“Temporary Gentlemen” on the Western Front: Class Consciousness and the British Army Officer, 1914-1918

A careful evaluation of diaries and memoirs of British temporary officers in World War I suggests that the class consciousness and Regular Army ideals inculcated during training had little bearing on officers’ actual experiences on the front lines. Their accounts confirm previous scholars’ conclusions about the presence of class feelings among officers, but the value they place on military effectiveness in the trenches is much more significant. After 1914, high casualty rates among junior officers forced the British army to seek candidates for commissions from social classes that, before the war, would not have been considered officer material. Accounts from both the traditional officer class and from the working class reveal new officers’ conscious attempts, encouraged by their superiors, to conform to the pre-war Regular Army ideal of the “officer and gentleman.” These attempts, as well as the very existence of the term “temporary gentleman,” demonstrate the new officers’ consciousness of their artificial elevation to the status of gentlemen. But the diaries and memoirs reveal that, on the front lines, an “efficient” officer was highly valued, whatever his social background

Missouri Nonpartisan Court Plan: The Least Political Method of Selecting High Quality Judges, The

According to Justice Steven Breyer, the reputation and the reality of the fairness and effectiveness of the American judicial system are in the hands of the states. 1 In the laboratory of American democracy, each sovereign state has the freedom to design the method by which members of its judiciary are chosen. The unique history, culture and experiences of each state have led to the adoption of a variety of systems to select judges. These methods generally fall into one of three categories: contested election, political appointment, or merit selection

Living with Dying: Everyday Cultures of Dying within Family Life in Britain, c.1900s-1950s (Intern project)

Living with Dying: Everyday Cultures of Dying within Family Life in Britain, c.1900s-1950s' is a major AHRC funded project examining how death and dying were understood, discussed and experienced within everyday life. As part of the project were funded two internships, in collaboration with Special Collections at the University of Leeds, outputs include a report about the Leeds General Cemetery Burial Registers, held in Special Collections, as well as blog posts and other materials

Curriculum Review and Revision at the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine

Curriculum review is an essential part of ongoing curriculum development, and is a mandate of the American Veterinary Medical Association Council on Education (AVMA COE), the accrediting body of all North American schools and colleges of veterinary medicine. This article describes the steps in curriculum review undertaken by the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine (UMN CVM) in response to this mandate from the COE and to a recommendation from a recent collegiate review that was part of a larger university-level strategic planning effort. The challenges of reviewing and revising the curriculum within a short time frame were met by appointing a dedicated curriculum review board and by engaging students and faculty groups, both as focus groups and as specific faculty work sections within disciplines. Faculty voting on the process was very valuable as it permitted the curriculum review board and faculty groups to move ahead knowing there was a process in place for reassessment if most faculty did not agree with recommendations. Consistent support from the dean of the college and other administrators was vital in helping maintain momentum for curriculum review

Anorexia nervosa and generalized anxiety disorder: Further explorations of the relation between anxiety and body mass index

We explore comorbidity of anorexia nervosa (AN) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and their relation with body mass index (BMI) and evaluate the presence of fasting and excessive exercise which both have anxiolytic and weight loss effects. All participants were female: 32 with AN only, 607 with GAD only, 22 with AN and GAD (AN+GAD), and 5,424 with no history of AN or GAD (referent) from the Swedish Twin study of Adults: Genes and Environment (STAGE). Lowest adult BMI differed significantly (p < .001) and was lower in those with AN+GAD than those with AN only (p < .029). Those with AN+GAD were most likely to endorse fasting and excessive exercise, followed by women with AN only, women with GAD only, and the referent. Comorbid AN and GAD may be a particularly pernicious presentation influencing both BMI and proclivity to engage in behaviors such as fasting and exercise that serve both weight loss and anxiolytic goals

A melanocyte lineage program confers resistance to MAP kinase pathway inhibition

BRAFV600E-mutant malignant melanomas depend on RAF/MEK/ERK (MAPK) signaling for tumor cell growth1. RAF and MEK inhibitors show remarkable clinical efficacy in BRAFV600E melanoma2, 3; however, resistance to these agents remains a formidable challenge2, 4. Global characterization of resistance mechanisms may inform the development of more effective therapeutic combinations. Here, we performed systematic gain-of-function resistance studies by expressing >15,500 genes individually in a BRAFV600E melanoma cell line treated with RAF, MEK, ERK, or combined RAF/MEK inhibitors. These studies revealed a cyclic AMP-dependent melanocytic signaling network not previously associated with drug resistance, including G-protein coupled receptors, adenyl cyclase, protein kinase A and cAMP response element binding protein (CREB). Preliminary analysis of biopsies from BRAFV600E melanoma patients revealed that phosphorylated (active) CREB was suppressed by RAF/MEK-inhibition but restored in relapsing tumors. Expression of transcription factors activated downstream of MAP kinase and cAMP pathways also conferred resistance, including c-FOS, NR4A1, NR4A2 and MITF. Combined treatment with MAP kinase pathway and histone deacetylase inhibitors suppressed MITF expression and cAMP-mediated resistance. Collectively, these data suggest that oncogenic dysregulation of a melanocyte lineage dependency can cause resistance to RAF/MEK/ERK inhibition, which may be overcome by combining signaling- and chromatin-directed therapeutics

Understanding the Relation Between Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa in a Swedish National Twin Sample

We present a bivariate twin analysis of anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN) to determine the extent to which shared genetic and environmental factors contribute to liability to these disorders

Effects of reducing the frequency and duration criteria for binge eating on lifetime prevalence of bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder: Implications for DSM-5

We assessed the impact of reducing the binge eating frequency and duration thresholds on the diagnostic criteria for bulimia nervosa (BN) and binge eating disorder (BED)

Super Parents: Preliminary Findings of a Group-Based Parenting Intervention

Super Parents is a group-based, Extension-led parenting program developed to enhance the parent-child relationship. Implemented by trained Head Start staff using the train-the-trainer model, this effort is achieved by teaching positive parenting practices, increasing parents’ knowledge of child development, instructing parents in activities and exercises for enhancing their child’s executive function skills, and encouraging the use of mindfulness techniques in parenting. The specific aims of our study were to evaluate the program's effectiveness among parents of young children ages 0 to 5 by examining changes in parenting attitudes, mindfulness, executive function, parenting efficacy, stress, and child behavior. Through the use of pre-program and post-program measures, increases were observed in a number of positive parenting behaviors and child outcomes, along with decreases in multiple negative parenting and child behaviors. Findings from this study can inform implementation decisions of other parenting programs or trainings administered by Extension educators