The link between exercise dependence and eating disturbance in females

Bibliography: leaves 62-69.Although it has been known for some time that excessive exercise is one of the features of eating disorders, it is only in more recent years that specific attempts have been made to explore the link between exercise dependence (compulsive exercising) and eating disturbance. This study explored the relationship between exercise dependence and eating disturbance in females and compared the relative influence on level of eating disturbance of exercise dependence, pressure for thinness, and competitiveness. In order to examine the relationships between these vari~bles, four groups were included in the study: ballet students (n=32), competitive swimmers (n=34), music students (n=33), and a control group of psychology students (n=51). Each group was hypothesised to have different levels of and combinations of exercise dependence, pressures for thinness, and competitiveness: ballet students (pressures to be thin, pressures to exercise, and competitive); swimmers (pressures to exercise and competitive); music students (competitive); and psychology students (control group, presumed to be comparably lower on all three variables). Results indicated that groups with higher levels of exercise dependence did not necessarily show greater eating disturbance (swimmers had relatively high scores on exercise dependence, but had the lowest eating disturbance). Pressures for thinness and factors related to concerns with weight and dieting appeared to be the strongest determinant of eating difficulties, with competitiveness showing little influence on level of eating disturbance

Experimental investigation of small-scale breaking waves : flow visualization across the air-water interface

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Ocean Engineering, 2005.Includes bibliographical references (p. 137-140).The dynamics of breaking waves significantly affect air-sea fluxes of heat, momentum, mass and energy across the ocean interface. Breaking waves also contribute considerable loading to offshore and coastal structures, and furthermore, the quasi-steady bow wave on a ship increases drag and ease of detection by the bubbly wake. However, the complexity of the phenomenon has severely limited our ability to describe it and predict its occurrence. Research has typically involved field observations, controlled laboratory studies, and numerical simulations. A recent simulation presented new information about local energy dissipation and the coupled air-water effects of small breaking waves. In light of these findings, the objective of this thesis is to experimentally study small-scale breaking waves and examine the combined air-water flow fields using advanced visualization techniques. This research was performed in a narrow wavetank which was 2.5m long. Waves were generated with a hinged paddle and breaking occurred as the train propagated up a 15 degree slope to a level plateau. Waves were studied using surface piercing wave probes, high speed video, and Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV).(cont.) Surface tension was found to have a significant effect on the breaking dynamics at this scale. After a thorough exploration of its effect on surface tension, isopropyl alcohol was added to distilled water in a 10% solution by volume, which reduced the surface tension to approximately 43 dynes/cm. A wave breaking database was created which included 26 different wave trains over a frequency band of 1.5-4Hz. The corresponding Weber numbers ranged from 400 through 14,600 with Reynolds numbers from 38,200 through 280,000. The wave probes measured significant potential energy losses to breaking which are expected. The air- water flow fields are studied by seeding the air and water with reflective particle and processing the video results with PIV software. Qualitative results from PIV including vector and vorticity maps agree well with previous theory and recent numerical results.by Angus Kai McDonald.S.M

Architecture's Tightrope - Investigating an Alternative Trajectory for Critical Architecture: Critical Spatial Practices and a Polycontextual Engagement with an Urban Thick Edge Condition

This thesis investigation engages two contemporary interrelated problems – one theoretical and one practical – both of which are interrogated, interwoven and tested through a critical lens. The theoretical context framing the design-research reconsiders the vitality of ‘critical architecture’ in relation to contemporary discourse, in particular, the so-called ‘crisis of criticality’ and the implications of this ideological landscape within the built environment. Foregrounding a position to test this theoretical framing, the practical context of the design-research is distinctly urban – engaging one of the contemporary negative outcomes of rapid urbanisation. The practical problem investigates the ‘thick edges’ (places of singular and/or impermeable identities) that manifest around and below new urban motorway infrastructural developments, a condition that creates barriers to cultural, social and spatial flows between communities in urban settings. This thesis argues that by engaging with the complex and multiple cultural conditions of urban sites, the rigidity and singular nature of these impermeable thick edge spaces can be opened to diverse flows relating to multiple contexts. Through processes of design intervention, the thesis proposes a ‘polycontextual’ approach to introduce flows of wider contextual dimensions within an urban site – promoting architectural solutions that blur, fray and punctuate thick edges by developing them as threshold conditions between adjacencies. The theoretical problem analyses the limitations of both the autonomous and post-critical positions; this thesis argues that an alternative trajectory for a contemporary critical architecture has emerged, one that may be used as a theoretical framework for resolving urban thick edge conditions. Jane Rendell, Kim Dovey and Murray Fraser reveal a trajectory to shift architectural practices towards positive and flexible modes of production whilst simultaneously opposing the insufficient positions of the post-critical. They posit that architecture remains an inherently cultural proposition – created through constructive ‘relays’ that can mediate between theory and design – elucidating strategies of resistance through an engagement with practices that are both critical and spatial. Jane Rendell further argues that strategies for such ‘critical spatial practices’ can be elucidated through an examination of processes that are: site-specific, socio-spatial, and temporal. Adopting these three categories as the theoretical framework of this thesis focuses the design-research, implicating critical spatial practices as a contemporary and alternative position for critical architectural production - providing a framework for positive and critical positions in current discourse. In response to this two-fold investigation, the thesis tests a synthesis of critical spatial practices and a polycontextual approach through strategic designresearch propositions. Architecture’s Tightrope proposes a multifunctional events facility that permanently supports the New Zealand International Arts Festival, and the structuration of a dynamic, relational and non-deterministic public space. The primary aims of this thesis are: to test a contemporary critically engendered framework for architectural design-research that is both culturally and formally negotiated; and to investigate the potential for this framework to invert the negative conditions of urban thick edges through an engagement with multiple contexts

A Thirteenth-Century English Charter at Brock University

In the fall of 2008, staff of the Special Collections and Archives of the James A. Gibson library at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario, discovered a small, tightly folded, and clearly very old parchment document in a bag in the bottom drawer of a filing cabinet. The document, which had been transferred to the Library from the President’s Office in 1976, was stored without being catalogued, probably because it fell outside the scope of the department’s collection policy. It remained unexamined for over thirty years until early in 2009, when the announcement of its ‘rediscovery’ caused considerable excitement among the Brock University and Niagara communities. Efforts to trace the provenance of the Charter prior to its arrival at Brock University have proven unsuccessful. The document, dated to the mid-thirteenth century, records a grant of land in the village of Clopton in Warwickshire (see further below) by Robert de Clopton to his son William; although some of the individuals and places named in it are known from contemporaneous records, it does not appear to be referred to in secondary sources pertaining to the family, the estate, or the county and, in fact, seems to be completely unknown. The Clopton charter now has the distinction of being the oldest item in the holdings of the James A. Gibson Library at Brock University. This paper offers a description, transcription, translation and preliminary analysis of the document

The atmospheric corrosion of 304L and 316L stainless steels under conditions relevant to the interim storage of intermediate level nuclear waste

The atmospheric corrosion of 304L and 3 16L austenitic stainless steels was investigated in conditions relevant to the storage of intermediate level nuclear waste (I L W). Thin electrolyte films were created via automated droplet deposition, allowing multiple tests to be conducted in parallel. In-situ monitoring of droplet arrays on stainless steel samples was conducted with the use of a flat-bed document scanner, allowing large-scale, automated monitoring of corrosion processes. The initiation time for individual corrosion processes was established, showing that corrosion was slower to initiate under less aggressive conditions, and allowing 'true corrosion site lifetimes to be recorded, and compared with their depths. The presence of precipitated species within an electrolyte film was shown to affect the corrosion processes within that film. Both NaCl precipitates and glass shards acted as barriers to ion transport. This affected both the propagation of corrosion, and the electrochemical potential within the droplets; a higher precipitate content decreased the average corrosion depth and the extent of corrosion. The presence of nitrate and sulphate salts, both known corrosion inhibitors in full- immersion conditions, was shown to inhibit atmospheric corrosion when the inhibitor:chloride ratio was above a certain value. This was independent of the absolute amounts of salts, but dependent on the exposure humidity of the test

Dietary metabolite profiling brings new insight into the relationship between nutrition and metabolic risk: An IMI DIRECT study

Background: Dietary advice remains the cornerstone of prevention and management of type 2 diabetes (T2D). However, understanding the efficacy of dietary interventions is confounded by the challenges inherent in assessing free living diet. Here we profiled dietary metabolites to investigate glycaemic deterioration and cardiometabolic risk in people at risk of or living with T2D. Methods: We analysed data from plasma collected at baseline and 18-month follow-up in individuals from the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) Diabetes Research on Patient Stratification (DIRECT) cohort 1 n = 403 individuals with normal or impaired glucose regulation (prediabetic) and cohort 2 n = 458 individuals with new onset of T2D. A dietary metabolite profile model (Tpred) was constructed using multivariable regression of 113 plasma metabolites obtained from targeted metabolomics assays. The continuous Tpred score was used to explore the relationships between diet, glycaemic deterioration and cardio-metabolic risk via multiple linear regression models. Findings: A higher Tpred score was associated with healthier diets high in wholegrain (β=3.36 g, 95% CI 0.31, 6.40 and β=2.82 g, 95% CI 0.06, 5.57) and lower energy intake (β=-75.53 kcal, 95% CI -144.71, -2.35 and β=-122.51 kcal, 95% CI -186.56, -38.46), and saturated fat (β=-0.92 g, 95% CI -1.56, -0.28 and β=-0.98 g, 95% CI -1.53, -0.42 g), respectively for cohort 1 and 2. In both cohorts a higher Tpred score was also associated with lower total body adiposity and favourable lipid profiles HDL-cholesterol (β=0.07 mmol/L, 95% CI 0.03, 0.1), (β=0.08 mmol/L, 95% CI 0.04, 0.1), and triglycerides (β=-0.1 mmol/L, 95% CI -0.2, -0.03), (β=-0.2 mmol/L, 95% CI -0.3, -0.09), respectively for cohort 1 and 2. In cohort 2, the Tpred score was negatively associated with liver fat (β=-0.74%, 95% CI -0.67, -0.81), and lower fasting concentrations of HbA1c (β=-0.9 mmol/mol, 95% CI -1.5, -0.1), glucose (β=-0.2 mmol/L, 95% CI -0.4, -0.05) and insulin (β=-11.0 pmol/mol, 95% CI -19.5, -2.6). Longitudinal analysis showed at 18-month follow up a higher Tpred score was also associated lower total body adiposity in both cohorts and lower fasting glucose (β=-0.2 mmol/L, 95% CI -0.3, -0.01) and insulin (β=-9.2 pmol/mol, 95% CI -17.9, -0.4) concentrations in cohort 2. Interpretation: Plasma dietary metabolite profiling provides objective measures of diet intake, showing a relationship to glycaemic deterioration and cardiometabolic health.This article is freely available to Open Access. Click on the Publisher URL to access it via the publisher's site.This work was supported by the Innovative Medicines Initiative Joint Undertaking under grant agreement no. 115,317 (DIRECT), resources of which are composed of financial contribution from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) and EFPIA companies.published version, submitted versio

Examining outcomes following thrombolysis in an increasingly older and dependent stroke population

We are grateful for the support of the nurses from Chest, Heart and Stroke Scotland for assisting in obtaining follow-up functional status at three months.Peer reviewedPublisher PD