The role of self-disclosure in buffering negative feelings within adolescent friendships

Friendship serves a variety of functions throughout development and can buffer the effects of negative experiences through self-disclosure, the communication of emotions. Participants were 140 adolescents (51% male, M =12.95 years old) that completed surveys examining the buffering of negative life events, global self-worth, and relationships with their best friend in a correlational design. It was hypothesized that buffered feelings from negative experiences would mediate the relationship between self-disclosure and global self-worth, particularly for girls. Findings indicated levels of self-disclosure and buffered feelings from negative experiences were not associated with increased global self-worth. Gender differences were found between ratings of friendship and buffered feelings of different types of negative experiences, favoring girls. In addition, the overall model of self-disclosure and buffering of negative experiences together affected global self-worth for boys. Challenges in measurement of buffered feelings from negative experiences and global self-worth are discussed

Identifying the Roles and Challenges of Female Agricultural Teachers Employed in Illinois: A Descriptive Study

In 1980, one of the first female high school agriculture teachers opened the door to her classroom at Arthur High School, Arthur, Illinois. Since that time, the number of female high school agriculture teachers has grown significantly. A descriptive study was conducted to identify and describe the roles and challenges of female high school agricultural teachers employed in Illinois. The results of the study can be used as a preparation tool for those females who decide to pursue agricultural education as a career, and can be used to encourage more female students to enter this challenging career. This study also describes the demographics, background, and support given to female teachers of agriculture in Illinois prior to and after college. Almost half the current female high school agriculture teachers are under the age of 30, and 52% of these teachers are instructors of Agricultural Mechanization, a once male-dominated area of instruction

The Effects of Big Dune and Lava Dune Sand Composition on the Eggs and Larvae of \u3ci\u3ePseudocotalpa giulianii\u3c/i\u3e

Differences in the composition of aeolian sand at Big Dune and sand at Lava Dune that is mixed with basalt and various minerals may affect water retention and the development of insects that are specialized for living in sand environments. These two dunes, located in Nye County, Nevada, are home to the endemic dune scarab beetle, Pseudocotalpa giulianii (PSGU). The differences in sand type may influence the growth patterns of the eggs and larvae of this beetle species that hatches and develops to an adult within the sand. The purpose of this experiment is to test whether sand composition affects hatch success of PSGU eggs as well as the growth and survivability of PSGU larvae that have successfully hatched. The data analyzed indicate that there are altered conditions of growth for PSGU larvae between sand types, with Lava Dune sand causing increased larval growth rate and body mass, though it is yet unknown what causes the observed differences in growth and size patterns

The OnTrack Diabetes Group Therapy Project: Feasibility Trial of a Web-based CBT Program with Conjunctive Group Therapy

Context. Type 2 diabetes is a global public health concern due to its wide-spread impacts on mortality, morbidity and quality of life, which are largely preventable through adequate self-management. However, emotional and psychological barriers to effective self-management remain a challenge for health systems to address. Interventions targeting diabetes self-management, emotional and psychological issues can lead to improvements in patients’ physical and mental health outcomes. Furthermore, there is a significant, positive relationship between social support and psychological wellbeing in people with diabetes and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) has demonstrated efficacy in reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety in this population. Intervention. This paper presents on the feasibility trial of an intervention that includes social support in the form of CBT-based group therapy delivered in conjunction with a web-based CBT type 2 diabetes self-management and mood intervention. Methods. Aims of this study include: (i) to evaluate user uptake, engagement, perceived usefulness and acceptability of the intervention; and (ii) to evaluate the implementation fidelity of both intervention components, as well as group cohesion and group-facilitator alliance, and their relationship to participant engagement in the group therapy program. A sample of 30 adults with type 2 diabetes is recruited to take part in the trial at three locations, including metropolitan Victoria and regional areas of Victoria and Queensland. Results. Results will indicate the feasibility of delivering a face-to-face group therapy program with web-based support and will inform the future roll-out of the program as a complete web-based intervention. Conclusions. Implications for the future implementation of the program based on feasibility trial findings will be discussed

Perceptions Of Environmental Sustainability

This study examines attitudes toward environmental sustainability among college students.  The new area of “sustainability reporting” identifies business practices that are associated with environmental and social costs.  When these costs are known, managers can take steps to reduce them, resulting in improved profit and lessened environmental impact.  Many believe it has great potential to change the way business is practiced.  Responses were analyzed using multidimensional scaling analyses, permitting comparison of the perceived similarity and dissimilarity of “sustainability” to other environmentally significant terms.  Results from these and semantic differential analyses showed that sustainability is perceived positively, although it is not perceived as especially dynamic nor is it associated with sound economics.  Suggestions for educating students and the public about sustainability reporting are offered

Analysis of time-dependent adaptations in whole-body energy balance in obesity induced by high-fat diet in rats

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>High-fat (HF) diet has been extensively used as a model to study metabolic disorders of human obesity in rodents. However, the adaptive whole-body metabolic responses that drive the development of obesity with chronically feeding a HF diet are not fully understood. Therefore, this study investigated the physiological mechanisms by which whole-body energy balance and substrate partitioning are adjusted in the course of HF diet-induced obesity.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Male Wistar rats were fed <it>ad libitum </it>either a standard or a HF diet for 8 weeks. Food intake (FI) and body weight were monitored daily, while oxygen consumption, respiratory exchange ratio, physical activity, and energy expenditure (EE) were assessed weekly. At week 8, fat mass and lean body mass (LBM), fatty acid oxidation and uncoupling protein-1 (UCP-1) content in brown adipose tissue (BAT), as well as acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) content in liver and epidydimal fat were measured.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Within 1 week of <it>ad libitum </it>HF diet, rats were able to spontaneously reduce FI to precisely match energy intake of control rats, indicating that alterations in dietary energy density were rapidly detected and FI was self-regulated accordingly. Oxygen consumption was higher in HF than controls throughout the study as whole-body fat oxidation also progressively increased. In HF rats, EE initially increased, but then reduced as dark cycle ambulatory activity reached values ~38% lower than controls. No differences in LBM were detected; however, epidydimal, inguinal, and retroperitoneal fat pads were 1.85-, 1.89-, and 2.54-fold larger in HF-fed than control rats, respectively. Plasma leptin was higher in HF rats than controls throughout the study, indicating the induction of leptin resistance by HF diet. At week 8, UCP-1 content and palmitate oxidation in BAT were 3.1- and 1.5-fold higher in HF rats than controls, respectively, while ACC content in liver and epididymal fat was markedly reduced.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The thermogenic response induced by the HF diet was offset by increased energy efficiency and time-dependent reduction in physical activity, favoring fat accumulation. These adaptations were mainly driven by the nutrient composition of the diet, since control and HF animals spontaneously elicited isoenergetic intake.</p

Developmental trajectories of autistic social traits in the general population

BACKGROUND: Autistic people show diverse trajectories of autistic traits over time, a phenomenon labelled 'chronogeneity'. For example, some show a decrease in symptoms, whilst others experience an intensification of difficulties. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a dimensional condition, representing one end of a trait continuum that extends throughout the population. To date, no studies have investigated chronogeneity across the full range of autistic traits. We investigated the nature and clinical significance of autism trait chronogeneity in a large, general population sample. METHODS: Autistic social/communication traits (ASTs) were measured in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children using the Social and Communication Disorders Checklist (SCDC) at ages 7, 10, 13 and 16 (N = 9744). We used Growth Mixture Modelling (GMM) to identify groups defined by their AST trajectories. Measures of ASD diagnosis, sex, IQ and mental health (internalising and externalising) were used to investigate external validity of the derived trajectory groups. RESULTS: The selected GMM model identified four AST trajectory groups: (i) Persistent High (2.3% of sample), (ii) Persistent Low (83.5%), (iii) Increasing (7.3%) and (iv) Decreasing (6.9%) trajectories. The Increasing group, in which females were a slight majority (53.2%), showed dramatic increases in SCDC scores during adolescence, accompanied by escalating internalising and externalising difficulties. Two-thirds (63.6%) of the Decreasing group were male. CONCLUSIONS: Clinicians should note that for some young people autism-trait-like social difficulties first emerge during adolescence accompanied by problems with mood, anxiety, conduct and attention. A converse, majority-male group shows decreasing social difficulties during adolescence