Between overt and covert research: concealment and disclosure in an ethnographic study of commercial hospitality

This article examines the ways in which problems of concealment emerged in an ethnographic study of a suburban bar and considers how disclosure of the research aims, the recruitment of informants, and elicitation of information was negotiated throughout the fieldwork. The case study demonstrates how the social context and the relationships with specific informants determined overtness or covertness in the research. It is argued that the existing literature on covert research and covert methods provides an inappropriate frame of reference with which to understand concealment in fieldwork. The article illustrates why concealment is sometimes necessary, and often unavoidable, and concludes that the criticisms leveled against covert methods should not stop the fieldworker from engaging in research that involves covertness

Effect of an education program on improving knowledge of schizophrenia among parents of junior and senior high school students in Japan

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Early detection and intervention in schizophrenia are important in improving quality of life after treatment and are major issues in psychiatric care. Therefore, it is necessary to increase knowledge of schizophrenia among the general public. Among parents of junior and senior high school students in Japan, we compared rates of correct answers for items on knowledge of schizophrenia and ability to discriminate this psychosis from other disorders on questionnaires given before and after viewing a web-based education program.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Questionnaires were distributed to 2,690 parents. The program was developed to help parents obtain a basic understanding of schizophrenia and to emphasize the necessity of early detection.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Before the program, the rate of correct answers was 77% for items concerning basic knowledge of schizophrenia, 47% for "discrimination of schizophrenia symptoms," and 30% for "discrimination of prodromal symptoms." The program resulted in an improvement in basic knowledge of schizophrenia, discrimination of schizophrenia symptoms, and discrimination of prodromal symptoms (<it>P </it>< 0.001 for all).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our web-based education program was useful in helping parents acquire a basic knowledge of schizophrenia and discriminate correctly the symptoms of schizophrenia.</p

Induction of otic structures by canonical Wnt signalling in medaka

The Wnt family of signalling proteins is known to participate in multiple developmental decisions during embryogenesis. We misexpressed Wnt1 in medaka embryos and observed anterior truncations, similar to those described for ectopic activation of canonical Wnt signalling in other species. Interestingly, when we induced a heat-shock Wnt1 transgenic line exactly at 30% epiboly, we observed multiple ectopic otic vesicles in the truncated embryos. The vesicles then fused, forming a single large ear structure. These “cyclopic ears” filled the complete anterior region of the embryos. The ectopic induction of otic development can be explained by the juxtaposition of hindbrain tissue with anterior ectoderm. Fibroblast growth factor (Fgf) ligands are thought to mediate the otic-inducing properties of the hindbrain. However, signals different from Fgf3 and Fgf8 are necessary to explain the formation of the ectopic ear structures, suggesting that Wnt signalling is involved in the otic induction process in medaka

Towards modeling the retailer as a brand: A social construction of the grocery store from the customer standpoint

As a highly customer-sensitive business, retailing is one of the most socially active industries. Nevertheless, when addressing retailers as brands, the retailing literature has failed to account for their unique social orientation, exposing a gap in the literature. This paper utilizes the sociological view of brands to socially construct a conceptual retail brand model from the customer standpoint. An ethnographic study of grocery retailing revealed that the store has, metaphorically, a tree-shaped culture, which can organically model the interplay between building the retailer brand as a culture and the phases constituting the social-self concept

Cigarette Smoking in Male Patients with Chronic Schizophrenia in a Chinese Population: Prevalence and Relationship to Clinical Phenotypes

The high prevalence of smoking in schizophrenia of European background may be related to smoking's reducing clinical symptoms and medication side effects. Because smoking prevalence and its associations with clinical phenotypes are less well characterized in Chinese than European patients with schizophrenia, we assessed these smoking behaviors using clinician-administered questionnaires and the Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND) in 776 Chinese male schizophrenia and 560 control subjects. Patients also were rated on the Positive and Negative Symptom Scale (PANSS), the Simpson and Angus Extrapyramidal Symptom Rating Scale (SAES), and the Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale (AIMS). We found that the schizophrenia patients had a higher lifetime incidence of smoking (79% vs 63%), were more likely to be heavy smokers (61% vs 31%), and had lower smoking cessation rates (4% vs 9%) (all p<0.0001) than controls. Among the schizophrenia patients smoking prevalence increased with age, with the largest difference from controls in the age cohort of 55–75 years: 75% vs 46% (p<0.0001). Among the schizophrenia smokers 73% started to smoke before the onset of their illness by an average of 7.6 years. The patients with schizophrenia who were current smokers scored significantly lower on the PANSS negative symptom subscore (p<0.005), and on the SAES symptom scale (p<0.04; Bonferroni corrected p>0.05) than the non-smoking patients. These results suggest that Chinese males with schizophrenia smoke more frequently than the general population. Further, smokers with schizophrenia may display fewer negative symptoms and possibly less parkinsonism than non-smokers with schizophrenia

SNW1 Is a Critical Regulator of Spatial BMP Activity, Neural Plate Border Formation, and Neural Crest Specification in Vertebrate Embryos

In frog and fish embryos, SNW1 is a protein required for the spatio-temporal activity of BMP signaling necessary for neural plate border formation and specification of neural crest tissue

Family day care educators : an exploration of their understanding and experiences promoting children\u27s social and emotional wellbeing

This study aimed to explore family day care (FDC) educators&rsquo; knowledge of child social and emotional wellbeing and mental health problems, the strategies used to promote children&rsquo;s wellbeing, and barriers and opportunities for promoting children&rsquo;s social and emotional wellbeing. Thirteen FDC educators participated in individual semi-structured interviews. FDC educators were more comfortable defining children&rsquo;s social and emotional wellbeing than they were in identifying causes and early signs of mental health problems. Strategies used to promote children&rsquo;s mental health were largely informal and dependent on educator skills and capacities rather than a systematic scheme-wide approach. Common barriers to mental health promotion were limited financial resources, a need for more training and hesitance raising child mental health issues with parents. There is a need to build FDC educators&rsquo; knowledge of child social and emotional wellbeing and for tailored mental health promotion strategies in FDC.<br /

Re-imagining bisexuality and Christianity: the negotiation of Christianity in the lives of bisexual women and men

Research exploring non-heterosexual sexuality and Christianity has tended to conflate ‘lesbian and gay’, with ‘bisexual’, effacing the latter. This article explores how bisexual women and men in particular understand their Christianity, where they have been denied access to institutionalised Christianity and have re-imagined their faith. I examine how bisexuality is understood by popular Christian denominations and how respondents challenge these standpoints. The respondents reshaped their faith to be more inclusive of bisexuality and re-imagined their sexuality to fit with their religious faith. I draw upon data from 80 self-completion questionnaires and 20 in-depth interviews

Identification of Early Requirements for Preplacodal Ectoderm and Sensory Organ Development

Preplacodal ectoderm arises near the end of gastrulation as a narrow band of cells surrounding the anterior neural plate. This domain later resolves into discrete cranial placodes that, together with neural crest, produce paired sensory structures of the head. Unlike the better-characterized neural crest, little is known about early regulation of preplacodal development. Classical models of ectodermal patterning posit that preplacodal identity is specified by readout of a discrete level of Bmp signaling along a DV gradient. More recent studies indicate that Bmp-antagonists are critical for promoting preplacodal development. However, it is unclear whether Bmp-antagonists establish the proper level of Bmp signaling within a morphogen gradient or, alternatively, block Bmp altogether. To begin addressing these issues, we treated zebrafish embryos with a pharmacological inhibitor of Bmp, sometimes combined with heat shock-induction of Chordin and dominant-negative Bmp receptor, to fully block Bmp signaling at various developmental stages. We find that preplacodal development occurs in two phases with opposing Bmp requirements. Initially, Bmp is required before gastrulation to co-induce four transcription factors, Tfap2a, Tfap2c, Foxi1, and Gata3, which establish preplacodal competence throughout the nonneural ectoderm. Subsequently, Bmp must be fully blocked in late gastrulation by dorsally expressed Bmp-antagonists, together with dorsally expressed Fgf and Pdgf, to specify preplacodal identity within competent cells abutting the neural plate. Localized ventral misexpression of Fgf8 and Chordin can activate ectopic preplacodal development anywhere within the zone of competence, whereas dorsal misexpression of one or more competence factors can activate ectopic preplacodal development in the neural plate. Conversely, morpholino-knockdown of competence factors specifically ablates preplacodal development. Our work supports a relatively simple two-step model that traces regulation of preplacodal development to late blastula stage, resolves two distinct phases of Bmp dependence, and identifies the main factors required for preplacodal competence and specification

The BMP Antagonist Follistatin-Like 1 Is Required for Skeletal and Lung Organogenesis

Follistatin-like 1 (Fstl1) is a secreted protein of the BMP inhibitor class. During development, expression of Fstl1 is already found in cleavage stage embryos and becomes gradually restricted to mesenchymal elements of most organs during subsequent development. Knock down experiments in chicken and zebrafish demonstrated a role as a BMP antagonist in early development. To investigate the role of Fstl1 during mouse development, a conditional Fstl1 KO allele as well as a Fstl1-GFP reporter mouse were created. KO mice die at birth from respiratory distress and show multiple defects in lung development. Also, skeletal development is affected. Endochondral bone development, limb patterning as well as patterning of the axial skeleton are perturbed in the absence of Fstl1. Taken together, these observations show that Fstl1 is a crucial regulator in BMP signalling during mouse development