Equity of Social Support and Its Relationship with Depression, Anxiety, and Antiretroviral Medication Adherence Among Seroconcordant Dyads of HIV-positive African Americans and Their Informal Supporters

Social support may be an important resource for those coping with stigmatized chronic illnesses, such as HIV/AIDS, as social support may buffer the deleterious impact of HIV-related distress (Derlega, Winstread, Oldfield, & Barbee, 2003; Stutterheim, Bos, Pryor, Brands, Liebregts, & Schaalma, 2011; Ueno & Adams, 2001). Yet little is known about characteristics of social support among HIV-positive patients in relationships with other HIV-positive individuals and whether there is an equivalent perception and provision of support between each patient in the relationship. To examine how equity of support within the dyad may contribute to nuances in social support, mental health outcomes, and treatment adherence among HIV-positive individuals, I recruited 34 dyads comprised of HIV-positive African Americans and their HIV-positive supporters to complete a survey with measures of perceived social support, equity of support, relationship factors such as perceived quality of the relationship, depression and anxiety, and treatment adherence. The results indicate that perceptions of greater perceived social support from one\u27s dyadic partner was associated with fewer depressive or anxiety symptoms. Index patients and informal supporters\u27 perceptions of source- specific social support were not related to index patients\u27 past month medication adherence. Participants\u27 own and dyad partners\u27 perceptions of equity (i.e., deviation from equity) were not identified as significant predictors for any of the outcome variables. There was no evidence of significant partner effects for any of the study hypotheses. Thus, the results from this study may be most consistent with an actor-oriented model (Kenny & Cook, 1999), wherein the participants\u27 outcomes are a function of the individuals\u27 perceptions themselves, and their partners\u27 perceptions have no effect on the individuals\u27 outcomes. The results from this study indicate the protective effects of individuals\u27 perceptions of being supported by a specific support person, generalized among a variety of relationships, on depressive and anxiety symptoms. Future research should explore the perceptions of support and the rules that may govern relationships among individuals in HIV-affected relationships to better understand the nuances in social support and their relation to mental health and treatment outcomes

Managing Student-guided Inquiry How can we use student questions to drive instruction more frequently or with greater skill? Which methods work best in supporting a student-guided inquiry approach?

This qualitative study began with a desire to explore how science instruction can use student questions as centerpieces of ongoing, student-centered classroom inquiry. This research is supported in part by the principles of the National Research Council, National Council for the Teachers of Mathematics, and American Association for the Advancement of Science, which all purport that inquiry is an effective way to teach science. Subjects included a physical science class of eighth grade students in New York State. The students were involved in a two-week inquiry-based investigation of fossil fuels and energy, and were responsible during this time to meet the requirements of curriculum benchmarks (Appendix A.) The purpose of the study was to determine how we can use student questions to drive instruction more frequently or with more skill, and to identify methods that best support a student-guided inquiry approach. It evolved into a very different study of reflective practice. What began as a quest for information and methods evolved into a reflective journey that has already improved my practice in my classroom, increased my confidence as a teacher, and helped me to consider my future and options for personal and professional growth. When I took the time reflect, I found that my research questions were born out of a lack of confidence. I identified strategies that I currently employ that are effective in managing student-guided inquiry and that are backed by the literature, and have some keen insights into my own perceptions and my current construct of inquiry. I have concluded that the research supports my current understandings of inquiry, that my classroom was already quite student-centered. I have a much different outlook now than I did at the start of this study. It has made me much more forward-thinking and has made me less self-critical and fault-finding in my abilities as an instructor than I was at this project\u27s inception

Kindergarten Teachers’ and Parents’ Opinions Toward Preschool Program Curricula and the Methods of Teaching

This study was conducted in order to investigate and to compare the opinions of kindergarten teachers and parents of kindergarten children toward preschool program curricula and the methods of teaching preschool. The subjects consisted of sixteen teachers and twenty parents. These participants were asked to complete a survey. The survey given to the teachers asked them their views concerning different aspects involving preschool programs. The parent survey asked the parents questions concerning the same matter. Fifty percent of the teachers and parents were later interviewed to gather further information on their opinions toward preschools. Different interview questions were presented to each subject depending on the information given in the survey. Survey and interview information was compiled and summarized in tables showing the opinions within each group of subjects. The opinions varied greatly toward preschool program curricula and the methods of teaching preschool

A Study of First and Second Nine-Week Inter-Marking Period Grade Shifts in a Suburban Middle School

The primary goal of this research is to explore the statistical relationship, if any, in grade drops between the first and second nine-week grading periods. Furthermore, the goal of this statistical analysis may provide: 1. A mechanism which may prove further the theoretical importance of social and psychological changes inherent in the adolescent as well as the teacher as accounting for such grade shifts; 2. A measurable indicator of possible changes in the intellectual, social, psychological and emotional climate of the classroom; 3. A subtle, valid observation which may allow teachers to adjust their teaching methods to enhance or suit student needs during this second marking period

Performance of the distributed central analysis in BaBar

The total dataset produced by the BaBar experiment at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) currently comprises roughly$3times 10^9$data events and an equal amount of simulated events, corresponding to 23 Tbytes of real data and 51 Tbytes simulated events. Since individual analyses typically select a very small fraction of all events, it would be extremely inefficient if each analysis had to process the full dataset. A first, centrally managed analysis step is therefore a common pre-selection (‘skimming’) of all data according to very loose, inclusive criteria to facilitate data access for later analysis. Usually, there are common selection criteria for several analysis. However, they may change over time, e.g., when new analyses are developed. Currently,$cal

Interview of Thomas McPhillips, F.S.C., Ph.D.

Brother Tom McPhillips is a man who dedicated his life to the Christian Brothers since the age of 17 in order to promote the Christian Brother ideals. The values and ideals of the Christian Brothers have played, and will continue to play a significant role throughout his life. Brother Tom McPhillips was born in 1949 to Louise and John McPhillips and was born in Einstein Hospital, located in Philadelphia. Louise was born in Belfast, Ireland, which is a staunch Roman Catholic country, and thus, Brother Tom McPhillip\u27s upbringing was very much imbued with Christian values. All of this was reinforced by the fact that he attended Catholic schools since elementary school. All of the elementary schools were run by the nuns and the high schools were taught by the brothers, and although he didn\u27t connect with the nuns too well, he got along quite well with the brothers. So, since he was a young boy, he was surrounded by the many Christian influences around him, that later led to him joining the Christian Brotherhood of St. Jean Baptiste de La Salle. From the Biology Department web site: Br. Tom McPhillips earned his B.A. in Biology from La Salle University, his M.S. in Biology from Villanova University, and his Ph.D. in Virology and Epidemiology from the Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas. Upon earning his doctorate he was hired onto the faculty of La Salle University. He is the proud recipient of both the Provost/s Distinguished Educator Award and the Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching. Previous to his teaching at La Salle, Br. Tom taught high school biology, chemistry, and religion in Lasallian schools in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Since beginning his university teaching career, he has been regularly assigned to the introductory biology course for science majors (Bio 210). He has also taught courses in microbiology, biochemistry, human biology, human genetics, and radiation biology. In addition to his teaching responsibilities in the life sciences, Br. Tom also teaches a seminar for student teachers preparing to teach secondary school science; and he supervises these teachers at area high schools when they are doing their student teaching. For many years Br. Tom was awarded summer study grants in order to work as a summer research scientist at the University of Maryland where he studied reoviruses and paramyxoviruses. He is fortunate enough to have participated in the study that led to the naming of a new genus of viruses, the Aquareoviruses. Altogether Br. Tom has been an author of 24 scientific publications

Precision measurements of the total and partial widths of the psi(2S) charmonium meson with a new complementary-scan technique in antiproton-proton annihilations

We present new precision measurements of the psi(2S) total and partial widths from excitation curves obtained in antiproton-proton annihilations by Fermilab experiment E835 at the Antiproton Accumulator in the year 2000. A new technique of complementary scans was developed to study narrow resonances with stochastically cooled antiproton beams. The technique relies on precise revolution-frequency and orbit-length measurements, while making the analysis of the excitation curve almost independent of machine lattice parameters. We study the psi(2S) meson through the processes pbar p -> e+ e- and pbar p -> J/psi + X -> e+ e- + X. We measure the width to be Gamma = 290 +- 25(sta) +- 4(sys) keV and the combination of partial widths Gamma_e+e- * Gamma_pbarp / Gamma = 579 +- 38(sta) +- 36(sys) meV, which represent the most precise measurements to date.Comment: 17 pages, 3 figures, 3 tables. Final manuscript accepted for publication in Phys. Lett. B. Parts of the text slightly expanded or rearranged; results are unchange

Interference Study of the chi_c0 (1^3P_0) in the Reaction Proton-Antiproton -> pi^0 pi^0

Fermilab experiment E835 has observed proton-antiproton annihilation production of the charmonium state chi_c0 and its subsequent decay into pi^0 pi^0. Although the resonant amplitude is an order of magnitude smaller than that of the non-resonant continuum production of pi^0 pi^0, an enhanced interference signal is evident. A partial wave expansion is used to extract physics parameters. The amplitudes J=0 and 2, of comparable strength, dominate the expansion. Both are accessed by L=1 in the entrance proton-antiproton channel. The product of the input and output branching fractions is determined to be B(pbar p -> chi_c0) x B(chi_c0 -> pi^0 pi^0)= (5.09 +- 0.81 +- 0.25) x 10^-7.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, Accepted by PRL (July 2003

Measurement of the Branching Fraction for B- --> D0 K*-

We present a measurement of the branching fraction for the decay B- --> D0 K*- using a sample of approximately 86 million BBbar pairs collected by the BaBar detector from e+e- collisions near the Y(4S) resonance. The D0 is detected through its decays to K- pi+, K- pi+ pi0 and K- pi+ pi- pi+, and the K*- through its decay to K0S pi-. We measure the branching fraction to be B.F.(B- --> D0 K*-)= (6.3 +/- 0.7(stat.) +/- 0.5(syst.)) x 10^{-4}.Comment: 7 pages, 1 postscript figure, submitted to Phys. Rev. D (Rapid Communications