Community- delivered infant- parent psychotherapy improves maternal sensitive caregiving: Evaluation of the Michigan model of infant mental health home visiting

The current study evaluated the effectiveness of a home- based psychotherapeutic Infant Mental Health Home Visiting (IMH- HV) intervention for enhancing parenting sensitivity; a secondary aim was to evaluate whether the use of video feedback was associated with greater treatment response. Participants were N = 78 mothers and their children (age at entry ranged from prebirth to 24- month old (M = 9.8, SD = 8.4), who were initiating IMH- HV services with community mental health- based therapists (N = 51). Dyads were assessed during extended home visits via standardized interviews and observational and questionnaire methods within the first month of treatment (baseline), and again 6 and 12 months thereafter. Following each of these extended home visits, study evaluators completed a standard Q- sort to capture observations of maternal sensitivity during the visit. Therapists completed fidelity checklists used to derive the total number of IMH- HV sessions received (i.e., dosage) and frequency with which therapists provided video feedback. Results indicated a dose- response relationship between number of sessions and maternal sensitivity, and that video review with parents independently contributed to improved maternal sensitivity. Discussion focuses on the effectiveness of this community- based psychotherapeutic home visiting model for enhancing parenting, as well as the value of video feedback as a specific therapeutic strategy.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154891/1/imhj21840_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154891/2/imhj21840.pd

The cultural currency of a 'good' sense of humour: British comedy and new forms of distinction

Traditionally considered lowbrow art par excellence, British comedy has grown steadily in legitimacy since the ‘Alternative Comedy Movement’ of the early 1980s. Yet while there might be evidence of a transformation in British comic production, there is little understanding of how this has been reflected in patterns of consumption. Indeed, there is a remarkable absence of studies probing comedy taste in British cultural sociology, most notably in Bennett et al’s (2009) recent and otherwise exhaustive mapping of cultural taste and participation. This paper aims to plug this gap in the literature by examining contemporary comedy taste cultures in Britain. Drawing on a large-scale survey and in-depth interviews carried out at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, it argues that comedy now represents an emerging field for the culturally privileged to activate their cultural capital resources. However, unlike previous studies on cultural capital and taste, this research finds that field-specific ‘comic cultural capital’ is mobilised less through taste for certain legitimate ‘objects’ of comedy and more through the expression of rarefied and somewhat ‘disinterested’ styles of comic appreciation. In short, it is ‘embodied’ rather than ‘objectified’ forms of cultural capital that largely distinguish the privileged in the field of comedy

Naturally Occurring Mentorship in a National Sample of First-Generation College Goers: A Promising Portal for Academic and Developmental Success.

Attending college is increasingly important to compete in this global world; however, young people whose parents did not attend college are significantly less likely to enroll in and finish college. Formal programs to support first-generation college goers are common, but not scalable to provide support to all young people who need it. Instead, mentoring that naturally occurs on these students\u27 journeys into and out of college may be a more practical avenue for supporting their success. This study investigated the role community members, relatives, and educators play in first-generation college goers\u27 educational outcomes. Data from 4,181 participants of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent and Adult Health were used to test differences in supports received between first-generation, continuing-generation, and non-college goers. Results demonstrated that mentorship in adolescence moderated the relationship between parental college attendance and educational attainment in adulthood. Next, findings suggested that first-generation students received less support for identity development from their mentors than continuing-generation students. This study has program implications for facilitating college attendance and fostering the development and success of first-generation students. Moreover, this project continues to concretize an emerging taxonomy of mentoring functions for youth and emerging adults

The microRNA regulated SBP-box genes SPL9 and SPL15 control shoot maturation in Arabidopsis

Throughout development the Arabidopsis shoot apical meristem successively undergoes several major phase transitions such as the juvenile-to-adult and floral transitions until, finally, it will produce flowers instead of leaves and shoots. Members of the Arabidopsis SBP-box gene family of transcription factors have been implicated in promoting the floral transition in dependence of miR156 and, accordingly, transgenics constitutively over-expressing this microRNA are delayed in flowering. To elaborate their roles in Arabidopsis shoot development, we analysed two of the 11 miR156 regulated Arabidopsis SBP-box genes, i.e. the likely paralogous genes SPL9 and SPL15. Single and double mutant phenotype analysis showed these genes to act redundantly in controlling the juvenile-to-adult phase transition. In addition, their loss-of-function results in a shortened plastochron during vegetative growth, altered inflorescence architecture and enhanced branching. In these aspects, the double mutant partly phenocopies constitutive MIR156b over-expressing transgenic plants and thus a major contribution to the phenotype of these transgenics as a result of the repression of SPL9 and SPL15 is strongly suggested

Electromagnetic Field Effect or Simply Stress? Effects of UMTS Exposure on Hippocampal Longterm Plasticity in the Context of Procedure Related Hormone Release

Harmful effects of electromagnetic fields (EMF) on cognitive and behavioural features of humans and rodents have been controversially discussed and raised persistent concern about adverse effects of EMF on general brain functions. In the present study we applied radio-frequency (RF) signals of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) to full brain exposed male Wistar rats in order to elaborate putative influences on stress hormone release (corticosteron; CORT and adrenocorticotropic hormone; ACTH) and on hippocampal derived synaptic long-term plasticity (LTP) and depression (LTD) as electrophysiological hallmarks for memory storage and memory consolidation. Exposure was computer controlled providing blind conditions. Nominal brain-averaged specific absorption rates (SAR) as a measure of applied mass-related dissipated RF power were 0, 2, and 10 W/kg over a period of 120 min. Comparison of cage exposed animals revealed, regardless of EMF exposure, significantly increased CORT and ACTH levels which corresponded with generally decreased field potential slopes and amplitudes in hippocampal LTP and LTD. Animals following SAR exposure of 2 W/kg (averaged over the whole brain of 2.3 g tissue mass) did not differ from the sham-exposed group in LTP and LTD experiments. In contrast, a significant reduction in LTP and LTD was observed at the high power rate of SAR (10 W/kg). The results demonstrate that a rate of 2 W/kg displays no adverse impact on LTP and LTD, while 10 W/kg leads to significant effects on the electrophysiological parameters, which can be clearly distinguished from the stress derived background. Our findings suggest that UMTS exposure with SAR in the range of 2 W/kg is not harmful to critical markers for memory storage and memory consolidation, however, an influence of UMTS at high energy absorption rates (10 W/kg) cannot be excluded

Lawson criterion for ignition exceeded in an inertial fusion experiment

For more than half a century, researchers around the world have been engaged in attempts to achieve fusion ignition as a proof of principle of various fusion concepts. Following the Lawson criterion, an ignited plasma is one where the fusion heating power is high enough to overcome all the physical processes that cool the fusion plasma, creating a positive thermodynamic feedback loop with rapidly increasing temperature. In inertially confined fusion, ignition is a state where the fusion plasma can begin "burn propagation" into surrounding cold fuel, enabling the possibility of high energy gain. While "scientific breakeven" (i.e., unity target gain) has not yet been achieved (here target gain is 0.72, 1.37 MJ of fusion for 1.92 MJ of laser energy), this Letter reports the first controlled fusion experiment, using laser indirect drive, on the National Ignition Facility to produce capsule gain (here 5.8) and reach ignition by nine different formulations of the Lawson criterion

Female athletes and the sport environment: positive and negative influences on body image and weight management

The present study examined potentially positive and negative influences within the athletic environment on body image and weight management in female athletes. Nearly 300 female varsity athletes, recruited on-line from six Division III colleges and universities in Ohio, completed questionnaires assessing body image, weight management, dieting frequency, and sources of pressure and support from coaches, teammates, and the sport itself (e.g., sport-specific body ideals, uniforms). Findings indicated that potentially unhealthy messages about weight and shape are emanating from numerous sources, and that those athletes reporting cumulative, simultaneous pressures reported more body concern, a higher frequency of dieting, and all types of weight management behaviors, including healthy weight management. There was only limited evidence for the role of support from teammates and coaches in relation to body image and weight management behaviors. Multiple regression analyses indicated that the relationships between pressures within the sports environment and negative body concerns were partially mediated by increased adherence to, and social comparison with, sport-specific weight and shape ideals, as well as a decreased sense of body empowerment. However, trait self-objectification was not a mediator. These results are discussed in terms of implications for prevention and for improving theory and research on the impact of teammates, coaches, sport-specific body ideals, and form-fitting, revealing uniforms. There is also consideration of how weight and shape pressures from the athlete environment may be operating in ways that diverge from other societal influences on body image and weight management behaviors in the general population of young women