Parents' social expectations as correlates of children's peer relations

Recent peer relations studies that have included parents as subjects have pointed to supporting behaviors performed by parents and their role in the development of children's peer relations. Findings from these studies have been similar to explanations of expectation effects. That is, expectation holders support their expectations by behaving in ways favorable to expected outcomes. Two models developed to explain parent and teacher educational expectation effects were used in this study to help explain parents' social expectations. A questionnaire was developed assessing parents' perceptions of their children's peer relations and parents' expressed levels of importance regarding children's peer relations. These measures were correlated with three sociometric measures of children's peer relations and children's and teacher's perceptions of children's peer relations. The sample consisted of 76 families whose children were enrolled in two university-based child development preschool programs. Findings from this study indicated that mothers' and fathers' perception scores of their children's peer relations were significantly and positively correlated with children's acceptance rating scores but inversely correlated with children's rejection scores. The level of importance expressed by fathers, but not mothers, regarding their children's peer relations was significantly correlated with all three sociometric measures. There were no significant differences in parents' scores as a function of parent or child gender, but the accuracy of mothers' perception scores appeared influential in determining mothers' level of importance scores. Less accurate mothers had significantly higher importance scores than more accurate mothers. Parents' perception scores did not correlate significantly with either children's or teacher's perception scores. These findings suggest that a relationship exists between parents' social expectations and children's peer relations. Continued research in the area of children's peer relations which includes parents as subjects is needed

The influence of changing college workload on dating couples' activities and relationship satisfaction

Recent advances in courtship theory emphasize day-today interaction and the environment in which interaction takes place as critically important in the understanding of relationship development. The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of college course assignments on time spent in relationship activities and, similarly, the influence of time spent in relationship activities on relationship satisfaction. As college couples are often the subjects of relationship studies, consideration of the college environment seemed both appropriate and overdue. The sample consisted of 35 serious dating couples in which both partners were full-time students. A telephone survey methodology was developed so that couples could report coded relationship behaviors both conveniently and confidentially. Data were collected twice a week for 8 1/2 weeks during winter term 1987 at a large northwestern university. Results indicated: (1) previous, current, and up-coming course assignments were influential regarding reported time in selected relationship activities, and, in general, tended to increase time in activities; (2) when assignments decreased relationship activity, men's assignments were more influential. Women's assignments, particularly previous assignments, were found likely to increase relationship activity. Regarding the influence time spent in activities had on relationships satisfaction, the data indicated that time spent eating together and in affectionate behavior were activities that increased relationship satisfaction. Discussion centered on the "interpersonal process" framework of relationships development and on the timing of course workload on relationships. Conclusions suggested the academic environment does have an effect on dating relationships and that this effect may be similar to work and family issues that society as a whole is facing

Novel Insights into Aspergillus fumigatus Pathogenesis and Host Response from State-of-the-Art Imaging of Host–Pathogen Interactions during Infection

Aspergillus fumigatus spores initiate more than 3,000,000 chronic and 300,000 invasive diseases annually, worldwide. Depending on the immune status of the host, inhalation of these spores can lead to a broad spectrum of disease, including invasive aspergillosis, which carries a 50% mortality rate overall; however, this mortality rate increases substantially if the infection is caused by azole-resistant strains or diagnosis is delayed or missed. Increasing resistance to existing antifungal treatments is becoming a major concern; for example, resistance to azoles (the first-line available oral drug against Aspergillus species) has risen by 40% since 2006. Despite high morbidity and mortality, the lack of an in-depth understanding of A. fumigatus pathogenesis and host response has hampered the development of novel therapeutic strategies for the clinical management of fungal infections. Recent advances in sample preparation, infection models and imaging techniques applied in vivo have addressed important gaps in fungal research, whilst questioning existing paradigms. This review highlights the successes and further potential of these recent technologies in understanding the host–pathogen interactions that lead to aspergillosis

Small Molecule Disruptors of the Glucokinase–Glucokinase Regulatory Protein Interaction: 2. Leveraging Structure-Based Drug Design to Identify Analogues with Improved Pharmacokinetic Profiles

In the previous report, we described the discovery and optimization of novel small molecule disruptors of the GK-GKRP interaction culminating in the identification of <b>1</b> (AMG-1694). Although this analogue possessed excellent in vitro potency and was a useful tool compound in initial proof-of-concept experiments, high metabolic turnover limited its advancement. Guided by a combination of metabolite identification and structure-based design, we have successfully discovered a potent and metabolically stable GK-GKRP disruptor (<b>27</b>, AMG-3969). When administered to <i>db</i>/<i>db</i> mice, this compound demonstrated a robust pharmacodynamic response (GK translocation) as well as statistically significant dose-dependent reductions in fed blood glucose levels