The Effects of Music Preference and Exercise Intensity on Exercise Enjoyment and Perceived Exertion

In spite of the well-known physical and psychological benefits of exercise roughly 50% of people who start an exercise program will have dropped out within six months. Therefore, it is important to examine the determinants of exercise adherence. Past research has shown that enjoyment is an essential factor in exercise adherence. Additionally, music has been shown to influence exercise enjoyment. The music and enjoyment literature has generally included most preferred and no music conditions, yet no one has considered a least preferred music condition. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the effects of music preference and exercise intensity on exercise enjoyment and perceived exertion. Participants (N=200) began by completing a music preference questionnaire. Each participant was randomly assigned to one of three music preference conditions (most preferred, least preferred, or no music). Next, they were asked to walk/run on a treadmill at one of three randomly assigned exercise intensities (low, moderate, or high) for 20 min. Following the exercise, participants completed an exercise enjoyment scale and a music satisfaction scale. Participants completed a measure of attentional focus (AFQ) as a trait measure before the exercise and as a state measure following the exercise. Perceived exertion was measured using Borg\u27s RPE scale at the 10 and 20- min mark. A 3 (Music Condition) X 3 (Exercise Intensity) ANCOVA was conducted on enjoyment levels. There were no significant main effects and no significant interactions for music or intensity. A 3 (Music Condition) X 3 (Exercise Intensity) ANCOVA conducted on RPE scores revealed a significant main effect for intensity, F(2, 166) = 99.60, p \u3c.01, r| = .55. There was no main effect for the music conditions and no significant interaction. A one-way ANOVA conducted on the music satisfaction questionnaire was significant, F(l, 130) =67.56, p \u3c.00, r| = .34, with those in the most preferred music condition reporting higher levels of satisfaction with music choice than those in the least preferred music condition. An exploratory analysis, a 3 (Music) X 3 (Intensity) ANOVA conducted on enjoyment using participants that had paid attention to the music revealed a significant main effect for music, F(l,86) = 4.18, p = .044, accounting for roughly 5% of the variance in exercise enjoyment. Results of the study indicated that music preference does matter, as long as one pays attention to the music. If one pays attention to the music being played during exercise, then that person will enjoy that exercise significantly more than if she is listening to music she likes compared to music she does not like. Music preference does not appear to affect one\u27s perceived effort during exercise. Results also revealed that the higher intensity at which a person is exercising, the more effort she will feel like she has to put forth. The results of the current study question the financial worth of health exercise facilities making music individualized for their patrons. Individualized music stations will be beneficial only to those patrons who pay attention to the music

A participatory physical and psychosocial intervention for balancing the demands and resources among industrial workers (PIPPI): study protocol of a cluster-randomized controlled trial

Background: Need for recovery and work ability are strongly associated with high employee turnover, well-being and sickness absence. However, scientific knowledge on effective interventions to improve work ability and decrease need for recovery is scarce. Thus, the present study aims to describe the background, design and protocol of a cluster randomized controlled trial evaluating the effectiveness of an intervention to reduce need for recovery and improve work ability among industrial workers. Methods/Design: A two-year cluster randomized controlled design will be utilized, in which controls will also receive the intervention in year two. More than 400 workers from three companies in Denmark will be aimed to be cluster randomized into intervention and control groups with at least 200 workers (at least 9 work teams) in each group. An organizational resources audit and subsequent action planning workshop will be carried out to map the existing resources and act upon initiatives not functioning as intended. Workshops will be conducted to train leaders and health and safety representatives in supporting and facilitating the intervention activities. Group and individual level participatory visual mapping sessions will be carried out allowing team members to discuss current physical and psychosocial work demands and resources, and develop action plans to minimize strain and if possible, optimize the resources. At all levels, the intervention will be integrated into the existing organization of work schedules. An extensive process and effect evaluation on need for recovery and work ability will be carried out via questionnaires, observations, interviews and organizational data assessed at several time points throughout the intervention period. Discussion: This study primarily aims to develop, implement and evaluate an intervention based on the abovementioned features which may improve the work environment, available resources and health of industrial workers, and hence their need for recovery and work ability

Reconceptualizing Job Control in Participatory Interventions – Collective Sensemaking as a Missing Link

Participatory organizational-level interventions where employees are invited to voice suggestions for improving the work environment have been claimed to increase job control. However, empirical studies suggest that the relationship is conditional, and the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. To further our understanding, we highlight various weaknesses in current individuallevel conceptualizations of job control and argue that employees’ collective sensemaking relating to their job control is an important, yet overlooked factor. To demonstrate the principles of this sensemaking and how it shapes the participants’ engagement in the intervention, we analyze interactional data from an intervention with blue-collar employees. Based on this analysis, we discuss the implications of adopting a sensemaking perspective for research and practice

Genotype and environment interaction study shows fungal diseases and heat stress are detrimental to spring wheat production in Sweden

Spring wheat is an economically important crop for Scandinavia and its cultivation is likely to be affected by climate change. The current study focused on wheat yield in recent years, during which climate change-related yield fluctuations have been more pronounced than previously observed. Here, effects of the environment, together with the genotype and fungicide treatment was evaluated. Spring wheat multi-location trials conducted at five locations between 2016 and 2020 were used to understand effects of the climate and fungicides on wheat yield. The results showed that the environment has a strong effect on grain yield, followed by the genotype effect. Moreover, temperature has a stronger (negative) impact than rainfall on grain yield and crop growing duration. Despite a low rainfall in the South compared to the North, the southern production region (PR) 2 had the highest yield performance, indicating the optimal environment for spring wheat production. The fungicide treatment effect was significant in 2016, 2017 and 2020. Overall, yield reduction due to fungal diseases ranged from 0.98 (2018) to 13.3% (2017) and this reduction was higher with a higher yield. Overall yield reduction due to fungal diseases was greater in the South (8.9%) than the North zone (5.3%). The genotypes with higher tolerance to diseases included G4 (KWS Alderon), G14 (WPB 09SW025-11), and G23 (SW 11360) in 2016; G24 (SW 11360), G25 (Millie), and G19 (SEC 526-07-2) in 2017; and G19 (WPB 13SW976-01), G12 (Levels), and G18 (SW 141011) in 2020. The combined best performing genotypes for disease tolerance and stable and higher yield in different locations were KWS Alderon, SEC 526-07-2, and WPB 13SW976-01 with fungicide treatment and WPB Avonmore, SEC 526-07-2, SW 131323 without fungicide treatment. We conclude that the best performing genotypes could be recommended for Scandinavian climatic conditions with or without fungicide application and that developing heat-tolerant varieties for Scandinavian countries should be prioritized

Persistence of Innate Immune Pathways in Late Stage Human Bacterial and Fungal Keratitis: Results from a Comparative Transcriptome Analysis

Microbial keratitis (MK) is a major cause of blindness worldwide. Despite adequate antimicrobial treatment, tissue damage can ensue. We compared the human corneal transcriptional profile in late stage MK to normal corneal tissue to identify pathways involved in pathogenesis. Total RNA from MK tissue and normal cadaver corneas was used to determine transcriptome profiles with Illumina HumanHT-12 v4 beadchips. We performed differential expression and network analysis of genes in bacterial keratitis (BK) and fungal keratitis (FK) compared with control (C) samples. Results were validated by RTqPCR for 45 genes in an independent series of 183 MK patients. For the microarray transcriptome analysis, 27 samples were used: 12 controls, 7 BK culture positive for Streptococcus pneumoniae (n = 6), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (n = 1), and 8 FK, culture positive for Fusarium sp. (n = 5), Aspergillus sp. (n = 2), or Lasiodiplodia sp. (n = 1). There were 185 unique differentially expressed genes in BK, 50 in FK, and 339 common to both [i.e., genes with fold-change (FC) < −4 or ≥4 and false discovery rate (FDR) adjusted P < 0.05]. MMP9 had the highest FC in BK (91 FC, adj p = 3.64 E-12) and FK (FC 64, adj. p = 6.10 E-11), along with other MMPs (MMP1, MMP7, MMP10, MMP12), pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL1B, TNF), and PRRs (TLR2, TLR4). HIF1A and its induced genes were upregulated uniquely in BK. Immune/defense response and extracellular matrix terms were the most enriched Gene Ontology terms in both BK and FK. In the network analysis, chemokines were prominent for FK, and actin filament reorganization for BK. Microarray and RTqPCR results were highly correlated for the same samples tested with both assays, and with the larger RTqPCR series. In conclusion, we found a great deal of overlap in the gene expression profile of late stage BK and FK, however genes unique to fungal infection highlighted a corneal epithelial wound healing response and for bacterial infection the prominence of HIF1A-induced genes. These sets of genes may provide new targets for future research into therapeutic agents

Home Literacy Environments of Young Children With Down Syndrome Findings From a Web-Based Survey

Early home literacy experiences, including parent-child book reading, account for a significant amount of children\u27s later reading achievement. Yet there is a very limited research base about the home literacy environments and experiences of children with cognitive disabilities. The purpose of this study is to describe findings from a Web-based survey of home literacy environments of young children with Down syndrome. Respondents (n = 107) were mostly mothers; a majority were well educated. Findings suggest that respondents gave literacy a higher priority than reported in prior research on children with disabilities. More than 70% of respondents had 50 or more children\u27s books and also had literacy materials including flash cards, magnetic letters, and educational videos or computer games. Most parents read to their children and used these literacy materials 10 to 30 min per day. Respondents reported that their children had reached many important early literacy milestones, and they also described having relatively ambitious lifelong literacy goals for their children. Important implications for research and practice are discussed

Studies from a social interaction perspective

In recent years, a growing number of workplaces have implemented activities where employees are invited to voice problems and suggest initiatives directly to their managers in a group setting. Such direct group-based voice activities (DGVAs) are typically inspired by human resource management and production improvement techniques, and they are claimed to have a number of positive effects for both the organizations which host these activities and for their employees. However, others have questioned whether they provide employees with a reasonable opportunity to influence their working conditions, or if they instead mostly assign new responsibilities to the employees and promote overcommitted employee identities. This ambivalence regarding the activities is reflected in how the circumstances regarding voice in the workplace are sometimes described as messy and paradoxical. The aim of this dissertation is to understand an important aspect of how employees can influence their workplace through DGVAs, specifically how the participants construct change initiatives which can improve the employees’ working conditions. To this end, the dissertation presents an interaction-focused perspective on voice based on ethnomethodological conversation analysis, a perspective which addresses various shortcomings of the dominant research perspectives on voice. For example, substantial attention has been paid in the voice literature to how individual employees make choices about what messages to convey through voice and whom to address, especially in studies which have applied a psychological lens. However, in DGVAs, voicing a problem or a suggestion to the other participants is only the first step of a longer process towards potential consensus about which initiatives to implement, and the social and interactional mechanisms which underlie this process are not well understood