Fantasy proneness, amnesia, and the UFO abduction phenomenon

p. 046-054Fantasy proneness has been viewed as an adaptive response to stress; however, the specific relationship between amnesia and fantasy proneness has not been ferreted out as a research focus. This essay examines the ways in which amnesia appears to play a functional role in fantasy proneness and post-traumatic stress disorder. Furthermore, this essay postulates that persons who report that they have been abducted by extraterrestrials and sexually abused during these abductions may he fantasy-prone individuals who have used systematized amnesia to create a mask memory for repeated instances of violent sexual abuse in early childhood

An Investigation of Personality and Satisfaction in Collegiate Swimmers

Using the Big Five Factor model of personality, this study examined personality profiles of NCAA Division I collegiate swimmers. Such analysis can be beneficial in assessing the relative person-environment fit for these athletes as they matriculate through their sport career. The sample included 320 current NCAA DI swimmers. First, personality profiles of swimmers who compete in various distance groups (short, middle, and long) were compared. Results indicated no significant differences between distance groups, but identified conscientiousness, openness, agreeableness, optimism, and sense of identity as personality trait strengths by magnitude. Next, an examination of swimmers’ personality in relation to athletic satisfaction, achievement, and aspirations was conducted. Results indicated significant relationships between the traits of emotional stability, agreeableness, and optimism. Practical implications for these findings are discussed

Music Student Satisfaction: The Relationship Between Learning Style Preferences and Major Satisfaction

Based on Holland’s (1997) theory of person-environment fit, the primary purpose of this study was to examine learning style preferences of college music students utilizing the Kolb Learning Styles Inventory and VARK Learning Styles Inventory (Kolb, 1976, 1984 ; Fleming & Mills, 1992). These preferences were also explored relative to music students’satisfaction with their major. A tendency to prefer the Aural, Kinesthetic, and Active Experimentation learning styles was observed in the 134 music majors sampled. Among the music students sampled, those who most prefer the Active Experimentation learning style are most satisfied with their major. Some differences in learning style preference and satisfaction were observed between individual majors within the music program, including evidence of more diverse learning mode preferences for students in the Music Performance major. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed

Preparation and Fractionation of Xenopus laevis Egg Extracts

Crude and fractionated Xenopus egg extracts can be used to provide ingredients for reconstituting cellular processes for morphological and biochemical analysis. Egg lysis and differential centrifugation are used to prepare the crude extract which in turn in used to prepare fractionated extracts and light membrane preparations

Obtaining Eggs from Xenopus laevis Females

The eggs of Xenopus laevis intact, lysed, and/or fractionated are useful for a wide variety of experiments. This protocol shows how to induce egg laying, collect and dejelly the eggs, and sort the eggs to remove any damaged eggs

Childcare as a barrier to completion of a short-term certificate training program: The role of the community college, community organizations, and the impact on local workforce needs

This qualitative case study examined one community college’s attempt to better meet the needs of the single mother student population and create a better understanding of the barriers encountered by single mothers in their access to and completion of a short-term certificate program at a community college. Through a qualitative case study of single mothers at a rural community college, community college administrators, and workforce partners, the study sought to understand barriers encountered by single mothers accessing higher education at a community college and how the development of a child care assistance program brought the community college and multiple community partners together to help increase supports for single mothers, while simultaneously attempting to increase the workforce pipeline by providing child care assistance to participants in a short-term certificate training program. The research questions guiding this study sought to identify the role the community college can play in increasing access to education by eliminating the perceived barrier of lack of childcare for the targeted population of single mothers. While examining a unique program developed to help support single mothers’ educational access, the study sought to better understand the unique challenges single mothers face while pursuing both higher education and employment. Results of the study showed that single mothers faced a myriad of barriers in their pathway to educational attainment and that these barriers extended to the workforce. The childcare assistance program, while successful in eliminating a barrier during the short-term training program, was not enough to eliminate the barrier for single mothers while in the workforce. The pilot program examined in this study was successful in creating an awareness of the need to think differently about how to serve single mothers and of the importance of a community partnership to develop a program to successfully serve single mothers at community college

Evaluation of well designs to improve access to safe and clean water in rural Tanzania

The objective of this study was to examine three well designs: drilled wells (20–30 m deep), closed dug wells (\u3e5 m deep), and hand-dug open wells (\u3c5 m deep), to determine the water quality for improving access to safe and clean water in rural communities. Heterotrophic plate count (HPC), total coliforms (TC), Escherichia coli (E. coli) and turbidity, were used to assess the water quality of 97 wells. Additionally, the study looked at the microflora diversity of the water, focusing on potential pathogens using outgrowth, PCR, and genome sequencing for 10 wells. Concentrations of TC for the open dug wells (4 × 104 CFU/100 mL) were higher than the drilled (2 × 103 CFU/100 mL) and closed dug wells (3 × 103 CFU/100 mL). E. coli concentration for drilled and closed dug wells was \u3c22 MPN (most probable number)/100 mL, but higher for open wells (\u3e154 MPN/100 mL). The drilled well turbidity (11 NTU) was within the standard deviation of the closed well (28 NTU) compared to open dug wells (49 NTU). Drilled and closed wells had similar microbial diversity. There were no significant differences between drilled and closed dug wells. The covering and lining of hand-dug wells should be considered as an alternative to improve access to safe and clean water in rural communities

The CXCR1 Axis: A Putative Therapeutic Cancer Stem Cell-Like Marker in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has one of the lowest survival rates of all cancers in the United States. Not only is PDAC found at the late stages, but patients also present with or develop chemotherapy resistance at an elevated frequency. Left with limited options for treatment, researchers are investigating new options for these patients. One major area of interest is the sub-population of cells in the tumor called cancer stem cells (CSCs). These cells are known for having high resistance to chemotherapy, along with propagating and re-building the tumor after most non-CSCs have been therapeutically targeted. Previous studies have determined CXCR4, ALDH1, CD24, CD44, and CD133 as markers for CSC-like PDAC cells. In the present study, we investigate the closely related CXCR1 as another possible marker and therapeutic target for PDAC CSCs. CXCR1 is known for its role in inflammation and wound healing. The CXCR1 axis includes the ligands CXCL6 and IL-8, both of which promote the progression of cancer. Previously, Ginesteir et al. has shown targeting the CXCR1 axis in triple negative breast cancer reduced CSC-like phenotypes in vitro and in vivo. Investigations of CXCR1 in PDAC demonstrate IL-8 induces increased tumorsphere formation in vitro (Chen et al.), leading us to investigating CXCR1 in PDAC CSCs. We hypothesize that PDAC cells with high CXCR1 activity also exhibit increased CSC-like characteristics and targeting CXCR1 will reduce those characteristics. To investigate the role of CXCR1 in CSC-like phenotype of PDAC, we used the PDAC cell line CD18, along with its gemcitabine resistant (GemR) counterpart. We used the CXCR1/2 antagonist Navarixin at high enough concentrations to inhibit CXCR1. Using the previously found gemcitabine and navarixin IC50 concentrations for each parent cell line, we treated cells for 72 hours. Post-treatment, we analyzed the expression of several known CSC markers, CXCR1, and IL-8 through qRT-PCR and ELISA. We expected to see higher expression and activity of CXCR1 in cells with higher known CSC marker expression. We also anticipated that gemcitabine treatment would induce higher expression of CSC markers, whereas navarixin would exhibit lower expression. From our results, we see the beginning trends of gemcitabine treated cells having increased expression of the CSC markers and navarixin decreasing or not changing the expression levels. These results differ for IL-8, which undergoes an increase in expression when treated with both gemcitabine and navarixin, which may warrant further exploration into the role of ligands in CSC-like phenotypes. One possible explanation for this difference would be the regulation of IL-8 expression based on CXCR1 activity, as IL-8 interacts with CXCR1.https://digitalcommons.unmc.edu/surp2021/1040/thumbnail.jp