Activity In Modern Society Research Articles

A Biomechanical Study on the Effects of Hatha Yoga Basic Poses on Muscle Activities

Since people have been more concerned about health and well-being, Yoga has become one of the most popular activities in modern society. However, there are only a few studies which focus on effects of yoga from a biomechanical perspective. The objective of this study is to examine how yoga poses affect muscle activities. Four body muscles (biceps brachii, triceps brachii, quadriceps femoris, and gastrocnemius), and five of the most common, basic Yoga postures (‘Tree pose’, ‘Eagle pose’, ‘Extended side-angle stretch pose’, ‘Wide stance forward bend pose’, and ‘Dancer pose’) were included to identify the effects of Yoga postures on each muscle. Electromyography (EMG) was used to record the muscle activity. In this study, it was found that there was no significant effect of Yoga postures on muscle activity.

Television viewing time independently predicts all-cause and cardiovascular mortality: the EPIC Norfolk Study

Television viewing (TV), a highly prevalent behaviour, is associated with higher cardiovascular risk independently of physical activity. The relationship with mortality, however, is relatively unknown. We examined the prospective relationship between TV time and all-cause, cardiovascular and cancer mortality in a population-based cohort [The European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), Norfolk] of 13 197 men and women {age [SD (standard deviation)]: 61.5 ± 9.0 years}. Participants were free from stroke, myocardial infarction and cancer at baseline in 1998-2000 and were followed up for death ascertainment until 2009 (9.5 ± 1.6 years). TV time, total physical activity energy expenditure (PAEE), education level, smoking status, alcohol consumption, anti-hypertensive and lipid-lowering medication use, participant and family history of disease and total energy intake were self-reported; height and weight were measured by standardized procedures. Hazard ratios (HRs) [95% confidence interval (CI)] for mortality were estimated per 1-h/day increase in TV. Each 1-h/day increase in TV time was associated with increased hazard of all-cause (HR = 1.04, 95% CI = 1.01-1.09; 1270 deaths) and cardiovascular (HR = 1.07, 95% CI = 1.01-1.15; 373 deaths), but not cancer mortality (HR = 1.04, 95% CI = 0.98-1.10; 570 deaths). This was independent of gender, age, education, smoking, alcohol, medication, diabetes history, family history of cardiovascular disease and cancer, body mass index (BMI) and PAEE. They were similar when stratified by gender, age, education, BMI and PAEE. The population-attributable fraction for all-cause mortality comparing the highest TV tertile (>3.6 h/day) with the lowest (<2.5 h/day) was 5.4%. These findings suggest that public health recommendations should consider advising a reduction in TV time, a predominant leisure activity in modern society, in addition to advocating physical activity.

Some Philosophical Reflections on the Development History of Daqing Oilfield

Engineering is a kind of purposeful human activity, and the firm is the main organizational form in carrying out economic and engineering activities in modern society. From the perspective of engineering philosophy, the author analyzes the process of Daqing Oilfield's development. Based on the social responsibility theory of the firm and in consideration of the double attributes of oil products, the firm's responsibility to the society is analyzed. Drawing the insight from engineering philosophy, management science, ethics and innovation theory, the author discusses such issues as Daqing's management experience, the achievements of innovation, the strategic decision-making and the establishment of the goal of buliding "An Oilfield with A Hundred Years’ Old" .

Scenarios of biodiversity loss in southern Africa in the 21st century

The rich biodiversity of southern Africa has to date been relatively unimpacted by the activities of modern society, but to what degree will this situation persist into the 21st century? We use a leading global environmental assessment model (IMAGE) to explore future land use and climate change in southern Africa under the scenarios developed by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. We assess the impacts on terrestrial biodiversity using the Biodiversity Intactness Index, which gives the average change in population size relative to the pre-modern state, across all terrestrial species of plants and vertebrates. Over the coming century, we project absolute declines in the average population sizes of these taxa that are two to three times greater than the reductions that have occurred since circa 1700. Our results highlight the immense challenges faced by efforts to reduce rates of biodiversity loss in southern Africa, even under relatively optimistic scenarios. These results stress the urgent need for better aligning biodiversity conservation and development priorities in the region. Furthermore, we suggest that context-sensitive conservation targets that account for the development imperatives in different parts of the region are needed.

Trafficking in Facts

In contemporary social work writing has been given limited attention. Documents tend to be regarded as a medium for the transmission of information about something else. In the social sciences there has been greater recognition of the pervasiveness of texts and the functions they perform. Texts are active in influencing and structuring the world and this applies as much to social work as to everyday activities in modern society. Insights from ethnomethodology and literary criticism can help us to explore writing practices in social work, and these are used here in relation to reports, case records and reflective practice. They show how these work to persuade of their claims to truth and, in doing so, how they categorize practitioners and service users. By focusing on texts we further our understanding of social work's communicative practices and professional culture.

Teaching numeracy

Understanding number concepts and basic mathematical skills is important for many everyday activities in modern societies. Little is understood about the numeracy abilities of people with Down syndrome. At present, it appears that numeracy is an area of relative difficulty and that progress with more complex mathematical understanding is slow. However, some teaching approaches that seek to utilise certain relative strengths to communicate number concepts seem to be useful in practice. Further research is needed to define the precise difficulties experienced by children with Down syndrome and to evaluate teaching strategies.

Physical activity in modern society: is there also an environmental benefit?

Higgins (2005) has shown that increased human physical activity in the USA could lead to both improvements in physical health and reductions in oil consumption by motor vehicles, thereby also reducing carbon emissions. It is an intriguing idea and, as the health costs of obesity are so high, the potential health and environmental savings could be vast. These questions deserve wider attention, as all the trends suggest that consumption of both fossil fuels and food calories (combined with more sedentary lifestyles) will continue to rise in the coming years.

An Australian Perspective On Quality Outcomes of Inclusive Employment

Work is an important activity in modern society. Most people spend a considerable part of their daily lives in working or training and preparing for work. Modern societies often put considerable resources into creating jobs and educating and training their citizens for paid employment. Changing conceptualizations about disability, the influence of normalization principles, advocacy, civil rights, international and national legislative initiatives, and most recently the self-determination movement have all recognized the important role of employment in the lives of people with disabilities. These have contributed significantly to the movement towards integrated, supported employment for this population. This paper will present the findings of two Australian studies that have examined the roles that employment play in the lives of people with disabilities. Implications for future research and policy directions will be indicated.

Obesity as a medical problem.

Obesity is now so common within the world's population that it is beginning to replace undernutrition and infectious diseases as the most significant contributor to ill health. In particular, obesity is associated with diabetes mellitus, coronary heart disease, certain forms of cancer, and sleep-breathing disorders. Obesity is defined by a body-mass index (weight divided by square of the height) of 30 kg m(-2) or greater, but this does not take into account the morbidity and mortality associated with more modest degrees of overweight, nor the detrimental effect of intra-abdominal fat. The global epidemic of obesity results from a combination of genetic susceptibility, increased availability of high-energy foods and decreased requirement for physical activity in modern society. Obesity should no longer be regarded simply as a cosmetic problem affecting certain individuals, but an epidemic that threatens global well being.

J. Krishnamurti and the Practice of Management

J Krishnamurti is widely regarded as one of the leading thinkers of our time. He attracted world-wide attention in the 1920s when he declined to accept the global leadership of the theosophical movement conferred on him by the leading lights of that movement at the time. Since then, until his death in 1984, he expounded through lectures and books his rather unorthodox views on religion and spirituality. While his views are generally unconventional, his core message, as developed in the following sections, seems to have strong roots in individual and social psychology. And it might, for that reason, be of some relevance to the practice of management. As Peter Drucker points out management has become a crucial activity in modern society. And quality of management has emerged as a critical factor in the success of families, businesses, non-profit organisations, communities and nations. This paper attempts to explore the relevance of Krishnamurti's message to the practice of management. The paper is exploratory rather than prescriptive in nature and its purpose is mainly to stimulate a debate on the subject rather than to offer any firm conclusions.

Future‐oriented tourism policy — Synthesis of the 49th AIEST Congress

Unavoidable politicisation of tourism Conservatives usually regret the fact that more and more areas of our daily lives are subject to political interference. It would be easy to share their concern in the field of tourism, which is one of the few remaining activities in modern society in which individual freedom can still be exercised.

Family Crisis and Family Policy

Family activities in modern society differ from labour in the market sector. Illich notices family activities are non-payment labour and Boulding notices family activities are characterized by ‘gift’ instead of exchange. These characters have been maintained by exclusin of utilitarian motivation and supply of emotional and moral motivation, instead market sector have been maitained by supply of utilitarian motivation and exclution of emotional and moral motivation. This division of motivational mechanism has supported the production and reproduction of the capitalist society. The recent family situation in advanced capitalist society is shaking this division system. The character of emotional motivation is changing moral motivation become weeker and utilitarian motivation is invasing family activities. Consequently, the case that sufficient activities of family isn't supplied and that family activities execute for the market sector increase in number. The government of capitalist states have noticed this motivational crisis in the family sector, and have intervened the family activities, but not successfully. I try to examine this process, examplifing the family policy in U. S. A..

The Targets of Athletic Activities

In this paper, the author tries to study the functions of athletic activities in modern societies in order to find solutions for the problems inherent in these activities. First, the targets of athletic activities are classified. Then, the functions of these activities are considered theoretically. All athletic activities have targets that can be directly aimed at by the athletes during the activities. There are many kinds of targets, but all can be classified into seven groups:1) defended mobile targets, 2) defended immobile targets, 3) defended skill targets, 4) undefended mobile targets, 5) undefended immobile targets, 6) undefended skill targets, 7) undefended record targets. The first three types of these targets are defended, and the latter four types are undefended. All these targets are clearly visible to the athletes. This “visibility” is the most important trait of these targets when one considers the essence and ends of athletic activities in comparison with the ends of modern labour, in order to examine the functions of athletic activities in modern societies. The ends or targets of modern labour are unclear and cannot be seen directly by the workers' eyes. This “invisibility” has gradually deepened since the Industrial Revolution. From this contrast of the “visibility” of the targets of athletes to the “invisibility” of the ends of modern labourers, therefore, a new hypothesis can be proposed that athletic activities have developed as a counter-culture against modern labour, in order that people might participate in actions aiming at targets that are more clearly seen by the participants than are the ends or targets of modern labour.

The influence of physical fitness training as a rehabilitation tool

Many people have reported the benefits derived from physical exercise. Various activities of modern society reflect, in general, an increased interest in health and physical fitness. The construct validity of a "sound body - sound mind" philosophy, although not yet established, has been empirically supported within the nondisabled population. At first glance, a group of rehabilitation-related studies seem to further support such a theoretical construct, with regard to the physically, psychologically and/or emotionally impaired. A two-fold, programmatic and methodological, analysis of these 10 articles, which were (1) published between 1973 and 1978 and (2) were empirical studies of the effects of physical fitness training on disabled clients, uncovered a fascinating confounding of programmatic and methodological variables. Further empirical investigation of the issue utilizing (1) strong design methodology and (2) brief-high intensity training principles, is essential before any specific conclusions can be made, concerning the influence of physical fitness training upon rehabilitation clients. On the basis of the aforementioned 10 articles, however, exercise training appears potentially useful as a rehabilitation program tool.

Limitations to the Application of Social Science Implied in Recent Social Trends

dertakings. The universities have also increased their grants to research and have improved their research facilities rapidly. The Yale Institute of Human Relations, established in i9z6, now has some seven and a half millions of dollars at its disposal for social science research and a constantly growing organization. The University of Chicago has constructed a $z,ooo,ooo social science research building, for the coordination and housing of its various types of research in the social sciences and for providing the necessary equipment. Other universities are moving in the same direction. One of the marked features of social science research activities everywhere is the growth of co6rdinating councils for the encouragement of co6peration in research planning and execution. Along with the rapid development of research enterprise has, quite naturally, arisen the need of more adequate publication facilities. We have already noted the rapid increase in periodical literature since I890. University presses have also been established in connection with many of the larger universities which take care of some of the research output, and other demands for the publication of research findings are met by private enterprise and by grants from foundations. On the whole, it may be said that research is one of the major interests and activities of modern society in the United States and that the publication of research findings is a chief public and private concern. The absorption of the results of research in university and public school text-book making and teaching has kept pace quite successfully with the work of the researchers. The chief lag in the application of the findings of the researchers has been in the fields of legislation and public administration.