American Mom

A reflection of my short film American Mo

Female Superiority in Social Cognition: Can Pretend Play Help the Boys Catch Up?

The effect of pretend play on 150 (~ 75 girls; 75 boys; M=3 yro) preschool children’s social cognition will be assessed through a semester long intervention study. Research has reported a trend of female superiority in empathy and ToM and a likelihood of young girls to engage in pretend play more frequently and to a higher degree than young boys. Previous research has also found a relationship between play and social cognition, as through the act of imagination, one is able to thoroughly take on the perspectives of someone other than the self. This study attempts to show a shift in these mental capabilities after an extensive engagement in pretend play (more than seen in a typical preschool classroom). Boys are expected to reach equal levels of ToM and empathy of their female peers after the intervention. This study attempts to hopefully find an intervention to instill higher levels of empathy in developing children and to support the need for more creative free play in the classroom

Aligning Evidence-Based Practice With Translational Research: Opportunities for Clinical Practice Research

Magnet(R) and other organizations investing resources in evidence-based practice (EBP) are ideal laboratories for translational nursing research. Translational research, the study of implementation of evidence into practice, provides a unique opportunity to leverage local EBP work for maximum impact. Aligning EBP projects with rigorous translational research can efficiently meet both EBP and research requirements for Magnet designation or redesignation, inform clinical practice, and place organizations at the leading edge of practice-based knowledge development for the nursing discipline

A comparative study of the motivations of potential versus experienced foster care providers

The purpose of this study was to gather data relating to motivations of individuals who volunteer to participate as foster parent. By surveying potential, as well as current volunteers, a motivational profile was obtained that will aid in future recruitment and retention efforts

Chondrites as samples of differentiated planetesimals

Chondritic meteorites are unmelted and variably metamorphosed aggregates of the earliest solids of the solar system. The variety of metamorphic textures in chondrites motivated the “onion shell” model in which chondrites originated at varying depths within a parent body heated primarily by the short-lived radioisotope 26Al, with the highest metamorphic grade originating nearest the center. Allende and a few other chondrites possess a unidirectional magnetization that can be best explained by a core dynamo on their parent body, indicating internal melting and differentiation. Here we show that a parent body that accreted to >~200 km in radius by ~ 1.5 Ma after the formation of calcium–aluminum-rich inclusions (CAIs) would have a differentiated interior, and ongoing accretion would add a solid undifferentiated crust overlying a differentiated interior, consistent with formational and evolutionary constraints inferred for the CV parent body. This body could have produced a magnetic field lasting more than 10 Ma. This hypothesis represents a new model for the origin of some chondrites, presenting them as the unprocessed crusts of internally differentiated early planetesimals. Such bodies may exist in the asteroid belt today; the shapes and masses of the two largest asteroids, 1 Ceres and 2 Pallas, can be consistent with differentiated interiors, conceivably with small iron cores with hydrated silicate or ice–silicate mantles, covered with undifferentiated crusts.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (NSF Astronomy CAREER grant)Mitsui & Co. (U.S.A.), Inc. ( Mitsui Career Development Professorship)United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA Origins grant)Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Victor P. Starr Career Development Professorship)United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA/Dawn co-investigator grant

T lymphocytes from patients with primary biliary cirrhosis produce reduced amounts of lymphotoxin, tumor necrosis factor and interferon-gamma upon mitogen stimulation

Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is considered an autoimmune disease characterized by destruction of small intrahepatic bile ducts by lymphocytes. Altered functions of these lymphocytes might reflect an abnormal immune response leading to tissue damage. We investigated lymphokine secretion by mitogen-stimulated T lymphocytes from the liver biopsies of patients with PBC and for comparison also peripheral blood. In PBC, diminished synthesis of lymphotoxin (TNFP), tumor necrosis factor (TNFa) and interferon-y (IFIVy) was found both in T-cell lines from liver tissue and in peripheral blood. The reduction was most prominent for TNFP in early histological stages of PBC, and appeared to be a stable phenomenon when T cells were tested after long-term tissue culture. Analysis of mRNA levels indicates a possible link between reduced TNFP production and a defect in interleukin-2 transcription. The data suggest that diminished lymphokine production in patients with PBC may play ;In important role in the immanopathogenesis of this disease