Consumer’s use of information sources by fashion leadership and style of information processing

For fashion consumers, information search precedes any purchase decision. The search may be internal (e.g., retrieving knowledge from memory) and/or external. External information can come from personal (e.g., family) and impersonal (e.g., TV) sources (Blackwell, Miniard, & Engel, 2005). Consumers use many sources of information but each consumer finds source(s) of information that work best for him/her. The combination of information sources that works best for an individual may be influenced by style of processing, that is, his/her preference and propensity to engage in a verbal and/or visual modality of processing (Childers, Houston, & Heckler, 1985, p. 130)

Adapting to ageing: a mixed methods study of the role of Selection, Optimisation and Compensation in the maintenance of high wellbeing

Objectives: Selection, Optimization and Compensation (SOC) may contribute to successful aging by helping older people maximize wellbeing in the context of physical decline. To explore this hypothesis, and to investigate the potential for narrative analysis to improve understanding of SOC, we analyze interviews conducted with 15 members of the 6-Day Sample, a cohort of Scots born in 1936. Method: Interviewees were chosen based on their physical function and wellbeing scores. Interviews were analyzed to investigate ‘SOC talk’, i.e. older people’s talk about SOC behaviors in everyday life. Types and amounts of SOC talk were quantified, and talk was narratively analyzed. We hypothesized that older people who engaged in more SOC talk would have higher wellbeing. Results: Older people who engaged in high levels of SOC talk had high wellbeing despite low physical function. Those who engaged in little SOC talk had low wellbeing despite higher physical function. Discussion: The concept of successful aging is valuable in part because of its narrative quality: one must strive to keep one’s life story developing despite physical decline and other losses. We provide evidence, from the perspectives of older people themselves, of the ways in which SOC may play a role in that process

Student Success Courses and Educational Outcomes at Virginia Community Colleges

Using data from the Virginia Community College System and building upon prior Florida-based research, this study examines whether student success course enrollment, as well as student and institutional characteristics, has positive associations with shorter term student outcomes, including earning any college credits within the first year and persistence into the second year. The present study finds that students who enrolled in a student success course in the first semester were more likely to earn any college-level credits within the first year and were more likely to persist to the second year. The study also finds that students who were referred to developmental education were more likely to earn any college-level credits within the first year if they enrolled in a student success course in their first term

Drug Repositioning and Pharmacophore Identification in the Discovery of Hookworm MIF Inhibitors

SummaryThe screening of bioactive compound libraries can be an effective approach for repositioning FDA-approved drugs or discovering new pharmacophores. Hookworms are blood-feeding, intestinal nematode parasites that infect up to 600 million people worldwide. Vaccination with recombinant Ancylostoma ceylanicum macrophage migration inhibitory factor (rAceMIF) provided partial protection from disease, thus establishing a “proof-of-concept” for targeting AceMIF to prevent or treat infection. A high-throughput screen (HTS) against rAceMIF identified six AceMIF-specific inhibitors. A nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), sodium meclofenamate, could be tested in an animal model to assess the therapeutic efficacy in treating hookworm disease. Furosemide, an FDA-approved diuretic, exhibited submicromolar inhibition of rAceMIF tautomerase activity. Structure-activity relationships of a pharmacophore based on furosemide included one analog that binds similarly to the active site, yet does not inhibit the Na-K-Cl symporter (NKCC1) responsible for diuretic activity