This study regarding the affects of computer games on adolescents was published in the Report for The Danish Media Council for Children and Young People by Simon Egenfelt-Nielsen and Jonas Heide Smith.  These researchers were an interesting combination- while both were PhD candidates, Egenfelt-Nielsen had an MS in Psychology, while Smith had a MA in Media Studies.

This study sought to prove the question that most other studies have attempted to answer before: do computer games affect adolescents negatively? It began plainly, stating two basic research questions: “what do people do to media?” And “what does media do to people?” To answer these questions, Egenfelt-Nielsen and Smith drew from the most prominent literature surrounding this issue to answer their own questions, such as Game Studies. Predictably, the study focuses on games structured around the First Person Shooter model, such as Grand Theft Auto or Mortal Kombat. Unlike other studies I have observed in the past, Egenfelt-Nielson and Smith realize that many studies and opinions are based on articles surrounding public debate rather than actual scientific studies. They even included a quote from a Danish newspaper in an article referring to marketing and children: “Contrary to what has preciously been believed, that children’s imaginations have been destroyed by video games… However, international research shows that they adopt a far more strategic way of thinking”. They also cited a 2000 study from the Danish Media Council saying that violent movies and TV were far more damaging to adolescents than “active media” (computer/video games). They also expounded several other theories surrounding active media, such as the general Social Learning theory, how children develop social skills, as well as the General Aggression Model, a theory stating that violent media creates violent behavior by “influencing the person’s internal state by cognitive, affective, and arousal variables” (Egenfelt-Nielsen, Smith, 2003). After analyzing several other studies, the study concluded  by saying that though much of the literature insists that violent media leads to violence within people, there is still too many other scholars fighting this claim to be completely conclusive, even regarding the claim that younger gamers are more susceptible to violent tendencies.

Source: resources.eun.org

Thompson, R., & Rowland, S. (2007). Research Project Proposal Do microplastic fragments present a hazard to marine life? [Scholarly project]. In Kimointernational.org. Retrieved April 3, 2016, from http://www.kimointernational.org/WebData/Files/Microplastics Project Proposal 2jm.pdf

http://www.kimointernational.org/WebData/Files/Microplastics%20Project%20Proposal%202jm.pdf

This research grant proposal is titled, “Do Microplastic Fragments Present a Hazard to Marine Life?”, this is also their research question.  The proposal is written by Richard Thompson and Steve Rowland both have relationships and ties with the University of Plymouth UK.  They would like a call for a project and funding partners in conjunction with KIMO International.  They provided a great background with information regarding the durability of plastics and how they end up in aquatic habitats.  One of their facts was that over 180 species are known to ingest the plastic from the ocean.  They believe that this toxic debris is going to infiltrate the food chain.  The type of data they collected in the past were observational data of acts, behaviors, and reports.  Besides the facts that plastics are in the animal systems, the plastics are also pollutants.  The researchers developed a program to address the issue of the size and pollutants of the plastics in the marine environments.  The results from the experiments will be analyzed in a risk assessment on the quantities and conditions that are portrayed on the marine populations.  They provided a map of the area studied, North East Atlantic water column, three different graphs and one picture of a micro plastic that was found in an animal.  They are searching for a postdoctoral researcher.  They will need them for three years to help with technical support of several analyses and invertebrate experiments.  This will all occur at the University of Plymouth since there are facilities to analyses all of the data they collect.  Funding was then described in detail, however it is in the British pound.  Lastly, they described how the greater public knows about their research because of how many times they have ben published in the common media such as the New York Times of Washington Post.  I thought that they wrote extremely well, but it was only two pages and we are required to have at least ten.  However, their use of graphs and past research was beneficial.  I need to break down the funding of my research grant proposal and add more background.

In the Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice Journal of October of 2005, J. Scott Allen Jr. and James O. Windell speak about their research through their article “An Application of Fear Appeal Messages to Enhance the Benefits of a Jail Encounter Program for Youthful Offenders”, regarding scared straight jail encounter programs effects on the delinquent youth. Allen and Windell recognize that jail encounter programs aimed at youth delinquents do not effect the recidivism rates, however they conducted psychological research which shows that the inmate-youth encounter programs incited more fear in the youth, which increases the chances of an attitude change in the youth. This research was done with one two-hour program in a county jail in a suburb of a large midwestern city. This program used fear, encouragement, and recommendations to try to help 16 and 17 year old delinquents who where court ordered to attend the program. After the 327 participants had finished the program they were given a self-report survey. This self-report survey was analyzed to find any correlation between attitude change and fear from the scared straight program. While the research didn’t look at recidivism or the youth’s attitudes on a later date, the research shows that the youth had a more negative view of jail due to the fear from the scared straight program. This is an interesting study since it is widely known among researchers that scared straight programs do not decrease recidivism.

In this article “Decrease in suicide rates after a change of policy reducing access to firearms in adolescents: A naturalistic epidemiological study”.By: Gad Lubin, Nomi Werbeloff, Demian Halperin, Mordechai Shmushkevitch, Mark Weiser. They talk about how Suicide is the third most common cause of death among children and young adolescents from the ages 10 to 24 years of age in the United states. They said the percentage of suicides caused by firearms in Europe was 38% while in the United States it’s a drastic jump from 60-70%. This article talks about how young men that have the availability to firearms are more likely to commit suicide and has been shown in the suicide rates. This study looked at the Israeli Defense Force (IDF), which is an army, based population that is mandatory for ages, 18-21 adolescents to enlist in. They found that 90% of the suicides in the IDF were committed by using of firearms, In 2003-2005 there were reported 28 suicides and 26.3 of them were with firearms. The suicides were usually when the soldiers when home on the weekends for leave and took their weapons. The IDF started to realize this and made a change in 2006 by making the soldiers leave their guns when they went on leave. Their results of this study were that by making a policy change in the guns that they were able to decrease the rate of suicide with the use of firearms by 40%. They did not find an increase in suicide by other means; they think that the use of firearms was an impulsive attempt whereas if they had to time to plan it out they wouldn’t do i.

After reading this article I think it was really cool and very interesting that they were able to look at this whole leaving the guns on base a way of stopping the suicide by a great amount. I sit and think about suicide and how people can be so selfish sometimes and like the saying is suicide is a permanent solution for a temporary problem. If you think about it the use of firearms is a rash and impulsive way of committing suicide and if there were no access to firearms there would be less deaths in the world as a whole. Suicide is a sad thing to think about and the fact that they came up with a tiny way to stop it and reduce the rates is a wonderful thing.

http://0-search.proquest.com.books.redlands.edu/sociology/docview/848856112/D7BF95840C954693PQ/21?accountid=14729

Ríos-jara, E., Galván-villa, C. M., Rodríguez-zaragoza, F. A., López-uriarte, E., & Muñoz-fernández, V. T. (2013). The tourism carrying capacity of underwater trails in isabel island national park, mexico. Environmental Management, 52(2), 335-47. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00267-013-0047-3

This journal article is titled, “The Tourism Carrying Capacity of Underwater Trails in Isabel Island National Park, Mexico,” and it was worked on by Eduardo Rı´os-Jara, Cristian Moise´s, Galva´n-Villa, Fabia´n Alejandro Rodrı´guez-Zaragoza, Ernesto Lo´pez-Uriarte, and Vicente Teo´filo Mun˜oz-Ferna´ndez.  The problem that they were dealing with was the rapid decline in biodiversity caused by human activities in the marine protected areas of Mexico.  Many SCUBA divers travel to Mexico every year to go see the underwater sights, but they can be harmful to the ecosystems if they are not careful.  Their research question was could ecotourism trails be created and a tourism carrying capacity be figured out in order to protect the biodiversity as well as still allow tourist to dive.  The data that they needed were acts, behaviors, and reports.  They needed to study multiple areas to figure out if an underwater trail could work.  The study area was Isabel Island in the mouth of the Gulf of California.  This location is known for its vast amounts of biodiversity.  They then had to map out underwater trails that would please the tourist, but would also not create a disturbance to the wildlife and habitats.  One of the ways they analyzed their data was by creating a large map.  The map laid out all of the possible diving sites, underwater trails, soft coral, stony coral, opisthobranches, echinoderms, and fishes. To figure out the carrying capacity of the water trails they used a wide variety of mathematical analysis to come up with a possible capacity that benefited the area the most.  They came up with six underwater trails that diving activities did not cause any damage.  This research project took a long time because of all the detail they had to get.  I thought this was interesting because they are working with ecotourism, which is something I would like to do in the future.  In my biodiversity class, we are creating a research proposal grant and we are dealing with ecotourism as well.  This research has showed me that through hard work, biodiversity can be saved and still enjoyed.

This study was done by Douglas A. Gentile, Paul J. Lynch, Jennifer Ruh Linder, and David A. Walsh and was published in the Journal of Adolescents. This study’s research topic was to document the patterns and video game habits of adolescents, as well as to draw a connection from violent exposure in games to violent tendencies in life, such as arguments with teachers and parents, playground fights, and performance in school. The study also chose to focus on the efficacy of mediation tactics derived from the video game habits. There were 607 8th and 9th grade students from four different schools interviewed for this process. The results of the data showed that students who were more interested in violent video games were also more often prone to violence and aggression in school, as well as lower educational performance. According to those who carried out the study, the results of the study supported the general aggression model.

This study was particularly interesting because it focused on the age group I am also interested in for my proposal. What I didn’t like about this study was that it linked the idea, that violent video games cause violence, to an already suspect age group. Though it’s true that these students may have been linked to violet video games, I think it is unfair to assume that already obstinate teenagers are made that way due to video games. 8th graders have been annoying and violent way before video games existed. All I think this study proved was that video games may be a symptom, but hardly the cause.

This study is centered around the association between child abuse victimization and food addiction. According to the research child abuse is  somehow connected to the increase in obesity risk in adulthood. The Nurses’ Health Study II is a survey that was used to measure physical and sexual child abuse histories in the year 2001 along with the food addiction in 2009.

The study found that 8% of the participants in the sample reported physical abuse during childhood while 5.3% reported sexual abuse. Additionally, the study found that 8% of the sample met the criteria for food addiction. Severe physical and sexual abuse during childhood were associated with 90% of increases in food addiction risk.

The study concluded that a history of child abuse is strongly associated with food addiction in the sample studied. While this study reports numeric results, it lacks in-depth interviews. There is a hole in the explanation and analysis of the data. Food addiction could be a symptom of childhood abuse or something completely independent. Whether food is used as a cope mechanism for the childhood abuse and or post traumatic distress, remains unknown in this particular study. This study does not pursue this information fully. What we find is that the specific sample that was dissected and studied happens to have a portion that has a food addiction and were victims to childhood abuse. This does not mean that because of one factor, the other factor will increase, necessarily.

“Abuse Victimization in Childhood or Adolescence and Risk of Food Addiction in Adult Women.” Wiley Online Library. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2016. <http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/oby.20500/full>.

Previous studies on hummingbirds have attempted to predict the preferred percentage of sucrose in solution for optimal energy uptake. These values range from 22% to 40%. This study compared the Archilochus alexanderi (black-chinned hummingbird) behavioral response to nectars based on sucrose receptors, sweetness receptors, and by a physical measure of viscosity (thickness/stickiness). The study was conducted in Santa Cruz county, Arizona, and data was collected from ten feeders each with three red, plastic flowers with small “corolla tubes” allowing hummingbird access to the nectar inside. A 20% sucrose solution (average natural flower sucrose concentration) was used as the control nectar, and test nectars were introduced periodically. Test nectar variables included varying levels of sucrose in solution, artificial sweeteners (saccharin, Equal, and aspartame) and carboxy methyl cellulose (used to increase viscosity). The study found that the black-chinned hummingbird did not consume significantly different amounts of 30% sucrose solutions than 20% but that they showed a significant preference for 40% sucrose solution (almost four times that of the control). The study also found that both artificial sweeteners and increased viscosity neither increased nor deterred visitation. In addition, the researchers observed that hummingbirds responded to decreased sucrose concentrations by increasing their sampling behavior at feeders. It was concluded that chemosensory mechanisms, as opposed to physical measures of viscosity, are used by hummingbirds when evaluating and selecting sucrose nectars. The results also support an existing model that predicts that even with added feeding costs associated with higher nectar viscosities, higher sucrose concentrations are preferred by hummingbirds.

Stromberg, M. R., and P. B. Johnsen. 1990. Hummingbird sweetness preferences: taste or viscosity? The Cooper Ornithological Society 92: 606-612.

In the article “Pathways to embodiment of HIV risk: Black men who have sex with transgender partners, Boston, Massachusetts. By: Sari Reisner, Matthew Mimiaga, Sean E. Bland, Maura A. Driscoll, Kevin Cranston, and Kenneth H. Mayer. In this article they talk about the risk of contracting HIV and how black men that have sex with transgender partners. In previous studies done about this it was said that Men who have sex with transgender persons may be at elevated risk for HIV infection due to a host of individual, community and structural level factors. In a recent meta-analysis in 29 different studies of male and female transgender populations found rates of HIV between 12% and 28% with even higher rates observed in Black transgender women (31%-56%). In their study they took 197 black men in the months between January and July in 2008 who reported having sex with a man and who reported residing in Massachusetts were recruited by a modified respondent driven sampling (RDS) method, and completed a quantitative assessment with a trained interviewer and were offered voluntary HIV counseling and testing. In order for them to be apart of the study they had to be black, and identified as a male and were 18 years of age they also had to live in Massachusetts and have reported of having oral or anal intercourse with a man in the preceding 12 month. They were given compensation for participating in the study and could earn up to $100 depending on how many things they participated in. There were many results in this study: Overall 8% of men reported having a transgender sex partner in the past 12-month. In Socioeconomics found that a significant higher portion of men who reported sex with a transgender partner reported being recently unstably housed and having public health insurance. In Sex Identity it show no man reported having sex with a transgender partner in the past 12 months self identified as gay, they reported as bisexual. In Sexual Risk Behavior more than half (56%) of man with a transgender partner had unprotected sex in last encounter. In Substance Use during sex the MSM said transgender partners use more cocaine when having sex. In HIV Prevention Services said that men with transgender partners are less likely to report being exposed to an HIV.

Reading this article I didn’t know what to expect really I just thought it was going to talk about transgender people and how they act in society. I really didn’t expect it to really talk about how black people have more of a chance of receiving HIV than an white person. I sort of took affiance to this article by using race as another way of separating society. I wan you to read this article and tell me why you think they only used black people and am it fair that they put this connotation on them and how they are likely to contract HIV.

http://0-search.proquest.com.books.redlands.edu/sociology/docview/921580036/83449286A2164D32PQ/1?accountid=14729