The Use of Mobile Social Technology as Transitional Objects Impact on Personality Functioning

The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the impact unlimited connectivity and unlimited access to voice, text, and video communication as well as multimedia content consumption through mobile social technology has on personality integration. The increased use of mobile social technology has changed how the user engages social relationships. Through mobile social technology, the user places importance in an inanimate object for engagement of social relationships. A reliance on the inanimate object as a social relationship is thought to compromise the ability to internalize integrated object relations and develop stable personality organization. This theoretical research uses hermeneutic analysis of Kernberg’s Object Relations theory, Winnicott’s theory on Transitional Objects, Anthropomorphism, and Kohut’s Self Psychology as it pertains to the relationship with mobile social technology. Through the hermeneutic process of understanding the presented experience of each of these theories the aim is to form a clearer picture of how our relationship with mobile social technology impacts personality functioning. Further research is needed to continue to expand our understanding of the impact of our relationship with social technologies. This Dissertation is available in Open Access at AURA: Antioch University Repository and Archive, http://aura.antioch.edu and OhioLink ETD Center, http://www.ohiolink.edu/etd

Franchising as a Path to Self-Employment for Women and Minorities in Retailing

Franchise-based retailing plays a vital role in fulfilling the public policy goal of supporting inclusion for women and minorities in the economic mainstream, through employment and self-employment opportunities. Using Census Bureau data, we compare franchising activity by two protected classes (women, minorities) with their comparison groups (men, non-minorities). Results indicate that franchising is used disproportionately by the protected classes as a path to self-employment. We also compare franchising activity among these groups across various sectors and find evidence that women and minorities use franchising to enter hard-to-access business sectors, of which they may have otherwise been excluded. Policy implications of these findings are discussed and directions for future research are offered

Familial transmission of alcohol use, III. Impact of imitation non-imitation of parent alcohol use (1960) on the sensible/problem drinking of their offspring (1977)

Imitation/non-imitation by adult offspring of alcohol-related parent behavior was examined in the context of the fall-off effect’ and of sensible/problem alcohol use, two processes which tend to constrain drinking. Evidence indicates there is more imitation by adult offspring of abstemious parents (both abstainer and low volume) than of high volume parents. Adult offspring drink significantly less, on the average, than their high volume parents, a phenomenon here termed‘fall-off effect’ for both men and women with respect to either their fathers or mothers. This fall-off among social drinkers appears when the mother approaches or the father consumes at or more than a typical daily drinking level (≥1 drink per day). More sensible drinking occurs among adult offspring when (I) the parent has no drinking problem-signs than when the parent has drinking problems (this pattern appears at all levels of offspring consumption), and (2) when parents drink at high volume and have no problems for those offspring who do not imitate parent volume. Drinking “sensibly’ appears to be associated directly with the level of parent alcohol use and offsprings’ own drinking levels (considered as imitation or non-imitation of parents), and indirectly with offspring recall of problematic intake by parents. Drinking sensibly is a medical, education and public health issue.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/72393/1/j.1360-0443.1990.tb03439.x.pd

Familial transmission of alcohol use: V. Drinking patterns among spouses, Tecumseh, Michigan

This study examined concordance and discordance of self-reported alcohol consumption in 184 spouse pairs drawn from a representative sample of the Tecumseh, MI community. A significant association (tau B=.57, p <.001) between self-reported alcohol consumption of husbands and that of wives was observed. Drinking daily and high maximum drinking were also significantly correlated between spouses, as were church attendance, smoking, impulsivity, and sociability. A significant association between the drinking of wives and that of their mothers-in-law was noted. The relationship between husbands' drinking and that of their fathers-in-law was marginally significant. However, three-quarters of daughters of heavy-drinking fathers (21 of 28) married abstemious men (never drank or drank lightly), while only 7% married heavy-drinking husbands. These findings lend support to the idea that a network of familial influences—both primary and secondary assortative mating—contributes to regulating adult drinking behavior.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/44107/1/10519_2005_Article_BF01066793.pd

Neural Potential of a Stem Cell Population in the Hair Follicle

The bulge region of the hair follicle serves as a repository for epithelial stem cells that can regenerate the follicle in each hair growth cycle and contribute to epidermis regeneration upon injury. Here we describe a population of multipotential stem cells in the hair follicle bulge region; these cells can be identified by fluorescence in transgenic nestin-GFP mice. The morphological features of these cells suggest that they maintain close associations with each other and with the surrounding niche. Upon explantation, these cells can give rise to neurosphere-like structures in vitro. When these cells are permitted to differentiate, they produce several cell types, including cells with neuronal, astrocytic, oligodendrocytic, smooth muscle, adipocytic, and other phenotypes. Furthermore, upon implantation into the developing nervous system of chick, these cells generate neuronal cells in vivo. We used transcriptional profiling to assess the relationship between these cells and embryonic and postnatal neural stem cells and to compare them with other stem cell populations of the bulge. Our results show that nestin-expressing cells in the bulge region of the hair follicle have stem cell-like properties, are multipotent, and can effectively generate cells of neural lineage in vitro and in vivo

How does gender influence the recognition of cardiovascular risk and adherence to self-care recommendations? : a study in polish primary care

Background: Studies have shown a correlation between gender and an ability to change lifestyle to reduce the risk of disease. However, the results of these studies are ambiguous, especially where a healthy lifestyle is concerned. Additionally, health behaviors are strongly modified by culture and the environment. Psychological factors also substantially affect engagement with disease-related lifestyle interventions. This study aimed to examine whether there are differences between men and women in the frequency of health care behavior for the purpose of reducing cardiovascular risk (CVR), as well as cognitive appraisal of this type of risk. We also aimed to identify the psychological predictors of engaging in recommended behavior for reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease after providing information about this risk in men and women. Methods: A total of 134 consecutive eligible patients in a family practice entered a longitudinal study. At initial consultation, the individual’s CVR and associated health burden was examined, and preventive measures were recommended by the physician. Self-care behavior, cognitive appraisal of risk, and coping styles were then assessed using psychological questionnaires. Six months after the initial data collection, the frequency of subjects’ self-care behavior was examined. Results: We found an increase in health care behavior after providing information regarding the rate of CVR in both sexes; this increase was greater for women than for men. Women followed self-care guidelines more often than men, particularly for preventive measures and dietary advice. Women were more inclined to recognize their CVR as a challenge. Coping style, cognitive appraisal, age, level of health behaviors at baseline and CVR values accounted for 48% of the variance in adherence to self-care guidelines in women and it was 52% in men. In women, total risk of CVD values were most important, while in men, cognitive appraisal of harm/loss was most important. Conclusions: Different predictors of acquisition of health behavior are encountered in men and women. Our results suggest that gender-adjusted motivation models influencing the recognition process need to be considered to optimize compliance in patients with CVR

Genetic regulation of pituitary gland development in human and mouse

Normal hypothalamopituitary development is closely related to that of the forebrain and is dependent upon a complex genetic cascade of transcription factors and signaling molecules that may be either intrinsic or extrinsic to the developing Rathke’s pouch. These factors dictate organ commitment, cell differentiation, and cell proliferation within the anterior pituitary. Abnormalities in these processes are associated with congenital hypopituitarism, a spectrum of disorders that includes syndromic disorders such as septo-optic dysplasia, combined pituitary hormone deficiencies, and isolated hormone deficiencies, of which the commonest is GH deficiency. The highly variable clinical phenotypes can now in part be explained due to research performed over the last 20 yr, based mainly on naturally occurring and transgenic animal models. Mutations in genes encoding both signaling molecules and transcription factors have been implicated in the etiology of hypopituitarism, with or without other syndromic features, in mice and humans. To date, mutations in known genes account for a small proportion of cases of hypopituitarism in humans. However, these mutations have led to a greater understanding of the genetic interactions that lead to normal pituitary development. This review attempts to describe the complexity of pituitary development in the rodent, with particular emphasis on those factors that, when mutated, are associated with hypopituitarism in humans

Significant Quantitative and Qualitative Transition in Pituitary Stem / Progenitor Cells Occurs during the Postnatal Development of the Rat Anterior Pituitary

We reported recently that a pituitary-specific transcription factor PROP1 is present in SOX2-positive cells and disappears at the early stage of the transition from progenitor cell to committed cell during the embryonic development of the rat pituitary. In the present study, we examined the localisation and identification of SOX2-positive and PROP1/SOX2-positive cells in the neonatal and postnatal rat pituitaries by immunohistochemistry. Quantitative analysis of immunoreactive cells demonstrated that SOX2-positive pituitary stem/progenitor cells are not only predominantly localised in the marginal cell layer, but also are scattered in the parenchyma of the adult anterior lobe. In the marginal cell layer, the number of PROP1/SOX2-positive cells significantly decreased after postnatal day 15, indicating that a significant quantitative transition is triggered in the marginal cell layer during the first postnatal growth wave of the anterior pituitary. By contrast, other phenotypes of SOX2-positive stem/progenitor cells that express S100β appeared in the postnatal anterior pituitary. These data suggested that quantitative and qualitative transition occurs by acquisition of a novel mechanism in terminal differentiation in the postnatal development of the anterior pituitary