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ABSTRACT:This article explores the merchant capitalist firm John Holt & Co. and its diverse business interests on the Spanish-controlled island of Fernando Po in the early twentieth century. We show that this well-capitalized firm struggled to make money in cocoa production due to market and labor volatility, but used its position to undercut competitors, exploit small farmers by offering financial services like high-interest credit and mortgages, and develop new profit lines such as providing packaging, shipping, and retail services to other planters. Holt & Co. enjoyed advantages over smaller competitors through its regional network and connections in Spain and Britain, which allowed it to more readily attract laborers and grow its influence and power. This case study provides new insights on how expatriate firms squeezed smaller partners and rivals during a tumultuous period in post-partition west-central Africa, and shows how this impacted Fernando Po’s workers and its economic development.

ABSTRACTVideo games are part of everyday life for many Americans despite concerns for social isolation and depressive symptoms. Preliminary studies show gamers may compensate for lack of in-real-life (IRL) support with online connections. This longitudinal social network study investigated the social structure of an online gaming site and how social support, sense of community, and depressive symptoms relate to communication. Members (N = 40) of an online gaming site reported online and IRL support, sense of community, depressive symptoms, and usernames of other members whom they spoke to about important life matters. IRL and online social support, sense of community, and depressive symptoms significantly influenced changes in online gaming network structure over time. These results are timely given social isolation and mental health impacts related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Exploring how to healthfully build online connections through gaming may be an avenue for greater social support when IRL social support is lacking.

Neurofeedback (NF) is an important treatment for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In ADHD, cognitive control deficits pose considerable problems to patients. However, NF protocols are not yet optimized to enhance cognitive control alongside with clinical symptoms, partly because they are not driven by basic cognitive neuroscience. In this study, we evaluated different EEG theta and/or beta frequency band NF protocols designed to enhance cognitive control. Participants were n= 157 children and adolescents, n= 129 of them were patients with ADHD (n= 28 typically developing (TD) controls). Patients with ADHD were divided into five groups in the order of referral, with four of them taking part in different NF protocols systematically varying theta and beta power. The fifth ADHD group and the TD group did not undergo NF. All NF protocols resulted in reductions of ADHD symptoms. Importantly, only when beta frequencies were enhanced during NF (without any theta regulation or in combination with theta upregulation), consistent enhancing effects in both response inhibition and conflict control were achieved. The theta/beta NF protocol most widely used in clinical settings revealed comparatively limited effects. Enhancements in beta band activity are key when aiming to improve cognitive control functions in ADHD. This calls for a change in the use of theta/beta NF protocols and shows that protocols differing from the current clinical standard are effective in enhancing important facets of cognitive control in ADHD. Further studies need to examine regulation data within the neurofeedback sessions to provide more information about the mechanisms underlying the observed effects.

Lipid biomarkers are valuable proxies for reconstructing paleoclimate and paleoenvironmental changes as well as human impact. However, little attention has been paid on evaluating how the combination of biomarkers can be used to reconstruct various aspects of local paleoenvironmental conditions. This study presents a suite of lipid biomarker records from a sediment core from Lake Höglwörth, southern Germany, covering the past 400 years. Compound-specific hydrogen isotopic compositions (δD) of terrestrial n-alkanes (n-C29-alkane) and n-alkanoic acids (n-C30-acid) indicate minor changes in isotopic composition of precipitation. The δD of n-C22-acidis interpreted to record the isotopic composition of the lake water and evaporative enrichment, which drops after 1700 CE, coinciding with the construction of a mill and the related rerouting of a creek into Lake Höglwörth. The δD of n-C25-alkaneis also enriched but decoupled from the reconstructed isotopic composition of precipitation and lake water. Therefore, we suggest that δD of n-C25-alkanereflects the leaf water isotopic composition of Sphagnum, which is present in the catchment and undergoes transpirative enrichment. Both short-chain compounds have become more enriched over the last century, maybe related to increasing temperature associated with anthropogenic climate warming. The faecal biomarkers record the changes in human population, partly related to the history of the local Monastery, the World Wars I and II as well as the intensive farming after the mid-20th century. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) reveal a significant change in combustion activities associated with human activities such as the industrial revolution, biomass burning, and environmental cleanup as well as the implementation of emission standards. Our study demonstrates that the combination of plant wax compounds, faecal biomarkers, and PAHs from lacustrine sediment serves as a valuable tool to reconstruct and distinguish various aspects of paleoclimate and paleoenvironmental changes including human impacts.

ABSTRACTAccording to Self-Efficacy Theory (SET; Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review, 84(2), 191–215), social networks and support are important in developing beneficial levels of self-efficacy. However, empirical evidence of the relationship between social networks and self-efficacy is lacking, especially concerning exercise self-efficacy. Using SET and Social Network Analysis, this study examines factors related to six aspects of exercise self-efficacy among CrossFit participants, with a particular focus on social networks and support. Members from two CrossFit gyms (N=127; 35.55 ± 12.89 years, 66.9% female) completed surveys assessing various aspects of exercise self-efficacy by indicating their confidence in completing activities that require 1) effort, 2) resistance, 3) agility, 4) coordination, 5) balance, and 6) strength. Participants also reported their mastery of CrossFit exercises, social connections within CrossFit, sense of community, and emotions elicited through exercise. Linear network autocorrelation models revealed a person’s position within their social network (e.g., degree, closeness) and the self-efficacy scores of their social contacts were associated with participants’ effort self-efficacy (Gym 1: R2=0.26, p<.001; Gym 2: R2=0.82, p<.001), agility self-efficacy (Gym 1: R2=0.43, p<.001; Gym 2: R2=0.63, p<.001), and strength self-efficacy (Gym 1: R2=0.45, p<.001; Gym 2: R2=0.84, p<.001). This study supports the SET and a growing body of literature documenting the relationship between social networks and self-efficacy and suggests social network indices and effects are important in explaining aspects of exercise self-efficacy in these CrossFit networks.

The proliferation of weight-loss products continues, as each new national health report further attests to the mounting weight problems in the U.S. As the demand from consumers for weight-loss products [...]

Formulating and marketing food products for children have always involved a necessary give-and-take. On one hand, companies have to create a food or drink product kids will find both tasty [...]

Inhibition of inappropriate behavior is relevant in many everyday situations. Nevertheless, the mechanisms that induce response inhibition based on sensory information and what influences these mechanisms are not entirely understood. We examined neurophysiological processes of perception–action integration in response inhibition and the impact of the pre-trial neurophysiological functional connectivity state in the theta and alpha band on these integration processes. The study was motivated by the Theory of Event Coding framework. Within the trial, fronto-medial theta band activity and occipital alpha band activity revealed an opposing interplay depending on the necessity of (re-)binding event files, i.e., the disintegration and recombination of stimulus–response associations, during response inhibition. When response inhibition required the reconfiguration of event files, this was associated with increased theta band activity but lower alpha band activity, and vice versa for the retrieval of event files. Notably, the most substantial impact of pre-trial connectivity on the within-trial event file binding effect (the difference between conditions that require reconfiguration and those that do not) during response inhibition occurred between fronto-medial areas and areas of the ventral stream in the theta frequency band. This suggests a preparatory top-down control of sensory areas before stimulus presentation. Increased pre-trial connectivity was associated with a decreased event file binding effect in the alpha frequency band and an increased event file binding effect in the theta frequency band during response inhibition. This implies an impact of the pre-trial functional connectivity state on inhibitory gating processes of relevant information and event file (re-)binding during response inhibition. The study shows how perception–action integration during response inhibition is affected by preceding transient neurophysiological connectivity states.

Purpose: This paper aims to use social network analysis (SNA) to determine whether compulsive exercise (CE) was related to social connections and network position among participants of group-exercise programs. Design/methodology/approach: Members from two group-exercise programs (Gym 1: n= 103; Gym 2: n= 56) completed an online survey measuring their social connections within the program, CE, depressive symptoms and sense of belonging. Network position was calculated for each person based on network centrality scores (i.e. closeness, eigenvector centrality). Linear network autocorrelation models determined whether respondents reported similar CE as their network ties (i.e., network effects) and whether network position was related to CE in these networks. Findings: Eigenvector centrality (i.e., being connected to popular/important people within the network; Gym 1: parameter estimate [PE] = 0.51, p< 0.01, Gym 2: PE = 0.39, p= 0.02) and network effects (i.e. having similar CE scores as direct network ties; Gym 1: PE = 0.07, p< 0.01, Gym 2: PE = 0.19, p< 0.01) were related to CE among participants in these programs. Originality/value: This study builds on existing SNA research suggesting the importance of social connections and network position on CE, and, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, is the first to explore these effects among group-exercise participants. This study describes how the social environment can impact, both positively and negatively, someone’s susceptibility for CE and supports fostering social connections within group-exercise programs as a way to potentially combat harmful CE among its participants.

The prerequisites for the design and testing procedures of WiMAX equipment are discussed, in the light of the increasing demand for the technology.

Physical activity (PA) is a public health priority due to holistic health benefits; however, many adults do not meet PA guidelines. Few studies have examined Mexican-heritage fathers' social networks, specifically with whom they are physically active. This study examines changes in Mexican-heritage fathers' PA networks after participation in a father-focused, family-centered health program. Families consisting of child (aged 9-11 years), mother, and father were recruited from coloniason the Texas-Mexico border for participation in a 6-week father-focused, family-centered program concentrated on healthy eating and active living. Fathers reported up to 5 people with whom they were active most in the previous month before and after the program as well as how often they were active with the person and what activities they did most often. Multilevel regression models examined changes in networks. Fathers (n = 42; mean age = 39.07 years, SD = 7.45) were significantly more likely to report more frequent PA with others after the program as compared with before. General active play and conditional support were mentioned most frequently. This study provides context to the social networks and PA behaviors of Mexican-heritage fathers and suggests that a father-focused, family-centered health program can increase the PA frequency with social network connections.

Objective Social network analysis (SNA) can measure social connectedness and assess impact of interpersonal connections on health behaviors, including physical activity (PA). This paper aims to systematically review adult PA studies using SNA to understand important social network concepts relative to PA.Data Source A search was performed using PsycINFO, MEDLINE, PubMed, and Web of Science.Study Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria To be included in the search, articles needed to 1) include a measure of PA, 2) conduct an SNA in which specific relationships were measured, and 3) conduct an analysis between social network measures and PA.Data Extraction Key study elements including network design and results were extracted.Data Synthesis Data were synthesized to answer 2 questions: 1) how has adult PA been investigated using SNA approaches and 2) how is an adult’s social network associated with PA behaviors?Results A final sample of 28 articles remained from an initial 11 085 articles. Network size, homophily, network composition, and network exposure to PA were all associated with individual level PA across studies. Lastly, longitudinal and intervention studies showed a more complex picture of social influence and diffusion of PA behavior.Conclusions Adults’ PA behaviors are influenced by their networks. Capitalizing on this influence, researchers should engage not just individual behavior change but also the social influences present within the person’s life.

Sustainable agricultural intensificationhas been considered one of the solutions for increasing food production and mitigating climate changes. Nevertheless, soil physical degradation induced by intense mechanization may threaten those benefits in large‐scale agricultural regions such as the Brazilian Cerrado. Thus, our study aimed to assess the effects of land use, tillage management, and crop diversification on soil physical quality of two long‐term experiments in Cerrado through on‐farm visual evaluation of soil structure (VESS) and soil physical parameters. Soil sampling was performed in 0‐to‐10‐ and 10‐to‐20‐cm layers of four agricultural systems: soybean [Glycine max(L.) Merr.]–fallow under conventional tillage (SF); soybean–fallow under no‐till (SN); soybean–maize (Zea maysL.) succession under no‐till (SM); and crop rotation under no‐till including soybean, maize, grasses, and legumes (CR). An additional area of native Cerrado vegetation (NV) was included as reference. Land transition from Cerrado to agricultural systems declined the soil physical quality, detected by VESS assessment and physical parameters in both layers. Tillage management did not alter soil physical parameters, which was likely associated with the medium time adoption in the experiments (9 yr) and high resilience capacity of clayey Oxisols. Unexpectedly, SM and CR negatively affected the porosity‐ and water‐associated soil parameters in the 10‐to‐20‐cm layer compared with SN. It suggests that the soil physical damage induced by higher frequency of machinery operations required to manage a more diverse crop sequence may prevail over the benefits provided by crop diversification. Finally, this study highlights that intensified agricultural systems need to be coupled with strategies to reduce and/or control intensive machinery traffic. Agricultural management practices affected soil porosity and water dynamics.Machinery traffic masked the potential gains of crop diversification on soil physical quality.Soil partially recovers from compaction under fallow with no machinery traffic.VESS assessment detected soil structural worsening in agricultural systems.

To increase the likelihood of finding a causative genetic variant in patients with a focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) lesion, clinical and histologic characteristics were analyzed.

In the fierce competition for consumer dollars between companies in the food, beverage and supplement areas, trying to distinguish a product line from a slew of competing products often leads [...]

Words matter. The selection of the ultimate set of words to effectively promote and sell products is the endgoal of marketing departments and companies everywhere--not just the food, beverage and [...]

As one walks down the beverage aisle of a local grocery or grabs a drink from the local convenience store, one thing is immediately clear: the number of options consumers [...]

AS NUTRITION INDUSTRY COMPANIES move forward in 2011 selling innovative products and services, marketers and advertisers will continue their search for new ways to grow their customer base. One marketing [...]

Purpose: Online gaming offers avenue to connect with others producing social capital especially for individuals lacking in-real-life (IRL) social support; however, there is concerns related to mental health and depressive symptoms (DS). Virtually mediated social connections are particularly important during times of social distancing. This paper aims to investigate discussant networks established through an online gaming site and their possible association with DS and social support. Design/methodology/approach: Participants (n =40) recruited from an online gaming site reported DS, online and IRL social support, and site members with whom they discussed important life matters. Participants also reported topics of conversation discussed and reason for communication. Quadratic assignment procedure multiple regression was used to determined significant associations between network structure, DS and social support. Findings: DS were significantly associated with online (ß = 0.39) and IRL social support (ß = −0.44). Online social support was significantly associated with network structural factors. Topics reported by members most often were bridging capital topics while topics reported by members in most recent conversation were bonding capital topics. Members mentioned bonding social capital concepts as motivation for conversation. Social implications: Building online relationships to provide bonding social capital could supply buffering effects for those feeling socially isolated during social distancing. Originality/value: This paper is among the first to approach online gaming communication through social network analysis and qualitative analysis mixed method approach.

Purpose: This study investigates the possible association between adolescent friendship networks and perceived physical activity skill competence in a summer care program.Design: Adolescents participated in researcher-administered surveys at the start (T1) and end (T2) of summer.Setting: Adolescents at a Boys & Girls Club were sampled.Sample: Adolescents (age 8-12) completed researcher-administered surveys at T1 (n = 100; µ age = 9.9 years; 47% male; 55% Black) and T2 (n = 77; µ age = 9.8 years; 51% male; 49% Black).Measures: Perceived skill competence was measured by asking adolescents to rate how good they felt they were at physical activity at the club. Adolescents were also asked to provide names of up to 5 peers whom they hung around with, talked to, and did things with the most while at the club.Analysis: Linear network autocorrelation models were used to determine network effects or clustering of perceived physical activity skill competence within the club.Results: There were significant network effects for adolescent perceived skill competency scores at T1 (β = 0.05, p < 0.01) and T2 (β = 0.05, p = 0.02), indicating adolescent perceived skill competence scores were associated with those of their friends.Conclusions: Practitioners may wish to encourage the use of group or collaborative skill competency improvement activities as well as possibly pairing adolescents with differing skill competencies to foster improvement and possible diffusion of perceived skill competency.

International companies looking to enter the dietary supplement market in the U.S. have a long and winding road to navigate. Negotiating the maze of laws and regulations enforced by federal [...]

When a pile of snow falls overnight, the last thing you want to do is wake up early to shovel the sidewalk. With a radio-controlled snowplow, you won't need to. [...]

Forward osmosis (FO) has attracted intensive attention in liquid separation because it is less energy-consuming as compared to the pressure-driven separation processes, but the lack of a high-performance membrane limits its application. In this paper, novel FO membranes were fabricated by generating three methacrylate-based hydrogels (methyl-, ethyl-, and butyl-methacrylate) on the CTA surface via the solution drop-casting method. The characterization results show that the hydrogels were chemically crosslinked with the porous CTA substrate and improved the hydrophilicity of membranes. As a result, all the hydrogel-modified CTA membranes showed a higher pure water flux than the bare CTA and commercial HTI-CTA membranes. The modified FO membranes also exhibited higher solute selectivity and salt retention, as the hydrogels acted as the active barrier. In addition, antibacterial study demonstrated that hydrogel modifications conferred antibacterial properties to the CTA membranes, which is indicative of a better antifouling feature. The outstanding separation performance indicates that the hydrogel-modified CTA membranes have great potential for the industrial application.

The objective of this paper was to evaluate the quality of water drained after the use of the knife-roller (an implement used to incorporate rice residues after harvest), the partial global warming potential (pGWP) and straw decomposition as a result of postharvest field management of irrigated rice. The experiments were conducted during the 2018 and 2019 offseason and the treatments consisted of several water drainage periods (0, 3, 6, 9 and 12 days) after a field pass with a knife-roller. In addition, a nonflooded harvest treatment without straw management was included. Analysis of drainage water three days after a pass with the kniferoller showed a reduction in total soluble solids by 94% compared to zero days. Nitrogen and soluble phosphorus were not influenced by the treatments. However, potassium levels increased as the drainage period increased, which is related to the period between harvest and drainage. As the electrical conductivity is influenced by the concentration of ions, it showed the same response curve as the potassium levels and, for pH, there were small oscillations influenced by the temperature. The total CH4 emission and the pGWP were higher when the water depth remained for a longer period. However, the N2O emissions were higher in the absence of soil submersion. Water should be drained three days after a pass with the knife-roller in order to reduce potassium loss and suspended solids as well as pGWP. The use of the knife-roller accelerated the process of straw decomposition in relation to the unmanaged straw treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The increase of videogame use has raised concerns regarding mental health of gamers (e.g. social isolation, depression); however, online gaming may offer the benefit of social connectivity. Many games provide ways for people to meet and interact, providing social opportunities difficult to come by for some young adults. One way to investigate social connection is through social network analysis, which explores the influence of connections on behaviors. The purpose of this paper is to analyze factors related to social connections within an online gaming community, with an emphasis on the influence of social support and depressive symptoms on network ties. Design/methodology/approach: All members of an online gaming site were asked to report demographics, site use, depressive symptoms, “in-real-life” (IRL) social support, and online social support. Members were also asked to nominate those in their gaming network with whom they spoke to about important life matters. Moran’s I determined the spatial autocorrelation of depressive symptoms and IRL support within the network. Exponential random graph modeling determined factors significantly associated with tie presence between members. Findings: Members (n=37) were significantly more likely to speak to other members about important life matters if they reported more site hours, more depressive symptoms, and less IRL support. Depressive symptoms and IRL support were not significantly spatially autocorrelated within this network. Originality/value: Results suggest members may be filling an IRL social support deficit with friends they have met online. Additionally, members who reported more depressive symptoms may be seeking help from informal online connections through online gaming.