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lemondzest · 3 years

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Understanding Obesity (Part 2): Whose responsibility for obesity?

Now that we know obesity is a public health crisis requiring urgent action, we may wonder - what causes it? After all, effective solutions require tackling the root causes of the problem. This part therefore aims to shed light on five of the many contributing factors to obesity.

1. Choices

Nothing much to elaborate here; choosing to eat more and moving less will result in weight gain. More calories in, less calories out - basic law of thermodynamics. Boring. However, many people are quick to go down the reductionist route by placing ALL the blame on the individual’s personal choices. If it’s just a matter of people needing to make the right choices, if it’s really that simple, we would have tackled obesity long ago. Blaming obesity solely on individual choices does not answer WHY we are increasingly eating more and moving less. Take a look at this timeline of adult obesity in the U.S below by the CDC, similarly reported in other countries across the globe.

The rate of obesity has tripled worldwide since the late 1970s. If obesity is simply caused by a lack of personal responsibility, what happened in the late 1970s? Did everyone collectively lose their rationale - maybe everyone got together, decided to YOLO and go buffet in life? Definitely possible (cue the entrance of conspiracy theorists), but highly unlikely. Did some form of transcendent power strike the DNA of humans collectively that made us evolve into a bunch of lazier and much more ravenous creatures? Scientists have studied evolutionary changes during this period and concluded that nope, our gene pool has remained constant; any changes in the gene pool would take hundreds of years to produce an obvious effect across a global population anyway. This means that:

the global rise in obesity is not because of any significant genetic changes,

people did not willingly choose to eat more and move less,

there are other external factors that mainly drives the obesity epidemic.

Consider a class of 10 pupils. When only one pupil gets very low grades in an exam and the other nine got full marks, the one pupil is considered mainly at fault. Perhaps they need to study more and work harder to get a good mark. But when six out of ten got very low grades, is it still the pupils’ fault? Would we then tell the children to study more, while everyone else (i.e the teacher, parents, education system) just remain in inertia, or goyang kaki?

Similarly, when 63% of the people in Brunei are living with overweight and obesity -- is it still entirely their fault?

2. Environment

(Please bear with me, I’m trying my best not to turn this section into a whole thesis).

The environment is one of the largest contributors of the rise in the obesity epidemic. This is based on rigorous academic evidence and decades of research. Essentially, the environment has generally promoted the increased consumption of unhealthier food through a rapid increase in its:

availability : since the 1970s, the food environment underwent a shift from predominantly fresh produce to a more ultra processed diet. Food are being processed to the point where they look nothing like what they originally look like, stuffing them with cheap ingredients such as sugar, salt, trans-fats and flavourings to enable mass production to be sold at cheap prices and for easy consumption. These products are called ultra processed food, and examples include soda, sausages, nuggets, sugary cereals, instant noodles, crisps, chocolates and so on. Because of its poor nutritional profile, ultra processed food has confidently been associated with higher risks of obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer, depression, asthma, etc. And we, especially young people, are consuming more of this than ever.

exposure : we're talking about the aggressive marketing strategies that has been employed especially by the fast food industry and beyond. I remember going back home from the airport after my 14-day COVID quarantine being bombarded by roughly 10 billboard ads, majority of which are advertising for fast food. As I went out and about for the next few months, I realised that we are exposed to food companies constantly fighting for our attention through their advertisements, whether in the form of billboard ads, physical outlets, leaflets, newspaper ads, TV ads, social media ads, social media influencers, event sponsorships, - the list just goes on! In fact, 46% of the annual advertising budget in the UK goes to soda, confectionery and snacks, while only 2.5% goes to fruits and vegetables. Imagine if it was the other way around.. One can only dream... The point is, we as humans are constantly being tempted with unhealthier food rather than healthier food, which in turn, drives up our purchase and consumption of unhealthier food products. I also particularly like this photo taken in the UK that just showcases the pedestal unhealthier food ads are being placed on, i.e. same level as public health ads. Oh, the irony! (Good news for Bruneians - a code of conduct on responsible food marketing has been implemented recently to shield our children from these ads! Just what we need, priority on children’s health > anything else.)

portion sizes : certain food such as pizza and soft drinks underwent a significant increase in portion sizes from the 1970s to 2000s. Just a few days ago I went to to a fast food outlet and noticed that, as usual, the default drink choice is soda, but the default size is now the large one as compared to the smaller one that I remember seeing 3 years ago before I left the country. I was also informed that some other outlets have been asking customers to upsize their drinks by default. Just how necessary is this? We may think this is not a problem because people supposedly eat according to their physiological needs and can simply stop when they’re full, and so they wouldn’t need to finish the whole portion. But research leading to the discovery of what is known as the portion size effect (PSE) has suggested otherwise; the more energy-dense food people are served, the more they tend to eat.

The 21st century environment is also promoting physical inactivity and a sedentary lifestyle compared to the past centuries. Opportunities for physical activity especially in high-income countries have declined possibly due to the rapid urbanisation, rise in 9-5 jobs and more people relying on motorised transportation methods. Although research has shown that physical activity (PA) among adults done during free time have increased in the past ~30 years, a simultaneous decrease was found in physical activity done while working in the past ~50 years. Young people are also observed to be more physical inactive levels throughout the years, though locally... I like to think that our younger people are getting more physical-activity-conscious nowadays since applaudable efforts to widen opportunities for PA such as the launch of Bandarku Ceria and the opening of numerous hiking sites and gyms booming in 2019-2020. But this could just be my skewed perception looking at a small and specific demographic of the population - more formal research needs to be done.

So, we know that the environment is the main factor that drives up the obesity pandemic. But if we are all living in an environment which predisposes us to develop obesity, why don't we ALL have obesity? This tells us that there are other factors that makes an individual more likely to act on the environment's impulses - such as their socioeconomic status (income, education) and especially their genes.

3. Income

Research among developed countries such as the UK, Australia, Germany and Singapore has shown that people who are from lower income level are significantly associated with a higher risk of obesity. This graph below just shows how stark the inequality is between the most and least deprived areas of the UK. Note also how rapidly-widening the gap is over the years!

Why are poorer families in developed countries more likely to live with obesity?

Food that are more nutritious are often less affordable than nutritious food. I particularly love this infographic showing how in order to meet the general recommendation of a healthy diet in the UK, the poorer families would have to spend 39% of their income on food alone, while this percentage steadily decreases as your income increases, to as low as 8% for the richer families. The same pattern is reflected in many other countries including the USA, Australia and

This inequality is not just seen within countries, but also across countries. One study across 18 countries identified that in order to meet the recommended guideline of 5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day, families in lower income countries would need to spend 52% of their income on them, those in middle income countries would need to spend 17% while those in higher income countries would need to spend a mere 2% of their income.

The price gap between healthier and unhealthier food can then affect people's purchasing behaviour, where families from lower income are forced to prioritise quantity of food over quality. For some of us, we are privileged enough to be able to choose food that are delicious, nutritious, and of different variety each time. But for some others, especially among families with poorer background battling food insecurity, they can only afford to eat in order to feel full and get through the day. Research has shown how poorer families always have to 1) balance out their choices of food with the utilisation of scarce resources, and 2) make judgment of food prices relative to other food prices. Combining this with the known fact discussed above that unhealthier food are FAR more aggressively marketed (almost 20 times more) than healthier food - we are left with a group of the population who are predisposed to choosing food that are mainly satiating, and less nutritious than the recommended guideline.

In fact, we know that even more factors than those discussed above can contribute to people from poorer families having an unhealthier diet. One of them is, on top of the price gap of groceries, we have the price gap of fast food. Parents who are busy and don't have much time to cook nutritious and homemade food often resort to fast food to sustain their family. Sure, we have a plethora of fast food options to choose from (and they just keep increasing - don't get me started). But what kind of fast food is both affordable and nutritious? Nasi katok costs $1 while a balanced meal costs $5 (minimum), and this disparity is seen all around the world.

Given all this, we still have the audacity to say that obesity is simply caused by a lack of willpower?

Gimme a break. It is clear that people who are not as financially privileged requires additional support in order to maintain a healthy weight. If not through finance, through education (further explained in Cause 4), or even better - both!

Side note: Despite the overwhelming evidence that having low income is associated with higher risk of obesity, there is also emerging evidence showing the possibility of the opposite (reverse causality); living with obesity is ALSO associated with having low income due to stigmatisation and discrimination. So basically... living with low income may cause people to live with obesity, and likewise living with obesity may cause people to live with low income. This syndemic is similar to the that of obesity and mental health issues discussed in Part 1.

4. Education

Health is not formally taught in most schools. Health starts at home. Because of this varying education level and awareness about health across the population, each family has very different approaches of ensuring how their family can grow up adopting healthy behaviours.

Generally, the likelihood of having obesity increases with decreasing level of education. This was observed in many countries including Taiwan, Saudi Arabia and Iran. The trend is similarly reported in OECD countries such as Australia, Canada, England and Korea as shown below.

This may be because more educated families tend to have healthier lifestyles and are more aware of what the causes and consequences are of obesity. If a family is lacking awareness and knowledge on certain aspects of health, such as in nutrition - eg: what the importance of consuming enough fibre is, what exactly constitutes a balanced diet, how to cook nutritious meals under time constraint etc - then their family will be less likely to adopt healthy (protective) behaviours.

Awareness on the causes and consequences of obesity indeed remain low within many communities. In one study, 76% of young people surveyed believe that "obesity has a genetic cause and that there is nothing much one can do to prevent obesity". Almost 30% of them also believe that even when substantial changes were made to one's lifestyle, obesity cannot be prevented. In the UK, around 3 in 4 people didn't know that obesity can cause cancer - the leading cause of death worldwide.

Not only are people unaware of the causes and consequences of obesity, many people even show a general lack of understanding of obesity itself. It was found that among 401 Malaysians surveyed, 92% of those with obesity underperceive their weight, thinking that their weight is at a normal range or lower than it actually is. This is particularly concerning, because any intervention efforts to reduce obesity rate within a community will just bounce back by the majority of the target group who think the messages are 'not for them because they don't have obesity' when they actually do.

All in all, if you come from an educated family background - good for you. If you have the opportunity to study more about health, or human/medical sciences - good for you. But what about those who do not have all these privileges?

Side note: There is also evidence showing how having lower education level is not just associated with higher level of obesity in a direct manner, but also indirectly where having a low education level may contribute to households having a lower income, and as discussed above in No.3 -> may result in a stacked effect on obesity. This is called the mediation effect and more explanation can be found here (pg 133).

5. Genetics

Over 200 genes influence our body shape and size. This include genes that affects how frequently we feel hungry, the rate that we burn calories, our metabolism rate, and many more! Some of these individual genes can increase our likelihood of becoming heavier while some other genes tend to make us lighter depending on whether it is 'switched on or off'. And this mix of 'on and offs' for EACH gene is always going to be different between individuals (polymorphism).

Because of our own 'mixed bag' of ~200 obesity-related genes interacting with each other, some people will find it much harder to resist that bar of Kinder Bueno sitting on the cashier till, while some others wouldn't even bat an eye. Some people naturally feels full after a bowl of rice, while some others would need three bowls. Some people can store a large amount of fats while some others can store only half of that amount before those fats (lipids) seep into other tissues instead such as muscles and potentially cause diseases (lipotoxicity).

Our genetic differences within the population explains why some people respond differently to the obesogenic environment we live in. It is not as simple as our genes determining whether we develop obesity or not. We simply can't be saying "Oh it's in my genes, got it from my parents~" to justify our lack of effort to address obesity. There's no single gene that makes people develop obesity. But rather, our mixed bag of genes determine our susceptibility to obesity. For people with many of those genes that makes it likely for them to gain weight easily 'switched on' -> they will be more susceptible to obesity because their own biology makes it much harder for them to fight back the temptations of the obesogenic environment.

Because this concept is so difficult to be understood by people who have always had a healthy weight all their life, privileged with not having the genes raising the likelihood of obesity 'switched on' -> they tend to blame obesity solely on the individual's personal choice. Because their own biology makes it easier for them to resist the temptations of the obesogenic environment.

As Joslin - an American doctor - described almost a century ago which pretty much summarises the role of genetics in obesity:

Genetics probably loads the gun, while lifestyle in our obesogenic environment pulls the trigger for the spreading of the obesity epidemic.

Does this mean that people who have genes that makes it more susceptible to develop obesity can simply blame their genes for their weight?

No! Not entirely. They can and should apply the same general concept of weight loss to counteract the risk of obesity, i.e. - eating balanced meals, doing plenty of physical activity (going back to the boring law of thermodynamics: more calories out than in = weight loss). However, it will be especially harder for these people to achieve it due to their obesity-encouraging genes. They have to put in more effort to lose 1kg than someone with less of the obesity-encouraging genes.

What this means for those with obesity: Your own genes and biology is one of the factors why your BMI is considered high at the moment and why it feels so difficult to lose weight. It is important for you to understand this, so that you don't beat yourself up too often! It is not entirely your fault. It will be hard, and in fact it will be harder than many people, but what matters is for you stay focused in putting in the work to get there!

What this means for those with healthy weight: It's about time for you to stop blaming everything on the individual's personal choice when you don't even know how difficult they have it and how much they have been trying to fight their own biology. Don't act like you know their struggles just to shame and stigmatise them because you don't and neither do I. Leave it to their close family and personal doctor to consult them.

What this means for policymakers: We have a duty in making sure that 1) the environment is as conducive as possible to live a healthy lifestyle to avoid 'triggering the gun', and 2) people are aware that genes play a big factor too (of around 40-70%) in determining someone's weight and its not just entirely down to the individual.

Side note: The genetic explanation above which acknowledges the role of hundreds of different genes in the development of obesity is applicable to the majority of people living with obesity (polygenic obesity). However, there are also the minority of people who develop obesity due to mutation in single genes (monogenic obesity / syndromic obesity) which warrants a separate and more technical explanation.

Bottom Line

To summarise the cause of obesity:

As mentioned in Cause 1, how we develop obesity is always down to the individual eating more and moving less. But as explained in Cause 2, 3, 4 & 5, the complex interaction between the environment, the individual's socioeconomic conditions, and their own biology explains why it is so difficult for some people to eat less and move more.

To summarise the cause of the obesity pandemic:

Personal choice explains why one individual may develop obesity, but the environment explains why more people across the whole world is developing obesity. Our socioeconomic conditions and especially our genetics then explains why not ALL people develop obesity as a response to the change in environment.

So what should I do with all these information?

That's entirely up to you and how much you understood! But the reason why I brought this topic up is because I'm personally sick and tired of hearing people living with obesity being blamed for their "poor choices in life", "lack of self-control", for "being gluttonous", "lazy", etc.

As I have hopefully explained, obesity is undoubtedly very complex and a result of so many factors. These five things I mentioned above? There's. So. Much. More.

Click here for a clearer view.

So the next time we blame it all on people with obesity - check your privileges. You're rich? You're naturally slim? You're educated? You don't have as much obesity-encouraging genes? Good for you. Perhaps that tends to make you feel entitled to say that people who are living with obesity just needs to make "better choices".

But understand that you have it easier in maintaining your healthy weight, while people with obesity most likely have it harder. The least you could do is really be sympathetic and understanding, acknowledge their struggles, and certainly avoid shaming and stigmatising them. Make it easier for them by providing healthier choices and support them physically and emotionally in their goals of achieving a healthy weight!

Aren't you just giving an excuse for people to live with obesity?

Disclaimer: My BMI sits quite well on the healthy range at 23 kg/m^2. I am nowhere close to having obesity, nor do I have any family members, partners or close friends living with obesity. I literally gain NOTHING to be making up an excuse for people to live with obesity. Quite on the contrary, I understand its dire consequences as I have outlined in Part 1, and I have even mentioned personal choice as one of the causes above. It's not about giving excuses, but simply an effort to give voice and justice to those who has been silenced.

I hope I have gotten my point across through this post and the previous one in my Obesity Series! Let's all be more-informed members of the society and support each other in achieving our health goals :)

*Note: For simplicity purposes, ‘unhealthier food’ in this post refers generally to food lower in nutritional profile, and food high in fat, sugar and salt (HFSS). In reality, we should understand that food does not exist in a binary manner.

Unlinked References:

Gene Eating by Giles Yeo (Book)

CMO Independent Report: Time to Solve Childhood Obesity by Professor Dame Sally Davies

#obesity #brunei #child obesity #childhood obesity #causes of obesity #obesogenic environment #health #healthy lifestyle

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diaryformytravels · 4 years

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#35 Toronto (2 days left)

M here. Today was a pretty nothing day. We woke up at around 10, and instantly decided we would not be leaving the house today. We began watching Arrow and got through a couple of episodes before Michelle and Mikko came down for a sauna. When they were leaving, we were asking Michelle about lunch (because there’s no food in the house). She said she’s working until 2:30 so can get us stuff then (it’s now 11am). Ah yes, thanks, we’re hungry now but we’ll wait four hours?? Also what kind of “really busy work day” consists of five hours total but enough time during then to have a half hour sauna and just chilling out.

So J and I rummaged the kitchen for some food. Mikko had apparently gone food shopping when they got back from Orlando, but he only got food for dinner (Pork, pasta and Mexican). The other foods available were bread (nothing to put in a toastie though), the same milk and cereal we bought before Florida, bagels that I cannot eat another one of and all of Max’s snacks that we cannot touch. We settled for cereal.

We watched more Arrow until they left to pick up Max at 2:30/3, and then an hour and a half later they returned with Popeyes (we texted them the order, but they allegedly didn’t have my sauce in stock- I think they either forgot or didn’t get it just to spite me). We then ate that and watched the third Johnny English with Max downstairs. Michelle and Mikko went out for dinner then (yes, apparently this was our only meal for the day). Max keeps farting. All the time. On my blanket. He also got very out of breath from walking up and down the stairs twice.

They kept playing table tennis while it was loading. At around 8:30, I decided I needed a break from this, so we went upstairs for them to play their video games. I then decided to use the bathroom before going up. Important context for this next part is that Max used this toilet about two hours beforehand, claiming it was an emergency after some farts. When I lifted the lid, preparing to use the toilet, I was welcomed by a poo. Max’s poo. Who the #%*^ doesn’t flush the toilet. There can’t possibly be two ‘Scott’s’ that I’ve somehow become acquainted with. And both because of Jasper! This leads me to believe that perhaps he didn’t always flush either...

After a bit, we came back downstairs to watch Arrow. Max complained that he didn’t want to watch anymore, even though that’s what we said we were going to do and he said he wanted to. He even suggested it earlier. Anyway, they played table tennis again, I had been warning them the whole night not to be stupid and hit me, but they insisted they would not, laughed it off, even. But no. I was soon struck in the face nonetheless, by Max. They were both trying to stop their laughter. This made me angry.

Max threw a tantrum after being instructed it was his bedtime. He also insisted that three floors were too many separating us, and Michelle texted then instructing us to go into their room and watch something while he felt asleep next door. I was not having it at this point. We were walking up the stairs, and every time one of them opened their mouths, I had to instruct every fibre in my body not to snap. As we reached the middle floor, something flashes inches between J and me. It was Max’s fidget spinner. He had been playing with it (stupidly and throwing it a bit) above us and dropped it. He insisted he had not, and did not apologise to us or thank me for bringing it up and putting it on his bedside table. He also did not say thank you for anything else we had done.

He got out of bed multiple times before staying in. J and I watched some Kath and Kim, I made him sit on Mikko’s side.

We’re back in the basement now, Mikko and Michelle are still at dinner. God knows what they’re doing.

Hopefully shopping tomorrow, but who knows!!

Can’t wait to meet you in Singapore.

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hedwig-dordt · 5 years

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The 2019 Ig Nobel Prizes were awarded at the 29th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize ceremony, on Thursday, September 12, 2019, at Harvard’s Sanders Theatre. The ceremony was webcast.

MEDICINE PRIZE [ITALY, THE NETHERLANDS] Silvano Gallus, for collecting evidence that pizza might protect against illness and death, if the pizza is made and eaten in Italy. REFERENCE: “Does Pizza Protect Against Cancer?“, Silvano Gallus, Cristina Bosetti, Eva Negri, Renato Talamini, Maurizio Montella, Ettore Conti, Silvia Franceschi, and Carlo La Vecchia, International Journal of Cancer, vol. 107, no. 2, November 1, 2003, pp. 283-284. REFERENCE: “Pizza and Risk of Acute Myocardial Infarction,” Silvano Gallus, A. Tavani, and C. La Vecchia, European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, vol. 58, no. 11, November 2004, pp. 1543-1546. REFERENCE: “Pizza Consumption and the Risk of Breast, Ovarian and Prostate Cancer,” Silvano Gallus, Renato Talamini, Cristina Bosetti, Eva Negri, Maurizio Montella, Silvia Franceschi, Attilio Giacosa, and Carlo La Vecchia, European Journal of Cancer Prevention, vol. 15, no. 1, February 2006, pp. 74-76. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Silvano Gallus.

MEDICAL EDUCATION PRIZE [USA] Karen Pryor and Theresa McKeon, for using a simple animal-training technique— called “clicker training” —to train surgeons to perform orthopedic surgery. REFERENCE: “Is Teaching Simple Surgical Skills Using an Operant Learning Program More Effective Than Teaching by Demonstration,” I. Martin Levy, Karen W. Pryor, and Theresa R. McKeon, Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research, vol. 474, no. 4, April 2016, pp. 945–955. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY:Karen Pryor and Theresa McKeon

BIOLOGY PRIZE [SINGAPORE, CHINA, GERMANY, AUSTRALIA, POLAND, USA, BULGARIA] Ling-Jun Kong, Herbert Crepaz, Agnieszka Górecka, Aleksandra Urbanek, Rainer Dumke, and Tomasz Paterek, for discovering that dead magnetized cockroaches behave differently than living magnetized cockroaches. REFERENCE: “In-Vivo Biomagnetic Characterisation of the American Cockroach,” Ling-Jun Kong, Herbert Crepaz, Agnieszka Górecka, Aleksandra Urbanek, Rainer Dumke, Tomasz Paterek, Scientific Reports, vol. 8, no. 1, 2018: 5140. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Tomasz Paterek, Herbert Crepaz, Rainer Dumke.

ANATOMY PRIZE [FRANCE] Roger Mieusset and Bourras Bengoudifa, for measuring scrotal temperature asymmetry in naked and clothed postmen in France. REFERENCE: “Thermal Asymmetry of the Human Scrotum,” Bourras Bengoudifa and Roger Mieusset, Human Reproduction, vol. 22, no. 8, 2007, pp. 2178-2182.

CHEMISTRY PRIZE [JAPAN] Shigeru Watanabe, Mineko Ohnishi, Kaori Imai, Eiji Kawano, and Seiji Igarashi, for estimating the total saliva volume produced per day by a typical five-year-old child REFERENCE: “Estimation of the Total Saliva Volume Produced Per Day in Five-Year-Old Children,” Shigeru Watanabe, M. Ohnishi, K. Imai, E. Kawano, and S. Igarashi, Archives of Oral Biology, vol. 40, no. 8, August 1995, pp. 781-782. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Shiguru Watanabe [and his adult sons, who were some of the subjects of the study when they were children 35 years ago]

ENGINEERING PRIZE [IRAN] Iman Farahbakhsh, for inventing a diaper-changing machine for use on human infants. REFERENCE: “Infant Washer and Diaper-Changer Apparatus and Method,” US patent 10034582, granted to Iman Farahbakhsh, July 31, 2018.

ECONOMICS PRIZE [TURKEY, THE NETHERLANDS, GERMANY] Habip Gedik, Timothy A. Voss, and Andreas Voss, for testing which country’s paper money is best at transmitting dangerous bacteria. REFERENCE: “Money and Transmission of Bacteria,” Habip Gedik, Timothy A. Voss, and Andreas Voss, Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection Control, vol. 2, no. 2, 2013. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Andreas Voss and Timothy Voss (who are father and son)

PEACE PRIZE [UK, SAUDI ARABIA, SINGAPORE, USA] Ghada A. bin Saif, Alexandru Papoiu, Liliana Banari, Francis McGlone, Shawn G. Kwatra, Yiong-Huak Chan, and Gil Yosipovitch, for trying to measure the pleasurability of scratching an itch. REFERENCE: “The Pleasurability of Scratching an Itch: A Psychophysical and Topographical Assessment,” G.A. bin Saif, A.D.P. Papoiu, L. Banari, F. McGlone, S.G. Kwatra, Y.-H. Chan and G. Yosipovitch, British Journal of Dermatology, vol. 166, no. 5, 2012, pp. 981-985. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Francis McGlone delivered an acceptance speech via recorded video.

PSYCHOLOGY PRIZE [GERMANY] Fritz Strack, for discovering that holding a pen in one’s mouth makes one smile, which makes one happier — and for then discovering that it does not. REFERENCE: “Inhibiting and facilitating conditions of the human smile: a nonobtrusive test of the facial feedback hypothesis,” Fritz Strack, Leonard L. Martin, and Sabine Stepper, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 54, no. 5, 1988, pp. 768-777. REFERENCE: “From Data to Truth in Psychological Science. A Personal Perspective,” Fritz Strack, Frontiers in Psychology, May 16, 2017. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Fritz Strack.

PHYSICS PRIZE [USA, TAIWAN, AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, SWEDEN, UK] Patricia Yang, Alexander Lee, Miles Chan, Alynn Martin, Ashley Edwards, Scott Carver, and David Hu, for studying how, and why, wombats make cube-shaped poo. REFERENCE: “How Do Wombats Make Cubed Poo?” Patricia J. Yang, Miles Chan, Scott Carver, and David L. Hu, paper presented at the 71st Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Fluid Dynamics, Abstract: E19.0000, November 18–20, 2018. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Patricia Yang, David Hu, Miles Chan, Alexander Lee, Scott Carver, Ashley Edwards NOTE: This the SECOND Ig Nobel Prize awarded to Patricia Yang and David Hu. They and two other colleagues shared the 2015 Ig Nobel Physics Prize, for testing the biological principle that nearly all mammals empty their bladders in about 21 seconds (plus or minus 13 seconds)

#ig nobel prize #science

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mitraaflower-blog · 5 years

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Delightful Flowers for Worship in the Ancient Temples of Singapore

A small island city-state in Southeast Asia has risen as a major global power and a developed nation in the shortest span of time. You might have guessed by now that it's none other than Singapore. Today, the country is a global hub for education, entertainment, finance, healthcare, innovation, tourism and transport. It has been widely regarded as the most technology-ready nation, best investment potential and world’s smartest city. Amidst all this modernity, the city still preserves its rich multi-cultural history with its citizens whose ancestry can be traced to countries such as China, India and Malaysia living in perfect harmony.

For instance, one could find Hindu temples proudly standing across different corners of the Island. The characteristic of most of the temples is the presence of murtis of the deity to whom the temple is dedicated. These Hindu deities include Lord Ganesha, Lord Shiva, Lady Sakthi, Lord Murugan, Lord Vishnu, Muneswarar and other temples. Needless to say, these temples are frequented by devotees from all over the island. Since the majority of the Indians who migrated to Singapore are from the Dravidian state of South India, these temples have typical South Indian architecture. We at Mitraa Flower Shop offer online pooja samagri shop in Singapore. You can worship offer your favorite flowers to your favorite deity.

To ensure that you and your favorite deities only receives the best flowers, we source our collection directly from reputable gardeners. Our top quality blooms such as roses, lilies, orchids, gerberas and tulips are received daily to make sure that they stay fresh for our customers. When placed in the trustworthy hands of the worshipers, our flowers transform into a symbol of piousness. The celebration of a precious moment like a pooja delights not only the worshipers but also the deity as well.

Various flowers have particular relevance when it comes to Pooja. It is a common belief that flowers when offered with reverence, please the deities and in turn, they answer the devotee’s prayers. The fragrance of the flower generates an aesthetic vibe that attracts positive energy in the environment of prayer. The age-old tradition of Hinduism holds the custom of offering flowers during worship in high regard. You must be surprised to know the origin of the word ‘Pooja’ (special prayer) is connected with flower. The word ‘Poo’ means flower in Sanskrit and ‘Jal’ means water. Hence, the word pooja denotes flowers on the water. This indicates offering flowers and water for the deities.

Most notably, flowers add exciting colors for your pooja. These flowers are considered auspicious and are integral in performing poojas or homams. There is no puja that is said to be complete without the heartfelt and devotional offering of colorful flowers. We are a leading pooja items shop in Singapore. Mitraa flower shop is a leading florist based on Singapore that offers a wide range of flowers for the pooja, homam and all other forms of worship. At the core of our venture is the devotion to serve the worshipers and temples with freshly minted gorgeous flowers that everyone adores.

#fresh flower garlands for pooja in singapore #Online pooja samagri shop in singapore #pooja items shop in singapore #homam pooja package items in singapore

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vytelis · 2 months

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whattheabcxyz · 2 years

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2022-11-01

Singapore

4 men plead guilty to conspiring to rape their respective drugged wives - they actually carried out their sick & stupid fantasies

Parts of Loyang Avenue & Pasir Ris Drive 1 to close for works on CRL MRT stations & new viaduct

More people making police reports on family violence since 2020

Society

Shanghai Disney visitors told to stay home after COVID-19 case - the CCP being stupid idiots again

Maritime

^ Supertanker runs aground in Indonesian waters near Singapore gas pipeline

Transport

Singapore: Eunos bus interchange plagued by bird poo problem

E-bikes just can’t stop catching fire

Finance

OCBC raises interest rates on 360 savings account again

...& DBS raises maximum interest rate on its Multiplier account to 4.1%

MYR estimated to drop to 3.35-3.45 range against SGD - will it ever go back up?! lol

Technology

Instagram fixes bug that triggered hours-long outage

Business

Tony Fernandes resigns as acting group CEO of AirAsia X

Gossip

Ghost-hunting trip yields strange aftermath

Entertainment

Westlife & Backstreet Boys to perform in Singapore next year in Feb

#entertainment #gossip #business #technology #finance #transport #maritime #society #singapore

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casestudy19-blog · 5 years

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CaseStudy #1 - Hollywood BlockBuster

Film Title:

Deadpool

Who produced This Movie?

Simon kin berg

Ryan Reynolds

Lauren Shuler Donner

Production companies Involved:

Marvel entertainment

Kinberg Genre

The Donners company

TSG entertainment

Famous Movies produced by Marvel Entertainment

Xmen Series

Logan

Fantastic 4

Ghost Rider

Spiderman Series

Famous Movies produced by TSG Entertainment:

Diary Of A Wimpy Kid – Long Haul

Logan

Kingsmen – Secret Service/Golden Service

X-Men

Let’s be cops

Alvin And The Chipmunks

Famous Movies produced by Kinberg Genre:

Lets Be Cops

Fantastic 4

Xmen Apocalypse

Logan

Famous Movies produced by TSG Entertainment:

Xmen

Constantine

Logan

Legion

Director Of The Film:

Tim Miller

Other Films Directed By the Director:

It was his first experience in directing a movie

What was the Budget Of The Film?

$58 Million

Stars:

Ryan renolds

Edsterein - Transporter : Refuled

T.J miller - Big hero 6

Gina Careno

Lesile Uggern

Morena Baccarin

Brianne Hilde Brend

Stefen Kapicic

What tech was used to shoot the film ?

Arri Alexa -> 3K ‘’ open gate’’ ARRIRAN

RED and phantom high-speed cameras from 2k to 6k

Edited by:

Julian Charles

Matt Carson 1st assistant editor

Joan Bierman – post production supervisor

Vashi Nedomasky – editorial consultant

Editing work done by in Adobe premiere pro 2015

EFILM – final digital intermediate used for :

Variety of raw media was trans-coded to 2k

ProRes ‘’Proxies’’ for editorial

Given a ‘’dailies’’ style color grade

Adobe after effects was used heavily

Re-positioning

Temporary visual effects

Green screen keying

The dynamic link and render and replace features

1200 visual effects , with about 500 big green screen keys

How was film marketed?

- The marketing of this film can be described as Absurd marketing. As it involved ways that were never thought of before and yet were very effective and were appreciated alot

Tinder profile was set up for Deadpool to promote and reach a much greater audience and of course for the gigs

Bill boards with put up with emojis "💀💩L" that said “Dead Poo L” when translated.

Email newsletters

SFW promotional material

Stills and Gifs

Custom emojis

Ryan Reynolds himself was very active in promoting the movie with his regular tweets and appearances on TV shows.

For Halloween, Reynolds released a video with himself in the Deadpool costume, interacting with a group of children dressed as X-Men

Cross Media Convergence

- Cross Media convergence is the interlinking of computing and other information technologies, media content, media companies and communication networks that have arisen as the result of the evolution and popularization of the Internet to reach a greater audience and promote the media more.

Deadpool’s own website

Galleries

Posters

Interactive Texts

Single button links on:

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Channels

MTV

Spike

Logo

VH1

Comedy Channels

Fox Co-operated with VUDV and Itunes to distribute movies

Technological Convergence

- Technological convergence is a tendency for technologies that were originally quite unrelated to become more closely integrated and even unified as they develop and advance

Definition Via: Wikipedia

Social Media

Billboards

Ads

Commercials

Trailers

Emojis

Where and When was it released?

Taiwan 21 January 2016(Taipei) (premiere)

France 8 February 2016(Paris) (premiere)

Hong Kong 9 February 2016

Taiwan 9 February 2016

Belgium 10 February 2016

France 10 February 2016

UK 10 February 2016

Indonesia 10 February 2016

Ireland 10 February 2016

Luxembourg 10 February 2016

Philippines 10 February 2016

Albania 11 February 2016

Argentina 11 February 2016

Australia 11 February 2016

Azerbaijan 11 February 2016

Brazil 11 February 2016

Chile 11 February 2016

Colombia 11 February 2016

Czech Republic 11 February 2016

Germany 11 February 2016

Denmark 11 February 2016

Georgia 11 February 2016

Croatia 11 February 2016

Hungary 11 February 2016

Israel 11 February 2016

Cambodia 11 February 2016

Kazakhstan 11 February 2016

Republic of Macedonia 11 February 2016

Malaysia 11 February 2016

Netherlands 11 February 2016

New Zealand 11 February 2016

Peru 11 February 2016

Portugal 11 February 2016

Serbia 11 February 2016

Russia 11 February 2016

Singapore 11 February 2016

Slovenia 11 February 2016

Slovakia 11 February 2016

Thailand 11 February 2016

Ukraine 11 February 2016

Uruguay 11 February 2016

Austria 12 February 2016

Bangladesh 12 February 2016

Bulgaria 12 February 2016

Belarus 12 February 2016

Canada 12 February 2016

Estonia 12 February 2016

Finland 12 February 2016

India 12 February 2016

Iceland 12 February 2016

Sri Lanka 12 February 2016

Lithuania 12 February 2016

Latvia 12 February 2016

Mexico 12 February 2016

Norway 12 February 2016

Pakistan 12 February 2016

Poland 12 February 2016

Romania 12 February 2016

Sweden 12 February 2016

Turkey 12 February 2016

USA 12 February 2016

Vietnam 12 February 2016

South Africa 12 February 2016

Egypt 17 February 2016

Greece 18 February 2016

Italy 18 February 2016

South Korea 18 February 2016

Cyprus 19 February 2016

Spain 19 February 2016

Japan 1 June 2016

China 15 April 2018(Beijing Film Festival)

Information of Release Dates via: IMDb

2D? 3D? Digital?

It was released in 2D and Digital format.

What were the Targeted Audiences for this movie?

Teenagers

Adults

Marvel Comic Book Fans

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