Chasing Possibilities: First-Generation College Graduates Negotiate Past and Future Selves

The higher education literature highlights the retention and persistence of firstgeneration college students. This study explores the work-related experiences of firstgeneration college graduates. Findings suggest early-career first-generation graduates are engaged in a process of (re)understanding their past, negotiating their present work environment, and positioning themselves for long-term career satisfaction

A family of quadratic forms associated to quadratic mappings of spheres

AbstractThe general form of a real quadratic mapping of spheres can be determined by studying the diagonalization of each form in an associated family of quadratic forms. In particular, the eigenvalues provide a means for detecting maps which are of the Hopf type. When the eigenvalues are nonzero for every form in the family, the forms associated to ƒ:Sn→Sm give rise to a quadratic form on the tangent bundle of the unit sphere Sn. If ƒ is of the Hopf type, nondegeneracy of each form occurs only when n=1,3,7,15

Grit and the Adult Learner: Should We Be Thinking about Work Ethic?

Research related to work ethic appears most frequently in psychology and business-related venues, with few publications in education. This roundtable encourages participants to explore whether thinking in terms of a learners’ work ethic is an appropriate or potentially beneficial concept for adult educators

Getting Situated in a New Community of Practice: The Early-Career Workplace Learning of First-Generation College Graduates

A phenomenological study conducted with first-generation college graduates who were working full time demonstrates how these first-generation college graduates’ work environments contributed to a sense of meaning in work. Graduates indicated that co-workers were not, generally, proactive to help newcomers learn their jobs. Participants described their attempts to reconcile ideas of “work ethic,” as understood from families of origin, with the realities of their current jobs. Rather than intentional and learning-friendly communities of practice seeking to incorporate newcomers into the workplace, participants more often found they were left alone to learn their job

Resources/Services Available to the Handicapped of Southside Tidewater Virginia

Two research objectives were set up for this study. These included: 1. Accumulate and analyze data on the services and resources available to the handicapped in the Southside Tidewater area; 2. Develop a method or media for information dissemination to those who work with the targeted population

Group B streptococcal infection and activation of human astrocytes.

BACKGROUND:Streptococcus agalactiae (Group B Streptococcus, GBS) is the leading cause of life-threatening meningitis in human newborns in industrialized countries. Meningitis results from neonatal infection that occurs when GBS leaves the bloodstream (bacteremia), crosses the blood-brain barrier (BBB), and enters the central nervous system (CNS), where the bacteria contact the meninges. Although GBS is known to invade the BBB, subsequent interaction with astrocytes that physically associate with brain endothelium has not been well studied. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:We hypothesize that human astrocytes play a unique role in GBS infection and contribute to the development of meningitis. To address this, we used a well- characterized human fetal astrocyte cell line, SVG-A, and examined GBS infection in vitro. We observed that all GBS strains of representative clinically dominant serotypes (Ia, Ib, III, and V) were able to adhere to and invade astrocytes. Cellular invasion was dependent on host actin cytoskeleton rearrangements, and was specific to GBS as Streptococcus gordonii failed to enter astrocytes. Analysis of isogenic mutant GBS strains deficient in various cell surface organelles showed that anchored LTA, serine-rich repeat protein (Srr1) and fibronectin binding (SfbA) proteins all contribute to host cell internalization. Wild-type GBS also displayed an ability to persist and survive within an intracellular compartment for at least 12 h following invasion. Moreover, GBS infection resulted in increased astrocyte transcription of interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6 and VEGF. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE:This study has further characterized the interaction of GBS with human astrocytes, and has identified the importance of specific virulence factors in these interactions. Understanding the role of astrocytes during GBS infection will provide important information regarding BBB disruption and the development of neonatal meningitis

“Creating What I Think I should Be Doing”: Contradictions and Learning of College Job Changers

This roundtable, and the study it is based on, outlines how non-faculty staff at a small college described their own workplace learning after a “significant” job change (as defined by the participant)

The Social Exclusion of Dually-Involved Youth: Toward a Sense of Belonging

We use an institutional life course perspective to explore the social exclusion of dually-involved youth. We begin by defining the concept of social exclusion and present one mechanism of social exclusion, the set of institutions operating in the lives of dually-involved youth. We use the social exclusion framework to extend the implications of studies of dually-involved youth, and propose three stages of social-exclusion for dually-involved youth. We conclude by emphasizing the importance of broad investments in families, schools, and communities to ensure that dually-involved youth develop a sense of belonging and the capabilities necessary to live meaningful lives

The effects of mood status and competitive anxiety in elite basketball players

Interest has developed in studying the relationship between pre-competitive mood and anxiety with athletic performance (eg. Beedie, Terry & Lane, 2000; Morgan, Ellickson, O'Connor & Bradley, 1992). The most commonly used instrument for measuring mood states in sport psychology is the Profile of Mood States (POMS). A weak to moderate relationship exists between pre-competitive mood and the performance of similarly skilled athletes (Cox, 2002). The current study examined the relationship between pre-game mood status (POMS), competitive-anxiety (SCAT), task-ego orientation (TEOSQ) and game statistics during the season of an elite basketball competition