Destructive Hostility: The Jeffrey Dahmer Case: A Psychiatric and Forensic Study of a Serial Killer

We were involved as forensic experts in the case of the serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. We discuss the scene and victim autopsy findings, with a brief consideration of the basic emotion of hostility. These findings support the thesis that at the basis of this serial killer\u27s behavior were primary unconscious feelings of hate that he had channeled into a sadistic programmed destruction of 17 young men. The interview of the serial killer, the photographic scene documentation, and the autopsy findings stress the ambivalent homosexuality of the killer, his sexual sadism, his obsessive fetishism, and his possible cannibalism and necrophilia

Empowering Families From the Start: Kindergarten Family Nights

There are more two parent working families and single parent families in the 21st century than in any other time period in our history. With this increase in demands put on parents, their children\u27s education is increasingly left to the teachers and faculty the children encounter at school. For children to receive the best education possible, families and educators must therefore work together. This research project examined ways to help families and kindergarten teachers meet the needs of children. One important way is through developing and implementing two developmentally appropriate, hands-on, family night events at a middle class school district in the mid-west. Families had the opportunity to come to school, participate in educational activities related to their children\u27s current school curriculum, and take home activity extensions to enhance their children\u27s educational success at home

Contribution of NADPH Oxidase to Membrane CD38 Internalization and Activation in Coronary Arterial Myocytes

The CD38-ADP-ribosylcyclase-mediated Ca2+ signaling pathway importantly contributes to the vasomotor response in different arteries. Although there is evidence indicating that the activation of CD38-ADP-ribosylcyclase is associated with CD38 internalization, the molecular mechanism mediating CD38 internalization and consequent activation in response to a variety of physiological and pathological stimuli remains poorly understood. Recent studies have shown that CD38 may sense redox signals and is thereby activated to produce cellular response and that the NADPH oxidase isoform, NOX1, is a major resource to produce superoxide (O2·−) in coronary arterial myocytes (CAMs) in response to muscarinic receptor agonist, which uses CD38-ADP-ribosylcyclase signaling pathway to exert its action in these CAMs. These findings led us hypothesize that NOX1-derived O2·− serves in an autocrine fashion to enhance CD38 internalization, leading to redox activation of CD38-ADP-ribosylcyclase activity in mouse CAMs. To test this hypothesis, confocal microscopy, flow cytometry and a membrane protein biotinylation assay were used in the present study. We first demonstrated that CD38 internalization induced by endothelin-1 (ET-1) was inhibited by silencing of NOX1 gene, but not NOX4 gene. Correspondingly, NOX1 gene silencing abolished ET-1-induced O2·− production and increased CD38-ADP-ribosylcyclase activity in CAMs, while activation of NOX1 by overexpression of Rac1 or Vav2 or administration of exogenous O2·−significantly increased CD38 internalization in CAMs. Lastly, ET-1 was found to markedly increase membrane raft clustering as shown by increased colocalization of cholera toxin-B with CD38 and NOX1. Taken together, these results provide direct evidence that Rac1-NOX1-dependent O2·− production mediates CD38 internalization in CAMs, which may represent an important mechanism linking receptor activation with CD38 activity in these cells

Changes in the Rheology and Microstructure of Ropy Yogurt During Shearing

Rheological and microstructural changes that occurred in ropy yogurt during shearing were observed. Yogurt made with an exopolymer-producing (ropy) strain of Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus and non-ropy strain of Streptococcus thermophilus was subjected to an increasing shear rate from 0-833 s-1 using a Haake Rotovisco RV2. Shear stress niticeably increased to a peak value and then decreased to a plateau value as the shear rate continued to increase. Samples taken at eight different shear rates were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). At low shear rates, the exopolysaccharide (EPS) existed as a filamentous network attached to the lactobacilli and casein matrix. At the shear rate where the highest shear stress was recorded, the EPS/bacteria bonds were broken. SEM micrographs and shear stress curves were used to determine a bond-strength of the EPS/lactobacilli interaction. After the interaction was disrupted, the EPS was still incorporated with the casein, where it continued to influence viscosity