Training Sociologists: Professional Socialization and the Emergence of Career Aspirations

The individual and departmental factors affecting graduate students\u27 professional socialization were studied by employing data from 309 PhD students in 16 graduate programs in sociology. Using Rosenbaum\u27s tournament model of opportunity structures and aspects of Tinto\u27s model of social psychological integration, this study examines students\u27 access to initial funding, resources in the department, indicators of prior ability, current professional activities, mentoring processes, and social psychological factors for their effects on socialization into the academic profession. Access to initial funding and to mentoring have substantial effects on PhD students\u27 professional socialization, but prove to be less than rational processes in the graduate program. This socialization process is found to be based more on particularistic than on universalistic criteria in the allocation of departmental resources and mentoring. Implications for graduate student mentoring, funding, and divergent career paths are highlighted

Job Exit Queues: Corporate Mergers and Gender Inequality

Purpose: to explore the experiences of employees in a local bank merger in the United States and examine the concept of job exit queues. We introduce the concept of a job exit queue, which describes how workers position themselves or are positioned by employers to leave jobs and enter new jobs following the announcement of a corporate merger. Design/methodology/approach: Qualitative interviews with mid-level managers, technical specialists and low status workers during the sale and merger process were conducted and coded thematically. We explore: 1) how workers and managers describe the job search as an “opportunity” or as a recurring cycle of low-wage, high-turnover work and 2) how severance packages structure the job exit queue to meet corporate needs. Findings: The role of severance pay is pivotal in understanding women’s and men’s job relations to job exit queues. We conclude that employers create job exit queues, placing low status workers and mid-level women managers with less formal education at a disadvantage in re-employment. Value: This paper contributes a new concept “job exit queue” to the research and theory on workplace diversity, gender inequality, and queuing theories

Leadership and nonverbal behaviors of Hispanic females across school equity environments

Nonverbal behaviors of Hispanic elementary school students and their peers were examined in a small-group cooperative task with a total of 202 subjects. Thirty-five randomly selected groups were videotaped in ten desegregated schools, each group was gender-homogeneous, with three Hispanic and three Anglo students. Analysis of the videotapes revealed that Hispanic females used less vertical and horizontal space than Anglo females, and were also less likely to verbally interrupt or physically intrude on other group members They had similar rates of handling the group resource cards and were given similar leadership scores by multi-ethnic trained observers. Among males, Hispanics are significantly more likely to use vertical or upward movements and physical intrusions, while Anglos use more verbal interruptions. School and social status factors such as high- and low-equity desegregated school programs, ethnic and gender status, and school status variables of academic grades and English word knowledge had varying effects on teacher and peer ratings of leadership. High-equity schools garnered higher leadership scores for Hispanic females from both peers and teachers when all other nonverbal behaviors were controlled. This positive effect of the school on leadership ratings was evident only for males. In teacher ratings Hispanic females and their peers do reflect adult models of nonverbal behavior and leadership, and that leadership is enhanced in the perceptions of teachers and peers when they participate In a high-equity desegregated elementary school

Anti-tumor necrosis factor-alpha therapy during murine Klebsiella pneumoniae bacteremia: increased mortality in the absence of liver injury.

Klebsiella pneumoniae is a leading cause of gram-negative bacterial pneumonia, often resulting in bacteremia concurrent with the localized pulmonary infection. The beneficial role of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha during pulmonary infection has been well documented; however, consequences of TNF-alpha production during systemic bacterial infection are controversial. A murine model of K. pneumoniae was developed to address this important issue. Liver-associated TNF-alpha mRNA was induced within 30 min after intravenous bacterial inoculation and remained elevated through 6 h before returning to near-baseline at 24 h postinfection. Intravenous K. pneumoniae infection induced liver cellular injury that was completely ablated when mice were pretreated with a neutralizing anti-TNF-alpha antibody. Interestingly, this reduction in liver injury failed to translate into improved survival. Mice receiving anti-TNF-alpha continued to succumb to the infection even out to day 10 postinfection. Bacterial clearance after TNF-alpha neutralization was significantly impaired at later time points during infection. Correlating with impaired bacterial clearance was diminished production of liver-associated MIP-2, MIP-1alpha, MCP-1, and interferon-gamma. Further evidence of diminished antibacterial immune responses was noted when the activational status of splenic natural killer cells in anti-TNF-alpha-treated mice was examined 24 h postinfection. Natural killer cells displayed decreased CD69 expression. Combined, these data indicate that the beneficial effects of TNF-alpha during systemic K. pneumoniae infection outweigh the detrimental effects of TNF-alpha-mediated hepatocyte cellular injury. Anti-TNF-alpha therapy, although preventing liver injury during blood-borne bacterial infection, results in a dampened anti-bacterial host response, resulting in decreased bacterial clearance and overall survival

Benefits of phoneme discrimination training in a randomized controlled trial of 50- to 74-year-olds with mild hearing loss

Objectives: The aims of this study were to (i) evaluate the efficacy of phoneme discrimination training for hearing and cognitive abilities of adults aged 50 to 74 years with mild sensorineural hearing loss who were not users of hearing aids, and to (ii) determine participant compliance with a self-administered, computer-delivered, home- and game-based auditory training program. Design: This study was a randomized controlled trial with repeated measures and crossover design. Participants were trained and tested over an 8- to 12-week period. One group (Immediate Training) trained during weeks 1 and 4. A second waitlist group (Delayed Training) did no training during weeks 1 and 4, but then trained during weeks 5 and 8. On-task (phoneme discrimination) and transferable outcome measures (speech perception, cognition, self-report of hearing disability) for both groups were obtained during weeks 0, 4, and 8, and for the Delayed Training group only at week 12. Results: Robust phoneme discrimination learning was found for both groups, with the largest improvements in threshold shown for those with the poorest initial thresholds. Between weeks 1 and 4, the Immediate Training group showed moderate, significant improvements on self-report of hearing disability, divided attention, and working memory, specifically for conditions or situations that were more complex and therefore more challenging. Training did not result in consistent improvements in speech perception in noise. There was no evidence of any test-retest effects between weeks 1 and 4 for the Delayed Training group. Retention of benefit at 4 weeks post-training was shown for phoneme discrimination, divided attention, working memory, and self-report of hearing disability. Improved divided attention and reduced self-reported hearing difficulties were highly correlated. Conclusions: It was observed that phoneme discrimination training benefits some but not all people with mild hearing loss. Evidence presented here, together with that of other studies that used different training stimuli, suggests that auditory training may facilitate cognitive skills that index executive function and the self-perception of hearing difficulty in challenging situations. The development of cognitive skills may be more important than the development of sensory skills for improving communication and speech perception in everyday life. However, improvements were modest. Outcome measures need to be appropriately challenging to be sensitive to the effects of the relatively small amount of training performed

In Whose Backyard?: Concern About Sitting a Nuclear Waste Facility

Proponents of hazardous and nuclear waste depositories label opponents to local siting of such facilities NIMBYs (Not In My Backyard). This study assesses the extent to which the NIMBY label and the strategies of industry proponents to reduce opposition function on a reasonable set of assumptions. Using survey data and multiple regression techniques, the levels of concern of residents living in the county selected as the site of a low level radioactive wane disposal facility (imminent threat condition) are compared with a statewide sample (hypothetical threat condition). Consistent with proponents\u27 theoretical assumptions, the levels of concern are greater for respondents under conditions of imminent threat than of hypothetical threat. However, within the host county, levels of concern are lowest, albeit most polarized, in the community closest to the proposed site. A conflict theory approach enhances an understanding of these findings by suggesting that within the most proximate community levels of concern are lowest for citizens who stand to gain the most economic benefits from the facility but highest for those citizens who are least likely to derive tangible gains

In Whose Backyard?: Concern About Sitting a Nuclear Waste Facility

Proponents of hazardous and nuclear waste depositories label opponents to local siting of such facilities NIMBYs (Not In My Backyard). This study assesses the extent to which the NIMBY label and the strategies of industry proponents to reduce opposition function on a reasonable set of assumptions. Using survey data and multiple regression techniques, the levels of concern of residents living in the county selected as the site of a low level radioactive wane disposal facility (imminent threat condition) are compared with a statewide sample (hypothetical threat condition). Consistent with proponents\u27 theoretical assumptions, the levels of concern are greater for respondents under conditions of imminent threat than of hypothetical threat. However, within the host county, levels of concern are lowest, albeit most polarized, in the community closest to the proposed site. A conflict theory approach enhances an understanding of these findings by suggesting that within the most proximate community levels of concern are lowest for citizens who stand to gain the most economic benefits from the facility but highest for those citizens who are least likely to derive tangible gains

Maintaining Credibility and Authority as an Instructor of Color in Diversity-Education Classrooms: A Qualitative Inquiry

The movement for multicultural or diversity-centered education has resulted in changes to the academic demography of the United States (Banks, 1991; Butler & Walter, 1991; Goodstein, 1994; Morey & Kitano, 1997). Institutions of higher education have integrated the voices, knowledge, and lived experiences of various underrepresented cultures and excluded groups into their formal academic curriculum. A recent survey by the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AACU) shows that 63% of colleges and universities report that they have in place, or are in the process of developing, a diversity education component in their undergraduate curriculum (AACU, 2003). Of those that have implemented dimensions of diversity into their curriculum, the majority of campuses (68%) require their students to take at least one course from among a list of approved diversity-education courses. The success of many colleges and universities at integrating this level of multicultural or diversity education into the academic curriculum marks a significant higher education milestone. However, an organized and entrenched resistance to this movement has emerged at both individual and organizational levels (Butler & Walter, 1991; Jayne, 1991). The diversity-education classroom, in particular, is a site wherein this conflict takes on particular meaning for instructors of color at all academic ranks including graduate teaching assistants and full professors (Perry, Moore, Acosta, Edwards, & Frey, 2006; Turner, 2002). Much of the existing scholarship on higher education and multicultural classrooms has focused on the impact of backlash and resistance in the general academic workplace (Yang, Barrayo, & Timpsin, 2003; Timpsin, 2003). Our current study is part of a larger investigation into the professional, emotional, and physical labor associated with teaching diversity-education courses in higher education

A case of recurrent epilepsy-associated rosette-forming glioneuronal tumor with anaplastic transformation in the absence of therapy.

Rosette-forming glioneuronal tumor (RGNT) most commonly occurs adjacent to the fourth ventricle and therefore rarely presents with epilepsy. Recent reports describe RGNT occurrence in other anatomical locations with considerable morphologic and genetic overlap with the epilepsy-associated dysembryoplastic neuroepithelial tumor (DNET). Examples of RGNT or DNET with anaplastic change are rare, and typically occur in the setting of radiation treatment. We present the case of a 5-year-old girl with seizures, who underwent near total resection of a cystic temporal lobe lesion. Pathology showed morphologic and immunohistochemical features of RGNT, albeit with focally overlapping DNET-like patterns. Resections of residual or recurrent tumor were performed 1 year and 5 years after the initial resection, but no adjuvant radiation or chemotherapy was given. Ten years after the initial resection, surveillance imaging identified new and enhancing nodules, leading to another gross total resection. This specimen showed areas similar to the original tumor, but also high-grade foci with oligodendroglial morphology, increased cellularity, palisading necrosis, microvascular proliferation, and up to 13 mitotic figures per 10 high power fields. Ancillary studies the status by sequencing showed wild-type of the isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1), IDH2, and human histone 3.3 (H3F3A) genes, and BRAF studies were negative for mutation or rearrangement. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) showed codeletion of 1p and 19q limited to the high-grade regions. By immunohistochemistry there was loss of nuclear alpha-thalassemia mental retardation syndrome, X-linked (ATRX) expression only in the high-grade region. Next-generation sequencing showed an fibroblast growth factor receptor receptor 1 (FGFR1) kinase domain internal tandem duplication in three resection specimens. ATRX mutation in the high-grade tumor was confirmed by sequencing which showed a frameshift mutation (p.R1427fs), while the apparent 1p/19q-codeletion by FISH was due to loss of chromosome arm 1p and only partial loss of 19q. Exceptional features of this case include the temporal lobe location, 1p/19q loss by FISH without true whole-arm codeletion, and anaplastic transformation associated with ATRX mutation without radiation or chemotherapy