Popular US Research Articles

Evaluating the Energy Efficiency of Popular US Smartphone Health Care Apps: Comparative Analysis Study Toward Sustainable Health and Nutrition Apps Practices.

The emergence of smartphones has sparked a transformation across multiple fields, with health care being one of the most notable due to the advent of mobile health (mHealth) apps. As mHealth apps have gained popularity, there is a need to understand their energy consumption patterns as an integral part of the evolving landscape of health care technologies. This study aims to identify the key contributors to elevated energy consumption in mHealth apps and suggest methods for their optimization, addressing a significant void in our comprehension of the energy dynamics at play within mHealth apps. Through quantitative comparative analysis of 10 prominent mHealth apps available on Android platforms within the United States, this study examined factors contributing to high energy consumption. The analysis included descriptive statistics, comparative analysis using ANOVA, and regression analysis to examine how certain factors impact energy use and consumption. Observed energy use variances in mHealth apps stemmed from user interactions, features, and underlying technology. Descriptive analysis revealed variability in app energy consumption (150-310 milliwatt-hours), highlighting the influence of user interaction and app complexity. ANOVA verified these findings, indicating the critical role of engagement and functionality. Regression modeling (energy consumption = β₀ + β₁ × notification frequency + β₂ × GPS use + β₃ × app complexity + ε), with statistically significant P values (notification frequency with a P value of .01, GPS use with a P value of .05, and app complexity with a P value of .03), further quantified these bases' effects on energy use. The observed differences in the energy consumption of dietary apps reaffirm the need for a multidisciplinary approach to bring together app developers, end users, and health care experts to foster improved energy conservation practice while achieving a balance between sustainable practice and user experience. More research is needed to better understand how to scale-up consumer engagement to achieve sustainable development goal 12 on responsible consumption and production.

Vicarious punishment of moral violations in naturalistic drama narratives predicts cortical synchronization

Punishment of moral norm violators is instrumental for human cooperation. Yet, social and affective neuroscience research has primarily focused on second- and third-party norm enforcement, neglecting the neural architecture underlying observed (vicarious) punishment of moral wrongdoers. We used naturalistic television drama as a sampling space for observing outcomes of morally-relevant behaviors to assess how individuals cognitively process dynamically evolving moral actions and their consequences. Drawing on Affective Disposition Theory, we derived hypotheses linking character morality with viewers’ neural processing of characters’ rewards and punishments. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine neural responses of 28 female participants while free-viewing 15 short story summary video clips of episodes from a popular US television soap opera. Each summary included a complete narrative structure, fully crossing main character behaviors (moral/immoral) and the consequences (reward/punishment) characters faced for their actions. Narrative engagement was examined via intersubject correlation and representational similarity analysis. Highest cortical synchronization in 9 specifically selected regions previously implicated in processing moral information was observed when characters who act immorally are punished for their actions with participants’ empathy as an important moderator. The results advance our understanding of the moral brain and the role of normative considerations and character outcomes in viewers’ engagement with popular narratives.

Onomatopoeia, Sound Effects and Humour in Japanese Anime and US Animation Films and Television

Onomatopoeia are words signifying sounds by phonetically imitating or suggesting them. Research into the use of onomatopoeia in literature, language and comics has been rich and varied while the study of the use of onomatopoeia in film, television and their functions has so far been limited. This article focuses on two aspects: (a) the relationship between onomatopoeia and sound effects in US animation and Japanese anime; and (b) audiovisual humour caused by the use of onomatopoeia and sound effects in US animation and Japanese anime. The author introduces classifications and usage patterns of onomatopoeia in English and Japanese, and analyses the different types of onomatopoeia and sound effects in recent popular US animation films and TV, and in Japanese anime and their contributions to creating humour by applying humour theory (incongruity theory in particular). This study combines film analysis, soundtrack analysis, linguistic analysis and theories of humour, and will be of interest to students and scholars of film, sound, linguistics, psychology and other subjects interested in the study of onomatopoeia and audiovisual humour.

Machine Learning Approaches for Predicting Fatty Acid Classes in Popular US Snacks Using NHANES Data.

In the US, people frequently snack between meals, consuming calorie-dense foods including baked goods (cakes), sweets, and desserts (ice cream) high in lipids, salt, and sugar. Monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) and polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) are reasonably healthy; however, excessive consumption of food high in saturated fatty acid (SFA) has been related to an elevated risk of cardiovascular diseases. The National Health and Nutrition Survey (NHANES) uses a 24 h recall to collect information on people's food habits in the US. The complexity of the NHANES data necessitates using machine learning (ML) methods, a branch of data science that uses algorithms to collect large, unstructured, and structured data sets and identify correlations between the data variables. This study focused on determining the ability of ML regression models including artificial neural networks (ANNs), decision trees (DTs), k-nearest neighbors (KNNs), and support vector machines (SVMs) to assess the variability in total fat content concerning the classes (SFA, MUFA, and PUFA) of US-consumed snacks between 2017 and 2018. KNNs and DTs predicted SFA, MUFA, and PUFA with mean squared error (MSE) of 0.707, 0.489, 0.612, and 1.172, 0.846, 0.738, respectively. SVMs failed to predict the fatty acids accurately; however, ANNs performed satisfactorily. Using ensemble methods, DTs (10.635, 5.120, 7.075) showed higher error values for MSE than linear regression (LiR) (9.086, 3.698, 5.820) for SFA, MUFA, and PUFA prediction, respectively. R2 score ranged between -0.541 to 0.983 and 0.390 to 0.751 for models one and two, respectively. Extreme gradient boost (XGR), Light gradient boost (LightGBM), and random forest (RF) performed better than LiR, with RF having the lowest score for MSE in predicting all the fatty acid classes.

Differences in ultrasound elevational beam width (slice thickness) between popular handheld devices

BackgroundHandheld ultrasound devices are increasingly used by medical professionals for bedside ultrasound-guided interventions. Especially for vascular access procedures, the width of the imaging plane, known as the slice thickness or elevational beam width is a prominent source for misinterpretation. A wide slice thickness can lead to the interpretation that 2 objects (i.e. needle and vessel) are on the same plane while in fact they are not and thereby negatively influencing the performance of in-plane ultrasound-guided interventions. Therefore, the beam profiles of three popular handheld US devices are tested and compared to a conventional US device. MethodsThe GE VScan, Philips Lumify and Butterfly IQ ​+ ​are tested using a slice phantom to determine the slice thickness. For comparison, a Philips Affiniti machine was investigated. Both linear and curved array settings were analyzed. In a slice phantom, a diffuse scattering plane at an angle of exactly 45° is scanned. For each imaging depth, the vertical height of the imaged rectangle corresponds to the slice thickness at that depth. Main resultsFor the linear array transducers, the focus depth ranges from 1.5 to 3.5 cm. At the focus depth, all transducers have a reasonable slice thickness of approximately 1 mm. More superficially, the slice thickness varies between 1 and 4 mm. The curved array probes have larger focus depths, ranging from 2.7 to 7.3 cm. The slice thickness at focus depth varies between 1.4 and 3.8 mm, but at 2 cm depth is even more than 5 mm. ConclusionsThe slice thickness of handheld ultrasound transducers varies between the different devices, and can be suboptimal for superficial in-plane ultrasound-guided interventions. The larger slice thickness of the curved array settings may complicate in-plane guidance. Handheld ultrasound users should be aware of the beam characteristics of their devices to optimize guidance for interventions.

New Narratives of Madness in Popular US Television

Abstract This article examines a 2010s wave of US primetime television shows centered around the experiences of mad or distressed characters. Drawing upon research in critical disability and mad studies, the article identifies positive trends in US media surrounding mental disability, distress, and medication. Although the portrayals of madness in the shows discussed are complex and not without issue, this article argues that these series make space for alternative narratives of madness in popular culture that do not rely wholly on stereotypes of crime, genius, or violence.

Tobacco Nitrate and Free Radical Levels in the Mainstream Smoke of US Cigarette Brands.

Tobacco nitrate levels have been known to impact the levels of toxicants such as polyaromatic hydrocarbons and tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNAs) produced during smoking. Recent work in our group showed that the intrinsic nitrate levels in individual tobacco varieties also have a large influence on the formation of gas-phase (GP) free radicals in the mainstream smoke of cigarettes produced with a single tobacco variety. As tobacco nitrate content is a potential target for future regulatory policies, we investigated whether the levels of GP free radicals in the smoke from commercially available cigarettes is also dependent on the nitrate content in the corresponding tobacco blends. GP and particulate-phase (PP) free radical yields in mainstream smoke produced from 25 popular US cigarette brands were measured by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. For each brand, we also measured levels of the TSNAs NNN (N'-nitrosonornicotine) and NNK (4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone) via HPLC-MS and the nicotine content via GC-FID. Our results show that the intrinsic nitrate levels varied >15-fold and GP radicals varied 4-fold among the 25 brands tested. The GP radicals were correlated with intrinsic nitrate levels (r = 0.87, p < 0.001). NNK and NNN levels varied >8-fold and 12-fold, respectively. We found that NNK was moderately correlated to nitrate content (r = 0.42, p = 0.03) while the NNN was strongly correlated to the nitrate content (r = 0.65, p < 0.001). Nicotine levels varied the least (<3-fold) but showed a moderate negative correlation to nitrate content (r = -0.47, p = 0.02). No statistically significant correlation was observed between nicotine and TSNA levels in mainstream smoke. Overall, this demonstrates that the nitrate content of tobacco blends used in US cigarette brands impacts toxicant output in the mainstream smoke, although other proprietary variables (total ventilation, additives, filter type, etc.) may also modulate these results.

Can Fast Food Eating Patterns Be Healthy? An Optimization-Based Analysis of Popular US Fast-Food Chains

Can Fast Food Eating Patterns Be Healthy? An Optimization-Based Analysis of Popular US Fast-Food Chains

Home in Vida and Gentefied

The process of gente-fication, or Latinx-led urban revitalization in workingclass barrios, has recently gained widespread attention and is at the heart of the popular US television series Vida (2018–20) and Gentefied (2020–22). Both programs serve as windows into contemporary Latinx struggles over belonging, “home,” and identity against the backdrop of multicultural neoliberalism and multicultural whiteness in the United States. We examine how change in the fictional Latinx neighborhoods in Vida and Gentefied highlights the precarity of home for Latinxs in the United States, even as Latinx representation has achieved new heights across social life. Vida and Gentefied specifically depict home as threatened by processes of gentrification and gente-fication. Even though the home is in distress, it continues to offer Latinx protagonists safety, love, and belonging through a heterogeneous network of individuals, experiences, and memories. In their attempt to stabilize home, Latinx protagonists find autonomy and a home that heals, but in contrasting the popular conceptualization of gente-fication as a gentler, more culturally sensitive form of gentrification emphasizing racial and economic uplift for barrio residents, we argue that Vida and Gentefied utilize gente-fication as a narrative tool that rests Latinx belonging on tenets of assimilation.

GENDER VARIABLE IN REALIZATION OF DIRECTIVE SPEECH ACTS

This paper deals with the gender variable in realization of directive speech acts, such as requests, suggestions, advice etc. The sample for this small-scale research consists of 328 instances of directive speech acts which are excerpted from the transcripts of selected dialogues of the popular US sitcom Friends and five American feature-length films. Directive speech acts are analyzed using Blum-Kulka et al’s classification (1989) and divided into three broad categories – direct, conventionally indirect, and non-conventionally indirect with many subcategories. The focus of this paper will be on direct strategies typically expressed with imperatives and on conventionally indirect directives usually expressed with interrogative sentences which include a suggestory formula and preparatory strategies, with special emphasis on their use in male and female language. The goal of the paper is to analyze and compare gender preferences in using different strategies for the realization of directives, with the assumption that women will be more thoughtful of the hearer’s face and use indirect forms more frequently than men. This is in line with Holmes’s (1995) characterization of women’s speech as more polite than men’s. The paper will analyze the use of these directive strategies in F-F interactions, M-M interac- tions, M-F interactions and F-M interactions. The illustrative examples will be analyzed using the theory of speech acts and politeness theory, using qualitative, quantitative and comparative research methods.

US POLITICAL MYTHOLOGY WITHIN JUNGIAN MODEL OF THE COLLECTIVE SOUL

In this article, the US political mythology, its main symbols, archetypes and plots are analyzed within the framework of the original methodological model - the so-called "map of the collective soul", developed by M. Stein on the basis of the psychoanalytic theory of K.G. Jung. The author applies the Jungian model to the study of political and mythological material, based on the objective commonality of the roots from which both various socio-political myths and individual archetypal contents grow. This common ground is the space of the collective unconscious, the territory of a specific mass psychodynamics, where trauma gives rise to a complex, and a complex produces a myth. The study of American political mythology from this point of view provides valuable theoretical material that helps to understand the specifics of the mentality and identity of Americans, as well as the models on which the popular US political discourse is built.

Применение контент-анализа при изучении освещения процессов распада СССР в американских печатных СМИ (1989–1992 гг.)

The article summarizes the preliminary results of studying contemporary American print media coverage of the USSR collapse. The purpose of the work is to determine the relevance of this topic not only for the American political establishment, but also for the public in general. Moreover, the use of media material is intended to complement the range of topics covered in official sources in connection with the discussion of the United States’ role in the development of political processes in the last years of the USSR’s existence and the consequences of the Soviet Union collapse for Americans. The study employs quantitative content analysis of the corpus of texts compiled on the basis of a continuous sampling by given lexical markers from the most popular US newspapers, as well as from the regional press. As a result, the frequency of distribution of materials along the time axis was revealed, indicating a relatively high, but short-term interest in the historical process in question. In addition, the main macro-topics of these texts were identified indicating the priority issues for the American reader. The most significant discussion aspects and assessments of the events in the USSR covered in the press included, firstly, the need to support the ongoing processes in the Soviet Union, which also reflects the role of the United States in the emerging relations, and secondly, the choice of partners (emerging actors) within the USSR for the further formation of policies. It is ensuring the national security of the US that determines the solution of these issues for the American audience. It is assumed that the study of media coverage can be a valuable addition to the analysis of other types of sources, both of official and personal origin, since it expands the range of views and attitudes presented.

Comparison of Apple Watch vs KardiaMobile: A Tale of Two Devices

BackgroundThe Apple Watch Series 4 (AW4) and the KardiaMobile single bipolar lead model (KM) are 2 of the most popular US Food & Drug Administration (FDA)-approved commercial heart trackers. However, a lack of knowledge remains regarding their rhythm-detection accuracy in real-life clinical situations. This paper aims to determine the practicality of using an AW4 or a KM in modern medical practice, by assessing the accuracy of each in identifying heart rhythms and heart rate. MethodsParticipants from the Toronto Heart Centre clinic were enrolled from January 2019 to December 2019. They had a 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG), followed by wearing the AW4 watch (OS 5.3), and pressing on the KM electrode plates, within the span of 5 minutes of one another. Each session involved a 12-lead ECG, an ECG from each device, and AW4’s photoplethysmography function (APPG). ResultsOf 200 participants, 162 (81%) were in sinus rhythm, and 38 (19%) had atrial fibrillation. The rhythm-detection accuracy for sinus rhythm was 100% for the AW4, and 99.03% for the KM. For atrial fibrillation, accuracy was 90.48% for the AW4, and 100% for the KM. The heart rate accuracy for sinus rhythm was 94.39% for the KM, 90.65% for the APPG, and 96.26% for the Apple ECG function. The heart rate accuracy for atrial fibrillation was 91.30% for the KM, 82.61% for the APPG, and 86.96% for the Apple ECG function. ConclusionsBoth the AW4 and the KM could reliably detect rhythm and heart rate in real-life clinical situations. However, a nonsignificant trend occurred toward better rhythm detection and accuracy with KM, compared with AW4. The difference is mainly due to artifacts (eg, tremors) and the fit of the strap for AW4. The findings have important implications for how these consumer devices can be used in real-life clinical settings.

Feminism at the movies: sex, gender, and identity in contemporary American teen cinema

ABSTRACT Teen cinema is one of the most dynamic popular cinematic genres, constantly changing to remain relevant to its youth audience. This article investigates how a recent cycle of teen cinema–represented by popular US films Blockers, Dude, and Booksmart–has been praised as “feminist” teen storytelling. All three films are the debut feature of a woman director, and all focus on girl characters navigating the final moments of adolescence: the prom, graduation, and the final night of high school. As this article highlights, Blockers, Dude, and Booksmart are claimed as “feminist” for gender-swapping three cinematic tropes associated with young men: the sex quest, stoner comedy, and ultimate party. With attention to industrial context, representational politics, and reception, this article analyses both the rhetoric surrounding these films and their representations of adolescent girlhood. This analysis illustrates how describing this cycle as “feminist” functions as both a discursive frame for navigating issues of sex, gender, and identity and a commercial strategy to appeal to a new generation of teen audiences.

Brothers from another mother: Seeing the uncanny in US popular media depictions of South Africa

This article examines a pattern of popular US audiovisual media depictions of post-apartheid South Africa, which portray SA as harbouring latent danger. I use these depictions as an entry point into a broader web of articulation that connects various theoretical lenses (including Othering and theories of fear), empirical data, and historical context in order to tell a conjunctural story about the precarity of US exceptionalism and Whiteness. Rather than reading these depictions as a suggestion that SA is a tangible threat of danger to the world, I argue that the strategic formation of these depictions reveals how the US experiences the uncanny (familiar unfamiliar) in SA, another significantly White settler-colonial state, and thus perceives a discursive threat of SA democracy to US exceptionalism on the global stage. This conjuncture, I suggest, reveals a discursive struggle over multicultural global futures and who gets to define democracy in the popular imagination.

Playbird superstar: Mary Millington and Come Play With Me (1977) as a national box-office sensation

ABSTRACT This article examines the record-breaking box-office performance of pornography mogul David Sullivan’s 1977 film production Come Play with Me in substantial detail. This film was so successful that it remained on release at one London cinema for nearly four years and went on general release at around 1,000 cinemas across the UK. The article also considers the role that Mary Millington had in generating this ongoing box-office success and her associated capacity as a pornography superstar, who was fashioned as such by her patron David Sullivan. It then more briefly examines the box-office performance of the follow-up films made through the Millington-Sullivan combination. Finally, it considers the hypothesized notion of national porn culture by comparing some popular UK (Come Play with Me), US (Deep Throat), and French (Emmanuelle) pornography films from the 1970s, and then some porn/sex star actresses from the 1970s – Millington (British), Linda Lovelace (American) and Sylvia Kristel (Dutch/European) – as part of wider cinema trends and national film cultures.

Defining Conjunto Quantitatively: Classical and Modernist Styles in a Texas-Mexican Genre

Defining <i>Conjunto</i> Quantitatively: Classical and Modernist Styles in a Texas-Mexican Genre

From COVID-19 Treatment to Miracle Cure

From COVID-19 Treatment to Miracle Cure

9. Adherence to Public Health Recommendations in TikTok Content During the Early Days of the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic

At the beginning of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended widespread shutdowns of schools, businesses, and other activities. Internet use increased dramatically, with the short-form video social media platform TikTok gaining popularity among adolescents and young adults (AYA). Displays of health behaviors on social media have been shown to impact actual health behaviors in AYA, yet the scope of prevention behaviors related to the current global pandemic is unprecedented. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate adherence to CDC infection prevention guidelines and information about COVID-19 as represented by TikTok content creators, or influencers, at the beginning of the pandemic in the United States. The study sample included content posted by the 150 most-followed influencers on TikTok between March 1, 2020 and April 27, 2020. Study team members identified and extracted all posts within the specified dates that referenced COVID-19 and/or pandemic precautions (e.g., social distancing, school closures). A codebook was developed based on the CDC Guidelines for COVID-19 prevention as of March 1, 2020 and included displays of behavior that either followed (e.g., staying home, washing hands) or did not follow (e.g., wearing a mask incorrectly) the guidelines at the time. Posts were also coded for the presence or absence of TikTok’s “learn the facts about COVID-19” banner, which had been implemented by the platform to combat misinformation. Rounds of 20-40 posts were used to train coders against a master coder, and coders began reviewing posts independently once agreement was over 80%. We performed descriptive statistics on content metadata and code frequency. Of 11,063 posts made during the study dates, 1,305 (11.7%) posts were COVID-related, with an average of 9.2 COVID-related posts per influencer. Each influencer’s combined COVID-related content had an average of 44.4 million views and over 8 million likes. Most (81.5%, n=1,064) posts contained behaviors that could be coded for CDC guidelines. Of these posts, 79.4% solely demonstrated behavior following CDC guidelines, with the most frequent being staying at home (n=805) and handwashing (n=50). 7.1% of posts solely demonstrated behavior that did not follow CDC guidelines, with the most frequent being not wearing face cover in public (n=41) or having contact with others outside the household (n=33). Posts that contained a combination of behaviors that followed or did not follow the guidelines comprised 10.3% of the sample. The COVID facts banner was only present in 3% of COVID-related posts. At the beginning of the pandemic, AYA were felt to be at low risk for severe COVID-19 disease, but were encouraged to follow infection control measures to protect at-risk populations like the elderly. We found that the most popular US TikTok influencers created COVID-related content that reached millions of users on a platform mainly used by AYA. This content usually demonstrated adherence to public health guidance at the time, suggesting positive implications for future health messaging on social media platforms.

Beyond Net Zero: How to Mobilize Passive Investing Towards Paris Alignment With a Focus on the United States

This paper provides a comprehensive and evolving framework for Paris-aligned passive investing, developed through expert consultations, using existing Paris Agreement-related frameworks, taxonomies, data sources, and principles. The framework is then used to analyze existing popular US sustainable funds and EU Paris-Aligned Benchmark funds to see how well they fulfill the criteria, revealing considerable deficiencies in portfolio construction across the board.