What is the psychological impact of retirement on men? an interpretative phenomenological analysis

This thesis explores male retirement from a psychological standpoint. Its participants are 7 men from all over the UK who were interviewed at 3 Time-points: 4 months before retirement, and 6 and 15 months after, making this a 19-month investigation. Participants were recruited from a website, laterlife.com, which caters to the over 60 retirement population. The sample, for methodological reasons homogeneous, consisted of white, middle-class, middle- to high-earning, married white-collar workers. The study is located within two literatures: extant retirement theoretical and empirical research, and existential perspectives. This is an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, epistemologically underpinned by phenomenology, hermeneutics and idiography. Analysis is thereby inductive (drawn from idiographic data and not theory), interpretative (I try to make sense of the participants trying to make sense of their experience), and interrogative (compares results with extant research). Results reveal 5 focus areas: (1) retirement experienced either as a mysterious un-known, or a return to familiarity – those who experienced it as unknown before retirement still found it so ten months later; (2) the importance of agency in the retirement process, (3) the paradoxical nature of freedom, and the multifarious purposes of busy-ness; (4) the ontological effects of retirement (a connection with masculinity was detected) and (5) the ever-present and underlying existential discomfort which the new lens of retirement throws on ageing and the prospect of death. The following were also noted: life-span influences were found to be relevant to retirement perspective; mattering and recognition, although crucial for some, are almost completely un-explored in retirement literature; generativity is vital (for most) for identity, sociality, and fulfilling meaningful projects; “voluntary retirement” may not feel voluntary; ageism may be the result and not the cause of retirement; retirement is a group-level process, so there is need for more investigation into the dynamics of both group-belonging and group-change

The Role of Domain-Specific Non-Cognitive Variables in Postsecondary Academic Success

oai:ojs2.scholarsjournal.net:article/1The Self-Regulated Learner must possess certain non-cognitive beliefs in order to remain sufficiently motivated in the pursuit of academic success. Students who are do not possess such beliefs are more likely to struggle in academics. This problem is especially pronounced in students at public universities and community colleges. Even though these students have the appropriate background knowledge to be awarded a high school diploma, they must still acquire certain non-cognitive beliefs, in particular self-efficacy (a belief in one’s ability to succeed and master the tasks at hand within a given domain), in order to be motivated to apply the knowledge they learned in high school, regulate their study habits, and monitor their progress. This exploratory study surveyed 42 undergraduates enrolled in a psychological statistics course. A hierarchical multiple regression assessed the extent to which self-efficacy predicted final statistics exam grades, while controlling for prior GPA. This analysis showed that prior GPA explained 38.9% of the variability in final exam grades and self-efficacy accounted for another 7.3% of the variance, explaining a total of 46.2% of the variance in final exam performance. These findings indicate that non-cognitive variables play an essential role in the prediction and promotion of academic performance at the college level in public universities. Developing students’ self-efficacy beliefs in specific courses may improve students’ performance. Different methods of employing interventions to alter students’ non-cognitive beliefs are discussed, with particular focus on the use of exam wrappers to promote self-efficacy and improve course grades

What is the psychological impact of retirement on men? an interpretative phenomenological analysis

This thesis explores male retirement from a psychological standpoint. Its participants are 7 men from all over the UK who were interviewed at 3 Time-points: 4 months before retirement, and 6 and 15 months after, making this a 19-month investigation. Participants were recruited from a website, laterlife.com, which caters to the over 60 retirement population. The sample, for methodological reasons homogeneous, consisted of white, middle-class, middle- to high-earning, married white-collar workers. The study is located within two literatures: extant retirement theoretical and empirical research, and existential perspectives. This is an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, epistemologically underpinned by phenomenology, hermeneutics and idiography. Analysis is thereby inductive (drawn from idiographic data and not theory), interpretative (I try to make sense of the participants trying to make sense of their experience), and interrogative (compares results with extant research). Results reveal 5 focus areas: (1) retirement experienced either as a mysterious un-known, or a return to familiarity – those who experienced it as unknown before retirement still found it so ten months later; (2) the importance of agency in the retirement process, (3) the paradoxical nature of freedom, and the multifarious purposes of busy-ness; (4) the ontological effects of retirement (a connection with masculinity was detected) and (5) the ever-present and underlying existential discomfort which the new lens of retirement throws on ageing and the prospect of death. The following were also noted: life-span influences were found to be relevant to retirement perspective; mattering and recognition, although crucial for some, are almost completely un-explored in retirement literature; generativity is vital (for most) for identity, sociality, and fulfilling meaningful projects; “voluntary retirement” may not feel voluntary; ageism may be the result and not the cause of retirement; retirement is a group-level process, so there is need for more investigation into the dynamics of both group-belonging and group-change

The Transcriptional Regulator BpsR Controls the Growth of <i>Bordetella bronchiseptica</i> by Repressing Genes Involved in Nicotinic Acid Degradation

Many of the pathogenic species of the genus Bordetella have an absolute requirement for nicotinic acid (NA) for laboratory growth. These Gram-negative bacteria also harbor a gene cluster homologous to the nic cluster of Pseudomonas putida which is involved in the aerobic degradation of NA and its transcriptional control. We report here that BpsR, a negative regulator of biofilm formation and Bps polysaccharide production, controls the growth of Bordetella bronchiseptica by repressing the expression of nic genes. The severe growth defect of the ΔbpsR strain in Stainer-Scholte medium was restored by supplementation with NA, which also functioned as an inducer of nic genes at low micromolar concentrations that are usually present in animals and humans. Purified BpsR protein bound to the nic promoter region, and its DNA binding activity was inhibited by 6-hydroxynicotinic acid (6-HNA), the first metabolite of the NA degradative pathway. Reporter assays with the isogenic mutant derivative of the wild-type (WT) strain harboring deletion in nicA, which encodes a putative nicotinic acid hydroxylase responsible for conversion of NA to 6-HNA, showed that 6-HNA is the actual inducer of the nic genes in the bacterial cell. Gene expression profiling further showed that BpsR dually activated and repressed the expression of genes associated with pathogenesis, transcriptional regulation, metabolism, and other cellular processes. We discuss the implications of these findings with respect to the selection of pyridines such as NA and quinolinic acid for optimum bacterial growth depending on the ecological niche.Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Fermentaciones Industriale

The Transcriptional Regulator BpsR Controls the Growth of <i>Bordetella bronchiseptica</i> by Repressing Genes Involved in Nicotinic Acid Degradation

Many of the pathogenic species of the genus Bordetella have an absolute requirement for nicotinic acid (NA) for laboratory growth. These Gram-negative bacteria also harbor a gene cluster homologous to the nic cluster of Pseudomonas putida which is involved in the aerobic degradation of NA and its transcriptional control. We report here that BpsR, a negative regulator of biofilm formation and Bps polysaccharide production, controls the growth of Bordetella bronchiseptica by repressing the expression of nic genes. The severe growth defect of the ΔbpsR strain in Stainer-Scholte medium was restored by supplementation with NA, which also functioned as an inducer of nic genes at low micromolar concentrations that are usually present in animals and humans. Purified BpsR protein bound to the nic promoter region, and its DNA binding activity was inhibited by 6-hydroxynicotinic acid (6-HNA), the first metabolite of the NA degradative pathway. Reporter assays with the isogenic mutant derivative of the wild-type (WT) strain harboring deletion in nicA, which encodes a putative nicotinic acid hydroxylase responsible for conversion of NA to 6-HNA, showed that 6-HNA is the actual inducer of the nic genes in the bacterial cell. Gene expression profiling further showed that BpsR dually activated and repressed the expression of genes associated with pathogenesis, transcriptional regulation, metabolism, and other cellular processes. We discuss the implications of these findings with respect to the selection of pyridines such as NA and quinolinic acid for optimum bacterial growth depending on the ecological niche.Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Fermentaciones Industriale

Factors determining ultra-short-term survival and the commencement of active treatment in high-grade serous ovarian cancer: a case comparison study

From Springer Nature via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: received 2020-06-12, accepted 2021-03-10, registration 2021-03-10, pub-electronic 2021-04-08, online 2021-04-08, collection 2021-12Publication status: PublishedFunder: Cancer Research UK; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000289; Grant(s): 22647Abstract: Background: Despite improvements in median survival some patients with advanced ovarian cancer die within 100 days of diagnosis; the reasons for which remain poorly understood. Here we investigate if ultra short-term survival can be explained by patient characteristics or treatment pathways. Methods: A nested case comparison study was used to examine differences between patients with high grade serous ovarian/fallopian tube cancer who died within 100 days (n = 28) compared to a comparison group of patients matched for histology and including any survival greater than 100 days (n = 134). Results: Cases and comparison patients had similar ages, BMI, ACE-27, deprivation indices, and distribution of disease on CT. There were no significant delays in time to diagnosis or treatment (p = 0.68) between the groups. However, cases had lower serum albumin, haemoglobin and higher platelet counts than matched comparison patients (p < 0.0001) and a worse performance score (P = 0.006). Conclusion: Patients who die rapidly after a diagnosis of ovarian cancer are only slightly older and have similar pre treatment frailty compared to patients whose survival approaches the median. However they do appear to undergo greater physiological compromise as a result of their disease

Imaging 3D Chemistry at 1 nm Resolution with Fused Multi-Modal Electron Tomography

Measuring the three-dimensional (3D) distribution of chemistry in nanoscale matter is a longstanding challenge for metrological science. The inelastic scattering events required for 3D chemical imaging are too rare, requiring high beam exposure that destroys the specimen before an experiment completes. Even larger doses are required to achieve high resolution. Thus, chemical mapping in 3D has been unachievable except at lower resolution with the most radiation-hard materials. Here, high-resolution 3D chemical imaging is achieved near or below one nanometer resolution in a Au-Fe$_3$O$_4$ metamaterial, Co$_3$O$_4$ - Mn$_3$O$_4$ core-shell nanocrystals, and ZnS-Cu$_{0.64}$S$_{0.36}$ nanomaterial using fused multi-modal electron tomography. Multi-modal data fusion enables high-resolution chemical tomography often with 99\% less dose by linking information encoded within both elastic (HAADF) and inelastic (EDX / EELS) signals. Now sub-nanometer 3D resolution of chemistry is measurable for a broad class of geometrically and compositionally complex materials

The principle of situated practice in literacy learning: students’ perspectives

O artigo resulta de uma investigação realizada no âmbito de uma iniciativa governamental destinada a melhorar os níveis de literacia nas séries iniciais do ensino fundamental em Portugal. A investigadora estudou as representações dos alunos sobre essa experiência por meio da realização de entrevistas em grupo. Este artigo analisa os dados referentes às representações dos alunos sobre uma das dimensões pedagógicas centrais da aprendizagem da literacia, nomeadamente a constituída pela prática situada. A análise qualitativa revela representações muito positivas sobre a prática que situou a aprendizagem, tendo os alunos expressado opiniões e sentimentos extremamente favoráveis sobre a prática de aprendizagem de literacia que experimentaram. A análise dos dados desvelou ainda que o contexto que situou a aprendizagem foi ativo, lúdico, colaborativo e mediado pelas TIC. Esses resultados fundamentam, do ponto de vista único dos próprios aprendentes, uma redefinição do entendimento atual do princípio da prática situada da literacia nas séries iniciais do ensino fundamental, no sentido do reconhecimento da centralidade da ludicidade nessa aprendizagem.This article derives from research developed in the context of the implementation of a governmental initiative aimed to enhance literacy learning in primary education in Portugal. The researcher studied students’ representations about their learning experience through group interviews. This article focuses on data concerning students’ representations about one of the central pedagogical dimensions of literacy learning, namely situated practice. Qualitative analysis revealed students’ very positive representations about the practice which situated their learning, as they expressed extremely favourable opinions and feelings. Data analysis further unveiled that the context of learning was active, playful, collaborative, and mediated by ICT. Such results provide foundations for a theoretical redefinition of current conceptions of situated practice by evidencing the centrality of playfulness as learning practice in the education of the first grades of primary education. This is an original contribution made from the perspectives of learners themselves(undefined)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio