The holistic phase model of early adult crisis

The objective of the current study was to explore the structural, temporal and experiential manifestations of crisis episodes in early adulthood, using a holistic-systemic theoretical framework. Based on an analysis of 50 interviews with individuals about a crisis episode between the ages of 25 and 35, a holistic model was developed. The model comprises four phases: (1) Locked-in, (2) Separation/Time-out, (3) Exploration and (4) Rebuilding, which in turn have characteristic features at four levels—person-in-environment, identity, motivation and affect-cognition. A crisis starts out with a commitment at work or home that has been made but is no longer desired, and this is followed by an emotionally volatile period of change as that commitment is terminated. The positive trajectory of crisis involves movement through an exploratory period towards active rebuilding of a new commitment, but ‘fast-forward’ and ‘relapse’ loops can interrupt Phases 3 and 4 and make a positive resolution of the episode less likely. The model shows conceptual links with life stage theories of emerging adulthood and early adulthood, and it extends current understandings of the transitional developmental challenges that young adults encounter

The magic nature of 132Sn explored through the single-particle states of 133Sn

Atomic nuclei have a shell structure where nuclei with 'magic numbers' of neutrons and protons are analogous to the noble gases in atomic physics. Only ten nuclei with the standard magic numbers of both neutrons and protons have so far been observed. The nuclear shell model is founded on the precept that neutrons and protons can move as independent particles in orbitals with discrete quantum numbers, subject to a mean field generated by all the other nucleons. Knowledge of the properties of single-particle states outside nuclear shell closures in exotic nuclei is important for a fundamental understanding of nuclear structure and nucleosynthesis (for example the r-process, which is responsible for the production of about half of the heavy elements). However, as a result of their short lifetimes, there is a paucity of knowledge about the nature of single-particle states outside exotic doubly magic nuclei. Here we measure the single-particle character of the levels in 133Sn that lie outside the double shell closure present at the short-lived nucleus 132Sn. We use an inverse kinematics technique that involves the transfer of a single nucleon to the nucleus. The purity of the measured single-particle states clearly illustrates the magic nature of 132Sn.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figures and 4 table

Developing a Professional Studies Curriculum to Support Veterinary Professional Identity Formation

Professional studies teaching in medical and veterinary education is undergoing a period of change. Traditional approaches, aiming to teach students professional values and behaviors, are being enhanced by curricula designed to support students' professional identity formation. This development offers the potential for improving student engagement and graduates' mental well-being. The veterinary professional identity associated with emotional resilience and success in practice incorporates complexity in professional decision making and the importance of context on behaviors and actions. The veterinarian must make decisions that balance the sometimes conflicting needs of patient, clients, veterinarian, and practice; their subsequent actions are influenced by environmental challenges such as financial limitations, or stress and fatigue caused by a heavy workload. This article aims to describe how curricula can be designed to support the development of such an identity in students. We will review relevant literature from medical education and the veterinary profession to describe current best practices for supporting professional identity formation, and then present the application of these principles using the curriculum at the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) as a case study. Design of a “best practice” curriculum includes sequential development of complex thinking rather than notions of a single best solution to a problem. It requires managing a hidden curriculum that tends to reinforce a professional identity conceived solely on clinical diagnosis and treatment. It includes exposure to veterinary professionals with different sets of professional priorities, and those who work in different environments. It also includes the contextualization of taught content through reflection on workplace learning opportunities

Iron-Responsive Olfactory Uptake of Manganese Improves Motor Function Deficits Associated with Iron Deficiency

Iron-responsive manganese uptake is increased in iron-deficient rats, suggesting that toxicity related to manganese exposure could be modified by iron status. To explore possible interactions, the distribution of intranasally-instilled manganese in control and iron-deficient rat brain was characterized by quantitative image analysis using T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Manganese accumulation in the brain of iron-deficient rats was doubled after intranasal administration of MnCl2 for 1- or 3-week. Enhanced manganese level was observed in specific brain regions of iron-deficient rats, including the striatum, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex. Iron-deficient rats spent reduced time on a standard accelerating rotarod bar before falling and with lower peak speed compared to controls; unexpectedly, these measures of motor function significantly improved in iron-deficient rats intranasally-instilled with MnCl2. Although tissue dopamine concentrations were similar in the striatum, dopamine transporter (DAT) and dopamine receptor D1 (D1R) levels were reduced and dopamine receptor D2 (D2R) levels were increased in manganese-instilled rats, suggesting that manganese-induced changes in post-synaptic dopaminergic signaling contribute to the compensatory effect. Enhanced olfactory manganese uptake during iron deficiency appears to be a programmed “rescue response” with beneficial influence on motor impairment due to low iron status

The Veterinary Identity: A Time and Context Model

The nature of professionalism teaching is a current issue in veterinary education, with an individual’s identity as a professional having implications for one’s values and behaviors, as well as for his or her career satisfaction and psychological well-being. An appropriately formed professional identity imparts competence in making complex decisions—those that involve multiple perspectives and are complicated by contextual challenges. It enables an individual to act in a way that aligns with his or her professional values and priorities, and imparts resilience to situations in which one’s actions are dissonant to these personal beliefs. There are challenges in professionalism teaching that relate to student engagement and faculty confidence in this area. However, these cannot be addressed without first defining the veterinary professional identity—in effect, the aim of professionalism teaching. In this article, existing identity models from the wider literature have been analyzed through a veterinary lens. This analysis was then used to construct a model of veterinary professional identity that incorporates the self (personal morals and values), social development (learning from the workplace environment), and professional behaviors. Individuals who form what we have termed self–environment–behavior connections are proposed to be able to use workplace learning opportunities to inform their identity development, such that environmental complexity does not obstruct the link between values and behaviors. Those who fail to connect with the environment in this way may perceive that environmental influences (e.g., the client, financial limitations) are obstructive to enacting their desired identity, and they may struggle with decision making in complex scenarios

The Developmental Significance of Adolescent Romantic Relationships: Parent and Peer Predictors of Engagement and Quality at Age 15

From a longitudinal sample (n = 957; 49.9% male; 77.3% White/non-Hispanic) of participants studied from infancy through age 15, adolescents’ depth of engagement in, and quality of romantic relationships were predicted from early and contemporaneous parent–child interactive quality and peer social competence. High quality maternal parenting and peer experiences prior to and during adolescence tended to be negatively associated with the depth of engagement in this domain for the full sample, yet positively associated with the quality of adolescents’ romantic relationships for the sub-set of individuals currently dating at age 15. Results reconcile contrasting views of the origins of romantic relationship engagement and quality and the positive versus negative developmental salience of romantic relationships in adolescence

Hepatic arterial chemotherapy for primary and metastatic liver cancers

Hepatic arterial chemotherapy represents a means of selectively exposing hepatic tumor to cytotoxic agents. Although 5-fluoro-2′-deoxyuridine has been shown to generate a higher response rate in the treatment of colorectal liver metastases than that achieved by intravenous infusion, responses are largely incomplete and rarely of long duration. This review describes the rationale for the use of the thymidine analogs 5-bromo-2′-deoxyuridine and 5-iodo-2′-deoxyuridine in hepatic arterial infusions and indicates how combination therapy adding radiotherapy, specifically with hepatic arterially administered yttrium-90 microspheres, might generate a new, more efficient and effective therapeutic approach.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/46919/1/280_2004_Article_BF00647244.pd

On systems and control approaches to therapeutic gain

BACKGROUND: Mathematical models of cancer relevant processes are being developed at an increasing rate. Conceptual frameworks are needed to support new treatment designs based on such models. METHODS: A modern control perspective is used to formulate two therapeutic gain strategies. RESULTS: Two conceptually distinct therapeutic gain strategies are provided. The first is direct in that its goal is to kill cancer cells more so than normal cells, the second is indirect in that its goal is to achieve implicit therapeutic gains by transferring states of cancer cells of non-curable cases to a target state defined by the cancer cells of curable cases. The direct strategy requires models that connect anti-cancer agents to an endpoint that is modulated by the cause of the cancer and that correlates with cell death. It is an abstraction of a strategy for treating mismatch repair (MMR) deficient cancers with iodinated uridine (IUdR); IU-DNA correlates with radiation induced cell killing and MMR modulates the relationship between IUdR and IU-DNA because loss of MMR decreases the removal of IU from the DNA. The second strategy is indirect. It assumes that non-curable patient outcomes will improve if the states of their malignant cells are first transferred toward a state that is similar to that of a curable patient. This strategy is difficult to employ because it requires a model that relates drugs to determinants of differences in patient survival times. It is an abstraction of a strategy for treating BCR-ABL pro-B cell childhood leukemia patients using curable cases as the guides. CONCLUSION: Cancer therapeutic gain problem formulations define the purpose, and thus the scope, of cancer process modeling. Their abstractions facilitate considerations of alternative treatment strategies and support syntheses of learning experiences across different cancers

Entrepreneurial-intention constraint model: A comparative analysis among post-graduate management students in India, Singapore and Malaysia

YesAlthough literature on entrepreneurship has increasingly focused on intention-based models, not much emphasis has been laid on understanding the combined effect of contextual and situational factors along with support of university environment on the formation of entrepreneurial intention among students. In an effort to make up for this shortfall, by taking Theory of Planned Behavior as basic framework, the present study seeks to understand the influence of three of the most important factors, viz. (a) endogenous barriers, (b) exogenous environment, and (c) university environment and support on the entrepreneurial intention among management students. The study sample consisted of 1,097 students, wherein 526 students were from India, 252 from Singapore, and 319 were from Malaysia. The results indicates that along with positive attitude and perceived behavioral control that directly influences entrepreneurial intention, university environment and support and exogenous environment also have an indirect but significant impact on shaping of entrepreneurial intention among students. With this, it was found that exogenous environment was found to have a negative relationship with both attitude towards behavior and perceived behavioral control for all three countries.The full-text of this article will be released for public view at the end of the publisher embargo on 2 Jun 2018

Response of human HT-29 colorectal tumor cells to extended exposure to bromodeoxyuridine

Effects of the extended exposure of a human colorectal tumor-cell line (HT-29) to bromodeoxyuridine (BrdUrd) were studied in anticipation of the clinical use of that agent to treat colorectal cancer, particularly as a regionally delivered radiosensitizer. We found that 72-h exposure to a concentration of BrdUrd that is estimated to be locally maintained in the liver (100 μ M ) was significantly cytotoxic with a 3-log reduction in survival. As measured by GC/MS-SIM method, incorporation of BrdUrd into DNA followed an unexpected time course in that continuous exposure to 10 μ M BrdUrd resulted in maximal incorporation at 3 days, after which the extent of incorporated analog fell significantly (despite daily changes of the medium). This finding was apparently due to a greater rate of loss of BrdUrd from the medium at later time points. Flow cytometric analysis using an anti-BrdUrd antibody (IU-4) revealed that antibody binding also peaked and fell off with time. However, at exposure times of >24 h, the timing and extent of this decline were significantly different than had been indicated by the GC/MS method. These results indicate that the quantitative relationship between antibody staining and BrdUrd incorporation changes as drug-exposure time increases and that quantitative studies of anti-BrdUrd antibody binding must be interpreted with caution, especially when extended drug-treatment protocols have been used.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/46921/1/280_2004_Article_BF00694337.pd