The Body Positive Project: Incorporating an Educational Body Image Program at Cal Poly

The following study explores the presence of eating disorders on Cal Poly’s campus and how the implementation of the Body Positive program as a part of Campus Health and Wellbeing (CHWB) will assist those struggling with eating disorders. 13.5 percent of college women suffer from eating disorders, (Eisenberg 2011), and 20 percent of college students say they have suffered from an eating disorder at some point in their lives (NEDA). The Body Positive at Cal Poly is a program specially designated to address concerns around eating disorders by educating a group of student facilitators on how to hold discussions about eating disorders, the social pressure to look and act a certain way, and how to overcome these societal demands and expectations of beauty. The facilitator training used the Body Positives’ 5 Core Competencies to teach these principles: Reclaim Health, Practice Intuitive Self-Care, Cultivate Self-Love, Declare Your Own Authentic Beauty, and Build Community (The Body Positive 2021). Using social media and the help counselors and student educators at Campus Health and Wellbeing, the goal of this study was to bring the Body Positive, which is a national nonprofit organization with chapters at universities and high schools across the nation, to Cal Poly, by making the Body Positive a subsection of Campus Health and Wellbeing. Once established, the program would be supervised by Amelia Ramirez, a Cal Poly counselor, and run by student facilitators, who would hold meetings like one would a club: weekly meetings with students, holding events, and having a consistent social media presence to keep interest in the program

Features of the Duckweed Lemna That Support Rapid Growth under Extremes of Light Intensity

This study addresses the unique functional features of duckweed via comparison of Lemna gibba grown under controlled conditions of 50 versus 1000 &micro;mol photons m&minus;2 s&minus;1 and of a L. minor population in a local pond with a nearby population of the biennial weed Malva neglecta. Principal component analysis of foliar pigment composition revealed that Malva was similar to fast-growing annuals, while Lemna was similar to slow-growing evergreens. Overall, Lemna exhibited traits reminiscent of those of its close relatives in the family Araceae, with a remarkable ability to acclimate to both deep shade and full sunlight. Specific features contributing to duckweed&rsquo;s shade tolerance included a foliar pigment composition indicative of large peripheral light-harvesting complexes. Conversely, features contributing to duckweed&rsquo;s tolerance of high light included the ability to convert a large fraction of the xanthophyll cycle pool to zeaxanthin and dissipate a large fraction of absorbed light non-photochemically. Overall, duckweed exhibited a combination of traits of fast-growing annuals and slow-growing evergreens with foliar pigment features that represented an exaggerated version of that of terrestrial perennials combined with an unusually high growth rate. Duckweed&rsquo;s ability to thrive under a wide range of light intensities can support success in a dynamic light environment with periodic cycles of rapid expansion. </div

The Monarch Initiative in 2019: an integrative data and analytic platform connecting phenotypes to genotypes across species.

In biology and biomedicine, relating phenotypic outcomes with genetic variation and environmental factors remains a challenge: patient phenotypes may not match known diseases, candidate variants may be in genes that haven\u27t been characterized, research organisms may not recapitulate human or veterinary diseases, environmental factors affecting disease outcomes are unknown or undocumented, and many resources must be queried to find potentially significant phenotypic associations. The Monarch Initiative (https://monarchinitiative.org) integrates information on genes, variants, genotypes, phenotypes and diseases in a variety of species, and allows powerful ontology-based search. We develop many widely adopted ontologies that together enable sophisticated computational analysis, mechanistic discovery and diagnostics of Mendelian diseases. Our algorithms and tools are widely used to identify animal models of human disease through phenotypic similarity, for differential diagnostics and to facilitate translational research. Launched in 2015, Monarch has grown with regards to data (new organisms, more sources, better modeling); new API and standards; ontologies (new Mondo unified disease ontology, improvements to ontologies such as HPO and uPheno); user interface (a redesigned website); and community development. Monarch data, algorithms and tools are being used and extended by resources such as GA4GH and NCATS Translator, among others, to aid mechanistic discovery and diagnostics

Guided, internet based, cognitive behavioural therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder: pragmatic, multicentre, randomised controlled non-inferiority trial (RAPID)

Objective To determine if guided internet based cognitive behavioural therapy with a trauma focus (CBT-TF) is non-inferior to individual face-to-face CBT-TF for mild to moderate post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to one traumatic event. Design Pragmatic, multicentre, randomised controlled non-inferiority trial (RAPID). Setting Primary and secondary mental health settings across the UK’s NHS. Participants 196 adults with a primary diagnosis of mild to moderate PTSD were randomised in a 1:1 ratio to one of two interventions, with 82% retention at 16 weeks and 71% retention at 52 weeks. 19 participants and 10 therapists were purposively sampled and interviewed for evaluation of the process. Interventions Up to 12 face-to-face, manual based, individual CBT-TF sessions, each lasting 60-90 minutes; or guided internet based CBT-TF with an eight step online programme, with up to three hours of contact with a therapist and four brief telephone calls or email contacts between sessions. Main outcome measures Primary outcome was the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5 (CAPS-5) at 16 weeks after randomisation (diagnosis of PTSD based on the criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition, DSM-5). Secondary outcomes included severity of PTSD symptoms at 52 weeks, and functioning, symptoms of depression and anxiety, use of alcohol, and perceived social support at 16 and 52 weeks after randomisation. Results Non-inferiority was found at the primary endpoint of 16 weeks on the CAPS-5 (mean difference 1.01, one sided 95% confidence interval −∞ to 3.90, non-inferiority P=0.012). Improvements in CAPS-5 score of more than 60% in the two groups were maintained at 52 weeks, but the non-inferiority results were inconclusive in favour of face-to-face CBT-TF at this time point (3.20, −∞ to 6.00, P=0.15). Guided internet based CBT-TF was significantly (P<0.001) cheaper than face-to-face CBT-TF and seemed to be acceptable and well tolerated by participants. The main themes of the qualitative analysis were facilitators and barriers to engagement with guided internet based CBT-TF, treatment outcomes, and considerations for its future implementation. Conclusions Guided internet based CBT-TF for mild to moderate PTSD to one traumatic event was non-inferior to individual face-to-face CBT-TF and should be considered a first line treatment for people with this condition