An Investigation into Associations with Attachment, Companion Pet Attachment, Empathy, and Prosocial Behaviors in 18–20 Year Old College Students

This study examines empathy, parental attachment, companion pet attachment and social behaviors in a sample of 120 students between the ages of 18-20 enrolled at Front Range Community College in Westminster CO during the fall semester 2008. The study is based on the research questions posed by Thompson and Gullone (2008) but pays particular attention to the relationships between and among variables measured in that study as well as their association with variables indicating companion pet companionship. The research questions are: (1) does parental empathic attachment predict prosocial and antisocial behaviors during older adolescence or young adulthood? And (2) does pet attachment compensate for low parental attachment? The hypotheses are that (1) parental attachment varies directly with empathy, humane treatment of animals, and prosocial behavior and inversely with antisocial behavior (animal cruelty); (2) pet attachment varies directly with empathy, humane treatment of animals and prosocial behavior and inversely with antisocial behavior (animal cruelty); and (3) pet attachment compensates for low parental attachment, serving as a moderating variable. The hypothesis that parental attachment varies directly with empathy, humane treatment of animals, and prosocial behavior and inversely with antisocial behavior (animal cruelty) was not supported by the overall results as parental attachment was not significantly associated with any variables. There was support for the hypothesis that companion pet attachment varies directly with empathy and humane treatment of animals; but there was no association between companion pet attachment and parental attachment or animal cruelty. In this study, it was found that the variance in humane treatment of animals and animal cruelty could only be accounted for by empathy; parental attachment explained 1% of variance in prosocial behavior. The hypothesized mediating role of empathy was not supported in these findings nor was the moderating role of companion pet attachment. For the 18-20 year old sample it does not appear that secure parental attachment relationships is associated with empathy, humane treatment of animals, companion pet attachment, or prosocial behavior toward humans. There were a number of limitations related to the scales used in this study as the researcher attempted to replicate the Thompson and Gullone (2008) study. Further research might utilize scales already standardized with older adolescents and young adults. Additionally, this researcher suggests further research into the concept of emerging adulthood as the age range studied falls between adolescence and young adulthood

Physics of ultrasonic wave propagation in bone and heart characterized using Bayesian parameter estimation

This Dissertation explores the physics underlying the propagation of ultrasonic waves in bone and in heart tissue through the use of Bayesian probability theory. Quantitative ultrasound is a noninvasive modality used for clinical detection, characterization, and evaluation of bone quality and cardiovascular disease. Approaches that extend the state of knowledge of the physics underpinning the interaction of ultrasound with inherently inhomogeneous and isotropic tissue have the potential to enhance its clinical utility. Simulations of fast and slow compressional wave propagation in cancellous bone were carried out to demonstrate the plausibility of a proposed explanation for the widely reported anomalous negative dispersion in cancellous bone. The results showed that negative dispersion could arise from analysis that proceeded under the assumption that the data consist of only a single ultrasonic wave, when in fact two overlapping and interfering waves are present. The confounding effect of overlapping fast and slow waves was addressed by applying Bayesian parameter estimation to simulated data, to experimental data acquired on bone-mimicking phantoms, and to data acquired in vitro on cancellous bone. The Bayesian approach successfully estimated the properties of the individual fast and slow waves even when they strongly overlapped in the acquired data. The Bayesian parameter estimation technique was further applied to an investigation of the anisotropy of ultrasonic properties in cancellous bone. The degree to which fast and slow waves overlap is partially determined by the angle of insonation of ultrasound relative to the predominant direction of trabecular orientation. In the past, studies of anisotropy have been limited by interference between fast and slow waves over a portion of the range of insonation angles. Bayesian analysis estimated attenuation, velocity, and amplitude parameters over the entire range of insonation angles, allowing a more complete characterization of anisotropy. A novel piecewise linear model for the cyclic variation of ultrasonic backscatter from myocardium was proposed. Models of cyclic variation for 100 type 2 diabetes patients and 43 normal control sub jects were constructed using Bayesian parameter estimation. Parameters determined from the model, specifically rise time and slew rate, were found to be more reliable in differentiating between sub ject groups than the previously employed magnitude parameter

Recovery from Relinquishment: Forgiving my Birth Mother. My Journey from 1954 to Today

Adoptees carry the burden of shame for being “given up, abandoned, unwanted, not right,” and birth mothers carry the weight of shame for succumbing to external pressure to relinquish their children. There is ample literature addressing recovery for both adoptees and birth mothers (Buterbaugh & Soll, 2003; Franklin, 2019; Lanier, 2020; Soll, 2005, 2013, 2014); however, there is little recognition of the co-shame and need for forgiveness. Utilizing autoethnographic methodology, I discuss the issues of misogyny prevalent in the 1950s, the “Baby Scoop Era [BSE],” and my ongoing process of forgiving my birth mother after five decades of rage. This piece attempts to provide insights into the questions: Did my birth mother voluntarily “give me up” because she didn’t want me? Who was she, and are we alike? Is it possible to stop being so angry? My findings include an understanding of the situation in which my mother struggled and forgiveness of her decision. While we share commonalities, the chasm between the social construction of reality in which she lived and mine is vast; however, we are “others of similarity” (Chang, 2008). My anger has shifted to the patriarchal and misogynistic system that permits the involuntary separation of mother and child

A Proposal for the Use of the Method of Characteristics as a Condition on the Numerical Solutions of Two-Dimensional Lagrangian Isentropic Flow

The method of characteristics has been widely used in two- dimensional problems (i.e., one spatial dimension and time or two spatial dimensions for the steady state), and it was felt that this method, in all or part, could be applied to time-dependent, two- space hydrodynamics. In this paper we have done the following: 1. Derived the two-dimensional, time-dependent, nonviscous Lagrangian Equations; 2. Discussed, in general, some aspects of the method of characteristics; 3. Applied the method to our Lagrangian equations; and finally, 4. Proposed a possible application of our results to the numerical solution of the Lagrangian equations. In general, Sections I and II are devoted to the restatement of the material in the references, while Sections III and IV contain the new results

Out the Loop

Often referred to as resembling an architectural blueprint, the screenplay is known for its laconic style. Discarding the subjective abstractionism of a more flowery writing, the screenplay\u27s brevity forces the writer to make use of the physical world of the text to display its underlying currents of thought. This trend in artistic representation, of which the influence has been heatedly discussed since the onset of the cinema, is not stagnant but evolving. The screenwriters of today produce their craft with an increased savoir faire not only in relation to plot and form but also in regards to the aesthetics of the composition itself. Out the Loop serves as an indicator of the emerging trend of screenplays to be composed with an attention to the aesthetics of writing. The goal is to with the writing add another layer of meaning for the readers of the screenplay and producers of the would be film. Irregardless of whether or not this is achieved, the physical world of the text examines the plight of an emerging class of dispossessed Americans and asks the question: where do they go from here

Gaussian pulse dynamics in gain media with Kerr nonlinearity

Using the Kantorovitch method in combination with a Gaussian ansatz, we derive the equations of motion for spatial, temporal and spatiotemporal optical propagation in a dispersive Kerr medium with a general transverse and spectral gain profile. By rewriting the variational equations as differential equations for the temporal and spatial Gaussian q parameters, optical ABCD matrices for the Kerr effect, a general transverse gain profile and nonparabolic spectral gain filtering are obtained. Further effects can easily be taken into account by adding the corresponding ABCD matrices. Applications include the temporal pulse dynamics in gain fibers and the beam propagation or spatiotemporal pulse evolution in bulk gain media. As an example, the steady-state spatiotemporal Gaussian pulse dynamics in a Kerr-lens mode-locked laser resonator is studied

For a Cooperative "Smart" City Yet to Come: Place-Based Knowledge, Commons, and Prospects for Inclusive Municipal Processes From Seattle, Washington

This article explores possibilities for cooperative, equitable, and participatory forms of smart urbanism. We begin by outlining orientations that emphasize the heterogeneity of economic and urban life and center the capacities and priorities of constituencies that currently are often not well served by urban planning and information-gathering processes. We then further iterate these sensibilities in relation to two examples from community organizing in Seattle, Washington, sketching out a broad sense of how community’s and resident’s place-based knowledge, experiences, and forms of expertise might be understood as resources that could be integral to processes of urban planning, organization, and potential structural transformation. Finally, we connect these possibilities to ongoing debates and experiments with "commons" and "commoning" - both conceptually and in actually existing urban experiments - to show how serious engagements with place-based knowledge and capacities understood as commons might be made central within "smart" processes that are radically democratic, inclusive, open-ended, and potentially transformative in ways that are distinctive from more top-down models that often merely manage and reproduce status quo urbanisms. Ultimately, the article suggests possibilities for alternative "smart" urbanist orientations, sensibilities, and techno-political applications to emerge in and through open-ended participatory processes grounded in community and place-based resources and priorities