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“Bad Girls” in the Bible and The Social Network
No full textWritten and visual media have never been a safe place for women who defy gender norms and expectations. The media’s negative treatment of female characters who attempt to break out of their socially-prescribed “sphere” can trace its lineage, quite literally, all the way back to Eve. In an effort to draw critical attention to the ways in which Old Testament writers and commentators treat women, I draw some comparisons between the stories of three biblical women, Dinah (Genesis 34), Jezebel (I Kings 21 and II Kings 30-37), and Delilah (Judges 16), with the character Christy Lee from the 2010 motion picture The Social Network. Though the specifics of storytelling may have changed over the years, the current treatment of women in modern media is strikingly, and often dishearteningly, similar to the way women are treated in the Bible. Christy’s character is written in such a way as to reflect the silence of Dinah, the unfair one-sided storytelling that surrounds Jezebel, and the downright demonization for which Delilah is so well known. In pointing out these similarities in storytelling between ancient and modern media I call for not only a re-imagination of Biblical women, but a concerted effort to imagine women more complexly in current writing, television, and film as well
Assessment à la Carte : Using Small-scale Citation Analysis Projects to Shape Library Instruction
No full textABSTRACT: Intrigued by the possibilities of citation analysis, but uncertain how to create an achievable small scale project using a methodology that is traditionally rather labor intensive? This session will discuss two different projects in which citation analysis was used as a means for shaping library instruction for specific courses. By examining particularly students\u27 website choices, the presenters were able to make informed changes to their sessions based on the feedback from citation analysis.
FULL DESCRIPTION: Citation analysis has been a long established and valued means of assessing the effectiveness of a library\u27s collection effectiveness and its impact on student research behavior. This session will discuss two different ways in which citation analysis was used as a method for shaping library instruction for specific courses. The first presenter will share how he expanded the standard practice of collecting student research topics by asking students to cite, annotate, and defend their “two top sources”— all before their first library session. From this, he was able to not only prepare relevant search examples (as per usual), but more importantly, enter the session with fresh insights to students’ existing research habits and a greater understanding of their source selection and evaluation skills. For her project, the second presenter analyzed the source choices in student art history survey research papers, particularly the students\u27 website selections. The data was used to inform and craft a more nuanced discussion of website evaluation in the library session for the course and to measure the impact of a new discovery service. In both cases, the librarians were able to make informed changes to their sessions based on the feedback from citation analysis. While recognizing that broadly applicable citation data is more likely to be collected in larger, multi-course or multi-institutional projects, this talk will demonstrate the place that small-scale, ad hoc citation analysis can have in the crafting of library instruction sessions and assessment of student research skills, for those looking for achievable projects at their own institutions
Stress and Cancer Risk: The Possible Role of Work Stress
No full textDespite widespread public belief that stress may lead to cancer, research on this relationship remains inconclusive. However, recent work points to the possibility that hostile naturalistic settings may contribute to cancer risk. Within organizational research, work stress is thought to be one of the greatest sources of psychological stress in people’s lives and is increasingly becoming a modern-day pandemic. Thus, this paper outlines the nature of stress, including how excessive and chronic stress negatively affects human health and may possibly lead to cancer, argues that a causal link between stress and cancer may exist, despite being frequently overlooked due to ethical and practical research difficulties, and presents an industrial/organizational psychologist’s viewpoint of workplace stress by outlining two prominent models used in the social sciences. Finally, the author suggests that future collaboration between experimental cancer researchers and workplace psychologists may help further address the possible link between work stress and cancer
The State-Trait Hopelessness Scale: Development and Testing
No full textHopelessness is predictive in the development of coronary heart disease (CHD) and can persist in patients after a CHD event, adversely affecting recovery. Hopelessness may represent a temporary response (state) or a chronic outlook (trait). Common hopelessness measures fail to differentiate state from trait hopelessness, a potentially important differentiation for treatment. The State-Trait Hopelessness Scale (STHS) was developed and pilot tested with two groups of college students (n = 39 and 190) and patients with CHD (n = 44). The instrument was then used with 520 patients, confirming reliability (Cronbach\u27s ) for the State (.88) and Trait (.91) subscales and concurrent and predictive validity. Separate exploratory factor analyses showed two factors (hopelessness present or hopelessness absent) for the State and Trait subscales, accounting for 58.9% and 57.3% of variance, respectively. These findings support future use of the tool in clinical settings and in intervention studies focused on hopelessness
Structural, Optical And Electrical Properties Of Sb Doped And Undoped Agin1-xgaxse2 And Ag( Inga) Se-5(8) Thin Films
No full textAntimony doped and undoped nanostructured thin films of AgIn1 − xGaxSe2 and Ag(InGa)5Se8 on optically flat soda lime glass substrates are prepared by a three stage co-evaporation process. Energy dispersive analysis of X-rays (EDAX) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy in conjunction with atomic force microscopic technique and scanning electron microscopic technique are used, respectively, for compositional and surface morphological analysis of the films. X-ray diffraction (XRD) data on the films are analysed to estimate the influence of antimony doping and indium replacement by gallium, on the structure of the films, by determining the anion–cation bond lengths and anion displacement in the thin films. The obvious dependence of band gap on the composition of the films establishes the possibility of band gap tailoring of the films. Low temperature optical absorbance measurements in the temperature regime 90–301 K are used for investigating the effect of doping on the temperature coefficient of band gaps of the films. Rutherford scattering spectra quantify the thickness of the films for conductivity (σ) measurements. The films exhibit n-type conductivity with two linear regions in the ln(σ) versus temperature inverse graphs, which indicate a defect activated conduction and intrinsic conduction, respectively, in the near room temperature and high temperature regions
Forgiveness of In-Group Offenders in Christian Congregations
No full textReligious communities, as other communities, are ripe for interpersonal offenses. We examined the degree to which group identification predicted forgiveness of an in-group offender. We examined the effects of a victim\u27s perception of his or her religious group identification as a state-specific personal variable on forgiveness by integrating social identity theory into a model of relational spirituality (Davis, Hook, & Worthington, 2008) to help explain victim\u27s responses to transgressions within a religious context. Data were collected from members of Christian congregations from the Midwest region of the United States (Study 1, N = 63), and college students belonging to Christian congregations (Study 2, N = 376). Regression analyses demonstrated that even after statistically controlling for many religious and transgression-related variables, group identification with a congregation still predicted variance in revenge and benevolence toward an in-group offender after a transgression. In addition, mediation analyses suggest group identification as one mechanism through which trait forgivingness relates to forgiveness of specific offenses. We discuss the importance of group identity in forgiving other in-group members in a religious community
Apathy, Genetics, and Functional Status in Persons with Alzheimer Disease
No full textBackground/Significance: Alzheimer Disease (AD) is an irreversible dementia that progressively destroys cognitive and daily functioning. About 5.4 million Americans currently suffer from AD, with estimated prevalence to reach 16 million by 2050 (Alzheimer\u27s Association, 2012). AD is often regarded with fear, as most affected individuals eventually fail to recognize loved ones, lose the ability to care for themselves, and may display negative neuropsychiatric behaviors, such as apathy. Apathy is a disorder of motivation with deficits in behavioral, emotional, and/or cognitive domains and is conceptualized as a need-driven behavior, based on the Need-Driven Dementia-Compromised Behavior Model (Algase et al., 1996). Problem: Despite the high prevalence and negative sequela associated with apathy, little is known about characteristics of persons with AD, including biologic factors that contribute to the presence and severity of apathy. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which individual characteristics and social environment factors predict apathy in persons with AD and the extent to which apathy influences function. Specific Aims: 1) Examine the extent to which individual characteristics (demographics and cognitive status) and social environment factors predict the severity of apathy in persons with AD, after adjusting for AD severity and Apolipoprotein E-4 (APOE4) status, 2) Examine the extent to which variations in the Oxytocin Receptor (OXTR) gene are associated with apathy in persons with AD, and 3) Examine the extent to which severity of apathy influences functional status in persons with AD, after adjusting for AD severity. Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study of 66 persons with moderate dementia was part of a parent study of gene-environment interactions in the symptoms of AD, in which persons with a diagnosis of possible or probable AD were recruited from the community and long-term care facilities. Instrumentation: Measures of cognition (Severe Impairment Battery [SIB]), apathy (Neuropsychiatric Inventory-Nursing Home, Apathy subscale [NPI-Apathy] and Apathy Inventory [IA]), function (Functional Assessment Staging Test [FAST] and Functional Abilities Checklist [FAC]), as well as deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) for subsequent genotyping, were available to address these aims. Results: The majority of study participants were female, with a mean age of 85 years (SD=7.35). The prevalence of apathy ranged from 53-72%, depending on the measure of apathy. Aim 1: Multiple linear regression produced a model that explained 24.5% of the variance in apathy severity (F=2.370, p=.046). Background factor variables [main demographic variables (age, gender) and cognition (SIB total score)], function (FAST total score), and number of APOE4 alleles served as the most significant and parsimonious predictors of apathy (NPI-Apathy). Aim 2: A DNA variant within the OXTR gene (rs53576) significantly predicted 19.4% of the variance in apathy severity (NPI-Apathy) (F=3.379, p=.027), while controlling for cognitive status and number ofAPOE4 alleles. The AA genotype was associated with more severe apathy. Aim 3: Both presence of apathy and apathy severity predicted overall function as measured by FAST score, controlling for cognitive status.Implications: This study is an important step in explicating the relationship between individual characteristics, such as genetics, apathy, and functional status in persons with AD. The relationship between apathy and OXTRgenotype status must be further explored, along with the predictive ability of OXTR genotype status on apathy severity. This contribution will help to provide a foundation for the development of rigorous and tailored interventions to increase meaningful engagement, reduce apathy and increase QOL in this vulnerable population
Feasibility of Isotope Harvesting at a Projectile Fragmentation Facility: Cu-67
No full textThe work presented here describes a proof-of-principle experiment for the chemical extraction of Cu-67 from an aqueous beam stop at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL). A 76 MeV/A Cu-67 beam was stopped in water, successfully isolated from the aqueous solution through a series of chemical separations involving a chelating disk and anion exchange chromatography, then bound to NOTA-conjugated Herceptin antibodies, and the bound activity was validated using instant thin-layer chromatography (ITLC). The chemical extraction efficiency was found to be 88 +/- 3% and the radiochemical yield was \u3e= 95%. These results show that extraction of radioisotopes from an aqueous projectile-fragment beam dump is a feasible method for obtaining radiochemically pure isotopes
Transgressors\u27 Guilt And Shame: A Longitudinal Examination Of Forgiveness Seeking
No full textThe current study examines forgiveness from the perspective of the transgressor, an often overlooked aspect of interpersonal forgiveness and a model of forgiveness seeking is proposed. Using a 2-wave longitudinal design, 166 participants completed measures of the characteristics of their transgressions, their feelings of guilt and shame, and their forgiveness-seeking behaviors. Cross-lagged correlational analysis indicated that guilt at time 1 was related to forgiveness seeking at time 2, but the opposite was not true. Path analyses revealed that guilt mediated the impact of transgression and relationship factors (i.e., transgression severity, responsibility, rumination, and relationship commitment) on forgiveness-seeking behavior over time. Shame, however, did not demonstrate any unique relationship with forgiveness-seeking behaviors. These findings suggest that guilt serves as a primary motivator for forgiveness seeking, indicating that it is a particularly important element to consider when working with transgressors. Overall, this study provides a conceptual model of the antecedents of forgiveness-seeking behaviors by transgressors, similar to those available for the antecedents of forgiveness seeking by victims
Modulating Short Wavelength Fluorescence with Long Wavelength Light
No full textTwo molecules in which the intensity of shorter-wavelength fluorescence from a strong fluorophore is modulated by longer-wavelength irradiation of an attached merocyanine-spirooxazine reverse photochromic moiety have been synthesized and studied. This unusual fluorescence behavior is the result of quenching of fluorophore fluorescence by the thermally stable, open, zwitterionic form of the spirooxazine, whereas the photogenerated closed, spirocyclic form has no effect on the fluorophore excited state. The population ratio of the closed and open forms of the spirooxazine is controlled by the intensity of the longer-wavelength modulated light. Both square wave and sine wave modulation were investigated. Because the merocyanine-spirooxazine is an unusual reverse photochrome with a thermally stable long-wavelength absorbing form and a short-wavelength absorbing photogenerated isomer with a very short lifetime, this phenomenon does not require irradiation of the molecules with potentially damaging ultraviolet light, and rapid modulation of fluorescence is possible. Molecules demonstrating these properties may be useful in fluorescent probes, as their use can discriminate between probe fluorescence and various types of adventitious autofluorescence from other molecules in the system being studied