Development and Validation of a BMI-Based Figure Rating Scale for Chinese Adolescents

Figure rating scales (FRS) have been widely used to measure body dissatisfaction. In the current study, an FRS based on body mass index (BMI) and body shape of Chinese adolescents (C-BMI-FRS) was developed and validated. The perceived actual figure chosen from C-BMI-FRS by 2,237 Chinese adolescents aged 15–18 years old correlated strongly with BMI ( r = .83 in girls and r = .80 in boys). Additionally, there was a strong relation between actual and ideal figure discrepancy (AID) scores and measures of body satisfaction ( r = −.54 in girls, r = −.28 in boys) and eating disorder symptoms ( r = .54 in girls, and r = .52 in boys). There also were moderate associations of AID scores with self-esteem ( r = −.16) and negative affect ( r = .18) in girls. Test–retest reliability over an 8- to 10 -week interval exceeded .57 for actual figure, ideal figure, and AID scores. Overall, findings support the utility of C-BMI-FRS as a measure of body dissatisfaction among Chinese adolescents.

Stranger Danger

Starting in the late 1970s, a moral panic concerning child kidnapping and exploitation gripped the United States. For many Americans, a series of high-profile cases of missing and murdered children, publicized through an emergent twenty-four-hour news cycle, signaled a “national epidemic” of child abductions perpetrated by strangers. Some observers insisted that fifty thousand or more children fell victim to stranger kidnappings in any given year. (The actual figure was and remains about one hundred.) Stranger Danger demonstrates how racialized and sexualized fears of stranger abduction—stoked by the news media, politicians from across the partisan divide, bereaved parents, and the business sector—helped to underwrite broader transformations in US political culture and political economy. Specifically, the child kidnapping scare further legitimated a bipartisan investment in “family values” and “law and order,” thereby enabling the development and expansion of sex offender registries, AMBER Alerts, and other mechanisms designed to safeguard young Americans and their families from “stranger danger”—and to punish the strangers who supposedly threatened them.

Does a Country/Region’s Economic Status Affect Its Universities’ Presence in International Rankings?

Purpose Study how economic parameters affect positions in the Academic Ranking of World Universities’ top 500 published by the Shanghai Jiao Tong University Graduate School of Education in countries/regions with listed higher education institutions. Design/methodology/approach The methodology used capitalises on the multi-variate characteristics of the data analysed. The multi-colinearity problem posed is solved by running principal components prior to regression analysis, using both classical (OLS) and robust (Huber and Tukey) methods. Findings Our results revealed that countries/regions with long ranking traditions are highly competitive. Findings also showed that some countries/regions such as Germany, United Kingdom, Canada, and Italy, had a larger number of universities in the top positions than predicted by the regression model. In contrast, for Japan, a country where social and economic performance is high, the number of ARWU universities projected by the model was much larger than the actual figure. In much the same vein, countries/regions that invest heavily in education, such as Japan and Denmark, had lower than expected results. Research limitations Using data from only one ranking is a limitation of this study, but the methodology used could be useful to other global rankings. Practical implications The results provide good insights for policy makers. They indicate the existence of a relationship between research output and the number of universities per million inhabitants. Countries/regions, which have historically prioritised higher education, exhibited highest values for indicators that compose the rankings methodology; furthermore, minimum increase in welfare indicators could exhibited significant rises in the presence of their universities on the rankings. Originality/value This study is well defined and the result answers important questions about characteristics of countries/regions and their higher education system.

Adolescents' actual appearance and body image self-assessment

The body image is one of the most important components of self-esteem which corresponds with the psycho-physical health of the individual. The purpose of the study was to search for the relationship between the actual figure and body image. The research was conducted in 2014 among 830 adolescents. Sample selection was random. Actual figure was defined by the body composition, BMI and the distribution of body fat. Body image was assessed with Stunkard's Figure Rating Scale. Statistical analysis was performed based on the software Statistical Package for Social Science. The results of the analysis indicate that there is a significant strong correlation between the real somatic self assessment and actual figure, and the strongest indicator for the development of self-image is BMI and fat mass. The results also indicated that real somatic self is explained in 49%, and ideal somatic self in approx. 30% Stable body self-esteem is an essential part of human mental health and an appropriate level of body fat which allows to determine the actual figure, can protect individuals from many civilization diseases in the future.

GaAs Integrated Circuit Manufacturing

In the mid 1980s, reports of exciting progress from GaAs integrated circuit (IC) performance from R&D laboratories world-wide portrayed a rosy future for GaAs. Now, in the early 1990s, true to their reputation, GaAs ICs are still largely the stuff of the future. In fact, deployment of GaAs ICs in real systems has been disappointingly slow. In 1985, the commercial GaAs IC market was forecast to reach $800 million by 1990. The actual figure was only $142 million. To put this number in perspective, it represents less than 0.4% of the total Si IC merchant market.In a recent survey of the GaAs industry, Kato explored the causes for GaAs troubles, with startling findings. The issue certainly does not seem to be a performance one because GaAs ICs are sufficiently ahead of alternative technologies. Material quality is not a problem either. Extremely high-quality 3 in. and 4 in. GaAs wafers are now on the market at reasonable prices. On the other hand, several serious deficiencies center around IC manufacturing. The price of the final GaAs ICs is perceived as not competitive with alternative technologies. This is rooted in the low yields and poor repeatability of the manufacturing lines. A great contribution to cost is time-consuming functionality testing, particularly for analog products. For MMICs (monolithic microwave integrated circuits) in particular, final testing can easily become the bottleneck of the entire fabrication process. There is also much uncertainty about reliability. This might explain to a large extent the low customer confidence in the technology. Kato reports that fundamental technical problems in making GaAs ICs are still believed to remain.

The Developmental Stages of Bracon Tachardiae, Cam. (Hym.)

SummaryThe egg, the five larval instars, cocoon, prepupa and pupa of Bracon tachardiae, Cameron, are described.Two series of larvae, one male and one female, occur, these series overlap very considerably and it is only towards the maximum and minimum of the range that larvae are respectively entirely female or male.It is shown that the five larval instars of B. tachardiae may be grouped by the widths of the head-capsule, and that an instar can be characterised by the head-width, particularly if only averages are considered. The actual range of head-width in each instar is rather large, and in some cases the extremes overlap. In actual practice head-width is a safe indication of the instar of a larva as the extremes rarely occur; the widths calculated on Dyar's principle also approximate sufficiently closely to the observed widths to preclude the chance of an ecdysis having been overlooked.The length of the mandible is for practical purposes identical in a larva of any given instar and in its exuviae. The larval instars and their exuviae can be grouped by the lengths of the mandibles, particularly if averages are considered; the range for a given instar is wide but the extremes do not overlap. The lengths calculated on Dyar's head-width principle approximate closely with the observed lengths, sufficiently so to preclude the possibility of overlooking an ecdysis, and making possible the identification of the instar of fixed and mounted specimens of larvae or exuviae, for which purpose head-width is useless.The factors of increase of head-width and mandibular length are fairly similar, falling near to 3 √2 =1.26, and for practical purposes one may be substituted for the other, the calculated widths and lengths so obtained still approximating to the observed widths and lengths.Various uses of this fact are indicated. Preliminary investigations point to the fact that similar observations apply to Aphrastobracon flavipennis, Ashm., an ectoparasite of Eublemma scitula, Ramb. It is suggested that similar observations may be true for other ectoparasitic Braconids.The growth of the body of the larva from instar to instar is independent of the growth of the head-capsule, larvae increasing in weight and in volume by a figure lying between 3 and 4 times from instar to instar. The actual figure obtained theoretically for volume increase was 3–6. The head-size increases by the usual double at each moult.

XV. On the conditions of equilibrium of an incompressible fluid, the particles which are acted upon by accelerating forces

Experience shows that physical problems of difficulty are never solved in a satisfactory manner but after reiterated attempts. The examples that might be adduced in support of this remark, are too obvious and numerous to need particular mention. A remarkable instance is the problem of which it is proposed to treat in this paper, namely, that relating to the figure of equilibrium of a mass of fluid, the particles of which are subjected to the action of accelerating forces. This problem, suggested by the inquiry into the figure of the planets, was first treated of by Newton and Huyghens ; it then passed into the hands of Maclaurin, Clairaut, and D’Alembert ; and it finally occupied the attention of Euler, Lagrange, and Laplace, by whose researches it is declared on high authority that the solution is completed, leaving no difficulties, except of a mathematical kind, in applying it to any case that may be proposed. The theory thus finally settled is imposing by its great generality and apparent simplicity; it succeeds in solving a certain class of problems, although not on sound principles; but in other instances no degree of mathematical skill has been able to obtain satisfactory results. A candid inquirer who will endeavour to form just notions of the conditions required for the equilibrium of a fluid, will not fail to have his attention arrested by much that is inconsistent and obscure in the usual manner in which this subject is treated. This seems to imply some imperfec­tion in the grounds of the theory; and the best way of removing all difficulties is to mount up to the origin of the inquiry, and to trace it with careful examination through all its successive steps. In this manner we may detect what is defective or erroneous; and having arrived at physical conditions not liable to objection or uncertainty, the theory may be placed on a firm foundation. It will not be necessary to say a word on the importance of a theory which has occupied the attention of so many eminent geometers, and which is the subject of no small part of what has been written on the system of the universe. As it treats of the figure of a fluid, it seems to suppose that the earth and planets were originally in a state of fluidity, either by the solution of their solid parts in a liquid, or by the effect of heat. Now as we have no knowledge of the primitive condition of the bodies of our system, it may be objected that the problem, whatever ingenuity may be required to overcome its difficulties, is merely speculative and hypothetical. But the matter may be viewed in a different light. No small progress has already been made in the investigation of the figure of the earth ; and our knowledge in this respect may be made more perfect by assiduous observation and discussion : we are also ac­quainted with all the forces, whether attractive or centrifugal, that urge every par­ticle of the matter of which our globe is composed ; and hence, reversing the usual question, the inquiry may be, whether a change in the actual figure of the earth would necessarily take place if the bonds that hold together its solid parts were loosened, and a state of fluidity induced upon the whole or any portion. A speculation of this kind at any time, and in every revolution imposed by fashion on scientific research, may be deemed not altogether uninteresting, and may be useful in studying the changes that take place on the surface of our globe.