaerobic exercise performance during a 30 and 60-s all out cycling sprint. Performance during the 60-s bout was not impacted to a greater extent than the 30-s bout after beet juice supplementation. Beet juice supplementation during high power, anaerobic exercise does not produce similar improvements in performance that have been reported during aerobic exercise

Transcriptions of renaissance and baroque polyphony for high school band

Ten vocal and instrumental pieces from the Renaissance and early Baroque have been selected and transcribed to provide a unique opportunity for high school band students. Through these transcriptions, students will gain historical perspective, including information about period instruments, composers and genres. Elements of music theory, style, and musicianship can be explored. The polyphonic quality of the Renaissance transcriptions will teach students to hear and perform independent melodic lines. Each transcription has been edited for modern instruments and concert band instrumentation. Musical elements (such as dynamics, bar-lines, and articulations) that are absent in the original pieces have been added so students can focus on developing the aforementioned musical skills and knowledge. Editorial considerations include text, melodic and rhythmic motives, and specifications for grade three publication

Effects of beta-adrenergic antagonism in autism spectrum disorder

Effective treatments for individuals with autism spectrum disorder are lacking, especially when it comes to pharmacological intervention, which can be an important addition to behavioral therapy. Currently available agents target co-occurring symptoms, such as aggression and irritability, and many cause considerable off-target effects. Few agents have been shown to reliably and effectively reduce the impact of other aspects of this disorder, particularly core symptomatology. In the present studies, the noradrenergic system was explored as a target for autism pharmacotherapy, given evidence suggesting elevated anxiety and autonomic dysregulation in individuals with autism. The effects of the beta-adrenergic antagonist propranolol on facial scanning, verbal problem solving, and a measure of social functioning were examined in adults and adolescents with autism via single-dose psychopharmacological challenges. Improvements associated with propranolol administration were observed for each of these domains, and some evidence supports a role of anxiety and autonomic activity in predicting response to treatment. Additionally, the assessment of an ongoing pilot trial investigating the combined effects of propranolol and early intensive behavioral intervention in young children with autism suggests that serial-dose studies with this agent are feasible. This line of work proposes beta-adrenergic antagonism as a potential therapeutic option for individuals with autism that merits further investigation in the form of large, randomized controlled clinical trials

A Comparison of Chronotype on Indices of Executive Function and Impulsivity

Judgment, decision-making, and planning are higher-order components of executive function that regulate behavior. Deficits in these cognitive processes can result in behavior that is deleterious to one’s health and well-being. Recent research has found that evening types exhibit personality, lifestyle, and behavioral characteristics that reflect poor judgment, planning, and decision-making compared to morning- and intermediate-types. This study investigated impulsivity, planning, and decision-making abilities between chronotypes. This study included a total of 84 healthy young adults comprised of 14 morning-type, 39 intermediate-type, and 31 evening-type students at Drexel University. Evening-types reported significantly higher attentional impulsivity, compared to morning- and intermediate-types. Chronotypes did not significantly differ in motor, nonplanning impulsivity, or performance on neurocognitive measures. Higher trait impulsivity may contribute to a higher frequency of addictive and illegal substances, greater lifestyle irregularity, impulsive eating behaviors, and more conduct problems in evening types. Future research should utilize neurocognitive measures that are more sensitive to attentional impulsivity to detect behavioral differences between the groups.M.S., Psychology -- Drexel University, 201

Early Precambrian Bedrock Geology of the Northwest Angle, Lake of the Woods County, Minnesota

A Thesis submitted to the faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Minnesota by Craig Edward Zamzow in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science, July 1979. Plates 1 and 20 referenced in the thesis are also attached to this record.The Northwest Angle is located in northwestern Minnesota, bounded by the Lake of the Woods, Manitoba, and Ontario. About 4 km2 of outcrop scattered over 250 km2 area was investigated, during ten weeks of field work. The Northwest Angle contains four major rock units: a supracrustal unit; a tonalitic unit; a granitic unit; and a mafic dike unit. The supracrustal rocks show evidence of amphibolite prograde metamorphism; they are well foliated, and lineated. The foliation is given by compositional banding while the lineation is caused by the alignment of hornblende prisms in the plane of foliation. Tonalitic rocks show evidence of amphibolite grade metamorphism, the degree of foliation is variable. The granitic and mafic dike rocks show evidence of deuteric alteration; most outcrop areas contain massive rock, but two of the granite outcrop areas, both in the northwest part of the peninsula are foliated. The supracrustal rocks appear to be composed of intermediate-mafic, calc-alkalic and tholeiitic volcanics mafic to ultra mafic hypabysal intrusions, and sediments which are mineralogically similar to the volcanics. The plutonic rocks of the area show varied metamorphic effects, but maintain an igneous texture overall. The structure of the area is complex. The predominate structural grain is northeast - southwest and is produced by foliations found in the supracrustal, and tonalitic units. The granite and supracrustal rocks which crop out in the northwest part of the peninsula have foliations trending northwest to southeast. It appears that northeast trending isoclinal folding of the supracrustal rocks is responsible for the northeast trending structural grain; northwest trending structural features are attributed to detachment, or rotation of large crustal blocks, during plutonic emplacement. The apparent order of geologic events is: (1) deposition of supracrustal rocks; (2) isoclinal folding of supracrustal rocks along a northeast trend; (3) emplacement of tonalitic intrusives; (4) emplacement of granitic intrusives; (5) emplacement of large mafic dikes. Isoclinal folding of the supracrustal rocks may be comtemporaneous with tonalitic emplacement

Political Potency in a fragmented neighborhood? How moral legitimizations of affordable housing discourses enable precarized inner city demographics to counter displacement logics

This contribution investigates the current shift from a dominant neoliberalized public discourse on social mixing privatization in public housing and affordable housing programs to a housing discourse rooted in moral and ethical considerations of Housing Justice(s). Investigating the so-called first “real just rezoning” in Gowanus, New York City as a case study with an in-depth ethnographic perspective, a change in moral legitimization of housing practices was retraced through planning documents and the actual community decision process on housing construction and preservation in their neighborhood. All scales of the investigation led to the overall conclusion that a “doing” of “housing justice” had occurred: a learning process of solidary practices of a specific, yet socially fragmented, inner-city clientele basing their interactions and speech acts on a common value system. This demographic can be found in inner-city areas that have not undergone full gentrification/inversion. The data suggests that a distinct set of demographics entails a politically educated middle- and upper-middle class that actively seeks solidarity in their everyday decisions and practices on diversity on the one side. The other side are a more socially vulnerable clientele such as public housing residents. What they share is a common experience of actual or simply the fear of displacement in a 2020’s hyper-commodified inner-city based on neoliberal housing distribution logics. Their specific clientele, however, distinguishes itself from fully gentrified neighborhoods not only by their value system, but also in the ideological side they take on in a capitalist system that polarizes increasingly into an elite and a precariat, which makes even a well-earning middle class rather part of a precariat depending on their decision on who to side with and what to advocate for, being well aware of the fact that their actions may lead to consequences like giving up certain securities and privileges

Acute Beet Juice Supplementation Does Not Improve 30- or 60-second Maximal Intensity Performance in Anaerobically Trained Athletes

International Journal of Exercise Science 14(2): 60-75, 2021. Research suggests that beet juice is beneficial during aerobic exercise. However, the impact of beet juice during primarily anaerobic exercise is equivocal. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of acute beet juice supplementation on maximal intensity performance during 30-s and 60-s maximal-intensity cycling sprints. Using a double-blind, crossover-study design, 14 anaerobically trained male hockey players completed six Wingate cycling tests: familiarization trials of a 30-s and 60-s Wingate test, followed by 30-s Wingate placebo/beet juice trials, and 60-s Wingate placebo/beet juice trials. Repeated measures ANOVAs were used to compare the change in power between conditions over the duration of each trial. Paired t-tests were run to compare performance between conditions of various work and power variables. One-way ANOVAs were utilized to compare the change between conditions of the 30-s test to the change between conditions of the 60-s test. Beet juice supplementation yielded no statistical differences from placebo in any of the measured variables during the 30-s or 60-s tests (p \u3e 0.05). The percent change for fatigue index was significantly different between the 30-s and 60-s tests (p = 0.032) suggesting less fatigue with beet juice supplementation. Overall, beet juice did not improve maximal intensity performance during 30-s or 60-s cycling sprint tests. Performance during the 60-s bout was not impacted to a greater extent than the 30-s bout after beet juice supplementation. These results suggest that beet juice supplementation does not improve short-duration exercise performance in anaerobically trained athletes