Upward Mobility Potential Attitudes Toward Mental Illness and Working-Class Youth

The investigators were interested in assessing the relationship between upward mobility potential and attitudes toward mental illness. For the 147 male adolescents studied, it was hypothesized that those working-class youth who demonstrated a high predictability of future upward social mobility would score more liberally on the five factors of the Opinions about Mental Illness Scale than those working-class youth who demonstrated a low predictability of future upward social mobility. Through the use of the aforementioned scale, the Otis Quick Scoring Mental Ability Test and Zero Order Correlations, the hypothesized relationship was confirmed; i.e., the upwardly mobile group was significantly more liberal than the non-mobile group

A cooperative water effect in proazaphosphatranecatalysed heterocycle synthesis

The synthesis of oxazolines and imidazolines was achieved by activation of isocyanides with water. Mechanistic studies show that the organosuperbase proazaphosphatrane is tolerant of water within the reaction medium, with a beneficial and cooperative effect being observed

Preliminary study of rodents from the Golliher B assemblage of Meade County, Kansas, USA indicates an intense cold period near the end of the Pleistocene

Submission: 15 June 2007. Acceptance: 18 May 2011An assemblage of rodents recovered from a thin layer of sediments along Sand Creek on the Golliher Ranch in Meade County, Kansas, indicates that cold steppe conditions likely prevailed for a brief time near the close of the Pleistocene around 12,500 radiocarbon years ago. This environment is suggested by the northern disjunct rodents Zapus princeps, Microtus pennsylvanicus, Thomomys cf. talpoides and the presumed cold steppe vole Microtus (Pedomys) parmaleei, n. sp., plus the absence of cotton rats. Comparison of meadow vole m1 crown morphology diversity through the late Pleistocene in Kansas shows that the modern pattern of diversity developed in a brief period of 1500 years, possibly during the Younger Dryas interval. A cement-filled prism fold, a feature commonly encountered in extinct species of Mimomys with rooted molars, appears in three rootless first lower molars of Microtus pennsylvanicus. The Golliher B assemblage helps to fill in the late Pleistocene history of rodents in the ongoing Meade Basin Rodent Project.Peer reviewe

Ultrastructural Assessment of Lesion Development in the Collared Rabbit Carotid Artery Model

Cellular reactions associated with the formation of lesions generated in the carotid artery of rabbits fed either normal or high cholesterol diets by the placement of a flexible, silastic collar around the artery, were studied by electron microscopy. Endothelial cells remained as a monolayer throughout lesion development. The endothelial cell surface in both experimental and sham operated carotids, 4 hours and 8 hours after the initiation of the experiments, were covered with platelets and leukocytes. Neutrophils were present until 7 days in the arteries from within the collar of animals maintained on a normal diet, but only to 1 day in the cholesterol-fed animals. Neutrophils were observed within the medial layer. Few monocytes were identified. An intimal lesion had formed after 7 days in both groups of animals. Macrophage-like cells and foam cells were identified in the cholesterol-fed animals. The size of the lesion increased up to 56 days in animals maintained on a high cholesterol diet, but regression occurred after the 14-days sample in those animals on a normal diet. Concurrently a proportion of the smooth muscle cells changed from contractile to synthetic phenotype within the intimal and medial region of the collared artery of both high cholesterol and normocholesterolaemic animals. Lesions did not form in the contralateral, sham operated arteries

Feasibility of using S-191 infrared spectra for geological studies from space

There are no author-identified significant results in this report

Conditioning with spatio-temporal patterns: Constraining the contribution of the hippocampus to configural learning

The conditions under which the hippocampus contributes to learning about spatio-temporal configural patterns are not fully established. The aim of Experiments 1–4 was to investigate the impact of hippocampal lesions on learning about where or when a reinforcer would be delivered. In each experiment, the rats received exposure to an identical set of patterns (i.e., spotted + morning, checked + morning, spotted + afternoon and checked + afternoon); and the contexts (Experiment 1), times of day (Experiment 2), or their configuration (Experiments 3 and 4) signalled whether or not a reinforcer would be delivered. The fact that hippocampal damage did not disrupt the formation of simple or configural associations involving spatio-temporal patterns is surprising, and suggests that the contribution of the hippocampus is restricted to mediated learning (or updating) involving spatio-temporal configurations

Perceptual learning in flavor preference conditioning: restricting generalization of acquired preferences between flavors

Two experiments with rats investigated perceptual learning using a conditioned preference procedure. Experiment 1 used a between-subject procedure in which rats received either intermixed preexposure (AX, BX, AX, BX…) or blocked preexposure (AX, AX…, BX, BX…) to flavor compounds before a conditioned preference was established to AX by pairing it with sucrose. During a test, rats given intermixed preexposure showed a greater preference for AX over BX than those given blocked preexposure. Experiment 2 showed that after intermixed preexposure to AX and BX, and a block of preexposure to CX, a preference established to AX was less likely to generalize to BX than to CX. These results represent the first demonstration of the impact of the schedule of preexposure on perceptual learning using a flavor preference procedure, and they parallel those previously observed using flavor aversion procedures

The origins of individual differences in how learning is expressed in rats: a general-process perspective

Laboratory rats can exhibit marked, qualitative individual differences in the form of acquired behaviors. For example, when exposed to a signal-reinforcer relationship some rats show marked and consistent changes in sign-tracking (interacting with the signal; e.g., a lever) and others show marked and consistent changes in goal-tracking (interacting with the location of the predicted reinforcer; e.g., the food well). Here, stable individual differences in rats' sign-tracking and goal-tracking emerged over the course of training, but these differences did not generalize across different signal-reinforcer relationships (Experiment 1). This selectivity suggests that individual differences in sign- and goal-tracking reflect differences in the value placed on individual reinforcers. Two findings provide direct support for this interpretation: the palatability of a reinforcer (as measured by an analysis of lick-cluster size) was positively correlated with goal-tracking (and negatively correlated with sign-tracking); and sating rats with a reinforcer affected goal-tracking but not sign-tracking (Experiment 2). These results indicate that the observed individual differences in sign- and goal-tracking behavior arise from the interaction between the palatability or value of the reinforcer and processes of association as opposed to dispositional differences (e.g., in sensory processes, 'temperament,' or response repertoire)

Dilemmas in doing insider research in professional education

This article explores the dilemmas I encountered when researching social work education in England as an insider researcher who was simultaneously employed as an educator in the host institution. This was an ethnographic project deploying multiple methods and generating rich case study material which informed the student textbook Becoming a Social Worker the four-year period of the project. First, ethical dilemmas emerged around informed consent and confidentiality when conducting surveys of students and reading their portfolios. Second, professional dilemmas stemmed from the ways in which my roles as a researcher, academic tutor, social worker and former practice educator converged and collided. Third, political dilemmas pertained to the potential for the project to crystallize and convey conflicts among stakeholders in the university and community. Since the majority of research in social work education is conducted by insiders, we have a vital interest in making sense of such complexity