• Title/Summary/Keyword: Behavioral sciences

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Fast Food Consumption and Related Factors among University Students in Daejeon (대전 일부지역 대학생의 패스트푸드 이용 및 이와 관련된 요인)

  • Kim, Kyung-Won;Ahn, Yun;Kim, Hyung-Mee
    • Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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    • v.9 no.1
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    • pp.47-57
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    • 2004
  • The study purpose was to investigate the factors related to fast food consumption of university students. Factors were identified using the Theory of Planned Behavior. Based on the pilot study, 18 behavioral beliefs, 7 normative beliefs and 19 control beliefs were identified. Data (n = 269) were analyzed using analysis of variance or $X^2$,/TEX> tests. Subjects were categorized into non-users (27.9%), users (42%) and frequent users ( $\geq$ 2 times/week, 30.1%). Regarding behavioral beliefs, users or frequent users responded more positively on advantages of eating fast foods including ‘taste’ (p < 0.001), ‘making me feel full’(p < 0.001), ‘diverse menus’(p < 0.05) than non-users. Compared to users, non-users responded more positively on the item that eating fast foods leads to eat vegetables less (p < 0.05), and negatively on ‘making me eat more salt’(p < 0.05). Most of the referent groups, parents (p < 0.001), sisters/brothers (p < 0.01), relatives (p < 0.01), friends (p < 0.05), boy/girl friends (p < 0.05) were important sources of influence regarding subjects' fast food consumption. Users or frequent users felt less control over factors or situations that make it consume fast foods (9 out of 19 control beliefs). These factors included; availability issues (p < 0.001), ‘not having other foods on hand’(p < 0.01), ‘others eating together like fast foods’, ‘convenience’, ‘social increase in fast food use’, ‘easy to get fast foods anytime’(p < 0.05). In addition, users of fast foods were more likely to eat fast foods when they don't have time, when they do not like to cook, when they feel hungry (p < 0.05). These results suggest that interventions for university students include strategies to moderate fast food use by modifying behavioral beliefs, suggesting alternative menus and behavior modification techniques, increasing perception of control, and eliciting social support.

The extended Theory of Planned Behavior in explaining exclusive breastfeeding intention and behavior among women in Kelantan, Malaysia

  • Tengku Ismail, Tengku Alina;Wan Muda, Wan Abdul Manan;Bakar, Mohd Isa
    • Nutrition Research and Practice
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    • v.10 no.1
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    • pp.49-55
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    • 2016
  • BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study is to utilize an extended Theory of Planned Behavior in identifying predictors of exclusive breastfeeding intention and behavior among women in Kelantan, Malaysia. SUBJECTS/METHODS: A prospective cohort study was conducted, recruiting pregnant womenthrough two-stage cluster sampling. Their exclusive breastfeeding intention, attitude, perceived norm, perceived behavioral control and past behavior were obtained at baseline through interviewer-guided questionnaire. At one month after delivery, another interview was conducted to determine the two additional variables in the extended theory, which were their postpartum support and breastfeeding difficulty. The behavior, which was the actual duration of exclusive breastfeeding, was obtained from the second follow-up at six months. Pearson correlation and two hierarchical regression analyses were conducted. RESULTS: A total of 200 women completed the study follow-up. Their median intended exclusive breastfeeding duration was 4.0 (IQR 5) months, and the median actual duration was 1.0 (IQR 4) month. The Theory of Planned Behavior explained 51.0% of the variance in intention, with perceived behavioral control and attitude were the significant predictors. It also explained 10.0% of the variance in behavior, but the addition of postpartum support and breastfeeding difficulty increased the amount of explained variance in behavior by 6.0%. The significant predictors of exclusive breastfeeding behavior were intention, postpartum support and breastfeeding difficulty. CONCLUSION: The extended Theory of Planned Behaviorhad a good predictive ability in explaining exclusive breastfeedingintention and behavior. The women's intention to practice exclusive breastfeeding may be improved by improving their perceived behavioral control and attitude. Providing correct postpartum support and skills to handle breastfeeding difficulties after delivery will improve their exclusive breastfeeding behavior.

Behavioral responses to cow and calf separation: separation at 1 and 100 days after birth

  • Sarah E. Mac;Sabrina Lomax;Cameron E. F. Clark
    • Animal Bioscience
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    • v.36 no.5
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    • pp.810-817
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    • 2023
  • Objective: The aim was to compare the behavioral response to full separation of cows and calves maintained together for 100 days or 24 h. Methods: Twelve Holstein-Friesian cow-calf pairs were enrolled into either treatment or industry groups (n = 6 cow-calf pairs/group). The treatment cows and calves were maintained on pasture together for 106±8.6 d and temporarily separated twice a day for milking. The Industry cows and their calves, were separated within 24 h postpartum. Triaxial accelerometer neck-mounted sensors were fitted to cows 3 weeks before separation to measure hourly rumination and activity. Before separation, cow and calf behavior was observed by scan sampling for 15 min. During the separation process, frequency of vocalizations and turn arounds were recorded. At separation, cows were moved to an observation pen where behavior was recorded for 3 d. A CCTV camera was used to record video footage of cows within the observation pens and behavior was documented from the videos in 15 min intervals across the 3 d. Results: Before separation, industry calves were more likely to be near their mother than Treatment calves. During the separation process, vocalization and turn around behavior was similar between groups. After full separation, treatment cows vocalized three times more than industry cows. However, the frequency of time spent close to barrier, standing, lying, walking, and eating were similar between industry and treatment cows. Treatment cows had greater rumination duration, and were more active, than industry cows. Conclusion: These findings suggest a similar behavioral response to full calf separation and greater occurrence of vocalizations, from cows maintained in a long-term, pasture-based, cow-calf rearing system when ompared to cows separated within 24 h. However, further work is required to assess the impact of full separation on calf behavior.

Assessment of the effects of virus-mediated limited Oct4 overexpression on the structure of the hippocampus and behavior in mice

  • Sim, Su-Eon;Park, Soo-Won;Choi, Sun-Lim;Yu, Nam-Kyung;Ko, Hyoung-Gon;Jang, Deok-Jin;Lee, Kyung-Min;Kaang, Bong-Kiun
    • BMB Reports
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    • v.44 no.12
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    • pp.793-798
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    • 2011
  • Recently, pluripotency induction or cellular reprogramming by introducing critical transcription factors has been extensively studied, but has been demonstrated only in vitro. Based on reports that Oct4 is critically involved in transforming neural stem cells into pluripotent cells, we used the lentiviral vector to introduce the Oct4 gene into the hippocampal dentate gyrus (DG) of adult mice. We examined whether this manipulation led to cellular or behavioral changes, possibly through processes involving the transformation of NS cells into pluripotent cells. The Oct4 lentivirus-infused group and the green fluorescent protein lentivirus-infused group showed a similar thickness of the DG and a comparable level of synaptophysin expression in the DG. Furthermore, our behavioral analyses did not show any differences between the groups concerning exploratory activity, anxiety, or memory abilities. This first trial for pluripotency induction in vivo, despite negative results, provides implications and information for future studies on in vivo cellular reprogramming.

Deleterious Effects of Shift Work in the Realm of Cognitive and Behavioral Domains : A Critical Review (인지 및 행동영역에서 교대 근무의 유해적인 영향 : 비판적 고찰)

  • Lee, Suji L.;Park, Chang-hyun;Ha, Eunji;Park, Shinwon;Hong, Haejin;Park, Su Hyun;Ma, Jiyoung;Kang, Ilhyang;Kang, Hahn;Song, William Byunghoon;Kim, Jungyoon;Kim, Jieun E.
    • Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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    • v.24 no.2
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    • pp.59-67
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    • 2017
  • Shift workers experience a disruption in the circadian sleep-wake rhythm, which brings upon adverse health effects such as fatigue, insomnia and decreased sleep quality. Moreover, shift work has deleterious effects on both work productivity and safety. In this review, we present a brief overview of the current literature on the consequences of shift work, especially focusing on attention-associated cognitive decline and related behavioral changes. We searched two electronic databases, PubMed and RISS, using key search terms related to cognitive domains, deleterious effects, and shift work. Twenty studies were eligible for the final review. The consequences of shift work can be classified into the following three categories extracted from the literature review : 1) work accidents ; 2) commuting accidents such as car accidents that occur on the way to and from work ; and 3) attendance management at work (i.e., absenteeism, tardiness, and unscheduled early departure). These cognitive and behavioral consequences of shift work were also found to be associated with sleep disorders in shift workers. Thus, improvements in the shift work system are necessary in order to enhance workers' health conditions, work productivity, and safety.

The antidepressant action of 3-(2-carboxypiperazin-4-yl)propyl-1-phosphonic acid is mediated by phosphorylation of histone deacetylase 5

  • Park, Min Hyeop;Choi, Miyeon;Kim, Yong-Seok;Son, Hyeon
    • The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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    • v.22 no.2
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    • pp.155-162
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    • 2018
  • 3-(2-Carboxypiperazin-4-yl)propyl-1-phosphonic acid (CPP), a competitive N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist, produces rapid antidepressant-like effects in animal models of depression. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying these behavioral actions remain unknown. Here, we demonstrate that CPP rapidly stimulates histone deacetylase (HDAC) 5 phosphorylation and nuclear export in rat hippocampal neurons. These effects are accompanied by calcium/calmodulin kinase II (CaMKII) and protein kinase D (PKD) phosphorylation. Behavioral experiments revealed that viral-mediated hippocampal knockdown of HDAC5 blocked the antidepressant effects of CPP in stressed animals. Taken together, our results imply that CPP acts via HDAC5 and suggest that HDAC5 is a common regulator contributing to the antidepressant actions of NMDA receptor antagonists such as CPP.

Correlation between Aggression and Health Behaviors of Korean High School Students (고등학생의 공격적 성향과 건강 행태에 관한 연구)

  • Moon, Jung Yeon;Kim, Sae Won;Lee, Kyung Eun;Gwak, Hye Sun
    • Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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    • v.24 no.2
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    • pp.144-153
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    • 2014
  • Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the correlation between the health behaviors and the aggression in Korean high school students. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted with a survey of 2,676 high school students. Aggression was measured in four categories (physical aggression, verbal aggression, anger and hostility) using the Aggression Questionnaire, a modified hostility inventory by Buss and Perry. Result: Univariate analysis showed that sex, smoking, alcohol, caffeine, pain pills and gastrointestinal drugs were significantly associated with aggression scores. Boys scored higher than girls in terms of physical and verbal aggression. With respect to the habit of self-medication, students who took pain pills in the last 30 days revealed higher scores in all four aggressive constructs. From multivariate analysis, it was found that alcohol, caffeine, smoking, pain pills, sex and gastrointestinal drugs were independently associated with total aggression score in the order of importance. Alcohol and caffeine, among these factors, had strong correlation with all aggressive characteristics. Conclusion: This study identified a consistent association between the aggression of the students and health behavioral factors, but causal relationship remains to be proven.

Neuropeptide Signaling Regulates Pheromone-Mediated Gene Expression of a Chemoreceptor Gene in C. elegans

  • Park, Jisoo;Choi, Woochan;Dar, Abdul Rouf;Butcher, Rebecca A.;Kim, Kyuhyung
    • Molecules and Cells
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    • v.42 no.1
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    • pp.28-35
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    • 2019
  • Animals need to be able to alter their developmental and behavioral programs in response to changing environmental conditions. This developmental and behavioral plasticity is mainly mediated by changes in gene expression. The knowledge of the mechanisms by which environmental signals are transduced and integrated to modulate changes in sensory gene expression is limited. Exposure to ascaroside pheromone has been reported to alter the expression of a subset of putative G protein-coupled chemosensory receptor genes in the ASI chemosensory neurons of C. elegans (Kim et al., 2009; Nolan et al., 2002; Peckol et al., 1999). Here we show that ascaroside pheromone reversibly represses expression of the str-3 chemoreceptor gene in the ASI neurons. Repression of str-3 expression can be initiated only at the L1 stage, but expression is restored upon removal of ascarosides at any developmental stage. Pheromone receptors including SRBC-64/66 and SRG-36/37 are required for str-3 repression. Moreover, pheromone-mediated str-3 repression is mediated by FLP-18 neuropeptide signaling via the NPR-1 neuropeptide receptor. These results suggest that environmental signals regulate chemosensory gene expression together with internal neuropeptide signals which, in turn, modulate behavior.

Protective Effects of Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus IDCC3201 on Motor Functions and Anxiety Levels in a Chronic Stress Mouse Model

  • Jae Gwang Song;Daye Mun;Bomi Lee;Minho Song;Sangnam Oh;Jun-Mo Kim;Jungwoo Yang;Younghoon Kim;Hyung Wook Kim
    • Food Science of Animal Resources
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    • v.43 no.6
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    • pp.1044-1054
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    • 2023
  • Growing evidence indicates a crucial role of the gut microbiota in physiological functions. Gut-brain axis imbalance has also been associated with neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders. Studies have suggested that probiotics regulate the stress response and alleviate mood-related symptoms. In this study, we investigated the effects of the probiotic Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus IDCC3201 (L3201) on the behavioral response and fecal metabolite content in an unpredictable chronic mild stress (UCMS) mouse model. Our study shows that chronic stress in mice for three weeks resulted in significant changes in behavior, including lower locomotor activity, higher levels of anxiety, and depressive-like symptoms, compared to the control group. Metabolomic analysis demonstrated that disrupted fecal metabolites associated with aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis and valine, leucine, and isoleucine biosynthesis by UCMS were restored with the administration of L3201. Oral administration of the L3201 ameliorated the observed changes and improved the behavioral alterations along with fecal metabolites, suggesting that probiotics play a neuroprotective role.

Educational Intervention Based on the Health Belief Model to Modify Risk Factors of Cardiovascular Disease in Police Officers in Iran: A Quasi-experimental Study

  • Saffari, Mohsen;Sanaeinasab, Hormoz;Jafarzadeh, Hassan;Sepandi, Mojtaba;O'Garo, Keisha-Gaye N.;Koenig, Harold G.;Pakpour, Amir H.
    • Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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    • v.53 no.4
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    • pp.275-284
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    • 2020
  • Objectives: Police officers may be at a greater risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) than the general population due to their highstress occupation. This study evaluated how an educational program based on the health belief model (HBM) may protect police officers from developing CVD. Methods: In this single-group experimental study, 58 police officers in Iran participated in a 5-week intervention based on HBM principles. Outcomes included changes in scores on an HBM scale, time spent on moderate to vigorous physical activity (International Physical Activity Questionnaire), body mass index (BMI), blood lipid profile, blood glucose, and blood pressure. The intervention consisted of 5 HBM-based educational sessions. Follow-up was conducted at 3 months post-intervention. The paired t-test was used to examine differences between baseline and follow-up scores. Results: All aspects of the HBM scale improved between baseline and follow-up (p<0.05), except the cues to action subscale. Self-efficacy and preventive behaviors improved the most. BMI decreased from 26.7±2.9 kg/㎡ at baseline to 25.8±2.4 kg/㎡ at follow-up. All components of the lipid profile, including triglycerides, cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein, and low-density lipoprotein, showed significant improvements post-intervention. Blood glucose and blood pressure also decreased, but not significantly. Nearly 25% of participants who were not physically active at baseline increased their physical activity above or beyond the healthy threshold. Conclusions: A relatively brief educational intervention based on HBM principles led to a significant improvement in CVD risk factors among police officers. Further research is needed to corroborate the effectiveness of this intervention.