Attitudes of Spouses Toward Job and Family Responsibilities of Professionals in the Agricultural Education and Communications Profession

The field of education, specifically the profession of teaching, is one of the most visible and underappreciated professions practiced today. Though improvements with recognition towards teachers have increased over time, the demands and expectations of teachers have also increased. In the growing profession of agriculture, the demands and challenges of an agriculture teacher bring both positive and negative outcomes in the life of an individual. The purpose of this study was to determine the job satisfaction of spouses toward job and family responsibilities of individuals in leadership positions within agricultural education and communications. This study was significant because it analyzed the perceptions of individuals’ attitudes toward the agriculture profession and the importance thereof. The study found that agriculture professionals, as in many other professions, were capable of becoming emotionally drained and/or stressed as they attempted to balance their personal and work lives but were not likely to leave the profession for this reason alone

Current and Emerging Molecular Tests for Human Papillomavirus–Related Neoplasia in the Genomic Era

Laboratory tests have a key role in preventing human papillomavirus (HPV)-driven carcinomas and in guiding therapeutic interventions. An understanding of the virology, immunology, and carcinogenesis of HPV is essential for choosing appropriate diagnostic test modalities and developing new and even more effective cancer prevention strategies. HPV infects basal epithelial cells on multiple surfaces and induces carcinoma primarily in the cervix and the oropharynx. HPV types are stratified as high risk or low risk based on their carcinogenic potential. During oncogenesis, HPV interferes with cell cycle regulation and incites DNA damage responses that thwart apoptosis and enable mutations to accumulate. Such mutations are an adverse effect of innate and adaptive antiviral immune responses that up-regulate DNA-editing enzymes, with natural selection of cells having a chromosomally integrated viral genome lacking expression of viral proteins targeted by the immune system. Infected cancers share a similar mutation signature, reflecting the effect of apolipoprotein B mRNA-editing catalytic polypeptide enzyme DNA-editing enzymes. It is feasible that genomic tests for characteristic mutations or methylation signatures, along with tests for dysregulated HPV gene expression, add value in predicting behavior of premalignant lesions. Furthermore, these tumor markers in cell-free DNA of plasma or body fluids may one day assist in early detection or monitoring cancer burden during treatment

Role of Age and Sex in the Effects of Repeated Methamphetamine Exposure on Hedonic Tone in Sprague Dawley Rats

Anhedonia is defined as a reduced or complete loss of pleasure from a previously pleasurable stimulus, and it is comprised of two dimensions: Hedonic anhedonia consists of a distinct loss of pleasure in consumption of a normally pleasurable stimulus. Motivational anhedonia involves the goal directed behavior to obtain a reward. Withdrawal induced anhedonia following use of methamphetamine (METH) is thought to contribute to relapse behaviors1,2 . The anhedonic effects of drug withdrawal largely depend on dose, frequency, and the duration of drug exposure4,5,6. The role of sex and age of exposure in this context has yet to be elucidated

Timing of antenatal care and ART initiation in HIV-infected pregnant women before and after introduction of NIMART

In this review of routinely collected data from five community health centres in the Johannesburg Health District, we assess timing of antenatal care and antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation in HIV-infected pregnant women before and after the introduction of nurse-initiated management of ART in antenatal clinics. There are important lessons to be learnt as we reflect on the South African prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV programme

Interaction of Ultrashort-Laser Pulses with Induced Undercritical Plasmas in Fused Silica

Ultrafast light-material interactions near the damage threshold are often studied using postmortem analysis of damaged dielectric materials. Corresponding simulations of ultrashort pulse propagation through the material are frequently used to gain additional insight into the processes leading to such damage. However, comparison between such experimental and numerical results is often qualitative, and pulses near to but not exceeding the damage threshold leave no permanent changes in the material for postmortem analysis. In this article, a series of experiments is presented that measures the near- and far-field properties of a 140-fs laser pulse after propagation through a fused silica sample in which a noncritical electron plasma was generated. Concurrently, results from simulations in which the laser pulse was numerically constructed according to the nearfield beam profile and frequency resolved optical gating (FROG) trace are presented. It is found that to extract a quantitative comparison of such data, cylindrical symmetry of the laser pulse in simulations should be abandoned in favor of a fully 3+1D Cartesian representation. Further comparison of experimental and calculated damage thresholds shows that time-corrective effects predicted by the Drude model play a critical role in the physics of both pulse evolution and plasma formation. The influence of resulting spatiotemporal dependences of the pulse in far-field measurements leads to unretrievable FROG traces. However, it is shown through both simulation and experiment that the use of an appropriate beam aperture will eliminate this effect when measuring the temporal pulse amplitude

The Los Alamos Trapped Ion Quantum Computer Experiment

The development and theory of an experiment to investigate quantum computation with trapped calcium ions is described. The ion trap, laser and ion requirements are determined, and the parameters required for quantum logic operations as well as simple quantum factoring are described.Comment: 41 pages, 16 figures, submitted to Fortschritte der Physi

Adolescent Suicide: The Implication of Coping, Family Functioning and Their Interactions for Prevention and Intervention

It has become apparent over the past ten years that the role of the family has been identified as an increasingly significant variable with regard to adolescent suicide. Some authors go as far as to say that family related factors appear to be, very little information is available about the family characteristics of youths that kill themselves. Furthermore, family characteristics of youths who attempt suicide are often described as a side feature of investigations of other factors, and these generally focus on the family characteristics only after an attempt has occurred. Little is known about those family factors that are precursors to the suicide attempt or about the mechanisms underlying the relation of family characteristics and social supports to youth suicidal behavior (Pfeffer, 1989). Most studies that have attempted to elucidate underlying mechanisms have focused on constructs such as family communication, emeshment, cohesion, flexibility, affective involvement, affective responsiveness, behavioral control, roles, and problem solving. Concurrent with the family research on adolescent suicide, a separate body of literature has developed which focuses on adolescent coping skills and their relation to adolescent suicide. These studies suggest that adolescent coping skills are beneficial in therapy situations involving suicide ideation and attempts (Orbach & Bar-Joseph, 1993). It is reasonable to assume that these skills are shaped, in part, by the adolescent\u27s experiences within the family context. Other investigators have suggested that family therapy is an appropriate treatment modality for adolescents at risk for suicide (Berman & Jobes, 1992; Richman, 1986). A logical next step is to investigate the family\u27s impact on adolescent coping skills and to identify potential family interventions focused on expanding the adolescent\u27s coping repertoire

Long-Term Survival and PSA Control with Radiation and Immunotherapy for Node Positive Prostate Cancer

We describe a patient with node positive prostate cancer treated with radiation, androgen deprivation, and immunotherapy with long-term overall survival and PSA control. ELISPOT immunoassay studies demonstrated PSA specific T-cells prior to starting vaccine therapy suggesting that this positive response may be related to an improved antitumor immune response of the patient, increased immunogenicity of the tumor, or decreased activation of immune escape pathways. Further evaluation of therapeutic cancer vaccines in combination with radiation and hormonal therapy in the definitive management of prostate cancer is warranted