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Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that causes complications with thinking capability, memory and behavior. AD is a major public health problem among the elderly in developed and developing countries. With the growth of AD around the world, there is a need to further expand our understanding of the roles different clinical measurements can have in the diagnosis of AD. In this work, we propose a machine learning-based technique to distinguish control subjects with no cognitive impairments, AD subjects, and subjects with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), often seen as precursors of AD. We utilized several machine learning (ML) techniques and found that Gradient Boosting Decision Trees achieved the highest performance above 84% classification accuracy. Also, we determined the importance of the features (clinical biomarkers) contributing to the proposed multi-class classification system. Further investigation on the biomarkers will pave the way to introduce better treatment plan for AD patients. © 2020 The authors and IOS Press.

Objective: To examine health behaviors associated with overweight/obesity by race/ethnicity at a diverse urban college. Participants: 270 undergraduates (77.0% female; 26.7% non-Hispanic white) and median body mass index (BMI) of 23.1 kg/m2. Methods: A questionnaire about health-related behaviors as part of the “Get Fruved” project was used to measure health behaviors (sugar sweetened beverage (SSB), fruit and vegetable consumption, physical activity, stress, and sleep) by race/ethnicity. Multivariable logistic regression was used to assess the adjusted odds of engaging in positive health-related behaviors. Results: Non-Hispanic black and Hispanic students were 64% and 59% less likely to consume lower amounts of SSB. Hispanic students were 83% and 81% less likely to meet vegetable and fruit recommendations. Non-Hispanic black and other (including biracial) had reduced odds of meeting vegetable recommendations (AOR = 0.18 and 0.28). Conclusions: Disparities in SSB, fruit, and vegetable consumption represent potential intervention targets to improve health behaviors among racial/ethnic minorities. © 2020 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

To better explain daily fluctuations in physical activity and sedentary behavior, investigations of motivation are turning from social cognitive frameworks to those centered on affect, emotion and automaticity, such as the Affect and Health Behavior Framework (AHBF), Integrated Framework and Affective-Reflective Theory (ART). This shift has necessitated: (a) re-examination of older theories and their constructs, such as drives, needs and tensions and (b) an inspection of competing theories from other fields that also attempt to explain dynamic changes in health behaviors. The Dynamical Model of Desire, Elaborated Intrusion Theory and others commonly share with AHBF the idea that human behavior is driven strongly by desires and/or the similar concepts of wants, urges, and cravings. These affectively-charged motivation states (ACMS) change quickly and may better explain physical activity behavior from one moment to the next. Desires for movement predominantly derive from negative but also positive reinforcement. Data from clinical populations with movement dysfunction or psychiatric disorders provides further evidence of these drivers of movement. Those with Restless Legs Syndrome, akathisia, tic disorders and exercise dependence all report strong urges to move and relief when it is accomplished. Motor control research has identified centers of the brain responsible for wants and urges for muscular movement. Models elaborated herein differentiate between wants, desires, urges and cravings. The WANT model (Wants and Aversions for Neuromuscular Tasks) conceptualizes desires for movement and rest as varying by magnitude, approach or avoidance-orientation (wants versus aversions) and as occupying independent dimensions instead of opposite ends of the same axis. For instance, one hypothetically might be in a state of both high desire for movement and rest simultaneously. Variations in motivation states to move and rest may also be associated with various stress states, like freezing or fight and flight. The first validated instrument to measure feelings of desire/want for movement and rest, the CRAVE Scale (Cravings for Rest and Volitional Energy Expenditure) is already shedding light on the nature of these states. With these advances in theory, conceptual modeling and instrumentation, future investigations may explore the effects of desires and urges for movement and sedentary behavior in earnest. Copyright © 2020 Stults-Kolehmainen, Blacutt, Bartholomew, Gilson, Ash, McKee and Sinha.

Food waste has become an area of increasing concern in recent years, since unsustainable food waste practices have been associated with a range of adverse environmental, economic and societal impacts. Food waste is a multi-sectoral issue and must be addressed as such, by ensuring policymakers, practitioners, and consumers are equipped with the relevant knowledge and understanding of the importance of sustainable food waste practices. By exploring current attitudes and understanding of this topic amongst consumers, a lack of education about the importance of this issue has been identified as a barrier to carrying out sustainable practices at the household level, along with excess packaging, cultural norms of overconsumption and inappropriate social marketing. In contrast, a number of enablers, including social pressures, access to appropriate facilities and encouragement from media advertisements appear to have been highly influential in infringing on the consciousness of consumers. Investigating these enablers and barriers has allowed a number of potential interventions to be identified, with the intention of addressing this issue using a multifaceted approach and encouraging society to carry out sustainable food waste practices in the future. © 2020

The three-dimensional graphic method for quantifying body position is a series of observer procedures and computer programs designed to yield three-dimensional (height, width, and depth) coordinates for various body points. These coordinates can be graphed by computer in several different ways, and can be analyzed mathematically to provide information about a wide variety of variables, including interpersonal distance and body activity. The procedure for collecting and analyzing the data is explained and the computer programs developed for the method are described. © 1976 Psychonomic Society, Inc.

Locus of control is a personality variable that manifests itself through an individual’s perception of the reinforcement he receives. This belief system is based on a continuum ranging from the perception that rewards are completely contingent upon one’s behavior to the belief that only luck, chance, or fate control one’s life. This construct has received considerable attention within the realm of psychology, but is conspicuous by its absence in sport and physical education literature. The purpose of this study was to compare the locus of control of highly skilled Dutch (N = 35) and American (N = 44) women softball players. The Rotter internal-external locus of control scale was utilized to determine internal-external orientations of the subjects. Data were analyzed by using ANOVA and product moment correlations. Statistically significant (.01 level) differences in locus of control were found. American women softball players were significantly more internally oriented than were their Dutch counterparts. © 1977 Taylor 8 Francis Group, LLC.

The purpose of this study was to compare the skeletal ages and various physical and motor factors with the pubescent development of 10, 13, and 16 year old boys. The findings of this study indicated that physical maturation was differentiated most effectively at 13 years of age, although it was not so sensitive to maturational changes as was skeletal age; at 16 years, maturational differentiation was much more limited; and at 10 years, little or no value can be attributed to this method. The 13 and 16 year old boys who were advanced in pubescent development had higher mean scores on all physical and motor tests studied with few exceptions; generally, the differences between the means were significant. In terms of physique types, the only significant difference was found at 16 years of age, where a greater percentage of ectomorphs was found in pubescent group 4 than in group 5. © 1962 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

In attempting to derive the minimal component of the Poggendorff figure which would still produce an illusion, responses to three types of transversal were measured. One was the customary solid line type; a second type presented the two segments sequentially, alternating between them; and the third consisted of a moving dot which traveled the transversal path. Each transversal was shown with and without verticals, for a total of six conditions. Ten subjects in each condition adjusted the luminous transversal until the segments appeared to be collinear. Figures with verticals present showed a greater magnitude of illusion than those without, and discrepancies for moving dot transversals were greater than those for comparable solid line figures. Since alternating transversals were not significantly larger than solid line figures, it was concluded that the magnitude of the moving dot effect could not be attributed to temporal sequence. An eyemovement hypothesis was suggested instead. © 1977 Psychonomic Society, Inc.

The inappropriate constancy scaling notion of geometric illusions was explored by employing a textural analogue of the Ponzo figure. Ten Ss estimated the length of a horizontal line by equating it with varying companion lines in the context of the Ponzo figure, a textural analogue, and a baseline control in which the lines appeared with no surrounding contours. The textural analogue had the added feature of imposing no contours at the ends of the horizontal lines. It was found that length estimates were significantly different between the horizontals of the Ponzo figure and control stimuli, but not between the texture figure and a context-free control. The results suggest that inappropriate constancy scaling plays a minor role at best in the perception of geometric illusions. © 1973 Psychonomic Society, Inc.

Assessed the effects of transgression on self-aggression and depression in 96 high school students. Male confederates induced 1/2 of the Ss to transgress by deceiving the E. As a measure of self-aggression all Ss gave themselves electric shocks of intensity which they personally selected. Ss were also given behavioral and subjective-report measures of depression, including the Mood Adjective Check List. Transgressing Ss showed significantly more self-aggression. Transgressing Ss also showed changes on behavioral measures of depression but not on subjective-report measures. Females showed significantly more self-aggression than males regardless of condition. Findings suggest that the altruistic behavior found to occur after transgression may be engaged in for its self-punitive aspect as well as, or rather than as, a means of social restitution, as has been previously suggested. Contrary to the suggestion of some theories of depression, self-punishment did not appear to alleviate depression. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1973 American Psychological Association.

A field experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of communicator-recipient similarity and verbal communication upon the attitudes and behavior of pregnant women. Similarity was varied on two dimensions, pregnancy and color; and these factors were crossed with three communication conditions: (1) information on the advantages of rooming-in and breast feeding; (2) information combined with personal endorsement; and (3) no-information control. Both a pilot study and the main experiment showed no important differences in the amount of attitude change or behavioral compliance between the communication conditions. There were also no significant differences in attitude change as a function of similarity in pregnancy. However, a significantly higher proportion of mothers breast fed and roomed-in when the communicator was pregnant and similar than when she was nonpregnant and dissimilar. Similarity in color had no effect upon attitudes or behavior for the topic of rooming-in. But when the communicator was dissimilar in color there was significant negative change in attitudes toward breast feeding. Similarity in color also increased breast feeding. Attitudes and actions were related; mothers with initially favorable attitudes were more likely to comply for both issues. But with only one exception, attitude change was unrelated to behavioral compliance. The results are discussed in terms of visible similarity as a source of information or cues for action. © 1972.