College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University
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Marathon Mice
Get PDFSkeletal muscle phenotypes can change based on individual training and diet. Expression of fast twitch, glycolytic muscle fibers (type IIB) fibers, can be upregulated through fast paced, explosive movements. Expression of slow twitch, oxidative muscle fibers (type I) fibers, can be upregulated by low intensity endurance training. In addition to low intensity, endurance training, studies have suggested that a high fat diet can also prompt upregulation of oxidative muscle type I fibers (Hoppeler et al. 2011). In this study we aim to see whether or not the combination of a high fat diet and endurance exercise would increase expression of more slow twitch, oxidative fiber types with longer contraction and relaxation times combined with increased fatigue resistance. We started with 21 mice broken into three groups: A control group (normal diet / no exercise), high fat group (high fat diet / no exercise), and an exercise group (high fat diet / exercise). After thirty days on the specified diet and exercise regimens, we measured twitch contraction strength, contraction time, relaxation time, and fatigue time using isolated tibialis anterior muscles. . We found that mean mean contraction time was significantly higher for mice in the exercise group when compared to the control group. Although not significant, we also found changes in mean relaxation times consistent with an increase in more slow, oxidative fiber types. We did not observe any changes in contraction strength or fatigue resistance. Future studies using more sophisticated in vitro techniques combined with muscle fiber typing may more accurately reveal the potential effects of a high fat, endurance training regimen on expressed muscle fiber-type
Shia Islam and Politics: Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon
No full textThe recently published book Shia Islam and Politics: Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon by Jon Armajani is be the subject of this event. The book argues that since Iran’s Islamic Revolution in 1979, which established a Shia Islamic government in Iran, that country’s religious and political leaders have used Shia Islam as a crucial way of expanding Iran’s objectives in the Middle East and beyond. The book analyzes Shia Islam and politics in Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon, which have among the largest proportional Shia populations in the Middle East and are vibrant centers of Shia intellectual life. At the same time, it explores Shia worldviews, governmental structures, education, and social service while considering Shia Islam and politics beyond those three countries. In this program Dr. Jason Schlude interviews Dr. Armajani about the book.
Link to the e-book version of Professor Armajani’s new book: Shia Islam and Politics: Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon. CSB/SJU username and password is required for login
The Political Personality of 2020 Democratic Vice-Presidential Nominee Kamala Harris
Get PDFThis preliminary report presents the results of an indirect assessment of the personality of U.S. senator Kamala Harris, Democratic vice-presidential nominee in the 2020 U.S. presidential election, from the conceptual perspective of personologist Theodore Millon.
Psychodiagnostically relevant data about Harris were collected from biographical sources and media reports and synthesized into a personality profile using the Millon Inventory of Diagnostic Criteria (MIDC), which yields 34 normal and maladaptive personality classifications congruent with DSM-III-R, DSM-IV, and DSM-5.
The personality profile yielded by the MIDC was analyzed in accordance with interpretive guidelines provided in the MIDC and Millon Index of Personality Styles manuals. Harris’s primary personality pattern was found to be Dominant/asserting (a measure of aggressiveness), complemented by secondary Ambitious/confident and Outgoing/congenial patterns — measures of narcissism and extraversion, respectively — and subsidiary Accommodating/cooperative features.
In summary, Harris’s personality composite can be characterized as high-dominance charismatic — charismatic by virtue of the elevated Ambitious–Outgoing amalgam.
Dominant individuals enjoy the power to direct others and to evoke obedience and respect; they are tough and unsentimental and often make effective leaders. Ambitious individuals are bold, competitive, and self-assured; they easily assume leadership roles, expect others to recognize their special qualities, and sometimes act as though entitled. Outgoing individuals are dramatic attention-getters who thrive on being the center of social events, go out of their way to be popular with others, and have confidence in their social abilities.
Harris’s major personality strengths in a political role are her confident assertiveness and personal charisma (rooted in dominant, ambitious, and outgoing qualities). Her major personality-based shortcomings (rooted in an outgoing tendency in concert with low conscientiousness) are likely to be a diminished capacity for sustained focus, insufficient attention to detail, and occasional lapses in emotional restraint.
Note: An updated (Nov. 2024), more accurate, personality profile is available at https://digitalcommons.csbsju.edu/psychology_pubs/146
Infected kin: orphan care and AIDS in Lesotho
No full textIn our recently published book, Infected Kin, we argue that AIDS is fundamentally a kinship disease, examining the ways it transcends infected individuals and seeps into kin relations and networks of care. While much AIDS scholarship has turned away from the difficult daily realities of those affected by the disease, our book uses both ethnographic scholarship and creative nonfiction to bring to life the joys and struggles of the Basotho people at the heart of the AIDS pandemic. This talk discusses the research at the heart of this book, and the process of collaboration between an anthropologist and a creative nonfiction writer
Book Review: The Warrior and the Pacifist: Competing Motifs in Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
Get PDFThe subject matter of this book is both relevant and urgent. Several contributing authors describe recent incidents of religiously motivated violence, and since its publication in May 2018 such violence has not abated. Notable incidents are the attacks on synagogues in the United States (October 2018 and April 2019), mosques in New Zealand (March 2019) and churches in Sri Lanka (April 2019). Such atrocious events demonstrate the continuing need for academic reflection on the relation between religion and violence. The Warrior and the Pacifist offers readers ample material to deepen their understanding
The Impact of Nutrition Education on Serving Size Comprehension in College-Age Female Students
Get PDFBackground: Nutrition Facts labels are a low-cost informational tool with the potential for encouraging healthful purchasing and eating habits. The use of nutrition labels on packaged foods can promote healthier dietary choices; however, systematic reviews show that consumers may not frequently use nutrition labels to make food choices and do not effectively measure an appropriate serving size, leading to nutrient over-/underconsumption. Objective: The goal of this study was to investigate how female college students use the Nutrition Facts label and measurement tools to estimate one recommended serving size, and if varying nutrition education tools improve serving size accuracy in this population. Methods: Participants (females, age 18-24, n=32) completed a serving size assessment and survey regarding Nutrition Facts label use at baseline (pre-) and post-intervention. After baseline testing, participants were randomly assigned to an educational treatment group (social media, handout, or video) or control group for one week before returning for post-intervention data collection. Results: The overall accuracy of serving size estimation among most foods in the assessment did not improve by time or treatment options; Cheerios was the exception and improved in accuracy over time (p=0.017). During baseline assessment, the analysis revealed that for five of the eight foods assessed, utilization of the packaging did not improve the accuracy of the portioned serving size. Participants in treatment groups Strongly Agreed (41%) and Agreed (41%) that their assigned educational material was beneficial to their ability to accurately estimate a serving size. Of the participants (n=14) who reported “Strongly Agree” when assessing how beneficial the assigned education material was for estimating serving size accuracy, the majority of these responses (36%) were from the handout treatment group. Conclusion: Comprehension of serving sizes was influenced by the clarity of the nutrition label, unit of measurement, and the interest of the individual to use serving sizes. There remains a need for further investigation on the most effective nutrition education method(s) for improvement of serving size accuracy in specific populations