Reactivity and Refuge

P.F. Strawson famously suggested that employment of the objective attitude in an intimate relationship forebodes the relationship’s demise. Relatively less remarked is Strawson's admission that the objective attitude is available as a refuge from the strains of relating to normal, mature adults as proper subjects of the reactive attitudes. I develop an account of the strategic employment of the objective attitude in such cases according to which it denies a person a power of will – authorial power – whose recognition is necessary for sustaining intimacy. This conception of the objective attitude in its strategic employment presses those who urge universal adoption of the objective attitude (perhaps in its nonreactive, emotionally toned species) to confront the costs of their proposal

For Richer For Poorer, in Debt Do Us Part? Debt Brought into Marriage and its Effect on Marital Quality

This study examines the impact of personal debt accumulated before marriage upon marital quality for individuals. Attention from popular media points to the need for further systematic investigation. This study strives to fill this void in academic research. I use the National Survey of Families and Households to conduct a longitudinal analysis of the effect of debt on marital quality for 433 respondents who were single in 1987-1988 (Wave I), and who were married in 1992-1994 (Wave II). Ordinary Least Squares regression was used to test several hypotheses. Social exchange theory provides theoretical guidance for the analysis. Exchange theory focuses attention upon an individual’s circumstances by providing a framework to connect rational thought to marital quality, which is often viewed as an irrationally driven perception of an individual’s relationship. This study examines possible predictors of marital quality including: respondents’ background information; type and amount of debt; financial indicators, including debt-to-income ratio, and financial stress; as well as children and health condition. Results of this study show that normative debts (i.e., educational loans) have a negative effect on marital quality while education alone has a positive effect. An individual’s level of financial stress acts as a strong predictor for lower marital quality, suggesting that marital quality depends not only on debt brought into the marriage, but also on how one feels about that debt. This is important because people from more educated backgrounds, who expect their educational efforts to be rewarded financially, may find debt less burdensome generally. Higher numbers of children are associated with lower marital quality and higher financial stress. This demonstrates how the expense associated with having children affects marital quality both directly and indirectly. This study provides an understanding of the predictors of marital quality, as well as insight into the implications of debt on an individual’s future

Exploring the mechanisms of action of antifungal peptides using Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Candida albicans is a normal inhabitant of the skin and mucosal membranes of humans, however, in individuals with depressed immune systems or disrupted cutaneous flora, Candida can overgrow and cause serious infection. Candida infection is the fourth leading cause of nosocomial infection in the United States. These infections are often associated with longer hospital stays and higher mortality. Current drug therapies for this infection are largely ineffective due to the increased drug resistance of Candida species, and for some therapeutics, high levels of drug toxicity to humans. Histatin 5 is a naturally occurring salivary peptide that has strong antifungal properties. Derivatives of this peptide, including KM12 and KM23, have been previously tested in the McNabb lab, and have shown as much as ten times more fungicidal activity than Histatin 5. Our current understanding of the mechanism by which these peptides kill has not been fully characterized. This study uses Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a genetically tractable model to investigate one of the proposed target mechanisms of KM23, namely respiratory metabolism. Respiratory mutants were tested to determine which gene knockouts conferred cell resistance to KM23. If resistance was present for the mutant, the corresponding gene product is part of the killing mechanism of KM23. ATP synthase mutants, atp1Δ, atp2Δ, atp5Δ, and atp7Δ, were the main focus of this study. It was found that atp1Δ, atp5Δ, and atp7Δ conferred resistance of the yeast cells to KM23, while atp2Δ did not show significant resistance. It was subsequently found that atp2Δ was not truly respiratory deficient, therefore, we conclude that ATP synthase function is imperative to the overall killing action of KM23, supporting prior observations that respiratory metabolism is necessary for killing by Histatin 5 and Histatin 5-related peptides

The perception of consonants in reverberation and noise by adults fitted with bimodal devices

Purpose The purpose of this study was to evaluate the contribution of a contralateral hearing aid (HA) to the perception of consonants, in terms of voicing, manner, and place of articulation cues in reverberation and noise by adult cochlear implantees aided by bimodal fittings. Method Eight post-lingually deafened adult cochlear implant listeners with a fully inserted cochlear implant in one ear and low-frequency hearing in the other ear were tested on consonant perception. The subjects were presented with consonant stimuli processed in the following experimental conditions: one quiet condition, two different reverberation times (0.3 s and 1.0 s), and the combination of two reverberation times with a single signal-to-noise ratio (SNR = 5 dB). Results Consonant perception improved significantly when listening in combination with a contralateral hearing aid (HA) as opposed to listening with a cochlear implant (CI) alone in 0.3 s and 1.0 s of reverberation. Significantly higher scores were also noted when noise was added to 0.3 s of reverberation. Conclusion A considerable benefit was noted from the additional acoustic information in conditions of reverberation and reverberation plus noise. The bimodal benefit observed was more pronounced for voicing and manner of articulation than for place of articulation