Understanding beliefs and practices of African American parents with male toddlers: a focus on emotional and social development

The purpose of this study was to learn more about the experiences, beliefs, and practices of married or cohabitating African American parents with a toddler son. This study also examined salient aspects of family life and how child rearing practices supported positive emotional and social development of their toddler sons. Through a theoretical lens that recognizes development in children of color is rooted in societal aspects and mechanisms (such as discrimination, racism, oppression) that affect family life of African American parents with male toddlers, careful attention was given to the unique experiences of each of the six families who participated in the study. A phenomenological research design was used, which included 12 individual interviews (one with each parent), an interview with each couple, and an observation with the family. Extensive field notes were recorded also. Results include seven essences and three themes shared by the six families that reflected the beliefs and practices they valued to ensure the positive social and emotional development of their sons. Despite the deep commitment and love the families share with each other, parents reported challenges with having enough quality time to spend with their toddler sons and family. In addition, regardless of the young age of their sons and significant financial means in some families, most felt their parenting goals were influenced by negative societal views of African American males as well as expectations for academic achievement. Furthermore, fathers emphasized their efforts to improve upon the models they experienced growing up and to make sure they are actively present in their sons' lives. Information these African American families shared about the intricacies of their daily lives, childrearing beliefs and practices, and the influence of societal expectations could have implications for early childhood teacher preparation, early intervention, and policies for young children and families

Touch me where I'm rusting

This excerpt from the novel Touch Me Where I'm Rusting explores Penelope Moore's immersion into an ugly, violent and at times profoundly beautiful remote Australian community of orchard workers. In the wake of a failing relationship, Penelope moves from inner-city Sydney to an isolated town where she intends on buying back her father's childhood orchard using the funds she hopes to procure from selling her home, which was left to her upon her grandmother's death. Upon arrival, she witnesses a stabbing, and later finds herself working at an orchard side-by-side two people who were involved: Amber, the woman who stabbed a man, and Angus, a man who witnessed the stabbing and may or may not have been involved. To Penny, crime is simple, a business of right and wrong, but as she works alongside Angus, she finds herself drawn to him. He quickly becomes an individual to her, not just a stand in for wrong, and she starts to question her morality as their relationship strengthens. What had seemed to be an easy out, moving to the country, becomes complex, as Penny finds herself entangled in a world that she both desires and wishes to repel

Abstract organic structures

The thesis consists of open, abstract-organic works. Within each work, several forms of varied sizes, sections and directions are combined into an organic whole. Each work represents an initiated rise or upward thrust in relationship to an opposing horizontal or descending movement. There is a concentration on the verticality of each with a continuous up-down interplay. The works are executed as maquettes from small drawings with an open interpretation of possible scale. I refer to the pieces as being abstract, apart from any particular material form, not as a reduced-form inference. The individual forms make certain references to bones, wings, and so forth in as much as the accumulation of the forms creates a structure not unlike a bone-skeleton relationship, but they are not abstracted from a preexisting relationship. The relationship of forms creates order as a natural structure, with a balance that is more complex than the physical laws of weight and gravity. An order that is based on the forces inherent within a form and their complementary forces, forms, and subsequent surrounding and penetrating space creates a field of balance collecting each element into the whole. This, totaled with the quality of what the mind associates with this, constitutes each work

Cannabis use, schizotypy and personality : associations with cannabis-related problems and emotion recognition

Individuals with schizotypy often report more cannabis-related problems, which include cognitive, interpersonal, and social responsibility difficulties. Past studies have observed correlations between the factors of schizotypy (i.e., positive, disorganized, and negative) and the five-factor model of personality. Certain personality traits are also associated with cannabis use. Further, both schizophrenia-spectrum symptoms and cannabis use have been implicated in reduced ability to identify emotional facial expressions, which can lead to greater difficulties in social functioning. Therefore, the purpose of the current study is to better understand the associations between cannabis use, schizotypy, and personality. Additionally, this research aims to identify which of the aforementioned variables are most salient in individuals who experience cannabis-related problems and emotional identification deficits. The sample was comprised of 242 undergraduates attending Western Carolina University, and data were collected through self-report measures and an eye tracker. Results from bivariate correlations and non-parametric statistics indicated that cannabis use was associated with higher disorganized schizotypy and total schizotypy, while the number of cannabis-related problems was significantly correlated to all factors of schizotypy. Cannabis use, cannabis-related problems, and schizotypy were associated with lower Agreeableness and Conscientiousness, as well as higher levels of Immoderation and Excitement-Seeking. Individuals who met criteria for cannabis dependence were significantly higher in Excitement-Seeking, but lower in Cooperation, Dutifulness, Achievement-Striving, and Cautiousness compared to those who do not experience cannabis-related problems. Similar to the deficits seen on the schizophreniaspectrum, cannabis use frequency was associated with decreased attention to the left visual field; moreover, cannabis-related problems were negatively correlated to attention to the eyes of most emotional faces. Personality traits such as Conscientiousness were associated with fixation on particular emotional features, as well as accuracy for identifying neutral faces. Taken together, the results of the current study suggest that there are significant associations between cannabis use, schizotypy, and personality, and these variables play a role in cannabis-related problems and facial affect recognition processing. Therefore, prevention of these potential problems should target identification of schizotypal traits, abstinence from cannabis, and social skills building in adolescence and emerging adulthood

Appetizing Foods: The Creation Of An Appetizing Image

Many scholars have acknowledged the various technologies that have led to the art of photography as we know it today. However, there is a gap as scholars have not fully addressed the various styles and categories of photographic practices that exist in today’s society. This paper responds to the topic of food photography, and the styling methods used to create the appropriate look for each image. Specifically, this project examines past and current trends, as well as various styling methods that are incorporated into various works in order to create a more appealing image. Through this project, I will argue that different styling approaches, both natural and artificial, are used to make a dish appear more appetizing than it may be in reality. By examining several styling approaches and considering different impacts that may affect the amount of styling that can be done, this paper will shed a new light on food photography and what it truly takes to create an appetizing image

Experience of Pleasure and Emotional Expression in Individuals with Schizotypal Personality Features

Difficulties in feeling pleasure and expressing emotions are one of the key features of schizophrenia spectrum conditions, and are significant contributors to constricted interpersonal interactions. The current study examined the experience of pleasure and emotional expression in college students who demonstrated high and low levels of schizotypal personality disorder (SPD) traits on self-report questionnaires. One hundred and seventeen subjects with SPD traits and 116 comparison controls were recruited to participate. Cluster analyses conducted in the SPD group identified negative SPD and positive SPD subgroups. The negative SPD group exhibited deficient emotional expression and anticipatory pleasure, but showed intact consummatory pleasure. The positive SPD group reported significantly greater levels of anticipatory, consummatory and total pleasure compared to the control group. Both SPD groups reported significantly more problems in everyday memory and greater levels of depressive and anxiety-related symptoms

4th Biennial Employment Law Institute

Materials from the 4th Biennial Employment Law Institute held by UK/CLE in June 1994

Persistently Elevated Right Ventricular Index of Myocardial Performance in Preterm Infants with Incipient Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia

OBJECTIVES: Elevated pulmonary vascular resistance occurs during the first days after birth in all newborn infants and persists in infants at risk for bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). It is difficult to measure in a non-invasive fashion. We assessed the usefulness of the right ventricular index of myocardial performance (RIMP) to estimate pulmonary vascular resistance in very low birth weight infants. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective echocardiography on day of life (DOL) 2, 7, 14, and 28 in 121 preterm infants (median [quartiles] gestational age 28 [26]-[29] weeks, birth weight 998 [743-1225] g) of whom 36 developed BPD (oxygen supplementation at 36 postmenstrual weeks). RESULTS: RIMP derived by conventional pulsed Doppler technique was unrelated to heart rate or mean blood pressure. RIMP on DOL 2 was similar in infants who subsequently did (0.39 [0.33-0.55]) and did not develop BPD (0.39 [0.28-0.51], p = 0.467). RIMP declined steadily in non-BPD infants but not in BPD infants (DOL 7: 0.31[0.22-0.39] vs. 0.35[0.29-0.48], p = 0.014; DOL 14: 0.23[0.17-0.30] vs. 0.35[0.25-0.43], p<0.001; DOL 28: 0.21[0.15-0.28] vs. 0.31 [0.21-0.35], p = 0.015). CONCLUSIONS: In preterm infants, a decline in RIMP after birth was not observed in those with incipient BPD. The pattern of RIMP measured in preterm infants is commensurate with that of pulmonary vascular resistance