Chapter 3 #1-8
Lina Alfonso
- Our research goals for this week are to finish our Consent Forms, categorize the type of participants we want in the study, and begin our procedures. Our research goals for today are to finish the Consent Forms and start the procedures. We will achieve these goals by proof reading the Consent Form and verifying it its general but specific enough to allow for flexibility in the procedures. We will also create an outline of the procedures. If we are unable to achieve these goals we will clear up some more time in the week to focus on the tasks. We will continue what is not done the following week. Our back up plan for alternative goals are to create a basis of participants we want to use for the study. This would involve a lot of background research that takes more time.
- Some guidelines to implement that would better organize our group is to have everyone accomplish at least two tasks for a total of 8 tasks to complete per week. This would help new members coming into our laboratory team by incorporating them in task management and having everyone complete an equal and fair amount of work. Some ideas for our strategic plan to gather our participants are to find common characteristics and variables to measure in the study. We would do this by having different groups for variables such as age, sex, and education level. Each person would be tasked with a variable and find a group of participants that match that category. After this, everyone would get together and incorporate their findings to create an outline of participants needed.
- A goal I have is to go to the gym at least 3 times this week for the next 3 months . If I go 4 times a week then, I will be able to have 2 protein shakes that week. If I do not go at least 3 time then I will not go to Florida in the summer. My research goals for the day are to send my team mates my part if the consent form so they can review it together with everyone else’s part. I will make sure my section of the consent form flows and makes sense for signing. My research goals for this week are to begin our procedures. I will do this by creating an outline and organizing the steps of the study. I will put myself in the position of my participants to understand how they would view the experiment and ways to make it better for later review of footage. Our research goals for the month are to complete the procedures, find participants and have them sign our the Consent form. We will achieve this by making fliers to put around the school to see who will want to participate in the study.
- ELONA POLTIYELOVA : Laboratories and their pros. -LSE Behavioural Research Lab (London School of Economics and Political Science): Anyone over the age of 18 can sign up to become a paid participant in the LSE Behavioural Research Lab. The participants £5 for up to 30 minutes and £10 for up to an hour to participate in a research study. Additionally the website has a list of all its staff members. – Dartmouth Social Neuroscience Lab: They have an application online to become a participant and it is very easy to fill out. Additionally there is a calendar of lab meetings and events. -Seeding LABS: non profit, A lot of modern equipment, Building partnerships so that scientists in developing countries have access to training and collaboration opportunities. – Los Alamos National Laboratory: Online schedule of lab meetings, innovative designs, related links page.
- If you are involved in a laboratory, how do you plan to implement changes in the lab that you consider helpful? What is the timeline for these changes? Who is doing what and when? How might these changes be achieved? If I wanted to implement changes in my lab that I’d consider helpful, a multitude of variables would have to be considered when answering this question. For example, what is my position in the lab or what is the helpful change? If I am an intern and I wanted to move the lab across the state there probably wouldn’t be much I could do, since I don’t have the financial means or power to do so. However if I were the owner then sure maybe I could do that. Regardless, I think there is a broad outline that could implement change in a lab. First, you would identify and solve a problem amongst you or your colleagues. Second, you would present the data to whomever is able to help you implement your change. In the first scenario I mentioned that could be asking the owner of your lab to move, because they’re on Native American soil or something.
Tania Duran
6. I turned my phone off for two hours from 4-5pm. I managed to get ahead on some assignments for my classes. Read about 30 pages of a book I started months ago and haven’t had a chance to finish. Helped take apart my younger brothers bed and helped put together the new one. Finally sat down to eat and then laid down for the last 15 mins and enjoyed the peace and quiet.
7. For the past 30 minutes (6:30-7pm) I laid in bed watching tv (catching up on Grey’s Anatomy). While scrolling threw my news feed on Instagram as well as snap chat, saw nothing interesting.
ELONA POLTIYELOVA:
8. Article: The presence of a best friend buffers the effects of negative experiences.
What question is the paper addressing? The researchers wanted to see if having a best friend present during a negative event will in turn decrease levels of cortisol and increase global self worth. They wanted to see if having a best friend serves as a sort of protection against the effects of negative experiences on global self worth.
Why was this question important? The question is important because it shows how relationships and friendships can actually help us handle stress in our daily lives.
What was new about the findings or study? The studied showed that having a best friend present significantly buffered the effect of the negativity of the experience on cortisol and global self worth. Therefore when the best friend is present there was less change of global self worth or cortisol levels during the negative experience.
How did spending 10 minutes with your eyes closed affect your ability to answer these questions?
Spending 10 peaceful quiet minutes helped me because I was able to focus and concentrate on the article that I read prior to the ten minutes. It helped me absorb all the information and think about it before I started typing. Therefore I believe this is a helpful technique for student to use.
Chapter 11 #1-2
Tania Duran
- Losing weight and keeping it off for the long term is difficult and weight regain is very common. Experiences of successful non-surgical weight loss after severe obesity are largely unexplored. We know little about long-term weight loss processes, and how health care services can be of help to those living them. Methods: Drawing on in-depth interviews of 8 women and 2 men, the aim of the study is to describe the experiences of adults who have been severely obese, who have lost weight and maintained weight loss for the long term (> 5 years). Findings show that after severe obesity, sustained weight loss has no endpoint, yet is always easy to end. Keeping weight off means committing to oneself, continuing profound changes and cultivating sensitivity towards oneself and others.
- Research on the ability of ketogenic diets (KD) to influence the growth and survival of cancer cells is very scarce but promising. The inability of cancer cells to readily metabolize ketone bodies gives reason to further investigate the implications of induced ketosis through a KD. This relationship between KD and several forms of cancer are presented in experimental studies involving mice and humans. A review of KD as a therapeutic device for treating cancer is also thoroughly covered along with the potential benefits of a calorically restricted KD. The following research also looks for the potential effects of a KD on known radio-chemo-therapies and treatments.
Links:
Seyfried TN, Sanderson TM, El-Abbadi MM, McGowan R, Mukherjee P. Role ofglucose and ketone bodies in the metabolic control of experimental brain cancer. Br J Cancer. 2003;89:1375–82.
Allen BG, Bhatia SK, Buatti JM, Brandt KE, Lindholm KE, Button AM, Szweda LI,
Smith BJ, Spitz DR, Fath MA. Ketogenic diets enhance oxidative stress and radio-chemo-
therapy responses in lung cancer xenografts. Clin Cancer Res Off J Am Assoc Cancer Res.
2013;19:3905–13.
Paoli A, Rubini A, Volek JS, Grimaldi KA. Beyond weight loss: a review of the
therapeutic uses of very-low-carbohydrate (ketogenic) diets. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2013;67:789–96.
Adams, R. E., Santo, J. B., & Bukowski, W. M. (2011). The presence of a best friend buffers the effects of negative experiences. Developmental Psychology, 47(6), 1786–1791. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0025401
Psych 215 Research Group 