The Impact of Instagram Mommy Blogger Content on the Perceived Self-Efficacy of Mothers

The prominence of social media in contemporary life has led more mothers to search for parenting information through various Internet and social media channels. The following study examines the impact that Instagram mommy blog content has on the perceived parenting skill of the typical American mother. In this experiment, participants were exposed to one of two types of Instagram motherhood blogger content. The first type of content did not address the struggles of motherhood (referred to as an “alpha-mom” blogger content), while the second type of content (referred to as a “realistic” blogger content) did. After reviewing the content, participants will be asked a series of Likert-type scale questions to gauge their perceived parenting skill. We hypothesized that participants who were exposed to the “alpha-mom” content would have a lower belief in their own parenting skill than those who were exposed to content from the “realistic” blogger. The hypothesis was not supported. However, we did find that participants who received some of their parenting information from Internet sources had a lower belief in their parenting skill than participants who did not receive their parenting information from online sources, regardless of the content to which they were exposed.

CHINESE AMERICANS’ ACCULTURATION IN GISH JEN’S TYPICAL AMERICAN

<p>Gish Jen’s <em>Typical American </em>is a portrayal of Chinese immigrants’ struggles in adapting the life in America (USA). The main characters started to live in the USA; they, however, were struggling in trying to maintain their Chinese values as well as embracing the new American culture. In the process of adjusting this new culture, they had to cope with things that were not always suitable for their prior culture as Chinese. It is found that there are two dominant types of acculturation process presented by the characters in this novel: (1) separation when Ralph’s family maintained their original culture through family reunification and Chinese women’s role perpetuation in the family; and (2) assimilation shown by the rejections to maintain their original culture since the main characters have been influenced by American doctrines. It reveals also that in Gish Jen’s <em>Typical American</em>, acculturation was one of the ways to cope with the culture shock that they experienced as the first generation of Chinese immigrants in the USA. This research reveals also that cultural values were something fluid, although there were differences between Chinese and American cultures that affect one's belief, they were able to adapt to the new culture with some adjustments. </p>

The Image of the Representatives of the United States and China as seen by Vladivostok Students

The research featured the image of the "typical American" and "typical Chinese" as seen by Russian students of several Vladivostok universities. The reconstruction of ethnic stereotypes was performed using the methods of psychosemantics, e.g. verbal associations. The data were processed using mathematical statistics methods. The study revealed major differences in the representation of positive and negative personal qualities of the "typical Chinese" and "typical American", as well as in the contents of the association categories. Students’ perceptions of the "typical American" showed both positive (sociability, activity, tact) and negative qualities (hypocrisy). The "typical Chinese" was often perceived as an unattractive, loud, and racist representative of a de-individualized mass. However, the "typical Chinese" was also described as a hard-working and moderately sociable person that lives in a Communist country with a vibrant traditional culture and modern industry. Americans were seen as much more individualized, as confirmed by quantitative and semantic analyses. The survey revealed superficial and mostly negative views of young Russians regarding the Chinese people. The authors believe that a more positive attitude has to be formed as China remains Russia’s strategic partner

Abstract 51: Effects of Dietary Patterns on Subclinical Cardiac Damage: Results From the DASH Trial

Background: The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet (rich in fruit (F), vegetables (V), low-fat dairy, and fiber, and reduced in saturated fat and cholesterol) lowered blood pressure (BP) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol after 8 weeks compared with a typical American diet. However, direct effects on cardiovascular damage are unknown. Hypothesis: The DASH diet reduces cardiac injury, strain, and inflammation compared to a typical American diet. Methods: The DASH feeding study was a 3-arm, parallel-design, randomized controlled trial of adults with systolic BP (SBP) <160 mm Hg and diastolic BP (DBP) of 80-95 mm Hg, without cardiovascular disease (CVD) and not taking BP medications. Participants were randomized to 8 weeks of monitored feeding with: a typical American diet with 3.6 servings of F/V per day (ref), a F/V-enriched diet (8.5 servings of F/V per day), or the DASH diet (9.6 servings of F/V per day). Calories were adjusted to keep weight constant throughout feeding. We compared the effects of these diets on 3 cardiac biomarkers: high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I (hs-cTnI), N-terminal b-type pro natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), measured in stored serum collected at baseline and after feeding. Results: Of the 257 participants with available specimens, 33% were aged >50 yrs, 48% were women, and 56% were non-white. Mean baseline SBP/DBP was 131/85 mmHg. Compared to control, the F/V-enriched diet reduced hs-cTnI by 53% (95% CI: 18, 73; P = 0.008) and NT-proBNP by 24% (95% CI: 7, 38; P = 0.01) ( Figure ). Similarly, compared to control, DASH reduced hs-cTnI by 49% (95% CI: 11, 71; P = 0.02) and NT-proBNP by 20% (95% CI: 2, 35; P = 0.04). Hs-CRP did not differ between diets, and none of the markers differed between DASH and F/V-enriched diets. Conclusions: In adults with high BP but not CVD, both F/V-enriched and DASH diets lowered sensitive markers of cardiac injury and strain over 8 weeks. Our study demonstrates early, direct cardiovascular benefits from diets rich in F/V.

An Approach To Pragma-Crafting Theory: A Linguistic Review of President Alsisi Selected Speech and Interview

The pragma-crafting theory is derived from Greek Word "Pragma", which indicates work, practice, action, or activity. Simply, it reflects the philosophy of a practical experience such as the typical American philosophy practice in approach. Moreover, it reflects some essential rules:1- Gives the importance of an action2- Gives the essence of an experience3- Believes in change4- No permanent values.5- Stresses on experimentation6- Enhances the belief on present7- Emphasis on means not ends8- Deep faith in democracy

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The colonial period is, for most lawyers and laymen, the dark ages of American law. When an American lawyer faces a legal problem, she normally considers two sources of legal authority—statutes and published cases. The typical American lawyer has probably never seen, dealt with, or even heard of any cases or statutes from the colonial period. There is a good reason why. Until well after independence, there were no handy and accessible collections of colonial cases and statutes. Even now, only scattered collections of colonial cases have ever been published. Many colonial statutes survive only in ancient or rare editions. ...

An 8-week Controlled Feeding Trial Based on the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans Has Minimal Effect on the Fecal Microbiota in Overweight and Obese Women (FS11-08-19)

Objectives To determine whether a high quality diet based on the 2010 Dietary Guidelines of America (DGA) alters the composition of the fecal microbiome in individuals at risk for cardiometabolic disease, compared to a diet based on a typical American diet (TAD). Methods A total of 52 overweight and obese women were enrolled in a randomized, double-blind, controlled feeding trial. Women were randomly assigned to the DGA or TAD group (n = 28 DGA and 24 TAD). Diets matched each participant's estimated energy requirement and subjects remained weight-stable. The DGA diet was based on the 2010 DGA food-group recommendations, whereas the TAD diet was based on the average adult intake patterns from the NHANES 2009–2010 survey. Participants provided a stool sample 1-week prior to intervention (W0), within the second week of diet intervention (W2), and at the final week of intervention (W8). Microbial profiles were assessed using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing and expressed as median % relative abundance. Data analyses were performed using standardized pipelines (QIIME 1.9 and R packages). False Discovery Rate (FDR) was set at 0.2. Results No differences were found in α- and β-diversity indices at the operational taxomonic unit (OTU) level by diet assignment at W0, and no taxa were differentially abundant at FDR < 0.2. Similarly, α- and β-diversity indices (OTU level) were not altered by diet within W2 or W8. A single OTU within the Ruminococcus genera was higher in TAD at both W2 (TAD = 0.014%; DGA = 0.00%) and W8 (TAD = 0.017%; DGA = 0.00%; FDR < 0.05), and the Adlercreutzia genera from the Actinobacteria phyla was also higher in TAD at both W2 (TAD = 0.027%; DGA = 0.001%) and W8 (TAD = 0.022%; DGA = 0.002%). No within-diet differences between W0 and W2, and W0 and W8 were observed in any α- and β-diversity indices tested. When adjusting for W0 relative abundances, 10 OTUs were altered by diet at W2 and 39 OTUs were altered at W8. Conclusions A weight-maintaining diet based on the 2010 DGA minimally differed in the fecal microbiota compared to a weight-maintaining typical American diet. Results herein suggests differences in food-based dietary patterns does not have a large effect on the composition of the fecal microbiota in humans. Funding Sources Supported by National Dairy Council; Campbell Soup Co.; USDA-ARS Projects 2032-51530-022-00D and 6026-51000-010-05S.