Category Archives: Human Behavior

Human Behavior

SCAD | School of Business Innovation – Business Wire

SAVANNAH, Ga.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Savannah College of Art and Design launches the SCAD School of Business Innovation, which strategically incorporates a diverse array of top-ranked academic programs focused on preparing creative professionals to lead transformative change across key industries.

Bolstering SCADs international reputation as the preeminent source of knowledge in the disciplines it teaches, the school offers 15 graduate and undergraduate degrees in advertising and branding, business of beauty and fragrance, creative business leadership, design management, luxury and brand management, service design, and social strategy and management.

For more than 40 years, SCAD has continually reinvented itself in service of our mission to prepare students for creative professions, always and forever focused on the future, said SCAD President and Founder Paula Wallace. We changed the game for R&D with SCADpro, our innovation studio where students work directly with the worlds most valuable brands from Amazon and Google to Delta, Deloitte, HP, and Capital One. SCADs buoyant partnerships with the professions are why SCAD grads have enjoyed a 99% employment rate for the last four years straight. And now, to ensure the continued elite career preparation of tomorrows leaders in every sector of the global economy, SCAD invents again. Im so pleased to announce the formation of the SCAD School of Business Innovation.

The SCAD School of Business Innovation prepares the next generation of creative leaders to navigate the rapidly changing business landscape through in-depth industry knowledge, design thinking, research, and collaboration. With curriculum focused on the fundamentals of business design and economics, quantitative insights, global supply chain management, lifecycle marketing, brand acceleration, social analytics, and more, the schools premier degree programs empower students to become forward-thinking subject matter experts who will deliver transformative innovation to businesses.

Academic leaders

Victor Ermoli

The School of Business Innovation is led by Dean Victor Ermoli. Also overseeing the School of Design, Dean Ermoli has been with SCAD for more than two decades and has led the curriculum design of several programs in both schools. Ermoli has been named one of the 25 Most Admired Educators in America by DesignIntelligence, holds undergraduate and graduate industrial design degrees, and leads the new school through the lens of design and entrepreneurship. In addition to patents in the U.S. and Canada, and more than 30 years of design experience, Dean Ermoli led studio classes where his students designed products for Coca-Cola, Fossil, Pentair, Dell Computers, and many more prestigious companies.

Meloney Moore

The School of Business Innovation is also led by Associate Dean Meloney Moore, who held executive and management leadership roles in companies including Este Lauder, Liz Claiborne, and Toys R Us. Moore, who also leads the SCAD business of beauty and fragrance program, holds undergraduate and graduate business administration degrees and brings brand-oriented, global business perspective to the school leadership.

Jon Denham

Jon Denham is a visionary in the business industry with extensive experience building brand identities and delivering billion-dollar growth for leading global companies such as Procter & Gamble and Kraft Foods. Most recently, Denham served as the strategy and account vice president for Lextant Corporation, where he worked with clients such as Pfizer, Clorox, and SC Johnson.

Alessandro Cannata

Alessandro Cannata worked for more than a decade in the luxury sector across three continents in executive-level positions and with a focus on business development and communication. Serving as director of sales for companies such as Boglioli, Isaia, and Sutor Mantellassi in Milan, Cannata is an expert in luxury branding and consumer behavior. He holds two terminal degrees from leading European business schools: ESSEC Business School in Paris and Singapore and Universita Commerciale Luigi Bocconi in Milan.

Christopher Peeler

Peabody and Emmy Award winner Christopher Peeler joined SCAD in 2020 after serving as a senior producer and senior director of video news and programming at CNN and CNN Digital, where he grew the CNN Digital audience by more than 400% over a five-year period and expanded coverage from 17 hours to 24 hours per day. At CNN Digital, Peeler led digital content strategies for a portfolio of international digital products that drove more than $6 billion in annual video views and $90 million in revenue. Prior to CNN, Peeler was an executive producer at Sony Pictures Entertainment, where he achieved the networks highest show rating in 2005 with Games Across America.

Oscar Betancur

Before joining SCAD in 2012, Oscar Betancur worked as VP and associate creative director at The Star Group and has won multiple advertising awards. Betancurs client experience includes Warner Brothers Music, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Campbells, Johnson & Johnson, Mattel, and Tyco. As associate chair of social strategy and management at SCAD, Betancur brings a multidisciplined approach with his background in advertising, graphic design, motion media design, and fashion marketing and management.

Programs

Advertising and branding

SCAD advertising and branding students research, create, and deploy brand messaging that boosts engagement, drives action, and wins prestigious accolades like National ADDY awards and more. Guided by SCAD faculty, students have contributed to major campaigns for companies like Comcast, Chase Bank, Kodak, and Nintendo, and upon graduation, work for the worlds top agencies; the program features a 100% alumni employment rate. By mastering cutting-edge resources like game engines and augmented and virtual reality equipment to create their own branded experiences, students graduate as versatile, multiplatform storytellers prepared for career paths in emerging creative technology.

Business of beauty and fragrance

Beauty and fragrance power a $530-billion industry. In the SCAD business of beauty and fragrance program, students graduate with a globally minded, business-centric degree that lands jobs at top brands. Led by faculty from powerhouses like Este Lauder Companies and mentored by celebrated guests from international companies like LOral as well as boutique lines, SCAD students gain an in-depth understanding of the beauty industry grounded in future-forward marketing techniques, product development, branding packaging, and entrepreneurship. The program culminates with the development of a unique beauty brand or product and launch strategy.

Creative business leadership

Facing constant transformation, the most established businesses seek creative leaders to reimagine their services, products, strategy, and operations. Enter SCAD creative business leadership. In this one-year M.A. program that complements all SCAD undergraduate degrees, SCAD students transform into entrepreneurs prepared to run successful businesses or intrapreneurs who promote corporate innovation within existing organizations thanks to SCADpro collaborations with Fortune 500 brands and mentorship by visionaries at Tiffany and Co., Samsung, Clayco, and more. Students use simulation software to mimic the multifactor, high stakes decision-making scenarios CEOs face, and to understand market fluctuations and the challenges of raising capital.

Design management

SCAD, the worlds premier site for the study and practice of design thinking, is a living laboratory for the application of design management a discipline that empowers companies to spark innovation and think and act like designers. Design management students gain experience that will mirror their pivotal careers in the professional world and are prepared to enter a market that values creative design thinking, business theory, consumer needs, prototype development, and product testing. The program bolsters students knowledge and methods of business strategy, design theory, data visualization, communication techniques, social innovation, financial systems, and marketing.

Luxury and brand management

As future innovators in the luxury market, SCAD students enter this $350 billion global industry through five avenues: tech, travel, hospitality, beauty and fragrance, and fashion. The worlds first M.A. and M.F.A. degrees in luxury and brand management reflect the vigor of an expansive and evolving luxury market. The customized curriculum at SCAD, centered on global distribution and marketing strategies, financial analysis, supply chain management, and consumer engagement, explores the entire spectrum of the international luxury industry.

Service design

SCAD offers the first and only service design B.F.A., M.A., and M.F.A. in the U.S. Service designers create intuitive systems that organize three elements people, processes, and physical components to improve services across every realm of human activity. At SCAD, students learn how to research and analyze human behavior, societal needs, business models, and competitive environments to transform those insights into strategy. Equipped with a solid foundation in enterprise, innovation, and problem-solving, SCAD students are prepared to take leadership roles in the private and public sectors.

Social strategy and management

SCAD students are poised to launch brands to the top of the social media feed via a curriculum that merges advertising, branding, graphic design, marketing, photography, film, motion graphics, television, and writing. Students coordinate online brand advocacy and cross-promotion and become adept at creating compelling campaigns, from brand storytelling and strategy to analytics and audience engagement. Professionally, they become the creative directors, content creators, and community managers who orchestrate videos, photography, graphics, and copywriting across digital channels to launch authentic conversations and accelerate growth.

For more information on the SCAD School of Business Innovation, visit scad.edu/innovation.

SCAD: The University for Creative Careers

SCAD is a private, nonprofit, accredited university, offering more than 100 graduate and undergraduate degree programs across locations in Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia; Lacoste, France; and online via SCADnow. SCAD enrolls more than 15,700 undergraduate and graduate students from more than 120 countries. The future-minded SCAD curriculum engages professional-level technology and myriad advanced learning resources, affording students opportunities for internships, professional certifications, and real-world assignments with corporate partners through SCADpro, the universitys renowned research lab and prototype generator. SCAD is No. 1 in the U.S., according to Art & Objects 2021 Best Art Schools ranking, with additional top rankings for degree programs in interior design, architecture, film, fashion, digital media, and more. Career success is woven into every fiber of the university, resulting in a superior alumni employment rate. For the past four years, 99% of SCAD graduates were employed, pursuing further education, or both within 10 months of graduation. SCAD provides students and alumni with ongoing career support through personal coaching, alumni programs, a professional presentation studio, and more. Visit scad.edu.

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SCAD | School of Business Innovation - Business Wire

Human Behavior

How Do I Get My Moneys Worth at an All-Inclusive Resort? – Cond Nast Traveler

All-inclusive resorts can get a bad rap. The business model is associated with warm-weather locations and the type of vacation, like honeymoons or college spring breaks, where a guest travels from afar to lie still on a beach chair. In this stereotype, the food is typically uninspired and served buffet-style, and the drinks are fruity, frozen, and possibly watered-down. Even as the offerings changeand die-hard travelers can find all-inclusives that allow them to safari in southern Africa, ride horses in Patagonia, helicopter tour across Alaskathe prospect of choosing the right one, and feeling like youre getting your moneys worth, has just gotten more daunting.

A stay at Tordrillo Mountain Lodge in Alaska includes glacier hiking and heli-skiing.

It helps to grasp how an all-inclusive makes money. Any business is based around predictions of human behavior, and these resorts survive by making calculations and adjustments. It's trial and error, and you just change to accommodate people's needs wherever you can, says Michael Overcast, the owner of the Tordrillo Mountain Lodge in Alaska. What's important to us is that people feel that they get value, and that really comes out with the comments at the end of the trip, and the tip out for the employees. Keyboard warriors can have a wild impact across the industry, but particularly in this sector, says Elizabeth Fettes, chief marketing and sales officer at Karisma Hotels & Resorts. All-inclusives rely heavily on reviews, she says. [With] the higher review, you're naturally going to have a higher premium rate, and that's going to affect your bottom line.

In some ways, these venues operate like any other hotel. You have your overheads and you have your calculations and you know roughly what your annual percentage of food is going to be for x, y, and z, and that's what you base your rates on and you work from there, says Rebecca Platt, corporate director of sales and marketing for BodyHoliday and Rendezvous resorts in St. Lucia. Guests just need to beware of hidden charges. Although it doesn't apply to my resort here in St. Lucia, I have worked with resorts in previous lives where you don't see where there are different levels of all-inclusive packages, she continues. You will look at a fantastic rate to start but then when you actually get to the resortwell, yes, you can include that, for the extra x amount of dollars.

In addition to tiers of inclusivity, food and beverage upgrades are another spot where resorts can cash in. When they buy some special food or a bottle of wine, this is where the all-inclusives make money, because they don't consume what [they were] supposed to consume. Or when they go out for dinner in town, says Claudia Perez, corporate director of sales and marketing at Marquis Los Cabos Resort & Spa. Her colleague Casandra Luna, associate director of sales at the resort, points to one-time promotions, which encourage guests to return at full price and packages where hotels can make extra money. Packages with transportation, romantic services incentivizing going to the spaeverything that is not part of the all-inclusive, that's where we receive the revenue, she says.

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How Do I Get My Moneys Worth at an All-Inclusive Resort? - Cond Nast Traveler

Human Behavior

Steve King: The freedom of want is still a dream – Canton Repository

Steve King| Suburbanite correspondent

It was 79 years ago Thursday, on Jan. 6, 1941, that President Franklin Roosevelt delivered his famous Four Freedoms speech to Congress.

It was the main theme the overriding and the only theme, really of his 1941 State of the Union speech.

In future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential freedoms, FDR said. As he saw and described them:

The first is freedom of speech and expression everywhere in the world.

The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way everywhere in the world.

The third is freedom of want which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants everywhere in the world.

The fourth is freedom from fear which, translated into world terms, means a worldwide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor anywhere in the world.

Then FDR added, That is no vision of a distant millennium. It is a definite basis for a kind of world attainable in our own time and generation.

At the same time, Hitler was waging war on Europe and Japan was doing the same in the Pacific, and then almost exactly 11 months afterward, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor to drag FDR and the United States, which had been staunchly isolationist, into World War II.

But though FDRs words were swallowed up then, they survived the war and in 1948, the United Nations used the Four Freedoms as its guideline in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights it adopted.

Its the third freedom the freedom of want that is of particular interest, at least to me, as it applies to hunger, especially children. I think hunger is the biggest need of the four freedoms. You cant live if theres not enough to eat.

I have mentioned on a number of occasions in this space that I work a side job as a clerk at a convenient store. It is a great study in human behavior, most times in a positive fashion that warms your heart and soul, but still too many times that make you grit your teeth, bite your tongue and shake your head in disgust.

The store is located in a generally well-to-do city of 60,000 people situated near a much larger city. As with any big city, there are areas of economic difficulties within, and the biggest one in this particular city sets just four miles from the store.

Customers think nothing of dropping $100, and even $200 and more, on cigarettes, beer and lottery tickets. To each their own, and this is not a general diatribe against those expenditures, but only in the sense that that money could do so much to feed the hungry kids just down the road.

More specifically, if just 10 percent of the sales of the aforementioned items in any convenience store in the area, including ours, were to go instead to the local foodbank, it would fill a lot of empty stomachs.

That those people would, in my opinion, never consider taking that money and donating it, let alone actually doing it, is numbingly disappointing and disheartening.

All these years later, those needs and those resulting emotions persist.

Franklin Roosevelt would be saddened.

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Steve King: The freedom of want is still a dream - Canton Repository

Human Behavior

WW NAMED #1 "BEST DIET FOR WEIGHT LOSS" AND "BEST DIET PROGRAM" FOR TWELFTH CONSECUTIVE YEAR – PRNewswire

NEW YORK, Jan. 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ --WW International, Inc. (NASDAQ: WW) - a human-centric technology company powered by the world's leading commercial weight management program - has been recognized once again by health experts in the 2022 Best Diets rankings, released today by U.S. News & World Report. WW retained the #1 spot for both "Best Diet for Weight Loss" and "Best Diet Program" for the twelfth consecutive year since the rankings were first introduced in 2010. These rankings reflect decades of WW's scientific expertise and clinical evidence showcasing the program's effectiveness for sustainable weight loss and weight management.

WW also received high marks in the categories of "Best Diet Overall," "Easiest Diet to Follow," "Best Diet for Healthy Eating" and "Best Diet for Fast Weight Loss."

"This recognition is a testament of our unwavering focus on helping people develop healthy habits, rooted in science," said Gary Foster, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer, WW. "As part of that commitment, our team is constantly advancing our clinical research and innovating our program based on consumer needs and the latest nutrition and behavior change science. That way, we can meet people where they are on their wellness journeys and provide science-based tools and techniques."

WW most recently launched its PersonalPoints weight-loss programin November 2021, the latest advancement in helping members integrate positive lifestyle changes into their everyday lives. The new program makes losing weight and reaching wellness goals simpler and more attainable, all while helping members continue to live their best, fullest lives. It delivers a trifecta of game-changing new elements that work together to yield weight and wellness benefits, including: individualized plans, custom-built for each member; WW's most advanced food algorithm to date; and the ability to add Points for healthy behaviors such as eating non-starchy vegetables (like carrots, tomatoes, broccoli and spinach), reaching a daily water goal, and moving more. WW PersonalPoints has been proven to deliver clinically significant weight loss; decreases in hunger and food cravings; increases in physical activity and healthy habit formation; as well as improvements in overall well-being and quality of life.1

"We are honored to retain this distinguished ranking for over a decade, as a proven leader in weight management," said Mindy Grossman, President and CEO at WW. "As the world's partner in weight loss and wellness, we are constantly innovating on behalf of our members' needs to personalize the WW experience. This recognition further builds on the growing evidence that WW works: delivering solutions that fit members' lives and providing a livable path to sustainable weight management and healthy living."

WW members have the opportunity to further personalize how they follow the program through the award-winning mobile app; an on-demand wellness experience with Digital 360 (D360); or by attending Workshops (in-person or virtual). WW's world-class product and technology team is dedicated to enhancing the WW app experience every day.

The U.S. News & World Report panel of health experts includes nutritionists, physicians and others specializing in diabetes, heart health, human behavior and weight loss. For more information about the rankings, visit Best Diets 2022. For more information about WW, visit http://www.ww.com.

About WW International, Inc. WW (formerly Weight Watchers) is a human-centric technology company powered by the world's leading commercial weight management program. As a global wellness company, we inspire millions of people to adopt healthy habits for real life. Through our comprehensive digital app, expert Coaches and engaging experiences, members follow our proven, sustainable, science-based program focused on food, activity, mindset and sleep. Leveraging nearly six decades of expertise in nutritional and behavioral change science, providing real human connection and building inspired communities, our purpose is to democratize and deliver holistic wellness for all. To learn more about the WW approach to healthy living, please visit ww.com. For more information about our global business, visit our corporate website corporate.ww.com.

1Six-month pre-post study on 153 participants, conducted by Sherry Pagoto, PhD, and colleagues at the University of Connecticut. Study funded by WW.

For more information, contact:Jenny Zimmerman, WW[emailprotected]

SOURCE WW International, Inc.

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WW NAMED #1 "BEST DIET FOR WEIGHT LOSS" AND "BEST DIET PROGRAM" FOR TWELFTH CONSECUTIVE YEAR - PRNewswire

Human Behavior

Talar trochlear morphology may not be a good skeletal indicator of locomotor behavior in humans and great apes | Scientific Reports – Nature.com

It is generally accepted that the trochlear surface of humans and great apes can be approximated by a cone frustum1,2, but no previous studies have demonstrated this, to the best of our knowledge. The present study demonstrated, for the first time, that the talar trochlea surfaces in humans and great apes can actually be well approximated by a cone frustum, as suggested by Inman1 and Latimer et al.2. However, in gorillas, if the whole region of the talar trochlea was approximated by the cone, the apex of the cone was found to be located on the lateral side of the trochlea, owing to the fact that the curvature radii of the medial rims of the gorilla trochlea were larger than those of the lateral rims because the surface of the posteromedial portion of the trochlea was flattened, as shown in Fig. 2, as previously reported12,24. To bring the apex of the cone on the medial side of the trochlea as in other species, only the conical portion of the trochlea should be used to approximate the trochlear surface in gorillas.

Although the calculated apical angles of the approximated cones were significantly correlated with the talar angles (P=0.0003) conventionally used to estimate the apical angles of the cones3,7 (Fig.7), the present study demonstrated that the correlation between these angles was weak (R=0.379). Geometrically, the talar angle should be half of the apical angle because the cone apex is at the intersection between the line passing through the supratalar surface and the talocrural rotational axis corresponding to the cone axis, and the talar angle is the angle between the two lines on the coronal plane. However, this geometrical relationship was not clearly observed in our study (Fig.7B). These discrepancies indicate that the talar angle could not precisely estimate the apical angle of the cone frustum fitted to the trochlea. This is because the apical angle of the cone is a 3D quantity but the talar angle estimated the apical angle only two-dimensionally on the coronal plane, and the angle projected on the transverse plane was not incorporated. Therefore, the talar angle cannot be used as a synonym of the apical angle of the cone frustum approximating the trochlea but is only a 2D angle of the trochlear rotation axis estimated based on the two inferior-most points of the tibial and fibular facets with respect to the superior surface of the talar trochlea.

The present study demonstrated statistically significant interspecific differences in the apical angle. The apical angles of the humans and chimpanzees were significantly smaller than those of gorillas and orangutans, but no statistical difference was detected between humans and chimpanzees, as well as between gorillas and orangutans (Fig.5). This result contradicted the findings of Latimer et al.2 and DeSilva3, who reported that the talar angle of humans was smaller than that of chimpanzees and gorillas. In the present study, the human talar angle was confirmed to be significantly smaller than that of gorillas (P<0.0001), but not that of chimpanzees (P=0.149). These findings suggest that the talar angle may not be as different as once thought between humans and chimpanzees. Humans engage in habitual bipedalism. Gorillas engage in knuckle-walking and are regarded as the most terrestrial of the great apes, although western lowland gorillas are known to climb on trees for feeding to some extent25,26. Chimpanzees also engage in knuckle-walking and travel between feeding trees mainly on the ground27, but they frequently engage in vertical climbing and suspensory locomotion as well28,29. Orangutans are fundamentally quadrumanous climbers in the rain forest canopy, and they seldom walk on the ground30,31,32. Therefore, there is a distinctive difference in the degree of arboreality among species. However, the present study suggested that the apical (or talar) angle is not clearly associated with the degree of arboreality in humans and great apes.

Our geometric morphometric analysis clearly extracted and visualized interspecific differences in the shape of the talar trochlea among humans and great apes, which were not clearly observed in the comparisons of the apical and talar angles. Chimpanzees, along with macaques, possessed a longer and highly curved talar trochlea (Fig.9A). The longer and curved trochlea possibly allows greater sagittal rotation of the tibia on the trochlea surface at the ankle joint, possibly increasing the mobility of the ankle plantar and dorsiflexion. The greater mobility in dorsiflexion of the ankle joint has been suggested to facilitate vertical climbing3,33,34. It was also found that chimpanzees and gorillas possessed more trapezoidal trochleae than humans (Fig.9A) as reported by previous studies5,12,24. Because the anterior region of the superior surface of the talar trochlea contacts the tibial plafond during dorsiflexion35, the relatively wider anterior part of the trochlea may increase the contact area of the ankle joint during ankle dorsiflexion, possibly to adapt to greater weight bearing when the ankle is in a dorsiflexed posture. Conversely, the human (and macaque) trochleae did not exhibit such a feature, but the trochlea was more rectangular than those of the other species, possibly to adapt to increased contact force during plantarflexion, particularly in the late stance phase of human walking36. The gorilla trochlea differed from that of the other four species in having a less-curved posteromedial trochlea, more medially projected medial malleolar extension onto the talar neck, and deeper central groove. The former two features may be related to the reduced range of the talocrural joint in gorillas to accommodate their large body mass37,38. The enhanced central groove provides increased stability of the talocrural joint in the mediolateral direction. The orangutan trochlea is unique in having a wider posterior margin of the trochlea and a more dorsally turned anteromedial and posterolateral trochlear surface, indicating that the trochlear surface is relatively flatter. The functional significance of this morphological feature is obscure, but it might be related to the fact that the orangutan foot functions as a suspensory supporting organ for hook-like digital gripping without involvement of the hallux, although in the chimpanzee and gorillas, the foot may be adapted to hallux-assisted power gripping39. However, to make further inferences about the form-function relationship of the talar trochlea, data on actual foot use in African great apes and orangutans during terrestrial and arboreal locomotion are lacking and should be investigated in future studies.

The present study demonstrated that the talar trochlea was clearly different in shape between humans and great apes. However, the present study also found that the talar shape was not clearly associated with the differences in locomotor behavior and the degree of arboreality among the species. For example, the apical or talar angle of the trochlea is believed to be correlated with the degree of foot inversion facilitating vertical climbing by positioning the foot sole against the tree substrate2,3, but the apical angle of the trochlea was not substantially different between humans and chimpanzees (Fig.5). In addition, the scatter diagram (Fig.8A) demonstrated that the trochlea is more similar in shape between humans and orangutans, which differ substantially in locomotor behavior. The morphology of the talar trochlea may not be a distinct skeletal correlate of locomotor behavior possibly because the talar morphology is determined not only by locomotor behavior, but also by other factors such as phylogeny and body size. This is consistent with Sorrentino et al.5 indicating that the morphology of the hominin trochlea is not unequivocally linked to locomotor behavior. Therefore, caution needs to be exercised in assessing the morphological affinities of fossil hominid tali to reconstruct their locomotor behavior.

The present study has some limitations. First, the apical angle of the cone may be affected by the manual extraction of the trochlear surface. However, we defined the extracted region as objectively as possible; hence, this effect was confirmed to be relatively minor. Second, the present study included both wild and captive specimens in non-human species. However, we confirmed that the use of captive specimens has only minor effect on our results (Supplementary Information). Third, the present study did not investigate morphological variations in the distal tibia40 and fibula41, which are also important determinants of the mobility of the talocrural joint.

In conclusion, we demonstrated that the trochlea of the talus can be approximated by a conical surface in humans and great apes. However, it was found that the calculated apical angle did not clearly correspond to the degree of arboreality. Our detailed trochlear shape analysis using geometric morphometrics successfully extracted interspecific differences in the morphology of the trochlea; however, no clear association was observed between the morphology and locomotor behavior. The morphology of the talar trochlea may not be a distinct skeletal correlate of locomotor behavior.

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Talar trochlear morphology may not be a good skeletal indicator of locomotor behavior in humans and great apes | Scientific Reports - Nature.com

Human Behavior

The Worst Lifestyle Habits Causing You to Feel Older, Science Says Eat This Not That – Eat This, Not That

We're all getting just a little bit older each day, but at least we're in it together. The World Health Organization estimates that by the year 2050, there will be over two billion people ages 60 and older on a global scale! Indeed, people all over the world are living longer than ever, and there's no sign of that trend slowing down. Near unbelievably, a recent study published in Demographic Research even predicts that we'll see a human live into their 120s by the end of this century.

The prospect of waking up one day and blowing out 125 birthday candles may sound preposterous, but just a couple short centuries ago, the average American life expectancy was only roughly 40 years old!

Now, plenty of people tend to worry that with advanced age comes more pain, less independence, and a decline in mental facilities. While a certain level of physical and mental deterioration is unavoidable as the years pass by, it's not a foregone conclusion. Research released in Nature Human Behavior concludes that many older adults actually see their mental capacities improve with age.

"These results are amazing, and have important consequences for how we should view aging," says senior study investigator, Michael T. Ullman, PhD, a professor in the Department of Neuroscience, and Director of Georgetown's Brain and Language Lab.

"People have widely assumed that attention and executive functions decline with age, despite intriguing hints from some smaller-scale studies that raised questions about these assumptions," he continues. "But the results from our large study indicate that critical elements of these abilities actually improve during aging, likely because we simply practice these skills throughout our life."

No aging outcome is set in stone. We all very much dictate how smoothly we age with the choices we make each day. Of course, that also means there are lifestyle decisions and choices we should avoid in the interest of graceful aging. Read on to learn about the worst lifestyle habits causing you to feel older, and for more, don't miss 4 Exercise Tricks to Fight Aging.

There's nothing wrong with the occasional night spent watching movies, but don't make a habit of gluing yourself to the living room couch.

One compelling set of research from the American Heart Association tells us that too much time channel surfing during middle age can lead to increased odds of cognitive decline and loss of thinking skills later in life. More specifically, the research indicates watching lots of television is associated with lower gray matter volumes in the brain. Gray matter is responsible for a number of important neural processes, such as decision making.

"Our findings suggest that the amount of television viewing, a type of sedentary behavior, may be related to cognitive decline and imaging markers of brain health," says Priya Palta, a neurologist at New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center. "Therefore, reducing sedentary behaviors, such as television viewing, may be an important lifestyle modification target to support optimal brain health."

Related: What Happens to Your Body When You Sit Too Much Every Day, Say Experts

It isn't just TV either. Too much lounging, in general, can lead to you feeling older than you shouldboth mentally and physically. It's well documented that exercise keeps our muscles and bones healthy, but did you know that more movement can help you stay young from a biological and cellular perspective?

Research published in JAMA and Archives Journals finds that those who stay active in their free time are actually biologically younger than other, lazier people of the exact same age. That's right, a stagnant lifestyle can literally age you at a faster pace. "A sedentary lifestyle increases the propensity to aging-related disease and premature death," the study reads. "Inactivity may diminish life expectancy not only by predisposing to aging-related diseases but also because it may influence the aging process itself."

Further research published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings also tells us that a regular cardio habit can be a major asset when it comes to maintaining robust brain health well into old age. Study authors report cardio workouts are linked with increased levels of gray matter volume. "This is another piece of the puzzle showing physical activity and physical fitness is protective against aging-related cognitive decline," comments editorial co-author Dr. Michael Joyner, a Mayo Clinic anesthesiologist and physiologist.

Related: 5 Quick Cardio Workouts That Burn Fat Fast

If you've had an erratic sleep schedule lately, you're certainly not alone. The pandemic has interrupted virtually everyone's slumber to varying degrees, but sleep is an age-fighting endeavor well worth prioritizing. This study released in the scientific journal Sleep even finds that middle-aged adults who sleep more or less than 6-8 hours regularly may experience an accelerated rate of cognitive decline equal to 4-7 years of aging! That's a high cognitive price to pay for staying up late (or sleeping in too often).

Another research project published in Clinical and Experimental Dermatology discovered that poor sleepers' skin tends to age at a faster pace. "Our study is the first to conclusively demonstrate that inadequate sleep is correlated with reduced skin health and accelerates skin aging. Sleep deprived women show signs of premature skin aging and a decrease in their skin's ability to recover after sun exposure," explains Dr. Elma Baron, Director of the Skin Study Center at UH Case Medical Center and Associate Professor of Dermatology at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. It isn't always easy, but sticking with a regular sleep schedule can keep you feeling and looking young.

Related: The Best Supplements for Sleep, According to Doctors

The internet is an incredible tool, but just like anything else in life, it's very possible to have too much of a good thing. More specifically, it's a good idea to cut down on your screen time. Research suggests that prolonged exposure to the blue light emitted by computers, smartphones, and everything in between may accelerate the aging process. Published in Aging and Mechanisms of Disease, the study concludes the blue light may damage both brain and eye cells.

Instead, invest your time in offline activities like reading or writing. Plenty of research indicates that a consistent reading habit can do wonders for both the brain and body. This study from the Radiological Society of America reports that writing and reading help preserve the "structural integrity" of our brains. Sounds like it's time to dust off the old library card. "Reading the newspaper, writing letters, visiting a library, attending a play or playing games, such as chess or checkers, are all simple activities that can contribute to a healthier brain," study co-author Konstantinos Arfanakis, Ph.D., comments.

Doing your reading away from a computer screen benefits more than just the mind. This study from the University of Liverpool actually found that joining a book club can help alleviate back pain and chronic pain, in general. Another study published in Cell Reports collected evidence suggesting that reading outside can improve eyesight.

Life moves fast, and oftentimes, it's easier to push stress aside than actually process and deal with it. Living with constant stress may save time, but finding a way to destress that works for you can go a long way toward slower, more graceful aging. New research from Yale University just published in Translational Psychiatry finds that chronic stress indeed causes our biological clocks to tick faster.

Researchers focused on DNA-related chemical "epigenetic" bodily changes, or disease markers associated with growing older like increased insulin resistance. Among a collection of over 400 participants, those who reported higher levels of stress universally showed signs of accelerated aging.

Importantly, however, certain participants showed more resilience to the impact of stress on aging. This cohort scored very well when it came to both emotional regulation and self-control, suggesting that finding a way to cope with stressors in a healthy way is of the utmost importance to healthy aging.

"These results support the popular notion that stress makes us age faster," notes study co-author Zachary Harvanek, a resident in the Yale Department of Psychiatry, "but they also suggest a promising way to possibly minimize these adverse consequences of stress through strengthening emotion regulation and self-control."

If you're looking for a new way to de-stress, consider trying yoga or meditation. And for more on how to fight the effects of aging, check out The Best Anti-Aging Diets, According to Science.

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The Worst Lifestyle Habits Causing You to Feel Older, Science Says Eat This Not That - Eat This, Not That

Human Behavior

Architect Who Helped Restore Navy Pier Wanted To ‘Make Places That Are Good For Families And Everybody To Enjoy’ – Block Club Chicago

EDGEBROOK Jerome Jerry Butler Jr. is best known for his award-winning restoration of Navy Piers East End buildings. But the prolific Chicago architect made his mark throughout the city, designing numerous fire stations, police stations, city buildings and landmarks during his long career.

What motivated Butler the most was not awards or recognition, said his daughter, Carolyn Butler.

It was his passion for Chicago and to change it for the better, Carolyn Butler said. He wanted to, make places that are good for families and everybody to enjoy, like Navy Pier, she said.

Jerome Butler, who also served multiple roles in city government, died in his Edgebrook home Dec. 2. He was 93.

Jerome Butler felt a deep affection for the city of Chicago, just like he loved, and was loved by, the many people in his life everyone from his family to the kids in the neighborhood to the janitors who worked at Navy Pier, his daughter said.

People just loved him. He understood human behavior. All the kids in the neighborhood loved him, Carolyn Butler said. Wherever he worked, the janitors would come up to him and just talk to him like he was one of the guys.

Butler was a lifelong Chicagoan he grew up in Edgewater and graduated from the University of Illinois Navy Pier campus in 1952.

His father, Jerome Butler Sr., was an engineer for the city who worked on the bridges and bridge houses along the Chicago river, and he influenced Butler Jr.s decision to pursue architecture, Carolyn Butler said.

After graduation, Jerome Butler Jr. joined architecture firm Naess & Murphy, where he worked on the building now known as One Prudential Plaza, Carolyn Butler said. He began working in city government in 1960; in 1967, Mayor Richard J. Daley appointed him city architect, according to the Tribune.

It was during Jerome Butlers time as city architect that he completed one of the crowning achievements of his career: Navy Pier.

By the early 1970s, the parts of Navy Pier that werent related to its function as a port facility had fallen into disrepair, author Douglas Bukowski wrote in his book, Navy Pier: A Chicago Landmark.

But Jerome Butler brought new life to the pier. Beginning in 1974, he led the restoration of several landmarks on Navy Pier, including whats now known as the Aon Grand Ballroom, a promenade on the north side of the pier and a solar energy project to heat up the east end of the pier, according to Bukowskis book.

Jerome Butlers work at Navy Pier in 1979 earned him a spot in the American Institute of Architects College of Fellows, an honor bestowed to only 3 percent of the organizations members who have made significant contributions to the profession, according to the the group.

Jerome Butler also helped design State Street Mall, a pedestrian-friendly stretch of the street to draw shoppers to the citys major retailers, which was completed in 1979 according to Robert P. Ledermann, author of State Street: One Brick at a Time. Mayor Richard M. Daley closed the mall in 1993 and reopened it as a thoroughfare for cars like the street is today, according to the Tribune.

In 1979, Jerome Butler was named the head of the citys Department of Public Works under Mayor Jane Byrne, according to the Tribune. In 1985, under former Mayor Harold Washington, he served briefly as commissioner of the Chicago Department of Aviation.

Jerome Butler later worked as the deputy general manager at Navy Pier in the 1990s, helping oversee its $200 million renovation in 1995 into the popular tourist attraction many know today, according to the Tribune.

Jerome Butler was incredibly passionate about his work and never missed a day, Carolyn Butler said.

He was there every day from 8 to 5. Sometimes hed get home late because of openings and projects and teaching young architects, she said.

Roula Alakiotou was one of the architects who worked under Jerome Butler, from 1976 to 1979, in her first job after graduate school. She remembers him as a no-frills, good man who advocated for diversity in the field. Alakiotou said she become good friends with him and his wife even after she left her city role.

Jerome Butler also helped Alakiotou launch her studio, Roula Architects, by introducing her to larger commercial firms and helping her secure city contracts.

I loved the man. He was a simple, straightforward guy, and I miss him terribly, Alakiotou said. He had a long life, but he made a big difference to architects in the city.

Outside of work, Jerome Butler enjoyed outdoor hobbies like handball, sailing, golfing and swimming. After he retired, he took up watercolor paintings and photography, both of which he excelled at, his daughter said.

Jerome Butler was married to the late Marianne Butler for 65 years. He is survived by his three children, two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

A frequent pastime for the Butler family was to visit Downtown and see Navy Pier.

He was a great father. He was always in good spirits, Carolyn Butler said. People loved him; even the people at Navy Pier who were the lowest on the totem pole loved my father. He showed no prejudice or a bad word about anybody, everybody. All my friends, they all loved my dad.

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Architect Who Helped Restore Navy Pier Wanted To 'Make Places That Are Good For Families And Everybody To Enjoy' - Block Club Chicago

Human Behavior

The air we breathe | @theU – @theU

Dr. Paines essay first appeared on the Good Notes blog.

Our state can be awinter wonderlandof abundant sun-drenched ski slopes. Unfortunately, Utah can also be a winterinversion-land.

Were learning more about bad health effects from bad air we breathe, especially during our annual winter temperature inversions. It may not be easy to see, but we also know that, because of changes in better human behavior, our dirty air has slowly been getting cleaner. Theres still a long way to go.

Through our research, weve recently learned about the effects of different, specific aspects of air pollution. We know more details about the effects of particulate pollution. During our wintertime inversions, we develop high levels of tiny particles in the air, called PM 2.5. These particles are just the perfect size to get down into the working part of the lung, where blood and air come close together. Higher levels of PM 2.5 over long periods of time cause all sorts of effects, such as increased rates of cardiac events, including heart attacks and deteriorating cardiac function, increased rates of asthma, and more premature births. Exposure to PM 2.5 also contributes to strokes and to deterioration in mental capacities in seniors. We know from recent research in Utah that theres an association of increased PM 2.5 levels with risk of severe pneumonia. We also know that pollution can contribute to mortality, even at lower levels than were previously considered safe.

Pollution and COVID-19

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, we already knew poor air quality was a risk factor for respiratory failure following a variety of insults, such as viral pneumonia or trauma. COVID-19 has expanded our understanding of this risk. A number of studies from the United States, Western Europe, and China show that people who have had greater exposure to air pollution over prior years are more likely to contract COVID-19, to have a more difficult course with the disease, and even to die from COVID-19.

So, like many aspects of health, air pollution makes COVID-19 worse. The most likely explanation is that chronic, low-level air inflammation in the lungs due to air pollution leaves a person more prone, when they become infected with the virus, to develop explosive, dysregulated inflammation that causes severe respiratory failure. These individuals require hospitalization, care in ICUs, support with ventilators, and are at great risk of death.

I spend a lot of time talking to patients about what they need to do when the air outdoors is more dangerous. I explain that they need to pay attention to air quality and should not just go outside and do their normal activity if the air quality is poor. I tell them to protect themselves and their children by staying indoors. Yes, people should still exercise, but they should try to shift to indoors rather than be exposed to high levels of pollution.

Its often important to pay attention to the time of day if going outside. Pollution is frequently not as bad in the morning, so its a better time to exercise. This is particularly true in the summer with ozone, but it can be true with particulate pollution as well, both summer and winter. So really think hard about timing and place for outdoor activity.

If its possible to find a silver lining to lockdowns during the pandemic, our air quality has improved. Remote work has been recognized for a long time as one way to improve air quality. We used to think that only a few special businesses could do it and that it would be very hard to do more broadly. The lockdowns made us discover that large numbers of people could work remotely, stop or decrease their daily commutes, and cut down on the vehicle portion of pollution.

Overall, air quality has improved in the last few years. Efforts by theEnvironmental Protection Agency (EPA)promoting cleaner fuels and more efficient, cleaner vehicles has been a huge help. The emissions per mile driven in our state has actually gotten considerably better. A little over half of the PM 2.5 pollution we see during the winter comes from mobile sources: cars, trucks, and off-road vehicles. The less we drive and the cleaner the cars, the better for our air.

A small amount of particulate PM 2.5 comes from the large smoke stacks that we worry about. We worry, because we can see them. But those big stacks at places such as Kennecott are pretty heavily regulated, and they have improved considerably in response to these regulations. That doesnt mean we shouldnt improve them further. We also need civic and state leadership to think about strict regulations for new industrial operations, such as the proposed inland port in Salt Lake City, to avoid adding to our pollution burden.

A third class of air pollution comes fromarea sources: our homes, small businesses, and such things as furnaces and hot water heaters. Weve had a lot of improvements on that front. Thanks to theState Air Quality Boardand with support from the legislature, we now have ultra-low NOx hot water heaters going into new buildings. We have improved insulation and the efficiency of heating and cooling. In these area sources, we can really push ahead even more. Anything we do now is a good investment for the future, as opposed to having to retrofit later.

Improving air qualitynowhas long-term benefits, even if it means paying a little more for a car, driving a little less, and altering life at home in terms of insulation and turning thermostats downall little things. Over the last 30 years, the EPA estimates that the cost of improving air quality has been about $60 billion, a big number. And the benefits have been about $2 trillion. There really is a huge return on investment.

Improving air quality will definitely improve our community health. But achieving better air quality will take a combination of personal behavior, political will, and economic incentives. We are far better than we used to be. Nevertheless, even with this improvement, lives are lost every day to air pollution.

It takes all of us participating to further improve the air we breathe. Lets aim for that wonderland of winter when we always see sharp outlines of the beautiful mountains that surround us.

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The air we breathe | @theU - @theU

Human Behavior

Parental praise associated with longer toddler toothbrushing, a barometer of persistence | Penn Today – Penn Today

Any parent of a young child understands the battle of wills that daily toothbrushing can entail. Research led by the University of Pennsylvanias Allyson Mackey and Julia Leonard of Yale University shows that parental praise during this task is associated with longer brushing, a barometer of the childs persistence. They shared their findings in the journal Child Development.

Persistence in early childhood has consequences for many life outcomes, from what children learn to whether they maintain friendships or reach their goals, says Leonard, an assistant professor at Yale and former postdoc in Mackeys lab, The Changing Brain. Its a really important skill for children to develop.

Most work in this area asks parents and children to come into a lab where researchers then study a behavior in the moment for a brief period. Mackey and Leonard wanted a more realistic situation.

They also knew it would be crucial to pick a task that wasnt yet a full-blown habit for a toddler. When youre learning something, you use the cortex, but, once youve learned it, it transfers to subcortical areas of the brain. You can do the same thing over and over without having to think about it, says Mackey, an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology and study senior author. We wanted to study something more variable and more sensitive.

In consultation with colleagues across Penn, including David Lydon-Staley in the Annenberg School for Communication, Angela Duckworth in the School of Arts & Sciences and Wharton School, and Dani S. Bassett in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, they landed on a design in which parents would record their 3-year-olds brushing teeth at home, each morning and evening, for 16 days in a row. Eighty-one families enrolled.

Its the first time this kind of video-based paradigm has been used to study how young children behave during consecutive days. This way of measuring kids every day gave us a window into peoples homes, into the interaction between parent and child, Mackey says.

Rather than capturing a static picture, the work obtained something much more dynamic, adds Lydon-Staley. To study things like emotions, cognitions, and behaviors, we need methods that move us outside of the lab, says Lydon-Staley, an assistant professor of communication who runs Penns Addiction, Health, & Adolescence Lab. You can learn something thats more ecologically valid. With toothbrushing, you see natural fluctuations, how much it varies under natural conditions, and how much children get pushed by parent talk. You get to see life as its lived.

What the researchers saw once they watched and analyzed the videos surprised them.

For one, parental behaviors mattered, the strongest effect the team discovered. When parents encouraged their children with words as simple as good job, rather than instructed with comments like brush the backs or keep brushing, children spent longer on the task.

Second, the researchers noticed that other factorsthe parents stress level, the childs mood, how much sleep the child had gotten the previous nightalso played a role, though less so than parent talk.

Finally, a childs persistence changed from one day to the next. Our behavior and our childrens behavior varies every day, almost as much as it does from person to person, Leonard says. Thats just a really profound way to view human behavior. Even if we think were having a bad day, that could totally change the next day.

Using the video-based approach and using toothbrushing as a measure of child response offer great tools for future work on persistence, according to Mackey, who says that these findings likely hold for other age groups and other tasks.

Beyond that, these approaches are key to determining more personalized interventions, for example, understanding the child who responds to praise compared to one who doesnt but is sensitive to sleep disruptions. If you can figure that out for your kid, she says, thats the first and most critical step toward figuring out how to change behavior.

Funding for this research came from a Jacobs Foundation Early Career Research Fellowship and from MindCORE at the University of Pennsylvania

Allyson Mackey is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology in the School of Arts & Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania. She runs The Changing Brain lab and is a researcher in MindCORE.

Julia Leonard is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at Yale University.

Other University of Pennsylvania researchers who contributed to the work include Dani S. Bassett of the School of Engineering and Applied Science, Angela Duckworth of the School of Arts & Sciences and Wharton School, David Lydon-Staley of the Annenberg School for Communication, and from The Changing Brain lab, graduate student Anne Park, research specialist Sophie Sharp, and research assistant Hunter Liu.

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Parental praise associated with longer toddler toothbrushing, a barometer of persistence | Penn Today - Penn Today