An evaluation of energy expenditure estimation by three activity monitors

This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of an article published in European Journal of Sport Science, 13(6), 681 - 688, 2013 [date of publication] [copyright Taylor & Francis], available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/ 10.1080/17461391.2013.776639.A comparative evaluation of the ability of activity monitors to predict energy expenditure (EE) is necessary to aid in the investigation of the effect of EE on health. The purpose of this study was to validate and compare the RT3, the SWA and the IDEEA at measuring EE in adults and children. Twenty-six adults and 22 children completed a resting metabolic rate (RMR) test and performed four treadmill activities at 3 km.h−1, 6 km.h−1, 6 km.h−1 at a 10% incline, 9 km.h−1. EE was assessed throughout the protocol by the RT3, the SWA and the IDEEA. Indirect calorimetry (IC) was used as a criterion measure of EE against which each monitor was compared. Mean bias was assessed by subtracting EE from IC from EE from each monitor for each activity. Limit of agreement plots were used to assess the agreement between each monitor and IC. Limits of agreement for resting EE were narrowest for the RT3 for adults and children. Although the IDEEA displayed the smallest mean bias between measures at 3 km.h−1, 6 km.h−1 and 9 km.h−1 in adults and children, the SWA agreed closest with IC at 6 km.h−1, 6 km.h−1 at a 10% incline and 9 km.h−1. Limits of agreement were closest for the SWA at 9 km.h−1 in adults representing 42% of the overall mean EE. Although the RT3 provided the best estimate of resting EE in adults and children, the SWA provided the most accurate estimate of EE across a range of physical activity intensities

Analyzing Media Representations of Male Rape and Debunking Myths on \u27Law and Order Special Victims Unit\u27

The project that I have done shows the importance of recognizing that male rape does exist and that it is more frequent than people think. By using Law and Order Special Victims Unit I am able to portray how myths about male rape are debunked and how the show creates new ways of thinking about male rape. Little research has been conducted about male rape and what we do know comes from the myths that are created in society and reinforced by false representations in the media. The research also concludes that we need more research to fully understand the prevalence and effects of male rape. I conducted a content and media of analysis of three episodes of Law and Order Special Victims Unit, in which the main focus was male rape by women. I have found that Law and Order Special Victims Unit fully represents the arguments surrounding male rape as well as the emotions that go into these discussions. In addition, this television show highlights the fact that these myths about male rape influence the way the police and judicial system interact with male victims and handle male rape cases. The literature that I have read about male rape and in the episodes that I have analyze have also shown me that the way the police and judicial system handles male victims influences the way victims talk to the police or decide to press charges against their attackers. The analysis of Law and Order Special Victims Unit in combination with the literature that I have read shows that male rape does not only happens in prisons or is committed by gay males

The Lasso Problem and Uniqueness

The lasso is a popular tool for sparse linear regression, especially for problems in which the number of variables p exceeds the number of observations n. But when p>n, the lasso criterion is not strictly convex, and hence it may not have a unique minimum. An important question is: when is the lasso solution well-defined (unique)? We review results from the literature, which show that if the predictor variables are drawn from a continuous probability distribution, then there is a unique lasso solution with probability one, regardless of the sizes of n and p. We also show that this result extends easily to $\ell_1$ penalized minimization problems over a wide range of loss functions. A second important question is: how can we deal with the case of non-uniqueness in lasso solutions? In light of the aforementioned result, this case really only arises when some of the predictor variables are discrete, or when some post-processing has been performed on continuous predictor measurements. Though we certainly cannot claim to provide a complete answer to such a broad question, we do present progress towards understanding some aspects of non-uniqueness. First, we extend the LARS algorithm for computing the lasso solution path to cover the non-unique case, so that this path algorithm works for any predictor matrix. Next, we derive a simple method for computing the component-wise uncertainty in lasso solutions of any given problem instance, based on linear programming. Finally, we review results from the literature on some of the unifying properties of lasso solutions, and also point out particular forms of solutions that have distinctive properties.Comment: 25 pages, 0 figure

Implementing the Leader Development That Counts

Effective leader development is too often the first casualty of high demands placed on leaders, from corporate America to the U.S. military. A comparison of these entities’ common leader development programs and workforce feedback reveals insufficient strategies and competing priorities. Organizations succumbing to these obstacles unknowingly find themselves trapped in adverse cycles of leadership development, perpetuating undernourished talent and mediocre performance. This problem will not fix itself. Organizations must refocus efforts to understand and implement a leader driven, interpersonally focused, and culturally ingrained brand of leader development to maximize available talent in crafting their envisioned organization

Testing Potential Fish Fraud in Community-Supported Fisheries

The seafood industry has long been plagued by the substitution of a species under a false label. Seafood mislabeling is a major concern in the management of fish and marine species. Incorrect labels hamper the ability to estimate stock size effectively, reduce consumer choice, and represent potential health hazards. The rates of seafood fraudulence have been shown to differ across businesses and markets, and in recent years, community-supported fishery programs (CSFs) have sprung up as an alternative to fish markets and grocery stores. Using genetic analysis, I show that 17 out of 41 (41.5%) samples examined from multiple markets in New Hampshire and Maine were fraudulent. The rates of fraudulent labeling differed across species and across markets, with community-supported fishery programs having the lowest levels of fraud (3 out of 10 samples, 30%) followed by restaurants (33%), fish markets (44%), sushi restaurants (50%) and grocery stores (58%). While the different levels of fraudulence between CSFs and other markets were not found to be statistically significant (p=0.36), my findings should warrant future studies with a larger sample of CSFs to determine the extent to which CSFs can help reduce seafood fraudulence